#the third one could be a massive prison break decades in the making then

[emma-d-klutz]

It's been a while since I've watched The Incredibles. Can anyone tell me what they did with all the active supervillains once the no supers law was passed?

[nerianasims]

Billboard #1s 1973

Under the cut.

Carly Simon – “You’re So Vain” -- January 6, 1973

Knowing who this song is about -- if there even is someone -- would make it a lot less fun. "You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht" is one of the greatest lines of all time. The subject of this song is a grade-A douchebag, and yet his life's kinda enviable, isn't it? He can fly his plane to see the total eclipse of the sun, he hangs out with spies, he seduces his close friends' wives, his horse wins races. But he "gave away the things he loved." He chose to be a movie character instead of having love, which is rather sad. It's a more complex song than it seems at first. And it's a lot of fun.

Stevie Wonder – “Superstition” -- January 27, 1973

Can't write too busy jamming. Okay so this song is great. The sentiment is one we need a hell of a lot more of. The music has my favorite funk beat. It's my favorite Stevie Wonder song, and one of my favorite songs period. Actually this is three in a row of my favorite songs now.

Elton John – “Crocodile Rock” -- February 3, 1973

Well that ends that streak. I don't like Elton John's music. I find it dull and irritating. I can't even pinpoint why entirely, because I can't listen to enough of his music all the way through. I have had to listen to this one all the way through at every wedding reception I've ever been to, though. It's a boring dance song, and boring dance songs are very bad things.

Roberta Flack – “Killing Me Softly With His Song” -- February 25, 1973

Roberta Flack is great, but I prefer the Fugee's version of this song. Flack's version is a little too color-within-the-lines for me.

The O’Jays – “Love Train” -- March 24, 1973

An optimistic, happy song about everyone loving each other and getting along. It's also a good dance song, which makes it easy to get on board.

Vicki Lawrence – “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” -- April 7, 1973

She killed her sister-in-law for cheating on her brother? Really? Really? Well this is where revenge leads -- now her brother's dead too. This song doesn't get at anything interesting and the story is simply unpleasant. The music in this song's not spectacular or anything, but it deserves a better story.

Tony Orlando & Dawn – “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree” -- April 21, 1973

This lounge lizard singing a twangy country-ish song doesn't work. He doesn't know how to do it. Also, it sounds like they were trying to make it into a novelty song. Someone coming home from prison and hoping his wife will still want him is in very poor taste for a novelty song. This song somehow became about soldiers returning home. It's a really bad song for such a poignant and complex topic. It's a really bad song for anything.

Stevie Wonder – “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” -- May 19, 1973

Stevie Wonder and his wife Syreeta Wright were in the process of breaking up when they recorded this love song together. They stayed in each other's lives until Syreeta passed away, though. Knowing that makes this song even more moving.

The Edgar Winter Group – “Frankenstein” -- May 26, 1973

How did a hard rock instrumental reach the top of the charts? The riff is pretty great, and some cool things are going on with the electric guitar. Hard rock instrumentals aren't my thing, though. But I think it's good, even if I don't want to listen to it.

Paul McCartney & Wings – “My Love” -- June 2, 1973

John and Paul both started producing lighter, slower songs after The Beatles broke up. I feel like George was keeping them grounded. Or I guess maybe Ringo -- who knows? This is tolerable, which is more than I normally say about too-light 70s love songs. Actually I think this is also a sex song. For the most soporific sex imaginable. Paul McCartney's bass playing was awesome when he was in The Beatles. I don't get why he didn't build songs around that after they broke up.

George Harrison – “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” -- June 30, 1973

Another spiritual song from George Harrison, but it's better than "My Sweet Lord" in multiple ways. First, the melody's not plagiarized. Second, it has forward motion. You can actually dance a little to it if you want. Third, there's a bit of anguish there. Spiritual songs are always better when they have the tang of pain to them. And Harrison's guitar is on point. Pretty good.

Billy Preston – “Will It Go Round In Circles” -- July 7, 1973

The last two #1s were by ex-Beatles, and this one is by the man often called "the fifth Beatle." It's the best of these three by quite a ways. It sounds to me like it's about the creative process. A song with no melody, a dance with no steps. And the one I like the best: "I've got a story, ain't got no moral/ Let the bad guy win every once in a while." Sounds like his story's a lot farther along than the song and the dance.  The music is funky and soulful with a lot of different things going on, but without feeling overly crowded. Excellent.

Jim Croce – “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” -- July 21, 1973

Leroy Brown is a big, mean man, and everyone's scared of him. Until he goes after the wrong woman and her husband kicks the everloving crap out of him. Being big and mean doesn't count for much if you're a dumbass. It's sort of a country/funk blend, and I like it.

Maureen McGovern – “The Morning After” -- August 4, 1973

Mneh. I know why this one became a big hit; it was the ballad attached to a hit disaster movie. The Poseidon Adventure, one of the biggest disaster movies. I don't get disaster movies either. This song is schmaltz.

Diana Ross – “Touch Me In The Morning” -- August 18, 1973

Diana Ross sure sang a lot of songs in which she was desperate for a man who didn't want her. This time, she promises to be content with having sex just one more time in the morning with a one-night stand. How low maintenance of her. It's slow. It's boring. It gives me the icks.

Stories – “Brother Louie” -- August 25, 1973

Louie is white. He falls in love with a black woman. When he takes her home to his parents, they explode. I think he probably chooses to stay with her, but the song isn't clear. There's the fetishizing "Danger, danger when you taste brown sugar" line. Interracial relationships were really dangerous then still, so that's something. But I don't like the music, I don't like the singing, that one line is really bad and so I can't like the song at all.

Marvin Gaye – “Let’s Get It On” -- September 8, 1973

After learning about Marvin Gaye's life, I am extremely torn about this song. Marvin Gaye's father was a horrible right-wing preacher who made him think sex was a wicked thing. This song is Gaye's celebration of shedding the guilt instilled in him, and finding how wonderful making love was. But I still can't like this song. It's too light for me. (Marvin Gaye's father ended up murdering him -- he was truly a horrific excuse for a human being -- but at least Gaye was mentally free before that.)

Helen Reddy – “Delta Dawn” -- September 15, 1973

Helen Reddy manages a lot more emotion in this song than she did in "I Am Woman." I get it; I prefer stories to polemics too. That doesn't mean I like this song. A story song should have more than two verses and a repetitive chorus. Also, I don't like stories where women go mad because men promise to marry them and then split. I'm looking at you, Charles Dickens. Everyone's got tropes that make them itch, and this is one of mine.

Grand Funk – “We’re An American Band” -- September 29, 1973

My family moved a lot, but I always spent summers with my Grandmother in her cottage near Flint. So Flint is more my hometown than anywhere else. I'm definitely cool with a band from Flint laying claim to the "American Band" label. That doesn't mean I like the song. It's about touring and drinking and groupies, and then it's about repeating the chorus about a hundred and twelve times. Yeah, the music rocks, but it's repetitive and bores me as much as any soft rock ballad ever could.

Cher – “Half-Breed” -- October 6, 1973

I have a lot to say about this song. Way too much. Therefore I'm going to say nothing, except that nothing changes overnight, and this song is a massive improvement over the previous decade's songs about Native Americans.

The Rolling Stones – “Angie” -- October 20, 1973

I liked when the Stones were nice in "Ruby Tuesday." I don't like it so much in this one. It's a step too far. He's singing about how he still loves "you", Angie, but it's time to break up, and I just can't hear it as anything but insincere, fair or not. I feel like he's got someone else waiting. I do like how Mick Jagger makes "Angie" sound like "Angel" when he sings though.

Gladys Knight & The Pips – “Midnight Train To Georgia” -- October 27, 1973

Diana Ross was jealous of Gladys Knight and the Pips, and undermined them at least once. I am not surprised. Gladys Knight is a better singer than Diana Ross, and who wouldn't want the Pips singing and dancing behind them? This song is about how the singer's boyfriend is leaving on a midnight train to Georgia because he couldn't make it as a star in L.A., and she's going with him. Good for them. I love this song.

Eddie Kendricks – “Keep On Truckin'” -- November 10, 1973

Right into falsetto from the start. Sigh. This is a disco song, and it's not technically about trucking, but there are a lot of truck metaphors in it. I find a lot of disco weirdly hard to dance to -- I can't locate the beat somehow. I can dance to The Alan Parsons Project but not the Bee Gees. This is one of those disco songs I have trouble with. So it doesn't work for me to listen to or to dance to, and it's falsetto. Not bad falsetto, but still falsetto the whole way through. I don't hate it but I don't want to hear it again either.

Ringo Starr – “Photograph” -- November 24, 1973

This song is about looking at photographs of someone and missing them. It sounds a bit like an early Beatles song. George Harrison helped Ringo write it, and some of Phil Spector's collaborators gave it the "wall of sound" treatment. The former is likely why it's got a good melody and some interesting musical touches; the latter is why it gives me a headache.

The Carpenters – “Top Of The World” -- December 1, 1973

The singer is newly in love with someone who loves her, and it makes her feel wonderful. Very straightforward, honest, and unembarrassed, and Karen Carpenter's voice is gorgeous as always. The hook is dangerous; this song is likely to be in my head for a few days. That's okay though, because I like it.

Charlie Rich – “The Most Beautiful Girl” -- December 15, 1973

This is a country song in which the singer realizes he just destroyed his life, and is desperate to salvage it. He's asking if you've seen "the most beautiful girl in the world," because he needs to find her to apologize for the things he said that drove her away. It's sad and sweet, but it doesn't make me feel an awful lot.

Jim Croce – “Time In A Bottle” -- December 29, 1973

When this song would come on the oldies station, my mother would yell "Gah!" and change the channel to anything else. Her graduating class, very much to her chagrin, had decided it would be their song. (I don't remember what my graduating class's song was, but I remember some of us trying to get "I'm Too Sexy" to win and failing. I think we ended up being saddled with "I've Got Friends in Low Places.") In any case, I was prejudiced against this song before I heard it the whole way through. Jim Croce died young in a plane crash, so that is very sad. My reaction to this song is still the same as my mother's. It's glop.

BEST OF 1973 -- "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder WORST OF 1973 -- "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence

[workersolidarity]

Does anyone ever question why the US is in Syria at all? Or who is actually in control of the US Military?

We all know we shouldn't be in Syria (or many other countries) to begin with, in direct contravention of International Law. Whereas Russia has actually been invited into Syria and has done the majority of the work battling ISIS. The US however, has mostly used the opportunity to expand it's waning Imperialist sphere of influence in the region. Making moves such as blocking Iran from delivering equipment and weapons to Hezbollah at the behest of Israel.

I'm sure that sounds good if you buy the Propaganda that the US Military pumps out of its Corporate Media arms. But the reality on the ground has been that Hezbollah has been the only force capable of defending Shiite Communities near the Syrian, Lebanese border at a time when ISIS along with US/CIA-funded Al-Quaeda offshoots like Al Nusra Front have presented an immanent danger to these communities. Their major crime? Being Shiite Communities caught in the crossfire.

This is, of course, to say nothing of the origins of the Syrian Civil War, of which the CIA/State Department and other arms of US Imperialism played a leading role by secretly funding and training terrorist Organizations to attack the Syrian State.

The US is the reason ISIS exists to begin with. You cannot just destabilize an entire region of the world and expect no consequences.

Then along comes Trump, who claims to despise useless foreign wars. However, despite the supposed hesitancy of Trump to continue with the US involvement in the occupation of Syrian territory, or the training and arming of terrorist groups, he's mostly just made a big show of wanting to get out while continuing, and even expanding many aspects of the Obama era policies in Syria.

Of course there's no way of knowing Trump's sincerity about wanting to extricate the Military from pointless Imperial excursions, but only two options are really possible here.

Either Trump and Obama before him were always lying, and never had any intention of removing US involvement in the region, or the US Political apparatuses have completely lost control of the US Military, the Defense Contracting Industry, and the Security State.

I say this not to absolve US leadership's responsibility in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of deaths associated with the Imperialist Wars in the Middle East, but as a serious question as to Civilian control of the US Military.

On multiple occasions over the last decade, I've taken notice of increasing incidents beginning in the Obama Administration when the President, or Administration Officials would officially declare a Policy, while the Military pursued a contradictory Policy.

Now of course this could be a typical case of lying to the public about declared Policy, not exactly a new phenomenon. However, these moments of contradiction may actually be an example of a loss of control over Military Policy. This happens in countries all across the World, but to most Americans this notion is unthinkable.

But let's give this a Materialist Analysis.

In many countries that depend heavily on their Military for basic security, continuously relies on the Military to pursue Government Policy, and/or has a massively bloated Military Beaurocracy, it is not uncommon to lose civilian control over their Military apparatus when their interests collide with those of Civilian Governments.

In the US, Civilian control over the Military was a founding principle, though noticeably it hasn't really been tested over the last century. The US Military has never really had any major Policy differences with our Bourgeois Governments.

But perhaps this has begun to change since the beginning of the Obama Administration. For example, clearly the Military never had any intention of ever closing Guantanamo Bay Military Prison, and sure enough, despite a direct Presidential order to do so, the Military successfully resisted, and even convinced Congress to slip a Law into a Budget Bill banning the President from closing the Prison. I took notice.

On numerous occasions in the Syria conflict, the stated policies of the Presidential Administrations have gone completely ignored, or were directly contradicted by the actions or statements of the Military itself.

Pretty soon, this may no longer be just speculation. There might come a time when the Military drops all pretenses and publicly ignores a major Policy or some other Civilian orders.

For decades Presidents and Congresses have allowed the Military to freely pursue its own Imperialist goals with little or no oversight, and largely it's goals have aligned with those of our Bourgeois Elected Officials.

However, now as different sections of the Bourgeoisie's interests have come into conflict with one another and those of the Military, you see what seems to be more pushback and decision making independence by the US Military.

Consider this. The Military and Defense Contracting Interests have normally been most closely aligned with that of the Fossil Fuel Industry, the Chemical Manufacturing Industry, the Metals Production Industries, and the Financial Industry, among others.

But today a divide is rapidly growing between the Fossil Fuels, Chemical Production and Metal workings Industries and those of Silicon Valley, mainly Renewable Energy Production, technology, communication, and others like Synthetic Materials Production and other new possiblities that don't use the same resources that older industries needed.

These newer Industries already threaten to supplant the old ones. The economy is evolving and the Financial Industry is funding all of these changes.

This creates some major divisions within the Bourgeoisie and in some ways the new industries are less dependant on our old allies, traditional Territorial dominance, with a shifting geopolitical alignment. I'm some ways the new Economy requires more international cooperation, non-traditional allies and more foreign investment and cooperation from the biggest adversaries of the older Fossil Fuel based industries that have dominated our economy for over a Century.

That's not to say Imperialism is waning. Far from it, today you see an increasingly aggressive forms Imperialism. However the Geopolitical landscape is rapidly shifting. China's on the rise. Silicon Valley wants a piece of the Action, whereas traditional Fossil Fuel Industries... well, not so much. Likely this will become the biggest battleground for the Bourgeoisie, and within Military leadership.

And it's not as simple as one big divide between traditional production and tech industry production. We may eventually come to see multitudes of divisions and contradictions arising out of the economic evolution.

For now, based on my observations of the interactionsvbetween Civilian Government and Military leadership in recent years, makes me believe there may be a complete loss of control over the Military by the Bourgeois Governments, or at least certain Governments. Soon open vying for Military backing could become a thing, similar to corrupt governments in Africa and the Middle East.

I'm sure everyone's heard of the famous final speech by the Imperialist General turned President Dwight D. Eisenhower about the threat posed by the US Military Industrial Complex??? Today's splintering Economic interests may finally reveal to the Public what that warning really meant 60 years ago.

US Empire is self-sustaining and omnipresent. It doesn't need a Congress, a President or Civilian Beaurocracy to function. It has its own version of all those things within its own infrastructure.

But this also might present Socialists with an opportunity if these divisions break out into the public. If I'm noticing it, surely someone else has.

At some point public sentiment might turn against the Military. But only if they begin to see it as an Organization out of control that's no longer guarding their interests. It will be up to the Socialist Movement to help guide and shape this sentiment overtime by educating the Working Class.

It will be incumbent upon Socialists to educate the Working Class about how the US Military is utilized across the third-world as the guardian of Bourgeois Resources and Private Property. We have to show the people how Corporate America uses the Military as it's own Mafia Enforcer who's number one job is the violent suppression of foreign workers to keep their so low it drives our own down here in the US.

I don't imagine most Workers being very happy to learn that the majority of their tax money is going to the Military, not to keep them safe, but instead to suppress wages in third-world countries using extreme violence. Once people truly understand what this means for them, for the quality of their jobs, and for the suppression if their own wages, then we may be able to change how people perceive the Military Indusrial Complex more generally, and hopefully turn the public against it over time.

This will be no easy feat. The fact is the Military enjoys the highest levels of support of any Government Angency among the US population. Persistent non-stop Military propaganda from the time were toddlers till we die has had a profound effect on people's ability to look at the Military and Imperialism critically. People rarely question the Military or its leadership.

To change this perception will take more than a few rallies and Propaganda. We will need a persistent, Universal effort on the Left to hammer home just how damaging the Military is to the interests of the Working Class.

It will require engagement with the public through forms of media they engage with on a daily basis. That means a steady campaign that blankets Social Media, Public Media, and even finding ways to break out onto the airwaves of the Corporate Media when possible.

As I say in pretty much everything I post, this has to start by aligning all the countless Marxist-Leninist Organizations and Parties, and integrating our efforts into a coherent strategy.

It will require reaching out to Organizations sponsored by the Governments of Socialist Nations like the Republic of Cuba, Venezuela, and the DPRK, as well as any Anti-Revisionist Organizations or Parties in non-Socialist Countries.

Lets see where we can work together on Strategy and Tactics. Let's work to create International Unity by Organizing Rallies, Demonstrations, and Protests across cities, States, and Nations. We should also be organizing Propaganda campaigns similarly, by publishing Propaganda internationally where possible and in different languages. Let's learn how to do these things and get it done. We are only as strong as we are United and Militant.

If you have any clout with a local chapter of Communist Parties or Organizations in your area, convince your Comrades to start reaching out to other Parties, other Organizations and let's get working together. Good Praxis means nothing without enough people to gain attention.

All of this is possible. We have to begin at the very bottom of Organizing efforts and work our way up. That's what happens after many decades of neglect and infighting.

And I believe we have the time to get this done. But only if we begin working on it right now! Slowly but surely, the divisions and contradictions between the different interests of the Bourgeoisie will begin breaking out into public more and more often.

The same goes for Civilian control of the Military. We have to make sure we're ready to go on the offensive as these issues become bigger and bigger in the coming years.

I know we can do this! But only if the Workers of the World Unite!

Solidarity Comrades!

