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imsnow2x · 4 years

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History and type of banking system in India (Banking system type and history in India)

Bank is an important part of our life today. It has become so important that without them we cannot even imagine our financial management. The history of the banks of our country bringing modern and new technology every day is no less interesting. If seen from the general definition of banks, since the Rig Vedic period, there has been the existence of money saving agencies and the institutions that pay interest on them. The origins of banking in India can also be traced back to the ancient Mahajan tradition, which used to lend money to people at the time of need and used to transfer people's money to them through hawala while going abroad and coming and some money in return. Used to charge. Similar entities are also mentioned during business dealings with Egypt and other such ancient civilizations, but there is not much research and reference material available on them. The modern banking that we are using today,

History-Of-Banking-In-India

History of banking in India

Banking System history in India in hindi

Banking system in ancient India and history of banking (Banking system in ancient India or History )

In ancient India, when civilization was at its peak, it was dominated by opulence and money. In such a situation, an organization like bank was needed to manage the money.

In the Vedas, there is mention of a post named Kusidin, which used to manage money in those times. It is also mentioned in the sources and the natives.

It makes sense that this manager of wealth remained a major source of transactions between people from 2000 BCE to 400 BCE for about 1600 years.

Meanwhile, references to the expiry or evils of this institution were also found in these sources, which shows that over time their credibility was affected and in time they were finished.

There is also mention of lending on interest among the natives, the agreement for lending is mentioned here like a loan letter or a loan page.

Kautilya also mentions these loan letters in his book Arthashastra, he addresses it as a loan article.

The Mauryan period comes as the state government starts doing banking work, the evidence comes out. It is mentioned that through the order letter, the state used to give the promise letter to the traders to repay the money.

Later this practice was adopted by the traders as well and by 185 BCE such claims came into common practice.

Banking system in medieval India during medieval India

The letters of credit which came into vogue in the Mauryan period remained in circulation in the medieval period, especially till the Mughal period, and were used a lot.

There are two types of debentures mentioned in Mughal documents, the document A Indutlab was issued on demand whereas the document A term could be cashed only after a certain time, it was like a fixed deposit of that period.

These documents were issued from the royal treasury but parallel to this, another system was born which was also called Mahajani.

In this, a person used to lend arbitrary interest by lending money. It was during this period that merchants started using the bill for the first time for foreign trade, which can be called an ancient form of credit card.

Introduction of modern banking in India (Modern banking system in India)

The beginnings of modern banking in India can be traced back to the beginning of the colonial period in this country, when the Dutch, British and French came to India for the purpose of trading about 200 years ago.

Out of these, only the British got an opportunity to set foot here. With business, he needed a bank to manage his income and currency and the British East India Company first laid the foundation of 3 banks in India.

Since the influence of the British first increased in Bengal, so the first bank opened in Bengal in the name of 1809 Bank of Bengal.

He then started the Bank of Bombay in 1840 and the Bank of Madras in 1843 in his other areas of influence, Bombay and Madras Presidency. After the revolution of 1857, when the East India Company was abolished in India and the rule came directly under the Queen of Britain, these three banks were merged together and renamed Imperial Bank.

This Imperial Bank became the main bank of India after independence, which was renamed in 1955 to State Bank of India. It was a public sector bank in India.

After independence, banking in India (Banking in India after independence)

The Government of India felt the need of an institution to regulate banking institutions as a country and also to manage government currency, the Reserve Bank of India was nationalized in 1949 and its role as a central bank even after independence. Kept the same

The Reserve Bank was also given all the rights to regulate banking in India. After this, there was a big change in the banking sector of India when the Government of India nationalized eight regional banks in the country through the State Bank of India Act in 1959 and made them a subsidiary of State Bank of India.

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Indore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Indore and State Bank of Patiala are the main ones.

Inspired by this successful nationalization, the Government of India took a similar step on 19 July 1969 and nationalized the major fourteen banks of the country.

This was a bigger step than before, it increased the credibility of Indian banks and strengthened the Indian banking system.

After this, after a long time, on 15 April 1980, six private banks were nationalized.

The Indian banking sector made a big leap in 1993 when the Reserve Bank of India allowed domestic banks to carry out banking activities and private sector banks now started serving the Indian public like public banks.

How much banking does the world's economy run ?

If you are asked to tell about a bank, then it will be your opinion, a place where you keep your money safe and do financial transactions. But here you are right but very limited. Yes, sir, apart from this common transaction, there is much more in the form of banking in the whole world. Banking functions are also different and the medium of service they provide is also very different. You may not have even heard the name of some of these banks. Here some of them are being told, so that you know how important role our banks play in the world economy.

Types of banking in India (T ypes of B anking System in I ndia )

By the way, one thing should be made clear while talking about the varieties of banking, that there is not much difference in their work so that you can draw a thick line of difference between them. Rather, due to the very thin difference, their way of working changes and they provide their services to different types of clients.

Retail Bank (R etail Banking )

These are the banks about which we all know and they serve the largest part of the world's population.

These banks work for the common man and manage their money.

Any person can open their savings or current account here after some paperwork.

This bank pays interest on savings to its customer and levies interest on the loan given when needed.

This bank provides facilities like debit cards, credit cards and checks to its customers in the name of convenience.

The business structure of such a bank basically works on the business model of providing money at low interest and providing high interest.

Commercial Bank (C ommercial Banking )

As the name itself suggests, this bank basically works for providing commercial services.

Its customers are only traders or businessmen who open an account here.

Such customers need different types of services and bank guarantees for transactions tailored to their business, which such banks provide.

Such banks manage transactions of large amounts and also manage them.

Investment bank (I Nvestment Banking )

Investment banks are known for their financial expertise and this is why businessmen use their services.

If a business man wants to get his company listed in the stock market or wants to find an investor for his company, then such banks help him.

These banks provide investment to their customers and many times they also get the investment guarantee given to them.

Such banks give ratings to their customer's business as well as suggestions to improve it further.

Central Banks (C Entral Banking )

Central banks are the main body handling the world's currency system.

Every country in the real world creates such an institution to handle its currency, which should monitor its currency and work to make it valuable.

The Reserve Bank of India performs the role of Central Bank in India.

Much of the strength and weakness of the economy of any country works on the policies made by these central banks.

The central bank manages the currency and monitors its illegal use and devaluation.

The Central Bank also licenses the functioning of all banks in its country, and also creates ideal guidelines to work for them.

Credit Unions or small loan company (C redit U nion banking )

Credit unions or small loan organizations are basically a self-help group that works just like a bank.

It can only serve its members instead of the general consumer.

Such organizations lend money to their members on the basis of neither profit nor loss and take payment from them in easy installments.

The money lent by these organizations is also collected only with the cooperation of the members, on which no interest is charged or very little interest is paid.

Online Bank (O nline Banking )

Such banks have become popular after the introduction of Internet, and they provide all their services through the web.

Here also the customer opens the account and carries out his financial transactions through his online account.

It has just started in India, online wallets and mobile wallets in our country can be considered in the initial stage of online banking.

These banks are growing rapidly around the world and it is expected that in the coming ten years half of the world's population will join such a bank.

Mutual Banking (M Utual Banking )

Mutual banking is very similar to credit union banking, but where credit unions lend only for doing business, mutual banking gives loans to its members keeping in mind the personal needs.

In this banking also, the work of borrowing and lending is done only among the members, and it also works on the principle of neither profit nor loss.

In this type of banking, money is provided from one member to another and the same process is repeated again and again.

This type of banking is more prevalent in developing and backward countries because the licensing process for this is very easy or not.

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jays-study · 6 years

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I DON’T EVEN LIKE HONEY THAT MUCH

a kacchako one shot

Summary: Uraraka has been a writer for four years now and is writing for a lifestyle magazine 'Tamami'. Every month the magazine publishes her romantic stories in the magazine and the readers absolutely love her work. Uraraka enjoys writing for 'Tamami' but sometimes it can be very stressful to have to write something decent every time, so to relieve some tension and stress she decides just write something really bad for a change. The subject of those awful stories happens to be about Bakugou Katsuki, her editor who she has a massive crush on.

Writers note: It has sure been a while since I last posted on AO3. Like I've said many times before I'm incredibly busy with college. On top of that, I'm a participant in two zines; the Kacchako Across the Universe Zine and the Kacchako Holiday Zine. And! I've also been working on a kacchako social media AU on Twitter as well. But I'm glad I found the time amidst all those things to write this. I thought of this during a shitty shift at work when "These Words" by Natasha Bedingfield came on the radio.

Word count: 6.549

AO3 link: (x)

Being able to word yourself properly is something Uraraka would never get good at. She had accepted that. In the four years that she had been writing she had written on different platforms, written different genres had switched her writing style countless amounts of times even after saying "I can definitely say that this is what makes me" so confidently. She had worked with different publishers, had a couple of projects that completely flopped and opportunities she wished she hadn't taken out of desperation.

The experience she gained in those four years of chasing a career that seemed beyond stupid to chase by many, it didn't make her good at wording herself properly.

But the experience she gained in those four years did make it a little bit easier.

Uraraka could word herself better than most.

Would she call herself a good writer? Not necessarily.

But she was good enough to get herself in a position where she was writing for a bestselling lifestyle magazine called ‘Tamami'. Women one and a half times or sometimes twice her age would buy the monthly issues and enjoy the overly romantic pieces she would write. If she would tell any of her high school friends that she would be able to pay the bills by writing old romance novel-like short stories for a magazine they would've been seriously worried about her sanity.

But yet here she was. Her sanity still intact, comfortable living with her cat in a studio apartment in the center of town.

Though this was not exactly what she aimed to do when she decided to be a writer, she sure had a good time doing what she did. Sitting cross-legged at her desk, in front of her laptop, with her hair in a bun that lasted for an embarrassing amount of days. Casually she was listening to soundtracks of popular romantic comedies and occasionally asked her cat for his opinion.

Yes, Uraraka could word herself better than most.

It was only natural that after two years of writing for ‘Tamami' she had a good indication of what her audience craved to read. It's the big dump of e-mails from her readers that made coming up with the next story as easy as pouring a cup of tea. Some e-mails gave a detailed review of her stories, a couple gave constructive feedback and a whole bunch of messages was blatantly sexually tinted. Uraraka had actually read full on sexual stories of her readers before. But even that helped her continue to deliver quality pieces every month.

However, that didn't mean that Uraraka could never get frustrated with her writing. She was determined that knowing exactly what she wanted to write could actually make things more difficult than it should be. Sometimes things she wrote weren't vivid enough. Uraraka wanted to smell the fields the couple she wrote about was standing in, she wanted to feel the heartbeat of the character sync with hers, she wanted to be able to get shivers as if a character had indeed whispered in her ear. Uraraka wanted to feel all of that from reading her piece.

And that, believe it or not, was hard to achieve every now and then.

Some sessions would leave her pouting at her screen for hours on end as she rewrote the same paragraph for countless amount of times. Uraraka would even let her cat walk over her keyboard, hoping that the pet would magically come up with something better than her.

When Uraraka would lose patience with herself she would count to twenty-five, close her document and would then open a blank one.

"…I opened my eyes and I saw the empty space beside me. Instead of rolling over, putting the blanket back over my head and setting myself on wasting the day away, I smiled. I smiled because I knew exactly that I couldn't afford to fall back asleep. The smell of waffles filled the bedroom and the sound of clashing dishes in the sink gave me the indication that they were ready.

Just as I sat up he came walking in the room. Abs glistening from the baking spray that managed to land on him whilst baking. A lazy half-smile of pride on his face and a tray full of golden brown waffles drenched in honey.

For a second it was hard to tell what the real meal was. I would've happily devoured either of them, to be frank. He sat down on the side of the bed and was quick to pick up the fork before I could even reach for it and dig in. The man wanted me to appreciate what he had been working so hard on the whole morning. With a soft smile, I told him that they came out great. As soon as I gave the sign of approval he filled up the fork and stuffed pieces of freshly baked waffle into my mouth. Honey started dripping down the side of my mouth and down onto my exposed breasts and white sheets. He started to take notice of the mess he was creating and stopped feeding me, put the tray with the half-devoured breakfast aside and touched the sticky corner of my mouth with his thumb as he cupped my face. I wanted to shy away from him but again he demanded my full attention. Turned my face back to him and leaned forwards. Between giggles in he would kiss me, our lips practically sticking together as he did. Eventually, his lips started to drift from mine to the rest of the flesh I was showing above the covers.

I knew exactly what this was leading to.

Sex, obviously.

We were both half naked, there was honey involved, which is apparently a sexy food.

Which someone still has to explain to me; how in the world can food actually be sexy?

Honestly, I wasn't the biggest fan of sex. I haven't even done it a lot of times but I have imagined multiple steamy scenarios in my head. When I had sex I was constantly doubting myself which led to a train of thought that ended nowhere. I would think about the taxes I still had to file or that I had to return those jeans that I recently bought in a sorry attempt to change my style.

But I could not not give this man all my attention even if I tried. I could describe how he was looking right now but no amount of fancy adjectives would do him justice. This man was looking like he was he carved out of marble. Smooth and toned just right. And that combined with the way he knew exactly how to move and said the right things at the right moment.

The man was like an actor in a porno where they hired writers that actually cared about the plot.

He was the type of guy that would tell you his favorite color and have a debate with you about issues in today's society whilst putting you to bed.

"You know what pisses me off; the debate about plastic straws. Until I see a turtle choke on plastic I will not stop using the damn things." He would say whilst kissing your neck.

He also seemed like the type of guy that would coax you through the whole act. And not the usual "you're doing so well sweetheart" that seemed to be a standard line for men. But kind of like a soccer coach. Maybe a bit stern, but you know he's doing it out of love.

Yeah.

Having sex with him was probably like speed dating your soccer coach that also happened to do high-quality porn.

Which is honestly the best you could wish for."

When it all gets a bit too much it was nice to just write whatever you wanted, how awfully you wanted. So awful that Uraraka could look back at the work in progress for the magazine and think "it actually could be much worse".

So writing pieces like these did not only help Uraraka with the obstacles her perfectionism created but it was to get those particular thoughts out of her system. The man Uraraka wrote about and had so for so times, was, in fact, Bakugou Katsuki, her editor. An amazing and underrated editor who she happened to stumble upon in a coffee shop. They were sitting next to each other, working on their respective stories but Bakugou couldn't help but peek at her screen every now and then. Uraraka, who eventually got fed up with her since his silent judgment stopped her from writing asked him what he was thinking. And it was as if he was waiting for it because he sure didn't hold back. Uraraka was more impressed than offended in the end and continued to work with him for the rest of the afternoon.

Bakugou had been editing for Uraraka for a year now.

And over that year she had developed a huge crush on.

When Uraraka realized that she felt that way about her editor she instantly decided to never confess. It would bring too many problems that she really didn't fancy facing. Not only their friendship but their work relationship would be in ruins, to the point of no return.

"What do you think of plastic straws Waddles?" Uraraka pulled the Bengal cat off her desk and onto her lap. He cradled underneath against her neck and purred as she carefully stroked the cats tail.

"Interesting views," she laughed.

Uraraka kissed the top of the cats head and put him down on the floor.

Now that was out of her system she could try to make something of her draft. She was actually cutting it close to the deadline and knew Bakugou had recently got other work he needed to attend to. Uraraka was happy people had finally started to recognize Bakugou's talent and were now getting eager for him to edit their work. Though he said that her pieces are still his priority because that simply "came first", she didn't want to be too much of a bother.

And it had already proven to be difficult.

Quickly she saved the short story and opened back the monthly piece for ‘Tamami'. Uraraka put her earphones back in her ear and continued writing. She started to get pulled into the story again which made the words flow out of her easier. She managed to come up with a few twists that she wouldn't even have considered at first but now thought they could work. As Uraraka's fingers kept dancing over the keyboard, the soft smile she was wearing on her face got larger. The scenes she wanted to write out were clear as day to her and everything her characters felt, she felt too. Her chest felt heavy, like every emotion she described.

Uraraka kept on typing and typing and eventually thought of a proper way to end her story. It almost felt a little sad that there had to be an end. She had so much more in store for the two lovebirds in her story. But guidelines were guidelines so the story had to continue in her head instead.

