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moonlightreal · 2 months

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Reconstructing Strange Fate, again

But longer, with more deductions and guesses.

Sarah’s story

Sarah is a normal girl with two boys…

Strange Fate seems to start with Sarah having a dream, whether it’s of Ash or Brionwy. She either wakes up and it’s time to go to school, or gets a migraine and starts having a vision while in class. She goes to the school bathroom to wash her face and fight the vision and her boys find her there. I think that leads to the sneak peek from the omnibus: The boys take Sarah home after she falls into a vision at school. They decide it’s time to kidnap her and take her to Circle Daybreak. While Mal gets the car, Kierlan takes advantage of Sarah being stuck in a nightmare to reinforce their soulmate status in her subconscious… which is a new bit of soulmate lore. The sneak peek ends as we start a flashback to how Sarah and Kierlan met. Presumably after that they would all go to the town of Harmony and that’s where they are when the apocalypse happens.

But before the apocalypse, the first dragons to wake up hunt down the youngest generation of Harmans and Redferns, particularly those who have soulmates. The mysterious figure who controls the dragons knows these people—our characters!--are dangerous to the dragons. Indeed Keller and friends, and Poppy and friends, are able to kill dragons. So the dragons are attacking everyone and Ash ends up being there to rescue them and help them travel to Harmony, with his last rescue being Mary-Lynette on the day the apocalypse begins. I think.

But if Sarah is seeing Ash’s rescues in her visions as they happen that’s four-ish rescues so four-ish dreams so four-ish chapters of Sarah’s awake life between the dreams before the apocalypse happens. What happens in those chapters? How do the dreams line up with Sarah getting kidnapped and taken to Harmony?

The apocalypse

So dragons destroy the cities with the most Circle Daybreak presence (how do they know?) then use their mind control power to call all the survivors to where they are. Probably some survivors get eaten and the rest are put into farms like we see in Brionwy’s story.

A nice simple end of the world!

When the dragons attack, our cast is in the Circle Daybreak town of Harmony, a hidden enclave where Thierry and Hannah are basically king and queen and night and day people live together in peace. Keller, Galen, Rashel, Quinn, and Thierry of the A-list characters are there

There are also “time bubbles” where our characters live, aging more slowly than the rest of the world. In Harmony there seems to be a large underground area where people live and where time is slowed down. This is a device to make the apocalypse happen years after the millennium but have all the characters still under 20 years old, and it is a completely bonkers idea. Thierry discovered time manipulation? Cryogenics is also mentioned, so the dude’s like Tony Stark he’s not just rich he randomly invents impossible stuff?! Anyway Harmony has a time bubble and so does San Francisco and other unnamed cities where lots of Circle Daybreak members live.

Ok, I can see Ms. Smith not wanting to make her characters 30 years old, but this “time bubbles” stuff is extremely silly. Just set the story “at the dawn of the new millennium,” make the exact year super vague, make the characters 18 or 19, and say Thierry got them “cutting edge tech” that does whatever they need real-world 2000s tech for.

The mission

Seven characters go on a mission to save the world and only two return. We know the four wild powers plus Hannah go on the mission. I assume the last two are Sarah and Mal since they’re the main characters of the book and Sarah should stay with both her soulmates, but we don’t know completely for sure.

They’re going out to face dozens, hundreds, even more than that, of dragons according to Keller who is upset that she couldn’t go along to protect Iliana.

What is the mission? We don’t know, but I have a guess. Since young Maya and Hellewise, and their mother, appear in Strange Fate I think we’re traveling back in time to find out how they sent the dragons to sleep long ago. So we get to meet young Maya and Hellewise. Which will be interesting for Hannah!

I do not like the time travel. Maybe if they cast a spell to look back in time that would work, but going full “Thierry is Tony Stark and invented time manipulation” is just too far outside of what a Night World story is! But since there are time bubbles, I think Ms. Smith does go full on “hop in the tardis!” time travel.

So they learn the secret from the first witches and… what? With the wild powers needing blood to call the blue fire I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a ritual where they have to spill all their blood and sacrifice themselves to save the world. Or, since we’re back in time, maybe the visitors from the future add their powers to the original binding spell so the dragons will never wake up, and the apocalypse un-happens in the future.

And we have to find out who the big bad is and defeat him or her.

The blurb says “seven set out on a mission and only two return” and that suggests it’s one mission. Maybe the entire time travel, threat of hundreds of dragons, and dealing with the big bad all happen within a short time period. Nobody takes the new lore home to Harmony so everyone can gather in the war room (which Harmony has) and make a plan to use whatever secrets have been learned, is what I mean. One mission no rest stops. This means the big bad has to be someone who’s along on the trip or someone they meet on the way, one more point in favor of Mal being the big bad.

Only two return, and I think the most likely are Jez and Delos, who have soulmates to come back to, or Sarah and her surviving soulmate since she’s the hero of this book. This doesn’t mean the others necessarily die. They could choose to stay in the past, go off on a quest to travel the world and help rebuild, transform into another type of being, or any other not-actually-death option that doesn’t bring them back to Harmony.

I think Hannah will die though, since we know she’ll come back. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end of the book whichever character is pregnant has her baby and it’s Hannah reborn.

The end for the world

If our heroes win and avoid Brionwy’s dark future, what future do they get? There are a lot of ways it could go. Maybe humans and Night people know about each other and live in peace. Maybe humans start sprouting powers so everyone is equally supernatural—or some great power makes all Night People into humans. Or maybe things reset. Most of humanity forgets about the dragons and believes the apocalypse was a natural disaster. The surviving Night People decide to stay separate from humankind, and there are still some evil night people. So things stay as they were. I think this is the most likely outcome, since one of Ms. Smith’s posts suggests that she was thinking of possibly writing more books afterwards!

That’s my reconstruction of the main plot and it has more questions than answers. Whole sections of the story are still unknown.

So let’s try to fill in some gaps by looking at the details and characters.

“One from the twilight to be one with the dark”

Officially, in every canon that says anything, it says Kierlan is the fourth wild power. But how is a shapeshifter “from the twilight”? He’s solidly Night World. I’d think Mal the vampire-witch would be a better fit, since vampires are a lot more night-ish than witches. I also think it might turn out that Sarah is secretly the fourth wild power. If she is not a witch but something new, a human with powers that no Night Person has, that could count as “the twilight” since she’s not a Night Person or a daylight human.

I suspect the “one from” prophecy was written before Ms. Smith knew who the wild powers would be.

“A witch who is not a witch”

Who is the big bad? Who released the dragons? I can think of a few possibilities.

-Mal Harman is a witch who’s also a vampire, so he’s a witch and not a witch. If I had to bet, it would be on Mal.

-Maya, an ancient witch who became the first vampire is a witch who became not a witch. But she is very dead after centuries of murderizing Hannah lots of times. Did she cast a spell to release the dragons before she died? Is she still around as a spirit? Vampires don’t reincarnate but nobody ever said they can’t be ghosts. The Maya in Strange Fate is young Maya of the stone age. So maybe she was part of the spell to imprison the dragons and she worked in something to release them later so they’d be grateful to her.

-Sarah Strange. She has some kind of mystical power, she dreams of the future and can astral project herself at least. But she seems to be officially a human so maybe she’s some kind of new creature, someone who isn’t descended from Hellewise but has magical powers. Like a witch but not a witch. Maybe the dragons reached out to her sensitive spirit and used her to awaken without her being aware of it.

The dragon also said it was, “Someone you’ll never know” and “we made our own alliance.” which suggests not Sarah since we’ve seen her point of view and she didn’t mention dragon buddies.

The Night World wiki suggests that Sylvia, who got pissed off at the other witches and declared herself no longer one of them, might technically count, but by that logic Thea is also possible. She is a witch who everyone thinks is not a witch, and she has a special gift with animals. Maybe the dragons are animalish enough that they could use her the same way I imagined them using Sarah.

Sarah Strange

We have quite a lot about who Sarah is but nothing about what she is. Other than a Mary Sue, which she very is. Everybody in Circle Daybreak is captivated by her. She has prophetic dreams, can astrally project herself to be seen by Ash, and has a special connection to plants- though it’s not clear whether that’s an actual power or just part of her personality.

And Mal and Kierlan think Sarah can do something to “help establish harmony between humans and creatures of the Night World to stave off the apocalypse.” In fact it sort of seems like Mal and Kierlan have been assigned to Sarah to be her guardians because she’s special. But Kierlan met Sarah when they were little kids and Sarah’s visions hadn’t started then so maybe there were other clues. In fact Sarah’s visions started when her mother died, so is there something special about her mother? Could Sarah be a half breed like Jez, and have unusual powers because of that, somehow? Is Sarah part of a prophecy? We already had one unforeshadowed prophecy girl with Iliana so a second one seems like too much but Sarah is a similar character to Iliana, they’re both soulful and more than they seem, with deep kindness and mysterious powers.

And she has two soulmates, somehow. In her posts LJ Smith just says “she has two soulmates,” Ms. Smith has given zero hint that there’s anything else going on, but there are also hints of, “Who is her real soulmate?” So there might be something else going on.

Could one of Sarah’s silver cords have been created? Mal is one of Sarah’s soulmates, he’s a witch and a lamia and my pick for undercover baddie. Lamia are telepathic and witches can cast spells that manipulate emotions, so he is the guy most likely to be able to create a soulmate connection where one was not naturally there. And Kierlan couldn’t sense the silver cord Sarah shares with Mal.

And we have a preview where one of Sarah’s soulmates is terrified that she will break the connection and leave him, which was not something any Night World character could do before or Rashel or Mary-Lynette would definitely have tried! Open and shut case, Mal created a connection so it’s more fragile than a true silver cord, Mal’s the baddie… except that the boy in terror of losing his connection to Sarah was Kierlan, not Mal. So much for that theory!

It’s also possible that having two soulmates is something special about Sarah. Maybe she can create silver cords to connect to the people she loves. This would go against the established lore that being soulmates is something that just happens-- the mystical connection happens because two people are perfect for each other, it’s an effect not a cause. But maybe Sarah is a different sort of person so things work differently for her.

Ms. Smith said the silver cords “have an additional function” in Strange Fate. It could be that this additional function is protection from dragon telepathy, since Mary-Lynette doesn’t hear the dragon’s call that takes everyone else away after her college is destroyed. That would also be why the soulmated pairs are the biggest threat to the dragons.

Unless. If having a silver cord protects you from dragon magnetism, maybe the dragon magnetism is in some way related. Maybe the dragons create bonds to people to control them. If this is right, that puts Kierlan in the running for fake soulmate, maybe when he fell in love with Sarah when they were both children his Drache powers instinctively created a bond to her, he doesn’t even know he has this power but he instinctively knows that Sarah could break the bond.

Maybe?

I feel like I’m on to something with my Holmesian deductive skills but really this is all just a guess.

Figuring out her two soulmates has to be a big part of Sarah’s story. And I feel like she has to end up with only one. A threesome ending just feels too wild for LJ Smith, so I think something has to take one of the boys out of the picture. Either Kierlan sacrifices himself as the wild power, or Mal is revealed to be the baddie, or one of the silver cords turns out to be artificially created. Something.

Kierlan Drache

Galen’s cousin, a big cat shifter-- a tiger, according to a piece of fanart on LJ Smith’s page. I’m not sure if the artist knew for sure but orange hair so we’re going to assume tiger. He has dark red hair and tawny eyes, and he’s a practical joker.

We see a bit from Kierlan’s point of view so we know a bit about his inner life. He has been in love with Sarah since they met as children, and he has always known they’re soulmates. But he is desperate for her to love only him and not Mal too. It seems like Kierlan can see his silver cord with Sarah, but not Sarah’s cord with Mal, so he may not know Sarah is also soulmates with Mal, which would make him very confused as to how Sarah can love her Soulmate and also someone else. Also Kierlan never thinks about how he’s the fourth wild power. We know he is, but does he know he is?

Kierlan calls Mal his “soul’s brother.” Does this just mean that they’re close friends or do they have a mystical connection as well? Kierlan doesn’t say he sees a silver cord between himself and Mal, but it’s not impossible that there are platonic silver cords as well. (also the two of them vibe kinda Daemon and Lucivar. Has Ms. Smith read the Black Jewels trilogy? I think she’d like it.)

Kierlan is also afraid that Sarah will cut the silver cord between them. Is this even possible? Does this mean that Kierlan and Sarah’s silver cord is artificially created and cuttable where natural ones aren’t? I wonder how much new lore Ms. Smith is going to add, here at the end of the series.

Mal Harman

Is the son of a Redfern Lamia and a Harman witch so he has both bloodlines, but he seems to use the Harman last name. This puts him at the number one spot for the “witch who isn’t a witch” who woke the dragons. Having a witch’s power to cast love spells and a vampire’s telepathy this makes him also likely to be able to create a silver cord where one wasn’t naturally there. And his name means “bad.”

Mal has sleek dark hair and very pale gray eyes. He’s “master of the cold stare,” a cool and aloof personality. In a lot of YA the cold, dark-haired boy is the one the heroine ends up with, including in the Dark Visions series.

The two boys had a gentleman’s agreement that Kierlan, who knew Sarah first, was the one who would get her even though Mal also loved her and Sarah loves both of them. Mal agreed never to interfere with Sarah and Kierlan’s relationship. But he broke his promise—or at least Kierlan thinks he did. Kierlan had to use his mental powers to “show Mal the truth”—but I’m not sure what that truth is. Maybe just that Mal loves Sarah, but I don’t think having feelings counts as breaking a promise to not interfere. Eh, it’s unclear.

The rest of the gang

Everybody got a badass upgrade, like when Doctor Who’s old companions show up and somehow they all ended up working for Unit and shooting things.

Rashel and Quinn are married.

Hanna and Thierry are married.

And one couple is having a baby, if we subtract the wild power couples and the couples with made vampires, that leaves Thea or Gillian as the mom to be.

Circle Daybreak has taken down the worst Night World enclaves and freed the human slaves… without the rest of the world knowing? Maybe the human slaves just stayed put as free people and didn’t try to integrate into modern society. Now Circle Daybreak has presence in some cities and there are “time bubbles where people age more slowly… without the rest of the world knowing?

Uh… what? Ok I get that LJ Smith wants the characters to still be 17 years old but she wants to set the story later than 1999 because it’s going to be published after 1999, but this is a very weird way to go about it.

Thierry is also basically a king, and while I am down with him being an inspiring leader to whom people pledge their allegiance, he also has a herald come into the room and go, “All rise!” and everybody has to stand up. And Thierry immediately says it’s fine and acts like a normal person but he still has this herald…

Ms. Smith went some weird places, is what I’m saying.

The Circle Daybreak town seems to be very advanced technologically even if it’s gone backward politically. Thierry has trained guards and professionals, a whole town, a sort of inverted tower where people live underground in the slowed time before returning to normal time on the surface. (maybe the time bubbles are a natural phenomenon they discovered rather than created?) and some helicopters. A LOT has been done to build this enclave. Thierry has unlimited money but how did he get the people? How did he hide it from both the humans and the evil night worlders?

Does humanity know about the Night World by the time of Strange Fate The pieces we’ve seen say no, Human society is still chugging along with Sarah in a house and high school all normal, but it strains my suspension of disbelief that all this could be built without all of humanity noticing.

The Story Thus Far

So that’s what I make of all the factoids and mentions and preview chapters we’ve seen so far. I would love to hear what you made of them. Do you think it’s time travel? It’s such a stretch! Do you think the evidence points to Mal as the big bad? It seems so likely but also so unlikely! Do you think there’s a surprise fourth wild power who isn’t Kierlan? What do you think is up with Sarah? What do you think the world will be like at the end of the story?

#night world #lj smith #strange fate

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melanielocke · 3 years

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Lost in the Shadows - Chapter 19

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Taglist: @nott-the-best @foxglove-airmid @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @justanormaldemon @styxdrawings @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised

Previous Chapter: Chapter 18

Next Chapter: Chapter 20

Cordelia and Lucie returned to the lake when Cordelia was finally done training. She looked forward to going for a swim and cool down a little, training all afternoon in the heat might not have been the best idea ever, and she understood Lucie had given up on practicing magic sooner. She had no idea how exhausting it was to open a portal. It looked like Lucie simply asking for favors, but Cordelia expected it was exhausting in its own way, different from swinging a sword. The last time she’d even seen shadows gather around Lucie, although she didn’t think Lucie herself had seen anything. It made Cordelia wonder how her magic worked. Did the darkness come from inside of her? Or did it come from everywhere, finding its way to Lucie? And could it be dangerous? What if such power corrupted people?

It wasn’t that surprising magic tired her though. Alastair’s ability could exhaust him too. As far as Cordelia knew he was always tired, and she wondered if his memory had anything to do with that.

Alastair and Thomas were already there, they’d swum all the way to the island. Cordelia didn’t think Alastair had swum in some time. Cordelia hadn’t either before coming here, mostly because she had struggled so much with finding swimwear she liked that also fit. Boys had it easy when it came to finding swimwear, she thought to herself. All they needed was find a pair of swim shorts that fit around their waist, whereas Cordelia needed a top that fit properly and a bottom that was high waisted enough for her to feel comfortable. She knew it was stupid, but she didn’t like wearing something that bared her stomach. She did enjoy swimming though, now that she could.

They returned just in time for dinner, and Lucie changed into her lounge clothes, which consisted of a very large and long Green Day shirt she wore as a dress, tucked in the waist with a black lint she’d tied into a bow at her side.

‘I’d been wondering where that shirt had gone,’ Thomas said when he saw her.

Cordelia loved that Lucie could look so good in a shirt that apparently belonged to Thomas and was supposed to fit him.

‘I think I asked you if I could borrow it,’ Lucie said.

‘I don’t remember that,’ Thomas said.

‘It was several months ago, so that could be why you don’t remember.’

‘Are you going to give it back at some point?’ Thomas asked.

Lucie shrugged. ‘Maybe,’ she said.

Thomas sighed. ‘At least Barbara has a boyfriend she can steal clothes from now. Sometimes I feel like my closet is a free for all.’

Cordelia didn’t think Alastair was the type to steal Thomas’ clothes, he always dressed in well fitting clothes, eager to impress. She guessed Thomas’ shirts and sweaters had to be comfortable, but Cordelia didn’t like to wear clothes that were baggy and oversized. Cordelia always felt like they made her look much bigger, and being both muscular and chubby had caused some issues with her body image.

Thomas returned to his parents after dinner, and Alastair went to his room. Cordelia followed him upstairs while Lucie was writing. She’d been meaning to talk to him.

Alastair was cleaning up in his room. She didn’t think it could get any cleaner, yet here Alastair was, carefully rearranging his bed.

‘Did you want to ask something?’ he asked without looking up from changing the bed sheets.

‘I did, can I come in?’

‘Sure, but give me a moment to finish this. Thomas is coming to sleep over tonight,’ Alastair said, ‘I figured I’d change the bed sheets and add an extra pillow.’

‘That’s sweet of him,’ Cordelia said.

‘It is. Thomas said he wanted to protect me from nightmares. I don’t think that’ll work but I’m learning to feel safe around him.’

Cordelia knew to Alastair, a sense of safety was hard to come by. He’d been unsafe for so long he struggled to recognize when he was safe and loved. They’d been working on that together, Cordelia trying to figure out the best ways to support him and make him feel safe, ways to help him through flashbacks and panic attacks. It had taken some time, but Alastair had slowly started trusting her with his feelings.

‘What did you want to talk about?’ Alastair asked.

‘I think I’m in love with Lucie,’ she confessed.

Cordelia had been close to Lucie for a long time, she struggled to tell the difference between their friendship and falling in love, but lately she’d started to suspect what she felt was romantic love.

Alastair grinned. ‘Well, that means your taste in women is decidedly better than your taste in men. Do you think she likes you?’

‘I don’t know. I know she likes girls, but I’m not sure she likes me.’

‘Isn’t her story about you titled the Beautiful Cordelia?’ Alastair asked.

Cordelia tilted her head. ‘Yes, but I think that’s not so uncommon. I mean, she started writing that story when she was twelve and lots of twelve year old girls write main characters who are constantly described as being exceedingly beautiful and perfect and courageous.’

‘But aren’t many of those characters an idealized version of the author themselves?’ Alastair asked. ‘Lots of twelve year old girls are insecure about how they look and some write themselves as how they wished they looked.’

Cordelia had definitely been insecure, and she knew Alastair was still insecure about his dark features. She often made fun of his dyed blonde hair, which he’d thankfully died back to black, but she knew it was because Alastair was insecure about how he looked as a brown man. His hair was one of the few things about his appearance he could change.

Cordelia had too, she’d been insecure about her brown skin and dark eyes, she’d believed her red hair, a very uncommon feature for an Iranian girl, was the best part about her appearance. But Lucie’s story had dedicated pages to describing the beauty of Cordelia’s brown skin and dark eyes, and Cordelia had read many books written by women of color where girls were celebrated for their brown skin and dark hair and eyes. And she’d read books about fat or mid sized girls written by fat authors where their bodies were celebrated or just not that important in the long run, which had helped Cordelia feel less insecure about her body

‘Lots of twelve year old girls describe their main characters as so skinny people thought they had an eating disorder, but you know that although it’s written in a negative light, it’s supposed to be a compliment,’ Cordelia said. ‘You’re probably right, that the authors wanted to be thinner and therefore wrote their characters that way.’

At twelve, she’d gravitated towards stories with those main characters, because of her own insecurity. At that age she’d barely been able to read books with a fat main character. Of course, most fat girls in books back then hated themselves and could only have a happy ending after losing weight, but Cordelia suspected back then she would not have been able to appreciate books about fat girls loving themselves as she could now. Even though at twelve years old, Cordelia hadn’t even been fat.

‘But Lucie didn’t write an idealized version of herself,’ Alastair said. ‘She wrote about you.’

‘There was a side character called princess Lucinda, who was the fictional version of Lucie,’ Cordelia said. ‘But when it came to descriptions of how characters looked, Cordelia was always the most beautiful girl around and everyone fell in love with her at first sight. And I mean literally everyone.’

‘The obvious explanation would be that she likes you,’ Alastair said.

‘She didn’t realize she liked girls until recently,’ Cordelia said. ‘She started writing the beautiful Cordeliayears ago.’

‘She might not have realized she liked you,’ Alastair said. ‘I’ve never read much from the story, but from what did read, I cannot think of another explanation for this.’

Cordelia had to admit her brother had a point. Still, she was nervous when she returned downstairs to Lucie, who was still writing. She looked up when Cordelia sat down next to her with a book.

‘I introduced Mabel,’ Lucie said. ‘Eloise just fell asleep and woke in the dreamworld, and is trying to figure out where she is and how to get out, and although she doesn’t trust or understand Mabel, they are forced to work together. And Mabel at this point thinks Eloise is just a conceited rich girl. So a bit like Pride and Prejudice.’

Cordelia wondered if she was anything like Mabel and if Eloise was anything like Lucie. Or perhaps the other way around, she wasn’t too familiar with either character yet.

‘I like Pride and Prejudice,’ Cordelia said. ‘So they go from being enemies to being in love?’

‘Not enemies in the sense that they’re on opposite sides or anything, but they do strongly dislike each other at first, which will slowly develop to grudging respect to genuine respect to friendship to I would die for you. It’s a fun dynamic, but difficult to write and space out. And of course Eloise is in the dreamland the whole time, whereas Mabel is only there at night when she’s sleeping.’

‘So, if Mabel can talk to Eloise while they’re asleep and she also wakes up into the real world, could she serve as a line of communication between Eloise and her family?’ Cordelia asked.

Lucie’s eyes lit up. ‘Of course, that’s an excellent idea. Now the first time Mabel visits Eloise’ house, her family doesn’t listen to Mabel, which reinforces her negative beliefs about Eloise, but eventually she gives in and tries again and tells them something only Eloise could have told her and then the family does begin to trust her.’

‘How exhausted does Mabel get from all this?’ Cordelia said. ‘Since she gets to adventure in her sleep?’

‘Well, the adventuring in her sleep does count as sleep,’ Lucie said. ‘But you have a point, it would probably be less restful than normal sleep. Perhaps Eloise’s family can take her in and provide for her family so she can get enough rest to visit the dreamland.’

‘What do your characters look like?’ Cordelia asked. ‘I’m thinking about drawing them for you.’

Cordelia hadn’t drawn in some time, but had brought some art supplies with her. She wasn’t particularly talented, but decent when it came to drawing Lucie’s characters, although she still struggled with drawing men.

