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chanoyu-to-wa · 3 years

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Nampō Roku, Book 6 (13.1; 13.2): Concerning the Mukō-ro [向爐]; and Mukō-ro no Mitsu-gumi [向爐ノ三ツ組].

13.1) With respect to the mukō-ro, because everything must be placed within the confines of a half-mat, eliminating the yū-yo [有餘] from either the front or the back will result in numerous difficulties. When [we consider] the placement of the daisu, in accordance with this great law, [we see that the presence of] these yū-yo are essential to defining the extent [of the space that may be used for the arrangement of the utensils]¹. This is the most extreme example².

13.2) [Ri]kyū, in the case of this mukō-ro, placed the chaire in front of the mizusashi, and then always carried the chawan out [at the beginning of the temae], and so prepared [tea]³.

The chaire might also be placed on the tana⁴.

Nevertheless, there is also the case where three objects are grouped together, as [shown] below, in the manner indicated -- we should try to be very tolerant of [this sort of arrangement]⁵.

◎ Mukō-ro no mitsu-gumi [向爐ノ三ツ組]⁶.

[The writing (on the drawing itself) reads: mizusashi (水サシ).]

The kaki-ire [書入]:

〇 In the case of the mukō-ro, a large-sized mizusashi should be used⁷. Because it comes into contact with two yang-kane, [this situation is referred to as] kuguri-kane [クヽリカネ]⁸.

Nevertheless, when [arranging the utensils as] mitsu-gumi [三ツ組], since -- as [shown] in [the sketch] -- both the chaire and the chawan contact yang kane, there is no problem with using a small mizusashi so that the utensils contact successive kane⁹.

You should make an effort to sort out these different matters carefully¹⁰.

〇 If [the host is using] a small mizusashi, then [the mizusashi] should always contact a yang-kane on the right or the left. It should always contact both a yang- and a yin-kane¹¹.

〇 At a night gathering, because a te-shoku [手燭] will be placed between the ro and the mizusashi, it would be better if the mizusashi is moved toward the right¹².

_________________________

◎ This entry is rather long, and contains three drawings and their comments, so I decided it would be best to divide it into two posts*.

Meanwhile, this section, and the three entries that follow (which include five important sketches that illustrate the ideas of kane-wari which form the backbone of the Nampō Roku), were not included in Kumakura Isao’s Nampō Roku wo yomu [南方録を読む]. __________ *In their respective commentaries, Shibayama Fugen and Tanaka Senshō opted to divide this material into an even larger number of entries -- to prevent the ideas presented in one section from confusing the arguments associated with the subsequent parts (since they are often irrelevant -- indeed, several of the kaki-ire have no connection with the sketch to which they were appended).

¹Daisu no oki-kata, taihō wo motte kono yū-yo wo kiwamerare-shi koto [臺子ノ置方、大法ヲ以テコノ有餘ヲキハメラレシコト].

Taihō [大法], which means a great rule or law, refers to the rule that was enunciated in the first sentence -- to wit, that the arrangement (including the temae-za) should be entirely confined to the space of a half mat.

Kiwamerare-suru [極められする] means to reach a limit or extreme. In other words, the daisu set the limits on how much space is needed for the arrangement; and, since this all fits within a half-mat, it thereby established the law that is being considered here.

When the daisu is arranged on the utensil mat, it is placed 4-sun 5-bu from the far end of that mat, as has been described before in the Nampō Roku. The ji-ita of the daisu measures 1-shaku 4-sun, as is also well known. Subtracting these from 3-shaku 1-sun 5-bu (which is the length of half of a kyōma tatami) leaves 1-shaku 3-sun, which is the diameter of the largest tray that can be used with the daisu -- the dai-marubon [大丸盆].

Historically speaking, whether it was this tray that ordained that the daisu should be placed 4-sun 5-bu from the far end of the mat, or whether the location for the daisu was fixed first (perhaps because, at that distance from the folding screen that enclosed it, a spark erupting through the rear hi-mado of the kimen-buro would not cause any damage), and thereby limited the size of any tray that would be placed in front of it to 1-shaku 3-sun, is not clear from the oldest records. (Indeed, the fact that originally trays of a size that would keep the utensils confined to the space originally defined by the shiki-shi [敷き紙] seems to lend credence to the second of these possibilities.)

²Mottomo shigoku no koto nari [尤至極ノコトナリ].

Shigoku no koto [至極のこと]: shigoku [至極] means extremely, exceedingly, most. Adding -no-koto turns it into a noun, meaning the most extreme (example).

In other words, as explained above, nothing larger than the dai-marubon can be placed in front of the daisu, so this arrangement pushes the possibilities to their limit.

³Kyū kono mukō-ro ni te ha, mizusashi no mae ni chaire oite chawan ha kanarazu hakobite taterare-shi na nari [休コノ向爐ニテハ、水サシノ前ニ茶入置テ茶碗ハカナラズ運ビテ立テラレシナ也].

Kyū [休] is, of course, the usual abbreviation of Rikyū's name.

Taterare-suru [立てられし], in the context of chanoyu, means to prepare the tea*. __________ *It literally means to stand up. In the modern tea world, it would be written with the kanji ten [点 or, in older books, 點] -- taterare-suru [点てられする]. However this latter form only appeared in the Edo period, and is anachronistic with respect to documents written in Rikyū's day (even though more than a few modern renderings of writings from his period are guilty of this interpolation).

⁴Chaire tana ni okare-shi koto mo ari [茶入棚ニ被置シコトモアリ].

This practice is described in the Tsuri-dana no densho [釣棚の傳書] that Rikyū wrote for Nambō Sōkei (c. 1582 or 1583).

⁵Shikare-domo mukō-ro no mitsu-gumi mo hidari no gotoku sadame-okaru, yoku-yoku kanben subeshi [シカレトモ向爐ノ三ツ組モ左ノゴトク定メヲカル、能〻勘辯��ベシ].

Hidari [左の如く], “like what (is shown) on the left” refers to the sketch (which follows these comments). On the left, because the memorandum was written from right to left, in the usual manner.

Sadame okaru [定め置かる] means “this is how (the utensils) should be placed.” (Sadame [定め] suggests that this is illustrating a rule or law.)

Kanben subeshi [勘辯すべし] literally means “(you) should be excusing of (this).” In other words, in light of what was said about Rikyū's preferences* -- specifically, that he always brought the chawan out from the katte -- displaying the chawan on the utensil mat along with the chaire might strike the reader as being wrong. While Rikyū probably would have frowned upon this practice, it is nonetheless a fact that many people of his generation preferred doing things in this manner -- as the wabi equivalent of the way the entire set of utensils was displayed on the daisu.

Furthermore, since it was a rule that, in the wabi setting, the host should endeavor to limit his trips between the temae-za and the katte as much as possible, displaying the chawan on the utensil mat would potentially limit his trips to one (bringing out the koboshi as he made his first entrance). Thus, the question of whether to display the chawan may be seen as a sort of trade off between these two two conventions.

In Rikyū's case, the argument that finally won out seems to have been his aversion to anything even remotely suggesting of display -- as can be seen in his eventual creation of the mizuya-dōko [水屋洞庫]†, which allowed all of the utensils to be kept from view until the beginning of the temae. Because, even if these things were pieces of no worth or merit whatsoever, placing them out in the room beforehand still includes a nuance of display, no matter how strongly the host might argue against this interpretation. __________ *Rikyū did not entirely prohibit the display of the chawan in the small room. But he allowed it only when the chawan itself was extremely important (for example in the class of arrangements known as chasen-kazari [茶筅飾], which was sanctioned only when using things like one of the chawan that had belonged to Shukō). The configuration of the present arrangement suggests, however, that the chawan in question is not such a piece.

†A clear distinction between Jōō’s original dōko [洞庫], which was derived from the ji-fukuro [地袋] of the fukuro-dana [袋棚], and Rikyū’s mizuya-doko [水屋洞庫] which, as the name implies, should be regarded as being equivalent to the mizuya.

So, while it was permitted for the guests to peek into the dōko (just as it had been the rule that, at the beginning of the shoza and goza, the shōkyaku should open the ji-fukuro so that all may look inside, while the last guest should close it up again), in the case of the mizuya-dōko, everyone but the host was forbidden to open its door (just as it was a rule that, while they might go into the katte under certain circumstances, the mizuya was absolutely off limits to everyone except the host and his assistant).

⁶〽Mukō-ro no mitsu-gumi [向爐ノ三ツ組] is used as a sort of title for the illustration (and its small collection of kaki-ire [書入]).

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In the system employed in the Nampō Roku -- which is based upon the machi-shū way of arranging the utensils on the ji-ita of the daisu (the mizusashi was moved backward, so that its far side was more or less in line with the shaku-tate and back of the furo), the 1-shaku 8-sun space (from the front of the 2-sun yū-yo to the front edge of the 5-bu yū-yo) is divided by five lines (corresponding to the five kane -- though in the original system promulgated by Rikyū there is no precedent for this). This group of machi-shū was the one that followed Imai Sōkyū (which is why variations on this system are found in the teachings of the Sen family schools).

The mizusashi is centered on the fourth cell from the front, as shown below (meaning it is more or less in line with the back side of the kama).

In this system, rather than being associated with the line that extends across the front of the mukō-ro, the chawan and chaire are associated with a line running 1-sun beyond that -- which results in inconsistencies regarding the yū-yo that runs in front of the ro. (Even though that yū-yo is still defined as being 2-sun wide, in this system, the actual “unused space” is 3-sun -- implying that this system was, indeed, created after the fact, and as a way to explain away things that the person who proposed this system did not understand).

In this episode we can perhaps catch a glimpse of how these kinds of secret teachings developed: there is an idea that was based on an orthodox understanding that, after an unforeseen event like Rikyū’s death, was imperfectly understood by the people into whose hand the stewardship of chanoyu passed -- in this case, the idea that the space to the right of the ro is supposed to be divided into horizontal bands, which, of course, comes from the shiki-shi. But without information regarding the details, and no recognition of the shiki-shi, and acting on the premise that the kane were an arbitrary system concocted by Rikyū (based on whatever sort of understanding that he may have gleaned from his time with Kitamuki Dōchin), the same kind of system is used to fill in the blanks, resulting in confusion that branches off on a tangent, becoming farther and farther from the truth as time goes by (in the commentaries, this kind of division of space into tiny units is not limited to the temae-za or even the utensil mat, but expanded to cover the entire room, into which several hundred years of speculation has been poured without an inkling of where or how this whole system started, or where it is going). This is a good example of the sort of explanations that appeared during the Edo period.

