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thatdeadaquarius · 5 months

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About your language brainrot. I see your "Reader's writing can't match tyvat's long and flowery writing" and bring you "Tyvat isn't used to books over 50 pages long so a short story to the Reader is a whole dictionary to tyvat readers".

Seriously, have you seen how thin the books are? They don't wrote novels, they write short chapters formatted in the way really old stories are. As in, summarizing all the events down into one smooth story then adding a few quotes. Fanfiction writers are insane. They will willingly sit down and write hundreds of words at a time. To them, a proper modern day story of maybe, oh 10k words or so, would probably be like the Oddessy itself.

If we were to combine the two headcanons. It would end up as many historians being intimidated by this insanely long written scripture in the language of the forgotten.

I'm going to take this a step further and say that if the creator asked some people to proofread their things, it would establish a hiarchy of who is able to actually finish the book the creator read and who isn't.

NOW THIS, THIS IS MY FUCKING JAMMMM

I'm so sorry this is so old!! u probably all know this by this point that I've really slowed down as the year has gone on, but I graduated university and then got my first job so its been pretty crazy!

Sun: Reader (you/they/them)

Orbit: Headcanons-ish

Stars: dash of all the book/nerds of Genshin, heavy on Sumeru?

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: Cussing, 16+ Mature Audiences, Spoliers for Sumeru Archon Quests/Scaramouche, & Trigger Warnings: mention of shipping/characters shipping themselves with you.

Comment if any missed, please.

☆

FULL STOP.

THE AKADEMIYA, FONTAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, HAVE BEEN WAITTTINNGGGG ON YOUR ASS LMAO

You fall from the fucking sky like a 5 star, or pop out of the Irminsul or whatever

and immediately are mobbed by scholars. LMAO jkjk (not really, bc that's what it’d feel like)

can you even imagine the dread older stories(”the classics” to them), that was instilled in the poor students around Teyvat??

id like to think ur works are the most preserved over the thousands of years of Teyvat archeologists excavating them, in comparison to other authors (teyvat just likes you more, suck it William Shakespeare)

also, bc I cant resist language differences/world building I'm sorryyyy 😭 😭

the vocab of Genshin lang vs. ours, has significantly less vocabulary like their actual dictionary is 1/3 the size of ours type of energy

(Omfg all ur fanfics being considered like insanely long realistic romantic classics or tragedies like Jane Austen-level, and only the richest and biggest play companies put on plays about ur stories bc the script goes on for hours)

(ur plays only get put on for rlly big events bc of this, like Lantern Rite or like a Summer/Winter festival/your birthday, which is, yes, an international holiday)

dude the sheer power move of anything you’ve written being essentially “Journey of the West” to them, like Damnnn.

endless like adaptations, plays, Teyvat-short stories condensing it, (THEIR OWN FANFICTION ABOUT UR STORIES)

the power is, in fact, going to your head every time another scholar both deflates at how long ur stuff is, but also lights up bc they get to read it

speaking of scholars… you know who snatched you up first. you know. you don’t even need to read the next line.

Alhaitham.

sneaky bastard he is, absolutely manipulated, mansplained (and manwhored bc he knows he’s handsome, cheeky little shit) his way into getting you to sit down with him and interview you about both translating other classics, your own, giving your own analysis of others works and ur own, and picking ur brain apart of how/why you wrote urs, etc. its fucking endless,

Kaveh had to come rescue you bc u were starving to death after getting stuck with the Haravatat scholar in his office for nearly 7 hours of interrogation discussion about literature

and Alhaitham wasn't even nearly done, he’d informed you as you left that he already had another appointment for later conversation scheduled (how?? you don't even know ur own schedule??? you have a schedule???) and was looking forward to more of your “creative and enlightening input” :)))

(you’re never going to escape him, not even Nahida herself can save you from his stubborn ass)

On another note, Xingqiu is quaking when you agree to autograph his copy of your stories (of which he has all hard covers of the first edition translations)

Zhongli/Rex Lapis is known for having a near-lifelong passion for searching for your works specifically, and learning how to translate them better into Teyvatian vernacular

like the same way he can absolutely speak on Rex Lapis facts/rocks/adepti info, is the same confidence he speaks about knowing ur work lol

(yes he did also ask for several autographs and another sit-down talk about the works, tho a lot more sneaky then Alhaitham bc he just casually gets u guys into it during dinner)

Barbatos/Venti has written some of the most famous songs based on your stuff, he has his favorites too,

but he always claims the best songs are any that have been written in the story, like either when a character sings something, or there are like quotes from songs ur fanfics are based on lol

(he also demanded to hear what they actually sound like from you, yes, you have to sing them for him lol)

Venti also can surprisingly drunkenly ramble the entirety of at least one of ur stories, like, word for word lmao

(Diluc gave in and did give him a drink on the house for that one, just once, Venti doesn’t remember it lol)

(I forgot to mention, u guys still speak the same language, just like, different versions of it)

ur works being one of the few things all the Archons can freely talk about with each other, like it’s neutral ground bc they’re all fangirling about it lmao

Furina and Neuvillette have had like,, fierce debates over the decades about character dynamics and the general drama of ur stories, they’ve gotten into it enough they’ve stopped talking to each other for a couple days a few times lol

Albedo, Sucrose, Kokomi, Yae Miko, Ei, Raiden, have read every single work they’re gotten their hands on in Teyvat (it took them like a literal year or longer)

Albedo drew you fanart for every single story, bc he’s hyperfixated on everything related to you ngl,

Kokomi had commissioned smaller pocket versions of ur works (which later got popular thanks to Yae Miko) both the OG and the Teyvat shortened versions

THE HARBINGERS ARE THE MOST DOWN BAD LMAO

Childe has literally tried to recreate battle scenes from ur works lmao

and gets especially riled up about fighting someone who resembles any characters from them (esp villains, what a cutie)

You cannot fathom the amount of research throughout Teyvat that has been secretly or indirectly funded by Pantalone/Tsaritsa

from the experts to analyze them, to funding play companies to act them out, to actually excavating places to get more of ur stuff unearthed

(the Harbingers absolutely are the first group of people that got to read several of ur stories first bc of this, like the world’s most exclusive secret book club lol)

Scaramouche used to clown on Childe all the time about how he was too impatient to even “sit down and read the King’s classics”, and he was downright insufferable when he found out about Tartaglia’s habit of recreating battle scenes/that being what motivated him to fight sometimes lol

that being said, Wanderer surprisingly never forgot ur stories.

Even when his memories were wiped for a bit, he found comfort in these fantastical epics still sticking around, even when his old names did not

(he mayyyy or mayyy nottt have secretly namedhimselfafteroneofthetragicprotagonistsherelatesto- )

oh btw, Nahida also found joy and comfort in ur stories when she was trapped, they also helped her literally grow as a person bc she had ur stories to help her sort of process the world/what life was like outside of her dreaming prison 🥺💔❤️‍🩹

◇

OMFG

ANYWAY FULL TONE SHIFT LMFAO-

the ABSOLUTE SPIRAL-RED-STRING-CONSPIRACY-THEORY-BOARD ENERGY IF THIS WAS A BLUNT LANGUAGE AU LMAOOOO

like specifically how Teyvatians like to give all the context ever thru their words, but older deities/beings like you just do simple phrases that can have deeper meanings (whereas teyvat just explains all the meanings behind their words)

STOP there’s like an official display at the Akademiya and Fontaine Institute of red string theory boards 😭😭 (look what you’ve done to themmm LMAO)

for like every story of urs, INCLUDING THE FANFICS STOP

IMAGINE THE SHIPPING WARS IF U EVER WROTE ONE THAT WASNT EXPLICIT OR LIKE ONE OF THE MAIN ROMANTIC INTERESTS HAD CHEMISTRY WITH OTHER CHARACTERS HAHAHAHAA

that's actually what Akademiya scholars argue about the most viciously, it’s like politics you can’t just bring up ships from ur stories casually in regular convos 💀

(poor Cyno has to deal with a shipping war once a year bc someone always makes the mistake of reading ur work for the first time (without being told to not talk to others abt ships lol) and it starts an all out brawl in the cafeteria every time LMAO)

Also yes.

Cyno is a fanboy.

(he has read Creator x Reader-insert fanfiction.)

