#church correspondence

[dearestcorrespondence]

Angelica Church to Elizabeth Hamilton, Lessness Heath, [June 15, 1795]

Lessness Heath June the 15. 1795

I am sad and sick my dear Eliza from a melancholy that that may be called Hope deferred and which the long silence on the part of my friends does not tend to alleviate. When shall I see them? When shall I hear from them?  How time flies and what is Life. These are my ejaculations. These are the ideas that are now passing thro my mind, in society I am alone, for my imagination is busied beyond the Atlantic. It flies to you my dear Sister, finds you happy and shortens the distance, the insurmountable distance that separates us. 

I saw by the papers an account of the arrival of the American ship Peggy, commanded by a Captain Von Rensselaer. I immediately wrote to him to request of him to give me some intelligence of my Father and my friends, and although this ship has a voyage to France and from there to a very distant port from London yet also I hope for a letter from some one of the family. There is great pleasure in deceiving ourselves.

It is so cold in this climate that I write to you from the fire side, and after a walk in the garden took shelter in a hot house. With you a Grotto would be preferable. 

Adieu my dear Sister we all, and Angelica particularly, embrace you and your dear and my dear Hamilton with all affection.

God bless my sister:

Adieu

When you receive this write a line to Mama to say I am well, but very Home sick.

I send Angelica her piano with my Love and desire she will learn. Kiss the children your Alexander is always my good favorite.

#elizabeth hamilton #elizabeth schuyler #angelica church #angelica schuyler #hamilton correspondence #church correspondence #1795

[lemonhemlock]

I'm a 'Martin won't ever publish another ASOIAF book' truther but in addition to King Bran being profoundly idiotic, Martin has major structural issues that are now too 'big' to 'fix' imo. Namely, the ages of the characters are ridiculous and are all wrong for where their arcs need to go. The characters on the show were aged up and even the younger ones grew up on screen so Bran and Sansa and Arya were at least into late teens/adulthood at the end of the show - one is 13 and other is currently 11 and Bran is like, what, 8 in books? sksksksksk Just absolutely disastrous.

The characters should have been in their mid to late teens at the start of AGOT, at minimum. Especially because Martin essentially treated them, and has them act, like adults. I'm sorry, but I don't think that man has any understanding between the mental and physical developmental differences between, say, a 14 year old girl and a 17 year old girl. Every character appears and acts like they are anywhere from 3 to 5 years older than they are.

Also, the POV structure, while interesting, has also been disastrous in actually getting the story moving because certain characters have to be in certain places for things to happen while others are just sitting around killing time.

Hmmm, I don't really agree about the POV structure. It functioned fine for three books and offered compelling court drama, battles, magical elements and intriguing plot-twists. AGOT / ACOK / ASOS are pretty well paced and I've even seen someone making the case that the series could even have ended in that point and would have been one of the best fictional fantasy experiments. I found myself agreeing and disagreeing. I think the ASOS ending would have still distinguished ASOIAF from other fantasy series in its toppling of the good-guys-win-everything type of wrap-up, but it would be way less ambitious than what GRRM ended up pursuing.

The pacing problems came about with AFFC/ADWD. And I'm not one to talk here, because I'm an AFFC truther and it's always been my favourite of the series, so my two cents on this is that Dany's Slaver's Bay plotline is too damn long. Tyrion is also taking too damn long to get to her. It's a drag. In the book she is supposed to solve the Quaithe riddle,* escape Vaes Dothrak, get herself an army + navy, make the decision to leave Slaver's Bay AND sail to Westeros, so that in TWOW she can fight Young Gryff, face-off the Others, become a mask-off tyrant AND get deposed? It's a lot.

I honestly think he should just give up the 7 book compartmentation, admit defeat and just add another damn book to the series to get Dany to Westeros and fit in his fAegon plotline. It's not like he doesn't have the pages. No one's gonna care if there are 8 books instead of magic no 7. But my guess is that he's hung up over some decisions he's made in the past and kept trying to make the gargantuan plot fit inside this neat box he envisioned - 7 books, King Bran, Caesar!Jon etc. It would explain why he tried a time skip between ASOS and AFFC and had to scrap it - it would make more sense for the Stark children to be older. But he characterized himself as a gardener-style writing who doesn't plan everything in advance and lets the story grow organically. In that case, he should make allowances if the story grew in a direction he did not initially predict and make the required changes! Maybe King Bran made sense when he first wrote the initial three-book outline, but that was a long time ago & many other plot points changed.

My advice is to just stop trying to make the plot fit the previous designs, stay true to the way the characters evolved and respect the themes you've painstakingly developed over the course of nearly 30 years. Otherwise what's the point? If your original ending doesn't fit anymore, think of another ending ffs. The show is irrelevant at this point, so what if the endgame will be different? IDK, I'd be thinking that this is my life's work and I have every right to do it justice. Perhaps that's what he's thinking too and why it's taking him so long.

I agree that the ages of the characters are ridiculous, but if a time skip really, really can't fit anywhere, it's better to compromise on the age issue and leave off with a teen monarch than it would be to impose a surveillance state in Westeros as the solution with all-seeing, all-knowing Bran. That's a starkly dystopic ending, if you ask me.

Not to mention that it clashes directly with the end of magic - how is Bran supposed to be the Tree of Sauron if there's no magic anymore and everything goes back to normal? On what basis does he even get to be king at all if he's just a regular boy? How will he even survive being pulled out of the weirwood net if magic leaves the realm of men?

*“To go north, you must journey south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.” JFC, if Dany has to get to Asshai, I will fucking scream.

#ngl i think visiting asshai would be so cool but. do we have time for this??? #ask #anon #asoiaf #grrm #anyway whether he ever gets to publish TWOW nobody can say #but in any case he 100% will have extensive notes on how he planned the novel out #so whatever happens. we'll know sooner or later #also i'm like. this is his life at the end of the day #he has the right to write as little or as much as he wants #i'm sure there must be pages of correspondence with his editors about this or that #so the ending of asoiaf will not remain a mystery realistically-speaking #which is why i'm not a fan of prioritizing our own demands as readers #most 75-year-olds are in retirement not churching out thousand-page books

[crazy-maracuya]

Im gonna do whats called an Euripides move

#spin the tale around for so many stories of the bible and yet still follow the plot just to mess with people's heads: #On blast rn (most of these are tragedies): #A tragic love story betweeen Absalom and Mephiboshet #Another tragedy of Neptolemous becoming sympathetic and regretful of the things he has done in war only to get killed by his actions #The tiny story of Abbadon and Azrael witnessing the beginnings o the heavenly war and the end of time in the rapture. #Another short story of Satan forgetting his angelic name (symbolism) and trying to find Michael to help him remember. #Another short story of Gabriel falling in love with Michael and asking Miriam for help about human feelings. #Testament of Solomon rewrite where he keeps talking with the demons about their pasts and just shenanigangs #Uriel's adventures in deep space and the many extraterrestrial beings that appear. (I literally want to get a biology degree for this) #Mary Magdalene. Virgin Mary and John's lives after the death of Jesus. #The women in ministry in the early church. #Cain and Abel's story from the point of view of the older sister and Cain's wife. #Deborah's story #Job's journey through so much more becuase I love this man he is so cool. #Paul's life story and his corresponding love with Jesus. #A divine comedy inspired story but with essence of all the abrahamic religions being combined witouth answering which one is actually real #(not just the three main ones but like also as many others as I can place of the abrahamic tree) #and ummmmmmmmmm..... wait theres too muvh ill run out of tag spaceeeee

