#“There are men who are born to be the opposite the reverse the counterpart. They are Pollux Patroclus...”

[anarchical-doubter]

sometimes i sit here and think 'yeah i'm a pretty normal person'. and then i remember that i am fully preparing myself to write a 20-ish page academic paper on how enjolras and grantaire directly relate to achilles and patroclus and that love and passion conquers fear and cynicism

[wickedpact]

not this quote from les mis making me emotional thinking about joe and nicky

There are men who seem born to be the opposite, the reverse, the counterpart.  (...) They live only on condition of leaning on another; their names are sequels, only written preceded by the conjunction ‘and’; their existence is not their own; it is the other side of a destiny not their own.

[growing-from-decay]

There are men who seem born to be the opposite, the reverse, the counterpart. They are Pollux, Patroclus, Nisus, Eudamidas, Ephestion, Pechmeja. They live only on condition of leaning on another; their names are sequels, only written preceded by the conjunction “and”; their existence is not their own; it is the other side of a destiny not their own

Victor Hugo (Les Miserables)

[shysupernaturalfangirl]

Different - Dean Winchester x Reader - Part 4

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing(s): Dean x Reader

World: Reverse French Mistake AU

Word Count: 1,723

Warning(s): Cussing, Suggestive Thoughts.

Summary: It’s every fan-girl’s dream to either, end up in the world of their fantasies, their fandom, or to wind up with on of the actors or characters. There is a couple thousand fanfictions with such circumstances. She never thought in her wildest dreams, that she’d actually end up in a fanfiction situation.

Taglist: @sillydecoy @blackeyedangel9805​ @heythereamigodude​ @gaveherhearttotheliontattoo @seppys-return-to-madness

"Do I have to?" I whine as I sit on the bed in the motel, a bag that Sam dropped into my lap is parted slightly, revealing a severe object of ire.

"Sorry, Sweetheart, but the place we need into is holding some fancy gala this evening, and we gotta be back to the Bunker by tomorrow. No choice of waiting for tonight." Dean answers as he adjusts his belt, a white long sleeve tucked in to his pants.

"Fine," I sigh, shaking my head. "I just don't get why we have to be the distraction, why can't you two go as the distraction while I steal the artifact. It's the 21st century after all."

"Because, Emily, you haven't stolen anything before, Dean and I have. Just you by yourself won't be much of a success." Sam responds, causing me to huff, scrunching my nose at the giant while he does the same in retaliation. Standing, I look in the bag with a look of disgust, before glaring at the two of them.

"Dean, you have a shirt tail sticking out of your zipper." I point out, causing his hands to fall to his pants as I duck into the bathroom with a smirk.

"Very funny, Sweetheart!" Dean calls as I start to close the door.

"I thought so!" I retaliate, locking the door before I strip, showering and shaving before I towel off, and slip into the long, shimmering midnight blue dress, zipping it up. The slit on the right side of the gown makes it easier to move, but also makes me feel a bit chilly. Curling my hair, I throw it up in a ponytail, before doing my makeup, and slipping on the costume diamond necklace, grabbing the earrings as Sam knocks on the door.

"Emily, I need to use the bathroom, are almost done?" Letting out a sigh, I open the door to see Sam standing there, his eyes widen as he gapes at me.

"You can use it." I gesture as I enter the room, glancing around. "Where's Dean?"

"Forging you two invitations to the Gala." He answers, closing the door as I hook the earrings in my ears, before I pull on the strappy silver heels that the boys got me, and stand from the mattress, brushing the skirt free of wrinkles. A swift glance in the nearby mirror reveal a near stranger, in blue and diamonds, the dress has a silver neckline that circles my throat, then comes down my chest to the top of the sleeveless gown.

"So, I doubt they'll be able to tell these are fake, Sammy, but maybe you-" I turn as Dean comes into the room, shirt nice, clean, and crisp, pants are dirt free, and he has his bow-tie slightly crooked, foregoing the jacket for the time being. His fanfiction green eyes are upon my face, smiling as I bite my lip nervously as I glance away.

"It's not really... me, is it?" I ask, looking back as him as he rakes his eyes down my figure, smirk on his face widens into a true smile.

"Sweetheart," Dean drops the papers in his hand on one of the two beds as he grabs one of my hands, looking me in the eye as he reaches up to brush a curl away from my eye to behind my ear. "I am honestly not sure if my words would be enough to describe your beauty." He answers, causing me to blush, ducking my head as he cups my cheek with one hand, tilting my head back up as he looks into my eyes. "You are so gorgeous." He says as I suck in a sharp breath, the emotions swirling in his eyes are undefinable, the hammering of my heart against my ribcage aches, and the electrical zaps that are passing between the touch of our skin is dizzying.

