#had it not been for the laws of this land (school) we would have slaughtered you (posted more regularly about this au)

[nguyenfinity]

rinky. impact. :]

#enstars #rinne amagi #niki shiina #rinniki #heheh. heheheheheheh. hehehEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH #AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA #:] #genshin #sanabean impact #had it not been for the laws of this land (school) we would have slaughtered you (posted more regularly about this au)

[3rdeyeblaque]

September 9th marks the 284th anniversary of The Stono Rebellion of 1739✊🏾

When an Angolan brotha called, Jemmy, led a band of 20 slaves into rebellion on the banks of the Stono River in Charleston, S.C., which put unprecedented fear in Whites. It was because of this uprising that laws were enacted that outlawd the enslaved from learning how to read, gathering in groups, & growing their own food. Thus, making it one of the most significant rebellions in the history of the U.S. colonies.

Jemmy & the rebel band marched southbound on a road toward the river, carrying banners that proclaimed their war very, "Liberty!". Their numbers swelled with more enslaved women and men as they went. By nightfall, 100 rebels had joined the cause. They broke into a local firearms store, arming themselves with guns & ammo. As they marched, they killed every overseer in their path and forced any reluctant slaves to join them.

From there the band marched toward the house of a Mr. Godfrey, where they burned the house & killed Godfrey and his family. It was just shy of dawn when they reached Wallace's Tavern. Because the innkeeper at the tavern was kind to his slaves, his life was spared. The White inhabitants of the next several houses in their path were all slaughtered. Those enslaved by a Thomas Rose reluctantly joined the rebellion, but not before hiding their slaver - of which they were later rewarded for. Still, many more rebels gladly joined the cause. By this point, a Lieutenant Governor Bull eluded the rebels & rode on horseback to spread the alarm. Once the band reached the Edisto River, Whites colonists set out in armed pursuit. Shots were exchanged across both lines. By dusk, about 30 rebels had fallen & at least 30 more had escaped. In the end, most rebels were captured over the next month, then executed. The remainder were pursued and captured over the following 6mo - all except 1 who remained a fugitive for 3 years. The few survivors were sold off to plantations in the West Indies.

The immediate factors that sparked the uprising remain uncertain. Many rebels knew of small groups of runaways had made their way from SC to FL, where they had been given freedom and land. There was also an ongoing malaria epidemic surging across SC. Ultimately, this unprecedented act of rebellion demanded unprecedented legislature. The European colonists finalized a Negro Act into law which aggressively limited the privileges & movement of the enslaved. No longer would slaves be allowed to grow their own food, assemble in groups, earn their own money, or learn to read. Some of these restrictions had been in effect before the Negro Act of 1740, but had not been strictly enforced. This also resulted in the forced indoctrination of slaves into Christian schools systems.

Let us remember Brother Jemmy and those who fought, willingly or not, against the colonizers. Their sacrifice may have set a great legal precedent in European colonizer politics, but it set an even greater one that would spark many fires and fan many more flames of rebellion, war, and freedom. Every step taken from this moment onward was a necessary one to achieve our "freedom" as we experience it today.

We pour libations of water (especiallyfrom the Stono River), speak their names, & offer prayers toward their elevation.

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

#hoodoo #hoodoos #atr #the hoodoo calendar #atrs #the Stono Rebellion #stono river #Angola #Angolan #slave rebellion #south carolina

[maskedinstructor]

Black Education in America-The Dumb -Continued

The Merry-Go-Round

I recall with elation, happiness and complete joy the participation of the children at the opening ceremony at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in Korea. Almost one thousand children performed in a karate exercise. It was marvelous. It was stunning. First, someone had to trust the children. Another had to believe that they would be disciplined enough to attend practices and then follow up at home. Someone had to have the faith in them that they would dedicate themselves so wholeheartedly to the program that it would be a success for the entire Earth to witness. Most of all, someone had to love them . All that is true for South Korea is called, ‘ The Land of Children’. Then America has to be recognized as the land which cannot protect its heirs.

 I.am not a prophet. However, I knew it would not be long before America revealed its true colors to us. A revelation that would secure for Black folks the appellation of the DUMB PEOPLE. I delayed my response to the killings in the hope all Black  citizens had the occasion to read what transpired. In short,, Black folks were murdered again by an armed white man. It’s hunting season. The totals from the Buffalo incident are as follows: 13 people shot at a supermarket in the Black community of Buffalo. Ten people were killed...ALL BLACK. After the slaughter,  the MERRY -GO - ROUND began.

But wait...GOD BLESS NICOLE HOCKLEY. One morning, she sent her son off to school and he never returned. Mrs. Hockley was being interviewed on national television on the subject of the slaughter of school aged children. Yes! I said the murder of  elementary school children. The reporter thought he might bring a  personal, candid and meaningful perspective to the gun violence problem in America in light of the most recent murders of children at the Uvalde Elementary School in Texas. Mrs. Hockley’s son was killed some 10 years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She fought hard to force the congress to write some gun control legislation. Now 10 years later and many massacres, none has been written into law. It is as if the congress is on another planet. It is controlled by a gun lobby which will not champion the needed legislation in spite of the many killings happening in the country it was elected to protect. I continue. The President of the United States pleaded with Congress on national television. He stated that we are the only country with this problem. He complained that the country is helpless and lacks the courage to force the gun lobbyists to do what is right for America and not private interests. Why do we need assault rifles? There are no deer running around here in Kevlar vests,” implored President Biden... The halls of Congress are still quiet.

Remember Mrs. Hockley. She did not rest when her son was killed. She formed her own organization to help grieving parents survive the tragedy of a child lost to gun violence. She fought hard and with honor to secure comprehensive gun control legislation for the country. To no avail. Congress refused to act. This begs the question,” Who are the real dumb people?”

Here beginneth the Merry-Go- Round. Uvalde is the 27th school shooting grades K-12, college and university this year, 2022. We have already informed you of the massacre in Buffalo in which 10 African American were killed in a supermarket. The right to vote is being suppressed in more than half of the states of the union. States are being gerrymandered to literally make the Black vote impotent. Yet they, electeds,  are generous with our tax money and quickly act so that the Ukraine would receive aid in the billions of dollars. America has supplied weapons, medical and food supplies to that beleaguered country. Speaker Pelosi visited that country with a contingent of elected officials. Not to be outdone, McConnell then followed with a contingent of Republicans. Yet they cannot collaborate to save our children. What is this to them some sort of game? How many of these selected electeds have gone to Buffalo or Uvalde? These are white men and women who do not care what their citizenry thinks. They do what they want. They operate within their own free will. They are controlled by the highest bidder. Their children are safe for the most part. Most do not attend the public schools which are under attack. They have time. They can wait,  form a committee, discuss ways to legislate the problem. They have not figured out a solution to the problem since Columbine. The parents of Sandy Hook Elementary School are still waiting...10 years. We are the dumb people, voters and citizens who let this nonsense continue.

We owe support and action to Mrs. Hockley and the many others who lost loved ones to the violence of others, not on the battlefields of foreign soil, but, attending school in the great cities of our America. It took only a few months for the Congress to make decisions on the Ukraine. There is no reason that this same Congress cannot act to address the many issues facing our nation...At the moment, COMPREHENSIVE GUN CONTROL is the major one. Do we stay dumb, ignorant and immobile. Or... do we stop the manslaughter of our most precious seed , our children? Years from now, our progeny will look \back on us and call us heroes or cowards...At the moment , we are all THE REAL DUMB PEOPLE. Tell me which is the lesser of the two evils, watching our  babies assassinated or allowing our congressional representation pretend it cannot act with all deliberate speed?  Perhaps, it is that we don’t love our children enough to force the Congress to do what it was elected to perform...LEGISLATE

[neonnoir-ao3]

Some Words of Comfort.

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of people (especially those who have read spoilers/are actively searching for leaked content) lament about their future reactions to the deaths of our beloved characters in-game.

We all knew this was inevitable, and that them living was not an option for the plot of the game, but the time has finally come to face it head-on.

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I understand that someone outside this community might be like “it’s just a game”, but I know it’s way more than that to many: the concept of a female villain that, to many, can be seen as sympathizable and even endearing, is a bit of a new concept— especially on such a large scale as this instance.

In addition, Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters have become a bit of a comfort item for some (with an emphasis on sapphics/wlw, from what I’ve seen personally) in the form of a large, protective, and caring hypothetical partner, or even just a maternal character one can appreciate simply because of her love for her children. Regardless, most of us are here due to some desire for comfort.

Take my own story with this community, for example:

(tws for death, covid, suicide, and general medical emergencies)

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Frankly, 2020 and the beginning of 2021 have ruined me. I lost two men who were the only two positive father figures I’ve ever had. The last of the two tested positive for covid and deteriorated within days, to the point where less than a week after testing positive, my family was making the choice to pull the plug. This all occurred days before Christmas and my birthday. On the first day of the spring semester, having not had the time to properly mourn my grandfather, my mother is in the ER for multiple days with an internal infection that doctors said likely would have turned septic if she had waited to come in any longer. This led to three surgeries throughout the next few months. (Oh, and one of my relatives quite literally dropped dead on that first day of class, too). I am also estranged from one of my parents, and they have been trying to contact my family: they have multiple untreated mental illnesses (severe NPD, bipolar, and more) and they are extremely aggressive in that state of mind and they are agitated extremely easily. That only brings more stress, along with resurfacing trauma and related emotions. Every moment of every day has been a struggle. So much so that I failed half of my classes voluntarily simply because I couldn't do them anymore.

To be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t expect to be here right now. I expected that the pain of simply moving forward would have finally overridden my fears of death and that I would have already ended my suffering by now.

Then, in late January, I saw something trending on Twitter. About a new female villain in an upcoming horror game. And it went from there.

As cheesy as it sounds, this fandom and its content seriously saved my life. In the darkest of days, I’ve come to this tag for comfort. The oddest way I found said comfort was through those who were attracted to Alcina aesthetically. I have extremely long-term trauma related to being bullied and being the victim of a hybrid catfishing/'Oreo Game' on early social media by peers in middle school to the point where I do not think of myself as being able to be loved, let alone being worthy of it. Finding this community not only provided a great form of escapism (and opened a door into a fantasy world where I could imagine my own person vampire milf gf), but also gained a little bit of self-esteem (as many of you know, I share a lot of visual qualities with Alcina. -yes, I'm still kinda freaked out about it-) via seeing people where features/attributes like mine were actively praised and desired rather than insulted and pushed away like they have been until now.

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(okay sorry that kinda turned into a trauma dump but I needed to emphasize the fact that this community has seriously helped me during a really dark point in my life, and I know I can't be the only one with that sort of experience)

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What I’m trying to get across here is that, like many others, this community and its content have been comforting and therapeutic, and it really is more than just a game to us. It’s entertaining and even a form of escapism in these extremely trying times. We all have some degree of PTSD from surviving a literal mass plague— and this is something we're using as a method of coping. a distraction. a coping mechanism.

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With that being said, here are some ways to hopefully assist in lessening the emotional stress:

(please note that I am not a mental health professional and these may not be healthy coping mechanisms for everyone.)

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Understand that it’s just a game.

I know, this sounds completely counterintuitive, but it’s more or less about keeping your level of immersion down. Personally, I can’t do scary shit in general: I have to listen to music on low volume while watching dark ARG vids at night or when I’m alone because I get too into it, and then my paranoia kicks in. Sometimes just pausing for a moment and grounding yourself/reminding yourself that this is a video game: a jumble of code and 3D rendering that doesn’t have to affect your views/headcanons if you don’t want it to. Did your favorite character just get slaughtered? Nope, that 3D rendering of them just got un-alived, that’s all.

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Ignorance is Bliss/We are the Captain Now

Simple: Capcom can’t even pronounce Dimitrescu right, or even acknowledge the way it’s correctly said in Romanian culture itself. How can you trust them to give you a perfect canon? That’s the thing: with that logic, you can’t. What they say is true means little (if anything, for that matter) to your headcanons and preexisting ideas of the Dimitrescus. In short: fuck ‘em.

I’m currently seeking a double major in pop culture, and one of the cool things I’ve learned so far is affirmational vs transformational fandom. Affirmational is where official canon is seen as the law of the land, and followed to a T. Transformational is seen as much more inviting for audiences, allowing them to bend canon as they wish to fit their own creations. This fandom is obviously transformational, so take that game canon, rip it up, and get back to whatever you were doing.

Capcom’s canon is not the end-all, be-all. Far from it, actually.

Want to still acknowledge canon? Godmod your way out of it.

Character A died? It’d be a shame if they emerged from the rubble they 'died in' a few hours later, very beaten but alive nonetheless... how awful would it be if they sulked away, nursed their wounds, and continued to live... (/s)

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Ignore it completely.

Remember: give it time. Once the game drops, there w be a wave of grief, but eventually, we as a community will recover, and get back to business as usual. Think about it like the in any way. Stay with the version in your head that makes you happy.

Get Creative!

If you're into creating fanart, writing fics, or even just posting a list of headcanons, take some advice from the late Carrie Fisher: "Take your broken heart, and make it into art". Make the fluff oneshot of your dreams! Draw the fanart you've been wanting to! dump lighthearted headcanons into the tags! Not only will it cheer you up, but sharing it with the community will spread the love!

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I know a lot of people are struggling with this emotionally (especially with the pandemic making entertainment like this even more important sources of escapism and coping mechanisms) and I hope that, at the very least, I was able to help comfort one person who reads this.

Remember: give it time. Once the game drops, there will be a wave of grief, but eventually, we as a community will recover, and get back to business as usual. Think about it like the flowers that bloom after major wildfires: after a period of loss, some beautiful can still come of it.

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💙

#tall vampire lady #lady alcina #lady dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu #castle dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #dimitrescu daughters #dimitrescu family #dimitrescu sisters #cassandra dimitrescu #countess dimitrescu #house dimitrescu #resident evil #re: village #resident evil village #resident evil: village

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

canNOT decide which version of “Harry Wilson actually already knows Kate Bishop, thanks anyway” i like more:

Harry was one of Derek Bishop’s attorneys and he’s actually the one who cut Kate off

variations on “Harry worked for Derek”

he calls her now that he’s a good guy to talk to her about her dad’s company, he’s thinking of seeing if Leverage will go after Derek next, and he asks her to meet up with him

at like, an abandoned warehouse or something super sketch like that

and Kate says sure, but she’s ALSO not stupid, so she calls David and asks if he’ll go with her

David Hardison says yeah, his babes are going to be in New York that week so he’ll be able to spend time with them!! 

They meet in the super sketchy warehouse and Harry’s all “Hardison? What are you doing here?” and Hardison is all “why the hell are you calling my friend Kate,” and Kate’s all “David why the hell do you know my dad’s asshole lawyer”

a hiLARious misunderstanding

Harry finds out Kate is Hawkeye and he’s like. okay. okay. i need a minute. i need to find someplace to sit down. you’re saying you could have sniped me at any moment, i just, i need a minute

if this is KateQuinn then Quinn goes with her, OBVIOUSLY

and Eliot goes with Harry because Harry lets slip he’s meeting up with someone who probably doesn’t like him very much

Eliot and Quinn are both checking the perimeter and run into each other. they start fighting before they realize who they are

and then it’s lots of back slapping and “dude!”

