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thethirdromana · 1 year

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Bram Stoker and Irish independence

I keep seeing posts popping up in the Dracula Daily tag about Bram Stoker being Irish, implying that we can draw conclusions from that about his politics, his attitude towards Britain, or the British Empire as a whole. I thought it might be useful to provide a bit of context.

Standard disclaimer: I'm not a historian and this period of Irish history is very complicated. I'm going to do my best but this will be a simplification, because otherwise an already long post would become a novel.

Less-standard disclaimer: I'm only going to go into some of Bram Stoker's views here. Others, such as his egregious racism, obviously also have a bearing on his views on empire... but again, a novel.

A very brief history of Ireland in the 19th century

god i have no idea how to simplify this

OK let's go. At the start of the 19th century, Ireland was a primarily Catholic, Irish-speaking country ruled by a primarily Protestant, English-speaking minority. The bulk of the Irish population faced colonial discrimination in a host of different ways, from restrictions that promoted English trade over Irish trade to laws that restricted Catholics from holding public office. The result was a long series of rebellions and risings against British rule, most recently in 1798. Though there was slow progress towards Catholic emancipation, especially in the 1820s.

In the 1840s, a potato blight affected the Irish staple potato crop. The British response - providing very little in the way of famine relief and continuing to export other crops from Ireland to Britain - turned a natural disaster into a genocide. A million people died and roughly twice that number emigrated. Ireland has yet to recover to its pre-Famine population.

A long-term consequence of the Famine was the decline of the Irish language. Irish-speaking areas were among the worst affected, and by 1900, Ireland was majority English-speaking. Another contributing factor was establishment of National Schools from the 1830s onwards, in which students were prohibited from speaking Irish.

In the second half of the 19th century, different movements arose to address these problems. There were campaigns for land rights, to protect tenant farmers; there was a movement to revive Irish culture and the Irish language; and there were different campaigns for how Ireland should be governed.

Independence was advocated for by groups such as the IRB, who supported taking up arms for complete freedom from the British Empire. Among the landed middle classes who were able to vote, this was a fringe position in the second half of the 19th century.

Home Rule was the idea that Ireland should remain in a union with Britain, under the British Crown, but that an independent Irish government should have complete control over domestic matters. This was the mainstream nationalist position in the late 19th century, and was the position of most of the Liberal Party in the UK.

Unionism was support for the status quo, and opposition to any devolution of power to Ireland. This was the position of the Conservative (Tory) Party in the UK.

In elections in the 1850s, Irish voters (male landowners only) were relatively split between Liberals and Tories. But by the 1870s, even this unrepresentative group of people voted overwhelmingly for the new Home Rule Party and its successor the Irish Parliamentary Party. That remained the majority view of Irish nationalists until WW1.

The leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, Charles Stewart Parnell, persuaded Liberal PM William Gladstone of the importance of Home Rule. In 1886, Gladstone introduced a Home Rule bill to Parliament, but it was defeated in the House of Commons by 30 votes, causing Gladstone to lose power. In 1890, Parnell was revealed through a divorce case to be in a relationship with a married woman, causing a scandal that split his party. In 1893, after Parnell's death, Gladstone was returned to power and attempted a second Home Rule bill, which passed the Commons but was defeated in the Lords.

And that's the context in which Bram Stoker wrote Dracula.

Bram Stoker's views on Home Rule

The starting point is that we don't know a huge amount about Stoker's views on anything. The Irish Times describes him as "so private we know little of his life." Here's a bit of what we do know.

He was a Protestant from a comfortable middle-class background. Here's where he grew up:

He studied at Trinity College Dublin, which Catholics were barred from attending (by their own leadership) on the grounds that attendance constituted "a moral danger to the faith of Irish Catholics." There, he would have been surrounded by committed Unionists; Trinity was its own parliamentary constituency and voted for Conservative MPs long after the rest of Ireland was supporting Home Rule.

At the same time, he was making friends with nationalists such as John Dillon and described himself as a "philosophical Home Ruler". (Source, which is amazingly comprehensive on the events of Stoker's life).

He must have liked that phrase, because when he wrote his Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving, published in 1906, he was still using it:

We were all, whatever our political opinions individually, full of the Parnell Manifesto [published 1890 after the divorce scandal and attacking Gladstone] and its many bearings on public life. For myself, though I was a philosophical Home-Ruler, I was very much surprised and both angry at and sorry for Parnell's attitude, and I told Mr. Gladstone my opinion. He said with great earnestness and considerable feeling: "I am very angry, but I assure you I am even more sorry." I was pleased to think - and need I say proud also - that Mr. Gladstone seemed to like to talk politics with me...

Above all his admiration for Gladstone, and pride in having him as a friend, shines through in this section.

Different sources interpret what a "philosophical Home-Ruler" is differently. It may be "one who accepted Home Rule as more necessary than ideal" or supporting "Home Rule brought about by peaceful means"; either way, it seems his support for Home Rule was qualified, not full-blooded.

Overall Stoker held a mainstream view, neither adamantly pro-independence nor a defender of the status quo in Ireland. He also seems to have been quite happy to maintain friendships with people who disagreed with him, whether they were Tories or more radically pro-independence.

This is less exciting than takes that I've seen out in the wild, such as "Bram Stoker hated the British Empire and that's why Dracula attacks English people". But it seems to be what the evidence bears out.

#dracula daily #historical context #bram stoker

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staliamazing · 6 months

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Mickey's Coming Out (4x11) / Lover You Should've Come Over, Jeff Buckley

I've always felt this song, particularly these couple verses to be quite queer-coded! I'm pretty sure this song is about cheating but, in these moments, we hear the singer talk about the sacrifices he would make for his lover and lament over what he believes to be the never-ending nature of their love. This sentiment can be echoed by the queer community, especially when considering instances in which people with homophobic/transphobic families have chosen to come out and jeopardize their past relationships to live as their truest self.

So! How does it relate to Ian and Mickey, you may ask? Here's some examples below based specifically on Mickey's coming out scene in Season 4 episode 11, 'Emily'. You can listen to the song here.

My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder

Mickey’s kingdom is his family. Seemingly dozens of Milkovich brothers and cousins and uncles can be seen at Terry’s homecoming party, all sharing a similarly violent and thuggish attitude to the patriarch himself. It was from these people that Mickey learnt his volatility and who bred his affinity for violence, making his declaration even more polarizing.

"I'm fucking gay."

Despite speaking with the patois of his family, by publicly sharing his sexuality Mickey essentially emancipates himself from the Milkovich’s. Based on his facial expression as he watches Ian begin to walk out of the door of the Alibi, he finds himself at a crossroads and faces losing Ian, or his family. In choosing to express his love for a man he forfeits his kingdom and the possibility of ever pleasing his father, something that despite not being verbally admitted to is undoubtedly a goal all Terry’s kids reach for, if not just to stop the abuse.

The notion that the singer gives up their kingdom for a mere kiss, not even upon his lover’s lips but merely on her shoulder, provides us with an understanding of the devotion which they feel towards her. To give up so much for seemingly so little. This allows us to harness Mickey’s point of view for a moment; not only does he essentially give up his place in his family to stop Ian walking out the door and out of his life, but he burns it to the ground, all guns a-blazing. Milkovich-style, no matter what Terry will think of him after this. Ian is worth it to him.

The use of 'kingdom' is an important lexical connotation here also as it could also refer to the kingdom of God aka Heaven in the Christian and Catholic religions, meaning that when individuals choose to come out they are abandoning his Kingdom to live freely and comfortably in their sexuality. Of course, I do not believe that homosexuality or queerness in any of its forms is a sin, I only add this as a footnote to further highlight the undertones of the song and add cultural meaning.

All my riches for her smiles

Whilst echoing the sentiment of the previous line about sacrifice for love, I’d like to touch an alternative perspective, being that the subject of the song represents Mickey’s wife Svetlana and his father Terry, as opposed to Ian. Over the duration of season four, Mickey grapples with gaining a wife and child, neither of which he consented to and having to develop a family life under these circumstances where at every turn he is denied his freedom and selfhood. In this case, his personal wellbeing (his ‘riches) are sacrificed to play house with Svetlana and keep his father happy. Based on the events of 3x06, the viewers are aware of Terry’s extreme, violent disdain for Mickey’s homosexuality and fear the possibility pf this cropping up again as much as Mickey and Ian themselves. Thus, from a storyline point of view, at the emotional climax of the pair’s storyline this season, it only makes sense that this elephant in the room finally blows its trunk. Besides Ian's ultimatum which leads to Mickey's coming out at one of many emotional cruxes of the episode, his unwillingness to continue living a manufactured life was undoubtedly a factor also.