(As have most of the characters mentioned, and those not lol)

…

(I'm gonna make a whole Creator x reader fanfic post one day i stg lmao)

☆

an iced coffee? for me?? :0

ok but real talk…

wtf do you guys wanna see for new years!!

i didn't do a inktober/october days thingy bc i felt too unprepared (and bc id wanted to post that 1000+ followers eldritch au for Halloween)

but now i kinda wanna, at least for a few days :o

ill post a poll in a minute, so check it out!! but still, please feel free to comment some ideas here! :)

Safe Travels Deafening Dreamer,

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily

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kemetic-dreams · 1 year

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THE IFA CONCEPT OF SOCIOLOGY

Yoruba culture has used the Ifa paradigm of the cosmos as the basis for building their major cities. The structure of the Yoruba Nation was a federation of city states. Each city was ruled by an Oba. In ancient times the Oba was never seen by his subjects, so he became the invisible nucleus of the circle that formed the city. He was surrounded by a female council of elders called Odu and a predominantly male council of elders called Ogboni. The city itself was supported by male and female work parties who tended to divide their labor along gender lines. The men were traditionally farmers and the women traditionally controlled the market place. Both men and women participated in craft guilds that preserved the techniques used in the arts. The cities were built in a circular formation with the compound of the Oba at the center. The symbolic image of Yoruba culture appears as follows:

There is some archeological evidence in the Yoruba cities of Ile Ife and Oyo that suggests that this design was used as the basis for the actual layout of those cities. The extent to which this occurred in other cities has not been thoroughly researched. It does appear that this structure was used in pre-colonial times as the basis for establishing political and religious institutions both of which were built upon the cosmological model found in Ifa.

Variations on this structure involved the system of establishing the location for sacred shrines. The system is called Gede which is a very old form of astrology. In Gede the path of solar bodies and planets is marked in relationship to the ways that they transverse the landscape. Celestial bodies are believed to enhance the ase (inherent power) of natural forces that arise from the Earth. By correlating the influences of Olorun and Ile, the ancient diviners were able to consecrate their shrines in places that reflected the essence of specific Odu.

Earth (ile) was considered a reflection of Heaven (Orun) and the layout of Yoruba cities was designed to make them mirrors of the cosmic order. The religion of Ifa originally comes from the city of Ile Ife. In lfa scripture, Ile Ifa is described as the original home of humans. The words: "Ile Ife” translate to mean; "Spreading Earth." So Ile Ife is a city and it is any place where land formed on Earth that allowed for human evolution to take place. Ifa scripture also refers to Ile Ife as a Spiritual place. It is the home for those ancestors who have returned to Source.

D. THE IFA CONCEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Perhaps the most accessible manifestation of Odu is through the portal of individual consciousness. Ifa teaches that Odu represent the energy patterns that create consciousness. They are analogous to what Carl Jung called archetypes of the collective unconscious. Jung believed that there exists a set of primal patterns that form the content of self-perception and place the self in relationship to the world. According to Jung, these patterns remain abstract until the unconscious gives them a cultural and personal context. In both Jungian psychology and the Ifa concept of consciousness, Odu (archetypes) can be revealed through dreams, where they take on personal qualities and manifest as mythic drama. By grasping this particular manifestation of Odu, Ifa teaches that it is possible to create internal balance which is the foundation of living in harmony with Nature.

Ifa psychology is linked to the concept of ori. The literal translation of ori is "head." This is a limited definition because ori also implies consciousness and Ifa cosmology teaches that all Forces in Nature have ori or consciousness.31 Because Ifa believes in reincarnation, every ori forms a polarity with ipori. The ipori is the eternal consciousness that exists in Orun (Heaven).32 It is the ipori that forms the link between past and future lives. If a scripture describes the ipori as the perfect double of ori. According to Ifa cosmology, every ori makes an agreement with Olorun prior to each incarnation.33 This agreement outlines the type of life that is to be lived and the lessons that are to be learned in a given lifetime. At the moment of birth the content of this agreement is lost to conscious thought. Part of the process of establishing internal balance is viewed as the task of remembering the original agreement between ori and Olorun.

This agreement is the source of individual destiny. Because divination is considered a method for discovering destiny, all divination based on Ifa is related to the question of enhancing the alignment between ori and ipori.

The link between ori and ipori lies within ori inu.35 The Yoruba words; "ori inu" translate to mean; "inner head." This is a reference to what Jung called the individual consciousness or self. Ori inu is the nucleus of that circle of Forces that creates self-awareness.

In addition to the polarity between ori and ipori, ori inu is the center point of the polarity between ara and emi. Ara is the physical body. Ifa psychology includes the heart (okan) and the emotions (egbe) as part of the physical self. According to lfa, the nature of one's ipori can only be grasped if the head and the heart are in alignment. In other words, the mind and the emotions must be in agreement if spiritual insight is to occur. Similarly, Jung understood that a conflict between the mind and the emotions is one of the sources of mental illness.36 In Ifa this conflict is called ori ibi. It is difficult to make a literal translation of ori ibi, but the term suggests a lack of alignment between ori and ipori. When the ori and ipori are functioning as one, it creates a condition called ori ire. A literal translation of ori ire would be; "wise head." .Jung referred to this condition as individuation, which was his basis for defining mental health.37

Ara or the physical body exists in polarity with emi. The Yoruba word emi means; "breath.” Ifa teaches that the breath of life comes from Olodumare and contains the eternal essence of consciousness. Emi in this context would translate to mean; "soul." The Ifa symbol of self would appear as follows:

#ifa #vodun #kemetic dreams #traditional african religion #african spirituality #african culture #west africa #odunlade adekola #ori #orunmila #oya

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bleachification · 7 months

Text

⸻ CHAPTER FIVE; ALL MEN ARE EQUAL

pairing: dazai x f!reader (fantasy au)

warnings: mentions/themes of depression

chapter list: this is CHAPTER FIVE of a multi-chapter fic series. PLEASE read the chapters below (in order) before this one or you will be very lost!!

prologue

one

two

three

four

word count: 3.5k

+ + + + + + + + + + + + +

Back in your homeland, at the Imperial Palace, the largest constructed facilities are ones of sport and training. Sharpened swords and polished armour take the place of bookshelves on bedroom walls, and the practice of scripture is seldom found. Higher education, though no less important than warfare, is strictly limited to scriveners, court officials, and the professional erudites of your father’s choosing. In the face of current conflicts, most of your father’s people are far more absorbed in military affairs and bureaucracy than arithmetics, the sciences and the humanities.

Although, when it came to you, it was like a switch went off and all those sentiments were turned upside down.

By a certain age, your tutelage switched from scholarly knowledge to that of etiquette and what he referred to as ‘womanly affairs’. Those usually consisted of things like sewing, music, and art classes. The only one you ever enjoyed was the horseback lessons.

But thankfully, your father’s one track mind meant you were never discovered for—or suspected of—possessing further-education books and studying politics, diplomacy, and military tactics on the days general schooling lessons were cancelled. It is why you find yourself in the royal library, hours before you are due to meet Dazai for dinner.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of marble shelves line the walls from floor to ceiling. Each one is stacked, end-to-end, with leather bound tomes and tea-stained manuscripts. There is a fireplace in the right corner, carved from blackened stone and crackling with warmth. Around it sits a pair of dark-green, thickly-cushioned armchairs, along with a matching sofa that is wide enough to fit at least four people.

You walk further in and are greeted with four arched windows spanning the length and height of the space, each one clear as the summer sea. You squint, momentarily blinded by a sudden passing ray of sunlight. Birds are chirping underneath the morning sky, and branches of a looming willow tree sway in front of the left-most window. You take in the sprawling garden view; a labyrinthine maze of hedges take up the centre, and a large assortment of decorations speckle the grounds. Smaller fountains, rainbow flower beds, and iron-wrought benches are only a few of what you can see.

You look around a bit more, noting the study tables anchored to the floor and the winding staircase that leads to the open-plan second floor. The library is well-kept, as shown by the pots holding blooming flowers along the window sills, but the dust lining the shelves indicates that no one has used the archives in a long time. You wonder why—it is the first and only comforting place that you have found in the cold, lonely palace.

You make your way down the stacks before a section catches your eye.

A Comprehensive Guide on Abilities and a Meta Analysis on their Structural Archetypes;

The Scholar’s Circle’s Codex on Yokohama’s Political Affairs;

North vs. South: A Dynastic Tale of Continental History.

You grab all three and almost lose your balance from the weight of each text. More and more books are added to the pile in your arms until you can no longer see straight ahead.

With a huff, you drop the mountain of pending research onto an oak-stained study table and quickly get to work.

Hours pass, the concept of time long faded as you lose yourself in the world of preternatural powers, warring states, and the cluttered institutions that make up the Kingdom in its most present form.

The striking differences between Yokohama and the Northern Empire are more vast than you had ever imagined. It's a stark contrast—governance, industry, arts, religion and everything else you've come across so far. Not a single commonality to be found.

“How has…? But wouldn’t the roots originate from the dark ages? Let’s see…” you mumble, talking to no one in particular.

“Have you found a specially interesting read?” A particular person asks.

You fall out of your seat in surprise.

“General!” You squeak, reeling from his sudden appearance.

The mild-mannered Fukuzawa gives you a gentle smile and moves to help you up. He hooks two large arms under your own and lifts you back onto your chair. The scene reminds you of a mother cat picking its kitten up by the scruff of its neck.

You drop your head onto the table in embarrassment, refusing to make eye contact until, hopefully, a meteor comes falling onto earth and crushes you to death.