[oflgtfol]

I’m Going To Talk About Kung Fu Panda Now

as much as it pains me to say this as your local Number One Kung Fu Panda Fan, like........ kfp 3 is, not as good as 1 and 2....... but i am going to talk about it bc i do love kfp and i love talking abt kfp and so this falls under that lol

NOW LIKE, OBJECTIVELY, kfp 3 is still a great movie. it is still such a good movie especially compared to animation in recent years.

it’s just that like, kung fu panda 1 and 2 were just, SO good, they set the bar so high, so when the third movie was an objectively good movie it just... wasn’t as good as its predecessors

and i think it can really be boiled down to two things: the music and the villain, two things the kfp movies are renowned for

a lot of people point to the comedy as the reason for this movie’s downfall, and while that contributes to it i don’t think it, was the downfall? all the kung fu panda movies are kids movies with lots of comedy, even in kfp2 which was the darkest of the three. 3 definitely had a lot more comedy than 1 and 2 though, and that’s not inherently bad? it’s just that i think it was applied in the wrong places

which brings me back to... the villain.

so, kfp 1 and 2 had absolutely iconic villains. tai lung, the foreboding snow leopard who was shifu’s adoptive son and former student. he was raised with the belief that he would be named the dragon warrior, so when the moment came, and he wasnt.... well, he snapped, violently, and had to be locked away in prison for decades. he was put in a massive prison where he was the sole prisoner, guarded by 1000 soldiers, and he managed to escape with one (1) duck feather. he is violent and frightening, and ultimately he is a foil to po. while he seems like a stereotypical WAH EVIL NO REMORSE >:3 villain, he is honestly.. so much deeper than that? like his mere existence poses so many interesting questions in regards to po, his foil, and even shifu, and when you think about it its like, YEAH tai lung was evil for going around and killing people because he didnt get what he wanted BUT LIKE, he was literally raised with the belief that he would become the dragon warrior. his entire life was dedicated to that. it’s like, gifted kid syndrome but 100% worse. genuinely, what the fuck do you do with yourself when you dedicate your entire life towards something only for it to be like, oh sorry lol not you, at the last minute? especially when it was your own damn father who drilled that belief into you? his anger is absolutely justified. the only reason tai lung is a villain is just that he channeled that anger into like, homicide. his actions are not justifiable but his motives are honestly 10000% understandable and it makes him such an interesting character when you look beyond the typical smirking antagonist who kills people for fun exterior lol. and then juxtapose that with po? tai lung was raised to believe he would be the dragon warrior, meanwhile po, once named dragon warrior ~by accident~ was faced with opposition at every god damn turn. literally no one, not even himself, believed he was the dragon warrior. and beyond the character foil thing, it’s like, the way tai lung escaped from prison and how all his actions really play into that movie’s major theme of how In Trying To Escape Your Destiny, You Ultimately Fulfill it, it’s just. god it’s so good. he’s such a good villain

AND THEN kfp 2 had shen, a white peacock who, honestly, IS the villain that tai lung is often perceived to be. he had loving parents but he didnt get what he wanted so he threw a hissy fit and committed genocide. his motives are a lot weaker, but he makes up for it in sheer presence. who thought a peacock would ever be threatening or a serious villain? YET HE IS!!!!! his presence is just so big and evil... the voice actor does a great job in making him sound so shrill and bird-like as well and its like, wow that peacock voice is actually EERIE? and just, overall, the fact he’s a peacock is such a good character design. his character design and overall presence is much better than tai lung, who’s literally just like, a normal uhm “person” for this universe. shen poses a much more personal threat to po as well - honestly, physically, po and the furious five probably could’ve taken him down earlier in the movie. tai lung was more of a physical threat, but shen? well shen does pose a much bigger physical threat as well since he has his cannons, but his main power is that he’s a PSYCHOLOGICAL threat. this is the second movie, po’s had training, he’s friends with the furious five so he has them fighting alongside him, he’s secure in the belief that he is the dragon warrior and he’s confident he can take any threat. yet, shen is still a major threat - specifically, to po. i mentioned shen committed genocide? yeah, well a fortune teller foretold that a panda would be shen’s downfall, so to prevent his downfall! shen killed all the pandas. po managed to survive because his mother hid him away in the valley of peace, where he was raised by ping. po was a baby at that time, he has no memories of this.... at least, until he meets shen, and the PEACOCK PATTERN on his FEATHERS reminds po of that Fateful night (once again, who knew a peacock could be so threatening!!!!!). and po, in his flashback, cannot fight back. that’s where shen gets his power - he holds the answers to po’s past, he’s the source of all his repressed trauma. shen is a more frightening antagonist than tai lung because he holds such personal power over po. what shen doesnt have in interesting character motives, he more than makes up for in his sheer presence!!! and AGAIN, his arc ties into that overarching theme of you fulfilling your destiny in an effort to avoid it - shen killed the pandas so that no panda could bring him down, but in doing so he indirectly brought po to the valley of peace, so that po could become the dragon warrior, and thus defeat him!!!!

now....... kai in kfp3?? where do i even begin...........

okay. so. kai has i think probably the best design of all the villains. he’s got such an imposing stature, he’s even taller than tai lung, and his HORNS! very intimidating. and his whole blue/green color scheme is very sinister and adds such a cool fucking atmosphere. his chi powers are also cool and all that spirit world stuff

onto kai’s role in the narrative........... so, kai poses no personal threat to po. shen was the most personal of them, with tai lung being more general (his main threat was that oh no he’s gonna rampage the valley of peace again!) but ultimately even he still posed a more personal threat to po, in that tai lung wanted to be the dragon god damn warrior and po was in his way. but what beef does kai have with po?? lmfao . his most personal tie with po is that, before the panda genocide, the pandas taught kai and oogway how to use chi

his beef was with oogway. and we don’t ever really get to explore his relationship with oogway because well, oogway’s gone, so their relationship is being narrated to us in the future, far far removed. his character motivations are so weak. like, he was ~brothers in arms~ with oogway, and yet when kai gets a whiff of power he just, instantly turns on oogway?? instantly? and oogway barely has any qualms with sending his best friend to the spirit world? like wheres the TENSION wheres the CONFLICT where is the EMOTIONAL DRAMA... nevermind how like, little i care about ~villain is power hungry~ sorta deal... at least with tai lung wanting to be dragon warrior, he did that because his entire sense of self had depended on that. but kai? literally some nice pandas teach him a new power and he’s instantly like OH I HAVE TO USE IT TO KILL PEOPLE like where did that come from??? and when his friend is like HI MAYBE DONT KILL PEOPLE ? he wants to abuse this brand new power THAT badly that he’d turn on his best friend with no hesitation??

this literally just came to me so idk if its a good idea lol but like i think it’d be really interesting if somehow there was? some sort of corrupting power? so that when he learned chi it kinda forced him to abuse it. like the sheer intensity of how fucking wild he got the instant he learned chi is just like, thats not normal bro . plus this movie’s already pretty supernatural so like, maybe there’s something beyond his control that’s making him do this. like, like think of the mind stone in avengers 1, how loki was using it to control everyone. everyone retained their personalities and abilities but ultimately were following loki’s orders. so like, something like that controlling him. it would make him a more interesting character imo and also make the whole conflict with oogway kinda heart breaking cause here his friend isnt in control of himself, and he still has to put him in the spirit world because regardless, kai is a menace. overall it would heighten the emotional intensity and appeal i think. and also it would play really nicely into this movie’s pattern of “not being in control of yourself” a la the jade zombies stuff. and how ironic would it be if kai played puppetmaster while he himself was being controlled.. lol

and then, not only is kai just kinda a flat character period, then his narrative role as a villain is undermined? like his character design and overall presence is on the same fuckin level as shen like he is SO intimidating and they could absolutely play that up.... but then. the comedy. here’s what i was talking about with the comedy being applied poorly. because kai is simultaneously a major fucking threat who is terrorizing all of china, yet whenever he’s actually on screen no characters take him seriously? especially po and the pandas. like the part where kai was slowly uhm Killing for lack of a better word all of the kung fu masters in china and all the names just keep piling up and up until the realization that the jade palace is the last stronghold left to stop him.. that shit is so eerie . it is so eerie. and kai LITERALLY DESTROYED THE JADE PALACE LIKE IT WAS NOTHING. HE SMASHED IT TO SMITHEREENS. the look of HORROR on tigress’s face during that, the fact the oogway statue was the thing used to destroy the jade palace, the poetic cinema of that, the irony, oh my god....... it was such a gut wrenching scene. and kai is such a major villain there, you HAVE to take him seriously. but then when he gets to the panda village? he fucking monologues. and po is like “stop with the chit chat” and just generally undermining him and its to the point where like, would it be better to let kai monologue or have po not take him seriously? either decision sucks because its either the audience realizing its stupid, or its having the movie be self referential and say oh yeah we know its stupid, but by doing that then you’re saying that the villain is stupid and not to be taken seriously? and then the major fight scene with kai attacking the village, the pandas were having fun just fucking around with the jade zombies, nobody looked like they were fighting for their god damn lives?? yeah i know the point was that like oh you dont need to be a master of formal kung fu, we got this bros, we can win by just being ourselves, but LIKE? they could also still be scared for their lives??? they could still fight him like pandas but still take it seriously? because if they lost, not only would THEY die, but they are the LAST STAND against kai so all of china would be FUCKED if they were defeated!! and yet everybodys laughing and having fun during it?!?! like the stakes are set SO high and yet nobody actually acts like the stakes are high and ultimately kai as a villain is just undermined by the narrative and its so underwhelming compared to how seriously the previous 2 villains were taken and how good they were at being villains because of it....

anyway ive already been writing this for 40 minutes and im losing steam so im gonna briefly touch upon the music now.. i dont think the music is as glaring an error as kai was, but i think it contributes to it.

idk, the music in 3 just doesn’t feel as authentically Kung Fu Panda as the previous 2 movies. i think the most shocking thing was that oogway’s legacy had a fucking PIANO in it?!!?! A PIANO? i think thats the ONLY instance a piano has ever been used in this entire franchise and its genuinely just so... wrong... like it sounds good but it’s just!! oogway’s theme has always been in traditional string instruments and so to hear it in this stripped piano is just, it doesnt feel like a real part of the kfp soundtrack

and 1 and 2 reused a lot of the same musical themes while still being unique on their own, yet kfp 3 literally only ever uses oogway’s theme, and that’s at the very beginning in the one song oogway’s legacy. maybe it uses a few other previous themes but theyre used very sparingly to the point where i wouldnt be able to tell you what or when. without those overarching musical themes it just doesnt feel like an authentic kung fu panda soundtrack!!! idk its just ..... maybe this is a nit pick im making because i’ve listened to the 1 and 2 soundtracks religiously for years but it’s something i noticed and it’s a reason why i can’t really listen to 3′s soundtrack as much lol

also. kai’s theme is so good and it also contributes to that intimidating presence he has. it’s so good

BUT ALSO IT IS ? LITERALLY THE MELODY FROM IM SO SORRY BY IMAGINE DRAGONS. and it was intentionally taken from that song, it’s credited in the end credits. which also serves to make this feel not authentically kung fu panda because all the other villains had their own original themes meanwhile kai its like, yes its a good theme but it just isnt ? kung fu panda??

AND IF THEYRE GONNA SAMPLE A POP SONG FOR HIS THEME THEN LIKE. CAN THERE BE A NARRATIVE REASON FOR IT? like genuinely why the fuck was this song used. i try to wrack my brain as to why im so sorry was used nd it gives me cool ideas on how to flesh kai out as a character but those ideas just arent supported in canon so its like ??!?!?!?!?!

like again going back to that He’s Being Controlled idea, i think it would be so cool to communicate that subconsciously through this song. the reason they’d sample it is because it is a popular pop song so we all know that it goes IM SO SORRY in the main line, so having our brains fill that in... and it’d be like how subconsciously he’s still there inside and being control, meanwhile on the outside he shows no remorse and actually seems to be enjoying it and is overall just a fucking menace but there, inside! we get a brief glimpse of whats going on inside through this song!!

BUT LIKe. THATS NOT CANON? HE’S NOT BEING CONTROLLED IN CANON. AND HE SHOWS NO REMORSE FOR HS ACTIONS SO WHY IS HIS MAIN THEME SAMPLED FROM A SONG CALLED IM SO SORRY??!?!?!?

anyway im really out of steam now its been 50 minutes and i think i’ve touched upon everything i wanted to talk about.... again, this isnt to say kfp 3 is a bad movie its just that, these are the reasons why i think it’s the weakest of the franchise. it’s by no means a bad movie its just, in comparison to the perfection that kfp 1 and 2 are its just, kinda lackluster. but remove that comparison and it’s like oh fuck yeah this is a good movie. its just, frustrating, because we know how good 1 and 2 are and its like, 3 couldve been so much more bro....... but that frustration comes from a place of Love

anyway . watch all 3 kung fu panda movies now

- your local Kung Fu Panda enthusiast

[the-prince-and-the-thief]

Come at me with the lore, fam, after making my own overly complicated fanfic for almost more than a decade with its own magic system nothing surprises me

//OH BOY YOU’RE IN FOR A TREAT

I’m putting it under a cut to save your dash. 

TW: A lot of stuff. Rape, sexual abuse, abortion, murder... just... just prepare for the worst. 

//Okay, so, Blazblue AU. 

Key characters here are: Kagura Mutsuki, Ragna the Bloodedge, Celica A. Mercury, my OC Riku Akasaka, and of course Ren and Goro. 

First off, in the BB world, there is a one-world government police state that’s currently been having a bunch of in-fighting and schisms since... forever. They had a civil war (the good guys in this fight lost 8( ), and Kagura has been trying to fix shit for uh... a long time. He’s got the true heir to the throne (Homura Amanohosaka, I think? Their name is long.) 

This is an alternate canon where Kokonoe decided to bring her dead aunt back to life like, 3 games early. So it diverges during Calamity Trigger, or The Only Game I Understood (tm). Celica has this power to absorb seithr, or magic energy that can also kill you. The main villain’s body is kind of MADE of seithr. The main villain, Terumi, had a plan to merge with his host and make himself unkillable by linking his life to Noel Vermillion’s. But because Celica decided to show up and cling to Ragna, plans did not go through, but the time loop didn’t restart. Ragna’s plans are at a standstill as well, and he gets attached to Celica, and... it’s complicated. 

To sum up Ragna’s story super quick because it’s side information-- He falls for Celica, they have twins, Ragna realizes that his soul-eating grimoire could kill said kids, gets Jubei to cut it off of him, and they live mostly happily for a while until Celica starts dying of seithr poisoning. Then Terumi decides to finally pay back for having his plans ruined, kills Celica, burns Ragna’s house down AGAIN (you know, for extra trauma), and kidnaps one of his kids. The other had a power like her mother so she didn’t get taken because being near her made Terumi sick. Ragna nearly died in all of this, spent years trying to make a decent life for his daughter, got arrested, and then after basically making prison hell for everyone else with his anger and violence, was basically given a plea deal by Kagura of “Look my dude, get on my side in this government coup I’m doing and we’ll basically give you your daughter back, a job, and a steady income. We cool bro?” Aaaand by the time Akechi is around he’s a parent with 7 kids, 2 who are the same age as Akechi and grew up being his friends. 

Kagura is the part where it gets relevant to Akechi. Kagura hears about this scandal with the Fumizuki family (long story short Shido is a Fumizuki in this case because it’s a Duodecim family they haven’t used yet, and it means “month of erudition” so I figured a focus on intelligence above all else would be fitting...) involving a bastard kid whos mom just died. Now the whole family is looking to basically throw this kid as far away from them as possible. 

Kagura, at this point, is a walking scandal magnet and has stopped giving a fuck. He married a woman literally nobody in his family liked, started a government coup, gave Ragna the Bloodedge the sweetheart deal of a lifetime and more. His wife is my character Riku, who uh... 

Goddamnit, another character break. You see why I said this would take a year and a half? XD Anyway, Riku. Riku is one of the last Japanese people in this setting. Japan got magic nuked in Blazblue, to put it bluntly. A giant world-ending monster decided to appear there first. Japan is *still* not inhabitable centuries later. The Japanese people are very few and far between, and Riku’s family is one of the last families that can boast a 100% Japanese heritage. Y’know. Except for Riku. Because her mom went and married an outsider without her family’s permission. Her mom doesn’t give a single solitary fuck what others think and does what she wants. So she’s actually only half Japanese, and her family treats her and her older brother like shit for it. They’re basically only cared about if they’re “useful”. Her brother went into the military academy to basically gain info for the family (they like to hoarde grimoires as well so the NOL and the Akasaka family kind of hate each other), but he “mysteriously went MIA”. I.e. was violently murdered and had his grimoire stolen. Riku went to the academy after to figure out what happened to her beloved onii-chan. It... did not go well for her. TW sexual abuse- she was raped in her freshman year, ended up pregnant, and when she went home in her third trimester, the head of her family forced her into an abortion that caused serious damage. They cut her hair off and basically sent her back to school traumatized and miserable. And now everyone in school treats her like a whore. She decides fuck it, if they’re gonna treat her like that, she’s going to use being a “whore” to her advantage. She slept her way to status, and, using her own special abilities, gathered a bunch of blackmail on literally everyone in the NOL. Nobody can mess with her, but she also has no one she can rely on. 

She was initially trying to use Kagura as well (trying to get put in intelligence so she could ruin the people who made her life hell), but Kagura noticed she didn’t actually seem to enjoy sex. He helped her get surgery to correct the damage done to her (he only convinced her to go along with this by saying it was for his own benefit. She did not trust him. He said basically he wanted to be the first person to make her enjoy sex.) She eventually began to open up to him and trust him when she realized they were very much alike. They both were isolated from their families for not following tradition, both had many enemies, and both genuinely wanted to destroy the government around them and create a better world. She joined him in the whole government coup thing, using her intelligence-gathering skills. They’re newlyweds when Akechi is a kiddo. 

Understandably, considering all of this, Riku doesn’t really want kids... the trauma of it all is a bit too raw. So Kagura wasn’t really planning to adopt him? He figured he’d give him temporary housing, then send him off to Ragna. Ragna would gladly adopt the kid after all. But he and Riku found out they were very attached to this sad little kid who didn’t understand why everyone looked down on him. Riku, in particular, could relate to his problems. 

So Akechi gets a nice, (mostly) stable family! He meets Ren in middle school. Ren outed a pedo teacher that was very well-liked by most of the students and staff, getting him fired and arrested. So, he was something of an outcast. Akechi, upon hearing this, decides that Ren is a hero. (And Ren p much instantly had a crush on him after that). The two grow up as childhood friends. They’re pretty inseparable. Ren doesn’t really like being at home with his family (they’re very much the type that says nothing to avoid being a target for potential assassination. The NOL has been legit very dangerous their entire lives, after all. So their outspoken, determined child causes them no shortage of headaches), so he’s always hanging out at Akechi’s place. 

You can probably guess that, actually knowing Akechi’s life story, Ren *actually* assaulted Shido when he saw the dude trying to assault another woman. He was genuinely enraged and just kinda lost it. >>; Thankfully connections save Ren. Kagura basically goes “Ok so enjoy going to the military academy as a reform school. Also you need someone to keep an eye on you. ....My son can do that.” Really... he just wanted Ren to look out for his son. 

See, Akechi in this verse is still very concerned with status? He feels that he owes it to his mother and father to live up to his family name, because they’ve done so much for him. He wants to be accepted by the Duodecim as a whole. Riku and Kagura tried their very best to keep him the hell away from all of that political bullshit, but the kid decided to go into the military anyway. He’s not physically the strongest, and he’s pretty naive and childish, deep down. His parents are pretty damned sure that Goro will be eaten alive if left on his own there. (The military academy is, for the record, it’s own massive city. So they wouldn’t exactly be able to keep an eye on him.) So, Renren gets asked to protect his friend. 

They also get chosen by two grimoires while there. These are the Rebel’s Grimoire and the Hero’s Grimoire. Grimoires are basically... to put it bluntly, training wheels for magic. Most people suck at magic by nature. Hell, most people don’t even USE grimoires. They use the even bigger training wheels that are Ars Magus. Grimoires usually specialize in a particular ability. They have their own rules, conditions for use, and often choose their hosts. People fuse with their grimoires over time. If the two become completely synchronized it’s called a Remix Heart. (This is the only important lore information from Remix Heart btw, I saved you from reading a crappy fanservice manga, you’re welcome.) 

The Hero’s Grimoire picks a host with a strong sense of justice. The Rebel’s Grimoire picks a host with a very rebellious spirit. The catch is, they always pick their hosts at the same time, and the hosts are always very connected souls, two sides of the same coin. The Rebel’s grimoire also likes to do this *wonderful* thing where it latches on your face and only accepts you if you rip it off. If you don’t, it kills you! Fun times. Goro turned around to look at Ren when this happened, and the Hero’s Grimoire embedded itself into his spine. (Ren’s looks like a pair of glasses when not in use, Akechi’s looks like a crow tattoo with a weird growth between his shoulder blades.) 

