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naivesilver · 9 months

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Since it persists on being too hot to focus on my more useful OUAT fics, have a disgustingly self-indulgent Pinocchio Swap AU turned "Please Let Piccolino Have A Loving Family" AU moment 🙃🥰

"Grandfather," Pinocchio asks, standing on his tiptoes to peer over the worktable, "why are there so many clocks here?"

He half expects Mr. Marco to scold him for asking such a silly question, but instead the man just chuckles fondly and pats Pinocchio over the head, earning himself a giddy grin. "Ah, that's just because I like fixing them, lad. They need a more delicate touch than doors and plumbing, you see."

"But only one of them is working. Why's that?"

"That is because I don't have the time to spare for them all." Mr. Marco gestures vaguely towards the single working clock, hanging from the wall on the back of the workshop. "That one, though- August helped me sort it out, when he'd just arrived here. Do you want to see it?"

"Yes!" Pinocchio immediately interrupts his curious poking around the table, all but bouncing with enthusiasm. He likes learning about things August is involved with. August's always doing some really cool stuff, it seems.

As such, he lets the old man pick him up and lift him high enough that Pinocchio can see the clock from up close, and doesn't protest when the boy leans even closer, marvelling at the nice carvings in the wood - Pinocchio doesn't wiggle out so much to risk falling, which would for sure earn him a scolding, but still, it's the principle of the thing. He wouldn't feel so certain that he's safe being held like this, with some other people.

He thinks he knows a little of how things work in Storybrooke, now. Not everything, of course, but at least what he needs to get by on a normal day - he knows he can close the window blinds at night if he's worried someone will enter as he sleeps, and that he doesn't need anyone's permission to do so; he knows he can go crawl on August's lap if he's lonely and the man is writing or talking to someone, so long as he doesn't get too much in the way; he knows that if he wants to go pet Dr. Hopper's dog there are multiple adults who'll hold onto Gina for him, because dogs are so much bigger than her and she gets frightened easily around them.

He still doesn't know whether Mr. Marco is okay with Pinocchio calling him Grandfather or not, but that kind of thing is so confusing here, he's not sure he's ever going to puzzle it out. Back home he was supposed to address all older people like that, but Storybrooke? Beats him. Maybe it's too formal for them, who knows.

The clock ticks by another minute. Pinocchio squints at it, following the moving hands with his finger for a moment - the numbers are written a little different from what he remembers, but it's not too long before he can safely declare: "It says it's six minutes past two. That's it, right?"

"Very good," Mr. Marco praises him, and it doesn't feel like a mockery, even if he does sound genuinely surprised. "You know how to tell the time already, then? What a clever boy."

"Yeah." Pinocchio's chest swells with pride, and he points eagerly at one of the other clocks, the still broken ones. "That one's saying it's half past six, but that's because it's stuck. And that one thinks it's midday. Or midnight, I don't know."

"Yes, that's right. Good job. Say, who taught you so well?"

"An old man in a town. He said that because I had a nice watch, I should know how to read the time."

He doesn't like thinking about that too much, honestly. The old man, yes - he'd met a lot of nice elderly people in his travels, more than he did nice younger ones, at least - but the memory of the watch itself makes his chest clench painfully, like the time he was underwater without air before the dogfish happened.

He wonders what they did with it, after he lost it when he turned into a donkey. He's not even sure it still worked at that point, because it fell pretty hard, and the Coachman didn't give him time to check on it before leading him away with his rope - Pinocchio hopes it didn't break too badly, even if he can't have it anymore. It was a good pocket watch, nice to look at. He'd never owned anything so nice before that, and even though he's received lots of gifts since he came to Storybrooke, it's not the same thing. People are richer there than they were in his old land. They always seem to have something to spare for him, especially August and Mr. Marco and the gruff lady at the diner.

He must have gone quiet for too long, however, because the man gives him a little shake, if not a very rough one. "You alright, lad?"

Pinocchio nods, even though the picture of the golden watch is still flashing in front of him, as if it were the sun and he'd stared at it for too long. "Grandfather?"

"Yes, Pinocchio?"

"Can I see how to fix them, too, when you have time? Like you and August did?"

He's not really thinking he could manage it, honestly. He's not good enough for that. But anything's better than being stuck remembering the same thing over and over again, with no way to stop it. Physically doing something usually works as a distraction, like when he couldn't solve his math problems and he'd just up and start running.

For a couple seconds he worries he won't be able to explain himself if Mr. Marco asks him about it, but the old man doesn't, and instead simply nods, his mouth curling in a warm smile.

"Of course," he says, sounding a little choked up. "You're a smart boy. I'm sure you'll learn very fast."

"Really?"

"Well, yes. Why don't you go look for August and ask him, too? I bet he'll say the same thing."

Pinocchio nods again, allowing Mr. Marco to carefully put him down and darting away towards August's room as soon as his feet have touched the floor. He's not completely certain he didn't say something wrong yet, especially when he was distracted, but it's fine. He's fine. He would have been told, if someone was mad at him. That's how it works in Storybrooke.

And even if he did make someone mad, he can learn how to fix that. Just like the clocks. Just like the golden watch, stuck in another world that it might be.

#ouat #pinocchio swap #fanfic #pinocchio #OKAY LISTEN. I need to ramble about that goddamn pocket watch #I know that sometimes I talk about piccolino like he's a tragic orphan in a dickens book but the problem is I'm not making ANYTHING up #you see- this kid? in the show he never owns anything AT ALL #except some times when they hand him coins for basic necessities when he's on his own #even when he's physically living in a house he doesn't have toys trinkets etc #NOTHING! FUCKING nothing!#I reiterate: he doesn't have shit he can call his own except the clothes on his back and gina (who has free will and follows him out of lov #) for the most part of 52 EPISODES #but then there is this random guy we see for exactly half an hour tops who just. gives him a golden watch. because he knows the kid likes i #and pinocchio is obsessed! he is so excited he can hardly sleep because he loves watching the watch hands move!#but you know how he loses it? when he turns into a fucking DONKEy #there is this whole scene where the pendant breaks as he transforms and he doesn't even get to react and it's the most dehumanazing shit ev #r and I watched it at FIVE. and rewatching it I was even MORE upset #I just. sometimes I think I'm pushing it too much when I make him think about the things he owns now in this au #and then I'm like FUCK THIS SHIT of course he'd be flabbergasted he's like 6 and this is the first time he has shit he's not #supposed to return within the day or month or whatever #anyway. lil boy is just glad these folks seem to actually like him. august probs took one look at him and started plotting armed fairicide.#marco loves them both very much and if you look at them wrong he'll hit you on the head hope that clears it up <3

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basicsofislam · 4 years

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ISLAM 101: Your Zakaat

The Ultimate Objectives of Zakaat :

Allah May He be glorified and exalted has enjoined zakaat on the Muslims for a number of reasons including the following:

1) Love of wealth is an innate human tendency, and man does whatever he possibly can to acquire it. It is for this reason that Islam requires him to pay zakaat to purify his heart from selfishness and greed, as the Qur’an states, “Take zakaat from their wealth to purify and cleanse them.” (Soorat At-Tawbah, 9:103)

2) Paying zakaat nurtures feelings of affection and harmony and fosters community cohesion. Because people generally have a disposition to like those who do them a good turn, members of the Muslim society become so close-knit that they resemble bricks of a building, supporting one another. Crimes such as theft and robbery tend to drop off.

3) Paying zakaat is a vivid expression of true worship and total submission to Allah May He be glorified and exalted. When the wealthy pay zakaat they actually obey Allah’s commands, recognising that all prosperity ultimately comes from Allah’s favour and grace. By doing so, they also show thankfulness to Him for having bestowed His blessings upon them: “If you are grateful, I will certainly give you increase.” (Soorat Ibraaheem, 14:7)

Love of wealth is an innate human tendency, and Islam requires its followers not to be obsessively attached to wealth and to pay zakaat in order topurify their heartsfrom selfish greed.

Types of Wealth upon which Zakaat Is Due

Zakaat is not due on the necessities of life, such as food, drink, clothing, the house one lives in, even if it is a high-priced house, and the car one drives, even if it is a luxurious car.

It is only due on types of wealth which are not kept for immediate use and which are bound to increase, such as the following:

1) Gold and silver (with the exception of gold and silver ornaments used by women for their personal use)

Zakaat is due on gold and silver only if their value has reached or exceeded an established minimum threshold for this particular kind of wealth (nisaab) and after one has been in possession of this for a completelunar year (354 days).

The minimum prescribed limit on which zakaat becomes obligatory (nisaab)on this type of wealth is as follows:

Zakaat due on gold is approximately 85 grams and that due on silver is 595 grams.

Therefore, if a Muslim has held such an amount for a whole year, he must pay zakaatat the minimum rate of two and a half per cent (2.5%).

2) All types of currency (banknotes and coins) held as cash in hand or bank balances

The nisaab liable to zakaat on cash, banknotes and coins is to be determined according to its corresponding value of gold (85 grams of pure gold) at the time zakaat falls due, based on the current rates of the country in which the payer of zakaat is resident. If such currency has been held in one’s possession for an entire lunar year, two and a half per cent (2.5%) of its value must be given out as zakaat.

To illustrate, if one gram of pure gold at the time zakaat falls due is worth, say $25, the nisaab of the currency will be as follows:

25 (price of one gram of gold, which is unstable) x85 (number of grams, which is stable)= $2125 is the minimum exemption limit (nisaab).

It is worth noting that estimating the nisaab liable to zakaat on banknotes, coins and commercial commodities is generally based on their corresponding minimum amount of gold, since the value of gold is more stable than any other kind of property.

3) Commercial commodities

This term stands for all properties owned with the aim of investing them in trade. They generally include assets, such as real property, and commodities, such as consumer goods and foodstuffs.

The value of commercial assets, which have been held in one’s possession for an entire lunar year, must be estimated according to the current market value on the day zakaat falls due. If the commercial commodities reach the nisaab,two and a half per cent (2.5%) of their value must be given out as zakaat.

4) Farm produce

The Qur’an states, “O you who believe, give away some of the good things you have earned and some of what We have produced for you from the earth.” (Soorat Al-Baqarah, 2:267)

Zakaat is due only on certain types of agricultural produce on condition zakaat ableproduce has reached the minimum amount on which zakaat is due (nisaab)

In consideration of people’s different circumstances, the amount of zakaat payable on farm produce varies according to costs spent and effort exerted in irrigation.

Livestock: Zakaat is due on livestock, such as cows, camels and sheep, only if the animalsgraze on pasture and the owner does not take a lot of trouble to supply them with fodder.

If he supplies them with fodder all or most of the year, zakaat is not due on them.

Details as to the minimum amount upon which zakaat is due (nisaab)on livestock are available in books on Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).

Recipients of Zakaat

Islam has specified the beneficiaries of zakaat, and a Muslim may pay it to one or more categories or simply give it to charitable societies which undertake to distribute it to those entitled to it. It is more appropriate, however, to pay it in the country where one lives.

Those who qualify to receive zakaat funds are as follows:

1)The poor and the needy are those who cannot meet their basic needs.

2) The destitute who live in absolute poverty as well as those who cannot meet their basic needs.

3) Those employed to collect and distribute zakaat.

4) Slaves who need money to purchase their freedom.

5) Those who have run into debt and cannot possibly pay it off, regardless of whether they have assumed debt for public or personal interest.

6) Those who struggle in the cause of Allah: This includes those who fight in defence of their religion and country as well as those who engage in any activity which aims to support and propagate Islam.

7) Those whose hearts are to be reconciled: These are those who have recently embraced Islam or those expected to embrace it. The duty of giving zakaat to this category of recipients does not belong to individuals but rather to government bodies, Islamic centres and charitable organisations that determine the real benefit behind that.

8) The travellers who are undergoing financial difficulties even if they are very rich back home.

Regarding the deserving beneficiaries of zakaat, the Qur’an states, “Zakaat is for the poor, the destitute, those who collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, for those in debt, for the cause of Allah and the stranded travellers. It is a legal obligation from Allah. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” (Soorat At-Tawbah, 9:60)

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magmasliveblogs · 5 years

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1.11

i almost didnt have enough time to do this today but i did! we are onto the 12th chapter! to recap: last chapter pisces met relc and klb! this was a great meeting full of joy and happiness! ... who am i kidding it went about as well as you can expect, which is horribly. pisces used his illusion skills to escape!

Erin stood in front of the cupboard and sighed. Loudly.

“Men.”

Erin paused and thought about that word.

“Males. They eat and eat, and eat. And then I have to clean up the dishes. Typical.”

True, she was an innkeeper. Or at least, she kept an inn relatively clean. But that didn’t make her feel better.

“Pantry? Pantry is empty. Food? Food is gone. And money—”

Erin glanced at the pile of coins on the kitchen counter.

“Money is shiny. But uh, inedible. And it’s good to have money, but starvation is an issue.”

Erin stared at the empty pantry. Starvation was a major issue.

it seems we are getting our requisite obvious observations of the day out of the way

“Aren’t there some more blue fruits around here? Here? No…here? Yep. Nice and wrinkled. Lovely.”

She could always get more blue fruits, of course. But there was a limit on how many those trees had left. And there was also a limit to how many Erin was willing to keep hauling back.

“And I’m out of ingredients.”

The flour was gone. The butter was gone. The salt—okay, there was some salt left, and some sugar too. But they were running low in their bags and with the lovely preservation-spell-thing gone they’d probably turn rotten sometime soon.

“So I’m in trouble.”

“So it would appear.”

Erin was sure her heart stopped for a good few seconds. She turned around and looked at Pisces.