It's never over

This scene is one of many in which the pair spend their screen-time blood-soaked. As previously mentioned, it was with almost sheer certainty that Mickey understood the physical ramifications that his announcement would have. Any booze filled Milkovich event is bound to have a tousle or two, so add a freshly freed Terry and an announcement of his very own son being gay? Bound to be a bloodbath. While the final iteration of "it's never over" remains the same lyrically, Buckley belts the line out. Metaphorically, Mickey does the same. By antagonizing his father while bent over a police car, (read: "Guess what we been doin', daddy? We've been fuckin'!) he acknowledges that yes, his father will always be a terrible man who will never accept him. Concomitantly, he comes to the realization that his phase of hiding is over, which gives him the gusto he needs to be so bold in the face of Terry after all this violence.

All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter

When Mickey makes Ian laugh, his eyes light up in a way that is not often seen in the show. For once, it seems, part of his shell has broken, and he is freer than we have seen him thus far in the show. To be able to sit there in such sorry circumstances and accept the physical affection he would usually meet with sharp rejection must certainly dull his pain and help him come to terms with the ways in which his life has been permanently altered.

♡♡♡

@gallavichmeta I really hope you see this and have a read! I worked hard on writing this and stringing my ideas on the parallels between the song and the scene together :,)) Just a bit of fun to think about how seemingly seperate things can actually have common themes!

And a thank you to @iansw0rld for giving this a read-over and giving me a lil confidence boost too :) <3

Yes, Mickey would die for Ian. But here, he says: I will live for you.

#gallavich meta #shameless #jeff buckley #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #coming out #queer theory #lyrical analysis #scene analysis

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sunstar706 · 6 months

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Hear me out: Bucky Barnes is 100% not Jewish.

I’ve been doing a lot of scrolling on Tumblr/Ao3 the past few days looking for other people’s opinions on the nitty gritty of Bucky Barnes’ background, and realized- a lot (a *lot*) of people headcanon him as Jewish, which I find really interesting. Judaism, on the whole, is an extremely interesting subject, as the only non-universalizing Abrahamic faith, the only ethnic Abrahamic faith, and the oldest Abrahamic faith (making it one of the oldest monotheistic religions ever to exist).

Let me present to you my speculation on Bucky’s religious background. First of all, we know Steve is Catholic. Just getting that out of the way.

Am I a geography and demography nerd? Yes, yes I am. And I also have a strange hyperfixation on names. That’s why this stood out to me immediately.

James Buchanan Barnes, born March 10, 1917, into a poor family in Brooklyn, New York.

James is a really ambiguous name, with versions in pretty much every Indo-European language, as far as I know. It’s the number one baby boy name in the United States of all time, beating out the second place name (Robert) by over 300,000. Honestly, this name tells me nothing. Moving on.

Buchanan. It’s Scottish. That says a lot. It was fairly common at the time for the eldest sons middle name to be the mothers maiden name, so we can safely say that Winnifred Barnes (née Buchanan) was most likely Scottish.

Now, this is where we get historical, and also where speculation starts. As many Outlander fans will know, things went south for Catholics in Scotland after the battle of Culloden Moor and the Jacobite rebellion, however… The Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy was reestablished in Scotland in 1878. Catholic emancipation occurred in 1829, and there was a revival of Papism in Scotland, along with an influx of Irish Catholic immigrants coming in (especially with the potato famine starting in the 1840s in Ireland), so, while Catholicism isn’t as popular in Scotland today (approximately 15% of modern Scots are Catholic), when Winnie was born (likely somewhere between 1897 and 1900, I usually put it at 1899) there would have been a good number of Catholics in Scotland. There’s a really good chance she was Catholic.

Now. Barnes. If there was ever an extremely English surname, it was Barnes. It’s pretty hard to provide reasonable evidence that George Barnes was not English, so, let’s run with that. While England today has high percentages of Islam, Hinduism, and even reasonable amounts of Sikhism and Buddhism, it was… very Christian back in the day. In fact, the only really established non-Christian religion in England was Judaism (England contained approximately 60000 Jews in 1880, a number which rose to 300000 by 1914. However, please consider that the majority of these people were fresh immigrants escaping anti-semitism in Eastern and Northern Europe, who would not have had the surname ‘Barnes’). Delving further into English Christianity- they were Anglican, pretty much.

Guess what? Protestants (ex. Anglicans like George) and Catholics (like Winnie) don’t like each other. While marriage between Protestants and Catholics wasn’t illegal in the uk at the time, it is extremely unlikely their families would have approved. So, Winnie and George moved to NYC. (Actually, this is how my very own great-great-grandparents ended up in New Zealand).

So, where does James Buchanan Barnes lie on the religion side of things? I can tell you The chances that he’s Jewish are very low. I’d say he’s probably Catholic, even if just to blend in- New York is extremely Catholic, even today. He could be Anglican. After all the shit Hydra put him through, he’s might’ve given up on religion all together. Or maybe he converted to Buddhism. A lot of people do that (Buddhism is the third largest universalizing religion on earth). I’m kidding, don’t take that seriously, he’s not a Buddhist.

I think he’s Catholic.

But hey, nothings concrete. I’ve read some really great stories where he’s Jewish. I’ve read great stories where he’s Catholic.

-Ranger616

#bucky barnes #steve rogers #captain america #winter soldier #the avengers #george barnes #winnifred barnes #religon #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #judaism #christianity #catholiscism #protestantism #anglicanism

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3rdeyeblaque · 1 year

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On June 7th, we venerate Elevated Ancestor Mother Julia Greeley on the 105th anniversary of her passing 🕊

Affectionately known as Denver’s Angel of Charity, Mother Julia is a Servant of God & is the Patron of Black Catholics, Firefighters, Children, & the Poor/Homeless.

Mother Julia was born enslaved in Hannibal, Missouri sometime between 1833 -1848. She endured hellish treatment, even as a young child beneath her mother's skirts. During one fateful event, in particular, she was stricken by the whip that the slave master used while beating her mother; permanently damaging her right eye. Decades passed before she became among the first "freeman" in the state following the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. A young woman now, Mother Julia subsequently earned her living by serving White families throughout Missouri, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico —though primarily in the Denver area. It was her work with the family of Colorado’s first territorial governor that brought her to Denver in 1878.

Two years later, she worked odd jobs around the city until she came upon the steps of the Sacred Heart Parish of Denver, where she was conditionally baptized into the Catholic Church - since she hadn't known if she'd ever been baptized before. She became an enthusiastic parishioner, a daily communicant, & became an active member of the Secular Franciscan Order in 1901. The Jesuit priests at her parish recognized her as the most fervent promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that they'd ever witnessed.

She was often seen wearing a floppy hat, oversized shoes, & dabbing her injured right eye with a handkerchief while pulling her red wagon of goods to deliver to the poor & homeless of the city. She'd often do this at night, knowing that some of the poor White families would be embarrassed to be seen receiving charity from her, a Black woman. Whatever she did not need for herself, she gave to the poor. When she had nothing more to give, she begged for food, supplies, & clothing for the needy.

She had a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and would deliver pictures & pamphlets depicting it each month to firefighters throughout the city of Denver. As a daily communicant, Mother Julia also had a rich devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin. She'd recite prayers even while working outside of the parish. She did so until the day of her death. Mother Julia died on June 7, 1918 — ironically on the day of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, around 80 years old.

After which, her body lay in state for 5hrs in a funeral that drew hundreds throughout the city to pay their respects to the woman who fed, clothed, & suported them in the dark for years on end.

Mother Julia was buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. The Catholic Church finally granted the request from many for her to be considered for canonizatio in 2016.

As part of the Cause for Canonization, her body was transferred to Denver’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in 2017. Her remains were placed in a funerary box made of exotic red heart wood near the altar of the Sacred Heart in the northwest corner of the sanctuary, which will later be encapsulated in a sarcophagus made of Caralla marble (the same stone used by Michaelangelo in his statues). She is one of 6 Afrikan descendants in the U.S. to have open canonization causes with the Catholic Church. Currently, she remains a Servant of God.

In 2012, Catholic Priest, Father Blain Burkey authored a book entitled, “In Secret Service of the Sacred Heart: The Life and Virtues of Julia Greeley,” which later was adapted as a documentary film.