The two grimoires are sentient and talk to their owners while giving them similar but contrasting powers. Ren can use his Third Eye ability from the games, destroy barriers, teleport through shadows, and has very little presence-- almost nobody notices him around unless he’s pointed out or makes himself known. Goro has the same third eye ability, can create barriers/obstructions, can obscure his movements in bright light (either dazzling people or simply teleporting in light), and has a glamour that attracts others to him. (Ren uses this to basically cling to Akechi at all times while nobody notices him. He loves it. Akechi hates it, because PLEASE STOP HITTING ON ME I HAVE A BOYFRIEND HE’S RIGHT. HERE. ) 

The phantom thieves also still exist in this AU! They have a different MO but similar intents and goals. Basically, they steal back what the NOL has taken from others. Or, if said thing can’t be replaced (like, say, innocence, trust, etc) then they’ll take what they consider a karmic equivalent (status, power, etc). It actually all started because Ren wanted to get Riku’s grimoire back (Akechi was still vERY upset that the government had it, how dare they do that to his family). So Akechi is on the team from the beginning. Whether he wants to be or not. 

There’s a lot more but this is just the basics... @_@ I told ya it was a lot. 

[bountyofbeads]

The 'fool' that fentanyl made into a millionaire

https://apnews.com/ce51cf7c958643629bce76764f71058d

This is a fascinating read 📖 looking at who stoked and helped create the Fentanyl Crisis that has taken so many lives. 😱 😭 😭 😭

The 'Fool ' That Fentanyl Made Into A Millionaire

By CLAIRE GALOFARO and LINDSAY WHITEHURST | Published September 14, 2019 10:20 AM ET | AP | Posted September 14, 2019 10:40 AM ET |

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The photo that flashed onto the courtroom screen showed a young man dead on his bedroom floor, bare feet poking from the cuffs of his rolled up jeans. Lurking on a trash can at the edge of the picture was what prosecutors said delivered this death: an ordinary, U.S. Postal Service envelope.

It had arrived with 10 round, blue pills inside, the markings of pharmaceutical-grade oxycodone stamped onto the surface. The young man took out two, crushed and snorted them. But the pills were poison, prosecutors said: counterfeits containing fatal grains of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid that has written a deadly new chapter in the American opioid epidemic.

The envelope was postmarked from the suburbs of Salt Lake City.

That's where a clean-cut, 29-year-old college dropout and Eagle Scout named Aaron Shamo made himself a millionaire by building a fentanyl trafficking empire with not much more than his computer and the help of a few friends.

___

This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

___

For three weeks this summer, those suburban millennials climbed onto the witness stand at his federal trial and offered an unprecedented window into how fentanyl bought and sold online has transformed the global drug trade. There was no testimony of underground tunnels or gangland murders or anything that a wall at the southern border might stop. Shamo called himself a "white-collar drug dealer," drew in co-workers from his time at eBay and peppered his messages to them with smiley-face emojis. His attorney called him a fool; his primary defense was that he isn't smart enough to be a kingpin.

How he and his friends managed to flood the country with a half-million fake oxycodone pills reveals the ease with which fentanyl now moves around the world, threatening to expand the epidemic beyond America's borders. It is so potent, so easy to transport, experts say, large-scale traffickers no longer require sophisticated networks to send it to any corner of the globe. All they need is a mailbox, internet access and people with an appetite for opioids. And consumption rates are rising from Asia to Europe to Latin America as pharmaceutical companies promote painkillers abroad.

The case against Shamo detailed how white powder up to 100 times stronger than morphine was bought online from a laboratory in China and arrived in Utah via international mail; it was shaped into perfect-looking replicas of oxycodone tablets in the press that thumped in Shamo's basement and resold on the internet's black markets. Then it was routed back into the postal system in thousands of packages addressed to homes across this country awash with prescription painkiller addiction.

When Shamo took the stand to try to spare himself a lifetime in prison, he began with a nervous chuckle. He careened from one topic to the next in a monologue prosecutors would later describe as masterful manipulation to convince the jury he thought his drug-dealing was helping people. Customers wrote thank you notes because their doctors refused to prescribe more painkillers, he said. It felt like "a win-win situation" — he got rich and his customers got drugs.

One of them was a struggling 21-year-old named Ruslan Klyuev who died in his bedroom in Daly City, California, the envelope from Utah at his feet. Shamo was charged in connection to that overdose alone, but when investigators scoured the list of customers they said they counted dozens more dead.

___

The question before this jury is being debated all across America: Two decades into the opioid epidemic, is there such a thing as justice for 400,000 lost lives?

The largest civil litigation in history is testing how the pharmaceutical industry should be held accountable for inundating the country with billions of addictive pain pills. Purdue Pharma, seen by many as the primary villain for deceptively pushing the blockbuster drug OxyContin, reached a tentative $12 billion settlement this week with about half the states and roughly 2,000 local governments. Attorneys general who didn't sign on say the figure is far too low. A trial of other pharmaceutical companies is scheduled for next month, in which communities will contend that their mass marketing of prescription painkillers sparked an epidemic.

This crisis began in the 1990s and has since has spiraled into waves, each worse than the one before: Prescription opioids spread addiction, then a crackdown on prescribing paved the road to heroin, which led to fentanyl — a synthetic opioid made entirely in a laboratory. Traffickers added it to heroin to boost its potency and profitability. That transition happened slowly at first, then with extraordinary ferocity.

By 2017, deaths from synthetic opioids had increased more than 800 percent, to 28,466, dragging the United States' overall life expectancy down for a third consecutive year for the first time in a century. Fentanyl deaths have been reported abroad, in Canada, Sweden, Estonia, the United Kingdom. Countries with surging prescription opioid addiction, like Australia, fear they are on the brink.

"Fentanyl will be the bubonic plague," said Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, warning that any country with a burgeoning prescription opioid problem could soon find itself following American footsteps. "It's just a matter of time."

No one can say exactly how or why fentanyl, first synthesized in 1959 as a powerful painkiller, entered the modern illicit drug market, said Bryce Pardo, a researcher at the Rand Corporation. In 2013, people began overdosing on heroin laced with fentanyl in New England and Ohio, and it spread from there. Shabbir Safdar, the Partnership for Safe Medicines' executive director, said the first known death from a fentanyl-laced pill was in San Francisco in October 2015.

It was a frightening development: The DEA estimates 3.4 million Americans misuse prescription painkillers, compared to 475,000 heroin users — meaning the pool potentially exposed is 10 times bigger.

There are two sources of supply. Mexican cartels and packages shipped direct from China, where it is produced in a huge and under-regulated chemical sector. A Senate investigation last year found massive quantities of fentanyl pouring in from China through the Postal Service. The report largely blamed dated technology that left customs inspectors sifting through packages manually looking for "the proverbial needle in a haystack." The Postal Service wrote in a statement to The Associated Press that it is working hard with its international counterparts to close those loopholes, and is improving its technology to intercept fentanyl shipments.

By the time a seized package heading from China to Utah led investigators to Shamo, he had already turned fentanyl into at least 458,946 potentially poisonous pills, the government said. There are many more like him, officials say, upstart traffickers pressing pure Chinese-made fentanyl into pills in their basements and kitchens with unsophisticated equipment. In a single batch, one pill might have no fentanyl and another enough to kill a person instantly. One agent at Shamo's trial compared it to making chocolate-chip cookies, only if too many chips ended up in a "cookie," whoever ate it dropped dead.

For traffickers, the profit margins are irresistible: The DEA estimates a kilogram of fentanyl synthesized for a few thousand dollars could make a dealer more than $1 million.

"Any moron can basically become a major drug kingpin by dealing in fentanyl," said Vigil. "You can have somebody with an IQ minus 100 who becomes an overnight multimillionaire."

___

Aaron Shamo dreamed of entrepreneurial riches. He idolized Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, and studied self-improvement books like "Think and Grow Rich."

He and a longtime friend, Drew Crandall, worked at eBay after failed stints in college. But Crandall was fired and Shamo decided it was "unfair" that he still had to work, so he quit. They wanted easy money.

Shamo grew up in Phoenix with three older sisters. As a teenager, he started smoking pot and refusing to attend services with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His parents sent him to boarding school in Utah, where he earned his Eagle Scout badge. He later met Crandall through their shared love of longboarding and they moved in together. Crandall was awkward and shy; Shamo was charismatic, and prided himself on helping his friend talk to girls.

The pair concocted a plan to sell their Adderall, prescribed for attention deficit disorder, on the dark web — a wild, unregulated layer of the internet reached through a special browser. There are underground marketplaces there that mimic Amazon or eBay, where guns and drugs and pirated software are traded. Money is exchanged anonymously through cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

They learned what they needed on the web, searching with queries like "how to ship drugs." It was so easy. They expanded, ordering drugs in bulk, breaking them down and selling at a mark-up, all while barely having to leave the house.

They used the postal system like a drug mule, peddling the club drug MDMA, magic mushrooms, date rape drugs — they once bought a kilogram of cocaine from Peru. They recruited friends, offering them $100 to have parcels mailed to their homes, no questions asked.

But the profit margins were slim and their ambitions were greater: They bought a pill press, ordered the sedative alprazolam online from India and watched YouTube videos to figure out how to turn it into fake Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication. Crandall, math minded, created the recipe. They mixed it up by shaking it in mason jars.

Then Crandall fell in love.

His new girlfriend grew suspicious when he would sneak away to package drugs. When she confronted him at a party, he tearfully confessed. She forgave him, if he promised to leave the business. They bought one-way tickets to New Zealand.

Then a local drug dealer made a suggestion to Shamo that would change the course of his life: There was a fortune to be made in producing fake oxycodone.

Shamo enlisted his gym buddy, Jonathan Luke Paz, to help him. Shamo ordered fentanyl online from China, set up the pill press in the basement and bought dyes and stamps to match popular pharmaceuticals. Then they handed them over to the local dealer, who tested them on his own customers. The first batches were weak or speckled in color, he told them, or didn't react like real oxycodone when users heated it on tinfoil to smoke it.

But they were getting better.

"Close to being money in the bank," the dealer messaged Shamo. "You did it, bro."

On the first day of 2016, Shamo he wrote out his goals for the upcoming year: He would be rich. All the girls would want him.

"I will overachieve," he wrote. "I will overcome."

He went online with his products a month later. Some were specified as fentanyl, but some weren't, purporting instead to contain 30 milligrams of oxycodone. Shamo named this new store Pharma-Master.

___

As winter turned to summer, sales skyrocketed. Pharma-Master started selling thousands of pills a week, charging around $10 each.

On June 6, a relatively small order came in: 10 pills, to be shipped to an apartment house in Daly City, a working-class suburb of San Francisco.

Like every order, it was sent in an encrypted email to two former eBay co-workers in charge of distribution. Alexandrya Tonge and Katherine Bustin counted out the pills in their suburban condo, packaged the shipments and dropped them in the mail.

The envelope arrived at the doorstep at 3 p.m. on June 11.

Under different circumstances, Shamo might have been friends with the 21-year-old man who lived there. Ruslan Klyuev, a Russian immigrant, was also an aspiring tech entrepreneur interested in the dark web. He had a baby face: rosy cheeks and curly hair. Klyuev loved to cook and would make extravagant meals for the house.

But his relationship ended, his web design business sputtered and he became estranged from his family, said Barry, a roommate who spoke on the condition that his last name not be published. His emotions toggled between sorrow and elation, and he struggled with substance abuse.

After drinking vodka, Klyuev crushed two of the pills with a battery and snorted the powder with a rolled-up sticky note, according to testimony. He started drifting in and out of sleep. He couldn't stand up.

He was found dead the next day, with fentanyl, alcohol and a substance associated with cocaine in his system.

His was the only death with which Shamo would be charged. His defense attorney, Greg Skordas, argued that neither his death nor any others can be definitely linked with Shamo's operation.

But in documents, prosecutors connected Shamo to a veritable slaughter:

A 24-year-old man in Seattle overdosed three weeks after he bought pills from Pharma-Master in March 2016.

Later that spring, 40 pills were shipped to a 21-year-old in Washington, D.C. He died in his dorm room 11 days later.

In Utah, a 29-year-old software analyst named Devin Meldrum had been searching since he was a teenager for a cure for cluster headaches that felt like knives stabbing his skull, said his father, Rod.

Doctors had prescribed opioids but limited the dosage, so he bought a backup supply from Pharma-Master. On Aug. 13, 2016, he ran out of pills days before his refill. As he got ready for bed, he texted his fiance and took a pill from his reserve for the first time, his father said.

He was dead before she arrived to say goodnight, blue on his bathroom floor.

His father isn't sure Shamo even now understands the magnitude of what happened: "Does he even comprehend how many families have had their hearts torn out?"

___

Online, Pharma-Master was getting rave reviews.

"These will make u a millionaire in under a year, guarantee," wrote one shopper who called himself "Trustworthy Money."

He was a dealer in Portland named Jared Gillespie. He bought 80,000 pills from Pharma-Master, according to documents filed against Gillespie in Oregon. He knew he was buying fentanyl pills, the Oregon prosecutors alleged, but the people buying from him had no way to know that. They are unknown and uncounted.

Shamo offered steep discounts for bulk buyers. Tonge, one of his distributors, testified that she began to question Shamo's claim that he was helping patients who couldn't get medication: Why would one person need 5,000 pills?

Her vacuum cleaner would become a critical piece of evidence. Its dust bin was filled with pills. The operation had grown so frantic, pumping out tens of thousands of tablets a month, that when they spilled onto the floor, they weren't worth saving.

Tonge and her partner complained that the orders were coming too quickly, so Shamo hired a "runner" named Sean Gygi to pick up the packages and drop them in the mail, dozens of them a day.

Drug manufacturing became routine: Shamo once wrote himself a to-do list, and included a reminder to "make blues," the street name for oxycodone, along with getting a haircut, washing his sheets, cleaning the kitchen. And Shamo planned to expand. He bought another press so big agents would later need a tow truck to drag it out of his garage.

The money was pouring in, and out.

Shamo hired a personal assistant; she did his shopping, had his car detailed. He stuffed a duffel bag with $429,000 cash and asked his parents to hold it. He bragged to friends about VIP bottle service at clubs and gambling in Las Vegas. He shopped for real estate in Puerto Rico; took photos sipping champagne on a cruise ship; bought designer jeans, an 88-inch television, a boat and BMW.

Crandall and his girlfriend posted photos on Instagram of trips to Laos, Thailand, Singapore, kayaking and partying. But he was running out of money and agreed to become a remote customer service representative. The list of people accepting packages from China ballooned to more than a dozen. Everyone was making easy money and getting text messages from Shamo dotted with "lol" and "awesome!"

Shamo penned another note: "I am Shamo. I am awesome. My friends love me. I created an empire."

But even as he cheered himself on, there were signs of danger.

One customer reported an overdose death. Shamo scanned obituaries, then declared it was a faked, Crandall said. Then a message said pills were making people sick.

Crandall forwarded it to Shamo with a dismissive question: Should he tell them to "suck it up?" Or send more pills to pacify them?

___

They didn't know it, but a suspicious customs agent at the Los Angeles International Airport had flagged a box from Shanghai, China, pulled it off the belt and looked inside. The agent found 98.7 grams of fentanyl powder — enough to make almost 100,000 pills. The box was destined for Utah.

Agents looked for more packages making their way from China to Utah, and eventually one arrived, said an agent with Homeland Security Investigations who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect ongoing investigations. On Nov. 8, 2016, postal inspectors seized a box en route from a port city in China known to law enforcement as a fentanyl-trafficking hub. It was addressed to Sean Gygi, Shamo's "runner," so agents arrived at his house with a search warrant.

Gygi said he thought the hundreds of envelopes he'd put in the mail contained the party drugs he sometimes took himself. Told it was fentanyl, the agent recalled, Gygi drooped.

He agreed to wear a wire while he picked up the packages, like he did every day. But instead of dropping them in the mail, he delivered them to police.

This single day's shipment contained 34,828 fentanyl pills destined for homes in 26 states.

Four days later, on Nov. 22, 2016, agents stood on Shamo's stoop, shouted through a bullhorn, then broke the door down with a battering ram. They were dressed in neon-orange hazmat suits with clear bowls around their faces that made them look like astronauts.

Shamo came up the stairs in a T-shirt and shorts, a mask and gloves in his pocket. A pill press downstairs was running, in a room with powder caked on the walls and the furniture.

Others were raiding the stash at Bustin and Tonge's condo. Veteran vice officers would say they had never seen so many pills, even in international operations. In total, they packed up over 74,000 fentanyl pills awaiting distribution.

In Shamo's sock drawer, agents found stack after stack of cash. There was more money in a safe in the closet. Agents totaled up more than $1.2 million, not including the money he had tied up in Bitcoin or bags he'd stashed with his family. Investigators eventually caught up with Paz, who Shamo paid around a dollar per pill, and he surrendered $800,000 more.

Crandall was in Laos, still traveling with his girlfriend, when he heard the news. He stored his drug-related data on a flash drive, threw it down a storm drain and sent an email to the dark web marketplace: "This account has been compromised." After a few months, he figured he was in the clear. He and his girlfriend planned their wedding and invited guests to meet them in Hawaii for the big day: May 12, 2017. They bought rings, and a dress.

Agents were waiting when they stepped onto American soil in Honolulu.

___

When Crandall sat on the witness stand, he was slump-shouldered and shackled, clumsily trying to maneuver his handcuffs to pull a tissue out of the box to wipe his eyes. In the two years since his arrest, he has been imprisoned in a county jail and watched his fellow inmates suffer the brutal fallout of an opioid epidemic. They stole from their parents, cycled in and out of jail and shivered, sweated, sobbed through withdrawal.

He'd helped feed this, he realized. For money.

He and Shamo's other ex-partners and packagers pleaded guilty, agreed to testify against their friend and hoped for mercy.

The story they told convinced the jury to convict Shamo of 12 counts, including continuing criminal enterprise, the so-called "kingpin charge" that is typically reserved for drug lords like El Chapo and carries a mandatory life sentence. The jury deadlocked, though on the 13th count: the death of Klyuev.

The bust was one of the largest operations in the country in 2016. But the fentanyl trade has only grown more sophisticated since. By comparison, Shamo now looks "small-time," said Safdar, with the Partnership for Safe Medicines. The most notorious Mexican drug cartels have transitioned to fentanyl, even as homegrown upstarts like Shamo's proliferate.

Seizure data in the United Nation's World Drug Report shows trafficking quickly expanding worldwide. In 2013, four countries reported fentanyl seizures. By 2016: 12 countries. In 2017, 16 countries reported seizing fentanyl.

And there is no reason to believe it will not spread further. In Africa and the Middle East, the synthetic opioid tramadol is widely abused, much of it illicitly manufactured in Asia. If that market transitions to fentanyl it would be catastrophic, said Scott Stewart, a former agent with the State Department. In Australia, prescription opioid consumption has quadrupled. Marianne Jauncey, medical director of a Sydney harm-reduction center, can't think of any reason fentanyl won't soon arrive — all they can do is prepare for the day that it does.

As Shamo was convicted, a single dark web marketplace still had 32,000 listings for drugs, thousands of them claiming to be oxycodone. There was no way to tell whether they originated in a pharmacy or somebody's basement.

One vendor even borrowed a version of Shamo's name. Pharmamaster peddles oxys online, sold in bulk at a discount. It has, it boasts, an "unlimited" supply.

"Pharma-grade A++," the listings promise. "24-hour shipping!"

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

End the hygiene theater, CDC says (Yahoo News) It’s time to unplug the sanitizing robots and put away the bottles of Clorox that seem to line the entrances to every school, restaurant and supermarket wanting to advertise its safety protocols. While such protocols may be reassuring to an anxious populace, they are not necessary, says a revised guidance issued on Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It is possible for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects (fomites), but the risk is generally considered to be low,” the new CDC guidance says, estimating that the chance of contracting the coronavirus through surface transmission is lower than 1 in 10,000. The coronavirus is spread almost exclusively by airborne and aerosolized particles, as scientists have known for months.