“If I had a knife in my hand, I’d stab you.”

He smirked at her. It seemed to be his default mode of face.

“Ah, but what good innkeeper would deprive herself of such a magnificent guest?”

Erin reached for a knife.

“Please, please good mistress, let’s not be hasty!”

Pisces raised his hands quickly and took a few steps back. Erin glared at him. He looked dusty. And dirty. And sweaty.

pisces, what did you expect? also yeah, he is not in good shape

“Where did you come from? I didn’t hear you come in through the door.”

“I was, in fact, upstairs the entire time. It was the simplest solution given the intelligence of those two brutish guardsmen.”

Erin blinked.

“Good job, I guess. But they’re still going to find you. You’re a criminal and you’ve got nowhere to hide.”

“Except here.”

He raised a hand before Erin could say anything.

“Please, hear me out. Rest assured, I bear you no ill will for reporting my actions to the guard. I fully appreciate the severity of my crimes, however—”

“You want something. What? To stay here? No. Nope. No way in hell.”

“I assure you I would be a quite convivial guest. And I wouldn’t ask for much. In fact, you may be interested to know I am proficient in multiple schools of spellcasting. While Necromancy is a—passion of mine, I have extensively studied the elementalist, alchemical and enchanting schools of magic. My level is over twenty in the general [Mage] class. Even amongst my fellow students, you would be hard-pressed to find a spellcaster as widely capable as I am. I can aid in a number of functions that would improve your inn. And I have money.”

Erin raised two eyebrows. One just wasn’t enough.

“And you’re telling me all this…why?”

He licked his lips.

“In point of fact, I was wondering if I might persuade you to shelter and provide me with my basic necessities while in this moment of dire need. I can provide you with adequate recompense I assure you—”

Erin snorted rudely.

“Right, for how long? Days? Weeks? Months? And I get to feed you, make sure no one finds you, and clean up after you? Again: no.”

“Would you turn away an innocent—”

“Innocent? You? You’re nothing more than a thug with a magic wand. Remember how we met? You tried to scare me into giving you food. And now you want protection because you’re getting your just desserts? No. No, when I see Relc again you’d better be long gone from here. And if you don’t leave now, I’ll kick you out myself.”

yeah let the necromancer panic! i doubt erin would truly let them kill him, given her sense of morality so far

Erin finished her tirade and folded her arms under her breasts. But while Pisces had turned white as a sheet, he didn’t look ashamed or afraid so much as…

Angry.

He whispered a spell. Erin felt the air grow colder around her, and suddenly saw shadows twisting around Pisces’s hands. The darkness was gathering around him like a cloak. It was the same spell as before, or close enough.

Pisces took a step towards her.

“I am a man in desperate straits. You would do well not to underestimate what I am capable of.”

Erin’s heart was racing. She took two steps back and he followed.

“Antagonizing one of my power is unwise. If you have any sense, you will accede to my request. Or know the consequences.”

Her mouth was dry, but she knew it was just an illusion. So Erin forced herself to reply with more bravado than she felt.

“So, what? If I don’t decide to help you, will you hurt me? Bash my brains in? Or will you just rip my clothes off and try to rape me?”

He looked shocked.

“Of course I wouldn’t do that. I’m no barbarian—”

“Good.”

Erin’s hand moved in a flash. Pisces looked down and gulped. A knife was poking into his stomach.

Her heart was racing. She could taste bile in her mouth. But her hand was very, very still. She wasn’t sure of much in her life right now. Magic and monsters, made her head spin. Yet some things were the same. And she had no intention of being the victim here, especially where no one could hear her scream.

Her knife had a gratifying effect on her mage guest. He licked his lips and raised his hands, turning a shale paler than normal.

as i said, let the mage panic. also, good to know at least the educated of this world consider rape bad

“Now, now. Let’s not be hasty good mistress. I was merely saying—”

“Move and I will stab you.”

It was no threat. It was a promise. And to his credit, Pisces was intelligent enough to take it seriously.

“—Allow me to apologize. But if I might say a few words—”

“No. Out.”

Erin advanced. Pisces had to step backwards or be knifed in slow motion. She forced him back into the common room and towards the door.

“Please, please reconsider.”

“No. Why should I?”

Pisces stopped at the door. Erin jabbed at him with the knife, but he refused to move back any further. He raised his hands higher and spoke with increasing speed and desperation.

“If I am caught, they will take me to the city. And there I will be judged and killed. This is a certainty, Mistress Erin.”

Erin eyed him uncertainty.

“Relc never said—”

“He didn’t want to tell you the truth! But he and I both know what happens to necromancers. We—any mage possessing even a single level in the class—are all killed on sight in this part of the world! There’s no mercy for my kind here.”

“Well—well too bad.”

Erin’s mouth was on autopilot. Pisces tried to step around her back into the inn, but she blocked him.

“Even if you’re in danger, I’m in danger if I hide you. I’m not doing that. Run away. Just run away now.”

“They will have patrols out around the city. They will scour the grasslands for me. Please, if you were to hide me I would be sure to survive.”

“No. Go.”

Erin pointed towards the door with one hand. He wavered, but made one last entreaty.

“Please, I beg of you. Just one night. Just give me sanctuary and I swear I will be gone upon the morrow. It is my death without your aid. Would you kill me? I ask you as a fellow human. Please.”

“I—”

The knife in her hands wavered. Pisces seized the moment. He stepped forwards, hands outstretched, beseechingly.

“Please, spare my life. If you have any pity in your soul—”

Thudthudthudthudhtud.

Both humans turned and looked at the door.

“Gotcha!”

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the guards are back! it seems pisces’s plan wasnt as foolproof as he thought

It was quick. One second Erin was pointing her finger out the door and glaring at Pisces. The next, something blew past her and he was gone. Two figures crashed into a table and chairs. Erin’s mouth dropped open.

“There you are!”

The larger shape uttered a triumphant laugh as he swung Pisces around and slammed him into the floorboards. It was Relc.

“Miss Solstice.”

Klbkch appeared at her side. Erin jumped but the ant man placed a steadying…hand on her shoulder.

“Please forgive my rudeness. But are you well? We doubled back as soon as we realized the mage had not fled the inn after all. Are you hurt or in need of assistance?”

“What?”

Erin stared at him.

“Are you—what’s—I’m good. Good.”

“That is well. Then, please stand clear. We will be going about our business and I would not wish you hurt.”

That said, Klbkch gently guided Erin to one side. The fight between Relc and Pisces was knocking over tables and chairs as the Drake attempted to smash the Human into anything he could while the human tried to avoid that fate.

Relc roared from the ground.

“Klb! Get over here and help! This guy’s slipperier than he looks!”

Klb nodded to Erin and dashed into the fight. She watched in stupefaction as the two tried to hold Pisces down. Oddly, it wasn’t that easy. Despite the size advantage and muscle advantage, Pisces was still managing to fend both off. Erin wondered why until she saw him push the air around Relc and send the bigger lizard flying off him.

Pisces scrambled to his feet and leapt for the door. But Klbkch caught him by the foot and attempted to tie his hands together with a piece of leather cord. Pisces shouted…something and the leather burst into flames.

It was a fast and dirty fight that had one or all three of the fighters rolling on the ground at all times. But Erin had only half an eye for that. The other eye was watching all of the furniture in her inn get smashed as they fought.

“Stop moving! Hey!”

“Desist your actions or—”

Pisces’s fingers sparked. A small explosion of lightning blasted Klbkch into a wall as Relc ducked. Erin ducked too. From behind her table she could see Klbkch twitching and making a distressed buzzing sound.

“You squirming—”

ugh i would not want to hear that! also we have some non illusion magic being employed by pisces here! seems like non mages have issues understanding the mage language

The dull thud of something hitting something echoed throughout the inn. But it was punctuated by another crackle of electricity and Relc shouting in pain.

Erin turned away from the brawl and ran into the kitchen. She emerged with the pot just in time to see Relc blasted off his feet, this time by what looked like an explosion of air.

Pisces backed away from the Drake, panting heavily. His face was bruised and he was bleeding from the nose and mouth, but his fingers still crackled with energy. He turned to run, but stopped.

Klbkch was on his feet. Well, his legs. The ant man was standing in front of the door, swords drawn. He held two, one in each arm while his other two held small daggers. Erin saw Pisces gulp. She agreed. Klbkch looked like a wall of blades.

“I—I seek no quarrel with you. I am student of Wistram Academy and a practicing mage. You detain me at your peril.”

Pisces pointed a trembling finger at Klbkch. It sparked with green energy that crackled around his fingertip, but it was suddenly a lot less impressive compared to Klbkch’s armed armory.

“Regardless of your affiliation to any academy, you are still under arrest. Please surrender now, or I will be forced to employ lethal force.”

Pisces hesitated.

“My magic—”

“Is useless. Surrender.”

“Surrender?”

Erin jumped. She saw Relc getting to his feet. The Drake’s eyes were narrowed, and in his hands was a spear. It wasn’t long, but it did look extremely sharp. And the way he held it, Erin instinctively knew he was ready to use it to kill.

Pisces took one look at the spear and immediately raised his hands.

“I—I give up.”

Relc spat.

“Not likely. I’m gutting you like a fish right here.”

Erin stared at Relc in horror. But there was no joking in his eyes. He was practically quivering with rage, but the arms that held his spear were completely still and tensed.

“Gutting? Hey, that’s—”

“Don’t be hasty!”

Pisces backed away from Relc, talking fast.

“I assure you, my life is worth far more than you would ever get for me dead. This can all be solved amicably. I will fully cooperate—”

“Cooperate?”

Relc stepped forwards and Pisces pressed his two fingers together. A strong breeze flew through the inn and a flickering barrier of wind appeared in front of Relc.

“I will cease all magic and go with you quietly if you assure my life. I meant no harm to you or your companion. But we are at an impasse until you do.”

Relc’s eyes narrowed.

“By that? You think a piddly little Wind Wall spell is going to stop me?”

The big Drake’s body tensed. He crouched slightly, and then dashed into the wind wall. Relc’s massive body smashed into the semi-transparent barrier of wind. He sunk into the barrier and then the winds pushed back.

Even from this distance Erin felt the tremendous force in the spell and saw chairs and tables being blown away from the force. For a moment she thought he was going to be blown away. But his claws dug into the ground and the wind howled—

The whirling winds blew apart with a small clap of air that sent the nearest chairs flying. Pisces staggered back, face grey with shock. Erin stared.

Relc on the other hand just twirled his spear in his hand. He spat contemptuously on the floor.

“That’s what I think of your spells. I’m a former soldier of the 1st Wing of the Liscorian Army. I’ve killed more mages than you have levels. Now, are you going to die quiet or will I have to pay for painting the walls green with your blood?”

well written fight scene, not one of the best but its early days. also it seems liscors army has a reputation to flaunt. is it common for veterans of the army to become guardsmen?

Pisces stepped back, tripped over a fallen chair and fell on his back. He raised his hands and cried out in a shrill voice.

“I can be ransomed. Quite highly! My school will pay ten—thirty gold coins in whichever denomination you like for my return.”

Relc raised the spear.

“Still don’t care. I don’t need money if I can get rid of a stinking monkey like you.”

Erin raised her voice in horror.

“What? No! No killing! Do you hear me?”

But no one was listening. Klbkch was closing in, swords and daggers at the ready. Relc raised his spear higher.

“Last words, mage?”

“I—I—”

Relc grinned with all his teeth. He raised his spear high. Klbkch watched impassively. Pisces screamed and shielded his face ineffectually. And Erin—

“Hey!”

Erin slammed the pot on the table top as hard as she could. All Relc, Klbkch, and Pisces paused as one to stare at her. She pointed one shaking finger at them.

“No fighting. Not here. And no killing!”

Relc blinked. He lowered his spear a fraction. Erin pointed to it.

“Stop that! Put the weapons away and get out.”

“But he’s—”

“I don’t care! You don’t kill people just because they practice stupid magic! And you don’t kill people just because you don’t like them! And you don’t kill people because killing people is wrong!”

“What?”

Relc pointed down at Pisces angrily.

“He’s a criminal.”

“No, he’s an idiot. But he didn’t do anything wrong enough to die for. All he did was try to scare me.”

“He hit me with lightning!”

“You punched his brains out! That’s not enough to kill him over!”

The Drake lowered his spear.

“I can’t believe this. Are you defending him? Because he’s Human? Or do you not want the blood in here? In that case I’ll take him out back and—”

“No!”

Erin shouted at Relc.

“Are you stupid? I don’t want anyone killing anyone! You can’t do it! I forbid it! It’s wrong! It’s illegal.”

“In point of fact, my comrade’s actions are not—”

Erin whirled and pointed at Klbkch.

“I don’t care! No killing, do you hear me?”

Relc hissed angrily.

“Then I’ll arrest him and he’ll be executed tomorrow. Happy?”

Pisces turned pale again. Erin’s mouth replied before her brain caught up.

“I withdraw my testimony.”

“You what?”

“I withdraw it. All of it. I was never attacked yesterday. This mage-guy never visited the inn, and I never saw him until today. So there’s no reason for you to arrest him.”

“You can’t do that!”

Relc turned and looked at Klbkch.

“Can she?”

The ant man nodded reluctantly.

“She is correct. Without her testimony we cannot arrest him.”

Relc faltered. He looked uncertainty at Pisces and then remembered.

“But he’s still a [Necromancer]! That’s a crime no matter what he does!”

Erin crossed her arms.

“Prove it.”

“What?”

“Prove. It. Can you? Is there a way to check his uh, class?”

Relc gritted his teeth.

“…No. Not without an artifact.”

