how wild must it be for punkflower during the Secret Empire event in the comic. Hobie wouldn't be able to port to Miles' dimension for months and once he does he finds out Miles literally just survives a fascist regime, got Red Room training from Black Widow, got arrested for nearly bashing Nazi (fake) Cap's head in, and in general just punched a lot of fascists. he'd probably propose right away.

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation (Gen II) - Chapter 10

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Chapter 10 - Dark God Loptous

After the battle at Thracia Castle ended, Seliph gathered his entire army and said, "With this battle over, all of Thracia is free! But that does not mean the war is over here, because the children taken from here are still missing. When we safely save them, that will be the beginning of the end of the war in Thracia.

"We didn't come here to fight and defeat the Thracian dragon knights. We came to fight and save the people from the Loptr Church's oppression, as well as save the children from being sacrificed.

"Just because we've liberated Thracia, does not mean we can party, or rest. We must begin to march soon. To Miletos, to rescue the children. Then, we will go to Grannvale next, and topple the empire!"

After fighting one battle after another, the soldiers were all tired, but Seliph's speech put them in high spirits.

"To Miletos!" One person shouted, which soon turned into everyone shouting.

"To Miletos!"

Seliph had also grown over the past year. His position as the leader of the liberation army made him experience many times more worries, decisions, and orders than one living a normal life, but it had also outfitted him with charisma befitting of a leader.

The liberation army left Thracia Castle without taking much time to rest, then started marching towards the Miletos region right away.

The Miletos region (sandwiched between a portion of the sea surrounded by land) was located south of the empire, and was home to many cities that had built a great amount of wealth through trade. Those trade cities used the power of their wealth to avoid interference from the surrounding nations, and each possessed self governing rights like that of independent countries.

Peruluke was one such city. It was a northern port city located near the Thracian border. The land bridge that connected Grannvale and the Thracian Peninsula was extremely inconvenient for transporting goods, so Peruluke took advantage of that geographical situation and prided itself on how it flourished as a relay base for trade.

However, when the liberation army reached Peruluke after fighting a harsh battle, they couldn't believe their eyes. What lay before them was a far cry from a prosperous city. Instead, it looked like it was about to die. After just a few years of the empire and Loptr Church's rule, the most beautiful city on the isthmus had changed into a town that reeked of death.

The Thracian children were nowhere to be found. As they were the first children to be taken from Thracia, they were said by the Loptrian priests to all be "the finest treasures." Because of that, they were quickly taken to Queen Hilda's Chronos Castle.

Hilda was from Velthomer, the same house as the emperor, but she'd married Bloom of Friege and had two children with him. One was Ishtor, who'd been killed at Melgan Castle, and the other was Ishtar, Julius' beloved.

Hilda was so cruel by nature that it could be considered insanity. And it was only doubled when her husband and son were killed by the liberation army. 

When the liberation army thought of what kind of fate awaited the Thracian children, they couldn't afford to relax in Peruluke. They quickly prepared for their next attack.

-

During their preparations, Julia went missing.

'Did she have some kind of premonition?' Seliph wondered.

As soon as they'd gained control of Peruluke, she had approached Seliph to talk to him, and he did not know the reason why, so he’d felt uneasy ever since.

'It's really unusual for her to be the one to start a conversation with me.'

Ever since Lewyn had entrusted Julia to him, as her guardian, he'd always taken special care of her. However, she did not take advantage of that. Especially ever since she'd learned that Lana loved him, it was apparent that she was always avoiding him on purpose.

But on the battlefield, she told a different story. Though she'd previously been a shaman, she could also use light magic. Seliph had given her an Aura spellbook he’d obtained during the battle in Isaach, and used it to fight bravely, killing countless enemies.

Seliph talked to Lewyn about what to do.

"Julia's gone missing!"

The always calm Lewyn looked unusually shaken up. "I see, that is a huge error on our part. We needed to be more careful. It seems we underestimated the enemy a bit."

"What's become of her?"

"She was kidnapped by the enemy. That's the only thing I can think of."

"But why?"

"I don't know why yet. But your mother Deirdre also went missing once. It was during the fight  with King Chagall in Augustria. She'd just given birth to you, so she didn't participate in the battle. However, during a break in the fighting, she left the castle to meet with Sigurd. That was when she went missing.

"The next time I saw her was during the Battle of Belhalla. She appeared before us as King Azmur's granddaughter and Arvis' newly wedded wife. That makes you and Crown Prince Julius brothers from different fathers."

"Lewyn, I've always had this feeling. This feeling that you're hiding a lot from me. Please tell it me. Don't worry about my feelings. I want you to tell me everything you know."

"Yes, I was thinking that the time would soon come for me to tell you. It seems like this is perfect timing.

"Until now, I have emphasised the aspect of this war that is the people standing up against the tyranny of the empire and Loptr Church. That was because I wanted you, as the leader of this army, to think about the people. No matter how many Crusaders wielding Holy Weapons rise up, if you are not an ally to the people, you have no chance of winning.

“But when I heard your speech in Thracia recently, I felt that you now have all the qualities of a leader. So I think it's finally time for me to tell you about one more aspect of this: the Crusader's battle.

“I have traveled the world for over ten years in search of the truth about the Battle of Belhalla. What really caused it? I met more people that I could count, and scrutinized each and every record of the event I could find. I thought the profession of bard fit in perfectly with that goal, but I also occasionally changed my appearance. I have even disguised myself as a priest of the Loptr Church.

“That was how I discovered a huge secret."

And so, Lewyn began to tell a long story.

"This happened about three hundred fifty years ago.

“Galle, who would go on to become the founder of the Loptrian Empire, crossed the sea and traveled the world when he was young. His goal was to drink the blood of an ancient dragon of legend and gain power that humans could not possibly match.

"Nowadays, ancient dragons have become the products of our imaginations. No one has ever seen one. However, when Galle returned home from his journey, he possessed a mysterious power.

“Galle had been ambitious from the very beginning, and in Year 440 of the Gran Calendar, he said that he was the arrival of the one and only god Loptous, then founded the Loptr Church. After that, he used his mysterious powers to reform many young people, and created an evil army that did exactly as he told them to.

"Seven years later, his army caused a civil war within the Gran Republic. The world called it "The Rebellion of the Twelve Deadlords." In just half a year, the republic fell. And in the next year, they established the Loptrian Empire, with Archbishop Galle as its emperor. That was when Loptous transformed into a dark god.

"Loptous wanted the fresh blood of children. Those who resisted were killed without mercy. The "Tragedy of Miletos" and "Massacre of Edda" that we still pass down stories of now, are nothing more than particularly striking examples from that time. 

"To the people, every single day was a living hell.

"Finally, they were unable to put up with it any longer, and in Year 535, Maira, of the imperial family, started a rebellion. Maria's rebellion was quickly suppressed, but after that, a liberation army rose up in every region, revolting to overthrow the empire.

“The liberation armies were defeated by the mighty imperial army, but where one was defeated, another rose up in its place, and the fighting continued on for a long time. Only the fighting itself could not be stopped. Then, the Miracle of Darna, which you've spoken of before, occurred.

"The gods that descended at that time knew that the chaos occurring on the Jugdralian continent was caused by powers those of the dragon tribes possess, and if they left things as they were, then the entire world would one day be controlled by dragons. To prevent that, they came from their other world.

  “The gods took on human forms. For example, Light God Naga appeared as a young girl, and Fire God Salamander appeared as an old man. Next, they exchanged a blood pact with twelve warriors, meaning that they pricked their fingers, and gave their blood to the warriors. It was the same way that Galle hand received the ancient dragon's power. The twelve gods were actually dragons as well.

"The dragons gave the warriors their blood, as well as twelve weapons that had their powers sealed inside them. That is how the Twelve Crusaders were born. 

"Loptous was the most evil of his tribe, one that possessed terrifying power. Only the Dragon King Naga could oppose him. And so, Naga gave Saint Heim, the leader of the liberation army, her blood, and the Book of Naga. 

“After that, they passed on several warnings to the Crusaders, then left. The Twelve Crusaders combined their powers and finally defeated the emperor of the Loptrian Empire, who was Loptous current incarnation. Some were against the efforts to eradicate Loptous’ bloodline, as they questioned whether or not it was necessary to go so far as killing the children. However, they had no other options. One of Naga's warnings explained to them that Loptous could be revived. 

“If a woman who'd inherited Loptous' blood birthed a boy and a girl with one of the descendants of the Twelve Crusaders, and their children then had a child of their own, Loptous would be reborn in that child. Fearing that possibility, the Crusaders killed every member of Loptous' family. However, one person managed to go undetected by the Crusaders.

“That person was a descendant of Maira, the one to start the rebellions. The emperor who suppressed the rebellion had massacred Maira's family, but a child he'd had with a commoner when he was young escaped. Maira had only spent one night with the mother, so he didn't know they'd had a child together. Because of that, the child was not treated as a member of the imperial family.

"One hundred years passed.

"Naga's warning was the "Hope of Resurrection" to the surviving followers of Loptous. Any of them that were found were burned at the stake. However, the priests could use magic, so some hid their identities, and served royals and the wealthy.

"Those mages searched tirelessly for a survivor of Loptous's family, and, in the end, they found a descendant of Maira. That lineage had birthed a daughter, whom the priests educated in the behavior and speech of a high-class woman, dressed in fine clothes, and sent to a place where she would be noticed by a man who'd descended from one of the Twelve Crusaders.

"Eventually, the woman, named Cigyun, caught the eye of Duke Velthomer. Though she did not wish to marry him, she had no choice but to do exactly as the mages told her to.

"That marriage resulted in the birth of Arvis.

"But later on, Grannvale's Prince Kurth sympathized with her plight, and the two developed a secret love. As soon Duke Velthomer discovered it, he felt he could not bear such a disgrace, and committed suicide.

"Meanwhile, Cigyun was terrified of the weight of her sins, and fled Velthomer. She was pregnant with Prince Kurth's child at that time. After returning to her home, the Verdane Forest, she gave birth to a daughter, who was your mother, Deirdre.

"The Loptrian priests searched frantically for Cigyun. However, by the time they figured out where she had been, she had already passed. That was when Deirdre and Sigurd were married, and had even already had you.

"However, the priests didn't give up there. Their only hope was in Loptous' revival.

“For that reason, they kidnapped Deirdre and erased her memory. The one to do that was probably Archbishop Manfroy. He had appeared when Arvis came of age. This is also just a guess, but Manfroy probably told Arvis that he has both Mage Warrior Fjalar and Loptous' blood, and once Arvis knew that, he likely feared that he would be burned at the stake. Of course, Manfroy undoubtedly also whispered in his ear sweet words of making him emperor if he'd cooperate with the Loptr Church.

“And so, Arvis fell in love with Deirdre at first sight. Then, he introduced her to King Azmur as his betrothed. The king took one look at her, and suspected that she might be a member of his family. When he had Deirdre take off her circlet, he saw the Holy Mark of a descendant of Saint Heim. He recognized her as his late son's daughter, and entrusted the country to them.

"That happened right before the Battle of Belhalla. Since three years prior to that, battles had occurred here and there across the continent, but it’s believed that those were also orchestrated by Manfroy from behind the scenes. There's no question that Manfroy's target was Arvis and Deirdre's child, and to end the bloodlines of the Crusaders before Loptous was reborn. And things went as he'd planned. When the Battle of Belhalla was over, the only surviving descendants were Arvis and Travant.

"Then, Julius, the child who was supposed to eventually become Loptous in the future, was born. The first half of Arvis rule was not a bad one, but recently, the Loptr Church's tyranny has become obvious, and I'm certain this is because Julius has grown and become powerful. 

"Arvis and Deirdre had one more child, a daughter and Julius' twin. She should be, of course, Saint Heim's descendant, but no one has seen her at the palace in years, meaning she has gone missing. But she is actually Julia.

"She is your sister from another father.

"The only thing is, I do not know the reason why she was kidnapped.

“I know it has something to do with Loptous' rebirth, but how is Julia connected to that? She may be a descendant of a Crusader, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she was born with one of their powers. Julius should be the same. Has Loptous already been reborn within Julius, or has that not happened yet, and they need Julia for it? Or perhaps they are trying to round up all the Crusader’s descendants fighting with the liberation army, for something like the Battle of Belhalla. Is that why they kidnapped Julia, because their goal is simply to recreate that?

"That is what I do not know."

Lewyn's long story was finally finished.

There was so much to it, that Seliph didn't know what to say right away.

Just then, Lana walked into the room. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, you're okay. Do you need something?" Seliph asked.

"A bard has asked if you'd like to listen to a poem about the Crusaders."

"I don't really want to hear it right now, but…"

"No, a bard is a person that always tells the truth. If he's come from afar, we absolutely should listen.” Lewyn said.

Lana led them to the bard, a blind old man. His clothing was not at all stylish like Lewyn's, and he had nothing but a kithara with him, making him easily mistakable for a beggar.

 He clumsily bowed his head, then raised his kithara.

However, from the moment his fingers strummed the strings, and the first sound echoed into the air, the proof of his skill was undeniable. The first measure was powerful, the second was like something from a dream, and from the third onwards, he strummed a string of complex chords.

When the short prelude ended, he recited with a clear voice,

'Black Knight Hezul

Cut through the darkness with Demon Sword Mystletainn

Sword Saint Od

Swept away the darkness with Divine Blade Bulmung

Holy Warrior Baldr

Lit up the darkness with Holy Sword Tyrfing

And lastly, Saint Heim

Prayed to the heavens with the Book of Naga

The prayer turned into a light

Which turned into a white dragon

That challenged the black dragon to battle

The white dragon and the black dragon,

Light and darkness,

Fight a long battle that might never end

Will it end in victory?

