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jq37 · 4 years

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The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 6 Chaos in the Cathedral

Candians v. The World

As sure as the sun rises and sets every day, a D&D session that starts with the DM telling everyone he loves them is a D&D session that’s going to end in tragedy.

We begin with the stakes as dire as they’ve ever been. The PCs are in the Cathedral with 7 Tartguard and none of their other allies. Amethar has just been excommunicated from the church for adultery, stripped of his title, and ordered seized as--technically speaking--Candia is now at war with the rest of the Concord. They are surrounded on all sides, outnumbered, and there’s no easy way out.

And Jet decides to charge the Pontifex.

She grabs her water dagger (8d6 to Candians, 4d6 to everyone else, plus the poison cocktail Amethar suffered and only 1 Use--clearing up Keradin’s statement about there being 3 daggers) and says, “I’d rather be a bastard than a fool who believes in a bulb.” If she wants war, the Rocks family will bring it. She provokes an opportunity attack from Bonathan (the french fries fighter) but Theo blocks it and joins in on the heresy with a, “Fuck the Bulb!” The Pontifex screams as she takes 28 damage--though she burns a legendary resistance (which she apparently has) to avoid the poison effects.

War dog Amethar immediately starts looking for exits. He hears the guards on the other side lock the big, main door and he sees that there are these big, glass windows, but they are reinforced with crossbars that need to be broken for anyone except maaaaaybe the kids to squeeze through. He yells for the Tartguard to hold off the Imperial soldiers before running up to Jet and begging for her to cooperate for once in her life. “Please, do not die for me.” He physically picks her up and--on a Nat 20--throws her right up to a ledge where one of the big windows are. Once she’s up there, she sees that there are priest-archers in hiding, waiting to snipe them.

(Emily/Jet: You don’t have to worry about me.)

(Ally/Liam: We’re fucked. We’re absolutely fucked.)

The archers go, getting a shot at all three kids, including Nat 20 on Jet for an arrow in the back.

Liam (after considering an entirely different course of action that gets ret-conned away) Hunters Mark’s Bonathan and crossbows him. As he does, a familiar figure rounds the corner--Keradin, unshackled and bearing his mace.

“Witch. Is that the spell you cast on me?”

He goes to town, dealing a full 31 points of damage, bringing Liam down to 6. Theo also takes a beating this round, getting 27 points of damage from Plumbeline.

Lapin at first tries to goad Basha into joining the fight against the church by prodding at his pride but only a Nat 20 would entice him to take that bait and Zac doesn’t hit it. He did however hit a Nat 20 last week to find out more info about the Bulb and Brennan gives him the first piece of info now: The magic of the Bulb isn’t different from the magic of the Sugarplum Fairy. Power is power. A warlock is a cleric is a warlock. It’s a difference of semantics. With the rest of his turn, he casts Fly on Theo so he can get the kids up to the window and he stands in front of Liam to protect him (tossing him 2d6 of healing).

“I misjudged you,” says Theo.

“Oh, shut up,” says Lapin.

Ruby, twinning as always, decides to also attack the Pontifex, doing 28 damage with her grasping arrow (which also forces the Pontifex to stay in place or take damage).

On his turn, Theo (who is under strict orders from Amethar to save his kids) gets both Liam and Ruby up to the window--and still has the time to flip off the whole church and say, “Long live the Sweetening Path.”

The Chaos Continues

The knights attack Amethar. Amethar attacks the Pontifex. Grissini, filled with grim determination, attacks the Tartguard (5 go down). Jet chucks a crossbow priest off the ledge.

Amethar grapples the Pontifex and declares, “I have your leader. Will you not defend her?” But on a 9 Intimidation check, everyone can hear the panic in his voice. Fine. Reckless attack: 14 damage. Onionpatch, weedy though he is, is able to break the grapple on his turn.

Liam tries to break the bars on the window--which Brennan has stressed several times is a very high DC to hit (Liam would need a Nat 20) and needs to take at least 20 damage at a time for it to stick at all--but doesn’t do it.

Keradin rains down blows on Lapin, the pretender, and Lapin goes down (the Fly spell on Theo going down at the same time). As he goes down, he has the second revelation about the Bulb gleaned from his Nat 20 from last session: the Bulb exists and it is powerful but it is mindless. It’s a pure source of power with no agenda or wants or desires. They’re worshiping a battery or a nuclear reactor. He rolls a death save. Failure.

Ruby gets out her rope, gives one end to Theo, then uses Mage Hand (which is invisible but, in reflection, can be seen as her Aunt Lazuli’s hand) to send the other half down to Amethar before casting Fog Cloud to make him harder to hit.

Theo tries to drag Amethar up with the rope, but Amethar hasn’t had the chance to grab it yet so it just slips his grasp. He tries to break the bars on the window but fails. He wants to Compel Duel with Keradin to take the heat off Lapin, but he’s out of range.

The Pontifex heals herself, undoing many turns of effort. Amethar takes 9 points of damage from various knights. The remaining Tartguard go down. A Ceresian soldier tries to hit the prone Lapin but rolls a 1 and a 2, missing him entirely (somehow).

Jet--who, as you might have guessed, has been very “Not Without my Father” all battle despite Amethar’s orders--attacks one of the priests and then uses her Maneuvering Attack ability to let Amethar move half his movement without provoking Opportunity Attacks--an ability that works despite the lack of line of sight caused by Ruby’s protective Fog Cloud.

Amethar climbs the rope and gets to work on the window--hitting both times but only doing damage on the second. He does 22 points of damage but the bars have 30 HP so it’s gonna take another hit. The priest fighting Jet tries to disengage but her Sentinel ability activates and she slices him through, dead.

Liam sends Preston down to help Lapin with his death saves and then unsuccessfully tries to break the bars. Keradin immediately starts wailing on Preston and does 28 points of damage, dropping him.

Lapin has his second death save. Failure.

Ruby tries to attack the bars but fails. She tries unshackle Manta Ray Jack (who was chained and tortured to get Amethar’s secret last episode) and fails even harder on double Nat 1s.

Brennan throws the gang a bone and says that the bars will now break on a 19 or 20 since Amethar weakened them and, what do you know, on his very next attempt, Theo rolls a 19. BAM, he rushes the window and immediately falls out. Jet grabs Liam and jumps out, taking most of the falling damage herself. Amethar throws Ruby out the window, looks back at Lapin’s body, then jumps out himself. Theo catches him, negating the damage that would have dropped him.

Lapin’s Big Day (Part 3)

Lapin is left alone in the church, Preston’s body still beside him, the Pontifex and Keradin above him, consciousness slipping away. He has one last death save and, on a 20, he’ll pop back up to 1 HP and get a turn. It’s absolutely his only chance. He rolls.

13, for the rabbit whose luck has run out.

He does an Insight check on the Pontifex and, on a 14, he gets the sense that she doesn’t know the true nature of the Bulb and she doesn’t care. She just cares about power.

“Heretic, apostate, warlock of the Sugarplum Fairy. You mock all that which is bright and shining. Do you have any last words?”

And, legend to the end, Lapin says, “The Bulb cares for no one.”

The Pontifex tells Keradin to end it but, before he does, Lapin hears a voice in his ear.

“They wouldn’t have survived this without you. My final wish is for you to come home.”

And Keradin dashes Lapin across the stone of the cathedral.

In Memoriam

I knew last week that I would be writing a eulogy for a piece of candy today, but I had my money on the wrong piece of candy (or pieces of candy rather).

Lapin had the most to lose in this fight, and the easiest out. He was still, at least on paper, aligned with the church. He could have just hung back and let the others escape while he did nothing or sent an Eldritch Blast flying that purposefully missed its mark. There was a path out of this for Lapin in simply doing less.

But he didn’t. He had exactly one proper turn all fight and he used that turn to turn the tide of the entire encounter. If he doesn’t step up to protect Liam, Liam absolutely drops. If he doesn’t cast Fly on Theo, Ruby and Jet are screwed. If Ruby and Jet can’t get that Fog Cloud/Maneuvering Attack double team, Amethar is screwed. He saved everyone. He’s *always* saved everyone. That is the entire story of Lapin in this game. The grumpy but loyal bastard whose last words to the party are, “Oh shut up,” when he’s told he’s been misjudged.

Lapin’s game was cut tragically short but, man, did he cram so many epic moments into the time he was given. From single-handedly keeping Ruby and Amethar up during the Ambush to his skillful manipulation of damn near everyone he came into contact with at the Tournament and then his heroic sacrifice in this ep, and getting to meet death with defiance for his enemy and praise from his patron.

Many mid-campaign deaths are unceremonial and just kinda random, like in real life, but Lapin’s death really did have a poetry and a sense of closure to it. He was told he needed to protect the Rocks family. He was told boldness would be required. He said if anyone found out about him he would die. Check, check, and check. And death even came for him on the third fight--I absolutely live and die by the rule of three and, apparently, so does Lapin.

To die in the stronghold of the church he infiltrated, secret out, more knowledge about the inner machinations of the religion than possibly even the Pontifex herself, secure in the thought that with his death, he bought his charges enough time to make a run for it is, I think, a lot more closure than a lot of characters get. That’s a full arc.

Plus, he got one more sick one-liner for the road.

And, let’s not forget, our baby boy Peppermint Preston who fell taking blows meant for Lapin, sent down by Liam who earlier that week was convinced that Lapin hated him. It seems like a waste, but that’s only because it’s how the dice shook out. How badass would it have been if he’d drawn the attacks and Keradin had whiffed them or if Preston had dropped, but Lapin had rolled a Nat 20, popped back up, scooped him, and left--healing him on the way out? It could have been great.

But it wasn’t. It was just brutal.

So, RIP to our boys. May they be doing shots with the Sugarplum Fairy in Candy Heaven.

Things I’m Concerned About

The Candians were pretty screwed no matter what they did in this episode, but man they truly decided to burn all their bridges with all the F the church talk, blatant magic, and attacking the Pontifex. They are fully terrorists at this point.

None of their people (besides the Tartguard) were in the church when this happened. What happens to them? Do they have time to alert them? Are they all just dead?

I wish Jet hadn’t used that knife on the Pontifex. Like, it’s the least of their worries but not only was it a waste, it makes it seem like the attack on Amethar was a false flag which would also make the attack on the road seem like even MORE of a false flag. That was tactically Not Good.

Because of the way the information was tortured out of Manta Ray Jack (sidenote--are they, like, gonna kill him?), it seems like the Candians might still have allies in the Dairy Islands (as in, they know the Candians were railroaded and didn’t attack first) but this is such a crappy position to put someone in and the Dairy Islands are already weak. Plus, there’s at least one known bad actor there. Who knows who can be trusted at this point?

Where do they even go from here? The rest of the map is at war with them. If they can make it home, war will follow them there too. What is the victory condition here? Dismantling the entire church? If so, yikes.

And, speaking of, the church was really wilding out just having Keradin come out to fight the PCs. Does this mean he’s off the hook? Alfredi too? It seems like they very well might be now that their actions can be retroactively “justified”. Still curious about whether they were working under the church’s direct orders or doing their own shady thing that happened to align with the church’s goals.

THEY HAVE NO HEALER. Like, unless Zac’s next character is also a healer, the party is now in the most precarious position they’ve ever been in with no healer. Hands down, the worst person who could have gone down, party comp-speaking.

Five More Things

There’s a rule in law school called the laugh test and it says that, before you make an argument, say it out loud and see if you can get through it without laughing. And there’s a part in this episode where Siobhan is proposing some BS but I don’t even know what it was because she just fully breaks herself and can’t get through it, and that’s the best illustration of that rule I’ve ever seen in practice. And, while we’re here, the other two A+ Siobhan moments this episode were her face at her double Nat 1s, and, to Lou for reminding Brennan that attacks on him get advantage, “You’re a good man. I’m gonna miss you so much.”

Man, how painful is it that Lapin got to see into the Matrix and figure out the Bulb and then he had the knowledge immediately die with him? Absolutely brutal.

The tension at the table this episode. The ominous music that felt bad until it would cut out completely, which was infinitely worse. The burying of heads into hands and leaning on each other for support. This episode was a LOT. I can’t IMAGINE having been at that table. And I had a week to make my peace with the idea that someone was most likely gonna die. To have to deal with this right on the heels of last ep? Geez.

Hearing on Adventuring Party how Zac planned to have Lapin give a bad guy speech and Thunderstep out with Liam if Initiative had shook out differently really makes it hit home how D&D is really about those in the moment things you can’t control. This could have been a very different encounter but was Jet supposed to NOT try and stab the Pontifex? Of course not, she HAD to. She’s JET. And she got to set the tone of the fight because she rolled highest.

Can you imagine if Amethar had jumped out the window, taken that damage, and just dropped? And failed his death saves? And they had no healer?

Just as a final note, I have to give major props to the whole cast for this episode. We’ve known that this was the “actions have consequences” season since it was announced, but this is really the first time we’ve really gotten to see the extent of the consequences and everyone handled it very well--the PCs staying true to character, even it wasn’t optimal, but still playing smart, and Brennan for facilitating such emotionally difficult scenes. This is peak D&D y’all.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #the royal report

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spell406 · 5 years

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So, a friend of mine basically forced me to watch at least one episode of Netflix Castlevania.

(Disc - I am new to tumblr and had a little problems with posting this thing correctly. Sorry for spam)

So I watched one. And then another. And another… When I finished it was 3 a.m., my eyes were burned out, my brain fried, and my soul forever forfeited, but whatever, who need it anyway.

I am new to the universe, and I know that I am something like 10 months late to the review party, so instead I decided to just share a bunch of thoughts of mine. [UPDATE – Because I am extremely heavy procrastinator and it took me almost two weeks to write this thing I am already at 50% of SoTN right now I’ve finished SoTN by now]

First of all – Castlevania looks like anime, but shares almost nothing common with it. It was a relief, to be honest, as I was a little afraid of show being just another shounen with specific set of clichés and similarities that might quite not bad (or even enjoyable), but I’ve seen them too many times before – better or worse executed – to watch without a mild nausea another Bleach/Naruto in a darker scenario.

I would never demand a fantasy world to be realistic. Like, who would do, fantasy world is supposed to be… fantasy, right? I am fine with lack of realism but I can’t say the same about lack of common sense, and there is a matter of logic that I personally find quite funny. When you are about to fight in close quarters with someone, with both of you lives on stake you’ll want to use every possible advantage. In general there are two kinds of battle armors – first one is focused on providing maximum protection (like typical medieval plate armor) and second one designed to grant freedom of movement especially critical in usually legwork-heavy duels. And here are our “battle” priests in gowns. Gowns, that manage to provide neither aforementioned advantage and downsides of both. Heh. It just bothers me too much, honestly.