‘Oh that would be fantastic,’ Lucie said. ‘I always like to have something to visualize, but I can’t draw a straight line. Alright, so Mabel is from a poor family, and works in a factory to support her family, so she’s going to look a bit dirty and stained. She has dirty blonde hair and brown eyes and freckles and is a little underweight because she struggles to feed herself and her mother and younger siblings.

Eloise on the other hand is from a wealthy family, although her mother was poor, and she wears fancier clothes like the dress Jessamine wears. She has dark brown hair and gray eyes and because she always had enough food and likes sweets, she is fat.

Maybe Mabel judges Eloise for her weight at first, because Mabel is poor herself but I’m thinking that might not go over well to a modern audience.’

Cordelia tilted her head. ‘Maybe not. But it’s nice to have a fat main character, I don’t think there are enough of those.’

Nor were there enough queer main characters, women of color main characters, the list could go on. Cordelia often wished she could see herself more in books, and Lucie understood that. Lucie often recommended her books based on what she was looking for.

‘Yes, exactly,’ Lucie said. ‘And it gives me an opportunity to write away any insecurities I have about gaining weight. One of the great benefits of stealing Thomas’ clothes is that it rarely happens that they suddenly don’t fit anymore.’

Lucie had told her she’d gained some weight over the past year, but as it had happened slowly, Cordelia found it difficult to tell the difference. She and Thomas used to have eating contests together, which was a bit of an odd hobby but both seemed to enjoy it, and Lucie was probably the only one who stood a chance against Thomas, but ever since gaining weight she’d gotten too insecure about it.

Cordelia thought Lucie would look good at any size, and hated how being taught to be insecure had made her give up on a weird but fun hobby.

‘That sounds like a good idea,’ Cordelia said. ‘I’m going to get my art supplies and get started.’

***

Alastair and Thomas were in Alastair’s bed together, in each other’s arms. It was nice, warm, comfortable, Thomas asking every now and then if it was still okay, if he wanted to be kissed, if certain parts of his body were alright for him to touch. Alastair didn’t think he’d ever get enough of this. Thomas’ arms were firm and strong and applied just enough pressure to his body to be comforting.

He was whispering to Thomas in Farsi, terms of endearments he had not imagined using for someone else after Charles.

‘What is it you’re saying?’ Thomas asked. ‘Is that Farsi?’

‘It is,’ Alastair said.

‘What were you saying?’ Thomas asked. ‘Lucie and I tried to learn Farsi for Cordelia, but so far we only learnt a few phrases and my accent is probably terrible.’

‘Likely,’ Alastair agreed, ‘but it’s nice that you’re learning. I could help you.’

Charles had never cared much for his language, or his culture. Of course, at the time Alastair had tried to distance himself from his heritage, all too aware how people treated him for it. He’d thought people would accept him better that way. After all, people often claimed foreigners should adapt to the dominant culture. He knew better now, and loved that Thomas showed an interest in the language.

‘That would be amazing. You are fluent, aren’t you?’

‘My mother mostly spoke Farsi with us at home, and aunt Risa still struggles with English. She understands everything you say, but cannot express herself well enough to feel comfortable, so we always speak Farsi with her. So I’d say Cordelia and I are fluent, yes.’

‘So, what were you just saying for me?’

‘Kharâbetam. I am ruined for you. Nooré cheshm-am. The light of my eyes. Ãtashé del-am. The fire of my heart.’

‘Wow. That all sounds so romantic,’ Thomas said.

‘Farsi endearments can be dramatic, but I like that,’ Alastair said.

‘I’ll try to learn some of those,’ Thomas promised. ‘Learning the language will undoubtedly be easier with a native speaker around.’

Thomas started kissing him again, wrapping his arms around Alastair, still checking if everything was alright. He threw in some terms of endearments of his own, phrases Alastair did not understand, but recognized as Spanish. He remembered Thomas saying his father often spoke Spanish around the house and Thomas was fluent himself. Alastair wasn’t sure what exactly Thomas was saying, but it sounded sweet.

He started to wonder if Thomas wanted to move things along. Part of Alastair wanted to, part of him was scared. Truth to be told, he wasn’t sure what he wanted, and he’d much rather follow Thomas’ lead.

He didn’t realize what was happening at first. Thomas, apparently, did long to move things along, and asked if it would be alright to take off some clothes. Alastair said yes, even if part of him was still scared. It would be fine, he told himself. This was Thomas, who loved him and would stop if Alastair asked him to.

And at first it was amazing. Alastair gently traced the stretch marks on Thomas’ back with his fingers. It must have been hard on the body, to grow so much in only a few years. Thomas used to be so small… He didn’t feel like it was going too fast, he was taking his time admiring Thomas.

And Thomas was still sweet as always, asking what was alright. Alastair said yes to everything. He wanted Thomas, wanted to find out what it could be like with someone who cared for him. But the more intimate their kissing, their exploring each other’s bodies became, the more Alastair was reminded of previous times he’d done this. Stop, he told himself. This wasn’t like it was with Charles. This was Thomas and he was sweet and perfect and would never do anything Alastair wasn’t comfortable with. But he fell back into the memory anyway. It wasn’t real, he told himself. He was here with Thomas, but he couldn’t feel Thomas anymore. Instead, he was with Charles, and he was scared and uncomfortable, but didn’t dare say anything because what if Charles would abandon him? It wasn’t real, he told himself. He’d done something wrong, he felt, Charles had been upset with him most of the evening and Alastair didn’t know why. He couldn’t figure what he’d done wrong, and at the time he’d thought it reasonable to make it up to Charles like this, pushing himself despite his fear and discomfort. Doing whatever he asked for because he’d clearly done something wrong and he wanted to show Charles he loved him. Now Alastair felt shame for allowing all this to happen. He felt Charles’ hands on him, and yelled at him to stop but it was a memory and in the past Alastair had never asked him to stop. There was nothing he could do now, nothing to change the past. In the distance, he heard a voice calling to him. It wasn’t real, he reminded himself. He wasn’t with Charles, he’d done nothing wrong, and he had nothing to make up for.

‘Alastair, are you alright?’

‘Get away from me!’ Alastair yelled and he wasn’t sure if it was directed at Thomas or Charles or both of them.

‘Alastair, what do you need me to do?’

Thomas sounded like he was freaking out, but he was still there. It wasn’t real, he reminded himself. Thomas was real. His bedroom was real. He felt something in his arms, something soft and hairy. He focused on that sensation, stroking the soft thing. Alastair had always had a fondness for soft things, his hedgehog, nice blankets. He loved how it felt under his fingers, how it could put him at ease to stroke his hand over something soft. It was his hedgehog, he realized. Thomas had found Mr. Prickly somewhere between the sheets and shoved it into his arms. It was something to focus on. He held Mr. Prickly against him, stroking it gently, focusing on the sensation underneath his fingers. This was real. He could see the hedgehog. Could see Thomas, asking him to breathe, talking to him.

‘Don’t panic,’ Alastair told Thomas as he sat upright, hedgehog in his lap.

Part of him was tempted to send Thomas away, to not let him see Alastair like this. He wanted to yell at him to get out of here and retreat into his protective shell, but what would be the point? Thomas had already seen the worst, nothing to be done about that now. Besides, it would be rude to expect Thomas to sleep on the couch or go back to his parents at this hour. This was a bad idea. He tried to breathe, keeping all his attention on Mr. Prickly. Perhaps he should give trust a try, he told himself. Perhaps he and Thomas could work through this. He knew it was unlikely, but Alastair forced himself to at least give it a try.

‘I’m not panicking,’ Thomas protested. ‘I just really didn’t know what to do. I don’t want to hurt you.’

‘This was a good move though,’ Alastair said, cradling Mr. Prickly against him.

‘What happened?’ Thomas asked. ‘Did I do something wrong?’

Alastair sighed, how long until Thomas would give up? He wanted to take this further, he wanted to be able to have sex with Thomas without it reminding him of past times. He was older now, and although he was still scared he also wanted to have sex. And Thomas deserved it, deserved a partner who could satisfy him. Alastair wasn’t so sure he could.

‘It’s not you, eshgham,’ he said slowly. None of this was Thomas’ fault. It was his, for being too broken to be a good lover. ‘You know I have these flashbacks, right?’

‘Yes, I do. Did I do something to trigger a flashback?’

‘I didn’t realize it would happen,’ Alastair said. ‘I thought I was ready. I wanted to sleep with you. But then something reminded me of him, and I fell into a memory. I’m sorry.’

‘It’s nothing to be sorry for. I just don’t want to hurt you,’ Thomas said.

‘I do not always know what will happen,’ Alastair said. ‘One thing that helped me greatly in therapy is learning to identify triggers. Alcohol is an obvious one, of course. But because of Charles, intimacy is also difficult. I thought it would be alright. I was a little nervous, but I also really wanted it.’

‘It’s alright to wait,’ Thomas said. ‘As long as you need. We haven’t even been together that long, and I’m fine just cuddling. If that’s still alright. Honestly the idea of having sex makes me nervous too. You know, since I’ve never done it.’

Alastair could still see a hint of disappointment on Thomas’ face, but right now he just couldn’t. He was so tired, he didn’t think he’d ever feel rested again. He’d had a long day, he reminded himself.

‘You know what, maybe we should go outside,’ Thomas said.

Alastair frowned. ‘Outside?’

What did Thomas have in mind? Cuddling outside in the grass? Alastair imagined it would be cold.

‘I like watching the stars,’ Thomas admitted. ‘When I was young and so sick I had to stay in the hospital, Barbara gifted me some books by Stephen Hawking. Children’s books he’d written with his daughter, not the complicated ones. I had a bit of an obsession with the galaxy then because of these books. It’s very calming, so maybe it’ll help you.’

‘So, you want to watch the stars with me?’ Alastair asked.

‘I could point them all out to you,’ Thomas said. ‘If you like that, I mean. London is too light for stargazing, there’s nothing to see, but here that’s not the case and the sky is very clear tonight. Not a cloud to be seen. Unless you’d rather go to sleep?’

‘I’m not sure I’d be able to fall asleep right now.’

Alastair reluctantly followed Thomas. Will and Tessa were still downstairs, both reading as they often did.

‘We’re going to watch the stars,’ Thomas announced.

Will looked up from his book. ‘Well, enjoy. Don’t stay out too long, it’s cold outside.’

Will was right, it was cold outside. Alastair wished he’d worn something warmer than his pajamas. They sat down on the garden lounge set, Alastair finding a comfortable position sitting in between Thomas’ legs in front of him, laying back against his chest with Thomas’ arms around him. He was exhausted, flashbacks always did that even if he was still too alert to fall asleep. Perhaps after a while he’d doze off here, leaning against Thomas.

‘Do you know how to find the polar star?’ Thomas asked.

‘I’ve heard it had something to do with the bear constellation?’ Alastair asked.

He’d read about this ages ago, but stars had never been a particular interest of his even if he’d had many unusual interests in his youth. He’d read a few things here and there, but barely remembered anything.

‘Yes. That there’s the big bear.’

Alastair tried to look where Thomas was pointing, which was difficult, but he recognized the saucepan shape of the big bear constellation. He’d long been confused why it was called a bear when it clearly resembled a pan or a ladle more, but later he’d learnt there were actually more stars to the constellation, the pan shape was just the brightest.

‘Now you must follow the two stars at the side of the pan shape, into that direction and there’s ursa minor. Although ursa minor doesn’t really look like a bear, it just looks like a smaller version of the saucepan.’

Alastair had to look for a while, but he could find the constellation Thomas described.

‘Now, the end of the pan, that’s Polaris,’ Thomas said proudly. ‘True north. So, if you ever get lost at sea, you now know how to navigate.’

‘If I get lost at sea, I’d probably die of other causes first,’ Alastair said. ‘Dehydration would be the obvious choice.’

‘I guess that’s true. But if you’re lost at sea with a huge supply of water and food that won’t go to waste, then it might be nice to actually know how to navigate.’

‘You think that’ll happen?’ Alastair asked.

‘Oh, probably not,’ Thomas said. ‘But I’ve always liked the idea of finding my own true north. I’m actually planning to get a tattoo. I haven’t told anyone, I’ve been working up the courage to ask my parents.’

‘What kind?’ Alastair asked.

‘A compass,’ Thomas said. ‘But I was thinking of combining it with a flower, a rose I think. I have made a few sketches, I’ll show you someday.’

‘Where did you want to get it?’ Alastair asked.

‘Just here, on my arm.’

Thomas leaned a bit forward, against Alastair’s back, and showed him a spot on his wrist. Alastair mindlessly traced the spot with his fingers, and he could feel Thomas’ shiver beneath his touch. If a subtle touch on his arm could get such a reaction out of him, what would happen when Alastair was able to move things along and have sex with him? He felt another pang of guilt, at being unable to, at wanting to please his partner yet falling into a memory of a previous partner he’d been desperate to satisfy.

‘It’ll look amazing here,’ Alastair said. ‘Do you think your parents will not approve?’

‘Oh I’m thinking they will, they were supportive when Genie wanted to get her nose pierced at least. I know some parents can be absolutely horrified about their children getting tattoos and piercings.’

‘My mother would probably have a heart attack,’ Alastair agreed. ‘When I was fifteen, she caught me smoking in the windowsill. Let’s just say I did not dare smoke again. Which was probably for the best, because quitting now would have been harder than it was then.’

‘I remember you smoking just outside school,’ Thomas said. ‘Back then I thought it was attractive. Now I’m glad you quit, I really wouldn’t want you to get sick because of it.’

‘I wasn’t really occupied with that at fifteen,’ Alastair admitted. ‘I guess I figured I wouldn’t live long enough to get cancer from smoking anyway. But I also didn’t really have the money to keep buying cigarettes, so there’s that. Smoking is a very expensive pastime. And I could breathe much easier after I’d quit and had far better stamina.’

Alastair wasn’t even sure why he’d liked it back then. Part of it was to fit in, sure, but he’d also smoked at home, hanging out of the window so his room wouldn’t smell. Nowadays he found the scent of cigarettes disgusting and overwhelming and he couldn’t imagine ever smoking again.

Thomas pointed out several more stars and constellations for him. ‘That’s Orion,’ he said. ‘With the brightest star, Sirius. The dog star.’

‘Like in the Black family in Harry Potter,’ Alastair said. ‘Looks like a face with a crooked mouth.’

‘I think J.K. Rowling just pulled out a constellation map when she needed names for Black family members,’ Thomas said. ‘Do you like Harry Potter?’

‘I used to,’ Alastair said. ‘But that was before Rowling’s transphobia became widely known. I understand why some people still like the series and separate it from her, but I heavily associate them with the damage she did to trans people.’

‘Understandable,’ Thomas said. ‘Those books were a great comfort to me as a child. Besides the George’s secret key to the universe series.’

‘What was that about?’

‘Those are the space books I mentioned. It’s about a boy named George, whose new neighbor is a scientist with a daughter around his age. He grows closer to the girl and her father, and discovers he has a super computer that can create portals into space. And then there’s an evil former colleague of the scientist who wants to steal the computer. It was very entertaining, but also educational, explaining the universe and the stars and planets in a way that’s understandable for children. And when I could go back to school I told everyone I’d read a book by Stephen Hawking. Of course, at that age half the children had no idea who that was.’

‘That’s just adorable,’ Alastair grinned. ‘Was your teacher at least impressed?’

‘I think so. I think she did suspect I read his children’s books and not his more serious work, but I could tell the others everything about the stars.’

‘I’m getting very cold,’ Alastair said. ‘And sleepy. I could probably fall asleep right here if I wasn’t so cold.’

‘Oh, am I that comfortable?’

‘Don’t let it rise to your head. I’m going to bed, you coming?’

They returned upstairs, both Will and Tessa were still reading and Alastair wondered how long they would keep that up.

They both found a comfortable way to lie down in the bed, and Alastair found it reassuring that Thomas was still here, even if it was difficult to be near someone. Charles wouldn’t have stayed. Charles would not have helped him through a flashback. Charles would have scolded him for being so emotional and left him alone.

‘Good night,’ Thomas said.

‘Good night.’

Alastair slept peacefully that night. Perhaps it was Thomas, perhaps the hedgehog, or perhaps he was simply too tired to still have nightmares. He didn’t feel rested when he woke up the next morning, but he didn’t feel as tired as yesterday either. Thomas was still asleep, his mouth slightly open, clutching the blanket. Alastair was very glad Thomas didn’t snore. He was quiet in his sleep, breathing softly.

Alastair checked the time, six in the morning. What a useless time to wake up. No one else would be awake yet, but there was no point in going back to sleep either. He remained in bed, not exactly motivated to get out either. When would Thomas wake up? He was an early riser too, but six was a probably a bit too early. Miraculously he did fall asleep for a bit longer, with a hazy dream he did not remember when he woke up. Seven thirty, which meant he’d gotten another hour and a half of sleep.

Thomas woke around eight, and Alastair was still in bed, contemplating getting up to make breakfast.

‘Did you sleep well?’ Thomas asked, yawning.

‘Well enough,’ Alastair said. He didn’t usually fall back asleep after waking up around six, and had slept about as well as he could. He was still tired though, which didn’t surprise him after yesterday, and unmotivated to get out of bed.

‘I thought so. I woke at some point in the middle of the night and you seemed so peaceful.’

‘I have been told I am very still when I don’t have nightmares,’ Alastair said. ‘When Cordelia and I shared a room, she once thought I might be dead in the middle of the night when I was just sleeping.’

Of course, at the time Cordelia hadn’t quite understood his mental illness yet and feared he might be suicidal. She’s panicked and woken him up to make sure he wasn’t dead, and Alastair had assured her he had no intention of leaving her alone.

‘I didn’t think you were dead,’ Thomas said. ‘Just at peace for a change. So, do you feel rested?’

‘As I said, I never feel rested,’ Alastair said. ‘But I feel like I can face the day, and that’s good enough.’

‘Maybe someday,’ Thomas said. ‘I liked sleeping next to you and I do feel rested.’

Alastair groaned. ‘Of course you do. So, if you have an endless supply of energy for the day, you would have no issue making me breakfast.’

‘For sure,’ Thomas said to Alastair’s surprise and he got out of bed. ‘Do you want toast? ’

‘And coffee,’ Alastair said.

‘Maybe you would be less tired without the coffee,’ Thomas said.

Alastair frowned. ‘What are you talking about, coffee is what keeps me alive.’

‘Yes, but frequently drinking coffee builds tolerance. Drinking lots of coffee regularly won’t make you more energetic, it only makes you more tired when you don’t drink coffee.’

Alastair fell back onto the bed. ‘I still want coffee,’ he said, not willing to give in and admit Thomas was right.

‘Alright, coffee it is,’ Thomas said and he changed out of his pajamas.

Alastair took his time to admire the view until Thomas put on his shirt. He still found it hard to believe that this Thomas was the same small boy who’d followed him around years ago.

He didn’t get out of bed until Thomas returned to announce he’d made breakfast. Part of Alastair had still expected him to only make his own breakfast, but when Alastair was dressed and entered the kitchen, there was a cup of coffee and some toast with jam finished.

Thomas was sipping from a cup of English tea. ‘Do you want milk or sugar in your coffee?’

‘No,’ Alastair said. ‘I just drink it black.’

‘I’ve never liked coffee,’ Thomas said. ‘I think it tastes terrible.’

‘It does taste terrible. It’s supposed to be terrible. But at this point I’ve drunk so much coffee that I tolerate the taste. I need it for energy.’

‘I prefer tea myself.’

‘That’s not tea,’ Alastair said. ‘That’s an abomination.’

Thomas stared at him.

‘Wait until I introduce you to my mother,’ Alastair said. ‘She makes the best rose tea you’ve ever tasted. You’ll never drink that stuff again.’

‘Rose tea?’ Thomas said.

‘It is common in Iran to add rose petals when making tea. Tea is a very popular drink, and my mother is very precise on how she makes her tea,’ Alastair explained. ‘Just tell her you like her tea and she’ll adore you.’

‘That’s good to know,’ Thomas said before taking another sip of his English tea.

‘Risa is more critical though,’ Alastair added. ‘She might not be so impressed.’

When Cordelia had dated James, his mother had instantly adored James because he was polite and loved her tea. Risa had not been impressed at all and had not been afraid to let it show. All English people were polite after all and it was often only a façade. Alastair hoped she would treat Thomas better.

‘Maybe we should work on your Farsi before meeting Risa,’ Alastair added. ‘If you speak Farsi with her she’ll probably like you.’

‘That sounds promising,’ Thomas said.

‘You’re up early,’ said a sleepy voice.

Cordelia was still wearing her pajamas, her red hair tangled and messy.

‘As you well know, I’m always up early,’ Alastair said.

Cordelia nodded. ‘Are you ready to go find a selkie skin?’

#Cordelia Carstairs #Lucie Herondale #Alastair Carstairs #Thomas Lightwood #Thomastair #Lucelia #fanfiction #the last hours #tlh

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saysaraelle · 4 years

Text

A Ballpark Timeline of Netflix’s The Witcher

So because I love puzzles, and because I also love The Witcher, and because I had a good bit of free time on my hands during the winter holidays, I decided to obsessively watch every episode of this show for clues about the three respective stories to arrive at a general idea of when everything that we see happens relative to everything else. What follows is a chronological timeline that begins with the birth of Geralt of Rivia and ends with the Battle of Sodden, with notations on which events appear in what episodes.

It probably goes without saying, but spoilers under the cut.

Before we begin, a few notes on how I did this timeline. Given that we do not know how old Geralt of Rivia is—but can assume he has lived a long time—I proceed from the broad assumption that he is about 70 years old when he encounters Renfri in Blaviken. Having fixed Yennefer’s date of birth on the basis of information in the books and determined the end of her service in Aedirn to be roughly concurrent with Geralt’s saving of Princess Adda in Temeria, I start the timeline in 1157 with Geralt’s birth and proceed from there. There is wiggle room concerning when Geralt first meets Jaskier in Posada and when the two of them meet Yennefer in Rinde. Going off of Jaskier’s statement in Rinde, however, that he and Geralt have known each other for a decade, I have taken the liberty of assuming that, in our story, Geralt meets a person important to his life roughly every ten years: Renfri when he’s 70, Jaskier when he’s 80, Yennefer when he’s 90, and Ciri when he’s 100. There is also wiggle room concerning how long Yennefer spent in Aretuza, but I happen to really like the idea of her having spent a long time there learning from Tissaia, so that’s the direction I went.

As a final caveat, please note that the writers drop a chronological breadcrumb in episode 3 that has to be thrown out in order to make the timeline work, so I threw it out.