The writer straightened her back and rubbed her eyes after writing the closing sentence. She had now only noticed that her ears had become immune to the sound of the song she had put on repeat for almost two hours on end. Between rereading her story she tried to find a song that fit her mood properly. Between interludes, she could hear strange noises in the distance. She chose to ignore them until she heard something clashing to the floor. She threw the earphones out of her ears and turned around in her chair. Uraraka then checked the time in the bottom right of her laptop screen and she instantly knew.

"Waddles! Waddles what the heck have you done?" She shouted toward the kitchen.

All she got back from him was a single ‘meow' which she sensed had an annoyed undertone.

See Uraraka's cat could be quite impatient. He knew exactly around what time he got fed every day and if there wasn't any food in the bowl at that time a day, he would get fed up. Fed up to the point that the pet would decide to make food for itself. He would go into the kitchen and make a ruckus trying to open cabinets and knock pots over in his quest to look for anything to eat.

"Can't believe it's half past eight already," Uraraka sighed as she pushed herself away from her desk to then immediately grab it and pull herself back towards the screen of her laptop. "It's half past eight!" she yelled as she had processed what she said.

"I should've e-mailed this to Bakugou by now, I-"

Another thing fell to the kitchen floor and Uraraka's neck snapped back to the doorway. She saw kibble spilling all out of a big bag coating the majority of the kitchen floor.

"Crap!"

Quickly Uraraka opened her Gmail and formed an e-mail. As fast as her hands could possibly move around she typed out a small message to Bakugou, apologizing for the tardiness and thanking him again for his time and effort. Hoovering above the chair she put the document in attachments and sent it.

Uraraka then strode into the kitchen to attend to her impatient pet. Swooped him off the floor as he was heavily enjoying the mess he created.

"It really doesn't hurt you to wait a little bit you know?" She picked the crumbs out his fur and couldn't help but laugh at the cat. "You feel no shame, do you? You just ate food off the floor like a barbarian."

Waddles didn't feel a single ounce of shame as he tried to escape from Uraraka's grip and fall back into his food. After a bit of struggling Uraraka put the cat down in the living room. Before Waddles could make his way back into the kitchen she grabbed a broom and started to sweep together all the kibble. With her leg, she gently pushed Waddles away who tried to get to the food.

"Don't worry, I'll whip something up for you that's not coated with dirt from the floor."

Uraraka slightly cringed as she threw away the cat food which was honestly not the most economical thing on the grocery list, thanks to the king's taste buds. As she prepared a proper dinner for Waddles she thought about what Bakugou could be thinking as he read her story. She wondered how he felt when he read her work. She hoped he felt everything she felt when writing it. Or to some degree at least. Uraraka thought it would be a whole achievement if she managed to get the lightest blush on his face.

Uraraka felt her face grow hot at the thought.

She continued to put the prepped ingredients together for the homemade cat food whilst touching her face every few minutes or so. After putting the meal in the cat bowl Uraraka warmed up pasta she postmated yesterday for herself. With a bottle of vitamin water under her arm, she brought the two meals to the dining table. She sat down and next to the leg of her chair she put down Waddle's bowl.

"See, isn't that much better, mister? Wasn't that worth the wait?" She asked as she spread out her own food, scratching Waddle's side with her food as she did. The cat softly purred against her touch and she giggled.

She went to talk to her cat about everything she wanted to get done before she went to sleep, about everything she wanted to do in the morning and all the other things that came to mind.

As Uraraka tried to gather the remaining sauce from her pasta onto her fork she heard the familiar ping of an incoming e-mail. She leaned in to check the now lit up screen and saw that it was an e-mail from Bakugou. Confused she pressed the home button on her phone and checked the time.

"That's…Fast," Uraraka said to Waddles. "Even for him, that's…"

She cleared the dining table and brought the dishes to the kitchen, still facing the laptop screen that was slowly dimming. Uraraka came back to find Waddles already at her desk, facing his snout upwards. With a confused frown still stuck on her face she sat down and lit up the dimming screen again.

Uraraka opened the e-mail and to her surprise, there was only a short message. She ruffled her bangs and squinted.

"Dadada…"Are you sure this is the work you want to hand in for this month?"" She read.

She read the sentence a couple of times and every time she found it harder to believe what she had read. Uraraka fell back against her chair in disbelief.

He had to be kidding.

What she handed in was one of the best works she had written. By a mile. She was so sure of it but Bakugou did not seem to believe so. Uraraka read the sentence out loud. Immediately a sense of frustration came to her.

What a kind of question…

There's no further elaboration as to why he had asked her that either. The nerve! Of course she was sure!

"Of course I'm sure," she typed out, frustration causing her fingers to twitch.

Without any sign off she replied to Bakugou's e-mail and then immediately logged off.

Uraraka wondered if she should ask him for a reason behind the kind of crude e-mail. But she wondered how she would be able to take whatever he had to say about her piece. She valued his opinion a lot and if he really did dislike the piece, as she had come to think because of his lack of elaboration, then she had no idea what that would do her writer's spirit. Uraraka had so many ideas for future stories and felt like she could write them all the next day if physically possible. That could be gone in a second.

She was used to Bakugou's brutal editing but rarely ever did he doubt the actual story. Said the bare minimum about it but in the few words he used, you could tell he enjoyed the small world for two Uraraka managed to create every month.

If Uraraka would've asked for Bakugou's honest opinion, she wouldn't have been able to change it anyway, even if she could. Bakugou was sending her piece straight to the publisher, instead of sending it back to her. There had been trouble there lately when it came to time management and deadlines Bakugou had informed her. Had then asked her to allow him to send her piece straight to the publicist for however long they were in trouble.

A week and a half later ‘Tamami' published their September edition. Days, after it came out Uraraka, went to look at the final product.

Uraraka walked to the nearest tobacco shop with a with a tight chest. She now had no clue how her story was going to be received by her readers. When thinking about the worst possible reactions Uraraka frowned and sank deeper into her coat. Before entering the bookstore she looked through the shop window. Right in front of her was this month's edition. Never before had they displayed the magazine. And never before did they advertise it by hanging up a poster on the window, saying that it was being sold here and mentioning specifically that it mentioned her work.

She looked into the shop and saw that in the magazine corner ‘Tamami' was being restocked. There were even several people grabbing it straight from the box and walking to the counter. Uraraka walked into the shop and met the shopworker that was in charge of restocking the magazines. She gently tapped on his shoulder and perked out the collar of her coat.

"Excuse me but, what's going on?"

The worker turned around and smiled brightly when he saw her face. He took her by the shoulder and squeezed tight. "Ochako, darling, there you are! Our little star of the neighborhood, you've really done it now!"

The people at the counter turned their heads towards them. Uraraka leaned out of their line of sight behind a shelf.

"What have I done exactly?" Uraraka awkwardly chuckled.

"You dear, have been responsible for almost half my revenue this week. People have been coming in here just to get a copy of the magazine, Ochako, they are in love with your work!" The shopworker went on to say.

Uraraka's eyes widened. "They are?"

"We are!" The two women at the counter were now approaching Uraraka waving their newly bought copies in their hand.

"Sorry to eavesdrop," a woman with a short bob and gleamy eyes said to her. "But we couldn't help but overhear the conversation."

"But are you really Uraraka Ochako? Are you really thé Uraraka Ochako?" The other woman, with a pink-dyed pixie cut and very shaky hands added.

Before Uraraka could ever get a word out, the shopworker proudly confirmed that she was in fact ‘thé Uraraka Ochako'. She could only nod at the two women. The two shared a look before exploding into chattering. It was hard to make any sense of what the two were saying but it was obvious that they were beyond excited. Uraraka had never really dealt with those kinds of conversations before. She usually would get reactions like this online, where she could take the time to process the kind words and find a proper way to reply to them, after a little bit of squealing of course. But now the only thing she could bring herself to say was;

"Thank you so much."

Luckily the women could laugh at her flustered response.

"This might sound silly but can I have your autograph?" The woman with the bob asked.

"Oh me too, me too!"

They started flipping through their magazines and Uraraka looked back at the shop worker. He just proudly smiled back at her and handed her a pen from the pocket on his shirt. Hesitantly, she turned to the open magazines and felt butterflies as she finally saw the printed version.

"You know Toshiko said at work? That she honestly wasn't able to look at honey the same way ever again.

Uraraka perked up.

"I know that she means. God, I can't wait to read that part again at my own pace now that I've finally got a hands on a copy of my own."

The writer slowly shook her head. "Honey? I didn't mention…"

Her eyes started scanning the pages of the magazine and her eyes started falling on certain words that caused her chest to become even tighter than before she walked into the store.

"C-can I…Can I hold that for a second?" She pointed at one of the copies.

The woman with the pixie cut handed her copy and Uraraka immediately buried her face between the pages.

"A lazy half-smile of pride on his face…"

"Honey now dripping down the side of my mouth…''

Uraraka closed the magazine. "Alright, this is…That's…"

Her eyes started closing and before she could grab onto something she fell on her knees and slide face first across the store's carpet.

The first thing Uraraka felt when she came to was the slight carpet burn on her face. With her eyes, half closed she slowly put her hand on her left cheek. As she stroked her face, she tried to get back on her feet. The slightest movement of her leg sent people yelling and grabbing her arms.

She fully opened her eyes and saw a handful of worried faces looming over her.

"What in the world…" Uraraka mumbled. She looked around herself and saw the magazine laying on the ground.

"…That's wonderful," she sighed as she could already feel herself getting lightheaded again. Uraraka held onto a shelf and tried to keep herself on her feet. Immediately people came to her assistance to help her up and looked at her with worried eyes as she kept staring at the magazine.

"…I…I need to go," Uraraka stammered. Before anyone could hold her back she walked out of the tobacco shop.

Alright, this was happening.

This was really happening.

Her incredibly sexually tinted fantasy story about her editor had been published in ‘Tamami'. People have read her incredibly sexually tinted fantasy story about her editor. People seemed to love her incredibly sexually tinted fantasy story about her editor.

On her phone, she searched for other bookstores in town and pinned her route to the closest one. Took the subway and ended up in an unfamiliar part of town. After a bit of stumbling around she reached the bookstore and saw the same thing as in her neighborhood's tobacco shop; they were restocking the magazine. Uraraka rushed to the clerk and stuck her head under her nose.

"Sorry, how fast have these been selling out?" The writer asked.

"Too fast if you ask me! This is the third time I had to restock them this week. I haven't even been able to get my own copy yet, and I work here!" The clerk grumbled as she kept putting the magazines on the shelf.

"Do you have the exact number of sales? I'm Uraraka Ochako, one of the writers of the magazine and I would just like to-"

The girl jerked her head back. "Wait, you're Uraraka Ochako?!"

Again, heads turned at the sound of her name but now costumers came flying to the source straight away. All with their copies of ‘Tamami' tightly clutched to their chest, asking for confirmation if she was, in fact, the writer everyone was currently talking about. Uraraka could barely make herself understandable above the noise but she managed to confirm that it was her.

"It's not your usual style but I absolutely loved it nonetheless!"

"Can you please write more stories like this? Or just a whole book perhaps?"

"This was so genuine! I could relate to the main character so well!"

The writer got showered with compliments and though as embarrassing as this whole thing was, it did her good to hear that something she didn't even consider anything decent was being received so well. Uraraka thanked the readers and signed a few copies here and there. After that, she left the bookstore and traveled to a few others where things kept repeating themselves.

The magazine would be selling better than ever before, people would come up to her and gush about this month's story and she would sign a few copies here and there.

Uraraka spent the whole day walking around town from bookstore to bookstore in complete awe, feeling better and better about circumstances.

Her readers have actually managed to make the best out of a bad situation.

When she got back to her apartment she was eager to jump behind her laptop to finally check the e-mails from readers she had been stacking up in the past days. On her way from the front door to her desk, she got stopped by Waddles, walking right in front of her feet. Not being able to maneuver past him, she groaned and picked him up.

"This is one of the few times I stayed out the house for so long, you should at least be a little proud of me, right?" Uraraka moaned.

Owner and pet kept glaring at each other until Uraraka was the first one to lose composure. She tickled the cat under his chin and watched his face turn softer.

"But you just need the constant attention, don't you?" She softly spoke.

Uraraka carried Waddles in her arms to her desk and put him next to her laptop. She put away her coat and put her hair down before sitting down and letting Waddles use her lap as a pillow. She opened her mailbox and saw it had been completely bombarded with e-mails. This was the first time that she had to click the next button in her mailbox.

There were a lot of positive reactions. An occasional reader being sad that she veered away from her usual style but most people were excited about it. ‘Excited' could be taken in multiple ways. Uraraka had never received so many horny e-mails before. And it was somewhat to be expected but twenty-three emails that were not, no, definitely not safe for work? That was definitely a record broken.

Most of the horny e-mails were a good laugh nonetheless, she had woken up Waddles a few times because of them.

Slowly the writer cleared her mailbox and reached the most recent ones. When she saw a particular e-mail address, she felt her heart skip a beat. Uraraka would be lying if she said she hadn't forgotten about them for a second. A reader who had been reading her work ever since her work just started to get published in ‘Tamami'. Their e-mails were always almost like essays, very detailed reviews of the story and how much they enjoyed it. They were as honest as they could be with her and had honestly made her reflect on her writing almost as much as Bakugou did.

It was always exciting to see what they had to say.

""…I have to say I was surprised when I read this month's story. I-"…Waddles please, you have enough other toys to plays with," Uraraka scolded the cat.

But the cat remained intrigued by the light coming from her phone screen. She turned the screen around and continued reading the e-mail. Uraraka got closer to the screen as she kept reading it and felt herself smiling brightly at all the kind words.

"…I've noticed that you never write in first person. I have read the story a couple of times now and I've got the feeling that you were heavily inspired by someone close to you. Heavily inspired is a term I use lightly here."

Out of anyone they would have been the first one to clock, wouldn't they?

Uraraka rarely responded to fan mail but she felt a little caught by the anonymous critic. Curious to what made them exactly come to the conclusion she opened a new message to reply.

"What gave it away?"

Uraraka sent the message and bit the tip of her thumb. In the corner of her eye, she noticed light emanating from her phone screen again. She looked around, saw that Waddles had found another way to entertain himself and then grabbed her phone.

"Text messages from…Bakugou?"

Katsuki Bakugou, 16:24 PM: Are you around?

Katsuki Bakugou, 18:15 PM: Never mind.

Uraraka scratched her head.

Ochako Uraraka, 18:18 PM: Why? What's up?"

Only moments later a call from Bakugou came in. Uraraka jumped and threw her phone in the air. Just about managed to catch it and save herself from pressing decline.

"H-Hello?"

"Uraraka…Did I not call at the right time?" Bakugou asked.

Uraraka covered the mic of her phone with her hand and took a deep breath. It was always something else to speak with Bakugou on the phone but now considering this had been their first conversation since her story got published especially.

Once she got her breathing steady she put the phone back to her ear. "No, it's fine, it's fine. Why did you call?"

"It's about the celebratory dinner? Don't tell me you forgot to check your private e-mail account again."

"What? No! Of course not!" Uraraka sputtered as she opened her private e-mail account and saw the e-mail from the magazine's headquarters, about how they were hosting yet another celebratory dinner. This time for Uraraka.

It was an incredibly sweet gesture but, that sort of thing just wasn't for her. She hadn't been to a single dinner where she didn't feel stupidly out of place. They always ate at places that were way too fancy for their own good. Where everything was in French but somehow French fries didn't exist on the menu. Where you would have a napkin on your nap and no one would bother to explain what it was exactly for. Places where she could easily embarrass herself and often did.

It wasn't exactly Bakugou's cup of tea either. They had gradually gravitated from sitting across from each other to next to each other and started to complain about everything they could possibly complain about during every dinner. Have even started dreading the dinners before they were invited.

"I can't even pronounce the name of this restaurant…" Uraraka mumbled.

She continued to scan through the e-mail until her eyes fell on the time.

"I have to be there in an hour, are you kidding me?! I'm not even remotely ready!"

"So you did forget," Bakugou scoffed.

Uraraka could hear the cheekiness in his voice but was too busy panicking to even think of sassing him. She stood up and walked to her bedroom.

"I really have to go, there's a lot of stuff I need to do. Oh man, I haven't even thought of how I'm going to get there. That place is probably on the other side of town as well."

"I can come and pick you up," Bakugou offered.

Through the sound of clashing clothing hangers, Uraraka could hear Bakugou typing in the background. The guy had most likely been editing all day and was even looking less forward to the whole happening than usual. She didn't exactly want to be that much more of a nuisance by making him play taxi.