Or in death?

I am not afraid

For even if our battle

Ends in defeat 

The light we seek

Will never be lost

I believe

In those who will inherit our hearts

I believe

In those who will inherit our light.'

Seliph gave a huge round of applause for the bard's magnificent recitation of the poem.

The bard winked at Lewyn, then left the room.

"What's the matter, Lewyn? That was an amazing performance, wasn't it?"

Seliph looked at and asked Lewyn, who hadn't clapped, and spoke not a word, because he was lost in thought.

"I was a fool."

"Why? Why were you a fool?"

"The reason why Julia was kidnapped. It was obvious. She isn't necessary for Loptous’ revival. She's the opposite - she's an obstacle in their way, because she is the inheritor to the Book of Naga. Meaning she is the one who possesses the power to defeat Loptous. I fear that Loptous has already been revived, and he intends to kill her. Why did I not realize it sooner!?"

"What did you just say!? Then we must go save her right away!"

'Julia, please stay alive.' Seliph prayed. 'We'll come save you. Until then, please stay alive.'

II.9

Originally posted September 28, 2020

Summary: Obi-Wan fell through the world and ended up somewhere he couldn't have expected, with a dead man demanding answers.

Details: Jango/Obi-Wan. Canon-esque Obi-Wan in an Integration verse.

xxxxxx

The fall killed the others. Obi-Wan cursed himself as he pushed off from the ground, feeling their lives snuffing out. He'd had just enough sense to cushion himself with the Force--there was no reason there should have even been a fall.

He looked around, but didn't see anyone in the room he was in, which was...odd. Because until he looked up at the ceiling and the jagged, flickering hole in it, there didn't seem to be any reason for the impact to have done more than break some bones.

Above, through that hole, was a battlefield. Here, in this room, were...meeting tables? And windows, windows overlooking a city that definitely should not be underneath where he came from.

His head hurt, and not just from the blast that sent he and the Vod'e with him through that...hole?

The Force felt strange, too. Both worse and better than it had before, less shadowed, but with clear Darkness because of that.

A door burst open, guards streaming in, and Obi-Wan moved without thinking into a guard position in front of the only trooper who still had a presence in the Force.

The guards were clearly Mandalorian, but not in the Death Watch colors, and the one who entered felt very familiar despite his buy'ce.

That one looked at him and despite impressive shielding for someone who didn't feel like a Force sensitive, Obi-Wan could feel his surprise. Which implied it was probably closer to shock.

His own eyes flicked up to the...hole...above and the Mandalorians' heads all tilted, more surprise and wariness flickering through the Force.

"We're...sorry for intruding," he began, hearing the trooper behind him let out a soft groan as he began to regain consciousness and wanting to keep attention on himself. "I don't suppose you could tell us where we are? Only," he glanced up at the hole again, his attention in the Force still focused on them, "we seem to be somewhere unexpected."

"Force osik," the trooper (and now that he took a moment to look, he realized it was Happiness and thankfully not a shiny) muttered, the Mandalorians tensing as he spoke.

"If you're looking for someone to blame it on, then I vote General Vos," he directed to the trooper, hoping to keep his spirits up (Happy was notoriously dour). "But whatever this was, I don't think it will be easily explained."

"Who are you?" the lead Mandalorian finally asked.

Giving a proper, respectful bow, he answered with all the information they might give during an interrogation. "Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and Private CT-3602 of the 212th Attack Battalion." He wasn't about to give out a trooper's name to a potential hostile.

There was silence, but from the ebb and flow of emotions he knew they were communicating with each other. Without any noticeable aggression (and, truly, this situation was probably just as inexplicable to them as to him), he knelt beside Happy and tried to help stabilize him as much as he could without equipment or taking off any of his armor.

"What do you think happened?" the Mandalorian leader asked again, pointing at the hole.

Which, Obi-Wan thought, was not really a hole in the traditional sense.

"We were on a planet with a strong presence in the Force. I believe we...slipped through some sort of...break in space during an explosion. Possibly time, since that city looks like some form of Keldabe."

"You've been to Keldabe?"

"I've been all over Mandalore." It was no secret and cost him nothing to reveal it.

"Spying?" one of the others accused.

He frowned. "I was protecting the Duchess from Kyr'tsad."

"Duchess?"

He shifted, trying again to pick out anything familiar from these people. "I apologize, but at the risk of this somehow being, well, time travel, and the potential to break the universe, could you please tell me who you are and...when this is?"

The date he was given was actually, seemingly, in the future, the name the leader gave them....

"Jaha'ati," Happy spat out, making Obi-Wan wince because accusing them of being a liar didn't seem in their best interest.

The Mandalorians bristled and Obi-Wan held up his hands in a placating gesture. "While this is all very... unusual, for you, the issue we're having is that...we seem to have traveled a decade into the future, in such case it would be impossible for you to be a man who died last year."

The leader, who claimed to be Jango Fett, who claimed to be the Mand'alor of an Empire, snorted and took off his buy'ce. Underneath was the familiar face of all of the troopers, though older than any had reached, yet.

Obi-Wan's mind worked through all the possible ways a too-old clone might have fallen in with non-Death Watch Mandalorian traditionalists and settled in some city that looked almost right and...none of them were less ridiculous than the alternative.

"You...certainly look like him."

This Fett narrowed his eyes. "You knew him well?"

"Not technically."

"As an enemy?"

"Very briefly."

Fett was clearly getting annoyed, but before Obi-Wan could change tactics, Happy was sitting up, ignoring his protests, and pulling off his buy'ce. He stared at the too-old clone (Fett, it had rung true in the Force and didn't that explain why the Force itself felt so foreign?).

"He knows us. I don't know who you are, some Vod'e deserter working on a con, maybe, but you don't get to try to play mind games with the General."

"Happy, it's fine."

"No! No, it's not! I don't know what's going on, sir, but this is--this is kriffed up. Pretending to be a dead man, that dead man."

The Mandalorians exchanged glances, then Fett stated, "Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead."

Obi-Wan made a thoughtful noise. He wondered if death was a factor.

"You don't seem surprised."

"I didn't know either way, though I do believe I know what all of this is."

"Alternate universe." He'd remembered Fett seeming clever, but hadn't thought he'd be this fast with something so unbelievable. "Through Force osik."

***

"We're at war," when no one seemed surprised by that, Obi-Wan frowned, realizing in a world with the Mandalorian Empire that war might have never gone away. "It's our first time leading armies in almost a thousand years." That got a reaction. "We eschewed our military function and took on the role of peacekeepers. War isn't what we're made for, trained for, anymore."

"But you're a damn fine general, sir," Happy put in, his signature scowl lightening softly.

"Thank you, private, but I fear I'm an outlier. I had left the Order as a Padawan and fought in a planetary civil war."

Happy's eyes were wide with surprise, Fett's and the other Mandalorians narrowing, possibly because of his implied age.

He hurried on, "It's a trap, we know it all is, but it's one we're helpless against. As soon as we took up positions in an army, as an Order--which the Senate pushed us to do and we couldn't not do to protect the troops as much as we could--we lost. We're no longer seen as mostly benevolent peacekeepers, we're...no more human to the average citizen than they feel the Vod'e are."

"Sounds like something the Sith would pull," one of Fett's people muttered.

"The Sith hid from us, from everyone, for centuries. The first confirmed Sith sighting in that time was a decade ago. It's clear they've been plotting extensively." He gave a helpless shrug. "We're supposed to be the specialist in fighting Sith, but they've waited us out and now we're unqualified."

Fett took the explanations at face value, though Obi-Wan could feel some of the doubt from the others as he continued on, sometimes with additions from Happy. When it was finally time for Fett to explain the position of the galaxy they were in, there was a surprising amount that stayed the same despite the massive differences.

Where they were was clear, why they were, less so.

***

"You're fluent in Mando'a?" Fett finally asked, having seen both Obi-Wan and Happiness communicating easily with the Mandalorians around them for days.

"Yes, along with many other languages," he tried to downplay it, but he felt as though Fett saw straight through him.

Fett narrowed his eyes, tilting his head in a considering manner. "I'd like to hear more about your Mandalore. Come to late meal with me tonight?"

Despite the sinking feeling, Obi-Wan agreed. He and Happy would need the Mandalorians cooperation still, whether in getting home or (hopefully not) making a new life.

*** Jango was beginning to lose track of how many occassions he'd spent with this new Obi-Wan. Meals, spars, meetings, there were many excuses to see him. And Obi-Wan didn't protest, didn't make noise about being a Jedi, didn't hesitate to use Mando'a or take part in some cultural practice. Integration didn't exist in their world, but Obi-Wan had clearly gone through whatever the equivalent was.

"I was going to marry the Obi-Wan of this world."

A brief pause greeted him before this Obi-Wan murmured, "I'm sorry for your loss," seemingly unsure of what could be said.

He observed this version of the former Jedi, refusing to feel guilt over preferring him. The other he'd had so many plans for, but had gotten killed in an escape attempt. This one did not see Mandalore as an enemy, had made no attempt to flee for Republic space even when shown clear maps of how to get there. This one wouldn't run because he didn't want to be a Mandalorian, if anything, he might try to flee because he so clearly wanted to be.

How the foolish Mandalorians who had him in the other world let him go, Jango didn't know.

He wouldn't be making the same mistake.

***

It was easy enough to show Obi-Wan just how awful the Republic was in this world. Jango didn't sugar coat what his Empire did, of course, not wanting to be too obvious, but that was to be expected. Even in the other world the Mandalorians had been a fighting force that the Republic feared.

And despite the war that was going on, this Obi-Wan had some sort of faith in his Republic still. He'd find none of that in the one still available to him, just even more blatant corruption, even worse battles and atrocities. The Jedi he knew were weak and foolish, but they clung to the trappings of their peacekeeper ideals. The ones here, for all their pretenses, were very different.

He'd find no familiarity there, no peace and comfort. Certainly the clone he kept close would be unwelcome, or used, by them.

Jango made sure that Obi-Wan knew he was welcome with him, with the Mandalorians. That they both were honored guests.

He made himself available for comfort, as well, forcing himself to be as tender and open as he could be, drawing Obi-Wan in. There was no hesitance when faced with Jango's lust in this version, just an answering interest.

The Manda had taken one ven'riduur, but had granted him such a better one in return, one with everything that had interested him about the first with so few of the downsides.

xxxxxx

A/N: Awhile ago when I was taking some prompts, I'd gotten an anon asking about a canon version of Obi-Wan in an established Jangobi AU. I was reading one of Millberry's Integration fics at the time, so while the anon might have meant for me to use one of my AUs, the idea that came to me was of an Integration AU, as it's a really awesome open sandbox. I've had this almost completely finished sitting in a file for awhile now, so decided to post it.

Happiness "Happy" is just one of my clone OCs so I didn't have to decide on a canon one lol

i should move a list like this to my rules or 616 tony care manual but, for now, i realize i’ve never given a list of the most important runs to how i view tony.  so we’re gonna do that now, so you comic-savvy folks, at least, have an idea of where i’m coming from.  i should point out i’ve read (and reread) about 99% of nearly everything tony’s appeared in.  so you won’t find just iron man comics on this list.  these are kinda done chronologically timescale wise instead of date of publication.

hold on to your asses.  this is long.