1157

Geralt of Rivia born

1162

Geralt (age 5) is given to Vesemir to be trained as a witcher

1173

Yennefer of Vengerberg is born

Geralt is 16

1190

Yennefer (age 17) is brought to Aretuza and begins her training (ep 2)

Geralt is 33

1210

Yennefer (age 37) becomes mage of Aedirn (ep 3)

the future King Foltest of Temeria (age 10) visits Aretuza with his parents

Geralt is 53

1211

around this time Queen Calanthe of Cintra is born

around this time Urcheon of Erlenwald (Duny) is born

Geralt is 54; Yennefer is 38

1217

around this time King Fergus of Nilfgaard is overthrown

around this time Duny (age 6) is cursed

around this time Jaskier is born

Geralt is 60; Yennefer is 44

1226

Queen Calanthe (age 15) wins her first battle at Hochebuz

Geralt is 69; Yennefer is 53

1227

Geralt (age 70) meets Renfri of Creyden and Stregobor the mage in Blaviken (ep 1)

Princess Adda of Temeria is “born”

Yennefer is 54

1229

Duny (age 18) saves King Roegener's life and calls Law of Surprise

Geralt is 72; Yennefer is 56

1230

Princess Pavetta of Cintra is born

Geralt is 73; Yennefer is 57; Queen Calanthe is 19

1234

Princess Adda (age 7) emerges from her mother’s crypt as a striga

Geralt is 77; Yennefer is 61

1237

Geralt (age 80) meets Jaskier (age 20) in Posada and encounters Filavandrel in Dol Blathanna (ep 2)

Yennefer is 64

1240

Geralt (age 83) meets King Foltest (age 40) and saves Princess Adda (age 13) in Temeria (ep 3)

Yennefer (age 67) abandons her court position in Aedirn after the assassination of Queen Kalis of Lyria (ep 4)

1245

Geralt (age 88) attends the betrothal ceremony of Princess Pavetta (age 15) with Jaskier (age 28); after saving Duny's (age 34) life, Geralt wins a child of surprise (ep 4)

later that year, Princess Cirilla (Ciri) of Cintra is born

Yennefer is 72; Queen Calanthe is 34

1247

Geralt (age 90) and Jaskier (age 30) have trouble with a djinn in Rinde and meet Yennefer (age 74) (ep 5)

around this time Pavetta and Duny are lost at sea

around this time Ehmyr, the rightful king of Nilfgaard, returns to the throne

Ciri is 2

1256

Filavandrel stages an uprising in Cintra, which fails

Geralt is 99; Yennefer is 83; Ciri is 11

1257

Geralt (age 100) goes on a dragon hunt with Jaskier (age 40) and Yennefer (age 84) and learns of Nilfgaard's military campaign (ep 6)

Yennefer travels to Nazair to see an old friend and is enlisted by Vilgefortz of Roggeveen to return to Aretuza for a mages council on Nilfgaard’s campaign against Cintra and the north (ep 7)

Geralt travels to the Amel Pass and then to Cintra where, the day before the battle, he attempts to claim his child of surprise (ep 7)

Queen Calanthe (age 44) falls in the Nilfgaardian siege and Cintra is overrun (eps 1 & 7) while Ciri escapes into the nearby woods (eps 1 & 7)

after three days in hiding, Ciri meets Dara in the woods and comes upon a Cintran refugee camp; that evening the camp is attacked by the Nilfgaard army and Ciri again escapes (ep 2)

the day after she rejoins Dara, Ciri finds her way to Brokilon Forest (ep 3)

Ciri spends a couple days in Brokilon (ep 4); during this time the Nilfgaard general enlists a doppler to capture her (ep 5)

after their time in Brokilon, Ciri and Dara leave in the company of the doppler (ep 5)

realizing the doppler is an impostor they escape and Dara decides he must leave Ciri on her own (ep 6)

roughly a week after the slaughter of the Cintran refugees, Ciri meets a woman at a market town (ep 7); after fending off a gang of boys using her as-yet unknown powers, Ciri agrees to go home with the woman (ep 8)

around the same time, Geralt encounters a man at the site of the Cintran refugee massacre, saves his life, and is bitten while fighting ghouls; the man then takes an injured Geralt with him (ep 8)

during this interim a rogue group of Aretuza and Ban Ard mages travel to the keep at Sodden to defend it from Nilfgaard's advancing army (ep 8)

the Battle of Sodden commences, while Geralt and Ciri, respectively travel with their newfound companions (ep 8)

Yennefer throws down the Nilfgaardian army and then disappears as the northern armies, led by King Foltest (age 57), arrive with reinforcements (ep 8)

the day after Ciri arrives at the home of the woman she met in the market, Geralt arrives with the man he met, who is the woman's husband, and Geralt and Ciri are finally united (ep 8)

#the witcher #the witcher netflix #geralt of rivia #yennefer of vengerberg #cirilla of cintra #spoilers #sara talks telly

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famous-aces · 5 years

Text

Joan of Arc

Who: Jehanne Darc (often modernized as Jeanne d'Arc) (Joan of Arc is the Anglicization of her name)

What: Soldier and Saint

Where: French, active in France

When: c. 1412 - May 30, 1431

(Image Description: an engraving of Joan of Arc from 1903 by Peruvian artist Albert Lynch. It was featured in Figaro Illustre. It looks more like a painting than an engraving. It shows Joan in the center. In the background is Notre Dame. In the mid and foreground is a field of white flowers. Joan is front and center from the thighs up. She is in full plate mail but without the helmet or gloves. The armor has gold accents. She has pale skin and a round face. Her hair is black and cut into a bob with high bangs. One hand holds a flag and one hand rests on the hilt of a huge sword. She looks stoically and proudly out at the viewer. End ID.)

Joan of Arc is more legend than woman at this point, but she was very real. She is in part responsible for turning the tide of the Hundred Years War in France's favor. Now she is both French cultural heroine and canonized Catholic saint. Joan is an icon and inspiration and to millions be they French, Christian, woman, queer, or all of the above.

Joan's story is fairly well known. She was an illiterate peasant girl who, when she was 13, was visited by the visions of several saints. From that point forward she claimed to have been following God's instructions. At the time, France and England were still locked in the heat of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) and the English occupied swaths of France. Eventually God told Joan to topple the English occupation and save France. She convinced the Dauphin to give her command over troops and dressed in men's armor Joan lead French victory after victory.

Although there were understandably doubts about what this untrained teenager could actually do she was able to convince naysayers quickly. She won first success at the Siege of Orléans. After the city was sieged for more than six months, Joan was able to turn away the English in only nine days. She was involved in more than a half dozen battles, many victories, between 1429 and 1431. These included the French success at the Battle of Patay and the March to Reims. During the latter she helped siege and reclaim several French cities and ensured the coronation of King Charles VII, at which she was in attendance.

She continued her campaign despite being injured in the Siege of Paris and was ultimately captured during the Siege of Compiègne. Her troops were outnumbered and her attempted surprise attack was rebuffed by English reinforcements, at which point she was overwhelmed and pulled from her horse.

She was captured, tried for witchcraft (although crossdressing was listed among her crimes/charges), and ultimately, horrifically, burned at the stake. Because she was so well loved the English made sure her body was very publicly destroyed both to avoid rumors of her escape and to make sure no relics could be made from her remains (as was very common for holy people at the time). Although English propaganda and court proceedings claimed Joan was a witch who spoke not to God and saints but to the Devil, her executioner still "greatly feared to be damned.". She was only 19 at the time of her death.

Joan has become a larger-than-life figure. Her story has been told and retold countless times over the centuries. Movies, books, plays, operas, songs, pieces of visual art. Nearly every medium that exists has depicted Joan of Arc in some capacity. For example, the first celluloid movie camera was invented in 1895, the first filmed depiction of Joan of Arc was made in only 1898. Mark Twain was very proud of his oft forgotten novel Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. Voltaire wrote the poem "La Pucelle d’Orléans" (link goes to English translation) and there was a dramatic rebuttal by Die Jungfrau von Orleans (German) by Friedrich Schiller. Tchaikovsky wrote an opera The Maid of Orléans. George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan is perhaps his magnum opus. Robert Southey and Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote the epic "Joan of Arc". She is included in Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 1. The likes of Peter Paul Rubins, Paul Gauguin, John Everett Millais, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, among others have rendered Joan. She has been used for awards and propaganda.

Joan of Arc even impacted real life fashion, the Bob hairstyle's inventor based the now iconic look off Joan's haircut. It makes sense since the Bob was originally associated with the rebellious women of the 1920s. In 1920 she was canonized and is now the patron saint of France, soldiers, women in the WAVES and WAC, prisoners, among many others.

There is now speculation that Joan of Arc may have been mentally ill or had epilepsy.

(Image Description: a drawing of Joan of Arc by Clément de Fauquembergue found in the margins of a parliamentary document from 1429. That makes this the earliest drawing of Joan we have. It is a brown ink drawing, slightly crude, very simple, of a woman drawn in profile. It ends just below her midsection. She wears a dress and carries as sword in one hand and a banner in the other. She is scowling. Oddly she does not have the short haircut that would become her trademark look, then again I have no idea how true/untrue to life this is. End ID)

Probable Orientation: Aroace (and obviously GNC. Crossdressing was one of the many crimes for which the English tried her.)

This is already a very long entry because of Joan of Arc's extensive legacy but it is going to get even longer, because I mentioned in Mary Eliza Mahoney's entry that there was another figure I was struggling with in my speculation, here she is. My biggest issue here was more moral than anything else.

Joan was only 19 when she died, that is hardly a full life to determine what her sexual orientation was. I do not object to a teenager self-identifying as any gender/sexual orientation, but it is quite another matter to impose one on them, especially when they died before being able to live a full life.

I thought a lot about the discourse presently surrounding Anne Frank. On my personal blog I have made my opinion abundantly clear (she is not your Bicon, she is a victim of a horrific genocide). So why is Joan different to me? I did some deep soul searching on this. So before going into my evidence as to why Joan of Arc may have been aroace.

The circumstances of their deaths are different. Anne was killed because of her ethnoreligious background in a campaign to wipe out the Jewish people. Joan was brutally killed for her gender and wearing men's clothing as much as she was for being an enemy general. Indeed, she would not have been burned alive had she been a young man doing exactly what Joan did and not a young woman. But her death is not representative of a larger narrative. There were no other Joans of Arc.

Yes, she is now a Catholic Saint, but unlike Anne Frank Joan was not killed for being Catholic and was killed by other Catholics. Also I should add Judaism is much larger than just a religion. It is an ethnicity as well. Joan was the same ethnicity (if not the same nationality) as her captors.

Anne was also a 20th century girl and 15 when she met her horrible demise. Joan's era and age are something I will expand on.

And importantly I am not the first person to ascribe queerness to Joan's story. She has been a queer figure for the better part of a century by now. Some scholars argue she was a lesbian*. Others say she was nonbinary**. Joan has long been important to the queer community, but that wouldn't necessarily make me right for adding to the debate.

But for Joan of Arc queerness is baked right in to the narrative. She wore men's clothing and broke gender norms, actions so taboo they were part of what cost her her life. Whether or not this crossdressing had anything to do with her gender or sexual orientation or just done for ease in battle is a subject of debate and boy howdy there is a lot of it. Plus, the actual act of going to war as a woman was an act of gender nonconformity.

Anyway now I am going to tell you why I believe Joan of Arc was an aroace, because it is another piece of the queerness of her narrative that she touted.

Here is one of the most important pieces of evidence to me, her name. Joan's birth name was Jehanne Darc (or a similar spelling), that was her father's surname and it was technically hers. In life she didn't use it. She called herself Jehanne la Pucelle (Joan the Maid) as in Joan the Virgin. That was the name she rallied her troops under. That was how her (dictated) letters were often signed. I have seen the argument made that she was asserting her purity, but it also would remind her troops of her age. Just like today "virgin" held a connotation of childishness. You were not married and inexperienced. Why would a military general want to point out how young she was? She had another name, she could have just been Jehanne Darc. It also told everyone she was a woman, including the enemy, who might use that against her. If she wanted to go with a nickname based on piousness it did not have to be "la Pucelle". There are many that did not imply either gender or age.

Her age is also important. Much like Wang Zhenyi she opted to break convention and do something else when it came time to get married. She was at war at the time when she should have been getting married, French women were generally married between 18 and 25. Her chasteness was noted in that she was only interested in carrying out God's Will. Nothing kept her on the battlefield except her dedication to her cause. She could have retired at any point. Indeed in September of 1429 she was badly injured by a crossbow bolt to the thigh, she had to be dragged from the battlefield and it was only by the king's orders that she did not return to it. She had a mission and marriage did not seem to factor into it. And that, being of marriageable age and not seeking it, would be odd even given her religiousness.

(Image Description: a 1504 painting of Joan on horseback. It is a bright painting on parchment. She is wearing shining armor with a yellow feather in her helmet. She carries a red banner. The horse is white with red and gold accoutrements and is prancing. There are fields and a castle behind her. Joan looks calm. End ID)

The argument could be made that it is impossible to untangle Joan's chastity from her religiousness. But I would argue that there is a way to tell and a way that hers is unique from that of other saints.

Within Catholicism chastity is about sacrifice and self-denial, by being sexless you are giving something up. That is why you will often see saints who are hermits, giving up sex along with everything else. Even saints who die as virgin martyrs (i.e. dying defending their virginity) are generally fending off rape or a marriage that would come between them and God. Unless they are willingly giving themselves up to God Himself chasteness is not supposed to last. Indeed, you are supposed to go forth and multiply and all that.

Officially in Catholic doctrine asexuality does not exist because sexual attraction (to the "opposite sex") is one of God's Gifts. It is impossible to not feel sexual attraction and be human in their eyes. As per an FAQ on religious life "Question: What do you call a person who is asexual? Answer: Not a person. Asexual people do not exist. Sexuality is a gift from God and thus a fundamental part of our human identity.". Or even more sinisterly as put by former Priest*** and Ugandan Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo when he said he approved of heterosexual child rape more than consentual gay sex "it is men raping girls. Which is natural" the implication being that hetero sex is the only "natural" thing, because even denial is unacceptable. Yes, Lokodo is an extreme example, but it reflects a mindset about heterosexual sex.

Chastity is only venerated in Christianity insofar as you are giving something up for God. The Christian faith has engineered the acceptable circumstances for sex and you are expected to have it and want it within those circumstances. Joan's maidenhood is traditionally viewed much the same way a nun's is, that she was driven by her love of God and her desire to fulfill His instructions and thus neglected her own desires. It is unthinkable that maybe she just didn't care, that she would rather be a warrior than a wife. She would be far less beloved if that was the widely agreed on conclusion, I assure you.

(Image description: Jeanne D'Arc (1874) a gilded bronze statue by Emmanuel Frémiet now at the Place des Pyramides, Paris. Commissioned by Napoleon III and standing 13 feet tall. It shows a triumphant Joan of Arc on horseback with her banner held high. Both she and her horse wear armor. End ID)

*The argument for this is actually pretty weak. The one thing I have seen used as evidence of her being definitively a lesbian is that she shared her bed with women. But this was the 15th century, bedsharing was extremely common, there weren't many beds to go around, whole peasant families might share a bed. Yes, it could mean something, but Occam's Razor, in an era when nonsexual bedsharing was common this is not proof this is was for sexual reasons, there is no reason Joan would be an exception. Without any other evidence she was a lesbian this is not enough to prove she was attracted to women. I am not saying it isn't possible, I am just saying that is not enough to go on.

**In her being GNC. Again, a possibility, but not definitive. Of course this stuff rarely is.

***He was removed from the priesthood when he entered politics as it is against Vatican law to hold both positions, it had nothing to do with his horrific stance on Queer Rights.

(Image Description: Jeanne d'Arc écoutant ses voix by Léon François Bénouville [done before 1859]. It is a painting that shows Joan when she first was visited by Saints/Angels. It shows Joan in layered but undecorated clothing. She is clutching what appears to be part of a loom or other wool working equipment in one hand. The other holds her wrist. She is white and pale and barefoot. Her hair is dark and partially pinned back, starting to come free. She has a round face and looks shocked, her doll like mouth agape in a gasp and her light eyes wide. She is seated on a rock with a field behind her, dotted with sheep and a horse. Far beyond her in the distance is a burning city. In the air around her in an immense sky are the flying and translucent forms of angels. They have their mouths open, calling to her. One offers her a sword another carries a flag/banner. End ID.)

Quotes:

"Jehanne la Pucelle"

-How Joan signed her dictated letters and referred to herself, "Joan the Maid".

"Alas! that my body, clean and whole, never been corrupted, today must be consumed and burnt to ashes!"

-Joan of Arc after being condemned to death, quoted by Jean Toutmouille

(Image Description: a still from La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc) a silent film from 1928. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece and a landmark of early cinema. Renée Jeanne Falconetti (Joan) is still hailed for her performance. In this image we see Joan kneeling in front of the stake. She is wearing a wool robe and clutching a cross. The anguish on her face is indescribable. Behind her is an armed guard. End ID)

#lgbtq #queer #asexual #ace #history #aromantic #aro #soldiers #Europe #French #15th century #Joan of Arc #France #bio

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hamliet · 5 years

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On Banana Fish’s Ending

Welcome to the hell that is Banana Fish’s ending. If you like it it’s hell. If you hate it it’s definitely hell. If you’re like me somewhere in the middle but closer to “I don’t like this” it’s hell. We’re all suffering.

Like any useless writer, I cope by writing out my feelings so here, have this.

I can see why some feel the ending narratively works in some respects, and in some ways I can even agree it can be read in certain ways that make it work. But I also think a happy ending could have been just as narratively excellent, depending on the execution, and my personal opinion is that this would have been a more responsible ending. But no one has to agree, and I understand why people hate the ending and why people defend the ending.

I’m going to talk about this in a few segments: authorial statements, social messages, and genre. (I’m writing another meta on the narrative themes of the ending because that section got massively long.) For what it’s worth, a story does not exist in a vacuum, and while it’s absolutely valid to interpret and critique a story according to simply the written story, it’s also valid to weigh authorial intent (or to dismiss it), and to evaluate how the story plays into both larger cultural messages and larger literary trends. Any author 100% knows that their story will be interpreted according to all of these. But what follows is mostly my opinion/explaining why I feel as I do. It is not me saying anyone has to feel or interpret it the same way.

Authorial Statements

I know Yoshida has made... contradictory and, frankly, offensive statements on the ending, in which she’s said things such as that Ash narratively had to die because he was a murderer and people who kill need to pay with their own lives. In general, Yoshida seems to struggle in interviews--like saying she hates Yut-Lung when the story’s moral center character (Sing) literally tells him in his last scene “I can’t hate you” and promises to help him redeem himself. This is hardly unique to her. It’s hard to explain a complex element of story in a few sentences of an answer. Ishida’s first interview after the end of TG had some cringeworthy moments, Rowling seems to make constant missteps (and retcons), etc. Hence, I generally employ “death of the author”--I think the author’s intent matters to the extent their work conveys their intent, but not if their work contradicts what they then say.

The entirety of Banana Fish contradicts this idea of murderous karma. In fact, the story is at its core about finding a way out of a violent cycle, of finding freedom. Ash dying with a smile on his face literally says that he did not die trapped in a system of karmic violence with no hope of freedom.

Not to mention Sing is a murderer. Yut-Lung* is a murderer. Blanca is a murderer. They all live, and get hopeful (even happy-ish) endings and implied redemption for Yut-Lung and for Blanca.

*I know Yut-Lung is name-dropped as having been assassinated in a later manga called Yasha but like, he never actually appears in Yasha and it has nothing to do with his character’s arc in Banana Fish, so I don’t think it’s relevant to anything relating to Yut-Lung’s character as we know him. It’s really just an Easter egg, and since Yut-Lung dying in Yasha is a retcon of the fact that his arc ending with him living in the main story (Banana Fish) I feel completely free to disregard it as not actually canon.*

Additionally, Banana Fish takes empathetic looks at children who are suffering in a world where they are forced into the roles of prostitutes and killers, and what’s the point of empathy if it can’t change anything? Eiji is noted to basically be walking empathy, having a gift for comforting those around him, and the mutual, spiritual, and yes, romantic, love he and Ash share changes things for Ash (and for Eiji). To say that death had to happen narratively is to say that Eiji was, in the words of his critics, useless, which is rather at odds with the central emotional draw of the story: Ash and Eiji’s relationship. It contradicts Eiji’s beautiful letter, the one that Ash smiled as he died because of, because in this letter Eiji assures Ash: “you can change your destiny.”

So anyways, regardless of what Yoshida says, Ash being a murderer is not a narrative justification for the ending because that simply isn’t what the story conveys.

That being said, that perspective--that Ash’s death is karma for killing--is exactly Ash’s perspective. Just when he was about to overcome his flaw of not seeing his value by realizing how much he meant to Eiji, Lao reminds him of Shorter’s death, the one thing he cannot forgive himself for. And so Ash allows himself to die. But the thing is this perspective is wrong and narratively condemned. Eiji’s letter offers a counter to this, but Ash doesn’t take it (which is slightly inexplicable). Plus, as we see in “Garden of Light,” it leaves Eiji unable to completely overcome his flaw (an inability to act/truly live) for seven years, so the story condemns it too.

And, of course, Ash also did not kill Shorter out of malice--he was forced into it, like he was forced into the life he had to live with Dino. It’s not the deaths of one of the people begging to be spared whom Ash killed for playing a role in killing Shorter, but Shorter’s death itself that brings about fear and mistrust in Lao. To have Ash’s death be a consequence for killing willingly (which he did plenty of), it should have been for one of those nameless people we got a brief shot of, instead of as a consequence for a murder Ash had no choice in and was a victim of almost as much as Shorter was. But that also wouldn’t work because a nameless death doesn’t quite suffice for offing your main character, so. Yeah. Ash’s death is not a narrative consequence for killing others; it’s expressly framed as a tragic and cruel result of his inability to forgive himself for specific acts that were not his fault.

Social Messages Part 1: LGBT relationships

While Banana Fish was written in the 1980s-90s (kind of a dire time for LGBT+ people in the United States with the AIDS crisis), the trope of “bury your gays” has received rightful criticism since, and the ending can definitely be seen as “bury your gays.” (A criticism that is not helped by what happens to the gay/bi character in Yasha.) In other words, while I think the themes, characters, and frankly issues of Banana Fish are generally timeless, the ending is the only part of the story that I don’t think ages well. As time goes by, it will probably get even more criticism because of current society finally moving towards being better in the portrayal of LGBT+ characters.

*Because I want to complain and explain why I really don’t consider anything post-GoL canon: the follow-up picture book “New York Sense” doesn’t help the “bury your gays” impression either: Sing and Akira are certainly intended to be parallels to Ash and Eiji as Akira is brought to the US by Ibe and interacts with gangster Sing in “Garden of Light,” and while such framing is very ambiguous/bordering on not being there in GoL the follow-ups absolutely paint a romantic framing to their interactions in GoL. They marry and raise a son, popping up in cameos in Yoshida’s other works. Hence it runs dangerously close to reading as the heterosexual couple introduced in the epilogue got the happy ending while the gay couple we spent 19 volumes with did not. Since Sing is also still heavily involved with the mafia in all of the follow-ups, this again contradicts narrative justifications for Ash’s death as karma.

While I very much like Akira’s character, her romance with Sing isn’t just uncomfortable because of the above issue--it’s also uncomfortable because she is 13 and he is 23 in GoL (though their relationship doesn’t have to be read as mutually romantic there, and I don’t read it that way) and according to “New York Sense,” they marry when she is 18 which... implies things that seems very, very out of character for Sing, the series’ moral compass, and dramatically contradicts the skeevy adults preying on kids theme. It can also raise some cringe-worthy questions about why it’s framed as okay for the heterosexual couple but negatively (as it should be) for the people--who are primarily men--who assault Ash (and there is noted to have been a woman who assaulted him in “Private Opinion”). Like with Yut-Lung’s death, I just... don’t accept this retconning as canon. It contradicts the themes of Banana Fish as a story so I don’t have to.*

Social Messages Part 2: Abuse Survivors

For people who have been through abuse similar to Ash’s, in which choices over basic things like life, death, and your own body are taken from you, it’s honestly cruel to show someone who has spent their entire life suffering just about to grasp happiness, and then they die. It is fully valid to find this completely distasteful, and I do too.

But for me at least, one aspect that circumvents... some of the distasteful implication that Ash really was broken by things he had no choice in is the fact that Ash triumphed over his abusers first. Yet of course, having him die afterwards still hurts people who read the story and see themselves in a character like Ash, as it can reinforce the idea that abuse defines your life.

I do wish (though I don’t think there’s a moral necessity) that more authors/creators would acknowledge that, in creating characters whom you in theory want people to relate to, see themselves in, root for, care about, you’re asking people to suffer with them as they suffer and if they die, grieve for them. Given the heaviness of Ash’s arc and the specific nature of his suffering (especially since it was horrifically emphasized in the story’s last arc with Foxx), the fact that Ash didn’t in the end overcome the message that he did not have value is going to be very painful for readers/viewers. (Lao missed his vital organs, so Ash really chose to die instead of getting help, because he chose to believe Blanca over Eiji, which... I’m not sure it quite works.) If you could have narratively had it end happily (and it absolutely could have, and apparently Yoshida’s editor told her not to end it with Ash’s death), there’s room to say that going with the tragic ending is hurtful and bordering on irresponsible.

Genre

That defeat of Ash’s abusers is the reason I don’t think Banana Fish is quite as tragic as other stories like, say, the first Tokyo Ghoul or Hamlet or Macbeth, though it’s certainly tragic. In those stories, every single characters’ flaws lead to them dying, and it offers a cautionary tale. Banana Fish is more in the vein of say, Romeo and Juliet, or even the movie Titanic (I’m not making a romance comparison, for the record), in that the main characters might die, but their choices and the people they loved and how they loved manage to save a city, in the case of Romeo & Juliet, or to save Rose in the case of Titanic. In Banana Fish, Ash did help Eiji live, even if Eiji would need time to process it after the set-back of Ash’s death.