"Thank you but you don't have to, really," Uraraka said as she smelled a dress she found at the bottom of her closet.

"Oh shut it. You don't want to be late to your own fucking dinner right? I'll be at your apartment in thirty, be ready."

Before Uraraka could put up any resistance Bakugou had hung up on her. Distraught she looked at her phone and sighed. She didn't have any time to call him back and argue with him. She still had to shower, make herself somewhat presentable and mentally prepare herself for all the questions she had to answer about the story whilst Bakugou was sitting next to her.

Uraraka decided that the dress she sniffed was good enough. It didn't smell too bad and she believed none of her coworkers had seen her in it before. In record time she jumped in and out of the shower and messed around with make-up as much as her skillset allowed her.

With wobbly knees, Uraraka slowly walked in her heels to her mirror. She turned around and then nodded at herself, coming to the conclusion that was as good as it was going to get. Waddles had cared to join her in front of the mirror, but only to come and beg for a meal.

She tried to strut into towards the kitchen but stopped in front of her desk.

Would the anonymous critic have replied?

She moved the mouse, the screen lit up and they had indeed replied.

"You can't make up those emotions and thoughts. Not even the best of writers can."

Uraraka swallowed before opening another e-mail to reply.

"I can't deny that no. The story was something very personal yes, that most likely shouldn't have seen the light of day. So far, you're the only one that's on to me. It's actually rather embarrassing so can you please do me a favor and keep this a secret between us? Can you promise?"

Send.

That was the right thing to do, right? Fighting the accusations could have brought up discourse. And right when her career was thriving, that was the last thing she wanted. Things could easily spin out of control and that could make her the laughing stock of ‘Tamami' in no time.

It was in her best interest to keep this long-time fan a friend.

As she made dinner for Waddles she kept listening for the sound of a notification, but it didn't come. After she put down the cat's bowl full of homemade cat food in the kitchen, she shuffled to her laptop to double check.

There was really no reply from them.

"Oh God, I'm scre-,'" A loud buzzer cut Uraraka off.

Immediately Uraraka jolted and rushed to the door.

That had to be Bakugou.

She tucked her hair behind her ears and straightened her stance before opening the door.

"You didn't have to come u-"

"I promise."

Uraraka blinked at the guy standing in the hallway. In response, she laughed and shook her head.

"You what?"

Bakugou pushed past her into her apartment and went to lean against the wall opposite her.

"I said I promise. I can promise to keep it a secret between us," he elaborated.

A moment of silence past between them, which was eventually broken by hysterical laughter from Uraraka.

This was something she couldn't comprehend. This was some sort of joke her brain just couldn't process. As she kept laughing she pointed back at her laptop.

"So you're telling me that…that you're…" Uraraka hiccupped.

She couldn't even finish her sentence without bursting into laughter again. Fell against the wall opposite Bakugou as she grabbed her stomach that was starting to ache.

Through her tears, she saw Bakugou cocking his brow. Gradually the writer collected herself and stopped laughing. She took a good look at Bakugou and then her face went blank.

"Wait, are you serious?

Bakugou gestured at his face. "I'm not exactly laughing my ass off am I?"

"Oh…Now if you could excuse me…"

Uraraka felt herself getting weak at the knees and prepared herself for another fall. As her eyes closed an arm went around her waist and a tug at her wrist. The sudden touch caused her eyes to shoot back open.

"Fucking hell, you're something else," Bakugou groaned.

He put her right back up, kept his arm around her waist. Uraraka's eyes darted from his arm to his face which was suddenly incredibly close to hers.

"You know I don't even like honey that much," he complained.

"Really?" Uraraka said genuinely baffled, she figured anyone would like honey on their waffles after all.

"But would do you like then?" She asked.

"Take a guess," he made his voice low, eyes flicking from her eyes to her mouth.

As he leaned in Uraraka held her breath.

"Oh God, this is happening," she murmured.

Bakugou opened his eyes and glared at her.

"Sorry."

Uraraka closed her eyes and through her lashes, she saw Bakugou smile before putting his lips on hers. Their mouths started to part and her breath hitched.

She had written about Bakugou kissing her countless amount of times. But none of that compared to the way he was kissing her there and then. She didn't expect it to live up to her fantasy, no, to be even better than her fantasy.

Uraraka's arms curled around his neck and she smiled against his lips. Steadily she slowed down the pace of the kiss and pulled away from his touch.

"But seriously, what do you like?"

"Syrup over honey, any fucking day."

#bnha #kacchako #bnha kacchako #kacchaco #bakuraka #bakugou x uraraka #uraraka x bakugou #kacchako fic #kacchako fanfic #kacchako fanfiction #bakugou #bakugou katsuki #uraraka #uraraka ochako #boku no hero #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #jj writes

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shutupkimjongdae · 6 years

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[TRANS/ARTICLE] Korean vs Chinese Fans on Gift-Giving Culture; Chinese Fans of Chen Participate in Adoption Programs This is a compilation consisting of the four related written works below:

Title 1: 140530 "From subway ads to a dolphin" Chinese fans' gift-giving culture is on a-whole-nother level

Title 2: 130904 Kim Jongdae received a dolphin as a birthday present from Chinese fans

Title 3: 180628 Evolution of fans’ love, everything about the gift-giving culture

Title 4: Notable animal adoptions made under CHEN’s name by Chinese fans; Adoption programs under World Wildlife Fund - Hong Kong

140530 "From subway ads to a dolphin" Chinese fans' gift-giving culture is on a-whole-nother level

(picture shown above) Caption: Adoption certificate of a dolphin that was adopted by a Chinese fan for member Chen (real name Kim Jongdae) of the group EXO Hallyu (Korean Wave) has almost become a familiar word to us now. Especially in our neighboring country, China, Hallyu has become very popular. China is the second largest country by total area and has the largest population; it's truly a 'continent'[1], and they're huge compared to us. Proportionally, the number of fans in China who love and support K-pop stars is huge. What is the difference between Chinese and Korean fan culture? Then, how does the fan culture in China differ from that in Korea? In order to find out more about the fan culture in China, we conducted both online and in-person interviews with 15 Chinese fans, who are either fans of a K-pop idol or have high interest in K-pop. Surprisingly, the Chinese fan culture seems to be not much different from the Korean fan culture. Fans from both China and Korea are more than willing to follow the idol no matter where they go, frequently interact online, and sometimes even meet up in person. They sometimes buy a gift for the idol together. And most importantly, most of the fans are young women of ages between 12 and 25. We are guessing the fan chants and different ways of supporting an idol that are popular in Korea may have affected the Chinese fan culture since (most) K-pop stars are from Korea. "We are jealous of the Korean fans who have better chances of seeing the idol in person" (ID: zhuangyixinge). "If we like the same idol, that means we are family" (우치[2], 12, Sichuan). Some of them expressed jealousy and a sense of comradeship/relatability towards Korean fans. While doing the interview, the most interesting and noteworthy thing we discovered about China's fan culture is the huge gift-giving culture. "There are two traits that Chinese fans have. First, they're rich, and second, they're rich" (거이몽[2], 23, Henan). "The Chinese fans really give a lot of gifts to the idols" (구이쩐[2], 21, Sichuan). As though proportional to the size of population, the number of wealthy fans among the Chinese fans is also large. In Korea, they call gift-giving to an idol as "paying a tribute", but it seems silly to call the gifts given by the Chinese fans as "tribute" since they are on another level. They even spent tens of millions of wons to put up birthday ads for an EXO member in Korean subway stations The second generation K-pop group who is gaining a lot of popularity in China, EXO, has also received many interesting gifts from Chinese fans. Chinese EXO fans are famous for putting up members' birthday ads in subway stations or bus stations, which usually costs several million won.

Caption: An EXO member Xiumin's birthday ad on a subway station wall Just like the fans of other popular K-pop groups like Super Junior[3], EXO's Chinese fans celebrate the members' birthdays through a bus or subway ad. This March[4], member Luhan had his birthday, and the Chinese fans have put a birthday ad on the 420 bus in downtown Beijing, which costs around 20 million won, for two years in a row. Besides this, EXO is famous for having received unique gifts from their Chinese fans. They used hot air balloons and trucks to celebrate LAY's birthday and to celebrate the member CHEN's birthday, they adopted a dolphin living in the Northern Scotland region under his name, which is very unique. Ultimately, the fans' love for their idols is the same no matter where they are from. There is a small difference in their fan culture, but it could be that the Chinese fan culture was also influenced by Hallyu; there is no striking difference between the Chinese and the Korean fans. However, because there are many fans from China who are well off, some Chinese fans will give such fancy gifts that we can't even imagine. But recently, many K-pop idols have stopped accepting gifts that are too expensive. Even in Korea, instead of physically buying idols expensive gifts, the fans have started to do things like donating money under the idol's name or doing volunteer work, and the fan culture is becoming more about giving back to society and is changing in a positive way. We are guessing the Chinese fans will be influenced by this too, and the idols will be receiving less "tributes" in the future and will be given more heartwarming gifts.

130904 Kim Jongdae received a dolphin as a birthday present from Chinese fans[5]

It looks like they didn’t buy the ownership, but are financially supporting a wild dolphin[6]. Its name is SUN DANCE, meaning dancing in the direction of the sun. I also heard they are building a 'Jongdae library' in Mongolia. Amazing. Chinese[7] fans are another level. Last time they gave him a star as a birthday present.

180628 Evolution of fans’ love, everything about the gift-giving culture

Summary: Interview with Kim Yoonha, a popular culture critic, regarding fan culture. Mentions various idols and what their fans have contributed to the culture. Unrelated parts omitted. Recently, there have been more cases where the fans do volunteer work or other acts of kindness as a gift to their artists. Especially since more celebrities[8] are telling the fans directly that "the love you give us is enough, we will not accept gifts and hope you will use the money on something better". For example, there are many fans who have helped build things like wells and libraries in (financially) struggling areas like some countries in Africa to show their love to the artists[9]. Recently, there were some really interesting gifts. You know, the endangered species[10]. Animals such as dolphins. EXO CHEN's fans, they sponsored wild animals and gifted (Chen) the adoption certificate of a dolphin[11]. Another interesting and popular way of showing love to their artists is buying a constellation under their names.

Notable animal adoptions made under CHEN’s name by Chinese fans; Adoption programs under World Wildlife Fund - Hong Kong

Chenest (2013): Bengal Tiger under Kim Jong Dae

SmileKJD (2014): Giant Panda under Kim Jong Dae

TwinklingChenstar (2014): Chinese White Dolphin under Chen from EXO

far more endangered than pandas and thus is called “panda of the water”

motivation: nickname “one who came from the star of the dolphins” (pun on 2014 K-drama “You Who Came From the Stars”) given to Chen by Korean media because of his high notes of the whistle register (often referred to as dolphin sounds)

also known as “Pink Dolphin” since upon adulthood, their skin turns pink, which is fitting as “our Jongdae likes pink the most~”

Chenest (2014): My Baby Shark Project under Kim Jong Dae

6 young sharks as well as their mother

the sharks’ locations can be seen via Google Maps or Google Earth (location IDs stated on certificate)

5 baby sharks have been named as various forms of Chen’s name: Kim Jongdae, Chen, Chen Chen, 金鐘大 (his Chinese name),, Jongdae; the 6th one is named after Chenest (meaning: hoping Chenest can accompany wherever Chen goes)

Notes: 1. ‘continent’ = slang expression some Koreans use to refer to China even though it’s not actually one; as neighboring countries, both China and Japan often come up in conversation and are referred to by their distinct landforms: Korea as the peninsula, Japan as the island, and China as the continent as it is neither the aforementioned nor landlocked) 2. Names of Chinese fans have been left in their already translated Korean forms due to irrelevance and possibility of inaccuracy. 3. Unrelated (non-EXO) parts omitted. 4. The article said March, but Luhan’s birthday is 4/20 (and thus the 420 bus). 5. Redundant parts omitted. 6. This particular dolphin adoption (by fansite C-C Lemons) is mentioned again in following article. 7. Following from previous note [1] above, this post also refers to Chinese fans as “continental” fans. 8. Chen is one of these idols; he announced on 160719 that he will no longer accept fan gifts. 9. Some known fan donations under Chen’s name: UNICEF, Korean Animal Welfare Association, Save the Children, The Snail of Love, Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation, ALS Association, “Chen” Forest, Siheung Jungwang Social Welfare Centre, scholarship for students attending his alma mater (mentioned on 160921), etc. 10. Other animals adoptions have also been made under Chen’s name. See next part. 11.. We are not sure if there is a particular “recent” dolphin adoption the critic is referring to (as this article was published recently in June 2018). All related information that was found is on adoptions made in 2013-2014, mentioned above already.

source: x x x x x x x translator: jen + phyl please do not repost without permission!

#chen #exo m #exo #translations #t: article #trans: korean #shutupkjdsubs

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keramalusundeep · 4 years

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THE TRANSGENDER’S TRANCE

Let’s start with God. The answers are always easier that way. Someone I am most fond of once told me, “I pity atheists you know. Because they can’t ever blame God. They don’t have the privilege to ask ‘why God, why did you do this to me’.”

When the greater religions put a gun to our head and threatened us to jump in their well, we jumped. Who knew at the bottom of that well, we would find our superhero who went by the name Evolution!

Dismissing the need for any probation, evolution soon became the king of the jungle. When it roared, the jungle went into submission. But as we all know, no jungle worth its salt ever came without its poachers. The poachers came in the avatars of kings, queens, ministers, prophets, presidents, governors, our parents, our teachers, our communities, our whims, and our fancies. They drew the lines. The ones we were to not cross.

But, the thing is, our DNA came with an eraser, a pencil, a canvas, and a grave full of imagination. So even when we were put to rest, we dreamt. Our dreams made love to our mother earth, who politely went ahead and conceived the spiteful, incestual future of tomorrow, where we carried on the trend of effing our own kids with dreams and fantasies we were obliged to please.

When the tomorrow came, a man was born. He was named William Bruce Jenner. Six and a half decades later, in June 2015, he stood on top of the world and announced that he had changed his name to Caitlyn. Caitlyn Jenner. The world stood back in the stands and cheered him from all corners. Before the announcement, William had made all the required configurations in his biological geometry and aligned his chemistry to the integrity his new name would demand.

“I am so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can’t wait for you to get to know her/me.” Caitlyn posted on her twitter handle @Caitlyn_Jenner, which, along with the first tweet of her Vanity Fair cover went on to get a record-setting 1 million fans in less than 4 hours and 3 minutes straight. Whereas the most powerful man on earth, Barack Obama had taken 5 hours to pull the hanky 1 million in his @Potus basket, last month.

Wish Dora was here now to shower under the petals from the high gardens of Twitter. Dora, born as Rudolph R, was the first person to have gone under the knife in the first-ever recorded sex reassignment surgery (SRS) in 1931.

Long before Dora or Caitlyn, the mythologies blew mighty trumpets of accounts concerning legends who were both man and woman in one form. Tiresias, the Theban blind prophet is said to have compelling wisdom for his cursed gender transformations. Cupid, the God who makes our heart fond and stupid with our better halves, apparently, is a unisex God. Way to make a point that love . . . indeed has no gender. If that was not enough, hear this – Cupid’s high-profile mama and dada, Hermes and Aphrodite, were the inspiration for the term ‘hermaphrodite’ (a person with both male and female sexual characteristics and organs). And I believe that was Hollywood’s gospel when it came to spelling the Celebrity Supercouple Nicknames.

Even though the hand holding the umbrella for transgenders is the same, all five fingers of that hand are not. The race to attaining transgender nirvana has been chalked with 5 different tracks. The tracks are identified as transexual, transvestite, genderqueer, androgene, and bigender.

Writing about transgenders is hard. Being them is even harder. Imagine a left-hand drive car coming straight from the factory and claiming that it felt very much right-handed. Since nothing can be done about it, the car is now incapacitated and forced to pretend that it is indeed a right-hand drive car and just drive down the boulevard. Then we have the car that thinks that it is neither left nor a right hand drive, instead a centre-hand drive. Hey, don’t brag your eyes. I told you, already. It is complicated for transgenders.

Harry Benjamin, the famous German-American sexologist and chief medical advisor to Christine Jorgenson (the ex G.I., who, before Caitlyn Jenner, 60 years ago, became the pioneer in America for stealing all shows concerning her Sex Reassignment Surgery), said, “Our genetic and endocrine equipment constitutes either an unresponsive/fertile soil on which the wrong conditioning and a psychological trauma can grow and develop into such a basic conflict that subsequently a deviation like transsexualism can result.”