Biden boosted by Senate rules as GOP bucks infrastructure (AP) With an appeal to think big, President Joe Biden is promoting his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan directly to Americans, summoning public support to push past the Republicans lining up against the massive effort they sum up as big taxes, big spending and big government. Republicans in Congress are making the politically brazen bet that it’s more advantageous to oppose the costly American Jobs Plan, saddling the Democrats with ownership of the sweeping proposal and the corporate tax hike Biden says is needed to pay for it. He wants the investments in roads, schools, broadband and clean energy approved by summer. On Monday, Biden received a boost from an unexpected source. The Senate parliamentarian greenlighted a strategy that would allow Democrats in the evenly split 50-50 chamber to rely on a 51-vote threshold to advance some bills, rather than the typical 60 votes typically needed. The so-called budget reconciliation rules can now be used more often than expected—giving Democrats a fresh new path around the GOP blockade.

Brazil’s COVID-19 death surge set to pass the worst of record U.S. wave (Reuters) Brazil’s brutal surge in COVID-19 deaths will soon surpass the worst of a record January wave in the United States, climbing well beyond an average 3,000 fatalities per day, scientists predict, as contagious new variants overwhelm hospitals. Brazil’s overall death toll trails only the U.S. outbreak, with nearly 333,000 killed, according to Health Ministry data, compared with more than 555,000 dead in the United States. But with Brazil’s healthcare system at the breaking point, the country could also exceed total U.S. deaths, despite having two-thirds the population, two experts told Reuters.

UK to ease lockdown next week, will test vaccine passports (AP) Britain’s slow but steady march out of a 3 1/2-month lockdown remains on track even as coronavirus cases surge elsewhere in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday, as he confirmed that businesses from barbers to bookstores will be allowed to reopen next week. Johnson said it’s too soon to decide, however, whether U.K. residents will be able to have summer trips abroad. He confirmed that the government will test out a contentious “vaccine passport” system—a way for people to offer proof they have protection from COVID-19—as a tool to help travel and large events return safely. Four weeks after England took its first step out of lockdown by reopening schools, Johnson said Britain’s vaccination program was proceeding well and infections were falling. He said the next step would come as planned on April 12, with the reopening of hairdressers, beauty salons, gyms, non-essential shops and bar and restaurant patios. A ban on overnight domestic stays away from home will also be lifted that day, and outdoor venues such as zoos and drive-in cinemas can operate again.

Myanmar’s online pop-up markets raise funds for protest (AP) With security forces in Myanmar having shot dead at least 570 protesters and bystanders in the past two months, many of the country’s residents see venturing out onto the street as a brave but foolhardy act. Online, many have found a safer, more substantive way to show their defiance against February’s military takeover—virtual rummage sales whose proceeds go to the protest movement’s shadow government and other related political causes. Everything from clothes and toys, to music lessons and outdoor adventures are on sale. Foreign friends are encouraged to donate, but fundraising inside Myanmar also serves the purpose of raising political consciousness for challenging the ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government. A quick check through Facebook notices turned up a seamstress offering to sew a traditional Myanmar dress for free to those who donate $25 [to the opposition], a musician offering lifetime guitar and ukulele lessons and an outdoor expedition leader offering to take five people on an adventure holiday.

China Creates its Own Digital Currency, a First for Major Economy (WSJ) A thousand years ago, when money meant coins, China invented paper currency. Now the Chinese government is minting cash digitally, in a re-imagination of money that could shake a pillar of American power. It might seem money is already virtual, as credit cards and payment apps such as Apple Pay in the U.S. and WeChat in China eliminate the need for bills or coins. But those are just ways to move money electronically. China is turning legal tender itself into computer code. China’s version of a digital currency is controlled by its central bank, which will issue the new electronic money. It is expected to give China’s government vast new tools to monitor both its economy and its people. By design, the digital yuan will negate one of bitcoin’s major draws: anonymity for the user. Beijing is also positioning the digital yuan for international use and designing it to be untethered to the global financial system, where the U.S. dollar has been king since World War II.

Rescuers hunt for survivors after cyclone kills 119 in Indonesia (Reuters) Rescuers searched for dozens missing in the remote islands of southeast Indonesia on Tuesday, as reinforcements arrived to help in the aftermath of a tropical cyclone that killed at least 119 people. Helicopters were deployed to aid the search, and ships carrying food, water, blankets and medicine reached ports previously blocked by high waves whipped up by tropical cyclone Seroja, which brought heavy rain and triggered deadly floods and landslides on Sunday. Indonesia’s disaster agency BNPB revised upwards the death toll from the cyclone in the East Nusa Tenggara islands, after earlier saying 86 had died. Seventy-six people were still missing.

Israeli president picks Netanyahu to try and form government (AP) Israel’s president has named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the party leader to try to cobble together a governing majority. Reuven Rivlin’s announcement in Jerusalem on Tuesday nudged forward the twin dramas over the country’s future and Netanyahu’s fate as his corruption trial resumed across town. The charges facing Israel’s longest-serving premier posed an extraordinary choice for the country’s president over whether “morality” should be a factor in who should lead the government.

Gunmen free more than 1,800 inmates from Nigerian prison (Reuters) More than 1,800 inmates escaped from a Nigeria prison in the southeastern city of Owerri after an attack by gunmen carrying rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, explosives and rifles, the prisons authority said. Nigerian police said it believed a banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was behind the attack, but a spokesman for the group denied involvement. The secessionist movement in the southeast is one of several serious security challenges facing President Muhammadu Buhari, including a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast, a spate of school kidnappings in the northwest and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

Mars patrol (Space.com) A 4-pound solar-powered helicopter successfully endured its first nights on Mars, having been deposited by the Perseverance rover ahead of a first planned flight on April 11. The $85 million drone is the first helicopter to go to a non-Earth world, and carries two cameras to document the planned series of flights of ever-increasing lengths around the Jezero Crater over the next 31 Martian days. The drone has four rotor blades that can hit up to 2,537 RPM, and if it works out it will presumably become the hot stocking stuffer for Martians in short order.

[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s WandaVision: Scarlet Witch’s Avengers and MCU History Recap

https://ift.tt/3iim5Yy

It’s been quite a long break, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is back from hibernation in 2021, starting with WandaVision. As the climactic Avengers: Endgame and its denouement Spider-Man: Far From Home concluded Phase 3, we’ve had to wait the entire chaotic 2020 before Phase 4 could start up in 2021.

You might have a friend or relative asking you, “What is WandaVision, exactly?” and folks, that is a loaded question. Especially if they haven’t watched many or any of the Marvel movies. How do you explain a plot about an ever-evolving sitcom reality that gradually falls apart due to the complicated and traumatic relationship between a reformed terrorist with too much power on her hands and a polite android who shouldn’t even exist? And don’t get me started on the pre-existing supporting characters from other Marvel movies.

To get you or your hypothetical loved one up to speed, here’s a look back at the history of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, in the MCU, as played by Elizabeth Olsen.

THE AVENGERS

To explain the Scarlet Witch, you have to go back to the forming of the Avengers. Once upon a time, a group of heroes from different walks of life banded together to stop an alien invasion. A powerful megalomaniac named Thanos was obsessed with obtaining the Infinity Stones, six cosmic gems that could give its wielder immeasurable power over the universe itself if fully collected. He armed his underling Loki with a mind-controlling staff and gave him his own army of alien warriors in hope of conquering Earth and getting his hands on an artifact known as the Tesseract.

The Tesseract and the gem powering the staff were both Infinity Stones (the Space Stone and the Mind Stone, respectively). Loki was ultimately defeated by the Avengers. While the Norse Gods held onto the Tesseract for safekeeping, the staff ended up in the hands of the worldwide government agency SHIELD.

Having saved the day, the Avengers were beloved by many. But not everyone.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers discovered that SHIELD had been compromised by HYDRA, a science-obsessed offshoot of the Third Reich. For many decades, HYDRA personnel had infiltrated SHIELD and used its resources for its own nefarious ends. In the end, Captain America defeated HYDRA’s plot, but a mid-credits scene showed that the organization was not yet destroyed.

At some point, HYDRA operative Wolfgang Von Strucker got his hands on Loki’s staff and was able to experiment with the Mind Stone. Two test subjects were able to survive the experiments: Wanda Maximoff and her twin brother Pietro.

The two came from the fictional country Sokovia, where they were orphaned by munitions created by Tony Stark’s company. Hating Tony Stark and the Avengers in general, the two allowed themselves to be made guinea pigs by Von Strucker. The Mind Stone unlocked special abilities in the two where Pietro – known as Quicksilver – gained amazing speed powers while Wanda – the Scarlet Witch – could do everything from energy manipulation to telekinesis to mind manipulation and flight.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

The Avengers got together for what was supposed to be one last hurrah as they sieged the last stronghold of HYDRA in Avengers: Age of Ultron. While they made short work of Strucker’s goons, they ran into trouble with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Ultimately, the twins escaped, though Scarlet Witch messed with Iron Man’s head and increased his paranoia that another alien invasion would one day arrive and crush Earth’s heroes.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner ran their own experiments on the Mind Stone and tried to create a world-protecting AI out of it. Upon being born, the AI immediately went mad and took the form of a genocidal robot with the personality quirks of Stark. Ultron sought out the Maximoffs and recruited them against the Avengers.

Wanda did her damage against the Avengers by screwing with their heads one-by-one and making them live out their personal nightmares. The most disastrous part of this was how she caused the Hulk to lose control and go on a massive rampage. Although he was eventually subdued by Iron Man, the Hulk’s freakout caused massive cracks to appear in the Avengers’ reputation.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver ultimately turned against Ultron after realizing that he wanted to wipe out billions of lives as part of his plan to “save humanity.” They teamed up with the Avengers to defend Sokovia against an army of Ultron drones. During this time, Wanda found herself mentally overwhelmed by the battle, but Hawkeye was able to motivate her into continuing the fight.

Read more

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Avengers: Age of Ultron – Marvel Universe Easter Eggs and Comic References Guide

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Quicksilver sacrificed himself to save Hawkeye’s life, filling Wanda with dread and anger. She ended up destroying Ultron’s main, most powerful form. Soon after, all of Ultron’s drones were annihilated and he was fully defeated.

Scarlet Witch joined the new Avengers roster, made up of herself, Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, Falcon, and Vision. Vision, a more human-looking android created by Ultron, was powered by the Mind Stone and had it sticking out of his forehead.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

A mission in Lagos, Nigeria went terribly wrong at the start of Captain America: Civil War. Although the Avengers were able to defeat the terrorist Crossbones, he detonated a bomb on his body in hopes of taking some of the heroes with him. Scarlet Witch tried to move Crossbones’ exploding body away from the area, but accidentally killed many others in a nearby office building.

While it was an accident, it was also the straw the broke the camel’s back. The Sokovia Accords was written up, making the Avengers’ existence a legal matter. In order for them to fight the forces of evil, they had to do so under the orders of the world’s governments. The superhero community disagreed on this ultimatum, causing a massive rift in the Avengers.

The guilt-ridden Wanda remained at Avengers Headquarters, where she bonded with her teammate Vision. While they became close, it was also apparent that Vision was there to keep her from leaving the premises, as certain members of the team thought it would be unwise for Wanda to be seen in public. Hawkeye arrived to recruit Wanda onto Captain America’s side of the war against Iron Man and the Sokovia Accords. While Hawkeye was out of his league against Vision, Wanda’s powers and connection to the Mind Stone allowed her to easily counter the android.

Read more

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Captain America: Civil War – Complete Marvel Universe Easter Eggs and References Guide

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Captain America: Civil War Ending and Post Credits Scenes Explained

By Mike Cecchini

A massive battle took place between Captain America and Iron Man’s teams. While Captain America and his friend Bucky were able to escape, Wanda and the rest were defeated and taken into custody. She, Hawkeye, Falcon, and Ant-Man ended up in a special island prison with high-tech restraints keeping her from being able to use her powers. As Iron Man came to see the prisoners, the other three threw verbal abuse his way. Wanda just remained silent.

In the end, Captain America returned to free the prisoners. A new “Secret Avengers” team was put together of Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch. Together, they would do missions from the shadows, against the authority of the government.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Having figured out the locations of all six Infinity Stones, Thanos decided to make his move. His intent was to gather the six gems, snap his fingers, and use their power to remove half of all life in the universe. It was his own twisted plan to prevent universal overpopulation. While this was bad news for everyone, it was especially bad news for Vision.

Wanda strayed away from her Secret Avengers team in order to have a romantic relationship with Vision. As the two vacationed in Scotland, they were attacked by some of Thanos�� lieutenants. The Secret Avengers appeared and rescued them.

Logic stated that in order to stop Thanos from achieving his goals, they would have to destroy the Mind Stone. While Scarlet Witch could theoretically use her powers to blow it up, doing so would kill Vision. She refused to do so and Captain America backed her up. Instead, they went to Wakanda, where they could seek sanctuary from Thanos’ forces and get the technology and knowhow needed to remove the Mind Stone from Vision without killing him.

Read more

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Avengers: Infinity War Easter Eggs and Marvel Reference Guide

By Jim Dandy and 2 others

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Avengers: Infinity War Comics Reading Order

By Jim Dandy

While Thanos was busy gathering the other Stones through the cosmos, his forces invaded Wakanda. Scarlet Witch was forced to abandon Vision’s side in order to help fight the aliens. She and her allies were successful in taking out Thanos’ top henchmen, but by the time Thanos appeared in Wakanda, there was virtually no time left. Vision was still attached to the Mind Stone and the only options were to have Wanda destroy it along with Vision or allow Thanos to take it himself. Either way, Vision was doomed.

With a heavy heart, Scarlet Witch manipulated the Mind Stone into exploding, killing her true love. It was an empty gesture as Thanos wielded the Time Stone and was able to rewind the event. This time, Thanos tore the Mind Stone from Vision’s head and left the android’s corpse behind. Soon after, he snapped his fingers and caused half of the universe’s population to vanish into dust.

A distraught Wanda Maximoff was one of those victims.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

The surviving Avengers took the fight to Thanos, only to discover that he had already forced the Infinity Stones to self-destruct on their own power. Thor angrily killed Thanos and the universe had to spend five years grappling with the loss of countless lives.

Read more

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Avengers: Endgame – Complete Marvel Easter Eggs and MCU Reference Guide

By Mike Cecchini and 2 others

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Which Avengers: Endgame Deaths Are Permanent?

By Mike Cecchini

Earth’s heroes finally figured out a plan to bring everyone back by using time travel to gather the Infinity Stones. The good news was that their plan worked. The bad news was that the “time heist” got the attention of Thanos from ten years earlier, who was able to bring a massive army into the present and wage war.

Doctor Strange – one of those who returned from oblivion – appeared along with all of the missing heroes and hundreds of warriors from different parts of the universe. Although this incarnation of Thanos was not familiar with Scarlet Witch, the furious Wanda overwhelmed him with her powers and nearly tore him apart. Thanos had his warships fire at the battlefield in order to free himself at any cost. Scarlet Witch continued to annihilate anyone in her way while Thanos was ultimately defeated by Iron Man. Thanos and his forces were turned to dust after Iron Man activated the Infinity Stones.

Wanda appeared at Tony Stark’s funeral, where she and Hawkeye gave each other support for the deaths of Vision and Black Widow.

Through her story, Wanda had lost her parents, her brother, her boyfriend, and for several years, her life. She’s responsible for much death and destruction and has to live with that. Now she’s the star of WandaVision, where she and Vision get to live out their “happily ever after.”

Except…Vision is still dead. Or is he?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

In the comics, Wanda has always had a bad habit of falling into her powers as a way to deal with trauma. At least once she has irresponsibly altered history/reality with her scarred mind and it looks like that behavior is about to make its way to the MCU.

WandaVision premieres on Disney+ on Jan. 15.

The post Marvel’s WandaVision: Scarlet Witch’s Avengers and MCU History Recap appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3nPzsQW

[eternal-night-owl]

My Sunshine

Fandom: Hetalia

Paring: LietPol

Genre: Angst/Horror

Rating: T

Summary: Lithuania has always been the sunshine of Poland's life, a beacon of light in the darkest of times. So how will he react when that light is flickered out? LietPol, somewhat dystopian AU. Partially based off a prompt I saw awhile back.

Word Count: 1783

Read on: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12233389/1/My-Sunshine

Poland anxiously tapped his foot as he waited for the guards to come back to his cell. In retrospect, it might of not been the smartest decision to attack Ben- the son of the warden and, of course, the most sadistic of the guards in the entire prison. But really, who could blame him? The way he was looking at Liet, the way he ran his fingers through his hair and slowly, ever so slowly, moved his hands lower down…

 He flinched, pushing the thought out of his mind. After the incident, Poland and Lithuania, as well as every prisoner in the general vicinity, were taken back to their cells. Poland knew he would face punishment for what he had done, but it was worth it. He could handle being beaten, locked in solitary confinement, or whatever else they decided to throw his way. It was the waiting part, the uncertainty of it all, that twisted his stomach into knots.

Poland thought back to a time that seemed so long ago, back when he was free. He still remembered watching his beloved country, the one that has risen from the ashes so many times before, crumble to pieces before his very eyes. He remembered how Lithuania offered him shelter in his own home, despite the fact his own country was falling apart. Even though their reunion only lasted a short amount of time, Poland was as close to being happy as he had been in years, maybe even decades. And finally, he remembered when the soldiers came in the middle of the night, taking both nations into custody and crushing any small amount of hope he had left for the future.

 Poland looked up when he heard the door creak open, to reveal none other than Warden Collins himself. As always, the man wore his wrinkled face in a cold, emotionless expression- a perfect contrast to his son's sadistic grin.

 "Before you say anything, I just want to let you know it was completely in self-defense. Well, in my friend's defense. Your son is a total pervert-" The warden put his hand up to silence the blond.

 "I don't care to hear another one of your ridiculous lies. Come with me," he commanded. Poland hesitated for a moment before he saw the man's hard gaze turn murderous, and so he reluctantly followed.

 As they walked along the hallway of the prison, Poland couldn't help but take note of how much larger the warden was then him. At least a foot taller, probably more, and with a good deal of muscle to boot. Not to mention the gun he wore on his holster.

 He could kill me right now if he wanted to. I’m don’t heal like I used to, and it's not like anyone would stop him.

 The two men took a right, then a left, until they stopped in front of an unfamiliar metal door. It was massive in size, with multiple locks on it. Poland's stomach dropped as he thought of why exactly they needed to keep this particular room so secure.

It took the warden a few minutes before he was able to unlock the door, and then lead the Polish man inside. When Poland saw what- or should he say who, was inside, his blood instantly ran cold.

 "Liet!" he cried out. There was his friend and partner, trapped inside a clear, dome-like structure. He ran up to the brunet, banging both of his fists on the glass, with Lithuania watching him in shock and confusion.

 "P-Poland? What's going on?" the Lithuanian asked, his voice echoing off the dome. In question, Poland turned to face the warden, who was right behind them. He got a horrible feeling in his stomach about what was going to happen.

 "Mr. Łukasiewicz, this is the third time in a row that you have terrorized my son, and have been a menace to me, as well as your fellow prisoners. I intend to put an end to that behavior of yours today." The tall man then walked over towards a control panel in the corner of the room.

 "It seems that no matter what I do with you, you never learn from your mistakes. So you have given me no choice but to… eliminate your friend. He seems to be the reason behind many of your altercations, or so you say, so it's only natural that I get rid of the problem." The warden explained, in a tone as casual and uncaring as if he were discussing the weather.

"What are you talking about?" Poland asked, his voice steadily rising in pitch. "Liet didn't do anything! He just… your son… It's not his fault!"

Warden Collins ignored the blond's explanation and pulled a red lever, causing Lithuania's hands to reach for his own throat and fall to his knees.

