#and then he has to kill eduard

[kingdom-creatin]

just before going off grid for a week is not the ideal time to start having so many thoughts about these fictional gay old men

[hecksupremechips]

Finally got the ending to the letter I was going for and uh

[viric-dreams]

Going to put a rough timeline together for Ockham:

1781:

Eduard Ackerman is born in Antwerp, in what was then the Austrian Netherlands, the second of what would be five children (and only one of two to survive to adulthood).

1792:

Antwerp falls under French control. Ackerman has since become the oldest living child.

1796:

Ackerman begins working on a merchant ship, involved in minor trade between nearby European ports, and sending money back to his family.

1804:

Whilst away, Ackerman receives a letter that the entire family is ill with cholera. Rather than try to gain passage back to Antwerp on another ship, he makes the decision to stay the course and return as planned, with pay for the full journey. By the time he returns, he learns his younger brother is the only one to have survived. This leads to a massive row between the two of them, in which his brother accused him of being callous and caring more about money than their own family. Ackerman argued that with the benefit of hindsight it would not have many any difference--even if he had taken the next boat back he wouldn't have arrived in time. And was it not his wages that was, in no insignificant part, supporting them all? His brother did not appreciate the logic of this argument, and it became the last time the two ever spoke.

1804-1812:

Ackerman continues work as a sailor, semi-consistently changing ships and never holding onto interpersonal relationships for long. In this time he has no fixed address, yet spent significant time in both Rotterdam and Hamburg.

Autumn 1812:

Whilst on shore leave in London, he's impressed into the Royal Navy.

1812-1814:

Ackerman serves against his will on a British warship, his desertion attempts unsuccessful. Shortly after conscription, the officers give him the nickname Ockham, seemingly unable or unwilling to pronounce his name correctly. He maintains sanity during this period with minor forms of rebellion.

Summer 1814:

His ship engages with a French vessel. Amidst the chaos and cannon fire he's thrown from the deck into the mirrored surface of the sea.

1814-1899:

Viric dreams under a cosmogone sun

1899 (Pt. 3):

Ockham wakes up in Fallen London during Whitsun of 1899.

Much has changed since hishertheir last memories of the place. Ockham tries hishertheir best to get back on hishertheir feet and adapt. Heshethey gets a job on the docks.

Things don't always seem to add up in the Neath. Acquaintances seem to struggle to understand Ockham, to remember details of their interactions, often yawning in boredom when Ockham's speaking. It only serves to worsen Ockham's already negative impression on Londoners, and the English specifically.

And then there are the dreams. Ockham dreams of a jungle, impossibly green. Heshethey lies on a cushioned bed of moss, soft as any cloud. Warm bodies surround himherthem, slithering and sliding across hishertheir limbs, like the sway of floating in a gentle sea. The mellow sounds of the jungle at rest are broken by the low drone of many conversations and it’s so easy to get lost in that hum. Sunlight trickles through the canopy of leaves, warming them all. The smell of saltwater hangs in the air, and the occasional call of gulls hint at a shore not far from here. This is peace. This is home.

Ockham learns of the existence of Parabola, the likely source of hishertheir recurring dreams (memories?) and vows to find it.

At some point in this saga, Ockham gets looped into killing the Vake. Sure, heshethey'll do it, if it enables hishertheir ultimate goal of crossing through the mirror.

Ockham becomes a silverer and begins exploring Parabola, searching for that clearing from hishertheir dreams. All the while, a familiar-looking figure seems to lurk just in the corners of hishertheir vision, never quite in catchable range.

1899 (Pt. 4)

Ockham continues the search for the location in hishertheir dreams. Heshethey decides to petition the Fingerkings for information. There's some sort of connection between them, Ockham can sense it. They seem, however, to be unusually elusive. Not a reptile in sight.

An unpleasant entanglement with The Thieving Stowaway (The Youthful Naturalist) results in Ockham zailing to Irem. There, heshethey finally corners a powerful Cacophony of serpents at the Market. Ockham tries to broker a deal with them, to take himherthem back to that place, or possibly back into their fold. That's why they have the connection, right? That's why some of Ockham's memories (dreams?) are so distinctly inhuman. The Fingerkings don't see it that way. They don't want Ockham. They have no use for himherthem. What would they do with a Parabolan reflection, especially when they already have the original. It's at this point that Ockham finally comes face to face with the familiar figure--the surface sailor whose face Ockham's mirrors. But appearances is where the resemblance ends. If there was once a person in there, any trace of life is long gone, an empty husk puppeted by the Cacophony. Whatever may have once been behind those eyes is gone now, leaving Ockham the sole steward of what used to be Ackerman, now woven together with a patchwork of Parabola.

Furious and frustrated, Ockham zails back to London, nearly drowning in the process during the harrowing voyage. Upon docking, heshethey sets hishertheir zub on fire, wrung out and thoroughly done with the Zee, and vowing never to step foot on a ship again.

Ockham spends the next several months coming to terms with the fact that heshethey're not human, but a creature of Parabola, imbued with the spirit and memories of what once was a person, and many of those of the Fingerkings.

Ockham bounces from job to job, untethered, slowly becoming involved in ventures in the Upper River.

Around this point, heshethey meets Tamara, and seeing someone so clearly lost and in need of a place to stay offers her a spare room in hishertheir flat.

This awkward but tentatively friendly relationship goes slightly pear-shaped upon Tamara discovering what Ockham is. They do manage to eventually mend it to an extent, and slowly begin to understand each other better, both figuratively and literally, as they both gain a common language.

Ockham is often away from London, busy in the Upper River and also Parabola. Heshethey begins a business selling Parabolan-grown ghost peppers to the Stags and rich Bohemians with more money than self-preservation skills.

All this draws to a violent end when the Cacophony makes their move, attempting to kill Ockham and break out of Parabola, something they couldn't do as long as Ockham was in the Is. They don't succeed, and Ockham manages to make it back to London, but it's no longer safe for himherthem to cross through the mirror.

Ockham needs to regroup and find a new profession.

[lizzy-doll-thefoxy]

Servelt the wild kingdom

Servelt It's a kingdom where various types of species live, like people with wings, half-tiger people, half-cat people, etc. The kingdom doesn't have a standard like the others, most of the time those who have rabbit ears are women in servelt women can have bear ears more often There is no magic there, people make do with what they have, there people accept other things like mythological creatures like mermaids, they sometimes come to the kingdom to talk or to buy things There are also a lot of nymphs there, they usually move to servelt and live there like peasants

Dangerous creatures, etc., do not go beyond the gates of the kingdom and are usually killed before they get close to the gates.