Let me give you an example. When androgen receptors (a nuclear receptor that regulates gene expression) is said to have a firm handshake with testosterone or dihydrotestosterone (sex steroid), it will lead to the formulation of primary and secondary male sex characteristics. Whereas, instead of a handshake, if the androgen receptors and testosterone have a face-off with each other, their alliance will be broken. Meaning, a person who is assigned as ‘male’ at birth will come to feel and identify that he belongs to the opposite sex.

Again, it will be a blasphemy to summarise the identity of one’s gender purely by a single theory alone. There are potent men with pornstar-sized penises who feel that they should be women, just as there are women who are super attractive, wear feminine clothes, and perfectly capable of conceiving, feel the urge to grow hair on their chest and dangle some testosterone between their legs.

Going by the biological complexity and psychological curiosity, it is evident that Agent X and Agent Y from the Sperm Maker Inc., when it comes to adjudicating the gender of a person, are futile as a burp in a storm.

Oppression, degradation, prejudice – a staple diet in the menu of transgenders, have been riddled with brutal attacks for merely holding a balloon called ‘me’.

In 1513, when the Spanish conquistador, Vasco Nunez de Balbao, found out that a village in Panama had men dressing up as women, he ordered his men to make sure the casual crossdressers and gay indigenes were “torn to pieces” by his pack of wild dogs.

In 2008, 15-year-old Lawrence King was killed by two bullets to the head. The killer was a 14-year-old boy from the same school.

Last week, Stephanie McCarthy, a transgender musician, who was just about to play her gig, was assaulted by five men at Newtown’s Town Hall Hotel in Sydney.  Yet, if we have a little courage to overlook the barbaric repercussions the transgenders have had to endure, we have come nowhere as close as today, when it comes to fighting for transgender rights. With Poland’s Anna Grodzka, becoming the first transexual MP in Europe to Donald Trump changing the rules in Miss Universe pageant that allowed Kylan Arianna Wenzel, the first transgender to participate in a Miss Universe competition to Madame Tussauds, San Francisco, recently announcing that it will feature a wax figure of Laverne Cox on June 26 during the Pride Week . . . the world of transgenders is on a slow and steady and progressive track. Laverne became the first ever transgender to star in the prestigious museum.

From the Indian wave, we have Manobi Bandopadhyay, who became India’s first transgender college principal when she took charge of Krishna Women’s College in West Bengal earlier this month. In 2014, the Supreme Court of India validated ‘transgender’ as the third sex.

With Caitlyn Jenner’s announcement, the transgender community in America and around the world are positive that going forward they will be able to see better days.

Obama, the first African-American to hold the office, was the first chief executive to inculcate the word ‘transgender’ in a speech, also openly prohibited job bias against transgender government workers, replied to Caitlyn’s second-ever tweet when she expressed her joy about finally being able to come out, “It takes courage to share your story.”

History is an ambitious gold digger eager to marry the most sought-after bachelor – ‘first-ever’. This century, we have had the privilege to see the changes the yesteryears had been begging and crying and hopelessly getting whipped for, just so they could live to breathe the aroma of this hopeful day – where the floods of transgender insurrection will come to overwhelm our naivety, for good.

#transgender #transexual #lgbtq #gay #america #india #queer

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lostinfic · 7 years

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Mercier x Betty British Raj AU

The word ‘dance’ comes to mind, their own choreography of gazes exchanged across the room, brushes of hands and half-spoken confessions. They orbit around each other, destined never to collide it seems; Mercier is upper class, Betty is a governess. And he’s spying on the family whose children she swore to protect. But in this foreign land of spices and silk, of golden gods and lush forests, where cultural norms clash and wane, even destinies must yield to desire.

Rating: Mature Word count: 3.9k Beta: @fadewithfury <3 Thank you anon who prompted a Victorian AU that became this, and to my French anon for inspiration; Don’t let the pretentious summary fool you, this is plotless and shameless romantization of India, and an excuse to write UST and sneaking around. Warnings: drinking, smoking, kids because Betty is a governess. You don’t need to have seen either show.

Tumblr | Ao3

1 | Falling

Calcutta, August 1902

As soon as Mercier exited the Raj Bhavan and stepped out from under the shade of the portico, the sun assaulted him. He tugged at his stiff high collar. It wouldn’t last, leaded clouds loomed on the horizon.

Monsoon season was almost over, the violent showers now few and far inbetween, giving way to the more tolerable days of Sharad Ritu, the fourth season of the Hindu calendar with the autumnal equinox as its midpoint.

Mercier walked towards the river Hoogly, intent on enjoying the city before having to shut himself indoors because of the heat.

Early morning was the busiest moment of the day. Even before sunrise, natives and foreigners alike took advantage of the cooler temperature to conduct their business. The clocks had barely struck nine when Mercier left the government house, having approved a transit between Calcutta and the French territory of Pondichéry.

He navigated between sweetmeat sellers, water carriers and liveried chaprassis, and beasts too, as numerous as humans, oxen pulling carts, gharry horses wearing blue beads and sacred bulls eating marigolds. Dust rose under their hoofs. And the smell of them reminded him of the stables on his estate, in a much quieter part of the world. How incongruous to find something so familiar halfway around the globe, and that such a foul smell should make him smile.

He reached the shore and stared absentmindedly into the flow, brown waters, a shade like café au lait, stirring memories of lazy Sunday mornings with his wife.

Mercier shook his head free of these melancholy thoughts, and instead settled his attention on the large steps descending into the river. No, not the colour of café au lait but of chai masala. Locals and pilgrims bathed there, washing clothes and cattle. The thrum of women’s gossip and fakir’s prayers reached his ears. A couple knotted their robes together and dipped side by side as a little boy priest showered them with petals.

In every city he’d lived in there had been such a river. The social and commercial center of the city, bustling with activity and yet nothing appeased him like walking along the banks. The Seine, the Thames, the Danube, the Vistula, the Rhine… And once again his mind wandered with the river, joining the Ganges and flowing to the Bay of Bengal and into the Indian Ocean; the same route he’d arrived in this country.

His steps took him towards the port where the wind impregnated the great white sails of the P&O ships.

He did not miss France per se, but his freedom. Always an independent spirit despite his military career, he went from one European capital to the next, to spy or fight, taking unpaid leave when things didn’t go his way. India had promised such liberty. But after four years, the close-knit community felt claustrophobic. The occasional mission kept him on his toes, but he’d imagined a work far less administrative.

He’d missed another Exposition Universelle and the summer olympics in Paris. He’d thought about leaving India before. But this country always had a new marvel in store to convince him to stay a while longer. Whenever melancholy had swept over him before, he’d discover a new sport, new food, new landscape to remind him there was much left to discover and enjoy. What would it be this time?

Anyway, he had an important assignment to complete before he could take his leave.

Mercier stared into the waters again. There were no steps here, but a steep wall, four feet above sea level, that dived into the river. Waves broke against the stone and a refreshing salty mist sprayed his face.

“Oliver Douglas Wigram, come back here!”

Mercier perked up at the name; Lord Wigram was part of his assignment, someone to report on, but he had yet to secure an invitation to his home.

“Oliver! It’s dangerous!”

A woman, Lady Wigram he assumed, ran and shouted, holding up her yellow skirts. A little boy, no more than four years old, ran past Mercier, giggling as he glanced over his shoulder at his pursuer.

Out of nowhere, a donkey headbutted the boy, sending him into the port’s deep waters. Mercier froze, agape. Oliver resurfaced, gesticulating wildly to keep himself afloat. Mercier started removing his jacket. He barely had one arm out that the woman dived straight into the river, her hat flying off behind her.

The strong current dragged Oliver away. Lady Wigram swam steadily to him. Mercier ran along the edge, trying to catch up, preparing to jump. Water swallowed the boy, and she dived under. His heart stopped as they disappeared, but she emerged with the child in her arms.

She was a good swimmer but her layers of clothes and corset would weigh her down. They didn’t need a third person in there but something to pull them out. He grabbed a thick rope, unwinding it from around a post, and threw it at them. It fell too far.

With one arm around the crying boy, the woman had trouble keeping her head out of the water. Mercier threw the rope a second time. It landed right beside them, and she grabbed it immediately. With the help of other men who’d witnessed the incident, Mercier pulled them out of the river.

An old sepoy caught Oliver, and Mercier hoisted Lady Wigram by her underarms. He laid her on the ground and knelt beside her. Brown curls stuck to her face, and he wiped them off as she coughed water. Her breath was short and laboured, her eyes wide and panicked. She clawed at her dress, and he realized what she needed. Running his fingers over her torso, he located, under the fabric, the front hooks of her corset. With some fiddling, he managed to free her. As soon as she could breathe properly, she looked around, searching for the boy.

“He’s here, my lady, he’s alive.”

She crawled to the boy. Oliver safe in her arms, she sagged with relief against Mercier’s chest. He couldn’t help but close his arms around them.

“Shhh. You’re fine, you’re safe,” he whispered to soothe the lady’s tears.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, pulling away and wiping her nose on her sleeve.

“There is nothing to be sorry about. Can you stand up?” he asked after a moment.

She nodded, and he helped her up to her feet. The old sepoy offered to get them a carriage. They sat on a bench near the road to wait for it.

“Oh, my Lord! Thank you for saving us. Thank you,” she said. “Oh, where’s me head at, I didn’t even ask your name.”

“Colonel Jean-François Mercier. It’s a pleasure to meet you Lady Wigram.” He kissed the back of her hand.

“Oh. I’m not lady Wigram.”

“I heard you say the boy’s name, I assumed…”

“I’m just the governess.”

“A pleasure all the same. And your name?”

“Betty Salinger, sir.”

“A governess? You do not look like one.” He looked pointedly at her colourful promenade dress.

She sniffled as she fingered a muddied lace trim. “It’s me— my day off,” she explained

She looked at her ward, but didn’t express discontentment at his presence on her day off. She attempted to clean his face with her soaked handkerchief, and Mercier offered his own. It didn’t do any good, the child still looked a right mess, soaked to the bones with a runny nose and one shoe lost.

“Her ladyship will kill me dead.”

At that, Oliver’s lip wobbled and his eyes welled up again.

“Oh, no, no, sweetheart, don’t worry, I didn’t mean like that.”

“Because you saved her son?”

“I let him run off.”

“Children will do that. The donkey pushed him.”

Betty nodded, but worry lines still bracketed her mouth. The poor woman was dishevelled, her chignon slid halfway down her hair, and her corset still gaped under her dress.

“Perhaps if your clothes were clean and dry, the accident might not appear so severe.” He pulled a dead leaf out of her hair.

“Is it that bad?”

“We could stop by my house so you might fix your appearance and the boy’s, and dry your clothes.”

Her wide, uncertain eyes settled on him, mouth slightly agape. “Is that proper, sir?”

“Oh, of course, my apologies… My sister will be there.”

She relaxed. “Yeah, if you would be so kind, it might make matters better.”

The carriage stopped in front of a large white stucco house with a classical portico. Above the entrance, hung a French flag, the heat had caused the blue and red dyes to bleed on the white middle.

Taking in the size of the building, Betty’s eyes widened and shifted between Mercier and the house.

“It is not all for me. It doubles as the French consulate,” Mercier said. “The west side is offices and guest rooms.”

“There are people in there?” She crossed her arms to cover herself.

“Come this way, I will make sure no one sees you.”

He guided her around the house to a side entrance.

Oliver was getting impatient, clinging to Betty and demanding to go home, but he stopped whining as soon as he saw Mercier’s two pointer dogs. His giggles and the dogs’ soft barks attracted Gabrielle to the room. Back from calling on a friend, she removed her gloves and feathered hat.

“Have you gone fishing, brother?” she teased as she eyed their soaked guests.

Mercier introduced his younger sister and explained the situation.

Gabrielle promptly put an arm around Betty’s shoulders. “Good heavens, what a fright you must have had. Come with me, we will find you something dry to wear. Jean-François, please have the cook prepare something.”

He watched the three of them walk up the stairs with an odd pinch to his heart. He could trust his sister to take good care of them. No doubt Gabrielle’s congeniality would soothe Betty’s nerves better than he could. But it felt wrong to let them out of his sight. Of course, he couldn’t follow, Betty was about to undress. Not that he was averse to witness that.

Clucking his tongue at his own silliness, Mercier headed for his rooms. He changed out of his clothes, damp from holding Betty, trading the layers of jacket, waistcoat and cravat for a loose linen shirt.

He unlocked his roll top secretary and sifted through files for the one on Lord Wigram.

Douglas Wigram had been doing business in India for over a decade but only moved permanently to the country eighteen months ago. Although his business partners worked mainly in Bombay, he now lived in Calcutta, on the eastern side of the country. He had made enemies in Bombay, amongst which trade partners from the French territories of Mahé and Pondichéry. Rodier, the Governor General of French colonies, had put him on the list of potential enemies who believed India should be united under the British crown.

By taking Oliver back home, Mercier might meet Lady or Lord Wigram and perhaps secure an invitation for some upcoming gathering at their house. From then on, it would be easier to assess if Wigram was a threat.

After stopping by the kitchens, Mercier joined the women on the white marble verandah. In the corner, a punkah wallah with a string attached to his toe stirred a large cloth fan suspended from the ceiling on a wooden frame.

Betty was sat on a reclined Planter’s chair, and, standing behind her, Gabrielle braided their guest’s long brown hair. Both wore loose muslin wrappers, strictly speaking these garments were dressing gowns, but had been widely adopted as day wear in India, perfect for the heat if not quite appropriate to entertain company. Gabrielle tied the end of the braid with a ribbon and laid it over Betty’s shoulder. Water from its tip seeped into the white fabric and a wet ring grew above her breast. She noticed and swept the braid behind her, but Mercier’s gaze lingered on the sheer spot, then on her delicate sun-kissed collar bones. She clutched the fabric on her chest self-consciously, and he averted his eyes immediately.

He cleared his throat and turned to the bar caddy, chiding himself for ogling her. The poor woman was stuck between borderline indecency in the company of strangers and the wrath of Lady Wigram. Yet the light tan of her skin told him it was not her first time out of the house wearing little.

“Brandy?” He offered Betty a glass which she accepted but didn’t bring to her lips.

“None for me?” Gabrielle complained as she sat down on a large cushion.

“Only for those who have rescued someone today,” he replied, drinking from his own glass. “How are you feeling miss Salinger?”

“Better, thanks,” she answered, eyes downcast.

“In this sun, your clothes will be dry in no time,” Gabrielle assured her.

Mercier turned his attention to the garden below. The chirping of blue-breasted quails and Himalayan flamebacks made him search for their colourful plumage amongst the garden shrubs.

“What kind is that?” Gabrielle asked pointing at a small bird with iridescent feathers perched on a palm tree.

“A sunbird, I believe, green-tailed.”

“My brother loves birds and all wild animals,” Gabrielle said. “Do you love nature and animals, miss Salinger?”

“Oh yes!” She covered her mouth, tampering down her own enthusiasm straight away.

“The wildlife of India is marvellous, don’t you think?” Gabrielle insisted.

“The flowers are beautiful, I shall never tire of walking in the Wigrams’ garden.”

“How nice. You love the flora and my brother loves the fauna.”

It’s only out of respect that Mercier didn’t roll his eyes at his sister’s matchmaking attempt. Gabrielle was all but married to Armand, and, before leaving her brother, she endeavoured to find him a companion.

“Do you hunt, Colonel?” Betty asked.

“I have been on a few expeditions.”

“Have you ever killed a tiger? I hear they are terribly dangerous and bloodthirsty.”

“I saw some last year. I was invited to a hunt with a few generals and lords at the domain of the Maharaja of Surguja. They are magnificent creatures, but I did not kill any.”

When their party had arrived in the forest, servants had already baited and drugged the tigers. There was no danger, and certainly no honour, to killing them. So as not to insult his esteemed colleagues, he’d held his tongue and pretended to miss his mark.

“His lordship made a carpet out of the first one he caught,” Betty said. “I always walk around it.”

He smiled at her, and she averted her eyes.

“How is the boy doing?” he asked.

They looked at Oliver, chasing after the dogs.