I really love the flow of narration; the way that every character including antagonists has its own set of motives and reasons, even Carmilla has her own background that is convicting to justify her bitchery (Well, she has seen it before, right? And Dracula wasn’t even trying to hide his apathy, so why would she like to watch as dead man wages his hollow war)(Is it only me or Dracula shows typical signs of severe depression? Apathy, lack of strength to take any decision, not taking care of himself, loss of interest – even in his own war – well, to be honest he has a good reason to do so).

Animations. Ah, that one is unquestionably excellent, although you Powerhouse Animation guys could have make use of an additional 4-5 fps – from time to time I had a feeling that there is a cat sitting on my keyboard’s space bar, pausing and starting show over and over - it happened something like two or three times. If it comes to favorite scenes – for me, it would be first meeting and fight between Trevor and Alucard. The dialogue and music is so good at reflecting rising pressure and tension between those two – let put oneself in Trevor’s boots – just day before he was rather concerned about getting some food/drink and move on and now he is standing against something that he now considers to be last boss of his life, or perhaps not, he doesn’t even know how does Dracula looks like and he doesn’t seem to be openly aggressive, or perhaps yes, he is obviously vampire and he seems to doesn’t like Belmont name, on the other hand even lesser vampire might be not so easy foe and he is kinda out of practice, and Sypha doesn’t feel like helping out, at least for now… It is all just perfect, and the sound track alone is stuff of legends. (Season 2 OST on Spotify WHEN??”)

Second best would be first phase of Dracula fight – the way which they are team working fluently to not let eachother get killed pleases my inner maniac in best possible way, although the 1 vs 1 part is kinda downgrade - but still ok.

But there is one thing that really stands out in best possible way from things I’ve seen before and that’s utilization of facial expression and body language. Like seriously, this combined with really outstanding voice acting bring interactions between characters to another damned level. (Unfortunately, national translation and voice acting is so awful that I couldn’t bear myself to finish even first season). There are few thing I consider more important in creating credible character than combining overall expressiveness and voice acting, the ability to tell words without actually using any (Finding Ciri cinematic in Witcher 3 is perhaps best known to me example) - and Castlevania does it just soooo good.

Dracula generals. When they were shown for the first time I was like “oh boy he has summoned generals, (Generals! Master tactician, the artists of war!) the oldest, most cunning and powerful beasts from entire world, now things are going to get rough.” And how did it turned out? I can understand that Dracula tasked his forge masters with overseeing the war (Although his reasoning was kind of ok, good job Dracula for nominating for executives two people, that knew least about proceeding war) Did they were incompetent so much? Then how did they managed to get their titles, if they were just a bunch of endlessly whining mischief-makers? They were supposed to know how war looks like, and how to do one, but instead they did literally nothing for war effort! If you ask me, that is at least one risen eyebrow. Excluding Godbrand, the only member of council that did anything more than grate his teeth in silent anger, killed some civilians and got taken care of quite effortlessly. Also, Godbrand wasn’t made to be the sharpest knife in a closet, but he still was bright enough to ask himself “What will we do when we’ll win a war?” Also, he managed to notice that there were no real plan to follow... That is +1 to you Godbrand, I’ll miss you my vikingy boi. In the end, if they were meant to be just a background, they did get a little too much of screen time, and if they were not, they got faaaaaar from enough of it.

By the way – not sure if it’s only me but I personally think that Trevor might be keenest (or – at least – not dumbest) of protagonist trio. He might lack classic education, but he is careful watcher (he noticed fresh oil in torch and overall state of Alucard’s hideout), he correctly chosen and quite successfully executed strategy at Gresit square (isolate, divide and destroy) and quite steadfastly shrugged off Alucard bickering (well, most of times). Also, his plan for battle with vampire generals was quite logical – avoid close quarter cause humans are in general more fragile than vampires, and Alucard as frontline. My inner maniac was most pleased.

As I said before, I really enjoy Castlevania’s overall character design but with an exception of bishop of Gresit. There is no reason for his work, I know that he is insane and reasoning usually does not apply to those like him but I feel like there is no reason in villainy (this entire talking about making a God’s own country – well, I don’t buy it), aside of being genuinely baaaaad, which kinda stands out in negative way in comparison to the rest of characters.

To highlight the issue, lets do some roleplaying here:

The night creatures are ravaging the land that you had sworn to protect in unholy war against humanity, killing women, men even your subordinates alike. The citizens are growing restless, and demand taking an action. How do you proceed?

a) Find the last descendant of family known for their prowess in fighting those beasts; but be wary – he doesn’t seem to like you very much after you branded him as heretic, exterminated his entire family and burned down his home (probably with some of aforementioned family still inside it). However, if you nicely ask for help, reverse the curse, apology for making mistake and return the estate it actually might work. (to be honest that could be quite interesting moral choice for Trevor, to help people of Wallachia and let bishop take all glory or decline the bishop proposition and screw people over in the process)

b) You can fight them, you are the Holy Church after all. You have access to unlimited supply of holy water, relics, you have enough money and authority to arm and train people’s militia properly. Your knowledge of those beasts might be as wide as Belmont family, but at least should be sufficient to minimalize the damage. Killing the Dracula, however, might be impossible for you.

c) You spent most of your time on biting, trashing, or looking for anyone to cast entire blame upon; it doesn’t matter who is that poor bastard as long as it is not you. In addition, you…

AAAAARGH I CAN’T CONTAIN MYSELF ANY LONGER! BROTHER, I DON’T FEEL LIKE I AM WICKED ENOUGH! I REQUIRE TO SEE SOME SUFFERING OF INNOCENT TO FEAST UPON! WHAT DO YOU SAY, BROTHER? I CANT HEAR YOU OVER RAGE BOILING IN MY VEINS! WHAT, SPEAKERS? OF COURSE THEY WILL DO RAAAAAARRGARGAJGIOGJIHKBYIUOL

Oh well.

Well, looks like I am done here. By the way, sorry for my English, I am not a native speaker (If I’ve commited any spectacular crime against vocabulary/grammar let me know on priv).

Now I’m going back to rewatching show and torturing SoTN

No TL:DR, just read it if you want, it is not an entire book, you know.

#castlevania #trevor belmont #sypha belnades #alucard

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cosmichorror-yt · 5 years

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The Horrors of Copyright Laws - Blog By Matt

Context:

Before, this was written for the purpose of becoming a video, but decided to just make it a blog post. I wanted to shine a light on general internet freedom and Article 13 that recently passed.

History:

Alexander III of Macedon commonly referred to as Alexander The Great, was a ruler of ancient Greece. In 331 BC, he founded Alexandria in Egypt where The Library of Alexandria was built. Estimations show that 40,000 to 400,000 books, scrolls, and other documents were contained, with a staff of over 100 scholars at its height. It was once the centerpiece of all works of fiction, non-fiction, Christian, Pagan, and scientific knowledge. The library accepted all works of both religion and science. With something such as the great Pyramids still standing today, it's easy to wonder why such an important and historical place is nowhere to be found. Most believe it destroyed by burning from unsupportive heretics (religious extremists who might've believed it was ungodly to spread science). It's important to note that it was also allegedly accidentally burned by Julius Caesar in the midst of an ongoing civil war during the time, which may have been the only reason it burned, but most would beg to differ. Some very few documents from the library were actually collected and distributed across the world over time, and those documents dictated how technologically advanced we are today. Imagine if it was never burnt down, let that thought sink in. It's really interesting to think about how advanced human civilization could've been. All of the now-coined science or sci-fi may have been something already discovered and invented 1,000 years ago.

Why do I mention this ancient legend? Well assuming it was indeed destroyed mainly by heretics, it shares an important lesson to not let the knowledge get in the wrong hands. Dogma, the ideas and rules that are created by controlling and manipulative authorities, is the most likely culprit judging by the repeating history of man where a king, royal family or set group of people restrict freedom of thought, persecuting anyone for having opposing opinions. We saw it during the Middle Ages with the Templars, and we're seeing it again in the modern era on the Internet. Without dogma, knowledge flows free like a stream of water that travels from land to land, providing the nourishment of learning and free-thinking. But alas, like a dam of that stream, dogma stops us from advancing as a species.

And here we are...

Today's metaphor of the destruction of the library is corporations and governments of the world restricting society's role in having fair access to tools that enable us the ability to learn and project what we've learned onto those who wish to learn as well. In 2012, the internet faced a colossal censorship threat. It was a bill advocated from Hollywood in the US Congress called SOPA, an acronym for Stop Online Piracy Act. If passed, it would’ve literally criminalized piracy and using copyrighted content. Meaning it would’ve destroyed many websites, careers, and lives. The maximum penalty for sharing copyrighted content would have been 5 years in prison. Imagine being forced by the Government into an orange jumpsuit because you shared unbought music on your Youtube account. Not only would content creators be at risk, but we’d also all be in a predicament because everyone’s favorite Youtube channel would be taken down. The bill never passed thanks to huge online campaigns that stopped it from happening. The sad thing is, it’s going down again with Article 13 being passed as a law in the European Union. Businesses working with the Government are much more relentless when it comes to passing these bills, more so than we are trying to stop them, and that has to change now. While copyright laws protect the works of artists, they also result in restriction of internet freedom of expression for many professions such as movie critic, game reviews, and people who do music covers. Most Youtube content creators rely on using copyrighted content to build their own niche up by using clips, sound pieces and images with credit given to convey or explain a point. The resolution is to not punish content creators who use copyrighted content as long as credit is given. We should instead allow websites to plugin an option prior to the upload of an artist’s work that allows them to type in and select credit is given to a certain copyright holder they used content from, eliminating the process of blocking content that contains copyrighted content and giving a percentage of the creator's revenue to that holder, but also allowing the creator to add in their own way of making revenue like convenient merchandise plugins, donation buttons, and subscription programs.

Consequences:

In consequence of Article 13 passing, Youtube will be included in the collection of countless sites forced to implement upload filters of content that may or may not be infringing rights of an original owner. Meaning European musician YouTubers who make covers that sound like an original song or European movie critics who use footage from the movie they’re analyzing will automatically have their videos stopped from uploading with some message popping up saying something along the lines of “Your upload has been rejected as our algorithm determined your video does not meet our copyright guidelines”. This results in these content creators having to redo their entire video, editing and checking it perfectly to make sure they are absolutely no chances that the upload will be rejected and even then the algorithm probably won’t function properly and will falsely detect their STILL is copyrighted content in it, once again resulting in the removal of the video you may have spent weeks putting together. This reminds me of some of my own videos that have been demonetized automatically for allegedly having dubstep music in it when it’s an Amnesia video with only Mikko Tarmia’s soundtracks from the game in the video. Youtubers shouldn't have to have their channel's revenue at stake because a robot can't function properly. Add onto the fact viewers in the EU who want to watch an American Youtube video that breaks Article 13’s rule will be unavailable in their country, leading to millions of Youtube channel fanbases dying off because most channels used copyrighted content before they knew this law would be passed, and this would result in the loss of millions of online careers, entertainment and the opportunities alike.

Going Against The Agenda:

While it’s a good practice to treat your work like a business, in some aspects, amateur content creators like myself shouldn’t get carried into the impossible requirements a real business has like buying countless licenses and not being able to have an individual opinion or needing to be ‘politically correct’. If individual artists and indie groups avoid anything potentially copyrighted or controversial, it will be an easier decision for laws to be passed that dispose of channels that do have copyrighted content (even if credit is given). And this subject can easily be applied to anything relating to the conflict of people’s freedom, corporations, and governments. That makes the whole censorship thing seem more like a small step into eventually controlling entirely what society sees because people aren’t vocal enough to catch attention, consequently brainwashing the rest of the people into believing absolutely anything a business or government desires them to believe. Article 13 is the tip of the iceberg of a bunch of censorship problems we’ll face in the near future. It’s going to get much worse if we don’t start showing that we will never stop expressing free thought and freedom to use copyrighted content with credit being given fairly, without giving in to control from organizations. Too much professionalism is also a problem on Youtube seen from a lot of Youtube celebrity channels that intentionally act and react just like mindless corporations would act to consumers. Clickbait, misleading headings, being overly dramatic, and emotional manipulation for money are Youtube's version of scandalous corporate strategies. As a result, this will taint free-speech, individualism, opinions, shock value and creativity with a business-minded agenda which focuses purely on grabbing your attention and emotionally manipulating the audience into giving them money and views somehow. Not only does it endanger freedom of expression, but it also waters down the good aspects of the classic Youtube we know and love into a grayer environment where natural, relatable content that easily entertains us becomes tasteless, talentless content that lures the audience into misleading content designed for revenue. The problem is that there is constantly new laws being passed such as Article 13 in Europe that has made it impossible for content creators to get noticed or even be allowed to build their own niche because it may not be ‘appropriate’ in their country. Advertisers who cherry pick the most family-friendly videos also make it hard for content creators who want to do their own thing, because their certain type of content may not make any money as they rely on revenue-focused corporations who won’t touch anything remotely controversial with a 10-foot pole.

The Next Chance:

It’s all a battle between old people who don’t understand the cost and the younger generation who understand that these laws harm internet freedom greatly. If it weren’t for Article 13, Google could just to turn Youtube into a platform that highly encourages individualism and intellectual, detailed, creative, and even shocking content, but they can’t now and wouldn’t anyway. And will Google ever get to do that now? We could only hope that it would even work, ads make Youtube billions each year so it might be too late to switch gears regardless of set laws. Ultimately, it's up to the people to be vocal about this very slippery slope of an issue. It’s up to us in the future to elect the right people before laws like these get passed.

#article13 #copyrightlaws #copyright #article12 #freedomofspeech #youtube #youtuber #netnetrality #google #coporations #coporateagenda #consumerism #businesses #individualism #creativity #freethought #horror

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savedfromsalvation · 7 years

Text

How many people have died in the name of Christ, Christianity and Catholicism?

VICTIMS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

by Kelsos

"WONDERFUL EVENTS THAT TESTIFY TO GOD'S DIVINE GLORY"

Listed are only events that solely occurred on command of church authorities or were committed in the name of Christianity. (List incomplete)

Ancient Pagans

As soon as Christianity was legal (315), more and more pagan temples were destroyed by Christian mob. Pagan priests were killed.

Between 315 and 6th century thousands of pagan believers were slain.

Examples of destroyed Temples: the Sanctuary of Aesculap in Aegaea, the Temple of Aphrodite in Golgatha, Aphaka in Lebanon, the Heliopolis.

Christian priests such as Mark of Arethusa or Cyrill of Heliopolis were famous as "temple destroyer." [DA468]

Pagan services became punishable by death in 356. [DA468]

Christian Emperor Theodosius (408-450) even had children executed, because they had been playing with remains of pagan statues. [DA469] According to Christian chroniclers he "followed meticulously all Christian teachings..."

In 6th century pagans were declared void of all rights.