Eliot rolls his eyes so hard when he finds out Harry is here to see Kate

if he’d been less secrety, they could have had this meeting somewhere with less water damage

harry has a lil crush on quinn

PERHAPS Kate goes to meet Harry, but this time she’s bringing her OWN lawyers, Matt and Foggy, who Harry ALSO knows

and he’s just like, fuck, fuck, i CANNOT catch a break

OR. Leverage is working an unrelated gig and Kate just happens to be at the party they are at to work the mark

Harry and Kate lock eyes and she. the look she gives him. it’s a MURDER look.

and harry’s just like shit shit shit. i think she knows i helped her dad put a hit on an avenger. how does she know. 

Eliot intercepts her before she gets to Harry because Kate can legitimize the con and she’s helped them before

Kate realizing Harry is on the earbuds and straight up threatening him with murder when she’s done

MattKate version where they’re at the party and Matt can tell Harry has the earbud in and tells Kate it’s David’s team

Kate stalks up to Harry and says something to the effect of “say hi to david for me” and Eliot and Parker start freAKIng out because yay!!! kate!!!

they tell Harry what to say so Kate doesn’t deck him and ruin the con

at some point Eliot goes “i think Kate’s lawyer boyfriend is the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen”

“the BLIND LAWYER?”

“it’s a very distinctive stance!”

Harry realizes he not only helped Derek put a hit on an avenger but also his own daughter and harry has a meltdown

OR

they’re running the info on their next job, which is bishop publishing, and Kate walks in, sees Harry, LAUNCHES herself at him, and decks him

cut to harry with a bag of frozen peas against his face while Eliot tries not to laugh

Harry put together the prenup for Derek and wife #5 and went to the wedding. He had the good fortune to sit next to Kate who was guessing how long the marriage would last and how much everything cost like “these super ugly floral arrangements could have funded the meal programs in three schools”

kate kind of hates everything, so harry asks why she even came?

she wanted to glare at her dad the whole night. just enough to make him and the bride uncomfortable

“she’s my age. that’s very ew.” 

“to be fair, she’s almost thirty, once you hit thirty age differences are less--”

“i know how old she is, we graduated high school together.”

“ah, yep. ew.”

the wedding was held at an art museum or something

kate: i know someone who stole this painting once.

harry: ha. ha. ok.

somehow convinced harry to steal some champagne and go into an off limits area to play beer pong with champagne

“i didn’t go to college right after high school, this is what college is like, yeah?”

“it is absolutely not”

he says something about her inheritance and she snorts. she’s not in the will.

harry thinks he could probably write her back into it and no one would know

he’s impressed she has her own business

she’s not impressed he works for her dad

he humblebrags about his daughter

kate: u know what would piss my dad off

harry: i do not.

kate:

harry: no. absolutely no. nope. 

kate: :(

they keep running into each other

kate sneaks into her dad’s new year’s eve party (she was not invited)

she’s planning on stealing some data from him. like crime data

harry has no idea she wasn’t invited, he’s just like “thank fuck someone fun”

at midnight they do the “should we?” awkward shoulder bob thing and give each other a respectful lil smooch

people start to leave and Kate has to bounce before her dad notices her

Harry of course is all “i should walk you home or to a cab, it’s late, who knows what could happen”

which to Kate is the equivalent of a puppy barking at a vacuum

anyway at some point they probably make out

and then Kate realizes Harry’s a sketchy kind of lawyer and nopes out immediately

cut to a year later, Eliot’s telling the team that Hawkeye is going to be joining them on this job for some unspecified reason

everyone is mildly insulted at how surprised Harry is that they know an Avenger

Breanna is SO EXCITE. She temped for Kate one time and they accidentally blew up some dickbag’s bitcoin mining operation because he was stealing electricity from a poor neighborhood

to clarify, FINDING the guy was an accident, the explosion was planned

Alec had given them his “i’m very disappointed” face when he found out. apparently Kate is immune to that face

but the whole point of working with kate was to not do crime so alec was all “no more temp for you”

but basically everyone knows which Hawkeye Eliot is talking about and they’re all really excited and don’t worry, Harry, Hawkeye is cool

and in comes Kate

she and Harry see each other and freeze all YOU

and of course EVERyone in that room either knows how to read people or is being trained to read people so they’re all going oH WHAT. WHAT. SOMETHING HAPPENED WITH THE TWO OF YOU OH OHHHHH

“what are you doing here, sketchy-ass lawyer man?”

“it’s mr. sketchy ass lawyer man to you, and what do you mean what am i doing here, what are you doing here?”

“so i guess you two know each other,” Eliot says

“yeah???” goes kate “he’s one of my dad’s douchebag lawyers!”

“ex douchebag lawyer.”

eventually it gets to harry going “wait, I thought hawkeye was coming?” and all of the rest of leverage going “she’s Here!” and waving in Kate’s direction

Harry is quiet for a minute and then is like “i guess that’s why you laughed at me when i offered to walk you home on new year’s”

“i didn’t MEAN to laugh”

OR Harry represented Derek against Kate

OR Harry was originally Kate’s council as part of Derek Bishop’s team of lawyers, and then when Kate realized her dad was a criminal it became Harry’s job to make her go away and stop causing a ruckus so Kate’s only reason for agreeing to help is on the off chance she gets to punch him

or

harry comes in to meet their newest client and is all ???? the fuck is that vapid heiress doing here, how does someone like her warrant our help

and of course kate is like, tf is that asshole doing here, mr hey-derek-let’s-hide-some-of-your-money-offshore like THAT’s not super sus

at some point he sees her and eliot sparring and harry just. bluescreens. does not compute.

he never had to deal with kate personally but stories about her are legendary, she’s the WORST kind of young money. reckless spending. drinks like the world is going to end. will snort anything.

and here she is. an actual superhero. who apparently uses partying as a cover for vigilantism. and knows how to fool a breathalyzer into thinking she’s drunk when she’s not

he feels bad for whoever her legal council is now. imagine having to deal with that.

turns out he’s her legal council now. whoops.

someone points out that they’re all sort of vigilantes

and someone--either Parker or Kate--goes, “we’re not vigilantes, we’re a vigilanTEAM”

harry has the most profound moment of “were it not for the laws of this land i would have slaughtered you where you stand” he’s ever had in his life

#leverage #leverage redemption #kate bishop #hawkeye #young avengers #harry wilson #our mr. wilson #david alleyne #alec hardison #eliot spencer #mr. quinn #obsessed with this idea

[minzart]

@vallison-rea You’re in luck bc being an ex-assassin Astrid knows a LOT of intimidation tactics and threats so here we go. IDK if this is what you wanted but here are some if Astrid’s more intimidating and violent quotes

Astrid: Move. Or you will be moved.

Astrid: Had it not been for the laws of this land I would have slaughtered you.

Astrid: If they touch you again I swear to god I will slam them on that table over there and drive this pen through their brain.

Astrid (pretending to be under Jamil’s UM): *In Russian* Ready to comply

(Mild Spoiler for Chap 6) Astrid to Idia: How about I rip those ears off your face so no more sulfur graphite can get stuck in them then you scrawny ass weeb ?

Astrid: I’ve only known Cheka for a few seconds but if anything happens to that sweet boy i will murder everyone in this school and then myself.

I love her so much

[fanfoolishness]

Mandalorian live-blogging, chapter 12, the Siege!

What did the Client really want to do with Grogu? He didn’t exactly seem to be on good terms with Gideon.

Din: “I finally know where I’m taking you — away from my life but not from my heart *cryyyyyy*” — oh wait, was that not the one?

The very practiced way Din is asking Grogu to do complicated shipboard maintenance suggests this has absolutely happened how many times before?

Din is so expressive here! All his gestures! So much nodding! His “no!” Hands! Shit, maybe my storyline about Din teaching Grogu sign is being carried on right here.

This may be the longest amount of time Din Djarin has spent continuously talking in about a year. I love how Grogu brings it out of him. He’s clearly exasperated by the shitty ship, but endlessly patient with Grogu, and I love how his voice absolutely conveys both of those emotions simultaneously

The tender way he says “no no no” to Grogu is so gentle.

I also love his contentedly narrating to Grogu as a part of their daily routine

I could easily watch 20 minutes of that type of content every episode and try to include pure adorableness like that in just about every fic I write

Oh, Cara Dune... why are you such an enjoyable character played by such an obnoxious person? I’m glad Gina Carano is taking her nonsense elsewhere, especially since it was clear she’d had multiple warnings, multiple chances to educate herself, but damn, I am gonna miss Cara on screen lugging Din around like a rag doll, or just smashing people in the face. I really appreciated seeing a woman on screen with the physique and capability to be that effortlessly kickass.

Din Djarin, wearing a jetpack: scrambles off his shitty ramp with all the grace of a flying lobster

I love the dynamic of Greef and Cara and Din. I hope we at least get to see Greef again! Maybe he’ll be like “now that the town’s cleaned up, the Marshal’s moved on.” Also, since when do we have Marshal in Star Wars? I’ve seen how many SW movies how many times, and no such thing as local law enforcement, let alone local law enforcement with a Western flair? Then all of a sudden Mando S2 shows up with Cobb Vanth and Cara Dune and I’m wondering if it’s an actual legal position in the Outer Rim and like, a cultural title of Outer Rim humans on many worlds (because it sure as shit doesn’t sound like a title you’d take in the Core Worlds).

Anyway, Greef’s actual love and adoration of Grogu is the sweetest. Maybe he and Peli can start a Grogu fan club and be the founding auntie and uncle.

Still can’t believe I missed that statue of IG-11 until I saw it pointed out here on tumblr.

Just think of how this is probably the first time Din’s been around this many children since Sorgan. And Sorgan kids had it different, they had a world that loved and protected them, and a place they could freely be above ground, and so that was fine; and Din had thought the children of his covert, the foundlings, they were fine too. But then it turns out it wasn’t true, the foundlings weren’t safe, they were slaughtered. And this is Nevarro, a township that wasn’t Home, but was nonetheless home to his people; and he remembers a little school in their hidden, simple covert for the foundlings in their training helmets; and he’s both heartened and pained that this group of children, at least, are able to be schooled in a safe place.

Din trusts these people as much as he’s trusted any non-Mandalorians, and it’s a lot! He knows he can ask them for help with the ship, he knows they saved his life and Grogu’s. And yet still see how unsure he is to leave Grogu at the school! He knows they don’t mean harm, he sees how beautiful and well-used the school is, he knows it should be safe... but he still stares after Grogu, barely looking at Cara, wanting to follow him. “Wherever I go, he goes,” says Din desperately, barely bearing to trust that anyone else could keep the kid safe like he could.

I keep thinking I need to write a fic of him flying off to go get Grogu at the end, now that I’m rewatching it, perhaps now is the time!

I’d love to have some of these kids’ Star Wars hairstyles

Hey! The Maelstrom! I know that! You know Han Solo did the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs? And I love correcting people when they think SW didn’t know what they were talking about? Parsecs ARE a unit of distance and that’s what Han meant because of the Maelstrom! He got dang freaking close to it! Anyway I’m just very excited because y’all do realize they built the Sun Crusher in the Maelstrom? Anyone here read those books?

Grogu is such a little shit! and he really did just say “Patu,” huh

I love Greef’s beard. I love it! Are we saying it enough? It’s great!

So is Nevarro basically an asteroid? Are they seriously flying to the other side of the planet for this? Maybe it’s tiny? How can Din fly over half a planet on a jetpack? Nevarro must be a galactic pebble.

I could watch Din just get in and out of vessels all day long

Din is just so excited to use the Phoenix and I love that he’s not that good at it but loves it anyway. “Hold tight”

Lava tide? The hell is this shit planet.

Din is not impressed by stormtroopers one little bit. I love him standing there all nonchalant.

Din is just sooooo shiny in this episode.

Cast it into the fire, Isildur!

Why do these bases never have guard rails for these giant drops

The Mythrol asked the same question 1.3 seconds later

Mythrol? Cracks of doom? Mithril??? A coincidence? Surely not

Greef I love your outfit so much

Yeaaaaaaah get those Snoke-looking bitches outta here

Din with a horrible sinking feeling... “I don’t like this...”

Din is heavily regretting letting this man live rn

Din must have been seeing. FUcking. RED

You know if they stop building their hallways with fucking COVER the stormtroopers won’t keep getting killed in them by enemy assailants with better weapons and aim

Din running to get his son <3

Cara SMASH and I love it

Din, you flew away over the LAVA? That is so badass. And I love his very clumsy superhero landing. And taking a running leap off the top of the lava flat

I love that Cara doesn’t quite get the whole kid thing, but totally supports Din in his love of fatherhood

Cara would be GREAT at driving the Mako

I do love how often environmental hazards take out scouttroopers on their speeder bikes. Like, no shit! You’re a human trying to go 300 miles an hour? Since when is our reaction time capable of that???

Dammit TIE fighters! They’re much more intimidating on a planet, actually. They pack a serious punch when you aren’t shooting ship-sized lasers back at them

Yes!!! The shitty little Razor Crest that could!

And Grogu’s excitement! He trusts Din so much now that it doesn’t even enter his mind they might be in danger. He just knows Din’s here, we’re gonna have fun, I trust him.

And think how much Grogu has grown since S1. He would have been hiding in the back with all of that excitement beforehand, not excited and waving his hands and giggling

Din is just... resigned to Grogu being sick. And he could clean Grogu up and go back to see Greef, but he just wants to make sure the kid’s okay... especially after what he’s just learned about Moff Gideon.

I do miss the slower pacing of S2. I would have liked another episode in between this and The Jedi where Din just sort of processes and deals with all of this new information.

Oh hurr hurr wait I write fanfic

I like that some of these Imps don’t have the Coruscanti accent. They’re just like... y’know, American.

Gideon is so childishly pleased by his Darktroopers, like get over yourself, dingus

If Favreau took this episode I wonder if that means he wanted to make sure all the mythology and shit is going according to plan. Or maybe I’ve just been watching too much X-Files. If Chris Carter wrote an ep, it was mythology ONLY, and that was it.

The end! Maybe I’ll write tomorrow :)

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian liveblog #mandalorian #mando #din djarin #Greef Karga #Cara dune #grogu #Nevarro #my mando meta

[eretzyisrael]

Faye Schulman was a young Jewish photographer in Poland who became a resistance fighter after her family was slaughtered by the Nazis. For the next two years, she took pictures of what she witnessed, leaving an extensive photographic record for posterity.

Born Faigel Lazebnik in 1919, she was one of seven children in an Orthodox Jewish family in Lenin, a small village in Poland. Known as Faye, she learned four languages: Yiddish at home, Polish at school, Hebrew in religious school, and Russian among the non-Jewish townspeople. Her brother Moshe was a professional photographer and she worked as his assistant, developing a keen eye and a talent for photography. When Moshe moved to another town, Faigel took over his business.