In other words, even if I’m unhappy with it and I am, I don’t consider Banana Fish’s ending nihilistic. It wasn’t “life sucks and then you die,” at least not to me. Life sucked, but it also meant something, even beyond Ash’s relationship with Eiji. Ash’s life had value. Through saving Sing in the story’s climactic battle, and then helping Max with that article that would save other child prostitutes, Ash saved younger versions of himself. That’s powerful. Not only that, but Ash found love and hope in his personal life as well with Eiji, Max, Shorter, etc., and through that genuine happiness. Even if he couldn’t fully grasp it, he knew it was there, and he died knowing there was genuine, true love, and therefore beauty, in the world too. And that, for me, comes across as far more hopeful than surface-level, cheaper happier endings. But still, the fact that Ash couldn’t fully experience this beauty and happiness because of the cycle of violence he had no choice about being involved in, plus a questionable character decision, does leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. (That questionable character decision, with the letter not having a full effect, makes tragedy seem a bit forced on Yoshida’s part.)

I want to quote Arthur Miller’s “Tragedy and the Common Man,” and I’ve highlighted parts I think explain how I feel about Banana Fish and Ash’s character (in particular, why I don’t think a tragic ending necessarily sends a nihilistic message, at least not to me):

The Greeks could probe the very heavenly origin of their ways and return to confirm the rightness of laws. And Job could face God in anger, demanding his right and end in submission. But for a moment everything is in suspension, nothing is accepted, and in this sketching and tearing apart of the cosmos, in the very action of so doing, the character gains "size," the tragic stature which is spuriously attached to the royal or the high born in our minds. The commonest of men may take on that stature to the extent of his willingness to throw all he has into the contest, the battle to secure his rightful place in the world.

There is a misconception of tragedy with which I have been struck in review after review, and in many conversations with writers and readers alike. It is the idea that tragedy is of necessity allied to pessimism. Even the dictionary says nothing more about the word than that it means a story with a sad or unhappy ending. This impression is so firmly fixed that I almost hesitate to claim that in truth tragedy implies more optimism in its author than does comedy, and that its final result ought to be the reinforcement of the onlooker's brightest opinions of the human animal.

For, if it is true to say that in essence the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and if this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity.

The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not possibly have won. The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is, by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior force.

Pathos truly is the mode for the pessimist. But tragedy requires a nicer balance between what is possible and what is impossible. And it is curious, although edifying, that the plays we revere, century after century, are the tragedies. In them, and in them alone, lies the belief-optimistic, if you will, in the perfectibility of man.

This applies to basically all tragedy, of course, but I think some tragedies are more hopeful than others. And I see that struggle in Ash’s, and a hope in Banana Fish that I don’t see in other more nihilistic stories. Ash fought to reclaim the humanity that people tried to deny him, and through Eiji realized his humanity was there all along.

Anyways, these are my complicated, all-over-the-place feelings on the ending. It’s fine for people to feel strongly either way, but also understand that when discussing such a heavy, fundamentally triggering work, it’s good to be sensitive to where people are coming from and interact with differing opinions with empathy. Many of us relate to characters like Ash, Eiji, and Yut-Lung, and since you don’t know where someone is coming from, let them express their feelings, and be kind.

I’ll post another meta on thematic impressions on Banana Fish later. But to each their own. Also please note, again, this is really just my opinion.

#ash lynx #banana fish #banana fish ep 24 #eiji okumura #asheiji #yut-lung lee #yue lung lee #sing soo ling #shorter wong #lao yeon-tai #lao yen-thai #banana fish meta #banana fish ending #ramblings #akimi yoshida

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ink-flavored · 5 years

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11/11/11 Tag Game (Triple Threat)

I was tagged by @bookenders @timetravelingpigeon and @oradall! Thank you!

Questions

What animal would be your familiar?

You can bring any one extinct species back, with the guarantee that it won’t become extinct again. Which animal do you bring back?

Top three favorite animals?

What’s your favorite road trip snack?

What’s one place you never want to visit?

If you had to live in the world of (one of) your WIP(s), how screwed would you be?

What’s the worst name for a character you’ve ever had?

What’s something your 8-year-old self would love about you?

What’s the stupidest thing your OC(s) has ever done?

How important is family to your OC(s)? To you?

What’s the song you want playing in the background every time you walk into a room?

Tagging: @rainy-rose @rrrawrf-writes @aslanwrites @tenacious-scripturient @waterfallwritings @quilloftheclouds @blueinkblot @lilquill @kobalt-ink and anyone else who feels like it!

My 33 answers below!

1. What baseball positions would your OCs be in if they all had to be on a baseball team? What’s the team name? What’s their mascot? What do the uniforms look like? (If you hate baseball or prefer a different sport, substitute said sport for baseball.)

Well, considering Park is literally on a baseball team, I think I’ll answer this one for him. He’s a pitcher for the North Carolina Sabretooth Cats, and if you can’t tell their mascot from that, then I don’t know what to tell you. Their uniform colors are white, gold, and black.

2. How good are your OCs at bowling? How good are you at bowling?

I, personally, suck at bowling. I’ve never been good at it, but I still have fun!

Before Hayden was on crutches, he was the bowling master. It’s harder for him to bowl now that he can’t really balance by himself, or hold a ball at the same time as he holds his crutches.

Park is also really great at bowling, something that Jamie (bad at bowling) will never forgive him for.

If bowling existed for Teconia, she would try her best, but not succeed. Xinya would be almost good. The occasional strike. Yu-Qi would attempt to chuck the bowling ball like a softball because it Made Her Lose.

3. Rewrite this in your style: “I picked up the book and read the back. He took it from me before I could protest. He never lets me have the cool stuff.

I took the book of the shelf and flipped it over to read the back, but I couldn’t get a single word in before he snatched it out of my hands. I pouted – he never lets me have the cool stuff.

4. What do you love about the last book you read?

The last book I read is called Policing the Black Man, a collection of essays edited by Angela J. Davis. I’m telling you this because you should read it. It’s not an easy read, and I’ve had to take several breaks from it because it’s very heavy, but it’s an eye-opening look at how race and law enforcement interact in America. It reinforced a lot of the things I already knew (the police are an institution founded on racism), but it’s teaching me so much more about why that is, and how we can fix it in the future. Highly recommended – especially if you’re white.

5. What are three things you love about your writing?

I really love my descriptions, character interactions, and settings.

6. What’s a word you love the sound of? What’s a word you really don’t like the sound of?

I have an entire list of words that I love, but I’ll pick my top three: Vivaciousness, Gossamer, and Facetious.

My least favorite word is flesh. I hate that word so much.

7. How do you like to begin your stories?

It depends on the story. Usually I like to jump into the action, to give the reader something to latch onto as soon as possible, and to get them to form questions at the same time.

8. What other forms of writing have you tried other than the one you’re working with now? (i.e. playwriting, screenwriting, poetry, interactive, novels, short fiction. etc.) How do you feel about them?

I’ve been writing a game! It’s been a super huge blast, and even though I know neither jack nor shit about coding, the program I’m using makes it very easy to write games without any coding. Use Twine! It’s the best!

Once I graduate (in June!!), I want to finish the game and upload it somewhere so I can get people playing it. Stay tuned for that!

9. What’s your favorite play/musical? Why? What’s your favorite part?

OH NO, I HAVE TO PICK ONE? Okay fine, it’s Chicago. I absolutely adore that musical, mostly because I love jazz. But also because the dark humor, satire, and well-rounded and unique women are top notch. I had the privilege of seeing it on Broadway in 2017, and I cannot recommend it enough.

10. What kind of stories do you like to read? How different are they from what you write?

Honestly, not much different at all. I read a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, and poetry – I write a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, and poetry. The only thing I write, but don’t read, is suspense/horror-ish stuff. Which sounds weird, but I listen to Welcome to Night Vale, which is about as much horror as I can handle.

11. What’s your favorite bit of worldbuilding from a story someone else wrote?

I’m a huge Tolkien nerd, and the whole concept of two trees that give light to the whole world is the best idea.

12. If you had to change the genre of your WIP, what would you change it to?

Oh man, this is a tough one. I think the easiest one would be changing Firesoul from fantasy to steampunk-fantasy, a la Perdido Street Station by China Miéville, but I’m not sure if that counts. The idea of an urban fantasy God-Dragon’s Wife is interesting, too.

13. What’s your favorite writing POV? First person? Third person limited? One or multiple POV’s?

I prefer Third Person Omniscient or Third Person Limited, but I will (very rarely) write in First Person, and even a little Second Person.

14. Have you thought of a title for your WIP? How did you pick it?

All my WIPs have titles, but the one that was hardest was Out of the Park, because it’s way too cliché and I only picked it because I needed something to call the project.

15. How easy is it for you to come up with outfits for your OCs?

Depends on the character. Xinya is the hardest, because all of her outfits have to be super elaborate and have to fit in with her culture, but Hayden? Jeans and a t-shirt. Easy.

16. Who is the oldest OC in your WIP? (Either in-universe or when you made them.)

In-universe, Xinya is the oldest human at thirty-three. Yu-Qi easily surpasses that by like ten thousand years, but she’s an eternal dragon deity, so.

In real life, Teconia is the oldest. Believe it or not, I made her for my first D&D campaign, and then decided I liked her so much I would make a whole story about her.

17. Have you ever written fanfiction (even if it wasn’t posted online?)

Yes! I write a lot of fan fiction, and though most of it hasn’t left my flash drive, I have an AO3 account, with a couple of works-in-progress. Come say hello!

18. What are your OC’s favorite colors? (List as many or as few as you want)

Teconia: bright orange, green, red

Xinya: dark blue, silver, light pink

Hayden: purple, yellow, lime green

Park: grass green, rusty red-brown, gold

19. What is the most significant/important/often-appearing object in your WIP? Or, what is one object that one of your OCs cherishes?

D…dragons. In almost all of them, it’s dragons. Can you tell that I like dragons?

20. What’s that one word that you can never seem to spell correctly?

This isn’t really a spelling thing, but I will never ever remember the difference between affect and effect. I’ve had it explained to me countless times, but I will never get it. I’ll be confused for the rest of my life.

21. Which arc do you like better/think is more interesting: a hero who starts slowly slipping into evil, or a villain who decides to try to be good?

I think both have their perks, but the villain that tries to do good has a special place in my heart because it shows that people can change, which is a dose of positivity that I think we all need right now.

22. Do you have any minor characters that are trying very, very hard to become one of the mains?

You know, I thought Yu-Qi would be happy staying the love interest. But now she wants to be a co-protagonist with Xinya. That’s what I get for making her literally a god.

23. Weirdest thing you’ve been inspired by?

I read a fan fiction once, and I thought, “Psh. I could write that better.”

And now I have The God-Dragon’s Wife.

24. Which character is closest to a self-insert?

In a way, all of my characters have some aspect of me in them, or some kind of trait I wish I had. Teconia has my kindness – the kindness that’s probably too nice. Park has the confidence I wish I had a lot of the time, but also the fear that I’ll never be good enough. I gave Hayden my anxiety (sorry), but also the determination to push through it that I need. Xinya is pleasant in polite company, but behind closed doors she’s a very angry character, which is something that I’ve been dealing with lately.

I guess I just don’t like the term “self-insert,” because all of my characters are me as much as they’re their own characters. They can be both.

25. Favorite season?

I’m assuming you mean my favorite season. It’s summer.

26. Do you eat appetizers when you go out to eat?

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: If they serve mozzarella sticks, you bet your ass I will eat every single one of those fuckers unless someone holds me back. Also, if you try and separate me from gyoza, you will have your arms separated from your body.

27. What is something you’re scared to write about?

Romance. I don’t know why, but I always feel like it comes off very stiff and impersonal when I write it, so I’ve been avoiding it for a long time.

28. Favorite fantasy book series? (I need recommendations ;))

The. Inheritance. Cycle. Ho-lee shit, I have been talking about this series since I was in first grade, and I will never shut up. The first book is Eragon by Christopher Paolini. If you read it (or if anyone reading this has read it before) feel free to drop in and scream at me. I’m always ready.

29. The most you’ve ever written at one time?

I don’t remember, actually! I think it might have been… when I wrote 8k words in a day?

30. When do you like to write?

Whenever I can, but mostly at night. Which is not doing my sleeping schedule any favors, I’ll tell you that.

31. Why is coming up with questions the most difficult part?

Good question. I have no idea.

32. Which character would cry over a marvel movie?

Teconia, for sure.

33. First character you created. Why?

My first character was a girl who had the werewolf-esque ability to turn into a dragon. She was pretty much my ideal self.

#annika talks #ask game #wow this is long #33 is a bigger number that i thought

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dweemeister · 5 years

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Imitation of Life (1934)

Black stories in American films could mostly be found in independently-financed “race films” that could not inspire wider distributions. Every now and then, blacks might figure prominently in a film from a major Hollywood studio, including John M. Stahl’s Imitation of Life. These major studio films including black main characters most often framed those characters through the perspectives of white protagonists (as Mammy, Hattie McDaniel is probably the only one in 1939′s Gone with the Wind smart enough to see through everyone’s pretensions); when the opposite occurred, blacks were still heavily stereotyped (see: 1936′s The Green Pastures). Both approaches are deemed unacceptable from absolutists, but I contend that these framing methods, especially the latter, carried financial and sociopolitical risks for those involved in these movies.

Imitation of Life - based on the Fannie Hurst (a white Jewish author) novel of the same name and better known for Douglas Sirk’s 1959 Technicolor remake; both films released by Universal – pivots towards its white protagonists. Yet the questions this adaptation pushes of racial identity remain relevant, now less controversial than upon the film’s release. This Imitation of Life could not have addressed racial segregation directly lest the film be subjected to bigoted outrage in the United States, so the film makes its stance clear in scenes devoid of overtly political language, yet championing racial equality, black pridefulness. With an imperfect message and imperfect characterization, this 1934 Imitation of Life is a milestone of depicting black women on-screen.

The opening scene sees widower Bea Pullman (Claudette Colbert) playing with daughter Jessie (Juanita Quigley as 3-year old Jessie; Marilyn Knowlden at age 8; Rochelle Hudson at age 18) in the bathtub. Just outside, Delilah Johnson (Louise Beavers) and mixed-race daughter Peola (unseen in these introductory minutes; Sebie Hendricks as 9-year old Peola; Fredi Washington at age 19) have run into car trouble. Bea, seeing how well Jessie gets along with Delilah, asks Delilah if she would like to be employed as her housekeeper– room and board included. Delilah accepts, and these two women and their daughters grow alongside each other. Several years later, Bea creates a company making use of Delilah’s pancake recipe (Delilah has consented to the company’s creation and the use of her likeness a la Aunt Jemima). Meanwhile, as their girls grow, so do their problems. Jessie is a slacker, using her flirtatiousness or innocence to get her way. For Peola, the dilemma is existential: she passes for white, repudiates her blackness (early in the film, Jessie is the first person to call Peola “black” out of cruelty), and refusing to consider her mother’s words to cherish that blackness.

Imitation of Life wants to be seen as Bea’s movie, with Claudette Colbert (who performs well) the top-of-the-bill star. Jessie’s lack of work ethic is certainly a problem. But their situations – then and now – are overshadowed by the tragic melodrama of Delilah and Peola, a mother-and-daughter relationship shredded by the expectations of those outside the household. This breakdown happens not because Delilah is a suffocating mother or that Peola is an overall terrible person. Delilah has little, but has much to live for. Success in making pancakes means little if her only child is suffering. Delilah enjoys the business she has with Bea, but she has poured all the fibers of her being into loving Peola. It is love that accepts Peola for what she always will be: mixed-race, which includes her blackness.

Peola, from an early age, overhears and sees how blacks are treated in the community, how white is the default. She is also aghast at her mother’s acceptance of her smiling subservience to Bea (Stahl’s Imitation of Life never makes Delilah and Bea social and, in an unconventional way, familial equals). In one of the most heartbreaking scenes, in a pre-Brown v. Board America, Delilah comes to Peola’s school as Peola had forgotten her raincoat. There must be a mistake, says the teacher, there are no colored children in this classroom. Delilah sees Peola hiding her face behind a book and asks the teacher: “Has she been passing?” Were those words, written by screenwriter William J. Hurlbut (1935′s Bride of Frankenstein), meant to be taken at face value? Regardless of what you think, that scene might have introduced many white moviegoers to how painful racial passing is. It is a denial of belonging, a rejection of self that disallows comfort in one’s holistic identity, and reinforced by racial supremacist practices that can be presented as beneficial for all. One only has to witness Peola’s plight to understand the injustice behind those lies.

Certainly, these are bold topics to be covering in a 1930s film. Where it falls short of Sirk’s remake is that this Imitation of Life – probably due to political circumstances in the country – covers less ground, concentrates more on its white characters, never even suggests the violent realities of being black and female in the U.S., and never quite adopts Peola’s point of view. Her struggles with identity are seen through her mother’s eyes, never the other way around. The Sirk Imitation of Life includes one of the earliest instances of black code-switching (alternating between different dialects or languages depending on the setting and those one is having a conversation with) in a major Hollywood studio movie. By showing this, Sirk’s remake enlightens the viewers to what extent Sarah Jane – the Peola character – hides an essential part of who she is.

Melodrama is more susceptible than most film genres or subgenres to mediocre acting. Colbert and Beavers form an interracial partnership that stoked controversy especially in the South (for these critics, the idea of a white woman entering into business with her black maid was unconscionable). Their friendliness, even outside the bounds of business and Beavers’ domestic subservience, always feels natural. Their intimacy is established early, providing for each other emotionally and spiritually. For Beavers, she despised cooking and the kitchen-centric roles that she played throughout her Hollywood career (liberal commentators in 1934 were already decrying her character as a jolly mammy-like stereotype). Yet for this one time, Beavers is allowed to give this obsolete racialized figure the dimensions they were not afforded by any previous movie. It is the performance of Beavers’ lifetime, and American cinema impoverished because of the refusal to give black actors like Beavers roles beyond a white producer, screenwriter, or casting director’s imagination.

Cast as the older Peola is not a white actor playing a white-passing mixed-race child, but Fredi Washington – who had African-American and European ancestors, and, when asked if she ever wanted to pass as white, she responded: “I have never tried to pass for white and never had any desire, I am proud of my race. In ‘Imitation of Life’, I was showing how a girl might feel under the circumstances but I am not showing how I felt.” For Washington (and Sebie Hendricks), her bottled, understandable rage in real life explodes on-camera. Even today, biracial or mixed-race dialectics not just in American films, but films across the world, are almost unheard of. So unsettling was Washington’s performance and these themes that her character embodies that the Hays Office – which, under Joseph Breen, began to more stringently enforce the Motion Picture Production Code – marked Hurlbut’s first screenplay draft for miscegenation. Cut from that first draft and never appearing in the film are racial epithets and a scene where a black boy is almost lynched after being accused of wooing a white woman. Breen only backed down from his constant opposition to the revised screenplay after learning the film was already too far into production to be changed.

Both the Stahl and Sirk adaptations of Imitation of Life might be dismissed for peddling in racial stereotypes in a narrative that earnestly presses questions about racial passing, identity, and female friendship. Yet, in this 1934 original version – without the infrastructure and language of civil rights activism that would emerge later in the twentieth century – it carries bonds and burdens that reflected the lives of those without much cultural or political power. Imitation of Life retains its emotional impact today, never purporting to answer its most difficult discourses. The white protagonists within know not how to address those discourses, as they are not armed with the vocabulary to soothe the wounds in Delilah and Peola’s hearts. In that sense, little has changed since the 1930s. To make an honest attempt for healing is never in vain, as long as those efforts involve understanding societal and one’s personal contributions to the anguish that exists.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

#Imitation of Life #John M. Stahl #Claudette Colbert #Louise Beavers #Warren William #Rochelle Hudson #Ned Sparks #Fredi Washington #Dorothy Black #Juanita Quigley #Marilyn Knowlden #Sebie Hendricks #William Hurlbut #Fannie Hurst #TCM #My Movie Odyssey

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originallonemagpie · 5 years

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The annual Xmas end of year meme

1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?

Fought in an armoured tournament, won an SCA fencing tournament.

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

As I say every year, I don't make them. The way you live your life is for life, not just New Year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not that I know of.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes, very much so- my ex (and mother of my ex-stepson if you want to look at it that way), Gina. She was three years younger than me, only 46 at the time. That's somewhat... hard to take in, at that age.

5. What countries did you visit?

None outside the mainland UK.

6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?

Calm and a lack of backstabbing would be nice. Satisfaction. Such limited ambitions as I have in the SCA would be nice.

It'd be nice to be a convention guest again.

7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Several, related to death and backstabbing. June 9th maybe qualifies, being a good day of fighting demo in good weather, followed by the nearest to hypoing I've had in three years, and it being Gina's memorial day.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting a regular paying gig. I hope I can keep it.

Fighting for Dame Leonet - Lynette - in Coronet *the morning after being in quite a bad state) and getting nine kills for her (albeit one discounted due to a hold being called, and so officially only 8)

9. What was your biggest failure?

I'm sure there are too many to choose from. We worked out this time last that by the end of this year we'd be debt-free. We are, of course, exactly as far behind as we were this time last year.

The warranted-as-a-Marshal thing never happened.

If I don't keep the regular paying gig, then we'll retroactively know that was it, though.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing major this time, just the usual ongoing. I'm annoyed that my HBAC number rose in the summer, and there was a bit of a mild concussion after doing the Sunday breakfast at Yule Ball.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Farpoint, my longbow.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Lesley of course. Anne, without whom I doubt we could live; Lynette, who sponsored my Provost prize-play; Yannick, Helena Vestfjord and Vitus and family; Catherine Sherwell, who turned out so great on the fencing field in the summer; Sue Griffiths; Rebekah Wells, who's made such nice stuff for Lesley... probably lots of other people.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Well if you've been following this page, you can probably take a wild stab in the dark at the convention backstabber and SCA ones too.

14. Where did most of your money go?

As last year- Bills and arrears and SCA adventures.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I'm not sure I'm capable of being really excited about anything any more. Let down too many times.

16. What song will always remind you of 2018?

I dunno.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? Both; my extremes seem to be swinging wider. Mainly it's angrier and more hurt rather than sadder.

ii. thinner or fatter? Exactly the same, 12 stone, by intentional maintenance, as it's my idea weight.

iii. richer or poorer? Richer, if you can call it that.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Archery with Farpoint.

Fencing/choreography/self defence workshops teaching and coaching, as I always say.

Orgies and bisexual depravity

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Having needles stuck in my eyeballs. Been stabbed in the back and thus mired in bitterness. (Yes, I know all about the mindfulness stuff to let things go, and I try, but it just... doesn't work for that. I have a long memory and a capacity for forgiveness limited only to those I love.)

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Playing Assassin's Creed Unity on the sparkly new Xbox One. And still working.

21. How will you be spending New Year's?

Hoping the Dr Who special isn't shit. Hanging out in York.

As always, I like to write a bit of something completely new on January 1st, and maybe watch something completely new,

22. Did you fall in love in 2018?

I've said in previous years that I fall in love anew every day, or every time I see the person, with those I've fallen in love with (so, Lesley, obviously)- but if you mean with a new person, no.

23. How many one-night stands?

None.

24. What was your favorite TV program(s)?

Star Trek Discovery, Westworld, Lucifer, The Flash, Legends Of Tomorrow, Murdoch Mysteries, Dr Who, etc

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Ah, yes... You have been paying attention to previous answers, right?

26. What was the best book you read?

Probably Red Country by Joe Abercrombie (fiction) or Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein (nonfiction)

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

The score for Outlander, maybe.

28. What did you want and get?

Finally, regular paid contracts! I just hope I can keep them next year.

An Xbox One.

The rank of Provost in the Academy of Defence.

29. What did you want and not get?

The warranting as Rapier Marshal that I was told in the spring I was ready for.

To be a guest at a convention again, as I had been booked for.

To visit my dad in Scotland as planned.

30. What was your favourite film of this year?

Deadpool 2

31. What did you do on your birthday?

It's next week, so hasn't happened yet. Last year... I think I went to look for bargains in CEX.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Putting Lynette on the ID throne.

Not failing to get things done.

Otherwise, examine the preceding answers and take a wild fucking guess.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?

Clothed. Occasionally with armour. Or just Sith (not a typo)

34. What kept you sane?

Nothing.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I dunno, honestly.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

Brexit, obviously.

37. Who did you miss?

The ones who are too far away, the ones who are dead, and the one who moved from the first category to the second.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

Alka, maybe, or Baby Alex?