In the early fourth century the philosopher Sopatros was executed on demand of Christian authorities. [DA466]

The world famous female philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria was torn to pieces with glass fragments by a hysterical Christian mob led by a Christian minister named Peter, in a church, in 415. [DO19-25]

Mission

Emperor Karl (Charlemagne) in 782 had 4500 Saxons, unwilling to convert to Christianity, beheaded. [DO30]

Peasants of Steding (Germany) unwilling to pay suffocating church taxes: between 5,000 and 11,000 men, women and children slain 5/27/1234 near Altenesch/Germany. [WW223]

Battle of Belgrad 1456: 80,000 Turks slaughtered. [DO235]

15th century Poland: 1019 churches and 17987 villages plundered by Knights of the Order. Victims unknown. [DO30]

16th and 17th century Ireland. English troops "pacified and civilized" Ireland, where only Gaelic "wild Irish", "unreasonable beasts lived without any knowledge of God or good manners, in common of their goods, cattle, women, children and every other thing." One of the more successful soldiers, a certain Humphrey Gilbert, half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, ordered that "the heddes of all those (of what sort soever thei were) which were killed in the daie, should be cutte off from their bodies... and should bee laied on the ground by eche side of the waie", which effort to civilize the Irish indeed caused "greate terrour to the people when thei sawe the heddes of their dedde fathers, brothers, children, kinsfolke, and freinds on the grounde". Tens of thousands of Gaelic Irish fell victim to the carnage. [SH99, 225]

Crusades (1095-1291)

First Crusade: 1095 on command of pope Urban II. [WW11-41]

Semlin/Hungary 6/24/96 thousands slain. Wieselburg/Hungary 6/12/96 thousands. [WW23]

9/9/96-9/26/96 Nikaia, Xerigordon (then turkish), thousands respectively. [WW25-27]

Until Jan 1098 a total of 40 capital cities and 200 castles conquered (number of slain unknown) [WW30]

after 6/3/98 Antiochia (then turkish) conquered, between 10,000 and 60,000 slain. 6/28/98 100,000 Turks (incl. women & children) killed. [WW32-35] Here the Christians "did no other harm to the women found in [the enemy's] tents—save that they ran their lances through their bellies," according to Christian chronicler Fulcher of Chartres. [EC60]

Marra (Maraat an-numan) 12/11/98 thousands killed. Because of the subsequent famine "the already stinking corpses of the enemies were eaten by the Christians" said chronicler Albert Aquensis. [WW36]

Jerusalem conquered 7/15/1099 more than 60,000 victims (jewish, muslim, men, women, children). [WW37-40] (In the words of one witness: "there [in front of Solomon's temple] was such a carnage that our people were wading ankle-deep in the blood of our foes", and after that "happily and crying for joy our people marched to our Saviour's tomb, to honour it and to pay off our debt of gratitude")

The Archbishop of Tyre, eye-witness, wrote: "It was impossible to look upon the vast numbers of the slain without horror; everywhere lay fragments of human bodies, and the very ground was covered with the blood of the slain. It was not alone the spectacle of headless bodies and mutilated limbs strewn in all directions that roused the horror of all who looked upon them. Still more dreadful was it to gaze upon the victors themselves, dripping with blood from head to foot, an ominous sight which brought terror to all who met them. It is reported that within the Temple enclosure alone about ten thousand infidels perished." [TG79]

Christian chronicler Eckehard of Aura noted that "even the following summer in all of palestine the air was polluted by the stench of decomposition". One million victims of the first crusade alone. [WW41]

Battle of Askalon, 8/12/1099. 200,000 heathens slaughtered "in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ". [WW45]

Fourth crusade: 4/12/1204 Constantinople sacked, number of victims unknown, numerous thousands, many of them Christian. [WW141-148]

Rest of Crusades in less detail: until the fall of Akkon 1291 probably 20 million victims (in the Holy land and Arab/Turkish areas alone). [WW224]

Note: All figures according to contemporary (Christian) chroniclers.

Heretics

Already in 385 C.E. the first Christians, the Spanish Priscillianus and six followers, were beheaded for heresy in Trier/Germany [DO26]

Manichaean heresy: a crypto-Christian sect decent enough to practice birth control (and thus not as irresponsible as faithful Catholics) was exterminated in huge campaigns all over the Roman empire between 372 C.E. and 444 C.E. Numerous thousands of victims. [NC]

Albigensians: the first Crusade intended to slay other Christians. [DO29] The Albigensians...viewed themselves as good Christians, but would not accept roman Catholic rule, and taxes, and prohibition of birth control. [NC] Begin of violence: on command of pope Innocent III (greatest single pre-nazi mass murderer) in 1209. Bezirs (today France) 7/22/1209 destroyed, all the inhabitants were slaughtered. Victims (including Catholics refusing to turn over their heretic neighbours and friends) 20,000-70,000. [WW179-181]

Carcassonne 8/15/1209, thousands slain. Other cities followed. [WW181]

subsequent 20 years of war until nearly all Cathars (probably half the population of the Languedoc, today southern France) were exterminated. [WW183]

After the war ended (1229) the Inquisition was founded 1232 to search and destroy surviving/hiding heretics. Last Cathars burned at the stake 1324. [WW183]

Estimated one million victims (cathar heresy alone), [WW183]

Other heresies: Waldensians, Paulikians, Runcarians, Josephites, and many others. Most of these sects exterminated, (I believe some Waldensians live today, yet they had to endure 600 years of persecution) I estimate at least hundred thousand victims (including the Spanish inquisition but excluding victims in the New World).

Spanish Inquisitor Torquemada alone allegedly responsible for 10,220 burnings. [DO28]

John Huss, a critic of papal infallibility and indulgences, was burned at the stake in 1415. [LI475-522]

University professor B.Hubmaier burned at the stake 1538 in Vienna. [DO59]

Giordano Bruno, Dominican monk, after having been incarcerated for seven years, was burned at the stake for heresy on the Campo dei Fiori (Rome) on 2/17/1600.

Witches

from the beginning of Christianity to 1484 probably more than several thousand.

in the era of witch hunting (1484-1750) according to modern scholars several hundred thousand (about 80% female) burned at the stake or hanged. [WV]

incomplete list of documented cases: The Burning of Witches - A Chronicle of the Burning Times

Religious Wars

15th century: Crusades against Hussites, thousands slain. [DO30]

1538 pope Paul III declared Crusade against apostate England and all English as slaves of Church (fortunately had not power to go into action). [DO31]

1568 Spanish Inquisition Tribunal ordered extermination of 3 million rebels in (then Spanish) Netherlands. Thousands were actually slain. [DO31]

1572 In France about 20,000 Huguenots were killed on command of pope Pius V. Until 17th century 200,000 flee. [DO31]

17th century: Catholics slay Gaspard de Coligny, a Protestant leader. After murdering him, the Catholic mob mutilated his body, "cutting off his head, his hands, and his genitals... and then dumped him into the river [...but] then, deciding that it was not worthy of being food for the fish, they hauled it out again [... and] dragged what was left ... to the gallows of Montfaulcon, 'to be meat and carrion for maggots and crows'." [SH191]

17th century: Catholics sack the city of Magdeburg/Germany: roughly 30,000 Protestants were slain. "In a single church fifty women were found beheaded," reported poet Friedrich Schiller, "and infants still sucking the breasts of their lifeless mothers." [SH191]

17th century 30 years' war (Catholic vs. Protestant): at least 40% of population decimated, mostly in Germany. [DO31-32]

Jews

Already in the 4th and 5th centuries synagogues were burned by Christians. Number of Jews slain unknown.

In the middle of the fourth century the first synagogue was destroyed on command of bishop Innocentius of Dertona in Northern Italy. The first synagogue known to have been burned down was near the river Euphrat, on command of the bishop of Kallinikon in the year 388. [DA450]

17. Council of Toledo 694: Jews were enslaved, their property confiscated, and their children forcibly baptized. [DA454]

The Bishop of Limoges (France) in 1010 had the cities' Jews, who would not convert to Christianity, expelled or killed. [DA453]

First Crusade: Thousands of Jews slaughtered 1096, maybe 12.000 total. Places: Worms 5/18/1096, Mainz 5/27/1096 (1100 persons), Cologne, Neuss, Altenahr, Wevelinghoven, Xanten, Moers, Dortmund, Kerpen, Trier, Metz, Regensburg, Prag and others (All locations Germany except Metz/France, Prag/Czech) [EJ]

Second Crusade: 1147. Several hundred Jews were slain in Ham, Sully, Carentan, and Rameru (all locations in France). [WW57]

Third Crusade: English Jewish communities sacked 1189/90. [DO40]

Fulda/Germany 1235: 34 Jewish men and women slain. [DO41]

1257, 1267: Jewish communities of London, Canterbury, Northampton, Lincoln, Cambridge, and others exterminated. [DO41]

1290 in Bohemian (Poland) allegedly 10,000 Jews killed. [DO41]

1337 Starting in Deggendorf/Germany a Jew-killing craze reaches 51 towns in Bavaria, Austria, Poland. [DO41]

1348 All Jews of Basel/Switzerland and Strasbourg/France (two thousand) burned. [DO41]

1349 In more than 350 towns in Germany all Jews murdered, mostly burned alive (in this one year more Jews were killed than Christians in 200 years of ancient Roman persecution of Christians). [DO42]

1389 In Prag 3,000 Jews were slaughtered. [DO42]

1391 Seville's Jews killed (Archbishop Martinez leading). 4,000 were slain, 25,000 sold as slaves. [DA454] Their identification was made easy by the brightly colored "badges of shame" that all jews above the age of ten had been forced to wear.

1492: In the year Columbus set sail to conquer a New World, more than 150,000 Jews were expelled from Spain, many died on their way: 6/30/1492. [MM470-476]

1648 Chmielnitzki massacres: In Poland about 200,000 Jews were slain. [DO43]

(I feel sick ...) this goes on and on, century after century, right into the kilns of Auschwitz.

Native Peoples

Beginning with Columbus (a former slave trader and would-be Holy Crusader) the conquest of the New World began, as usual understood as a means to propagate Christianity.

Within hours of landfall on the first inhabited island he encountered in the Caribbean, Columbus seized and carried off six native people who, he said, "ought to be good servants ... [and] would easily be made Christians, because it seemed to me that they belonged to no religion." [SH200] While Columbus described the Indians as "idolators" and "slaves, as many as [the Crown] shall order," his pal Michele de Cuneo, Italian nobleman, referred to the natives as "beasts" because "they eat when they are hungry," and made love "openly whenever they feel like it." [SH204-205]

On every island he set foot on, Columbus planted a cross, "making the declarations that are required" - the requerimiento - to claim the ownership for his Catholic patrons in Spain. And "nobody objected." If the Indians refused or delayed their acceptance (or understanding), the requerimiento continued:

I certify to you that, with the help of God, we shall powerfully enter in your country and shall make war against you ... and shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church ... and shall do you all mischief that we can, as to vassals who do not obey and refuse to receive their lord and resist and contradict him." [SH66]

Likewise in the words of John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony: "justifieinge the undertakeres of the intended Plantation in New England ... to carry the Gospell into those parts of the world, ... and to raise a Bulworke against the kingdome of the Ante-Christ." [SH235]

In average two thirds of the native population were killed by colonist-imported smallpox before violence began. This was a great sign of "the marvelous goodness and providence of God" to the Christians of course, e.g. the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony wrote in 1634, as "for the natives, they are near all dead of the smallpox, so as the Lord hath cleared our title to what we possess." [SH109,238]

On Hispaniola alone, on Columbus visits, the native population (Arawak), a rather harmless and happy people living on an island of abundant natural resources, a literal paradise, soon mourned 50,000 dead. [SH204]

The surviving Indians fell victim to rape, murder, enslavement and spanish raids.

As one of the culprits wrote: "So many Indians died that they could not be counted, all through the land the Indians lay dead everywhere. The stench was very great and pestiferous." [SH69]

The indian chief Hatuey fled with his people but was captured and burned alive. As "they were tying him to the stake a Franciscan friar urged him to take Jesus to his heart so that his soul might go to heaven, rather than descend into hell. Hatuey replied that if heaven was where the Christians went, he would rather go to hell." [SH70]

What happened to his people was described by an eyewitness: "The Spaniards found pleasure in inventing all kinds of odd cruelties ... They built a long gibbet, long enough for the toes to touch the ground to prevent strangling, and hanged thirteen [natives] at a time in honor of Christ Our Saviour and the twelve Apostles... then, straw was wrapped around their torn bodies and they were burned alive." [SH72] Or, on another occasion: "The Spaniards cut off the arm of one, the leg or hip of another, and from some their heads at one stroke, like butchers cutting up beef and mutton for market. Six hundred, including the cacique, were thus slain like brute beasts...Vasco [de Balboa] ordered forty of them to be torn to pieces by dogs." [SH83]

The "island's population of about eight million people at the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492 already had declined by a third to a half before the year 1496 was out." Eventually all the island's natives were exterminated, so the Spaniards were "forced" to import slaves from other caribbean islands, who soon suffered the same fate. Thus "the Caribbean's millions of native people [were] thereby effectively liquidated in barely a quarter of a century". [SH72-73] "In less than the normal lifetime of a single human being, an entire culture of millions of people, thousands of years resident in their homeland, had been exterminated." [SH75]

"And then the Spanish turned their attention to the mainland of Mexico and Central America. The slaughter had barely begun. The exquisite city of Tenochtitln [Mexico city] was next." [SH75]

Cortez, Pizarro, De Soto and hundreds of other spanish conquistadors likewise sacked southern and mesoamerican civilizations in the name of Christ (De Soto also sacked Florida).

"When the 16th century ended, some 200,000 Spaniards had moved to the Americas. By that time probably more than 60,000,000 natives were dead." [SH95]

Of course no different were the founders of what today is the US of Amerikkka.

Although none of the settlers would have survived winter without native help, they soon set out to expel and exterminate the Indians. Warfare among (north American) Indians was rather harmless, in comparison to European standards, and was meant to avenge insults rather than conquer land. In the words of some of the pilgrim fathers: "Their Warres are farre less bloudy...", so that there usually was "no great slawter of nether side". Indeed, "they might fight seven yeares and not kill seven men." What is more, the Indians usually spared women and children. [SH111]

In the spring of 1612 some English colonists found life among the (generally friendly and generous) natives attractive enough to leave Jamestown - "being idell ... did runne away unto the Indyans," - to live among them (that probably solved a sex problem). "Governor Thomas Dale had them hunted down and executed: 'Some he apointed (sic) to be hanged Some burned Some to be broken upon wheles, others to be staked and some shott to deathe'." [SH105] Of course these elegant measures were restricted for fellow englishmen: "This was the treatment for those who wished to act like Indians. For those who had no choice in the matter, because they were the native people of Virginia" methods were different: "when an Indian was accused by an Englishman of stealing a cup and failing to return it, the English response was to attack the natives in force, burning the entire community" down. [SH105]

On the territory that is now Massachusetts the founding fathers of the colonies were committing genocide, in what has become known as the "Peqout War". The killers were New England Puritan Christians, refugees from persecution in their own home country England.