“Brave lad, he had quite the adventure… oh, what’s the point of fixing me dress, he’ll tell her ladyship everything anyway.”

“He seems quite taken with the dogs, perhaps it’s all he shall remember,” Gabrielle said.

“Let’s hope so.”

Truth be told, Mercier worried more about the dogs than the boy, he was now pulling at their tails and ears.

“Achille. Céleste,” he called.

The dogs joined him, Oliver on their heels. Mercier showed him how to pet and play with them.

“You don’t have to do that,” Betty said, “I should take care of him.”

“It’s your day off, is it not?”

She didn’t voice another objection, instead leaning back and taking a sip of brandy.

“He was lucky you know how to swim. It’s quite rare amongst young women,” Mercier commented. When she offered no explanation, he asked, “where did you learn?

“Me father, sir.”

“Did you live near the water?”

“No.”

He wondered if her reluctance to speak stemmed from shock or shyness. To put her at ease, he told her of a river, near his family’s estate in Boutillon where he used to swim. No more than two-feet deep, but still his mother had forbid him to go. “So of course, I went there every occasion I had.”

“And I followed,” Gabrielle added. “Even after you left, I kept going.”

“Not by yourself, I expect.”

“I always managed to find some company…”

He smiled indulgently at his sister. She used to tease the village boys mercilessly. They did anything she asked as long as they believed they had a chance with her, which, in actuality, they never had. One of them received the scold of a lifetime for bringing her tobacco.

He rolled a cigarette and handed it to his sister. She never smoked in public, etiquette forbade it, but he wanted to check Betty’s reaction. A sort of moral test, to assess if he could use her to spy on Lord Wigram. Betty frowned at Gabrielle exhaling smoke, but he thought it was more from curiosity than judgement. Interesting.

A servant brought a platter of jalebi, deep fried curls of batter dipped in sugar syrup and saffron. Oliver dashed to the plate, grabbing one jalebi in each hand.

“Slow down, sweetheart, don’t spoil your lunch.”

But the adults were as eager as the kid. They emptied the platter in no time, the crystallized exterior crunched under their teeth, and they hummed with delight, sucking their greasy fingertips. Colour returned to Betty’s face, cheeks flushed, her lips tinted gold with saffron, and glistening from the sweet oil. He caught her eyes as her tongue darted to the corners of her mouth. For the first time, she didn’t look away.

“Me granddaddy did, live by the water I mean, near the Eccup reservoir in Leeds,” she said.

“And that is where you learned to swim?” Gabrielle asked.

“Yeah... We went there in the summers,” she added, gaining a little confidence. “Daddy was in the Navy. He knew water can be dangerous, but he didn’t want us to be afraid of it.”

“You certainly were not afraid of it today,” Mercier said.

“Wish I’d stayed longer in the water, it was quite refreshing,” she admitted, hiding a laugh behind her hand.

That made him smile. Perhaps it could be arranged, he’d heard of some rivers one could swim in just outside the city. He refilled their glasses of brandy, offering one to his sister this time.

“How long have you two been in India?” Betty enquired.

“I arrived fours years ago, and Gabrielle joined me a year later. You know what they say, women come to India for two reasons: because they are married to empire builders or because they want to be.”

“I will hear no such thing, Jean-François! It may be unladylike, but I came here because I wanted to see India.”

“And you prefer piano players to empire builders,” he replied, referring to Armand.

“Hush!” She poked him with her toes. “And you Betty, why did you come here? Looking for the perfect man?”

“The only interest I have in men, is making a good one out of Oliver.”

“I like her, brother, you should rescue governesses more often.”

Realizing what she’d said, Betty blushed and glared at her glass of brandy. “As good a man as his lordship, I mean… I should go, we will be late for tiffin. Come on sweetheart.”

“I want the doggie,” the child replied, hugging Achille’s neck.

Betty gently pried him away.

“You can come back to see them again,” Mercier said impulsively, earning a surprised look from Gabrielle.

While Betty and Oliver put on their now dry clothes, Mercier had the driver prepare the buggy. He put on a waistcoat and jacket again, and fixed his hair to make a good impression on the Wigrams.

Although Betty and Oliver looked in better shape, their outfits were still the worse for wear. It saddened him to see her smile now turn into a frown.

“Thank you for your help, Colonel, but I’m afraid it will not do much good.”

Mercier’s ancestors had been knights, and he found nothing awakened the chivalry in his blood like the distress in Betty’s doe eyes.

“Let me take you home and talk to Lady Wigram. I will tell her it’s my fault.”

“I appreciate it, sir, but why would you do that for me?”

“Yes, why would you do that?” Gabrielle echoed.

He could not reveal he wished to make the Wigrams’ acquaintance to spy on them. But he didn’t have to take the blame for that. The truth was he couldn’t stomach any criticism coming to Betty when she’d so bravely jumped in the water before he had even gathered his own courage to do so.

As they neared the house, Betty chewed harder on her bottom lip and wrung her hands in her lap. She fussed over the child’s appearance. “Oliver, sweetheart, what did we do this morning?”

“I played with doggies.”

“Yes, exactly, that’s what we did. All morning. We played with the dogs. Do you remember their names?” And she kept on asking about the dogs, to make sure it was all the boy would talk about.

Arrived at the house, Betty had hoped to slip under the radar but Lady Wigram was in the hall. She was a good looking woman, but her pale skin, droopy eyelids and oddly slow demeanour gave the impression she was permanently drowsy.

She took in their clothes and asked: “Good Heavens, what has happened?”

“I fell in the river,” Oliver said before running off to his room.

“My horse pushed him,” Mercier said right away, “it was frightened when the boy came running. Miss Salinger was with him. He fell in a stream, hardly a river, and—”

“You let him run off?” Lady Wigram spoke daintily, but accusation and contempt spiked her words.

“I— I’m sorry… the horse and…”

“She immediately jumped in too, to grab the boy, most courageously.”

Lady Wigram huffed and sent Betty to her room. “You cannot possibly eat lunch in this state.”

Betty’s eyes welled up, and, shoulders bowed, she walked away. As he watched her disappear up the stairs, there was again that odd pinch to Mercier’s heart.

“Really, madam, miss Salinger is not to blame.”

“There is no need for that, Colonel.” She looped her arm through his, guiding him to the front room. “The girl is a lost cause, but my husband knew her father and he’s sentimental, you know how these things go. We make do with her flaws, poor girl.”

Mercier ground his teeth.

When he returned home, Gabrielle was waiting for him at the dining room table. He knew that amused glint in her eyes, and only reluctantly sat down with her.

“You like her,” she said in French with that teasing lilt.

“I need her. I have to learn more about Lord Wigram’s business in Calcutta.”

“So you are using her to be in the Wigrams’ good graces.”

“Exactly.”

“Hm.”

“… What is it?”

“And how does taking the blame achieve that?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it have been better to present yourself as a hero, or to at least side with Lady Wigram on staff’s incompetence?” Although she’d formulated her sentences as questions, he knew she was only mocking him by stating the obvious.

“It worked—” he showed an invitation to a dinner party at the Wigrams’— “it’s all that matters. I can complete my last assignment.”

And with that mission done, he would be able to leave India. The governess was his ticket out… or the marvel that would make him stay another while longer.

Chapter 2: Observing

#Mercier x Betty #teninch fic #British Raj AU #Spies of Warsaw #a passionate woman #Edwardian era #historical au #dwcastxover #lostinfic writes stuff

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Fantasy intel for all 32 NFL teams ahead of Week 13

New Post has been published on https://viraljournalist.com/fantasy-intel-for-all-32-nfl-teams-ahead-of-week-13/

Fantasy intel for all 32 NFL teams ahead of Week 13

8:40 PM ET

Mike ClayESPN Writer

Fantasy football, NFL analyst for ESPN.com

Member of Pro Football Writers of America

Founding director of Pro Football Focus Fantasy

2013 FSTA award winner for most accurate preseason rankings

The Fantasy 32 analyzes the NFL from a fantasy perspective, with at least one mention of each of the league’s 32 teams. Though efficiency will be discussed plenty, the column will lean heavily on usage data, as volume is king (by far) in fantasy football. Use these tidbits to make the best waiver-wire, trade and lineup decisions for the upcoming week and beyond. Be sure to check back each week of the season for a new version of the Fantasy 32.

Opportunity alert

Throughout the below team-by-team rundowns, I’ll be referencing “OFP” and “OTD.” OFP stands for opportunity-adjusted fantasy points. Imagine a league in which players are created equal. OFP is a statistic that weighs every pass/carry/target and converts the data into one number that indicates a player’s opportunity to score fantasy points, or his “expected” fantasy point total. For example, if a player has an OFP of 14.5, it means that a league average player who saw the same workload in the same location on the field would have scored 14.5 fantasy points. FORP is the difference between a player’s actual fantasy point total and his OFP. OTD works the same way, except instead of fantasy points, it’s touchdowns. Volume is king in fantasy football, so this is not information you want to overlook.

That said, here is the post-Week 12 OFP Leaderboard:

Week 12 OFP Leaderboard

Player Actual Pts OFP FORP 1. Christian McCaffrey, RB 34 36 -2 2. Leonard Fournette, RB 37 36 1 3. Mitchell Trubisky, QB 19 28 -9 4. Calvin Ridley, WR 22 26 -4 5. Allen Robinson II, WR 25 25 0 6. Jarvis Landry, WR 37 25 12 7. Zach Ertz, TE 27 23 4 8. Terry McLaurin, WR 12 22 -10 9. Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB 23 22 1 10. Marvin Jones Jr., WR 10 22 -12

Next, here are the players who exceeded their OFP by the largest margin this past week and are thus candidates to see a dip in fantasy production moving forward, assuming they see a similar workload:

Exceeded their OFP by the largest margin in Week 12

Player Actual Pts OFP FORP 1. Ryan Tannehill, QB 32 11 21 2. Chris Godwin, WR 37 17 20 3. Derrick Henry, RB 29 12 17 4. A.J. Brown, WR 24 8 16 5. George Kittle, TE 25 11 14 6. DJ Moore, WR 31 18 14 7. Jarvis Landry, WR 37 25 12 8. DeAndre Hopkins, WR 27 15 12 9. Rashaad Penny, RB 19 8 11 10. Jameis Winston, QB 24 15 10

And these are the players who fell short of their OFP by the largest margin last week, and thus you shouldn’t be too quick to overreact to their performance when making lineup, trade or waiver decisions:

Fell short of their OFP by the largest margin in Week 12

Player Actual Pts OFP FORP 1. Marvin Jones Jr., WR 10 22 -12 2. David Montgomery, RB 5 16 -11 3. Dwayne Haskins, QB 5 15 -10 4. Terry McLaurin, WR 12 22 -10 5. Carson Wentz, QB 9 18 -9 6. Mason Rudolph, QB 2 11 -9 7. Mitchell Trubisky, QB 19 28 -9 8. Matt Ryan, QB 8 16 -8 9. Courtland Sutton, WR 4 12 -8 10. Jeff Driskel, QB 13 21 -8

Team-by-team rundowns

Arizona Cardinals

Following a relatively quiet start to the season and some boom/bust performances over the past month or so, Kyler Murray is currently the No. 5 scoring fantasy quarterback. Murray has finished five of his past seven outings as a top-seven fantasy quarterback, though he did mix in a pair of finishes outside the top 20. A boost in scoring has been the key to the rookie’s step forward. Arizona’s offense totaled eight touchdowns during its first five games (1.6 per game), but 16 during its past six outings (2.7 per game). The latter included at least three scores in five of the six games. Murray is locked in as QB1 moving forward, with his rushing production (67-418-3) supplying him a high floor.

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons took a step forward defensively during their Week 9 bye, but the wheels seem to have fallen off a bit offensively. Matt Ryan opened the 2019 season with 300-plus yards in six-consecutive games, adding at least two touchdowns in five of those games. Ryan has reached 300 yards once in four games since, totaling three touchdowns and three interceptions during the span. That includes a Week 12 performance in which he failed to throw a single touchdown against a Buccaneers defense that entered the game having allowed 25 in 10 games. The Atlanta offense hasn’t scored more than two touchdowns in a game since Week 6. Ryan should be on benches against the Saints in Week 13.

Baltimore Ravens

Reaction coming Tuesday.

Buffalo Bills

Devin Singletary was on the field for 70% of Buffalo’s offensive snaps on Sunday. The rookie racked up a career-high 106 yards on 21 carries and added 8 yards on a pair of targets, which helped him to his fourth top-20 fantasy week of the season. Game script helped Frank Gore to 15 carries, though the veteran back was limited to only 22 snaps (30% share). Singletary has out-snapped Gore in five consecutive games and enjoys a 220-to-98 edge in the category during the span. Singletary hasn’t scored during his past three games, but he does have at least 79 scrimmage yards in three of his past four outings. Singletary’s clear lead back status, role as the primary receiving back and strong efficiency (5.8 YPC) are enough to qualify him as a solid flex during Buffalo’s upcoming tough stretch.

Carolina Panthers

DJ Moore entered Week 12 with three career touchdowns on 117 touches (5.2 OTD). Despite that, Moore also entered the week in the midst of a breakout second season and with the 17th-most fantasy points among wide receivers. The Maryland product finally put it all together against New Orleans with a 6-126-2 receiving line on nine targets. Moore has now managed 95-plus yards in four consecutive games and has been targeted at least eight times in nine of 11 games this season. Moore’s usage suggests he won’t be a consistent contributor in the touchdown department, but his massive target share (26%) can continue to support fringe WR1 numbers.

Chicago Bears

Since putting up 147 yards and one touchdown on 31 touches back in Week 8, David Montgomery has failed to clear 60 yards in a single game and has a total of two touchdowns (both came in Week 9) during the four-game span. Montgomery has struggled with efficiency, averaging 3.5 yards per carry or worse during nine of his 11 games. In fact, the rookie’s 3.33 YPC is fourth-worst and his 55% catch rate second-worst among running backs. On the plus side, Montgomery has managed at least 13 carries in five consecutive games and has handled at least three targets in five of his past six outings. That’s just enough to keep him in the flex discussion moving forward.

Cincinnati Bengals

Ryan Finley has made three NFL starts and the rookie has failed to clear 192 yards or one touchdown in any of them. Finley is averaging 158.0 passing yards per game and has scored two touchdowns to go along with a pair of interceptions. Finley has added some value with his legs (77 yards on 10 carries), but that hasn’t been enough to allow him a weekly fantasy finish better than 17th. Finley has completed an atrocious 47% of his passes and is obviously well off the fantasy radar. Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon are the only Bengals who should be considered for lineups.

Cleveland Browns

Jarvis Landry posted a 10-148-2 receiving line on 13 targets in a “Revenge Game” against the Dolphins on Sunday. Sure, Landry’s best game of the season came with added motivation, but high-end production has become a theme for the slot receiver. Landry has now scored in four consecutive games and has handled 10-plus targets in four of his past five outings. Landry has reached 62 receiving yards in seven of his 12 games and now sits 13th among wide receivers in fantasy points. Cleveland will play what is arguably the league’s easiest remaining schedule, which sets up Landry (and Odell Beckham Jr.) for plenty of big games the rest of the way. Landry should obviously be locked into lineups.

Dallas Cowboys

After catching at least one pass during his first 21 games with the Cowboys, Amari Cooper was held off the stat sheet in New England on Sunday. Cooper was targeted only twice after seeing at least five targets in all of the aforementioned games aside from Week 6, when he left hurt after three snaps. Cooper has now produced back-to-back duds, though he was limited by injury to 56% of the snaps and was shadowed by Darius Slay in Week 11 (38 yards on eight targets) and was shut down by Stephon Gilmore and the Patriots’ No. 1 defense against wide receivers this past week. Cooper played 80% of the snaps Sunday, which obviously alleviates concerns about his health moving forward. That said, Cooper has another tough matchup with shadow coverage against Tre’Davious White in Week 13. He’ll also have his hands full with Chicago in Week 14 and Jalen Ramsey in Week 15, though the Eagles present a better matchup during championship time in Week 16. Cooper’s schedule is a red flag, but the combination of his heavy workload (22% target share) and Dallas’ high-scoring offense (3.0 touchdowns per game) is enough to keep him in the weekly top-20 mix.