“Good morning, General,” you mutter.

“Hmm.”

You peek up at him with one eye. “What?”

“It is five in the evening,” he replies, bemused.

“What?!” You bolt up, shame long forgotten.

It takes you a second to realize how orange the library is, cast in the hues from the setting sun.

You drag a hand over your face, rubbing the fatigue from your eyes. “Shit, I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”

Fukuzawa raises a brow.

“What? You’ve never heard a noble cuss before?”

He taps his chin. “I can’t say I have. You truly are a breath of fresh air, Your Highness.”

You grin. “As are you, General. And please…”

He listens, head tilting in curiosity.

“It is [name]. We are friends, are we not?” Your false sincerity coats your words like a second skin.

The sun dips far below the horizon, robbing the world of its light. You take in the storm clouds in the distance, absentmindedly wondering if the Empire would experience the same downpour later in the night.

Fukuzawa ponders your question for a moment longer before answering. “We are, but I am also your subordinate, so I am afraid I must decline.”

“And if it is an order?”

Fukuzawa’s eyes sparkle. “Then I am under aristocratic obligation to comply.”

In a tone laced with authority and bemusement, you proclaim: “I, acting Monarch of Yokohama, hereby order General Yukichi Fukuzawa to act beyond propriety and address me by given name only. No titles, no fancy designations. Just [name].”

“As long as you are willing to grant me that same honor, [name].”

You grin. “See? Isn’t that so much better, Yukichi?”

The General only laughs and turns to take a seat across from you. The armour he dons makes a clanging noise as he settles himself. Patches of dirt litter the surface of the metal while other areas sport minor indents—likely from the force of a blade's flat or hilt.

“Did that hurt?” You nod towards the largest dip in the steel.

He looks down at his left side, around the area between his upper ribs. “Couldn’t even feel it.”

“Of course not,” you wave, returning your attention back to the pages.

“I see you are interested in…” Fukuzawa leans over the table, peering at the emboldened titles of each tome. “Yokohama politics, history, and culture?”

“The pen is mightier than the sword, as they say,” you muse. “And a bright mind is far mightier than those stumbling blind in the darkness of their own ignorance.”

“I do wish more members of the court shared that sentiment. It would certainly make my migraines less frequent.”

You faintly recall the term from a book you finished earlier. “The… inner court?”

“The very same. A parliamentary round table of aristocrats and representatives, headed by the Four Noble Houses.”

“The Four Noble Houses? You mean…” You cringe, an unpleasant memory resurfacing.

Fukuzawa’s eyes gleam with amusement. “Ah, yes. I recall a certain purple-faced duke drenched in the colours of His Majesty’s most favoured cabernet sauvignon.”

You smile sheepishly. “I messed up, didn’t I?”

“Formally? Yes.”

You groan and drop your head in your hands.

Fukuzawa lays a palm on your shoulder and gives you a gentle pat.

“But reasonably? Absolutely not. He deserved ten times worse than what he got.”

“Someone needed to stand up to him,” you point out.

“Sadly, there are not many people who can.”

You sigh at that and go back to your research. The moment you set your eyes back on the book, the pages in front of you begin to blur and mesh into a whirlpool of ink.

“Maybe it is time for a break…” you murmur.

Fukuzawa leans forward and studies your fatigued expression.

“What have you learned so far?”

You snort. “You mean other than our sordid history? The decades of hatred and conflict brewing between our countries?”

“Ah, yes. Besides that fun little facet of our politics.”

You run through the miles of information you had just absorbed, each little bit coming together piece by piece to paint a very clear picture of the modern world—one where mystic abilities, gods of old, and monsters coexist in disharmony.

‘Abilities’ as you have come to know them, are practically non-existent among the lower caste in the Northern Empire. The only ones who wield them are of noble blood, aside from the rare few commoners—unfortunate individuals who would be executed for merely holding power outside of their status. Even then, barely anyone manifests one. In recent years, the only ability-user you know of is Chuuya.

In Yokohama, these powers are respected, admired, and much more plentiful. In your textual observations, it is noted that the military and governing leaders are chosen for their abilities.

“Hm… what is yours?”

You are curious. What sort of fate-bending, death-defying power could this seasoned warrior have?

“Mine?”

“Your ability. You must have one, being the head of such an elite corps.”

“My ability…” he pauses.

You raised a teasing brow. “What? You’re not going to tell me?”

“Just considering the risks of doing so. You have proven yourself to be both smart and deceitful. A deadly combination.”

“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” You place a hand on your chest in mock offence, scoffing in indignation.

Fukuzawa laughs—that familiar smooth rumble that you have come to find placating. “Would I be wise to?”

“Of course not.” You wave a dismissive hand. “But you should tell me anyway because I am curious and stubborn and will likely find out on my own regardless.”

The general’s gaze is filled with a kind of warmth that is unknown to you, only interrupted by a flicker of a melancholy that twists his expression momentarily." It happens so fast you almost mistake it for a trick of the light.

“You remind me so much of her…” He mumbles under his breath so softly you pass it off as a whisper of the wind. “Very well. I will tell you.”

The sun has all but disappeared from the horizon, the shimmering moon slipping in its place. The dark, glittering night falls onto Fukuzawa’s features beautifully, making him seem a little more weathered and a little less mundane as he explains his decidedly non-mundane powers.

“It allows me to control my soldiers’ own abilities. I am able to manipulate their capabilities, help navigate their potential, and expand the boundaries of what they can do. That is my ability,” he explains.

You mull over Fukuzawa’s words, a bit surprised at the nature of it all. The powerfully built military veteran looks at you like he knows what you are thinking—knows that you are confused on why someone with his battle prowess has such a passive skill.

“You forget, Your Highness, that before I am a warrior, I am first and foremost a leader. Without my men, I am nothing, and without me, many of those men would not have survived until now,” he states. He says it like a fact, and perhaps in some ways, it is. It makes more sense the longer you think on it, his ability is almost perfectly suited to his position. You wonder what yours would be if you manifested one. What about Dazai? Would his ability reflect bloodthirst and coldness? Or would it be the opposite of what you know him as?

You make a mental note to come back to that question later, and direct your attention back to the conversation at hand.

“[Name],” you correct.

Fukuzawa blinks. “Sorry?”

“You called me ‘Your Highness’ just now.”

“I apologize. Force of habit,” he drops his head in a slight bow and the moonlight streaming through the open windows reflects off his gray hair, transforming it into a silver mane.

Fukuzawa apologizes to you a lot, like a father fumbling for words in front of his newborn, careful not to be anything but kind. If anything, you find it endearing. As well as a little… disappointing.

“General.”

Fukuzawa’s smile drops at your change in tone. The worry in his eyes is clear. “Is something wrong?”

You give him a small smile, a tad tense. “No. Not really. Though, I would like to ask you something. Would you humour me?”

“Of course. I will answer anything within reason,” he reassures.

You rest your cheek against your palm, curiosity and wariness burning bright.

“Why are you so kind to me? I know how this country views the Empire—views me. I am not blind to the scornful glances nor hidden insults thrown around. I am numb to them. But you… Kunikida… that peculiar doctor as well, you are all much too cordial with a sworn enemy. Is it pity? Some misplaced sense of duty? Or perhaps it is all fake and you are all laughing behind my back as we speak.”

Silence spreads through the empty library, the only noises are the crackling of the fireplace and the gentle swishes of the willow branch behind you. The only thing you hear is your pulse thrumming against your skull.

If Fukuzawa is taken aback by your bluntness, he does not show it. Despite only knowing you for this short period of time, he is probably already used to your brusque manner of speech. He folds his hands in front of him and leans backward, taking some time to come up with a suitable answer. You can practically see the gears turning in that head of his.

A few moments pass before he finally speaks in a serious, yet gentle, voice.

“Do you think yourself undeserving of our respect?”

You shake your head and answer: “Not at all. I am only surprised you would willingly impart it to me.”

“I cannot speak on Sir Kunikida or Dr. Yosano’s behalf—although, I imagine they share the same thoughts—but I am kind to you because it is common sense. I am kind to you because I am honoured to serve under your reign,” Fukuzawa assures. His expression softens. “I am truly sorry about the harassment you have had to endure. I will do my best to keep them in check, but if it happens again, do not be afraid to use your status. You are their ruler. Do not let them forget it.”

A lump forms in your throat and you force yourself to swallow it down. The support eases your heart, but the anxiety does not fully disappear, nor does the cold tingle of resentment in your chest. They probably never will. For now, you will accept his words, but with caution, as you are still very much in enemy territory. You will need to lead with your mind to survive, not your heart.

And Fukuzawa? The gentle general is merely a stepping stone, not a friend.

“I… am grateful. Tha—”

“General Fukuzawa!” In a very familiar fashion, the doors to the library burst open to reveal a man, effectively cutting you off.