When however, a dead colonist was found, apparently killed by Narragansett Indians, the Puritan colonists wanted revenge. Despite the Indian chief's pledge they attacked. Somehow they seem to have lost the idea of what they were after, because when they were greeted by Pequot Indians (long-time foes of the Narragansetts) the troops nevertheless made war on the Pequots and burned their villages. The puritan commander-in-charge John Mason after one massacre wrote: "And indeed such a dreadful Terror did the Almighty let fall upon their Spirits, that they would fly from us and run into the very Flames, where many of them perished ... God was above them, who laughed his Enemies and the Enemies of his People to Scorn, making them as a fiery Oven ... Thus did the Lord judge among the Heathen, filling the Place with dead Bodies": men, women, children. [SH113-114]

So "the Lord was pleased to smite our Enemies in the hinder Parts, and to give us their land for an inheritance". [SH111].

Because of his readers' assumed knowledge of Deuteronomy, there was no need for Mason to quote the words that immediately follow: "Thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth. But thou shalt utterly destroy them..." (Deut 20)

Mason's comrade Underhill recalled how "great and doleful was the bloody sight to the view of the young soldiers" yet reassured his readers that "sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents". [SH114]

Other Indians were killed in successful plots of poisoning. The colonists even had dogs especially trained to kill Indians and to devour children from their mothers breasts, in the colonists' own words: "blood Hounds to draw after them, and Mastives to seaze them." (This was inspired by spanish methods of the time) In this way they continued until the extermination of the Pequots was near. [SH107-119]

The surviving handful of Indians "were parceled out to live in servitude. John Endicott and his pastor wrote to the governor asking for 'a share' of the captives, specifically 'a young woman or girle and a boy if you thinke good'." [SH115]

Other tribes were to follow the same path.

Comment the Christian exterminators: "God's Will, which will at last give us cause to say: How Great is His Goodness! and How Great is his Beauty!" "Thus doth the Lord Jesus make them to bow before him, and to lick the Dust!" [TA]

Like today, lying was OK to Christians then. "Peace treaties were signed with every intention to violate them: when the Indians 'grow secure uppon (sic) the treatie', advised the Council of State in Virginia, 'we shall have the better Advantage both to surprise them, & cutt downe theire Corne'." [SH106]

In 1624 sixty heavily armed Englishmen cut down 800 defenseless Indian men, women and children. [SH107]

In a single massacre in "King Philip's War" of 1675 and 1676 some "600 Indians were destroyed. A delighted Cotton Mather, revered pastor of the Second Church in Boston, later referred to the slaughter as a 'barbeque'." [SH115]

To summarize: Before the arrival of the English, the western Abenaki people in New Hampshire and Vermont had numbered 12,000. Less than half a century later about 250 remained alive - a destruction rate of 98%. The Pocumtuck people had numbered more than 18,000, fifty years later they were down to 920 - 95% destroyed. The Quiripi-Unquachog people had numbered about 30,000, fifty years later they were down to 1500 - 95% destroyed. The Massachusetts people had numbered at least 44,000, fifty years later barely 6000 were alive - 81% destroyed. [SH118] These are only a few examples of the multitude of tribes living before Christian colonists set their foot on the New World. All this was before the smallpox epidemics of 1677 and 1678 had occurred. And the carnage was not over then.

All the above was only the beginning of the European colonization, it was before the frontier age actually had begun.

A total of maybe more than 150 million Indians (of both Americas) were destroyed in the period of 1500 to 1900, as an average two thirds by smallpox and other epidemics, that leaves some 50 million killed directly by violence, bad treatment and slavery.

In many countries, such as Brazil, and Guatemala, this continues even today.

More Glorious events in US history

Reverend Solomon Stoddard, one of New England's most esteemed religious leaders, in "1703 formally proposed to the Massachusetts Governor that the colonists be given the financial wherewithal to purchase and train large packs of dogs 'to hunt Indians as they do bears'." [SH241]

Massacre of Sand Creek, Colorado 11/29/1864. Colonel John Chivington, a former Methodist minister and still elder in the church ("I long to be wading in gore") had a Cheyenne village of about 600, mostly women and children, gunned down despite the chiefs' waving with a white flag: 400-500 killed. From an eye-witness account: "There were some thirty or forty squaws collected in a hole for protection; they sent out a little girl about six years old with a white flag on a stick; she had not proceeded but a few steps when she was shot and killed. All the squaws in that hole were afterwards killed ..." [SH131] More gory details.

By the 1860s, "in Hawai'i the Reverend Rufus Anderson surveyed the carnage that by then had reduced those islands' native population by 90 percent or more, and he declined to see it as tragedy; the expected total die-off of the Hawaiian population was only natural, this missionary said, somewhat equivalent to 'the amputation of diseased members of the body'." [SH244]

20th Century Church Atrocities

Catholic extermination camps Surpisingly few know that Nazi extermination camps in World War II were by no means the only ones in Europe at the time. In the years 1942-1943 also in Croatia existed numerous extermination camps, run by Catholic Ustasha under their dictator Ante Paveli, a practising Catholic and regular visitor to the then pope. There were even concentration camps exclusively for children! In these camps - the most notorious was Jasenovac, headed by a Franciscan friar - orthodox-Christian serbians (and a substantial number of Jews) were murdered. Like the Nazis the Catholic Ustasha burned their victims in kilns, alive (the Nazis were decent enough to have their victims gassed first). But most of the victims were simply stabbed, slain or shot to death, the number of them being estimated between 300,000 and 600,000, in a rather tiny country. Many of the killers were Franciscan friars. The atrocities were appalling enough to induce bystanders of the Nazi "Sicherheitsdient der SS", watching, to complain about them to Hitler (who did not listen). The pope knew about these events and did nothing to prevent them. [MV]

Catholic terror in Vietnam In 1954 Vietnamese freedom fighters - the Viet Minh - had finally defeated the French colonial government in North Vietnam, which by then had been supported by U.S. funds amounting to more than $2 billion. Although the victorious assured religious freedom to all (most non-buddhist Vietnamese were Catholics), due to huge anticommunist propaganda campaigns many Catholics fled to the South. With the help of Catholic lobbies in Washington and Cardinal Spellman, the Vatican's spokesman in U.S. politics, who later on would call the U.S. forces in Vietnam "Soldiers of Christ", a scheme was concocted to prevent democratic elections which could have brought the communist Viet Minh to power in the South as well, and the fanatic Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem was made president of South Vietnam. [MW16ff] Diem saw to it that U.S. aid, food, technical and general assistance was given to Catholics alone, Buddhist individuals and villages were ignored or had to pay for the food aids which were given to Catholics for free. The only religious denomination to be supported was Roman Catholicism. The Vietnamese McCarthyism turned even more vicious than its American counterpart. By 1956 Diem promulgated a presidential order which read:

"Individuals considered dangerous to the national defense and common security may be confined by executive order, to a concentration camp."

Supposedly to fight communism, thousands of buddhist protesters and monks were imprisoned in "detention camps." Out of protest dozens of buddhist teachers - male and female - and monks poured gasoline over themselves and burned themselves. (Note that Buddhists burned themselves: in comparison Christians tend to burn others). Meanwhile some of the prison camps, which in the meantime were filled with Protestant and even Catholic protesters as well, had turned into no-nonsense death camps. It is estimated that during this period of terror (1955-1960) at least 24,000 were wounded - mostly in street riots - 80,000 people were executed, 275,000 had been detained or tortured, and about 500,000 were sent to concentration or detention camps. [MW76-89]. To support this kind of government in the next decade thousands of American GI's lost their life....

Rwanda Massacres In 1994 in the small african country of Rwanda in just a few months several hundred thousand civilians were butchered, apparently a conflict of the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.

For quite some time I heard only rumours about Catholic clergy actively involved in the 1994 Rwanda massacres. Odd denials of involvement were printed in Catholic church journals, before even anybody had openly accused members of the church.

Then, 10/10/96, in the newscast of S2 Aktuell, Germany - a station not at all critical to Christianity - the following was stated:

"Anglican as well as Catholic priests and nuns are suspect of having actively participated in murders. Especially the conduct of a certain Catholic priest has been occupying the public mind in Rwanda's capital Kigali for months. He was minister of the church of the Holy Family and allegedly murdered Tutsis in the most brutal manner. He is reported to have accompanied marauding Hutu militia with a gun in his cowl. In fact there has been a bloody slaughter of Tutsis seeking shelter in his parish. Even two years after the massacres many Catholics refuse to set foot on the threshold of their church, because to them the participation of a certain part of the clergy in the slaughter is well established. There is almost no church in Rwanda that has not seen refugees - women, children, old - being brutally butchered facing the crucifix. According to eyewitnesses clergymen gave away hiding Tutsis and turned them over to the machetes of the Hutu militia.

In connection with these events again and again two Benedictine nuns are mentioned, both of whom have fled into a Belgian monastery in the meantime to avoid prosecution. According to survivors one of them called the Hutu killers and led them to several thousand people who had sought shelter in her monastery. By force the doomed were driven out of the churchyard and were murdered in the presence of the nun right in front of the gate. The other one is also reported to have directly cooperated with the murderers of the Hutu militia. In her case again witnesses report that she watched the slaughtering of people in cold blood and without showing response. She is even accused of having procured some petrol used by the killers to set on fire and burn their victims alive..." [S2]

As can be seen from these events, to Christianity the Dark Ages never come to an end....

253 notes · View notes

daughter-of-the-prophet · 7 years

Text

Andraste

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Title: - Bride of the Maker

- Prophet

- Our Lady Redeemer

- Lady of Sorrow

- Lady of Restitution

Family: - Brona (mother)

- Elderath (father)

- Halliserre (half-sister)

- Maferath (“mortal” husband)

- The Maker (“spiritual” husband)

- Ebris (daughter)

- Vivial (daughter)

- Isorath (adopted son)

- Evrion (adopted son)

- Verald (adopted son)

- Alli Vemar (granddaughter)

Appearances: Historical

Andraste is the prophet whose teachings later served as the foundation for the formation of the Chantry, which later becomes the dominant religion of Thedas. She was the spiritual wife of the Maker, the being whom the Chantry worships.

Background

Andraste was a woman who rose to greatness, first as a slave of the Tevinter Imperium, then as a prophet, war leader, and religious icon.

According to Chantry scholars, Andraste was born into a prosperous Ciriane-Alamarri tribe in -203 Ancient in Denerim, which was then a fishing village. Her mother was a Ciriane woman named Brona and her father, Elderath, was the chieftain of one of the largest Alamarri tribes in what is now northern Ferelden. She had a half-sister, Halliserre, born of Elderath and his advisor on matters of alchemy. Halliserre died in a violent incident under mysterious circumstances with Andraste present. This incident scarred Andraste in many ways: she was left with a sickness of the lungs that made her unable to bear children for a decade; she also was known to display strange behavior, such as becoming still for long moments in a trance-like state, after which she would report voices as if from a lost memory and talk of strange auras or the sound of bells. Later on, Andraste came to remember her sister’s death as a matter of heresy, suggesting that her alchemist mother had been whispering of the Old Gods.

Andraste was married to Maferath to create a unified Alamarri border that stretched from the Planasene through the Fertile Crescent to the Bannorn. It was at the time the largest alliance the barbarians of the South had ever attempted. As Andraste was too weak to bear children when she married Maferath, he sired three sons with the concubine Gilivhan: Isorath, Evrion and Verald. Andraste adopted them as her own. She did manage to eventually give Maferath two children: daughters named Ebris and Vivial. The daughters were never counted as heirs and were not permitted to marry though relationships and families were still allowed. Ebris partnered and had children, but was as weak as her mother, and died of a plague in her late twenties. Her daughter, Alli Vemar, was married but died in an accident before she could have any children. The other daughter of Andraste, Vivial, fell in love with the Tevinter mage named Regulan, which caused great controversy and led them into exile. All records of her and her daughters were destroyed by Andraste herself. It is unknown if any of her descendants still live, as all of her scions were born female, and thus they took their husbands’ names in marriage. There have been many claimants in the centuries since, saying that they were related to Andraste, but the Chantry has disavowed each of them. To date, there are no known legitimate heirs to Andraste’s blood.

After their marriage, Elderath was killed in a Tevinter raid and Andraste kidnapped and enslaved, leaving Maferath in control of all northern Alamarri territory, the largest potential force outside of the Imperium. As most of the men were Elderath’s, they would only follow Maferath after he successfully negotiated Andraste’s release.

As her people rallied, Andraste began to see herself as a conduit to the truth of the Maker and what He required for the salvation of the people and declared around -180 Ancient the first Exalted March against the Imperium, who still believed in the heretical Old Gods. The First Blight, which had only ended a few years before, had significantly weakened Tevinter: there was widespread civil unrest over the Blight and the silence of the Old Gods and numerous slave uprisings. The droughts, wildfires, and landslides, now commonly believed to either have natural explanations or to be the result of darkspawn interference, were then considered miracles performed by Andraste. As a result, Andraste’s march was greatly successful.

Andraste also joined forces with the elven leader and former slave Shartan and his people, as they shared a common enemy in the Imperium. Together they fought in the Battle of Valarian Fields in -171 Ancient, one of the biggest victories of the Exalted March. After this battle, Maferath began to believe they had overextended themselves, and were now facing the risk of losing everything they had won, and more. In -170 Ancient, he conspired with Archon Hessarian and allowed disguised Tevinter forces to enter Andraste’s stronghold in the city of Nevarra to capture her and bring her back to Minrathous, where the Archon had her burned at the stake.

Archon Hessarian, who ordered Andraste’s execution, later converted to following the Chant of Light. According to the Chant, the Archon saw the error of his ways as soon as Andraste was burned. It was he who put the sword through her heart to put her out of her misery, which is why the sword is a symbol of mercy in Andrastian lore. Later, he repented her execution entirely, though Chantry dissenters claim Hessarian only converted because he could not stem the tide against Andraste’s followers, who were only emboldened by the death of their leader, and he repented his actions as a means to stay in power.

Ten years after Andraste’s death, he publicly revealed Maferath’s betrayal and proclaimed the Imperium an Andrastian nation, though the Chantry as an organization did not yet exist at this time. Maferath and his court were slain when his betrayal became known.

After her death, a group of people named the Disciples of Andraste was created for the purpose of protecting her remains and continuing her legacy. They moved her ashes to the Frostback Mountains and a temple was built around it. Eventually, however, only the Guardian remained at his post and protected the ashes, as the rest of the disciples believed that Andraste had been reborn into the form of a high dragon. This temple commemorates her memory and prevents the unworthy from viewing her remains. The remains stayed in the mountain, undisturbed for many years and eventually rumors began to spread that her ashes held curative properties.