+ tales of suspense:  for obvious reasons - it’s the origin story and his early adventures, and how he earned the nickname the golden avenger. + invincible iron man vol. 1:  good insight to how tony viewed himself and iron man and the public face of tony stark in the early days. + avengers vol. 1:  second verse, same as the first, formation of the avengers, their thawing steve from the ice, and all the ups and downs of the team roster. + captain america: man out of time:  after finding steve tony introduces him to the modern world.  steve wants out, realizes he’s been viewing the past with rose-colored glasses, and comes back to the present to help the avengers defeat kang. + demon in a bottle (iim 120-128):  the start of tony’s issues with alcohol but by no means the last.  the set up for his time being homeless. + doomquest (iim 149-150):  firmly establishes doom as an iron man villain, on top of everyone else he bothers.  also known as that time tony got to live his ultimate wet dream as a knight in king arthur’s court and fight alongside king arthur. + invincible iron man (163-170): covers tony’s fall from grace as he gets played by a honeypot and loses his company to obadiah stane, and he turns iron man over to rhodey.  + invincible iron man (172):  also known as that time steve found tony in a flophouse and tried to talk some sense into him but you gotta want to help yourself first and tony very emphatically did not (he was actually trying to drink himself to death so...).  also also known as that time steve bridal carried tony out of a burning building like the cover of a cheesy romance novel but no homo, right, marble. + invincible iron man (173 & 178):  tony hits rock bottom after skipping out of rhodey’s mom’s house.  otherwise known as that time tony lived on the streets for months and no one knew where he was or if he was even alive and helped deliver a baby in a blizzard. + armor wars (iim 225-232):  also known as that time tony’s tech got stolen and he went on a rampage to get it back, and also betrayed steve for really reals the first time.  it’s okay, they make up (the pink superstar shirt). + onslaught (event): it’s a mutant based storyline i don’t even know where to start explaining this one.  but it ends in heroes reborn - which is acknowledged but not written in on this blog. + iron man (early 00s):  a darker, grittier iron man.  also showcases tony’s utter self loathing, loss of hope for any form of happiness for himself, and the things he does to try to make himself not feel like such a waste of space.  otherwise known as the time he had an artificial heart from the suit that went obsessive stalker on him and the birth of FRIDAY.  one of my penultimate iron man runs, highly recommended but super dark. + avengers disassembled:  wanda destroys the mansion and the avengers break up, seemingly for good.  tony can’t afford to rebuild and no one has the heart to keep going after what happened. + new avengers:  until there’s a breakout of the raft and steve decides it’s time he and tony put together a new team.  tony can never say no to steve when he begs.  one of my all time favorite avengers line ups, including wolverine, luke cage, spider-woman, spider-man, ms. marvel (carol).  that time the avengers ended up in luke cage and jessica jones’s wedding photo. + extremis:  that time tony could talk to computers in his head - how that came to be.  also incredibly important:  sets the stage for civil war. + execute program:  definitely sets the stage for civil war and displays in a lot of ways how extremis is effecting tony. + civil war:  self explanatory, i think.  comic civil war was entirely us-based, did not involve bucky as a focus point (he becomes the new cap, after all, at tony’s request), and concerned the destruction of stamford due to the new warriors confronting a villain known as nitro.  bitter is the war between brothers, etc. + fallen son & the confession:  steve is assassinated (or...lost in time, more is the case) on red skull’s orders.  tony stark completely loses his shit and falls the fuck apart.  the confession solidified - i think - stevetony as a valid possible ship. + mighty avengers:  explains tony’s reasoning for doing what he did concerning civil war - which was play damage control so people like spider-man didn’t end up on a dissection table instead of the negative zone.  ultron gives him boobs. + iron man - director of shield:  post civil war, tony’s time at the helm of shield, and having a few mental breakdowns, fighting the mandarin, and finding out fun new things about extremis. + secret invasion (event):  skrulls have been infiltrating everywhere.  tony gets uploaded with a virus that takes out all of his tech?  and extremis itself.  is removed as director of shield, osborn is put in his place.  takes place in the middle of the fraction run of iron man. + invincible iron man (the fraction run):  literally the absolute, hands down, penultimate you won’t find better iron man run and view of tony stark as a person.  includes fear itself, dark reign, and the seige of asgard.  cannot recommend this one highly enough.  tony dealing with the aftermath of civil war, and then the brain wipe.  we love a broken man. + avengers prime:  tony and steve finally make up when the realms merge together.  he and steve and thor have all kinds of fun adventures against hela, tony ends up naked, we find out that thor and hellcat did the do.  good fun for everyone but also displays how much tony’s faking what he does and doesn’t remember, if you’re willing to dig a little. + invincible iron man (2013):  tony’s vacation in space, discovering he’s adopted and has a brother, the return of the mandarin’s rings, inhuman fun, the test city that was really a giant iron man suit, and fun times with dark elves.  this run is a ride and i love it despite everyone else hating it.  it has some juicy tony characterization moments. + avengers 2013/infinity:  look, you’d need a decoder ring to understand this shit without reading the whole damn thing.  contains superior iron man and the incursions, the time tony used the infinity gauntlet, the illuminati...there’s a lot of unpack here but explains the weight the current tony stark is carrying from what he did - especially as superior iron man - during this whole timeframe.  includes old!steve. + invincible iron man (2015):  the lead up to civil war ii/secret empire (note:  we don’t even look in secret empire’s direction on this blog).  just a good little snatch of characterization (surprisingly by bendis).  nice look into how tony views himself and how he handles his problems (which is to say he doesn’t handle them at all). + all new, all different avengers:  tony and his tiny little team, comprised of a bunch of kids, the vision, sam!cap, and jane!thor.  lead up to the thing we don’t speak of, but puts into perspective where tony sits at that moment post-incursions. + winter soldier (2018): he shows up in all of like three pages and is mentioned in a few more, but it solidifies that tony and bucky are close?  that bucky trusts tony knowing where he lives and working on his arm, and it puts tony in a support role over being a main player.  also rod reis did the art and it’s fucking immaculate.  

this is pretty much where, right  now, my full canon for tony ends.  i do include some bits from the newest avengers run (up through the vampires - and possibly tony being tossed back in time, i have the feeling he’s gonna hook up with the prehistoric avengers).  also from marvelous ms. marvel and captain marvel, and web of black widow.  what it does not and will not include ever is tony stark: iron man.  we don’t let slott into this house.

i’m honestly tiredt of me too but i have no self-control so here’s another character, this time i got a vampire!jimin  ---  phoenix lynn, an old ass mf with too much knowledge and a Fat bank account, born to a lovely couple in early ancient greece that were closely affiliated to agesilaus ii when he was in power. has since gone under a different name than cassius after they became a widower and was turned into a vampire. now runs a successful business after thousands of years of working with powerful people, keeping their identity secret to avoid suspicion as a supernatural. professional and completely anal about their work and never stops for anything. there’s some stuff under the cut until i get a stats page up ! ( tw: death, infant death, violence )

( park jimin. agender, he/they, 2nd thots + jay park. ) have you seen PHOENIX LYNN walking around central park during lunch time? rumor has it they’re 26, but i think their mental age is 2,425. currently, they’re posing as a CEO at OTHELLO INDUSTRIES, and during dark you can always find them going home to MANHATTAN by CAB. apparently, they DID attend the met gala this year!

they were born in a relatively respected environment, but was taught the greek methods of war from a very young age. at 15, they were sent to fight in their first battle. they grew up with two brothers and three sisters, and they were exposed to a lot of different things, and exceeded expectations because of their work ethic and ambitious beliefs to take care of their family.

their mother died from typhoid when cassius was 17, and their father became less and less stable as time went on from the grief of losing a wife. it was later found that cassius’ dad owed a lot to agesilaus ii because of a rash decision that ended in trades being lost. cassius was forced to leave sparta and got married in corone to olympia, living close to the ocean and away from civilization.

olympia’s mother did not approve of the marriage, and cassius knew the reason  ---  she didn’t want her daughter experiencing the same fate. when olympia and lysander  (  their son  )  died, cassius was overcome with emotion and lived poorly when they received the news, up until they were killed by olympia herself, being turned into a vampire as a result. they don’t remember anything before they woke up as a vampire, left with only a lonely house and a broken heart with no explanation.

they abandoned their home and changed their name to phoenix, lived in corinth for the remainder of the greek empire’s reign, and adapted to change as it came until they migrated north until they reached england. once they were the age of 2050, they moved to the states with the 13 colonies to get away from their unknown past and start anew.

they’re very committed and has little room for change if it doesn’t benefit them, not wanting to follow their father’s footsteps. doesn’t take too kindly to failure and has very little patience for indecisiveness. nowadays, they’re only violent when provoked and doesn’t show much emotion. very flexible with other things not involving their work, and is generous and almost too kind for their own good. 

a true virgo at heart, ruthless and intimidating to no end, with a soft side that can only be seen when they are at peace. oblivious to the outside world as they’re more focused on their business and the success of others.

very suit-and-tie type of wear, but has since been very intruiged by modern fashion trends, usually seen in ripped jeans, a bomber jacket and any shoes they find that match well with what they’re wearing at the moment.

incredibly precise and stingy because they only ever see the need for necessities in their life, although they get impulsive from time to time when they are posed with a threat.

they haven’t felt a family connection with anyone for over a thousand years because of their lack of involvement within the community, but has since grown and been more open to their family and close friends and colleagues.

always been a people person, knowing how to read one’s actions and use it to gain the upper hand, but is very empathetic because of their own experiences. if you would like to plot, please give this a like and i’ll come into ur dms !

What can we arguably learn from the Marvel Unlimited’s top 25 most read single issues/top 1-0 most read event comics?

Well mostly obvious stuff but still worth a look at. Now fair cop, it is likely a lot of these stories got pushes from Marvel.com and Marvel Unlimited boosting how often they were read. Additionally it is unknown what constitutes being ‘read’. Likely it’s just clicking on the thing. Also we dunno how many of those clicks are from the same people, different people on the same account nor from the same person on different accounts. Nor how many are from people using the service for research purposes, whether their writers and artists looking for reference material or picture researchers putting together a sticker book or something.

But for the sake of argument lets say that reading the comic is actually going cover to cover, that these comics were read once by individual people on individual accounts who actively sought them out themselves

With that in mind what does the (obviously larger than the hard copies) Marvel Unlimited audiences’ choices reflect? 

Well for starters the movies are mostly a big influence. The hype surrounding Thanos ever since 2012 has pushed stories and events surrounding him to a point where Thanos centric stories are represented a lot. Infinity Gauntlet, the storyline everyone was talking about for most of the 2010s is obviously the most read comic and event. Unsurprising there, although the Thanos ongoing’s inclusion is a little unorthodox. Infinity War’s inclusion is too when you think about it since the movie borrow nothing beyond it’s name, but I guess people might not have known that

Further movie influence is obvious in Deadpool, Planet Hulk, Old Man Logan (as opposed to ANY other Wolverine series), Civil War/Civil War II’s placement on the lists.

This might also have been a factor in Black Panther and Miles’ inclusion though I think that’s more owed to the hype surrounding Coates, Bendis as writers and their runs on both characters. Miles within comic book circles has been (deservedly or not) popular basically out the gate.

Darth Vader’s ongoing is surprising in a way. Not because Star Wars being on the list is that much of a shock but because it is the ONLY Star Wars title represented. You’d think there would be more and that it would be the main book. Jason Aaron writes for it and he’s a much bigger name than Soule, as was the original writer for the Vader ongoing. The book’s inclusion could represent how people veer towards what’s most recent in general, Vader’s standing as simply the most iconic SW character ever and it’s lone inclusion perhaps an indication of how the Marvel brand over all is now much bigger than the Star Wars brand.

Secret Empire being represented three times across the two lists is both surprising and unsurprising. Surprising because of how toxic that story became. Unsurprising because all the media coverage about it probably meant people wanted to see how bad it was.

Possibly for the same reason the Clone Saga is probably on there too. Also its so long and expensive in hard copy it likely encouraged people to read it digitally. Also also Clone Conspiracy’s buzz probably propelled people to read the original and vice-versa.

Secret Wars being on there is also weird. Maybe people read it to find out if it was really rebooting the Marvel Universe or whatever.

Probably should have mentioned this earlier but most of these comics are newer ones. Likely because they were the most current for each respective series and the ones that had the most obvious jumping on points.

Perhaps whats most surprising and pleasing depending what fandom you are in is that there is only one Avengers team ongoing on the top 25 list but there are FOUR X-Men ongoing team titles.

Could this mean that the X-Men in spite of all the push the Avengers have gotten are still ultimately more popular than the Avengers?

I certainly hope so.

Maybe not though because there are no X-events in the top 10 events list sans Old Man Logan (which isn’t an even its an arc but okay).

I guess the events are more all about the movies than even the top 25 individual books list.

The Infinity Trilogy (which is cheating cos that’s 3 massive events years apart) are the most read events because we all knew they were coming ever since 2012.

Civil War is the second most read because of Captain America Civil War and in fairness it was the absolute biggest event Marvel ever did in the 2000s, of the prior 10 years beforehand and possibly the biggest event they ever did since 2006. Dittko for Civil War II’s placement although refreshingly Old Man Logan edged it out again cos of the Logan movie. Infinity probably got onto that list because of it’s movie connection, it was an event launched basically in response to Thanos’ post cred sequence.

Secret Wars was just a huge event and properly crossed over the 616 and Ultimate universes. Secret Empire I already explained. Planet Hulk is a very famous story, had it’s own movie and was adapted into Thor Ragnarok.

  I already spoke about the Clone events but now lets talk something more topical for this blog.

If you very unscientifically combine the 2 lists so you have a total 35 positions and exclude covers, Spider-Man specific books or events are represented 7/35 times.

Unless you count Deadpool and Old Man Logan along with the X-men team titles or count Captain America, Black Panther and some of the events which mostly centre upon Avengers characters (e.g. Civil War I-II) as ‘Avengers’ stories/titles, Spider-Man actually wins out over everyone.

And unlike those examples you don’t need to fudge the details at all. After all Secret Wars and Civil War are Marvel Universe events, not Avengers events specifically. Clone Conspiracy is a Spidey event start-finish.

And it’s rather telling that 5/35 of those Spider-Man events pertain to 616 Peter Parker.

In the events list the only events that are truly start-finish centred upon solo characters are the most controversial Marvel event ever that got Marvel financially assessed in mainstream news and an arc that isn’t really an event and the direct inspiration to a major movie.

But Spider-Man cut onto the list on his own with none of that behind him.

On the 25 individual issues lists, Miles Morales was the only solo legacy character represented and only non-Peter Parker Spider book on any of the lists.

One of the 4 Peter books was the most famous 21st century individual comic book of all time launching the most famous imprint of a comic book of all time, Ultimate Spider-Man #1.

The other entries for Peter were the launch of a new run/title so little surprise there.

And the other two entries were the one two punch that launched Spider-Man wholesale.

They were also the only Silver Age stories on the list and the only classic stories sans 1990s events that movies are being based upon.

Tellingly the 2 most read Spider-Man comics were two different but iconic versions of his origin, but his actual original origin from the 616 universe was much more highly rated.

In fact it was the THIRD most read thing on Marvel unlimited.

Which considering it wasn’t the basis of a recent or highly anticipated movie, an event story or both that’s a HUGE deal.

The big takeaway.

X-Men>Avengers and Spider-Man isn’t just Marvel’s most popular character but their most popular by a wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide margin. There were few other solo books in the top 25 and Spider-Man was the only guy with multiple entries.

When the Land is Cursed -  Catastrophe and Magical Pollution in “A Song of Ice and Fire”. Part 1: Valyria

One of the really pleasureable aspects of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire is the rich world-building that infuses his story. GRRM’s story is typical of what Tolkien called a secondary world fantasy, which refers to a consistent, fictionary world that is in contrast to reality (x). His books contain a myriad of “historical” details that give the story an immersive depth. The recent companion book The World of Ice and Fire elaborates on this fictional world and is a must for any fan of the series. The companion book allowed for an elaboration of his fictional world as there are many aspects that he hasn’t found room for in the novels.