Kunikida stands beneath the frame, face alarmingly red and breaths coming out in short, laboured puffs. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch Fukuzawa grimacing.

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here?.” The minister spits out each word with barely contained anger—more accusation than actual question.

“Chief Minister.” Fukuzawa bows and slowly inches himself towards the door, closer and closer to the fuming blonde. “I see you are… upset.”

Kunikida’s eye twitches. “Upset? Upset?!” His voice hits an impressive octave and you briefly wonder if he’s ever considered a career in opera. He certainly has the knack for it.

“I—”

“The outdoor arena is on fire.”

The general clears his throat.

“Right. I did tell them not to try out those new techniques without me around, though His Majesty’s soldiers were never ones to adhere to the rules.”

“A black hole opened up in the ceiling and swallowed three stable boys. They were… fully nude when they fell out an hour later.”

Fukuzawa blinks.

“That’s… new.”

“You have five seconds,” Kunikida says flatly.

“Well. Duty calls. I shall have to put out some fires… er… literally.” Fukuzawa makes his way to the open doors and is about to leave when he adds: “Have a wonderful night, [name].”

“Good luck,” you laugh.

He gives you a small wave before disappearing down the hall.

You turn your attention to Kunikida who is now slightly less red, though still glowing a nice shade of pink.

“Good evening, Chief Minister. To what do I owe the pleasure?” You ask.

“I am here to bring you to dinner service. Perhaps you have forgotten? You seem to be engrossed in our literary offerings,” he answers plainly.

Kunikida stays standing, but has walked further into the room, hands clasped behind him as he studies the books you chose with furrowed eyebrows.

“I enjoy reading. Is that such a crime?”

“I am only surprised you were able to find this place. After His Majesty banned entry, most just ignore it as they pass by.”

You cock your head to the right. “I was curious about that. Why? It is a beautiful library—a sunlit treasure trove of knowledge. I would imagine most people would be clawing at the doors for just a glance, yet it is as barren and untravelled as the deserts in the West,” you muse.

Your curiosity is only a mild interest until Kunikida’s gaze sharply turns away from yours, blatantly avoiding your poking and prodding. His averted eyes cause what little inquisitiveness you had just felt to balloon into a wave of eager investigation.

“Kunikida.”

He adjusts his glasses and nervously glances at his timepiece. “We are going to be late if—”

“Kunikida.”

He sighs, relenting.

“If nobody uses this place, why is it so well kept? There are no dirt patches or cobwebs, but the dust between pages suggests that no one has opened them for many years. ”

“If I were to make an educated guess…” Kunikida stops for a moment to think. “I would wager that His Majesty misses what it used to be, and is only trying to preserve the last of that magic. Though the memories here are much too vivid and much too painful for him to come back to.”

What it used to be…

A flicker of something… a fleeting feeling… No. A memory. At the very back of your mind—

“But I do not think he will continue to do so.”

It vanishes, and you fall back to reality, grasping at nothing and nowhere.

You shake yourself out of your daze, a bit peeved at the interruption, but curious all the same.

“Do what? Preserve this place? You believe he will let it just… crumble to ruins?”

Kunikida takes a seat and folds his gloved hands together. The lines on his forehead appear as he tenses, preparing his next words with careful precision. He works his jaw, tension releasing and forming with each movement, as if he is warring internally, fighting to either let the words out or keep it in.

You hope he chooses the former. The more information, the better.

His expression settles and a stern look replaces his calm visage. Whatever he has to say must be serious.

You catch yourself tapping the side of your thigh anxiously under the table and clamp your fingers down on your leg… hard. Your father did always say that a royal must be poised and perfect, and he made it extremely clear that such emotions were to be erased and forgotten.

And if they weren’t…

A chill runs down your spine at the memories.

“I am well aware that you are, and pardon my candor, untrustworthy.”

You almost snort. Not the first time you’ve heard that and it certainly won’t be the last.

Kunikida continues. “But I believe it is only right to tell you as His Majesty’s spouse. King Dazai is… he is…” Kunikida pauses as he fumbles for the right word.

A clock ticks. Kunikida settles on a phrase.

“Unwell. A disease of the mind and heart that has stolen his will. He is here only to serve a purpose and that purpose is not to live out the rest of his life. He exists, but for years now he has not been… here. Almost as if one wrong move and the line His Majesty balances upon disappears and takes him with it.”

Time slows. The air thickens. Are you breathing?

“Slowly but surely, he is fading away,” Kunikida pauses and swallows as he tries to work out his next words.

“Some days I believe he is better. Most days I do not allow myself to indulge in such a lie.”

—

˚ · . tags: @zjarrmiii @aiizenn @emyyy007 @letsliveagaintoday @bejeweledgirl @nat-the-gayass-down-bad-mf

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monstercollection · 2 years

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I wanted to share some articles on actual 19th century asylums. I did some research because I wanted to see if Seward’s actions were actually the standard of care at the time and what reformers of the era were actually pushing for.

And what I discovered is that there were quite a few asylums that were more considerably more progressive and were far more humane than Seward’s asylum. Some even had practices that looked very similar to the restraint reduction/elimination programs we see today. Some had even eliminated mechanical restraints (straight jackets, chains, etc.) entirely.

So people were actually aware of how cruel and unnecessary many of these practices were. Hanwell Asylum phased out mechanical restraints like these in the 1840s. They created an environment where patients could move freely, focused on vocational programs (though many of these were unpaid) and even made deescalating patients in crisis (as opposed to using restraints) a core part of their practice.

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/victorian-mental-asylum

People were also actively protesting the inhuman conditions at many asylums.

https://www.historyhit.com/life-in-a-victorian-mental-asylum/

Not every asylum was like this, but the idea that mechanical restraints where not necessary was in the public conciseness, and psychiatric care that focuses on managing environments and stimulus/triggers was actually a thing that existed.

One of the reasons mechanical restraints returned and the concept of patient dignity became less a focus was overcrowding in the late 19th century This is the same issue that modern institutions cited as the cause for horrific drops in quality of care and abuse. Like today, the worst places were those where people were warehoused without enough staff to adequately supervise them. You saw this in places like Bethlam Royal Hospital (aka Bedlam Asylum).

High staff ratio was seen as essential to restraint reduction in places like Hanwell, much like today. This is very similar to how programs for people with intellectual disabilities and mental illness that lead to physical behaviors/aggression are placed in environments with high staff-to-client ratios (or even 1-to-1 staff) in order to have people on hand to give them more individual attention while in crisis and focus on de-escalation (I worked in contemporary programs that provided this kind care of for about 4 years).

So when we talk about Seward as a product of his time, I think we need to acknowledge that there were a lot of places that phased out the practices he uses on Renfield, some of which predated Dracula by almost a century.

Seward’s actions need to be looked at less in light of the standards of the time and more in light of Stoker’s own ableist and eugenicist beliefs. You see time and time again that Stoker equates mental health with moral and religious failings and a person being a lower form of human being. Notice how Seward continually frames the worst parts of Renfield’s mental illness in the context of scripture.

This was well after psychiatric science had begun to move away from this idea (though anyone with mental illness who grew up in a conservative Christian comunity will tell you it hasn’t faded completely today). Hanwell doctors did believe that religion played a role in a patient’s recovery, but less in the idea that mental illness/moral failing was linked inherently to a biological difference that was not treatable.

Later in the book, Stoker writes a scene were Van Helsing talks about how criminals have “childlike brains” and very much equate things like mental illness and intellectual disabilities with criminality. Though he does seem to make an exception for conditions like dementia (it is implied at one point that VH’s wife is suffering from it). In general, the characters in Dracula believe that mental illness/mental defects are inherent. This is why you see Seward focus more on studying Renfield than curing him.

So Seward and his asylum really are more emblematic of Stoker’s biases than they were the more progressive and compassionate practices toward treating mental illness that very much existed at the time. Critiquing his character for his treatment of Renfield is absolutely valid. He uses practices that asylums predating him by over 50 years deemed cruel and obsolete. Those practices has not vanished but we’re more associated with county institutions that warehoused their patients rather than private practices like Sewards.

#dracula daily #john seward #mental institutions #cw: institutionalization

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fatphobiabusters · 10 months

Note

On the subject of fat intersectionality: I wonder if those ugly laws targeted certain other physical features in the wake of slavery being outlawed (except as the punishment for a crime).

Like a lot of policies it'll always affect poc more. Say we take "physically obviously disabled". Well a lot of freed slaves were abused to the point of physical disability.

On the Wikipedia page: People charged under the ugly laws were either charged a fine or held in jail until they could be sent to the poor house or work farm.

So just....sending the people back to (or into) slavery. Because you'll never not be disabled....

"A poorhouse could even be part of the same economic complex as a prison farm and other penal or charitable public institutions." Yeah. Not suprised. Free labor because people can't legally exist in public is very related to prisons.