============================================

⁷Mukō-ro ha mizusashi ō-buri wo mochiiru-koto [向爐ハ水サシ大ブリヲ用ルコト].

Mizusashi ō-buri wo mochiiru-koto [水指大振を用いること]: ō-buri [大振] means a large mizusashi, that is, one that is 6-sun in diameter or more. According to Rikyū’s densho, during the ro season, the mizusashi should be large enough so that it will provide sufficient cold water for use throughout the day*.

Mizusashi, of the sort ordered by Jōō for use on the fukuro-dana during his middle period, measuring 6-sun in diameter, are the kind that are being considered here†. __________ *So that it will not need to be refilled later.

During the season of the ro, the ro is supposed to be set up at dawn, and hot water kept always ready until the tearoom is closed for the night. The mizusashi is, likewise, supposed to be filled at dawn, and kept in readiness until the end of the day. If it is too small, and the host is called upon to serve tea, there might not be enough water left in case he decides to serve tea again later in the day. Because the ro was, from the first, associated with the use of chanoyu as a sort of meditative training, the host must always be ready to serve tea again, even if nobody had been invited.

Each time the lid is removed, more dust can potentially fall in, contaminating the water even more. Furthermore, each time the water is transferred from one container to another, there is a risk of transferring dissolved dust along with it (since it is nearly impossible to clean any container at the end of the day so that no dust will remain -- if only as a result of the lint that comes off from the towel when the mizusashi or mizu-kame [水甕] are dried after being emptied at night). Since the mizusashi is not taken to the well, the water it contains will have already been transferred once. If it becomes empty and more water has to be added from what was saved in the mizu-kame (the large water-storage jar that is kept in the mizuya -- usually to provide water for cleaning the utensils before and after they are used in the tearoom), this may entail transferring water from the mizu-kame into a mizu-tsugi, and then pouring it from the mizu-tsugi into the mizusashi -- with the danger of adding more dust each time.

For this reason, Rikyū taught that, when the ro is being used, the mizusashi should always be as large as possible.

†Larger mizusashi had also existed since the early days (some of which were made for use on the o-chanoyu-dana [御茶湯棚], while others had been made for serving rice, or for use as washing basins, in the temples), but these will be considered later.

⁸Yō-kane futatsu kakarite kuguri-kane ni naru-yue nari [向爐ハ水サシ大ブリヲ用ルコト、陽カネ二ツニカヽリテクヽリカネニ成故ナリ].

Kuguri-kane [潜りカネ, 潜り曲尺] means that an object crosses at least two yang kane. When it does so, it (and anything associated with it) is considered to be yang -- for the purposes of kane-wari.

⁹Saredo mo mitsu-gumi ni suru-toki ha, kaku no gotoku chaire・chawan yō-kane naru-yue, mizusashi chiisaku de mo tsuzuki no kane ni naru kurushikarazu nari [サレドモ三ツ組ニスルトキハ、如此茶入・茶碗陽カネナルユヘ、水サシチイサクテモツヾキノカネニ成不苦也].

Because the distance between the kane on a kyōma tatami is 4-sun 9-bu 1-rin 6-mō [四寸九分一厘六毛]*, a mizusashi smaller than this is what is indicated. In Jōō's and Rikyū's day, a small magemono-mizusashi [曲物水指] with a lid 4-sun 9-bu in diameter was available for just this purpose†.

Tsuzuki-no-kane [續きのカネ] means that objects occupy successive kane. In this case (as shown in the above sketch) the chawan occupies the first yang-kane, the chaire occupies the end-most yang-kane, and the small mizusashi rests on the yin-kane in between these two (without touching either of the yang-kane).

Kurushikarazu nari [不苦也 = 苦しからずなり] means‡ “without difficulty;” “it is not a problem.” __________ *Yon-sun ku-bu ichi-rin roku-mō [四寸九分一厘六毛]. Mō [毛], which means a body-hair, is the smallest linear unit of measurement. 4-sun 9-bu 1-rin 6-mō [四寸九分一厘六毛] is (approximately) 14.8975 cm. The diameter of the mizusashi, therefore, must be at least slightly smaller than this.

†When an extremely small mizusashi is used -- and, depending on the number of guests, as well as the size of the kama -- if it is not necessary to add water during the temae (for fear that the kama will be in danger of running out), then the host may eschew doing so until the very end of the temae. At that time, the tiny mizusashi is opened, and two hishaku of cold water are added to the kama.

In this case, before making usucha, the host should take a full hishaku of hot water from the kama, hold it for several seconds above the mouth of the kama (so it will cool a little), and then pour the water back in -- to bring the shō-fū [松風] sound back to the kama before dipping out the hot water for the bowl of usucha.

While a magemono-mizusashi is described above, small ceramic vessels (most of which were actually made as serving bowls -- such as small kashi-bachi [菓子鉢]) -- were also used as mizusashi in this way. These tiny mizusashi usually have lacquered lids (because they were not made as mizusashi).

‡More literally, the expression kurushikarazu means “it is not a hardship;” or, “it is not painful.”

¹⁰Kayō no koto yoku-yoku bun-betsu subeshi [カヤウノコト能〻分別スベシ].

Bun-betsu [分別] means division, fractionation, differentiation, distinction, classification, segregation, and so forth.

Various and disparate points have been mentioned in this first kaki-ire, and they are not necessarily always associated with each other in the practice of chanoyu. Thus, the reader is advised to consider each of the assertions carefully, and compartmentalize them for use, if and when needed, later.

¹¹Chiisaki mizusashi naraba, sa-yū izure ni te mo yō-kane ni kakaru-yō ni shite, in to yō kakaru-yō ni subeshi [チイサキ水サシナラバ、左右イツレニテモ陽カネニカヽルヤウニシテ、陰ト陽トカヽルヤウニスベシ].

This means that if the host is using a mizusashi that is too small to touch two yang kane, then it should be arranged so that it contacts the yin kane and one of the yang kane. (In the sketch shown below, the mizusashi contacts the yang-kane on the left; in the sketch under footnote 12, it contacts the kane on the right.)

According to Shibayama Fugen, this is done when (as shown) the chaire is displayed on a tana; and the reason for the mizusashi’s being arranged in this way is so that it will count as yang.

This kaki-ire has nothing to do with mitsu-gumi, or the sketch that is part of the original entry.

¹²Yo-kai ha te-shoku wo ro to mizusashi no ma ni iri yue, hidari-za [h]e mizusashi yoru ga yoshi [夜會ハ手燭ヲ爐ト水サシノ間ニ入ユヘ、左座ヘ水サシヨルガヨシ].

A yo-kai [夜會] is a gathering hosted after dark.

Hidari-za [h]e [左座へ], “toward the left seat,” means it is moved toward the right*.

Yoru [寄る] means to approach. In other words, the mizusashi is moved a little toward the right, so as to make room for the te-shoku, as shown in the above sketch†. __________ *As has been explained before, in the Nampō Roku, the objects displayed on the far side of the temae-za are considered to be facing toward the host. Thus, the host’s right side faces the left seat.

†While I have shown a small mizusashi, the same thing can be done when using a larger mizusashi.

——————————————–———-—————————————————

◎ I had wanted to make the following point in the last post, but, with the rush that the length of that post engendered (so it would be ready for publication on time), it completely slipped my mind.

With respect to the board that is placed on the far side of the mukō-ro, the Nampō Roku states that it should be 2-sun 5-bu wide.

However, during the summer months, this board was cut into two pieces -- one 2-sun wide, and the other 5-bu wide. The smaller board was placed between the ro and the wall, while the wider one was placed in front of the ro. The reason (as has been explained previously in this blog) is that, when the mukō-ro is so close to the furosaki-mado [風爐先窓] -- the window that is opened in the wall at the end of the utensil mat -- the fumes will be exhausted directly through that window. (When the ro is moved farther away from the window, however, the fumes will be drawn across the room, to exit through the bokuseki-mado that is located in, or beside, the tokonoma.)

My reason for mentioning this board is because a certain amount of confusion exists in the modern schools, with many of them stating that this board should always be 2-sun wide, or even narrower (some argue for 1-sun 9-bu, while other schools even reduce it to 1-sun 6-bu) -- even when the board is placed on the far side of the ro.

This argument (which first arose in the early Edo period) seems to have come about when the 5-bu wide board used during the summertime was confused with the baseboard (which is also 5-bu wide) that is inserted between the edges of the mats and the wall (this board keeps the grass mats from coming into direct contact with the mud-plaster, since otherwise dampness present in the walls would communicate directly to the matting, causing them to molder). This, however, is wholly a matter of misunderstanding, because the 5-bu wide board has nothing to do with the baseboard. Nevertheless, when one of the previous generations of tea masters made a mistake (such as this), rather than correct the error, subsequent generations continue to perpetuate the error (and usually become exceedingly aggressive when it is pointed out to them).

It is unfortunate, because, ultimately, the deviations between Rikyū's teachings and what is taught and done today can, by and large, be explained in exactly this way.

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scarlettlawyer · 5 years

Note

Next attempt: Shelly de Killer and Pearl Fey!

Shelly de Killer:

- I hate them / I don’t like them / I’m neutral / I’m ok with them / I like them / I love them / I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

- favorite thing about them: THE PERFECT COMBINATION OF ELEGANCE AND MURDER. HE’S JUST SO GREAT!!! I love the aura of absolute calm and aesthetic interlaced with imminent threat. Well, not absolute calm. He can certainly lose his patience. But he's not really one to raise his voice. It’s a quiet and terrifying anger if invoked. The veneer of calm is part of the gentleman aesthetic; the hint of anger is the imminent threat. Outside of his being angry, however, it’s still the same: even if he’s not angry at you, his mere job makes him intimidating. That’s inescapable. But his polite demeanour is still there. The combination of those things is fantastic. He will kill you if he must but damn if he isn’t going to do it in style.