“Then go. Now.”

this is one of the better early moments. they cant execute him if they cant prove he is a [necromancer]

Relc gaped at Erin. It was surprisingly frightening. Erin could look right down his throat. He had a lot of teeth.

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.”

Erin glared at him. Relc lowered his spear, grabbed at the spines on his head and hissed. He pointed at Pisces.

“You take one step in the city and I’ll—I’ll—you take one step in there, and I’ll do something about it.”

Pisces was still lying on the ground. He raised one hand weakly.

“I assure you—”

Relc’s eye twitched.

“Shut up.”

He stomped towards the door.

“Humans!”

Relc kicked the door as he left. Erin winced as she heard the wood crack. Then he was gone.

Klbkch walked past Erin and nodded to her politely.

“Do not mind him. You are within your rights to enforce law within this establishment as you choose. I apologize for the mess on both our behalves.”

He left. Erin stood around the room, looking at the broken chairs, overturned tables, and general wooden carnage. Behind her Pisces got to his feet. He was still shaking and sweatily pale.

“I don’t know how I can thank you good m—Ms. Erin. Please, accept my humblest—”

Bonk.

Erin tapped him on the head with the pot. Hard.

“Out.”

“What?”

Pisces stared at her in disbelief. Erin raised the pot higher.

“Out.”

He stumbled out. Erin kept staring at the mess in the room. It had to be said. Definitely.

“Males.”

it seems erin is done with people for today.

also, thats the end of the chapter! will erin ever go to the city? will pisces come back? will the guards come back? will erin be welcome in the city?

see you tomorrow!

#chrono

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ayellowbirds · 6 years

Photo

Keshet Rewatches All of Scooby-Doo, Pt. 12: "Scooby Doo and a Mummy, Too"

("Scooby-Doo, Where Are You", Season 1 Episode 12)

AKA "We Forgot One Universal Monster Last Episode"

The episode opens on a view of a university campus, with the usual spooky musical sting in spite of nothing being visibly eerie... until we cut into a building identified “DEPARTMENT OF ARCHEOLOGY” (sic). Inside, a professor is introducing the gang to the mummified remains of Ankha, an ancient Egyptian ruler who was once “the most feared ruler”—though we’re never given a reason why he was feared. What did he do that was so terrible?

I’ll note that the subtitles spell the name as “Anka”, but the Scooby Doo wiki gives the more standard-looking “Ankha”. As is oddly typical of adults who are not the culprit in a given episode, the Professor is never given a name, though he introduces his colleague as Dr. Najib, who helped bring the mummy over for the university’s replica of Ankha’s tomb.

A middle eastern man with narrow eyes and permanently lowered brow, voiced by Vic Perrin in an almost exact duplicate of his portrayal of Jonny Quest villain Doctor Zin, Najib raises the subject of the curse of Ankha, relating his hope that it did not follow them. I’ll say it right here, because it’s not much of a spoiler when so many flags are triggered right away: Najib is the culprit, and it’s another example of casual racism this season. The thieving, scheming Arab was a popular villain trope of the day, and while Najib isn’t quite as overt as some other variations on the trope, he’s far from a deconstruction or a subversion.

As Najib makes his exit, the gang agree to help the Professor, and Shaggy lays his filthy mitts on an ancient golden medallion the entire cast identify as a coin in spite of a lack of any evidence that it is currency. As Shaggy manhandles priceless ancient artifacts, the Professor explains it’s part of an unsolved mystery, and suggests the gang pick up some sandwiches on his dollar in order to satisfy Shaggy’s appetite.

While they’re gone, the Professor hears a crash, and comes out to find the mummy gone and a mummy-shaped hole in the glass doors. Meanwhile, Shaggy receives an order of three burgers and three sandwiches—liverwurst, à la mode. The chef spoons bright pink ice cream onto three open-face sandwiches, and Shaggy hands him a dollar bill and a half-dollar coin... that is actually the ancient Egyptian coin!

Shaggy has unconsciously pocketed it, demonstrating kleptomaniac tendencies that are never commented upon. The gang pay properly and Fred suggests they grab the sandwiches and get back to the Professor to return the coin. I’ll note that the food is clearly served on dine-in plates, rather than to-go containers, and when the food is taken from the counter off-screen, it makes a plate-rattling sound. Did they just walk out with burgers and open-faced sandwiches in-hand, sans any kind of container or wrapper?

When the gang return, they find the Professor in his office, where he’s been TURNED TO STONE! “14-karat stone”, Shaggy quips. Velma, bastion of rational, scientific skepticism, observes that only one person could be responsible: the mummy.

The gang look outside and find the busted glass, but Velma notes that it’s broken in rather than out, making it clear this wasn’t an exit. Fred orders the gang to split up and search for the mummy, and Shaggy soon accidentally discovers the bandaged terror hiding in the Janitor’s Closet. Locking him in, Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby flee in terror, instead of doing the reasonable thing and making sure the mummy is properly trapped.

Thus ensues the usual hide-and-chase sequence, although the mummy only groans and shambles slowly rather than running. Of course, there’s still extensive damage done to priceless museum artifacts by the B Team’s attempts to hide. Eventually cornered, the mummy begins to demand, “coin... coin!!” and nods and grunts in the affirmative when Velma suggests he means the old Egyptian one, and not the quarter Shaggy offers him.

When Velma insists they don’t give him what he wants, it falls to Scooby to defend them, and he demands a hefty price of Scooby Snacks.

I believe this is the first time we see a box of Scooby Snacks, which are drawn as being about half the size of previous appearances, and the box simply reads “SCOOBY SNACKS”. It’s also the first implication that “Scooby Snacks” is the name of a product on the market, rather than just what the gang call dog treats, or a home-made specialty.

Emboldened, Scooby tries taking a swing at the mummy with his left foreleg, but there’s a sound like a steel drum being struck, and Scooby’s metacarpals collapse and fold inward like a limp accordion tube. This does not deter the carb-loaded canine, who dashes offscreen and returns in a karate gi, and begins to yelp out kiais so badly stereotypical that the captioning refused to display them as he chops at the motionless mummy. It’s no more effective, so Scooby tries one last attack:

A little of the old razzmatazz.

At first, the soft-shoe routine seems to be Scooby’s attempt at desertion, but in spite of Velma’s shock, the dog sneaks back in behind the advancing mummy and nails his rags to the floor with a hammer.

Once again, the trio flee without making sure that Ankha is captured, even though Velma says they’re going to tell Daphne and Fred that they just did that. Meanwhile, Fred and Daphne are exploring outside, having found what look to be the mummy’s footprints going into a construction area. They discover Dr. Najib’s car, with what appears to be the doctor turned to stone, and wonder if Shaggy and Velma have run into the mummy themselves, not seeming to be concerned that their friends could be turned to stone any moment.

Having returned, Shaggy and Velma find that the mummy has escaped and disappeared, and inspect the piece of bandage left nailed to the floor. They retreat to a laboratory to investigate the new-feeling wrappings and determine its actual age, where an unattended Scooby drinks three large glasses of a chartreuse liquid. There’s an odd screen-filling animation of an explosion that fades in and out, and Scooby’s head has turned into that of a frog!

He lets out a few confused ribbits, and the effect reverses, explosion included—without Shaggy or Velma noticing. Meanwhile, the mummy reappears, demanding the coin before Velma can finish her analysis. While the two humans flee the room in an improvised smokescreen, Scooby is left behind, and the duo only realize as Daphne and Fred rejoin them. The room is empty except for evidence of a struggle, and a window is left open in the back. Fred worries that he’ll end up like the Professor and Dr. Najib...

...and sure enough, the gang discover a stone Scooby back outside. As Shaggy mourns the loss of his friend, the real Scooby digs his way up out of the ground to join him in tearfully weeping over the sad scene.

“Look, Scoob! You’ve been turned to stone!”

Rather than questioning Scooby about what happened to him, the gang decide to backtrack and ignore the great huge clue right in front of them.

Investigating the Professor’s office, Velma learns that Ankha was also the wealthiest ruler of ancient Egypt, and thinks she’s discovered the solution to the mystery of the coin, finding a photo of a statue of a hippo-headed figure that may or may not be a badly rendered representation of the goddess Taweret (understandably lacking the usual large sagging breasts of images of that deity; this is a kids’ show). The likeness of the coin appears with some other symbols on the statue’s belly, but just as the gang realize it, Ankha busts down the office door.

Retreating to the second floor, the gang duck into the wood shop, where—i’m sorry, why is there a WOOD SHOP in a university’s DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY?

Fred tells Daphne to hit the lights so that they can hide in the darkness of a room full of sharp objects and heavy machinery, but Daphne hits the wrong switch and turns on a handheld, corded buzz saw that spins to life and climbs up the wall by cutting through the surface of it.

Now, in addition to majoring in anthropology and library science, i took an elective class in the extremely well-appointed woodworking facility at SUNY Purchase College, and i have at least a basic sense of shop safety. So i speak from something of a position of experience when i say, WHY WOULD YOU PUT THOSE SWITCHES NEXT TO EACH OTHER?

As the saw cuts across the ceiling, back down the wall, and past the mummy, it moves on to circle the gang, cutting through the floor and sending the gang dropping down to the floor below... where there’s a swimming pool.

WHAT KIND OF ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT IS THIS? A WOOD SHOP? A SWIMMING POOL? WHO DESIGNED THIS COLLEGE, MC ESCHER?

The enraged mummy tosses the saw down at the gang, and its improbably long power cord reaches far enough that the saw moves through the water, chasing the gang as they paddle for their lives. Kudos to the saw’s manufacturers for so extensively waterproofing it, but i really don’t think a 100 meter power cord is a necessity.

Continuing to flee the mummy, Shaggy and Scooby enter the construction area from before, stumbling into a work space where Shaggy notices bags of “Quick Drying Mold Cement”, and “spray molds” that actually appear to be just wooden crates with cement poured in around an empty space in the shape of a standing human being.

“Ruh-huh!” Scooby replies. You could’ve told them that, Scooby. It would have been helpful.

I’ll note that the mold is in the shape of someone standing or laying straight, and all the “stone” figures we’ve seen so far were sitting down. This is what happens when you don’t communicate plot details to your art department, people.

The mummy of Ankha catches up, and the boys flee into a groundskeeper’s shack. When Shaggy peeks out to see if the coast is clear, however...

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! Yes, for the love of god.

Ankha continues to demand the coin, but meanwhile, Scooby and Shaggy find the Professor bound, gagged, and stuffed into a bag in the corner. Shaggy pulls down his gag, and asks, “are you alright, Professor?”

“I’m fine!”

“Groovy,” Shaggy replies, putting the gag back in place. “Be back for you later.”

The duo make their escape and the chase scene starts up again, now involving a ride on an improbably speedy lawnmower through an empty gymnasium, and a bit more in the way of trampoline antics. This show loves trampoline antics. Mid-bounce, Scooby, grabs onto a pair of gymnastics rings, and uses his hind legs to kick the mummy across the gym, dunking his bandaged butt into the basketball hoop.

It’s stuff like this that led to the Globetrotters crossovers, i’m sure.

The gang unmask "Ankha”, who, as i’d spoiled ahead of time, is Dr. Najib. He had faked his own petrification as part of a plan to get his hands on the coin—actually the key to the statue in the photo from the book. The gang and the Professor discover that a slot on the back of the statue serves as the keyhole, because apparently no-one was ever diligent enough to examine the back side of this stone figure, and its mouth opens to reveal a “glass beetle”.

Not quite, says the Professor.

There’s no resolution about what happens to this obscenely large “diamond”, identified as such at a glance without any kind of testing of its hardness. Scooby finds the whereabouts of the real mummy of Ankha, and the gang celebrate as Dr. Najib is probably in the midst of arguing his diplomatic immunity somewhere downtown.

And once again, no “meddling kids”, not even a scene of the authorities arriving. All we see of Najib unmasked is the usual silent, glaring fuming, and the explanation falls to the gang and the Professor relaxing calmly in the epilogue.

(like what i’m doing here? It’s not what pays the bills, so i’d really appreciate it if you could send me a bit at my paypal.me or via my ko-fi. Click here to see more entries in this series of posts, or here to go in chronological order)

#scooby doo #KRAOSD

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tibblss · 6 years

Text

Part two

Based off of @frostyuris post

“I dare you to look me in the face and tell me richie tozier hasn’t kissed every member of the losers club at least once.”

Read part one here

Also I’m just so happy that people liked it? I was kinda nervous about posting it because I wasn’t sure if anyone would wanna read it, much less want the second part. Thanks for all the love.

(Talk Too Much by COIN, Kiss by Prince, and I Want To Kiss You by Spook School are all like, moods for this fic.) (also I didn’t mean for it to be this long whoops.)

For the next couple of months everything went as normal. School started to get more serious, junior year hitting the losers club hard. Classes weren’t as easy (save for maybe for Stan and Richie), jobs were basically a necessity, there was a lot of studying for the SAT, and it seemed like everyone was busy all the time.

Richie didn’t want to think about how they all needed to move away for college soon, and didn’t want to talk about it. Every time one of the losers brought the subject up he was quick to make a joke and change the topic.

“Richie why don’t you ever wanna talk about college?”

“I don’t know Eds, I’d rather just talk about your mom.”

He wasn’t bitter.

It was around the end of September when Richie kissed Bill. They didn’t talk about it but Richie noticed the look in Bill’s eyes every time Bill looked at Stan. Stan wasn’t oblivious to the heart eyes, just a little scared he was receiving mixed signals.