After the Nazis invaded Lenin in 1941, they forced the town’s Jews into a squalid ghetto. On August 14, 1942, the Germans “liquidated” the Lenin ghetto by brutally murdering 1,850 Jews, including Faye’s parents, sisters, and brother. Only 26 Jews were spared because the Nazis could make use of their skills. Faye was ordered to develop photographs of the massacre that claimed the lives of her family as well as almost everyone she knew. She secretly made extra copies of the pictures and kept them to bear testimony to Nazi crimes against humanity.

Soon after, Faye escaped from the Nazis and joined the Molotava Brigade, a group of Russian resistance fighters in the forest of Belarus. She said, “This was the only way I could fight back and avenge my family.” They were known as “partisans” – an insurgent militia group opposing an occupation army. Despite rampant antisemitism in the group, she was allowed to join because she had some basic medical skills learned from her late brother-in-law, who had been a doctor in Lenin. Faye became the group’s nurse, serving alongside the resident doctor, a veterinarian. For almost two years, Faye dressed fighters’ wounds and did whatever she could for sick and injured fighters, despite a lack of medical equipment. She participated in armed raids, later remembering “When it was time to be hugging a boyfriend, I was hugging a rifle. Now I said to myself, my life is changed. I learned how to look after the wounded, I even learned how to make operations.”

Faye’s partisan brigade raided her hometown of Lenin, during which the resistance fighters acquired food, weapons and supplies. As they passed her childhood home, Faye urged her fellow partisans to burn it to the ground, which they did. “I won’t be living here. The family’s killed. To leave it for the enemy? I said right away: Burn it!”

Faye found her old photographic equipment, and brought it back to their forest encampment. For the next two years, Faye documented the dangerous existence of anti-Nazi partisans. It was vitally important to her because as she later said, “I want people to know that there was resistance. Jews did not go like sheep to the slaughter. I was a photographer. I have pictures. I have proof.”

Faye’s resistance group was liberated by the Soviets in July 1944. After the war ended, she was overjoyed to find that her brother Moshe had also survived and had been part of another resistance group. Faye and Moshe were the only survivors of their family of nine. Soon after Faye married Morris Schulman, who’d fought alongside Moshe. They decided to make a new life in Palestine, then occupied by the British, who made it difficult if not impossible for war-scarred Holocaust survivors to enter the land. For two years the Schulmans were stuck in a displaced persons camp in Germany, waiting for the opportunity to immigrate. They helped smuggle arms into Palestine to support the Jews fighting for independence. In 1947 Faye became pregnant, and they needed someplace safe to live. They were able to get visas to Canada, and settled in Toronto, where they ran a family business and raised two children. In 1995, Faye published a book about her experience as an anti-Nazi resistance fighter: “A Partisan’s Memoir: Woman of the Holocaust.”

Faye died on April 24, 2021, surrounded by her family, at age 101. Sadly, the last few years of her life saw an upsurge of antisemitism worldwide. Faye left an inspiring message for young people today: “To Jewish kids I would like to say – be proud to be Jewish. To non-Jewish kids I would like to say – if there is a war and you have to fight, fight for freedom and don’t be ashamed to be in the army.”

For saving lives, battling Nazis, and leaving a photographic record so the horrors of the Holocaust would not be forgotten, we honor Faye Lazebnik Schulman as this week’s Thursday Hero.

#faye schulman #resistance #the resistance #nazis #photography #faigel lazebnik

[daiseukiis]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 ┊ 02 ┊ 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 ┊ 04

⠀

⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀"HERE, IT'S FROM YOUR SISTER." mizuki reaches out to gojo who passes by the hallway of the dorms. she was in her normal clothing, her off day. a dark blue sweater engulfs her body along with the black jeans and hair that was tied in a mess with a single clip. she took a few steps to catch up the male that walked pass her room.

"huh? what is it." gojo turns to face her, taking in her homey look before inspecting the white paper bag in her hands. mizuki brings it out for the sorcerer to grab as she straightens up her posture.

"she's doing well, she talked a lot about you when i visited." she explains and exhales softly, catching her breath after having a hectic schedule.

"my giri no ani and nephew?" gojo takes the bag and looks through the contents which his sister had brought him from overseas.

"he's still capable of protecting them and safe delivery to onee-san." she puts her hand on her hip, a defeated smile to see how after all these years there was still that small distrust he felt towards his in-law. 'what an overgrown protective goof.'

"snacks, photos and... a letter?" he grabs out the small white envelope for both of them to see.

"letter?" mizuki repeats after him and watches as he opens up the envelope to read what was written inside. seeing that her job to deliver the presents that his sister had bought for him, her presence there was no longer needed. it's not as if he also would share what was the contents in the letter either, so mizuki went to take her leave.

"alright, your turn." gojo hums.

"what?" mizuki snaps back, turning her head to face him after her hand just reached her doorknob. gojo walks towards the short figure, "where's my souvenir?"

"what?" she asks once again, she had to know that he was messing around because, well, this is gojo we're talking about. her face scrunched up her nose, filling her expression with confusion and mild taste of shock when he didn't respond in the next seconds that he was joking.

"you heard me, mizuki fuyusame." gojo stands tall in front of her figure, to the point mizuki had to stretch her neck more than usual to see his blindfolded face. he let's out a small chuckle as he watches her expression transition into a scowl.

'ugh, i hate being called by my full name.' it wasn't something gojo would do often, but he did have a knack for annoying the other sensei of their school. "what makes you think i bought anything for you?"

"our precious yukihana told me so." he takes a step back, smirking mischievously as he watches mizuki's face start to slowly pale as dust of pink appear on her cheeks. "then again, you never give them to me and just keep them stuffed in your closet."

'that's why all the souvenirs i buy disappear. it was mari's doing.' mizuki's palm lands on her forehead, causing strands of her hair to fall on to her face. she really needed to fix her appearance right now, but dismissed that fact. groaning, she looks straight at gojo with full confidence.

"i didn't buy you anything, now leave me alone." clasping her hand onto her hair clip, she releases her silky brown locks so it would fall down her waist, stuffing the clamp into her hoodie's pocket. mizuki's wrist turns to open her door and leave, that was until gojo catches her attention.

"are you sure about that? what's this then." he holds up a light beige button up shirt in front of her, making her turn to look back at him. eyes went wide the moment it fell on the article, reaching out for the shirt only for him to bring it higher to a point which she couldn't reach.

"that's for me!" mizuki tries to jump up for the shirt, it was still too high for her to reach. 'stupid tall bastard!'

"mens size?" he hums out. mizuki who had given up trying to take back the shirt took a step back, crossing her arms and staring at the blindfolded man, "clothes have no gender. what does it being in the mens section have anything to do with what i wear?"

"how about wearing my shirts next then?" he took a step closer to mizuki as he plants a hand beside her head, trapping her between the suddenly closed door and his body. the smirk on his face was once more teasing the female, one which she quickly mirrored back.

"the same one you're wearing that's going to have a hole in it?" mizuki's hand gently laid atop gojo's chest, above his heart as she inches her face closer to his. her lips even centimeters away from touching his, tension built up.

"my pleasure, but let me kill you first."

"you never cease to give me chills."

⠀⠀⠀⠀"as much as i would love to stay and watch your teamwork flourish, i got some business to attend to." gojo grins and waves his hand to his four students who stare at him.

their mission was around the outskirts of shizuoka prefecture, many said that there were paranoia activity happening in the abandoned school building just right behind them. this was the mission mizuki had mentioned that day before.

"fuck off, you just didn't wanna be here for this mission." kiyara quickly swears at her sensei, eyes and lips flat as she knew this was just some sort of facade for the said man so he could go sugar hunting. if anything, she was confused exactly how he didn't develope diabetes yet with his sweet tooth.

"bingo! but you're all more than capable of clearing a grade two mission." gojo gives them a thumbs up along with his grin to brighten up their gloomy atmosphere.

to say the least the weather was completely terrible. rain clouds were approaching to the point it looked like even a storm was brewing, despite the fact it was morning. they were going to kill off curses in a shady abandoned school, to top it off, their sensei was irresponsible and decided he would leave his students up to the task as he goes to buy souvenirs while they could possibly die.

all was so dandy for him.

"i'm going to seriously punch you." fushiguro declares.

"anyways, i'll be back to pick you four up." turning on his heels he waves out to them.

"we got this. just go do whatever the hell you want and by the time you get back here, we'll already be out eating ramen." kiyara mirrors his actions, walking past her colleagues and towards the building.

"oh? is that some sort of encouragement for your classmates?" gojo glances behind him, looking to see any sort of reaction from her or even the rest of his students.

"no," stopping a few steps from her three classmates, she turns her head back to lock eye contact with her sensei ( or so she hoped she did ) and sends a smile. "just a fact."

'wow, she's either really confident or really stupid.' kugisaki furrows her brows at kiyara, she knew her opinion on her was a questionable one. but then again, maybe this was how all tokyo girls acted. she never really could put a certain thought on her.

"let's go." fushiguro was the first to follow her lead, the two catching up to them as they entered the building.

"this is one creepy school." kiyara states as she inspects the dark halls. her eyes look around to see if there were any curses that were lingering, while fushiguro's divine dogs continue to sniff them out.

"it's abandoned for a reason." fushiguro comments back at kiyara who lets a nervous giggle out.

"so, what was up with this place again?" itadori watches as shivers run down his spine, witnessing kiyara throw a dagger straight into fourth grade curse head without blinking an eye. both him and kugisaki give each other glances, this was different than the kiyara they first met.

"missing teens that would dare each other to come, appearently screams at night and moving shadows. the basics." picking up the cursed dagger on the wall after disposing of the curse, she slid it back by her right thigh.

"there's not a lot of curses here." kugisaki looks throughout the place, she too, threw a nail and slammed it with her hammer to exorcise a low grade curse.

"isn't this is a grade two mission?" itadori ponders and stares through ruined classroom windows, desks were broken and was completely dusted. 'probably been over fifteen years since someone last used this place...'

"it's in the gym." their advances came to a stop, fushiguro's divine dogs growling and barking at the door sealed with chains in front of them. itadori was the first to react, walking forwards and effortlessly kicking the metal door with ease. both doors fly across the gym auditorium causing dust to fly around the dimly lit room.

"what the hell does he eat?!" kiyara's mouth drops, kugisaki standing behind her also adds on, "right?! that isn't normal! it's freakishly weird! to top it off he chomped down sukuna fingers!"

"it was only backed up with aluminum metal and it's just old." itadori turns around and gives them a blank look, blinking as he scratches the nape of his neck.

"like hell that changes anything!" they scream.

"help me! please!" their eyes dart to a high school girl, one that seemed to be older than them. even in the dark, they can see the tint of blue that coloured her hair. a curse was holding her by the neck while their nail was stabbing through her waist.

"it has a hostage!" fushiguro screams out as all four of them run in only to be greeted with multiple lower grade curses.

"the gym's infested!" kugisaki brings out more of her nails, itadori grabbing hold of his slaughter demon as kiyara takes out her daggers.

"yuji, you're with me!" kiyara grabs hold of the pinkett's foresleeve and makes him dash with her towards the hostage.

"wait!ー huh? why are they suddenly fighting each other?" itadori stares at the scenes where a few curses had start to fight and destroy each other, confusing him. "is this your jujutsushiki?"

"faded." kiyara and itadori quickly split when a curse separates them, but suddenly it got confused when they 'disappeared' from it's sight. in complete sync the teenagers cut each arm off from both sides and sliced it in half before continuing.

"it let's me to make illusions and change my presence." she threw her daggers at the head of curse causing it to fly back, as itadori did the finishing touches by slicing it by the fingers and thrusting his weapon right through.

"that's pretty cool!" he grins and catches the hostage that fell into his arms, she instinctively wrapped her limbs around his body as itadori carried her bridal style.

"thank you so much... i was so scared." the girl hugs on to itadori, tears seeping through her deep forest hues as he crouches down on the floor, setting her to the ground. "you'll be fine now, onee-san."

'wait, this seems too easy...' kiyara picks up her daggers which were indented on the floor of the gym, throwing it once more for a curse to fade away. she felt something wrong with the scenery, like something was missing from the big picture.

'something's off.' she wasn't the only one that felt different about this mission, kugisaki and fushiguro were unsettled about the amount of low grade curses which grouped together.

'my shikigamo are still picking up curses, but where?' fushiguro watches as his one dog chewed the remaining corpse of a curse, the other growling in attack mode. he raises his brow, looking towards the direction it was barking at.

his eyes fell on itadori, kiyara and the girl they saved. he saw the tears which fell to the floor which glistened through the gloomy room. but from closer inspection, something moved around them, chains started to move.

"shit! she's a cursed spirit!" fushiguro screams to their direction as his heart starts to pound, no, no. eyes widen when his connected with kiyara's amethyst hues that were only filled with late realization. he tries to run to them, hand out to try and grasp her body.

"smart cookie, aren't ya?"

tags ; @to-move-on-means-to-grow @dearsukuna @sukun4s @inumakiful

notes ; these are probs gonna be all qued bc im lazy

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

DO NOT REPOST 、 MODIFY 、 CLAIM WORK OR LAYOUT AS YOURS.

© MGUQIIS 、 2021

#© mguqiis #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #WINTER FLOWER SERIES #fushiguro megumi #sukuna #itadori yuji #ryoumen sukuna #nobara kugisaki #jjk fushiguro #jjk inumaki #jjk drabble #anime #geto suguru #gojo satoru #jjk maki #mahito #nanami kento #jjk gojo #okkotsu yuuta #jjk oneshot #jujutsu kaisen oneshot #jujutsu kaisen drabble #jujutsu kaisen hcs #nanami #kamo noritoshi #miwa #choso #WINTER FLOWER

[friendship-korea-japan]

8.9. Class discrimination ended

Question 8: About the shift of Korea › 9. Class discrimination ended

Click here for table of contents

8.9. Class discrimination ended

The class discrimination between the Yangban, sangmin (law-abiding citizens) and lowly people, which had existed from the Goryeo to the Joseon periods, completely disappeared by 1945.

  Following the Goryeo era, Korea had a strict class system. The royal family, ranked highest, owned vast lands and lived in a palace without working in public office.  

  Next were the civil and military officials (Yangban), who received land and salary according to their status. While civil officials were employed based on the result of the Gwageo examination, the offspring of the high-ranking officials could become officials just by succession. The Yangbans did not have to pay taxes and did not engage in physical work or military service. They just learned Confucianism, took charge of politics and led a luxurious life. The Yangban class was followed by the middle class, which included technical experts such as interpreters, doctors and station officials, as well as working-level officials in the administration. Common people were divided into sanghan (law-abiding citizens) and lowly people. The majority of law-abiding citizens were peasants. In addition to paying taxes, they were obliged to provide local specialties as tributes and were also frequently mobilized for labor services. While they technically had the right to take the Gwageo examination, it was in practice impossible for them to do so, as they were too busy with farming and labor service to have time for learning.