In 9:30 Dragon, during the Fifth Blight, Ilona Cousland and her companions found Andraste's ashes and brought a pinch back to Arl Eamon, who has been poisoned, restoring him to health.

Chantry Teachings

Vision of the Maker

According to legend, before the Maker spoke to Andraste, she despaired at the fate of her people. At that time, every night, her husband Maferath would come to console her and each time Andraste would tell him of her despair while shedding a single tear, which Maferath captured in a vial. As a barbarian, she was taught to revere the Alamarri gods, the gods of mountains and the wind. When she prayed to them, none answered. On the thirtieth night the vial was full, and when dawn came Andraste saw her first vision of the Maker. Even though this legend is popular and has been passed on for ages, a part of it isn’t in the Chant of Light.

From an early age, Andraste suffered troubling dreams of a deity known as the Maker. Over time she began to interpret these dreams as the answer to questions that plagued her, and she came to believe that the Maker was the supreme being who had abandoned the world when his people took up the worship of the Old Gods, those beings worshipped in particular by the Tevinter Imperium. According to Chantry canon, after having fled the Imperium and marrying the warlord Maferath, Andraste appealed to the gods but her prayers went unanswered. She would sing, and one day the Maker, enchanted by her voice, invited her to join Him at His side. She instead encouraged Him to return to humanity and forgive them, compelling her fellow Alamarri and others to accept the one true god of Thedas.

Imperial Chantry

The official belief of the Imperial Chantry is that Andraste wasn’t, in fact, the Maker’s Chosen, but rather “just” an extraordinarily powerful mage. This view, which is considered heretical by the Andrastian Chantry, can also be found in a book called “The Search for the True Prophet”. Chantry art frequently depicts her as a warrior bearing a sword and shield or as a robed motherly figure, however.

Furthermore, the newly revealed portions of the formerly-apocryphal Dissonant Verses of the Chant of Light seem only to ascribe more “mundane” visions and periods of immobility to Andraste rather than magical powers, and in fact, describe her and her warrior army being nearly bested by the magical attacks of Tevinter during her rebellion. Some individuals, such as Empress Celene, similarly suspect that Andraste’s views were likely more political than idealistic.

Customs and Culture

At the beginning of Matrinalis, there is a holiday named “All Soul’s Day”, and the Chantry uses the holiday to commemorate the death of Andraste, with public fires that mark her immolation and plays that depict her death. In Chantries across Thedas, it is more popular to depict Andraste praying rather than as the conqueror with a sword and shield.

The Coming of Andraste's Herald

In 9:41 Dragon the peace conclave held at the Temple of Sacred Ashes to put an end to the Mage-Templar War was suddenly destroyed in a massive magical explosion, killing Divine Justinia V, destroying the Temple and leaving a massive Breach into the Fade. Rosabelle Trevelyan, the sole survivor of the explosion was seen being led out of the Fade by an unknown woman.

Rosabelle suffered from memory loss, and couldn't explain her miraculous survival. On her left hand was a strange mark with the ability to close Fade rifts across Thedas. After stabilizing the Breach, many came to believe that the woman in the Fade had been Andraste herself, who had chosen Rosabelle to save Thedas. Thus, those believers came to call the survivor the "Herald of Andraste".

During the Inquisitor Rosabelle’s push to halt the chaos at Adamant Fortress, she and her companions were physically thrown into the Fade once again. It is revealed that the woman who led the Rosabelle out of the Fade was not Andraste but Divine Justinia V, who had been sent into the Fade along with Rosabelle and sacrificed herself to save her from a pack of demons.

#dragon age #the prophet andraste #bride of the maker #chantry #thedas

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gold-on-ice · 7 years

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// ‘OMERTA’ PERSPECTIVES PLAYLISTS // “Minako had said he was a blessing - that his pockets were deep and Yuuri was lucky to have caught his eye. But Viktor Nikiforov was a curse, and Yuuri finds himself trapped in a world of blood and death where it takes violence to mend what is broken.”

SIDE A: VIKTOR NIKIFOROV // LE MANIAQUE

Mania is a state of abnormally elevated (feelings of) arousal, affect and energy level, where the overall activation is heightened as well as expressions (actions) of affect that are also enhanced. Freud considered that the maniac individual must have suffered a great and traumatic loss (something that could also be linked to the Oedipus Complex phase) and the ego unable to properly deal as it was supposed to turns all of its energy at a target that will act as a substitute for the object of affection that was lost in order to fulfill that gap. Obsessive and violent behaviour might be characteristics indentified in a maniac individual, though they may vary.

SIDE B: YUURI KATSUKI // CUPIO DISSOLVI

Cupio dissolvi is a latin locution that means (literally) «I wish to be dissolved». This concept has played an important role in the discussion on suicide. Some other reflexions and interpretations considered something like one’s desire to leave life in order to die, so that they could join God in the afterlife and end their sufferings, being able to become once again pure in the eyes of God. Freud believed that it wasn't only a simple matter of having a death wish, it also had something to do with the struggle one goes through in a lifetime while trying to fight against the intense impulse or desire for death (most likely linked to his concept of death drive).

SIDE A: VIKTOR NIKIFOROV // LE MANIAQUE

bloodsport sneaker pimps I want to be a kid again, combed down hair and Sunday best. See me staying out bunking school, knowing wrong from right, just rules. I wish I'd never seen your face. Better door than window phase, I need an echo, not your praise. Straying from the point you nailed. My mother, my mother, my mother never told love is just a bloodsport. Sex and love is not a game, a game is something you can win.

mutter rammstein [English] I have sworn tonight I will send her a sickness, and afterwards make her sink in the river. Mother, an eel lives in her lungs. On my forehead, a birthmark, remove it with the kiss of a knife, even if it causes me to die. Mother! An eel lives in her lungs, On my forehead, a birthmark, remove it with the kiss of a knife, even if it causes me to bleed to death. Mother... Oh, give me strength.

control halsey They send me away to find them a fortune, a chest filled with diamonds and gold. The house was awake with shadows and monsters, the hallways they echoed and groaned. I sat alone in bed 'til the morning, I'm crying. They're coming for me. And I tried to hold these secrets inside me, my mind's like a deadly disease. I'm bigger than my body, I'm colder than this home. I'm meaner than my demons, I'm bigger than these bones. And all the kids cried out: "Please stop, you're scaring me!" I can't help this awful energy. Goddamn right, you should be scared of me! Who is in control?

dangerous big data & joywave And now they're coming, now they're coming out from the shadows to take me to the court because they know that I'll shut this down, 'cause they been watching all my windows. They've gathered up the warrant 'cause they... You understand they've got a plan for us. I bet you didn't know that I was dangerous. It must be fate, I found a place for us. I bet you didn't know someone could love you this much. How could they know, how could they know what I've been thinking? Like they're right inside my head because they know, because they know, what I've been hiding. They're right under my bed, they're on patrol.

infra-red placebo One last thing before I shuffle off the planet, I will be the one to make you crawl. So I came down to wish you an unhappy birthday. Someone call the ambulance, there's gonna be an accident. I'm coming up on infra-red, there is no running that can hide you, 'cause I can see in the dark. I'm coming up on infra-red, forget your running, I will find you. One more thing before we start the final face-off, I will be the one to watch you fall, so I came down to crash and burn your bagger's banquet.

one way or another until the ribbon breaks One way or another, I'm gonna find you, I'm gonna get you. One way or another, I'm gonna win you, I'm gonna get you, get you. One way or another, I'm gonna see you, I'm gonna meet you. One day, maybe next week, I'm gonna meet you, I'm gonna meet you. And I will drive by your house, and if the lights are all down, then I'll see who's around. One way or another, I'm gonna find you, I'm gonna get you.

climbing up the walls radiohead I am the key to the lock in your house that keeps your toys in the basement. And if you get too far inside, you'll only see my reflection. It's always best when the candle's out, I am the pick in the ice. Do not cry out or hit the alarm, you know we're friends 'til we die. And either way you turn, I'll be there. Open up your skull, I'll be there, climbing up the walls.

an unhealthy obsession the blake robinson They call it creeping, I say loving, it's the only way for me. Filling out papers, signing waivers but I stay outside his reach, I name your mother and your father and the first pet that you keep, I know your favourite place to dine at when your cheque comes in each week. I know you do your wash on Sundays and you separate your whites, and that your car needs a new tire 'cos last week I laid those spikes. I've got a million polaroids with all the dates penned in red ink, I sneak a walkie-talky in your room to listen to you sleep. You just don't know it yet, but you love me and I love you the same. One day we'll have a pretty wedding and I'll be your everything, we'll be together, yes forever, we will never ever part. Oh, you don't know it yet, but baby I've already got your heart.

every breath you take chase holfelder Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you. Every single day, every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay, I'll be watching you. Oh can't you see you belong to me? How my poor heart aches with every step you take. Every move you make, every vow you break, every smile you fake, every claim you stake, I'll be watching you.

i know i’m a wolf young heretics Dear rabbit, my legs are getting weak chasing you. The snow fields wouldn't seem so big if you knew that this blood on my teeth, it is far beyond dry and I've captured you once, but I wasn't quite right, so I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me. Rabbit, my claws are dull now so don't be afraid, I could keep you warm as long as you can just try to be brave. Yes, I know I'm a wolf, and I've been known to bite, but the rest of my pack, I have left them behind and my teeth may be sharp, and I've been raised to kill, but the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill. So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me. So rabbit, please stop looking the other way. It's cold out there, so why not stay here under my tail?

in your dreams dark dark dark Kiss your face, turn your cheek, lay your head down, lay your head down. Don't say nothing, no. I can see when you're lying, oh. When you're alone, you're so alone. We all have dreams we forget, when you're alone, you're so alone. Now you want to go where no one is lonely, and rose water drips from my mouth like honey, oh.

sadist crystal castles Keep them on this course, graceful without remorse, paresthesia. It's fine, you're fine. You'll be fine, you'll be fine. Life without conscience, the disdain is just consequence. Await their ascent, a blessed event, paresthesia. It's fine, you're fine. You'll be fine. We're here to circumvent.

3 × 3 bloc party Three times three, first cut first pierce the skin, it binds us. Spit cum blood, liquid wax, no one loves you as much as us. By all in me that’s holy, by all in me that’s blessed, I made to you a promise that this is forever and ever, amen. Three times three, lose all fear, let the flames dry those tears. It takes hurt to be pure. Now you’re one of us. No means no. No/Yes. No... Yes?

written in blood she wants revenge Blood red lips traced with a tongue, they shine, cut through a crowded room. A look can say a lot sometimes, and so I take all my past attractions and project on you. Every disappointment and mistake, some resentment from a one-night heartbreak. My head is spinning, my hands go damp, but still I force an introduction and I ask you to dance. You feel like home up against me so close, though we've just met tonight. There's still so much that we still don't know, but I'm fairly certain that we just might work out right. Then again it can all go up in flames, and I'll take you down in the name of love. But for now let's kiss hard, fuck the games. All or nothing, it's written in blood. On the way to the wedding, dressed in black, he said: "Sorry lover but you can't look back." She says: "Oh no!"

mercy iamx Mercy. When I melt in the kiss by the words and the whispers you sing me. Mercy. I'm frail in the kill by submission and will that you bring me. Mercy. When I'm nothing but ego you slap me to let go and sleep free, now I sleep free. You're my toy box, you're my memories, when I smell your skin, you just make my whole world weep. I'm at your feet, I'm at your feet. Mercy. When the grey turns to black and the wave's on my back, you make me smile. Mercy... is the trauma no martyr you crush into pleasure and downtown. Mercy... It's the shining of you that just breaks me in two like a lifeline. You're my lifeline. (...) I celebrate your chemistry, if you bond with me, I could make your whole world sweet. I'm on my knees.

born villain marilyn manson You'll have to cut it down and burn me into splinters, or I'll unwrap the string that was me around your finger, and I'll hang you in your bedroom burial ground. There is a taste for blood and it's something deep inside. Become, become. I don't ever want God to hear our screams and mistake them for prayers. And you know I'm loaded, but not which chamber. Touch me and I'll go click, click, click, click, click. I'm born villain, don't pretend to be a victim.

in-a-gadda-da-vida iron butterfly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, honey, don't you know that I love you? In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, baby, don't you know that I'll always be true? Oh, won't you come with me and take my hand? Oh, won't you come with me and walk this land? Please take my hand.