Denver Broncos

Courtland Sutton had a rare dud Sunday, struggling to one catch for 27 yards on eight targets. Of course, the underwhelming performance was hardly unexpected in a brutal matchup against the Bills’ terrific pass defense and specifically Tre’Davious White. Prior to the dud, Sutton had produced at least 72 yards or a touchdown in eight consecutive games and in nine of 10 games on the season. Sutton technically has a tough matchup against Casey Hayward Jr. in Week 13, though he did catch a 70-yard touchdown in the same situation back in Week 5. Sutton remains a fine WR2 during an impressive breakout season.

Detroit Lions

Week 12 supplied us with further evidence that Bo Scarbrough is the clear lead back in Detroit. The second-year back played 49% of the snaps and racked up 98 yards on 18 carries. Ty Johnson (27% snap share) and J.D. McKissic (15%) were also involved, but they combined for 41 yards on nine touches. Scarbrough has carried the ball 32 times during his two games with Detroit, though he has zero catches on one target during the span. Reminiscent of Gus Edwards down the stretch last season, Scarbrough’s heavy rushing volume and the occasional touchdown keeps him in the flex discussion (especially in non-PPR leagues), but a near non-existent receiving role severely limits his fantasy upside.

Green Bay Packers

Geronimo Allison has worked as Green Bay’s No. 2 wide receiver since Davante Adams returned in Week 9, but that simply hasn’t led to much production. Allison trails Adams by only 23 snaps and 22 pass routes, but he has seen only nine targets during the span. Allison hasn’t cleared four targets, three receptions or 21 yards in a game since Week 7, nor has he found the end zone since Week 4. Aaron Jones and Adams are the only Packers who should be locked into lineups every week.

Houston Texans

Will Fuller V posted a 7-140-0 receiving line while handling 11 targets against the Colts in Week 12. Excluding a Week 7 game in which he went down with an injury after three snaps, Fuller has now reached double digit targets in three consecutive games. Fuller sits eighth at wide receiver in average depth of target (14.8) after finishing top four in the category each of his first two NFL seasons. Fuller has been boom/bust as usual this season, failing to clear 51 yards in four full games but also posting a pair of 20-plus point performances. Fuller’s heavy recent usage in Houston’s high-scoring offense makes him a viable WR2 moving forward.

Indianapolis Colts

With Marlon Mack sidelined in Week 12, Jonathan Williams was the Colts’ clear feature back. The journeyman was on the field for 66% of the snaps and racked up 29 touches. Williams was held to 121 yards but found the end zone, which helped him to a strong fantasy night. Nyheim Hines played 34% of the snaps and produced 61 yards on 11 touches. Jordan Wilkins was limited to one offensive snap (a Jacoby Brissett sack) and committed a special team’s penalty, which seemingly led to a benching. It appears Williams has slotted into the Mack role, so if the Colts’ lead back remains out, Williams will be a fringe RB2. That may seem low considering his Week 12 workload, but remember that the superior Mack was held to one top 12 fantasy week through Week 11 and that came way back in Week 1.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars got crushed by Tennessee on Sunday, but hidden in the blowout was some serious touchdown regression to the mean for Leonard Fournette. Entering Week 12 as the league’s unluckiest running back in the touchdown department, Fournette had registered only one score despite 230 touches and a 5.4 OTD. Against the Titans, Fournette racked up 159 yards and two touchdowns on 33 touches. The huge day vaults him to fifth among running backs in fantasy points for the season. He’s yet to post a weekly finish worse than 27th and has six top-12 weekly finishes. Note that, even after the big game, Fournette remains the league’s unluckiest back in the scoring department with three touchdowns and a 7.1 OTD. Nonetheless, Fournette is averaging a massive 18.7 carries and 6.1 targets per game and is locked in as a high-end RB1.

Kansas City Chiefs

After accounting for 52 touchdowns in 16 regular-season games during his MVP 2018 season, Patrick Mahomes has scored 19 touchdowns in nine games (or 18 in eight full games) this season. Mahomes’ full-game pace puts him in line for 30.25 total touchdowns in 14 games, assuming he plays the Chiefs’ final five games in full. Mahomes is still playing at a very high level, but he is yet another example of an elite player being unable to sustain Hall of Fame level numbers over a large sample. Mahomes has finished four weeks as a top-five fantasy quarterback but also finished 11th or lower during his other four outings. Despite the dip in production and inconsistent fantasy output, Mahomes remains a weekly must start, though keep in mind the Chiefs’ offense is set for a brutal schedule during Weeks 14-17 (at NE, vs. DEN, at CHI, vs. LAC).

Los Angeles Chargers

Keenan Allen went through a frustrating slump through the middle of the fantasy regular season, but he appears to be back on track as the playoffs near. Allen opened 2019 with weekly finishes of seventh, 16th and second before finishing six consecutive weeks outside the top 30. He entered the Chargers’ bye off finishes of 16th and ninth during Weeks 10-11. Fantasy’s No. 12 wideout has handled 10 or more targets in seven of 11 games this season, including four of his past five. Allen’s 7.4 yards per target is his worst since 2014, but averaging 9.8 targets per game will be more than enough to keep him in the weekly WR1 discussion.

Los Angeles Rams

Reaction coming Tuesday.

Miami Dolphins

It took a few weeks longer than it should have, but the Dolphins finally changed up the backfield dynamic in Week 12. Kalen Ballage struggled as the feature back early, but played a reduced role later in the game and ended up on the field for 39% of the snaps. That led to more work for Patrick Laird (35% snap share) and Myles Gaskin (26%). The trio combined for 43 yards on 14 carries and 20 yards on three targets, which tells you what you need to know about this backfield. None need to be rostered and certainly none of them should be in lineups against a good Eagles run defense in Week 13.

Minnesota Vikings

Adam Thielen has played a grand total of 15 snaps due to injury during Minnesota’s past five games. During that span, Kyle Rudolph has posted a 20-179-5 receiving line on 24 targets and is fantasy’s No. 2 scoring tight end. Though the fantasy production has been good, the low target and yardage numbers, as well as the heavy reliance on touchdowns should be alarming. That’s especially the case with Thielen and his 27% target share due back after the team’s Week 12 bye. Rudolph posted a 9-72-0 line on 11 targets during the six games Thielen played in full. Rudolph will get you the occasional score, but he’s best viewed as a TE2 moving forward.

New England Patriots

Mohamed Sanu and Phillip Dorsett were sidelined Sunday, which opened the door for rookies N’Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers to both set career-high marks in playing time. Harry played 80% of the snaps, was targeted four times and scored on his only catch. Meyers played 77% of the snaps and posted a 4-74-0 line on nine targets. Julian Edelman is the only Patriots wide receiver who should be locked into lineups right now, and Sanu will be on the WR3 radar once healthy. That said, Harry’s first-round pedigree and early-career flashes are enough to warrant consideration for a bench spot in 12-team leagues. Harry and Meyers will be shaky flex options in deeper leagues against Houston this week if Dorsett and Sanu remain out.

New Orleans Saints

After scoring 31 touchdowns during his first 31 NFL games, Alvin Kamara has found the end zone only twice and has gone six consecutive games without a score this season. Despite the scoring slump, Kamara has been a strong fantasy asset. He’s produced at least 89 scrimmage yards in six of nine games and has also handled at least eight targets in six of nine games. Kamara has posted touch totals of 23 and 20 during his past two games and hasn’t finished lower than 11th among running backs in fantasy points during his past three outings. He obviously remains a strong weekly RB1.

New York Giants

Sterling Shepard returned from a concussion Sunday and was on the field for 95% of New York’s snaps. That’s compared to 84% for Darius Slayton, 83% for Golden Tate and 16% for Cody Latimer. Shepard was held to a 5-15-0 receiving line but was targeted a team-high nine times and added some value with a 22-yard rush. Shepard’s usage provide plenty of optimism, though Evan Engram is expected back soon and it’s apparent that rookie Slayton (team-high 67 yards on Sunday) will remain a big part of the offense. Consider Shepard a WR3.

New York Jets

Robby Anderson posted a 4-86-1 receiving line on five targets Sunday and has now found the end zone in back-to-back games. Despite the improved production, Anderson will still be very hard to recommend for fantasy lineups most weeks. Anderson has caught fewer than two passes in four of his past six games, including three of his past four. The free-agent-to-be has reached 80 receiving yards in three of his 11 games this season, but he has 43 or fewer yards in the other eight games. Anderson has some flex appeal against the Bengals and Dolphins over the next two weeks, but the Ravens, Steelers and Bills present tougher challenges during the final three weeks.

Oakland Raiders

Jalen Richard posted season-high marks in targets (seven) and receptions (six) during Sunday’s loss to the Jets. Despite producing his best fantasy point total of the season, Richard remains well off the fantasy radar. Josh Jacobs’ backup has cleared two carries in only one game this season, and Sunday marked his first game with more than four targets or receptions. Richard caught 68 passes and was fantasy’s No. 29 running back in 2018, but he is on pace for 36 catches and sits 56th in fantasy in 2019. He’s not close to the fantasy radar.

Philadelphia Eagles

With Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor both sidelined Sunday, the Eagles’ wide receiver usage was as follows: Jordan Matthews (99% of 71 possible snaps, six targets), JJ Arcega-Whiteside (73%, five), Greg Ward (49%, seven) and Mack Hollins (3%, zero). Eagles tight ends combined for 22 of the team’s 45 targets in the game. Jeffery and Agholor were both close to playing against Seattle and are decent bets to return in Week 13, but if they remain out, no Eagles receiver will make for a safe play. Of course, Matthews, Arcega-Whiteside and Ward would be fine flex dart-throws in deeper leagues against a struggling Miami defense.

Pittsburgh Steelers

James Conner was out again for the Steelers on Sunday, but this time it wasn’t Jaylen Samuels picking up the slack. Pittsburgh turned to rookie Benny Snell (49% snap share) as its lead back, with Samuels (28%), Trey Edmunds (18%) and Kerrith Whyte (10%) also involved. Snell racked up 103 yards on 22 touches (one reception), and it appears he’ll be the team’s lead rusher as long as Conner is sidelined. Samuels produced 32 yards on five touches (three receptions) and is now well off the fantasy radar. The same can be said for Whyte, though he improved his dynasty stock with 43 yards on six carries. Snell should be one of your top priorities on waivers this week, as he’ll be a viable flex against Cleveland if Conner remains out.

San Francisco 49ers

Tevin Coleman found the end zone early against Green Bay on Sunday night and has now scored seven touchdowns in nine games this season. Coleman is averaging 13.6 carries and 3.0 targets per game in eight outings since returning from injury in Week 5. The veteran back has benefited from a 49ers offense that is run-heaviest in the league (49.8% run), sits fifth in snaps (66.5 per game) and ranks second in touchdowns (3.2 per game). Coleman also happens to be the team’s go-to weapon near the goal line. His 6.0 OTD easily leads the team, with George Kittle next closest at 3.3. In fact, Coleman’s 5.9 OTD since returning from injury in Week 5 is sixth highest in the entire NFL, and he also ranks eighth among backs in fantasy points during the span. Coleman is in the weekly RB2 discussion.

Seattle Seahawks

Rashaad Penny exploded for 129 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries against the Eagles on Sunday. Penny was in the mix throughout the game, but really benefited from a pair of Chris Carson fumbles in the fourth quarter when the second-year back was on the field for 78% of the offensive snaps. In total, Carson, who registered 57 yards on 12 touches, played 30 snaps, compared to 27 for Penny. Carson has enough of a track record that he figures to remain the lead back, but Penny’s strong game and pedigree (he was a first-round pick last year, after all) figures to lead to a larger role. Carson should be a viewed as a top-15 play, and Penny, who was targeted only once on Sunday, is best left on benches against Minnesota in Week 13.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

A week after setting a career high with 14 targets and hauling in 10 passes, Cameron Brate returned to situational duties against Atlanta on Sunday. Brate was on the field for 32% of Tampa Bay’s snaps and was held without a catch on his only target. O.J. Howard, meanwhile, played 79% of the snaps and posted a 1-10-0 receiving line on two targets. Howard has one touchdown and has cleared 47 yards in one game this season, and Brate is his backup. Neither tight end should be on fantasy rosters.

Tennessee Titans

The Titans scored six offensive touchdowns Sunday and now have 19 touchdowns during Ryan Tannehill’s five starts. For perspective, that 3.8 per-game average is higher than the 3.6 per game the league-leading Ravens are averaging on the season. It’s also much higher than the 1.8 per game the team averaged during Marcus Mariota’s six starts to open the season. Tannehill was responsible for four touchdowns Sunday and now has two or more scores in each of his five starts. The high-end production has allowed him four consecutive top-10 fantasy campaigns. Tannehill is obviously worth an add, though he’s a risky start this week with Tennessee headed to Indianapolis. You can probably find 12 better options with all 32 teams back in play. Note that Tannehill attempted only 18 passes during an unsustainably efficient Week 12 blowout win.

Washington Redskins

Derrius Guice paced the Washington backfield by playing 40% of the offensive snaps on Sunday. That’s compared to 35% for Adrian Peterson and 28% for Wendell Smallwood. It marks the second consecutive week that Guice has out-snapped Peterson, though Guice’s production wasn’t particularly good this time around (38 yards on 11 touches). Peterson was limited to 49 yards on 11 touches, and Smallwood touched the ball only once. Guice remains the preferred play here, but none of these backs are reliable fantasy starters, especially after failing to produce against a Detroit defense that entered the week having allowed the most fantasy points to the position.

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auburnfamilynews · 5 years

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Photo by Andy Altenburger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It feels good to be right. I have this thing so dialed in right now, you wouldn’t believe it. I was 12 points off the actual final score last week and that is only because Gus took his foot a bit off the gas. I got Arkansas’ point total exactly right. This isn’t just art, dear reader, it is science. I look in the past to tell the future, because what was will be again and again.

So let’s move on to this week’s matchup. Woo boy, I am nervous. There’s nothing about a game on the road at LSU against a revitalized and athletic offense that makes me confident. LSU has been riding through the 2019 season like a band of outlaws, leaving death and destruction in their wake.

Someone has to stop these people!

The Gunfight at the OK Corral

On October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, AZ, a shootout lasting about thirty seconds broke out between lawmen and a group of outlaws calling themselves the Cowboys.

This shootout was reenacted in the 1993 documentary film Tombstone

You’ll notice immediately the monochromatically dressed lawmen go into the flaming wreckage that is the outlaw hangout. It’s a wild place and dangerous. You’ll also notice lots of unspeakably great facial hair, but that’s less important to our purposes. What I find interesting is the number of people who used to want to watch an impending gunfight. I have never and will never understand wanting to watch people kill one another, but to each his own I guess. People have always enjoyed violent spectator sports.

At some point we need to all agree that the Old West is not some sort of romantic fantasy world, but in fact may have been the worst imaginable place to be born into this side of Flanders in 1914. What a nightmarish confluence of tuberculosis, heat, and violence.

Anyway, the good guys win, but they take some losses. AND the good guys didn’t seem supremely confident walking into the fight. Those were some swaggering outlaws they were up against. Shootouts are always difficult to predict considering the lines between offense and defense are blurred so severely.

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Doc Holliday is a real piece of work. He talks a lot of noise and is dying of a disease that is making him sweat like a stuck pig. It is not a good look, but he gets the job done and makes the bad guys furious with the way he does it.

I know I keep using “good” and “bad” and I also know that there are no binary distinctions as clean in real life. Instead, even the great Wyatt Earp was probably not an awesome guy to be around at times, being a brothel owner and whatnot. Plus everyone was hooked on opium, so I bet that was really annoying.

The Auburn - LSU Game

On October 26, 2019, Auburn travels to Baton Rouge, LA, to take on the LSU Tigers. Auburn fans are not incredibly confident going into this game. It is a game that has to be played, and the stakes are incredibly high. Both teams are capable of scoring a lot of points, but it will be up to the Auburn offense to try to keep up with the firepower LSU brings to the table.

Our Doc Holliday is most likely Gus, if you ask me. He is difficult for some people to deal with, many don’t like his decision making or his style, and he relies heavily on sleight of hand.

Now, Gus isn’t nearly as “cool” as Holliday and certainly doesnt have the mustache or the crippling TB, but he does enjoy the dramatic.

Auburn is going to hit an incredibly slow developing fake statue of liberty play for a touchdown in this game.

Shootouts are hard to predict. Auburn needs to be able to score points and needs to find someone on the offense to take the game to the Bayou Bengals. Auburn needs have a playmaker step up and make a name for himself, to go down like Wyatt Earp in the annals of history as a good guy. Did you know Wyatt’s dad was a bit of a lawman himself? Bo Nix...can you be our huckleberry?