"Ahem!" I jump in surprise as Dean steps away, his hand dropping from my face as Sam leans against the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. I can feel the heat from Dean's touch lingering on my skin as Sam raises his eyebrows. "Ready to go?" He asks, causing me to meekly nod my head as Dean huffs at his younger brother.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." He grabs his jacket, shrugging it on as I tuck the invitations into my silver purse, and grab Dean's arm to turn him to me, he looks at me in confusion as I straighten and tighten his bowtie, patting him on the chest in a friendly manner.

"Bowties aren't much different than regular ties, Dean. It's beneficial to have knowledge to tie them both." He blinks down at me as I smile at him. "Otherwise you'll end up failing clown school." I joke, causing him to gape at me as Sam chokes on his laughter behind us. "Let's go."

"Right." Dean says as we start towards the Impala.

"Chewie!" I call as we get closer to the car.

"Ah, come on!" Sam groans as I turn to glare at him.

"I called it. I'm the one walking in vampire stakes with a strong possibility of falling over them at any moment, and in a dress, which by the way it horrible. I've earned it." Sam swallows thickly as Dean chuckles, opening the door for me, before I slip inside the car, leaning my head against the seat as I close my eyes for a moment. Reveling in the silence and the relief at getting off my feet for a moment.

~3rd POV~

Later on in the night, Dean is rushing Emily from the car, her entire body is limp in his arms, head on his chest as Sam follows, flipping through the pages of a book her found. "Come on, Sweetheart," Dean growls as Sam swings the hotel door open, and Dean sweeps Emily's limp body into his arms bridal style, her arm wrapped loose around his neck, he swings into the room, laying her on the queen sized bed, with a soft caress to her forehead, touch lingering on the furrow of her brow. "Anything Sammy?" He asks, pulling the blanket of the bed over her slumbering figure, before turning to his brother, who has a hand over his mouth.

"So, get this... The creature that attacked her is an incubus, the feed on the sexual energy and acts of their opposite gender. Their female counterpart is called a Succubus, and she does the same. There are multiple stories, some depictions are of beautiful otherworldly men and women, seducing someone into being their lover, and killing them within a single kiss." Sam shakes his head, as though amazed.

"Killing it, Sam! How do we kill it? Or wake her up? Or-Or anything." Sam's eyes drift to his anxious brother, before floating to the girl on the bed. She'd been taken before either of them could get to her for help, the plan to use her as bait had gone all too well.

"Well, she's trapped in a night terror. At least until he either releases her himself, does... the deed with her, or we kill him." Sam responds, eyes on his brother, taking in the slightest twitch, the spasming in his muscles as he stiffens, before relaxes.

"What do we need?" Dean asks.

"Get this... A piece of the plank of the Titanic- the wreckage, dipped in virginal blood." Sam answers, causing Dean to blink as Cas appears in the motel, eyes automatically going to Emily on the bed.

"I've been trying to reach you all." Castiel grumps.

"Not now, Cas." Dean waves the angel away. "We need to kill an Incubus, and we don't have the means to do it."

"That's why I was trying to reach you. The wrapped item you stole tonight, Sam?" He turns to them. "It's a plank from the ship- it's what you need." He explains.

"The Virgin blood? We're just supposed to walk up to people and ask if they're virgins?" Sam asks.

"We could always become born-again virgins again." Dean states, and Castiel sighs.

"You needn't do either, you got a virgin in this room." Castiel points out.

"Uh, Cas? You had sex," Dean points out. "with a reaper."

"Not me!" Castiel snaps, gesturing to the sleeping girl, causing Dean's eyes to widen and Sam chokes.

"No, you mean-?" Dean pauses, glancing at her, before looking at Castiel. "N-No way, seriously?"

"Yes, the woman who you intend to court is in fact infallibly a virgin." Castiel answers, causing Dean to swallow thickly.

"G-Good to know." Dean murmurs, looking away. "But, just taking her blood is wrong."

"Dean, we can't exactly ask, can we?" Sam sighs, causing the brothers to glare at each other. While they are distracted, Castiel grabs a nearby knife, walking over to the glamoured woman, but before he can cut her, Dean is jumping between them, and Sam has Castiel’s arms behind his back, the twisting makes him drop the knife.

 “We’ll find another way!” Dean growls, arms spread out wide. “One that doesn’t involve injuring someone who has no way to fight back.” Dean snaps, causing Castiel’s eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

 “How?” The Angel asks, causing Dean to swallow.