- least favorite thing about them: I actually did have a reply to this come to mind, possibly connected to AAI2, and yet it slipped away shortly thereafter and now I cannot recall it, and after losing the actual reply I had I’ve honestly sat here struggling to come up with something. Like there were moments when I enjoyed his character a bit less, but... Hard to just list off a least favourite thing from that.

- ship(s): ...Oldbag. You have done this; you have planted this idea in the mind of my friend and I. Like okay I don’t actually ship it in canon OR in your fic, but the thought of it is so out there, and therefore amusing. And then my friend came up with this amazing JFA au running with the idea so, I do “ship” it specifically in the context of her au ahahaha. I love my friend’s idea of... him liking her and her not really being aware of it? Because it’s a reversal of what’s usually the case in canon. Let a guy be interested in her for once and have her be unaware of it. XD

Also just gonna tack this fic-related message(s) on randomly too but FOR CONTEXT TO BE FAIR THIS WAS before I read the ending which actually does address the death of Wendy’s husband and before the actual dynamic between Oldbag, Shelly and Benny had been elaborated on by the story:

(I ACTUALLY MEANT IN THE SENSE OF HAVING BEEN HIRED BY SOMEONE TO KILL MR OLDBAG BUT THEN MY FRIEND WAS LIKE “HOW DO I MAKE THIS ABOUT THE SHIP” LOL). Okay but maybe Mr Oldbag could have been an important figure in an au that someone would have reason to assassinate 🤔 :P

- BROTP(s): I guess Sirhan Dogen is the main candidate for this, although I haven’t thought about their interactions too much!

- NOTP(s): I don’t think I’ve really seen any Shelly shipping haha...

- Game/case where I like them more: Gonna go with standard JFA case for this one, but AAI2 case 1 is also just really awesome. Particularly the whole hostage thing to help Edgeworth’s investigation out.

- Random headcanon: Not headcanons about the character himself but rather in relation to him; I like to imagine how scandalised Phoenix would be if he heard that yes, Shelly de Killer, that guy Edgeworth and law enforcement at large are so intent on apprehending? The guy who kidnapped Maya? Edgeworth totally spoke kinda casually with the guy a bunch of times, and was even assisted by Shelly (you could even stretch this to perhaps argue that he COOPERATED with Shelly). Even saw Shelly face to face during AAI2 and had a chat with him. Well, yes, context, but... :P Especially without context, Phoenix would not be pleased. Not that Edgeworth would readily offer up this information to him. I think Edgeworth is in a slightly awkward position with regards to Shelly post-AAI2, at least slightly more than before, given how much help Shelly was and now having actually interacted with him in person.

Another thing I was thinking of recently is that... I think that there could be a very secretive and select group of individuals working for law enforcement SPECIFICALLY dedicated to trying to arrest Shelly and gathering as much info as possible. A highly skilled and dedicated team of say 5-10 people, and all of the information they deal with, and about them, is absolutely top secret. The group itself is secret, even, because this is dangerous work. They’re all about trying to track him down, analysing all the data they’ve gathered, you name it. Not that they have much success. But they would also over time probably veer more towards less conventional methods. Delving deeper into the criminal underworld for information, going undercover... Honestly? The closest they might come to actually getting a hold of the guy in person... is to go undercover as a client. Finding out how to hire him. It’s an awfully dangerous game they would be playing and their covers would have to be airtight.

- Unpopular opinion: I wasn’t sure how I felt about him sparing Simon. I really gotta replay AAI2, get my thoughts in order. This ties in with the “least favourite” question but I wasn’t too sure about the whole thing where Simon was considered to have broken the bond of trust for not saying it was a double and yeah I just gotta, replay the game haha. But... if a client normally recounts the ENTIRETY of the circumstances to him, expected not to leave anything out, as opposed to a simple “I want this person dead”, then I suppose that makes sense....Actually, wrong question for this but I’ll add it as a headcanon anyway: when Shelly meets with a client, part of establishing that bond of trust is kind of like the client “confiding” everything thoroughly to him, like telling a story of everything connected to, and culminating in the assassination request. He wants to know not only the who, but the why. What’s the client’s connection to and history with the target? Was there a time when they got along, were they always enemies? Is it just a political or corporate matter? It’s not about justification - Shelly doesn’t care how “justified” a client is and he certainly doesn’t judge. He just listens. None of the added information is necessary to complete the job, but divulging so much information is a demonstration of trust and helps make it clear this person is real with motivations and not an undercover person trying to arrest him or something like that. It’s also kind of an added bonus to get to hear some of the tales of intrigue that result from such meetings with clients. In the context of something like this, omitting the fact that the “president” was a double is a very serious offense.

I was gonna go on another tangent but this is already long enough lol.

----

Pearl Fey

- I hate them / I don’t like them / I’m neutral / I’m ok with them / I like them / I love them / I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

(I do love her! Just not with as much intensity as some of the other characters this series has).

- favorite thing about them: She is adorable incarnate, she is strong, and very cute

- least favorite thing about them: The fact that she was not allowed to grow as a character at all post-timeskip. I have so many complaints about older!Pearl. They took a ~17 year old character and forced her into the exact same role and characterisation as a ~nine year old! She is restricted and kept the same, and it feels deeply unnatural and kind of uncomfortable to me. The whole thing around her height too, like... why did they go out of their way to make her so short and tiny? To reinforce that we are still supposed to see her as a 9 year old? I love trilogy Pearl, I love her so much, but I find older Pearl so boring and so uninspired on top of that undercurrent of discomfort. They did nothing new with her, but in a uniquely and unnaturally limiting way in the sense that she is trapped as her trilogy self. After the timeskip the games appear to have a weird preoccupation with infantilising her because I guess they think connecting back to the trilogy (instead of doing something new) is the only way to keep us caring about her??

And like... Yes, Pearl embodies and encapsulates the cuteness and innocence of children. That’s a big part of her character and I love her for it, and I would therefore be reluctant to let that go. There’s nothing wrong with preserving stuff like that when she’s older. All I’m asking is for the games to actually put at least one new spin on her; SOMETHING that can distinguish her from her younger self so I’m not left feeling like she did not change at all in nearly ten years. A slightly different design, one (1) distinct new and different thing that sets her apart from (and potentially at odds with) her younger self, and I’d probably be happy. I don’t like what they did with her hair either. It sucks. Should’ve gone with the gorgeous inverted pretzel style.

Anyway I want to be given a reason to care about and be invested in older Pearl, an older Pearl trait that I can love older Pearl for...

- ship(s): Trupearl can be cute, but I don’t think about shipping much at all seeing as I vastly prefer her younger self, haha.

- BROTP(s): General “Pearl getting along with the gang” type dynamics haha.

- NOTP(s): Well, I do not like any implication that she has a crush on Marlon or vice versa. I really don’t like that.

- Game/case where I like them more: I’m not sure ahah. Good thing I’m trying to work through the games in Chinese on youtube so maybe I can brush up on my AA knowledge a bit.

- Random headcanon: Ok made this one up just now: When she’s slightly older she adopts the term “Narumayo” for her shipping of Phoenix and Maya. At least, the Japanese version of her where the characters have their Japanese names... lol. I guess her English-speaking self tried but failed to come up with a good name as the counterpart headcanon. Mayanix?

Actually, I guess another headcanon would be her being a hardcore shipper for any media she’s invested in. She moves away from shipping real people and onto characters, channelling all that energy elsewhere.

Or honestly, she could stick with real people and either become an Ace Matchmaker or overall consistently terrible matchmaker. Either’s good. If you combine the two, she could try to matchmake what seems to be an absolutely horrendous pair/combination of people, only for it to actually work.

- Unpopular opinion: Well, I think I already got quite opinionated above, and nothing really comes to mind to reply to this with. I might have been too harsh on older Pearl, but everything I wrote is what I genuinely felt and the impression that I was left with. That impression may be false, I’m not sure, but yeah.

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jhope-seok · 6 years

Text

I have a lot of things to say about Tinder.

This is a personal rant about idiot boys on tinder. So if you’d like to read my CRAZY FUCKING ESCAPADES IN THE DATING WORLD. PLEASE. GO AHEAD. CLICK READ MORE. IT’LL BE INTERESTING. And fun. To watch me implode then explode.

Warnings: mentions of sex/sexting, lots of cursing, men being disgusting--potentially triggering, and one angry ass woman.

Warning part 2: this is A LOOOONG ASS POST, probably with a lot of grammatical errors. It’s 2am. (just so we’re all aware, it’s about 2.3k worth of ranting plus pictorial evidence)

So here’s the thing about me and tinder. I’ve been on the thing since I was in college, probably around junior year when I really came into the realization of my sexuality/being a pansexual person. Keep in mind this was like.....5 or 6 years ago now. I was interested in exploring my options, exhausted from going to countless frat parties and having random makeout sessions with boys who never asked for my number, and/or went on to makeout with the next girl they found at the party. Over the years I have collected an INFLUX of over 1,000 matches. I am not saying this number to brag, I am saying this number to give you an idea of how much of a credible fucking source I am when I present my case. And my case is as such.

ALL MEN ON TINDER ARE THE FUCKING. ABSOLUTE. WORST.

For perspective I have also dabbled in the following dating apps:

OKCupid (absolutely horrid. don’t do it. the shit i went through on this app....just. don’t get me started. I could make a whole other post about the atrocities of this site)

HER (really sad option for lesbian/bi/pan/women looking for other women)

Bumble (pretty successful but forcing the woman to speak first is annoying as hell and then giving a STRAIGHT MALE ONLY 24 HOURS TO RESPOND. Utter hell.)

Hinge (just...downright annoying)

CrossPaths (for christians. Honestly a good idea. Poorly executed. Poorly advertised).

Badoo (honestly...what the fuck)

Coffee Meets Bagel (good idea; too complicated)

Skout (nope)

The Game by Hot or Not (i don’t remember using this but my phone says it’s in my cloud)

And probably some others I can’t remember

What you should take away from this list is that

I’m a needy bitch

I was VERY DESPERATE at times

And i’ve tried a LOT OF OPTIONS.

therefore: don’t comment on this saying: well this worked, well that worked, try this, try that. No. Tinder is still one of the only options that actually works consistently and will continue to work because it is one of the least complicated among the dating apps.