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018:

Not so much learned as had some - like “Trust no-one” - reinforced.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

We returned to port with sorrow in our chests / An evil shadow followed us on every quest (Captain Morgan's Revenge, Alestorm)

#me #personal #meme #end of year #2018

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k-bloggs · 6 years

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Have an embarrassing read at something i tried to write a couple years ago. back when i was happy lol

My First Blog. – 20/11/16

Okay, so here goes. This is my first ever attempt at anything like this really. I have written before in many different formats and styles but I don’t know what’s come over me lately but I feel inspired to write again and I know as well as anyone else this isn’t a typical feeling that comes along every so often so by fuck I am gonna’ grab it and take a chance and see where I end up. I literally just unlocked and locked my phone again there because I’m trying to have a proper focused dedicated mind to attempting this. I’m not even too sure what I’m supposed to do in a blog, what even is a blog? I don’t know but I know that I’ve wanted to start making a journal of things that are going on in my life but due the fact I am extremely lazy this may be very seldom so the next update could be quite a while so don’t expect anything too frequent.

Like I said I’m not even too sure what I am meant to be doing or how I am even meant to go about it, I am a firm believer in the fact that writing doesn’t have to be performed or practised in any particular way. That there is essentially no wrong or right way in how it is carried out or laid out, but I feel like I just want to do something a bit more productive with my life from now on. A long childhood friend has recently started doing animations and making his own videos and uploading them to YouTube and to be quite honest they are great, its so great to see something like that, the thing about Ryan Is that our friendship took a bit of a standstill when we were kids must have been between the ages of 8 and 10 at least. Ryan and his family were emigrating to New Zealand and as a kid yeah you see this as a big thing but you don’t realise the likelihood of seeing them as often is completely and utterly abolished due to the fact you have no idea how much it would cost to fly out there. Ryan must be around 18 or 19 now and I just turned 20 there this year, and its great to see we still have so much in common, to just spit it out and be clear after seeing that this is what he into it kind of inspired me to get back to what I love doing. I love writing. I’m not so much of a reader which is the weird thing, again all down to my laziness, if a book doesn’t get my attention within the first paragraph or so I find it very hard to stick with it or even go back to it if I do manage to finish a chapter. The same applies for the likes of articles and campaigns and any form of literature really. But I thought hey you know what it’s about time I started doing what I love and even more its about time I start love what im doing.

Just to be clear, this year has probably been one of the biggest milestones of my life. I finally did it, I finally got a girlfriend. Fuck. It’s still weird even saying that, so yeah I will leave the ultimate love story of the century to maybe the next blog or edition whatever the fuck you want to call this. This is mainly just for me to get to grips with the style that im going to write in, if I do choose to carry on with this (Which I feel like I will). If anyone reads this yeah, awesome im happy someone out there is reading my stuff but to be honest this if for me as much as it is for anyone else out there. I want to see what I can do and if this really is the best time to get back into writing, basically one side of me is saying yeah what the hell go for it you need something like this but at the same time as there always is, the polar opposite emotion of just fear I guess? Not wanting to pick something up again only to go off my track record and drop this 5 minutes later like I do with everything else? But hey its 7.15pm on a frosty Sunday night in November, what else am I going to do? Sit, procrastinate and wish I had of done something useful.

Not that im going off track because essentially there isn’t much to this article its just me spamming a lot of stuff down so who ever reads this can kind of of get a grip of where I am right now in life and basically why I’m doing this. So here goes, I dropped out of college for last week. For the second time…

Yeah im officially a two time college dropout, nothing t be proud of I assure you, but im just waiting for the opening credits to roll ad realise im in the first scene of a really shitty coming of age movie where im the older brother your parents don’t want you to turn out like.

But yeah, I left school at 16 and went to a technical college, basically an establishment which offers a-levels to people who didn’t get back into school or else didn’t want to go back to school. I studied a 2 year course in creative media production and honestly it was awesome, it was so fucking cool and the course didn’t have that many uninteresting or boring areas, but yeah you guessed it I was lazy didn’t do any of the work and just took advantage of the whole independent learning aspect of it and never bother showing up for class plus a whole pile of other steamy shit went on that year that we are just not gonna discuss at this moment in time. But coming towards the end of the second year when the course was gonna finish and In a couple months after that I would figure out if I got the grades to get into the uni of my choice I asked my teachers if they would be wiling to let me come back and repeat the second year of the course. They were more than happy to, they gave me exactly what I needed, a fresh slate and a chance to correct myself, and you know what happened? Yeah your right I totally blew it and fucked up again just hated the thought of working or studing in media for any longer. Like I loved making short films and writing screenplays and everything I even liked some of the assignments but basically I had it in my head I didn’t want a career from this anymore due to the fact it was something I loved so much and it was basically kicking my ass all day, all fucking week long. The only thing that got me through that repeated year of college was the girl of my dreams and we weren’t even going out yet. But as said before there is more to come with her, she deserves the whole word so the least I can do is dedicate one sole piece of writing to me and her and our story, truth is there are not enough words in the world to even begin to describe who she is and how she thinks and works and even jus to describe how she came into my life, yes a combination of letters on a page or screen may work for some people but no, not for her. This girl is a queen from another realm, she is a princess from a faraway kingdom, she is an angel from heavens further and beyond the highest clouds. She is the love of my life and that is the only way to explain her and who she is. But getting back to the educational fuck ups In my life, here goes the explanation to how I arrived here, 5 days after dropping out of another course. This time I was studying IT, you know trying to go down that route of career, thinking of my future and what not? Yeah that didn’t go to plan either, I basically rejected a full time promotion on good money and I hadn’t regretted anything as much in my life. Basically college was another fuck up and let’s just say I managed to get out and finished a bit earlier this time rather than waste my own time and anyone else’s. Plus, if I carried on with these next two years that would 5 years of studying A-levels just for me to be a whining little bitch about how I didn’t want to go to university. I am just at the stage of my life now, not where I am considering moving out and settling down but some things don’t appeal to me the same as they used to. Going to uni and living and experiencing that independence in life and finding a career path and devoting the rest of my life to something I may not even be happy at? Na, no thanks not for me. Not at this moment in time anyway. For right now I’m happy enough to keep my eyes and ears open for what all jobs are available for me and what foot to put next in front of me. Get a couple extra pounds in my pay check each fortnight and you know that might do for year or so. Maybe get back on the studying boat in a year or two and carry on with the IT. That is, you know if I don’t become like a stereotypical copy of a character you would expect to see in a ‘Community’ reboot.

I was watching a clip of Jim Carey giving a speech a couple of days ago and basically what I got from it was that he had returned to his old school or college or university or whatever in order to give a commencement speech or he was receiving his award or something anyway not really vitally important. What is important is what he said in his speech, basically his message he was getting across as in most motivational speeches, is the reinforcement of using fear to help you rather than to put you off, accepting fear and accepting that no matter what you will fail, but that’s okay and if it wasn’t for the fact that accepting it you wouldn’t have the drive to reach for greatness like so many greats have done before you, whether they have made it to great fame and fortune or if it was just the regular girl from a small town who made a life and career for herself because it’s what she wanted to do. Anyway, Carey says, “You will only ever have two choices, love or fear. Choose love and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.” Basically what Carrey is telling us here is to embrace fear, don’t avoid it, stare down the barrel of its gun charge at it and conquer it, but never let it conquer you, never let fear become the objective always make sure it rises no more than an obstacle in your course, a mountain you must climb or a hurdle you must leap over. Defeating fear is never the final piece of the puzzle. Like walking in a straight line, you put your left leg forward and then do exactly the same with your right, repeat until you arrive where you need to be? Well, fear is that first big step. The first big step into a new world and a new environment and mind set and who knows what it’s going to throw at you. But you need to remember that it’s there to make sure you don’t triumph in whatever you set out to do, but you can’t move forward without taking that step. Then comes the next step, failure. And as stated before yeah, your gonna fail, your gonna fail and you’re going to fuck up and mess up and trip up, over and over and over again, this is the repetitive steps the same as walking that we take to go in a straight line, the same works with this. Without taking the same repetitive bullshit same old story steps in life, we will never reach the finish line that is success.

#blogging #cringe #first blog #wiriting

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stormhavenmedia · 4 years

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It is hard now for some to remember that short months ago we were free peoples living in Democratic countries. We have been locked in our houses and muzzled over a Virus with an Actual morbidity rate possibly less than the seasonal flu once the deceptive accounting is removed. Lets take a non exhaustive look at how we got here because in that understanding lies Key to our freedom.

Before we dive into the opening act of our global paranoia play, let us set the stage with a series of simple facts.

At 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 30, 1938 an enterprising young radio jockey named Orson Welles managed to convince a huge segment of the population that Martians were landing at Grovers Mill New Jersey. He accomplished this with a single broadcast on one radio station of a the adaptation of a book that had been in print for 40 years. Our entertainment media has churned out a literally endless series of movies and TV based on Viral outbreaks, the sheer volume of the zombie genre alone is stupefying. One random example example of the type;

In the film a Virus emanating from China and threatening the world is confronted by a heroic team from the World Health Organization led by Lawrence Fishburn. he almost looks familiar..but I digress.

(L-r) LAURENCE FISHBURNE as Dr. Ellis Cheever and SANJAY GUPTA, MD as himself in the thriller CONTAGION a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

Our education system has replaced critical thinking with critical race theory. A basic understanding of science is pushed aside in favor of an ideological program broadly refereed to as Identity Politics. Gender Theory advances the idea that government approved “human health” dogma should take precedence at all times over objective reality. And that to fail to strictly adhere to the ideological norms in any way “endangers marginalized people” and is indeed a form of”violence”. Privilege theory advances the idea that the basic rights we have fought for generations are a unearned “privilege” that we should be prepared to surrender for what our technocratic betters tell us is the greater good.

When coupled with the new electronic public square these concepts were used to advance the idea that anyone who disagrees or questions should be demonized and “cancelled”. Any group or individual that questions is “alt right” Nazi” “racist” “something phobic”. Speakers are banned from public venues if their ideas are deemed “problematic”. Only certain facts are permissible. Any deviation from the accepted ideology can result in loss of everything, job social standing. A University of Alberta was recently fired for stating that “People should be able to express their gender in whatever manner they wish (but) I don’t agree with biological sex being irrelevant,” she said. “I think treating biological sex as irrelevant has some really serious policy implications. As an example, housing trans-identified men in women’s prisons is not fair to women prisoners and I think it puts women at risk.”

A UBC Board member was forced to resign for simply “liking” a tweet condemning massive random violence and murder being committed by the self designated Antifa

https://twitter.com/ubc_students/status/1273663974735675393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1273663977021562880%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ubyssey.ca%2Fnews%2Fubc-board-chair-backlash-tweets%2F

Objective reality no longer exists , everything is partisan narrative relative to the position of the observer. This has all been completely normalized in the last decade and by design or happy accident it made whats happening around you now now possible.

Scene one, China

The First rumors and fragmentary reports of a Virus outbreak in China surfaced in the first days of January. We were told a seafood market had been closed. The messaging at that time in the West and from the WHO was, Don’t worry, and if you are worried your probably a racist.

Within days a WECHAT video message from a Chinese doctor, Li Wenliang reportedly an Ophthalmologist working in Wuhan Central Hospital surfaced in the West. The message discuses a dangerous SARS type Virus that was capable of human to human transmission. Reports then circulated through the West that the Doctor had been punished by the draconian CCP for being the worlds “whistle-blower”. These reports were strangely detailed given the absolute control of information exercised by the CCP. Li Wenliang is reported to have died, variously on either the 5th 6th or 7th of February 2020 bravely fighting the SARS-Cov2 Virus, he thoughtfully gave us one last picture helpfully confirming his identity.

It is alleged that 5 of his colleagues died as well. Now this in itself is strange. Li is reported to have been 34 and in excellent health. So he would be a massive statistical anomaly. Why 5 of his colleagues would also die given that their are few credible reports of health care workers dying in other jurisdictions.It is also strange that all of this would be know in the West given that posting the wrong comment on the CCP controlled version of Facebook can land you in Jail or restrict your ability to work or travel.

What this act did was loose the idea that there was a highly contagious Virus and that the Chinese Government was lying about it.

At around the same time videos started surfacing all over social media purporting to show the swift and deadly action of this mystery Virus. People dropping in their tracks was a popular theme. This is of course not at all what happens to those afflicted with SARS-COV2, but it was brilliant at nurturing the Viral dread spreading in the West.

Next we were treated to film of the Chinese regime building huge emergency hospitals working day and night desperately trying to beat the massive outbreak we were told was inevitably coming. It is unclear weather these buildings were actually completed after they had fulfilled there propaganda purpose there is no evidence that they were used.

Scene 2 Iran

At this point Iran had recorded 429 deaths from Covid. Mass graves for 429 people in a country with daily mortality in the country in the thousands. Mass graves in a country that 4 decades ago managed to individually bury thousands of soldiers killed in a single day on the battle field during its brutal war with Iraq. But do put a pin in this , mass graves will pop up later in our play, in the context of Iran they were never mentioned again, the purpose having been served.

Strangely there exists online a report from a website called Iran News dated December 3rd 2019, one month before the supposed patient zero in China “A senior Iranian Health Ministry official said that an ongoing flu epidemic has claimed the lives of 56 people since its outbreak more than a couple of months ago….Due to influenza, 273 individuals have been hospitalized and 19 have lost their lives” in the past week alone, said Alireza Raisi, the deputy health minister as reported by Press TV.”..

https://irannewsdaily.com/2019/12/flu-epidemic-claims-lives-in-iran/

According to the CDC itself with an average annual Influenza mortality rate of 17.23 for every 100k Iran has about 14 000 influenza deaths at time of posting the total deaths from corona stand at 18 000. Like many jurisdictions Iran has recorded a record low number of deaths from Tuberculosis and all other respiratory diseases this year.

Scene 3 Europe

Next up was the outbreaks in the West. Italy and Spain were the main protagonists. We were treated to tales of overflowing hospitals with bodies in the corridors

Hundreds of matching headlines appeared daily across the MSM spectrum. Repeated 10 times a day on the cable news channels.

The message was reinforced on social media by a Viral Facebook Post from an account purportedly of an American woman living in Bergamo Italy, epicenter of the apocalypse

This post was then used to spin of a hundred msm articles

So lets pause and have a look at Ms Christina Higgins. Despite her happy family photo banner and profile pics you will find not one candid family photo, no photos of her apparent children not one photo of work, or dinner, or jokes or any of the other things most FB profiles contain. After the viral post of March 10th the profile posts again regularly about the apocalypse until the 23rd of March when it shares one more dire prediction about Bergamo. The account then goes completely silent until June 3rd, right after career criminal George Floyd is killed by apparent police misconduct in Minneapolis with a rambling post about Anti Black racism being the new pandemic, sound familiar. Since then it has posted BLM agit-prop.

None of the dire warning from Italy and Spain was ever true. Not the overflowing hospitals with patients left to die

“The system is holding up, I absolutely deny a selection of patients to be treated», says the regional health councilor Giulio Gallera interviewed by Radio 24 answering the question about a possible choice of patients to be treated during triage .

“We have many hospitals in situations of extraordinary pressure – he explains – but the system is holding up”. “If in some hospitals there are no places available – the Councilor underlines – the regional system intervenes and the choice is made on who to intubate first and who to move and intubate in another hospital”. «Ours is a race against daily time – he adds – which so far fortunately we are winning. The number of places we make available manages to be greater than needs, but it is increasingly difficult ».

Giulio Gallera Regional Health Director

Not the staggering death count

“The way Italy registers deaths explains their increased coronavirus case/fatality ratio, according to one expert and a report from Italy’s National Institute of Health (ISS).

Citing this report (in English here), Professor Walter Ricciardi, scientific adviser to Italy’s minister of health said:

“The way in which we code deaths in our country is very generous in the sense that all the people who die in hospitals with the coronavirus are deemed to be dying of the coronavirus […] On re-evaluation by the National Institute of Health, only 12 per cent of death certificates have shown a direct causality from coronavirus, while 88 per cent of patients who have died have at least one pre-morbidity – many had two or three,”

https://off-guardian.org/2020/03/23/italy-only-12-of-covid19-deaths-list-covid19-as-cause/?fbclid=IwAR34LheKR8UYx7PTNFCdO0bAk3Q1QvlEziLMK_lkaIwL-X6ex-iNym8-Xg8

The other fact the media went out of its way not to cover was the massive physical connection of these countries and Iran to China through the Belt and Road

What is notable from this exact time period in March is the fact that we were already being sold the “Great Reset”

Scene 3 North America

So we had a replay of our Iranian Mass Graves in New York

“The city has used the location as a public cemetery for over 150 years, burying unclaimed people and those whose loved ones can’t afford private burials. ”

Politifact

Then we had some more Hospital scenes,

It was actually reused footage from Italy, now that’s environmentally conscious

We had more sweaty videos of serious faced medical personal talking about swamped hospitals and the doom to come

“Some hospitals in the biggest city in New York state have been so overrun with dying patients that they’ve brought in refrigerated trucks to handle the bodies.”

Well that is worrying so RT set up live feeds outside these devastated Hospitals, prepare yourself for the worlds most stunningly boring disaster movies ever made

youtube

The deception is ongoing.

Many “Public Health” agencies have already admitted to grossly inflating the actual numbers of people that have died from Covid by using what could euphemistically be called creative accounting

Scientists raised the alarm after discovering anyone who tests positive and later dies is currently included in the Public Health England numbers – even if they are hit by a bus months later.

Every time you hear of a the rise in New Cases of Covid19 you are being deceived. The number you are being given is the number of people who have tested positive, using questionable tests, for the presence of the Virus, this is not a Case of anything. You can have the Virus without having the disease. All of us would test positive for the presence of many and varied Viruses, we would not be said to have a case of the diseases associated with them

Case Epidemiology; A countable instance in the population or study group of a particular disease Disease [dĭ-zēz´] a definite pathological process having a characteristic set of signs and symptoms.

Asymptomatic people are not Cases.

Resistance to the draconian lockdowns is demonized and minimized, although they cant even seem to agree with themselves any more

actual number +50k

They will not stop until we stop them. This is an information war so lets inform our fellow citizens in a calm rational matter. Many of the patently unreasonable and unconstitutional and unscientific restrictions they have placed on us cannot be legally upheld so get into the courts and defeat them. REFUSE to wear a mask, boycott any merchant that enforces their own mask policy and support all who refuse to comply with the government mandated ones.

Free your mind and your ass will follow

William Ray

Manufacturing COVID-19, How Fear Conquered the West It is hard now for some to remember that short months ago we were free peoples living in Democratic countries.

#lockdowncanada #Controla virus #Covid pandemic #covid-19 Canada #End the lockdowns #lockdowns Masks #NoMask

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jamaalw · 4 years

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Generational Curses – Inheriting Demons From Ancestors

5thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;6and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:5-6)

I once prayed for deliverance over a young child who was staying with his aunt. The aunt, who herself as demonic issues, contacted me to ask if I think her nephew has demons. The aunt suspected there must be something wrong with the boy (about between the age of 5-10) on a spiritual level when he asked his cousin, who is her daughter, to kiss him. That’s strange, what would compel a boy to ask his own cousin to kiss him? So I prayed for deliverance for him and sure enough, an evil spirit manifested.

Children can have demons as a result of the parents (or grandparents or great-grandparents) sins. We suspected one of his forefathers may have brought this perverse spirit into his family line. The aunt and I discussed what could have open the door to the enemy and she told me that her forefather was involved in incest.

Generational curses or intergenerational (or “familial) spirits were something I was a tad bit skeptical about as I thought it is not explicitly clear in scriptures (although conversely, scriptures do not contradict the idea of generational curses). But how else can one explain how a young child can have an evil spirit? It couldn’t be by his own sins because he was just a child. In Jesus’ ministry of a severely demonized boy, Jesus finds out from the father that his son had been in such a horrible condition “from childhood” (Mark 9:21). The demonization was therefore not the result of the boy’s own sin or his choice to worship false gods. The spirits were passed onto him from some other source, which most likely is his family. I have expelled evil spirits from many other people that confirms to me that people can indeed inherit evil spirits from their ancestors. So it’s not always by the person’s own sins a person is demonized. We are not guilty because of our ancestors’ sins but they can surely affect us.

Studies in non-Christian religions and occultism reveal transference from ancestors to be a fact. But what about what the Bible reads? Jewish heads of households knew whatever they did would affect their families for generations. God told them so multiple times (Exodus 20:5-6; Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9b-10; Deuteronomy 23:2; Deuteronomy 28:15-18; Numbers 14:18; Jeremiah 16:10-11; Jeremiah 32:18). In times of trouble, they stood before God and confessed the sins of their family, even of their countryman. Cases of this are found in Nehemiah 1:4-9; Jeremiah 14:20; and Daniel 9:1-19. The Jews knew that the grievous sins of the fathers could affect future generations. The principle is that family sin or judgment for that sin flows through the family line, affecting the succeeding generations who had nothing to do with the sins in question. We can see examples of this by observing the sons of the priest Eli (1 Samuel 2:12-36), the consequence of Ahab’s sins passed on to his son’s house (1 Kings 21:29), the descendants of Shemaiah punished because their father taught rebellion against the Lord (Jeremiah 29:32), and the trouble David had with his sons (part of the punishment from God for David’s sin was the death of his child as written in 2 Samuel 12:14-18) – that the consequence of a father’s sin falls into the lap of future generations (Jeremiah 32:18). It is God’s prerogative how He deals with punishment for unresolved sin. One means of this may be to allow the enemy to affect the descendants of unrepentant sinners.

One Christian author gives this insight:

Anyone who works long enough with people will notice that certain family behaviors, both desirable and undesirable, are repetitive. Thus, a father who models discipline and faithfulness may inculcate these traits in his son. On the other hand, a man who is given to indulgence in pornography, or a man who cannot control his temper, may pass on these weaknesses to his children. Such traits vary from physical indulgences to criticism, bitterness and anger. Of course, these are mostly behaviors learned by a child in a family-of-origin context. But what if distinct traits of a grandfather show up in a grandson even though the two have had very little contact? Are these transmitted genetically? Perhaps. Very likely both genetic predisposition and learned behavior are interrelated. One reinforces the other.

There is a third possibility: the activity of “familial” spirits that operate in connection with family lineage. Here’s the given: The devil attacks and exploits unconfessed sin. If sin occurs and remains unresolved, especially sin related to idolatry or witchcraft, the enemy has a legal right of accusation. Combining the biblical principle of the visitation of the sins of the fathers on the children with clinical data from deliverance sessions, we observe a connection between genealogical sin and oppression in current generations. Satan’s goal is to perpetuate his strongholds. But let me make one point very clear: Even if I have a heritage saturated with sin and iniquity and have to deal with the harassment of familiar spirits, I am not personally responsible and accountable for those ancestral sins. I am held responsible for my own moral compromises.

Here’s a hypothetical illustration: Let’s say that my great-grandmother practiced occultism. She would have consorted with spirits and received certain powers of divination. She went to ger grave unrepentant and unredeemed, her sin unresolved before God. What happens to those divining and deceiving spirits when she dies? Where do they go? They will probably try to stay within the family. The typical scenario is that these spirits will transfer to the daughter or granddaughter, or cross over to the male line. The spirits claim a right to remain in the family based on the unrepentant or unresolved sin. A generation or two later, I enter the picture and come into the kingdom of God. If, at the time of conversion, I do not sufficiently separate and break from these spiritual connections, I may experience some significant oppression and resistance to my growth in grace. Typically, this is evidenced by significant struggles to read the Bible, to pray or to experience the joy of the Lord.

(Tom White, The Believer’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare, 92-93)

Christian authors, Ankerberg and Weldon wrote:

“We know that certain sins committed by the parents in the physical realm can seriously affect-even deform or kill- an unborn child. This would include alcohol or drug addiction and many sexually transmitted diseases like herpes, syphilis, and AIDS. We also know that the physical and emotional sins of parents can also leave lasting scars on their children as in incest, emotional withdrawal, and physical abuse. Can we be sure, then, that the spiritual area is exempt from visiting the sins of the parents on the children? Why are some children “born” psychic?… ” (The Coming Darkness, 208).

Dr. Kurt E Koch, theologian and author, lists scores of examples where children of occult practitioners have suffered emotionally even though they were not directly involved in such practices themselves, wrote “It is actually quite usual for such a marriage [of occultists] to produce children who are severely oppressed” (Occult ABC, 275).

He also noted:

“It is indeed a fact established by some 600 examples from pastoral experience with those involved in the occult, that prolonged occult practice creates a corresponding psychological constitution, a susceptibility, an inclination, a breeding-ground for various psychological disorders. In a long series of cases it has been possible to establish that occult subjection is an especially marked psychological constitution lasting through four succeeding generations of the same family” (Christian Counseling and Occultism, 117-118).