However, there is one piece of history that often is mentioned in the novels but that isn’t really elaborated on - yet. I am speaking of the Valyrian Freehold, or more specifically its Doom. Martin has promised that the exact cause of the Doom will be revealed in future novels but the companion book offers a number of interesting details. 

The Doom of Valyria plays upon a popular trope: that of a fabled (often advanced) civilization that is destroyed through a cataclysm, often brought on by human decadence or hubris. 

A story setting or legendary place doesn't necessarily have to be Atlantis per se to tap into the myth fabric, but it can be any sort of lost civilization that had great achievements and then were mysteriously lost. (TVTropes)

It has its roots in the myth of Atlantis but there are countless variations, such as Mu, Lemuria and Númenor, which is Tolkien’s version of the Atlantis myth. The Doom of Valyria is, in many respects, Martin’s version of this pervasive myth - one that may turn out to have a narrative importance for the his main story.

There’s one aspect that I find particularly fascinating about the Doom. While the exact cause of the Doom is unknown, the sad remains of the Valyrian peninsula appears to have become a place that is haunted, a dangerous place where travellers are lost and where the land is permanently blighted. 

It seems as though the land itself is cursed. Therefore, I think it could be interesting to frame the Doom of Valyria and its effects in terms of a magical pollution of the land itself.

THE VALYRIAN FREEHOLD

One of the things that is so interesting about the Valyrian Freehold is that it was the home of the dragonlords; a people of almost inhuman beauty that had managed to tame and weaponize dragons. According to the companion book, Valyria rose to prominence after the Long Night and its origins is somewhat mysterious - as is the origins of the dragons. The Valyrians used their dragons to conquer much of Essos but the centre of their culture was the city of Valyria that was situated on the Valyrian peninsula among the volcanoes called the Fourteen Flames.

At its apex Valyria was the greatest city in the known world, the center of civilization. Within its shining walls, twoscore rival houses vied for power and glory in court and council, rising and falling in an endless, subtle, oft savage struggle for dominance. (AWoIaF, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest)

Like all the lost civilizations of the Atlantis Trope, Valyria was not only a great power but also an incredible city of beautiful architecture as well as a centre of learning - especially when it came to the magical arts.

(Valyrian Freehold. Art by HBO)

(Valyria. Art by tommyscottart)

(Valyria. The Fourteen Flames. Art by Ted Nasmith)

However, the might and wealth of Valyria was built upon slavery and conquest. The dragonlords of the Freehold laid waste to the Old Empire of Ghis and it brought destruction to the city states of the Rhoynar. 

None can say how many perished, toiling in the Valyrian mines, but the number was so large as to surely defy comprehension. As Valyria grew, its need for ore increased, which led to ever more conquests to keep the mines stocked with slaves. The Valyrians expanded in all directions, stretching out east beyond the Ghiscari cities and west to the very shores of Essos, where even the Ghiscari had not made inroads. It was this first bursting forth of the new empire that was of paramount importance to Westeros and the future Seven Kingdoms. As Valyria sought to conquer more and more lands and peoples, some fled for safety, retreating before the Valyrian tide. (AWoIaF, Ancient History: Valyria’s Children)

(The Fall of Old Ghis. Art by Marc Simonetti)

The Valyrians used slaves cruelly in the mines of the Fourteen Flames, digging for precious ore:

"Burnt and blackened corpses were oft found in shafts where the rocks were cracked or full of holes. Yet still the mines drove deeper. Slaves perished by the score, but their masters did not care. Red gold and yellow gold and silver were reckoned to be more precious than the lives of slaves, for slaves were cheap in the old Freehold. During war, the Valyrians took them by the thousands. In times of peace they bred them, though only the worst were sent down to die in the red darkness." (AFfC, Arya II)

In the colony of Gogossos they even performed magical experiments on slaves, breeding women with animals to create strange creatures:

By any name, it was an evil place. The dragonlords sent their worst criminals to the Isle of Tears to live out their lives in hard labor. In the dungeons of Gogossos, torturers devised new torments. In the flesh pits, blood sorcery of the darkest sort was practiced, as beasts were mated to slave women to bring forth twisted half-human children. The infamy of Gogossos outlived even the Doom. (TWoIaF, Beyond the Free Cities: The Basilisk Isles)

The reach of the Valyrian Freehold encompassed most of Essos and extended even to distant colonies on the Basilisk Isles and the sountern continent of Sothorys. One of the effects of this empire built on the might of dragons and the blood of slaves was the migrations of the Andals and the Ten Thousand Ships of Nymeria of the Rhoynar to Westeros. The city state of Braavos was founded by escaped slaves and remained secret for centuries.

THE DOOM

Old Valyria existed for millenia - until it was destroyed in a catalysm of immense proportions. An empire was destroyed in a day by fire and by water.

Valyria. It was written that on the day of Doom every hill for five hundred miles had split asunder to fill the air with ash and smoke and fire, blazes so hot and hungry that even the dragons in the sky were engulfed and consumed. Great rents had opened in the earth, swallowing palaces, temples, entire towns. Lakes boiled or turned to acid, mountains burst, fiery fountains spewed molten rock a thousand feet into the air, red clouds rained down dragonglass and the black blood of demons, and to the north the ground splintered and collapsed and fell in on itself and an angry sea came rushing in. The proudest city in all the world was gone in an instant, its fabled empire vanished in a day, the Lands of the Long Summer scorched and drowned and blighted. An empire built on blood and fire. The Valyrians reaped the seed they had sown. (ADwD, Tyrion VIII)

The proudest city in all the world was gone in an instant, the fabled empire vanished in a day. (TWoIaF, Ancient History: The Doom of Valyria)

On the day the Doom came to Valyria, it was said, a wall of water three hundred feet high had descended on the island, drowning hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children, leaving none to tell the tale but some fisherfolk who had been at sea and a handful of Velosi spearmen posted in a stout stone tower on the island's highest hill, who had seen the hills and valleys beneath them turn into a raging sea. Fair Velos with its palaces of cedar and pink marble had vanished in a heartbeat. On the north end of the island, the ancient brick walls and stepped pyramids of the slaver port Ghozai had suffered the same fate. (ADwD, The Iron Suitor)

This description of the Doom shares some similarities with the stories of the destruction of Atlantis. Like Atlantis, Valyria was devastated by earth quakes and partially drowned by the sea - and this extraordinary civilization disapperared in a single day. However, Martin has added the the element of fire through volcanic eruption.

To this day, no one knows what caused the Doom. Most say that it was a natural cataclysm—a catastrophic explosion caused by the eruption of all Fourteen Flames together. (AWoIaF, Ancient History: The Doom of Valyria)

Like Atlantis, the Doom of Valyria is framed by the text as a result of hubris: “An empire built on blood and fire. The Valyrians reaped the seed they had sown.“ (ADwD, Tyrion VIII) - but I’ll return to that later.

CURSED LANDS = MAGICAL POLLUTION?

The Doom devastated the Valyrian Peninsula, which was rent asunder into a smattering of islands surrounded by a new sea. This body of water is called the Smoking Sea - named so because of the existence of volcanoes and smoking stacks of rock. It is even said that the waters boil in places.

“...north of Valyria the Smoking Sea is demon-haunted.” (Jorah Mormont to Daenerys Targaryen -  ASoS, Daenerys I)

Every man there knew that the Doom still ruled Valyria. The very sea there boiled and smoked, and the land was overrun with demons. It was said that any sailor who so much as glimpsed the fiery mountains of Valyria rising above the waves would soon die a dreadful death... (AFfC, The Reaver)  

The Smoking Sea is a dangerous place to sail and the landscape takes on a foreboding, even unnatural appearance:

Only the brightest stars were visible, all to the west. A dull red glow lit the sky to the northeast, the color of a blood bruise. Tyrion had never seen a bigger moon. Monstrous, swollen, it looked as if it had swallowed the sun and woken with a fever. Its twin, floating on the sea beyond the ship, shimmered red with every wave. "What hour is this?" he asked Moqorro. "That cannot be sunrise unless the east has moved. Why is the sky red?" "The sky is always red above Valyria, Hugor Hill. "A cold chill went down his back. "Are we close?" (ADwD, Tyrion VIII) 

(The Doom of Valyria. Art by HBO)

"Storms," Ralf the Limper had muttered when he came crawling to Victarion. "Three big storms, and foul winds between. Red winds out of Valyria that smelled of ash and brimstone, and black winds that drove us toward that blighted shore. This voyage was cursed from the first. The Crow's Eye fears you, my lord, why else send you so far away? He does not mean for us to return." (ADwD, The Iron Suitor)

A red sky and red winds, accompanied by the smell of brimstone - it sounds like something of a hellscape.

There are strange stories about demons haunting the Smoking Sea. In the show, those “demons” are stone men, people afflicted with greyscale. However, that part seems to have been lifted from Tyrion’s journey on the Rhoyne in A Dance with Dragons where he encounters such stone men in the Sorrows near the ruined city of Chroyane. In fact, the show’s visualization of the ruins of Old Valyria is strangely similar to artwork depicting the Sorrows.

(In the Sorrows. Art by Marc Simonetti)

More interesting is the indication that the blight that plagues Valyria’s shores of seems to affect the few inhabited cities that are closest to the heart of Old Valyria, specifically the city of Mantarys, which lie at northern tip of the Sea of Sighs with its red waters. Though Mantarys is the closest inhabited city to Old Valyria, it is still situated quite a way away from the heart of the shattered peninsula so the blight has spread rather far.

The Freehold of Valyria and its empire were destroyed by the Doom, but the shattered peninsula remains. Strange tales are told of it today, and of the demons that haunt the Smoking Sea where the Fourteen Flames once stood. In fact, the road that joins Volantis to Slaver's Bay has become known as the "demon road," and is best avoided by all sensible travelers. And men who have dared the Smoking Sea do not return, as Volantis learned during the Century of Blood when a fleet it sent to claim the peninsula vanished. There are queer rumors of men living still among the ruins of Valyria and its neighboring cities of Oros and Tyria. Yet others dispute this, saying that the Doom still holds Valyria in its grip. A few of the cities away from the heart of Valyria remain inhabited, however—places founded by the Freehold or subject to it. The most sinister of these is Mantarys, a place where the men are said to be born twisted and monstrous; some attribute this to the city's presence on the demon road. (AWoIaF, Ancient History: The Doom of Valyria)

The stories of twisted and monstrous children sound strange but they seem to be legit as Tyrion sees a two-headed girl out of Mantarys on his travels in Essos (ADwD, Tyrion X). It sounds like Mantarys is a place where children are born deformed on a scale much larger than what is normal. It sounds eerily like the occurrence of birth defects in children born from parents that have been exposed to nuclear radiation. Interestingly enough, the Doom left the Lands of the Long Summer sterile:

The Lands of the Long Summer—once the most fertile in all the world—were scorched and drowned and blighted, and the toll in blood would not be fully realized for a century to come. (TWoIaF, Ancient History: The Doom of Valyria)

One of the most fertile parts of the world was left permanently blighted. Thus, more than 400 years after the Doom of Valyria, the Lands of the Long Summer still suffer the effects of that cataclysm - a cataclysm that has left the land permanently sterile and which leaves even distant inhabitants with severe fertility problems.

If the Doom of Valyria was just an entirely natural catastrophe then why do its effects have such serious repercussions on the health of the land and its remaining population? Volcanic eruptions do present a health hazard because of noxious gases and volcanic ash but those effects are nowhere nearly as severe as what we see in the Lands of the Long Summer in Essos - or as long-lasting. If this was an entirely natural catastrophe then why is the sky above Valyria permanently red and why are the inhabitants of nearby Mantarys effected in a way that is eerily reminiscent of nuclear fallout, even centuries later?

The effects of the Doom of Valyria are not natural and that is why I’d like to propose a theory that the Doom left the land magically polluted to a very severe degree.

THE CAUSE OF THE DOOM?

If the Doom of Valyria left the Lands of the Long Summer magically polluted, then we should ask what caused the Doom itself and if magic played a part in it.

To this day, no one knows what caused the Doom. Most say that it was a natural cataclysm—a catastrophic explosion caused by the eruption of all Fourteen Flames together. Some septons, less wise, claim that the Valyrians brought the disaster on themselves for their promiscuous belief in a hundred gods and more, and in their godlessness they delved too deep and unleashed the fires of the Seven hells on the Freehold. A handful of maesters, influenced by fragments of the work of Septon Barth, hold that Valyria had used spells to tame the Fourteen Flames for thousands of years, that their ceaseless hunger for slaves and wealth was as much to sustain these spells as to expand their power, and that when at last those spells faltered, the cataclysm became inevitable. [...] Some, wedding the fanciful notion of Valyrian magic to the reality of the ambitious great houses of Valyria, have argued that it was the constant whirl of conflict and deception amongst the great houses that might have led to the assassinations of too many of the reputed mages who renewed and maintained the rituals that banked the fires of the Fourteen Flames. (AWoIaF, Ancient History: The Doom of Valyria)

I have argued elsewhere that there are Doylist reasons for thinking that Septon Barth was correct in many of his theories about magical interference in the natural world. Furthermore, the fact that Sam Tarly has in his possession a copy of Barth’s work is a Chekov’s Gun that is just waiting to go off.