 “Did you find anything else?” Dean practically begs his brother, causing the taller man to swallow thickly.

 “One. She has to break the glamour herself. Break out of the spell casted.” Sam answers, causing Dean to glance back at the girl, then to Sam and Castiel.

 “She can do that, but not alone. She doesn’t even know what’s going on.” Dean says, causing Sam to sigh.

 “I know, which is why killing the incubus would work better.” Sam responds.

 “We could always send someone’s subconscious into her mind.” The two of them look at the Angel. “It would be a way to tell her what’s going on and help her fight through it. An incubus locks one in their worst nightmares.”

 “How do we do it?” Sam asks.

 “We will need... a spell.” Castiel answers. “How do we decide who should go?”

 “I’ll go.” Dean answers firm.

 “Dean-”

 “Hush Sammy, this is my fault for not looking out for her, it’s my job to get her out of this.” Dean answers, rolling his shoulders. “Besides, she trusts me.”

 “Then lets get started.”

AN: I know the killing an incubus thing isn’t accurate, but I went with it anyway. Enjoy!

[theseashellscenter]

Joel’s Inferno

So I just cooked up this ludicrous Game Theory-tier speculation comparing The Last of Us to Dante’s Inferno and now all I can do spread it around for whoever cares to see. It’s long as fuck so I’ll put it below a cut. I don’t think it actually has any basis in the devs’ intent but it was a fun thought exercise and made more sense the more I wrote. Gets real melodramatic at the end. Waste your time reading it at your own risk.

Playing through the game recently I began to think about how the story is constructed and how a progression of events leads the characters to their eventual conclusion. Essentially, it occurred to me that Joel and Ellie endure a series of increasing hardships which tests and strengthens their relationship before ultimately emerging on the other side together. The thought came to me that this could be compared to a story like Dante's Inferno, where the hero descends into Hell and experiences its worst depths before returning.

Then I started to wonder, could the game's events be directly compared to the nine circles of Hell? For those who don't know, the poem Dante's Inferno depicts Hell as being made up of nine circles, each corresponding to a sin and getting worse (both in terms of the sin and the punishment for the sin) as they go lower. I decided the most fitting way to compare them was for each circle to correspond to people Joel and Ellie meet on their journey.

Keep in mind this is just a thought experiment. As you'll be able to tell from how far many of these had to be stretched to fit, I don't think it was intentional. But I still thought it was an interesting concept.

Limbo: the first circle of Hell, for those who did not sin enough to be damned but also didn't accept God in order to be saved. Among them are unbaptized children, too young to know God but too innocent to go to Hell. This is the prologue of the game, ending with the death of Joel's daughter Sarah, and thus Joel's entry into Hell.

Lust: The early part of the game with Tess. Tess chooses to die out of dedication to the cause of Ellie and her immunity, and Joel initially continues escorting Ellie only in honor of Tess and their partnership together. Notably, one of her last lines is “Look, there's enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me.” What “enough here” exactly means is never made explicit, and they may only have ever been fellow smugglers, but it's clear that at the time when the game begins Tess is the person Joel cares about most. This “obligation” between a man and a woman is the closest the game comes to depicting Lust, and it leads to Tess's death.

Gluttony: Bill's town. Bill is the fattest character in the game (possibly the only person with an out-of-shape build in the entire game, actually), a characteristic which Ellie derisively comments on during their scenes together. Fittingly, this is also where Joel first encounters a bloater, the name of which speaks for itself (and is ironically fought in a high school gym). While obesity may not seem like Bill's most notable flaw, it indirectly symbolizes the isolation and paranoia that defines him, as his reliance on traps to keep others away and do the fighting for him would allow him to avoid exerting himself more than necessary and his careless appearance suggests his disregard for the conventions of outsiders.

Greed: This is Sam. Though not greedy in the traditional sense, Sam shows a form of greed by desiring more than he should in the scene where he attempts to pick up a toy, for which Henry rebukes him with the saying “We only take what we have to.” This greed is a shorthand for the flaws Henry sees in Sam, which Sam is insecure about. These arguments lead Sam to resent his brother and cause him to hide his infection when he is bitten. His final activity before death, counting cans of food while the others are relaxing, demonstrates an opposite form of Greed to that of the toy scene. Sam hordes these items not because he personally desires them but because he thinks his brother will approve, a reversal which is reinforced when he despondently throws away the same toy after Ellie brings it to him.