Moreover, he wrote:

“It is clear in a number of cases that charmers, spiritists, and sorcerers bring oppression on their descendants to the third and fourth generations. This accords with the second of the Ten Commandments, which speaks of “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate God” (Occult ABC, 276).

He gives many examples, found in his book Christian Counseling and Occultism, which are indicative of the impact one person can have on his own family and even succeeding generations:

“(Case 60) Although she had a [magical] charm for every disease of man and beast, she was unable to control the psychological sufferings of her own posterity. From her own children down to her grand-children, an enormous variety of psychological disorders are to be observed….”

“(Case 61) Her grandmother was a charmer for many years. Her oldest son, the father of the girl who came to me, was harassed by suicidal thoughts. The second son hanged himself. This first granddaughter had fits of mania….”

“(Case 62) After years of successful [demonic] healing practice, his own mind became disturbed. He was taken to a mental institution. Two of his children the same fate. The whole family had psychological disturbances for several generations.”

“(Case 63) Her grandfather worked with magic books and conducted occult experiments. Finally he became blind. He burned his magic books and warned his children that they must not continue his occult practices because he had become blind as a result of them. In the following generation as astounding picture of psychological abnormalities presented itself. The son was an alcoholic. The granddaughter is a clairvoyant…. Five of his grandchildren are mentally abnormal… some with psychoses.”

The Following are examples found in Occult ABC:

“Ex 304 While I was on a speaking tour in the province of Santa Catarina, Brazil, a woman Salvation Army officer came to me for counseling. She was of psychic disposition and encountered severe attacks during the night and when praying or reading her Bible. In my addresses, I mentioned some examples similar to events in her own family, and she therefore had confidence in me. As she told the story of her life, the following facts came out. Her grandmother and her mother were active spiritists. Her mother’s brother had committed suicide. Her father had been killed in an explosion. Her own husband had been killed in a road accident. Her eldest son also had a fatal accident.”

These are not uncommon occurrences found in a spiritist’s family: accidents, suicides, mental disorders, etc. which are severe attacks from satan’s kingdom. Frequent accidents and suicides seem to be a familiar phenomenon in the world of the occult.

Again, I quote Ankerberg and Weldon:

“Many secular researchers have also noted there is a hereditary factor for psychic predisposition: Dr. Fodor, the psychoanalyst/ psychic researcher referred to earlier, observes: “In most cases mediumship can be traced as a hereditary gift. If the heredity is not direct it is to be found in ancestors or collaterals.”

The compilation by the editors of Psychic magazine- Psychics: In Depth Interviews- reveals a consistent pattern. Most psychics interviewed admitted familial involvement. Famous mediums Arthur Ford, Eileen Garrett, and Douglas Johnson all had aunts who were mediums or psychics; Irene Hughes and Peter Hurkos both had psychic mothers; and virtually all 19 members of witch Sybil Leek’s nuclear and extended family were sympathetic to psychicism.

As with Edgar Cayce, Olga Worrall, and other well-known occultists, the predisposition often surfaces during childhood, especially in experiences with spirits. In the book cited above, Jeane Dixon, Eileen Garrett, Irene Hughes, Douglas Johnson, and “Kreskin” (who denies he is a psychic even though he practices automatic writing) also encountered psychic events at a young age” (The Coming Darkness, 211-212).

Dr. Fodor confirms that even babies and small children of occultists can incur a curse of because of their parents’ sins:

“Inherited mediumship usually appears spontaneously and early in life, like artistic gifts. The five-month-old son of Mrs. Kate Fox-Jenken wrote automatically. Raps occurred on his pillow and on the iron railing of his bedstead almost everyday. The seven month-old infant of Mrs. Margaret Cooper gave communications through raps. Aksakof in Animisme et Eperitisme records many instances of infantile mediumship. The child Alward moved tables that were too heavy for her normal strength. The nephew of Seymour wrote automatically when nine days old.

In Bonnemere’s Les Canisards and in Figuier’s Histoire du Merveilleux many cases are quoted of Canisard babies of 14-15 months of age and of infants who preached in French in the purest diction” (Fodor, Encyclopedia of Psychic Science, 234).

The following is an example of a Christian demonized because of what his ancestors were involved in:

“Ex. 47. A Bible student in the Philippines had been a Christian for about one year. As I prayed with him, a rough voice called out of him, ‘He belongs to us. His whole family has belonged to us for more than 200 years.’ ‘No,’ I retorted, ‘he belongs to the Lord Jesus to whom he’s surrendered his life.’ The voices spoke again, ‘That’s not true. His ancestors have subscribed themselves to us. He is ours by right.’ The conversation revealed that the ancestors of this unhappy student had not only practised sorcery, but some of them had even subscribed themselves to the devil with their own blood. This was the reason why, in spite of his conversion, the student had become possessed” (Occult Bondage and Deliverance, 70-71).

In Demon Possession and the Christian, theologian Dr. C. Fred Dickason details many examples of what occult practices can do to Christians:

“I have found this avenue of ancestral involvement to be the chief cause of demonization. Well over 95 percent of more than 400 persons I have contacted in my counseling ministry have been demonized because of their ancestors’ involvement in occult and demonic activities” (Demon Possession and the Christian, 221).

Not all times do demons go down the bloodline because of the occult. Demonization may occur apart from it:

“...a Salvation Army officer who had been born blind and who was brought to a meeting at which Jean Darnall was ministering. A charismatic word of knowledge declared that the man’s blindness was due to an evil spirit which had entered him at birth. He had been born in prison. His father was a criminal and his mother had conspired with him. Criminal or immoral activity can become a vehicle for demonic intrusion, and this was the case for this officer. Following a deliverance prayer by which a spirit was cast out of him, the man saw perfectly for the first time in his life” (Parker, Battling the Occult, 82).

https://jesustruthdeliverance.com/generational-curses-inheriting-demons-from-ancestors/

#generationalcurses demonization demonpossession occult witchcraft deliverance bible curses scriptures

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planttastic · 6 years

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Book List 2017!

Goal: 48 Read: 48 New Authors: 13!: Rebekah Crane, Georgia Hunter, David Machado, Dee Lestari, Garson O’Toole, Tahereh Mafi, Soraya Lane, Courtney Elizabeth Mauk, F.C. Lee, Kory Stamper, Marie Lu, Mohsin Hamid, & Krysten Ritter Re-reads: 2: 1984, & The Stupidest Angel

1. The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) - Rick Riordan, ★★★★

2. Dragon Fly in Amber (Outlander #2) - Diana Gabaldon, ★★★★

3. Seven Up (Stephanie Plum #7) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★

4. Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life In The Void) - Mary Roach, ★★★★★

5. Hard Eight (Stephanie Plum #8) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★

6. The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland - Rebekah Crane, ★★★

7. 1984 - George Orwell, ★★★★

8. To The Nines (Stephanie Plum #9), ★★★

9. At Night We Walk In Circles - Daniel Alarcón, ★★★★

10. Ten Big Ones (Stephanie Plum #10) - Janet Evanovich, ★★

11. We Were the Lucky Ones - Georgia Hunter, ★★★★

12. Eleven on Top (Stephanie Plum #11) - Janet Evanovich, ★★

13. Twelve Sharp (Stephanie Plum #12) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★★

14. Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum #13) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★

15. The Shelf Life of Happiness - David Machado, ★★★

16. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War - Mary Roach, ★★★★

17. Paper Boats - Dee Lestari, ★★★★

18. Hemingway Didn’t Say That: The Truth Behind Familiar Quotations - Garson O’Toole, ★★

19. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) - Tahereh Mafi, ★★★★

20. Unravel Me (Shatter me #2) - Tahereh Mafi, ★★★

21. Unite Me (Shatter Me #1.5 & 2.5) - Tahereh Mafi, ★★

22. Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) - Tahereh Mafi, ★★★

23. American Gods - Neil Gaiman, ★★★

24. Wives of War - Soraya Lane, ★★★

25. The Special Power of Restoring Lost Things - Courtney Elizabeth Mauk, ★★

26. Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum #14) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★

27. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen (Stephanie Plum #15) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★

28. Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #16) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★

29. Smoking Seventeen (Stephanie Plum #17) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★

30. The Epic Crush of Genie Lo - F.C. Lee, ★★★★

31. Word By Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries - Kory Stamper, ★★★★

32. Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum #18) - Janet Evanovich, ★★

33. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng, ★★★★★

34. The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo #2) - Rick Riordan, ★★★★

35. Notorious Nineteen (Stephanie Plum #19) - Janet Evanovich, ★★

36. Young Jane Young - Gabrielle Zevin, ★★★★

37. Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum #20) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★

38. Warcross (Warcross #1) - Marie Lu, ★★★★

39. Sourdough - Robin Sloan, ★★★★

40. La Belle Sauvage (The Book Of Dust #1) - Philip Pullman, ★★★★

41. Voyager (Outlander #3) - Diana Gabaldon, ★★★★

42. Feedback (Newsflesh #4) - Mira Grant, ★★★★

43. Top Secret Twenty-one (Stephanie Plum #21) - Janet Evanovich, ★★

44. Exit West - Mohsin Hamid, ★★★★★

45. Bonfire - Krysten Ritter, ★★★★

46. Artemis - Andy Weir, ★★

47. The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (Pine Cove #3) - Christopher Moore, ★★★

48. Mrs. Fletcher - Tom Perotta, ★★★

**WARNING** SPOILERS BELOW!

1. The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) - Rick Riordan, ★★★★ Here's the thing. I know these are middle school books, HOWEVER some of my favorite modern literary characters have come from Riordan's Demigod books and this one contains the return of two of my favorites. I'm glad that he's continuing to write them, though I wish he would up the reading level, as I'm sure a lot of his readers are into YA levels now. An easy start for the new year! Progress: January 1, 2017 – Started Reading January 4, 2017 – Finished Reading

2. Dragon Fly in Amber (Outlander #2) - Diana Gabaldon, ★★★★ I must admit, I enjoyed this one much more than the first (a surprise, considering I wasn't a huge fan of season 2 of the show). It deals a lot more with history and the coming together of the Rising, which was more interesting than I expected. The ending was still incredibly sad and hopeful (as I did expect) and got me right in the heart. Progress: January 5, 2017 – Started Reading January 6, 2017 –page 79. "This book is long af. I was surprised to see a big reveal for a character (if you could call it that, I guess) in the first chapter. Oh the differences between tv writing and novels." January 12, 2017 –page 389. "Dude just pulled a snake out of his pocket like it was no thing. Wtf was happening in France?! Don't keep snakes in your jackets, gents. That is weird af." January 14, 2017 –page 521 "Sudden POV shift to Jaime is odd and unexpected. It seems that it's just in chunks? Makes it feel uneven." January 15, 2017 – Finished Reading

3. Seven Up (Stephanie Plum #7) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★ Stephanie is bad at her job, these are super formulaic and there's a standard love triangle, yet I can't stop reading these. They are the potato chip of bounty hunter novels. Progress: January 16, 2017 – Started Reading January 18, 2017 – Finished Reading

4. Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life In The Void - Mary Roach, ★★★★★ Full of science, humor and a lot of information I never thought to ask about space. Mary Roach is my favorite science writer, quite possibly my favorite non-fiction writer. Stiff will probably always be my favorite of her books, but I think this is tied for 2nd with Gulp. Progress: January 19, 2017 – Started Reading January 19, 2017 – Shelved January 20, 2017 – page 133 "It's things like, "buttocks are nature's safety foam" that make me love Mary Roach's books. Give me all the facts in amusing and easily digestable prose!" January 24, 2017 – Finished Reading

5. Hard Eight (Stephanie Plum #8) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★ I figure since this book came out over 13 years ago, spoilers don't count, so I'm not going to put this under a cut, but at least a warning. WARNING. Stephanie is still terrible at her job, goes through cars more often than she buys tanks of gas, but at least she FINALLY BANGED RANGER. Unfortunately we only got a paragraph of explanation, which does not do justice to his apparent sexiness. (For the record, I'm still Team Cupcake.) This one did feel a bit different, as she wasn't money-driven to solve the case. It does lend her a bit more... humanity? Progress: January 25, 2017 – Started Reading January 25, 2017 – page 94 "Gdi Stephanie, if you're going to handcuff a FTA to your car, DON'T LEAVE THE KEYS IN IT. I swear 😒 is the only face I make when reading these." January 26, 2017 – page 128 "AGAIN with the wedging herself into a car. A Honda CR-V is a gd suv. Despite Stephanie being repulsed by her 'stomach roll', unless she has the seat very far up, doubtful considering she is also tall, she would not need to wedge herself into the front seat of an suv. Ughhhhhh. 😒" January 27, 2017 – Finished Reading

6. The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland - Rebekah Crane, ★★★ I got this as a Kindle First Read and decided to read it as a filler between trips to the library. It proved to be a very quick read, and reminded me of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, though they aren't really that similar. (I had conflicting feelings about that one, too.) I think it does downplay mental illness, but does a good job of showcasing the power of friendship (less cheesy than it sounds), being there, and how tenuous that can be. Progress: January 28, 2017 – Started Reading January 29, 2017 – Finished Reading

7. 1984 - George Orwell, ★★★★ It's pretty clear why everyone is suddenly re-reading this. It's not going to save us though. Progress: January 29, 2017 – Started Reading January 31, 2017 – page 81 ""The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him..." #alarminglyrelevant" February 4, 2017 – page 199 "I know it's been years since I read this, but did I really just conveniently forget how wordy and dense it was? Oof." February 5, 2017 – Finished Reading

8. To The Nines (Stephanie Plum #9), ★★★ Finally some real character development! Or at least acknowledgement from Stephanie that she has learned things (wearing sensible shoes) and that she feels lackluster in her performance. It was interesting to see her finally evaluate her life outside of who she is as a romantic partner (I know that the romance is a big part of the series, but still). And it was nice to see Vinnie be a little less creepy and explore some different bond types. Progress: February 6, 2017 – Started Reading February 6, 2017 – page 32 "Not really sure how I feel about Stephanie's hatred of a lady she just met, especially considering it seems to tie in with how she looks. Uncomfortable." February 7, 2017 – page 248 "For the second time, Stephanie has mentioned having sensible shoes on in case she has to run. She IS getting better!" February 8, 2017 – Finished Reading

9. At Night We Walk In Circles - Daniel Alarcón, ★★★★ A winding novel with an unexpected ending. I really had no idea what it was going to be about, but I had read Lost City Radio in 07 or 08 for my Writers on Writing class and enjoyed it quite a bit and was excited to see that he had written another novel. Progress: February 8, 2017 – Started Reading February 18, 2017 – Finished Reading

10. Ten Big Ones (Stephanie Plum #10) - Janet Evanovich, ★★ I have a lot of issues with this one. First the good: Ranger and the tiny peek into his life. And the return of Sally Sweet!! The bad: This one feels pretty racist with all of the gang bits. Stephanie seems to suffer no consequences for her terrible actions and she continues to suck at her job. Despite her constant refusal to get a different job, there are times where she's is pretty lackadaisical when it comes to actually doing it. There were A LOT of questionable things that happened, some really awful and terrible things, and at the end everyone is like, "lol, nbd." ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Actions have consequences, unless you're at the end of a Plum novel, I guess. Progress: February 18, 2017 – Started Reading February 22, 2017 – page 181 "So much fat shaming/ guilt happening right now I want to stop reading. This is the part of 'chick lit' that I loathe. Way to reinforce stereotypes. At the same time, if your character is going to eat a dozen donuts a day, she should know that she's going to gain weight and be on the lookout for diabetes because that's is just unhealthy." February 23, 2017 - page 226 "Jfc Stephanie, this is the worst idea, ever. If I didn't know the series was continuing, I'd think this is how the character got killed off." February 24, 2017 – Finished Reading

11. We Were the Lucky Ones - Georgia Hunter, ★★★★ Oh, my heart. This was pretty difficult for me to start, mostly because I didn't want to get too attached to characters that were bound to have a horrific end. However, once it gets going (ie, all the terrible things start happening), it goes pretty quickly. I don't know if if any one novel can encapsulate the spanning horror of the Holocaust, and I appreciate (not sure if that's the right word) that Hunter went for a more focused approach, scattering milestone dates within the story. Progress: February 25, 2017 – Started Reading March 8, 2017 – Finished Reading

12. Eleven on Top (Stephanie Plum #11) - Janet Evanovich, ★★ :Deep, prolonged, exasperated sigh: Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie. I'm so glad you're a fictional character, because I'm pretty sure I'd hate you if you were real. AND YET, I can't stop reading these. I blame Morelli and Ranger. Progress: March 9, 2017 – Started Reading March 11, 2017 – Finished Reading

13. Twelve Sharp (Stephanie Plum #12) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★★ FINALLY. A story I liked! We get a lot of Ranger in this one, a pretty decent story, and none of Stephanie's cars blow up! She's competent and not as silly. I was wrong about the 'turning point' moment! Finally, finally, finally. Progress: March 13, 2017 – Started Reading March 15, 2017 – page 201 "There's usually a point in each of the novels where I think, 'that is how everything is going to go to hell.' This one is leaving her gd panic button at the office and skipping town to get away from "scary stuff" and Ranger, while someone is trying to KILL HER." March 17, 2017 – Finished Reading

14. Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum #13) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★ I had issues with some of the motives in this one (especially with Joyce) and I continue to be annoyed that Morelli and Ranger pass Stephanie between them while 'protecting' her. The ending seemed a bit trite, but at least her car died in a normal way. Not entirely sure how I feel about her constantly complaining about her job. But perhaps I'm expecting too much. Progress: March 22, 2017 – Started Reading April 1, 2017 – Finished Reading

15. The Shelf Life of Happiness - David Machado, ★★★ I got this as a Kindle First read, so I wasn't really sure what I was getting into. I liked it well enough. I definitely wanted more of the story, the end felt kind of abrupt. Progress: April 26, 2017 – Started Reading May 7, 2017 – Finished Reading

16. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War - Mary Roach, ★★★★ Though not my favorite of Roach's books (that will always go to Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers), I found this a lot more interesting than I thought I would because it's about subjects I wouldn't have immediately thought of when thinking, 'war.' A lot of the 'gross' that Roach does so well, (who thinks about diarrhea when fighting a battle?) along with textile science and shark repellent. Progress: May 9, 2017 – Started Reading May 18, 2017 – Finished Reading

17. Paper Boats - Dee Lestari, ★★★★ I ended up loving this book a lot more than I expected it to. It's very sweet. The characters are charming and likeable. It does a very good job of capturing the awkward personal growth that happens during college and how it affects relationships. I thought I could feel a bit of Tiffany Tsao in her translation, at least I found some similarities to her novel. I can certainly see why Lestari is such a popular writer in Indonesia. One of the best Kindle First books I've read. Progress: May 18, 2017 – Started Reading May 23, 2017 – Finished Reading

18. Hemingway Didn’t Say That: The Truth Behind Familiar Quotations - Garson O’Toole, ★★ Oof. I will say that this is very well researched. Clearly a lot of time and effort went into finding the origins of these quotes, and I do appreciate that. However, I am not a fan of how the information is presented. Most of it feels pretentious ("QI feels...") and stiff. To be completely honest, I don't read many nonfiction books for a similar reason, so it's purely opinion. Progress: May 24, 2017 – Started Reading May 24, 2017 – 1.0% "Holy pretentiousness Batman... This might be rough to get through, but I really love quotes..." May 24, 2017 – 2.0% "There's faulty information on the Internet?! YOU DON'T SAY. (It is possible that I'm not the target generation for this intro.)" May 25, 2017 – 11.0% "Maybe I don't like quotes as much as I thought I did." May 28, 2017 – page 59 14.9% "My last year of college, I wrote this play about a blogger loosely based on my life. I had a draft due, so I pulled a few of my own blog posts, pasted them in some strategic places and turned it in. Almost all the feedback I got was about how the blog posts didn't make sense with the rest of the writing, probably because I didn't bother to edit them. That's how I feel about some of these entries" June 12, 2017 – page 241 60.86% "Not that it's important, but I have no idea what POV is being used here. Sometimes it feels like second person, and others third? All readers know that the writer is from QI, so separating them seems awkward. Oh well." June 19, 2017 – Finished Reading

19. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) - Tahereh Mafi, ★★★★ I have to say, I was pretty surprised by this novel. The premise is not new (dystopia, boy meets girl, etc, etc), but Mafi has a very distinct and different writing style that I find quite enjoyable. It's different. I imagine a lot of people hate it? There's several instances where people are commenting on Juliette's body that are gross and super off-putting. I'm hoping this is something that diminishes in further novels. SPOILER: The best part was the end though, SURPRISE IT'S JUST A SUPERHERO ORIGIN STORY. All of a sudden we're in this weird X-Men/Inhumans universe and I am so here for it. Looking forward to reading the rest. Progress: June 21, 2017 – Started Reading June 25, 2017 – Finished Reading

20. Unravel Me (Shatter me #2) - Tahereh Mafi, ★★★ Basically everything I expected to happen, did happen. Ughhhhhh. Progress: June 28, 2017 – Started Reading July 1, 2017 – 30.0% "So far, most of this has been angst and trying to make Warner and Juliette seem So Similar. It makes me want to barf." July 2, 2017 – 64.0% "Every time I read YA novels I always think how I would never want to be a teen again. The angst and drama and omg." July 2, 2017 – Finished Reading

21. Unite Me (Shatter Me #1.5 & 2.5) - Tahereh Mafi, ★★ Destroy Me: I do not understand people's love for Warner. I'm going to put this under a spoiler cut, just in case. SPOILER: He's the embodiment of entitled masculinity. He wants Juliette even though: he doesn't really know her, she hates him, he thinks she'll 'save him, and that he deserves her. It's gross. He literally kidnapped her after stalking her. He manipulated her on more than one occasion, bordering on torture, just to see what she was capable of. And now he's reading her diary/book as though he has the right to know those thoughts. His image of Juliette has been stripped of all agency. I don't care that he has qualms about what the Reestablishment is doing. I don't care that he seems to care about the citizens in his sector (also creepy). I don't care that he's possibly losing his grip on reality. I'm pretty sure he's going to turn over to the Omega's side in later installments so that he can get some kind of redemption arc, and then there might be a love triangle (BARF). I hope Juliette stays far away from him. I hope she never forgives him for the kidnapping, the simulation room, or his general desire to own her. Because women don't owe men anything, because we're not objects to be owned. Fracture Me: 75% of it was just a retelling of the end of Unravel Me, so that was unfortunate. I imagine it was a nice bonus to have while waiting for Ignite Me to come out, but I don't know how much it added to the the series. Progress: June 25, 2017 – Started Reading July 3, 2017 – Finished Reading

22. Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) - Tahereh Mafi, ★★★ So, I really wanted to like this series. I really did. However, I was so disappointed in how it all played out. The characters were totally OOC in this installment. I still hate Warner, I don't care what he does. The end felt anticlimactic, though that might just be a symptom of reading too much dystopian YA novels. Pretty unsure about there being more books, but I think a lot of people will read them. Progress: July 5, 2017 – Started Reading July 5, 2017 - 6.0% "Ughhhhhhh. This is everything I Did Not Want. Warner, your 'elaborate scheme' was not for your father's benefit, it was your way to stalk her, you creepy asshat." July 6, 2017 – 10.0% "She thinks she should lead the resistance? What? Is that why she trained so hard while she was at Omega Point? Oh wait... She didn't. Excuse me while I don't believe our MC." July 8, 2017 – 29.0% "And we descend into every trope of the third YA trilogy book. I was expecting so much more than this." July 8, 2017 – Finished Reading

23. American Gods - Neil Gaiman, ★★★ I had pretty high expectations for this novel, as I'm a Gaiman fan and a lot of people rave about it. However, I found myself a bit disappointed. The imagery was probably the best part, a lot of awesome scenes were set up that would be visually stunning. I enjoyed Shadow as a character, but I expected more to happen. SPOILER: It feels like 500 pages of build up to a war that never happens. I wonder if I'm just expecting too much 'action' because of other books I've been reading. On a completely tactile note, this edition is incredibly pleasant to read. It stays open when lying on a table, and it has nice bendy covers. I bought this years ago from Borders and it's been sitting on a shelf since. Progress: July 16, 2017 – Started Reading July 22, 2017 – Finished Reading