SIDE B: YUURI KATSUKI // CUPIO DISSOLVI

tag, you’re it melanie martinez Looking at me through your window, boy, you had your eye out for a little. "I'll cut you up and make you dinner, you've reached the end, you are the winner." Rolling down your tinted window, driving next to me real slow, he said: "Let me take you for a joyride, I've got some candy for you inside." Running through the parking lot, he chased me and he wouldn't stop. Tag, you're it! Tag, tag, you're it! Grabbed my hand and pushed me down, took the words right out my mouth. Tag, you're it! Tag, tag, you're it! Can anybody hear me when I'm hidden underground? Can anybody hear me when I'm talking to myself, saying: "Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it"? Little bit of poison in me, I can taste your skin in my teeth. "I love it when I hear you breathing, I hope to God you're never leaving." (...) Eenie-meenie-miny-mo, catch a lady by her toes, if she screams, don't let her go. Eenie-meenie-miny-mo, your mother said to pick the very best girl and I am.

nightmare avenged sevenfold Now your nightmare comes to life. Dragged you down below, down to the devil's show to be his guest forever. Peace of mind is less than never. Hate to twist your mind, but God ain't on your side and old acquaintance severed. Burn the world your last endeavor. Flesh is burning, you can smell it in the air, 'cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal. So stand in line while they ink numbers in your head, you're now a slave until the end of time here. Nothing stops the madness, turning, haunting, yearning. Pull the trigger! You should have known the price of evil and it hurts to know that you belong here. Yeah. oh, it's your fuckin' nightmare! (...) You've been lied to, just to rape you of your sight and now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel. (...) No one to call, everybody to fear. Your tragic fate is looking so clear, yeah.(...) And I know you hear their voices calling from above, and I know they may seem real these signals of love, but our life's made up of choices, some without appeal.

deux the gazette [English] I find the answer in depths of despair, irreversible. I pray for it all to be a dream, this is an inferno. You’re my enemy, you show it when you destroy my reversible dreams. Scary night, pain obeys my split mind, I pray for a nightmare. I’m weakened, stretched too thin, my heart closes and surfaces in the darkness of unconsciousness. Whose fault is it that nights sleeping in isolation are scary?

freak on a leash korn Something takes a part of me, something lost and never seen. Every time I start to believe, something's raped and taken from me. Life's got to always be messing with me. (You wanna see the light?) Can't they chill and let me be free? (So do I!) Can't I take away all this pain? (You wanna see the light?) I try to every night all in vain. Sometimes I cannot take this place, sometimes it's my life I can't taste. Sometimes I cannot feel my face, you'll never see me fall from grace. Something takes a part of me, you and I were meant to be. A cheap fuck for me to lay, something takes a part of me. Feeling like a freak on a leash, feeling like I have no release. How many times have I felt diseased?

an evening with el diablo chevelle High up on you, you display good traits, though few. We've found time alone will tell. Tthis disease keeps holding me down. Try to run when near sleep, to imagine us away. He said come, fly around my hell, and know this, you seem to be too scared to run. Too scared to run. Wish I had your faults, nothing seems to phase you. Lies! You're much more than just human.

bulletproof… i wish i was radiohead Limb by limb and tooth by tooth, tearing up inside of me, every day every hour, I wish that I was bulletproof. Wax me, mould me, heat the pins and stab them in. You have turned me into this, just wish that I was bulletproof. So pay the money and take a shot, leadfill the hole in me. I could burst a million bubbles, all surrogate and bulletproof.

vessel nine inch nails I let you put it in my mouth, I let it get under my skin, I let you put it in my veins, I let you take me from within. They tell us what we can and cannot do, same thing we've heard 100 times before. Well, I put you inside of me, but none of that matters anymore. Oh my God, can it go any faster? Oh my God, I don't think I can last here.

broken lund Will you end my pain? Will you take my life? Will you bleed me out? Will you hang me out to dry? Will you take my soul in the midnight rain? While I'm falling apart, while I'm going insane. Can you break my bones? Will you tear my skin? Can you taste my lust? Can you feel my sin? See I'm a waste of life, I should just kill myself. Yeah, I could slit my wrists, but it really wouldn't help, it wouldn't fix my issues or change your mind. Cause I broke your heart and you buried mine, now I'm 6 feet deep and I can't breathe. I got dirt in my eyes and blood on my sleeves, but I dig my way up.

tourniquet evanescence I tried to kill my pain, but only brought more, so much more. I lay dying and I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal. I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming. Am I too lost to be saved? Am I too lost? My God my tourniquet, return to me salvation. Do you remember me? Lost for so long, will you be on the other side or will you forget me? (...) I want to die. My wounds cry for the grave, my soul cries for deliverance. Will I be denied Christ, tourniquet, my suicide.

bother stone sour Wish I was too dead to cry, my self-affliction fades. Stones to throw at my creator, masochists to which I cater. You don't need to bother, I don't need to be. I'll keep slipping farther, but once I hold on, I won't let go 'til it bleeds. Wish I was too dead to care, if indeed I cared at all. Never had a voice to protest, so you fed me shit to digest. I wish I had a reason, my flaws are open season. For this, I gave up trying, one good turn deserves my dying. Wish I'd died instead of lived, a zombie hides my face, shell forgotten with its memories, diaries left with cryptic entries.

one step closer linkin park I cannot take this anymore, saying everything I've said before. All these words they make no sense, I find bliss in ignorance. The less I hear the less you'll say, you'll find that out anyway, just like before. Everything you say to me takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break. I need a little room to breathe, 'cause I'm one step closer to the edge. I'm about to break. I find the answers aren't so clear, I wish I could find a way to disappear, all these thoughts they make no sense.

duality slipknot I have screamed until my veins collapsed, I've waited as my time's elapsed. Now, all I do is live with so much fate, I've wished for this, I've bitched at that. I've left behind this little fact: you cannot kill what you did not create. I've gotta say what I've gotta say and then I swear I'll go away, but I can't promise you'll enjoy the noise. I guess I'll save the best for last, my future seems like one big past. You're left with me 'cause you left me no choice. I push my fingers into my eyes, it's the only thing that slowly stops the ache. If the pain goes on, I'm not gonna make it. Put me back together or separate the skin from bone, leave me all the pieces, then you can leave me alone.

waiting for the world to end mother mother Back in the head where I see red where the beast and the beauty coalesce. I give in to a morbid fantasy, death to a billion families and me. Give me fire, burning hell, throw it on my paper trail and I’ll watch as all the numbers go up in a cloud of dark and dirty smoke. Ya, I’m just waiting for the end of the world, end of the whole wide world.

hold me down halsey I sold my soul to a three-piece and he told me I was holy. He's got me down on both knees, but it's the devil that's tryna hold me down, hold me down. Sneaking out the back door, make no sound, knock me out, knock me out, saying that I want more, this is what I live for. Hold me down, hold me down. Throw me in the deep end, watch me drown, knock me out, knock me out. Selfish, taking what I want and call it mine, I'm helpless, clinging to a little bit of spine. They rush me, telling me I'm running out of time. They shush me (shhh!), walking me across a fragile line.

zombie the pretty reckless I'm not listening to you, I am wandering right through existence with no purpose and no drive 'cause in the end we're all alive. Two thousand years I've been awake, waiting for the day to shake. Dear all of you who've wronged me, I am, I am a zombie. Again, again you want me to fall on my head. I am, I am, I am a zombie. How low, how low, how low will you push me to go, to go, to go, before I lie down dead. Blow the smoke right off the tube, kiss my gentle burning bruise, I'm lost in time. And to all the people left behind, you are walking dumb and blind, blind.

paranoid android radiohead When I am king, you will be first against the wall, with your opinion which is of no consequence at all. What's that? I may be paranoid, but not an android. Ambition makes you look pretty ugly, kicking and squealing gucci little piggy. You don't remember, you don't remember. Why don't you remember my name? Off with his head, man! Off with his head, man! Why don't you remember my name? I guess he does! Rain down, rain down. Come on, rain down on me from a great height. That's it, sir, you're leaving. The crackle of pigskin, the dust and the screaming, the yuppies networking, the panic, the vomit. God loves his children... yeah.

raining blood hot sugar [Instrumental]

Omerta was written by @kashoku-sinpai and it’s a very intense kind of reading. It’s insanely fucked up, probably everyone’s guilty pleasure in this fandom and I loved it dearly, so these mixes sort of happened.

#mine #8tracks #playlist #viktor nikiforov #katsuki yuuri #omerta #kashoku-sinpai #kashoku #i tagged it 8tracks but it's actually spotify #mafia au #viktuuri #yuri on ice #fanfiction

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azurblau · 7 years

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Ship: Ysayle/Estinien Content: Post Patch 3.3, canon setting. First published 2016.

The breeze of Azys Lla caressed his skin as he was standing atop of the very platform where there first stepped on the ancient allegan island – and the memories, the pictures, were still lively. Estinien could feel the confusion, the pain even after so many weeks; and he could still see the faces of his companions, shocked and petrified over what they had lost only moments ago. The air was filled with the sadness of this day - the sounds of the canons being fired, and the sound of scattering ice. Many lives were lost during the dragonsong war, the man knew this better than anyone else in whole Ishgard, but this fallen soul was the one who had touched his heart the most. He could still feel it beating inside his chest - yet it was almost frozen to ice, close to wither. Minutes had passed, mayhap even hours, when he dared to move for the first time, the bouquet of Nymeia Lilys still inside his hands. Time had stopped, and yet it felt like one thousand years of sorrow.

….Ysayle…

Midst the darkness Estinien had seen the light when he had expected it to have completely faded from his life – and yet he had felt Ysayle’s undying warmth in the moment of absolute despair and pain; felt her grasp around his soul. He had been completely lost, fighting against the invisible chains holding him back deep within as his mind was condemned to be consumed by the endless pitch-black of Nidhogg’s rage. It had cost all of his strength, all of his willpower not to give in; not to bend to the Great Wyrm’s will. Yet his claw had crushed his soul for weeks; torn his pride and his faint hope as days passed, turning to dust what he had cherished and loved. The Azure Dragoon had always been prepared to die since death had become his friend a long time ago, always greeting him on the battlefield. Yet the reaper always passed, ignored his existence, mayhap for too long. The fear he had felt as naïve boy when the flames had covered his sight had left him a long time ago. Nay, mayhap some part of him was still scared to fail; scared of a future when all life withered and drowned in blood and ashes – but if he had to sacrifice his own life to end this all, he would have never hesitate a single moment. He had stayed alive just for the purpose to die at some point; still being able to breathe had become a sin. And yet he had resisted, he had struggled for all these years to claim back what was rightfully his alone; the ultimate vengeance. In the moment when he had accepted the death and gave up to struggle, he had felt Ysayle’s presence clearly, deep inside his heart. She had touched these broken, scattered pieces with the greatest care – even embraced them to free them from Nidhogg’s influence. Even whilst his sight had been taken away, clouded by Nidhogg’s hatred against him and their kin, he knew this to be true.

The pain which followed soon after as his very soul was released and separated from the great wyrm, was naught compared to the pain he had felt over the past weeks. Yet this time, only for once, he had been not alone. Mayhap his senses had been lying to him ultimately, creating an illusion of the woman he loved to overcome this bane – but he did not care either way. Even if it was merely a lie, he would treasure this memory till the rest of his life, as it was the last time when he had been able to see her with his whole heart. For the very first time. For two decades he had forgotten to listen to the whisper of his innermost, to the advices of his soul and heart – but for now he wanted to believe in his feelings, as painful as they might be. It was too late to regret - and yet his heart was shedding tears, knowing that the right moment had passed; that the right moment when he could have told her about his feelings had been carried away by the wind and crumbled to dust. The moment was lost, withered – and his heart weighted heavy, a burden he would not be able to lift in his remaining lifetime. If he had been stronger than this – mayhap the death might have ignored her as well, even if only for a little, so that he would have been able to see her face again… Yet his fate had never been kind to him; and the forgotten prayers of his childhood would not have saved her life.

Once again his hand was bloodstained; losing someone who was dear to his heart – and the loss was numbing him completely. The joy had left his life. He knew Ysayle had sacrificed her life for the sake of the people who despised her the most; for the peace and ideals she had lived for – but ultimately, if they had not been on this course, she would have not joined this battle. His mind told him he was not responsible for her death as it had been her free will to join them, fighting for them – but his heart was unable to let go. For too long he had seen people around him die, becoming simple names on blank papers and faceless corpses resting in cold graves – so he had forgotten to feel any sadness, to feel more than wrath and hatred.

But for the very first time since a few years this mask had cracked as he saw Ysayle falling into the endless depths whilst her body turned to bright shades of light. The emotion he had felt was more than just anger; it had been true grief. He never allowed himself to mourn over her death, not in front of the others – as it had seen the deep sadness in the reflection of Alphinaud’s eyes as well – but this thought never erased the feelings he had felt for her. What kind of man would mourn in these times when their future was at stake? When he saw everything they had been fighting for falling to pieces? Nay, he had ignored his own pain to continue this journey, to stay strong for those who struggled even more than he did. Had this been wrong, ultimately? To neglect his feelings for so long that he had almost forgotten them whilst his body started to wither? He had shown naught but courage and strength – and yet he had always been fragile and scared. Scared to love, scared to be betrayed and left alone; to see more dead bodies of those he wanted to know by his side. The distance had been kind to him, however, as he had never regret this path until he had started this unexpected journey – and even more surprisingly found love. Was it a sin that someone like him dared to let people inside his pitch-black heart? Were all these emotions, these feelings, in vain?

Heretic. Traitor. Ice Witch. –Saint Shiva. Even when the world would want to see her legacy be burned to ashes, the man would guard it till his very last breath – knowing that even if her actions had been wrong, her heart and ideals had been pure. They both were sinner, they both had known what price they once had to pay – and yet he was standing in this place, staring into the endless abyss, still being alive. And she was long gone, merely a memory inside his heart. ……….Why? Even with his heart bleeding he could not shed any tears, his eyes remained dry. Of course – he had not trusted her in the beginning, but who could have guessed that soon the seeds of love would start to bloom inside his heart? His mind had told him to despise her for the deaths she was responsible for, yet his heart couldn’t. They were both alike, ultimately. And when he brought her to Ishgard to regret her mistakes, to make up for them, he had known her in safety – with her followers somewhere in the icy coldness of Coerthas.

…But he would never be allowed to speak with her again.

Foolish man. What kind of happiness was he hoping to find? She had been so young. Still pure and innocent, full of hope. If death had claimed him in her stead, he would have less to regret now.

Pray tell me Ysayle, is it too late to ask for forgiveness? You have found your peace with Hraesvelgr, as it seemed - but have your feelings never changed? …………….Have you loved this wyrm till your very end…? Or was it the truth that my heart felt your presence, your love?

The man kneeled down, placing the bouquet on the ancient floor – and still, the burden of his heart did not fade away. He smiled wryly, closing his eyes for a moment to remember her face in front of his inner eye. The moments when she argued with him – the moments when she dared to point out his mistakes. These moments when he had known she had been worried about the burden he had to bear – and he had ignored her attempts to help him lift this weight. One smile. One faint touch. Honest words of friendship, mayhap even love.

It was not enough.

….By the Fury, shall my feelings be left unheard? Have you never known my whole heart?

—-»Hah, look at me now... Apparently I am even more pathetic than I have thought, am I not? ‘Twould seem I have never been honest to myself, neither to you, my lady. I shall not forget your sacrifice and your kindness in my lifetime. ……………Thou shall know……..I love you. As the wyrm’s mind was controlling my body, my thoughts were filled with your face.«

These words were a sting to his heart - bittersweet and yet honest. The dead could not respond to his confession – even if it was the first one he had ever spoken out in his life. He had fallen in love with the only flower in the frozen fields – the one who had withstand the coldness and did not yield to it. Even with thorns she had been beautiful – hurting his heart just by gazing at her – but she had also been too pure to let her wither. But fate was never kind. It took lives from those who did not deserve this endless slumber.

—-» Farewell, Ysayle. …………………………….My love. «

Pray wait for me at the end of time - once I have seen the peace you wanted to create. Once I have seen the light of this new era of hope. My heart shall wait for you till we can be together. And in this moment when he turned around, Estinien felt a warm breeze caressing his cheeks - a soft embrace mid his soul. A smile appeared on his lips, even if only for a brief second, knowing that mayhap just once he had been heard.

#tbt #| A ʟᴏɴɢ Jᴏᴜʀɴᴇʏ ʙᴇɴᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴀɴ ᴀᴢᴜʀᴇ sᴋʏ | ( IC. )

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cishetuppermiddleclasswasp · 7 years

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World Building June 2017, #4: History

For this day, we’d like to tell a story. (”we” being @aitu and I, natch) ...It’s a bit of a long one, so...!