Auburn WINS

31-30

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/10/24/20930378/history-repeating-the-lsu-game

#IFTTT #Blogger #auburn #auburn fast #wareagle #AuburnFamilyNews #war eagle #sec #football news #aubu

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nomanwalksalone · 7 years

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BRITS IN INDIA, PART 2: THE RESISTANCE

by Steve Gottschling

You may recall my last post where I discussed the peculiar dress of the East India Company, one of the most infamous mixers of capitalism and violence before the world gave us United Airlines. I shared accounts of soldiers like Garnet Wolseley and WSR Hodson as they marched across the Indian subcontinent beneath heavy woollen uniforms to fulfill some far-off authority’s idea of national pride.

It was a portrait of stoicism, but more importantly it posed a counterpoint to my own hyper-meticulous dressing style for spring’s wobbly toddler stages. I can forgive myself a little more easily for choosing too warm a jacket when my mind is littered with images of redcoats fainting gracefully.

But my portrayal of Company troops as wool-wrapped martyrs, I’m sorry to say, wasn’t entirely accurate. As is expected for an operation that spanned a whole subcontinent, where dress regulations are easier announced than enforced, the British troops couldn’t quite transplant their national uniform to another climate without one or two garments changing along the way.

Captain FB Doveton, who fought in Burma in the 1820s, puts it nicely in the Asiatic Journal:

“When troops are on active service in the East, great license is permitted in the way of costume; in fact, the Regulations could not very well be enforced where there are no army tailors to supply deficiencies. On such a barbarous and distant service as that in question, it may well be imagined we were soon a most motley group…”

“My own corps ran riot very much in this particular, our colonel not being over[sic] strict as to dress. Many wore trowsers[sic] made of a coarse blue calico used for lining tents (this was my favorite material); others wore white, and some tartan; in fact, every one suited his own taste, and all the colours of the rainbow were son seen in the ranks.”

Part of the reason for this trouser diversity was the garment’s combustibility. Trousers were among the first garments to give way to the rigors of plunder, but an imminently trouserless soldier could choose among local sources for a cheap and lightweight replacement. Your torso would still bake beneath your flannel jacket, of course, but at least everything below the belt could breathe.

Things were hardly more uniform atop soldiers’ heads. Garnet Wolseley, whom I introduced in the last post, wrapped thin blue puggaree around his forage cap for added protection. And Doveton describes his regiment having “a great diversity of taste as to head-dress, some wearing the high oil-skin shako, others foraging caps of various shapes.”

And the shako! Some soldiers hated it. “It had a peak before and one behind, whence the felt crown rose to the altitude of six or eight inches, stretching out at the summit in a style that I might have thought picturesque if I had not found it confoundedly top-heavy,” wrote one soldier in the Asiatic Journal. Many soldiers simply lost their shakos, wearing instead cloth-wraps soaked in water. No wonder the lighter-weight forage cap was frequently the preferred choice.

Perhaps the most relatable regiment of the lot, however, were the First Bengali Fusiliers, who gained the name “The Dirty Shirts” from, as Charles John Griffiths writes, “their habit of fighting in their shirts with sleeves turned up, without jacket or coat, and their nether extremities clad in soiled blue dungaree trousers.” Scores of other regiments kept their jackets on and left battle with no nickname at all.

So fret not, all you who worry about rising temperatures forcing you to shed your outerwear and whatever sense of identity comes with it. Your chance at legendary status is not lost.

Picture: The 1st Bengal Fusiliers Marching Down from Dugshai, by George F. Atkinson, 1857

#stevegottschling #nomanwalksalone #features #menswear

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titoslondon-blog · 6 years

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New Post has been published on Titos London

#Blog New Post has been published on http://www.titoslondon.co.uk/designer-collections-you-didnt-see-on-the-runway-but-need-in-your-closet/

Designer collections you didn’t see on the runway but need in your closet

Designers come from all schools of thought. Some choose to exhibit their new work on the runways, some don’t, and some others prefer to showcase only select work. Well into the hottest months of the year, you may have noticed a dearth of cosy, summer-friendly looks in your wardrobe. Update your shelves with the same enthusiasm you have for planning that vacation or keeping yourself hydrated yourself this summer. We’ve rounded up all the designer collections that weren’t seen on the runways, but still deserve a place in you walk-in, for you to pick from.

Payal Khandwala

Artist-turned designer Payal Khandwala likes to turn to the drawing board for inspiration. For spring/summer 2018, the starting point for the designer was colours. “Colour used in the right proportions can be just as sophisticated as black, beige and indigo, and I have always disliked the assumption that vivid colour is somehow vulgar, less refined. Culturally our penchant for colour is what separates us from the rest of the world, in an increasingly homogenous fashion landscape,” the designer explains. Handwoven, colour-blocked textiles from Bhagalpur, Bengaluru, West Bengal and Benaras are the mainstay of the collection. Khandwala also exhibits her accessories line ‘Tachi’ with this collection, which is inspired by jacaranda, roses, saffron, marigold and gulmohar—all of which are used to create pigment for the colours of Holi.

Shift by Nimish Shah

Nimish Shah of Shift decided to give womenswear a break and go with an all-men’s collection instead. His line ‘Fresh & Foolish’ has plenty for girls to borrow from. Shah paints an ideal picture of a carefree summer—jumping into cool pools, sipping on Campari spritz and lounging in holiday homes in crushed linen shirts. From ruffled, striped shirts to citric orange Bermuda shorts—Shift’s ideal wardrobe is perfect for those long lazy summer days.

Yavï

Yadvi Agarwal’s label Yavï is based on the designer’s love for textile innovation. For spring/summer 2018, Agarwal imagines a woman collector on her travels. Incorporating elements of Impressionist art in modern silhouettes, Yavï plays with colour on khadi, silk and linen. Choose a layered full look or pick pieces from the collection to add to your own for an interesting outcome.

Ekà

Kurtas with sheer bottoms, floral dresses layered with lace slips, micro florals printed on gossamer dresses—Rina Singh of Ekà paints a romantic picture with her collection ‘Kinship’ this season. Known to work with sustainable methods of production and natural materials, Ekà separates are perfect if you are transitioning your wardrobe from fast fashion to a sustainable one.

Anavila

Anavila Misra is slowly edging out of her comfort zone of making entire collections of handwoven linen saris. This season, her offering ‘In Between’ is all about encouraging slow living and mindfulness. Misra uses batik, block prints and cross stitch on her collection of kurta sets, saris and blouses. Sticking to a palette of soft pastels, the designer aims to create delicate, blurry outlines with the subtle detailing.

Buna

Pallavi Shantam of Buna is a champion of khadi. The brand makes use of natural raw materials and organic processes to create breathable khadi fabrics that can be shaped into contemporary clothing. This season, Shantam tries to recreate the freedom of the skies with easy flowing silhouettes in white, with minimal detailing. Looking for something to wear to a luncheon with close friends? Buna has the right edit for you.

Péro

Aneeth Arora of Péro likes to obsess over detail. For spring/summer 2018, Arora shines the light on ladybugs. The collection titled ‘Ladybug Spotting’ highlights embroideries and surface development techniques that are created by hand by the artisans of Péro. Colourful florals and ladybugs are placed against a white backdrop. From the handmade laces to the realistic bugs, Péro separates are the kinds that warrant a conversation with the wearer.

Kanelle

Kanika Jain of Kanelle was drawn to the abstract art of Piet Mondrian and Jackson Pollock for spring/summer 2018. Checks and stripes dominated the collection in roomy silhouettes. Jain also added abstract embroideries to the mix, mimicking her love for scribbling. Despite being ‘scribbled’ on, Kanelle separates can be taken from a work meeting to drinks after hours easily.

The post Designer collections you didn’t see on the runway but need in your closet appeared first on VOGUE India.

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junker-town · 5 years

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Did your NFL team mess up by not drafting Lamar Jackson?

Lamar Jackson has been the crown jewel of the 2018 NFL Draft class.

Looking back at the 2018 NFL Draft to see who skipped over Jackson — and who’s paying for it.

The 2018 NFL Draft is far in the rearview mirror, but that doesn’t mean Lamar Jackson has forgotten about the teams that passed on him. Jackson was taken at No. 32 overall by the Ravens, and he had to see four quarterbacks in his class drafted before him.

By the end of that season, he was the only one of those rookies to make a start in the postseason. He’s kept that pace alive in 2019, when his Ravens stand atop a depleted AFC North and look stronger every week. Jackson planted his flag as a potential MVP candidate by becoming the youngest quarterback to beat Bill Belichick (and his 8-0 Patriots) in 15 years.

The former Heisman Trophy winner has had a better start to his career than the four quarterbacks selected ahead of him: Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Josh Rosen. If you compare their stats, Jackson has the best record as a starter, the best passer rating, the best TD-INT ratio, and most rushing yards (by a lot).

There’s no questioning that Jackson is a unique talent, one that many teams in the NFL wish they could have at quarterback. Most of them had a chance to draft him, too.

Let’s take a look at the teams that passed on Jackson and see if they would’ve been better off taking him.

Cleveland Browns: No. Theoretically, they’d be better off with Jackson and without having to face him twice a year. But c’mon, you know the Browns would’ve ruined him. Have you seen Baker Mayfield lately?

2. New York Giants: Yes. Saquon Barkley is a dynamic player. But you know what’s better? A dynamic player who can run AND throw! Plus, they could’ve started the post-Eli Manning era a year earlier.

3. New York Jets: Yes. The Jets opted for Sam Darnold over Jackson. This season, Darnold has had a slew of odd injuries, including being diagnosed with strep and mono simultaneously, an enlarged spleen, and needing a toenail removed. Jackson has stayed healthy — and doesn’t throw nearly as many baffling red zone interceptions.

4. Cleveland Browns: See No. 1. The Browns destroy everything they touch, and leaving Jackson to get his ACL exploded behind Cleveland’s porous offensive line would be a lesser tragedy.

5. Denver Broncos: Oh, hell yes. Instead, the Broncos settled for the quarterback the Ravens benched for Jackson.

But also no, because there’s no way general manager John Elway looked at Jackson’s 6’2 frame and thought anything other than “there’s someone I can mold into a 600-yard receiver.”

6. Indianapolis Colts: No, even though Andrew Luck opted for early retirement. Jacoby Brissett has done a nice job taking over for Luck and has helped put the Colts in good position to win the AFC South.

7. Buffalo Bills: Probably. The Bills chose to draft quarterback Josh Allen over Jackson. Allen has a winning record as a starter and is poised to get the Bills back in the playoffs. So yes, Buffalo is doing all right with a pretty good running quarterback — but what if it had a great one?

8. Chicago Bears: Lol, yes. The Bears already had Mitchell Trubisky, who’s proving he’s nowhere close to being a franchise quarterback. He’s near the bottom in the NFL in most major categories — as is the Chicago offense and running game. Yeah, Matt Nagy could use Jackson right now.

9. San Francisco 49ers: No. As much fun as it would be to watch Jackson in a Kyle Shanahan offense, Jimmy Garoppolo is lighting it up for the red-hot 49ers.

10. Arizona Cardinals: Yes. Picking Josh Rosen over Jackson proved to be a mistake. While they got Kyler Murray in 2019, imagine how Jackson would fit in Kliff Kingsbury’s freewheeling offense (assuming Jackson wouldn’t have won enough games in 2018 to keep Steve Wilks on the sideline).

11. Miami Dolphins: Tough call, depending on how much faith you have in 2020’s draft class. With Jackson, you wouldn’t have to worry about 2019’s inescapable tank job — although you run the risk of him being sold off for a future first, just like the team’s actual pick here, Minkah Fitzpatrick, was.

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Yes. Jameis Winston is a free agent in 2020. He’s also not very good as an NFL quarterback — he has more interceptions than anyone else in the league since being drafted in 2015.

13. Washington: Yes. The Alex Smith experiment didn’t work out for unfortunate reasons, but this team needed a young franchise QB even before the former Chiefs’ passer was knocked out of the lineup. Now Dwayne Haskins gets to deal with all this dysfunction instead.

14. New Orleans Saints: No. Teddy Bridgewater has been an excellent insurance policy for Drew Brees (and Taysom Hill has been an excellent insurance policy for Bridgewater).

15. Oakland Raiders: No. Derek Carr has bounced back to Pro Bowl form thanks in part to the left tackle the Raiders selected at this spot, Kolton Miller. Carr’s still just 28 years old and under contract through 2022. While it would have been fun to see Jon Gruden figure out the most creative way to waste Jackson’s talent, a game-shifting mobile QB doesn’t really fit with Gruden’s late-90s throwback roster approach.

16. Buffalo Bills. See No. 7. The Bills used this pick to select Tremaine Edmunds, who has become an important cog in their intimidating defensive machine. They’d easily make that choice again.

17. Los Angeles Chargers: No. Philip Rivers is going to play for 20 more years, making it back to the AFC title game once. Derwin James, who was drafted here, should be healthy again one day, too. .

18. Green Bay Packers: No. Aaron Rodgers still looks great in his mid-30s, even if he took a few games to get acclimated to new head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense. But the Pack fell apart without him in 2017, and stopgaps like Brett Hundley and DeShone Kizer proved to be low-wattage replacements. Jackson would help fill that hole — but he’s also be buried behind a two-time MVP on the Green Bay roster.

19. Dallas Cowboys: No. Dak Prescott is pretty good and occasionally great. He’s about to sign a mega-extension in Texas, and Leighton Vander Esch, who the Cowboys picked at 19th overall, was a Pro Bowler as a rookie. It’s safe to say Jerry Jones is happy with his decision.

20. Detroit Lions: No. Matthew Stafford is having the best season of his career and is, somehow, only 31 years old. In this draft, Detroit took Frank Ragnow, who should have a fruitful career keeping his veteran QB upright from the center of the Lions’ line.

21. Cincinnati Bengals: Hellllll yes. They have a legitimate chance to go 0-16 in 2019 and they benched Andy Dalton for rookie Ryan Finley. And they have to face Jackson twice a year.

22. Tennessee Titans: Yes. Tennessee swapped out Marcus Mariota for Ryan Tannehill, which is like replacing a Honda Civic with a Toyota Corolla. Neither is under contract for 2020.

23. New England Patriots: Yes. Bill Belichick would absolutely like to have a do-over, if only to keep Jackson from gashing the Patriots’ defense again. Plus, Tom Brady will need a replacement at some point (his passer rating has declined in each of the past three seasons) and Jarrett Stidham, for all his preseason glory, probably isn’t the answer.

24. Carolina Panthers: Kinda. It all depends on Cam Newton’s health going forward. Newton’s 2019 season ended after just two games, and his future in Carolina is a bit uncertain. While Kyle Allen’s been solid as a backup, Jackson working his way into the lineup in 2019 when Newton went down with injury would have been a revelation for the Panthers.

25. Baltimore Ravens: Yes, teeechnically. Baltimore should have drafted Jackson here instead of potentially letting another team grab him. The Ravens ended up selecting Hayden Hurst. He has 29 catches in 20 career NFL games, is already 26 years old, and has failed to outshine 2018 third-round tight end Mark Andrews.

26. Atlanta Falcons: No. Matt Ryan isn’t the problem in Atlanta. Everything else (minus the wide receiver corps) is.

27. Seattle Seahawks: No. Russell Wilson has never missed a game in his career and he’s finally getting the MVP hype he deserves.

28. Pittsburgh Steelers: Yes. Ben Roethlisberger might have a few good seasons left in him, but 2019 won’t be one of them. The team eventually made its exit strategy for Big Ben clear by selecting Mason Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 draft — and he’s been a capable, if unexciting backup. It would have been fun to see what Jackson could do for the Steelers, who now have to battle him in the AFC North.

29. Jacksonville Jaguars: Yes. Why draft Jackson when you could sign Blake Bortles and Nick Foles for a combined $130 million in consecutive offseasons? Minshew Mania is over, at least for now. They definitely goofed by taking Taven Bryan rather than Jackson.

30. Minnesota Vikings: No. Kirk Cousins got a fully guaranteed $84 million about a month before the 2018 NFL Draft, so taking a first-round quarterback was off the table. Sometimes it looks like a mistake, other times Cousins looks like an MVP. Either way, Jackson wasn’t a real option for the Vikings.