I'm admittedly not very versed on the subject but once you start to make it illegal to "not look right" then it's going to feed into other biases. FFS there's still fighting over if natural textured hair is "appropriate" aka meets white standards of professionalism. Who sets the standards of professionalism or beauty? We know who.

Sorry this is rambly but these laws are ableist, fatphobic, racist, classiest and predecated on the guilt well to do Christians felt:

"The Charity Organization Society suggested that the best charity relief would be to investigate and counsel the people needing assistance instead of provide them with material relief.[4] This created conflict in people between their desire to be good Christians and good citizens when seeing people in need of assistance. It was suggested that the beggars imposed guilt upon people in this way.[3]: 37 "Pauperism is a disease upon the community, a sore upon the body politic, and being a disease, it must be, as far as possible, removed, and the curative purpose must be behind all our thought and effort for the pauper class."[4] Similar to what Slocum said, other authors suggested that giving charity to beggars without knowing what was to be done with the funds, was as "culpable as one who fires a gun into a crowd".[5]"

"Charity must "do what it can to check the spreading curse of race degeneration". People involved with charitable policy suggested that while euthanasia would be a release for the person struggling with their disabilities, it also went against the moral principles taught by religion"

Christians my ass. Mother fuckers can't even read their own scripture. But I digress. The point being it was guilt over seeing "less fortunate" that started this whole mess from the sounds of it.

It should also be noted that mentally disabled were included. Not everytime but they were. Also the Wikipedia has issues of course but these are my thoughts as is. If we happen to have a follower who researched Ugly laws, please chime in.

#Ask #Mod squirrel #Ableism #slavery mention #braaaaain #Ugly laws

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disappointmentthemusical · 3 months

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anti-zionism is not antisemitic, but that does not preclude anti-zionists being antisemitic

do not allow yourself to be sucked into antisemitic conspiracy theories about the purposes/intent behind the synagogue tunnels. while there are systemic issues within judaic institutions, the hassidic community included, do not allow the injustice of a secular government that bears the star of david to push you into assumptions and stereotypes. even a little research will tell you that the tunnels are about building expansion.

on this note, let us remind ourselves that zionism is rooted in antisemitism. beyond tenants in jewish scriptures, zionism requires the antisemitic belief that jews are not/cannot be loyal to any state/people other than israel and fellow jews. this notion pre-dates the creation of the colonial state of israel. the idea that jews are inherently untrustworthy and traitors has been played up time and time again, most notably pre-WWII to justify laws and policies limiting jewish freedoms and citizenship. for anyone familiar with french history, you will know the role this sentiment played in the Dreyfus Affair, which changed all of europe's relationship with/view of its jewish populations.

the zionist project will soon be used against jews outside of israel. regardless of how the war ends, israel has embedded itself in the world's perception of jewish identity, in one way or another. do not be surprised when politicians and media outlets begin questioning jewish loyalties in the aftermath of the genocide, particularly if western governments are able to hide their participation in the ethnic cleansing of palestinians. if this is reframed as a jewish aggression or an aggression committed solely by israel as Biden and Trudeau and Macron and whoever bravely pleaded with Netanyahu to limit civilian casualties, then imagine how much easier it will be to pose jews as a domestic threat.

#gaza #palestine #anti zionisim #antisemitsism #synagogue tunnel

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eretzyisrael · 8 months

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(JTA) — A public university in Switzerland is looking for its next Jewish studies professor, and one requirement on the job posting has drawn scrutiny from local Jews: all applicants to the position must be Catholic.

The opening, for a professor of Judaic studies and theology, is currently listed at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Lucerne, an hour south of Zurich.

Even though the university is public, that academic department is officially affiliated with the Catholic Church — which prohibits non-Catholic professors from teaching “doctrinal” courses such as philosophy, liturgy, scripture, Catholic theology and fundamental theology. That includes teaching about non-Christian religions such as Judaism. Non-Catholic professors may be invited as guest lecturers or visiting professors.

The Jewish studies and theology professor would be responsible for teaching and research related to Judaic studies, as well as leading the Institute for Jewish-Christian Research, according to the job posting.

Alfred Bodenheimer, who worked at the University of Lucerne from 1997 to 2003 in a Jewish teaching and research position, said the prohibition of non-Catholics hampered his career there.

“It seems to be the case that it simply doesn’t fit into our times anymore — that you say someone who teaches Jewish studies cannot be anyone else but a Catholic,” Bodenheimer, who now teaches at the University of Basel, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“I really saw that as a Jewish person at this university, I would always be something like a subaltern, with no chance to have more possibilities, influence and so on,” he added. “I became aware of the fact that this whole situation was very asymmetric, that I as a Jew would always be not on the same stage as my Catholic boss.”

Like Lucerne, the University of Basel is a public university. But its theology department is Protestant, rather than affiliated with the Catholic Church. In total, Switzerland has 12 public universities, at least two of which have Catholic Church-affiliated theology departments.

#jewish studies #judaic studies #lucerne #university of lucerne #alfred bodenheimer #catholic church

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officialyourdailyinspiration · 5 months

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A Prayer for God's Power

1 Oh, that You would tear the heavens open, come down, that mountains shall shake before Your? –

2 as when fire burns twigs, as fire makes water boil – to make Your Name known to Your adversaries, so that nations tremble before You.

3 When You did awesome matters, which we did not expect, You came down, mountains did shake before You!

4 Since the beginning of the ages they have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any Elohim besides You, who acts for those who wait for Him.

5 You shall meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways. See, You were wroth when we sinned in them a long time. And should we be saved?

6 And all of us have become as one unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as soiled rags. And all of us fade like a leaf, and our crookednesses, like the wind, have taken us away.

7 And there is no one who calls on Your Name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our crookednesses.

8 And now, O יהוה, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You our potter. And we are all the work of Your hand.

9 Do not be wroth, O יהוה, nor remember crookedness forever. See, please look, all of us are Your people!

10 Your set-apart cities have become a wilderness, Tsiyon has become a wilderness, Yerushalayim a waste.

11 Our set-apart and comely House, where our fathers praised You, has been burned up with fire. And all that we treasured has become a ruin.

12 In view of all this, would You restrain Yourself, O יהוה? Would You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure? — Isaiah 64 | The Scriptures 1998 (ISR 1998) The Scriptures 1998 Copyright © 1998 Institute for Scripture Research. All Rights reserved. Cross References: Exodus 19:18; Exodus 20:24; Deuteronomy 29:23; Deuteronomy 31:18; Judges 5:5; 2 Kings 25:9; Psalm 14:4; Psalm 31:19; Psalm 65:5; Psalm 66:3; Psalm 74:10-11; Psalm 79:8; Psalm 79:13; Psalm 90:5-6; Psalm 99:1; Isaiah 1:7; Isaiah 1:30; Isaiah 6:11; Isaiah 12:1; Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 42:14; Jeremiah 5:22; John 8:41; Romans 9:20; 1 Corinthians 2:9

#God's people #plea #prayer #God's strength #God's glory #Isaiah 64 #Book of Isaiah #Old Testament #ISR 1998 #The Scriptures 1998 #Holy Bible #Institute for Scripture Research

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demoisverysexy · 2 years

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You're the first person I've ever seen on this site that doesn't call Mormonism a cult and while I'm sure the people who started that had their points and/or their traumas, I'm not sure how it isn't a cult solely bc all I've heard in concise words is that it is.

I know that with Christianity, I've definitely met queer people who "reclaim" it and interpret it the way they want to, as opposed to the way organized religion teaches them. I assume with Mormonism it's a similar sort of self-reclaiming thing?

My ADHD makes it hard for me to read tons of long posts about things, makes doing my own research hard(it also doesn't help that most online searches just spin me back around to the cult thing or are from Mormons that are also conservative), so in advance I apologize if this is like, out of line or too much

Imagine, if you will, that you grew up Mormon outside of Utah. Growing up, Mormonism was never a source of great anguish for you, and that while it was what you grew up with, it was never forced upon you. Much of the learning about Mormonism you did was of your own accord. Also, you're a free thinker who has been encouraged to get involved with the community your whole life, and has mostly been surrounded by non-Mormons. You grew up liberal, and ended up being fairly (in my case, more than fairly) progressive, and you are more open than most Mormons to the stickier bits of Mormon history. You know, for a fact, that you are not a cultist.

And yet you are surrounded by people who insist you are. They look at you with a sort of sad pity and tell you to read the CES letter, or that they hope you leave soon. That they think youre stupid for believing in Golden Books or Jesus being American (we don't believe that) or that Native Americans are all just Jews (we dont believe that either). They listen to people who have had bad experiences with the church, and who insist that the church is a cult, then think that it is a universal truth that applies to the whole church, when in reality those toxic elements are mostly found in Utah, and most of the church is not located in Utah.

But when you are a cultist (or are called one) no one will believe you if you tell them that you aren't a cultist. Because cultists don't even know that they are cultists, and thus their personal testimonies are suspect. Even the people who claim to be most sympathetic to the "poor deluded cultists" still don't care enough to listen and possibly be wrong about us, because listening to a cultist is dangerous, because they might end up thinking you're not a cultist, or worse, they think you might try to get them into your cult.