Is it possible that magic was involved in the Doom? I’d say that there’s a distinct possibility that this was indeed the case. The Valyrians had a tendency to mess with nature as we have seen with their experiments in magical cross-breeding in Gogossos. They also worked stone with magic: 

Davos had often heard it said that the wizards of Valyria did not cut and chisel as common masons did, but worked stone with fire and magic as a potter might work clay. But now he wondered. (ASoS, Davos V) 

This lends a certain credence to the theory that the Valyrians used magic to work the volcanoes that eventually erupted. 

"Most mines are dank and chilly places, cut from cold dead stone, but the Fourteen Flames were living mountains with veins of molten rock and hearts of fire. So the mines of old Valyria were always hot, and they grew hotter as the shafts were driven deeper, ever deeper. The slaves toiled in an oven. The rocks around them were too hot to touch. The air stank of brimstone and would sear their lungs as they breathed it. The soles of their feet would burn and blister, even through the thickest sandals. Sometimes, when they broke through a wall in search of gold, they would find steam instead, or boiling water, or molten rock. Certain shafts were cut so low that the slaves could not stand upright, but had to crawl or bend. And there were wyrms in that red darkness too." (AFfC, Arya II)

How do you work a mine in an active volcano? That doesn’t really sound like a feasible project - unless you can use magic to control flame and stone, and if you’re ruthless and heartless enough to spend human lives indiscriminately, which is exactly what the Valyrians did.

I’ve mentioned earlier that the text frames the Doom as a result of hubris. Greed and magical meddling with nature did the Valyrians in. They were arrogant in their overconfidence because you mess with nature at your own peril.

(GIFs and edits not mine)

Secret Empire: Top Ten DUMBEST Moments

As far as events go, Secret Empire is probably one of the worst. And considering both Civil Wars, Ultimatum, Amazons’ Attack and Countdown are events, that bar has been set pretty low. So as it finally comes to an end, seven months too late, let us showcase some of the worst decisions made during the creation of this story. They made it into such colossal trainwreck.

Honorable Mention: Dress Like a Nazi To Work Day

Out of all moronic decisions in this event, this was the one that irks me the most because it slipped into real life. Marvel tried to get their retailers to not only dress in Hydra shirts the day the book premieres but also dress their entire store in Hydra symbols. At least one store owner told them they hire LGBTQ and Jewish people and will be dropping Marvel. Hard to blame that person. Who in their right mind tells people selling his product to dress like a Nazi?! And don’t tell me the old “Hydra isn't Nazis” crap. First of all, even if they’re not, they’re still a fascist death cult that had absolutely no moral qualms about working with the Nazis during World War II, copying from their style and being effectively taken over by remnants of Nazi Germany multiple times. At this point, it’s splitting hair. And two, Marvel, you had Steve Rogers say Hail Hydrand a whole year before. Since then you were constantly trying to tell people Hydra isn’t a Nazi organization and NOBODY BOUGHT IT! At this point, you should have looked at the “Hydra Takeover” idea and realize it might backfire. That this wasn’t recalled but went through only proves that Marvel’s head is so deep up its very ass they no longer see the reality.

Number Ten: Captain America Walking Out Of Himself and Standing Nearby

It is undeniable that Marvel did horrible damage to Captain America in this story, basically twisting the guy into everything he wasn’t. I was honestly afraid how, if ever, they manage to fix the character. But I was not expecting them to pull out the good, old-fashioned chickening out by having an identical copy of the character before he was ruined appear to take over. While seeing real Captain America beat the shit out of Captain Nazi is really cathartic, one cannot forget it came to be through rather...ridiculous means.

Number Nine: Tony Stark

Okay, this one is simple. Tony Stark is in this story. Despite being in a coma. Tony Stark holographic A.I. from Brian Bendis’ Invincible Iron Man is filling in for him. Only here he parades around in Tony’s old armor all the time without anyone commenting on it, recalibrated his personality to be constantly drunk and at one point Steve Rogers tries to decapitate him, a hologram, talking some technobabble about how Hydra made it possible for Tony to die this way.

He’s just Tony Stark. He is Tony Stark because Spencer had scenes requiring Tony Stark to be there and instead of killing his darlings like a good writer, he just wrote clearly human Tony Stark and threw some half-assed explanations and lampshades. It’s silly and makes every scene with him impossible to take seriously.

Number Eight: All the Fucking Quislings!

This one is bad. And I mean, just simply bad. Okay, it’s multiple problems, not a singular one. But it makes my very insides turn at the thought. Nick Spencer asked how can he threw some moral ambiguity IN AN EVENT ABOUT HEROES FIGHTING LITERALLY NAZIS and the best idea he had was to have some random heroes join Hydra. I’m not talking here about those who were brainwashed, like Wanda and Vision, although that is a conversation to also be had by their fans about how often this treatment occurs. Although I wonder - if they are too powerful to let them roam freely, why even HAVE them in this event? It’s not like every superhero was there, currently, heroic Victor Von Doom could probably break Hydra at day one and he was nowhere to be seen.

No, the real problem is with the fact they made some heroes join Hydra willingly. Sometimes they tried to throw flimsy reasons in. Punisher joined to get his family back...even though in previous stories he refused the same offer from less evil people. I feel it’s kinda funny they did this with Frank, considering the man who more or less defined him, Chuck Dixon, has thrown in with real-life Nazis like Milo Yiannopolus. Meanwhile, Deadpool and Thor just go along with letting Nazis rule the States because....Steve Rogers said so and Steve Rogers is always right. That’s just a plain stupidity and total lack of compassion on their side. I’m sure don’t feel like buying any book starring them ever now.

But the worst one is, by far, the Hulk. Who also comes back to life for this event, only to smash for Hydra and immediately die.But that is not the worst part. The worst part is how they build up to it. By having Hydra Steve give Bruce Banner long speech over how Avengers and everyone mistreated him over the years and with Hydra he will finally be accepted for who he is. And Banner calls him a Nazi and tells to go fuck himself. And it is a very powerful moment, Bruce Banner symbolizes everyone disfranchised by the society being offered hand by Nazis and heroically rejecting it... Nah, turns out Rogers was talking to Hulk who felt like changing his catchphrase to Sig Heil. I don’t think Spencer even realized what message he sent by this one moment. He basically said that everyone who has been screwed over by the system secretly agrees with the Nazis, but are “too PC” or “too weak” to say it out loud. It’s stupid AND extremely insulting, two for the price of one.

Number Seven: BARF!

How to properly seed a classic Chekov’s Gunman and yet STILL make him feel like a Deus Ex Machina? Make him ridiculously fucking stupid, that’s how!

Enter Barf, a random Inhuman with the power to vomit up things he needs. He shows up in the first issue, is absent through the entire story only to reappear in Captain America #25 and vomit out a fragment of Cosmic Cube. Because why let people work for their victory and earn their happy ending when you can just have all their efforts blow in their faces and just have means of victory handled to them on a silver platter in the most blatant way possible! If Nick Spencer knew he’s going to write himself into a corner, couldn’t he simply change the plot to avoid it instead of setting up something so stupid?

Number Six: Thou Shalt Not Kill, Miles

After Civil War II we were left with a vision of the future where Miles Morales kills Captain America. Once Secret Empire rolled around and we saw Rogers go full Alt-Right on the country, many were hoping this will actually happen. And Miles, with a handful of friends, does join Black Widow in her efforts to off Captain Nazi. And she spends most of the series training them to be more like her....then talking how she doesn’t actually want them to be more like her and how her generation screwed things up....then taking them on the assassination day anyway only to lock Miles up to kill Rogers herself and when that fails, give up her life trying to stop their fight. Which, in the classic refrigerator fashion, pushes Miles hard enough to actually do this. Only to be given one of the most hollow, lazy-written speeches about how killing is wrong. It hits all the old, tired notes. “Heroes should be better than villains”. “If you kill him, you will be just like him!” (a reminder that “you” in this situation is a Black-Latino and “him” is A FUCKING NAZI FOR CHRIST”S SAKE...). “Natasha wouldn’t want this for you.” (she showed it in the strangest way).... It’s especially bad when you have a character who has a backstory of being trained to kill but rejecting those ways, like Nadia Van Dyne, delivering this speech. Despite her background and personality none of this sounds like her words. It reads like she was going through a checklist of tired cliches.

This is why I came to hate this Aesop that superheroes shouldn’t kill. Because nine times out of ten this isn’t done to actually be a piece of a character driven narrative. It’s done to give a bunch of excuses to let villain live when he deserves to die.

Also, that entire plot point dragged since the previous event, in the end, amounted to BUG FUCKING NOTHING!

Number Five: Who Cares About the Civilians, Right?

So okay, the day is saved, villains are defeated, Captain Nazi got his ass kicked by Steve Rogers and Kobik, a sentient cosmic cube, undoes all this damage. EXCEPT FOR FUCKING VEGAS, WHICH HYDRA LEVELED AND LEFT NOT SURVIVORS! Seriously, I don’t care about the explanations given. Someone should have asked her to do it. And no, some “leave it as a reminder” excuse doesn’t work, Kobik is mentally three years old, she isn’t some wise all-powerful being like Odin or the Stranger from whom we could buy this shit. This is pretty much done only so that Nick Spencer can claim he kept his promise to not undo everything by the cosmic cube. He didn’t undo EVERYTHING, that counts, right? It makes all the heroes look like morons and assholes. Even Z Fighters in Dragon Ball have enough decency to ask the dragon to resurrect all dead civilians when they undo everything after every arc. Marvel heroes, for all the “lessons” this even taught them, couldn’t be assed to do even that.

Number Four: Ultron the Centrist

I’ll be honest with you, Pymltron wearing “Kiss the Overlord” apron, forcing Avengers and Hydra to sit and roasting all of them was one of the best parts of the event. But then it also comes off as paying lip service to the “both sides are as bad” mentality that we saw being used by people of today to desperately try to equate alt-right and those opposing them in real life. It’s pretty much justifying this approach in this story and it doesn’t matter one saying that is a fusion of mentally unstable man and a genocidal robot - he never gets challenged on this position because, for all his talk otherwise on twitter, Nick Spencer apparently cannot think of a compelling argument against it. I guess he secretly agrees with him...

And it doesn’t help that while Ultron ends up aiding the good guys, he does say it’s because Hydra became too strong and might pose a threat to him. Sending a message that any outside powers that show support to those opposing Nazis, in reality, wants America’s destruction...

Number Three: Nazi Pandering

Do I really need to explain this one? The entire event does nothing but bends over to kiss Hydra, and by the extension, Nazi ass at every possible opportunity. They beat up all superheroes because the plot says so, while the narrator goes on and on about how NAZI STRONK! We’re told they were supposed to win the World War II and that Allies “cheated” by rewriting reality...but for some reason let the Holocaust in?! Their rule is shown as being the strongest, which is water to the mill of real-life Nazis as their philosophy is based on “might makes right” and they beat up pretty much everyone, even Wakanda. Every victory heroes have against them must be immediately undermined by giving Nazis another win for consolidation. And while the heroes win at the end, this comes after several issues portraying them as absolutely pathetic losers who didn’t really earn their happy ending but it was handed to them by a random inhuman and Deus Ex Machina device. Which brings us to the next point...

Number Two: Cosmic Cubes

All the dumb shit going in this event can be tracked back to Cosmic Cube, be it as Kobik or the shards. She causes Crazy Steve to emerge, launching this story. And she fixes this mess at the end. Shards of Cosmic Cube serve as a distraction to put both good and bad guys on a wild goose chase because Spencer couldn’t think of any actually interesting plotline for this event. All dumb shit evil Steve pulls out can be explained by them. When it’s time for heroes to win, Barf vomits out a shard. And It undermines everything. A story that entirely revolves around this crap doesn’t have any time to actually show things it’s talking about. Maybe instead of running after Dragon Balls, more time should be developed to show how lack of trust and resentments between the good guys gets in the way? You know, something the narration keeps talking on and on and on but never is reflected in the book? Or show more of them acting like an actual resistance would? Worse, thanks to them heroes no longer win because they’re heroic but because they’ve been handed the I Win Button. Any easy win of the villains can be explained by them holding the Fuck You That’s Why Button. Making you wonder why even care if everybody wins only by writer’s fiat?

Number One: Bown Down To the Gary Stu

Most of the problems in this entire story can really boil down to just this. Steve Rogers is a gary stu. He wins because Nick Spencer wants to show how cool and badass he is. His plans always go without a hitch and he never has to adapt or improvise, under him, Hydra wrecks everyone's shit, even if he loses he still wins and in the end, the only man allowed to beat him is...another Steve Rogers. All other problems in the story can be traced back to Spencer’s desperate need to make him look strong. And believe me, he tried soo damn hard. Up to have him go full Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Four Madara Uchicha with Cosmic Cube Dojustsu on everyone’s ass at the finale. I don’t think we’d see a guy being shoved down our throats so hard if Roman Reigns joined Ultramarines! This is where the book truly falls. Nick Spencer could not let go of his fanboyism over the character and it twisted everything he supposedly wanted to say into a parody of itself, often sending the exact opposite message to accommodate the need to make evil Steve Rogers look good.

So, these are ten dumbest moments in the series. As far as events go, this was one of the worst. It looks like it might have ruined Nick Spencer’s career at Marvel and maybe in general, and will probably make it very hard to look at certain characters for years to come. The only good thing you could say is that it finally ended.

Fuck this book.

- Admin

Best storylines- Captain America

Some of caps most famous and well known storylines are:

'THE SECRET EMPIRE'

Before they did the controversial story line of the same name that turned cap into a hydra agent and took over the world we got the original secre empire, a lot of what would become familiar Cap tropes were introduced for the first time during writer Steve Englehart's classic  run, including the idea of multiple caps, the notion that Steve Rogers could abandon his costumed identity in order to find himself which would later be somewhat overused as the years go on.