Now. To my point that all men on tinder are the absolute fucking worst.

Time for some examples.

I will not be using these people’s real names, because that’s just mean. So I will present them to you in cases.

Case #1:

Me and this man matched about a year and a half ago, end of 2016. We were unable to meet up because I had a bunch of plans going on--at the time I worked in a law firm and my commute was hell so i only had time to go on dates on the weekends. And being that it was december I was busy every...single...weekend. Which he was fine with! (Awww what a kind gentlemen). No.

He had made it pretty clear from the beginning that he was really only in it for the sex. which for me at the time was fine. I let him know that I didn’t just fuck around on the first date. I lived--and still do live--with my mother and so he couldn’t just come over whenever and i couldn’t just leave whenever i wanted to spend the night at his place in D.C. He said that was fine. However, apparently he was not fine with that.

We talked for a month, lots of sexting, lots of naked snaps, whatever, whatever, we were basically waiting to jump each others bones. But I had also told him that I did not fuck on the first date. I had a rule. I would not break that rule. Again, he said he was fine with that.

On our first date--in a CROWDED RESTAURANT--for brunch, he kept whispering to me about how he wanted to push all of our plates off the table and fuck me in front of all those people. I politely told him to shut up because there were people sitting less than two feet away from us and that was inappropriate for sunday brunch to be talking like that (how proper of me....). Anyways, I let him walk me to my car in a garage, and as we approached it he came up behind me and forcefully turned me around to kiss him. I was like “ooh how hot. I like this.” Anyways, I drove him to his car, we made out a little, then we went on our separate ways. We had a second date not much longer after that, where we had agreed to go out to dinner BUT that first we were gonna fuck in his car. So we met up in a garage and we waited for the cars around us to leave and then we made out, and i sucked his dick. I did N O T let him have sex with me because I was annoyed that he was trying to push me to it--he had a daddy kink--and kept saying “ooh how hard do you want daddy to fuck you”. I said “You can only fuck me when I say you can, and I say no.” thank god he respected my boundaries. So I sucked him dry, then he “MAGICALLY” got a call from his work calling him in. I barely heard from him after that. Because he told me I should come over and spend the night so we could fuck. I said no. He ghosted me.

Case #2--Who knows:

Soooo many fucking men. Have ghosted me. For no reason. Like we’ll have a good few opening lines. And then....nothing. Forever. Where in the FUCK DID YOU GO?! Did you find someone better? Did you grow uninterested with our conversation?! Did you forget how to speak the English language? Did you decide you regretted swiping on me? The worst is when they don’t unmatch you and then it’s just left there....hanging.

Case #whatever:

The fucking men who ask if it’s okay to text. And then don’t text.

I don’t even remember this dude’s NAME in the first place to omit it, but we got into an argument because he supports the store brand cheese puff that is America’s president, and I matched him only so I could yell at him (yeah I know...whatever...I like to prove my dominance and tell boys why they’re wrong. Also because half of the time I use dating apps just to have conversations with people because I’m bored). Anyways. we got in this heated debate and he was like “I like your fire, you should text me here’s my number ____” blah. So I texted him cause i was interested enough in our debate to continue it. THE BITCH NEVER ANSWERED ME. LITERALLY....FOR MONTHS. PROBABLY OVER A YEAR. And then out of fucking nOWHERE he responds like “hey who is this again?” Dude...... NO.

Case #The Never Ending Message Senders:

These men are the worst. So I should explain myself first. I don’t really ever unmatch someone unless it’s for a good reason. Like they’re being disgusting, racist, homophobic, gross, call me fat, ugly, whatever. For the most part I don’t unmatch with someone because in the old days of tinder, unmatching would just PUT THE PERSON BACK IN YOUR CIRCUIT (good job tinder). I’m assuming they did this in case you deleted your tinder, or your app crashed and you had to restart, or you accidentally unmatched someone, whatever. So I don’t unmatch for the sole reason that I don��t want these jerks, who never took the time to respond to my hello or witty opening statement, back in my playing field. I don’t revisit my old matches, I don’t try to restart conversations with them.

If only men could learn the same fucking thing. I have so many men who CONSTANTLY message me. I’m talking like once in every blue moon. It’s like they let the conversation lie for a while, and then BAM another message. The ones I do actually unmatch are the ones that don’t wait a while. They just constantly message, hour after hour after hour until I either respond or unmatch. I don’t know a woman who WOULD respond after having gotten 10 messages of the same “Hello? You there?” “Member me?” (yes one dude has actually said “member me” to me. Not “remember me”...”member me”) etc. etc. in the course of a few hours. Take the hint dude. Please. I don’t enjoy being ghosted, but I know when to take a hint.

A perfect example of such case is the following!

(Context: I just updated the pictures in my tinder account today! So through tinder’s cool new facebook timeline! you can see when your matches update their profiles. to scroll through and judge them even further to see if they’ve gotten cuter or uglier through time).

Please take note of the dates attached to the message. For clarification, “today” is August 27th, 2018!

I have since unmatched him. Buddy. Please. Take the hint. (Also, how fucking creepy of him to say that I’ve gotten closer since a while back....like are you tracking my distance every time you message me? Please dear lord, no).

Case #THE IDIOTS WHO WAIT YEARS TO RESPOND.

This. THIS. THIIIIIS RIGHT HERE. IS WHAT HAS GOT MY BLOOD BOILED SO MUCH I NEEDED TO MAKE THIS POST. THE FUCKING IDIOTS WHO MATCH WITH ME. AND THEN CLAIM THAT THEY DELETED THEIR TINDER. OR THAT THEY LOST THEIR PHONE. JUST REDOWNLOADED. DIDN’T SEE MY MESSAGE. FOR FUCKING. YEARS.

OOOOOOOH BOY. You’ve gotta have some damn nerve to pull that shit. If you lost the app, deleted it, got a new phone, WHATEVER. Your profile would not continue to show up on the matching feed. People would not be able to swipe on your face to find that they matched with you. You would not exist in the eyes of tinder. You would be GONE from the system.

So don’t pull that shit with me. So many dudes have had the audacity to pull this shit with me, and when I call them out on it, most of the time I get either one of three responses: they say “oof yeah I’m sorry, I’m a dick can we move on?”, “Hahaha sorry” and then they continue to ghost me, or people who pull the shit I listed above.

These next photos are from THE SAME DAY AS THE PREVIOUS PHOTOS. Please take note of the date of the first message. (“today” in this sense is technically August 28, 2018 because it’s past midnight.)

Although I deleted his name, I gotta say. My insult was pretty on point. Anyways.

Like how the fuck can you live with yourself with that fucking lie?! Own up to that shit. Be like “yep oops sorry, didn’t think you were cute the first time but this snapchat filter making u look damn good” like don’t be a DOUCHE DUDE. Men are just honestly so fucking frustrating. And yes you better fucking believe I sent that reason for unmatching to tinder. You best fucking BELIEVEEEEEEE I did that. I’m so fucking mad at men. Like how in the hell.

I’ve HONESTLY had better luck matching with MARRIED COUPLES on tinder than I have had with straight men. Married couples at least know how to respect people. God damn.

YOUR MOTHERS DID NOT RAISE YOU TO BE LIKE THIS, MEN. LEARN HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS. JESUS CHRIST.

All in all, if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of downloading tinder: Don’t. Stay out of the fucking awful shit that is Tinder and dating apps for as long as you can. I have my settings set up to men in their 30s, and honestly older men do not mean more mature men. Just absolutely frustrating.

Also, as an addendum:

Case #Don’t put my height in my bio/or do and say “Cause I guess it’s important/matters”

To all males on the planet earth: PUT. YOUR. FUCKING. HEIGHT. IN. YOUR. BIO. It fucking matters. As a tall as woman, it is so fucking annoying to match with a cute dude and then have them say “Hey I’m 5′2″ is that okay?” um....no. I’m sorry buddy. That is not okay. I have strict height limits for this ride and 5′2″ does not pass the riding restrictions.

We’re gonna call in a CELEBRITY SHOT for this story, I matched with this dude on bumble who didn’t have his height in his profile. (Context: my bumble profile says “5′10″ cause it doesn’t matter” <--a nice jab at all the straight dudes out there) and we go about having this great conversation, we’re clicking, he knows one of my friends from college, we bond, we go on a date. THE FIRST THING OUT OF THIS ASSHOLE’S MOUTH ON OUR DATE WAS “WOW. You’re taller than I expected.” BITCH HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CAN U READ. IT’S THE FIRST THING IN MY BIO.

Sub case: I once had a guy match with me, tell me he was shorter than me, then asked me if I would be okay owning him as my slave. I understand and respect everyone’s fetishes, considering I have a slight dominance fetish as well, but a hello would have been nice first.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

#rachel rambles #tinder #tinder stories #just absolutely god awful annoying humans

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pjo-hoo-nextgen · 6 years

Text

The First Quest IX

They landed safely back at Camp Half Blood which was a miracle considering they’d also managed to just make it after dinner ended. If they wanted they could definitely make it to the camp fire in time.

Andy slid off the Pegasus and walked stiffly rubbing his butt with a grimace. “My butt is completely numb.”

“I feel you dude, I have never chafed so bad in my life.” Grey frowned walking with his legs farther apart than normal.

“I’ll take them back to the stable,” Maria offered the only one who still hadn’t slipped off her stead.

“Anyone going to the fire?” Sol questioned giving Maria a nod of thanks.

“No, I’m tired. I’m going to bed.” Grey yawned, raising his arms over his head.

“Same here. I need to recover my butt.” Andy agreed.

“Alright, then I’ll see all of you guys tomorrow,” Sol smiled lightly before running off back towards her home. Andy and Grey slowly ventured off together as well. Their strides were comical to watch from afar.

Maria tugged lightly on the reigns and whistled for the other Pegasi to follow her. They moved slowly towards the stables. Maria, knowing they were tired from their flights had promised them a hearty dinner.

“You haven’t said anything the entire way back,” Jaxon noted, keeping pace next to one of the horses that looked particularly tired.

“There’s nothing to say. You know what happened,” Maria shrugged. Glancing over her shoulder she did a quick head count to make sure all of the animals were still accounted for.

“I still would have told someone what was happening if I’d been there. I wouldn’t have gotten involved,” Jaxon explained.