The kingdom has a wine tone and plenty of nature nearby, it could be said that the kingdom is a large peaceful forest, but it wasn't always like that, in the past Servelt already faced a war that devastated Half of the kingdom, the king and queen of that time ended up dying after that war and Eduard, their son, ended up taking their place, Eduard ended up remaking the kingdom from 0 and today it is back to being a kingdom Calmly, he always fights for this to continue, the king is extremely closed and interacts little with the people, but that is because of his past, I will soon tell you more about King Eduard

Rules! (For outsiders)

1 Don't try to accommodate the creatures that live here, this is their home they are not bargaining chips here, if you are caught doing this you will be banned

2 Don't try to cut the trees without the king's permission, some trees have fruits that are used as medicines, and these trees only grow here but they take a long time to grow so don't take any risks

3 Do not try to enter the castle without permission you will be stopped immediately

4 Try to respect the culture of the kingdom, here people don't like meat they prefer fruits and other things that don't involve animals so don't kill an animal within the kingdom as this may offend people

Note: Unless it's a dangerous creature like a forest creature outside...these things are not cute little animals...they will kill you

5 Respect the king and The royal family ! And the nobles If you insult him in any way or any noble you will be expelled from the kingdom and depending on what you did executed, remember this is not your kingdom and you are not at home

6 let us know if you are bringing someone else with you, and that it is someone trustworthy, we don't want one of your friends or family to break the rules here

Main food of the kingdom:

Servant people like things that don't kill animals, like eggs and such things, they prefer to raise animals as their pets rather than as food.

Climate

the climate there is generally calm and the rains are Gentle, winter is good and not as cold as in the shadow kingdom

Good side of the kingdom:

The economy is good you will probably live well here, the nobles generally like to interact with the people and are not like the majority who see people as objects, servelt is a partner of the shadow kingdom

So I have a war, the king of shadows will help

Their passion for animals helps a lot, and there is never a shortage of food there because they always have animals to To recall eggs, milk, etc.

The tax rate here is good for people and they rarely fail to pay

Bad points

The king, unlike the nobles, doesn't like interacting with people, it's very difficult for that to happen, The queen is dead, she died brutally murdered and no one knows who did it, the king is in constant depression because of this, the creatures that live there are sometimes hunted by outsiders But this is already being resolved, the kingdom has a rivalry with the red kingdom because of the war between them in the past

Final notes from me:

Finally stop revealing about this kingdom AAAAAAAAAA I'm happy for that:'3 creating this kingdom from 0 was a Torture lol I'm going to eat something now

[renatogpadilla]

Things I hope to see in future Seasons of "Castlevania Nocturne" in no particular order:

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

- Richter learning more spells.

- Juste flashback or any excuse for him to wear his old outfit.

- Juste throwing a SHITLOAD OF KNIVES!

- Acknowledgment of Juste stealing Dracula's furniture.

- Maria crushing HARD on Alucard.

- Alucard learning to smile again thanks to Maria and Richter.

- The Phantoms of Trevor, Sypha and Grant Greta showing up as a boss fight for Alucard like in SotN and all the old cast reprising their roles.

- Dracula. OBVIOUSLY. Hopefully Graham McTavish comes back!

- "Die Monster!" The whole thing. Please. I'm BEGGING!

- Maria's green ninja outfit (probably made using Eduard's old clothes?) and "Rock Daddy" Richter.

- Quincy Morris and how he and Richter become friends.

- Juste and Richter tag-teaming somebody.

- Alucard maybe learning about Summons from Maria, and thus getting his Fairy companion from SotN.

- More game music! That "Divine Bloodlines" Remix was EVERYTHING!!!

- Somebody singing "I Am The Wind" from SotN, wether it's Edouard or Maria or Anette or whoever. I NEED IT.

- Alucard quoting the Bible before a kill.

- Alucard vs Olrox.

- EXPONENTIALLY MORE Himbo Richter.

- Alucard's Vision where he kills another succubus. (Tera??)

- Richter getting the Vampire Killer, hopefully. If not, the Morningstar is fine too.

- Post Timeskip Maria and Alucard.

- "Al Lecarde" and the Lecarde family. Eric MIGHT be too much to hope for...

And finally,

- ANY Mention of the other protagonists. Maybe something about Simon, or maybe something about Shanoa or the boys from Circle of the Moon or the Morris Clan from the time Richter dissapeared.

- Richter giving up the whip to the Morris Clan and leaving to live his life happily ever after.

Needless to say, this Show has me HOOKED!

[beardedmrbean]

Seeing a lot of my friends posting Instagram Infographics about the Israel-Palestine conflict, which is to be expected, but today, I saw a tonne of them reposting the exact same one which included the incredible statement that “so many people including progressives and leftist are learning meaningfully about Palestine for the first time” and I just

What happened before? There wasn’t any information then? There wasn’t any conflict before? It’s just infuriating seeing people treat this like a football team, where you support a side and just post picture after picture, statement after statement, without needing to worry about anything that happens in the region bc it likely wouldn’t have affected you.

Back when they had that whole dust up over evicting squatters from a home someone bought before WW1 a couple years back I expected more people to look into this stuff, suppose the fact that even if the place were still under the ownership of the Ottoman Empire the people would have been evicted shifted things.

One of my favs is the "map" everyone pulls out, which on the surface looks bad until you start looking at the dates where everything changes and realize that most if not all of the increases in the land size for the current state of Israel happened because one of their neighbors with the aid of the palestenians decided to try and invade and while I'm not a history major or anything I'm fairly sure that that's how borders happen, there's a war and territory is sometimes included in the spoils of war.

Right or wrong is irrelevant, it's just how it is, or at least always has been, look at Tibet it's recognized as part of china. They annexed it had a little war and won so now it's part of china.

Was Russia always as big as it is or were there expansionist wars?

Whole apartheid thing is weird too, place has equal rights for all citizens, resident aliens don't do so bad either, not equal responsibility though in a similar vein to men in the US only Jewish residents are required to serve a mandatory term in the military, I think, Arabs are exempt I know that much.

It's all insane, and I hate it, wish people would be honest. Israel is far from perfect but seriously some of the complaints,

with current news and accusations, let's remember this gem which was buried oddly never had to dig for this one before time to bookmark I guess.

This part is new information to me, doesn't make the whole thing any less batshit other than someone that hates Jews quoting Jewish research, I'd the nut bag must be getting the Eduard Bloch treatment, but Bloch wasn't an academic he was a healer, also Bloch wasn't an idiot.

Wild.

let's end with this one check the date

oh look down at the bottom is it a ray of hope

I'm good with legitimate fair criticism of people and countries and faiths and traditions and all that stuff.

Key word is fair

Fucking amnesty international can go and inspect and tell Ukraine that using schools to house munitions or soldiers or stage operations from is bad because it makes them a legitimate military target.