[anglerflsh]

Sorry if I’m being a bit annoying here, but I’m eating all the church architecture posts here up - Because growing up, I always thought my church was fancy. It’s really not - it was all dark wood and tiny cube windows filled with blue stained glass, carved wooden benches and the like. It was still one of the fancier churches I ever visited. It all had a feeling of peace to it. I associate it mostly with walking home from mass on Christmas under a star-filled sky, if that makes any sense at all.

don't apologise I love talking about the correlation between religious architecture and actual doctrine/teachings and the corresponding ideas of god

That's quite interesting though! I've seen a lot of churches on account of me visiting a lot of Europe and it's true that the feeling of quaint/peace is more present in a small place than in grandiosity

#which again goes back to the different view of god. I assume if a church is small and quaint and peaceful/ #/then your view of god will be somewhat corresponding to that #<- this is something I think about a lot tbh it's so interesting to me #[.asks] #anonymous

[iscariotapologist]

one thing about growing up sda is despite being otherwise largely unable to do math i learned from a strangely early age how to calculate 10% of an amount of money. which i now still use to calculate tips since i have not paid tithe since i was like 13. also it's kind of fucked up to make a kid pay tithe on their chore money and the whole time i was convinced that god would somehow manifest it back to me pressed down shaken together running over and so on. still waiting on this return on my investments

#of course it helps that its a very simple operation lmao #my parents were republicans so i didnt get a regular allowance i had to do chores and keep track of their corresponding uhh salaries? #it was a pretty efficient system for my parents i think #i feel like this system went away after a while and i just had to clean and not get money. im not sure though i don't remember a lot of it #anyway im sure other denominations are equally weird about tithe but i never heard my catholic friend talk about it so as a kid i had #the impression that it was an adventist thing but i don't think that's true #like obviously all churches want money lmao #me

[cemeterything]

when i was a kid i mistakenly thought that the stigmata were just any wound that didn't heal and not specifically those corresponding to the wounds of christ. i was quickly disabused of this notion when i told a doctor i was worried that an incision from a routine operation would "become stigmatic", but i guess it's pretty funny that for a while my local catholic church had the world's tiniest heretic under its roof.

#🐉

[thisisnotthenerd]

the rat grinders timeline

after this last episode i feel like i need to clarify all of this so i can get an idea of what the scheme actually is. anyway:

pre-high school:

porter is a scion of the house of cliffbreaker, formerly the house of sunstone, who sought to take the name of ankarna and shift her divine domain from dawn and justice to war and conquest. the house expressed frustration with ankarna for not being willing to strike ruvina or cassandra and after the sundering of the cliffs of calcoth, went into hiding as the cliffbreakers.

porter is nominally a paladin of ankarna, but wishes to take her place as a deity of war and conquest, to be able to strike down cassandra and ruvina.

freshman year:

the high 5 heroes form on the first day of school: kipperlilly copperkettle, lucy frostblade, oisin hakinvar, ivy embra, ruben hopclap, mary ann skuttle.

that same day, the bad kids get detention and face down the corn cuties in the cafeteria. kristen and gorgug die and get brought back by aguefort. jace and porter are the first teachers on the scene; they are established as a duo. may have been attempting to install the rage crystals in kristen and gorgug.

kipperlilly notably doesn't like riz, and feels that the bad kids are getting special treatment. all of the rat grinders have animosity towards the mad kids in some manner.

the high 5 heroes take easy quests that they know they will succeed at.

kalina enters the spy's tongue curse with jace and porter, and is only able to talk about ragh because he was tangential

prompocalypse: kalvaxus falls. yes! is borne in the gym. crown of the nightmare king is stolen. ragh sees arianwen with kalina, then jace and porter and gets kalina transferred into his body via a lay on hands from porter.

sophomore year:

at some point, the high 5 heroes are brought in by jace and porter and start facing high level monsters after they are defeated by porter/jace, thus grinding them for xp.

name change from high 5 heroes to rat grinders--ivy, oisin, ruben, and mary ann for, kipperlilly and lucy against.

lucy is given an mcat for paladin classes so that she might become the champion of ankarna (old)

porter kills "lydia barkrock", likely seeking to release and/or destroy bakur

kalina splits off to raise the nightmare king again, with assistance from angwyn and arianwen abernant. she is defeated and thus unable to work with jace and porter for a time. the nightmare king is apparently integral to the raising of porter as a fetal deity; perhaps as an associated deity, the nightmare king would guide his ascension.

nightmare king is reconstituted as cassandra, championed by kristen applebees.

the rat grinders go on their own spring break quest to the mountains of chaos, presumably to visit the temple of the fallen sun. they are accompanied by jace stardiamond. they do not find the name of ankarna, but likely start establishing the teleportation circle.

after the quest, they are all implanted with the rage crystals and start manifesting more power and anger. this is presumably because they died. and were resurrected.

lucy goes back on the agreement and reaffirms her commitment to ruvina. she withdraws her change of deity paperwork. the rat grinders + porter kill her and bury her in the far haven woods.

porter has correspondence with bobby dawn about collaboration and the potential uses of devil's honey.

mazey phaedra is elected student body president and is given a faculty request to remove the inaugural period of following student body president from the bylaws

summer of the night yorb:

night yorb is released; the bad kids spend the summer chasing down the cult of the night yorb and building the solar lasso. they are out of elmville and generally focused on the red waste

church of sol/helioic church loses followers due to the long night

kipperlilly prepares to run for student body president

the rat grinders request buddy dawn as their replacement cleric

kipperlilly tracks down eugenia shadow and threatens to dig up her grave, after waiting until the first moment of her junior year

ruben writes “in space no one can hear you scream” and it becomes the song of the summer, outcompeting fig and the cig figs. he later writes "get mad!" with porter's advice

the loam family faces embezzlement charges wrt frosty fair and the location of frosty fair (the festival of frost) moves to the thistlespring tree

thistlespring tree is established as a root warden for elmville

the soil is laced with rage crystals

kvx bank changes from red to blue, signaling the presence of oisin's ancestor as their backer

junior year:

aguefort goes on holiday with ayda to the dawn of time (time quangle). gilear goes on holiday with hallariel. this leaves the school in the hands of grix, who was intended to eliminate threats to the school, and jace stardiamond as vice principal. the existing magical protections on the school are still present--they cannot kill mazey and elmville cannot be plane shifted while the AAA is in session.

kipperlilly begins campaigning only to be faced with the ineffable kristen applebees and her campaign manager, the ball

porter refuses gorgug's initial mcat request, hoping to incite rage in him

porter starts taking ambrosia to prepare his body for ascension, using rage to contain himself and not proceed to the afterlife.

the loam family is murdered and their case is dropped

cassandra comes to the astral plane and is trapped and killed. she remains in stasis, surrounding and protecting ankarna

fabian hosts the first party of the year: oisin starts setting his ping-pong ball traps and steals adaine's mephits in order to alter the cloud rider engine. ivy sees fig, transformed as lucy. the bad kids interact with buddy. ankarna pushes yes! through to kristen. gertie, who has been supplying the devil's honey, becomes nemeses with fabian

fig multiclasses as a paladin and is taught by porter--she is encouraged to rage, and pushed away from being a paladin of cassandra.