" My communion is my breakfast " - Mother Julia to the priests of her parish.

We pour libations & give her 💐 today as we celebrate her for her service to the city of Denver & for her patronage of all Black Catholics, firefighters, children & the homeless communities whom she served.

Offering suggestions: red wine, bread, catholic Bible, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, parish of denver badge, & little red wagons.

#mother julia greeley #servant of God #black catholic #ancestor veneration #elevated ancestors #Hoodoo #hudu #the hoodoo calendar

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imslowlydisintegrating · 5 months

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WAY DOWN ON THE RIVER

“Oh mother tell my baby sister / Not to do what I have done / But shun that house in New Orleans / They call the Rising Sun” — House of the Rising Sun by Lauren O’Connell

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genre: horror comedy

pov: 3rd limited; switches between characters

setting: on a traveling new orleans riverboat, from new orleans, louisiana to cairo, illionois

content warnings: gore, graphic depictions of violence, depictions of panic attacks, blood, death

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blurb, characters + worldbuilding under the cut

BLURB

Nine killers board a boat, each with a different intent. Some there to kill, and some there for it's intended purpose — traveling. Whatever the reason, all of them get tangled up in the complex web of everyone's favorite game show, Who Killed That Guy? With the deaths piling up, everyone aboard has to manage to survive the rest of the week. If only there was a detective on board; alas, they probably killed him, too.

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CHARACTERS

Anastasia "Tasi" Marie / TEATIME

Anastasia "Tasi" Marie was born and raised in New Orleans, USA. Most of her childhood was spent hiding from her transphobic, alcoholic mother and learning about anything she could get her hands on, usually politics and government. When she turned 16 she leaped at the chance to get emancipated and won the court case. Due to her intelligence and studious nature, Anastasia managed to get accepted into a college soon after emancipation. She was a history major at Columbia University, New York, and later worked as an archivist at a local museum. When she discovered one of her coworkers was cheating on his wife, she killed him, leading police investigations to discover he was adulterous and make his wife aware. After the first killing, Anastasia continued to kill cheating spouses. Eventually, she quit her job and started traveling to find a wider variety of victims. Her method of killing is inviting her victims over for tea and poisoning them with cyanide. Anastasia hates violent killing, not for the nature of it, but simply because she thinks it's too messy and the cleanup isn't worth it. She's very strategic and can form a complex plan from very little information, which is how she's succeeded as a serial killer for nearly a decade. She has what she describes as 'the most peculiar sense of being able to tell when it's going to rain, but only a few hours before it happens.' She has a pet rat named Rat that she always brings with her to her murder scenes. Anastasia also suffers from inattentive type ADHD. She currently lives in Denham Springs, Louisiana, USA.

Araceli "Cheli" Malviya / LANCELOT

Araceli "Cheli" Zamora was born in Madrid, Colombia and lived there for the first seven years of her life to a Spanish father and Colombian mother who later divorced when she was 3. When she was 9, she was adopted by an Indian-American woman referred to only as the Specter after her parents were murdered. Cheli moved to New York, USA and The Specter became her mother and taught her how to kill as well as personally educating her in most other subjects. She learned Louisiana Creole, Hindi and Mandarin Chinese as a result of being raised with the Specter, Sam and Zexi. The Specter allowed all her children to choose if they wanted to choose the path of serial killing, and they decided they did want to, becoming the group of serial killers known as the Trinity. Cheli's main victims are pastors with a history of SA. Her method of killing is killing her victims with throwing knives. The knives are personalized — they're named after female Catholic saints, and the names are engraved into them. Cheli has slight anger issues and learned how to box and play drums as a coping mechanism. She's the only one of her siblings that knows how to do hair, and loves it. She learned how to do Afro hairstyles and dye, bleach, and cut hair so she could know how to do her sibling's hair. Cheli is described by Sam as 'charming in an annoying way — she'll insult you and make you fall in love with her all in the same sentence.' She has a strong dislike of bright, artificial lights, but loves dim lighting from lamps. Cheli suffers from hypoglycemia and as a result always has candy or candy wrappers in her pockets. She currently lives in New York City, New York, USA with Sam and Zexi.

Samson "Sam/Sammie" Malviya / BAM BAM

Samson "Sam" Zamora was born in a small farming town near Baton Rogue, USA. They were raised unaware of their parents, since the community operated under a communal raising structure, usually only bothering with parents for government requirements. When they were 9, they were adopted by the Specter, an ordeal the farming community was concerningly apathetic about. Sam moved to New York, USA and The Specter became their mother and taught them how to kill as well as personally educating them in most other subjects. They learned Spanish, Hindi and Mandarin Chinese as a result of being raised with the Specter, Cheli and Zexi. The Specter allowed all her children to choose if they wanted to choose the path of serial killing, and they decided they did want to, becoming the group of serial killers known as the Trinity. Sam's main victims are middle-aged addicts with children. Their method of killing is blunt-force trauma. Sam has horrible eyesight and uses glasses, but mainly relies on their siblings for guidance. They are easily the best dressed out of their siblings and put the most effort into their appearance. Sam is also the best cook out of their siblings and enjoys cooking Indian and Louisiana Creole food with the Specter. They love visiting museums with their siblings and making it a competition to see who can find the most homoerotic exhibit in a set amount of time. Sam is described by Ruhi as having 'impossibly long eyelashes over piercing gray eyes that make Ruhi's breath catch when they sweep over him with a mix of curiosity and disdain.' They currently live in New York City, New York, USA with Cheli and Zexi.

Zexi Malviya / HONEYPIE

It's unknown exactly where Zexi Zamora was born, as his mother abandoned him at an orphanage after his birth due to mental health and financial reasons on his part. He was raised by primarily Latina people, and as a result, became fluent in Spanish. They were also firm in teaching him Mandarin Chinese, believing it was important for him to have some connection to his culture even when he wasn't surrounded by it like he would be if he had been raised by his mother. When he was 9, he was adopted by the Specter, which was very bittersweet for the orphanage caretakers. Zexi moved to New York, USA and The Specter became his mother and taught him how to kill as well as personally educating him in most other subjects. They learned Hindi and Mandarin Chinese as a result of being raised with the Specter and Sam. The Specter allowed all her children to choose if they wanted to choose the path of serial killing, and they decided they did want to, becoming the group of serial killers known as the Trinity. Zexi's main victims are detectives who are assigned to investigate his sibling's murders. His method of killing is using a suffocation agent in his victim's food, usually a dessert like cake or pie. Zexi is the peacemaker between his siblings and often tells them they 'need to chill out.' He's a photographer and frequently visits the scenes of his sibling's murders to photograph them. Zexi is deaf and knows ASL (so do Cheli and Sam), but his deafness isn't took severe so he's able to use hearing aids. He likes to joke about lots of things being deeper than they are — for example, he could see a penny lying facedown on the ground and equate it the silencing, oppression and genocide of Native Americans. Sam has described this talent as a 'stupidly interesting skill, the way he pulls things from thin air. Sam nearly considers it an art form.' He currently lives in New York City, New York, USA with Cheli and Sam.

Akachi Moriai/ MS. MEDIC

Akachi Moriai was born in Enugu, Nigeria and lived there for 16 years with a complicated relationship with her parents until she left for college possibilities in the US. They had a few kills under their belt before they left for the US, but after they made it to the US they started killing more frequently. She befriended Toyoko, who was also coincidentally a serial killer, but it wasn't something Akachi was aware of until they started dating when Akachi was 19. Akachi dropped out of Harvard Medical School to instead travel around killing people with Toyoko, which they found much more rewarding (to each their own, I guess). She married Toyoko when she was 22. Their main victims are male gynecologists who SA their patients. Her method of killing is overdosing her victims on certain pills. Akachi is a very artistic person and paints portraits of their wife's victims with the victim's blood. She keeps a jar of things that are sensory-pleasing for her wife around at all times. Akachi is very fond of snakes and usually has one around them at all times. Sometimes the snakes aren't even personal pets, they're just...there. She also really likes wearing jewelry and is constantly layering bracelets, earrings, rings, and necklaces. While they are very artistic, Akachi is also kind of flighty and non-committal, hopping around arts and crafts and picking up new creative hobbies every few months and such. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois, USA with Toyoko.