“Tell me, did your conversation with the girl pan out? Anything suspicious we need to know about?” Maria frowned studying the flicking ears of the Pegasus.

“Yeah, actually.” Jaxon thought for a moment before recalling his own little endeavor.

— — —

“You’re the girl we rescued right?” Jaxon leaned on the barrack wall startling the other teenager.

“Uh, yeah. Why do you ask?” She fumbled nervously with the strap of armor across her shoulder. She was lithe in build with dark hair and piercing eyes. “Listen, if the satyr or fawn got hurt I’m sorry.”

“The underwood twins are fine. Fern and Blue are back on seeker duty,” Jaxon explained.

“That’s good.” The girl gave a faint smile.

“What put you on the run?” Jaxon’s question was blunt and the girl’s smile vanished. Her spine straightened and her eyes grew cold.

“I don’t think that’s something I have to explain to you.”

“I think it is. We saved your life. I have a right to know. It wasn’t just monsters who wanted you but some pretty intense law enforcement agencies,” Jaxon stood leaving the wall behind to follow the girl. She set a brisk pace but he kept up with ease.

“Isn’t it common for demigods to get into trouble in the mortal world? How am I different?” Her voice was icy.

“Because you seem to have a record of it. It’s a habit. Not an accident.” Jaxon moved in front to cut off her path. She froze in her tracks, eyes traveling up his frame, assessing his stature.

“Listen, if I told you I’d be back on the streets in seconds. No one would keep me here you got it? I have my own reasons for keeping secrets.” She made another move to go past him but Jaxon side stepped.

“What if I promised not to tell anyone?” The offer was something Jaxon tried to make sincere. She paused, contemplating it.

“Fine. But not here. People could see.” With a nervous glance she dragged Jaxon off towards a secluded section behind the barracks.

She gave another nervous look about before extending her palms. Red smoke like magic expanded across her hands. It moved and fluctuated as if it were a living and breathing thing. Jaxon had never seen a power like it before.

“I can make things- well, go crazy so to speak.” The girl’s gaze settled upon the ground nearby where a weed was starting to grow. “Watch.”

Jaxon stared at the plant when a red hue overtook it. The weed burst into flames but it did not shrink. Instead, it twisted and formed a thorn covered vine that plunged into the ground where others sprang up. “Stop!”

The girl’s eyebrows drew together in concentration and it was like watching a video in reverse. The weed retreated, its thorns faded, and the fire snuffed itself out. Jaxon turned staring wide eyed at the girl.

“I don’t know how I can do it. I can though.”

“Have you been claimed?” Jaxon stammered.

“No.” The girl shook her head, anxiously tucking her hands in her pockets.

“Your power did something didn’t it?” Jaxon frowned. “You’re not good at controlling it.”

“Listen, I showed you and that’s all I’m willing to do.” Her gaze dropped to the ground.

“What did you do?” Jaxon recalled an event that was broadcasted on the news not long ago: perhaps a week before the girl appeared. Something about an orphanage imploding and killing everyone inside. “You did it. You’re the one that ruined the orphanage.”

The girl’s head snapped up and a look of fear flashed across her face. “How do yo-“

“You killed everyone inside,” Jaxon felt something cold snake around his chest. “Why?”

“You don’t know half of what went on there. I was defending myself- I lost control-“

“Why would you use something you knew you couldn’t contain?” Jaxon felt disgust turn his stomach into knots.

“Don’t. Don’t-“

“I rescued a killer.” The word tumbled from his lips.

“It was an accident.” The girl was pleading. Jaxon couldn’t believe her. It didn’t matter if it was an accident anyways. She’d done something she knew could go wrong. “If I could go back I would.”

“You did it elsewhere too. The news...you ruined the gas station too!” Jaxon felt light headed at the realization.

“I can explain-“ She made a move to catch his arm before he could back away but Jaxon recoiled at the sight of her glowing red hand.

“Yeah? Don’t bother.” With dread in his chest he turned and left.

— — —

“Then I came to find you guys in a brawl.” Jaxon concluded. Maria remained quiet for a long time, even as she helped lock up the Pegasi. “What? You’re not gonna say anything?”

“Jaxon,” Maria started, “do you have any idea what you just did to that girl?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Jaxon laughed.

“You called her a murderer. You think she can control that large of a power out in the mortal world on her own? You think there wouldn’t be accidents?” Maria couldn’t believe how insensitive he’d been. “Your own mother has a pretty long list of criminal activity. She stole cars, she vandalized-“

“She didn’t kill anyone,” Jaxon protested.

“Maybe not, but that’s the only difference between this girl and your mom. You don’t even know the context of the situation.” Maria was struggling to keep her voice steady. The Pegasi skittered nervously at her tone.

“Why are you taking her side? I thought she was trouble and I’m right. People need to know and be concerned. If anything she’ll get help if people know about her power issues,” Jaxon shrugged, tucking his hands in his pockets.

“Or they’ll do exactly what you did and think she’s crazy,” Maria laughed coolly and shook her head.

“Seriously, what’s gotten into you?”

“Gods, I cannot believe you!” Maria ran a hand through her hair and turned to face him with fire in her eyes. “Do you not see the problem of what you did?”

“You didn’t think it was a bad idea when I talked about it,” Jaxon mumbled.

“You know what? I’m done. This conversation is over.” Maria’s voice shook and she tossed the set of reigns she’d been holding at his chest.

Jaxon stood there for a moment unsure of what to do. He spun and hung up the equipment before turning to see that Maria was heading for the campfire. With a groan he ran to catch up to her.

Maria was nearly there. She saw familiar faces, and a few campers waved at her, but a firm grip caught her arm. “Listen, I have a right to be concerned about what goes on at New Rome. I have family there.”

“And so do I,” Maria hissed. “But for once in your life I want you to stop being some self righteous asshole about everything!”

Jaxon frowned vaguely aware that people were watching. “Keep it down.”

“Or what?” Maria challenged stepping closer to him. “I don’t know why you have such a power complex but you need to stop. That little side mission of yours wasn’t necessary. You abandoned us.”

“You were fine.”

“Eli almost got stabbed!” Maria yelled. “And you ratted us out for defending Thia. You don’t have any idea what that boy has been doing to her. I guarantee that if you did, you’d have killed him.”

“That doesn’t excuse what happened.”

“You are absolutely insufferable!” Maria was on the verge of tears. She tugged at her hair and rested her hands on her head.

“Me? You’re the one who always picks on me. Every chance you get you hit me, or you demean me, or you act like I’m dirt,” Jaxon scoffed and crossed his arms.

“You don’t know me. You think there’s not a reason for what I do? Maybe I want you to act more like a kid and less like an adult telling me what to do. You don’t dictate what I do. You don’t dictate what any of us do.” Maria could no longer hide the shake in her voice.

“You think I don’t know you? I grew up with you. And I know that you’re trying desperately to be like your mother. News flash, you will never be like her. You won’t match up to that. You’re the logical one. Haven’t you noticed?” Jaxon tapped her on the head with his index finger. “There’s not any possible way that you can measure up to someone who rebuilt Olympus, defeated a Titan Lord, and fought against giants. You’re destined to be stuck as a knock off brand!”

A deadly silence settled over the camp fire and the flames dulled to a soft grey. Maria was shaking, tears soaked her cheeks, and her hands were balled into white knuckled fists. “You’re right, but thank you for pointing that out. This is the second girl you’ve screwed over because of your Gods damn pride!”

Maria turned on her heel and stormed through the seated campers but paused just on the outskirts. “And you know something? You will never be a real man if you treat people like this? This....this is what little boys do.”

Maria was gone.

Jaxon stood there for a moment before he caught sight of Percy’s enraged glare. His heart skipped a beat.

— — —

There was no avoiding it. Jaxon was screwed. The moment he went to head home Percy caught him by the arm.

“If you ever talk to my daughter like that again I will personally destroy you.” His voice was deathly quiet. “You may be Jason’s son but he has another one too.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t-“

“Thinking?” Percy let go of the kid’s arm. “Yeah. You’re damn right you weren’t thinking. Get out of my sight before I do something I regret.”

Jaxon swallowed hard and didn’t miss a beat to sprint home. Not only was he given a death threat by Percy but he was given absolute disapproving looks from his parents.

Jaxon didn’t talk to them. He didn’t want to talk to them. Instead, he headed to his room and curled up in bed with his head shoved under his pillows.

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rockymountaingothic · 7 years

Text

yo o o whats happening

I think a Guy Ritchie Raffles movie would be good ?

I don’t think he’s gonna, because ultimately it’s too similar to sherlock holmes which he’s already doing great with. But if he did, out of necessity it would walk talk and shoot gun differently. Probably more in the vein of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with the expensive clothes and cars and high stakes sneaking around (napoleon solo even has the thief background so hyeah if you didn’t like his holmes adaptations pls go watch that)

And that would be amazing, right??? Holy fuck the dude makes crime movies /it’s what he does/ i would absolutely kill to see him take on /the gentleman thief/ archetype the way he took on /the secret agent/ in the man from uncle. here are some things raffles has that he has already demonstrated great use of in his other films

Morally ambiguous characters

Characters who are unbelievably good at one thing, usually a crime thing, and are flawed in almost every other way

Assholes who do shitty things but are so charming you can’t help but root for them

Usually because they’re up against someone who’s also on the wrong side of the law but also kills puppies or whatever, y’know. worse than them in some way

Narration

Card game scenes

CRIMES

Say what you will about RDJ as Holmes but that depiction of Victorian England kicks my ASS EVERYtime i watch game of shadows

So with that in mind here are some things I could see him doing and basically my version of a good Raffles adaptation by Guy Ritchie, and me, AJ

The movie starts with Wilful Murder, told as a pretty short introduction sequence. this shows us what their lives are like - as well as sets up the main conflict of the movie; their reputations are constantly in danger because of their activities. Raffles likes to think he isn’t above killing to prevent their exposure, and Bunny would follow him anywhere. But there’s no tension or suspense, because they fuck up climbing over the fence, they fuck up breaking the window, and they both trip over Angus Baird’s body and are extremely relieved like oh thank god.... thank fucking god he’s already dead (we realise yeah... these guys are kinda fuckin it up at the burglar thing...)

from upstairs, somebody shoots at them and BAM! TITLE SEQUENCE! Full of still frames and short slow mo clips of them rushing away from the house pursued by a gang of ruffians who had other beef with angus baird over idk a franz ferdinand song or something like that? what do the kids listen to these days. there are explosions, not sure why

dunno what the plot is but it involves at least three break ins, each zanier than the last, it probably takes some notes structure wise from Mr Justice Raffles but eh

Raffles probably has a threesome with Teddy and Camilla? just sayin

Inspector Mackenzie is there in like, a zenigata capacity and SHE’S BEAUTIFUL

Bunny does some voiceover but get this, it’s in the context of letters he’s writing to Miss Carruthers because that sounds like some movie shit they’d do! right!! she’s in the movie and she has a GUN

They play card games because it’s a guy ritchie movie but maybe we can work in that adorable thing from the show where the stakes are candy-based . huff. hff. charactersizaation.