buddy is also encouraged to become a paladin and gets mcat paperwork

ruben performs at frosty faire and starts the ritual at the thistlespring tree--grix shows up to stop him and is defeated by the bad kids

yolanda badgood follows up with jace about lucy's death--she is brought to the far haven woods and killed. the bad kids find the bodies

the bad kids go to fallinel and find the name of ankarna on the ancient menhirs, and are faced with divine intervention from cassandra and galicaea, unbeknownst to the rat grinders.

they eliminate the curse of the armor of pride and remove bakur from lydia barkrock

fig writes dawn of justice and takes dominion of ankarna's original domain

bobby dawn fails kristen and sends the bad kids to the last stand

kristen catches kipperlilly killing buddy dawn during the last stand

buddy is raised by porter using a rage crystal

rat grinders go to ground, and prepare to go back to the temple of the fallen sun. constant nondetection from ruben, oisin, and possibly ivy

adaine catches jace stardiamond with a scrying into his office

bad kids do teacher evaluations: fig does porter & zara as one instead of two--this gives them the sacred scroll with the name of the intended deity written by the previous deity's champion. zara tells fig one was never submitted for her.

fig writes righteous rebel, makes her oath to ankarna, and releases both songs as singles that rocket up the charts

ruben sees wanda childa die

bad kids go to the temple of the fallen sun and investigate. fig is vindicated about porter.

fig gives the false name (bacharath) to porter and he stuns her in the hall

riz gets into his office and figures out the ascension scheme

the bad kids go to ruben's house and go through the rat grinders' plans

election night: the storm is triggered, the plans for seacaster manor are triggered; cloud rider engine is set and the enchanted ping-pong balls go off. they plan to have oisin's ancestor strike down the bad kids as they make ready to transport elmville during graduation.

the ritual

the ritual is centered on aguefort adventuring academy and requires certain things:

the location where a god was borne (the gym)

the ascending deity (porter), who is a champion of the new domain and has a body prepared for ascension

mortal followers seeking to change the domain/raise ankarna (the rat grinders + jace)

divine attributes of the deity (hammer, armor, etc.)

the writing of the name of the fetal deity on sacred scrolls by the champion of the old deity (fig)

the physical divine domain (elmville, suffused with rage crystals and transported to the astral realm), which requires the removal of the protections on the town that were cast by aguefort

the metaphorical divine domain (ruben's song get mad)

the nightmare king, as an associated deity and the one who would nurture the new deity

and the name of the old deity (ankarna) that they might sunder it and in her image make a new god

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #fantasy high junior year #the rat grinders #porter cliffbreaker #jace stardiamond #dimension 20 meta

[46ten]

Brief notes on correspondence of Philip Schuyler and John Jay

I wanted to confirm the transcription of the 7Feb1785 letter from Philip Schuyler to EH was correct - that Catharine Schuyler had been ill - and found it in a letter to AH 11Jan1785 (that doesn’t wish AH a Happy 28th Birthday):

Mrs. Schuyler has been much indisposed since my last. We began to be very apprehensive of her situation but our fears are vanished with the untoward Symptoms which occasioned them. She is now so well as to go abroad and we have well grounded hopes of a perfect restoration.

It’s also confirmed here (Philip Schuyler to John Jay, 22Jan 1785):

I was in hopes to have had a tete à tete with you at new york about this time but Mrs. Schuylers indisposition has deprived me of that pleasure.

The next month (PS to JJ, 21Feb1785): 

The attention to be paid Mrs. Schuyler who has been confined to her bed since the 10th Instant has prevented a more early answer. [He then provides him with advice on the plan of his house, which Jay had sent to him; PS also provided the wood for it.]

I haven’t found more about what was afflicting her; PS’s letter to EH indicates that she has mostly enjoyed good health, which is interesting to me considering her numerous pregnancies/premature births/loss on infants. 

There’s also this sad note that PS had been saving planks for the Churches to build their home. They wouldn’t be back in America permanently for another 12 years. 

When Mr Church arrives at New York Inform your self If he will build & want the boards which I have reserved for him, and which are three to four years old, and have been constantly stacked & Covered.

I guess there was no point offering wood to build a house to the destitute Hamiltons scraping by in their rented house on Wall Street. 

A great 1785 letter where Philip Schuyler describes the role of men such as Jay (and himself) in government: “It is a wise, and a true Maxim, and which I think I have heard you ^urge^ more than once, that to serve ones country is the first of dutys, next to that which we owe to the supreme being.” (PS and friends had tried to convince Jay to run for governor of NY; they had already united the families in Albany in opposition to Clinton; JJ was eventually NY gov with Stephen Van Rensselaer as his lieutenant, from 1795-1801, after JJ’s stints as 1st Sect of State and 1st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court). 

Always interesting to see how PS described his family and read that he’d made the decision in 1783 to retire from public life (that did not last long) PS to JJ, 1July1783. :

Mr. Carter my son in law, will have the honor of delivering you this, he and Colo: Wadsworth have furnished the supplies for the french army, and have acquitted themselves with great propriety, and to the entire satisfaction of the french commander and chief, and the other officers, they go to sollicit a discharge of the bills which have been drawn in their favor. It is probable that by your intervention their business may be much expedited, will You permit me to intreat Your Attention to them & ^to^ their concerns.

Since you left America two of my daughters have married, Colo: Hamilton has Betsy and Mr. Stephen Van Renselaer has Peggy.

My health is so much impaired, that It is become absolutely necessary, in order to pass the remainder of my days with tolerable satisfaction, that I should retire from public life, and retreat to my Saratoga hobby-horse, where I hope some day to have the pleasure of embracing You, unless you should consent to remain in Europe.

I also came across this little bit (Jay to Schuyler, 19Feb1780):

My Views are at present confined to a Segment of that Circle—but that Segment affords Field for many Inquiries, and yields Matter for Observations—both interesting and entertaining— I will share them with you if you please—and to do it the more effectually, wish you would send me a Plan and Explanation of the Cypher you once shewed me at Rhynebeck, but which I do not now well recollect. Let the Key Word be the Name of the man who so long and regularly placed every Day a Tooth-Pick by Mrs. Schuylers Plate, written backwards, that is the ^last^ Letter in the Place of the first and so on

I assume this is a servant/enslaved person that was with the Schuylers for a long time. The beginning of the letter is also a good example of manners in 18th century letters. Jay and Schuyler do like their cyphers, as discussed in the first letter above: 

You have probably a better Cypher than that I shewed & sent you. I have lately contrived one which I prefer to any I have yet seen, on account of Its expedition, and the impossibility, as I conceive, of decyphering it without a previous knowledge of the Key

To finish up this little diversion on some of John Jay and Philip Schuyler’s correspondence, here’s the text of the letter Jay sent following AH’s death:

Bedford, 25 July 1804

My Dear Sir,

The Friendship and attachment which I have so long and so uniformly experienced from you, will not permit me to delay expressing how deeply and sincerely I participate with you in the afflicting Event which the Public are now lamenting, and which you have so many domestic and particular Reasons to bewail.