It was now the end of December and the start of Christmas break. The Losers decided to have a sleepover at Bill’s, since Georgie and their parents decided that they wanted to visit the Grandparents this year. Bill decided to stay home, someone needed to feed the hamster.

A few hours after school ended the losers met up at Bill’s house, one by one, equipped with pillows and blankets and some liquor from Richie and Bev. By the time all of their stuff was in the living room and Can’t Buy Me Love was playing on the TV, Bill and Bev were sipping on some beers that Bev stole from her dad and whispering in hushed voices, casting glances at Stanley. Its a bit ironic that Bill was talking about his crush to his other crush.

By 9:00 everyone was tipsy, splayed over each other in a cuddle pile while they watched Back To The Future, per Mike’s request. It isn’t long before Richie gets antsy and lets out a loud sigh.

“What now?” Comes Eddie’s annoyed voice, accompanied by a chuckle from Stan.

“I’m boooooored.”

“W-well what-t do you w-wan-na do?” Bill asked as he sat up, causing Bev to whine since she no longer could rest her head on his stomach.

Bev sat up too, “Let’s play spin the bottle!” she grinned.

A chorus of grumbles sounded as all of the losers got up and arranged themselves in a circle on the floor. Bev grabbed an empty beer bottle and placed it in the middle and yelled “NOSE GOES.” In an instant everyone had their fingers on the tip of their nose except for Bill, who sighed.

“You guys k-know I’m the s-s-slowest at th-that.” He mumbled as he leaned into the center and spun the bottle.

“Wait guys are we playing the seven minutes in heaven version or just like the kissing version?” Eddie asked as the bottle continued to spin.

“I don’t care, we’ll play the seven minutes version.” Bev replied with a shrug.

The bottle made four full circles before settling between Stan and Richie. Everyone laughed except for Bill, who’s cheeks were beginning to redden. Richie stands up first and pulls Stan to his feet, then crosses the circle and extends a hand to Bill. Bill gulps and gives Richie his hand.

They go to the closet under the stairs, since it has enough room for the three of them, and Stan closes the door.

“We don’t have to do anything Bill.” Bill jumped at the sound of Stan’s voice, and met Stan’s soft smile with a grimace. “You don’t have to kiss either of us.”

Stan turned to Richie, and it may have been the alcohol, or the mood, or the fact that Bill was there, but Stan just needed to kiss somebody, even if that somebody wasn’t Bill. Richie wasn’t bad to look at, he had wild curls and flushed cheeks and a dopey smile on his lips and brightly colored bandages covering the scrapes on his elbows from falling off of his skateboard. So Stan cupped his cheek and brought their lips together, glancing at Bill while they were kissing.

Richie lets his eyes fall shut as Stan kissed him gently, and lets his hands fall to Stan’s slender hips. As he moves his mouth against Stan’s he opens one eye to peek at Bill, who is a lot more flustered than he was when they entered the closet. Then he notices that Stan is also watching Bill, and closes his eyes and kisses Stan harder, bringing one hand up into Stan’s hair. After a couple of minutes they pull apart.

Bill just keeps looking at Stan’s lips, and Stan turns to him and grabs his hand. “Is it okay if I kiss you?” Stan whispers, and for a second they forget Richie is there. Bill nods his head and exhales shakily when Stan crowds up into his personal space more than he already was. Bill shivered in anticipation.

Richie could swear he saw literal sparks fly.

As Stan was kissing Bill, Richie came up behind Stan and started to kiss his neck.

Then they were being interrupted by a knock on the door and Bev’s voice yelling, “Please put your pants back on and come back to the living room.” and the ensuing cackles.

By the time February rolled around everybody sorta forgot about the kisses, except for Richie of course. Within the span of half a year he kissed four out of six of his best friends. He still gave Bev little domestic kisses as a greeting and they laugh every time somebody asks if they’re dating.

“Hey, Haystack!” Richie drawls in a southern accent, while slinging his arm around Ben’s shoulders and leaning on him as they walk down the hall, off to physics together.

“Yes, Richie?” Ben sighed. He loved Richie, but he also loved peace and quiet.

“Do you wanna study for the ACT later? It’s less than a month away, y’know.”

“Ugh don’t remind me, my math skills aren’t the best. Yeah, do you wanna meet up at the library after school?” Ben huffed as he sat in his chair at the front of the class, then turning around to stare at Richie as he sat in the seat behind him.

“Only if I get to drive.” Richie grinned toothily. Ben just chuckled and turned around in his seat.

Richie was the only loser who hadn’t had his own car yet, besides Eddie who still only had his permit. Richie was the first to get his license but last to get a car, how ironic. He seized every opportunity to drive that he could.

So after school Richie met Ben at his locker and then they walked, well Richie bounced, out to Ben’s shitty old car. “A shitty car is better than no car.” Richie had once said when Ben was complaining about the quality. Ben had supposed Rich was right.

Richie drove fast and wild on the short drive to the library, Ben swearing and yelling at him the whole time.

“Rich, you’re driving is too wild.”

“Yeah but did you die?”

“Shut up.”

Once they walk into the library Ben greets the librarian, and they go to Ben’s favorite spot in the library: a quiet little corner that has a couch and a table with a couple of chairs, nothing too noteworthy but it’s tucked away and no one would disturb them there. Ben took his study time very seriously.

Richie laid his backpack down on the shag rug and then sat down next to it with his legs crossed, beginning to pull out his ACT prep book and his walkman, so that they could at least faintly hear some music. Richie had a mixtape playing and She Came In Through the Bathroom Window by The Beatles played quietly through Richie’s beat up headphones.

“So you wanted to study for math first right? We can go over strategy and then do a couple of practice quizzes.” Richie asked as he shifted, sprawling out over the rug. Ben nodded his head and sat down in front of Richie, laying his notebook and pen in his lap.

Richie started talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and talking-

“Ben are you even paying attention?” Richie snapped as he sat up. “Dude, I’ve been talking about the math section of the ACT for the past five minutes. This isn’t even one I need to study for, I got like a 31 on it.”

“I’m sorry Rich, I can’t really focus right now.” Ben sighed, biting his lip. “Bev kinda... asked me out. We’re going to the Aladdin and out to eat this Friday.”

“Christ, Haystack! That’s great.” Richie yelled, receiving a loud shush from somewhere in the library.

“I’m just like, worried that she’ll kiss me and I won’t be good at it.” Ben whispered, blushing. He’s had his first kiss already, when he was little. He was nine and this girl Jessica, who had wild hair like Richie’s, kissed him while he was sitting on a swing, then ran away and giggled with her friends. He later found out that it was on a dare, which hurt a little bit.

“You could practice on me.” Richie suggests casually, which causes Ben to choke on his breath. Ben hasn’t really thought about kissing a boy, but it can’t be much different than kissing a girl right? So he catches his breath and nods, and moves his notebook and pen to the side with shaky hands.

Richie moves a little closer and looks around to make sure no one could see them, because even if all of the losers were accepting and didn’t care about this kind of stuff, they still lived in Derry. He tilted Ben’s face up with a finger under his chin, and leaned in to close the gap between them. Richie starts off with short, chaste kisses, mumbling “relax” between a couple. The kisses start to linger and elongate, Ben starting to get more into them and kissing back enthusiastically. Ben gasps when Richie darts his tongue out and licks Ben’s lips, letting Richie lick into his mouth.

Richie then pulls away, smiling at Ben. “I’m sure you’ll do fine, Haystack.”

Two months later the losers got their ACT scores back, Richie was very pleased to see that his score was better than his first ACT, getting a composite of 30. Ben got a 26 on the math portion, a 28 overall, and Bev attacked him with kisses. Bev got a 27, Bill got a 26, Eddie got a 28, and Stan got a 32. Everyone was so proud of each other, and now that it was April and rainy and they were all so happy, they blasted music from Bill’s car and danced together in the rain in the Derry High School parking lot. They all looked like idiots, losers if you will. Ben and Bev were holding hands and spinning around and Richie and Stan and Bill were all limbs, having no coordination, and Mike and Eddie actually knew how to dance.

By the end of the school year, Richie almost had enough money saved from working at the Aladdin to buy a car. And by the middle of June he had enough to buy a run-down old pickup truck.

He called Mike and asked if they could hang out at his house for the day, and then called the other losers after Mike said he had the farm to himself anyway. He arrived at Mikes house five minutes later than everyone else, and sat in the driveway in his truck and honked the horn until they came out, smiling and laughing as he made a show of getting out of his truck. “Like what ya see?” He shouted, laughing along as they clapped. He bowed and then jogged up to the porch, giving Bev a chaste kiss, and then getting a hug from Mike.

“I’m so happy you finally got a car, maybe you could stop bumming rides from me now.” Ben laughed, the other losers nodding in agreement. They all went inside and settled into the couches in the living room, watching Star Wars: A New Hope for the 100th time.

Conversation flowed freely, topics about the newest movies at the Aladdin and the new cassettes Richie bought to listen to in his truck were discussed, and then the topic Richie had been avoiding for the past year of school came up: College. College meant moving away, going different directions, different paths and places and people. College meant forgetting. He didn’t want to think about the other losers leaving him behind, forgetting him and all the things they’ve gone through together, from bullies to the ACT to kisses. All of it had been with them.

“I dunno, Stanny, Ivy league schools are expensive aren’t they?” Eddie asked with a crease in his brow.

“Well yeah but Stan the Man, Jew with a Plan is gonna be rich one day, eh?” Richie said, patting Stan on the thigh. “He’ll be able to pay it off.”

“Yeah, Eddie, I’ll be able to pay it off.” Stan laughed. “In 20 years. I don’t know where I wanna go, I still have time to decide though. With my ACT score I could get into basically anywhere.” He said with a smile.

“F-fuck y-yeah you can, babe.” Bill said as he placed a kiss on Stan’s cheek, pulling Stan closer into his side.

The college talk went on for a little bit, eventually Richie got sick of it and pushed himself off of the couch, mumbling a half-assed “I need a smoke.” He sat himself on the front porch and pulled a cigarette and lighter from the pocket of his flannel.

“You know I don’t like when you smoke.” Eddie said in a sarcastic tone as he sat next to Richie on the old wooden stairs and laid his head on Richie’s shoulder. “All the college talk makes me sad too.” He sighed in a small voice. “I understand if you don’t wanna talk about it.”

A long pause ensued, Richie taking a few drags of his cigarette.

“Eds, do you wanna get out of here? I know you like stargazing, and it’s really clear out and I feel like going for a drive now that I can because I got my tr-”

“Yeah sure.” Eddie laughed, cutting Richie off. “Lemme go fill up a thermos with tea and grab a couple blankets. I’ll tell the others we’ll be back soon.”

Richie flashed him a smile and started walking to his truck. He started his truck and found his favorite cassette, Abbey Road by The Beatles. Once Eddie was buckled in the passenger seat, blanket and thermos snug in his lap, Richie tore out of the driveway. At this point Eddie had been in a car with Richie driving too many times to be phased, he just made himself comfy and asked, “Where are we going, Rich?”

“Oh, I know a spot. It’s really quiet and it pretty clear from lights and stuff, so we’ll be able to see the sky pretty clearly.” Richie said as he glanced at him, shooting him a crooked smile. Richie stuck his hand out as an invitation, and Eddie took it and laced their fingers together, letting their hands rest near his thigh. Richie rubbed his thumb lazily against the back of Eddie’s hand, giving Eddie butterflies.

They drove on some back roads for a while, some unpaved, and came to a stop once they were in the middle of a clearing, giving them a fantastic view of the stars. They clambered out, leaving the doors open so that they could hear the music, on Richie’s insistence.

“Chee, there’s gonna be a bunch of bugs inside later.” Eddie whined.

“It’ll be fine.” Richie chuckled.

They put both of the blankets down in the bed of the truck, hoping that it’d add some cushioning, and then climbed in, Eddie lying next to Richie with their hands intertwined in the space between them.

“That one is Cassiopeia.” Eddie mumbled, pointing out the constellation with his free hand.

“What’s it named after?” Richie asked, looking at Eddie instead of the sky.

“It’s um, a queen in Greek Mythology. She was supposed to be incredibly vain.” He said as he turned his head to look at Richie, turning back to the sky when they met eyes.

“And that one is The Seven sisters, also named after Greek Mythology. They’re supposed to represent the daughters of a titan who held up the sky.”

“How do you know all of this stuff, Eds?” Richie asked, letting go of Eddie’s hand and rolling onto his stomach, supporting himself on his elbows.

“I dunno, I’m just in love with the sky I guess. You can kind of see the outline of our galaxy, where it shifts from the Milky Way into the rest of space. You see where the stars are more concentrated?” He asks, not waiting for Richie’s reply. “Well I guess that’s where we are. All the stars in the Milky Way are in that strip of concentration.”

“Your freckles remind me of a galaxy, a bunch of your own personal constellations.” Eddie whispers as he lets his fingers drift across the bridge of Richie’s nose. Richie thinks about when Mike traced his freckles.

Richie let’s his eyes fall shut, let’s himself feel and hear. He can hear Eddie’s breath, and the sound of crickets chirping, and the music flowing from the cab of his truck. The melody of The Beatles’ Something, gliding into the night air.

“Something in the way she moves attracts me like no other lover. Something in the way she woos me.”

Richie opens his eyes when he feels Eddie shift, feels his breath closer. Eddie reaches a hand up and gently takes Richie’s glasses off, then caresses the side of Richie’s face.

“Can I kiss you, Chee?” Eddie asks in a whisper, lips barely an inch away from Richie’s.

“Somewhere in her smile she knows that I don’t need no other lover. Something in her style that shows me.”