I think Raffles’s sister helps them get out of a jam mid-movie. I’m just throwing in all the ladies i can

Cursing ( a lot )

Did i mention gun

JUST watch me I’m gonna write this whole thing just to prove a guy ritchie style raffles movie could be good

Bunny doing a voiceover of some burglary shop talk, explaining in detail how something is supposed to work, then as we see them doing it everything goes completely wrong and along with being funny as fuck its very becoming of Bunny as an unreliable narrator

a shot that shows you the inside of a lock as it’s being picked probably

like a slow motion fight scene between two people who don’t really know how to fight would be pretty great lmao

and then it ends with a gift of the emperor/knees of the gods style sacrifice and we realise Raffles was a selfish dick, but in the end he helped Bunny in the only way he could: by removing himself from his life

and Bunny is having a moment by himself like dear god he really did care and Raffles crashes through a window and dusts himself off like “back”

Roll credits

The best thing about what he does when he adapts is that he takes stuff like the characters and setting of the whodunit holmes stories and spy/action man from uncle and gives them a sense of humor about what they are- so yeah, maybe when you think about sherlock holmes your first thought isn’t greasy iron man kicking a guy so hard he flies 20 feet backwards through a boarded window and into a lake (and lives!) but fuck- I like sherlock holmes, I don’t really care for action blockbusters, but for some reason when you combine them it’s entertaining as all get out. And of course it’s not like the books, because that would be boring. And if anyone adapted Raffles in a way that was exactly like the books it would be boring.

Because the books are comprised of two things: One, very technical, concise descriptions of the way things happened, and two, how Bunny, as the narrator, felt about them. One being something movies are very good at showing, and two being something movies are certainly capable of with a very sensitive, emotional director like Lynne Ramsey but like... NOT guy ritchie, for sure. But if you want a Raffles movie, do you WANT something sensitive and nuanced? Do you want a heartfelt exploration of a younger man’s changing vision of the man he met in his youth as he finds himself manipulated into a life of crime or whatever? maybe but ... i dunno that sounds boring to me. maybe as a short film i could handle it

but like the real thing is “I want a fun movie and I want to see these characters I love brought to the cinema as it is in this day and age in a manner which i feel is true to the original nature of the stories and reminds me why I love them” and not turned into something which to me is barely recognizable from the source material

and if you don’t like ritchie’s holmes adaptations that’s probably why. Personally, i think Game of Shadows is a wonderful film and one of the best adaptations of a Professor Moriarty story, defs my favorite. Plus Rocknrolla and Snatch are some of my favorite movies and thinking about a Raffles adaptation with all the fun and charm and excitement of those gets me SO PUMPED UP

But also I know if it’s hollywood imma be disappointed. good thing its never happening?

you know what would definitely suck though? a wes anderson raffles. lmao holy shit

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watchingthesuperbowl · 7 years

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Grading Super Bowl XXXVI

What was the final score?

New England 20, St. Louis 17

How much of the game was close? What was the “edge of your seat factor” like? (20 points)

In a purely scoreboard sense, the Patriots had a double-digit point lead for a third of the game. That doesn’t seem all that close. In context, though, it was much closer than that. 14 points was hardly a safe lead against this Rams offense. St. Louis moved the ball consistently all night, but just as consistently got bogged down around the Patriots’ 35-40 yard line and failed to score. The Rams had zero three-and-outs in Super Bowl XXXVI, but managed only three points in the first 50 minutes of play.

So watching this game, it was nothing like the previous year’s Super Bowl in which New York wasn’t scoring because they were getting dominated. The Rams eventually pulled it together in their first drive of the fourth quarter, down 17-3. Kurt Warner led his team on a methodical 77-yard touchdown drive to cut the lead to seven.

New England got the ball back, up 17-10 with around nine minutes on the clock. They had every opportunity to kill clock, but went three-and-out, punting the ball back to the suddenly heating-up Rams offense. St. Louis did what they’d done all day, moving the ball consistently down the field but hitting a brick wall near midfield. Rams coach Mike Martz decided to punt with no timeouts left and four minutes on the clock, pinning all of his team’s hopes on its defense. Once again, with a chance to kill clock and ice a championship, the Patriots punted after a three-and-out.

Needing a touchdown with less than two minutes on the clock and no timeouts left, Kurt Warner went to work. A short completion to Az Hakim turned into an 18-yard gain when Hakim cut upfield and gained an extra ten yards or so instead of stepping out of bounds immediately. Kick return wizard and reserve wideout Yo Murphy was one-on-one with a linebacker on the next play, an 11-yard Warner to Murphy completion to the Patriots’ 26 yard line. On the third play of the Rams’ final possession of regulation, Ricky Proehl came open on a nominally illegal pick play and Warner hit him for a touchdown. It felt closer than the scoreboard all day, but now there was no such thing as closer than the scoreboard. It was 17-17.

The Rams didn’t know this at the time, but Tom Brady is obviously some kind of warlock. Brady got the ball inside his own 20 with 1:21 left on the clock and zero timeouts.And he did Tom Brady things, completing three passes to J.R. Redmond, one to Troy Brown, and another to Jermaine Wiggins in order to drive to the Rams 30. After Brady spiked the ball to stop the clock with 0:07 left in regulation.

And then Adam Vinatieri came on to kick what would be the game winning field goal. He had never missed a kick indoors before this kick, and he still hadn’t after the kick. 47 yard field goal is good, Patriots win, upset complete. (Score: 18 out of 20. A couple points deducted for the Rams being down 10+ points throughout the entire third quarter.)

Was there any kind of comeback? Was there ever any indication that the team which was trailing had a chance to come from behind and win? (15 points)

Absolutely, yes. Down 14 points as the fourth quarter began, the Rams tied the score at 17-17 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. If the game had gone to overtime, you’d have to think St. Louis would be the more likely winner. The Rams’ offense, one of the greatest in NFL history, had just scored two touchdowns in eight minutes. Before the game winning drive, it had been more than a quarter since New England had even earned a first down.

If Vinatieri misses that kick or doesn’t get the opportunity, the Rams probably win the game. It would have been the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. (Score: 14 out of 15.)

Did the great players come through with great performances? (15 points)

Frankly, nobody had a great performance. Maybe Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri. Almost to a man, everybody on the field played pretty well but nobody played extremely well.

Tom Brady, who’s obviously going to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Canton, Ohio at some point, was named the MVP despite fairly ho-hum statistics. (16-27, 145 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) I assume he won the award because of the way he led the game winning drive - and also because someone had to win it. (I probably would have voted for Vinatieri, FWIW.)

Kurt Warner, who’s already visited the big famous museum in my hometown in Northeast Ohio, threw for 365 yards and a touchdown, but also had two costly interceptions.

At one point in the game, play-by-play man Dick Stockton said that Rams running back Marshall Faulk might be the greatest running back who ever lived. I think that’s an indication of a tenuous grip on reality by Stockton (Jim Brown says hello), but Faulk was a great player, a deserving Hall of Famer, and one of the better backs of the past few decades. He played well but not remarkably so, running for 76 yards and gaining 54 more through the air.

The second-tier stars all did about what you’d expect. Rams receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce each had five receptions for 50 or so yards, Troy Brown of the Patriots had six catches for 89 yards. Patriots running back Antowain Smith, hardly a star but a guy who ran for 1157 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season, gained 92 yards on the ground. (Score: 9 out of 15. A good but not great score for a game in which each individual star was good but not great.)

Were the teams historically great? (10 points)

Oh, heck yes. I wrote about these Rams a couple of weeks ago. The Greatest Show on Turf was in inner-circle great offense that could do everything and do everything well. The St. Louis defense in 2001 wasn’t as great as the offense, but it was darn good. They finished seventh in the NFL in points allowed and third in yards allowed. They could bring it defensively.

At the time, the Patriots were considered a fluke, a good team that got hotter as the weather got colder. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that this was the beginning of an unrivaled run of dominance that’s still underway sixteen years later. New England won three Super Bowls in four years, won seven AFC championships in 16 years, and the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady combination has won five Super Bowls and counting. Belichick wasn’t quite done building his juggernaut in 2001, but he was close. (Score: 10 out of 10)

Were there memorable moments that will be talked about for decades? (10 points)

Vinatieri’s field goal, for sure. As I write this, he’s still playing and still excellent more than 15 years later, and this kick is one of the first things that comes to mind when people think of him. It would not surprise me even a little bit if Vinatieri became the third placekicking specialist in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after he finally retires. There are a lot of kickers who had great careers, but nobody has the same kind of “clutch” reputation that Vinatieri has. This single kick has a lot to do with that reputation.

If not for the Patriots’ game-winning drive, the tying touchdown, a pass from Warner to Ricky Proehl, would likely be the enduring image of this game. And New England fans would still be freaking out about the illegal pick that caused him to be so open. (Score: 9 out of 10)

How was the quality of play? Were there a lot of penalties, punts, and turnovers? (15 points)

Really good. It was clear what the teams were trying to accomplish on both offense and defense, and they mostly executed those gameplans.

The Patriots didn’t turn the ball over all day, didn’t kill themselves with penalties, and got good performances from their defense and special teams. (That field goal!) The New England defense had a gameplan very similar to Belichick’s plan to shut down the Bills in Super Bowl XXV: Allow complete passes underneath, but absolutely do not allow the receiver to run after he catches the ball. They did this extremely well, with very few exceptions.