The phylosophic Topics of Consolation are familiar to You, and we all know by Experience how little Relief is to be derived from them. May the author and only Giver of Consolation be and remain with You. With great Esteem and affectionate Regard, I am my Dear Sir, Your obliged and obedient Servant,

P.S. to myself, the letter from Benson to Jay, 4th January 1805, questioning whether/why Jay has not yet subscribed to the loan for the Hamilton family, is pretty great at summarizing the financial plan of the trustees and executors. Yet:

The principal Motive however for a numerous Subscription ^is^ that it will be more honorable to the Memory of our Freind— All that took place here immediately on his Death may be considered as the Effect of Sensibility for the Moment, but what We are now about to do is, in my View of it, the best possible Means to express our sincere and fixed Affection for him ^and^ some of his superlative Worth— Clarkson has increased his Subscription from 5 to 10 Shares, and I think his Example will not be without it’s Influence

Of course he did. 

#Philip Schuyler #John Jay #Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton #Alexander Hamilton #18th century correspondence #Matthew Clarkson #Benson #John B. Church #George Clinton

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

July 29 Tokyo Press conference on the Unification Church / FFWPU with English translation

▲ Left to right: Yasuo Kawai, Hiroshi Yamaguchi and Masaki Kito

Three top Japanese Lawyers speak on the reality of the former Unification Church / Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and their spiritual sales fraud.

Video published on 30 July 2022

https://www.videonews.com/ Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

On July 29, 2022, lawyers from the National Network of Lawyers against the Spiritual Sales, who have been working on relief for victims of the Spiritual Sales, held a meeting at the Foreign Correspondents' Association of Japan in Marunouchi, Tokyo.

Three lawyers of the liaison committee, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Masaki Kito, and Yasuo Kawai, spoke at the July 29, 2022 event.

▲ Lawyer Kawai explained about the relationship between the Abe administration and the Unification Church. LINK to Kawai transcript

Lawyer Hiroshi Yamaguchi: “I would like to briefly talk about the issues that concern us from the establishment of the organization until today.” LINK to Yamaguchi transcript

Attorney Kito introduced the trials against the former Unification Church which have been filed nationwide. Many victims have won their cases against the organization.

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______________________________

Lawyers accuse Abe shooting-linked church of entrapping many families

By Peter Masheter, KYODO NEWS - Jul 29, 2022 - 23:10

The Unification Church … has emotionally entrapped many people such as the accused gunman's mother, lawyers committed to helping victims of the religious body said Friday.

The three lawyers ... told a press conference that the church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, receives donations by instilling fear in believers for relatives both living and deceased, including the specter of hell.

The National Network, comprising of about 300 lawyers, was established in 1987. The Network has repeatedly petitioned the government and politicians, including Abe, not to recognize the church. As of 2021, it had taken consultations nationwide on 34,537 cases, with losses totaling about 123.7 billion yen ($923 million).

The speakers condemned the shooting of Abe by Tetsuya Yamagami on July 8 in the western city of Nara as "wrong," and a statement from it called it a "despicable act." One of the lawyers, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, said many victims he has met are good people whose fears are exploited by the church.

"To stop their families being victims of misfortune, to stop their deceased relatives from suffering forever in hell, to help their son get married, they try to save them from misfortune, they give money to the church," he said. Yamaguchi also said an "overwhelming" number of believers in Japan are women, and religious groups in the country generally have more female followers.

Police say Yamagami may have identified the former prime minister as a target after watching a September 2021 video address from him to an event held by an organization associated with the church.

In the message, which prompted protest from the lawyers' group, Abe lauds the organization, the Universal Peace Federation, for its "focus and emphasis on family values."

Investigators have gradually revealed a picture of Yamagami who claims his mother's membership to the church blighted the lives of him and his siblings.

His uncle has previously told reporters that Yamagami's mother impoverished the family by donating around 100 million yen to the church and even selling real estate to do so.

Japan, Yamaguchi said, is a major center of fundraising and recruitment for the church because of the teachings propagated by its now-deceased founder, Sun Myung Moon, claiming the country is an "Eve" to Korea's "Adam" that must atone for its sins. Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. [The church also uses a distorted version of the Comfort Women issue to guilt Japanese members.]

As the shock from Abe's sudden death has dissipated, a number of lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, have been revealed to have connections to the church.

Speaking at the press conference, lawyer Masaki Kito said he hopes financial questions will lead to future developments, saying, "The Unification Church tries as much as possible to avoid using wire transfers, credit and bank books, it's a system for amassing money by cash.

"If transfers to politicians can be proven, then I think the movement of money will become a focal point."

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/07/84e98366dbb4-lawyers-accuse-abe-shooting-linked-church-of-entrapping-many-families.html

______________________________

Regarding the honeymoon relationship between politicians and the Unification Church, Yamaguchi, a lawyer who serves as the representative coordinator of the liaison committee, said, "There is freedom of religion, and it is difficult to regulate religious groups even if you look [around] the world. That's why I want politicians not to associate with the former Unification Church and to instead follow normal ethical standards.”

▲ Lawyer Hiroshi Yamaguchi holding a Unification Church book that shows Sun Myung Moon with former US president Eisenhower in 1965, then US president Nixon in 1973 and former Japanese president Kishi in 1973. Such images persuaded members that Moon was important and successful, as well as impressing outside contacts.

▲ Lawyer Hiroshi Yamaguchi holding a copy of the Cheong Seong Gyeong book of Sun Myung Moon’s words which, with his signature, each family in Japan was required to buy for $30,000 per book.

____________________________________

The Daily Beast (Updated July 30, 2022)

“Manabu Yanagi, a retired police detective in Nikko City in Tochigi Prefecture, told The Daily Beast, “The news is shocking. The ties between an anti-social group of fraudsters and the ruling party of Japan are disturbing. It needs to be made clear what exactly those ties were.”

At a press conference on July 12, Lawyer Hiroshi Watanabe said, “To the victims of the Unification Church, it seems that the police didn’t properly investigate the group (on criminal charges of fraud and extortion) because they were well-connected to politicians. We feel the same way.”

Yoshifu Arita, a journalist and Japanese parliamentarian, said on a television broadcast aired July 18 that he was told by a senior police official, “The reason we didn’t crack down on this group [when we should have a decade ago] was the intervention of politicians.”” LINK below

____________________________________

統一教会と霊感商法の実態について弁護士らが会見

30 Jul 2022  https://www.videonews.com/

プレスクラブ(2022年07月30日)

　霊感商法の被害者救済に取り組んできた全国霊感商法対策弁護士連絡会の弁護士らが2022年7月29日、東京・丸の内の日本外国特派員協会で会見を行った。

　この日会見したのは、同連絡会の山口広、紀藤正樹、川井康雄の3弁護士。

　川井弁護士は、安倍政権と統一教会の関係について、「第一次安倍政権が終わった時期に、霊感商法の刑事摘発が一気に増え、第二次安倍内閣が発足してからは、まったく摘発がなくなった」ことを指摘した。

　紀藤弁護士は統一教会に対して金銭被害などを訴えた裁判が全国で起こり、多くの被害者が勝訴していることを紹介した上で、「統一教会の行為は組織的に行われたものだった」とした。

　政治家と統一教会との蜜月関係が相次いで明らかになっていることについて、同連絡会の代表世話人を務める山口弁護士は、「信仰の自由があり、世界を見ても宗教団体の規制は難しい。だからこそ政治家には、倫理的な規範をもって旧統一教会と付き合わないようにして頂きたい」と語った。

【ビデオニュース・ドットコムについて】 ビデオニュース・ドットコムは真に公共的な報道のためには広告に依存しない経営基盤が不可欠との考えから、会員の皆様よりいただく視聴料（月額500円+消費税）によって運営されているニュース専門インターネット放送局です。（www.videonews.com)

（本記事はインターネット放送局『ビデオニュース・ドットコム』の番組紹介です。詳しくは当該番組をご覧ください。）

____________________________________

The Diplomat: The LDP’s Tangled Ties to the Unification Church

How Sun Myung Moon bought protection in Japan 1. The LDP’s Tangled Ties to the Unification Church 2. Richard J. Samuels (2001 report) 3. John Roberts (1978 report)

Shinzo Abe’s Assassin Succeeds in Twisted Plot to Expose Japan’s Deep Ties with ‘Cult’ – The Daily Beast

Japanese woman recruited by the Unification Church and sold to an older Korean farmer. The UC leveraged the Comfort Women issue.