Richie shakily laughs, and nods his head. Then there’s a pair of soft, warm lips on his and a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in. He leans over Eddie further, until Eddie is lying flat on his back and Richie is hovering over him. They kiss slowly, lips moving languidly. Eddie has a hand in Richie’s hair and he’s playing with the wild ringlets of curls, and Richie is rubbing circles into Eddie’s hip with his thumb.

The song ends and transitions into Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, and Richie pulls away and laughs. “Sorry Eds. It’s just a funny song.”

“You find the anything funny, Richie.” Eddie laughs.

Wowwwwwwww that was really long. like 3.1k words long.

I didn’t intend for it to be that long whoops. But anyways I just wanted to say thanks for like, actually reading this. I’ve gotten so much love from this and I appreciate it so much.

I might do a hanzier au so if you wanna be tagged in that lmk.

Taglist:

@thotty-wise @inevitablytrue @stanilyuris @losers-ruined-my-life @thatcrazyfangirlmaze @notallowedtohandleaknife @80seddie @dreamdaddy101 @losvers-clubb @kotoamor @finnwolfwolf @bakadeno @reddletrash @fckingtozier @umlingo @gazebo-reddie @starstrucknerdgirl

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – 26 (Fin) – XX

After semi-binging this series to the tune of 26 episodes in 30 days, I can’t help but feeling now that I’ve arrived at the end that this first season was nothing but a prologue for the real story to come. Heck, It wasn’t until last week that Tanjirou was able to use Constant Total Concentration—an absolute necessity when fighting elite demons.

Mind you, I am not complaining. If this is a prologue, it’s one of the best I’ve seen, and instantly makes any future adventures with Tanjirou, Nezuko & Co. more meaningful because we know how hard everyone’s worked to get this far—and how far we have yet to go.

The end of this epic beginning starts with a meeting similar to that held by the Demon Slayer Corps commander with the Hashira, only it’s Kibutsuji Muzan and the five surviving Lower Six of the Twelve Kizuki. The meeting takes place in a gorgeous, trippy, Relativity-style space of his own making. Unlike the Corps commander, Muzan doesn’t lead with a serene, considered manner, he rules by absolute fear.

With the loss of Rui, he’s decided the Lower Six aren’t even worth his effort anymore, and he executes them all except for one: the Lower One. Unlike the others, this one tells Muzan what he wants to hear, and is rewarded not only with his life, but Muzan’s blood, and a mission: defeat a Hashira and Kamado Tanjirou.

Just before dawn a Kasugai Crow wakes Tanjirou, Zenitsu and Inosuke, informing them of their new mission to join the Flame Hashira Rengoku Kyoujurou on the Mugen Train, a crisis that has already claimed forty lives. The balance of the episode consists of Tanjirou preparing to depart and saying his goodbyes.

Tanjirou’s sweet nature and pure heart reassure Aoi, who feels like she’s a coward for not fighting on the front lines, that he’ll carry her emotions on the battlefield in her place, and should he hurt himself again, he’ll be relying on her care once more. Say what you want about his idealism, but our boy possesses emotional intelligence in spades.

But the true highlight of the episode is his parting interaction with Tsuyuri Kanao, who flips a coin to decide whether to talk to him, and then does. Tanjirou asks her about the coin, and when he learn she basically takes orders from chance, he suspects it’s because the voice in her heart is soft.

He asks her to make a deal with him: He’ll flip the coin, and if it comes up Heads, she’ll try listening to her heart more, even if she has to strain to hear its whispering. She watches carefully as he flips it and notes he does not cheat, and it comes up Heads. He returns the coin to her and takes hands in his as a sign of heartfelt optimism, promising they’ll see each other again.

As he runs off, she raises her voice in asking why it landed on Heads, to which he replies that it was only chance, but had it been Tails he would have kept flipping it until he got Heads. If Tanjirou, who bears his heart on his sleeve, and Kanao, whose heart was buried deep in her chest by her past, eventually become a romantic couple, I will be 100% and fully Here for it. They are surpassingly adorable.

Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inousuke pass Naho, Kiyo, and Sumi’s Giant Gourd Test, meaning they now possess the breathing to fight some serious demons. Giyuu stops buy for a quick, stoic goodbye, telling Tanjirou he can thank him for vouching for Nezuko by “doing good work.”

With that, the trio set off West to the train station, and we realize that neither Tanjirou nor Inosuke have ever seen a train. Inosuke believes it’s some great sleeping god; Tanjirou speculates it may be an benign deity. It’s here where Zenitsu’s city smarts shine as he castigates his “country bumpkin” comrades for making a scene.

We also learn that Demon Slayers are not officially recognized by the Japanese government, and so they’re not legally allowed to carry swords in public. They hide their swords—well, Inosuke tries but also insists on going shirtless, so it doesn’t go well—and wait for nightfall to board the train while avoiding the police.

As they leap onto the departing train and it begins to steam into the night, we get a great closing shot of the three slayers on the caboose, ready and excited for their new mission, while Tanjirou tells Zenitsu that the safest place for Nezuko is together with him, in the box on his back.

We spot Rengoku Kyoujurou in one of the passenger cars, as well as the Lower One Kizuki standing atop the engine. The stage is now set for the Mugen Train arc, which is covered in the film that premiered in Japan October 2020, which surpassed Spirited Away as Japan’s all-time highest grossing film. I look forward to watching it as soon as it’s available in the states, as well as the second season that will air at some point in 2021.

By: braverade

#Anime #News #RABUJOI – An Anime Blog

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wanderers-shadow · 6 years

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Tahla Nhavan - Character Questions

Decided to fill out some character questions in between some other stuff bc why not

1. How does your character think of their father? What do they hate and love about him? What influence - literal or imagined - did the father have?

Like most traditional Keeper males, Tahla’s father preferred a life of wandering in solitude. Her memories of him stem from the occasional visits he made to the clan during her early childhood years. As his appearances abruptly stopped by the time she was old enough to form a true opinion of him (whether this was of his own choice or because of some terrible fate befalling him, no one was sure), Tahla only remembers him as strong and stoically silent, though surprisingly tender when alone with her mother.

2. Their mother? How do they think of her? What do they hate? Love? What influence - literal or imagined - did the mother have?

When she was very small, they got along quite well. As Tahla got older, however, she began to take after her aunt and as a result her relationship with her mother got somewhat argumentative. Jinta could sometimes have lofty ideas about right and wrong, and she generally had a strong dislike of confrontation, things that a young and rebellious Tahla had little patience for. Despite this, her mother did still manage to instill some thoughtfulness into her, easily curbing the ruthless side of her that her aunt was cultivating.

3. Brothers, sisters? Who do they like? Why? What do they despise about their siblings?

She has three older sisters and one older brother, and she generally got along fine with each of them. Her brother Jinta’a however was easily the closest of them, and he tended to be her go-to support when she was in need of comfort. Her sisters were much older and she never developed a super close bond with them.

4. What type of discipline was your character subjected to at home? Strict? Lenient?

Mostly lenient, though as she got older her mother tried to treat her more strictly. This only caused the rift between them to grow more, however.

5. Were they overprotected as a child? Sheltered?

Her mother was a tad overprotective of her when she was small, but life as a poacher meant she was hardly sheltered for long. Each member of the clan was expected to pull their weight, and young Tahla was incredibly eager to join in the hunts.

6. Did they feel rejection or affection as a child?

An abundance of affection. Being the youngest child in her small clan, she was basically treated like a little princess to be spoiled and doted upon endlessly.

7. What was the economic status of their family?

They got by well enough, though coin was never much of a motivating factor for them. They preferred a nomadic life of hunting (and poaching) and used those skills to sustain themselves and barter for any other necessities. Anything beyond that was a bit too lavish, in their eyes.

8. How does your character feel about religion?

Believes in the Twelve, and is a particularly devout follower of Menphina and Oschon. She’s quite private about this side of herself and will usually seek out solitude when offering prayers.

9. What about political beliefs?

Politics is an odd subject to her; generally too much dancing around words and red tape for her liking. Growing up outside the realm of the city-states, she’s always seen politics as something that doesn’t involve her and so she’ll tend to ignore it. The one exception is her strong dislike of Gridanian politics, mostly when it comes to their reverence of the Elementals.

10. Is your character street-smart, book-smart, intelligent, intellectual, slow-witted?

Street-smart, if anything. She lacks a proper education and a more formal learning environment has always bored her, so academics are certainly her weakness. She prefers skills that are immediately applicable to her day-to day life, so book-smarts always seemed particularly useless to her.

11. How do they see themselves: as smart, as intelligent, uneducated?

Uneducated, and she’d argue with any who used that as an excuse to call her unintelligent. Despite that, she can on occasion get rather self-conscious about that fact when spending time with some of her more learned peers. She’s mostly illiterate, which is the one facet of her limited education that she is deeply embarrassed about. She tries her best to hide that from those she knows.

12. How does their education and intelligence – or lack thereof - reflect in their speech pattern, vocabulary, and pronunciations?

With her more recent years spent doing work for the adventurer’s guilds across the city states, Tahla tends to speak a bit more like one from the city, but the backbone of her speech patterns still tilt more towards rural Shroud speech. Her illiteracy results in a somewhat narrow spread in her vocabulary, which is a fault she’s been trying to work on. Trying, being the key word.

16. What does your character do for a living? How do they see their profession? What do they like about it? Dislike?

In the past she was a hunter/poacher in the Shroud. She romanticized and loved every moment of it, despite the occasional spats with the local Wood Wailers. She misses it dearly, but is conflicted about returning to a life of hunting in the Shroud without her family. Presently, she spends her days as an Adventurer, taking on whatever odd jobs come her way, though she tends to gravitate toward those that might make use of her skills in hunting, tracking, or stealth.

17. Did they travel? Where? Why? When?

During the youth she traveled throughout the Black Shroud, primarily sticking to the north and western regions, with occasional visits to Gridania. After the calamity, she spend a little less than a year amongst the other orphans in Gridania before being taken in by a family friend in Ul’dah. Beyond that, her new occupation as an adventurer took her throughout Eorzea.

18. What did they find abroad, and what did they remember?

On the practical side of things: learned of adventuring and how to put her natural stealth and tracking abilities to other uses while in Ul’dah, and learned how to refine her admittedly rough fighting skills from some unsavory types in Limsa. More broadly, she learned that the world was a much bigger and *much* more varied place than her life in the Shroud had led her to believe.

19. What were your character’s deepest disillusions? In life? What are they now?

Her trust in the kindness of strangers was essentially shattered when it was revealed that the above mentioned family friend from Ul’dah had taken her in primarily to use her as leverage against her aunt, who owed him money. However, when all his efforts in tracking the woman down came to naught, he instead settled for having Tahla work off the debt in her stead.

20. What were the most deeply impressive political or social, national or international, events that they experienced?

The c a l a m i t y. That basically turned her world upside down after she was separated from the few members of her family who survived the incident. Also, if we’re talking about WoL-Tahla, the Bloody Banquet and betrayal of the Crystal Braves and everything that followed, basically. It’s a big reminder of why she hates politics and hates being involved in other people’s fights. She gets treated more and more like a tool and despises it.

21. What are your character’s manners like? What is their type of hero? Whom do they hate?

Manners are… somewhat lacking. She’ll climb on furniture, put her feet up on tables when lounging around, unabashedly look through other peoples things when she thinks they aren’t looking. She’s a very hands-on sort of person and will get in people’s personal space without a second thought. Despite that, it’s rare that she’s intentionally rude, and she does try to be kind to those she meets, if only reservedly so at first. As for heroes, there is no one Tahla idolizes more than her aunt Rekha—a very outgoing, brash, and unapologetic hunter. She would not take insult or injury (to either herself or her family) lying down and was incredibly ruthless to anyone deemed her enemy. Tahla takes a lot after her, though thanks to the guidance of her mother and brother, she’s stepped back from some of her aunt’s more bloodthirsty qualities. Her hatred is reserved mostly for the Elementals, the Wood Wailers, basically anyone who might get on her case about poaching—Tahla is quite sanctimonious about Miqo’te hunters being part of the natural order and their right “to hunt anywhere they damn well please.”

22. Who are their friends? Lovers? ‘Type’ or ‘ideal’ partner?

While she gravitates toward the rowdier sort of people most of the time, she’s come to deeply appreciate the way the calm and quiet sort of friends can mellow her out, especially when she’s having a rough time sorting through some her darker feelings. She’s very touchy-feely with her friends, and will quite often run up to greet them with an unprompted hug. As for lovers… she has eyes only for women and tends to gravitate toward other Miqo’te most of the time, but she doesn’t have a particular type. She assumes that sort of relationship should develop naturally and simply keeps an open mind for it.

23. What do they want from a partner? What do they think and feel of sex?

Someone who can bring balance and stability to her life, someone fun to be around. See the above, I guess? Sex is good, she’s a little more casual about it than she’d readily admit.

24. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually?

#justadventurerthings with her buds in both FCs. And I know this questionnaire wasn’t intended for video game characters, but we’re gonna take that last one a bit literally here: when doing Dangerous Adventurer Things, she’s good and being sneaky and dealing damage.

25. What are their hobbies and interests?

Tahla has a (somewhat) secret passion for fashion. Had her life gone a bit differently post-calamity, she probably would have liked to design and create clothing.