St. Louis turned the ball over three times. One of them could easily be filed under “crap happens”, when Ricky Proehl was blasted by a defender just after making a catch. Proehl fumbled, but just about anyone would have coughed it up in that situation. It was a great defensive play and not a poor offensive play. Warner’s two interceptions were particularly bad, and almost certainly decided the game. One of them was a pick six for Ty Law, who broke on a poor pass and was off to the races to give New England a 7-3 lead in the second quarter..

Penalties weren’t a factor, punts were thankfully less common this year than last year, and I never got the feeling I was watching garbage football. It was a nice antidote to Super Bowl XXXV. (Score: 13 out of 15)

Are there any other factors that add to the greatness of the game? This covers things like weather, story line, rivalry matchup, legacy franchises, unexpected results, etc. (15 points)

It seems almost impossible to fathom from the perspective of 2017, but the Rams were 14 point favorites. This game was, at the time, the second-biggest upset in the history of the Super Bowl.

The Patriots win was an unexpected result, and the fact that they were even there was perhaps more unexpected. New England went 5-11 in 2000, started 2001 with three losses in four games, and they were 5-5 as Thanksgiving approached. Their franchise quarterback, Drew Bledsoe literally nearly died during the second game of the season when he suffered a sheared blood vessel in his chest. Their quarterback coach, Dick Rehbein, died suddenly and unexpectedly in August. Everything was going wrong. You’d have been laughed out of the room if, during the third week of November 2001, you would have predicted the Patriots would win the Super Bowl while holding the St. Louis offense in check throughout the game. But here they were.

Super Bowl XXXVI was the first Super Bowl played after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and as such was a particularly emotional day for players and fans. It’s difficult to quantify or put into words what the day was like, but there was a low-level feeling of dread that something terrible would happen to go along with a swelling sense of national pride and identity. An entire book could be written about the return to normalcy that cultural touchstones like Super Bowl XXXVI provided, but this isn’t the time or place for such a book. Suffice it to say that this was a big friggin’ deal. (Score: 13 out of 15)

How does the game grade overall? (sum of all previous categories, 100 points)

86 out of 100. The second-best Super Bowl ever played at this point, a whisker behind the absolute classic the Steelers and Cowboys played in Super Bowl XIII.

If you wanted to claim that this is the greatest Super Bowl ever played, I certainly wouldn’t argue with you. It’s there or thereabouts.

Ratings and rankings of Super Bowls I-XXXVI:

1. Super Bowl XIII - Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31 - 87 points 2. Super Bowl XXXVI - New England 20, St. Louis 17 - 86 points 3. Super Bowl XXIII - San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16 - 85 points T4. Super Bowl XXV - New York Giants 20, Buffalo 19 - 84 points T5. Super Bowl XXXIV - St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16 - 84 points 6. Super Bowl X - Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17 - 80 points 7. Super Bowl XXXII - Denver 31, Green Bay 24 - 77 points 8. Super Bowl VII - Miami 14, Washington 7 - 74 points 9. Super Bowl XXX - Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17 - 69 points T10. Super Bowl IX - Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6 - 68 points T10. Super Bowl XXXI - Green Bay 35, New England 21 - 68 points T12. Super Bowl XVII - Washington 27, Miami 17 - 67 points T12. Super Bowl XXVIII - Dallas 30, Buffalo 13 - 67 points 14. Super Bowl XIV - Pittsburgh 31, Los Angeles 19 - 65 points 15. Super Bowl XVI - San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21 - 62 points 16. Super Bowl XIX - San Francisco 38, Miami 16 - 61 points T17. Super Bowl III - New York Jets 16, Baltimore 7 - 58 points T17. Super Bowl XXII - Washington 42, Denver 10 - 58 points 19. Super Bowl XXI - New York Giants 39, Denver 20 - 57 points 20. Super Bowl XXVII - Dallas 52, Buffalo 17 - 55 points 21. Super Bowl XXXIII - Denver 34, Atlanta 19 - 53 points 22. Super Bowl VI - Dallas 24, Miami 3 - 52 points 23. Super Bowl XX - Chicago 46, New England 10 - 51 points 24. Super Bowl I - Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10 - 50 points T25. Super Bowl XVIII - Los Angeles Raiders 38, Washington 9 - 49 points T25. Super Bowl XXIV - San Francisco 55, Denver 10 - 49 points 27. Super Bowl XXVI - Washington 37, Buffalo 24 - 48 points 28. Super Bowl VIII - Miami 24, Minnesota 7 - 47 points 29. Super Bowl XV - Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10 - 44 points 30. Super Bowl IV - Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7 - 43 points 31. Super Bowl XXXV - Baltimore 34, New York Giants 7 - 42 points T32. Super Bowl II - Green Bay 33, Oakland 14 - 40 points T32. Super Bowl V - Baltimore 16, Dallas 13 - 40 points 34. Super Bowl XXIX - San Francisco 49, San Diego 26 - 39 points 35. Super Bowl XII - Dallas 27, Denver 10 - 38 points 36. Super Bowl XI - Oakland 32, Minnesota 14 - 35 points

#super bowl #super bowl xxxvi #nfl #football #new england #patriots #new england patriots #st louis #st. louis #rams #st louis rams #st. louis rams

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lordboar-blog · 7 years

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M: I felt "called" by The Goddess when I was a child. When I was around eleven or twelve I found my first books on witchcraft/Wicca. When I did it felt like I finally came home. Here in my hands were books that described ideas that I already knew deep down in my heart but that I had been afraid to share because I was living with a devout Catholic family.

I always dreamed of being initiated into a coven and being an "authentic" Celtic witch like I imagined all the "cool kids" to be. But The Goddess had other plans. She led me through various traditions: Jewish Kabbalah, Hindu Tantra, Lakota Sioux pipe tradition, Mahayana Buddhism... by the time I was thirty I had never found my dream coven but I had been exposed to a wide variety of spiritual and magical traditions that enriched my worldview.

It's only within the past couple years that I've reconnected with the "pagan" community. I know most people feel that the pagan community is very diverse... and in its way it is... but from where I have come it looks pretty homogenized. The names of the holidays and of the deities change from person to person and from group to group but the formula is identical to the Wiccan tradition I discovered in childhood: the wheel of the year, The Goddess of the feminine elements and her partner, The God of the masculine elements, and a system of spell craft that revolves around casting circles and burning colored candles.

These are beautiful traditions and ones I feel strongly we should pass on to our children but they are not the only earth-based traditions.

As much as I always wanted to be a "cool Celtic witch swathed in black" I wouldn't change what I've learned from my Lakota friends or from Santeria for anything. They are just two examples of traditions that opened my eyes to so much, especially to the REALITY of the spirits who love and guide us.

You may not agree with me, but from where I stand I perceive a "wiccan bias" in the pagan community. On one hand it's useful that there is a common set of symbols and ideas that we all agree on but on the other hand I'm think there is much misunderstanding and even fear on the part of some folks about other traditions that don't fit the familiar mold.

Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone else feel uncomfortable about sharing their traditions because they don't fit "mainstream" paganism? And I ask these questions not to criticize Wicca. I LOVE Wicca. It saved my life and I honestly believe it is the healthiest belief system to raise our children in but are we doing enough to welcome diversity into our community?

C: Maybe it's just me; but I always get bothered when people treat Witchcraft and Wicca as synonymous. When it's not. Wicca is a religion promoting worship of a generic all mother and a system of white magic; while Witchcraft is a practice that can be used by a variety of faiths and is not bound by a rede or a grossly misinterpreted version of Karma. Sigh...

M: Was it in the Farrar books that they started really using the words interchangeably or before then? I love the Farrars so much. I think their books really shaped my early understandings. I still treasure their books. If I ever have kids, that's what they're going to be raised with.

L: Alright, @Wish Maker Christophercalling the 'Law of Three' Karma is a misinterpretation. They're two different things. I understand that often Wiccans will call the Law of Three 'Karma', in my experience it's generally to relate the concept more easily to people with no background knowledge. So I can certainly see how you might confuse that.

Regardless, you're flat wrong to call a belief system a misinterpretation. That makes no sense. People may misinterpret the writing, but beliefs are beliefs. If you believe it there's nothing to argue about, it's your beliefs.

Still not done. At least by my interpretation the Wiccan Rede is a guideline. Any book I've opened on Wicca tells you this upfront. As in: "Here's what you OUGHT to do, interpret it as you will and do your best to stick to it." It's a warning, "Yo my man if you mess with that darker stuff you're gonna have a bad time". There's nothing "binding" in that.

There's a reason for this. It's a basic principal in magick that like attracts like. It doesn't even have to be a matter of who is in the right, it's a matter of when working with energy you're pulling into your life what you put out.

Are Wiccans attacking you based on the magick you do or your beliefs? As far as I'm concerned you can do all of the dark stuff you want, that's on your head and none of my business.

Generic all-mother? Come on man... Just your statement shows I'd be wasting my breath to break it down, so I won't bother. The point is you're shitting on Wicca... Why? It's not constructive in this conversation.

All that addressed, yeah I otherwise agree with the both of you. It seems the Pagan community tends to put things into terms more relateable for Wiccans. Which seems unnecessary, obviously there's plenty more out there. Which is funny because Wiccans tend to borrow from many Pagan walks.

I have my Coven to work with and be Wiccan with but what I love about PBP is I get to be a Pagan, with the other Pagans lol. I get to learn about everyone else's beliefs and traditions which is wonderful. I think they're all beautiful. I think all of you, are beautiful.

There does seem to be a bit of bias and I definitely agree, in a Pagan community that's not healthy. I come to learn about what you all believe, not more of the same.

So... How do we fix that, though? Maybe it stems from that Wicca tends to be as it was for you, @Mathew, a starting path that leads into others for many Pagans.

A point of interest in this discussion for me is this bias @Mathew brought up tends to bring negative attention to Wiccans, too. From Pagans. As seen above.

Which I don't understand. So I'm perfectly fine with us being generally unreferenced. *shrugs*

M: think the wiccan rede, the rule of three, karma and the ethics of bindings, hexes and curses is a GREAT topic. Hopefully someone will start a thread on that in the Forums soon.