One for brits now, cuz cuntbin

If the accusations of white phosphorous are found to be true, I hope the people involve are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if a civilian in intentionally murdered I hope the person responsible is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if a rape is committed I hope the rapist is not only prosecuted but also castrated, if any one causes a noncombatant to be killed through their own actions I hope they are prosecuted, if any war crimes are committed I hope the perpetrators are held fully responsible.

You will notice I did not indicate a side on this, that's because if something is bad when one side does it, it is just as bad when the other does it.

But ya it's fairly obvious people haven't been paying attention and a lot of them are just picking a side now without any background perspective, there's legitimate gripes against Israel, they don't justify what happened though.

war crimes don't justify war crimes, I hope all of the guilty are punished

[beevean]

A man suddenly barges into an Opera house looking for his escaping slave

Everyone should clearly see that he has pale skin, pointy ears, red eyes and sharp canines

Nobody seems to care that a vampire, who could very easily kill them all, just nonchalantly entered the room and Eduard is more annoyed at his dogs sniffing around

I think that, with its insistance that the world's elite are all vampires, the show has kinda forgotten what vampires even are in a way

I've said it plenty of times and I will keep saying it: my third eye has been opened the moment I was made to notice that vampires in this show are treated like elves.

A separate immortal race, with their own culture that can be studied, much more advanced and smarter than the stupid humans, who experienced extermination at the hands of the Belmonts to the point we're supposed to feel pity for their dead "children" (as if they were their own children and not, logistically, human kids turned into monsters)... and now ruling over the humans without a single issue, in plain daylight (literally).

At least now they're at least shown biting and draining humans, almost as a token. But the worldbuilding has completely fallen sideways and no one seems to care.

[bluudpop]

the nordics have a minecraft server, and eduard keeps trying to get in through tino because he fucking loves minecraft. tino does let him in, but since lukas has admin (berwald and lukas have admin) he trolls eduard by kicking him each time he joins (like an immediate kick but occasioanlly he'll let eduard explore for a couple of SECONDS then boot him out)

this has resulted in many arguments between eduard and tino, because neither of them know who keeps kicking eduard

and berwald knows. he knows, and he finds it so fucking funny, that he doesnt stop lukas or acknowledge it

if youre wondering what mathias and emil are doing theyre just vibing, honestly. emil is more of a builder so he keeps dying, but mathias gets supplies for him so they can make the sickest base ever. berwald is also more of a builder but he's efficient with mining like mathias, but he always has some kind of funky shortcut for making furniture (such as the fence and trapdoor thing or just using stairs to make walls look more ornate, stuff like that). he has almost every crafting recipe memorised, too! tino likes mining and killing, so he and mathias are the main suppliers for the server in food, blocks, and ores.

emil does have two gardens that he protects with his life (hence why he keeps dying), one being crops and the other just being flowers and stuff! he doesn't bother with animals but he'll get So Angry if a mob or someone steps on turtle eggs

[daniellasthoughts22]

Sentenced To Reflection: Dissecting The Layers of Compassion and Cruelty in Stephen King's The Green Mile | BY CELIS EMMYDWAINED & PATROLLA DANIELLA

Have you ever been scared to go into the bathroom after watching a horror movie? Have you ever watched a movie that kept you up at night, letting it sink in your head? Have you ever watched a movie that made you feel a certain uncomfortableness that made you want to rewatch it over again? These are the feelings that I've felt when I watched Stephen King's horror movie, The Shining, for the first time. The movie was eerie and the pacing was slow but it has that certain creepiness into it that haunted me for days. I remember asking my mom to watch me while I go to the comfort room because I was so scared that the twin ghost in the movie might come for me while I am inside of the bathroom. I have read somewhere where they said that Stephen King can make a normal thing into horror. He is capable of taking something normal for other people, and making it into something creepy. That's probably why people like his stories so much. The Green Mile is one of those stories that haunted me for days, not because of how scary the monsters are but how it is so realistically possible. There is no particular villain that has something peculiar or supernatural power that enables them to do something horrifying to the protagonist. As a matter of fact, it is the opposite—the protagonist has supernatural power, a healing power. The real villain that was portrayed here is someone you would think of calling when someone broke into your house and robbed you—a police officer. The villain that was portrayed are the very people we meet and interact in our daily lives. 

Exploration of Compassion

In the story, the prison’s facility was just like any ordinary prison hall. The prison was called the “E-block”, but it was mostly known as “The Green Mile”. The Green Mile was called “The Green Mile” because obviously the floor was covered by a green linoleum. There were many things that have happened in The Green Mile. Just like in any prisons also at this present time, cruelty is not inevitable. In the story, there was a scene where the prison guard beat up a prisoner because it accidentally touched the prison guard. There were lots of cruelty that can be seen in this story but it also encompasses the thought of being compassionate. Upon reading the story of “The Green Mile '' it showed me  that inside of the prison, even if there are people who showed no mercy or remorse towards killing and bringing cruelty to other people, they still know how to offer compassion and kindness to others. John Coffey as the protagonist of the story, he is the character that I think mostly showed compassion to other people that surrounds him. It was mentioned in the story that Coffey was no ordinary person just like among all of us. Aside from being described by the author as being a huge black man, he also has some sort of supernatural powers.  He used his powers to perform “miracles” as from what Paul Edgecomb described it. Through this supernatural power, Coffey had been able to show compassion, most especially in the scene of the two dead girls, the urinary infection of Paul Edgecomb, and the mouse “Mr. Jingles”. He was accused of murdering the Detterick twins even though he was just trying to save the girls. One more thing is when Paul was suffering from his groin or urinary infection. That kind of infection is not a joke actually. Because as a woman who experienced that thing, I can’t actually walk and stand properly. Paul was suffering from it for days and months, but when Coffey noticed that he could not bear the pain that he was feeling, he called Paul and started to perform the ritual he was doing. And surely, the pain was gone like it never existed. Another proof that John Coffey did show compassion to others when he resurrected the mouse of Eduard Delacioix, “Mr. Jingles”. But, when Coffey said to give the mouse to him, he had performed the “ritual” and whispered words into the dead body of the mouse—it had miraculously become alive again. 

John Coffey is not the only character in the story that showed compassion throughout the story. Paul Edgecomb was also seen as compassionate to the prisoners but it was different towards John Coffey. Despite the huge features of John Coffey that made the prison guards afraid of him, he was the first inmate that Paul shook hands with. He mentioned it in the book “Night Journey” Chapter 6. Another thing is when before the day that John Coffey was going to be electrocuted on the lap of “Old Sparky”, he and Brutal (Brutus Howell—the other prison guard in the green mile) first asked him if there were things that he wanted. He also asked him if he wanted him to take him off the mile and let him go. Therefore, it implies to us that even at first up to the last part of the story, we can see that Paul Edgecomb definitely showed compassion towards John Coffey and was willing to help him and grant his desires before he was going to put on his death.