  The lowly people included gwaldae (performers), mugyeok (mu corresponds to women and gyeok corresponds to men), prostitutes and baekjeong (such as butchers). While some consider them to be part of the law-abiding people, they were presumably treated as lowly people in reality. The slaves were ranked as the lowest among them. The slaves were subject to complete subordination. They were owned by others; they had no surname; they had no right as humans; and they were treated as assets, being sold, bought, donated, pledged as a collateral or inherited.

  At that time, the main form of assets was not land but slaves, and they were passed down from the owners to their children. If either the father or the mother belonged to the lowly people class, he or she was in the same class. Even if a slave was freed, the freedom continued only for one generation, while the freed slave’s descendants were returned to slavery.

  Regarding this class system, “III. Social change and the unrest of the class system”, “Chapter VIII, Latter period of the Joseon era” in Korean History I describes the population size and ratio by class. According to this document, the populations of different social classes in Daegu, Gyeongsang Province in 1858 were as follows (source: pp. 198 and 199 of Yangban by MIYAJIMA Hiroshi).

Yangban: 7.4% in 1690 → 48.6% in 1858

Sangmin: 49.5% in 1690→ 20.1% in 1858

Slaves: 43.1% in 1690 → 31.3% in 1858

   It seems that the middle-class and the gwaldae people were included in the sangmin category above, but we are not exactly sure about it.

  As for the ratio of the Yangban, sangmin and lowly people, the percentage of the Yangban rose over time. In Daegu, Gyeongsang Province, the percentage of the Yangban class, which was 7.4% in 1690, accounted for 48.6%, namely nearly half of the population, in the final years of the Joseon era. Members of the Yangban class considered working as shameful, did not engage in military service, and led a luxurious life as rulers. The slaves, not recognized as humans and owned by others or the government offices, did not pay taxes or accomplish military services. It seems quite logical that a country where 48% of the population led a luxurious life without working, and nearly 80% (48.6+31.3=79.9%) of the population did not pay taxes or join military service, should decline and become incapable of maintaining autonomy. 18 years before the Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity was concluded in 1876, Korea was so rapidly declining that it had already become almost incapable of remaining independent.

  Besides, we have found the following description in an article entitled “Toward an egalitarian society”, “Step for modernization” in p. 198 of History Textbook of Korea.

[ The radical reformists tried to build a modern society by launching the Gapsin Coup, abolishing the hierarchy based on lineage and establishing the equal rights of people. Hereditary slavery was abolished in 1886.] 

  However, this description is not based on fact. This was because, according to History Textbook of Korea, in 1894, eight years after 1886 (when the hereditary slavery is supposed to have been abolished), Kim Hong-jip’s government proclaimed during the Gabo Reform that it would “socially defeat the Public and Private Slavery Act”. In other words, the class system, which the Kim Ok-gyun administration tried to abolish in 1884 through the Gapsin Coup, had survived and was still in place as of 1894, ten years later.

  It was King Gojong of Korea, as well as members of the government linked to the royal family by lineage, who dwelled on the slaves owned by the Yangban class, that defeated the Kim Ok-gyun and Kim Hong-jip administrations which had tried to abolish the class system and build a modern state, and killed the protagonists of the reform. The policy for the emancipation of slaves was not enforced by the subsequent lineage-based administration. As the members of the lineage-based administration of the day came from the Yangban class, they supposedly acted together against the emancipation.

  We have found the following description about the dismantling of the class system on pp. 94-96 of “Section II. A major shift in the history of civilization”, Story of the Republic of Korea.

[ At that moment, Korea started to go through a fateful shift that would never be reversed. […] First, the class system was dismantled. The equality of all people came true.

[…]

That was because Japan became the new ruler of Korea. Japan was based on neutral power freed from such class divisions as Yangban and ordinary people. Rather, it was inadmissible for Japan that a specific group of people should discriminate others based on class.

[…]

During the Joseon era, the baekjeong were the professionals who slaughtered cattle and pigs and made straw sandals using leather, but they were not treated as ordinary humans. […] However, when the Japanese administration proceeded to the establishment of the family register, they also forced the baekjeong to register. During the colonial days, they had surnames and Bon-gwan (legal domicile and place of origin of the predecessor of the paternal ancestor). Finally, the children of the baekjeong class started to attend school. […] Then, the Yangban rose in revolt. […] It is known that harsh demonstrations by the Yangban occurred in Yecheon area, Gyeongsang Province. During the Joseon era, the Yangban were called the defending soldiers of the state, and if they proceeded to demonstration, even the state could not do anything significant against them. However, this was not the case for the rulers from abroad. The demonstrators of the Yangban class were rapidly suppressed by the police organization of the Government-General of Korea.]

  In November 1905, when the Japanese Residency-General of Korea was set up following the second Japan–Korea Treaty, Duke Ito Hirobumi became the first Resident-General of Korea and resigned in June 1909. Therefore, it is possible to say that the legal abolition of the class system was the legacy of Resident-General Ito.

  Moreover, by 1945, when the Japanese rule came to an end, class discrimination had completely disappeared from Korea. It was now possible for all Koreans to act freely with their own will and ability.

  While the disappearance of the Joseon dynasty due to the annexation of Korea by Japan was an unpardonable event for the privileged ruling class including the Yangban, it was likely welcomed by the oppressed people because it meant emancipation from the class system. However, as most of the people freed from the class system were illiterate, it was possible that they could not describe that, and that only a history of anti-Japanese sentiment was passed down by those in the ruling class who were capable of keeping records.  

   In addition, we believe that Korea saw drastic improvement in various issues and that the foundation for the development of today’s Korea was established during the period of Japanese rule. This is because the class system, which had lasted for around 1,000 years since before the Goryeo era, was abolished, the Yangban class, which accounted for the majority of the population, started to work, and the slaves and commoners were allowed to act freely.

#joseon era #Korea #about south korea #korean history #korea-japan

[rwby-grimm-guardians]

RWBY Grimm Guardians Arc 2: Beacon’s Fragile Light Ch XIII

Hey, everyone! This is the thirteenth and final chapter of Beacon’s Fragile Light! Here, we conclude the Fall of Beacon and go through the epilogue! As usual, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing!

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WARNING! THIS CHAPTER WILL HAVE GRAPHIC VIOLENCE!

IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT, PLEASE HEAD TO THE END NOTES AND I WILL EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. THANK YOU.

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(In the vault beneath Beacon Academy…)

Evergreen knew this was a losing battle for him, but he didn’t expect it to go this poorly. ‘Fuck, she’s stronger than I thought…’ He thought. The headmaster wondered if it was because of the Maiden’s powers...or if Cinder was this strong naturally. “What’s wrong, Ozpin? Come out and play~.” The red-dressed woman said as Evergreen ducked behind one of the chambers. “Or are you going to let Evergreen do all the work?” The headmaster gave a sarcastic laugh, “This is my fight and school, not his.”

Cinder raised an eyebrow, before confirming, “So you’re willing to recklessly throw your life away when I’m after someone else entirely, huh.” “It’s my academy and they are my students. I will protect them with my life, regardless of who you’re after!”  Evergreen shouted, before he dodged to another chamber as Cinder began roasting the current one. The Fall Maiden smirked, “Quite honorable of you, Professor. Though it’s unfortunate that I have to kill you to get rid of Ozpin.”

The headmaster raised an eyebrow. Was she unaware that Ozma was an immortal soul? He decided to not tell her anything. If she didn’t know, then Ozma could use that to his advantage if he and Cinder crossed paths once more. ‘She needs to be stopped now…’ Evergreen thought. He was aware what he was about to do would probably not work...and that Cinder would most likely survive. However, he had no choice now.

He summoned all of his remaining aura, before getting out from behind the chambers. “If I’m going to Hell…” He started, before smirking. “I might as well bring you along for the ride…” Cinder sneered, before unleashing a blast of fire at the charging headmaster. There was a blinding light and deafening sound as an explosion of aura, flames, and power erupted. As everything settled, all that was left...was an unharmed Cinder and the Long Memory. Cinder sighed, “ Afscheid, schoolhoofd. ”, leaving the destroyed room.

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(Meanwhile, at the landing pads…)

“They’re here…” Qrow said, lowering his scythe. Ember nodded, “How do you think Summer’s going to handle this...?” The gray clad man sighed, “I don’t know… But knowing her?” “She’ll probably want to kill whoever caused this…” He said, a little too honestly. “You’re aware that Summer barely cares about rules, right?” Qrow said. “Well, she doesn’t care about the laws.” The group went silent, chills going down their spines as Qrow said, “She WILL protect her loved ones. Even if it means killing the threats.”

“Whether they be Grimm, faunus, or even human….” The gray clad man sighed as Summer and Ruby went up to the group...

Ruby arrived where her teammates were, heaving and gasping for air as she collapsed to her knees. Weiss had called her and explained what happened to Yang. “How...bad is it?” The young leader asked. Ember sighed as Yang laid unconscious in her lap, “Well....she’s stable now…” “Sore…” Blake mumbled, gripping her unconscious partner’s hand as she too was passing out. “You’re going to be okay…” Ruby said, her voice cracking slightly as she told a hold of Yang and Blake’s hands. “You got too….”

Ember, Gambol, and Arktis looked at Summer, who was visibly shaken and horrified by what happened to her step-daughter. The tallest of the group removed her cloak and placed it on Yang, silently and tearfully begging that the blonde will survive. “Summer…” Qrow whispered, placing a hand on the tallest woman’s shoulder. “She’s going to-.” “She’s not going to be okay…” The elder Rose whispered. “Not after this.” The three Weapon Spirits knew she believed she had failed to protect her family again…

“I promise you both… They will be…” Gambol said, rubbing the young leader’s arm. Ruby gave a small nod, still holding her teammate and half-sister’s hands. “Where’s Pyrrha and Jaune...?” She asked. “Still wherever Ozpin brought them most likely.” Ren said as he sat on the ground, groaning from the soreness of his own injuries. Nora, who was also injured, rested against him as she nodded on and off due to exhaustion. Weiss and Ruby looked at each other and nodded, with the former saying, “We’ll find them.”

“About that…” Arktis started, pulling out her rapier as dozens upon dozens of White Fang members started to march towards the group like predators stalking their prey. Gambol’s eyes widened, “How the fuck did they find us….!?” “Don’t care how they found us…” Summer said in a low tone. The group looked at her, shocked as she said, “All that matters is that they saved ME the trouble of finding them.” Qrow put a hand on his former leader’s shoulder, whispering, “Sum, don’t… This is a bad idea.”

“Keep the girls and their friends safe please…” Summer ordered. “Same with you, Arktis, Ember, and Gambol…” She gave her old teammate a sad glance, “At least I know you won’t fail to protect them…” The former STRQ leader then walked towards the White Fang agents, growling. The faunus murmured amongst each other if the taller woman was insane. Then...there was a tearing sound as Summer’s clothes began shredding as the woman grew to nearly twice her size.

Her muscles almost doubled in size as black fur grew across her body. Summer’s eyes gleamed a deep red as an actual wolf tail formed from her tailbone and her head became more wolfish, growing wolf ears, a snout, and even claws. She had actually transformed into a Beowolf Grimm. Summer bared her fangs, before letting out a thunderous howl, alerting the nearby Beowolves and nearly deafening the group behind her. The group and White Fang agents stared, stunned at the woman’s transformation.

“What...the fuck…?” Ruby whispered. Qrow just nodded in agreement, his jaw nearly dropping. “Please tell me...that you didn't know that THAT could happen…” Weiss said, looking at her mother. Arktis looked at Gambol and Ember, who were just as stunned as she was. The two instinctively put their arms around their unconscious wielders as they just watched Summer charging at the White Fang agents. Ruby’s jaw dropped, before shouting, “HAS SHE LOST HER MIND!?” “QUITE CLEARLY!” Qrow shouted in panic.

The group was further stunned by Summer’s new physical prowess, as she was effortlessly ripping and tearing through the agents like a blender. She was dismembering them, biting their limbs and heads off, and crushing their bones with brute strength. Some agents managed to get behind the transformed woman, before climbing and jumping off the walls of the buildings to attack her. Though their attacks didn’t go unnoticed, as a couple of wild Beowolves bit and clawed them out of the air.

“She’s able to communicate with Grimm now…!?” Qrow asked, further shocked by his former leader’s new abilities. “Oh, we are SO fucked…” Ember said as several more Beowolves appeared and began joining Summer in the slaughter. After 20 minutes of chaos, the White Fang agent eventually retreated, signaling Summer to bark at the Beowolves to stop attacking. Summer then turned towards the group, before walking up  and kneeling at Qrow. Finally, the Branwen smirked, albeit uneasily.

“Always made sense for you to be a wolf. You were the alpha after all.” He said, before genuinely chuckling as Summer boop-ed him with her snout, whimpering. “Easy, big girl. We’re all safe.” He said, scratching the back of the transformed woman’s ear. “Now then, could you please turn back into your...uh, human appearance?” Summer looked at herself, before nodding sheepishly. Within only a few seconds, the former STRQ leader reverted back to her human form, before collapsing to her knees, wheezing.

“Holy...shit…” She said, coughing due to the lack of air in her system. Her former teammate nodded, “That’s an understatement. Now, could you ask them to leave? Please?” Summer raised an eyebrow, before looking at the Beowolves behind her. Somewhat stunned, she cleared her throat, before going up to one of them and speaking to it. The Beowolf nodded and let out a few barks, signalling the pack to leave. The former STRQ leader sighed with relief, before asking, “How did they…?”

“You called them here with your howl...I think…” Her former teammate said. He then looked down, before his face went red and averted his eyes. Summer raised an eyebrow, “Qrow…?” He just pointed downward, before the taller of the two looked down...blushing furiously. “Now why couldn’t you have told me that I have nothing on to begin with!?” “And ignore the elephants in the room!?” Qrow shouted as Summer’s Grimm energy restored her clothes.

“Cres…?”

Summer paled as her attention was drawn towards Ruby. Biting her lip, the elder Rose just replied, “We’ll..talk about this later.” The young leader opened her mouth to protest, before ultimately didn’t. She could tell by the taller woman’s expression that there was no room for argument. Sighing, Ruby looked at Weiss, “Let’s get going.” The heiress nodded hurriedly, before she and Ruby went back to the Academy. Arktis looked at Summer, asking, “Are you going to be okay?”

The taller of the two paused, before shaking her head, “Honestly, I really don’t know…”

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(At the entrance to Beacon Tower…)

Jaune and Pyrrha exited the tower, before collapsing to their knees. “I think...we’re safe for now…” The redhead said, gasping for air. Jaune nodded, only for the two teenagers to feel a massive rumble underneath them and near the tower. The blonde paled, “What was that…?” Pyrrha shook her head, before Jaune asked, “Do you think...Ozpin is…?” The redhead froze. If the rumble was caused by the headmaster’s fight with Cinder, then it was possible the Fall Maiden was winning against him.