The Comfort Women controversy

“Apology marriages” made by Japanese UC members to Korean men

6,500 Japanese women missing from Sun Myung Moon mass weddings

The case of a mysterious death at a CARP training session in Japan. The 18 year-old student had been beaten.

#UC of Japan #Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan #FFWPU #fraud #Sun Myung Moon #Hak Ja Han #Family Federation for World Peace and Unification #Unification Church

[thedivineart]

Confirmation Signs To Determine Your Future Spouse

ꕀ ׅ࣪ ꒰ ✮ ꒱ links : navigation. send love.

pacs. paid services.

one

wishing well, a fountain, throwing coin and wishing in fountain, unexpected meeting, receiving the most special gift from someone, a lost purse/wallet, climbing alone in mountain to reduce stress/ hangout, being alone without feeling lonely, a dog coming towards you, small home in forest, cross roads, being happy in other people relationship, going to building/institutions to fix legal documents, a friends to lovers trope, visioning your past life, a gallantry from someone, aiming financial achievement, lucky money wins, a nest eggs, flames, mutual feelings with someone, being flirt, co-worker, a new friend, ships, a little home/cottage, new house/places, moving to a new place, soulmate connection, meeting perfect person/ ideal lover, seeing lots of abiding love, wedding, wedding rings, hurt/painful feeling, hospital/doctor, unrequited love

⋆ feel free to ask question you didn't understand in this reading

‹𝟹 leave like or re-blog when you love it !

two

changing location whether it is for work or residency, when you heal from the past, starting a new, stork, a invitation for a event, gifts ( receive or give ), helpful advice from someone, receiving lots of good news, a clock/time, your hate and fear towards someone, a handshake, a journey ( travel ), birds, sharing ( partnership), food, restaurant/ fast-food places, notice of correspondence from important bills, writer/ journalist, financial loans/help, being at your lowest point such as feeling trapped/tired/staying at home/unhealthy situation, a friend betrayal, older than you, foreign, lawyer/authority, being attack, an enemy, invitation in weddings or engagements, church, cemetery, thinking negative/ having negative thoughts, a large body of water such as beaches, pools, fountains etc, night, cold weather/winter, locks, fishes, physical union with someone, a mending of broken friendship/ex love, party, clubs

⋆ feel free to ask questions you didn't understand in this reading

‹𝟹 leave like or re-blog when you love it !

three

younger, foreign / leader, bad girl & boy image/personality, unexpected kiss, feeling lonely, a new lover/person, family oriented, lady and moody, soulmates connection, unexpected friendship with someone, horse/sagittarius, a good news coming, an artist/poet, student of arts, athletic body or an athlete, lack of focus in commitment, receive or give gifts, fountains, generous, wears uniform that symbolize their position at work, a friend, co-worker, a peer, taking time to heal the wounds of the past, in park, in forest, walking around and meeting someone new, having time alone, wandering in woods, in the big trees, travel, achievement, lucky breaks, successful moving up ( at work or something), the space, distance, someone is far away, delay, receiving love letters and bouquet of flowers, country side, simple life, money surrounds them, professional person, workaholic and less focus on love, a bank; good at handling finances, provides good advice in finance, a happy family, fire/burning, summer, evening, warm weather country, good judgement, social

⋆ feel free to ask questions you didn't understand in this reading

‹𝟹 leave like 🙵 re-blog when you love it !

four

authority, can be foreign, arrogant, weddings, older, negative emotions, large body of water such as beaches, pool, fountains, lake, pond etc, night, cold weather/winter, a dog, a friend, a church, a purse, money, financially stable/ wealthy, office, jewelry box, a social butterfly, enjoy clubs and socializing, likes to be busy and active, wine, travel, trips via water, clouds, heavy rains, good partner, sensual, good at financial advice, an expensive wedding of a friend, children, financially secure, fixing cars, lily, workaholic, trying their best at difficult situation, lion, a Leo sign, quite, electric, jealous and possessive, like to give great advice, streets of gold

⋆ feel free to ask questions you didn't understand in this reading

‹𝟹 leave like 🙵 re-blog when you love it !

© thedivineart. do not plagiarize any of my work, translate or repost it on other social media platform.

#pick a card #divination #tarot community #tarot #oracle reading #spirituality #witchblr #witches of tumblr #witch #witch community #tarot witch #beginner witch #tarotblr #pick a pile #pick a picture #pick a photo #pick a deck #pick an image #future spouse reading #future spouse #love reading #psychic readings #psychic reading #intuition #intuitive tarot reading #intuitive #future lovers #cartomancy #oracle card readings #oracle

[mostlygayrage]

OBSCURA: Trailer Analysis

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

In the trailer/video that goes with Chapter One of OBSCURA (Here. Watch it on your own, sub to Rotten Raccons) is PACKED with details and all sorts of information. Let's start with the first thing we see when the video starts.

Cirrus:

This is a snippet of Cirrus' CG in game with some things added. The text in the top left is what we're interested in. "18. presbyter//ecclesia lunaris" What does the number mean? Well if we take it in terms of Major Arcana for Tarot cards. the moon in number 18.(XVIII) Fitting for the lunar priest, but the deeper meaning also fits. Usually meaning hidden danger or enemies, deception to darker forces at play. Then we have the Latin. If we take the dashes and an indication of a break, then the translation is roughly "Preist// height of the moon" But if we take it as one sentence it translates to "Priest of the Lunar Church" Keir:

Again, staring with the number. 20 (XX) is Judgement. I find this fascinating. With obvious associations to justice, scales, balance etc it;s an interesting connection that I wouldn't have originally thought of to Keir but it fits well. The card itself means reflection, reckoning and awakening. Usually taking a look at oneself to see where an imbalance lies so you can fix it and move forwards while reversed can mean a lack of self-awareness, doubt and self-loathing. (yikes) The latin here is interesting too. Instead of having the dashes like everyone else, he had the latin next to the number and then a separate, less visible one at the bottom center of the screen. "Cavilator Fur" translates to "Scornful thief" and the dimmer, less noticeable word is "Cultelluss" or "knife" and it's pointing to where his dagger in on his belt.

Oleander:

The Number 11 (XI) is Justice. Meaning cause and effect, clarity and truth and the reverse meaning opposite. Oleander is a character who knows the effects of his actions. They are measures and precise. He is aware of the cause and effect. And in his neutral and good endings we see him bring his own form of 'justice' or balance. When Lord Valentine tried to have him killed, he simply returned the favor personally, and succeded. "Nerii//periculosum scurra" when translated as a sentence means "A dangerous clown". This obviously references the way Vesper calls him a clown when they first meet and telling us directly that he is dangerous. Francesco:

The Wheel of Fortune is what is assigned to Francesco, meaning change, cycles and inevitable fate, greater forces as play that are pushing towards and ultimate and unavoidable end. This theme goes along with theming that he is running out of time. THere is a reason for him coming to the underground, for rushing Vesper and the tailor so he can experience as much as he can. There is something pushing him forwards.