Nearly nine hundred years ago, in the heart of what is now Ortstreit, a small religious group called the Church of the One was growing larger and stronger each day. The Church believed in a single, all-powerful deity who created and ruled the universe with a gentle but firm guiding hand, to the exclusion of every other god in every other faith’s pantheons. These other gods were denounced as, at best, figments and falsehoods, or at worst, evil, lesser beings unworthy of the title of godhood, attempting to tempt folks from the True Path out of sheer spite.

The rapid growth of the followers of the One posed a very real threat to the current leaders of the land, who believed that their line had descended directly from their gods. In a brutal attempt to quell the growing religious unrest, the current king ordered a mass execution of the monotheists. Across the span of about a year, members of the Church were rounded up and publicly hanged in an ordeal that came to be known as The Great Strangulation. The overall 512 victims included people of all races, genders, and ages.

However, this display of force backfired on the perpetrators. Spurred on by the massacre, the Church of the One, now known better as the Church of the Hanged, came together in even greater numbers to amass a militia. Instead of an end to the unrest, the king and his advisors received a civil war. Energized by the martyrdom of so many, the faithful took to the streets, proselytizing whole villages with a fervor unmatched, and a steely resolve towards toppling the kingdom. Thousands swarmed through the capital, converting or killing everyone they laid hands on. The royal family and court were rounded up, tried as enemies of the faith by an impromptu court of the faithful, and summarily executed, with the capital of the former kingdom being rebuilt into the new fortified capital of the new Holy Empire of Ortstreit, born of strife and fury.

From their new capital, a council of the most faithful began to organize a campaign of proselytizing beyond the borders of the old kingdom; the Cardinal Campaigns, each heading in a different cardinal direction; the North, South, East, and West campaigns. Each would go in their assigned direction, and then expand out once they had established a metaphorical beachhead. The paths each campaign took would come to demarcate the borders of the four core areas of the region of Ortstreit. Each campaign would split itself in two, to cover more ground, going in opposite directions, with a vague concept of meeting with half of one of the other campaigns in the middle. A divide-and-conquer scheme, as it were. The only hiccup is that some were more amenable to conversion than others.

The kobolds of Unterberg, naturally inclined towards community building and inclusivity, were open-minded to conversion--especially once they saw how their presumably divine king had fallen so easily to the new god’s forces. Once the first few converted it wasn’t terribly difficult to convert the rest of the population out of sheer solidarity for their fellows. Glattplatz was the next to be converted in full, though that was mostly due to the scarcity of people, especially in the northern icy wastes of the country. Then came Ansheim (originally Anselmsheim before it was hit by language drift), renamed for the Martyr Anselm, who was among the most prominent leaders of the early church before the Great Strangulation, and whose story was conveyed with particular attention to detail in the conversion of Anseim. Last came Hellrot, the conversion of which was like pulling teeth. It seemed not a single village could be converted without putting at least a handful to the sword or the flame. And some villages, it would be less “a handful” and more “a full half.” The last holdouts to conversion was a minotaur chieftain, who after a decade and a half of off-and-on armed conflict with the church, recanted his heathen ways and committed fully to the church after surviving a lightning strike, which he took as a twofold sign of divine punishment and clemency. In a move to prove his new fervor for the faith, he henceforth promised his eldest child to the holy city to learn and be trained in the holy armies. Noble families across Ortstreit, not to be outdone, largely copied this gesture.

This minotaur chieftain, along with the most prominent political leaders of the other three core states, was named as an archduke of the empire, and these four were now the electors of the Holy Emperor of Ortstreit. The four electors had one vote apiece, as did the four Cardinals of the Faith. One of the four archdukes would be elected by his peers, to rule the realm with the interests of both the realm and the faith fully in mind. The problems in the system would not become apparent for some six-hundred years, after the emperors began to turn their eyes towards expansion.

After the core was firmly established, the infrastructures of the realm tended to and grown, and the defenses thereof trained and finely tuned, their neighboring kingdoms were eyed almost hungrily, with small missionary efforts sent out to tentatively test the waters in foreign lands. More or less happy with their own established religions, the would-be converts of the Côte d’Rois, Yacchsid, Altamesa, and Aetherrack were not quite as receptive as back in Ortstreit-- but conversions did happen, small congregations were established, and the fires were stoked. Religious aims were tempered by the realities of foreign policy--trade, the odd small, short, armed conflict over resources, land rights, etc.

Then, with the ascension of Ulrich the Unfettered of Ansheim to the Imperial throne, the wheels came off the horse. Ulrich was a man of singular fervor, wanting his name up there with the martyrs, to spread the word of the One to everyone, from the elves in the west to the orcs across the channel in the east. More missionaries were sent out, with active orders of subterfuge against the other kingdoms and their pagan gods. They had won the first time around, thought Ulrich, why shouldn’t they the second? But this was not a single, small petty kingdom with one developed city surrounded by obedient, less powerful vassals; each of these was a power to rival all of Ortstreit. To try to conquer all these nations combined was something of a suicide mission.

The powder keg was lit when, well, a powder keg was lit under a church to the Lady Mortimer, one of the death gods of the Côte d’Rois. The war that erupted was more than Ulrich had anticipated, even with a decade of military buildup prepared well in advance. When Altamesa joined (not exactly with the Côte d’Rois, but definitely against Ortstreit) defeat was all but certain--not that Ulrich saw it that way. The other Archdukes, including his own son, all pleaded with him to put an end to the madness, that they risked losing more of their own faithful than they stood to gain from some half-baked scheme of worldwide conversion. Distraught and despairing, he locked himself in his chambers, and did not come out even for food and water. With nothing else to do, the Archdukes each forged a separate peace with their neighbors, who after three years of pointless conflict, were more than happy to oblige and begin rebuilding their own kingdoms.

After three weeks had passed, the Archdukes finally voted to break the door down, and found that Ulrich had starved himself to death, so consumed by his despair. Now it was time to vote for a new emperor, but each had been given a small taste of operating without someone else’s oversight, and each was increasingly distrustful of what the other three might possibly do if given power over them as Ulrich had. Each one voted for himself, and their attendant bishops backed up their votes, in a stalemate. This had, believe it or not, never happened before, because never before had the good faith agreement inherent to the arrangement been so thoroughly shaken. No emperor was elected that year, or any year thereafter.

Though the Empire nominally remains united, the Archdukes each rule their own territories more or less as a king would. Meanwhile, the Cardinals tend mostly to matters of religion in the Holy City and the religious knightly orders that still accept willing supplicants from across the region for the protection of the faith. Such has been the situation for nearly one hundred years.

The one good thing to come out the War of Religion is the Interfaith Symposium, established by the Threefold Temple of Aetherrack, which was the least disrupted by the agitators from the Church of the One. Being across the ocean helped. The Symposium is a yearly event that migrates from country to country to discuss matters of religious import, an outlet for lively intellectual and theological debate without fear of being burned at the stake as a heretic or non-believer. So there’s that.

#world building june #worldbuilding june #dungeons & dragons #the parkererin dnd project #i wrote a thing #long post #under the cut anyhow

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dwestfieldblog · 5 years

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DELUSIVE ENLIGHTENMENT MEGLOMANIA

2019...and a true two minutes to midnight on the doomsday clock. Now there's a king hell lead entrance eh? Annihilation and dystopia, coming soon to a planet near you...'One total catastrophe like this, is just the beginning' What did I learn last week? The name of the Egyptian god who created the universe by masturbating was Atum. Worth mentioning eh? Seeds of creation in atoms, his chosen warrior must have been Onan the Barbarian. And...Ethyl formate is in the centre of the galaxy, tastes like rum and smells of raspberries. Close your eyes and you are there. 'Meta programming the human bio computer' Dr John Lilly. 'Art and science have their meeting in method'. Bulwer Lytton. A long collage from the magician's hat......

Back in late January, the dubious blue shaded Bono of U2 was railing loud and hard against the evils of capitalism...surely I am not the only one to see the deep level of irony in this...A multi millionaire from writing songs with a number of offshore investments and minimal tax payments (well, only a few humans actually want to pay the tax demanded, but some of them can afford to pay it)...Without capitalism it is a touch unlikely he could have made so much money and kept it... only the corrupt in various regimes get to be so rich - and precious few musicians get this much moolah...Some messianic front men should never be allowed to do anything other than sing and dance. Still haven't found what you are looking for?

Anyway, Jesus said 'When you give arms,do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your arms may be given in secret'. Or maybe it was alms. Arf. Don't show your hand too early:-) Ace of spades high. Speaking of which...

White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders mentioned on a religious TV network that God 'wanted' (Useful Idiot) Trump the gurning Golden Reptile 'to be the American President.' Perhaps that is true...maybe he will be the last moron leader that will make people truly aware and take more care over who they choose to elect in a democracy. Fnord. 'Well ah trust him cuz he aint a politician and he speaks his mind'. Duhh.What does he actually say when he speaks his mind? He has certainly been a gift (in more mysterious ways than one) to Presidents and populists in other dubious countries as proof of how useless free elections can be and how simple it is to affect them from afar and within. A standard bearer who carries his nation's flag so low he should be arrested under the U.S law for defamation. Germaphobes like walls, but a touch pointless when you have such filthy hands. A new world disorder....Love the title of the book 'Crippled America' by D. Trump with a scowling picture of the blonde psychopath on the cover. Says everything about the USA today. And love even more the idea of his Space Farce/Force... Flash Gordon meets Star Trek. Trump as Captain Kirk and Pence as Spock. Tired of being the policeman of the world, time to be the Warriors of the Universe and have laser space fights with China. (Wonder how their president chooses to interpret the I Ching? May he live in interesting times.)

'Sovereign' internet for Russia...(or 'the World Wide Web without the world', as the BBC World Service put it) a new law being prepared to control exactly what internet goes in to the Motherland and protect their people from freedom. Arf. Wouldn't want any false news or manipulated election results going on there eh? Or access to non Kremlin approved news. We shall see if this actually passes into legislation. What do the majority of Russian people actually think about this? Goddess bless Pussy Riot, Tatu and Vladimir Vysocki. Mr. Putin, remember Dostoevsky. ( A week after writing that, 15,000 demonstrated in Moscow against the proposed new laws. There is already a law making it illegal to insult a member of government. Not much room for satire or polite criticism, but Russia has never pretended to be a democracy.)

World leaders in more and more countries following the old western lead in starting a war on the basis of an outright lie and receiving no punishment for it. (Perhaps at the gates of Saint Peter. ) Well, if the ones in 'Christian' democracies can get away with war crime atrocities under the pretence of righteousness and liberation, why not them? And let's not forget the ever useful catch all word 'terrorist', carte blanche to get away with murder and invasion on false pretexts. Terrorists are not shopkeepers, students, quiet religious folk or disaffected individuals without guns who disagree with their government and march/write songs in demonstration to protest apparent/ obvious wrongness. Terrorists use fear, manipulation and extreme violence to maintain, assert and spread their power. (and how many governments fit that description?) They don't make pop videos, they make snuff movies.

Step by incremental naughty step Hungary and Poland becoming ever more damaged, Britain, Europe and America being gleefully and carefully encouraged to pull themselves apart. I have never (well, from the age of about seven, so that is almost never) been a believer of what America and Britain did to dominate the world in olden times Whatsoever. BUT, life under a Sino-Russian world government?? FECK that. All those wannabe socialists from western universities are going to have a screaming bloodily rude awakening in a red dawn. Or perhaps they have such a well built narrow reality tunnel that all will seem just fine and dandy when 'their' system wins and will thrill to the new accepted literature. Slightly depressing how this current apparent time stream appears to be developing.

(Maybe a temporary control in the chaos is all most generations can wish for. Perhaps only a sidestep into the actual flow of the river which seems to be chaos is all that is needed to evolve into a deeper awareness. 'Sink or swim' appears to be false option perpetuated by alpha types. Flow, surrender control, and in the Being so, a (deep breath) an open hearted universal view...Makes astral sense to some of us.)

Totalitarianism is a foul bastard swine whatever side or form it takes, political or religious. Read interviews with those who survived life under the Nazis AND the Communists. Or those who escaped extremes of the main religions, those in new age mind warp sects, having their souls drained via manipulation and enforced delusion. Cowed into kowtowing, despising the manipulations but knowing how much it hurts to think and feel...and so choosing the easier path of submission. Some people are proud of endlessly suffering pain, but only very rarely does their endurance create a stronger person. Survive yourself. As the song says, 'The final conflict is within'. Stand, kneel, adopt the lotus, just don't bend over and expect anything positive to come your way. (Unless...yes you can guess the rest...)

And as for all the student snowflakes no-platforming dissimilar voices to harm their delicate ears and cluttering up the channels tweeting meaningless self righteous rubbish, shouting so loud there is no actual debate...where do you imagine your place will be in the new world scheme? Outsiders will be enslaved or executed by 'popular' demand. You are not Chinese dissidents in prison, however you might feel. You have the right to be heard, (even as you deny that to others) but not the right to deafen and attack. Did you ever wonder about the past mentality and spirituality of those who could stand and watch a heretic/ witch' being burned to death at the stake or these days, those who can sit in a small invited audience to watch a man be fried alive in a chair? Those men who could watch and take part in a gang rape? To coin an old comedic phrase; 'That's you, that is.' Dig into the dirt and get to the molten core of morality. Find yourself there, then choose the height of your evil, the depth of your Love without ego. Ethics. Arf. Thus spoke Westfieldthruster.

'The black man motivates, the other man imitates'...Damn straight.

'But I'm confused between sexual, murder, magical and medical, is the difference metrical or imperial, septic, fertile, feral or sterile?' Health and deficiency. (J>B)

(Diary...There is no one in my life in any way for whom I do not have respect. Empathy and compassion I have, long term patience too but after my respect is gone then so are they. Deleted. This will very highly likely apply to myself. But I have never done anything with a woman that I wouldn't allow her to do to me, if she wished to. (So I am still a gentleman eh? ) Remember lonely boys, She might be a goddess but she's still human. Meanwhile again...Situation Normal, All Fecked Up...

After a certain age, recklessness ceases to be quite as attractive as once it did in youth, as 'Death becomes real'. (Dylan Moran) Illnesses and disabilities, permanent or otherwise increase in number with the procession of years and the long journey through suffering can make a human paranoid and fearful. Imagining the worst of declines can seem very logical. The 'unpleasant preliminaries' as Cohen said. Most of us have made up our minds (in a very literal sense) about what comes next or what doesn't and it is fairly easy, given how we adjust reasoning to fit with the least unpalatable truth to find a comfortable justification for our various behaviours. Self destructive types (which most of us seem to be in one way or another) use rationality to declare that if everyone dies including the thinker, then why not do what you enjoy the most for as long as you can. I do this and know of many others after the age of thirty who reached the same conclusion and followed through past sixty and beyond. Smoking, drinking, drugging, fighting can lead to some of the worst types of deaths. But even those who never did any of these things suffer strokes, dementia, heart attacks and chronic end of life pain. Just consistently negative thinking can make people ill, just in less obvious ways than smokers etc. So we/I seek to 'justify'.