"Liet!" Poland cried out in horror as he watched the brunet gasp for breath, looking to be in clear discomfort. The Polish man banged on the dome as hard as he could, but couldn't even form a single crack.

 "You can try all you want, but you won't break it. It's completely impenetrable." Poland whipped his head around to face the harsh man.

 "What are you doing to him, you bastard? Let him out!" The warden shook his head.

 "You forced my hand, Mr. Łukasiewicz. If only you had done as you were told and had not caused any problems, your friend would not be dying as he is because of your actions. Most humans can't go more than five to ten minutes without oxygen, though it might be a bit longer for your kind."

 "But he didn't even do anything!" Poland shrieked. "It's me who's the problem here! Punish me! Kill me!" Poland begged. He looked over at Lithuania again, attempting to claw his way out of the dome.

 "The clock is ticking, Mr. Łukasiewicz. If you have anything you want to say to your partner, do it now." The warden warned, as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

 "Please, stop it! Whatever you want, you can have it. I-I'll be good, I promise, I won't cause any more trouble!"

 "You're wasting your time, as well as your friend's. I believe he is starting to turn blue."

 In a fit of rage and desperation, Poland lunged towards the warden. He punched him as hard as he could in the stomach, causing the normally stoic man to let out a pained gasp and drop to the ground. With the warden temporarily down, Poland turned his attention to the control panel, and attempted to push the red lever back, but found that it wouldn't budge. As he continued to struggle, he felt a gun press against the back of his head.

 "Let go of the lever, and back away with your hands up, or I will splatter your brains on the floor in front of your beloved Lithuania."

 Instantly, Poland obeyed the warden's commands. It was an automatic reaction; he didn't fear death, at least not anymore, but his inborn survival instincts refused to let him take the bullet.

 He slowly backed away from the control panel, and back towards Lithuania, who had been watching the whole thing go down, and looked at Poland with panic in his blue-green eyes. The blond knew him well enough to know that the fear was for him, and not for Lithuania himself.

Even when he is dying, he still worries about me. Oh Liet, why do you have to be so good?

Poland thought of all the things he wanted to say, how he wanted to take the brunet in his arms and tell him how much he loved him, how he didn't deserve any of this. He wanted to apologize for every fight they ever had, every selfish thing he had done, any pain he had ever caused him, either intentionally or otherwise. And if they had all the time in the world, he would have.

 However, he did not, and neither did Lithuania. Even if he tried to say everything he wanted to, it would come off as too rushed, too panicked, and most likely incoherent.

 Then, he remembered a song he heard from America in what seemed like a lifetime ago. It always stuck with him because it reminded him so much of his dear Lithuania.

 Softly, he began to sing.

"The other night dear, as I lay sleeping

I dreamed I held you in my arms

But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken.

So I hung my head and I cried."

 Lithuania looked right at him, his big blue-green eyes filling with tears, reaching his hand out, as if he wanted to hold Poland's hand. The blond put up his as well to meet the Lithuanian's, the glass keeping them apart.

 "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away"

 Poland stopped for a moment before he could get to the next verse, his voice being overcome by sobs. He took a deep breath and continued on. Tears fell down Poland's face, and Lithuania's hand fell to the ground, as if he no longer had the strength to hold it up.

"P-Po…" Lithuania tried to say, only to be softly hushed by the blond.

 "N-Now, don't waste your breath on me, you silly thing. You don't have many left."

 "I'll always love you and make you happy,

If you will only say the same.

But if you leave me and love another,

You'll regret it all someday:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away."

 Tears glistened on the Lithuanian's face, illuminated by the florescent lights in the room. The panic on his face was starting to be replaced with something akin to resignation. Poland cried even harder as he knew the brunet was nearing his end, and again had to stop for a minute to get his sobs under control.

 "In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me

When I awake my poor heart pains.

So when you come back and make me happy

I'll forgive you dear, I'll take all the blame.

 You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away."

 As Poland finished the last verse, all the muscles in Lithuania's body relaxed, and Poland couldn't hold his tears back any longer.

[the-archlich]

The Great River Campaign (223)

One of the largest and most important battles in the Three Kingdoms era is also one of the most ignored. In 223, Cao Pi commissioned a massive invasion of Wu, attacking on three fronts along the Yangzi - then known as the Dajiang or Great River. Sun Quan scrambled to reinforce these positions. Over the next several months, some of the greatest generals of Wu and Wei battled furiously for control of several key positions in a struggle that would determine the shape of the Three Kingdoms for decades to come.

In 217, Sun Quan gave his nominal surrender to Cao Cao. Cao Cao confirmed him as the hegemon of the various territories he claimed, while Sun Quan recognized him as the legitimate representative of Han. In 219, their combined forces took Jing from Liu Bei, establishing the territories of the Three Kingdoms.

Sun Quan maintained this alliance after Cao Pi came to power. As Cao Pi took his father’s place as King of Wei, Sun Quan sent him various gifts as tribute, including prisoners of war who had been captured in 219. When Cao Pi dethroned Liu Xie and formed the Wei dynasty, Sun Quan again sent tribute and acknowledged his legitimacy. However, he granted Cao Pi no territorial concessions and remained independent, as he had done under Cao Cao. Although Cao Pi wished to bring Sun Quan to heel, he was not in a position to do so at the time.

Conflict was inevitable but slow to come. In the north, Cao Pi busied himself securing his reign. He dealt with tribal revolts in the west, retook the Xincheng region from Shu, soothed Han loyalists within the court, and established the laws and protocols of Wei at home. In the south, Sun Quan conducted administrative rearrangements of his own. These included establishing a new headquarters in Jing at the centrally-located city of ‘A, which he renamed Wuchang. His immediate problem, however, was Liu Bei. In hopes of retaking Jing, Liu Bei invaded in 221. Sun Quan sent an army under Lu Xun to intercept him, and the two struggles for control of the Yidu region into 222.

In the face of Liu Bei’s invasion, Sun Quan did anything he could to placate Cao Pi and delay an attack from the north. He sent ambassadors to Wei to declare his formal submission. In return, Cao Pi named Sun Quan as King of Wu. This pacified Cao Pi briefly, but he knew that despite Sun Quan’s surrender, he had no means by which to enforce his authority. What Cao Pi most desired was a hostage to guarantee Sun Quan’s loyalty. He requested that Sun Quan send his son Sun Deng to the capital under various pretenses, but Sun Quan always gave polite excuses to put Cao Pi off.

After Sun Quan’s victory over Liu Bei in august of 222, Cao Pi recognized that his opportunity to seize control was quickly vanishing. He sent repeated demands that Sun Deng be delivered to Xuchang, but Sun Quan continued to offer polite refusal. Recognizing that the situation was growing out of his grasp, Cao Pi ordered his armies to advance south and force the issue. He sent a final letter to Sun Quan reading: “When Sun Deng comes in the morning, I shall recall my troops in the evening of that same day.” In response, Sun Quan declared a complete break from Wei. Although he still only called himself a king, he now ruled as an emperor in his own right.

Not all of Cao Pi’s officials supported his plans. Jia Xu, in particular, voiced objections to the campaign. He pointed out that although Wei was stronger than Wu and Shu, both were protected by advantageous terrain and possessed generals who knew how to capitalize on those defenses. Rather, Jia Xu urged Cao Pi to rely on diplomatic measures to secure Sun Quan’s loyalty. Cao Pi, however, regarded his prior diplomatic efforts as failure enough and began the campaign nonetheless.

The Great River Campaign proceeded on three fronts. In the west, an army led by Cao Zhen attacked Jiangling, which was defended by Zhu Ran. Jiangling was of key strategic importance. It was north of the Yangzi, making it vulnerable to Wei’s aggression. Capturing the city would grant Wei control over the upper course of the river. It would also allow Wei forces to cross south at will. Additionally, Sun Quan would be cut off from the important cities of Yiling/Xiling, Zigui, and Wu. With these cities in its possession, Wei would be able to threaten Shu on two fronts and launch attacks from north and east. It would also cut off Wu’s ability to attack Wei’s holdings in upper Jing, such as Fan and Xiangyang. Additionally, Jiangling had only recently come under Sun Quan’s control, in 219. Cao Pi had reason to believe that elements within the city would be willing to turn on their relatively new overlord, as they had turned against Guan Yu in 219 and Cao Ren in 210.

In the east, an army led by Cao Ren attacked Ruxu, defended by Zhu Huan. Ruxu was one of sun Quan’s most important strategic positions. It had a large, fortified harbor that housed a significant fleet. Sun Quan frequently used this fleet to attack Wei’s positions in northern Yang. If Cao Pi captured Ruxu, he would isolate Wu’s civilian capital Jianye and control the lower reaches of the Yangzi. Ruxu successfully withstood significant attacks by Cao Cao in 213 and 217, but that was due largely to the tactical brilliance of Lü Meng and the fact that Sun Quan concentrated his defenses there. The position was far more vulnerable in 223.

Farther downriver, a third Wei army under Cao Xiu attacked Dongpu (called Dongkou by the people of Wu), defended by Lü Fan. Like Ruxu, Dongpu was a fortified harbor, although it wasn’t as well positioned or as large s Ruxu. It did, however, represent a key crossing of the Yangzi, and control of Dongpu would be almost as beneficial as conquering Ruxu.

THE BATTLE OF DONGPU

Cao Xiu proceeded to Dongpu with an extremely large army consisting of some 20 divisions from Xu and Qing as well as a substantial fleet. Among his commanders were the renowned generals Zhang Liao and Zang Ba. In response, Sun Quan sent major reinforcements to Dongpu. Lü Fan was joined by the veteran generals Quan Zong, Xu Sheng, and Sun Shao. Additionally, the general He Qi was ordered to bring a naval force to reinforce Dongpu, but He Qi was stationed far away and was slow to arrive, much to the anger of his colleagues.

Cao Xiu initially proposed a highly aggressive strategy to Cao Pi. He wanted to lead an elite unit across the river and wreak havoc behind enemy lines, relying on raiding enemy positions for supplies. Cao Pi feared that this was too aggressive and doomed to failure, and he instructed Cao Xiu against it. Cao Xiu subsequently proceeded with a more measured strategy.

For several weeks, Cao Xiu attempted to use his navy to force a crossing. However, his ships were intercepted by Lü Fan’s subordinates, so Cao Xiu could make no headway. Still, all was not well within the Wu camp. Sun Quan’s half-brother Sun Lang was sent from Jianye with reinforcements, but he caused a shortage of supplies, damaging the war effort. Lü Fan dismissed him and sent him back to Jianye.

Far worse misfortune soon fell upon the defenders of Dongpu. A sudden storm struck the Wu fleet, sinking many of Lü Fan’s ships and driving others onto the northern shore. Cao Xiu was quick to seize this opportunity and attacked the isolated Wu forces. Xu Sheng was among the stranded, and he rallied the men to resist Cao Xiu. He managed to push Cao Xiu back and escape with a portion of the army, but Cao Xiu still managed to kill a significant number of the Wu soldiers.

In the wake of Lü Fan’s misfortune, Cao Xiu ordered his men across the river. Zang Ba led the assault, while Lü Fan took up a defensive position at Xuling. Zang Ba attacked the city, but he was held off by the efforts of Xu Sheng, Sun Shao, and Quan Zong, who were successful in destroying Zang Ba’s siege engines. Unable to take the city, Zang Ba withdrew. As he was retreating, Xu Sheng and Quan Zong led a their armies in pursuit. They caught Zang Ba at the edge of the river and dealt him a significant defeat, killing a general named Yi Lu.

While the Wei and Wu forces both regrouped, He Qi’s fleet finally arrived. Initially, he was harshly criticized by his colleagues. They accused him of deliberately arriving late so that he wouldn’t have to participate in the battle; an accusation that Chen Shou regards as false. Despite the anger of the other generals, He Qi’s delay proved fortuitous as his fleet suffered no damage from the storm. With these reinforcements, Lü Fan was able to secure his defensive line. Though Cao Xiu continued to pressure the Wu forces, Lü Fan’s defenses held. The battle for Dongpu continued, but the conclusion was already determined.

THE BATTLE OF RUXU

Despite being one of Wu’s most vital strategic points, Ruxu received the least aid from Sun Quan. It is probable that, after the victories earned by Lü Meng there in 213 and 217, Sun Quan was confident in the city’s defenses. Since 217, Ruxu had been under the command of Sun Quan’s trusted general Zhou Tai. However, Zhou Tai died just prior to Cao Pi’s invasion. Though control of his personal soldiers was passed to his son Zhou Shao, who distinguished himself in the subsequent campaign, command of Ruxu itself was granted to Zhu Huan.

Cao Ren began his attack by leaking misinformation, saying that he was going to attack Xianqi, a position east of Ruxu. Zhu Huan fell for this deception and sent a detachment to reinforce the position. Cao Ren had spies watching Zhu Huan’s movements, and when he saw that Ruxu’s defenses were reduced, he attacked. Zhu Huan learned of Cao Ren’s advance when he was about 18 miles from Ruxu. Though he sent riders to recall the detachment at Xianqi, there was no way for them to return before Cao Ren reached the city. Due to his own error, Zhu Huan was left with only some 5,000 men when Cao Ren attacked.

Zhu Huan’s soldiers were terrified, but he managed to rouse their spirits with a bold speech. Next, Zhu Huan set a trap of his own. He had most of his banners and drums put away in order to make his numbers look even lower than they actually were. Cao Ren was deceived and sent his son Cao Tai to attack the city.

There was a small islet within Ruxu’s waters where the wives and children of Ruxu’s officers lived. Cao Ren sent the generals Chang Diao and Wang Shuang to capture this islet. Cao Ren’s adviser Jiang Ji warned him against this attack, pointing out that the forces attacking the islet would be surrounded. However, Cao Ren chose not to follow this advice. He remained nearby to provide support from the rear while Cao Tai and Chang Diao advanced.

True to Jiang Ji’s prediction, the attack on islet was a disaster. Zhu Huan sent a subordinate to intercept Chang Diao while he himself held the walls against Cao Tai. Chang Diao was killed and Wang Shuang captured. In the face of this loss, Cao Tai withdrew.

As at Dongpu, the battle at Ruxu continued for the next several months. During that time, illness began to spread throughout Cao Ren’s camp, as often happened when the northern soldiers attacked Ruxu. Additionally, Zhu Huan’s men from Xiangqi were able to return and relive the city. Although Cao Ren continued to threaten the position, the worst of the danger had passed for Wu.

THE BATTLE OF JIANGLING

The largest engagement of the campaign took place at and around Jiangling. Cao Zhen commanded an army consisting of Wei’s western forces, including the generals Zhang He, Xu Huang, and Xiahou Shang. Jiangling itself was under the command of Zhu Ran, who received several waves of reinforcements from Zhuge Jin, Sun Sheng, Pan Zhang, and Yang Can. Although more armies were stationed nearby in Yiling, under Lu Xun’s command, they were unable to assist in the defense of Jiangling. After his defeat in the previous year, Liu Bei remained in Yong’an, just across the border between Wu and Shu. When Cao Pi attacked, Liu Bei sent a letter to Lu Xun threatening to invade as well. Although Lu Xun did not believe Liu Bei would do so, the threat of another attack from the west was sufficient to prevent Lu Xun from assisting Zhu Ran.

Before Wu’s reinforcements arrived, Cao Zhen encircled Jiangling. Unable to reached the city, the first wave of reinforcements, led by Sun Sheng, occupied an island in the river. He fortified his position and hoped to launch attacks from there to break the siege. In response, Cao Zhen dispatched Zhang He to capture the island. Zhang He stormed Sun Sheng’s position and crushed his army. He then occupied the island and used it as a staging area for further attacks.

The next wave of reinforcements was led by Zhuge Jin. Cao Zhen sent Xiahou Shang to intercept him. They camped on opposite sides of the river, each looking for an opening. Zhuge Jin advanced to an island in the river, hoping to press further and occupy the north bank so he could relive Jiangling. In response, Xiahou Shang dispatched men to the south bank. In the night, they attacked and burned Zhuge Jin’s fleet. At the same time, Xiahou Shang launched a naval assault. Assailed on land and water, Zhuge Jin was overwhelmed and forced to retreat.

Zhuge Jin’s defeat greatly unsettled the defenders at Jiangling, who were now totally isolated. Additionally, illness was spreading throughout the city, rendering many of the soldiers unfit for battle. Zhu Ran was left with only around 5,000 able men. Cao Zhen surrounded Jiangling with the usual earthworks and used siege towers to shoot arrows into the city. The situation was so dire that the magistrate of Jiangling, Yao Tai, planned to defect to Wei. Zhu Ran learned of his plans and executed him. Despite this, Zhu Ran remained resolute, and his defense was not a passive one. During the siege, Zhu Ran observed that two of Cao Zhen’s camps were disorganized and vulnerable. He led a bold sortie from the city and captured both of these camps, although this was not enough to relieve the pressure on Jiangling.

During this time, Zhang He and Xiahou Shang both occupied river islands. Xiahou Shang constructed pontoon bridges to the north and south, which allowed him to move his soldiers freely across the river. While this granted his soldiers freedom of movement, Cao Pi’s adviser Dong Zhao warned him that this also rendered Xiahou Shang extremely vulnerable, as his men were advancing along a clear route that was easily obstructed. Cao Pi accepted Dong Zhao’s warnings and ordered Xiahou Shang to desist.

Cao Pi’s orders came at just the right time. Zhuge Jin regrouped his army and, joined by Pan Zhang, advanced to relieve Jiangling again. Pan Zhang led a force some 13 miles upstream from Xiahou Shang’s position. There, he constructed rafts out of reeds. He planned to set fire to them and float them down the river, where they would reach and burn Xiahou Shang’s pontoon bridges. Cao Pi’s orders reached Xiahou Shang just before Pan Zhang was able to execute his plan, so Xiahou Shang withdrew to the north bank without incident.

The sickness suffered by those in Jiangling appears to have spread to the Wei army as well. In summer, Cao Pi withdrew to Luoyang, although Cao Zhen remained in the field and continued the siege of Jiangling. Despite successes in the field against the various waves of Wu reinforcements, the Wei army was unable to break through Zhu Ran’s defenses and capture the city. The siege lasted until the sixth month of the year. Noting the lack of success at Dongpu, Ruxu, and Jiangling, as well as the sickness spreading throughout the armies, Cao Pi recognized that his campaign had failed. At last he ordered a full retreat of his armies.

With his victory during the Great River Campaign, Sun Quan established Wu’s independence from Wei. Although Cao Pi led two more attacks against Wu, neither approached the scale of this first invasion. The victorious defending generals instantly became Sun Quan’s top officers and influenced both military and civil affairs for the remainder of their lives. This decisive victory confirmed Wu’s control over Jing, and after this the boundaries of the Three Kingdoms did not appreciably change until Wei’s conquest of Shu four decades later.

[woods-of-mal]

Rewriting Persona 5′s Ending

I feel like I haven't made my disappointment with the finale of Persona 5 much of a secret, but if I'm going to complain, I figured I should probably back up my thoughts and offer what I think would be a better alternative.  Thus, here's how I would have ended the game (massive spoilers, natch).

First thing I'd change would be Mementos, though not massively.  I'd keep it mostly the same, but as the Thieves head deeper, I'd have the theme evolve (much like Tartarus before it) though instead of growing triumphant, it becomes more sinister and ominous.  Once you reach the bottom, you enter the depths of Mementos, just like in the actual game.  At first, it would look the same, a surprisingly man-made and uniform prison system.  However, the deeper the player would go into the depths, the more scarce light would become, making Third Eye even more useful to simply navigate the area.

Eventually, the walls would become filthier, gradually becoming coated in dark slime.  As our heroes travel into the depths, they begin to find familiar faces in the cells.  Not just the Shadows of people with Palaces, but the Shadows of everyone whose hearts they changed in Mementos.  Except instead of being happy to have been returned like in the actual game, the people in the cells are furious at the Phantom Thieves.  Upon reaching the last third of the dungeon, the entire environment has begun to transform into organic matter (think Brookhaven Otherworld's flesh walls in Silent Hill 3).