"Francisium//innocentes nobiles" At a first glance it looks like a latin version of his name, and "innocent nobiles." The second part is correct but the whole phrase means "The innocent nobles of France" which is FACINATING to say the least. The connection to France is interesting to me and brings my mind to the French revolution. Another detail I think is interesting is that his secondary outfit we see him in, the jewelry that is around his neck is right where a beheading would happen and once I saw it I couldn't unsee it.

Thats the first portion. Later in the video we get some images that flash across the screen with more latin and numbers. The numbers correspond with the numbers we were given previously. Again, in the order of how they appear in the video: Cirrus: Snake Skeleton

Latin first. "Obsequium// ducit as caelum" means "compliance leads to heaven" This connects to his entire theme. To get the best end with Cirrus, you don't question him. You don't question his motives or hesitate, you just comply. The imagery of a snake skeleton is interesting too. The obvious imagery and symbolism with snakes, deceit, lies, danger. But also connections to the story of Adam and Eve. The snake that tempts Eve, causing her fall from grace.

Keir: Scales

The Latin here is obscured a bit but it says "Fatum// vestrum vel extaneus" meaning "Your fate is at stake". This one leaves me wondering quite a bit. It says 'your' as if it's talking to the player, to us. To Vesper. This could tie into how Vesper is roped into Mouse Hole, how they are forced to get a noose around their neck like the rest of those living in Mouse Hole. They have to perform well in the heist that happens otherwise they risk death that comes a lot sooner than would be caused by fractum anima. They also risk the lives of Keir and those in Mouse Hole.

The imagery here is super interesting too. Scales are usually associated with justice which happens to be Oleander's tarot card. Scales, are obviously associated with balance, with equilibrium, and fair deals. While we mostly see one side of the scale it seems to be balanced. And in combination with the Latin, I think it's referring to the delicate balance that is Keir's life. A balance of his line of work being risky but lucrative, but if it's too much of a risk, he not only risks his life but all the others in Mouse Hole.

Oleander: Human Skull

"Pantiantur// sicut habes" roughly translates to "Let them suffer as you have" which, WOW. OKAY. Again, Oleander delivers his own form of justice to Lord Valentine by delivering the same thing Valentine tried to do to Oleander, but more personal. Let them suffer as you have. It brings to mind the "eye for an eye" metaphor. An eye for an eye and the world goes blind. But Justice is blind is she not? The skull imagery is interesting as well. This is all painting Oleander as a very dangerous man. Charming and witty, with a flair for the dramatic, yes, but dangerous all the same. A man who can kill. In the neutral ending he says, "For now you are safe with me. If you want to stay like that, you need to follow my lead." If he doesn't have the same attachment to you as he does in the good ending, you are an asset to him and he doesn't spare you the same kindness.

Francesco: Hour Glass

"Tempus//decurrit" means "time is running out". His is the shortest and simplest of the secondary ones. He is running out of time. He rushes you at the tailor to get an outfit made because he can't afford to wait. He wants to get as much as he can, done in the time he has left. No time to waste. The hourglass is the same message. Time is running out. It makes me wonder what is causing his time to run out. Here's the thing, Vesper's time is also running out with Fractum Anima, and interesting connection and it would be interesting if he also had it or something similar but I don't think that's the case with the other things we have seen. With the other things, the "innocent nobles of France" bit and the Wheel of Fortune, It feels like it's alluding to an execution to something similar. But that's purely speculation. That's it! That's what I have! (Thanks to Atlas on discord for great resources and helping me connect the dots with the numbers and tarot!!)

#OBSCURA #rotten raccoons #obscura vn #obscura analysis

[dearestcorrespondence]

Angelica Church to Elizabeth Hamilton, London, [February 24, 1795]

London, Feb. 24, 95.

I sincerely congratulate you my dear Eliza on the resignation of our dear Hamilton & on your return to New York where I hope to pass with you the remainder of my days, that is if you will be so obliging as to permit my Brother to give me his society, for you know how much I love & admire him. We will see each other every day. In the meantime, pray write to me all your stories. My little dear Betsy has been dangerously ill, but yesterday the physicians pronounced her out of danger and set my poor heart at ease.

I wish that you and my Brother had been here to console me, it is natural to wish for those one dearly loves.

I do not by this Ship write to my amiable, but you will thank him for his letters. I was very proud to have the American Ministers intreating me for information from America. I did boast of very long letters & give myself some airs of importance. Mr. Jay is very desirous of getting to his fireside, & Mr. Pinckney preparing for Spain. I never saw a man so unhappy for the loss of a wife, it gives one a curiosity to know how our husbands would be affected by a similar loss. I mean if we could sham dying, just to see how very sorry—or how very much of leisure they would be. 

Adieu my dear Sister, but I must tell you that Mr. Church has some intention of sending his Boys to America in the Spring, if their tutor consents to go with them. Philip means to study the law and you see requested to ask my Brother if he were articled to a lawyer if he might then return to Europe to pursue his studies and if at the expiration of three or four years he might return and plead in the state and Federal courts. Let Colonel Hamilton please to answer this question.

Enclose a parcel for Mama which you may read, it comes from Catharine.

Adieu my dear Eliza, affectionately yours. Embrace all the children and Monsieur votre mari.

You made me a very pretty offer which I shall accept.

Angelica Church

#elizabeth hamilton #elizabeth schuyler #angelica church #angelica schuyler #hamilton correspondence #church correspondence #1795

[cherryredstars]

Heyyyy Cherry! I was wondering if you could PLEASEEEEE do a pastor Miguel x afab reader! I would absolutely love to see an innocent doll like reader get tainted by the supposedly holy pastor 😩 Xoxo

Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x fem!reader

Warnings: 18+, NSFW, Unholy Use of a Church, Unholy use of Holy Water, Penetrative Sex, Slight Praise,

Summary: He tells you you’re his angel sent from Heaven. 

A/N: This is purely a work of fiction and I do NOT support the unholy use or disrespect of any place of worship and its corresponding religion. 

Word Count: 770 (Not Edited)

You needed help.

You needed guidance. A soft, gentle hand to grasp and lead you back on to the path you strayed from. A confused lamb in need of a wise shepherd. A girl in need of her pastor. 

He was so gentle with you. Had pulled you close and whispered soft reassurance in your ears. He could help you, he had said- preached- to you. Had told you that you had come to the right place, that he knew how you had to repent. How you could please the Lord. You had thought nothing of it when he had guided you away from the confession booth and towards the front of the church to the altar. Merely blinked at him as his hand trailed up your arm, over your shoulder, and to the zipper of your dress.

It was sickening, how your voice filled up the empty church as it echoed off the pillars and stained glass. It morphed together, creating a harmony that sang back to the both of you as Miguel held you down. You tried to muffle the next moan in your arms, pressing your forehead against the wood of the altar. It was humiliating, having your white dress pooling around your ankles as Pastor Miguel thrusted into you. It was shameful, sinful, but it felt so good.