Jaune raised an eyebrow as Pyrrha got up and started heading back to the tower’s interior. “What are you…?” He asked, only to come to a startling realization. He then grabbed her hand, saying, “You can’t go up there and face her alone! It’s suicide!” “I have to try!” Pyrrha said, looking at her partner in the eye. The blonde sighed, resolving himself, “Pyrrha. You and I both know that we are no match for that woman alone.”

“We have to get the General and the other teachers. If we can get them here, then we might have a chan-...” Jaune was cut off when his partner shouted, “We don’t have time, Jaune! We need to stop her now before it’s too late!” The blonde shook his head, “We need to try! If either one of us goes up there now, we are going to die and there’ll be no one left to stop her...” He held Pyrrha’s shoulders, pleading, “Please. PLEASE don’t do this, Pyrrha….”

The redhead sighed sadly, kissing her partner passionately, before saying, “I’m sorry, Jaune…” She then shoved him into a locker as Jaune shouted, “Wait, Pyrrha! Don’t!”, before sending him to relative safety with her semblance. “I can’t let you or anyone else die...even if it means I have to go up there to die myself…” Pyrrha said, biting her lip as she brushed away her tears as she began to ascend the tower...alone.

The locker then landed, before Jaune kicked the door open and got out. He looked around, before noticing that Pyrrha was no longer outside. “Jaune!” Ruby shouted as she rushed towards him with Weiss and their respective mothers. The blonde sat down  as Ruby asked, “Where’s…?” “Pyrrha went to face Cinder alone…” He said. “She...has the powers of the Fall Maiden.” Summer tightened her fists, “Has she lost her mind? Pyrrha is going get herself killed…!”

“That’s what I said too…” The blonde replied. He sat in silence, before saying, “I should’ve found a way to...get her to listen and get the other teachers…” “We’ll get her.” Summer said, placing a hand on Jaune’s shoulder. She then looked at Arktis, “Could you, Weiss, and Jaune search for any more survivors?” The former heiress nodded, before Jaune placed his hands on Summer and Ruby’s shoulders. “Please. PLEASE save her.” Ruby nodded, rubbing the blonde’s hand, “We will. I promise…”

She and Summer then ran towards the tower as the Schnees and Jaune split up to search for survivors.

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(In the headmaster office…)

Cinder sat in the former headmaster’s chair, smiling at the Wyvern Grimm outside the window. “Aren’t you a beauty…” She grinned. The Grimm made a grumble, with the woman smiling, “Shh…. This is your home now… No need to get upset.” Her attention was forced away from the beast by the elevator dinging as Pyrrha stepped out. Sighing, Cinder rolled her eyes. “You ants are becoming  significant pests.” She growled, turning towards the redhead. “Would you like to avenge your precious headmaster?”

The Wyvern roared violently, destroying the top of the tower with its wings as Cinder and Pyrrha clashed. Pyrrha threw her spear, only for the Fall Maiden to dodge it casually. The redhead then rammed her with her shield, which Cinder successfully blocked and shoved out of the way. The woman fired a stream of flames at Pyrrha, who dove over it and retrieved her spear, before blocking the attack with her shield.

“You’re outpowered, kid~.” Cinder smiled, continuing the stream of fire. “Maybe you should’ve joined that blonde friend of yours.” The Wyvern growled and roared at the redhead, sending her into a wall as it sensed her fear growing. The battle continued, despite Pyrrha’s fear. For almost 4 whole minutes, the two clashed against each other, trading blows one after another. However, unlike Cinder, Pyrrha was beginning to grow exhausted, due to her opponent’s power.

The Fall Maiden ended the battle by firing an arrow in Pyrrha’s shin, causing the redhead to fall to her knees in pain and hindering her ability to walk...or even stand. Cinder smirked smugly as she created another arrow, walking up to her defeated opponent. “You really should’ve called for help… You might’ve been able to win. Oh well…” The red dressed woman sighed. Pyrrha looked at Cinder in the eye, saying, “Just one question…” Cinder raised an eyebrow, “Yes…?”

“Do you believe in destiny…?” The redhead asked, hissing in pain. Cinder growled, before aiming her arrow at Pyrrha’s head, “I do… And your destiny is to die here.” Just before she could release the arrow, Ruby and Summer rushed in, with Summer throwing the young leader at the Fall Maiden. After Ruby kicked the red dressed woman back, Cinder just laughed, “So Little and Big Red have come to join your funeral!” As the woman and young leader clashed, Summer looked at Pyrrha, asking, “Have you lost your mind?”

The redhead raised an eyebrow, before jumping as the elder Rose raised her voice, “You knew that you were no match for her. You knew you couldn’t stop Cinder alone. You KNEW Jaune was right about this being suicide without any help.” Pyrrha flinched at the taller woman’s words, though she wasn’t too surprised. Summer was a mother, so her disappointment and worry were justified. The tallest of the four looked at the redhead’s pained expression, before sighing, “You are not fighting this alone. Understand?”

Pyrrha blinked at her, before giving a small nod. “Yes, ma’am.” Summer nodded, “Good. Because you have really worried your friends and my daughter… And they want you home safe.” Ruby screeched to a halt in front of the two, saying, “We’re gonna die here if THAT keeps inferring.” Summer looked as the young leader pointed at the Wyvern, before nodding. “I might have an idea… It’s crazy, but it’ll work.” The two teenagers looked at Summer, queuing the taller woman to say, “Let me enter your body again.”

“WHAT!?” Pyrrha shouted. Ruby raised an eyebrow, “Haven’t we said that we would never do that again...unless…” She trailed off as Summer nodded, “Unless it was our only hope? Yep.” Silence fell between the three, before Ruby sighed and put her scythe down. “Alright. Let’s do this.” The tallest of the three nodded, saying, “I’m just going to unlock a bit of your potential. You’ll still be in control.” With Ruby nodding, Summer went into her spirit form, entering Ruby’s body through the center of her back.

“Close your eyes and don’t open them until I tell you to.” Summer instructed. The red clad teenager nodded, closing her eyes as the Wyvern roared at her, shaking the tower. Ruby could tell something was emerging from her eyes as she gritted her teeth in pain. “Please tell me when!” She shouted. The taller woman then shouted, “Now! Do it NOW!” queuing the young leader to open her eyes. Pyrrha and Cinder covered their eyesight as white light erupted from Ruby’s eyes, freezing the Wyvern and Cinder’s left arm.

As the light faded, Cinder went unconscious, while Summer and Ruby separated. “What...the hell was that…?” Ruby groaned, rubbing her eyes to soothe the pain. The taller woman rubbed her head as it ached, “An ability...from your mother’s side of the family… Explanations later.” The young leader nodded, standing and said, “Let’s get out of here.” Ruby then helped Pyrrha, who hissed at the pain in her wounded leg. “Sorry.” The younger teenager apologized with a small smile.

Summer smiled, “Let’s get home. Alright?” The two teenagers nodded as the three headed towards the elevator...only for two gunshots to ring out. The two leaders froze as Pyrrha’s eyes widened, before she collapsed to the floor, bleeding. “Pyrrha!” The youngest of the three shouted, noticing the gunshots in the redhead’s back. Ruby and Summer picked her up and brought her near the elevator, with the young leader asking, “Who was that!?” “Best guess? Lady Vampier.” Summer answered.

She bit her lip at the wounds, “She’s not going to survive those.” “We can’t just let her die!” Ruby shouted as Pyrrha’s body began going limp. The taller woman tightened her fist, saying, “There is a solution...but it’s not a good one.” She then sighed, “We have to turn her into a Weapon Spirit.”, before casting a spell and placing her hand on the redhead’s back. The youngest of the two bit her lip, “Will she...remember anything?” Summer sighed, “Gods, I hope so…”

With that, she placed the spell into Pyrrha, causing the redhead to turn into a red light and travel out the window. “Where is she going?” Ruby asked. Summer looked at her, “You know who…” The young leader went silent, before saying, “Jaune’s not gonna be happy.” The taller of the two gave a sad nod, “I know. But I would rather have her live then to die…” The two stood in silence, before Summer heard a shout, “ROSE! COME OUT SO I CAN FIGHT YOU!” “ Merde… ” Ruby whispered. “She’s hellbent...”

“Get back to your sister and our friends. Protect them.” Summer whispered. Ruby nodded as the woman tossed her her scythe, allowing the teenager to grab it and escape through the elevator. Summer looked around the empty and destroyed room, “Vampier! You wanted me, so here I am! Quit being a coward and come out for your wanted fight!” The black haired woman appeared from the shadows, clapping with a grin. “You certainly know how to impress a woman…” Vampier chuckled.

The tattooed woman was wearing only her sports bra and sweatpants,with her pistols holstered and giant bat-like wings protruding from her back. “I told you that you were just like me.” The sadistic woman said. Summer growled, “The only thing that’s similar between us...is that we are partially Grimm. Period.” Vampier sighed, “Please. We both know that you enjoyed slaughtering the White Fang agents that were about to kill your ‘friends’ and children…”

“You don’t know a damn thing about what my emotions are like, bitch…” The Weapon Spirit snapped, only to receive a chuckle. Vampier shrugged, “Perhaps… But I do know you take great joy in a good fight…” There was silence, before Summer clenched her fists. “Then I will take great joy in putting an end to your life again.” She growled, her wolf-like claws forming again. Vampier grinned, showing her bat-like fangs, “Then come and kill me with everything you got…”

The sadistic woman jumped from the window and took flight, with Summer jumping and grabbing onto Vampier’s left leg. The winged woman looked down and snarled, “You are very fucking persistent!” “So are you, Bat Bitch!” The Weapon Spirit shouted, climbing onto the Bat Queen’s back and tearing her wing open. Hissing in pain, Vampier turned and grabbed Summer’s arm, before headbutting her in the forehead. “Let’s see if you are a match for a monster bat, Queen of Wolves!” The tattooed woman shouted.

The Weapon Spirit grabbed Vampier’s hair, before punching her in the face repeatedly. “I’ll show you what it’s like to face off against a lone wolf!” Summer snapped. She knew that she was nicknamed the White Wolf and Queen of Wolves. She might as well live up to those names. As the two continued fighting, rain started to fall from the sky. Thunder started to rumble and lightning flashed from the clouds. Summer then ripped off one of the sadistic woman’s wings, causing them to crash-land on the roof of the Academy.

As the two laid on the roof bruised, Summer let out a groan, before standing up. She looked at Vampier and shook her head. She had no way to kill the Bat Queen...and she didn’t have time for it. Right now, getting back to Ruby, Qrow, Yang, and the others were the top priority. The White Wolf jumped from the roof, landing on the ground and running towards the landing pads. After roughly five minutes of pure running, she spotted Qrow. “Is Ruby…?” Summer asked, receiving a nod from Qrow as she slowed down.

“Just got back not too long ago. She’s asleep right now.” Her teammate said with a smile. “Shall we head home?” Summer nodded, before Gambol and Arktis came up to her. “We got some...bad news…” Gambol sighed. “We’re probably not going to be able to stay in Vale.” The faunus then explained that for their safety, everyone would probably have to head back to their home continents. “That means Weiss and I will have to go back to Atlas.” Arktis said. The tallest woman sighed, before nodding.

“I hope you will try to stay in touch?” She asked. Gambol smiled, “Without a doubt…” That smile faded when Arktis shook her head as the former heiress replied, “I don’t know… We WILL try. However, with Jacques, I don’t know if Weiss will be able to…” Qrow raised an eyebrow, “That much of an asshole, huh?” Arktis nodded with a sigh. “Well...you know who to call if you need guidance and help… Alright?” Summer said. “We’re all here for you two. For each other…”

Arktis gave a small smile, nodding as she gave Summer and Gambol a tight hug, “Thank you. Really...”

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(Some time later…)

Ruby awoke in her and Yang’s shared bedroom with a groan. “Good morning.” Summer said, sitting to Ruby’s right. The young leader hummed, “Have I been out long?” The elder Rose shook her head, “No. Only for a day. I suppose I should explain to you about that ability, huh?” Ruby nodded as Summer handed her a cup of coffee. The taller of the two explained that her silver eyes were a trait from her mother’s side, which was rare. “Those that have them are destined to be warriors.” She said. “And feared by Grimm…”

“And your...transformation…?” Ruby asked. Summer paused, before sighed, “I really don’t know WHAT that was… Not sure if it's linked to my memories.”

Qrow then came in, “Sorry for interrupting, but we need to talk.” He then showed the Long Memory, saying, “The headmaster’s…” He didn't finish the statement as Summer gave a sad sigh. “So now what?” Ruby asked. Her uncle shook his head, “I don’t know. I was investigating for him, but now that he’s gone…” He once again trailed off, leading the two Roses to assume that Qrow would be doing Evergreen’s...or Ozma’s work in his stead. “I told Yang and Ember this, but my investigations lead to Haven….” He said.

“In Mitral?” Ruby asked, before whistling. The taller of the three tapped her chin, before whispering in Qrow’s ear, “We’ll go when we’re ready… Right now, none of us are healthy enough for that trip.” Qrow nodded, “Agreed. Also...you might wanna talk to Tai soon…” Summer raised an eyebrow, before Qrow sighed, “I think he’s beginning to figure out your identity.” The Weapon Spirit sighed, “Alright… After Ruby and I talk with Yang and Ember.” The red-eyed man nodded, before giving her and Ruby small hugs.

“I’ll come by later to see how you’re all doing.” He smiled, before leaving with a wave. Ruby sipped her drink, waving back, “Where’s Yang and Ember anyway?” “Guest room.” Summer said, before she and Ruby left the room and headed to the guest bedroom. There, the two saw Yang in the bed with gauze wrapped around her right bicep, while Ember held her against her side. “Hey, little sister…” Yang said tiredly...and almost defeatedly…

Ruby hugged her half-sister tightly, letting out a shaking sigh, “I’m so glad you’re safe…” “You too…” The blonde whispered, wrapping her left arm around the younger teenager’s back. The blonde felt Summer cup her cheek and kiss her forehead, before rubbing her shoulder. Summer looked at Ember, who looked just as tired and defeated as Yang did. “Blake and Weiss left, right?” The taller blonde asked. Summer nodded, “Had no choice… They aren’t safe in Vale currently.”

“Blake texted me, saying that she and Gambol had just arrived back in Menagerie.” Yang said, her voice sounding a tad more energetic. Ruby nodded, “Good. Then they're safe.”  The blonde gave a small smile, “She’ll try to keep in contact with us as often as she can.” The younger teenager nodded, “Anything on Weiss and her mom?” Ember shook her head, “They probably won’t be able to talk to us as often as they wish to.” “Asshole of a father.” Summer said as she saw the two teenagers raise eyebrows.

Nodding, Yang sighed, before asking, “What happens now?” “I don’t know…” Ruby said, not bothering to hide her honesty. They had lost Beacon, Penny, and the headmaster. Pyrrha was still alive, but neither of the four knew when she’d turn up again. The elder blonde sighed, “Why did this happen?” The tallest woman shook her head, “I don’t know… I really don’t…” “Was it planned?” Ruby asked. Summer tapped her chin, “Maybe. We have a lot of evidence to support that.”