Once the Thieves make it to the "big cell door", it's barely even covered in chains as much as it's covered in black veins.  Much like in the actual game, it's not yet revealed who or what is deemed so awful that they've been put into solitary so the player heads deeper until they reach the deepest part of the human psyche and that's when the bomb drops.  Instead of the Holy Grail, there's someone else in the colosseum.  Strung up in the middle of room, now a barely formed black mass and caught in a dripping black spiderweb made up of his own body, is Nyarlathotep, referred to in subtitles as "Shackled Chaos" to tie into the imprisonment theme.  Adorned across his body are screaming porcelain faces resembling the likes of Tatsuya Suou, Akinari Kashihara, and everyone else whose form he'd stolen throughout the games.

Once the protagonists come face to face with him, that's when the plot dump comes.  The game reveals that, following the events of Eternal Punishment, Nyarlathotep was actually able to beat Philemon again (albeit with a less apocalyptic outcome) and seal him away in the depths of human unconsciousness (thus the sealed door leading to solitary), intending to make humanity forget him and keep him from assisting them in any way.  Unfortunately for Nyarlathotep, the two were inextricably tied which resulted in him also being imprisoned, though by his own body rather than a traditional cell.

However, hope springs eternal and, after ten years of imprisonment, Philemon was able to send a piece of himself beyond his confinement in the form of a single blue butterfly.  This butterfly reached his faithful servant, Igor, and bestowed upon him both the power and position of guiding new Persona users through their destiny (this is why there aren't any Persona users really doing anything in the decade between Eternal Punishment and Persona 3 and why Igor stepped up into Philemon's place).

However, Nyarlathotep eventually catches wind of this and begins to concoct a plan of his own.  Taking a page from Philemon, he sends a portion of himself out of the depths and, using his ability to shapeshift, creates his own Igor to manipulate Joker.  By convincing the newest group of Persona-using teenagers that they can erase the negativity of humans by "changing their hearts", he in fact causes them to send the raw negative energy of countless humans into the depths of Mementos, giving him a steady power source with which to rebuild his strength and eventually break free.

This begins the first phase of the boss fight, identified again as "Shackled Chaos".  He has three moves per turn and, much like Holy Grail, is able to heal himself via the tentacles holding him in place.  The boss fight goes pretty much the same way as Holy Grail's does, with one party member being sent to destroy his method of regaining health and the other three laying into him.  Unfortunately, breaking the tentacles also works to free Nyarlathotep and allows him to regain his Crawling Chaos form from Eternal Punishment (at this point, he ceases to be "Shackled Chaos" and officially becomes named as "Nyarlathotep").

Having harvested enough negativity, he heads for the surface to wreak apocalyptic chaos on humanity once more.  The Thieves run after him, but he's already ascended back to full power, now resembling his Eternal Punishment final boss form but more akin to a kaiju size-wise.  During this fight, Nyarlathotep is composed of five targets, each of which gets to move once per turn (a reference to his Great Father form, natch), with his main one being his body and the four others being tentacles.  He'd say all the usual stuff about contradictions and fate (and heck, I wouldn't even be against a reprisal of the "Understand that there is no point in living.  Cry, that there is no answer!" line), but eventually his health would be whittled away.

Then, when Tokyo rallies in support of the Phantom Thieves, the protagonists and Nyarlathotep realise the same thing.  If Nyarlathotep has freed himself from the Collective Unconsciousness, there's nothing keeping Philemon locked up either.  Thus, he arrives on the scene and pulls the whole "Can you state your name?" thing to the party before granting Joker his Ultimate Persona as a means to push Nyarlathotep back into the dark from whence he came.  Things calm down after that as we sort out the new status quo, with Philemon returning to his position as the guide for the next group of teenagers with Personas and the real Igor settling back into managing the Velvet Room and fusing Personas (this reduced role would also allow Atlus to continue just reusing archive audio of Isamu Tanonaka).

An ending like this would have tied into the themes of imprisonment and emancipation, served as a milestone celebration for the entire series as opposed to just the past 11 years, bridged the gap between the old games and the new, cleared up inconsistencies between the two eras, offered an explanation for Philemon and Nyarlathotep's absences, and solved the issue of what to do with Igor following his seiyuu's passing.  Not to mention, Beneath the Mask is rife with Nyarlathotep foreshadowing with lyrics like "I'm a shapeshifter, chained down to my core", "Please don't take off my mask, revealing dark", and a prety meta "The real question to be asked, where have I been?"

(Oh yeah, and Tom Wyner comes back to voice Nyarlathotep because his performance could never be topped.)

[asktheadeptus]

Mortarion

"Pain is an illusion of the senses, fear an illusion of the mind, beyond these only death waits as silent judge o'er all."— Primarch Mortarion

Mortarion, also known as the Death Lord or the Prince of Decay after he turned to Chaos, was one of the original twenty Imperial Primarchs created by the Emperor of Mankind. He was given command of the Death Guard Space Marine Legion on the arrival of the Emperor to his home world of Barbarus, but he turned to the Forces of Chaos during the Horus Heresy. At present, Mortarion is the greatest Daemon Prince of Nurgle and the Daemon Primarch of the Death Guard Chaos Space Marines.

History

Childhood

When the twenty Primarchs of the Space Marine Legions were scattered across the galaxy in a mysterious accident, one came to rest on the planet Barbarus, a world wreathed in poisonous fog. The population of the world was split into two groups: the controlling warlords; necromancers with fantastic powers along with the human settlers, who had been trapped on the planet millennia before and were now forced to eke out an existence in the poison-free valleys of the planet, fearing the wrath of the warlords and their creations.

The Primarch-child was taken in by the most powerful of the warlords, who found him amongst the corpses of a battlefield, screaming and wailing where a normal child would have suffocated and died long before. The Overlord of Barbarus took the child in with the intention of creating a son and heir, naming him Mortarion - child of death.

Mortarion was kept in a fortress positioned at the limit of even his superhuman tolerance to the toxins in the air, while the Overlord moved his own fortress to the highest peak of the world, beyond where even Mortarion could go. He trained the child, who had a highly keen intellect and voracious appetite for knowledge; Mortarion learned everything from battle doctrine, to arcane secrets, from artifice to stratagem. However, the young Primarch's questions began to turn towards subjects the Overlord did not want to talk about, namely the pitiful creatures in the valleys that the many warlords preyed upon for corpses to reanimate and bodies to warp.

The Deliverance of Barbarus

Finally, knowing he would be unable to find the answers he desired from his adoptive father, Mortarion broke out of the fortress that had been his home and prison after killing several guards stationed at the gates of the fortress, and headed for the valleys of Barbarus. Breaking through the poisonous mists, Mortarion discovered that the prey of the warlords were in fact the same species as he, and swore to deliver them from their oppression. The people of Barbarus were slow to accept this pale, gaunt stranger from the mountains, but Mortarion was given a chance to prove his worth when creatures enthralled to another warlord attacked the village. Seeing that the peasants were unable to effectively fight back, Mortarion joined the fray, wielding a massive harvesting scythe that made short work of the beasts. The warlord smiled when Mortarion advanced upon him and withdrew to the apparent safety of the deadly fog, only to be pursued and butchered by this inhumanly resilient Primarch.

Accepted into the village without further reservation, Mortarion began to train the villagers in the art of warfare. Soon, representatives from other villages journeyed to learn from Mortarion, while the villages scattered across the valleys of the world were transformed into strong points. Mortarion traveled from settlement to settlement, teaching, building and defending his people.

He recruited the toughest, most resilient men he could find, forming them into small units that trained under his supervision. He enlisted the aid of blacksmiths, craftsmen and artificers to create suits of armour that would allow men to travel through the poisonous fog. As each battle in the mists was fought, Mortarion and his Death Guard would learn how to better adapt the armour, and themselves, to reach the more poisonous heights. Eventually, only one peak denied them access, the one on which Mortarion's adoptive father had made his home.

The Coming of the Emperor

Despite his adoptive father being a ruthless necromancer, Mortarion felt reluctant to attack the man who took him in and called off the planned attack. Returning to the village, Mortarion's mood darkened when he found his people talking not of his victory but of the arrival of a benevolent stranger who promised salvation to the people of Barbarus. Finding this stranger in conference with the village elders, Mortarion claimed that his people needed no outside help. The stranger commented that even Mortarion and his Death Guard were having trouble pacifying the final warlord, and offered a challenge. If Mortarion could defeat the Overlord, the stranger would leave. If not, Mortarion had to swear fealty to the stranger and the Imperium of Man he represented.

Ignoring the protests of his Death Guard, Mortarion left alone to confront his adoptive father, motivated by a compulsion to prove himself to the stranger below. The confrontation was brief. The air surrounding the Overlord's fortress was so poisonous, that parts of Mortarion's armour began to rot. He collapsed at the gates of the Overlord's citadel, bellowing challenges. The final thing Mortarion saw before he blacked out into unconsciousness was the Overlord of Barbarus coming to kill him, then the stranger leaping between the two and slaying the Overlord with a single sword thrust.

When he recovered, Mortarion swore fealty to the stranger, who revealed himself to be Mortarion's father, the Emperor of Mankind. The Emperor granted Mortarion command of the XIV Space Marine Legion, then known as the Dusk Raiders, who quickly adopted the name and dogma of Mortarion's Death Guard. However, The Emperor's slaying of his adoptive father proved to become a grudge Mortarion long held against him.

A Mournful Unity

True to his oath, Mortarion bent his knee to his new-found father as soon as he was sufficiently recovered to do so, although his final act of defiance on Barbarus would leave scars upon him both physical and mental that would never fully heal. A skilled warlord in his own right, Mortarion was immediately given command of the XIV Legion of Astartes which carried his genetic inheritance, and did so on his own terms. Gathering them before him, a grim and spectral figure robed and bearing the great black scythe that had once belonged to his nightmarish foster-father, it must have seemed to the Terran-born Dusk Raiders that an ancient, graven image of the Grim Reaper had come before them as their new master. His words were simple and delivered in a harsh whisper that never the less carried to each and every one: "You are my unbroken blades. You are the Death Guard. By your hand shall justice be delivered, and doom shall stalk a thousand worlds." The Legion's name was then changed in accordance with this decree, and Mortarion's words were engraved above the airlock door of the Battle Barge Reaper's Scythe in honour of that moment. By this simple decree the Dusk Raiders were no more, and the records and annals from that day forward would carry this new name as one to strike fear into the hearts of Mankind's enemies.

The XIV Legion's Astartes had been primarily Terran-born before Mortarion joined the Legion; after that time almost all of the Legion's Neophytes were drawn from the Feral World of Barbarus. This changed the culture and traditions of the Legion, so much so that by the last days of the Great Crusade in the early 31st Millennium, there were increasing tensions between the Barbarus-born Astartes and the Terran minority who remained in the Legion and who remembered the Dusk Raiders' earlier martial traditions brought out of Old Terra. These tensions became most clear in the period directly preceding the first battle of the Horus Heresy at Istvaan III, when approximately one-third of the Legion was judged by Mortarion to be likely to remain loyal to the Emperor when the Legion joined the Warmaster Horus in his rebellion against the Imperium. Many of these Loyalist Death Guard Astartes were Terran-born, former Dusk Raiders like Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro of the 7th Great Company whose loyalty to the Emperor outweighed their devotion to their Primarch.

The Great Crusade

In the decades that followed the renamed XIV Legion fought tirelessly in the service of the Great Crusade. Never relenting in battle beneath their Primarch's gaze, they pursued the liberation of Mankind with a fervor the Great Crusade had never known. Their restless fleet plowed the cold void from one campaign to the next, resupplying on the move, never pausing but to make war. The Death Guard did not garrison, they did not build, they only tore down and slew, coldly, determinately and with the inexorable progress of a contagion or a tsunami wave, and worlds fell before them.

Over time Mortarion shaped the creed and practice of the Death Guard, his beliefs in many ways forming a natural extension of their own, beliefs and doctrine becoming ever more refined and extreme. At the heart of them was the unshakable determination that Mankind should be free of oppression and terror. Such freedom could only be won in the Primarch's mind by destroying those that would shackle and devour humanity. This was a war to be fought without mercy or limit, without restraint or relenting. The battle for the human future was one that could only be won by enduring any hardship, no matter how terrible, and not shirking from any act, no matter how savage in pursuit of victory. This single end, the liberation of humanity to Mortarion's creed, justified any means.

Mortarion believed that victory in battle came through sheer resilience, and Horus, who used the strengths and weaknesses of the different legions to create the most efficient fighting force possible, used his legion in co-ordination with Mortarion's frequently. Mortarion and the Death Guard would draw out the enemy and tire them down, and then the Luna Wolves would strike. This combat tactic worked brilliantly, and Mortarion grew close to Horus.

Mortarion was a grim and driven Primarch, his breathing apparatus and scythe an inseparable component of his aspect. The pallid, hairless Primarch was viewed by others as a freak, and was distant from all his brother Primarchs save Horus the Warmaster and Konrad Curze the Night Haunter, the leader of the Night Lords Legion. Some Primarchs, such as Roboute Guilliman, feared that Mortarion was more loyal to Horus than he was to the Emperor; however, at that time, the Emperor claimed that loyalty to Horus was de facto loyalty to Himself. Events would prove the Emperor sorely mistaken.

The Inheritance of Barbarus

Decades of endless battle changed the Death Guard, and over time the Terran influences on the Legion became less and less apparent, with the panoply and traditions of the Dusk Raiders and the Officio Militaris erased in favor of Barbarus' bleak creed of war. The bare ivory-grey unpainted ceramite that Mortarion favoured for the Legion's Power Armour became increasingly less adorned, save for new murky-jade markings set to echo the corrosive-resistant swamp mud applied to coat the iron plates of the human warriors that had once served the Primarch of Barbarus, and shorn of older heraldry and Terran influence. The martial stratifications of Old Earth's warmasters were done away with too, and eventually the XIV Legion's Librarius was disbanded thanks to Mortarion's hatred of witchery such as that the hated charnel masters of Barbarus had once wielded.

Mortarion's hand and mind was at work everywhere remaking his Legion, from changing tactical doctrines to equipment procurement and, some say, behind the selection of candidates and changing practices in the Legion's Apothecarion, where he gained the latter knowledge to interfere. With the prevailing conditions on Barbarus and the foul beings that more than likely still stalked the planet's fog-shrouded mountains and deep swamps, there were whispers that the human population that remained would have been better off if they had been euthanized or displaced to a "cleaner" world for the sake of the sanity of future generations. Mortarion would have none of this, for Barbarus now belonged to his people, bought and paid for by generations of blood and terror, and its strongest sons would now serve as recruits for his new Death Guard.

As for the purely human Death Guard that had once fought for him against the overlords of Barbarus, many now became the masters of that world and a dread aristocracy they soon became, while the youngest and strongest took full or partial conversion into the Legiones Astartes, heedless of the high fatality rate that late induction carried with it. This was deemed a small enough price to pay to continue in the service of Mortarion their savior. With new recruitment at issue, Barbarus itself in a short span of Terran years became little more than a factory of sorts to produce new recruits for the Death Guard Legion, and intake from other sources of recruitment to which the Legion had title dwindled to a mere handful, unless the pressure of fatalities in the field proved too great. Mortarion's resistance to the use of bloodstock other than that of Barbarus wavered only because of the need to keep his Legion's strength battle worthy in his eyes. Recruitment solely from Barbarus was however aided by the high suitability of the planet's hardy feral population to the conversion process. The Legion's gene-seed seemed to amplify the uncommon resistance to contagion and toxins in its Barbarus candidates to unheard-of levels.

As fresh intakes of new Space Marines came in from Barbarus, the surviving core of Terran blood became a minority as the Great Crusade burned on across the stars, the Death Guard at the forefront of the fighting in the most hellish war-zones imaginable. Although second perhaps in their father's eyes, the Terran contingent remained stubborn in the ranks, hardened veterans and a force to be reckoned with in the Legion. With the Legion drawing the majority of its Neophytes from Barbarus, this changed the culture and traditions of the Legion, so much so that by the last days of the Great Crusade in the early 31st Millennium, there were increasing tensions between the Barbarus-born Astartes and the Terran minority who remained in the Legion and who remembered the Dusk Raiders' earlier martial traditions brought out of Old Terra. These tensions became most clear in the period directly preceding the first battle of the Horus Heresy at Istvaan III, when approximately one-third of the Legion was judged by Mortarion to be likely to remain loyal to the Emperor when the Legion joined the Warmaster Horus in his rebellion against the Imperium. Many of these Loyalist Death Guard Astartes were Terran-born, former Dusk Raiders like Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro of the 7th Great Company whose loyalty to the Emperor outweighed their devotion to their Primarch.

Council of Nikaea

Mortarion was present at the Council of Nikaea, where he spoke out against his brother Primarch Magnus the Red. Having witnessed during his youth on Barbarus the horrors produced by psykers, he testified against them, ending his plea with a dire warning against any use of sorcery by the servants of the Emperor. Unlike the other speakers at Nikaea who stood against the use of psychic powers and who mostly harangued Magnus and reviled the Thousand Sons but brought little proof or argument to the debate, Mortarion's intervention was short, impersonal and to the point. It therefore made a great impact upon the opinion of the Emperor, and drove Magnus to defend the use of psychic abilities with more drive and passion than he had originally intended.

The Horus Heresy

When the Warmaster Horus turned to Chaos, he did not require much effort to drag Mortarion and his Legion down with him. Horus had been one of the few Primarchs with whom Mortarion had felt comfortable, and as such he showed more loyalty to the Warmaster during the Great Crusade than to the Emperor Himself. In addition to this, First-Captain Calas Typhon, Mortarion's right-hand man, had long been a secret follower of the Ruinous Powers and eagerly manipulated the rest of the Death Guard into treading the path of damnation. Mortarion revealed his true colors during the scouring of Istvaan III, when he willingly sent potentially Loyalist elements of the Death Guard into Horus' trap. Once the Astartes who remained loyal to the Emperor were purged, the Death Guard then fought alongside their Traitor brethren during the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V.

The Warhawk and the Death Lord

For much of the Great Crusade, the errant White Scars Legion under the command of Primarch Jaghatai Khan had remained noticeably absent from the current chain of events that were only now beginning to trickle in to their fleet's Astropathic choirs. As they interpreted the astropathic messages they received in a contradictory manner, they began to suspect that things were not right. It had begun in the Chondax System, right towards the end of the campaign against the Greenskins -- the first inkling that all was not well. There had been no detail then, no authentication, just stray astropathic messages of dubious provenance. It should have been easy to dismiss, to put down to the warping power of the Empyrean. But it had worn on the Khan, unraveling his sleep. Jaghatai was next contacted by the Space Wolves' Leman Russ who had just returned from the Burning of Prospero and the assault against the Space Wolves' old rivals, the Thousand Sons Legion. The VI Legion's fleet had mustered at the Alaxxes Nebula to lick its wounds after the recent campaign, when it was beset by the forces of the Alpha Legion. Although the Khan sympathized with the Space Wolves' predicament, he refused to get involved until he was able to sort out the conflicting and often contradictory astropathic messages he had received. Until he knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, who was ally and who was an enemy, he refused to choose sides. Wishing his brother the best of luck, Jhagatai wished to seek his answers elsewhere.