Wrath: Henry. Henry is characterized largely by his unhappy relationship with his brother, who he views as disobedient and incapable and who he frequently criticizes for his errors. Though this behavior is motivated by love for his brother, whom he wants to keep safe, Sam only sees it as anger. He also first meets Joel and Ellie when he attacks them on sight, and is occasionally aggressive when Joel expresses doubt toward him. His last words are spoken in irrational anger, blaming Joel for the death of his brother before killing himself.

Heresy: Tommy, who Joel goes to in hope that he will bring Ellie to the Fireflies, only to find that Tommy abandoned their cause a long time ago (making him a heretic to their “faith”) and has taken up his own community (whom Joel mockingly refers to as “born again,” a phrase with religious associations). While Marlene can be heard in the opening credits telling people that “When you're lost in the darkness, look for the light,” suggesting the Fireflies as saviors, Tommy has found his own source of light – the electricity produced by the dam his community has restarted. Joel also says his split from Tommy was due to a difference in worldviews (which is reinforced during their argument, where Tommy says they “ain't back in Boston” and that his time surviving with Joel “wasn't worth it”), making him a heretic from Joel's way of life as well.

Joel himself shows a sort of Heresy during this section by attempting to leave Ellie behind, representing a trial of his own “faith” — his love for his daughter. The picture Tommy provides him of his daughter (which he turns down much like he is trying to send away Ellie) is the most obvious suggestion of the connection between the two up to this point. Toward the end of the section with Tommy, Joel at first appears to completely abandon his bond with her by telling her “You're not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain't your dad. And we are going our separate ways.” However, he resolves to stay with her shortly after, claiming that he is afraid of Tommy's wife and encouraging Tommy to stay with her and his community. In a sense, Joel attempts to restore Tommy's faith in his cause in order to escape the difficulties of his own, but he ultimately chooses to be faithful himself and let his brother remain a heretic.

Violence: David. David's section of the game contains four significant instances of violence (which is saying something, for a game as generally violent as this one). First is Joel's impalement, which occurs during Fall but was caused by combat with bandits who David later reveals are part of his group. Second is the revelation that David and his people are cannibals, a form of violence even further than anything seen up to this point, which connects them moreso with the infected than with other humans. Third is Joel's torture and killing of two of David's men, perhaps the first time we truly see extent of the brutality and even cruelty Joel is capable of. Lastly is Ellie's killing of David, an act so violent it isn't shown on screen and the trauma of which seems to finally seal her and Joel's devotion to one another. It also acts as counterpart to Joel's earlier violence, showing the great lengths both will go to when the other is in danger.

Fraud: Marlene and the Fireflies. From Joel's perspective, their choice to kill Ellie is a betrayal. This is fairly clear-cut; while they promise to help humanity, Joel can only see them as trying to destroy what he loves most, making them dishonest in his eyes. Joel also sees Marlene as breaking her promise to Ellie's mother to keep her safe. The Inferno classifies the worst frauds as “Falsifiers, those who attempted to alter things through lies or alchemy, or those who tried to pass off false things as real things.” Joel sees the Fireflies as unworthy heroes for humanity (impostors), trying to convert a girl's life into a cure (alchemy/counterfeiting). Just as these frauds are punished with disease in Hell, Joel massacres the occupants of a hospital, doctors included, takes away the only hope for a cure and condemns humanity to the cordyceps plague.

Treachery: The last circle and the worst sin, Treachery, is embodied by Joel himself. In the final scene he lies to Ellie about what happened with the Fireflies — a lie which Ellie may or may not recognize, but which marks a point from which they can never return, the final stage in their relationship. Before questioning Joel's story and making him swear it is the truth, Ellie tells him about how her friend Riley told her they would die together after being bitten, but as Ellie puts it, she's “Still waiting for [her] turn.” Both Riley and Joel have told her lies, but where the former was an effort to reassure her told out of ignorance of the harsh truth, Joel's was created with full awareness of what really happened and serves his own purposes more than Ellie's.

In trying to protect her from the trials of Hell, Joel's love for Ellie ultimately condemns him to its lowest depths.

Much like in Dante's Inferno, the successive layers of Hell are each reserved for worse sins. Sarah is the most innocent and nonthreatening character in the game; Tess, though capable of violence, is clearly a devoted ally to Joel; Bill is also an ally, but of a more begrudging kind; Sam and Henry are both friendly but unfamiliar, not entirely reliable and eventually self-destructive; Tommy, though by no means hostile, outright refuses to uphold Joel's request at first while Sam and Henry had been eager to cooperate; David pretends to be friendly but turns out to be an unhinged antagonist with some particularly reprehensible traits; the Fireflies are far more sympathetic and civilized but want to kill Ellie immediately, whereas David was obsessed with keeping her alive. Finally, the player realizes that all along they have been controlling the most dangerous character of all — and as our control shifts to Ellie in the last scene, we know he will never let us go so long as he lives, for better or for worse.