Reactions to stress matter. A lot, But how many working people with families have the time to sit under a Bo tree or read Eckhart Tolle etc? Most of us appear to attract some mental/physical cataclysm as a way of taking stock and making a 'brutal re-appraisal of the situation'. (HST) Very often this is the only way a human stops what they are doing and starts thinking about Being. We all do what we do to keep various feelings and thoughts at bay, but the brain (and thus the body. 'Where a thought goes, a chemical goes with it'; Deepak Chopra) are not fooled and store it all up until overload occurs. Getting old is not for cowards. Shame I seem to be one, such die many times before their deaths. Endless physical pain and mental fear can do that and it is very hard to see that as an Initiation sometimes. And these days, most of the time. Glad I have a gun. How many of us can hope to die 'peacefully in our sleep'? Tranquillisers? Not quite the Portal of Daath, more like the gateway to the abyss. Which as uncle Frederick said, stares right back into you when you look long.

For those with patience, it is easy to say that meditation might well be the best way to re-programme the mind into letting go the poisons. To un-wire and react to stress in a more positive way. Discipline. Old habits die hard. Older habits die very badly. Alpha theta delta waves and LSD therapy? Chinese Auryvedic Reki Tantric massage, more sex for the endorphins and oxytocins? Some people will read this as a very dull and obvious piece of writing. Others will know all about the idea of suicide as a 'problem focused strategy'. Get on with dealing with and solving the attacks from within and without...Want the truth? A truth. There have been thousands of days when the only thing that kept me going was the thought of unwinding my useless tension with whisky for a few hours every night. And it is that lazy thought which has been killing me for the last 22 years. A liver is a remarkable organ unless you flood it with alcohol, the power of her regeneration is astounding until the tipping point is reached. Milk thistle isn't going to solve this. Can you tell how I feel today?

What causes that 'tension' Dave? The usual. Overthinking, self hatred, anger, desperation, guilt, regret, doubt, all the classics. Most of us seem to have these in various combinations during our lives. A generalisation but seems to be a fair one eh? Some people deal with the negatives in highly positive and/or immoral ways... regular holidays, saunas, horse tranquillisers, painting, flagellation, righteous causes, deviant behaviour, local politics, role playing (well, we all do that one way or another), virtual reality games (also), teaching things we should know better before we set ourselves up as such, conning the gullible with vague promises of better things, healers as politicians and vice versa seeking money and power/sex, lying to ourselves on an hourly basis, doing anything to be 'happy' and sustain the illusion that we are somehow promoting our immune system and to bring meaning to our existence. Burning through the days, raging with light because it seems sexier than being peaceful, Attempting immortality (in physical form) through health supplements, work, sport and having offspring. Faking our 'realities' until they temporarily become real. Working on massive ideas because we are captivated by the energy within them and the possibilities of a better life, curing dis-ease via mental, physical, chemical and spiritual research, using ourselves as a laboratory, exploring exactly what Will-Power truly means. Further and deeper into realms of the without which is truly inner, the macrocosm which is the microcosm. '100 books you must read before you die', the first of which is your own. Your very own Book of the Dead. A lifetime preparing before the next step.

Been there, done that. Next. (How arrogant.)

So, survive, evolve and move on...He writes with dead eyes and in daily pain. Normal is very overrated, whatever my foul mental weaknesses, I regret very little. Could always Do more. But Being is key. There is only a time limit on the flesh. 'Who will deliver me from this body of death?' What seems important to you? Really, truly? Define 'important' and instinctive reasons why. Or not...to hell with me, in hell I seem to be and to hell I go. Pathos and hubris simultaneously. Woo-hoo. Etc.

One more final 'time' for the universe...'God' is/was/probably possibly a telepathic scientist, architect of infinity, quantum physicist, astral engineer and a psychic musician. ALL. WE are tiny sparks and mirrors of 'God', parallel possibilities, all serving the purpose of existence, which is (so I seem to choose to believe) to Evolve and experience all that matter can. We do not all need to be Einstein, Da Vinci or Beethoven but we all are on various levels, perhaps less 'grand' (depending on perspective) but the Poet/ Creator is within us all every time we appreciate Nature, enjoy humour or a story well told, think of some connection for ourselves...Small things Matter:-) As the bishop said to the actress. Smaller things are Quarks. Arf.

Stanislav Grof... COEX...(Condensed experience montage. ) Eg, 'You are re-experiencing the birth process, remembering pre birth inter uterine events, reliving ancestral or archaeological crises of people/animals from whom you are descended, seeing the sub-atomic energy whorl from which Form appears, previsioning the Superhumanity of the future...all at once!' (That was, apart from the LIGHT that smashed into me for five seconds in a garden in 2008, exactly what I experienced in the Reconnection. It went far higher the next time. I do regret I didn't practice.

1.Amniotic universe – the womb. The only world that life knows at this point. Blissful feeling of peace and joy in a healthy womb. 2. Cosmic engulfment – no exit – Equilibrium disturbed, contractions begin- unbearable feeling of being stuck in hell with no way of escaping. 3. Death verses rebirth struggle – second clinical stage of childbirth, intense struggle for survival.4. Death versus rebirth experience – the child is born. Intense ecstatic feelings of liberation and love. New world begins. ...

I found this scrawled by me on an old A4 scrap of paper, not sure who actually wrote it, perhaps E. Tolle. Along with 'Conscious Ego...Self Image/Persona/... Subconscious memories...Shadow/Denied psychic material... Anima/Animus/ Opposite sex qualities...Collective Unconscious/Universal+archetypal processes. In a cycle learning and relaying...'Information received, decoded and transmitted by a structure'. (Definition of intelligence by R.A.W.).

An infinite number of reality tunnels threading in a spiral of a labyrinth between matter and the non physical. The 'Akashic Record' to tap into and imprint our own levels of experience, the Eye recording Itself. Individually/collectively. Why do we think? Why remember? Why care? Why create? What is the chemical programme which sparks curiosity and fascination? The survival trip is a journey to.....

.....................................................................................................................

Back in Middle School...I knew before I started the run/essay etc, that it was mine. No pride or ego, just knew I had already won. A calmness descended, not grit and determination, just KNEW it. And so it was, every time. Another example from life of no planning, just Being, THEN doing it. My entire life was full of these. Thinking never worked out for me. Everything good which has happened has been spur of the moment choices, instinct, following what (or who) I Love. TRYING (or trying too much) usually ends in tears. Parallel to this is the absolute negativity of my/the mind. Agree to be optimistic as a behaviourally rewarding hobby...he almost giggles.

Reprogramming takes effort and how many of us can say we are not lazy? The most regular homework I give to students is to just to write diary type paragraphs about things they notice or feel on various random days. I have been given some wonderfully honest expressive stuff. What would we reach across/back and tell ourselves at younger ages? What would we attempt to avoid or undo? This exercise is pointless if we feel negative or sadness over it. So don't. Arf. Self forgiveness is a beautiful thing, valuable and worthy. So are we. Stay warm and in flow:-) Last famous words unknown. Happy rebirthing Easter day again. And again.

'Today I broke a personal best, successive days alive':-)

LOVE.

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twirlinginthefade · 6 years

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Home Is Where The Heart Is 9/?

In which: minor freak-out, vows and Rowan is having a wonderful day :/

After Rowan spoke, the room erupted into chaos very quickly.

“What do you-”

“The Herald an apost-”

“Guys-”

“No circle training! She’s dange-”

“The Chantry will ruin us! They-”

“Guys!”

“What if she gets possessed Cassandra! Then-”

“Josephine, calm down! Nothi-”

“SILENCE!”

The room clattered into silence as they looked at the now scowling Rowan. Cullen looked like he was about to speak and she narrowed her eyes.

“Now, listen closely all of you before you start shouting again.” She looked each one of them in the eyes and when she saw no interruptions, she continued. “The reason I say ‘What Circle’ is because I am not from here, which I thought was very apparent by my lack of knowledge and lack of training. It seems it is not and so we will have to start at the beginning.

“Hi, My name is Rowan. I lived on a little farm in Blackbrook, Washington with my mother and five siblings. I had two dogs, Tavi and Harry, along with a cat named Bucky, a small herd of goats and a snake named Mitty. I am not from Ferelden, or Orlais, or where ever you thought I was from. I did not have magic until a few days ago and I am very tired of people acting like I am something I am not. So instead of treating me like I should know everything, how about you explain why the fuck you are yelling!”

Near the end of Rowan’s monologue, her voice changed from soft and sweet to a near roar, matching the snarl on her face.

Josephine was the first to break the silence by clearing her throat and straightening her spine. “Very well Herald. Where would you like us to start?”

“Start with the reason why you are all freaking out and go from there”

“As you wish. A Circle is- was a place where Mages were kept to learn and study magic away from society. They were watched by the Templars, who kept them from being possessed by demons and prevented them from using blood magic. The Chantry put Mages in different Circles in accordance with their country before their magic presented.”

“So it was a school?” A wince from Cassandra. “Not a school then. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

Leliana stepped up. “Because in accordance with Chantry law, mages as young as 7 were taken from their families and forced into circles, taught to fear their magic lest they learn too much.”

“For their own good! What would happen if a child as possessed and turned into an abomination? They would have killed everything in their path, including their families, until a Templar was forced to cut them down” Cullen cut in, seeing the horror on Rowan’s face.

“You keep saying Templars? You’re not talking about Holy Knights are you?”

“You have Templars in your country?” Cassandra leaned over the table. “But you have no mages?”

Rowan shook her head. “The Knights Templar were a Catholic military group that was used for the protection of Christian pilgrims. But they were again, a military group and so were used in the Crusades, which was called a Holy War by the church. Eventually. many were branded as heretics and were burned at the stake by the law of the Church. So, no, we don't have Templars anymore.” She heard Cullen swallow loudly. “What are Templars here like?”

“They are mostly young men and women who are inducted at a young age to keep the mages in line by the Chantry. They are given training and the means to keep mages in the circles at all cost, including the death of either the Templar or the Mage. Some are volunteers, but others are given to the Chantry at birth, depending on the parent's financial situation. ”

“What, like tithes?” Rowan frowned at Cassandra. “So let me get this straight. There is a group of people specifically made for taking care of Mages from a young age, are then taught that mages are dangerous and shouldn't be trusted, and your Chantry supports this.” Cassandra nodded and Rowan swore. “If you try to force a Templar on me, I will leave”

“But Herald, what if-”

“What if what? What if I get possessed? If I get stronger than they want? If they decide that I'm better off chained down and beaten?” Rowan bit out. “I will not be chained down by someone who hates me because of what I can and cannot do.”

Silence filled the room and Rowan looked up. Cassandra was looking away, pensive, face unreadable. Leliana and Josephine were both looking anywhere but her, keeping their hands busy with what looked like a chess piece or a quill.

But it was Cullen that caught her eyes. Both of the Commander’s hands were clenching and unclenching against the table, his shoulders a firm line under his armor. His eyes, the warm amber she had noticed before, had become molten gold, fiery and barely leashed.

“Herald, I cannot make promises for my brothers in arms” shit “But even if we are not soul-bonded, I can say firmly that you will not be leashed, bound or beaten by any Templar under my command.” His tone was even, but Rowan could tell that there was more to his words than he was saying. “However, if it would make Your Worship, more comfortable, I will assign myself as your Templar in accordance with Chantry tradition.”

Rowan opened her mouth to refuse when she felt his mark burn hot. Oh, he... “Commander Cullen. If that is your wish, I will agree under one condition.”

“And the condition is?”

“You are to no longer call me any variation of Your Worship, Herald or My Lady. I ask that you call me by my given name.” Her gaze swept through the room and she sighed. “It seems like that is the only way people will” She muttered under her breath.

“As you wish Yo- Rowan.” The Commander extended his hand like they had not just finalized their bond through an argument of all things. Rowan gently took hand in hers and was warmed by the smile on his face.

“Well, that is certainly a way to begin your courtship Commander” Josephine laughed softly, and Cullens cheeks turned red.

“Courtship?” Rowan blinked. Shit, I hadn't thought of that. I'm gonna have to court them!

“You do not have to say yes yet Rowan. An oath made for purposes of courtship is still an oath.” Cullen rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.

Rowan chewed her lip. “I accept your offer of courtship. However, we will have to go slowly, as again, I do not know the cultures and traditions of this country.” Her eyes flickered across the room. “Or any of your countries really.”

Josephine sighed. “We will have to hire tutors for your education. But how is courtship done in your country?”

Rowan felt the urge to hit her head against a wall. “Normally? It’s time. Time spent together alone, with family, with friends. Talking with each other, learning about each other. Most of us are pretty low-key.”

And now for the hard part.

“But I have something else to talk about. The real reason I came into this room prepared for a fight”

She looked into her soulmates curious eyes.

“I’m pretty sure I’m not from this world.”

“Oookay. I think the Herald is tired and needs her rest clearly.” Josephine said, putting her pen down and giving a strained smile.

“Wait!” Rowan held out her hand and tried to keep her calm. “I promise I'm not crazy and I really need you to listen.”

Leliana motioned with a blank expression for her to continue.

“Where I am from, the reason we don't have mages if because technically, we don't have magic. Like at all. We use science and technology to adapt to our surroundings. I was born in a hospital full of over a hundred babies born within the same week. My hometown was over a thousand people and that is small for a town where I lived. My country alone has over 300 million people and it's still growing. And I don't even live in the biggest country!” She steamrolled forwards, ignoring the looks from her companions.

“I know I sound crazy to you. And I know I don't really have any proof other than my word and maybe my leg if it's still mostly intact. It's a lot to ask of you, and I can't ask you to believe me so soo-”

“Herald” Rowan looked up to see Cassandra standing front of her, eyes sharp in her face. “As impossible as it sounds, I believe you”

“You do?”

“Cassandra, now wait” Leliana walked forwards, brow narrowed. “You cannot be serious”

The Seeker shook her head and turned to face the rest of the group. “You saw her at the Breach. You saw the clothes she wore, the fake leg she used, the way she speaks, talks, acts. She is different.” She turned back to Rowan and gave a tight smile.

“Truly the Maker has blessed us if he brought you from your home to help us save ours”

And just like that, Rowan felt a lock click around her heart as murmurs echoed through the room.

Not only were they still skeptical, still distrustful, but the one who did believe her thought she was still some holy figure.

Rowan put on her best smile as they questioned her, pressing for details. She let the cold iron in her heart spread like armor, sealing away her real feelings.

They almost believed her.

That was all that mattered.

She could still help if she was numb.

#Hiwthi #Rowan Kent #story1 #modern girl in thedas

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savedfromsalvation · 6 years

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CHRISTIANITY IS A BLOOD CULT