The White Scars fleet made all haste towards Prospero, the recently ravaged homeworld of the Thousand Sons Legion. The Khagan ordered his Legion to head for the source, to find the architect of the chaos engulfing the Imperium. Yet, only one soul could see the Warp as it truly was, and that was Magnus the Red, the only one of his brothers that Jaghatai had ever truly trusted. If Magnus yet lived then everything could be salvaged. If he was dead, then the Imperium was finished. Eventually the Khan found the answers he sought in the crystal caves deep underground, beneath the destroyed capital city of Tizca. When he made his way back to the surface of the planet, he next encountered an unexpected visitor. As the clouds above them began to glow, a vibrant shard of light speared down from the smog, crackling as it hit the stone below. The Terminators turned to face it, powering up their weapons. Jaghatai told his bodyguard he had felt this new arrival's presence following them for a long time. He had been on the Khan's heels since Ullanor. At long last he had finally caught up. The Khan ordered his warriors to stand down, for the stranger was beyond all of them. How could he not be? For it was his brother -- Mortarion, the Death Lord, Primarch of the Death Guard Legion. Watching the ash settle and the residual snags of aether-burn ripple into nothing, seven figures within the maelstrom emerged. Six of them were Legionaries. They were clad in pale, thick-slabbed Terminator Armour and carried huge Power Scythes known as Manreapers. Their pauldrons were olive-green and the links between the plates were cold iron. They were massive, heavier-set than the Khan's retinue, hunched at the shoulder and leaking pale green vapor from the last of the teleportation beams. These were members of Mortarion's elite bodyguard, the Deathshroud.

Mortarion proceeded to explain the reason for his recent arrival; he told Jaghatai that he had sought him out, for things had changed. Jaghatai realised that his brother had come to persuade him to join the Traitors' cause. The Khan observed him guardedly, for Mortarion had always been hard to read. He left his blade unsheathed, holding it loosely at his side. Observing the physical changes in his brother, he noticed that Mortarion's power seemed to have grown. Something burned in him, dark like old embers. His flesh was somehow bleaker, his stance a little more crabbed, and yet the aura of intimidation around him had been augmented. Back on Ullanor, even at the height of triumph, he had not possessed quite the same heft. Jaghatai commanded his brother to say what he had come to the ruins of Prospero to say. The Khan correctly surmised that Horus had not sent Mortarion, he had come of his own accord, with his own agenda. Mortarion brushed off the Khan's reasoning, but Jaghatai pressed him. The Death Guard Primarch attempted to sway the Khan to Horus' cause, to imagine a galaxy of warriors, of hunters, where the strong were given their freedom to act as they would, unbound by the Emperor's demands. The Khan was no fool, of course this new galaxy would all be led by Horus. Mortarion merely shrugged -- Horus would be the start of the new order. He was the champion, the sacrificial king. He might burn himself out to get to Terra, he might not. Either way, there would be room for others to rise to power over the galaxy to come.

Mortarion told his brother that he should not have thrown in his lot with Sanguinius, let alone Magnus. He hated to see the three of them getting dragged in deeper by the Emperor's hypocrisy. Their father had tried to pretend that it was not there, the Warp, as if He were not already up to His elbows in its soul-sucking filth. In Mortarion's opinion it should have been cordoned off, put away, forgotten about. But the Khan was not fooled by his brother's sincerity. He had seen what had happened. The Death Lord had never hidden what he wanted. Jaghatai could see how his brother thought it would all play out; first hobble the sorcerers. Silence the witches. Drive them out, and rule would pass to the uncorrupted, the healthy. This was Mortarion's great project. He had even told the Khan on Ullanor. The Khan had thought back then that they were empty threats, but he should have known better. Mortarion did not make empty threats. But it had all gone wrong. Though Mortarion had completed his great mission and the Emperor had handed down the Edicts of Nikaea forbidding the use of sorcery and the disbandment of the Legions' Librarius, there were now more sorcerers than ever amongst the ranks of the Traitors. Horus had sponsored them, Lorgar had shown them new tricks. If Magnus had not already made up his mind on which side of the conflict he would be on, then he soon would, and then Mortarion would be surrounded. He had destroyed the Librarius of the Legions only to find witches were now untrammelled amongst the Traitors.

The Khan had seen the overall picture perfectly. Magnus' shade had showed him. Jaghatai warned his brother that though his Legion might be free of the Warp's corruption for now, the change would come, for Mortarion had made his pacts with the masters of the Empyrean, and now they would come to collect. But this was why Mortarion had come to find Jaghatai. Mortarion had run out of friends. Who would stand with him against the aether-weavers now? Most assuredly not their brother Angron, nor the half-mad Konrad Curze. The Khan gazed at Mortarion disdainfully. His brother had tasted the fruits of treachery and found them bitter. The Khan did not wish to be dragged into his brother's ruin -- Mortarion was on his own. Struggling to contain his anger, Mortarion warned the Khan that he had come to give his brother a choice -- half of the White Scars Legion had already declared for Horus, and the others would follow wherever the Khagan ordered them. Their father's time was over -- the Khan could either be a part of the new order that replaced him or be swept aside in its wake. The Khan merely smiled -- a cold smile, imperious in its contempt. He would not countenance a new Emperor -- neither himself or his brother. Jaghatai explained that the reason neither one of them would ever rule the galaxy is that both of them were never the empire-builders. They were the outriders. Mortarion had chafed at this role, while the Khan had embraced it. Enraged, Mortarion backed away, Silence crackled into life, sparking with green-tinged energy. The Deathshroud lowered their scythes in a combat posture. Behind the Khan, the keshig readied their blades. The Khan prepared to settle their argument once and for all.

The two Primarchs circled one another, prepared to finally engage in a deadly duel that would decide their fates. As the two demi-gods battled, their respective retinues also fell onto one another in deadly close-combat. The silent Deathshroud were just as implacable as their master, as they fought the White Scars keshig amidst the wreckage. Warriors of both sides had already fallen, their bodies caked in the thickness of blood and dust, but the dispute raged on, bitter and unyielding. The two Primarchs traded deadly blows, tearing into one another, each strike powered by raw defiance. As they hacked and countered, neither giving up a single measurement of ground, it mingled upon the blades' edges, as rich and dark as wine. Summoning up one last burst of energy, the Khan held position, panting hard as he dragged out the remnants of his power for the final clash. In response, Mortarion only stood, rigid, as though suddenly listening for something. His scythe fell into guard and a thin coughing broke from his mask, which the Khan realised was an exhausted kind of chortle. "So the choice has been made."

Mortarion informed Jaghatai that their respective star ships were at war. This was not what they had been promised by the White Scars' Warrior Lodge brothers, but the Death Lord refused to lose a fleet for this fight. Feeling the dust stir around his feet, coils of marsh-green teleportation energy rippled downward. He saluted the Khan mockingly, and spears of hard-edged light lanced down from above, bursting through the cloud cover and crashing through the heart of the ruined Tizca pyramid they had been fighting within. The Khan sprang forward, seeing too late what was happening. In an instant, the Death Lord and his retinue were snatched away, sucked into the vortex of the Warp. The world's wind howled in their empty wake, ash stirred and the lightning forked. Jaghatai, carried by the momentum of his final thrust, staggered though the empty space where his brother turned enemy had been.

Seeking Answers

Chagrined by his defeat at the hands of Jaghatai Khan, Mortarion abandoned the pursuit of the White Scars and instead lead his Death Guard in a spiteful, punitive rampage across the systems of the lost Prosperine empire. World after world soon fell to this horrific onslaught, and yet the insular and secretive Primarch seemed preoccupied by some other, unspoken goal. Finally he found what he sought for upon the world of Terathalion, a former library-world where knowledge coalesced, all under the benign guidance of distant masters on Prospero. When his voidships emerged from the Mandeville jump point in the Imperial year 007.M31 and spread out through the local system, they were not the sleek and gloriously decorated crimson-colored system-runners of Magnus the Red's XVth Legion , but corpse-grey, vast-hulled leviathans. Moreover, it was no mere squadron that had arrived, but an entire battle group. Mortarion ordered the orbital bombardment immediately. When the bombardment finally relented, the few survivors crept slowly from whatever refuge they had been able to find. Thinking for a moment that the worst was finally over, they soon saw dirty contrails of Drop Pods split the smoke-barred skies. The entirety of the Death Guard Legion had come to the doomed world. Though still gravely wounded and in deep pain, the Death Lord teleported down to the surface, seeking a mortal woman. Upon discovery, he had his captive teleported with him back aboard his flagship, Endurance. Within his private quarters he interrogated the woman, who in truth, was a Daemon in possession of the woman's body. Mortarion had never encountered its kind before, believing his father, the Emperor, that such fell creatures did not exist. Now one of the denizens of the Empyrean stood shackled before him. The Primarch sought answers from the daemon. He wanted to know why his brothers Lorgar and Fulgrim willingly trafficked with the creature's kind. The Daemon explained that Mortarion's brothers had come to see the true order of things.

Despite all that had occurred, Mortarion still believed that all sorcery was a cancer. He still believed that they must guard against it -- push it back. After destroying an entire world in his search for answers, he yearned to know the truth about Chaos. Mortarion knew that he was now surrounded by the damned. Jaghatai had been right -- the Death Lord was on his own with them. The Aether stained everything. But he would endeavor to understand it -- to overcome it. The daemon's final task would be to show him how. The foul creature laughed at Mortarion's efforts. Like thousands of other mortals the creature had encountered over the aeons, each one was convinced that they alone could find a way to negotiate with the gods with little to no consequence. The Daemon explained to the Primarch that the Empyrean had many great forces in the Aether, and one of them had Mortarion's name etched over his rusting throne. He was still waiting, though not for very much longer. It mattered not how many trinkets the Primarch rattled or waved -- he would not be denied. He had claimed Mortarion. The Primarch was enraged at the creature's proclamation -- even his Father could not claim him. Mortarion admitted that he was guilty of patricide long before the seeds of treachery were sown in the Warmaster's heart. He had seen them all -- the tyrants, the witches, the xenos filth. Only he remained pure of it all, free of corruption. The Daemon could see through the Primarch's lies, and taunted him -- he didn't look pure to her at all.

The Daemon continued to taunt the Primarch, goading him on. If he wanted to know the truth, then it would be revealed. The creature's bonds were suddenly shattered and her human shell peeled away, revealing a glossy, insectoid true-form. Though the Primarch's physical strength was enormous, the Daemon knew that it would not help him, for she was a creature of anti-physics, held only by laws that the Primarch feared to invoke. In an attempt to resist the Daemon's brutal attack, he tore at it with his hands, still relying on the immeasurable strength in his post-human musculature. Enraged by this, Mortarion called upon his innate abilities buried deep down within him. The glorious stink of learned sorcery and hedge-magick was now pungent and inescapable. It was within him, he was using it, in spite of every protestation. As the Daemon sagged back against the wall, feeling her soul pulled back to the Empyrean, the Primarch continued to hammer her furiously with his fists, pouring out all of his fury onto the broken physical shell. She was the first to see a fragment of what he would eventually become. As the creature died, and her quintessential matter was sucked back into the maw of the Æther, she managed a mock salute, "Hail, Master of the Plague!" Mortarion stood over the crushed heap, breathing heavily. For too long, he had been used by all sides. The void now seethed with witchery, more virulent than ever. He could feel its tendrils grasping for him. The Death Lord knew he would have to learn more. He would have to master all the paths of ruin. He would, as perhaps he had known but refused to believe for a long time, have to become the very thing that he hated. "So be it," he thought to himself, "It starts here."

The Doom of the Death Guard

During the subsequent assault on Terra itself at the end of the Heresy by the Traitor Legions, the Death Guard were part of Horus' invasion force. However, en route, the entire Death Guard Fleet became trapped in the Immaterium due to the actions of First Captain Calas Typhon, trapping them in a perpetual nightmare. It was whilst on campaign with the Word Bearers Legion earlier in the Great Crusade that Typhon had learned of a different path for the Legiones Astartes to follow, a future where his hard-won but hidden psychic abilities would be a source of greatness instead of a taboo to be hidden from sight. The foremost Chaplain of the Word Bearers, Erebus, inducted Typhon into the secrets of the Seven Pillared Lodge, one of the Warrior Lodges that had begun to spread throughout the Space Marine Legions in the later days of the Great Crusade. It was during this time that Typhon caught a glimpse of what the Astartes could truly become if they shrugged off the yoke of the Emperor's ambitions.

Perhaps Typhon's revelation was instrumental in Mortarion's own fall to the Ruinous Powers; perhaps Mortarion would have walked a dark path on his own. Either way, the troubled Death Guard Primarch saw a worthy master in Horus, whereas in the Emperor he saw only a self-serving and pompous pretender who had stolen Mortarion's hard-won kingship in a single day. As the Heresy that Horus initiated slowly but surely escalated into a galactic civil war, Mortarion ordered his fleet to head for Terra with all haste, intending for the Death Guard to join the other Traitor Legions in the destruction of the False Emperor. By this point, Calas Typhon served one master alone, and it was not his Primarch. Typhon had seen to it that the fleet's Navigators were killed to a man (claiming their loyalty was still to the Emperor), but reassured Mortarion that the Warp-gift he possessed would see them through their journey in the Empyrean safe enough. Though he hated the concept of relying on witchery, Mortarion was left with little choice. The Death Guard fleet made transition into the Warp, and in the process damned themselves to an eternity of war as the puppets of a foul and ancient god.

In leading the Death Guard into the Warp, Typhon had delivered them into the clutches of his new master, Nurgle, the Lord of Decay. The strange tides of the Empyrean are notoriously fickle, and during their voyage the entire Death Guard fleet was becalmed. As their warships lingered, directionless and without hope, the cloying influence of Father Nurgle began to take hold. The Death Guard were subjected to the terrible infection of the Destroyer Plague and Nurgle's Rot, as Nurgle's power managed to infiltrate the vessels of the XIV Legion. It polluted the vessels themselves as easily as it did the transhuman warriors within. The virulent plagues infected the fleet while they drifted aimlessly through the Warp, making a mockery of the Death Guard's legendary resistance to poison and contagions. The plague that came could not be resisted, something that terrified Mortarion and the Death Guard. It transformed them into bloated mutants, yet none could die, their own body being their undoing. None suffered more than Mortarion, for it was like being on the mountain top again, surrendering to the toxins, but this time without the Emperor to save him. Eventually, Mortarion could suffer no more and gave himself to Chaos. Desperate, Mortarion offered his Legion and his own soul up to the Ruinous Powers in exchange for deliverance. Father Nurgle responded and took the XIV Legion and Mortarion for his own.

What emerged from the Warp bore little resemblance to what had gone in. The Death Guard Space Marines' once gleaming grey armour was corroded and shattered, barely containing their bloated, pustule-riddled bodies. Their weapons and armour were powered by the energies of Chaos and they became known as the Plague Marines, although they would still use the name of the Death Guard for themselves. Mortarion himself left his humanity far behind and was transformed into Nurgle's greatest mortal Champion: the Prince of Decay, the very image of death. Condemned to a deathless state of decay, the Death Guard would spread their pestilent diseases the length and breadth of the galaxy for the greater glory of Chaos.

In the end, Horus was defeated by the Emperor, but unlike the other Legions, who splintered and fled into the Eye of Terror, Mortarion's Legion, now calling themselves the Plague Marines, made an orderly withdrawal, wave after wave of Loyalists breaking themselves on the Legion. Mortarion led his forces, in an ordered formation, back to the Eye of Terror. Mortarion claimed the Daemon World known as the Plague Planet as his new homeworld and it proved to be an ideal base for launching attacks from out of the Eye of Terror into the physical universe. He shaped it so well that Nurgle promoted him to become the greatest of his Daemon Princes. Mortarion had finally gotten what he wanted, a world of his own. He ruled over a toxic death world of poison, horror and misery. For better or worse, the Death Lord had come home.

Source: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com

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Chapter 4.5: 1.04 Years

Year 2, day 14: Today’s the day. The giant bird that I remember for being the only boss you didn’t rematch for some reason has taken Link’s sister, and a sizeable-looking crew of pirates were there too. We decided it would be easier if we got permission to follow them instead of trying to go about it stealthily. Thankfully, their captain, Tetra, was a chill lady and was cool with it after we explained our friends had been kidnapped too.

At least, I’m half-past certain that’s in their backstories if they landed there.

We followed them on Cody’s ship, though we had to attach a tow line as their larger ship was a lot faster. It was only the first night by the time we reached the Forsaken Fortress.

The first obstacle was the ridiculous-high wall surrounding the place. Link got over by being fired out of a catapult. Elmily and I opted to fly over, only for her to get spotted by the searchlights (which I was agile enough to avoid). Thankfully for her, Link was discovered immediately after, which drew their attention enough for her to fly back to the ship.

Which left just me and Twig. Great.

“With Maria accounted for elsewhere, the bird probably hasn’t kidnapped them,” I said. “Which means we’ll know we found them when we find the only males here that aren’t monsters or running this place.”

“This place is huge, though,” Twig worried. “Bigger than Windfall...”

“That just means we’ll have to be careful.”

So commenced our search of the enemy fortress. Sneaking around the place wasn’t easy, and I remember this place taking a while on the first visit, but unlike Link, I could use quick bursts of flight to get past some barriers without making too much noise.

Eventually, we found our target inside some jail cells – two male Hylians. Well, one was a Hylian, the other was a Mightyena trying to dig under the bars. I was so happy to see Bolt and Shadow again I almost ran right out in front of a guard, but thankfully Twig tugged me back by my tunic long enough for them to leave the room.

From them, I learned a few things.

First, they still had their original names. They had both taken a background that gave them an origin similar to Link himself, and apparently “Bolt” and “Shadow” were good enough for hero names.

Second, they had arrived at the Fortress already imprisoned. Breaking out was actually pretty easy, but everything they had bought for their builds had been taken away, and while Bolt had become surprisingly good with improvised weapons, they had always gotten caught and sent back to square one. It didn’t help that neither wanted to leave without their ships, tied up in the fortress’s harbor – Shadow had a submersible, while Bolt’s could apparently talk (which I quickly found myself believing). Given I was greatly in need of a diver, I wanted to do the same.

Which lead directly to three: the main reason they hadn’t been able to escape was because three of my teammates had landed here altogether. The last of them had apparently taken the ability to make traps and puzzles, and the master of the fortress had taken him to his chamber at the top of the island and was forcing him to constantly use that ability to reinvent the stronghold’s security, something I hadn’t noticed due to my forgetting most of the game.

Said third teammate was an eleven-year-old Hylian named Zorro… also known as Manaphy.

I wanted to tear that entire damn fortress apart. I had enough massive headaches as it stood without my son being held captive by fucking Ganondorf.

And unfortunately for him, I had the weapon I needed to kill his damn bird and the ability to turn into a spiny ball of ruined day.

Which I wish I could say was enough, but sadly no. My attempt to smash my way through the fortress resulted in Phantom Ganon showing up, who quickly swatted Twig into unconsciousness. Hammers are shit for playing “Dead Man’s Volley,” by the way. Thankfully Bolt managed to find his sword and was able to fend it off, which didn’t mean much when a whole load of Moblins took advantage of the miniboss fight to ambush us from behind.

So at the end of the day, I’m stripped of my things, I was thrown in prison with Bolt and Shadow, Twig was put in another cage, and I have no idea where Terra and Cody have gone after I’m pretty sure Tetra’s ship split from the surrounding waters.

This does not look good.

Year 2, day 15: So things just went from bad to worse. I’ve been moved up to a cage next to my son’s in the upper rooms of the Fortress. It would’ve been a heartwarming reunion if it wasn’t happening because Ganondorf realized he could use the threat of harming me to get Zorro to keep working for him.

I responded to this by turning into a Sandslash and slashing my way out of my wooden cage and attacking Ganondorf, only for me to fail to harm him and be stuffed in a smaller metal cage. I had to be a Rito just to have any movement at all. Apparently he found me fascinating, but mostly a distraction to his main goal, which I really don’t think I have to write out.

At least I was with my son, and it’s not like he’s not feeding us? After this last year, it was good to be able to reach out and touch him-

Link is thrown from Ganondorf, just in time for Terra to leap in through a window and distract him. Twig gets the cages open as Ganondorf notices his Triforce of Power resonating. Two Rito, one of them Quill, swoop through and pull them out as a massive dragon unleashes a roaring inferno on-

I snapped back to reality, my mind reeling.