Exploration of Cruelty 

Upon reading the book, you would see that at first, it was just a normal fiction book—that there is no magical aspect that can be read in it. You can see how racial injustice was evidently being portrayed in it. In the first novel, titled as The Two Dead Girls, set in 1932, when America is cloaked in the Great Depression, racial prejudice and racism is so imbedded in American’s life, It narrates how Paul Edgecombe first met John Coffey in the E-block and also, how John Coffey was convicted of murdering and raping the two Detterick twins. Paul Edgecombe found out how the twins were brutally and cruelly murdered. It was also narrated that when the search party and Mr. Klaus Detterick found Coffey, upon seeing the two dead girls, they saw Coffey crying while hugging the twins saying, “ I couldn’t help it” “I tried to take it back… but I couldn’t help it” after hearing this, they had their guns pointed at him and spat on him while they read Coffey’s Miranda’s right thinking that Coffey had murdered and raped the twins. Upon a “not-so-lengthy” trial, John Coffey was convicted of the murder of the Detterick twins. He was then sentenced to death, sitting on Old Sparky’s legs in  The Green Mile. Cruelty is probably one of the things that is imbedded in humanity, we live our life correcting our mistakes and trying to be good  but as you grow, you realize that even though you can better yourself, there will always be cruelty prospering somewhere and one of the cruelest thing that mankind has been fighting over ever since is racism. In an era where America is experiencing the Great Depression, racial division is widely normalized. It is heavily portrayed in the book:  racism was shown through the experience of  John Coffey by the hands of the justice system, but also Eduard Delacroix had experienced it in the hands of one of the prison guards, Percy Wetmore. Percy Wetmore is one of those people who are vicious and who incites violence and unpredictability in the environment on E block. He likes to show that he has connections with those who have high positions and that he can do whatever he wants to do—this includes abusing the inmates of the E-block. In the second book of the novel, The Mouse on the Mile, In this book, it explores the relationship of the mouse called Steamboat Willy but later on was named Mr. Jingles. In this, the cruelty of Percy Wetmore towards the prisoners and other prison guards was explored, he enjoys terrorizing the prisoners, mainly those who have a different racial background like Eduard Delacroix. Paul Edgecomb multiple times said that Percy hated Del so much that he wanted to be the one who will lead the execution of the latter. These acts of cruelty from Percy Wetmore is a pattern throughout the novel. As someone who is supposed to be making and maintaining the order in the Block, he was the one initiating one, aside from Wild Bill. This cruelty of Percy Wetmore significantly impacted the life, or should I say death of one of the prisoners—Eduard Delacroix. 

In the fourth book of the novel, entitled, The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix, the cruelty of Percy Wetmore towards Del was greatly emphasized. When I was a child, my brother would keep on making fun of me in everything that I do. He would make fun of me from the way I talk to the way I dress myself. It was so bad that I would constantly think of ways that I could, to get back at him. I would think of the cruelest prank or even worse—I wish him death. However these things are part of growing up and good thing, I grew out of it. The feelings that I felt back then can be compared to the feelings that Percy Wetmore felt when he was choked and sexualized by Wild Bill and was laughed at by Eduard Delacroix. This incident served as a turning point for Percy Wetmore and would become his ultimate reason to perform one of the cruelest scenes that happened in the novel—the death of Eduard Delacroix. Eduard Delacroix is a character that I grew to like in the story, although he was in the death row for committing heinous crimes—raping and murdering a young  and to cover this up he burned the body that spread to the apartment building. He was a character that despite the things he did, you cannot avoid liking him because he was one of the prisoners that had a character development because of Mr. Jingles. Therefore his death was one of the cruelest things that happened in the book.  I think we all have been bullied at least once in our life-time, most of the time, it happens during our elementary to high school  years. However sometimes, there will always be that one person in our adult life that will forever be a bully even in their adult years. That person is William Wharton,   William Wharton, a death row inmate, embodies sadism. He takes pleasure in hurting others, even after being condemned for various crimes.  We can see this when he tried to kill Dean, and when he made the lives of the prison guard a living nightmare when he arrived in the E-block. His sadistic way of torturing the guards even after was imprisoned is one of the things that made his character villainous. Cruelty is one of those things that will always persist in the world of this book, it is engraved in each corner of the book and even in the  simplest thing like hating something progressing into being the reason for someone's horrible death. They say, people who’s kind always go to heaven, will that be the case with John Coffey? I remember watching and reading it, the line of Paul wherein he said that God put that healing power to John Coffey as he is pure and God would not give it to someone who is not. That’s why when John Coffey was on his way to his death, not only did Paul tried to ask him if he wanted to get out of that situation but because of John Coffey’s pureness, he refused, saying he was tired of the bad things that he kept on seeing in this world. He was tired of the cruel things that kept on happening in front of his eyes. He was too pure to this world, and the world does not deserve someone like him. 

Compassion and Cruelty impact on the conclusion of the story

Overall, the themes of cruelty and compassion really made a big impact on the story of Stephen King. This story explored the complexities of the justice system of America. The characters as well created a huge impact on the given story in a way that their attitudes portrayed the compassion and the cruelty in the given narrative. The theme of cruelty is visible in the character of Percy Wetmore by being described as a brutal and ruthless prison guard. Wetmore clearly represents the theme of cruelty. Through his attitude of having a great pleasure in making the life of the prisoners like hell and making them suffer, Stephen King as the author used his character to highlight the cruelty as well as the dehumanization of punishing them through the death penalty. On the other hand, in this story it does not only emphasize the cruelness of the people inside the green mile. Stephen King used the other characters of the story to represent the theme of compassion just like John Coffey. John Coffey is shown in the story as a person with a supernatural power and with this he represents the innocence and the purity as a human being and his character served as a representation that there is still a way to show compassion and empathy towards other people. The character of John Coffey as well as the character of Paul Edgecomb provided a huge representation that despite how cruelty dominated the plot of the story, there's still a compassion that can create a difference for the lives of other people. 

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 133 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: putting up a new fence.

Dead Horse - aside from the Dead Horse Camp that comes up in the statement, could this somehow be meant to reference the idiom “beating a dead horse”? That phrase basically means “to waste effort on something when there is no chance of succeeding”, so it would actually work for the Everchase.

JON: "No, I-I understand. Ho-Honestly, uh, I’d actually appreciate your insight, uh, for this one. Just – you know. Keep quiet during the statement and that." Always in the pursuit (ha!) of new knowledge^^

DAISY: "I’m trying to get my legs right again." Actually, how did the coffin work? Apparantly muscle atrophy was something that happened in there. What about hair growth? Finger nails? Any kind of serious dehydration or starvation happening?