But I'm not a cultist. Mormonism isn't a cult. It's just a large religion with a lot of institutional weirdness and conservative beliefs. Some congregations do take this into full cult territory, many more don't. Most are just run-of-the-mill conservative churches with a Mormon splash of paint. Which I'm not a big fan of, but hey. Could be worse.

In some ways, it is frustrating, because often the things they will use to smear Mormons to call us cultists are features that exist in other religions. Islam, for example, has a lot in common with Mormonism (dietary codes that forbid alcohol consumption, extra books of non-biblical scripture with questionable historicity, conservative social beliefs, desert religion, non-biblical prophets, polygamy) but people (on the left specifically) don't bring up those critiques in relation to Islam. I don't know why, but to me I feel that there is perhaps some underlying bigotry there, both towards Mormons and Muslims. On the one hand, Mormons are judged too harshly, and on the other, Muslims are treated as a wholly unproblematic, uncomplicated religion, which to me smacks of infantilism. This problem affects many other religions too, which are given a free pass to be uncomplicatedly good, whereas Mormonism and other Christian denominations are bad by default. The lack of nuance in such an appraisal is astonishing.

I just want to be heard. I want people to listen to Mormons for once, active or inactive, left leaning or not, and actually try to do the work to understand us, at least a little. Not everything that you find when you actually study us with an open mind is good. History, culture, and religion are messy things. But there is a lot of good to be found there, too. I do firmly believe that Mormon perspectives have a lot to offer, in the same way that folks on tumblr have realized that Jewish or Muslim perspectives have a lot to offer. That even if you don't buy everything we have to say, that we are interesting and diverse, and have lots of different opinions about what Mormonism even is, or what it means. In particular, I feel that voices like mine - queer left-leaning Mormon voices - should be privelaged, as we are often the most overlooked in the discussion of what Mormonism is, both inside and outside the church.

But of course, all that is ever said about Mormons, both in left wing and right wing spaces, is that Mormonism is a cult. Evangelicals and atheists alike agree that it is a foregone conclusion, and often end up using the same talking points. And since it is so uncontroversial to say that it is just a cult, that is what people will believe. If everyone is saying it, after all, it must be true.

Now, as to your question on whether or not I am reclaiming Mormonism. I don't think I am. For me, my Mormonism has pretty much always been a personal thing. In fact, one of the core tenets of Mormonism as it is written (but not necessarily taught by the institution as radically as it is presented in the scriptures, for obvious reasons) is the doctrine of personal revealation. In short, it posits that the only way to know spiritual truth is through personal study, prayer, and confirmation from the Holy Spirit. The Book of Mormon even invites you to question it, and is very open about how the only way to know for certain if it is scripture, as it claims to be, is to recieve confirmation from God. More, it even notes that it may have flaws which the writers may not have been aware of, and it is good if you notice them, because it means that you are better than they were. Such openess to imperfection is characteristic of a lot of the scripture unique to Mormonism, and it leaves a lot of room for people with more heterodox views, like me.

So I don't feel that I am reclaiming Mormonism. It was mine to begin with. Perhaps I am reclaiming it from the church in a sense, but my Mormonism has always centered me and my relationship to God first and foremost. More, I believe my readings of Mormonism, and Christianity more broadly, are more in line with the radical messages of their founders and source texts than the current leaders are. So in a way, conservstive christian instutions are working to reclaim their religions from people who were, in some ways, more progressive than them. It is a disappointing state of affairs.

In any case, I think that both Christianity in general and Mormonism more specifically are far more radical and forward thinking than the majority of their proponents, and that people should give them more serious thought then they have, both inside and outside these institutions. People are far too all or nothing when it comes to religions, especially Christian ones. But to truly appreciate what they have to offer, I believe that you have to set aside any preconceptions and dogmas you may hold so as to more fully appreciate them fkr wbat they are, and what they have to offer.

#religion #queerstake #christianity #asks #demo answers #mormonism

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ausetkmt · 7 months

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Introduction

For most of the past two millennia, Christian churches have not only accepted slavery, but have also participated in the slave trade and owned human property. The ethics of Christian slaveholding, however, have changed significantly. While Christians owned other Christians without controversy during the late ancient period, Christian churches began to forbid that practice over time. By the early modern period, it was considered taboo for Christians to own other Christians, although the practice sometimes continued illegally. While some individual Christians, including ministers and members of the clergy, questioned the legitimacy of slavery during the early modern period, it was not until the 18th century that a small minority of Christian churches began to assert an abolitionist stance.

Even then, it was deeply contested. For the majority of the early modern period, most Christian churches—both Catholic and Protestant—supported slavery and benefited from the institution. Even the Quakers (Society of Friends), who were leaders in the abolitionist movement, took a century to disown enslavers from their congregations. In the United States, many Christian denominations split on the issue of slavery in the 19th century, and Christian ministers and missionaries developed robust defenses of slavery based on Christian scripture and proslavery theology.

Enslaved and free Black Christians were the most ardent abolitionists, and they drew on scripture to support antislavery and abolition. While a significant amount of scholarship has debated whether Christian churches were pro- or anti-slavery, some of the most exciting research about the church and slavery has focused on why enslaved people became Christian and how they used the bureaucracy of the church to advocate for their rights and to protect their communities.

Much of this scholarship has emerged from a Latin American context, where archival records are more robust, but there are also important studies focusing on Black churches in the North America, especially the role of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and other African American–led churches. Within this area, scholars debate the meaning of conversion as well as the relationship between African religions and Black Christianity. Recent scholarship has emphasized that Africans and their descendants were not passive recipients of Christianity.

Rather, many enslaved men and women actively sought out baptism and used church institutions not only as a place of worship, but also as a way to protect themselves and their families. Another significant area of research has examined the relationship between the church, slavery, and race. Scholars have demonstrated how European Christians drew on categories of religious difference as they developed new racial categories. They have shown how categories like “Whiteness” and “purity of blood” were transformed within the context of slavery, as enslavers sought to reconcile slaveholding with Christian practice.

General Overviews

As Christian nations began to build empires across the Atlantic, the pope condoned the enslavement of Africans as long as certain conditions were met. A century later, Protestant nations followed Catholic lead in creating colonial slave societies in the Americas, although they developed different laws and practices related to slavery and Christianity. Blackburn 1997 provides an overview of the shifting relationship between slavery and Christian churches in European empires, while Davis 1966 is a classic study of slavery from Antiquity to the early modern period.

Over the past decades, scholars have sought to understand the history of the church and slavery from the perspectives of non-Europeans, especially Africans and Native Americans. Sanneh 2006 and Gray 2012 examine the history of Christianity in Africa, focusing on the role of African Christians. Johnson 2015 is a wide-ranging study of the relationship between African American religions (including Christianity), slavery, and colonialism, while Frey and Wood 1998 is an important survey of African American Protestantism in the British Atlantic world. Gin Lum and Harvey 2018 contains several essays relevant to the study of religion, race, and slavery. Reséndez 2016 explores the under-examined history of Native American enslavement.

Blackburn, Robin. The Making of New World Slavery: From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492–1800. London and New York: Verso, 1997. Blackburn examines the Old World foundations for American slavery. While not the focus of his study, Christian churches play a central role in creating a precedent and a legal justification for slavery in the New World.

Davis, David Brion. The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1966. The first in David Brion Davis’s classic trilogy about slavery and abolition. Davis examines the ancient history of slavery and traces the relationship between slavery and the church in Europe and the Atlantic world.

Frey, Sylvia, and Betty Wood. Come Shouting to Zion: African American Protestantism in the American South and British Caribbean to 1830. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998. An important survey of Afro-Protestantism in British America and the early United States. Early chapters cover the history of Catholicism in Africa and the persistence of African religious traditions under slavery in the Americas. Later chapters cover Protestant missionary efforts, and the expansion of Afro-Protestantism after the Great Awakening.

Gin Lum, Kathryn, and Paul Harvey, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. An excellent edited volume with over thirty essays, covering race and religion from the colonial period until the 2020s. Several essays are relevant for discussions of the church and slavery.

Gray, Richard. Christianity, the Papacy, and Mission in Africa. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2012. A posthumously published set of essays. Gray’s overarching argument is that African Christians played a central role in initiating papal interest and involvement in sub-Saharan Africa. Several essays touch on the history of slavery and the slave trade.

Johnson, Sylvester. African American Religions, 1500–2000. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139027038While not focusing exclusively on the church or Christianity, Johnson’s synthesis of five hundred years of African American religions is an indispensable study that traces the relationship between Black religion, slavery, racism, and colonialism within a transatlantic frame.