26. What does your character’s home look like? Personal taste? Clothing? Hair? Appearance?

Home is simply furnished and decorated with as many plants as she can reasonably care for. Give her a place to sleep and a cozy fire and she’s set. Her apartment is a bit messy, with books tossed about haphazardly—she impulsively bought a ton of books with the idea of brute-forcing her way into learning how to read. It’s going about as well as you’d imagine, and her frustration is evident in the scattered tomes. She prefers loose clothing that’s easy to move around in to fit her active lifestyle. Often wears a scarf or bandana over the lower half of her face—a holdover from her time in the Shroud. She kept her hair longer when she was younger, but prefers shorter styles these days. Pale-skinned with even paler freckles dusting her cheeks. Mismatched eyes—one deep blue, the other gold. A few scars here and there, most notable among them the one below her left eye and one on her right thigh.

27. How do they relate to their appearance? How do they wear their clothing? Style? Quality?

She’s a bit meticulous about her appearance. Tries to keep her clothing in working order for as long as possible.

28. Who is your character’s mate? How do they relate to him or her? How did they make their choice?

N/a, though she did have 1 somewhat lengthy and serious relationship during her time in Ul’dah. They were very close, had a lot of secrets, but eventually realized they wanted different things in life and mutually broke it off.

29. What is your character’s weaknesses? Hubris? Pride? Controlling?

She’s incredibly proud of her skills and her heritage, both of which have gotten her in trouble depending on present company.

30. Are they holding on to something in the past? Can he or she forgive?

She gets real fucked up when she thinks about the calamity (she basically goes MIA during The Rising), refusing to fully accept the impact it had on her life, and as a result she can’t move on to a more steady and permanent lifestyle. Holds past encounters against the Wood Wailers as a whole and absolutely refuses to forgive the lot of them.

31. Does your character have children? How do they feel about their parental role? About the children? How do the children relate?

No children, though she wouldn’t mind having some one day.

32. How does your character react to stress situations? Defensively? Aggressively? Evasively?

A mix of defensive and aggressive, though she’s been trending toward the latter in recent days.

33. Do they drink? Take drugs? What about their health?

Will drink occasionally, nothing much beyond that. In good health.

35. Do they always rationalize errors? How do they accept disasters and failures?

It takes her a while to come to terms with failures. She usually bottles up negative feelings about these sort of things until it hits the point where she has to face them.

36. Do they like to suffer? Like to see other people suffering?

Does not like suffering, nor the suffering of others… however she has been getting a lot more ruthless in dealing with her enemies. She’s quick to blame it on piling stresses. It’s something that she’s acutely becoming aware of, and its starting to frighten her.

37. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories?

She’s not super imaginative, and tends to compartmentalize most of her worries. She does spend a lot of time longing for the good ol days of her youth.

38. Are they basically negative when facing new things? Suspicious? Hostile? Scared? Enthusiastic?

Suspicious, the level of which depends on how much other people are involved with the new thing. Will trend toward more enthusiastic if there is some level of familiarity to it.

39. What do they like to ridicule? What do they find stupid?

“Fuck the Elementals.” —Tahla Nhavan, 2kforever

40. How is their sense of humor? Do they have one?

She enjoys the odd practical joke here and there, but otherwise is sort of blunt with her humor.

41. Is your character aware of who they are? Strengths? Weaknesses? Idiosyncrasies? Capable of self-irony?

She’s aware of her strengths and weaknesses, though the latter is something she’ll rarely admit to. Not really contemplative enough for self-irony.

42. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?

She just wants a simple life. Sometimes she has the lofty idea of Doing The Right Thing, but her idea of right and wrong, as well as her methods to go about doing it, wouldn’t necessarily be agreed upon by others.

43. Does your character have any secrets? If so, are they holding them back?

Her illiteracy, for one. She’s too stubborn about it to actually ask someone for help, but she’s learned to work around it. On a much more serious note, one thing she hasn’t told a soul about is that she has an EXTREME fear of suffocating/choking due to an Incident when she was around 11.

44. How badly do they want to obtain their life objectives? How do they pursue them?

Her only real goal is the nebulous idea of returning to a simple life of hunting, but since that requires moving on and learning to let people get close to her again, she basically doesn’t pursue it at all.

45. Is your character pragmatic? Think first? Responsible? All action? A visionary? Passionate? Quixotic?

Pragmatic, though can be somewhat impulsive depending on the situation. Tries to think things out when she can, but seldom has the patience for it when she’s in the thick of things.

46. Is your character tall? Short? What about size? Weight? Posture? How do they feel about their physical body?

Rather short, wiry build, decent posture. She’s fine with her body.

47. Do they want to project an image of a younger, older, more important person? Does they want to be visible or invisible?

She’s fine with her appearance as is, though she does kind of prefer to fade into the background unless she’s around familiar folks.

48. How are your character’s gestures? Vigorous? Weak? Controlled? Compulsive? Energetic? Sluggish?

Lively and energetic most of the time, more subdued and controlled when she’s focused on a task.

49. What about voice? Pitch? Strength? Tempo and rhythm of speech? Pronunciation? Accent?

TBH I mostly just imagine her in-game voice. Moderate tempo, somewhat soft spoken. If anything, her pronunciation/accent might peg her as someone from the rural Shroud, to discerning ears.

50. What are the prevailing facial expressions? Sour? Cheerful? Dominating?

Neutral, bordering cheerful, perhaps? Can look sort of… intense when she’s focused. Generally she prefers a mask because she doesn’t like it when others can read her easily.

#you can tell i started to lose steam at a certain point lol #and i removed a few questions that didn't apply to this sort of setting #ffxiv tag #tahla nhavan #tahla words

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marymosley · 4 years

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COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE PRINCIPLE OF STRICT LIABILITY AND ABSOLUTE LIABILITY

Abstract –

Some activities are too dangerous to deal with, and yet the law still allows such activities to continue due to their role in the industrial development and their social utility. Often, such activities contribute to major accidents, resulting in several casualties and loss of environment. To promote exercise of necessary caution to the respective enterprises or individuals handling such hazardous activities, and to serve justice to the ones harmed during such activities, the law has made two rules of liabilities: The Absolute liability and the Strict liability.

In this research paper, we will discuss the meaning behind the word liability and compare the aforementioned two liabilities in detail by discussing their meanings, origins and landmark cases of the respective liabilities. In this paper, we will also discuss the necessity of both the liabilities and challenges faced by strict liability in the modern times as it is, after all, a 19th century rule. Essentials and exceptions of the strict liability will also be highlighted, along with some case analysis for further clarification.

In the end, this paper concludes with the analysis of some other cases based on these two tortious liabilities and discusses the most recent case regarding these liabilities.

Keywords: Absolute liability, strict liability, potentially harmful substance, premise, liability and exceptions.

OBJECTIVES

To analyze and compare the principles of strict liability and absolute liability;

To study cases under strict liability and absolute liability and their differences in application.

INTRODUCTION

Liability is one of the basic concepts in Law of Torts. In simple terms, liability can be referred as one’s legal responsibility towards something. But in the context of torts, it is based upon the principle that if an individual causes harm to another in the course of his/her action or omission, he/she would be legally and financially liable (or responsible) to the one they have caused damage to.

Absolute liability and strict liability are the two most fundamental concepts of liability in Law of Torts, with some very minor, yet distinct differences. One can also say that the law of Absolute liability is the modified; thus, more modern version of the law of strict liability, which won’t be much far off either. While the strict liability lays off some defense, the law of absolute liability holds an individual completely liable for the fault without any limitation or exception which are still applicable in the other liability.

Both of them may be similar in nature, but they have some key differences which is critical for any law student to know and understand. In this paper, we’ll analyze both the liabilities along with their key differences through their origin and landmark cases of each liability respectively.

ORIGIN: STRICT LIABILITY[1]

This liability first emerged in the late 19th century, in the landmark case of Ryland’s v. Fletcher. In this case, the law of strict liability was defined as the responsibility of a person, who keeps hazardous substances on his/her premise, to be held at fault if any of the said substance escapes his/her premise and causes damage. In this type of liability, the actual ‘fault’, i.e. the person’s action or omission may very well be absent. In simple terms, it does not matter if the person is directly involved with the cause of the escape of hazardous substance; he will still be held at fault due it being his duty to exercise proper caution. Similarly, motive and intentions also do not matter in this liability.

This is mainly due to the fact that there are many such activities which can cause harm to both humans and the environment nearby, but are necessary to perform due to their social utility and importance. Thus, the responsibility of these activities lie heavily on the person whose premise these activities take place on and thus, it is their duty to practice proper precaution while handling these activities with potentially harmful substances. The law allows them to handle these only upon their accordance with proper safety measures and the doctrine of strict liability.

RYLANDS V. FLETCHER[2]

The rule in this case is based upon the concept of aversion of foreseeable damage. Only upon reasonable foreseeability and failing to avert such damage, would this liability take action.

Facts:

The defendant (John Fletcher) was a textile entrepreneur, who owned a mill located in England’s coal-rich Lancashire area. For the energy purposes of the mill, the defendant decided to hire some contractors and engineers to construct a water reservoir in his land. Due to the presence of old shafts under the site of the construction of the water reservoir, as soon as the water filled in the said reservoir, it entered the neighbor’s i.e. the plaintiff’s (Thomas Fletcher) coal mine as that is where the unused shafts led, resulting him damages worth 937 pounds (approximately worth GBP 88,000 in present-day money). The defendant claimed it to be the result of negligence of the contractors and the engineers’ who failed to notice those shafts and block them during the construction. He had also claimed that the cause of the damage was unknown to him as he had no direct involvement during the construction.

Issues:

The defendant was not directly involved with the whole act, thus, should he be held reliable for something he did not actively participate in or influenced upon, despite it being on his premise?

Judgement:

The House of the Lords held the defendant liable for all the damages caused in the mine, regardless of the defendant’s plea. According to the rule based upon this case, if a person conducts any activity with a potentially dangerous substance on his/her premise, he/she will be answerable to the damage caused by the escape of the said substance, regardless of it escaping due to their negligence or not.

ORIGIN: ABSOLUTE LIABILITY

As mentioned earlier, the law of strict liability has some exceptions or the ‘defenses’ for the defendant to escape from the liability. Absolute liability, on the other hand, has the same principles as the strict liability but without those aforementioned exceptions.

The law of absolute liability first originated from the landmark case of M.C. Mehta v. Union of India[3], where the need for a more modern application of the law of strict liability was urgently required. This case clearly stated the rule that an enterprise which is engaged in an inherently dangerous activity (let it be due to the nature of the activity itself or the substance involved in the activity) is completely liable for the damage caused due to the said activity, and has to compensate to all the people affected.

M.C. MEHTA V. UNION OF INDIA (THE OLEUM GAS CASE)

Facts:

There was a case of severe leakage of oleum gas on the 4th and 6th of December, 1985 in Delhi. It took place in one of the units in the enterprise of Shriram Foods and Fertilizers Industries, which belonged to the Delhi Cloth Mills, Ltd. In this incident, several people were injured while one had died, who happened to be an advocate practicing in the Tis Hazari Court. A writ petition by the way of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was brought to the court by the advocate M.C. Mehta himself.

Issues:

This was not the first case of gas leakage that happened in India which resulted in several causalities. The major issue was that if the law of strict liability was followed, then all these mishaps arising from the conduct of such large enterprises will directly fall under the exceptions of the said liability. Thus, letting them get away without any liability for the damage they have caused during the conduct of their harmful activity. Not only would it be injustice for the ones who have suffered from the damage, but will also form the notion that big industries are immune to this liability.

Judgement:

After the Court noted the aforementioned issues, it held to therefore, evolve a new rule; the law of ‘Absolute liability’, as coined by (then) Chief Justice of India, P.N. Bhagwati. This new rule was a more modernized, contemporary version of its other counterpart, strict liability, just without its exceptions.

ESSENTIALS AND EXCEPTIONS OF STRICT LIABILITY

ESSENTIALS OF STRICT LIABILITY

There are certain essentials or ‘qualifications’ which determine whether or not a liability is strict liability. These essentials are as follows:

POTENTIALLY HARMFUL SUBSTANCE

In simple terms, if the substance that has capability to cause potential damage to the environment or people nearby escapes from the premise, then the defendant will be liable. For example: The water in the reservoir in Ryland’s vs. Fletcher case.

ESCAPING FROM THE PREMISE

One of the most important essential for strict liability is that the potentially harmful substance must escape from the premise of the defendant and it should not be in reach or capability to stop, once it escapes.

NON-NATURAL USE OF LAND

This simply means that there must be some special use (activity) of land that increases the danger of damage to others nearby. It must not be the ordinary use of land or use as is proper for the common benefit of community.

These are the three essentials of strict liability. The issue being that only when every single one of these essentials are satisfied, would the liability be termed as strict liability.

EXCEPTIONS OF STRICT LIABILITY

Exceptions are mostly a set of defenses or ‘excuses’ that the defendant can plea to escape strict liability, only if his/her actions have qualified a specific set of conditions respective to each defense mentioned. Each defense depends on the facts of the case and can change in accordingly. The ones given below are the major exceptions of the law of strict liability:

ASSUMPTION OF THE RISK

This exception has the same principle as the tortious maxim volenti non-fit injuria. In simple terms, this means that the plaintiff or the claimant was aware of the risks of the activity involving the potentially harmful substance and had voluntarily associated with it despite its full knowledge. Thus, it can also be interpreted that the plaintiff consented to being harmed by the defendant due to which, he is not allowed to complain regarding that, as no one can enforce a right which he/she has voluntarily waived or abandoned.

DEFAULT OF THE PLAINTIFF

If the damage caused to the plaintiff is solely because of the act or default of the plaintiff himself/herself, there is no remedy for him/her.

ACT OF GOD

The Act of God or Vis Majeure can be described as an event which is directly and exclusively resulted from the natural causes that were not foreseeable or preventable by the exercise of proper precaution by the defendant. Thus, if the potentially harmful substance escapes the premise due to some natural cause and without any human intervention, then the defendant will not be liable.