"All I ask is that I be allowed to live what life I have remaining in obscurity and anonymity. I will not allow myself to be found." Shouldn't have walked into the hands of It Knows You then...

Ngl, before TMA I have never heard of the Lost City of Z. Dunno if you learn that in History in the UK or it's something rather known in adventurer circles than the general population. Also haven't heard of the book or the movie.

"I believed myself prepared, but the realities of that jungle were more than I could have foreseen, and when it finally ended, my fever-addled mind named that spot, the furthest we could reach into the jungle, ‘Dead Horse Camp,’ because that is where my horse finally fell." Thinking if the jungle itself could be kind of amplifying the Hunt? It's a constant race of which tree grows the fastest and the highest to get sunlight.

"But over in Raleigh’s tent I kept hearing a sporadic thumping, or clapping sound, as if he were killing them with his bare hands. When I asked him about it the next day, he simply told me he had inside him a strong and enduring hatred of bloodsuckers." Something something bloodsucking mosquitoes XD

"And then I thought I saw his tongue shoot out, just for a moment, and taste the air around it." Oh, that reminds me of that thing that sat next to Calvin Benchley and flicked its tongue into his ear in MAG 82. Also Hunt.

"The leader of the second expedition, a man in a thick seal-skin coat, was talking excitedly about their progress, about their hunt for the Northwest Passage, and I realized with a start that this man was John Franklin, famed polar explorer, whose ships, the Terror and the Erebus, had been trapped in the ice and lost in northern Canada." Oh, the Terror makes another appearance! It was also in MAG 98! (Now that I think of it, who called a ship the Terror?? What could possibly go wrong?? xD)

"We found Eduard von Toll a few days later. I recognized him immediately, as he had always been an inspiration of mine, right up until he and his ship, the Zarya, had vanished while hunting for the mysterious polar island Zemlya Sannikova" Oh, there's Sannikov Land again!

"Now, he and his crew were pinning the things that looked like men to trees, with long, iron spikes. They thrashed, and struggled, and a long, bulbous tongue hung from their throats, pinned by the iron of von Toll’s men." Something something bloodsucking vampires XD

DAISY: "Don’t know. Maybe? Sometimes I lost purpose because I let myself get too into it. Gave them openings just because I wanted to keep chasing. Like with you." The reason it took Daisy so long to finally catch Jon. 

BASIRA: (surprised) "Hey. There you are. You’re meant to be doing your exercises." DAISY: "You were out." BASIRA: "You could have done them alone." [A SLIGHT PAUSE.] DAISY: "Sure." Basira is totally at a loss to show sympathy and compassion. It's only practicality for her now...

BASIRA: "I want it to be her." JON: "Do you?" BASIRA: "’s that supposed to mean?" JON: (sighs) "She’s.. trying to keep a clear head. Stay away from the Hunt as much as possible. You… valued her purpose. Her resolve." Yeah, thanks Jon for calling her out.

JON: "You’re not happy she’s back." I've seen people say that Georgie totally meant that she rather wanted Jon dead or brain-damaged. But actually that's what Jon's interpretation of her reaction was. She didn't deny it, yeah, but in the end Jon put those words in her mouth because he was upset of waking up, hearing he was in a coma for 6 months and Tim and Daisy gone and the two people who are there are not really reacting in a caring way. And then Basira also didn't answer him to the question, if she was disappointed, he internalized this mindset. It's all his fault and nobody likes to see him alive. And that's exactly the mindset he applies here again. Just because people are not bursting with joy - what is probably really hard considering their overall situation - he immediately jumps to the worst.

JON: "Look, I’ve been where you are." BASIRA: "Have you?" JON: (with vigor) "Yes, I have. You’re the only one responsible for everyone, the weight of all their lives on your shoulders – it leads to bad decisions." BASIRA: "Yeah, well, when I get myself kidnapped three times in a row, maybe I’ll look to you for advice." JON: "Bad decisions, like wasting three weeks chasing dead-ends and false leads rather than talking to us about the plan." Actually very well said here by Jon, he remained level-headed here.

@a-mag-a-day

[vacantgodling]

character questions for the btaf crew!!! 1, 4, 5, 6, 10

thank youuuuu 💛💛💛 rapid answers gogogogo

1. What motivates your character?

biscella: love

eduard: love (derogatory)

sjaak: love (for better or worse)

azelie: love, defiance

silvano: sadism probably.

luis: the idea of purity (he’s a cult leader p much so take of that what you will)

maritxell: luis’s will

rosita: luis’s will and “love” (derogatory and questionable)

gust: to eradicate vampires from the world by any means necessary (also kinda cult-y)

dalal: gust’s goals by any means necessary

florissa: to stay alive and hopefully escape

4. Does your character care about their reputation and/or how others perceive them?

answered this for some of them (eduard, biscella, sjaak and azelie) but for the rest:

silvano: 2/10

luis: -100000000000000/10

maritxell: 10/10 regarding luis, 0/10 for anyone else

rosita: 6/10

gust: -100000000000000/10

dalal: 9/10 regarding gust, 3/10 for everyone else

florissa: 5/10

5. Is your character more of a family or friends person?

the casavantes (luis, maritxell, rosita, eduard, azelie, and silvano) are are more family people bc they’re p much a vampire cult as ya do. the wolves (gust and dalal) are the same.

biscella cares about both equally.

sjaak cares more about his friends because he has no family.

florissa cares about HER family back home that she’s been taken away from. she has some care for the werewolves around her but not enough to abandon them if she got the chance.

6. What, if anything, sticks out about their appearance?

pain and suffering that you asked this LMAO i still don’t know what these characters look like too hard cuz my brain is kind of focused on making sure they’re somewhat historically accurate as well. However, i’ll give you the current defining characteristics of what they look like or their Vibe for now (which is subject to change)

biscella: dark curly hair, a long narrow nose (think india), tan skinned

eduard: pale asf, red eyes, black hair

sjaak: dark skin, afro-centric features, curly hair.

azelie: black hair, olive skin, pale green eyes

luis: pale asf, red eyes, dirty blonde hair

maritxell: pale asf, red eyes, long dirty blonde hair. scars around her mouth.

rosita: pale asf, red eyes, wavy blonde hair. scars around her mouth

silvano: luis 2.0 but younger looking

gust: he’s always wearing a hood or shroud that hides his face as well as a braided turban

dalal: has her hair covered in a scarf of some kind

florissa: long dark hair, several beauty marks across her face and neck

10. If your character is an antagonist or something of the like, do they self-justify their actions? If so, how?

did this for eduard, sjaak, and azelie, so let’s do the other VILLAINS—

luis: of course he self justifies; he doesn’t believe in god but if he did he himself would be god. what he says goes, and it doesn’t matter if he contradicts himself he’ll kill you if you point it out. he rules the casavantes estate with an iron fist and he has killed for it.