“So...are we just going to stay here until everything blows over?” Ember asked. “We couldn’t save Beacon… How are we supposed to save Haven and the other Academies….?” The group went silent. It was a harsh reality, but it was true that they couldn’t save Beacon...and it was close to impossible to prevent the other schools from sharing the same fate. But Summer was silent for a different reason. She was shocked that this strong and stubborn woman… This courageous and determined blonde…

...Was forfeiting the battle before it began.

Yang sighed, “I can't stop you…” Ruby looked at her sister, waiting for the blonde to respond. “But I will do whatever I can to help and protect you… You know that.” The older teenager said. Ruby gave a small smile, tightly hugging her sister once more. “I know… And I’ll do whatever I can to do the same…” She said. After Ruby and Yang began talking, Summer brought Ember out of the room, only for the taller blonde to sit in the hallway. “Ember... “ The taller woman called out. “Ember, look at me please…”

The taller blonde just gave her a glance. The White Wolf sighed, “Ember, I won’t lie and pretend I understand what you’re going through.” Ember said nothing as Summer continued, “But I do understand what it’s like to be discouraged. To feel like all hope is lost.” “But you gotta keep fighting. Even when the chips are down.” The taller woman said. “Not all hope is lost. You still have reasons to keep fighting. To keep protecting...!”

After several moments, Ember finally sighed, “You promise me that you and Ruby will stay safe. Got it?” Summer nodded, “I promise.” After talking with Ember, she finally went to Taiyang outside. “You wanted to talk?” She asked the goateed man. He perked up from the garden, before nodding, “Yes. Sorry for not being direct about it. I...wasn’t sure if you were in a talkative mood.” The taller woman sighed with a smile. ‘Good to know that part of him hasn’t changed.’ She thought.

“It’s fine, Tai.” She smiled. “Now, what do you want to talk about?” The blonde man stood, before sighing, “I apologize if this is intrusive… But are you Summer?” The taller woman wanted to panic. She really did. Taiyang finding out who she was was the LAST thing she wanted right now.. Especially since she didn’t know what his reaction would be like. “I’ll be honest...it..kinda is intrusive…” Summer replied. Taiyang nodded, looking ashamed, “Sorry… It’s just...some things about you and her are...way too similar and identical.”

“Just give me some time, Tai…” She sighed. “That’s all I need. If I gain memories that prove that I am Summer, then you, Qrow, Raven, and the children will be the first ones to know.” “And if you’re not?” The blonde man asked. Summer shook her head, “Then I’m not.” She hated herself for that. She really did. She wanted to tell him the truth...all of it… But how could she when she was terrified by the possible angered reaction she would get from him and Ruby...?

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-Epilogue-

Winter settled in….and Ruby and Summer bid their goodbyes to Yang and Ember as they headed out, promising to keep in touch. The elder Rose regretted not being truthful to Taiyang, but now she wouldn’t be able to tell him the truth until she saw him next…

The two met up with the three remaining members of Team JNPR as the five departed for Haven, which is their only lead in Qrow’s fledgling investigation. Summer looked behind her, noticing Qrow transform into a corvid, before giving him a smile.

Yang cradled a napping Ember in her lap as she looked out the bedroom window, watching a raven fly away. Something in her hoped that that was her mother, Raven Branwen… One day, she’ll meet her and finally get to truly know her..

Weiss laid against Arktis’s shoulder, napping as the woman avoided making eye contact with her husband, Jacques on an airship heading to Atlas. She prayed that she and her children would be able to escape from him... But that dream was burning out quickly...

In Menagerie, Blake and Gambol entered a clothing shop, picking out new clothes as the younger faunus sent pictures to Yang, receiving a chuckle from her sister and hoping she was healing well. She then removed her bow.

As Ruby visited Summer’s grave, Summer spoke with Jaune, Ren, and Nora about Pyrrha. She explained that the redhead was now Jaune’s Weapon Spirit, but she had no idea when the teenager would show up again.

Meanwhile, in a barren land, Salem sighed. “I didn't think this first step to end mankind would go this smoothly.” She whispered to herself. She knew that Cinder was injured, but the new Fall Maiden was healing...and she could tell that Cinder was furious, possibly at losing and at Mercury and Emerald. “In time, she’ll get her chance at revenge.” The ancient woman chuckled. “Much like I will patiently wait for mine.”

“Send your precious Guardians in Ozma.” She said to the dark red sky. “Your Huntsmen, Huntresses, even your ‘simple souls’. I will crush them all...using my pawns like you or doing it myself.” Salem grinned, “I will kill them in front of you and make you burn like the pest you always were…” She then tapped her chin, smirking, “Or maybe a more...disturbing and degrading execution would be more fitting for you.”

“As well as for the Queen of Wolves, Summer Rose…” She said. “The legacy of Sombre and Lumière Rose will be extinguished.... Even if it’s the last thing I do.”

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Afscheid, schoolhoofd means “Farewell, headmaster” in Dutch.

Summer now is able to transform, thanks to her Grimm powers and slaughters the rest of the White Fang in Beacon. Though there is a mystery behind it...

Pyrrha’s fate has been made clear. She survives, but it will be a while before she interacts with the group again. Vampier is able to transform as well, but abilities are currently unknown.

Blake doesn’t run, but instead has to head home for her well-being. Blake (along with Gambol) is still in touch with the group via her scroll. Weiss and Arktis are the same, but their communication is far more restricted, thanks to Jacques (aka Mr. Total Abusive Douche of A Father).

Salem knows of Summer’s resurrection and is itching to get payback.

So yeah. That’s it for Beacon’s Fragile Light! I really hope you all enjoyed this arc and please leave you thoughts and constructive criticism as always. Thank you! See you for when I post Arc 3, which takes place during Vol 4.

#rwby #rwby au #rwby ocs #rwby fanfiction #grimm guardians au #Summer Rose #willow schnee #Gambol Shroud #ember celica #ruby rose #qrow branwen #jaune arc #weiss schnee #pyrrha nikos #cinder fall #rwby ozpin #ren rwby #nora valkyrie #taiyang xiao long #blake bellodona #yang xiao long #Salem

[shealwaysreads]

Ever Fixed Mark: A Drarry Fanfic

For the lovely @shopwitch369​ - this took longer than I expected but inspiration hit hard today and here it is - I hope you enjoy it! 

drarry | 1128 words | post-war, EWE, morally grey!Harry, implied spy!Draco, revolution 

Summary: 

In which Harry decides to burn the world, and Draco watches on with adoration.

Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no, it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken

Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

                                                                         -

“Have you heard of a controlled burn?” Harry’s voice was low, and thoughtful in that heavy way he had been since he came back from the forest.

“No.”

“It’s something that Muggles have used for millennia, harnessing a natural disaster and using it to shape the land. Before humans it would have been a stray lighting bolt into dry leaves. Now it’s deliberate fires.”

“Arson, you mean?”

“No. It’s considered. It’s measured. It’s purposeful.”

“And what happens, after this burn?”

“With the dead wood gone, fresh shoots can grow. New. Untainted.”

That’s what he had said, months ago. I often think to myself that for all his talk of control, what came next looked like so much glorious chaos to me. And all it had taken was him, the stray lightning bolt. A shock from the beyond. Charged particles reaching their ultimate density and detonating, exploding into fractured, crackling power and igniting everything.

He had always had a wildness about him, even as the scrawny child I had first met in Malkin's all those years ago. Something in those wide green eyes like the feral glance of a street cat, a fox, a snake. Something of a creature trapped, restrained and snapping at the bars of his cage. It had softened at first, at Hogwarts, into a kind of contented restraint. A combination of good friends, regular meals—and the nominal safety afforded by a naive belief in a system presenting itself as right—was a soothing balm on the nagging ache of injustice that Harry had carried with him out of the cupboard.

Just because people you loved said it was right, didn’t make it so. I had learned that the hard way, just like him. I learned all about injustice at my father’s knee. House-elves scalded and beaten, my own mother quelled into terrified submission. I watched Snatchers slaughtered, my Muggleborn school teacher eaten at my dining table, my oldest friend swallowed by the voracious flames he had conjured to kill Harry.

Because he is Harry now. He’s been Harry since he first came to me in Azkaban, that wild glint sparking like flames in his eyes, as his magic melted impenetrable locks like the sun on late frost. After his testimony failed to save me from imprisonment (so much for spying for the winning side), after the Ministry introduced the death sentence (by fire, delicious irony of it all), after they doubled down on their prohibitions against Werewolves, after they displaced McGonagall as headmistress for another Ministry lackey. But he hadn’t come to me to deal with the Ministry, Granger was taking care of that. No. I was the one to track every escaped Death Eater, every sympathiser, every witch or wizard who had turned their cheek as Snatchers dragged their screaming neighbours out of their homes in the night.

I understand him now, more than I ever dreamed I might. That night in the forest, that brief sojourn into death, it changed him. Stripped away whatever veneer of piety he had managed to build for himself. He had survived the grief of every loss in his short life, but his own demise was too much. Not when he came back to school halls filled with the bodies of his year-mates. Not when the ‘right side’ exposed its dark underbelly for all to see. Not when they tried to use his name to justify it all.

We were lying in bed together, after one of his bouts of radical honesty—pretence and observation of ‘should’ was something else he had left in the loamy earth under the trees—when he first talked about the burning. I wasn’t confused. I’ve never been stupid, just decieved. Brainwashed, is what he calls it.

He has never deceived me. Not when we were eleven and he crushed my eggshell ego without even realising it. Not when he cut me from belly to throat. Not when he told me he’d make sure I was safe after I protected them in the Manor. And not when he stripped himself before me; considered, measured, purposeful.

He’s doing this for himself. For the fathomless rage and hurt that swirls with every beat of his heart. He’s doing it for his parents, lost to a war that was decided as soon as his mother birthed him. He’s doing it for Granger, who still gazes at a family photo missing her face in moments of quietude. He’s doing it for Weasley, a brother-shaped hole in his heart. He’s even doing it for me; he says the Muggles would call me a child soldier, says they have laws about punishing those who are coerced. All of that’s personal though. And he knows it, admits it.

But really, he’s doing it for us all—every drop of magic in the country; from pixie to witch and everything in between. Granger wanted to do it officially, spent a year researching, petitioning, posting bills to the Wizengamot, protesting, organising. Until finally she came back to Grimmauld Place, sat at the dining table, and quiet, but firm, told Harry she was ready to do it his way.

They’ve brought back the old posters. Undesirable No. 1. He laughed when he saw them. I raged. At the futility of it all, at the transparency of their hypocrisy, at their craven mistreatment of him. I could have rotted in Azkaban until I was a shell; I probably deserve it. But him? He died for us, and worse still he came back to live and fight for us. And this is how they repay him?

He calls me transactional. Says it’s a flaw of my upbringing, my house. That nobody owes him anything in particular. That he did what he did because it was the right thing to do, no more. But Weasley agrees with me. Funny that love of Harry would be the thing that brought the two of us together, united as a common front against anyone who would target him, anyone who took for granted the debt we all owe.

I would repay him in flesh, in blood, in magic. I would let his strong hands fell me, let him use these limbs as kindling for the fire. He just wants my love. And it’s easy. Dumbledore would roll in his grave to know the smile in his eyes as he dismantles everything the old man propped up in that long and complicated life. Merlin himself would hear the thunder of his magic, his resolve. How could I not adore him?

I kiss him, linger, step back and watch. Wild green eyes—the boy under the stairs, the boy in the maze, the boy in the forest—the man who will burn the world to save it, to transform it.

Read it on Ao3 

Big thanks to @tackytigerfic​ @lastontheboat​ and @primavera-cerezos​ for being brilliant betas ❤️❤️❤️

#drarry #drarry fic rec #drarry fanfic #hpdm #drarry squad #things to read #Isobel writes #mine #hp

[creepingsharia]

“I Never Thought We’d Face This Much Hatred”: Muslim Persecution of Christians, November 2019

by Raymond Ibrahim

Slaughter of Christians

Syria:  On November 11, Islamic gunmen opened fire on a vehicle known to be carrying Christian leaders.  Two Armenian priests, a father and son, were killed; a deacon was seriously wounded.  ISIS claimed the murders of Father Abrahim Petoyan and Father Hovsep Petoyan.  The Armenians were going to inspect repairs on an Armenian Catholic church that had been earlier damaged in Deir ez-Zor. “We continue to feel the presence of ISIS,” responded the Armenian Catholic Archbishop Boutros Marayati of Aleppo, adding that Deir ex-Zor “is a very important town for us, because it is there that many of our martyrs were killed as they fled the Turkish genocide of 1915. Today there are no Armenian Catholics left there. Undoubtedly, the Turks don’t want us to return, because our presence would be a reminder of the Armenian genocide.”

Turkey: On November 19, in the streets of the city of Diyarbakir, Korean evangelist Jinwook Kim, 41, was stabbed and later died from his injuries. A 16-year-old Muslim was later arrested.  According to the report,

Kim had arrived in Diyarbakir with his family earlier this year and was pastoring a small community of Christians. The assailant stabbed Kim three times: twice in the heart, once in the back. Officials, however, claim that the incident occurred in an effort to steal Kim’s phone. Local believers urge the authorities to investigate the incident as an assassination, rather than an attempt at extortion. Kim was married and had one child, although his second is expected to be born in the coming days….  He had lived in Turkey for five years.

“This wasn’t just a robbery; they came to kill him,” insists another local Christian, who received a death threat the day after this incident:

We always get threats. A brother prophesied a few days ago that they (the government) are going to kick out these foreigners, and probably kill a few Turkish brothers. They are going to cause chaos. They know that I am trying to spread the Gospel, so they may target me too. This may be a sign.

Ethiopia: “Two Ethiopian pastors have been beheaded in Sebeta, near the capital Addis Ababa, in an outburst of violence against Christians” that erupted after a leading Muslim incited his supporters against the government over some supposed infraction against him.  The report adds that “the situation on the ground has become quite challenging for Christians and many churches have been burnt this year. There is also an unverified report that a group of Christians has been forced out of the majority-Muslim town of Ginir, located 303 miles south-east of the capital.”

Nigeria: Muslim Fulani herdsmen continued their murderous raids on Christian communities.  Two incidents were especially notable and identical.  First, in the early hours of November 14, machete-wielding Muslim raiders hacked to death four Christians as they soundly slept in their bedrooms in Agban village, near Kagoro.  All of the slain were farmers and members of the local church.  Ten days later, on November 24, Muslim herdsmen attacked Agom, a Christian village in southern Kaduna state’s Sanga Country, around 4:30 a.m.  There they hacked with machetes an 87-year-old Christian to death and shot another Christian in the head, killing him instantly.  Both of the slain, regular churchgoers, had also been sleeping in their homes.