ACT OF A THIRD PARTY

When the damages are caused due to a third party who is not affiliated with the defendant in any way, such as: servant, worker, secretary, contractor, etc., then the defendant cannot be held liable; unless the act of the third party is foreseeable and the defendant did not exercise proper caution to avoid that act.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

When an act is done under the authority of a statute, it exempts the defendant from any tortious liability. In such case, the injured party has no remedy except for claiming the compensation provided under the statute itself. The damage caused due to such an act is not actionable due to the legislature authorizing it. However, the defense cannot be pleaded if there is any kind of negligence on the part of the defendant or if the damage is considered to be foreseeable.

These are the major five exceptions of the law of strict liability, due to which defendants can escape the liability. In contemporary times, these exceptions stood out as a major flaw, especially in cases where large enterprises and industries can plead them to escape liability.

NECESSITY OF ABSOLUTE LIABILITY

As mentioned above, the law of strict liability is subjected to many exceptions; thus, enabling many such cases where individuals escape the liability and the damage done to the environment and people is left behind with injustice. That is why in India, legal opinion turned in favor of adopting a more stringent rule, especially after the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 and the consecutive oleum gas leak case that occurred just after a year later after the aforementioned mass accident.

After analyzing the old 19th century law and the need of modification of it, the apex court of India in the M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (The Oleum Gas leak case) stated that, “Moreover the principle so established in Ryland v. Fletcher of strict liability cannot be used in the modern world, as the very principle was evolved in 19th century, and in the period when the industrial revolution has just begun, this two century old principle of tortuous liability cannot be taken as it is in the modern world without modifications.”[4]

Bhagwati further stated that the law of strict liability had emerged in a time period when the nature of the industrial development was at its initial stage, thus it did not account for the current contemporary situations or the economic and social structure of the current society, thus, was unable to be adapted in accordance to it. In today’s modern society where inherently dangerous industries were necessary to carry out development programme for the social utility, the old rule is almost impossible to be held relevant in such context. The same was agreed by the Division Bench of Andhra Pradesh High Court in the case of K. Nagireddi v. Union of India.[5]

Furthermore, in a rapidly globalizing country like India, which is the country this modified liability originated from, the technological complexity and nature of industrial revolution increases at a high rate. All this not only affects the economic stability of the country, but the social status as well. The inclusion of Multinational Corporations in the jurisdiction, at this point, is necessary and inevitable. Also the fact that the industrial development cannot take place without dealing with substances which are essentially harmful or hazardous in nature also highlights the need to put on responsibility on the shoulders of such enterprises for the protection of the people as well as nearby environment from any kind of damage by the escape of the harmful substance.

This is why the law of strict liability was seen as outdated, and was modified into the rule of absolute liability by the Supreme Court in the Oleum Gas leak case. It was expressly declared that the new rule was not to have any exceptions listed under the strict liability, and the Court justified it with the two reasons that:

The industry dealing with such potentially harmful substance for their own private profits are to be under social obligation to compensate those who it had harmed during or resulted due to any activity dealing with the said substance;

The industry alone has such resources that can be used to discover and protect such hazardous substances, thus it is their duty to maintain the utmost precaution available to

The Court further explained, “If the enterprise is permitted to carry on any hazardous or inherently dangerous activity for its profit, the law must presume that such permission is conditional on the enterprise absorbing the cost of any accident arising on account of such hazardous or inherently dangerous activity as an appropriate item of its overheads… This principle is also sustainable on the ground that the enterprise also has the resource to discover and guard against hazards or dangers and to provide warning against potential hazard.”[6]

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRICT LIABILITY AND ABSOLUTE LIABILITY

The four key differences between the rules of strict liability and absolute liability were laid down by the Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak case) as follows:

The most evident difference between the two is the lack of exceptions in case of absolute liability, which is still present in case of law of strict liability;

Absolute liability only covers those enterprises who are involved with activities regarding potentially harmful substances. Any other any other activities fall under the strict liability;

The escape of the harmful substance from its premise is one of the necessary essential of the strict liability, whereas it is not as such in case of absolute liability. Therefore, it means that the defendant will still be liable if a person is injured inside/outside the premise due to the activities involving the hazardous substance;

Another essential requirement of strict liability; the non-natural use of land is not necessary in case of absolute liability. This essential simply means that even if an individual owns a potentially harmful substance which he/she uses naturally escapes, then he/she will be still held liable; even after necessary precaution was

PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE ACT, 1991

Under the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, enterprises dealing with potentially harmful substance have to take out several policies covering liabilities for providing immediate relief to anyone who has being harmed in the course of the activity regarding the hazardous substance. This insurance is to be taken by the owner before his/her company even starts handling or dealing with the said substance. Immediate relief is provided to any person (worker, passer-by or any person in the vicinity of the accident) suffering injury or damage to property; in case of death of the said person, his/her heir are provided with the relief.

For the application of the relief, the victim or his/her family are to submit an application regarding the relief fund to the Collector within five years of the accident. A notice should be given to the owner and the insurer prior to the submission of the application; thus, giving both the parties a chance to be heard and negotiate the amount to be given for the relief. The victim, however, is still free to go to the Court in demand for higher compensation if not satisfied.

In case of non-compliance, refusal to provide relief or to take the insurance before participating in any activity regarding the hazardous substance can be punishable with imprisonment for a minimum period of 1 year and 6 months, which may extend to maximum 6 years with or without the fine which shall not be less than 1 lakh rupees. For any subsequent offences, the person can be punishable with minimum 2 years of imprisonment which can be extended to 7 years, with a fine of not less than 1 lakh rupees.

OTHER CASES

BHOPAL GAS LEAK DISASTER CASE[7]

Facts:

On the night of 2nd December of 1984, a mass disaster occurred in Bhopal due to the leakage of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) and other toxic gases from the Union Carbide India Ltd, (UCIL), which is a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a multinational company registered in USA. Almost 4000 people died and lakhs of people were injured due to leakage of more than 27 tons of methyl Isocyanate and other deadly gases, turning Bhopal into a literal gas chamber. Some people permanently lost their eyes, hearing senses while some suffered from neurological disorders and scores of other complications as well as several other diseases due to the result of coming in direct contact with the hazardous gases.

Issues:

Too many cases were filed against UCC at the same time in Indian as well as American Courts by the deceased victims’ family and by many of the affected people. So many cases that all the suits were consolidated and dismissed by Judge Keenan on the ground of forum inconvenience. Even after all this, a suit regarding this case was filed in the District of Bhopal which awarded compensation for 350 crores rupees. This amount, on an appeal to Madhya Pradesh High Court by UCC, was reduced to 250 crores rupees. However, this decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court was also challenged by both the parties; UCC and the Union of India. All these refiling of cases led to the delay of settlement and judgement of the whole affair.

Judgement:

The Supreme Court held down the law of absolute liability instead of strict liability for this case. The defense on the grounds of sabotage was rejected and the principle laid in the Supreme Court in the M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (oleum gas leak case) was held and followed. Furthermore, to ensure that in future, no such delay in providing compensation to the victims and their families happen, the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 was passed.

MADHYA PRADESH ELECTRICITY BOARD VS SHAIL KUMARI AND ORS[8]

Facts:

The plaintiff’s husband died due to electrocution on 25th May, 1999. According to her, her husband had gone to the field for collecting fodder on his cycle, when he came in contact with live electric wire lying on the ground which he was unable to see and was electrocuted. Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Ltd. admitted that on 24th May 1999, wire snapped due to heavy gale and rain and had fallen on sugar cane plant without touching the ground. Plaintiff’s husband, while going through the sugar cane field came into contact with the snapped conductor and got electrocuted. The Board had sanctioned an ex- gratia of amount 10,000 rupees to the family of the deceased man, which the commission found extremely inadequate.

Issues:

The live wire falling due to strong gale and rain was not an event the Board had any influence on, and the defendant plead that the reasonable care was taken. Whether the case was to be taken as nuisance or strict liability was also in question.

Judgement:

The Court held that the company supplying electricity is liable for the damage without proof that they had been negligent. Even the defense that the cables were disrupted due to the blowing of strong gale and rain the previous day, current found its way through the low tension cable into the premises of the plaintiff and thus, was the cause of an innocent man’s death. Thus, this could not be held as a justifiable defense. The Electricity Board was ordered to compensate the amount of 4,34,000 rupees for the electrocution of the plaintiff’s husband.

READ V. J LYONS[9]

Facts:

The plaintiff was employed by the Ministry of Defense to inspect defendant’s factory which made explosives for the Ministry of Supply in England. During her inspection, an explosion took place due to a shell detonating, which resulted in death of one person and injuring of the plaintiff and other employees. There was no clear evidence that negligence was the cause of the explosion.

Issues:

The products in the company were known for their ‘explosiveness’, thus, the Plaintiff was aware of the dangers, and the product did not ‘escape’ the premise. So, would the law of strict liability still apply?

Judgement:

According to the law of strict liability set from the case of Ryland’s vs. Fletcher, there are three main essential requirements that determine if a liability is strict liability or not. In those three essentials, escape of the potentially harmful substance is included, which did not apply to this case. Judge Viscount Simon held that the ‘escape’ was an important part of the essential requirements. Thus, in this case, there was no escape from the defendant’s land as the explosion had injured the plaintiff and others inside the premises of the factory itself and hence the rule of strict liability cannot be applied. Thus, the judgement was given in favor of the defendant and no relief or compensation was awarded to the plaintiff.

VIZAG GAS LEAK CASE

Since this is the most recent case regarding these tortious liabilities, proper judgements are yet to arrive. All the information mentioned below about the case are from secondary sources such as news sites.

Facts:

On the early morning of 7th May, 2020, there was an industrial accident of leakage of poisonous gas, Styrene Monomer at the LG Polymers chemical plant, which is suspected to have occurred due to malfunction in the cooling system of the storage tanks of the aforementioned gas. The resulting vapor due to the leakage had spread over the nearby villages and areas in Visakhapatnam, causing more than a 1000 causalities and about 13 deaths as of current.

Upon large number of protests and panic setting in the minds of the people, the Andhra Pradesh government immediately announced an ex-gratia of the amount 1 crore rupees to the family of the deceased, jobs to one member from the family and a slew of other relief packages.

Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the 8th of May, 2020, directed South Korean company LG Polymers India Ltd., to deposit an initial amount of ₹50 crores to the collector. The tribunal determined the amount after analyzing the company’s financial worth and the extent of damage caused by the gas leak. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson J. A.K. Goel also issued a notice to the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board and the Union Environment Ministry, seeking their response on the said incident by May 18, 2020.

Currently, the tribunal has invoked the case under the law of strict liability. Further judgement is yet to arrive or released to the public.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

There are many laws on various fields that are now considered outdated due to their restricted utility in contemporary times. One such law is the rule of strict liability, which even though is used still, has many such loopholes which can be easily exploited in today’s times. Thus, to correspond with the modern times, the rule was needed to be modified.

Absolute liability is very similar to the strict liability, but with its no-exceptions part, it avoids the exploitation and injustice to the suffering party. There was an immediate and inherent need for such a principle as the rule of strict liability cannot be taken as the sole principle to provide for compensation as it has been formulated about two centuries ago, when the level of technological development was just at its initial stage, in comparison with today’s overall development.

However, there is still need of some improvement, in case of the law of absolute liability. As mentioned before in the paper, the principle of absolute liability offers a compensation to the sufferers/victims whose amount is based on the paying capacity of the enterprise. It indeed is right that this condition will help the victims to get larger compensation, but that would only apply when the industries who have the large capacity to pay so. The smaller industries would lead the consequence of smaller compensation which may not be in accordance with the damage suffered, which goes against the basic principle of the tortious liability. Thus, it is highly suggested to change the deciding element behind the amount of compensation provided, to the quantum of damages suffered by the victims at least for the smaller industries to avoid any kind of injustice to the sufferers.

Concluding, the research questions are clearly answered as such, the first part being explained in details through various cases and the second part being researched and analyzed through cases like the Oleum Gas Leak case and Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, where the victims would have faced extreme injustice if strict liability would have been applied as these industries would have escaped from the liability by pleading the exceptions of the law of strict liability which very well applied to them. This would have not only caused an uproar in the public and resulted in severe injustice to the suffers, but it also would have given the notion that big enterprises are immune to such tortious liability.

REFERENCES

Books:

N. Pandey, Law of Torts, 9th Edition

S.K. Kapoor, Law of Torts, 7th Edition

N. Shukla, The Law of Torts, 20th Edition

Websites:

https://lawcirca.com/rule-of-strict-and-absolute-liability/ accessed on: 30th April, 2020.

https://ift.tt/3hj2EOksouthern-power-distribution-company accessed on: 3rd May,

http://kanoon.nearlaw.com/2017/10/18/public-liability-insurance-act-1991/ accessed on: 3rd May,

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/visakhapatnam-gas-leak- villagers-stage-protest-in-front-of-lg-polymers/article31542929.ece accessed on: 13th May, 2020.

https://ift.tt/2Ap3Mzengt-directs-lg-polymers-india-to-deposit-50-crore/article31532759.ece accessed on: 13th May, 2020.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/visakhapatnam-gas-tragedy-ngt-cites- obsolete-law-in-gas-leak-case/article31537617.ece accessed on: 13th May,

[1] The rule was formulated by Blackburn, J. in Exchequer Chamber in Fletcher vs. Ryland’s, (1866) L.R. 1 Ex 265.

[2] (1868) L.R. 3 H.L. 330.