maritxell: all of her actions are deemed acceptable under luis’s command and if they are that’s how she justifies them. it doesn’t matter if they’re right or wrong if luis says, it goes.

rosita: she doesn’t like… self justify in the traditional way. she Knows she’s jealous and angry and that is her justification to herself, but she knows damn well if eduard wasn’t in the crypt she wouldn’t dream of acting this way towards biscella

silvano: he operates on sadistic radical equality. there is no division of the sexes in his mind and to him everyone should be treated as the same: a sack of flesh used to further the cause. it sounds good on paper until you think about what that entails 💀

gust: vampires need to be eradicated for the good of humankind is what he preaches and sure to some extent he may be correct. However, the steps and methods and lengths he uses to get there are questionable and bordering on morally reprehensible; but for the sake of humanity—

dalal: she doesn’t self justify so much as she acknowledges that in order for humanity to be safe she has to get her hands dirty. she, like azelie, is aware that she will have to do bad things to further her goals, but she doesn’t excuse what she’s done. she just hopes that what she does will lead to a good outcome and impact.

[alvalon]

Tolys is more than a man, less than a god, a dark era's child with no mother's touch and someone's blood in tight lipped mouth.

He's a blade wrapped in man's flesh, a wolf in soft sheep's clothes, a forest, dark, bloody and sharp teethed if your hands are holding too tight.

So, he's all of that and more. He knows and everybody else can guess all they want, they rarely know enough, he made sure of that on purpose or not.

And he decided one day, one year: not to show teeth, not to shed blood, not to hone claws.

And he decided so again and again and again: it's easier that way, calmer and meaker. And he lets himself to get lost in that feeling, biting his own tongue till all the bite he has mellowed out, till all sneers are hidden and he, himself, his own everything became calmer and softer. He's not entirely at peace (yet?), he's tranquil in the way a violent mentally ill person would be. It's like choking an animal until it's too weak to put any fight, only he's an animal and he's the one who actually hold that leash and thinks to himself: it needs to be done. Nobody else would be able to do that to him without killing.

And it's yet to feel right and it's yet to feel good itself, but he needs that peace to work and so it works.

Tolys is kind now. Or so it seems for a very long time, long enough for someone to never know him as anything else.

And they look at him and think: he's weak now, he forgot how to stand tall, he's clumsy and soft, wilting from afar.

And, really, at the end, is that his mistake that they all look and nobody sees?

Is that his mistake that they let him hold his quiet voice the way one would hold a sword? Is that his mistake that it's working?

Tolys remembers, he would never forget how does blood tastes like caked up all over your face, on your tougue, in your lungs, how does real sword weights and how does it feel to put that sword with all it's weight and all your might and..

Tolys remembers and that's why he tries so hard to not pay attention to those memories.

Tolys is a tired man, an old forest, a healing wound and he learns, and grows, and mends and talks. He's a lot and not enough at the same time now.

And sometimes his face in the mirror is wild and mean, but he can always look at his hands and see.

His hands are much softer now. They can hold a knife still well enough to kill a man, they always will.

It's just now he really doesn't need to.

Ha, yes, he really should not need to.

All that steel now drips ink if anything, and!

Eduard would really appreciate an email anyway. A lot of people would. So he learns that, too.

[mariacallous]

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video dedicated to the anniversary of the liberation of Bucha. “Bucha and the surrounding region. 33 days of occupation. More than 1,400 dead, 37 children among them. More than 175 people found in mass graves and torture chambers. 9,000 Russian war crimes. 365 as a free Ukrainian city once again. A symbol of the occupying army’s atrocities. We will never forgive. We will punish all the perpetrators,” the president of Ukraine said.

Another video shows part of a press conference, in which Zelensky was asked about the most frightening day of his life — he says it was the day he saw evidence of the crimes in Bucha.

Zelensky visited Bucha alongside four other heads of state: President of Moldova Maia Sandu, Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger, Prime Minister of Slovenia Robert Golob, and Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković. Zelensky held bilateral meetings with them in Kyiv, after which they went to Bucha. Information about the proceedings of the meetings was not made public, and the visits were not announced ahead of time.

In Bucha, the five heads of state honored the memories of those killed during the occupation. Participants in the memorial ceremony visited the Church of St. Andrew Pervozvannoho the Apostle, where a mass grave containing the remains of Bucha residents was found, placing altar lamps on the memorial cross near the grave. During the ceremony, the names of 77 murdered residents who could be identified were read out, along with those of 11 soldiers killed in the fight for Bucha.

“This is unforgivable. That’s precisely why we’re here with you during this difficult time and feel it is our duty to help you in the struggle for freedom. It’s our duty also to support you in the search for justice. There can be no punishment for aggression, only punishment for those who committed crimes,” said the Prime Minister of Slovenia. President of Moldova Maia Sandu noted the necessity of cooperative work among all democratic governments to investigate the crimes and punish the perpetrators.

Zelensky gave Bucha the insignia of a Hero City. The city’s mayor, Anatoliy Fedoruk, received the award. President Zelensky approved the insignia 10 days ago. Bucha was named a Hero City in March 2022.

Bucha was occupied in the first days of the war. Combat started in the city on February 25, 2022, the day after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Russian troops gained full control of the city in early March. Russians left Bucha on March 31, during a massive retreat from northern Ukraine, which Moscow presented as a “gesture of goodwill.” 

After the Russian retreat, the bodies of murdered civilian residents were found in Bucha’s streets, and mass graves were discovered in the area. After Bucha, talks between Russia and Ukraine, which began shortly after the invasion, stalled. Bucha became a symbol of the war crimes the Russian army has committed in Ukraine.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Biden rolls out migration order that aims to shut down asylum requests (AP) President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled plans to enact immediate significant restrictions on migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border as the White House tries to neutralize immigration as a political liability ahead of the November elections. The order will go into effect when the number of border encounters between ports of entry hits 2,500 per day, according to senior administration officials. That means Biden’s order should go into effect immediately, because that figure is higher than the daily averages now. The restrictions would be in effect until two weeks after the daily encounter numbers are at or below 1,500 per day between ports of entry, under a seven-day average. Once this order is in effect, migrants who arrive at the border but do not express fear of returning to their home countries will be subject to immediate removal from the United States, within a matter of days or even hours. Those migrants would face punishments that could include a five-year bar from reentering the U.S., as well as potential criminal prosecution.