Moriai Toyoko / THE SURGEON

Moriai Toyoko was born in Narita, Japan where she lived for fourteen years before her parents immigrated to the USA. Due to large pressure to become a doctor like her uncle from her parents and their refusal to accommodate her needs as an autistic person, Toyoko went slightly crazy and killed her parents with surgical tools when she was 17. She managed to frame their deaths as if they were murdered by burglars and played the part of the grieving daughter. After that, she continued her killing. Her main victims are psychiatrists who diagnose with obvious bias/ableism. Her method of killing is cutting with surgical tools. Toyoko is often self-destructive and works more than healthy for her, but tries to stop because it makes Akachi nervous about Toyoko's health. She's obsessed with keeping her spaces clean and cleans her tools 3 times a day at designated times. While Toyoko is autistic, she has high-functioning autism and a harder time with social cues and interaction than overstimulation. Her special interest is in surgery and medical mysteries, and she spends a lot of her time reading or studying surgery procedures/statistics and medical mysteries. Toyoko is very oblivious and didn't realize she was dating Akachi until three months into the relationship. While not a very sentimental person, Toyoko makes certain to keep every small gift her wife gives her. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois, USA with Akachi.

Ruhi Arana / FLASH-BANG

Ruhi Arana was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and lived there for their whole life. The start of his killing began as a response to the murder of his mother and father when he was 7. As a result of their parents' death, they were raised by their aunt. His parents' death was the outcome of a racial hate crime, and the man who murdered them was later put on trial and declared guilty due to the efforts of Ruhi's aunt. While Ruhi was on a vacation in Argentina when they were 16, they ended up meeting Don. They both attempted to kill the same man, which they succeeded at, but then both attempted to kill each other, which failed. Ruhi's main victims are people with a history of racial and transphobic hate crimes. His method of killing is stunning his victims with a bright light and then choking them via smoke inhalation. Ruhi is described by Zexi to be a 'tall, lanky son a bitch that was even taller than Zexi, who was notably the tallest of his siblings.' Ruhi is a solitary person and despises working in large groups, barely tolerating partnerships. It's easy for them to adapt to new situations and learn things very quickly, which is part of the reason they've managed to get away with murder for 8+ years. Ruhi is incredibly good at literary analysis and composition and works for a newspaper. If able, he signs up to write articles on his murders, making sure to reveal the victim's history of hate crimes. They're also majoring in English Literature at The University of Auckland. Ruhi's a shameless flirt, described by Don as 'willing to flirt with a shoebox if it attracted him enough.' He currently lives in Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Donna "Don" Nekvasilová / BELLADONNA

Donna "Don" Nekvasilová was born and raised in Sokolov, Czech Republic where she lived for eleven years before her family immigrated to the US. Don attends Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey as a psychology major. He plans to get a master's degree in psychology and become a forensics psychologist. Their killing started when they were 16 and saw a xenophobic woman harassing an Asian person, leading Don to later kill the xenophobe. Her parents remained unaware of this and are very supportive of whatever Don decides to do with her life (probably wouldn't be supportive of murder, but what I'm saying is she's the only serial killer with a happy, living family). Don's main victims continued to be xenophobes after the first murder. His method of killing is through the use of poisonous plants, usually atropa belladonna since that's his calling card. Don is dyslexic and uses colors to code his plants instead of the names, which is helpful in concealing their crimes. She's incredibly skilled at makeup and uses it to her advantage and is one of the best at hiding her identity. He has the nervous habit of biting at his nails, leading to his fingers always having stains of blood or blood crusted around the nails. Don is also a gymnast, specializing in aerial silks and the balance beam, making them incredibly agile and flexible. She's a very energetic, vibrant person who often has trouble sleeping because of their amount of energy. It also causes him to be slightly irritating to the people around him, and his energy and constant movement can be tiring to some. They're described by Ruhi as seeming 'weirdly knowledgeable about many things — it's like she was made for Jeopardy.' She currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Muoi "Ash" Vanich / THE PYRE

Muoi "Ash" Vanich was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. He attended the Faculty of Medicine, Chang Mai University to become an RN. He lived in Thailand for nearly twenty-five years before immigrating to the US with his sister to help her raise her family. After immigrating, Ash got a job as a travel nurse, which led to him traveling around a lot, making it easier for him to kill people without his sister and other family becoming aware. In the medical world, ableism thrives, and as a result, Ash's main victims are ableists, usually people who accuse disabled people of faking it. His method of his killing is through fire by any means. Ash was born with a limp and uses a cane full-time, experiencing chronic fatigue as a result. He's plagued with night terrors about drowning, which is part of the reason he's so attracted to fire. Ash is depressed and anxious, and basically a tired old uncle that needs a nap instead of murder. Despite using a cane, is supernatural how clumsy he is, he gains fifteen new bruises every day. When he gets to new places he'll be in for a while, he walks around them, mentally mapping them out so when he walks around later he can close his eyes and get the slightest moment of rest. He's described by Cheli as a man who looks like 'the tired, sad uncle that you only see at the family function and always looks to be on the verge of death.' He currently lives in Washington, D.C., USA near his sister.

Crew of the Beaulieu

The Specter (she/her ; 53) is the Indian-American woman who adopted Cheli, Sam, and Zexi. She was also a serial killer, albeit before her children's time, stopping her killing around five years before her children's adoption. She was called the Specter for her unknown method of killing and the fact that her identity was never discovered.

Kalpani Corea (she/he ; 48) is the Sri Lankan pilot and captain of the Beaulieu, the riverboat WDOTR is set on. She is a close friend of the Specter and regraded by Anastasia as a woman with 'a confident set to her shoulders and a sly smirk playing on the edges of her lips.' To Cheli, Sam, and Zexi he is considered an honorary, 'fun' aunt.

Aniyath Inasa (he/him ; 34) is the Maldivan clerk of the Beaulieu and cousin of Kalpani. He's a serious man with a blank gaze and aloof attitude toward most of the passengers. He does have a soft spot for Cheli, Sam, and Zexi, however, and has been known to crack an occasional smile around them.

Nazli Volkan (they/them ; 26) is the Turkish engineer of the Beaulieu. They're quite skittish and usually only speaks around other crew members. While they do take a while to warm up to, they are very dependable and gets on Aniyath's nerves the least.

Szalai Zita (xe/xyr ; 40) is the Hungarian head of the firefighters of the Beaulieu. Xe's a loud, slightly obnoxious member of the crew, but much of the younger crew adores xyr like a mother. Xe is the love of Kalpani's life and her partner.

Miryam Caillat (she/her ; 36) is the French mate of the Beaulieu. She doesn't hesitate to snap, and while not abusive like mates used to be in older times, is quite strict with the deckhands. Even though she's firm, she's fair and respectful of each of the deckhands, taking the time to learn each of their names and getting to know them, despite her joking that she only does that so the deckhands know who she's yelling at.

Jackie Watts (they/she/he ; 27) is the American 'leader' of the deckhands, or the co-mate of Miryam on the Beaulieu. Jackie is a mischievous, bouncy person whom Toyoko describes as having 'a sparkle in their eyes that they'll always have, no matter how old.' Despite their decade long age gap, she's known to get along well with Cheli, Sam, and Zexi.

Isma Samaha (he/they/ze ; 33) is the Egyptian head of the cabin crew. Considered the kindest of the crew on the Beaulieu, Isma is described by Cheli as 'a soft kind of person, but only to the people he thinks need it.' They're very supportive of the entire crew and jokingly called Dr. Samaha due to the crew joking that Isma could be a therapist.

——————————————————————

Worldbuilding

The World

The world is basically a parallel/alternate world to ours. It's very similar and has many of the same elements like world leaders, celebrities, historical events, etc. Aesthetic-wise, it is more steam-punky and the use of machines and mechanics like trains, steamboats, and ferries is commonplace globally. Mechanics* as a whole are incredibly innovative and forward, much more advanced than our world. Supernatural elements are also way more prominent in this world, and things like cryptids, monsters, and magic are real, tangible things. This does affect the day-to-day life of the people of this world, and it's not uncommon to see something supernatural every day.

This world is, funnily enough, aware of our universe/world. While this world is not constantly up to date on our world, they do manage to get some form of news every few years. Of course, major historical events still happen, including the horrible ones. But as for mechanical, technological, architectural, etc. — those mistakes are often discovered and corrected.

Note: this doesn't mean technology. Technology, while more advanced than on our world, is not as common in this world.