31. New England Patriots: Yes. See No. 23. Isaiah Wynn has been a solid left tackle when healthy and Sony Michel was a postseason workhorse who helped carry the Pats to a Super Bowl win as a rookie, but neither may be as valuable as a viable escape route

32. Baltimore Ravens: Hey, good job! The Ravens traded up from the second round to snag Jackson with the last pick of Day 1. It’s worked out.

As for the three teams that didn’t have a first-round pick:

Philadelphia Eagles: No. The Eagles passed up their chance to get Jackson by trading this pick to the Ravens on draft night and would do it again (only for a bigger ransom). Carson Wentz was briefly an MVP candidate. He might not get there again and has yet to play in the postseason, but he still looks pretty good in Philly.

Houston Texans: No, they’re set with Deshaun Watson.

Los Angeles Rams: No, even if Jared Goff is reverting to his rookie year, Jeff Fisher-coached form in 2019.

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bern33chaser · 5 years

Text

Script Writing Tips and Format Example

If critics tell you that your stories have too much dialogue, maybe you should consider writing scripts. It’s different from writing ordinary prose. For one thing, a script is not the finished work of art. It’s the blueprint that the director and actors use to create the work of art. The good news about that: your words don’t have to carry all the weight. As a playwright, I like the way a stronger actor can make up for my weaker writing. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. But though a bad actor can completely misinterpret a perfectly clear line, a good actor can bring out the meaning that you were not quite able to express through words alone. Unlike a novel, there will be no great literature unless a character speaks it. An inarticulate man doesn’t change just because you have a big noble speech you want him to make.

Enter late, leave early.

Every writer needs to remove anything that doesn’t advance the story, but that’s particularly true for scriptwriters. And sometimes you don’t realize that a scene doesn’t advance the story until you try removing it and discover that it still works. William Goldman, who wrote The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid said, “You always attack a movie scene as late as you possibly can. You always come into the scene at the last possible moment.”

In the same way, once you’ve made your point, don’t belabor it. Always leaving them wanting more. Otherwise, they may start wanting less and leaving the theater early. A joke works best when it’s given no extra emphasis, when all the fat has been trimmed. Alfred Hitchcock told an interviewer in 1960, “How does one describe drama? Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.” Writing is a balance between saying too much and saying too little.

It’s a show: show don’t tell

The visual nature of the screen or stage makes it easier to follow the writer’s rule of “show, don’t tell.”The rule is harder to follow on radio and podcasts, because they cannot show anything visually. So a scriptwriter must turn to narration, as he might in a book, or to less-than-subtle dialogue: “Look out, he has a gun!” Early TV hadn’t found its sea legs yet as a visual medium, and perhaps depended on narrators more than necessary. But a film or play is more than a book in visual form.

In an intriguing novel (nameless here, so I don’t ruin it if you haven’t read it), friendly inhabitants take a mistrustful visitor into their home for the night. As he lies down to sleep, he slowly realizes that maybe his hosts have put on a friendly appearance only to trap him. In the television miniseries adaptation, the exposition depends on the visitor thinking out loud in bed for several minutes as his host listens. It was awkward:

What if you plan to spring on me as soon as I realize the danger?

Thank you for reminding me. I'll do that now.

Maid and butler talk on a do-it-yourself basis, since you don’t have to pay a maid or butler. No wonder the novelist found the miniseries “just boring.” This scene could easily have been adapted more cinematically, showing not telling, based on the novelist’s own words.

INT. HOST'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

The CAPTAIN is lying in bed. He glances at his HOST in the other bed. He lifts his head to look again more closely. His host's bedsheet is pulled back, revealing his hand.

CLOSE UP - the HOST'S HAND has four fingers, with claws.

The Captain carefully rolls back the covers. He slips from bed and walks softly across the room.

HOST: (coldly)

Where are you going?"

CAPTAIN:

For a drink of water.

HOST:

But you're not thirsty.

CAPTAIN:

Yes, yes, I am.

HOST:

No, you're not.

FOOTSTEPS as the captain tries to run across the room.

CAPTAIN (O.S.) He screams twice.

SILENCE. The TICKING of an old CLOCK.

People don’t need to say exactly what they mean.

In real life, people don’t say, “I asked you how you were doing because I wanted you to ask me how I was doing, since I wanted to talk with you so that you would feel comfortable enough with me to say Yes when I asked you out on a date.” Real life is more subtle. Behind the text, there is the subtext – the thoughts that motivate the character to speak. When a scene has too little subtext or subtlety, people say it is “too on the nose.” We don’t need everything spelled out, and it isn’t as much fun. You don’t want a mystery writer to spell everything out, do you, except perhaps at the end. We can tell if someone is romantically interested in someone else by the way they say, “How are you doing?”

A script leaves less to the audience’s imagination.

Many authors make a point not to describe their character’s appearance too precisely, to make it easier for diverse readers to relate to the story. But when you see The Hunger Games on the screen, now you know what Katniss Everdeen looks like, and can no longer easily imagine that she looks like you. Unless you happen to look like Jennifer Lawrence. However, the writer can only suggest visual details. He or she cannot mandate that the movie be filmed in New Zealand and co-star Kevin Bacon, much as the writer may visualize the story just that way.

Proper format shows professionalism.

If you submit your novel to a publisher, and it isn’t double-spaced with a one-inch margin (with only one space after a period), you will appear inexperienced and possibly inept, which you don’t want to be. But a script has even more complex formatting requirements, with lots of white space, specific indents, and particular capitalization conventions. A script is written in present tense, with no more than two or three lines per paragraph – dialogue too.

Twist your plot, then twist it again.

Sure, publishers would love to get their hands on “the Harry Potter of the 2020’s” but not if it’s exactly like Harry Potter. They don’t want potential readers to say, “I already have a book about an Indian boy who spends 227 days in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. I don’t need another one.” You might have come up with that brilliant plot device all on your own, without the inspiration of somebody else, but if it happens to have already been used by somebody else, your chance for a sale just went way down. Ironically, to create a truly original story, you have to become very familiar with other people’s stories, to make sure that yours is sufficiently different from them.

Good writing must include the unexpected. So when you come up with one good idea, keep coming up with more. If you don’t have enough good ideas, try browsing through the standard plot types. But you can build twists yourself. You could summarize The Silence of the Lambs in a brief logline, as follows:

An F.B.I. agent tracks down a serial killer.

Other stories have had that same premise. How about adding to it?

A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help in catching another serial killer.

Now that is getting more interesting. But don’t stop yet.

A young F.B.I. cadet tracks down an elusive serial killer as she develops his psychological profile, reluctantly confiding in a manipulative psychologist who has been locked up for years after committing a series of similar murders.

Instead of an ordinary F.B.I. agent, now there is a particularly vulnerable one, mismatched for the task. Because instead of one murderer, now there are two murderers, both clever, and one is stalking the other from behind bars. Satisfied? With that kind of carefully planning, your script could win an Academy Award, as The Silence of the Lambs‘s script did. The original novel sold 11 million copies.

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Original post: Script Writing Tips and Format Example from Daily Writing Tips https://www.dailywritingtips.com/script-writing-tips/

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mrsteveecook · 5 years

Text

Script Writing Tips and Format Example

Enter late, leave early.

It’s a show: show don’t tell

What if you plan to spring on me as soon as I realize the danger?

Thank you for reminding me. I'll do that now.

INT. HOST'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

The CAPTAIN is lying in bed. He glances at his HOST in the other bed. He lifts his head to look again more closely. His host's bedsheet is pulled back, revealing his hand.

CLOSE UP - the HOST'S HAND has four fingers, with claws.

The Captain carefully rolls back the covers. He slips from bed and walks softly across the room.

HOST: (coldly)

Where are you going?"

CAPTAIN:

For a drink of water.

HOST:

But you're not thirsty.

CAPTAIN:

Yes, yes, I am.

HOST:

No, you're not.

FOOTSTEPS as the captain tries to run across the room.

CAPTAIN (O.S.) He screams twice.

SILENCE. The TICKING of an old CLOCK.

People don’t need to say exactly what they mean.

A script leaves less to the audience’s imagination.

Proper format shows professionalism.

Twist your plot, then twist it again.

An F.B.I. agent tracks down a serial killer.

Other stories have had that same premise. How about adding to it?

A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help in catching another serial killer.

Now that is getting more interesting. But don’t stop yet.

Publish your book with our partner InstantPublisher.com! Professionally printed in as few as 7 days.

Original post: Script Writing Tips and Format Example from Daily Writing Tips https://ift.tt/2XRLcGU

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republicstandard · 5 years

Text

IN LAMMY’S WORLD ONLY GAY AND ABORTION ACTIVISTS CAN BE WHITE SAVIORS

Once upon a time, in the days of Rule Britannia, white saviors went to Asia and Africa and saved women and children. Today, in the era of Cool Britannia, white saviors conspire to control our former colonies with the gospel of gay sex and abortion. Progressive white saviors seek to destroy, not save—to kill unborn babies and prevent procreation.

British colonial rulers in India banned female infanticide in 1870, after Jonathan Duncan, resident in Benares, drew attention to the bizarre Hindu custom. Instead of converting Hindus to Christianity, in 1791 Duncan founded the Sanskrit College for the study of Hindu Law and Philosophy.

After British colonial administrators prohibited child sacrifice at the Ganga Sagar festival, 19 Christian missionaries petitioned Lord Bentinck, Governor-General of India, to ban suttee—the custom forcing Hindu widows to immolate themselves on their husband’s funeral pyre.

When lecturing at Liverpool Hope University, I would ask my students what they thought of such acts performed by the British in India. Chillingly, the snowflakes were silent. Even the feminists in my class would squirm when I asked them about the rights of Hindu widows. The idea of “white savior” Lord Bentinck banning this indigenous practice through the Bengal Sati Regulation Act (1829) was colonial, racist and white supremacist.

When Prof Allan Bloom’s posed the same question to his students at Harvard, he got a similar response. “They either remain silent or reply that the British should never have been there in the first place,” he writes in The Closing of the American Mind.

I’m sure this is how the Rt Hon David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, would respond. Lammy has had enough of “white saviors.” I mean, just look at all the harm they’ve done! As a Hindu Brahmin, my mother wouldn’t be alive today if Bentinck hadn’t banned suttee. I’d have to mutter a few Sanskrit shlokas and give her the heave-ho onto my dad’s barbecue.

But white people have no business monkeying around for Comic Relief in Uganda, Lammy would say to Stacey Dooley. This white Barbie doll should check her white privilege and upload pictures on Instagram of her holding only obese white children with snot running down their noses. It’s racist for her to get the optics wrong. In Lammy’s tribal world, you’re defined by the color of your skin, not by the content of your character.

“The world does not need any more white saviors. As I’ve said before, this just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes,” Lammy lamely tweeted. “It’s a kind of missionary idea, and it’s deeply problematic because what it does is it keeps the continent of Africa poor, it keeps people in their place,” explains the race hustler.

Lammy is the Al Sharpton of British politics. Twinned with Dianne Abbott, their race-baiting keeps them in the spotlight. In 2013, while debating gay marriage in Parliament, Lammy compared Christian MPs opposed to same-sex marriage to parliamentarians who defended the slave trade 200 years ago.

Lammy suffers from “racial paranoia,” which author Dinesh D’Souza defines as a “reflexive tendency to blame racism for every failure.” He pursues “the white whale of racism with Ahab-like determination.” As if he’s reading a Rorschach inkblot test, Lammy imagines colonialism and racism in the rather cute picture of eminent documentary filmmaker Stacey Dooley holding a Ugandan child.

As someone with a privileged education—The King’s School, School of Oriental and African Studies and Harvard Law School—Lammy needs to ask a few more questions about “white saviors” over the centuries. Why did the Judeo-Christian West produce these saviors? The answer lies in theology and technology.

Ancient civilizations were fiercely tribal: a person of one race would not cross ethnic boundaries to help someone of another race. The theology of the Hebrew Bible shattered this tribalism. Israel would be “a light to the nations.” From Israel came Jesus, who claimed to be the Messiah—not to a tribe, but to the world.

Israel produced a brown-skinned Saviour. Hey! Lammy, did you know Jesus was not white? Jesus was “most likely dark brown and sun-tanned,” says Princeton biblical scholar James Charlesworth. This Saviour began an obscure movement on the margins of the Roman Empire that dislodged classical paganism and became the dominant faith of the West.

Breaking with Marxist assumptions (lower classes are more religious than the rich), sociologist Rodney Stark argues that people with a degree of privilege and sophistication were attracted to the Jesus movement. In Roman society, mercy and pity were considered pathological emotions. But Jesus’ followers behaved mercifully because they had received mercy from God. Tribalism was smashed as privileged people crossed forbidden boundaries of class, color, race, and nation to share the gospel of their brown Saviour and to help those in the most life-threatening exigencies—especially during epidemics and plagues.

Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan climaxes in the question: “Who is my neighbor?” My neighbor is someone who is not like me and is not part of my tribe! However skeptically one views the charitable work done by Stacey Dooley and Comic Relief or other charities providing relief to the Third World, they’re doing it because the idea of serving someone who is not like me, is part of our Western DNA. “Charity” derived from the Latin Caritas is a Christian innovation.

Christianity gave birth to science and technology. Without a theology committed to reason, the world today would be where non-European societies were in 1800 with many astrologers and alchemists, but no scientists, Stark comments. “Modernity arose only in Christian societies. Not in Asia. Not in Islam. Not in a ‘secular’ society—there having been none. And all the modernization that has since occurred outside Christendom was imported from the West, often brought by colonizers and missionaries,” he adds.

Our theology motivated “white saviors” to go to Asia and Africa; our technology gave us prosperity. Because we were technologically more advanced, we had something to offer to those who were technologically less advanced.

Postmodern progressives like Lammy are profoundly ashamed of our missionary heritage. They conflate Christian mission with racism, imperialism, colonialism and white supremacy. What they are proud of is the new mission civilisatrice where “white saviors” now seek to enlighten Asia and Africa (and immigrants of color to Britain) with the gospel of pansexual liberation.

Lammy should look at the picture in Monday’s Guardian—Andrew Moffat, head of Parkfield Community School in Birmingham is reading a book to five brown/black children. “White savior” Moffat is indoctrinating colored Muslim children with LGBT+ propaganda. Their families are outraged. Such sexual grooming goes against their culture and religion, but progressives don’t regard this as cultural or ideological imperialism!

In a previous column, I pointed out how Anglican LGBT activist Jayne Ozanne has set up her own foundation with ten white saviors to civilize sexual savages. “The new foundation has been set up to help educate and advocate on LGBTI and gender rights around the world, particularly within religious organizations that are opposed to non-heterosexual relationships,” said Ozanne’s website.

The government’s Wilton Park report urges engagement with the Global South to challenge the “heteropatriarchy of Christianity brought by western missionaries” and teach queer theology, feminist theology and a theology of inclusion in seminaries to promote homosexuality, transgenderism, and intersexuality.

In 2017, our so-called Conservative government announced it would spend over £1.1billion on overseas abortions. According to a 2015 Pew Report, 92 percent Ghanaians, 88 percent Ugandans and 82 percent Kenyans say they find abortion unacceptable. In Asia, the figures are as high as 93 percent for the Philippines, 89 percent for Indonesia and 85 percent for Pakistan.

“I don’t think that any Western country has a right to pay for abortions in an African country, especially when the majority of people don’t want abortion… that then becomes a form of ideological colonization,” Obianuju Ekeocha, founder of Culture of Life Africa told the BBC World Service (who were banging the global abortion drum).

The next time Lammy rails against “white saviors” and “poverty porn,” I’m sending him a copy of Keith Richburg’s Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa. Richburg, a black man, is correspondent for the leftwing Washington Post. He is “a descendant of slaves brought from Africa” and especially sensitive to the cynical and manipulative use of the race card by politicians like David Lammy.

“I’m tired of all the ignorance and hypocrisy and the double standards I hear and read about Africa, much of it from people who’ve never been there, let alone spent three years walking around amid corpses,” he writes. It’s not colonialism, or racism, or the white man; the real root of Africa’s problems, he stresses, lies in the boundless corruption of its leaders.

“Thank God that I am an American,” and “thank God my ancestor survived the voyage” which brought him to the United States as a slave, concludes Richburg.

from Republic Standard | Conservative Thought & Culture Magazine https://ift.tt/2NKZHI3 via IFTTT

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