Cameroon: On November 6 in Moskota, Islamic militants connected with Boko Haram attacked a church where they killed David Mokoni, a retired pastor, as well as a hearing-impaired Christian boy; another pastor was shot in the leg.  Afterwards the militants looted the church, taking even the pastors’ ceremonial robes.  “Boko Haram has been stepping up its attacks on Christian villages in Far North Cameroon in an attempt to establish an Islamic caliphate from north-eastern Nigeria all the way to northern Cameroon,” the report says.  This most recent attack follows a “brutal spate of attacks since late October, by gangs of up to 200 militants, [which] has left eight dead”: “The first of the attacks came on 30 October with the looting of six mainly-Christian villages in Mayo Sava district….  On 31 October, five people were hacked to death when militants armed with axes, knives and wooden clubs stormed the village of Kotserehé. A sixth wounded man later died from his injuries.”  Rebecca, a witness, described the slaughter of a boy in Kotserehé: “He was a 15-year-old adolescent. He was so deeply asleep in his bed that he didn’t hear any of the noise around him. They thrust the blade of the axe so deeply into his skull, to the point we had to use a hammer to get it out of his head.” Many Christians have been displaced by these ongoing attacks and live in “extreme misery,” added another local:  “This is beyond persecution. It is a dramatic situation, plunging thousands of families into a deplorable humanitarian crisis.”

Pakistan: Muslim bakers murdered a teenage Christian coworker and police are covering it up, alleged Sarwar Masih, the father of Akash Masih, the slain 18-year-old:  “My son was an expert at baking and making shawarma and burgers” and his “expertise was liked by the customers.”  As a result, “he faced discrimination and religious jealousy at his workplace. He often complained about the unfavorable situation at the bakery, but he continued working to help his family.”  One day the bakery called the father and said his son was sick and sent to a hospital.  Sarwar rushed there only to learn that his son had already died.  When he contacted police, the bakery threatened him and police were unresponsive, claiming that his son had “committed suicide,” even though signs of torture were visible on his neck and back. “These are delaying tactics to defuse the evidences against the culprits,” Sarwar last reported: “Christians face hatred and discrimination even after their death.”

Separately, on November 16, an armed Muslim mob attacked and drove out the Christian families of a small village in Lahore.  One Christian teenage girl, Sonia Sarwar, was killed and six others were seriously injured in the riot.  “The attack was aimed at displacing around ten Christian families from this area,” Nazir Masih, whose legs were wounded in the attack, explained: “Arshad Kambho, an influential Muslim, wants to grab the property of the Christians.”  Since 2015, Kambho had been trying to steal the Christians’ land; he took them twice to courts and twice the courts ruled in favor of the Christians. “Since then, Kambho has been creating disputes with the Christians to damage them and drag them into an allegation,” said another local.

Attacks on Christian Churches

Syria:  On November 11—the same day that two Armenian priests were killed in a hail of bullets (see above)—three car bombings occurred in the city of Qamishli, which holds a significant Christian population.  One of the bombs detonated near a Chaldean church and killed at least six civilians, as well as damaging the church building; another detonated near an Assyrian Christian owned market, and a third detonated near a Catholic school.  All were claimed by ISIS.

Egypt: On Friday, November 1, a fire broke out in a Coptic church in Shubra.  According to the report, “The fire had started at around 8:30am close to the church theatre hall, in a building adjacent to the church itself. Anba Makary, Bishop of South Shubra, was then officiating Mass on the ground floor for persons with disabilities. They were all safely evacuated.”  In the preceding two weeks, two other churches were torched in October.  Police concluded that the fires in all three cases were due to electrical malfunctions.  Christians argued otherwise, indicating that arson was responsible.

Separately, the civil council of the village of Neda ordered the church of St. George to remove its bell tower, in keeping with Islamic law.  The church, fearing that this is just the first warning of a downward spiral  to closure, made a direct appeal to President Sisi.  According to the November 17 report,

[T]he actual construction of the church has been a slow process. It was originally established in 1911, but it didn’t receive building permits until 2006. Because the village Christians are poor, construction has been slow. They are afraid that the village extremists will stop them from continuing construction without the intervention of the President.  Churches are a contentious subject in Egypt, which is an officially Islamic country. The construction of churches is tightly regulated by the state…

Pakistan:  A Muslim mob demolished a wall and the front door of a Catholic church in the Punjab on the pretext that it was not formally registered.  However, according to church member Naseer Masih, “Muslims do not want the church in the village because they have bad feelings towards Christians.”   The report explains:

“On 4 November 50 policemen arrived in front of the [church] gate and asked Catholics if they had ever had problems praying in church. Christians have responded that they had never had difficulties. Meanwhile, a crowd of 60 people gathered to bring a tractor and hammers. With the tractor they knocked down the door, then the Muslims completed the destruction with hammers.”

Police just stood by and watched.  “[W]e had no warning from the police before the accident,” said Naseer. “The Muslims carried out the destruction and the policemen did nothing against them. This means that they are on their side….  We have prepared all the documents,” he added, concerning the legality of the modest and now ruined church that was built in 2007.

Turkey: According to a November 21 report, “Turkey’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, has recently approved changing the historic Chora Greek Orthodox Church located in Istanbul, currently a museum, into a mosque”:

Commentators say that sets the legal precedent for transforming Hagia Sophia, the very symbol of Byzantine and Orthodox Christianity, which is also currently an official museum, back into a mosque….  The interior of the [Chora] church, which was originally built as part of a monastery complex outside the walls of Constantinople, is covered with some of the oldest and finest surviving Byzantine mosaics and frescoes.

Chora Church’s uniquely old and surprisingly intact artwork was first made in 1315—over a century before the Turkish invasion and conquest of Constantinople in 1453—and includes images such as of Joseph and Mary (above).  All these historically precious frescoes are set to be destroyed in the church’s transformation into a mosque.

France: On Sunday, November 3, a statue of St. Bernadette in the chapel of the St. Florent hermitage in Oberhaslach was found beheaded. Because two churches are reportedly violated every day in France, this bit of vandalism attracted little attention.  According to PI-News, 1,063 attacks on Christian churches or symbols (crucifixes, icons, statues) were registered in France in just 2018.  A separate January 2017 study revealed that “Islamist extremist attacks on Christians” in France—which holds one of Europe’s largest Muslim populations—rose by 38 percent, going from 273 attacks in 2015 to 376 in 2016; the majority occurred during Christmas season and “many of the attacks took place in churches and other places of worship.”  Unsurprisingly, the parish where the beheaded statue was found suffered an arson attack the year before.

General Hate for and Abuse of Christians

Norway: A group of Muslims beat, robbed, and threatened to kill a Christian evangelist if he did not convert to Islam.  According to the report, Roar Fløttum was “preaching the gospel and praying for the sick” on November 27, following a prayer meeting in the church he attends in Trondheim, when he encountered a group of Muslim men.  During their conversation, the Muslims indicated that they had physical pains and injuries.  Fløttum offered to pray for them, they accepted, and he complied.  They said they felt better and urged him to go with them and pray for another of their friends who was also suffering from a foot injury. Fløttum went.  “They were very nice and I couldn’t believe they would deceive me,” he later explained.  They took him to a backyard, pushed him down a cellar staircase, and began to beat and kick him in the face.  They kept him hostage there for about an hour, robbed him of his credit cards and about a thousand kroner (equivalent to about $108 USD). “While they kept me there, they threatened me and said they would kill me if I did not convert to Islam,” recalled the Norwegian. “They wanted me to say some words in Arabic [likely the shahada, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah,” which, when recited before Muslim witnesses, makes the reciter a Muslim]. I was scared and actually thought they were going to kill me because they said they had a knife and didn’t want witnesses.”

Egypt:  A knife-wielding Muslim man stabbed a Christian family—consisting of a mother and her two sons—and left one of the sons in critical condition. The incident occurred on the evening of Sunday, November 17, in Minya.  When the Muslim man saw the family sitting outside their home, as is customary in Egypt, he began yelling at them to go back inside.  When the older son refused to comply, the man, identified variously as “Ali,” or “Muhammad” went to his nearby home and returned with a knife.  He lunged at the family, stabbing the mother in the head, slicing the younger brother’s face, and stabbing the older brother several times in the gut (images here). A separate report adds that, “Last year, Mohammed attacked another Christian man with a cleaver…. He is known to hate Christians.”  “We can’t get back to the village,” one of the sons last reported.  “Right now, we try to avoid fights and disputes with them. The extremists’ family live in a house which is not far away from us. We will not let them induce us to fight them or anything like that. If we did something like that, we will lose our rights to punish the extremist. We want law enforcement.”

Uganda:  On November 10, Muslim relatives of a Christian father of four young children poisoned and almost killed him for leaving Islam.  Ronald Rajab Nayekuliza, 48, had converted earlier and proceeded to build a church and raise pig livestock.  His brothers, already angered by his conversion, responded by building a mosque near the church, while local Muslims regularly hurled stones at the church during Sunday worship.  Next, his older brother, Anus Wako, began sending threatening messages:  “You rearing pigs is against the faith of our father.  We are from a Muslim family, and our father did not allow the keeping of pigs. While our father was still alive, you were a Muslim; that is why he gave you land to live in, not for the construction of the church. Our family has become a laughingstock to our Muslim neighbors.”  Then, on the morning of November 8, Ronald found six of his piglets slaughtered: “I knew it must be my brothers; that really confirmed my earlier fears. My brothers had threatened me with witchcraft as well as receiving curses from Allah. This has made me live in great fear of my life and that of my family.”  Two days later he attended a memorial for his father, where his brothers and other local Muslims were gathered. Before leaving, Ronald told his pregnant wife that “he was feeling a kind of nausea,” she said.  “Immediately he started to vomit, then followed by diarrhea, with fever and complaining of abdominal pain.” They rushed him to a hospital, where he lost consciousness.  After doctors confirmed that he had been poisoned with a pesticide, police were sent to the brothers’ home: “When the four brothers saw the police vehicle, two of them fled,” a Christian local said. “The police arrested two brothers, Anus Wako and Kalipan Waswa, who were released on bond after four days.” Ronald spent more than a week recovering in the hospital.  “My husband is better but still very weak, with blurry vision and feeling numbness in his body,” his wife last reported.

Pakistan:  On November 10, Muslim arsonists reportedly torched a Christian home in Al-Noor town.  Witnesses saw two motor cyclists who had attended a nearby Islamic rally hurl a packet near where the house first caught fire. “The fire was extremely hot and it melted the stuff inside,” Manzoor Masih, the father of the family explained:

It looks like they used some chemical which turned all the stuff into ashes within no time.  The fire damaged beds, mattresses, furniture, trunks, cloths, crookery, fans, computers, the UPS, and the entire electric system….  For the last six months, different groups keep [sic] pressuring my family to leave this neighborhood and go to a Christian settlement.  However, we never gave into their threats…. I never thought we would face this much hatred for not selling our house.  It’s really heartbreaking and disappointing for a Christian living in this country…

Turkey:  A recreational facility in the town of Dargeçit  which is being referred to as the “Nation’s Garden” is, it was revealed in November, being built atop the graves of Christian and Armenian Christians—both of whom were victims of the 1915 genocide by Ottoman Turkey. “Is it now the turn of our deceased?” responded Evgil Türker, chairperson of the Federation of the Syriac Associations: “This mustn’t happen; we strongly condemn it… Of course, this event reminded us of the past. There had been similar cases in the past….  [T]his is looting. This is proof that the deceased of others [meaning non-Muslims] are not respected…. [T]his mentality has to be stopped.”

Egypt: In order to silence him, a Christian activist and social media blogger who exposes the plight of his coreligionists was arrested and falsely charged with “terrorism.” In response, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a statement in which it “strongly condemns” Egypt’s treatment of Ramy Kamel:

Mr. Kamel is an activist and prominent member of the Maspero Youth Union, advocating for full civil rights for Egypt’s Coptic Christian community and documenting abuses against its members. On November 23, National Security Agency officers stormed his home; confiscated his mobile phone, laptop, and other belongings related to his advocacy work; and took him into custody. One day later, the Supreme State Security Prosecution announced a series of spurious charges against Mr. Kamel, including membership in a terrorist organization, spreading false information, and disturbing the public order.

USCIRF Vice Chair Nadine Maenza elaborated:

USCIRF calls on the Egyptian government to immediately release Mr. Kamel from detention and dismiss the preposterous charges against him. His arrest casts doubt on the sincerity of Egypt’s promises of working toward greater religious freedom; Egypt cannot pledge improved rights and freedoms for Copts and other non-Muslim communities, while at the same time bringing false charges against its own citizens who are advocating for those same reforms.

The USCIRF statement concludes with relevant background information:

Egypt’s Coptic Christians represent the single largest non-Muslim community in the Middle East, likely comprising 10-15 percent of the country’s population of over 100 million. Despite their integral role in Egyptian society and history, they have long faced discrimination and periodic violence for their faith. In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF found that although the Egyptian government has made some modest progress toward legalizing informal churches around the country and improving public discourse about Coptic rights, it has taken few steps toward systematically improving religious freedom conditions for vulnerable Christian populations, particularly in rural areas.

Pakistan: The only Christian journalist registered with the Lahore Press Club finally resigned after years of harassment and discrimination from her Muslim coworkers.  Gonila Gill, 38, covered the persecution of minorities since 2002.  In 2014 she married a Muslim journalist, while remaining Christian.  The harassment began in earnest soon thereafter.  Her coworkers “told me that I would never get pregnant until I converted,” while her husband was accused of being an “infidel.”   She finally quit, “owing to the mental torture her colleagues put her through from not converting to Islam” notes a November 19 report.  “Speaking to the media, Gill said people are vile, but no matter what she will not lose faith in her religion.”

Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

About this Series

The persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has become endemic.  Accordingly, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed in 2011 to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that occur or are reported each month. It serves two purposes:

1)          To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, persecution of Christians.

2)          To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Islamic Sharia.

#Legal #Islam #Muslim #Sharia #Jihad #News #Politics #Religion #Media #Travel #Persecution

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 28, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Earlier today, in anticipation of tonight’s address to Congress, President Joe Biden met with news anchors. The president told them that his many meetings with foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, have convinced him that the story of this moment is whether democracy can survive the challenges of the twenty-first century. As things speed up, is it possible, he asked, to achieve the consensus necessary for democracy in time to compete with autocracy?

He told the anchors that “they’re going to write about this point in history.”

Biden nailed it. The struggle to preserve democracy is precisely what the story of this moment is—although it started long ago in the U.S., at least—and historians are already writing about it that way.

In the United States, the move toward oligarchy had been underway for decades. First, Movement Conservatives, who wanted to destroy the liberal state President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created, increasingly grabbed power through voter suppression, gerrymandering, filling the courts with originalist judges, focusing on the idea of the so-called “unitary executive,” and propaganda. Once they controlled the Republican Party, their techniques left it open to a leader like Trump to gather power to himself alone. Their admiration for oligarchy left them open to autocracy.