Transportation

It takes place on a riverboat in New Orleans, Louisiana. In today's world, they usually aren't used for travel, more for a tourist attraction. In this world, steamboats and riverboats are used more commonly as modes of transportation on the water. The other main form(s) of transportation on land are trains and/or buses.

#wip intro #writerblr #wdotr #anastasia marie #cheli malviya #sam malviya #zexi malviya #malviya triplets #akachi moriai #moriai toyoko #the brides #ruhi arana #don nekvasilová #ash vanich #teo is typing

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scotianostra · 5 months

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January 22nd 1777 saw the birth, in Montrose, of Joseph Hume.

The son of James Hume, shipmaster, and Mary Allan who ran a crockery stall at the local markets, there is not a lot of detail on Hume's early years other than he lost his father at a young age, he was apprenticed to a local surgeon and sent for medical training at the University of Edinburgh.

Joseph Hume became an assistant surgeon in the East India Company in 1797. His proficiency for language enabled him to become very wealthy during his service in India. After the end of the Mahratta War he moved to England and was influenced by the political philosophy of James Mill and Jeremy Bentham.

He served as a Member of Parliament for the Weymouth constituency in 1812 and then for a variety of constituencies in Scotland, England and Ireland from 1818-55. At the start of his political career he held Tory principles but became more and more liberal and radical. He was a proponent of Catholic Emancipation, the extension of voting rights, the promotion of savings banks and free trade. He also actively campaigned for the abolition of corporal punishment in the armed forces, press-ganging in the Navy and custodial sentences for those in debt.

He died on 20 February 1855 at Burnley Hall in Norfolk.

The pic is a portrait of Joseph Hume, by J P Heally.

There is an extended biography on Joseph Hume here https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/…/hume-joseph-177…

#scotland #scottish #history #surgeon

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beardedmrbean · 10 months

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Pupils will be banned from wearing abayas, loose-fitting full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in France's state-run schools, the education minister has said.

The rule will be applied as soon as the new school year starts on 4 September.

France has a strict ban on religious signs in state schools and government buildings, arguing that they violate secular laws.

Wearing a headscarf has been banned since 2004 in state-run schools.

"When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn't be able to identify the pupils' religion just by looking at them," Education Minister Gabriel Attal told France's TF1 TV, adding: "I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools."

The move comes after months of debate over the wearing of abayas in French schools.

The garment is being increasingly worn in schools, leading to a political divide over them, with right-wing parties pushing for a ban while those on the left have voiced concerns for the rights of Muslim women and girls.

"Secularism means the freedom to emancipate oneself through school," Mr Attal told TF1, arguing the abaya is "a religious gesture, aimed at testing the resistance of the republic toward the secular sanctuary that school must constitute."

He said that he would give clear rules at the national level before schools open after the summer break.

Hijab campaign tweets pulled after French backlash

The Islamic veil across Europe

In 2010, France banned the wearing of full face veils in public which provoked anger in France's five million-strong Muslim community.

France has enforced a strict ban on religious signs at schools since the 19th Century, including Christian symbols such as large crosses, in an effort to curb any Catholic influence from public education. It has been updating the law over the years to reflect its changing population, which now includes the Muslim headscarf and Jewish kippa, but abayas have not been banned outright.

The debate on Islamic symbols has intensified since a Chechen refugee beheaded teacher Samuel Paty, who had shown students caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, near his school in a Paris suburb in 2020.

The announcement is the first major policy decision by Mr Attal, who was appointed France's education minister by President Emmanuel Macron this summer at the age of 34.

The CFCM, a national body representing many Muslim associations, has said items of clothing alone were not "a religious sign".

#nunyas news

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just-an-enby-lemon · 1 year

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Jonathan Crane does not celebrate christmas. His grandma did and it was hell and he just hates everything that happens after Halloween anyway. Except Jervis Tetch is absolutly a christimas fan, the songs, the lights, the decorantions, the music, the food, the snow, Santa Claus, Jervis loves everything about it. His house is always the best decorated if a little bit over the top, his dolls are all dressed for the occasion and he even helps poor kids dressed as Santa before going for his own house and having a themed tea party.

Now Jonathan Crane hates most things and he specially hates christmas but he loves Jervis. And that means that suddently christmases aren't just another work day perfecting his formula and studying it's results anymore. Decemeber isn't the same month. He spends it decorating the house and putting a beutifull tree that would likely make Ivvy murder them if she ever sees it. He goes gift shopping of all things (and worse he has to call Edward and Harley to help him choose something for Jervis!)! He wears the most stupid elf costume and likely scares the kids Jervis is helping. He cooks! And he sings stupid cherry songs. And he hates everthing about it but it's soo damm worth it to see Jervis beam with joy and his eyes crinker and the soft hugs and passioned kisses and the soft ones at the mistletoe and even how cute Tetch looks in the dumb Santa hat.

- / -

Ivvy is not very into christmas, she sees it for the capitalistic waste that it is and while she enjoys gift making, her only celebration is to put her pine three on the front of the house as an statement that growing your own tree is waay better to all parts than to kill one.

Harley is jewish. She likes Hannukkah but where jewish celebrations are concerned is not really as important or showey as christmas is for christians and neither is her favorite. So different of what people might expect Christmas Eve is not really important in the Harlivvy household. During the weeks leading to it Harley decorares Ivvy's tree and goes to gift shoppings with Eddie and Selina and recently Crane and Ivvy celebrates Hannukah with her even if just to show support. The day itself is mostly spend cuddling in the sofa with take out and watching bad romance movies. They love it.

-.-

Edward does not care for christmas and never truly did. His mother was jewish and his father was an asshole. Hannukkah with his mom was nice, it was almost as if there was only the two of them for a while. Christmas after his mother was bleak and either just a bunch of nothingness and hidding under the sheats with the knowledge his dad was getting drunker downstairs or worse his dad would cry and say he regretted everyting and try to pretend it was all okay and do a nice father-son christmas day, it never lasted and the wait until things went wrong was unsuferable.

Diedre's christmas were full of catholic guilty and sexist parents and expectations she would never truly met. Of having her girlfriends be called close friends and listening to old aunties ask when she would settle down and marry already even though she wasn't even eighteen. Of treats of hell and treats of violence. It's not really surprising she stopped liking it at age eight and never went back.

Nina's parents never cared. Her dad was ethinically jewish and her mother was a chinese imigrant and neither could really give a shit about Jesus birthday. Not going to school was nice. And her parents deserved a day off for how tired they were all the time. They would play board games and her dad would make some simple and delicous meal. Christmas on the orphanage was full of people pretending to care for one day only and she was glad she only stayed a year before getting her emancipation and her late parents tiny appartment to bolt.

Their first time together was akward glances and shy gift exchanging (between the girls and Eddie, Diedre and Nina played by different rules with each other) and plotting to do a heist just the three of them only to give up and end in a bent up sofa watching bad horror movies and eating chinese and it was better than annyone had expected. It became a tradition. Nina would cook her parents old recipies and Diedre would create beutifull decorantions that were completly off brand from spider webs to easter bunnies to just ridiculous random themes like collages of shakesperean characthers and Edward would make not even a little bit christmacy playlists and sing anything from the soundtrack of Phantom of the Opera to The Beach Boys back to the poor confused carrollers who dared to ring their bell (it wasn't that he was a bad singer but answering to "we wish you a merry christmas" with Taylor Swift was a certain way to rise some eyebrowns) and somehow find the funnier worst horror movies ever made.

They would shop separadly both for the surprise effect of the presents and becase the girls did not like it as much as Nygma. Edward was enrapted by the puzzle of finding the perfect present and was a massive fan of dressing up wich ended with him going not only for himself but again for Jonathan and Harley and any other rogue who wanted his assistance.

It was their own little traditions and their own little family in the end.

-|-

Victor used to love christmas. Mostly because Nora loved it and appeared to shine in the hollyday sheer. They would decorate the tree and make a pretty snowman and just be happy together. She would always point out that more than the lights and the food and the gifts and anything really she was just happy to do it all with him. He would annoy her by singing "All I want for Christmas is You" in her ear while she failed to complain as all her trials were stopped by laughter until they were both laughting together.

Without Nora christmas was just another day of work. Another day trying to find a cure. One day she would be back and he would still be lonley because they still had to much to mend and he couldn't see himself as worthy. But this would pass. And one day she would be back and they would be together and this time she would sing "All I Want for Christmas is You" and he would try to deny it, to point out how she needed and deserved much more, only to end up laughting and they would kiss and things would be alright. One day. Soon. But not today.