I just heard a Dimensional Scream for the first time in over a decade.

After I got my thoughts together, it made sense. Zelda has had a lot of time travel in it. Like, a disgusting amount. But that meant there were a number of things that could be providing the connection to time. Did the Temple of Time even still exist? What about the instrument from Oracle of Ages; did that even have a chance to exist in this timeline?

A weird thing to think about in this situation, I know, but it wasn’t like I was going to answer any of our captor’s questions about who I was and what my deal was, especially once he confirmed I had shit to do with the Triforce.

But I was sure of one thing now: Link would get us out of this mess.

We just have to endure however long that’ll take…

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Both sides play the blame game as virus relief talks stall (AP) With talks on emergency coronavirus aid having stalled out, both sides played the blame game Thursday rather than make any serious moves to try to break their stalemate. Official Washington is emptying, national politics is consuming the airwaves and the chasm between the warring sides appears too great for now. All of the chief combatants have exited Washington after a several-day display of staying put as to not get blamed for abandoning the talks. The political risk for President Donald Trump is continued pain in U.S. households and a struggling economy—both of which promise to hurt him in the September campaign. For Democrats, there is genuine disappointment at being unable to deliver a deal but apparent comfort in holding firm for a sweeping measure instead of the few pieces that Trump wants most. With the House and Senate essentially closed, and lawmakers on call to return with 24 hours’ notice, hopes for a swift compromise have dwindled. All indications are talks will not resume in full until Congress resumes in September, despite the mounting coronavirus death toll.

Rural families without internet face tough choice on school (AP) John Ross worries about his children returning to their classrooms this fall with coronavirus cases rising in Kentucky, but he feels he doesn’t have much of a choice: His family’s limited internet access makes it nearly impossible for the kids to keep up with schoolwork from home. “They’re going to have their education,” the father of three in rural Lee County said as he recalled his children’s struggles to do their work this spring over a spotty cellphone connection. Lee County, a community of around 7,000 people deep in the Appalachian Mountains, is one of many rural school districts around the country where the decision over whether to bring students back into classrooms is particularly fraught. As in other places, parents and officials are concerned about the virus, but dramatically limited internet access here also means kids could fall seriously behind if the pandemic keeps them home again. Roughly 3 million students across the United States don’t have access to a home internet connection. A third of households with school-age children that do not have home internet cite the expense as the main reason, according to federal Education Department statistics. But in some rural places, a reliable connection can’t be had at any price.

UK orders quarantine for arrivals from France (AP) Britain will require all people arriving from France to isolate for 14 days—an announcement that throws the plans of tens of thousands of holidaymakers into chaos. France is one of the top holiday destinations for British travelers, who now have until 4 a.m. Saturday to get home if they want to avoid two weeks in isolation.

Surge in Covid-19 cases among younger people (The Guardian) Surges in Covid-19 cases in countries across Europe are due largely to a rise in infections among young people, data from national agencies shows, prompting fears among experts that the virus could soon spread back to more vulnerable groups. Unlike during the early months of the crisis in March and April, when older people accounted for the biggest share of cases, in France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium 20 to 39-year-olds now represent up to 40% of new infections. In Germany—which on Thursday reported a three-month high of 1,445 infections in 24 hours, against about 6,000 at the height of the pandemic—the health minister, Jens Spahn, said the rise in the infection rate among young people had been “significant”. The average age of people being infected with the virus was now 34, the lowest since the start of the epidemic, Spahn said.

Belarus authorities free detainees amid protesters’ pressure (AP) Belarusian authorities have released about 1,000 people detained amid demonstrations contesting the results of the presidential election, in an attempt to assuage public anger against a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests. Around midnight, scores of detainees were seen walking out of one of Minsk’s jails. Ambulances arrived to carry those who apparently were unable to walk on their own. Many of those who were released talked about brutal beatings and other abuse at the hands of police, and some showed bruises. Some wept as they embraced their relatives. The move comes on the day that European Union foreign ministers are due to meet to discuss possible sanctions against Belarus. In five days of massive protests, crowds of demonstrators swarmed the streets to contest the vote results and demand an end to the 26-year rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Nearly 7,000 people have been detained and hundreds injured.

North Korea floods kill 22, approach nuclear reactor (Washington Post) Flooding caused by weeks of unusually heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 22 people in North Korea, with four others missing, and even approached the country’s main nuclear reactor, but leader Kim Jong Un says he is too worried about coronavirus to accept outside help. The International Federation of the Red Cross said the floods had left 26 people dead or missing. The official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said at least 16,680 houses and 630 public buildings had been destroyed or flooded during the monsoon, with nearly 100,000 acres of crops damaged, and many roads, bridges, railway tracks broken. A dam at a power station also gave way, it said. The disaster adds to an already troubling humanitarian situation in North Korea, whose weak economy has been further battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

‘Made in China’ label ruling hits a raw nerve in Hong Kong (Washington Post) This city’s leaders have insisted repeatedly that Hong Kong is an “inalienable” part of China. They’ve banned school students from singing Hong Kong’s protest anthem. They’re implementing patriotic education to force youngsters to love the “motherland.” A new national security law sets heavy penalties for anyone advocating Hong Kong’s separation from the People’s Republic. So, after the United States determined that Hong Kong no longer had autonomy under its “one country, two systems” formula, U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled Tuesday that imports from Hong Kong must be labeled “made in China.” Those three words sent Hong Kong officials into a collective tailspin. At a media briefing Thursday, a member of Hong Kong’s ruling cabinet delivered a message that, from the mouth of a pro-democracy activist or political opponent, could put them behind bars: The former British colony is not, in fact, China. Coming a month and a half after Beijing’s security law made calling for an independent Hong Kong punishable by life in prison, and just weeks after teenagers were arrested over social media posts advocating just that, the Hong Kong government’s sudden attempt to distance itself from China sparked ridicule online.

China’s show of force (Foreign Policy) The Chinese military announced on Thursday that it had conducted a series of military exercises around Taiwan in a provocative show of force as relations with the United States continue to sour. The exercises occurred at the tail-end of a visit to the island by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, the highest-level meeting between U.S. and Taiwanese officials since Washington severed formal diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979. China threatened unspecified retaliatory action in response to the visit, and on Monday two Chinese jets briefly crossed into Taiwanese airspace just prior to the meeting between Azar and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

75 years later, Japan war orphans tell of pain, recovery (AP) For years, orphans in Japan were punished just for surviving the war. They were bullied. They were called trash and left to fend for themselves on the street. Police rounded them up and threw them in jail. They were sent to orphanages or sold for labor. They were abandoned by their government, abused and discriminated against. Now, 75 years after the end of the Pacific War, some have broken decades of silence to describe for a fast-forgetting world their sagas of recovery, survival, suffering—and their calls for justice. The stories told to The Associated Press ahead of Saturday’s anniversary of the war’s end underscore both the lingering pain of the now-grown children who lived through those tumultuous years and what activists describe as Japan’s broader failure to face up to its past. The orphans feel they were forgotten by history and by their leaders.

UN soundly defeats US demand to extend arms embargo on Iran (AP) The U.N. Security Council on Friday resoundingly defeated a U.S. resolution to indefinitely extend the U.N. arms embargo on Iran, with the Trump administration getting support from only the Dominican Republic but vowing further action to prevent Tehran’s sale and export of conventional weapons. The vote in the 15-member council was two in favor, two against and 11 abstentions, leaving it far short of the minimum nine “yes” votes required for adoption. Russia and China strongly opposed the resolution, but didn’t need to use their vetoes. The Trump administration has said repeatedly it will not allow the arms embargo provision in the Security Council resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers to expire as scheduled Oct. 18. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested the U.S. would invoke the “snap back” mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal that would restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran — and U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said the United States will go ahead “in the coming days” and keep America’s “promise to stop at nothing to extend the arms embargo.” President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers, known as the JCPOA, in 2018. But the U.S. circulated a six-page memo Thursday from State Department lawyers outlining why the United States remains part of the 2015 Security Council resolution that endorsed the deal and still has the right to use the `snap back’ provision. The five other powers — Russia, China, United Kingdom, France and Germany — remain committed to the deal, and diplomats from several of these countries have voiced concern that extending the arms embargo would lead Iran to exit the nuclear agreement and speed up its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Lebanese have little hope blast probe will lead to truth (AP) Lebanon’s judicial investigation of the Beirut port explosion started with political wrangling over the naming of a lead investigator, military threats to jail leakers and doubts over whether a panel appointed along sectarian lines could be fully impartial. So for many Lebanese, their greatest hope for credible answers about the blast that wrecked much of their capital may lie with outsiders: the French forensic police who have joined the probe and FBI investigators are expected to take part. The Beirut explosion lies at the crossroads of a disastrous accident and a crime scene. It still was not known what sparked the fire that ignited nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that were stored for years in Beirut’s port next to densely populated residential areas. Documents have emerged that show the country’s top leadership and security officials were aware of the stockpile. Many Lebanese want the probe taken out of the hands of their own government, having learned from past experience that the long-entrenched political factions, notorious for corruption, won’t allow any results damaging to their leadership to come to light.

Iran, Turkey lash out at UAE over agreement with Israel (AP) Iran and Turkey lashed out at their regional rival the United Arab Emirates on Friday over its decision to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel in a U.S.-brokered deal, accusing it of betraying the Palestinian cause. The UAE, which has never fought Israel and has quietly been improving ties for years, said the agreement put a hold on Israel’s plans to unilaterally annex parts of the occupied West Bank, which the Palestinians view as the heartland of their future state. The agreement would make the UAE the first Gulf Arab state—and the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan—to have full diplomatic ties with Israel. The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory for U.S. President Donald Trump as he seeks re-election and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians. Israel, the UAE and other Gulf countries that view Iran as a regional menace have been cultivating closer ties in recent years.

[itsfinancethings]

November 11, 2019 at 12:46AM

(MADRID) — Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists won Spain’s national election on Sunday but large gains by the upstart far-right Vox party appear certain to widen the political deadlock in the European Union’s fifth-largest economy.

After a fourth national ballot in as many years and the second in less than seven months, the left-wing Socialists held on as the leading power in the national parliament. With 99.9% of the votes counted, the Socialists captured 120 seats, down three seats from the last election in April and still far from the absolute majority of 176 needed to form a government alone.

The big political shift came as right-wing voters flocked to Vox, which only had broken into Parliament in the spring for the first time. Sunday’s outcome means there will be no immediate end to the stalemate between forces on the right and the left in Spain, suggesting the country could go many more weeks or even months without a new government.

The far-right party led by 43-year-old Santiago Abascal, who speaks of “reconquering” Spain in terms that echo the medieval wars between Christian and Moorish forces, rocketed from 24 to 52 seats. That will make Vox the third leading party in the Congress of Deputies, giving it much more leverage in forming a government and crafting legislation.

The party has vowed to be much tougher on both Catalan separatists and migrants.

Abascal called his party’s success “the greatest political feat seen in Spain.”

“Just 11 months ago, we weren’t even in any regional legislature in Spain. Today we are the third-largest party in Spain and the party that has grown the most in votes and seats,” said Abascal, who promised to battle the “progressive dictatorship.”

Right-wing populist and anti-migrant leaders across Europe celebrated Vox’s strong showing.

Marine Le Pen, who heads France’s National Rally party, congratulated Abascal, saying his impressive work “is already bearing fruit after only a few years.”

In Italy, Matteo Salvini of the right-wing League party tweeted a picture of himself next to Abascal with the words “Congratulations to Vox!” above Spanish and Italian flags. And in the Netherlands, anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders posted a photograph of himself with Abascal and wrote “FELICIDADES” — Spanish for congratulations — with three thumbs-up emojis.

With Sunday’s outcome, the mainstream conservative Popular Party rebounded from its previous debacle in the April vote to 88 seats from 66, a historic low. The far-left United We Can, which had rejected an offer to help the Socialists form a left-wing government over the summer, lost some ground to get 35 seats.

The night’s undisputed loser was the center-right Citizens party, which collapsed to 10 seats from 57 in April after its leader Albert Rivera refused to help the Socialists form a government and tried to copy some of Vox’s hard-line positions.

Sánchez’s chances of staying in power still hinges on ultimately winning over the United We Can party and several regional parties, a complicated maneuver that he has failed to pull off in recent months.

Sánchez called on opponents to be “responsible” and “generous” by allowing a Socialist-led government to remain in charge.

“We extend this call to all the political parties except for those who self-exclude themselves … and plant the seeds of hate in our democracy,” he added, an apparent allusion to far-right and also possibly to separatist Catalan parties.

United We Can leader Pablo Iglesias extended an offer of support to Sánchez.

“These elections have only served for the right to grow stronger and for Spain to have one of the strongest far-right parties in Europe,” Iglesias said. “The only way to stop the far-right in Spain is to have a stable government.”

Pablo Casado, the leader of the Popular Party, also pledged to work to end months of political instability. He said “the ball was in the court” of Sánchez, though. In recent months his party and Citizens have struck deals with Vox to take over some cities and regional governments.

Bonnie Field, a professor on Global Studies at Bentley University in California, called the political situation a “mess government-wise.”

“Spanish politics are now increasingly complicated and any governing formula is going to require lots of negotiations, and people being open to criticism,” she said.

The Socialists took a hit in the country’s Senate, losing their absolute majority of 133 seats in the upper parliamentary chamber amid the significant conservative inroads.

Julia Giobelina, a 34-year-old web designer from Madrid, was angry at having to vote for the second time this year. But she said she cast her ballot in hopes of stopping Vox.

“They are the new fascism,” Giobelina said. “We citizens need to stand against privatization of health care and other public services.”

Spain returned to democracy in the late 1970s after a near four-decade right-wing dictatorship under the late Gen. Francisco Franco. The country used to take pride in claiming that no far-right group had seats in the national Parliament, unlike the rest of Europe. That changed in the spring, but the Socialists’ April victory was still seen by many as a respite for Europe, where right-wing parties had gained much ground.

Vox relied on its anti-migrant message and attacks on laws that protect women from domestic abuse as well as what it considers leftist ideology disguised as political correctness. Still, it does not advocate a break from the EU in the very pro-EU Spain.

It has nevertheless flourished after recent riots in Catalonia by separatists, capitalizing on Spanish nationalist sentiment stirred up by the country’s worst political conflict in decades. Many right-wingers were also not pleased by the Socialist government’s exhumation of Franco’s remains last month from his gargantuan mausoleum so he could no longer be exalted in a public place.

The debate over Catalonia, meanwhile, promises to fester.

The three Catalan separatist parties won a combined 23 seats on Sunday.

Many Catalans have been angered by the decision last month by Spain’s Supreme Court, which sentenced to prison nine Catalan politicians and activists who led a 2017 drive for the region’s independence. The ruling has triggered massive daily protests in Catalonia that left more than 500 people injured, roughly half of them police officers, and dozens arrested.

[newstechreviews]

(MADRID) — Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists won Spain’s national election on Sunday but large gains by the upstart far-right Vox party appear certain to widen the political deadlock in the European Union’s fifth-largest economy.

After a fourth national ballot in as many years and the second in less than seven months, the left-wing Socialists held on as the leading power in the national parliament. With 99.9% of the votes counted, the Socialists captured 120 seats, down three seats from the last election in April and still far from the absolute majority of 176 needed to form a government alone.

The big political shift came as right-wing voters flocked to Vox, which only had broken into Parliament in the spring for the first time. Sunday’s outcome means there will be no immediate end to the stalemate between forces on the right and the left in Spain, suggesting the country could go many more weeks or even months without a new government.

The far-right party led by 43-year-old Santiago Abascal, who speaks of “reconquering” Spain in terms that echo the medieval wars between Christian and Moorish forces, rocketed from 24 to 52 seats. That will make Vox the third leading party in the Congress of Deputies, giving it much more leverage in forming a government and crafting legislation.

The party has vowed to be much tougher on both Catalan separatists and migrants.

Abascal called his party’s success “the greatest political feat seen in Spain.”

“Just 11 months ago, we weren’t even in any regional legislature in Spain. Today we are the third-largest party in Spain and the party that has grown the most in votes and seats,” said Abascal, who promised to battle the “progressive dictatorship.”

Right-wing populist and anti-migrant leaders across Europe celebrated Vox’s strong showing.

Marine Le Pen, who heads France’s National Rally party, congratulated Abascal, saying his impressive work “is already bearing fruit after only a few years.”

In Italy, Matteo Salvini of the right-wing League party tweeted a picture of himself next to Abascal with the words “Congratulations to Vox!” above Spanish and Italian flags. And in the Netherlands, anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders posted a photograph of himself with Abascal and wrote “FELICIDADES” — Spanish for congratulations — with three thumbs-up emojis.

With Sunday’s outcome, the mainstream conservative Popular Party rebounded from its previous debacle in the April vote to 88 seats from 66, a historic low. The far-left United We Can, which had rejected an offer to help the Socialists form a left-wing government over the summer, lost some ground to get 35 seats.

The night’s undisputed loser was the center-right Citizens party, which collapsed to 10 seats from 57 in April after its leader Albert Rivera refused to help the Socialists form a government and tried to copy some of Vox’s hard-line positions.

Sánchez’s chances of staying in power still hinges on ultimately winning over the United We Can party and several regional parties, a complicated maneuver that he has failed to pull off in recent months.

Sánchez called on opponents to be “responsible” and “generous” by allowing a Socialist-led government to remain in charge.

“We extend this call to all the political parties except for those who self-exclude themselves … and plant the seeds of hate in our democracy,” he added, an apparent allusion to far-right and also possibly to separatist Catalan parties.

United We Can leader Pablo Iglesias extended an offer of support to Sánchez.

“These elections have only served for the right to grow stronger and for Spain to have one of the strongest far-right parties in Europe,” Iglesias said. “The only way to stop the far-right in Spain is to have a stable government.”

Pablo Casado, the leader of the Popular Party, also pledged to work to end months of political instability. He said “the ball was in the court” of Sánchez, though. In recent months his party and Citizens have struck deals with Vox to take over some cities and regional governments.

Bonnie Field, a professor on Global Studies at Bentley University in California, called the political situation a “mess government-wise.”

“Spanish politics are now increasingly complicated and any governing formula is going to require lots of negotiations, and people being open to criticism,” she said.

The Socialists took a hit in the country’s Senate, losing their absolute majority of 133 seats in the upper parliamentary chamber amid the significant conservative inroads.

Julia Giobelina, a 34-year-old web designer from Madrid, was angry at having to vote for the second time this year. But she said she cast her ballot in hopes of stopping Vox.

“They are the new fascism,” Giobelina said. “We citizens need to stand against privatization of health care and other public services.”

Spain returned to democracy in the late 1970s after a near four-decade right-wing dictatorship under the late Gen. Francisco Franco. The country used to take pride in claiming that no far-right group had seats in the national Parliament, unlike the rest of Europe. That changed in the spring, but the Socialists’ April victory was still seen by many as a respite for Europe, where right-wing parties had gained much ground.

Vox relied on its anti-migrant message and attacks on laws that protect women from domestic abuse as well as what it considers leftist ideology disguised as political correctness. Still, it does not advocate a break from the EU in the very pro-EU Spain.

It has nevertheless flourished after recent riots in Catalonia by separatists, capitalizing on Spanish nationalist sentiment stirred up by the country’s worst political conflict in decades. Many right-wingers were also not pleased by the Socialist government’s exhumation of Franco’s remains last month from his gargantuan mausoleum so he could no longer be exalted in a public place.

The debate over Catalonia, meanwhile, promises to fester.

The three Catalan separatist parties won a combined 23 seats on Sunday.

Many Catalans have been angered by the decision last month by Spain’s Supreme Court, which sentenced to prison nine Catalan politicians and activists who led a 2017 drive for the region’s independence. The ruling has triggered massive daily protests in Catalonia that left more than 500 people injured, roughly half of them police officers, and dozens arrested.