'CASTAWAY IN DIMENSION Z'

Captain America stories that alter Steve Rogers’s status quo have been par for the course for decades as it is with most superheros, a constant cycle of trying new things that the decades old characters have never done before, but this story took him somewhere he’d never been before (at least in his solo stories) an entire different dimension. what i really liked about this story was it showed what cap could be as a father as he met a clone of the man who put him in that dimension arnim zola and raised him for years before he was rescued. this could be read at any time as it places steve out of the main marvel universe and showcases what cap can do without the avengers and his usual roster of backup.

'CAPTAIN AMERICA NO MORE'

The writer of this run Mark Gruenwald is one of the best talents to ever work on the character, due to the social commentary elevating the book into something more than just a superhero punching bad guys. Gruenwald’s magnum opus on the character was the sprawling epic Captain America No More, a story line which spanned a then-unheard-of 18 issues compared to the modern day were one story line can last over 50 issues if done right.

this story was about cap being forced into retirement after refusing to be bound by the government and their rules, similar to his argument that caused the civil war in the mcu. This was a groundbreaking premise at the time as Captain America very rarely spoke out against the government that he admired so much. While the government scrounged to find his replacement, Cap began to work outside of the law and adopted a new identity, The Captain. 

Captain America No More is a amazing bit of comic work that deconstructs the personality of the hero and reconstructs him as a vastly improved and more interesting character which would give a user of my site a great understanding of the character.

'MAN OUT OF TIME'

Written by mark waid this story focus on a fasinating part of the captain america character: The culture shock Steve Rogers must have felt after waking up in the modern world after disappearing during World War II which i think would be facinating for new readers and give them a really good understanding of the man behind the mask whilst also touching on the orgin of the hero in a new light, exactly what im looking to include in my site.

‘CIVIL WAR’

One of the best bits comics i think ive ever read period is that of civil war, when i was younger all i collected was spiderman, and it was around the time civil war was going on so spiderman had tie ins, books that were not the main story but related to them. I remember when spiderman was still on the side of tony stark and captain america appeared to him a the rooftop asking him to switch sides, i think it was one of the first times i had actually ever read captain america in a proper comic and instantly knew just how important he was to characters like spiderman.

Civil war showed the marvel universe spilt into two waring factions over the Superhuman Registration Act, a bill that would force all heroes to disclose their identities to the government and become agents of the United States. some of the heroes sided with the pro registation iron man the others with cap who said supporting the bill was giving up their fundamental freedoms.The tale was emotionally charged and showed just how unwavering Cap really is with his belief and gives you a perfect showacase of the character that stands up for what he belives in no matter the consequneces and shows the love other characters have for the man as it tears them apart having to fight him.

'THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA'

Following the events of civil war captain america is assassinated on the steps of the courtroom he was supposed to have his trial in. after his death his partner bucky barnes who resurfaced during the events of winter solider ( the story that i mention next) takes up the mantle of captain america, it is a look at caps life and what he was all about but perhaps the end of a character (even though he returns soon) maybe isnt the best place for a new reader to start

'THE WINTER SOLDIER' 

The winter solider showed the return of caps old partner bucky barnes in a tragic way. Bucky was thought to be killed in the incident that froze cap in the ice, as it turns out Bucky was captured by Russian scientists after his plane crash in the '40s and was brainwashed into becoming a killing machine.

Empire vs. Stormcloaks

Gotta admit, seeing this still raging despite literally six years passing more than amuses me.  Its not surprising to me since in the same vein I still see people wondering which Fallout NV ending is better.

But what’s really making me comment on this is the fact that a lot of folks don’t seem to look deeper into their preferred sides.  Way I see people going ‘for the Empire!’  or ‘Skyrim for the Nords!”  Highly reminds me of the days when World of Warcraft’s own ‘Alliance vs. Horde’ mindset without really taking the big picture into account. Both the former and the latter are much deeper than that and I hope to toss my two cents.

The Empire:

Once prosperous under the rule of the Septim line and even under the loyal High Elf Chancelor Ocato, it saw a period of decline when the last heir of the line sacrificed himself during the Oblivion Crisis and the good chancellor himself assassinated many decades later.  During the Mede dynasties rule, the empire itself saw itself slowly falling apart while the Aldmeri Dominion steadily grew in power via assassinations and outright propaganda carried out by the Thalmor.

During Titus Mede II’s reign the Empire saw war with the Aldmeri Dominion who made outrageous demands among them outlawing the worship of Talos, he who was once Tiber Septim and founder of the Empire who ascended into godhood among the Nine Divines.  Despite warnings from his military leaders, Titus denied their demands and soon after the Great War broke out.

The war lasted for four years and each year was an eternity of conflict that ended with a military stalemate that strategically rested with the Dominion’s favor.  His armies exhausted and realizing that the Empire could not survive this battle of attrition,  Titus finally agreed to the demands now known as the White-Gold Concordat in an effort to play the long game and to eventually turn the tables against the Dominion.

Unfortunately for Titus Mede, many were outraged.  Among those were the Redguards of Hammerfell who saw large portions of their land being given to the enemy, eventually leading them to rebelling against the Aldmeri and being denounced by the Empire. 

The rest of the Empire were forced to deny Talos, but just as many began to worship him in secret from the Thalmor who hunted the worshipers ruthlessly.  The Empire didn’t do much to aid the Thalmor, nor did it spend much effort in hunting down the Talos worshipers as it boded its time to rebuild their forces for the next inevitable clash.

Unfortunately, during this time the Empire faced an unforseen threat from Ulfric Stormcloak when he retook the Reach from the Reachmen under the promise of its Jarl to allow the open worship of Talos.  Ulfric demanded the same promise of the Empire before he would their Legions entry, a demand they had initially gave into if not for the Dominion pressuring them once they found out. 

From there began the starting point of what would eventually be the Skyrim Civil War which was kicked into full when Ulfric killed the High King of Skyrim.  While Ulfric and his supporters hold form that it was an honor duel, the Empire and its loyalists viewed it as murder and nothing more and Ulfric as an usurper.  Deeper than that they knew it would lead to weakening the empire infront of an enemy they couldn’t afford to be weak to.

With Skyrim split into two between the competing powers, the Empire is forced to focus a portion of its manpower and efforts into a war it does not want while the Thalmor now slither their way in and force the Empire to enforce the ban on Talos, less they face the second war unprepared.

What can be taken from this:

The Empire while a shadow of its former self was not some loyal mutt, and while they made plenty of unfortunate and perhaps wrong decisions they did so out of desperation against a foe they couldn’t hold out against in a war of attrition.  They needed time and the Concordat meant that for a time they’d swallow their pride while sneakily building back up their power to kick Dominion butt!  Unfortunately they didn’t do a good job communicating that to their vassal states, with many of them left in the dark and giving them the impression the Empire betrayed them and their ideals.

It was poor communication that led them ultimately into a war with Ulfric and his Stormcloaks, with many of experienced former soldiers of the Empire now under Ulfric’s banner serving as his officers.  Granted one could say they couldn’t really communicate what with the Thalmor playing their spy games, but from the begining the Empire and the Dominion knew that another war was coming and so the Empire really doesn’t have an excuse at the end of it.

Now they have to deal with diverting time and resources while also giving more leeway to the Thalmor to pull their shenanigans and hunt down Talos worshipers as they further destabilize the region.

The Stormcloaks:

To speak of the Stormcloaks is to talk about Ulfric Stormcloak himself, the son of of the previous Jarl of Windhelm himself and was to be a future Greybeard as he studied under them. Ultimately the Great War happened and due to feelings of loyalty to the Empire he joined the war against the Dominion. He fought hard in the war and for a time fell prisoner to the enemy, who tortured him for a good long time before releasing him after he gave up useless and outdated information but not before leaving him with the impression he betrayed the Empire.

After the war, Ulfric assumed his position as Jarl as his father died during his son’s incarceration.  The war veteran and newly crowned Jarl was left with bitter feelings at the treaty the Empire signed with their hated enemy, a treaty which saw the Empire subservient to the Dominion.

Ulfric would soon gather his armies at the behest of the Jarl of Markath who promised the open worship of Talos if he retook his lands from the occupying Reachmen.  Ulfric would deliver on his end of the deal, and would soon deny the Legions of the Empire entry lest they delivered the same promise.  For a brief time the Empire allowed it, but as soon as the Thalmor sniffed it out were forced to crack down on the worship of Talos.

This would serve as a turning point for when Ulfric and his army rebelled against the Empire.  Gathering up allies and resources, Ulfric challenged the High King to a duel which saw the latter’s demise.  While the Stormcloaks and their supporters held that the duel, the opposition held otherwise and viewed it as murder.  

Which ever the truth, it was here the war took to blossoming and the war for Skyrim began as Ulfric fought for a Skyrim free from a crumbling empire who would betray its own god.  With ‘Skyrim for the Nords’ as their cry, they wage a war against the Empire and their Aldmeri masters.

What we can take from this:

Ulfric, not knowing of the Empire’s long term goals, only saw a crumbling empire before him.  Even if he did know, it would be likely that he would view the Empire too weak to carry it out as the Mede dynasty did not have a good track record. In his mind they were too weak to rule and that it was time for his beloved Skyrim to cut itself from a rotting corpse.

To do this, he rallies his supporters to retake Skyrim for their people a la ‘Skyrim for the Nord’, calling for the days of a strong people that conquered the land and made it their own.  Unfortunately for Ulfric it also brought in the ones who held a dislike for the other races.  It also painted Ulfric as a a racist himself among a number of his detractor.  Of particular note Windhelm’s Dunmer population who feel ignored by the Jarl which is not helped by the rest of the local populations disdain and the majority of the Dunmer’s own lack of effort to improve their lot in life.

And while the Argonians were forced to live on the docks could be taken as Ulfric’s racial disdain, it could also be taken instead as Ulfric separating the Dunmer and the Argonians from each other as the races have a bitter history with one another.

Another matter is the fact while Ulfric has the support of many Jarls, those same Jarls do not feel loyalty to him and see him as ambitious, thus it is a tense partnership that could shatter even if Ulfric achieves victory. And even if he does attain victory he would likely have to work on consolidating his victory as well as rebuild his forces and try to establish alliances with other nations while also working on keeping the Jarl’s under him together.

  Overall:

Both sides have their justifiable intents, but both have their questionable methods.  Even if both factions achieve victory, the Aldmeri benefits even if the war ends sooner than they’d like.  If the Empire wins, they’d be delayed on rebuilding their forces as they rebuild Skyrim while also having to stamp out Talos worship in the region.  If the Stormcloaks win, they’d be busy doing much of the same except whatever they could muster wouldn’t be enough against the Dominion should they decide to capitulate on this, seeing as the Legion forces sent were only a portion faced against them supplement by Nord Loyalists.

Granted, if both played their cards right they could hold off the Dominion but as it stands the Dominion benefits from either outcome.  More so if the Stormcloaks win and the Dominion decides to take the risk of sending a force to Skyrim. 

The Empire is failing because bad decisions and lack of communication as they try to maintain the long term at the cost of the short term.  The Stormcloaks risk failing because they’re looking at the short term without taking account the long term and not a fully unified alliance of Jarls as well as bad publicity to outside forces.

Not to mention that there would be extremists of both sides giving the other hell after the war.

So yeah.... those are my thoughts...  really wish I could sort them out more but I’ll it at that.

Secret Empire #7

Great issue!  Very climactic moments which even solved some long-term continuity from Civil War II.  

As the cover implies, much of the focus is on Black Widow's mission to Kill the Supreme Leader of Hydra, Captain America.

There was also a followup on how Carol's doing in space, the confusion of the bearded Steve Rogers' torment in 'Hell' continues.

We find out the identity of 'the one who will win the war', according to Black Widow and it actually surprised me a lot.  This moment spiralled into climactic brilliance.  

Then there was some aftermath continuity which was equally exciting on both the Hydra and the Underground fronts.

And at last it ended with a brief ray of hope.  Even if it was only in the form of a Return Player with a refreshed attitude.

[quick spoilers below]

Very quick added details to what I spelled out above.

It started with Carol’s update.  Spectrum & America are starting to consider the idea of relocating dimensions.  Straight up, abandoning this fallen Earth.  [How crazy is that?]  Carol is like, ‘No, fuck that’.  But then she becomes unlikable when she talks to Avril (Quasar) who is still in a coma and calls her rude for being in such a state when they need her.  [Excuse me?]  Also...  Starbrand and Nightmask are apparently with them and we haven’t seen them do Boo yet.  So what’s that about??

Mysterious Steve gets tortured by Red Skull in Hell, but eventually he fights back when he sees... that white Goddess of the lake???  (That takes the whole issue to unfold).

The Civil War II long-term continuity of Miles Morales’ Future Prediction finally unfolds.  And we’re given a fancy twist with Black Widow attempting to lock Miles out of the fight, by keeping him in the plane in some sort of Hulk Trap contraption.  A venom blast was all it took to apparently get himself out. [Yeah, okay..]  But either way, Widow’s plan was brilliant.  She visited her old person friend that they got out from Hydra’s  grasps.  It turns out that it was Mosaic, the Inhuman, stuck in this old person’s shell.  I don’t quite know how, but all it took was the touch of her hand to unleash him. 

From there, Mosaic did some awesome body controlling of Hydra’s forces - having them shoot and throw bombs at each other.  Amidst the chaos, Widow was gonna attempt to find a good access point to shoot Cap, but instead she was cut off by The Punisher.  [Nice!  Finally.]  They’ve been sort of building up that Punisher was in the game, following her, so it was nice to see this come into fruition.  And to sort of understand why Punisher is siding with Hydra on this one.  “[He promised me] A safer World.  An Army to wage the same war I’ve been fighting my whole damn life.  A way to finally win it.”  Damn, dude.