-|-

Christmas for Harvey was bittersweet. His stepfather was a dick and growing up seing the good christmas on TV he wanted that. He had that for a while with Bruce and Gilda and the Gordons, the perfect christmas. The tree and the food and the feeling of belonging for once.

But good things aren't meant to last and christmas as Two-Face was bleak and empty and he would toss a coin for either going to the Iceberg's boring party or comiting a crime. It was empty.

This time he was in Arkham and christmases in Arkham were always bad. The staff was pissed of that they were working and it would always end up bad for the inmates. Except this time they took him to the visitation area. For an old man with glasses and a young woman with red hair. The Gordons didn't go for the Wayne party for once.

Christmas with the Gordons was bittersweet. But that was just how he liked it. And with his belly full of cheap turkey and microwave lasagna, playing Mario Kart with Barbara and a videogame illiterated Jim, Harvey felt like he belonged once again.

-|-

Christmas with Selina meant christmas with the Waynes for a long time. The difference was that before it meant go to the cover up high society partys and steal some jewelry, now it meant family celebrations.

It was not fair to call it chrisrmas, most of the Waynes (and Co.) were jewish and the ones who weren't weren't christian either, Dick was romani, Thalia was hindu and Duke and Steph (her mother usually worked on Christmas because being a nurse meant that hollydays turns were a likely possibility) were atheists from birth. But they had a tree and a feast and they loved each other.

The cat, the bats, the birds and the assassins. They made a weird picture and Selina loved it. She loved Dick jokes and hugs and Jason begrudgingly presence and well though home made gifts he would badly lie about finding in the garbage. She adored Steph sheer and sarcastic quips and Tim obligatory game moments. Duke's wild tales and Damian competitviness and sweet tooth. She would have the time of her life with Kate's childhood stories and Helena who would always appear late and lie she didn't care but also bring some new desert she totally didn't spend weeks learning with Alfred's help. She would melt at Bruce's barely hidden excitment over having they all there and Thalia's not even a little bit hidden kisses. The Gordon's didn't appear this year: family emergencies they said. And it was sad but it was okay. Harper and Cullen did and she was sure that was only the first of many times and they were happy and was cute.

Selina had a family now. A huge one. And she had no idea what it meant but the days were warm.

-/-

For Oswald Christmas Eve meant organizing the Iceberg Anual Party to perfection, grating his patrons a good time in exchange of his own enjoyment and being called a Grinch and other way less polite insults by all his workers. He didn't care. Growing up christmas with his family was good but scarse, the Cooblepot name was disgraced, they had no money and his dad had abandoned them the moment he realized his kid was truly disfigurated. The celebrations were only him and his mom and she did her best, god bless her soul, she truly did, she would starve to give him a book about birds from Santa, but they always had soo little. He dreamed of giving her the best. Maybe he did. In her last days. But it wasn't enought.

And maybe it had turned him a bit bitter. Or so his workers thought, he would do the celebration and count the dollar bills. He would go to church on Christmas Day and pretend to be a good catholic boy only to go back to his second party round and make his employees life hell (with maybe some murder involved). He was just a bitter Scrooge they would say behind his back. But Oswald didn't care.

The real celebration for Penguin was neither of those days. His true moment of joy was the 26th were he would host his dinner for all the A-Lister Rogues not currently arrested (with the exception of Joker as he was just too trigger happy for the occasion and after their break up it was also a matter of chosing either the clown or Harley and it was not a hard choice at all). It was all he had wished with his mother, full of pretty lights and food but still full of joys and friends and warm.

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breitzbachbea · 2 months

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Just saw a post and I am NOT qualified to make an addition, but it has to be said, an integral part of Crozier's Irishness SURELY must also be that he's a Dissenter? Not sure that term was used a lot anymore by the middle of the century, but he's not catholic. He's Presbyterian! "The Church of England gives you hives" - Because he is a Protestant, but not an Anglican! After 1798 and 1801 and iirc, also the Catholic Emancipation, Presbyterians and other non-Anglicans were folded into the Ascendancy, but throughout the 18th century, they were also the target of oppression and known for their protests.

(Also, I'm not sure Hickey, as in E.C. is Irish at all, I've seen people argue against it and thought that makes sense with his accent switch at the end as well.)

((Rest of the post is interesting and good though :))

#beablabbers #ask user werewolfetone about intricacies for all of this surely they know more than me

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reasoningdaily · 8 days

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“The Ordinance of Baptism at Brownstown Jamaica"

George Baxter, after Joseph Bartholomew Kidd. “The Ordinance of Baptism as administered by the missionaries connected with the Baptist Missionary Society to 135 persons near Brown’s Town, in Jamaica, in 1843,” colored wood engraving. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The Jesuit priest Abraham J. Emerick, who served as a missionary in Jamaica (1895–1905), indicated that “Mialists” wore white robes during their ceremonies, and he linked this feature to the white robes donned by Revivalists and Bedwardites during the early twentieth century. White was and remains the most prominent color symbolizing the world of invisible powers (deities,spirits, ancestors, etc.) in West and Central Africa.

Witnessing or undergoing the baptism ritual likely would have reinforced the numinosity of the color white and the involvement of invisible entities beyond the Christian Trinity in a transformative initiatory experience for African converts, whether of Igbo, Asante, or Kongo heritage. These three groups and their neighbors composed the largest percentage of Africans to enter Jamaica during the entire transatlantic slave trade. In particular, the Kongo kingdom, which had come under Catholic influence beginning in the late fifteenth century, gave Jamaica’s Myal tradition its name and purpose.

BaKongo groups interpreted bodies of water as a boundary between the visible and invisible worlds. Moreover, the Simbi, a class of guardian spirits associated with waterfalls, springs, rock formations, and other phenomena in nature, might have edged their way into the theological imagination of some candidates as they waded and were washed in the water.

In Kongo, those initiated into the societies of ritual and healing experts were capable of contacting invisible forces that could remedy social and personal afflictions. Myal societies in effect were reconstituted ritual societies of Kongo persuasion mirroring the healing activities of Lemba, Nkimba, Kimpasi, and Ndembo custodians in Central Africa.

The baptismal death and resurrection purification rite performed through candidates’ immersion into and rising from the water had a counterpart in Jamaica’s African spiritual traditions. The Myal death and resurrection rituals in which novitiates would appear lifeless until ceremonial experts resurrected them into a new life of knowledge and ritual leadership within the society are perhaps the most tangible examples we have on record today. If Myal members wore flowing white robes before the Baptist tradition came to Jamaica, extant pre emancipation descriptions of the society do not make any mention of it.

The Christian rite of baptism, in which candidates — adorned in ankle-length white robes — encountered the numinous in the natural environment, would have cemented the connections that Africans seeking to belong to two over-lapping worlds (the Baptist and the Myal) were bound to draw between them.

In the Victorian universe of Christian denominations, the Baptist tradition bended most pliably toward African modes of religious apprehension. Initiation into this legitimate society offered converts access to knowledge, power, enhanced training, and status — all social goods that allowed them the best chances to prosper in post emancipation Jamaica. For Baptist converts with comparable commitments to Myal denominations, the same social goods obtained within the private cosmos they constructed among themselves, a world they understood as theologically and spiritually conversant with some of the central symbols and rituals of the Baptist faith.

From the Book - Victorian Jamaica:

#jamaica #colonialism #baptism #BaKongo #Brownstown #St Ann #Christian Myal #victorian jamaica

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gone-series-orchid · 2 months

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I wish there was more on what happened to the characters after the FAYZ. The sequels weren't really about that at all. Do you have any theories?

i agree, i wish we got more information, too!

i'll admit, my ideas for what characters' lives would be like post-fayz is a bit fuzzy. i think the closest i get to articulating what i'd like to see is my au where the kids don't get emancipated, lol. and this post about astrid being sent to catholic school, which i still maintain would be a wonderful way to explore astrid's trauma and her atheism, plus her past. and her relationship with her parents. i just think it's a really fun au, lol.

i guess my main wish for astrid post-fayz canonically is for her to continue her education and explore her identity outside being sam's girlfriend. maybe by taking a break from him for a bit, idk. definitely not getting married at nineteen. i just want some self-actualization for her tbh. she deserves it!

i mostly would think that sam and diana would struggle to adapt, as well, but i have no idea what they would actually do. how would they fill their days once they're emancipated? i have no idea. take correspondence courses? marinate in their trauma? idk i feel like being around fayz survivors constantly would just re-traumatize them but i've already groused about that in my no emancipation au

i hope that bug survived the fayz, i guess. no confirmation either way but i hope he did. he's just a little boy! i like to think he'd be happy to reunite with his parents. he's a creep but he's still human.

i've talked before about how much i wanted orc to survive the fayz because i think dealing with his relationship with his parents, howard's death, his religiosity, etc. would be super interesting. an orc survives au would be so fun to write about. i tried with this fic, but i'm not sure i captured all the potential.

sorry if this answer is unsatisfactory, anon! i'm pretty hazy on what the kids' lives would be like after the fayz. i just feel like we aren't given enough information to speculate on how their lives woudl be now that they're emancipated from their parents. another source of tension/conflict gone, i guess. feel free to send more asks, if you'd like!