And now the Republican Party appears to have embraced Trump over any principles the party once held. Its leaders support the Big Lie that Trump won the election and are exercising their control of certain state legislatures to cement their power in enough states to control the federal government. They are passing laws to restrict voting and outlaw protesting; at the same time they have given up on policy and are relying on such blatant propaganda that just yesterday a writer for the pro-Trump New York Post felt obliged to quit after writing a completely fabricated story.

Biden is calling this move to autocracy like it is, and making a bid to shift the course of the nation.

Today, the Department of Justice executed search warrants on both the Manhattan home and the office of Trump’s ally and former lawyer Rudy Giuliani as part of an investigation into Giuliani’s adventures in Ukraine as he tried to dig up dirt on Biden’s son Hunter. Experts say such a search against a lawyer, and against a president’s former lawyer, to boot, is extraordinary. To get a warrant, investigators had to convince a judge that they believed it would turn up evidence of a crime that they knew had been committed. Political appointees in Trump’s Department of Justice had blocked such a warrant in the past, but Attorney General Merrick Garland lifted the block.

Federal officials also executed a search warrant on Victoria Toensing, a media personality and lawyer associated with Giuliani on his Ukraine work. The details of that search are still murky (but my long-time readers will be pleased to know that Lev Parnas is relevant).

Also today, federal prosecutors have added conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction to the charges against three men who allegedly plotted to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and a jury in New York today convicted a Trump supporter of making a death threat against elected officials for his statements in a video he posted online after the January 6 insurrection calling for the “slaughter” of Democratic senators. The penalty for such a crime is up to ten years in prison.

While authorities seem finally to be exploring the potential lawbreaking of the previous administration, Biden is properly entrusting law enforcement to the branch of government responsible for it, leaving the actions of the previous administration to the Department of Justice and state and local authorities. He is also refusing to engage in the rhetorical brawls the right wing is trying to spark, ignoring, for example, the ridiculous story that he was going to outlaw the consumption of meat, or that the federal government had bought and distributed copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’s children’s book to incoming refugees, both of which then blew up in the faces of those who had pushed them.

Instead, Biden is advancing a vision of an active government that levels the legal, economic, and social playing field for all Americans. While observers tend to associate this vision with FDR, who gave us our modern government, in fact that vision has been shared by all our greatest presidents.

Indeed, it was Republican Abraham Lincoln who first proposed the idea that the country does best when government guarantees equality before the law and works to guarantee equality of resources to all. Under Lincoln, the Republican Party established public colleges, put farmers on land, built railroads, and backed Black equality before the law, paying for those things with our first national taxes, including an income tax.

Republican Theodore Roosevelt took that idea a step further, addressing the extremes of industrialization with a federal government strong enough to regulate business and provide support for labor. Democrat FDR went much further, using the government not just to regulate business but to provide a basic social safety net—Social Security and the Works Progress Administration, for example—and to promote infrastructure through investments like the Tennessee Valley Authority, which brought electricity and flood control to what had been a neglected region, and the Civilian Conservation Corps, which enabled men to recover the landscape from the ravages of the Dust Bowl.  

Biden is in the mold of such predecessors, but his vision is new. He wants the government to support all Americans, beginning not with the ability of a man to support his family but with the idea of protecting children. Since the beginning of his presidency, he has focused on rebuilding the economy by improving the conditions in which children live—famously, reformers credited his American Rescue Plan with reducing by half the number of children living in poverty—and with the plan he announced tonight, he illustrated this reworking of society by investing in our children.

The American Families Plan calls for investing $1.8 trillion in education, providing free schooling from pre-kindergarten through community college. It calls for funding for childcare and paid family medical leave, and it includes more money for fighting child poverty. Biden plans to pay for this, in part, by enforcing existing tax laws which wealthy people and corporations currently slide by, raising as much as $700 billion. Biden also proposes increasing the top tax rate from 37% to 39.6%, the rate it was under President George W. Bush, and by increasing the capital gains rate.

“The question of whether our democracy will long endure is both ancient and urgent,” Biden reminded us tonight, in an echo of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. “Can our democracy deliver on its promise that all of us —created equal in the image of God—have a chance to lead lives of dignity, respect, and possibility?  Can our democracy deliver on the most pressing needs of our people? Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate and fears that have pulled us apart?”

The world’s autocrats are betting it can’t, Biden said. But he listed the accomplishments of the past 99 days, when the people of the United States came together to administer 200 million doses of vaccine and create hundreds of thousands of jobs and he pointed out: “It’s never been a good bet to bet against America.”

“Our Constitution opens with the words, ‘We the People,’” Biden reminded his listeners tonight. And “it’s time we remembered that We the People are the government. You and I. Not some force in a distant capital. Not some powerful force we have no control over. It’s us. It’s ‘We the people.’”  

And if we remember that and come together, he said, “then we will meet the central challenge of the age by proving that democracy is durable and strong.” “The autocrats will not win the future….

America will.”

—-

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#quotes #political #democracy #democratic rule #Heather Cox Richardson #history #Letters From An American #Biden Administration #corrupt GOP #criminal GOP

[lutalice]

my relationship with rook and the reason we decided to call things off is our business and our business only. while we are still very close friends, all that matters is that matters is us having a mutual respect for each other and love for yaelis. we are happy co-parenting with each other. they're a great parent and even though their job often keeps them away from yaelis, the two of them facetime just about every single night.

as for your comment on my brother, wow! had it not been for the laws of this land (and you being a coward and hiding behind anonymity), i would have slaughtered you! moth is my brother. he knows better than anyone what kinds of jokes he is and is not allowed to make in regards to my body and the things i have been through.

we may not have always been as close as we are now, but he has always been there for me. when i lost my arm, he switched from regular high school to basically homeschooling himself online so no one would have to awkwardly juggle between their work schedules, looking after me, and looking after mynie, who had just been born. this was also not long after he got back from the local school system shoving him into an “””alternative school”““ for a while, so he was working though a lot.

after i died, he helped me keep it secret from our mother (which he was very against). he also let me stay with him for weeks at a time, no matter how miserable of a house guest i was. he picked up my long lost slack with mynie and starting spending way more time with her so she wouldn’t miss me while i was gone off doing who the hell knows what in order to “find” myself.

moth has gone out of his way a million times to make things easier for me and to make up for how awful our relationship was when we were little. he’s allowed to make some out of pocket jabs. i make them back at him all the time because he is my brother and it’s a perfectly normal thing for siblings to do.

#txt

[siliquasquama]

I say Black Lives Matter because there’s a lot of people whose money rides on denying that idea

In comparing the history of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in North America versus the English, I notice a marked difference in rates of racial intermarriage. The Spanish colonies had a lot of it whereas the English ones didn't.

I've always attributed this effect to a greater desire for Blood Purity among English settlers, but the Spanish nobles were the ones who pushed the concept first, and the behavior of Criollos within the colonies does not indicate any loss of race-based thinking among them. So on the part of the Spanish colonists, I usually attribute the rates of intermarriage to the fact that the Encomienda system contained a legal loophole that created an intermarriage custom early enough to render any prohibition futile.

But what about the English, then? They didn't seem to go in for that quite as much, what with the general attitude towards stealing Indian land on an individual basis rather than making Indians into serfs for the Crown. They didn't seem to go in for intermarriage with black slaves and freedmen, either.

And yet -- I have heard tell that the Black Codes of the 1690s were set up specifically to prevent any unity between black and white folk, and people don't make laws prohibiting something unless there is something happening that they do not want to happen. And there was something to prohibit. Bacon's Rebellion had seen an uprising that combined runaway servants and slaves with middle-class revolutionaries, and though they were not the whole population they demonstrated the danger of letting commoners unite; the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705 were a specific attempt to socially segregate white and black people, such that the two peoples would grow apart and estranged. If unity was impossible nobody would ever have had to break it.

Which raises the question of what purpose the anti-black codes of the early 1800s had. In many places such as Connecticut, they were enacted right on the heels of abolishing slavery. Was it a top-down effort to keep the contemporary social and economic structure in place, or an outgrowth of deep-seated prejudice among the general population? Or both? Some states prohibited the settlement of black people altogether, which sounds more like plain prejudice, or, in the case of Oregon, an effort to make sure that white folks got all the good land there was to get first -- is that prejudice or greed? Maybe in that case it's impossible to separate the two.

A proper examination of that particular question would require a thorough look at the arguments made in favor of enacting those laws, if such records remain, or, failing that, a thorough look at the public rhetoric in a given area and year where such codes were enacted. In a country that prides itself on legislators enacting the Will of the People, it would be hard to argue that any law creating great social change did not reflect the will of those people.

The widespread existence of anti-miscegenation laws, the enactment of the One Drop Rule forcing mixed-race people into the lower classes, and the legal enforcement of physical segregation indicates this sort of specific prejudice among the population -- and yet these laws also indicate the existence of what they were prohibiting. Which makes them look like they are propping up something which would otherwise collapse.

Federal policy from the first half of the 20th century indicates that this system was already showing cracks. WASPs in the federal government forced the re-segregation of working-class city districts when granting them federal funding for housing. Apparently there was a quiet de-segregation happening all along, simply as a matter of working-class people living close to their work places.

And even the post-1865 efforts among white midwesterners to drive black people out of their towns indicates the presence of such black people to begin with, and the fear that having them around would slowly change a specific way of life unless something was done about it --

As if even widespread prejudice was not simply a matter of individualized fear and hatred, but a way of propping up something specific whose existence was otherwise threatened. The sudden prohibition of black people from being jockies was presented in my high-school history book as specific reaction against the possibility that it would provide black people a way out of their economic oppression. The part of "The Souls of Black Folk" where the white landowner warns the aspiring black teacher about teaching black folks has the landowner frame the matter a defense of the current system. The white mob in Tulsa that burned Black Wall Street was targeting something they saw as a threat to their own ambitions. The white folks in Chicago who went nuts to see a black man move into their neighborhood had been led for decades to believe such a thing would lower their property values, and the continuing efforts to slyly enforce segregation within suburbs are conducted on the same basis.

For a most contemporary example, see 2008 and the reactions of white republican voters and legislators; so many of them are from states where the economic system still depends upon keeping people poor, and a Black Democrat looked like he would be a Progressive and threaten all that, where a Black Republican would not.

The fact that these people are perfectly happy to let a black man into the party so long as he obeys the whims of the party resembles the old slaveholders who professed to love every one of their slaves as long as they were faithful, which is to say quiet and obedient. Likewise, southern white folks have long held that they are much friendlier and closer to southern black folks than white people are up North. To which I say, sure enough and that's not the problem. Northern whites got mad when black folks got too close; Southern whites got mad when black folks got too big; either way it's about reacting in defense of the current system. Y'all can be as cheerful as you want but when someone threatens the system and your response is murder, I don't give a damn how nice you were before because all that friendliness looks like it really is an inch deep.

As I often say, racism is an economic system that does not arise from prejudice, any more than an engine is built out of lubricant. Hatred and prejudice grease the wheels, but the point is to make lots of money for someone by keeping specific people as a low-paid underclass to minimize labor costs. The reactionary prejudice appears when that kind of economy is threatened by the possibility that these people can escape the underclass, because such an underclass only works to the purposes of high profits when people are held there.

So, when Chris Rock says that "white people were crazy", he is correct to a certain extent, but he fails to make it clear when and where that insanity arose -- it was always the insanity of a reaction, the desperate defense of one's Way Of Life, which is to say one's Money, because this is all built in support of mercantile and industrial Capitalism. it is not some rootless, generalized thing that exists in all societies through the ages. Fear of The Other is enough to organize reactionary movements but the necessity of those reactionary movements indicates that such fear doesn't hold the system together on its own.

Although, if the habits of American racism are seen in most places where colonies are established among a subjugated and resentful native population, one can argue that it is all a matter of supporting Imperialism rather than capitalism specifically. This would be easier to test if one could find such a settler colony whose money depended on something besides Capitalism, and while Rome might be the best source of examples, their empire depended on assimilating conquered peoples without imposing strict segregation. Even the Hebrews, those inveterate foes of Rome, were cast OUT of Judea rather than being confined within it.

Then again, empires of ancient times were not averse to slaughtering peoples who dared resist; one might say that the rise of Mercantile Capitalism created an imperialism where the imperial center wanted to subjugate people without threatening their existence as a source of revenue, and so built various forms of Apartheid as a compromise, using the concept of Blood Purity to steer individuals of the dominant class away from threatening the system. In that sense, the difference between English, French, and Spanish patterns of imperial subjugation occurred because the Spanish and French colonists were able to make big money out of the natives and the English colonists could not. The geography of this middle part of North America was inhospitable to the kind of fur-trading or plantation serfdom that the rest of the continent took advantage of, until the settlers decided to import slaves who could be replaced faster than they died. By this means the native peoples of middle North America were displaced instead of assimilated because it made more economic sense. But it was still a system that didn't really work for the geography without specific and continuing legal efforts to keep it going, which needed to foster a specific prejudice among the commoners so they would blame their system's injustice on the wrong people.

Which is to say, what we have isn't natural. It is built, and it is not even built very well for its environment. All the reactionary movements you see in its support are people trying to patch the machine. Without those patches the damn thing would have broken down three hundred miles ago.

And such reactions are collective, not singular. What distinguishes a lynching from a murder is the fact that the whole town comes out to register their approval. A lynching is a political act that it meant to unify one group of people at the same time it terrifies another into submission. It depends upon community approval, whether in active support or quiet acceptance. Those who would maintain racism have always wielded prejudice as a tool for gathering public support behind reactionary movements. For example, Jesse Helms secured his political career by running a campaign of that stoked anti-black prejudice against his progressive opponent, not to insult the opponent personally but to link his ideas to the idea of Race Mixing, oh horrors, protect your children, your neighborhoods, your property values.

In that light — if you would have a world where racism finally fell apart, you will have to impede the reactionary movements that maintain it. So keep watch for how reaction to economic justice is being organized around you. What rumors are circulating about the progressive efforts of the day? What distortions are you seeing? Most importantly, how are you being convinced to quietly approve of efforts against justice? In our own day we see news reports bringing up the criminal record of someone killed by the police, or focusing on the small gestures of niceness police forces make while omitting the tear gas that follows, or spreading wild rumors about the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone or about Antifascist groups, peddling the lie that police work is comparatively dangerous or that the U.S. is still full of violent crime that you could run into and the police are there to protect you — anything and everything to foster your apathy and your approval for upholding the Status Quo.

Meanwhile, the online rhetoric surrounding the current protest efforts includes posts that assume black and white people will be there together, borne out by the racial makeup of the crowds. It is almost as if we are in another period where sectarian prejudice among the underclass is decaying to the point it threatens the system.

Keep a sharp eye out for anyone trying to revive prejudicial separatism between peoples of the underclass. Keep an eye out for anyone trying to push sharp distinctions between black and white people. Those distinctions wouldn't be there if people hadn't put effort into maintaining them over the centuries. It was always about keeping up the strategy of Divide and Rule so the system wouldn't fall apart. Make sure it falls apart now.

#cui bono #black lives matter #apathy #apartheid #colonial imperialism #racism