He also makes it clear  that all Cap wants to do is apparently use the cube to “fix everything.”  [Which is sort of what I thought Elisa was saying in the first place.]  “Make the World what it’s supposed to be--then he’s gonna bring them all back.”  [If that was his intent the whole time than why did he do any of this shit at all!??]

Anyway, Widow wins that fight with two sweet knife stabs to the lower thighs.

While Spider-man got out and found Cap on the steps of Capitol Hill.

THIS WAS IT!  This was the moment.  Miles was convinced he was going to kill Steve, and Rogers knew it too.  And Natasha was determined to stop it.  She hopped out of a window, pushed a crowd and ran as fast as she could.  The two begin their struggle and she totally gets in the way.  Steve accidentally cracks her jaw and breaks her neck with his shield.  Just like that.  Boom!  She’s dead.

The entire Champions crew sees it, and Miles shouts, “NOOOO!!”

He’s so furious, he actually breaks Cap’s shield, which I find hard to believe.  Then with bloody fists, he catches Steve by surprise and really lays into him until he’s a bloody mess on the ground.

“I know where I’m supposed to be--”  He sees the sharp jagged rock, near the steps of Capitol Hill.  “I know what I’m supposed to do--  And now I know why.”

I loved this moment, but was actually kind of let down when Nadia butted in and talked him out of it in her tiny Wasp form.

He stopped himself though.  He threw Cap down, and found his own resolve.  “I’m not a killer.”

The Champions in the area seemed to get arrested, while Cap walked away with his tail between his legs.

Then the aftermath continuity which was almost as exciting was a Sober Cap venting to Sharon.  “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.  Everything is just... starting to go Wrong...” 

[Wait..  NOW you say that?]

He vents that he can’t stop.  Things keep getting worse.  “Bucky... Rick... Jack Flag-- Now Natasha?  I wanted to save them. I wanted us to build a better World, together. Now I--Now I’ve never felt so alone.”

Sharon has her back to him, and finally sneak attacks him with a sharp wedge in her hand.  She goes right for his neck and actually lightly pierces it as he catches her hand.

“GUARDS!  Show Commander Carter here to a cell.”

That was all he needed.  Evil Cap is back and tomorrow he’s officially declaring War.

Then that moment in Hell happened, where I guess it’s Steve’s subconscious fought back against the Red Skull and tackled him off of a cliff far down into water.

Meanwhile, in the Underground camp, it turns out that not everyone died.  Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Giant Man, Quick Silver, Tiger, Pepper Potts, Bobbi and some others are still around.

And then Captain America joins them.  The real one.  The current one.  Their last hope.

We see his red boot stand against a stone.

We turn the page to see Sam Wilson, donning his Red, White and Blue suit and the actual Captain America shield, that we all know and love.

“Not yet.” He raises the shield proudly.

It’s not over yet.

-To Be Continued-

Wow!  What an issue.

This.. event.  Has challenged my senses, and frustrated me a little at the beginning.  But not as much as I thought it would.  I really enjoyed a lot of the interplay, so far.

But still...  I’m waiting for the affected to Avengers to actually act like Avengers. Odinson, who is regretful, Wanda who is under Cthon’s spell and Vision who has a wicked A.I virus that he can’t shake off.

I want this stuff to come into further fruition.  Maybe in the next issue.

I was really satisfied with this one now.  And now I really wonder what’s gonna happen next.

I’m almost considering picking up Captain America #25, I’m that interested.

...until Secret Empire #8!

Ewing’s U.S.Avengers Battle Kaiju & a Burgeoning Secret Empire

The characters taking the lead of Marvel Comics’ “U.S.Avengers” are the chief super-powered operatives of S.H.I.E.L.D’s new A.I.M. (American Intelligence Mechanics) division. This means team leader Citizen V (AKA Roberto da Costa, who until recently operated under the moniker of Sunspot) and his comrades the new Red Hulk, Squirrel Girl, Cannonball, Iron Patriot, and Enigma are ready to take on all manner of strange and dangerous threats. Unfortunately for the team, the two most imminent dangers they face come from unexpected places: a massively powerful former ally of one of their team members, and an incredibly cunning and devious individual who recently gained control of all of S.H.I.E.L.D.

RELATED: U.S.Avengers Shows Civil War II Kept Something Worse From Happening

The former is Todd Ziller, a patriotic zealot who was transformed into the rampaging monstrosity known as the American Kaiju. The latter, of course, is the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, S.H.I.E.L.D’s new director and the focal point of Marvel’s upcoming “Secret Empire” event, whose history was recently altered so that he had been a lifelong clandestine agent of Hydra. We spoke with writer Al Ewing about pitting his and artist Paco Medina’s cast against these two dangerous enemies, what life will be like for the U.S.Avengers during “Secret Empire,” and the member of his cast that might be marked for death.

CBR: The U.S.Avengers first major mission ended with Sunspot receiving some advice from the Captain America of the future, Danielle Cage, about finding hope by caring for other people and allowing them to care for you. We know the Marvel Universe will be in for some interesting times, and we’ll talk more about that in a bit, but what did it mean for Sunspot to get that advice from Danielle?

Al Ewing: You’re right that Roberto has no idea how tough things are about to get — he’s a master of long-term planning, but in Steve Rogers’ Hydra agent, he’s almost definitely met his match in that department, and the wheels the evil Cap has set in motion could end up crushing A.I.M. in their path. So when things get really bad for him — and for the world — a little hope and caring might just go a long way. Not to mention that helping other people, and letting other people help you, is just good policy for life in general if you can do it.

This first adventure also introduced Sunspot’s former rival, General Robert Maverick, a character you created, into the ranks of the U.S.Avengers as the new Red Hulk. What made you want to bring Maverick on to the team and make him the Red Hulk?

This is an interesting case — we knew Maverick was floating around in the background, and he already had a place on the team as a civilian advisor, but it wasn’t until we found out that there were plans for Thunderbolt Ross elsewhere that we decided to just go ahead and make General Maverick into the new Red Hulk. That bit of thinking solved a lot of problems for us; it let us have some Hulk action in #1, it allowed us to give him a semi-solo issue in #4, and it’s given us a lot more freedom to do what we want with this version. We’re going to be playing around a little with the Hulk Plug-In, for a start — that kind of tech never works out well…

“U.S.Avengers” #4 reintroduces one of Robert Maverick’s former soldiers, Todd Ziller, the American Kaiju. What can you tell us about this issue, and can you reveal if we’ll see more of Kaiju in upcoming issues?

I knew we weren’t doing a “Monsters Unleashed” tie-in, but I did want to bring back American Kaiju in some capacity, so I figured it might be fun to do the opposite of a tie-in – an entire crossover in one issue. That’s “Monsters N’ S.H.I.E.L.D.”, which has its own Alpha and Omega issue contained within the issue, and also runs through “Deadpool Into Fear” and “Hulk: King of the In-Crowd,” so make sure you have every issue of both of those incredibly long-running mags, or you’ll be completely lost.

I think the Kaiju’s got legs as a recurring baddie. I’m fleshing out his human half, Todd Ziller, a bit more – we get to see a bit of the man inside the monster. Plus, there’s an all-new bad guy who’s a descendant of a monster-maker from the ancient days of Marvel, so you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck with this special done-in-one ish!

That bang will also include an appearance by Deadpool. What’s it like bouncing Wade Wilson off your cast of characters?

Deadpool is surprisingly easy to write – it’s almost relaxing to just sit back and let the Id take control a little bit, just let the jokes flow. With this one issue, and with Deadpool, I’m getting to use a couple of the absurdist muscles I usually only get to stretch if I’m writing “Zombo,” so that’s nice. Deadpool is one of those characters that will find his own level in a story; for this, he’s pretty full-on goofy, but when I guest him in “Rocket,” I’ll likely take quite a different approach.

Let’s talk a little more about Sunspot’s new boss, Steve Rogers, who he meets in “U.S.Avengers” #5. What’s it like writing the Hydra-affiliated Steve? What do you find most interesting about him?

It’s more difficult writing Hydra Steve, because he’s both extremely ruthless and a master strategist, and he’ll say anything to make his goals happen – even to himself. So every bit of conversation coming out of him is an attack, a probe, a test, an attempt to extract information. Every page of dialogue feels like I’m choreographing a fight.

Roberto thinks he’s talking to a friend. Even if he suspected something, would he understand the depth of it? Meanwhile, in the background, we can see all Steve’s plans falling into place like dominoes. It’s a quieter issue after the fun and games of #4, but maybe a tenser, more sinister one too.

I understand issue #5 also involves a bit of a character arc for Cannonball. Can you talk a little more about what he’s feeling and the issues he’s dealing with?

Everyone in #5 is going to get some character beats that’ll set up the next arc, and Cannonball’s no exception. We don’t get to see much of his home life, usually – we know he commutes in from space, and he’s still married to Smasher, the human member of the Imperial Guard. So we get to see his home on one of the Shi’ar colony worlds, and it’s relatively idyllic; in fact, we might see Sam tempted to give up life on Earth in favor of superheroics in space. You could almost say he’s only one day away from retirement, which reminds me of something about the teaser images we ended issue #1 with, but for the life of me I can’t put my finger on what.

“U.S Avengers” #6 kicks off your “Secret Empire” tie-in. I know you like to use event tie-ins to both connect to a larger story and advance the ongoing story in your own title. So can you talk about some of the things your cast will be dealing with in this story?

Well, one member of the team could well end up dying horribly in that issue. I won’t spoil which one, but his name isn’t a million miles away from “Splam Spluthrie.” Also, Roberto’s on the cover being shot in the head, and it looks like Red Hulk’s on some kind of rampage, so it’s not a good day at the office for the team by any means. One thing we’re going to be doing is advancing a few of the ongoing plotlines, some from this book, some older – Roberto’s M-Pox sickness, Toni’s increasing reliance on weapons and giant robot suits, the General’s issues with the Hulk Plug-In, and so on. So there’ll be plenty of excitement for anyone here for “Secret Empire,” but it won’t be derailing the character work we’ve been doing.

It sounds like these next few issues will keep Paco Medina busy , not unlike the work he provided on your last collaboration, “Contest of Champions.”

There’s a treat coming up for “Contest” fans – the Contestants are back! As part of the “Secret Empire” tie-in, we get to check in on Outlaw, Guillotine and everyone’s favorite war god Ares. And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have drawing that than Paco, who brought it all to life back on the “Contest” book.

We’ve talked about Red Hulk a lot this time out, but I do like how he treats that character, both in Hulk form and in human mode – I feel like readers who might have been a bit iffy about the General are really going to start to warm up to him when #4 comes out. But I can’t think of a character who he doesn’t do a wonderful job on.

I’ll end this in the usual way – by offering my heartfelt thanks to anyone and everyone buying the book. Some people have offered some very kind words about it, and I’m always very grateful when that happens. And if you’re enjoying it, we’re going to try to do even better in the months to come, so I hope you stick with us.

The post Ewing’s U.S.Avengers Battle Kaiju & a Burgeoning Secret Empire appeared first on CBR.

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1 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson – 2012 I’m starting this list off by breaking the 10,000-year rule because 2312 simplyfeels far-future. Author Robinson’s technological inventions are creative and wondrous, and it’s a delight to follow the characters around the solar system with him. My only beef with this book is that the personalities of the characters cleave a little too closely to their planets of origin. That is, the character from Mercury is totally mercurial (she’s a whole playground of mood swings, which gets annoying), and the character from one of Saturn’s moon is purely saturnine (slow, steady, gloomy, which gets boring). It’s nice to have drama between characters, but I felt they were a little one-dimensional and predictable. 2 A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge – 1992 Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind’s potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these “regions of thought,” but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.Fleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue mission, composed not entirely of humans, must rescue the children—and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization. 3 Accelerando by Charles Stross – 2005 It is the era of the posthuman. Artificial intelligences have surpassed the limits of human intellect. Biotechnological beings have rendered people all but extinct. Molecular nanotechnology runs rampant, replicating and reprogramming at will. Contact with extraterrestrial life grows more imminent with each new day. Struggling to survive and thrive in this accelerated world are three generations of the Macx clan: Manfred, an entrepreneur dealing in intelligence amplification technology whose mind is divided between his physical environment and the Internet; his daughter, Amber, on the run from her domineering mother and seeking her fortune in the outer system as an indentured astronaut; and Sirhan, Amber’s son, who finds his destiny linked to the fate of all humanity. About the title: in Italian, accelerando means “speeding up” and is used as a tempo marking in musical notation. In Stross’s novel, it refers to the accelerating rate at which humanity in general, and/or the novel’s characters, head towards the technological singularity. The term was used earlier in this way by Kim Stanley Robinson in his 1985 novel The Memory of Whiteness and again in his 1992–96 Mars trilogy. 4 Blindsight by Peter Watts – 2006 A derelict space probe hears whispers from a distant comet. Something talks out there: but not to us. Who should we send to meet the alien, when the alien doesn’t want to meet? Send a linguist with multiple-personality disorder and a biologist so spliced with machinery that he can’t feel his own flesh. Send a pacifist warrior and a vampire recalled from the grave by the voodoo of paleogenetics. Send a man with half his mind gone since childhood. Send them to the edge of the solar system, praying you can trust such freaks and monsters with the fate of a world. You fear they may be more alien than the thing they’ve been sent to find—but you’d give anything for that to be true, if you knew what was waiting for them. . . . 5 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley – 1932 Both Brave New World and 1984 saw dystopian futures, but Huxley seems to have gotten much of it right (though Orwell did nail the surveillance state). According to social criticNeil Postman: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism… Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.” 6 Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke – 1953 It looks like a good deal at first: a peaceful alien invasion by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war, helps form a world government, and turns the planet into a near-utopia. However, they refuse to answer questions about themselves and govern from orbiting spaceships.Clarke has said that the idea for Childhood’s End may have come from the numerous blimps floating over London during World War II. 7 Seed to Harvest by Octavia E. Butler – 1984 Seed to Harvest contains Octavia E. Butler’s four acclaimed Patternmaster novels: Wild Seed,Mind of My Mind, Clay’s Ark, and Patternmaster. In ancient Africa, a female demigod of nurture and fertility mates with a powerful, destructive male entity. Together they birth a race of madmen, visionaries, and psychics who cling to civilization’s margins and back alleys for millennia, coming together in a telepathic Pattern just as Earth is consumed by a cosmic invasion. Now these new beings—no longer merely human—will battle to rule the transfigured world. 8 Dune by Frank Herbert – 1965 Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family and bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream. Dune is the world’s best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and often described as The Lord of the Rings of science fiction. If you’ve never read a science fiction book before, don’t start here, but make it your fifth. Did you know Dune was inspired by a trip to Oregon? 9 Foundation by Isaac Asimov – 1951 Psychohistory is one of Asimov’s best inventions: using a combination of history, psychology, and statistics, one can accurately predict the behavior of large groups of people. Foundation covers the beginning of the Galactic Empire’s collapse, and one man’s plan to reignite civilization after years of barbarism. Asimov’s characters tend be one-dimensional, but his stories are so entertaining that it’s easy to forgive that lapse. 10 Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut – 1985 Narrated by a ghost that watches over the million-year evolution of the last group of humans on the planet, Galápagos questions the merit of the human brain from an evolutionary perspective. Some critics consider it one of Vonnegut’s worst novels, but I strongly disagree. It’s funny, clever, and asks questions most post-apocalyptic books skip. 11 Hyperion by Dan Simmons – 1989 Few science fiction books can claim to use the same structure as The Canterbury Talesand still be kick-ass sci-fi, but Hyperion pulls it off. On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope—and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands. 12 I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison – 1967 Pissing off science fiction writers everywhere, Ellison wrote the story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” in a single night in 1966, making virtually no changes from the first draft. He won a Hugo award for it, too. Bastard.