#gone series #michael grant #the gone series #astrid ellison #diana ladris #charles orc merriman #sam temple

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haggishlyhagging · 1 year

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[Frances] Wright - vehemently - attacked slave-holders, legislators and the clergy, classifying them all as a ruling elite imposing their own self interest on others. She was strongly supportive of the working-class struggle (to the extent that the workingmen's movement of the 1820s which evolved into a political party was often referred to as the ‘Fanny Wight Party’, Fossi, 1974, p. 99). With Robert Dale Owen, she edited a newspaper ‘in his Utopian colony of New Harmony in the Indiana frontier country: later they were joint publishers and editors of the Free Enquirer in New York’ (Eleanor Flexner, 1979, p. 27).

Miriam Gurko (1976) says that: 'It was as a lecturer - a female lecturer - that Fanny Wright made her greatest impact on the United States. She was the first woman to speak in public here, and this as much as her radical ideas created a sensation’ (p. 32). In outlining the topics that Wright dealt with, Gurko says they were ‘daring’ and included 'equality for women, emancipation for slaves, the political rights of workingmen, free religious inquiry, free public education for everyone, regardless of sex, race, or economic status. She even advocated birth control and equal treatment of illegitimate children. These topics drew large audiences, both male and female, but aroused immense hostility.... She was denounced as a "red harlot", a "Fallen and degraded fair one," a "disgusting exhibition of female impudence." She was accused of the twin horrors of atheism and free love…’ (ibid., p. 33).

As Eleanor Flexner (1979) says, Fanny Wright's ideas were 'strong meat' and the easiest way to dispose of them - and Fanny Wright - was to fall back on accusations of atheism and free love: 'her reputation became such that later woman's rights advocates were tagged "Fanny Wrightists" as the worst kind of abuse' (p. 27).

Fanny Wright might have made an impression on society, but it must not be forgotten that there is a big price to pay for being disagreeable, and society's recrimination and abuse also made an impression on her. ‘In speaking of her persecutions she said: "The injury and inconvenience of every kind and every hour to which, in these days, a really consistent reformer stands exposed, none can conceive but those who experience them. Such become, as it were, excommunicated, after the fashion of the old Catholic Mother Church, removed even from the protection of law, such as it is, and from the sympathy of society, for whose sake they consent to be crucified"’ (Stanton et al., 1881, p. 36). Fanny Wright was a very serious and very courageous woman: any other portrayal of her is purely patriarchal (see Perkins and Wolfson, 1939).

-Dale Spender, Women of Ideas and What Men Have Done to Them

#dale spender #Fanny wright #womens history #feminist history #female erasure #women activists

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3rdeyeblaque · 1 year

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On Feb 3rd, we venerate Hoodoo Saint, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange on the 144th anniversary of her passing. 🕊

Born in Santiago de Cuba, Mother Mary traveled to the States with her family seeking refuge following the Haitian Revolution and landed in Baltimore, MD as a young Black Woman in a Slave State decades before Emancipation. Fellow Caribbean refugees, particularly children, in need of education, drew her focus paired with her pursuit of religious service. Living independently off of her father's small fortune, she opened the first Catholic school for Black children in her home & taught refugee adults how to read/write. When later presented with the unprecedented challenge of launching a catholic school for girls, Mother Mary soared above & beyond the call of duty. First, founding St. Frances Academy. From there she went on to found the Oblate Sisters of Providence as the 1st Mother of Superior of the 1st African religious congregation in the U.S.

All the while, she committed her life to poverty, chastity, & obedience beneath the watchful eye of the Roman Catholic Church. She nursed the sick & shut in during the Cholera Epidemic from the early 1830s- mid1840s. During which, and in the years following, she suffered violence & prejudice on 2 fronts - Antebellum South racism & extreme poverty. After the Civil War, she gathered 60 Black war orphans beneath her wings to care for. In 1991, an Archbishop petitioned Rome to see Mother Mary canonized into Sainthood; if so, she would be the 1st Woman of African descent to hold the title. "Our sole wish is to do the will of God " - Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange. Her Major Shrine can be found at Our Lady Of Mount Providence Convent in Baltimore, MD. May she bless those who would commit their life to Spirit & the selfless work of educator, protector, & faithful servant. We give her libations & extra 💐 today. Honor her for her deep faith, courage, loving kindness, & strong intellect.🕯

🌟 FINAL copies of The2023 Hoodoo's Calendar are available for purchase (once sold out, that's it)! Subscribe to the official e-newsletter for the latest updates & exclusive content access. https://thehoodoocalendar.square.site 🌟

#hoodoo history #hoodoo saints #mother mary elizabeth #lange #hoodoo #hoodoos #ancestor veneration #ancestors #veneration #the hoodoo calendar

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cmanateesto · 2 years

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A War of Misinformation

Public School taught me that the Mexican-American war was an intervention. To save the country from a dictator, Santa Anna. The US Army rallied to save the oppressed people of Mexico as Santa Anna had taken Texas by force.

Counterpoint: The Mexican-American War was a war supported by false and misconstrued information.

Santa Anna had rallied an army to take Texas. These 300 families of Austin would not stop importing slaves into Texas. The problem is that slavery was illegal in Mexico. Yet these American immigrants insisted upon it despite Mexico's stance.

Mexico would offer opportunities for emancipation. They banned the purchasing and selling of people in 1823. Mexico also passed a law that gave blacks born in Mexico automatic citizenship. This meant that these Anglo-Texan immigrants wouldn't be able to own a slave's child. A custom often practiced in the United States. Yes, if you were a slave and had children, they weren't your children. They were your master's children.

If you're familiar with Reactionary sentiment, they don't take too well to the word "no." So to make concessions for these adult toddlers, Mexico exempted Texas. Texans could own slaves until 1830. The abolitionist sentiment was prevalent within Mexico. It was so prevalent that slavers would force slaves to sign contracts. "No, no they weren't slaves. They were working to pay their debt off."

What I am saying is that if you had to report the crime rate in Texas around the 1830s. White American immigrants would be the biggest sources of crime. They were a backward group of people. While Mexico progressed and attempted to dismantle slavery, White Americans would insist. They would insist upon their draconian and archaic customs despite their surrounding conditions. Would defy the face of a modernizing world in favor of their Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny, a crusade against non-Americans. The goal is to gain exclusive ownership of land by any means necessary. Yet it was Mexico who needed an intervention?

I'm only pointing out that some more Conservative media outlets will demonize Mexicans. Some older sources would demonize Catholics. Yet it was Mexicans that founded a country that would abolish slavery before the US.

Slavery was a practice that was becoming irrelevant in the mid-19th century. A practice that would become an issue that killed millions of Americans in a civil war. Yet Mexico needed the intervention?

Because American immigrants were becoming the biggest source of crime in Mexico. Mexican Congress took action to enforce its abolition policy. Congress would reintroduce property taxes which discouraged further immigration. Import Tariffs would slam down on American-imported products. If you're going to insist upon your archaic practice, you can at least pay for it. It's not like you're paying your slaves.

In response, the Texans would declare independence from a country they immigrated to. So yes, Santa Anna brought an Army to suppress an insurrection in Mexico’s country. If Mexicans tried to do the same thing in Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona, the response would be just as forceful. Tucker Carlson would be freaking out in an “I’m not racist but” line of dialogue.

Douglas Hales, "Free Blacks", Handbook of Texas Online, accessed 12 Aug 2009

Douglas W. Richmond, "Vicente Guerrero" in Encyclopedia of Mexico, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, p. 617. Santoni, "U.S.-Mexican War", p. 1511.