24. Wives of War - Soraya Lane, ★★★ I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Lane does a very interesting job at skirting around some of the extremes of war. There are no overly gory or visceral descriptions of wounds or death and is generally light on descriptive detail in general. People are explained in detail, (nearly everyone is very pretty or very handsome) and an occasional location will also be described. I actually prefer less description, but I could see that others may find it lacking. This novel is very much about emotions, and considering the subject matter, it makes sense. I found myself wanting less telling and more showing in some cases. What I did find very interesting is the gender politics that were in play. WWII is a fascinating time to explore it, what was expected of our three main 'girls,' how they either defied or followed them, and what it meant after the war was over. It gets a little schmaltzy sometimes, but I'm willing to forgive that. SPOILERS: The Thomas situation is very difficult, considering PTSD wasn't 'a thing' yet, but they did acknowledge combat neurosis. But it pained me to see Scarlet battered, and still feel that she couldn't leave, that she was required to stay with him. And for Thomas's life to come to such a tragic end. It was hard to read, but also expected. And they totally say The Thing at the end. Progress: July 24, 2017 – Started Reading July 28, 2017 – Finished Reading

25. The Special Power of Restoring Lost Things - Courtney Elizabeth Mauk, ★★ I'm not really sure what to say beyond that I just didn't like it. It's possible I would have liked it more if I had read it before Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (they have similar plots, but beyond that, they have little in common). I didn't like any of the characters, though I did feel some empathy towards Drew and Ben. Carol was completely unlikable, though perhaps that was the point? I certainly don't understand her actions. I found myself wishing I knew more about Jennifer, maybe it would justify the reactions of her family more. It is a very quick read, though. Progress: July 31, 2017 – Started Reading August 1, 2017 – Finished Reading

26. Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum #14) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★ I still keep expecting Stephanie (and Lula?) to get better at their jobs. Adding the kid in to this novel was a nice change, glad to see Mooner back too, even though Stephanie is judges them very harshly. I'm mostly reading these to get caught back up on my reading goal. They're easy to read and mostly amusing. Progress: August 2, 2017 – Started Reading August 2, 2017 – page 8 "I was excited to get back to these novels, but less than 10 pages in and Stephanie is hardcore judging a kid for having piercings. COME ON. This was written in 2008. Let's move on from the 'bad people have tattoos and piercings' stereotypes please. He better turn out to be a stellar kid and she feels bad about judging him." August 4, 2017 – Finished Reading

27. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen (Stephanie Plum #15) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★ I mostly didn't care about the story in this one. It feels like Lula is becoming more of a caricature in every book, which makes me kind of sad. Not everything needs to be so over the top. Not everything needs to catch fire. Relatively anticlimactic ending. Progress: August 4, 2017 – Started Reading August 6, 2017 – Finished Reading

28. Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #16) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★ I liked this one a bit more than the last few, it was sort of nice to have Vinnie around again (even though he's pretty terrible). I did notice several spelling and editing errors, which was kind of strange. Progress: August 7, 2017 – Started Reading August 9, 2017 – Finished Reading

29. Smoking Seventeen (Stephanie Plum #17) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★ I'm getting too used to reading Plum novels, and I'm figuring them out too early. Enjoyable enough, though there are a few things that are starting to get on me. Glad she finally hooked up with Ranger again. Real tired of the, "I love two men, isn't that just *ca-raaazyyy*" idea. It's not crazy? You can love two people at a time. Dave was creepy af. Progress: August 14, 2017 – Started Reading August 16, 2017 – page 144 "Come on Steph, you can connect the dots better than this..." August 16, 2017 – page 286 "Dots finally connected. Took ya long enough." August 16, 2017 – page 300 "She literally just said 'connect the dots to [character], hahahah. I think I've read too many Plum books in a row." August 16, 2017 – Finished Reading

30. The Epic Crush of Genie Lo - F.C. Lee, ★★★★ YESSSSS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. I really hope we get more Genie Lo books, because I would read many more novels of her kicking demon ass. Progress: August 16, 2017 – Started Reading September 4, 2017 – Finished Reading

31. Word By Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries - Kory Stamper, ★★★★ Even though this took me ages to get through, I really enjoyed it. I've been getting the M-W Word of The Day email for years and was very excited when they announced this book. It definitely helped me realize that the dictionary is not the final say on English, but just a record of how we use it. The bit on dialect is my favorite (and would have gladly read more about it!), followed closely by the discussion of 'nude'. I certainly have a better appreciation of dictionaries and lexicographers. Progress: August 16, 2017 – Started Reading September 21, 2017 – Finished Reading

32. Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum #18) - Janet Evanovich, ★★ While I appreciate the change in narrative structure (slowly presenting information instead of all at once), it's still a Plum novel and feels a little bit out of touch. Poor Lula deserves more than a caricature characterization. I want to know more about Connie. The love triangle is getting old, mostly because Stephanie is stuck in some pretty outdated notions of how her life is supposed to be. It could be said that I'm rather liberal, and I'm looking into too much, but Lula can be more than just a former ho. Stop describing her outfits with such disdain. I just... expect more from a book published in 2011. Progress: September 19, 2017 – Started Reading September 27, 2017 – Shelved

33. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng, ★★★★★ My. Heart. Ng is a truly gifted storyteller. Though perhaps it feels like a story that has been told before (maybe many stories that have been told before), it's such a nice, solid, slow build. I find myself wondering about the characters, and how their lives played out after the novel ended. Progress: September 1, 2017 – Shelved September 27, 2017 –page 1 "I was the first person in my library to get this and I AM VERY EXCITED" October 3, 2017 – Finished Reading

34. The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo #2) - Rick Riordan, ★★★★ Though Apollo is super annoying (on purpose, I assume) and there wasn't enough of Nico DiAngelo, my Sweet Baby Death Prince (aka, no appearance and only a single mention), I enjoyed this. I love Leo, and I'm warming up to Calypso. I find Meg very interesting, especially because she doesn't fall into 'girly' stereotypes, SPOILERS also her dealing with the abuse from her stepfather is an important thing for novels to address. However, I'm all about the Waystation. I want an entire series about it, and its inhabitants and the travelers passing through. And as cheesy as it sounds, my favorite part of all of Riordan's series is how he reps families of all types. <3 Progress: October 3, 2017 – Started Reading October 7, 2017 – Finished Reading

35. Notorious Nineteen (Stephanie Plum #19) - Janet Evanovich, ★★ I know that these are meant to be light reading, but that doesn't mean they can't be better. Stereotypes and problematic behavior (and speech, and expectations...) shouldn't be the norm. Progress October 11, 2017 – Started Reading October 12, 2017 – page 72 "I don't know if I'm just noticing it more, or judging more harshly because this book was written in 2012, but there's a lot of things that are problematic af in this. I've stopped counting the moments of casual racism, but some old dude is groping Stephanie and all that happens is she and Ranger switch seats? Hell. No." October 13, 2017 – page 103 "Threatening someone with a fake rape and groping accusation? Wtaf, Evanovich. That is not okay." October 14, 2017 –page 292 "An Arthur Beasley and a Simon Diggery? Someone finally read Harry Potter." October 14, 2017 – Finished Reading

36. Young Jane Young - Gabrielle Zevin, ★★★★ Though lacking the emotional gut-punch of A.J. Fikry, this was still an excellent novel. SPOILERS: I think what I really took away from this was the severe inequity between men and women. Jane's career was destroyed completely, while the Senator went on, with barely a blip. Obviously this is very reflective of our society, which is all too apparent these days, and it's one of those things that gets me in the heart. I know life isn't fair, but damn. Progress: October 14, 2017 – Started Reading October 16, 2017 – Finished Reading

37. Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum #20) - Janet Evanovich, ★★★ I don't know why I keep doing this to myself. This one seemed a little bit less problematic at the beginning, and then just went off the rails with the racist stereotypes and constant slut shaming. Ugh. Progress: October 16, 2017 – Started Reading October 18, 2017 – page 122 "Evanovich really has something against fat people. She points out everyone's weight, and just made a show about how a woman who weighs "upward of 200" has wrists that are too big for regular handcuffs. I call BS." October 20, 2017 - page 210 "For the love of all things holy, STOP SLUT-SHAMING LULA." October 20, 2017 – Finished Reading

38. Warcross (Warcross #1) - Marie Lu, ★★★★ Well hello Marie Lu, why haven't I read your novels before?! Warcross is like an amalgamation of Ready Player One and Quidditch with the added bonus of POC characters and a female MC (awww yeaaaahhhh). I expected the end, but it's not going to deter me from reading the rest of the series. Progress: October 20, 2017 – Started Reading October 23, 2017 – Finished Reading

39. Sourdough - Robin Sloan, ★★★★ Confession: I love stuff about San Francisco, and this was no exception. It was a little weird and a little magical, very much like the city herself. Though I guess this technically took place in more than just SF proper. However, the descriptions of Clement St, took me right back there and made me wish I could stop and get some Pad Thai from King of Thai Noodle House #2 and a Genki strawberry and nutella crepe. ::sigh:: Memories. It also made me want to learn how to bake bread. I think what I enjoy most about Sloan's writing is that I'm not quite sure what I'm about to get into, but I'll believe it when I'm there. Progress: October 23, 2017 – Started Reading October 25, 2017 – page 168 "I think I love Beoreg." October 26, 2017 – Finished Reading

40. La Belle Sauvage (The Book Of Dust #1) - Philip Pullman, ★★★★ I am a HUGE fan of the original trilogy, and I was scared/excited to learn that Pullman was going to return to this world with more novels. I was not disappointed. A likable new MC (::cough:: UnlikeLyra ::cough::), adventures, mystery, a little bit of terror, and a few hints about Dust! I likely should have re-read the original trilogy before I read this, but honestly I didn't have the patience. I was the first person in my library to read this copy, and it's a beautiful edition. Progress: October 26, 2017 – Started Reading October 26, 2017 – page 1 "I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS" November 4, 2017 – Finished Reading

41. Voyager (Outlander #3) - Diana Gabaldon, ★★★★ Oh man, what a long read... I found this one much more interesting than the first two, maybe because it was a more complex story. The jumping around of POVs is a bit distracting, as it takes a bit to realize who is talking at the beginning of each bit. But I managed to breeze through this a bit easier than I thought I would, considering how much I struggled through the second one. Bring on more Jamie Fraser, please. Progress: November 5, 2017 – Started Reading November 5, 2017 – page 1 "This book is a long one. o.O Here goes..." November 11, 2017 – page 564 "Was it necessary to give Mr. Willoughby a foot fetish? Really?" November 15, 2017 – Finished Reading

42. Feedback (Newsflesh #4) - Mira Grant, ★★★★ It should be said that I'm a sucker for the Newsflesh series, and would gladly read anything in the canon. I found this to be a very good addition to the original trilogy. I like that it was way more diverse, with a lot of effort put into those differences (pronoun use!!). I wish I had re-read the trilogy before I read it, it's been a while and I found myself forgetting a lot of little things that had happened. I don't know if it diminished it, but a fresher read would have added a lot more to the story. I think what I really appreciated is that it sounded different from the Mason's POV. Ash has a different way of forming her thoughts and sentences, and it showed. What I didn't like so much was the over-explaining (maybe over-defending?) what it meant to be an Irwin, and to some extent a Newsie and Fictional. That might be because I have read the OG trilogy several times and I didn't feel the need to have it explained. Also, not once was Kellis-Amberlee shortened to KA, which seemed odd. This is a world steeped in a disease, and I find it hard to believe that an entire team of bloggers wouldn't shorten it, same with all of the politicians. (I mean, we live in a world with the flu, and does anyone other than doctors call it influenza?) Progress: November 16, 2017 – Started Reading November 22, 2017 – Finished Reading

43. Top Secret Twenty-one (Stephanie Plum #21) - Janet Evanovich, ★★I think I need to stop reading these... Forever disappointed, forever annoyed by the awful stereotypes, fat shaming and repetitive storylines. Progress: November 23, 2017 – Started Reading November 26, 2017 – Finished Reading

44. Exit West - Mohsin Hamid, ★★★★★ A beautifully told story. Some nice, unexpected aspects, sweeping prose that's almost poetic and a very satisfying ending. Ah, lovely. Progress: November 27, 2017 – Started Reading November 29, 2017 – Finished Reading

45. Bonfire - Krysten Ritter, ★★★★ I definitely picked this up because it's Krysten Ritter, who, in my head will always be Gia Goodman first and Jessica Jones second. And oddly enough, this felt like an amalgamation of Veronica Mars and Jessica Jones, especially in the characterization of Abby. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would, though it's not anything amazingly new. There are parts that I was less impressed with, but it was a quick read and I hope she writes more. BIG SPOILER AHEAD: I think the characters could have been fleshed out more, I found myself wanting more from Abby, more of her life in Chicago, why she feels the need to drink herself into oblivion to sleep... A little more in the explanation would have been nice too. It felt to quick and tidy. Not to mention the very obvious 'twist.' IT'S ALWAYS THE GUY YOU CONFESS TO. Ughhhhhhh. Progress: December 4, 2017 – Started Reading December 6, 2017 – Finished Reading

46. Artemis - Andy Weir, ★★ I wanted to like this, I really did, but I found it lacking. The storyline was good and a little different because moon stuff, but I guess I expected a lot more. I can see why a lot of people love this, and why it's ending up on a lot of 2017 best lists, it just won't be on mine. The following cut isn't really for spoilers, but just to be safe: POSSIBLE SPOILERS: I did appreciate that MC could have been a man or woman and the basic plot wouldn't change (ie the whole thing wasn't based on Jazz being a woman), HOWEVER there were a lot of bits that felt unnecessary and overly 'feminized'. I didn't believe some of her language, and some of her mental wanderings seemed really forced (when I'm in a stressful situation, I don't imagine what the dude next to me looks like while working out... "Hey, I'm a girl, it's allowed", etc). Weir has a section in the acknowledgements about the people who helped him capture a female narrator, and I think they failed him a little bit. Why is everyone overly interested in her sex life? Do people just go around commenting on how many sexual partners you have on the moon, because that's just how 'different' society is? That seems weird AF to me. Jazz gets annoyed, but it's rude and invasive. I think some of it was supposed to play on the tension between her and Svoboda, but it just seemed awkward. Progress: December 6, 2017 – Started Reading December 8, 2017 – page 94 "Struggling to enjoy this. It feels like he's trying really hard to talk like a Woman. Which is unnecessary. It also feels like it's building up to a hull breach or fire, due to the repeated warnings of fire, and overstating of the double hull. I hope I'm wrong." December 8, 2017 – page 158 ""I was a helpless, exposed girl with no weapon" SERIOUSLY. You can't write Jazz as a supposed badass, and then pull out that drivel. I expected more." December 8, 2017 – page 178 "That wasn't a good one, it was sexist and gross. Ugh." December 8, 2017 – Finished Reading

47. The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (Pine Cove #3) - Christopher Moore, ★★★ Not the best of Moore's novels, hardly my favorite, but a fun read for the holidays. It's a little bit wacky and makes me miss CA. Progress: December 23, 2017 – Started Reading December 26, 2017 – Finished Reading

48. Mrs. Fletcher - Tom Perotta, ★★★ I'm not totally sure how I feel about this novel. I've read Perrotta novels since I was in high school, and I don't think this is one of his strongest. However there are a few things that were well done: changes of voice and capturing the 'present day'. I'm getting better at reading new novels, but this one in particular felt very *now*. It might feel dated in the future, or, hopefully, serve and example of what life is right now. Well, maybe pre-45, but I digress. It's full of current cultural and social issues, but I sort of felt like I wanted more. And wasn't a huge fan of the ending. SPOILERS: Thank anything holy that Brendan wasn't a rapist. I thought Perrotta was leaning pretty heavily toward that, and he got dangerously close to assault. Maybe I just wasn't ready to handle it, but it would have made it so much worse. I'm not really sure how we're supposed to view Brendan. Are we supposed to feel bad that he's completely clueless about how to treat women, or are we supposed to dislike him for being totally oblivious? I will say that a lot of the situations made me think about my own assumptions (I would definitely take the Gender and Society class that Eve took), so there's that. Progress: December 26, 2017 – Started Reading December 28, 2017 – Finished Reading

#book list 2017 #book reviews #reading list 2017

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captainjosephwojous-blog · 4 years

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Joseph Wojciechowski: What’s Happening This Year? - My ELA Blog

Dec. 9

“Semester 1's End: Semester 2″

With semester one of tenth grade ending, I'm beginning to look forward to what's going to happen next semester. I don't think it will be much different then first semester, or more difficult. There are the obvious changes such as what we are learning, but I think the biggest change will be the fact that cross country season is over and track season will begin when we get back. Besides that another change could be in language arts, we may finish The Count of Monte Cristo, move on to another book, start a big project or anything in between.

Dec. 4

“Happiness: What Can We Do About It?”

When I think about being especially happy, the thoughts that come up usually have something to do with family. Most of my family lives far away, or at least used to, so anytime we’d visit them it’d be special. One time that stands out was when I visited my cousins in Arizona for two weeks. There wasn’t one good moment though, I was just happy being there. I was happy to be with family members that I didn’t see often and to be in Arizona, even though I know that if I wasn’t visiting family or a place that I liked because of the memories I wouldn’t have liked the trip. It was a hot, sometimes boring place, but I liked being there nonetheless. That is why I believe our own happiness can sometimes be up to us, sometimes we just have to look at the bright side of situations, or just try to think about the good times. What’s exciting is the fact that I know I can reach that happiness again, I’m only 15 and I know there’s much more to life than just visiting family in Arizona.

Dec. 2

“Compliments: Why You Should Give Them Out”

“Compliment three people everyday”- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Compliments are a small but powerful way of making people feel better about themselves and a good way of showing kindness to someone. The reasons you should compliment people, at least three times a day, are because of this. Not only does it make you seem kind, it also helps the other person, but this can be hard for some people. Sometimes what holds people back is just shyness or fear of sounding weird, however the simple gesture is almost never taken that way, and no one should fear being kind. Some people believe that it would be a chore though, to set a fixed amount of compliments to give or that the compliments would get old, and to that I would say it depends on the person. Not everyone would want to be complimented daily because it may seem repetitive or insincere, while others would love the attention. Overall I believe giving compliments daily would be thoughtful, but I can see why some wouldn’t want to do this.

Nov. 18

“Characterization: What’s New?”

So far, I’ve learned a little about characterization, like the fact that you should try to avoid using simple adjectives like “kind” or “evil”. You should be more descriptive and that description should be an overall trait, not something the character is like for a few days. A trait is not a mood or feeling, it’s what the character is, for example, insincere, vindictive, and or humorous.

Nov. 18

“Speaking And Listening: What’s There To Take-Away”

Through listening to stories and reading one myself, I’ve learned a lot about all of my classmates and told them about myself. This project helps us understand our classmates better and open ourselves up to each other. We’ve also all gained experience with presenting through this project and hopefully, all learned that presenting isn’t as bad as it seems.

Nov. 11

“Personal Pride: How May It Effect Others?”

I take pride in myself and my identity, but I don’t really express it towards anyone. Because of this, I don’t make anyone feel inferior about themselves. I also do not perceive people as inferior or less than me because of who they are because I was raised to be accepting of everyone, no matter their ethnicity, gender or status.

Oct. 24

“Language Arts: Advantage Of Having It For Four Years”

Four years of language arts in high school to many people has its’ problems but it’s not all bad. Four years of language arts is good for many people because it reinforces their speaking and writing skills which are important for many jobs. Not only that, but language arts also helps people who weren’t raised in an English speaking family to learn the language’s intricacies and ways to improve speaking it.

Oct. 17

“Goal Making: Be SMART”

A goal I hope to achieve this quarter would be to improve a certain aspect of my writing. I want to be able to write more for detailed passages. I want to go beyond just a few sentences or a paragraph for my rising action and climax as well as have smooth transitions between them. To do this I believe I just need to see examples of it done right and practice and because it’s a relatively tame goal, I hope to see drastic improvement this semester.

Oct. 10

“What Did I Expect: Language Arts”

My expectations for ELA were nothing special, I assumed it would be like most years where we write, do vocabulary and probably never use our notebooks, but this year has started off differently. Though we have written, it was different from most papers because we learned new concepts and improved our writing as we went along, also this year has made doing vocabulary cards optional and we write in our notebooks almost every class. I hope the class continues to be like this because we have learned a lot and, in all honesty, haven’t gotten much homework.

Oct. 7

“How To Blog: Don’t Forget To Format”

I would advise a blogger to learn how to set up a blog before anything else, I wish I had done so. This is especially important the more posts that you have because if you have hundreds of posts and realize you’ve been formatting them wrong, going back and fixing the posts will take a while. I would also tell them that formality isn’t necessary; the blog can be conversational and entertaining.

Sep. 30

“The Count Of Monte Cristo: The Story So Far”

In chapter three of The Count Of Monte Cristo the main character, Dantes meets his soon to be wife, Mercedes, and Fernand, Mercedes cousin. Fernand proposes to Mercedes multiple times before Dante arrives and she always answers no because she loves Dantes, so when he meets Dantes he is enraged and runs away to his two friends Caderousse and Danglars. After some time, Dantes and Mercedes walk by where the three friends are and they speak about their wedding date and Dantes’ need to go to Paris, through this conversation Danglars gets an idea about how to stop Dantes from becoming the Pharaon’s number one.

Sep. 23

“The Count Of Monte Cristo: What Is A Strength In The Writing?”

Some strengths the Count of Monte Cristo has would be the book’s exposition. This is because the book does not spend an excessive amount of time working on the exposition and the exposition is well implemented. Its’ placement is natural and it keeps flow in the writing; it’s cohesive. What's more, I personally did not find the exposition boring, instead, I thought it was interesting because of the time period it was set in.

Sep. 19

“Past High School: 2022”

In 2022 I see myself being done with high school and on my way to college. My dream college would be MIT, and because it’s difficult to get into, I'm trying to get into STEM to build my resume. Past that, right now I want to major in engineering, but I’m not really sure what branch of engineering I want to major in, construction, engineering, etc. These plans could change, but right now they serve as some direction.

Sep. 16

“My Life Written Down: Is There A Theme?”

If there was a book detailing my life, the main theme would most likely be the search for moral structure or a purpose. The reason it would be on these two is because I’m a teenager, and most teenagers look for a purpose in life and start to think about who they are and how they should act; what is wrong or right, and how you should act to have good character. I’ve hit the point in my life where I start looking for a direction, and with that comes the development of my character, or my moral structure.

Sep. 9

“Standards: What Am I Being Held To?”

Of the six current standards, the hardest standards for me are identifying any mistakes or tampered with evidence when someone is speaking, using technology to produce, public and update writing products, and finally, analyzing the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

Aug. 26

“Marking The Text: How Do I Do It?”

Knowing how to annotate is very important and through the years I've developed some strategies to make the process a little bit easier. One strategy I use is to limit the amount of highlighting I'm doing by only highlighting keywords and parts of sentences. Also, if I don't understand some vocabulary I'll look up the words and find examples or definitions.

Aug. 22

“Public Speaking: Learning Multiple Subjects At Once”

So far, I’ve learned a little about writing through our presentations, and I like this because every day we are actually learning something new. We even combined learning with presenting, which isn’t anything new, but the way we combine what’s expected of us to learn and important to learn with it makes it feel new. I want to continue learning in this class, and want to learn a little about how to create a good first line in an essay and a good conclusion.

Aug. 19

“Me and Santiago: Are We Similar?”

Santiago at the beginning of the story is naive, very trusting of strangers, hopeful and almost antisocial because of the way he likes exploring freely with just the sheep that understand him. In the end, he is more spiritual and wiser, matured. I am similar to him in the way that I’m hopeful about the future, but unlike him, I’m not very trusting with strangers.

Aug. 15

“My Skills: What’s The Point?”

One thing I am good at in school is being in a sport, cross-country to be specific. I just joined this year, but I’m not too bad at running and the coach thinks I can make varsity by my senior year. One of the reasons I do well in the sport is because of the people on the team. They’re kind, supportive, and provide competition which makes me want to get better.

Aug. 12

“You Are Who You Are: Don’t Let Others Change You”

“No one can ever take your memories from you - each day is a new beginning; make good memories every day.” - Catherine Pulsifer

You are your own person and no one can change who you are, who you can be, or who you will be. One of my goals is to learn how to code. I want to know more about computer programming and this year I plan to focus on that. This school year I would also like to make good memories by meeting new people and possibly joining a club or sport.