The more I think about it, maybe what I'm calling "Wiccan bias" is really something else. Wiccan initiatory traditions are deep, venerable and probably bear only a superficial resemblance to what we see marketed as "Wicca" in bookstores. After all, these books have a vested interest in appealing to a broad audience, are wise to withhold information on certain practices that aren't for everyone.

When Raymond Buckland published 'Saex Wicca,' it started looking to me like he started a trend. He took the template of Gardnerian religion and started dropping in deities and symbols appropriated from other cultures. Needless to say, Saex Wicca probably looks absolutely nothing like the pagan faith actually practiced by the Saxons before their conversion to Christianity. You guys are probably all familiar with this... Insert you favorite mother goddess [here], insert your favorite fertility god [here]. To be honest, one of my side projects is 'Catholic Wicca.' COMING TO A BOOKSTORE NEAR YOU!

But I think there is merit in exploring deities and symbols within their original cultural context. Instead of adapting Artemis, Aphrodite and Hekate into a virgin, Mother, Crone mold, we can actually explore the writings of the Hellenic philosophers and learn how THEY understood these deities. Instead of inserting Ochun and Chango as deity names in the Great Rite, actually go to a Tambor and actually meet them face-to-face.

I'm not giving up on 'Catholic Wicca,' though, that's my special baby :-)

C: @Lot That diatribe about how I am "so wrong" was disrespectful and completely detracted from my message.

But to make my points clear; besides Hecate and a few other goddesses, the concept of a Great Goddess that rules over all things in creation is indeed a relatively new concept that has little roots in classical paganism.

Also, I attack the Rede not for it's language but by the way it is pushed on me and others that do not specifically follow a Wiccan orientation; which has become so obnoxious (look at message boards on Facebook relating to articles on slightly more negative magic if you don't believe me) that I personally feel (and you are by no means bound to agree with me) it would be better without it.

As to the threefold law; it simply doesn't make sense. If you go by Hermetic laws of balance, having a triple result for a single deed come back to you ends up throwing off the entire energy spectrum if it is indeed applied to all people. Giving back threefold for a onefold deed is a waste of energy and the universe runs on efficiency. Also keep in mind the aforementioned obnoxiousness found in people pushing that theology on others.

Also of note; just because you believe something doesn't make it true. Christians believe the earth is 6000 years old but that doesn't make them right. And some beliefs are expressly harmful to others and should not be given a free pass just because they are held with conviction.

So please don't attack me. I am with this group due to the amicable nature of this fellowship and I don't need Wiccan zealotry being pushed on me from triggered neopagans. Thank you.

Make no mistake. To those who practice Wicca sincerely, are uplifted by it, and are all around pleasant people; I have nothing but respect.

My problem with Wicca is the followers of that faith who proselytize to other witching folk, pushing their ideals with a mind to disrepute other magic workers. That is what I cannot stand. And it bothers me that those kind of insincere individuals make themselves the face of our community.

As the old saying goes: I like your Christ, I just don't like your Christians.

M: @Wish Maker Christopher, I think I know what you're talking about. I wouldn't characterize it as proselytizing though. A lot of us (myself included) were taught that witchcraft and Wicca is this one very specific path. We were taught that "real witches" don't do this or that. Bias is a touchy subject because we usually don't see it in ourselves when we're being biased. We were also led to believe that Wicca is incredibly diverse because some people swap the name of Diana out for Hekate or because some folks call fire in the east instead of the south. It's about exposure. It's about awareness. Until I was actually exposed to other forms of witchcraft and other forms of paganism I had no idea how biased I was.

D: I understand the Wiccan bias. Minority subcultures try to maintain their boundaries by holding on to exclusive details that set the apart. Thus, paganism gets "pegged" for a handful of concepts that spread like wildfire. Why? Because we must maintain our separate identity. Those things are almost always ethics related, because they're easily applicable to our everyday lives--again, more uniqueness per moment.

That said, I do sometimes roll my eyes at things like the Law of Attraction and the Law of Three. At least the Law of Attraction has been widely observed to be part many indigenous faiths through sympathetic magic, but I still feel it is way overused. To me, the Law of Three is just another version of sin and taboo. Experience alone is enough to refute it.

The Rede is still interesting, but only insofar as it is a philosophical puzzle. What is harm? Kinda like a Buddhist koan. I puzzle it out but I do what needs doing. The gods and the universe are big and powerful enough to take care of my puny human emanations. I allow them judge me directly/

M: @Dayan M., you have me thinking about the rede, "...harm none..." Practicing harmlessness is also a tenet in many varieties of Buddhism. In my life I certainly try to do as little harm as possible...

That being said, I am struck be something that was said by one of the folks on 'The Last Alaskans.' She said, 'we all have to kill to survive, it's just that many of us choose to let others do the killing for us. I choose to do my own killing. Maybe, at the end of the day, that's a better way.'

I know it's a stretch. Hunting for food is completely different from morally and ethically from, let's say, putting a hex on that person at work who might get the promotion that you're gunning for. But when we use these aphorisms ('an it harm non, do as ye will') as codes of conduct we have to be mindful of what these words actually mean. What are we saying to ourselves subconsciously when we repeat them? Might they sometimes actually hold us back from achieving our full potential or attaining our highest good?

There are 5 million caribou left in the world but there are 7 billion Homo sapiens. Is a human life really worth more than that of a caribou? In the eyes of Mother Nature, which life is more precious and valuable? Which species can afford a reduction in numbers? When I say 'harm none' and I qualify that by saying I don't harm other Homo sapiens, but it's ok for me to hunt caribou to survive... does that really make sense? If our gods are gods of all nature, how might they really look at it? I can imagine Artemis saying, 'You knew this species was endangered, nobody forced you to go live in the wilderness. You chose to predate on a dwindling species. Because you possess science and technology and reason you KNEW better but you CHOSE to do further harm to beings that are at greater risk than your own kind.'

I'm not making a judgment here either way, I just think there are a lot of grey areas and recognizing these grey areas helps me to be more open minded and curious about how other people shape their ethics. When it comes to 'right' and 'wrong,' maybe 'right' comes in many different flavors?

L: Hi guys. A lot has been said so far I'd like to jump in.

wicca bias, there is, I think.

Let's stroll back a few decades to the US society where Any version of paganism or witchcraft was "bad" so much so that it sparked fear and retaliation and to be out of the broom closet was as much a worry in successful life as any other difference. Mainstream America was white, patriarchal, and Christian. My how we have changed.

And "kids it's been a wild scary amazing ride!" Who is with me on that feeling? I'm about to point out some of it.

we have strong women and men who have made it so, they paid with their freedom their reputation their finance their families and often their very lives.

as with everything in America our views are shaped by the media. Many say we have no culture but we do, it is pop culture.

in the 60s we experienced an uprising which gave birth to free love, free beings, and equal rights for women and some minorities. And.... the emergence of Wicca. It was the first of the pagan paths to actually be declared a recognized religion. We also had cults, harikrishna, transcendental meditation, nudists(now called naturalists) and EST training.

here defining religion is a political issue and certain criteria must be met, many rules and organizational structure. That group pioneered this in the pagan world, so it gets more press, is more socially accepted, is more palatable to a society of people who are leaving other religions.

Pop culture has given us a veritable ton of media on witchcraft. Let's remember Sabrina the teenage witch, Samantha from bewitched, and charmed. Now Harry Potter, twilight, true blood, vampire diaries and the list goes on and on. Oh an ozzy !

more than one person came to paganism for the Hollywood and more for the ability to use magic to get RICH ala the secret, affirmation etc.

so, ok, your not Wicca, neither am I. But good learning points exist within it. Im not Christian but both old and new testaments have some great advice. As do the Torah, Quoran (sp?), zen, Tibetan Buddhism Hinduism and the list just goes on and on. The Seminole chief, my ancestors my friends. Heck even my "frenemies" have valuable information.

how lucky you are Christopher that the TWO generations that preceded you have gifted you this amazing opportunity to be whatever you want!

The three fold law. As above and so below, let us remember that a spell is never just a spell that gets you what you want. There is cause and effect, move something here creates a shift elsewhere and so on and so on. The more energy you put into that spell the more that is shifted.

Good and bad are not "real" it is only thinking which makes it so. What is good for one may be bad for another, what seems just or right again is a perception. Again Wicca to be declared a religion in the US must have rules. So how do you make a rule if everything in the universe is actually defined by perception and the first thing you have to do is allay societal fears?

After my decades of research and study I have come to only one truth for life in the body, free will, and only one thing you should not do, only one thing that amounts to harming another.

the interference with another persons free will should be a no go zone. Call it the rede or law of three or purple polkadot rule, lol.

I teach this, even as it relates to self defense under threat. Like my friend wanting to carry a gun in case he gets robbed for the cash in his pocket. Remember first, the main reason you want to fight (many times but not always) is because you perceive the assailant had taken control over you and you want it back and to teach them a lesson about it. False. You still have the control, you decide what happens next. Do you really want to shoot the assailant to keep you 5 dollars? Or because he tried to take your control?

this is also a great law of three moment. Guy pulls gun to steal money gets back ? Probably not the money but something worse or gets the money and gets arrested goes to jail his child is fatherless and becomes a criminal and so on. It's the chain of events that result from the first act that are threefold.

as for pressure from Wicca practicing people? Again they simply have the numbers of people right now. And human nature is that when we think we are right about something we try to convince everyone else too. My answer, either don't discuss your path and then you won't be subject to the opinions of others or develop sound level headed retort as to why you believe what you do and why their beliefs don't fit.

Female deity new? Oh my, worship of the female gods dates back to the beginning of recorded history. You can spend the time looking it up if you disbelieve. Native Americans (not sure if all) have lineage traced through the mother.

Christopher I'm curious

...Dark magic, hmm. So you feel the need to cause harm? You desire to harm others? Why?

But here is a funny....

i practice medicine, traditional board certified USA variety and a whole lot more because I am more than just my US education. I was first ostracized and vilified as a pagan, but now, the world and our society changing as it has, I am actually having to see people in the ER who are cursed by voodoo and actually am expected to cure them.

so I say to those who hex and curse, come on now , am I really expected to lift the curse under you Medicaid and Obamacare plan? Sorry I just literally cracked myself up.

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