After Santa Anna had taken the Alamo, the Texans would defeat and capture him. This was what these terrorists explained to Santa Anna. Sign the treaty to confirm Texas' sovereignty or get shot. Under duress, Santa Anna would sign the treaty. Now, remember: U.S. propaganda portrays the Mexican Army as bloodthirsty or cruel. They would never surrender or see reason. So Santa Anna signing the treaty is quite uncharacteristic to what the US said. James Polk insisted that the bloodthirsty Mexicans came over to shoot them. That they only wanted war and conquest, like their Conquistador ancestors. I'm joking, I doubt most Americans could pronounce Conquistador.

Santa Anna brought this treaty back to Mexican Congress. Congress denied this treaty. Now, if you're following American propaganda, of course they denied it. Those bastards will never give up. They're sneaky and two-faced and only want American blood...no, that's not what Congress said.

Yes, many express frustrations about rebels taking Mexican territory that wasn't theirs. The main reason are the conditions in which the treaty took place. Santa Anna signing the treaty was not the negotiation of two nations. Santa Anna signing the treaty had done so ONLY by threat of force. You'll find the United States using this method for many more "treaties." This treaty was not a treaty validated by two nations, this was a hostage situation.

On top of that, the Texas Revolution wouldn't stop in Texas. These militias would send excursions into Arizona and New Mexico which. The Mexican Army had thwarted. Oh...and as far as Santa Anna being this totalitarian snake who ruled Mexico with an iron fist.

The Presidency had changed 4 times, the War Ministry 6 times, and the Finance Ministry 16. Mexico was a volatile country at this point. Politics were getting heated and it was affecting the people living within it. One thing that did unite Mexican politicians was the cession of Texas. They weren't willing to do it. As far as they're concerned, the militias are terrorists fighting for slavery.

Donald Fithian Stevens, Origins of Instability in Early Republican Mexico (1991), p. 11.

Rives, George Lockhart (1913). The United States and Mexico, 1821–1848: a history of the relations between the two countries from the independence of Mexico to the close of the war with the United States. Vol. 2. New York: C. Scribner's Sons.

James Polk decided that the U.S. should go to war with Mexico. It was not a popularly-supported decision at the beginning. Many members of the Whig Party were abolitionists. They knew that by accepting Texas as a part of the United States, Texas would come in as a Pro-Slavery territory.

The Democrats held a strong belief in Manifest Destiny, citing it as a reason to take Texas. The Monroe Doctrine was a policy motivated by Manifest Destiny. This doctrine would claim dibs on North America. This was in response to European powers encroaching on modern-day Oregon. The United States didn't want to contend with European Empires for the land they wanted. Manifest Destiny was a sense of entitlement for these White Americans. God himself had defined this land as theirs. This nationalist mythology would set the West Coast as the final destination. As the world knows, that wouldn't be the end of American exceptionalism.

The Whig opposition to the war wouldn't last. Senators like John Quincy Adams and Abraham Lincoln would debate the validity of the war. Lincoln went as far as to ask Polk for the exact location of the skirmish. Can Polk point out on a map where the Mexican soldiers shot the Texan settlers? If these was to be a cassus beli, the least he could do is provide proof. Polk couldn't produce the proof, so him and his War Hawks turned to more misinformation.

Despite the anti-war rhetoric, the Whigs would vote for the war. Good to know that politicians voted for war even back in 1840. It's a relief to know that politicians then weren't any different than now. So when one says "this is the worst it's ever been" it wasn't. We have fancier toys, but the human condition is still the same.

There were some principled people against the war and they weren’t politicians. Law enforcement arrested Henry David Thoreau for refusing to pay a tax for the war effort. He wrote an essay known as Civil Disobedience, an influential work.

See O'Sullivan's 1845 article "Annexation" Archived November 25, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, United States Magazine and Democratic Review. https://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper2/thoreau/civil.html

“I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe- "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure.”

I'd recommend further reading. In another part he compares voting to wishing for change to happen instead of being the change. This essay would influence Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi. It would also influence lesser-known figures like Alice Pauls. Pauls had campaigned for Women's Suffrage in the United States. This essay also influenced Tolstoy when he wrote War and Peace. It inspired Upton Sinclair when he exposed the lack of sanitation in meat packing.

Maynard, W. Barksdale, Walden Pond: A History. Oxford University Press, 2005 (p. 265). .

My point on leaving this on Civil Disobedience. Many feel limited by their surrounding conditions. It's very easy to do. The United States would commit the public to a war of annexing Mexican territory. It's because they didn't do enough to counter the misinformation. It's because we fear we'll waste our time. We treat our nations as if we have no stake in them. We treat the politicians as another body separate from the people. We slump our heads thinking the nation will act with or without our consent The process of revolution is not narrowed down to a single war or battle. You can achieve a meaningful difference with a holistic approach. Revolution isn't only cannon fodder and blood. Revolution is a mindset. This is why nations try to censor information. This is why Propaganda exists. It doesn't exist to inform, but rather the opposite. If the collective knowledge of the public wasn't important it wouldn't receive funding. The United States defunds its education while pouring money into News outlets. Europe enacts vehement scapegoating of Reactionaries while riling anti-Russian sentiment. They depend on our fear for us to do their bidding. Knowledge is an axe to these intentions. Debate is a grindstone to sharpen our axe. Groups and communities are the forges that provide us with the tools we need.

You are all capable of action. You're all brilliant in your ways. You'll devise solutions that nobody else can think of. Thomas Paine didn't fight one battle in the American Revolution. John Adams didn't have the Military career Alexander Hamilton did. It was Adams who chartered recognition from European powers.

American Council of Education. (2019, March 11). White House proposes significant cuts to education programs for FY 2020. News Room. Retrieved November 25, 2022, from https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/White-House-Proposes-Significant-Cuts-to-Education-Programs-for-FY-2020.aspx

bureaus, M. V. I. A. T. T. E. A. U. with A. F. P. (2022, March 11). 'get the hell out': Wave of Anti-Russian sentiment in Europe. Barron's. Retrieved November 25, 2022, from https://www.barrons.com/news/get-the-hell-out-wave-of-anti-russian-sentiment-in-europe-01647018307

Camera, L. (2022, March 9). Congress set to cut funds that made school meals free - US news & world ... US News. Retrieved November 25, 2022, from https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2022-03-09/congress-set-to-cut-funds-that-made-school-meals-free

Conte, M. (2021, December 8). US announces funds to support independent journalism and reporters targeted for their work | CNN politics. CNN. Retrieved November 25, 2022, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/08/politics/blinken-summit-democracy-journalism/index.html

Rob Portman Press Release. (2016, December 23). President signs Portman-Murphy Counter-propaganda bill into law. Senator Rob Portman. Retrieved November 25, 2022, from https://www.portman.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/president-signs-portman-murphy-counter-propaganda-bill-law

Ferling, John E. (1992). John Adams: A Life. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-0-87049-730-8.

Thoreau argued against any revolution coming “too soon.” Be realistic, what can you finish? Acting reckless without real support does nothing but cause unnecessary risk. Finding truth outside propaganda is our responsibility. We'll inevitably fall prey to one form of propaganda. There are many factions we're a part of. This will come with many biases. Instead of denying bias, be cognizant of it when you approach a topic. Find out what's supported by fact and what's propped by bias.

Thoreau acted when the surrounding society wouldn’t substantiate his belief. This doesn’t make him wrong. You don't owe apathy a consideration. You don't owe a palatable approach to those that have a problem with your conviction. You will take the time to consider all angles while they only accept their confirmation bias. The time for apathy needs to meet its end. We can do so via a fervent pursuit of truth. Do not let them discourage you, keep marching. They'll pick a tune and flag to march to in the end.

Also, let me recommend Howard Zinn’s book People’s History of the United States. He does more justice to American history from the people’s perspective than I ever could.

The Chapter referring to the Mexican-American war is “Thank God it wasn’t taken by Conquest.”

Origins of Instability in Early Republican Mexico (1991), p. 11. Rives, George Lockhart (1913). The United States and Mexico, 1821–1848: a history of the relations between the two countries from the independence of Mexico to the close of the war with the United States. Vol. 2. New York: C. Scribner's Sons.

See O'Sullivan's 1845 article "Annexation" Archived November 25, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, United States Magazine and Democratic Review. https://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper2/thoreau/civil.html

Maynard, W. Barksdale, Walden Pond: A History. Oxford University Press, 2005 (p. 265). Ferling, John E. (1992). John Adams: A Life. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-0-87049-730-8.

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