CEOs made nearly 200 times what their workers got paid last year (AP) The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 13% last year, easily surpassing the gains for workers at a time when inflation was putting considerable pressure on Americans’ budgets. The median pay package for CEOs rose to $16.3 million, up 12.6%, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. Meanwhile, wages and benefits netted by private-sector workers rose 4.1% through 2023. At half the companies in this year’s pay survey, it would take the worker at the middle of the company’s pay scale almost 200 years to make what their CEO did.

Mexico’s next president faces 3 pressing challenges: money, dialogue and the US election (AP) Mexico’s newly elected president, the first woman to win the job, faces a long list of challenges, including persistent cartel violence, a deeply divided country, cash-straitened social programs and the long shadow of her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. But for some analysts it mostly comes down to three things: money, dialogue and the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Claudia Sheinbaum, who begins her six-year presidential term Oct. 1, has four months ahead of her to define her administration’s agenda. During this time, López Obrador is expected to continue delivering his daily morning press briefings as he tries to solidify his legacy. The coexistence might be far from easy: He has divided society; she says she wants to unite it. He is a leader of the masses; she is an academic and a scientist.

Tractors rumble in streets again ahead of EU polls (AP) The far-right Flemish Interest party had set up the demonstration in the picture-pretty rolling fields south of Brussels, ahead of the four-day European Union elections which start Thursday. The goal was clear: Decrying how farmers would lose fertile land to what they see as overbearing environmentalists trying to turn it into a chain of woods, killing off a traditional way of life. In a final push on Tuesday, militant agricultural groups from more than a half dozen nations were converging on EU headquarters in a show of force that they hoped would sweep the progressive Green Deal climate pact off the table in the wake of the elections and give farmers the leeway they had for so long in deciding how to till the land. “As a farmer, you have just been turned into a number,” growled Eduard Van Overstraeten, who said that of the 60 hectares he used to farm for wheat, corn and potatoes, he now was forced to sell a quarter of it--including his farmhouse--to help make a string of distinct woods around Brussels become one continuous nature zone to improve biodiversity and fight pollution.

What Europe fears (The Atlantic) “We’re in a very precarious place,” one senior NATO official told me. He wasn’t supposed to talk about such things on the record, but it was hardly a secret. The largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II was grinding into its third year. The Ukrainian counteroffensive had failed, and Russia was gaining momentum. Sixty billion dollars in desperately needed military aid for Ukraine had been stalled for months in the dysfunctional U.S. Congress. And, perhaps most ominous, America--the country with by far the biggest military in NATO--appeared on the verge of reelecting a president who has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the alliance. Fear of losing Europe’s most powerful ally has translated into a pathologically intense fixation on the U.S. presidential race. European officials can explain the Electoral College in granular detail and cite polling data from battleground states. Thomas Bagger, the state secretary in the German foreign ministry, told me that in a year when billions of people in dozens of countries around the world will get the chance to vote, ‘the only election all Europeans are interested in is the American election.’

Marinka (NYT) Imagine your hometown being wiped off the map. This is what happened to Marinka, a small town in Ukraine’s east with nearly 200 years of history. Photos of it look like those of Hiroshima. It’s hardly the only Ukrainian town like this. More buildings have been wrecked in Ukraine than if every building in Manhattan were leveled four times over. In some places, like Marinka, not a single resident is left. The Russians took control of the city last year. But there wasn’t much left. As one soldier put it, “Whatever could burn, burned.”

What does the death of a jailed Jesuit priest say about India’s democracy under Modi? (NPR) Two days before police finally came to arrest him, the Rev. Stan Swamy recorded a video of himself speaking directly into the camera. “They want to put me out of the way,” the ailing 83-year-old Jesuit priest said. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, was targeting him in retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Indigenous people in Indian jails. A sociologist as well as a Roman Catholic clergyman, Swamy had recently published a study of 3,000 people jailed for being members of banned Maoist groups. He found that 97% of them had no such affiliation and that many of their trials were held without lawyers, in a language they didn’t understand. He’d filed a case on their behalf in the state court of Jharkhand, where he lived. All of this had embarrassed the government, he said. Swamy’s office had since been raided several times. Police hauled away a loaner laptop he’d recently started using and then came back for his old desktop computer. They interrogated him for 15 hours over five days, he said, about a terrorism plot he knew nothing about. “Let us hope that some human sense will prevail,” he said. “And if it does not, I am ready.” That video was recorded on Oct. 6, 2020. Two days later, Swamy was arrested, then imprisoned and repeatedly denied bail. Less than a year later, he was dead.

Modi won, but with a slimmer margin than expected (NYT) India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, claimed a third term in office today—a feat that only one other Indian leader has accomplished. But early results showed a margin of victory that was far narrower than expected. The outcome was a surprising setback for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, also known as the B.J.P. While it will still hold a plurality of Parliament, the B.J.P. appeared likely to lose dozens of seats. As a result, Modi will be forced to rely on coalition partners that don’t share his Hindu nationalist agenda.

Craft unfurls China’s flag on the far side of the moon and lifts off with lunar rocks to bring home (AP) China said its lunar spacecraft unfurled the country’s red and gold flag for the first time on the far side of the moon before part of the vehicle blasted off early Tuesday with rock and soil samples to bring back to Earth. The mission was hailed as a success in China, which has made significant advances in a space program that aims to put a person on the moon before the end of this decade.

Young Chinese love American ‘praise culture.’ (Washington Post) American culture has lost its appeal in China in recent years. But one aspect of American culture is making inroads in some circles: Flowery compliments. Across China, groups are forming--both online and in real life--to seek and offer praise and encouragement and appreciation, often to and from total strangers. That’s a practice common across the United States but completely foreign in China and other parts of East Asia, where showing humbleness by deflecting compliments is considered a virtue. The burgeoning phenomenon even has a name: “praise culture.” “Compliments should not be reserved for special occasions, but should be an everyday experience,” says Chloe Sheng, a Shanghai-based fashion and travel blogger better known to her 1.6 million social media followers as the “Dare Girl.” She was blown away by the positive remarks she received on the streets of New York City when she went out in a red coat one day in 2016. “I was originally was not feeling that great, but after hearing all those compliments, I thought, oh my god, aren’t I awesome?!”

Returning to 'horrifying' destruction (BBC) Palestinians who have returned to Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza in recent days have expressed shock at the level of destruction following a three-week Israeli military operation there against Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. One displaced man who was among the more than 60,000 people who fled last month said he had witnessed “horrifying scenes”. “Even the sand beneath our feet is scorched; it’s unbearable to walk on,” he said. “The streets are strewn with rubble and demolished buildings. Words fail to describe the devastation.” The man (who asked not to be named) also said he had seen injured and dead people “lying on the ground”. “There is no electricity or water. There are no clinics or medicines,” he added. “Wells have been destroyed, shops and supermarkets demolished, and there is a shortage of food.”