Lampe, Armando, ed. Christianity in the Caribbean: Essays on Church History. Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 2001. A helpful overview of the relationship between the church and slavery in the Caribbean, with essays on Catholic and Protestant churches in different imperial and national settings.

Reséndez, Andrés. The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016. The history of Native American enslavement has long been under-examined, largely because indigenous slavery was illegal for most of colonial American history. This study does not focus on the church explicitly, but the relationship between Catholicism and Indian slavery is an important theme.

Sanneh, Lamin. “Christianity in Africa.” In The Cambridge History of Christianity. Edited by Stewart Brown and Timothy Tackett, 411–432. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Sanneh’s survey traces the changing role of Christianity—both Catholic and Protestant—in West and East Africa, focusing on the role of Christian missions and the impact of slavery and colonialism

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Michael Guasco, Matthew Wyman-McCarthy

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David Northrup

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Date Added: 2010-05-10

African Religion and Culture Introduction Africa has been home to a great variety of religious and other cultural practices and beliefs, i...

#Church and Slavery #White Lies #religion #Black people enslaved by the church #american slavery #world history

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the-monkey-ruler · 9 months

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Disaster Prevention Journey to the West (2011) 防災西遊記:工安知識

Director: Co-produced by the National Museum of Natural Science and the Institute of Labor Safety and Health

Screenwriter: Cultural and Educational Foundation of the National Museum of Natural Science

Genre: Labor Safety

Country/Region of Production: Mainland China, Taichung City

Language: Chinese

IMDb: DVD 556.83 2622

Type: Crossover

Summary:

The story of Journey to the West is believed to be familiar to everyone, and now Tang Sanzang and his disciples will challenge the task of learning Buddhist scriptures again!

Disaster Prevention Journey to the West is based on the classic creation – Journey to the West. After Tang Sanzang’s mentor and apprentice completed the task of learning scriptures from the West, they accepted a new challenge. This time, they will go to Penglai Island to obtain disaster prevention scriptures to help maintain labor safety. They will face many difficulties on the island. The entanglement of big and small monsters and the shortcomings of the four of them make their way of learning the scriptures seem difficult. Through the correction of concepts and the acquisition of disaster prevention knowledge, they finally successfully completed the difficult task and brought back the disaster prevention scriptures.

In order to ensure a safe and hygienic working environment, the Institute of Labor Safety and Hygiene of the Labor Committee of the Executive Yuan uses multiple active marketing to go to the government to conduct occupational safety and health exhibition promotion and education to help reduce occupational accidents. From September to December, in the Southern Science Industrial Park and Zhongli Industrial Zone, through the "Disaster Prevention Journey to the West" mobile museum display and interactive experience area, successively held occupational disaster prevention tour exhibitions.

According to the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" and "International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights" implemented in my country in 1998, everyone has the right to enjoy fair and good working conditions and ensure a safe and healthy working environment. Using the research results, the Institute creates important safety and health resources for use by relevant units, so as to effectively establish and enhance the awareness of safety and health in the workplace. This is the basic work for the popularization and down-rooting of safety and health awareness among the people, and it has far-reaching influence.

This event will be held at the Nanke Shugu Park Service Center from September 24th to November 2nd, and at the Guorui Automobile Factory in Zhongli Industrial Zone from November 5th to December 28th, and jointly organize occupational disaster prevention exhibitions with local authorities .

In addition to the "Disaster Prevention Journey to the West" action museum, combined with safety and health commentator volunteers, schools, public (labor) unions, and using the concept of industrial safety publicity and marketing to plan occupational disaster prevention publicity and display, in addition to falling from heights In addition to the protective safety experience display and 3D multimedia industrial safety animation exhibition, there are multiple industrial safety display booths at the venue, including information on electrical safety, respiratory protective equipment, workplace stress relief, and brochures, brochures or related safety and health research results. The CD-ROM is available for the public, so that workers and the public can continue to improve their safety and health knowledge through soft means such as publicity and marketing, and reduce the occurrence of labor occupational accidents.

Source: http://blog.lib.thu.edu.tw/blog3/?p=3932

Link: N/A

#Disaster Prevention Journey to the West #防災西遊記:工安知識 #jttw media #jttw movie #movie #lost media #live action #crossover

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reginrokkr · 3 months

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𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐗. While I said I wouldn't because I already talked a bit about the Universitas Magistrorum in mentioning that this must've been the equivalent of Sumeru's Akademiya (while the Fontaine Research Institute would be also a good candidate for a parallel, I feel like its field is more limited than the Akademiya's), these past days I've been thinking about the fields of study of the Universitas Magistrorum, so here are a few I've considered:

✧ Astronomy → Judging by the notion that the twins' arrival was already foreseen by this art (most likely than not imported from other nations too such as Fontaine and Natlan) and its possible ties with the false sky and the Abyss, this must've been a relevant enough field that even the Almighty Sovereign was interested to do requests to.

✦ Engineering → A vast field in itself, from studying even more ancient machines of other civilizations to learn about their own and do better each time with automatons. This alongside the following Ley Line studies are more accurate parallels of the Fontaine Research Institute.

✧ Ley Lines → In order to know how to use their energy to sustain themselves until relatively recently (before the destruction), when the energy changed to the Abyss, they must've had to learn everything about them down to how to crystallize the elements. Another necessary field to subsist on the limited resources in the location Khaenri'ah was built.

✦ Alchemy → From which Khemia would be born and medicine would become relevant starting as a subcategory of this to its own field of study, which touched on the Abyss energy study in order to create vaccines and other means to palliate its toxic effects on the population.

✧ Humanities → As endless pursuers of knowledge both from the ancient past to their contemporary times, learning languages in order to understand the scriptures of ruins they would encounter was a necessity. When a good grasp of olden languages was achieved, this field included languages of the rest of Teyvat with the coming of outsiders and the first ideas of espionage manifested. Furthermore, this field in itself proved useful to those who came from outside Khaenri'ah to be more in tune with the kingdom's customs and learn the language better, as part of the process of learning a language is also being aware of the place's traditions.

✦ Abyss → A major field of study that would bleed into others like alchemy and astronomy, although limited solely on this mysterious realm. With the uprising of discontentment in the population due to the lingering obsessions and reckless acts of a few obnoxious ones that became a public hazard, this field was completely banned. It has remnants of influence in aforementioned fields of study where it's necessary for the advancement of the society.

Nevertheless, at the late king's approval, the Abyss as a field of study was banned only in the majority of the public's eye but in truth became a clandestine field of study with equal control to not be spotted by those who oppose its teachings. From that moment onward, the Abyss would join another forbidden field of study, amounting to a count of two:

✧ Abyss. ✦ Gods.

#◟༺✦༻◞ events to be remembered in blue veins ┊addendum.┊#sometimes I look at my hands and wonder #what's gotten into me #whenever I start a post with an idea #and as it goes that idea is expanded more #than what was anticipated #not that I have any regrets #I like a lot how this smol headcanon turned out #and despite me stressing the fact that Khaenri'ah was sus #it was also /brilliant/ in many ways #and I think that its source of knowledge and studies #is worth a honorable mention

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khodorkovskaya · 9 months

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thanks for sharing!

honestly this is so relatable. so for me growing up i was always taught (not explicitly but it was just the general vibe) that religious people are weird and stupid. like no one would ever openly say that, but it was often implied through jokes or like when someone would say that they were religious my family would give the side eye lol. and plus, yeah, its a government backed institution yikes.

and yet! i was baptised, we'd bake cakes for easter, when people would ask me what my religion was growing up id say orthodox, etc. like there was always this weird contradiction.

what you said about after school activities i also have a funny little story to share. so when i was 6-7 yrs old my parents signed me up for this like art club after school. and once this old lady showed up and started an embroidery club in the same classroom. and so when i got bored of drawing, i decided to go over to her and do embroidery. and i really liked it, so instead of sitting with the art club, id go to the emroidery lady.

and she was super religious and would always tell us stories about god. and i found it super annoying and in my head i was like "oof granny is loosing her mind". i specifically remember her telling us about the tower of babel and i sat there like "damn, she is so delusional". but i liked embroidery, so i stayed and didn't say anything.

and turned out, she was there illegally! she was this like orthodox missionary who snuck onto school properties to convert the kids. it was a huge scandal. so yeah, that incident made me even more prejudiced towards religious people. that and also the fact that my favourite book growing up was дорога уходит в даль, which is basically communist propaganda lol.

so yeah, it's strange. because whenever id go inside an orthodox church everything would feel so familiar and yet so foreign. i never felt like i belonged there and plus, as you said, no one ever explains to you like what to do or welcomes you in any way. like i don't want to sound entitled and im not saying that im owed anything, and maybe, hey, it's my own prejudice. but the only thing people tell you there is "we won't let you in dressed like that". and growing up it made me even more hostile. like i remember we went to visit a monastry in montenegro once and it was like 35 degrees outside and i was 12 and i was wearing shorts obviously. and like 3 people came up to me to tell me that im not allowed in. and i never got an explanation as to why. i mean yeah, modesty, whatever. but instead of being so judgemental towards a child, an explanation would be nice..? idk, that really put me off religion.