Another moan leaves you as he shifts, pressing you further onto the altar. The cold wood makes your nipples harden, gasping as his hand follows the dip of your spine. It truly felt like he was worshiping your body. Kissing every beauty mark and curve along your back and shoulders. Another breathy moan floats out of your mouth as his warm tongue licks up your skin. 

You press back into Miguel, forced to when his hand comes around and grasps at your neck. It forces your head back, looking at him with dazed eyes. Your lashes keep fluttering, mouth wide open as you whine. His thrusts are continuous, unending and constant. From the new angle, you can feel him hitting your cervix. The wet squelching everytime he bottoms out is the perfect background track to your moaning. 

“Sound so beautiful f’me, ángel. Singing just for me, yeah?”

You nod weakly, mewling as his thumb starts playing with your lower lip. You’re left completely surprised when his body shifts lightly, and a second later water is poured into your mouth. You’re forced to drink it down with his hand at your throat. When he lets go, you sputter and cough as you fall back onto the altar. You take heaving breaths as you try to breathe properly, eyes watering as you watch Miguel place down an empty bottle of Holy Water. Your throat burns slightly from the salt. 

Your nails try to carve into the altar, instead clutching onto the delicate cloth on it. Miguel bends forward, his front pressed onto your back as his hand glides down to your clit. It makes you jump, gasping at the sudden stimulation. He’s off of you again, another bottle clutched into his hand. He places it next to you, right into your line of sight. Your whole body begins to shake as you near your orgasm, your hand reaching up to grasp onto the bottle. You hold it tight in your hand, worried its going to explode with how strongly you clutch to it. 

With a few more thrusts and a harsh slap to your clit, you’re climaxing. You scream out, the sound vibrating in your bones as you jolt and twitch. Miguel is quick to finish after, grunting as he spills into you with stuttering hips. You go lax against the altar, hand loosening on the bottle as you breathe deeply. Miguel takes the bottle from you, pulling out and turning you around. You moan when he continues to press against you, looking down to see his creamy cock against your clit. His head nudges your clit just slightly, and you jolt when he shifts and his cock hits it. You can fill something slowly dripping from you, and your cheeks burn. 

Miguel’s hand massages at your hip, his other hand holding the bottle of Holy Water. He brings it to his mouth, unscrewing it with his teeth. His hand on your tightens, keeping you in place as he spills the bottle onto your stomach. You gasp at the coldness, watching as it runs down your stomach and to your cunt. It runs onto Miguel’s cock, blending with the mixture of cum and dripping off to the floor. 

“Have to cleanse ourselves of your sins, ¿No es así, mi ángel sucio?”

#cherry's requests🍒 #miguel o'hara #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel o'hara x y/n #across the spiderverse #spiderman 2099 x you #spiderman 2099 x reader #atsv miguel #miguel ohara x you #miguel ohara #miguel o hara #miguel o'hara smut #miguel x reader #miguel spiderverse #miguel x you #miguel spiderman #spider man 2099 #astv miguel #miguel atsv #miguel ohara x reader #miguel ohara x y/n #miguel ohara x reader smut #spiderman 2099 #across the spider verse #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x you #miguel ohara smut

[canisalbus]

a few quick questions on Machete, what breed is he? I love the angles of his snout and the proportions remind me of a borzoi though I don't think he is one. Also, does he have a set age for when he's a cardinal? I picture him to be around mid-30s or so. Wonderful art! love your stuff and find you an inspiration :)

He's a fictional breed called Podenco Siciliano, which is closely related to modern day Ibizan Hound (pictured below) and other Mediterranean rabbit-hunting podencos. I usually just default to calling him a sighthound since he's somewhat of a provincial mongrel and not meant to be purebred anyway.

As for the age, mid-30s sounds about right. I think the current timeline goes something like this:

0 - Born to a lower-middle class family in Sicily, father is a tradesman, has three older brothers. Generally considered a runt, is weak and sick all the time, parents suspicious of his unusual colors.

3 - Gets left at a monastery and raised by monks as a foundling. Nervous and meek kid, but the monks think he's endearing and do their best to support him. Is taught to read and write, which is a massive advantage at that day and age, and learns rudimentary Latin through exposure.

9 - Apprenticed to a Neapolitan priest, moves to southern part of mainland Italy (or Kingdom of Naples as it was called, it was ruled by Spain actually). Does chores and runs errands in exchange for education and experience.

15 - The priest gets elevated to a bishop and decides to sponsor Machete's further studies at an acclaimed university in Venice (in Northern Italy). There he studies theology, medicine, arts, law, philosophy and gets fluent in Latin and adequate in Greek. Befriends Vasco but their relationship is short-lived.

21 - Ordained a priest. Leads a parish somewhere in Papal States (Central Italy). Is generally well liked but doubts his career choice from time to time.

26 - Becomes a part of the Papal Court in Vatican, mostly because of the recommendations of his former mentor and professors, good reputation, excellent track record and sheer luck. Still a priest but assists bishops, cardinals and the pope himself directly. Moves to Rome. Becomes pope's unofficial confidant due to his obedient and hardworking nature and because of his lack of prestigious family connections that would render him a threat. Slowly starts to gain wealth.

30 - Created a cardinal (which is the second highest position in the church after the pope, and it's at the sole discretion of the pope who becomes one). Is also a bishop as a technicality. Handles administrative jobs, tons of paperwork, at some point he's in charge of a lot of the political correspondence and diplomatic missions. Still the old pope's trusted advisor but disliked by the majority of the cardinals, who see him as an outsider, sycophant and a potential disruptor of the status quo.

34 - Meets Vasco again. Vasco has become a succesful politician in Florence, he's married with three children.

38 - The pope dies and Machete's status falters. He starts to work with the Roman inquisition more. Oversees trials, torture, excommunications and executions of heretics, witches and most of all, protestants (since we're reaching Counter Reformation times and the Vatican is Very Worried about the spread of Luther's ideas). Isn't having a good time at all but keeps up the appearances. Gets infamous. The beginning of the true villain era.

40 - Grows increasingly more disillusioned with life and his ideals, as well as the corruption of the Curia. Burned out, paranoid and desperate. Uses scare tactics, extortion and legal trickery to expose and undermine his enemies, but gains them faster than he can keep up. Employs spies, thugs and assassins. Feared and loathed.

43 - Gets assassinated and dies in disgrace.

#answered #jaydenchapstick #sorry this turned out sorta long #and kinda bummer too #all of this is subject to change if I end up thinking of something better #not set in stone just the current grand picture #the ages are approximate #the history of Italy and the workings of the catholic church are both such clusterfucks holy moly gosh darn #I've done research but don't rely on my word that this is all accurate and feasible in the end it's fantasy rules #whenever you see him wearing any red it's a sign he's at the cardinal phase these positions are color coded like that #Machete

[sugar-grigri]

An overlay of games

Two injured arms? What are you trying to tell us, Fujimoto ?

The interesting thing about the first part of the chapter is this page in which Denji hesitantly answers. It's another way of accentuating his existential crisis, even when he's called an impostor, Denji can't defend his position firmly and confidently.

It's normal, he's still bound by the dilemma of the public hunters who have forbidden him to reveal and be Chainsaw Man himself, and above all he's competing with the impostor for his own identity.

Denji isn't THAT scandalized by being pointed out as a wannabe CSM because he is one now, he's been so robbed of his identity that he's almost willing to become himself.