Condemnations mount over Israeli proposal to label UN aid agency a terrorist group (AP) Qatar and Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned an Israeli parliamentary bill that seeks to label UNRWA, the main provider of aid for Palestinians in Gaza, a terrorist group, joining a growing number of nations opposed to the proposal. The bill, which passed a preliminary vote in parliament last week, is the product of increasingly tense relations between Israel and the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel has accused the agency of militant links, claiming that hundreds of its employees are members of militant groups, including some who allegedly participated in the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel. Those allegations led to a freeze in funding by many donors to the agency at a time when Gaza has been buckling under a humanitarian crisis triggered by the war. UNRWA says it took swift action against those accused and an independent review of the agency’s neutrality found that Israel did not previously raise concerns about the workers and did not provide evidence backing its claims.

Audiobooks (Publishers Weekly) Audiobooks saw sales increase 9 percent in 2023 to $2 billion, a boom time for the format that saw 38 percent of adults listen to an audiobook last year. Audiobooks are growing fastest in the history/biography/memoir genre, up 22 percent year over year, followed by health and fitness (20 percent growth), religion (17 percent growth) and romance (14 percent growth).

[freewilllife]

Gankotsuou- The Count of Monte Christo - Franz, Albert (Eugenie) and the Count

I love it, when there are repeats of situations, metaphorical allusions ect in a story and this story has quite many. One is the relationship between this three people Franz, Albert and the Count.

One thing regarding Franz is apparent (from the beginning), when you watch this series more than one time:

The person he is in love with is Albert.

Albert himself complained that his friend treated him either like "a lover or his mother"

the guy who threatened Franz with Albert´s death called Albert "his lover"

the child Franz told Albert that he would never guess who it was that he liked...

Actually, there is a catch: with birthdays, funerals and Franz

Franz complained to his father, that he went away, even though it was his birthday.

Franz father died on his birthday

Franz met Albert on the furneral of his father for the first time

Even though Albert quarrels quite often with Franz due to Albert´s feelings for the Count, he continued to help his friend.

It is the day of Albert´s birthday that Franz died

Albert has never went to the funeral of Franz.

If you have watched the whole series...you know it is exactly that relationship that ruined the Count´s revenge plot. The Count did fail in the end, because to his "perfect revenge", there is one thing that was absolutely necessary:

The murder of Albert

But we will come to this later...

I already said that I love situations that paint a picture of continuation:

It was Franz, who actually ran to the Count for help, when he was threatened with the death of Albert.

-> That resulted in a reinforcement of Albert´s feelings of adoration for the Count, since he rescued his life. More or less

It is not 100 % apparent, but I believe that the Count knew that Franz loved Albert as he mentioned that he believed that "they were good friends".

I guess it made him happy, that he could use this "love" in order to destroy Albert and his previous friend Fernand.

2. Yet it were the same feelings for Albert that forced him to research the past of the Count. Without that he might have never known about the weakness of the heart.

3. Franz switched places with Albert and instead of murdering Albert, he killed Franz, who drove a sword into his heart. A little piece of this broken sword stayed in front of his heart.

4. When the Count continued to wish for Albert´s death, the piece of the sword drove himself in his heart and he more or less dies the same way like Franz.

So you could really say that love beat hate.

Eugenie, Franz and Albert vs. Mercedes, Fernand and Edmond.

We have two times two guys and a girl as a friend group.

One group was destroyed by jealousy and hate

Fernand started to hate Eduard, since he loved Mercedes.

2. He betrayed his friend Eduard

3. Edmond started to hate Fernand, and

4. Edmond was unable to love Mercedes wholly as the hate made it impossible.

In the other group love persisted

The funny thing is that it is not Eugenie, but Albert whom the other two love.

However Franz encouraged Albert to stay with Eugenie and become a real couple

Albert actually did not really know whom he loved at the beginning and even later it is questionable

Albert was quite infatuated with the Count

Yet he also discovered that he loved Eugenie

Franz and Eugenie continued to like and encourage each other

Yet at the end Albert and Eugenie are not really a couple by the end

There are others who insist that Albert, too, loved Franz. I do not know it, but his feelings were still very deep for him at least.

[fruityyamenrunner]

In April 1945, with German defeat imminent, the Nazis' intention of staging a show trial over the Bürgerbräukeller bombing had become futile. Hitler ordered the execution of special security prisoner "Eller" — the name used for Elser in Dachau — along with Wilhelm Canaris, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others who had plotted against him.[12] The order, dated 5 April 1945, from the Gestapo HQ in Berlin, was addressed to the Commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, SS-Obersturmbannführer Eduard Weiter.

The order came into the possession of Captain S. Payne Best in May 1945, and appeared in Best's book, The Venlo Incident.[12] That part of the order relating to Elser reads:

The question of our prisoner in special protective custody, 'Eller', has also again been discussed at highest level. The following directions have been issued: On the occasion of one of the next Terror Attacks on Munich, or, as the case may be, the neighbourhood of Dachau, it shall be pretended that 'Eller' suffered fatal injuries. I request you therefore, when such an occasion arises to liquidate 'Eller' as discreetly as possible. Please take steps that only a few people, who must be specially pledged to silence, hear about this. The notification to me regarding the execution of this order shall be something like:

'On ... caused by a Terror Attack (air raid) on ... the prisoner in protective custody 'Eller' was fatally wounded.'

After noting the contents and carrying out the orders contained in it, destroy this letter.

The signature on the order was illegible, according to Best.[12]

In his 1947 book, To The Bitter End, Hans Bernd Gisevius commented on the order:

When the Gestapo men killed on their own account or on the direct orders of Himmler, they did not require such complicated instructions and Hitler's orders for the liquidation of unwanted persons were not usually phrased in so tactful a manner ... (With his own end in sight) Hitler suddenly recalled the existence of 'the Zither player'; and fearfully, as if possessed by a sudden and inexplicable shame, this murderer of millions attempted to conceal his execution of an assassin who had long since been forgotten by the world public.[13]

On 9 April 1945, four weeks before the end of the war in Europe, Georg Elser was shot dead and his fully dressed body immediately burned in the crematorium of Dachau Concentration Camp.[14] He was 42 years old.

In 1954, SS-Oberscharführer Theodor Bongartz, the man in charge of the crematorium at Dachau, was determined to have been the murderer of Georg Elser, during a German court proceeding in which SS-Unterscharführer Edgar Stiller was on trial as an accessory to murder. As the SS man in charge of the special prisoners at Dachau from 1943 to 1945, Stiller was accused of escorting Elser to the crematorium where he was allegedly shot by Bongartz.[citation needed] Theodor Bongartz was not brought to account as he had died of an illness in 1945.[3]