but then, here's the thing. when i was 14 i was being neurodivergent as usual and i got hyperfixated on religion. idk where that came from. but i told myself that i would research a new religion every week. so id borrow a bunch of books at the library evry week and i kept a journal detailing all my findings. i went to the lutheran church, i even found a hindu centre here and scheduled an appointment and borrowed one of their scriptures. like idk what was going on in my 14 year old brain but i was fearless and i would like show up to all these religious centres with my little notebook. and id even interview people... likeee.

anyway, one week i was researching orthodoxy. so again, i showed up to the orthodox church here, absolutely fearless, no headscarf, wearing my desigual jeans. and i went straight to the choir and asked if i could sing with them. i have no classical training in music btw, i know how to sing but like as a hobby, i know little to no theory. and, again, i don't know where this audacity came from, but i went straight up to the choir director and was like "im singing with y'all bitches". so i started going every sunday to sing, but id never stay until the end bc id get bored. and then i stopped all together after like maybe a year.

and again, i have no logical explanation as to why. i was just hyperfixated and decided that the church choir was my new thing. and i didn't make any friends there bc i was still prejudiced against religious people. i wouldn't pray, i didn't respect the dresscode. id just show up, not say hello to anyone, sing for like 30 minutes and leave. 💀💀 at that age i constantly felt like i was in some sort of bubble, like id always be half dissociating, id do things not understanding how or why, things would just happen, it was weird.

fast forward to this year, i went to church for easter with one of my friends just like to hang out. and i heard the choir for the first time in almost 10 years and fell in love again. i couldn't remember any of the hymns (probably because when i was 14 i was just so dissociated). but i was like i have to join again!

except now im more aware of my own surroundings and im more normal. so i didn't really know how to approach things. but i was like you know what, if 14 year old me could just show up and not explain anything to anyone, so can 24 year old me.

so the week after easter i came up to the choir director and asked if i could sing and she asked me if i was classically trained and i was like "oops no, but i sang with you guys 10 years ago". and then she asked me why i had stopped and i was a bit at a loss for words bc like idk why i stopped. and then i asked her what brought her here and she gestured at the ceiling. and that was our conversation.

and the thing is, now that im more aware and awake, singing there is even more fun. because i haven't read sheet music in 10 years. i didn't know i was capable of reading music. but i am! and it's this weird almost like spiritual feeling. because i look at the notes and even if ive never seen that particular hymn before, i know exactly what to sing. and my hand moves up and down and i nod to the rhythm. i don't know how, i don't know why i know all of these things, but i do. and it amazes me every time. like i look at something ive never seen before, but i can read it. idk how to explain this feeling. like imagine all of a sudden being able to read a foreign alphabet and you don't even know how you read it, you just do. it feels magical.

but yeah, i totally get what you say about churchgoers being mean. i always feel like an outsider or imposter in literally any social setting, so feeling like an alien at church isn't something that scares me. and i haven't talked to anyone there or made any friends. but just from the looks of it and the way people push and shove each other there like i can tell that i probably won't get along with any of them unfortunately. and there's always people shoving when queuing up for eucharist and there's always passive aggressiveness and everyone is always on edge. even in the choir like i rarely get the music sheets handed to me for some reason. like when they're distributed they often skip me and i don't understand why. it makes me feel like more of an impostor but tbh nowadays im so chill when it comes to self esteem i literally do not care. it's just annoying bc unless i literally grab the sheet out of the person's hand, i always have to look at someone else's. but yeah, little things like that give me the impression that the majority of people who go there are kind of mean.

and what you said about people all knowing each other is very true too. because literally everyone is always in their little groups. and if you're not childhood friends with someone, you can't make friends. again im neurodivergent so i just like struggle with making friends in general. but making friends at our church seems impossible. people are always huddling together and whispering and i just know i won't fit in. because at some point in their little conversations they always point at the ceiling and i just don't know enough about god or the church to be able to fit in with these sort of conversations, you know?

but anyway, as i said, i love going to church nevertheless. singing there makes me euphoric. i love the aesthetics, i love the drama. i love the over-the-top-ness of like people falling to their knees and crying and the priest talking about the devil. it's so cinematic, im obsessed. and if i don't "belong" there or if i don't have the right relationship with the church, so be it. i think it's better to look forward to church every week and to truly enjoy it, than to be mean and go there to ask for forgiveness 👀

@atomicanechka

#also fyi our church belongs to the diocese of london and western europe so our big boss at the top is bishop irinei #and his vibes are just off idk #have you seen his youtube interviews?#when he came to visit he came up to our choir to say that we're really good and he had his arms stretched out #and i was like huh why does he walk like that #but it was bc as soon as he came closer people ran up to him to kiss his hands #and that weirded me out #im scared to imagine what patriarch kirill is like irl 💀

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ppgxrrblove · 11 months

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There is No Such Thing As interracial Marriage.................

i really wanna share this on here as well <3!! i really have to thank this brother for posting this up, really well worded, and greatly explained, so please do read it when you get the chance or do read it now if you got the time - greatly appreciated <3!! truth matters folks, never keep sipping the false tea, it's gonna cause you to go nuts. "What should we believe about “interracial” marriage?

One of the most asked questions I’ve received when I talk on the origin of the so called “races” is what I believe about what many call interracial marriage.

When anyone asks me that question, I respond by saying “biologically there is no such thing as interracial marriage.”

When I speak on the race issue, I first of all go to God’s Word to understand what God clearly teaches about the human race. We learn there was only one man to start with:

1. God made one man at the beginning: “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7). 2. “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45) Then we learn there was only one woman to begin with:

1. “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21–22).

2. “The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).

All human beings descended from Adam and Eve. This means there is only one race of humans biologically:

“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26).

Yes, all human belong to one biological race descended from the first man and woman.

In 2000, the Human Genome project that mapped the sequence of the human genome released their findings to the world and stated:

“Dr. Venter (head of the Celera Genomics Corporation, Rockville, MD) and scientists at the National Institutes of Health recently announced that they had put together a draft of the entire sequence of the human genome, and the researchers unanimously declared, there is only one race—the human race.” (Natalie Angier, “Do Races Differ? Not Really, DNA Shows,” New York Times, Aug. 22, 2000, http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/science/082200sci-genetics-race.html…).

Exactly what one would expect based on the bible’s revealed human history—there is only one human race.

This means all humans belong to one human family. We are all related to each other, and all have the same two ancestors 6,000 years ago, Adam and Eve. There is only on race biologically according to Scripture and confirmed by observational science. This means there is no such thing as “interracial marriage” from a perspective of biology.

However, there is an issue in regard to interracial marriage spiritually. Consider this principle given in Scripture for us that also applies to marriage:

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

Applied to marriage, this principle means a Christian should never knowingly marry a non-Christian. Remember, one of the primary importance’s of marriage is to produce Godly offspring. Sadly, many marriages end up in trouble because this principle of Christians only marrying Christians wasn’t adhered to. Also, such spiritually mixed marriages can result in a Godly legacy not being passed on to the next generation.

Some Christian(note; i would like to add that majority of Catholics follow this quote to heart as well) leaders claim God teaches the claimed “races” of people be kept separate because he told the Israelites not to marry into other groups of people. For instance, God told the Israelites not to marry the Canaanites. But Rahab, a Canaanite who helped the Israelite spies at Jericho is the lineage leading to the Godman Jesus in Matthew 1 and is also listed in Hebrews chapter 11 as a person of great faith.

It's obvious Rahab stopped being a Canaanite spiritually (rejecting the Canaanite pagan religion) and became and Israelite spiritually (believing and trusting in the one true God) and thus was free to marry an Israelite. This clearly shows there is no such thing as interracial marriage biologically. The Interracial marriage the bible speaks against is the marriage between the two spiritual races—the Godly “race” and the ungodly “race.” Who a Christian should marry has nothing to do with biology but the spiritual state of one’s heart.

When you then apply this, if two Christians get married and one has a light shade of skin and one a dark shade (all humans are the same basic color just different shades), this is not a biracial couple. This is a one race couple! This also means there are no biracial children as all of us belong to one race.

Christians should be using terminology consistent with God’s Word and science to help people understand the truth concerning homo sapiens.

I urge people to not use the term “races” but use the term “people groups” when referring to humans from different cultures. We also need to stop using terms like “biracial” as all humans belong to one race.

Because all humans belong to one race, all descendants of Adam, this means all humans are sinners, and all are in need of trusting Christ for salvation. That’s why Christians need to proclaim the truth of the gospel to everyone, to all tribes and nations.

“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people” (Revelation 14:6).

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9).

What a difference it would make if every person started looking on everyone else as one of their relatives, a member of our extended family!" - Ken Ham - That would be very lovely if it were to be that way but i know it will be <3

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