This chapter also hints at the fact that the public hunters don't agree on everything, probably because of a hierarchy or unity game. For example, some hunters only thought that the church was having fun playing CSM, not knowing that it was fighting against the prophecy of Nostradamus.

However, this information was gathered by Yoshida through his interview with Fami, but it remained highly confidential. Here again, this public hunter doesn't know that Denji is CSM. In short, information isn't leaking out of the Special Division 7.

Yoshida is the mediator between the public hunters and Denji, but also with the church with Fami. Katana, Quanxi and the possessed man with the dripping brain are the henchmen. Fumiko is the one in charge of preventing any temptation on Denji's part to get closer to the church.

But there's something else that I find even more interesting that follows this point. If we try to untangle everyone's role. We end up with Yoshida; Quanxi; Katana; the possessed one with the overflowing brain; Fumiko; Denji and on the other, on the church side, we have Fami, Barem, Miri, the weapon of the whip, the bow and finally Asa. That's six against six.

Asa's room is 606. And as I've explained several times, Fujimoto tends to play with numbers in this part 2. So I'm going to try and give you an explanation.

When I saw that not only Quanxi had her arm bruised but Yoshida had sliced Asa's arm, the first thing I thought was "a tie". On one side we have Quanxi losing her arm to protect while on the other we have Yoshida attacking with a slice. The fact remains that an arm has been lost on each side, so there's a certain balance.

Let me remind you that there are six against six in this game, and nobody has won any points yet, which makes 0. 6 0 6, ball in the middle.

I sincerely believe that what Fujimoto is setting up is a form of game, a war in which we're going to have to keep score. Barem is called Barem BRIDGE, a card game of 2. against 2. This time it's not just a game about the clan war but the whole manga: Fami and Barem on one side, the demon of Death and maybe Fake! CSM on the other

Did you know that one of the players called himself the dead man? ;))))))

I think the human usurper and fake!CSM are two different entities because the demon has twice interfered with Fami's plan by eliminating the fire demon (Yuko) and saving Denji and Asa.

But it doesn't stop there, so let me come back to a few bridge rules (I don't know how to play, so if I'm wrong, please correct me). The game opens with the "contract", i.e. declarer commits to making a given number of tricks. Just like the beginning of the game in CSM started with Barem announcing his contract with the fire demon.

A game of bridge is played in several moves, each move corresponding to a deal. Each player holds 13 cards, which they have arranged in a row to form what is known as their "deck" or "hand". Again, this is not to say that game 2 works exactly like bridge (and its horribly complex rules) but rather to emphasise the symbolism.

Every time one of the sides moves, an injury occurs, a limb is neutralised or even pulverised.

I wanted to end this analysis with the "strong" part of the chapter, Yoru's return in force. I was stuck on the symbolism of the arm, its symbolism in art and its relationship to war. So much so that I forgot to read the line: Yoru is a team player, she speaks as "we".

And then everything fell into place. There's a contrast between Yoru's exaltation and the fact that she's still missing a member. But everything makes sense with this fusion introduced by the "we".

Yoru is missing nothing, not even an arm, and Asa has become the perfect continuity of her being and her limbs.

Asa may have transformed her flat, her home, but she hasn't lost her bearings, because each of these girls has become the home of the other.

While Denji denies the duality of his being, Asa is embracing it.

While Yoru, even without her arm, feels her strength reaching its peak thanks to her completeness with Asa.

Now, don't you think that making room 606 a weapon whose number symbolizes the status quo is just the beginning of hostilities?

To be obsessed with victory, even if it means leaving your mark, isn't that the definition of waging war?

Or is it just playing a card game ?

#chainsaw man #csm #csm part 2 #csm spoilers #csm 148 #csm 147 #csm 146 #csm 143 #csm 142 #csm 133 #csm 128 #csm 111 #denji hayakawa #nayuta hayakawa #my thoughts #asa mitaka #barem bridge #yoshida hirofumi #fami #death devil #katana man #quanxi #fumiko mifune #Yuko #yoru

[traegorn]

Hey-o! Tis the season for people to talk about how the holidays were "actually pagan" and I'm on the hunt for sources about how that's really not the case, if you have any you'd recommend!

Okay, so the problem is there are so many weird "Christmas is stolen!" bullshit memes going around, it's so hard to just give you a comprehensive list of sources. Christmas celebrations have evolved as the religion has spread, and different things come from different times...

The key here is to go for academic sources. This is a question of history, and a well supported historical research is going to tell you whether they're operating from primary, secondary or tertiary sources.

So while I can't give you a simple list, let me give you a couple of examples off the top of my head and give you tips on how to investigate any the dumb claims that get passed around.

Christmas being in December: So a lot of people go for the "Christmas is in December so it can steal from [INSERT SOLSTICE CELBRATION]" is ahistorical... because we know exactly why Christmas is in December. Because the guys who made the decision argued with each other and left behind written documentation. The two big names you need to look up are  Clement of Alexandria (who pitched January 6th) and Hippolytus of Rome (who proposed December 25th). This is around the turn of the third century, and you can find both of their writings. Some folks have questioned the authenticity of some of Hippolytus of Rome's writings, but Clement of Alexandria's seem well supported. These were internal arguments about when the birth of Christ took place within the early church, and when they settled on late December. There are reasons for this, and you can read their arguments (it largely has to do with the importance of when Jesus was conceived -- they wanted that to be an important date and then added nine months to it). Importantly though, because linear time is a thing, this means Christmas was set in December before the Christianization of the Germanic and Norse tribes... so anyone who says Christmas was set to December to correspond with Yule doesn't understand the concept of "coincidences."

The Christmas Tree: The Christmas tree was invented in 16th century Germany. That's... that's just written down all over the place. Now, there are legends about Martin Luther being the first who did it -- but I'm pretty certain that's just an embellishment that got added on. There are preceding traditions where part of an evergreen was brought into the home as a part of solstice traditions (though some will claim the Egyptians did this? Which is wild -- likely misinterpreting their use of palm fronds as the same thing), but the act of taking a whole ass tree, cutting it down, putting it in your house, and decorating it? That's 16th century Germany all the way. You can rabbit hole so many sources on that one, but honestly just pick apart the citations on the Wikipedia page. Putting a branch in your house and dragging a whole tree in are very different acts.

Jesus's story is copied from [INSERT RANDOM GOD]: There are so many of these, and some are just downright disrespectful to major world religions (the Krishna version of the meme especially). The answer is... just see if what the meme is saying about the god is supported by the mythology. Like I've seen ones that says Dionysus was "born of a virgin." If you know anything about the Greek gods, you're probably already laughing on the floor. Horus gets dragged into this too, because Gerald Massey was trying to pull a "White Goddess but with Dudes." But any serious research on Horus will tell you the supposed parallels aren't supported by the mythology.

So sorry, this wasn't so much sources you can use as it is how to look for them to begin with. Because there's just so, so much. This isn't even covering cases of syncretism, where pre-existing cultural traditions got continued post-Christianization. Because it's almost always the case that if a pre-Christian practice endured post Christianization, it's because people decided to keep doing it -- not because the church was trying to "steal" it. The latter means there was some mustache twirling plan behind it, when the former means (usually) the church went "Well, they're paying their tithes and saying it's for Jesus, so who gives a shit?"

I'm just going to finish this off with linking to my podcast episode on this, along with Ocean Keltoi's great Yule video on the topic. Hopefully that helps.

#witch #witchcraft #witchblr #yule #christmas #christmas tree #pagan