Credit: sci-fi.com

Communism's Bloody Century

According to “The Black Book of Communism" (Harvard University, 1999), Communism, with ruthless efficiency murdered: 25 million in Russia during the Bolshevik (Lenin) and Stalinist eras, perhaps 65 million in China under the eyes of Mao Zedong, 2 million in Cambodia, millions more Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America--an astonishingly high toll of victims. This was no accident, but an integral trait of a philosophy, and a practical politics, that promised to erase class distinctions by erasing classes and the living humans that populated them. Courtois and his contributors document Communism's crimes in numbing detail, moving from country to country, revolution to revolution. 

Communism's Bloody Century; In the 100 years since Lenin's coup in Russia, the ideology devoted to abolishing markets and private property has left a long, murderous trail of destruction, by Kotkin, Stephen, Wall Street Journal, 03 Nov 2017

A century ago this week, communism took over the Russian empire, the world's largest state at the time. Leftist movements of various sorts had been common in European politics long before the revolution of Oct. 25, 1917 (which became Nov. 7 in the reformed Russian calendar), but Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks were different. They were not merely fanatical in their convictions but flexible in their tactics--and fortunate in their opponents.

Communism entered history as a ferocious yet idealistic condemnation of capitalism, promising a better world. Its adherents, like others on the left, blamed capitalism for the miserable conditions that afflicted peasants and workers alike and for the prevalence of indentured and child labor. Communists saw the slaughter of World War I as a direct result of the rapacious competition among the great powers for overseas markets.

But a century of communism in power--with holdouts even now in Cuba, North Korea and China--has made clear the human cost of a political program bent on overthrowing capitalism. Again and again, the effort to eliminate markets and private property has brought about the deaths of an astounding number of people. Since 1917--in the Soviet Union, China, Mongolia, Eastern Europe, Indochina, Africa, Afghanistan and parts of Latin America--communism has claimed at least 65 million lives, according to the painstaking research of demographers.

Communism's tools of destruction have included mass deportations, forced labor camps and police-state terror--a model established by Lenin and especially by his successor Joseph Stalin. It has been widely imitated. Though communism has killed huge numbers of people intentionally, even more of its victims have died from starvation as a result of its cruel projects of social engineering.

For these epic crimes, Lenin and Stalin bear personal responsibility, as do Mao Zedong in China, Pol Pot in Cambodia, the Kim dynasty in North Korea and any number of lesser communist tyrants. But we must not lose sight of the ideas that prompted these vicious men to kill on such a vast scale, or of the nationalist context in which they embraced these ideas. Anticapitalism was attractive to them in its own right, but it also served as an instrument, in their minds, for backward countries to leapfrog into the ranks of great powers.

The communist revolution may now be spent, but its centenary, as the great anticapitalist cause, still demands a proper reckoning.

In February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated under pressure from his generals, who worried that bread marches and strikes in the capital of St. Petersburg were undermining the war effort against Germany and its allies. The February Revolution, as these events became known, produced an unelected provisional government, which chose to rule without the elected parliament. Peasants began to seize the land, and soviets (or political councils) started to form among soldiers at the front, as had already happened among political groups in the cities.

That fall, as the war raged on, Lenin's Bolsheviks undertook an armed insurrection involving probably no more than 10,000 people. They directed their coup not against the provisional government, which had long since become moribund, but against the main soviet in the capital, which was dominated by other, more moderate socialists. The October Revolution began as a putsch by the radical left against the rest of the left, whose members denounced the Bolsheviks for violating all norms and then walked out of the soviet.

The Bolsheviks, like many of their rivals, were devotees of Karl Marx, who saw class struggle as the great engine of history. What he called feudalism would give way to capitalism, which would be replaced in turn by socialism and, finally, the distant utopia of communism. Marx envisioned a new era of freedom and plenty, and its precondition was destroying the "wage slavery" and exploitation of capitalism. As he and his collaborator Friedrich Engels declared in the Communist Manifesto of 1848, our theory "may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property."

Once in power in early 1918, the Bolsheviks renamed themselves the Communist Party as they sought to force-march Russia to socialism and, eventually, to history's final stage. Millions set about trying to live in new ways. No one, however, knew precisely what the new society was supposed to look like. "We cannot give a characterization of socialism," Lenin conceded in March 1918. "What socialism will be like when it reaches its completed form we do not know, we cannot say."

But one thing was clear to them: Socialism could not resemble capitalism. The regime would replace private property with collective property, markets with planning, and "bourgeois" parliaments with "people's power." In practice, however, scientific planning was unattainable, as even some communists conceded at the time. As for collectivizing property, it empowered not the people but the state.

The process set in motion by the communists entailed the vast expansion of a secret-police apparatus to handle the arrest, internal deportation and execution of "class enemies." The dispossession of capitalists also enriched a new class of state functionaries, who gained control over the country's wealth. All parties and points of view outside the official doctrine were repressed, eliminating politics as a corrective mechanism.

The declared goals of the revolution of 1917 were abundance and social justice, but the commitment to destroy capitalism gave rise to structures that made it impossible to attain those goals.

In urban areas, the Soviet regime was able to draw upon armed factory workers, eager recruits to the party and secret police, and on young people impatient to build a new world. In the countryside, however, the peasantry--some 120 million souls--had carried out their own revolution, deposing the gentry and establishing de facto peasant land ownership.

With the devastated country on the verge of famine, Lenin forced reluctant party cadres to accept the separate peasant revolution for the time being. In the countryside, over the objections of communist purists, a quasi-market economy was allowed to operate.

With Lenin's death in 1924, this concession became Stalin's problem. No more than 1% of the country's arable land had been collectivized voluntarily by 1928. By then, key factories were largely owned by the state, and the regime had committed to a five-year plan for industrialization. Revolutionaries fretted that the Soviet Union now had two incompatible systems--socialism in the city and capitalism in the village.

Stalin didn't temporize. He imposed coercive collectivization from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, even in the face of mass peasant rebellion. He threatened party officials, telling them that if they were not serious about eradicating capitalism, they should be prepared to cede power to the rising rural bourgeoisie. He incited class warfare against "kulaks" (better-off peasants) and anyone who defended them, imposing quotas for mass arrests and internal deportations.

Stalin was clear about his ideological rationale. "Could we develop agriculture in kulak fashion, as individual farms, along the path of large-scale farms" as in "America and so on?" he asked. "No, we could not. We're a Soviet country. We want to implant a collective economy, not solely in industry, but in agriculture."

And he never backtracked, even when, as a result of his policies, the country descended into yet another famine from 1931 to 1933. Forced collectivization during those few years would claim 5 to 7 million lives.

The Soviet Union's awful precedent did nothing to deter other communist revolutionaries. Mao Zedong, a hard man like Stalin, had risen to the top of the Chinese movement and, in 1949, he and his comrades emerged as the victors in the Chinese civil war. Mao saw the colossal loss of life in the Soviet experiment as intrinsic to its success.

His Great Leap Forward, a violent campaign from 1958 to 1962, was an attempt to collectivize some 700 million Chinese peasants and to spread industry throughout the countryside. "Three years of hard work and suffering, and a thousand years of prosperity," went one prominent slogan of the time.

Falsified reports of triumphal harvests and joyful peasants inundated the communist ruling elite's well-provisioned compound in Beijing. In reality, Mao's program resulted in one of history's deadliest famines, claiming between 16 and 32 million victims. After the catastrophe, referred to by survivors as the "communist wind," Mao blocked calls for a retreat from collectivization. As he declared, "the peasants want 'freedom,' but we want socialism."

Nor did this exhaust the repertoire of communist brutality in the name of overthrowing capitalism. With their conquest of Cambodia in 1975, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge drove millions from the country's cities into the countryside to work on collectives and forced-labor projects. They sought to remake Cambodia as a classless, solely agrarian society.

The Khmer Rouge abolished money, banned commercial fishing and persecuted Buddhists, Muslims and the country's ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese minorities as "infiltrators." Pol Pot's regime also seized children to pre-empt ideological infection from "capitalist" parents.

All told, perhaps as many as 2 million Cambodians, a quarter of the population, perished as a result of starvation, disease and mass executions during the four nightmarish years of Pol Pot's rule. In some regions, skulls could be found in every pond.

Marx's class analysis denied legitimacy to any political opposition, not just from "bourgeois" elements but from within communist movements themselves--because dissenters "objectively" served the interests of the international capitalist order. The relentless logic of anticapitalist revolution pointed to a single leader atop a single-party system.

From Russia and China to Cambodia, North Korea and Cuba, communist dictators have shared key traits. All have conformed, more or less, to the Leninist type: a fusion of militant ideologue and unprincipled intriguer. And all have possessed an extreme willpower--the prerequisite for attaining what only unspeakable bloodshed could bring.

Communism was hardly alone over the past century in committing grand carnage. Nazism's repression and wars of racial extermination killed at least 40 million people, and during the Cold War, anticommunism spurred paroxysms of grotesque violence in Indonesia, Latin America and elsewhere.

But as evidence of communism's horrors emerged over the decades, it rightly shocked liberals and leftists in the West, who shared many of the egalitarian aims of the revolutionaries. Some repudiated the Soviet Union as a deformation of socialism, attributing the regime's crimes to the backwardness of Russia or the peculiarities of Lenin and Stalin. After all, Marx had never advocated mass murder or Gulag labor camps. Nowhere did he argue that the secret police, deportation by cattle car and mass death from starvation should be used to establish collective farms.

But if we've learned one lesson from the communist century, it is this: That to implement Marxist ideals is to betray them. Marx's demand to "abolish private property" was a clarion call to action--and an inexorable path to the creation of an oppressive, unchecked state.

A few socialists began to recognize that there could be no freedom without markets and private property. When they made their peace with the existence of capitalism, hoping to regulate rather than to abolish it, they initially elicited denunciations as apostates. Over time, more socialists embraced the welfare state, or the market economy with redistribution. But the siren call to transcend capitalism persists among some on the left.

It also remains alive, though hardly in orthodox Marxist fashion, in Russia and China, the great redoubts of the communist century. Both countries continue to distrust what is perhaps most important about free markets and private property: Their capacity to give independence of action and thought to ordinary people, pursuing their own interests as they see fit, in private life, civil society and the political sphere.

But anticapitalism also served as a program for an alternative world order, one in which long-suppressed nationalist aims might be realized. For Stalin and Mao, heirs to proud ancient civilizations, Europe and the U.S. represented the allure and threat of a superior West. The communists set themselves the task of matching and overtaking their capitalist rivals and winning a central place for their own countries on the international stage. This revolutionary struggle allowed Russia to satisfy its centuries-old sense of a special mission in the world, while it gave China a claim to be, once again, the Middle Kingdom.

Vladimir Putin's resistance to the West, with his peculiar mix of Soviet nostalgia and Russian Orthodox revival, builds on Stalin's precedent. For its part, of course, China remains the last communist giant, even as Beijing promotes and tries to control a mostly market economy. Under Xi Jinping, the country now embraces both communist ideology and traditional Chinese culture in a drive to raise its standing as an alternative to the West.

Communism's bloody century has come to an end, and we can only celebrate its passing. But troubling aspects of its legacy endure.

Mr. Kotkin is a professor of history and international affairs at Princeton and a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. His latest book, "Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941," was published last month by Penguin Press.

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