[3] AIR 1987 SC 1086.

[4] W.V.H Rogers, WINFIELD AND JOLOWICZ TORTS, 8th ed. 2010 pp. 248.

[5] AIR 1982 AP 119.

[6] C.S. Mehta, Environmental Protection and Law, 2009, page no. 96.

[7] (1989) (1) SCC 674: AIR 1992 SC 248.

[8] (2002) 2 SCC 16.

[9] [1947] AC 156.

Authored By: DEBAPRIYA BISWAS

Student of Law, Amity Law School, Noida, Amity University Uttar Pradesh

Disclaimer: This article has been published in Legal Desire International Journal on Law, ISSN 2347-3525 , Issue 22, Vol 7

The post COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE PRINCIPLE OF STRICT LIABILITY AND ABSOLUTE LIABILITY appeared first on Legal Desire.

COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE PRINCIPLE OF STRICT LIABILITY AND ABSOLUTE LIABILITY published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

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davidrmaas · 5 years

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The gospel of Mark presents five incidents in which Jesus experienced opposition from Jewish religious leaders because he deviated from their traditions (Mark 2:1-3:6). He did not reject the Mosaic Law or Torah but some of the interpretations that they had added to it, especially ones related to ritual purity and Sabbath regulations. As the “Son of Man,” the Messiah, Jesus was not bound by human traditions and regulations; his authority was superior to the traditions of the “Scribes and Pharisees,” and even to the rituals of the Temple. At least two of the incidents occurred in a synagogue in Capernaum that had witnessed Jesus delivering a man from a demon (Mark 1:21-28; 2:1; 3:1). A Paralytic Forgiven (Mark 2:1-12) In this first incident, forgiveness occurs outside of the Temple with its sacrificial rituals, which explains the objections of the religious authorities from Jerusalem. He “cleansed” impurities and “forgave” sins apart from the means provided in the Torah. Jesus declared the paralytic’s sins “forgiven” or “discharged.” The Greek verb is used elsewhere for the “discharge” of debts. The conflict was not over the miracle he performed; it could not be denied, but to his authority to forgive sins. The scribes were scandalized. God alone had the authority to forgive sins! Moreover, this was done with no regard to the Temple rituals designed to deal with sin. The Greek verb for “arise” in verse 9 is the same one used for the raising of Jesus from the dead (Mark 16:6). The restoration of the body and the forgiveness of sins are linked; two sides of the same coin. Jesus came to make the entire man whole; the goal of forgiveness is bodily resurrection and new creation (Romans 8:11; 2 Corinthians 5:16-17). This is the first instance of the term, “Son of Man,” in Mark’s gospel. In his capacity as this “Son of Man” Jesus is authorized to discharge sin. The term is derived from the book of Daniel: (Daniel 7:13-14) - “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, And he came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.” By “Son of Man,” Jesus indicated the source of his authority, the “Ancient of Days” or God. His acts of healing demonstrate this authority. By standing up and carrying his litter, the healed paralytic demonstrated the validity of Christ’s authority; his right to forgive sins. Jesus thus demonstrated his authority to the crowds and to the Jewish religious authorities. Nevertheless, they rejected it and the conflict began that would lead inexorably to his death on a Roman cross. A Tax Collector is Called (Mark 2:13-17) The theme of forgiveness links this story to the preceding one. Already Jesus had offended Jewish religious authorities by discharging the sins of a paralytic. He now offends them further by associating with “sinners,” the outcasts of a proper religious society. Observing him eating with tax collectors, his opponents insinuate he is a notorious sinner. Tax collectors were despised in Jewish society. They handled currencies from pagan and Jewish sources and interacted with men from all walks of life. Contact with pagan symbols and Gentiles rendered put them ritually unclean and they were collaborators with Roman authorities. Levi was probably identical to Matthew (Matthew 9:9). It was common for a Jewish man to have two or more names. He would have been in the service of Herod Antipas. The Romans collected poll and land taxes directly, but taxes on transported goods were contracted to local tax collectors. Christ’s actions were scandalous since he associated with men who were morally, politically and ritually beyond the pale. Jesus compounded his offense by eating with these “sinners.” Table fellowship was important to observant Jews; eating with less than observant men put one’s ritual purity at risk. Pharisees adhered strictly to the Torah. They had developed a body of oral traditions that interpreted it. Of especial concern was ritual purity, so much so, that they went beyond what the Law required. Priests performing their duties in the Temple lived under the strictest requirements for ritual purity. Pharisees strove to live their lives conformed to that standard. Christ’s concluding statement emphasizes that his mission is about redemption. He came to redeem that which was lost. Matthew’s version adds the words, “go and learn what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). A Question About Fasting (Mark 2:18-22) Fasting was also a routine practice among Pharisees and many devout Jews. Some fasted twice a week (Matthew 3:4; 11:16-19, Luke 18:9-12). It was practiced on the Day of Atonement, though the Mosaic Law made no mention of this requirement (Leviticus 16:29). The Torah only specified that God’s people “humble their souls” on the Day of Atonement. Fasting was associated with mourning and repentance. Fasting might be a reasonable interpretation of how to “humble one’s soul” but, in fact, nowhere does the Torah explicitly command fasting. The fasting practices of Christ’s day reflect later interpretations of the Law. Jesus was the “bridegroom,” the Messiah, so his arrival ought to be a time of joy, not mourning. Christ was not characterized by ascetic practices but by his table fellowship, even with the lowest members of society (Matthew 11:16-19; Luke 5:29; 15:1). When a marriage occurred even the most devout Jew would cease fasting for the duration of the ceremonies. The “bridegroom” would be “taken away,” an allusion to Christ’s arrest, trial, and execution. Even at this early point, Jesus had some idea of where things would inevitably lead. The Greek verb for “take away” (apairō) echoes Isaiah 53:8: “By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?” Fasting was an old tradition. Jesus pictured it as a wineskin and an un-shrunken cloth. The old forms of Judaism could not contain the new things inaugurated by the Son of Man. Any attempt to combine old wineskins with new wine, or un-shrunken cloth with shrunken cloth, would result in destruction and loss. The old system was incapable of containing the “wine” provided by Jesus. A Sabbath Question (Mark 2:23-28) In the Genesis account, God ceased from his creative activities on the seventh day. However, the establishment of the Sabbath as a regulated day of rest was part of the Law of Moses, the Torah, a later requirement given at Mount Sinai. The disciples plucked ears of grain and rubbed them to separate the grain from the chaff. The Pharisees considered this “reaping and winnowing,” work prohibited on the Sabbath. It was permissible for anyone passing through a grain field to pick grain for immediate consumption; it was their “labor” on the Sabbath that was the problem (Deuteronomy 23:25). Jesus responded with a question from the life of David (1 Samuel 21:1-6). He was living as an outlaw. Only the priests could eat the Show Bread or the Sanctuary. David and his men did so because they were famished. Jesus cites this story as a precedent. Since he was the Greater David if that which had been put aside as holy was available for David’s use, how much more appropriate would it be to grant the Greater David access to what was holy? The “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” A fitting statement. In their zeal to obey the law, the Pharisees forgot its purpose: to do good to men. As a day of rest, God never intended men to be deprived of their basic necessities on it; even slaves and animals were allowed rest. Since the Sabbath was for man’s benefit and Jesus was the designated representative of Israel, it followed that the “Son of Man was Lord even of the Sabbath.” “Have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests break the Sabbath and are innocent? Yet something greater than the temple is here.” Sabbath restrictions were not absolute; priests engaged in “work” on it to fulfill their priestly duties in the Temple. But Jesus was even “greater than the Temple.” If priests could violate the Sabbath in the Temple and Jesus was greater than it, how could he be restricted from performing good works by Sabbath regulations? Jesus Heals on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-5) This incident occurred in a synagogue on the Sabbath. “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill” is a link to the preceding story. Like the Sabbath, the Torah was intended to give life, not to destroy it. This Jesus was about to do for a man with a withered hand. Not to restore his hand was tantamount to doing evil. Healing on the Sabbath was forbidden by tradition, not by the Torah. Tradition did allow an exception when a life was in immediate peril. If not, aid must not be given until after the Sabbath. Jesus could have waited until sunset to restore the withered hand with no additional harm to the man, but he refused to draw such narrow distinctions. To delay healing even for a few hours was to deny what the Law intended; to give life. A deformed person could not enter the sanctuary and participate in the covenant community’s worship life (Leviticus 21:16). This incident concerned something more than just physical healing. To restore the man to full membership in God’s covenant people was paramount and must not be delayed. The problem was not just with added traditions but with a regulation of the Torah that prevented an Israelite with a deformity from access to Yahweh’s presence and blessings (“No man of your offspring who has a defect will approach to offer the bread of his God. For no one who has a defect will approach: a blind man, a lame man, he who has a disfigured face or any deformed limb….only he will not go into the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect”). Christ’s actions answered his question: not only is it permissible to heal on the Sabbath, it is right to do so. The traditions of the Pharisees would lead to the destruction of life, not its restoration. Opponents Begin to Plot Christ’s Downfall (Mark 3:6) - “And having departed, immediately the Pharisees with the Herodians were giving counsel against him to destroy him”. His opponents included the Pharisees and the “Herodians” (Mark 12:13), the latter Jewish partisans of Herod Antipas. This is striking since the Pharisees were political enemies of Herod and unlikely allies of the Herodians. The Pharisees were devout adherents of the Torah and viewed Herodians as collaborators. Their alliance in a plot to destroy Jesus demonstrates the level of their animosity. This final incident is a major turning point in Christ’s ministry. The reaction of his opponents to this healing transformed them from critics into enemies set on destroying him (“the Pharisees went out and immediately and began to take counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Him” [cp. Mark 11:18; 15:1]). Jesus had gone too far. To the Pharisaic way of thinking, he had violated Sabbath regulations, fraternized with unclean sinners, disrespected their traditions, and presumed to forgive sins apart from the Temple rituals. To Herodians, his disturbances of the religious establishment constituted a threat to the political order. [Click here to Download PDF copy of this post]

http://finishedword.blogspot.com/2019/08/jesus-and-jewish-tradition.html

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basicsofislam · 5 years

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ISLAM 101: Your Zakaat

The Ultimate Objectives of Zakaat:

Allah May He be glorified and exalted has enjoined zakaat on the Muslims for a number of reasons including the following:

4) By paying zakaat the concept of social security and relative equality among members of society is realised. When the wealthy distribute the annual amount of zakaat among the rightful beneficiaries, wealth ceases to build up in a few hands and is instead kept in constant circulation. As the Qur’an states, “This is so that they do not just circulate among those of you who are rich.” (Soorat Al-Hashr, 59:7) Love of wealth is an innate human tendency, and Islam requires its followers not to be obsessively attached to wealth and to pay zakaat in order to purify their hearts from selfish greed.

Types of Wealth upon which Zakaat Is Due

Zakaat is not due on the necessities of life, such as food, drink, clothing, the house one lives in, even if it is a high-priced house, and the car one drives, even if it is a luxurious car. It is only due on types of wealth which are not kept for immediate use and which are bound to increase, such as the following:

1) Gold and silver (with the exception of gold and silver ornaments used by women for their personal use)

The minimum prescribed limit on which zakaat becomes obligatory (nisaab)on this type of wealth is as follows:

Zakaat due on gold is approximately 85 grams and that due on silver is 595 grams.

Therefore, if a Muslim has held such an amount for a whole year, he must pay zakaat at the minimum rate of two and a half per cent (2.5%).

2) All types of currency (banknotes and coins) held as cash in hand or bank balances

To illustrate, if one gram of pure gold at the time zakaat falls due is worth, say $25, the nisaab of the currency will be as follows:

25 (price of one gram of gold, which is unstable) x85 (number of grams, which is stable)= $2125 is the minimum exemption limit (nisaab). It is worth noting that estimating the nisaab liable to zakaat on banknotes, coins and commercial commodities is generally based on their corresponding minimum amount of gold, since the value of gold is more stable than any other kind of property.

3) Commercial commodities

This term stands for all properties owned with the aim of investing them in trade. They generally include assets, such as real property, and commodities, such as consumer goods and foodstuffs.

The value of commercial assets, which have been held in one’s possession for an entire lunar year, must be estimated according to the current market value on the day zakaat falls due. If the commercial commodities reach the nisaab, two and a half per cent (2.5%) of their value must be given out as zakaat.

4) Farm produce

The Qur’an states, “O you who believe, give away some of the good things you have earned and some of what We have produced for you from the earth.” (Soorat Al-Baqarah, 2:267)

Zakaat is due only on certain types of agricultural produce on condition zakaat able produce has reached the minimum amount on which zakaat is due (nisaab)

In consideration of people’s different circumstances, the amount of zakaat payable on farm produce varies according to costs spent and effort exerted in irrigation.

Livestock: Zakaat is due on livestock, such as cows, camels and sheep, only if the animals graze on pasture and the owner does not take a lot of trouble to supply them with fodder.

If he supplies them with fodder all or most of the year, zakaat is not due on them.

Details as to the minimum amount upon which zakaat is due (nisaab)on livestock are available in books on Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).

Recipients of Zakaat

Those who qualify to receive zakaat funds are as follows:

1)The poor and the needy are those who cannot meet their basic needs.

2) The destitute who live in absolute poverty as well as those who cannot meet their basic needs.

3) Those employed to collect and distribute zakaat.

4) Slaves who need money to purchase their freedom.

5) Those who have run into debt and cannot possibly pay it off, regardless of whether they have assumed debt for public or personal interest.

8) The travellers who are undergoing financial difficulties even if they are very rich back home.

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