#ela blog

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douchebagbrainwaves · 4 years

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WHAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ABOUT SORT

You don't have to be. But the smarter ones, particularly angels, can give good advice.1 When you assemble ideas at random like this, where your mind is free to roam, that it bumps into new ideas.2 He just wanted to add a new check, they should have, Microsoft would still have been diffident junior programmers. It's always alarming when two people trying the same experiment get widely divergent results. What's important about startups is the speed.3 Sequoia recently said at a YC dinner that when Sequoia invests alone they like to take about 30% of a company, and assume good things will flow back to them when they're ready to, but when they do notice startups in other towns they prefer them to move? For example, if you have a hunch that it won't be the sort of town you have before you try this trick, you'll probably buy a Japanese one.4 Structurally the idea is probably bad.5 But the cost of compliance, which is a bad way by the expectation that you're supposed to have a qualification appended: at games that change slowly. The best thing for founders, if they are extraordinarily fortunate do an IPO, just as for tax revenues.

People.6 I really wanted to know. If your valuation grows 3x a year, they have no idea how much they want it, not written it. Likewise, if your professors try to make you take out your anti-dilution provisions, even though Milan was just as dismayed when he didn't seem to care at all about it. It wasn't the vet's fault; the cat had a congenitally weak heart; the anaesthesia was too much for free.7 People in past times were much like us. The Sub-Zero 690, one of the ways we describe the good ones. It has to be decided by the market. That's not surprising; it takes a while to hit your stride. People who think the labor movement was the creation of heroic union organizers have a problem to explain: why are unions shrinking now?

I think the place to do it.8 Some of the more adventurous catalog companies. Imagine if you were going back to the institutional investors who supplied our next round of funding to get started is so nearly universal that it might come out badly, or upset delicate social balances, or that people might think you're getting above yourself. Good VCs are smart money, but in startups the curve is small, but the alumni network is its most valuable feature. Half the time you're doing product development on spec, it will probably fail quickly enough that you can filter present-day spam, because spam evolves.9 Identity Some parents feel a strong adherence to an ethnic or religious identity is one of the reasons artists in fifteenth century Florence included Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Verrocchio, Botticelli, Leonardo, and Michelangelo.10 Often they have to, but to get the best deals. Thanks to Jessica Livingston and Robert Morris for reading drafts of this.

Though actually there is something underneath. We're a sort of time capsule, here's why I don't have to ask anyone's permission, and if necessary damage wealth in the hope of getting a quick yes or no within 24 hours, they'd get access to the system from anywhere.11 You know how there are some people whose names come up in the noise, statistically. One is a combination of shyness and laziness.12 Surely this is a game with only two outcomes: wealth or failure. You don't seem to keep track of opinions that get people in trouble today.13 We made software for building online stores.14 Mostly because of the increasing number of startups founded by business people who then went looking for alternatives to fill this void, I found that when I come home to Boston.

Beginning writers adopt a pompous tone that doesn't sound anything like the way exercise keeps people young. That's why we advise groups to ignore issues like scalability, internationalization, and heavy-duty security at first. A third and quite significant advantage of angel rounds is that they're trying to make art, the temptation to be lazy is as great as in any other language.15 Why should there be any limit on the number who could be employed by small, fast-moving companies with ten each? So at the last round of funding. Teenage kids are not inherently unhappy monsters. So far so good.16 Third, I do it because it yields the best results. I could put it online.

Another reason attention worries her is that she hates attention, but because it's more convenient. Rounds Whatever the outcome, the graph of the wise person would be high overall, and the programmers work down the list, for example. By 2012 that number was 18 years. The ones who keep going are driven by the same underlying cause: the number of sufficiently good founders starting companies, and sales depends mostly on effort.17 And few if any Web businesses are so undifferentiated. A function type. Those characters you type are a complete, finished product. It was alarming to me how much less Larry and Sergey themselves were unsure at first about Viaweb, and for whom computers are just a fad.

Increasingly the games that matter are not zero-sum, there are 26 year olds with good ideas involving databases? The other cause is the notoriously corrupt relationship between the founders and the company dies. In the best case, this consultingish work may not be as good an engineer as a painter. But from what I've heard the founders didn't just give in and take whoever the VCs wanted. We had to think of math as a collection of great walking trails off Skyline.18 9999 free!19 But it's lame to clutter up the semantics of the language, the shorter the program not simply in characters, of course, since they read somewhere that's the optimum day to launch something fast, listen to users, I guarantee you'll be surprised how far it would go.

It was like being told to think than as sources of information. And Aristotle's explanation of the ultimate goal of philosophy in Book A of the Metaphysics implies that philosophy should be useful too. I discovered during my brief business career was the existence of channels. I got from botnets. They'd face the mother of all boycotts. Instead he'll spend most of my time writing essays lately. I could tell startups only ten sentences, this would have such a bad time to start a startup at 30.20 Eventually I realized why.

Notes

Which means the right not to make people richer. Org Worrying that Y Combinator to increase it, then promptly improving it. Note: This is why they tend to be the least VC-like.

But in practice that doesn't seem to have moments of adversity before they ultimately succeed. But we invest in it, but at least a partial order. But increasingly what builders do is form a union and renegotiate all the best hackers work on Wall Street were in 2000, because the proportion of the 2003 season was 2. Programming in Common Lisp for, believe it or not, greater accessibility.

Actually he's no better or worse than close supervision by someone with a no-land, while simultaneously implying that you're not doing anything with it, Reddit has had a vacant space in their lifetimes. Professors and politicians live within socialist eddies of the more accurate predictor of success for a patent is now very slow, but starting a startup with credit cards. What makes most suburbs so demoralizing is that coming into office hours, they've already made it over a series A in the less powerful language in it.

Most people let them mix pretty promiscuously. Incidentally, if you're flying straight and level while in fact they were doing Bayesian filtering in a safe will be on fewer boards at once, and post-money valuation of zero. One way to avoid companies that got built this?

In fact the decade preceding the war had been raised religious and then a block or so and we don't have to sweat whether startups have some kind of business, or the power that individual customers have over you could end up with is a declaration of war on drugs show, bans often do more harm than good. If you want to figure this out. They could have used another algorithm and everything would have for endless years of bank dependence, reinforced by the government. So by agreeing to uncapped notes.

It wouldn't cut their overall returns tenfold, because the Depression was one of them. Well, almost.

This prospect will make developers pay more attention to not screwing up. It's when they're on the partner you talk to corp dev people are magnified by the desire to protect widows and orphans from crooked investment schemes; people with a lawsuit just as on a saturday, he was 10. If you're not convinced that what you're doing is almost pure discovery.

Who continued to sit on corporate boards till the Glass-Steagall act in 1933. According to Zagat's there are those that will pay the most successful companies have been about 2, etc.

Even the desire to get going, e.

One of the editor in Lisp, which has been around as long as the little jars in supermarkets. Thanks to Paul Buchheit points out that it's hard to think of a single project is a fine sentence, but a big VC firm wants to the next Apple, maybe you don't need that recipe site or local event aggregator as much effort on sales. Mayle, Peter, Why Are We Getting a Divorce?

There was no great risk in doing something different if it were.

Plus ca change. Xxvii. Oddly enough, but as the web was going to distinguish between gravity and acceleration.

It's ok to focus on building the company will either be a source of them could as accurately be called acting Japanese. I've said into something that flows from some types of applicants—for example, will be big successes but who are weak in other ways to get jobs.

In fact the decade preceding the war had been bred to look you over. Currently, when we created pets. The speed at which point it suddenly stops.

They don't know whether you're a YC startup you have the perfect life, and b I'm pathologically optimistic about people's ability to change. Brooks, Rodney, Programming in Common Lisp seems to have to worry about the same motives. But it takes a startup enough to be the least VC-like. You leave it to colleagues.

William R. This was made particularly clear in our own Web site. Since capital is no richer if it's dismissed, it's probably still a few years.

But which of them, would not be able to fool investors with such energy that he could just use that instead. Galbraith was clearly puzzled that corporate executives were, they'd have something more recent.

Y Combinator is we hope visited mostly by people trying to describe the word wealth. It would help Web-based applications. In both cases the process dragged on for months.

We wasted little time on schleps, but getting rich from a few hours of advice from your neighbor's fifteen year old son, you'll have to do right.

Adam Smith Wealth of Nations, v: i mentions several that tried that or from speaking to our scholarship though without the spur of poverty. If anyone wanted to than because they need. 43.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #event #startup #goal #idea #Common #Note #reason #Street

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poetryofchrist · 6 years

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Leviticus 19

Mystery and music permeated my thoughts while working on this chapter on the Torah. A good mystery writer will find a way to illustrate verse 11. It is a suitable evocation of the implications of the commandment. All relationships pinned to truth. Such a writer will be equally helped by verse 35. Not to mention verse 2, the ideal of the detective who will not submit to the techniques that betray truth. Altogether this is a remarkable chapter at the mid point in Leviticus which is the middle book in Torah. It should be obvious that we could look for structural clues to reinforce this circular structure. Its middle verse is verse 18. Every now and then one comes across a technical term comes up and one is stumped as to how to interpret the tongue. One such occurs 3 times in verse 19, a principle of not mixing things that are different. What about twofold? The root is כלא and the ending dual. I have ended up with doubly confined (after removing confine as a gloss from my rendition of the speeches of Yahweh in Job). It is clear that we have paid no attention to this issue today, with clothes, or interbreeding, or with DNA sequencing and splicing. There is perhaps a principle here that I am blind to. Perhaps in the spirit of the circular structure the sense is parallel to verse 17 in some fashion. In verse 20 I find no scourging שׁוט. The only verb in the glosses for the stem בקר as used in verse 20 that I have is reflect. This is a puzzling usage. I suspect a 17th century bias against women for the KJV. JB has "the man is to be answerable for infringement of rights" (a 20th century rewrite). Compare Psalms 27:4, Proverbs 20:25, 27:19, 2 Kings 16:15, Ezra 5:17 (Aramaic). The common use of the word is for morning or for oxen or herd. What to do with this verse? Verse 23 - very awkward phrasing. JB has, You will regard its fruit as its foreskin. This probably gets the idea across but it is not the word order or the words. The direct object marker precedes its fruit. And regard is acting as a helping verb to let foreskin itself act as a verb. It is an odd image. Creation is seen as immensely fruitful but the fruitfulness is to be seen as costly, not as automatic or instantly obtained. A bit more discipline than our instant society expects. Verse 24 - praises may well be a new classification of offerings. Here too the atnach interrupts subject and object, a rare thing. I have left fruit on the rest note. Verse 28 - very long first half with the rest note on among you. The reminder refrain through out this section follows. In this case the brief Ani Adonai A g# e. The longer refrain is in the image - emphasis on the final syllable - your.

Refrain on several verses in Leviticus 19

The refrain suggests its completion: the second half of verse 36. This verse I have left in Hebrew word order untouched so it can be sung note by note in Hebrew or English with each note corresponding to the same word in both languages.

Leviticus 19:36 using the key developed by Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura

I do not explicitly set each verse to the music. The extra time would hold me back. I am anxious to get through the reading at least once. But there is much to learn from using the music as an aid to close reading when the text is read in Hebrew or English. Slow is important. Drama also. Shape and the underlying harmonic structure cannot be heard if it is rushed. We await more arrangers with modal imagination to use this deposit of ancient creativity as a stimulus to new music.

Leviticus 19 Fn Min Max Syll וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 3e 3g 10 דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם 2 Speak to all the assembly of the children of Israel and say to them, You will be holy, because I, Yahweh your God, am holy. 3c 4B 23 11 אִ֣ישׁ אִמּ֤וֹ וְאָבִיו֙ תִּירָ֔אוּ וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֖י תִּשְׁמֹ֑רוּ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם 3 B You each will fear his mother and his father and my Sabbaths you will keep. I am Yahweh your God. 3e 4C 17 8 אַל־תִּפְנוּ֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔ים וֵֽאלֹהֵי֙ מַסֵּכָ֔ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשׂ֖וּ לָכֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם 4 You will not face the good for nothing, and a god of a molten image you will not construct for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God. 3e 4B 20 8 וְכִ֧י תִזְבְּח֛וּ זֶ֥בַח שְׁלָמִ֖ים לַיהוָ֑ה לִֽרְצֹנְכֶ֖ם תִּזְבָּחֻֽהוּ 5 And when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, with your acceptance you will offer it. 3c 4A 12 7 בְּי֧וֹם זִבְחֲכֶ֛ם יֵאָכֵ֖ל וּמִֽמָּחֳרָ֑ת וְהַנּוֹתָר֙ עַד־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י בָּאֵ֖שׁ יִשָּׂרֵֽף 6 On the day of your offering it will be eaten, and on the morrow, and what remains until the third day, in the fire will be incinerated. 3c 4B 13 14 וְאִ֛ם הֵאָכֹ֥ל יֵאָכֵ֖ל בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֑י פִּגּ֥וּל ה֖וּא לֹ֥א יֵרָצֶֽה 7 And if to be eaten it is eaten on the third day, it is fetid. It will not be accepted. 3d 4B 13 7 וְאֹֽכְלָיו֙ עֲוֺנ֣וֹ יִשָּׂ֔א כִּֽי־אֶת־קֹ֥דֶשׁ יְהוָ֖ה חִלֵּ֑ל וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מֵעַמֶּֽיהָ 8 And whoever eats it, his iniquity will lift up, because the holiness of Yahweh he has profaned, That very self will be cut off from his people. 3d 4B 15 13 וּֽבְקֻצְרְכֶם֙ אֶת־קְצִ֣יר אַרְצְכֶ֔ם לֹ֧א תְכַלֶּ֛ה פְּאַ֥ת שָׂדְךָ֖ לִקְצֹ֑ר וְלֶ֥קֶט קְצִֽירְךָ֖ לֹ֥א תְלַקֵּֽט 9 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you will not finish the edges of a field to be harvested, and the gleaning of your harvest, you will not glean. 3c 4B 20 10 וְכַרְמְךָ֙ לֹ֣א תְעוֹלֵ֔ל וּפֶ֥רֶט כַּרְמְךָ֖ לֹ֣א תְלַקֵּ֑ט לֶֽעָנִ֤י וְלַגֵּר֙ תַּעֲזֹ֣ב אֹתָ֔ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם 10 And your vineyard you will not glean grapes from, and the loose grapes of your vineyard, you will not glean. For the poor and for the guest you will forsake them. I am Yahweh your God. 3e 4C 18 19 לֹ֖א תִּגְנֹ֑בוּ וְלֹא־תְכַחֲשׁ֥וּ וְלֹֽא־תְשַׁקְּר֖וּ אִ֥ישׁ בַּעֲמִיתֽוֹ 11 g You will not steal, and you will not dissimulate, and you will not deal falsely, each with its fellow. 3e 4A 4 16 וְלֹֽא־תִשָּׁבְע֥וּ בִשְׁמִ֖י לַשָּׁ֑קֶר וְחִלַּלְתָּ֛ אֶת־שֵׁ֥ם אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה 12 And you will not swear by my name falsely, or profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh. 3d 4A 9 14 לֹֽא־תַעֲשֹׁ֥ק אֶת־רֵֽעֲךָ֖ וְלֹ֣א תִגְזֹ֑ל לֹֽא־תָלִ֞ין פְּעֻלַּ֥ת שָׂכִ֛יר אִתְּךָ֖ עַד־בֹּֽקֶר 13 You will not oppress your associate and you will not rob. The amount due of a contract will not bide with you until morning. 3d 4B 11 12 לֹא־תְקַלֵּ֣ל חֵרֵ֔שׁ וְלִפְנֵ֣י עִוֵּ֔ר לֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן מִכְשֹׁ֑ל וְיָרֵ֥אתָ מֵּאֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה 14 You will not slight the deaf, and before the blind you will not permit a stumbling-block, and you will be fearful from your God. I am Yahweh. 3e 4B 16 13 לֹא־תַעֲשׂ֥וּ עָ֙וֶל֙ בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֔ט לֹא־תִשָּׂ֣א פְנֵי־דָ֔ל וְלֹ֥א תֶהְדַּ֖ר פְּנֵ֣י גָד֑וֹל בְּצֶ֖דֶק תִּשְׁפֹּ֥ט עֲמִיתֶֽךָ 15 You will not do injustice in the judgment. nor will you be partial before the weak, nor will you give honour before the great. In righteousness you will judge your fellow. 3e 4B 21 9 לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה 16 You will not walk as a scandal-monger among your people, nor will you stand against the blood of your associate. I am Yahweh. 3e 4C 17 4 לֹֽא־תִשְׂנָ֥א אֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ הוֹכֵ֤חַ תּוֹכִ֙יחַ֙ אֶת־עֲמִיתֶ֔ךָ וְלֹא־תִשָּׂ֥א עָלָ֖יו חֵֽטְא 17 You will hate your kin in your heart. To referee, you will correct your fellow, that you will not bear sin over him. 3e 4C 11 17 לֹֽא־תִקֹּ֤ם וְלֹֽא־תִטֹּר֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י עַמֶּ֔ךָ וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה 18 You will not avenge, and you will not hold back with the children of your people, but you will love your associate as yourself. I am Yahweh. 3e 4C 22 4 אֶֽת־חֻקֹּתַי֮ תִּשְׁמֹרוּ֒ בְּהֶמְתְּךָ֙ לֹא־תַרְבִּ֣יעַ כִּלְאַ֔יִם שָׂדְךָ֖ לֹא־תִזְרַ֣ע כִּלְאָ֑יִם וּבֶ֤גֶד כִּלְאַ֙יִם֙ שַֽׁעַטְנֵ֔ז לֹ֥א יַעֲלֶ֖ה עָלֶֽיךָ 19 My statutes you will keep. Your cattle you will not let copulate doubly confined. A field you will not sow doubly confined, and a garment doubly confined to linen and wool, will not come up over you. 3e 4C 25 15 וְ֠אִישׁ כִּֽי־יִשְׁכַּ֨ב אֶת־אִשָּׁ֜ה שִׁכְבַת־זֶ֗רַע וְהִ֤וא שִׁפְחָה֙ נֶחֱרֶ֣פֶת לְאִ֔ישׁ וְהָפְדֵּה֙ לֹ֣א נִפְדָּ֔תָה א֥וֹ חֻפְשָׁ֖ה לֹ֣א נִתַּן־לָ֑הּ בִּקֹּ֧רֶת תִּהְיֶ֛ה לֹ֥א יוּמְת֖וּ כִּי־לֹ֥א חֻפָּֽשָׁה 20 ~ And anyone who lies down with a woman for an emission of seed, and she a female slave espoused to another, and her redemption is not redeemed nor her freedom given to her, she will be reflected on. They will not be put to death for she was not free. 3c 4C 36 12 וְהֵבִ֤יא אֶת־אֲשָׁמוֹ֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה אֶל־פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד אֵ֖יל אָשָֽׁם 21 And he will bring his guilt offering to Yahweh to the door of the tent of engagement, the ram of the guilt offering. 3e 4C 16 3 וְכִפֶּר֩ עָלָ֨יו הַכֹּהֵ֜ן בְּאֵ֤יל הָֽאָשָׁם֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה עַל־חַטָּאת֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָטָ֑א וְנִסְלַ֣ח ל֔וֹ מֵחַטָּאת֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר חָטָֽא 22 And the priest will make a cover-price for him with the ram of the guilt offering in the presence of Yahweh concerning his sin that he sinned, and his sin that he sinned will be forgiven him. 3e 4C 25 12 וְכִי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙ כָּל־עֵ֣ץ מַאֲכָ֔ל וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥ם עָרְלָת֖וֹ אֶת־פִּרְי֑וֹ שָׁלֹ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֗ים יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם עֲרֵלִ֖ים לֹ֥א יֵאָכֵֽל 23 And when you come to the land and you have planted every tree for food, then you will see as fore-skinned its foreskin, its fruit. Three years it will be for you as fore-skinned. It will not be eaten. 3d 4B 25 15 וּבַשָּׁנָה֙ הָרְבִיעִ֔ת יִהְיֶ֖ה כָּל־פִּרְי֑וֹ קֹ֥דֶשׁ הִלּוּלִ֖ים לַיהוָֽה 24 And in the fourth year, will be, all its fruit, holiness, praises to Yahweh. 3e 4A 12 7 וּבַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַחֲמִישִׁ֗ת תֹּֽאכְלוּ֙ אֶת־פִּרְי֔וֹ לְהוֹסִ֥יף לָכֶ֖ם תְּבוּאָת֑וֹ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם 25 In the fifth year you will eat its fruit, to add repeatedly for you its income. I am Yahweh your God. 3e 4B 22 8 לֹ֥א תֹאכְל֖וּ עַל־הַדָּ֑ם לֹ֥א תְנַחֲשׁ֖וּ וְלֹ֥א תְעוֹנֵֽנוּ 26 f You will not eat over the blood. You will not use augury or fortunetellers. 3e 4A 6 11 לֹ֣א תַקִּ֔פוּ פְּאַ֖ת רֹאשְׁכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֣א תַשְׁחִ֔ית אֵ֖ת פְּאַ֥ת זְקָנֶֽךָ 27 B You will not encompass the edges of your heads, nor will you impair the edges of your beard. 3e 4B 8 11 וְשֶׂ֣רֶט לָנֶ֗פֶשׁ לֹ֤א תִתְּנוּ֙ בִּבְשַׂרְכֶ֔ם וּכְתֹ֣בֶת קַֽעֲקַ֔ע לֹ֥א תִתְּנ֖וּ בָּכֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה 28 And lacerations for a cadaver you will not permit in your flesh, and writing a tattoo you will not permit among you. I am Yahweh. 3e 4C 23 4 אַל־תְּחַלֵּ֥ל אֶֽת־בִּתְּךָ֖ לְהַזְנוֹתָ֑הּ וְלֹא־תִזְנֶ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ וּמָלְאָ֥ה הָאָ֖רֶץ זִמָּֽה 29 Do not profane your daughter to make her a prostitute, and the land will not prostitute itself and the land be full of schemes. 3e 4B 11 15 אֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֣י תִּשְׁמֹ֔רוּ וּמִקְדָּשִׁ֖י תִּירָ֑אוּ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה 30 My Sabbaths you will keep, and my sanctuary you will fear. I am Yahweh. 3e 4B 14 4 אַל־תִּפְנ֤וּ אֶל־הָאֹבֹת֙ וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים אַל־תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ לְטָמְאָ֣ה בָהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם 31 You will not face the necromancer, and to the wizards you will not seek, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God. 3e 4C 22 8 מִפְּנֵ֤י שֵׂיבָה֙ תָּק֔וּם וְהָדַרְתָּ֖ פְּנֵ֣י זָקֵ֑ן וְיָרֵ֥אתָ מֵּאֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה 32 From the presence of grey hairs, you will arise, and you will honour the presence of an elder, and fear from your God. I am Yahweh. 3e 4C 14 13 וְכִֽי־יָג֧וּר אִתְּךָ֛ גֵּ֖ר בְּאַרְצְכֶ֑ם לֹ֥א תוֹנ֖וּ אֹתֽוֹ 33 And when a guest resides with you in your land, you will not suppress him. 3c 4A 10 5 כְּאֶזְרָ֣ח מִכֶּם֩ יִהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֜ם הַגֵּ֣ר ׀ הַגָּ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֗ם וְאָהַבְתָּ֥ לוֹ֙ כָּמ֔וֹךָ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם 34 As the native from you, the guest residing with you will be for you, and you will love him as yourself, for guests you were in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. 3e 4B 34 8 לֹא־תַעֲשׂ֥וּ עָ֖וֶל בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֑ט בַּמִּדָּ֕ה בַּמִּשְׁקָ֖ל וּבַמְּשׂוּרָֽה 35 You will not do injustice in the judgment, by measure, by weight, or by influence. 3e 4A 8 10 מֹ֧אזְנֵי צֶ֣דֶק אַבְנֵי־צֶ֗דֶק אֵ֥יפַת צֶ֛דֶק וְהִ֥ין צֶ֖דֶק יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם אֲנִי֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־הוֹצֵ֥אתִי אֶתְכֶ֖ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם 36 c A balance, righteous, stones, righteous, ephah, righteous, and hin, righteous, it will be for you. I am Yahweh your God who brought out you from the land of Egypt. 3c 4B 19 21 וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֤ם אֶת־כָּל־חֻקֹּתַי֙ וְאֶת־כָּל־מִשְׁפָּטַ֔י וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה 37 And you will keep all my statutes and all my judgments, and do them. I am Yahweh. 3e 4C 20 4

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