[infinity-and-luck]

may be a silly question but do you think enjoltaire was real? I’d love to hear your opinion on it

I most certainly do!! 

At the absolute very least, it was one-sided on Grantaire’s part, however I definitely feel the Enjolras felt something for Grantaire. I mean, c’mon, Vicky over here was not subtle about it at all! Patroclus and Achilles? The most iconic gay couple ever? G A Y!

I mean, “Nobody adores the light like the blind man. The dwarf adores the drum major. The toad is always looking up at the sky. Why? To see the bird fly. Grantaire, crawling with doubt, loved to see faith soaring in Enjolras. He needed Enjolras. Without understanding it clearly, and without trying to explain it to himself, that chaste, healthy, firm, direct, hard, honest nature charmed him […] There are men who seem to be born the opposite, the reverse, the counterpart. They are Pollux, Patroclus, Nisus, Eudamidas, Ephestion, Pechmeja. They love only on condition of leaning on another; their names are sequels, only written preceded by the conjunction ‘and’; their existence is not their own; it is the other side of a destiny not their own. Grantaire was one of these men. He was the reverse of Enjolras.” (page 653 in my edition)

Does this sounds straight to you???

The iconic “You don’t believe in anything.” “I believe in you.” (page 848 in my edition)

“’[Do] you permit it?’ Enjolras shook his hand with a smile. The smile was not finished before the report was heard.” (page 1248)

There’s also a ton of quotes that I didn’t care to find, but the point stands! Enjoltaire was undeniably real!

[fauzhee10069]

JoJolion’s main villain? Will it be female?

Okay, so whenever I find a discussion about JJL main villain, who will it be? And with the thirst from fans who wanted the first female main villain in JJBA, a popular theory emerged that Higashikata Caato would become the main villain. Yeah, so far… she is really popular, lots of hints point towards her, I can see some reasons of why:

Her motivation, she is currently in conflict with her ex-husband, Norisuke IV. Their conflicting views of how they have to sacrifice to save their son from the curse. Her sacrifice made her imprisoned for 15 years and separated from her children (how sad when her three children did not know her as their mother). Now, she returns and demands a payback.

Her persumably dominance over her son, Jobin. Jobin who previously was hyped as potential main villain is now overshadowed by his mother. Especially, it was pretty much confirmed that Jobin isn't the mastermind by Dolomite and Rai. “Jobin sweetie, remember that I went to jail to protect you, to save you, all for your sake. Imagine she says, ”I can see that Jobin must feel very indebted and grateful to her, that’s why he looks very respectful to her.

Her first impression of Gappy!Josuke was that she doesn't like him, regards him as freeloader (a potential enemy?)

Her Stand being a space-manipulating related type, often being regarded in the same boat with D4C (though I see that it’s more similar to Enigma currently).

Despite being 52 and a granny, she looks attractive for no reason, Araki’s habit of creating his main villains. Look how he changed fat!Valentine into the hot 48 years old president. Caato could be the antithesis of Lisa Lisa. Both are hot milfs in 50s and supportive to their sons, only the side is reversed.

Advanced points:

Norisuke IV he is one of the people closest to Josuke but the one who is likely most despised by Caato. I can see the potential conflict between Josuke and Caato or even her conflict with her other children.

The race to obtain Locacaca fruit, Caato’s side (Tsurugi, Jobin and Mitsuba) are fighting to cure Tsurugi. Josuke is fighting to restore himself to normal and save Holy.

Now, enter my personal opinion...

Actually, I like Caato as villain, or even major villain. But to be honest, though I also crave for the first female main villain, I don’t really like the concept of Caato as the one. Reasons:

Her conflict/motivation is too domestic, a household disputes; an ex-wife who wants to take revenge on and punish her ex-husband for the sacrifice and misery that she have to endured and demands payback (she openly asked for half of the household fortune). Basically, she wants to take back what's rightfully hers,  probably dethrone the patriarch to dominate the family business and fortune. This sounds like a plot taken out from Korean/telenovela family drama (with revenge as its main theme) only that it involves Stand battle, could be good for side plot but not for main plot. I wish the Rokakaka fruit, Rock humans, scientist and the curse will be a greater focus than this family drama bullsh*t.

Her background itself is too ordinary, a former housewife with no visible past career or other interesting things, unless she had other past background that is still hidden, maybe a past career that hasn't been revealed yet, ala Izumi Curtis. Though she could be a counterpart for part 4 main villain, being ordinary salary man.

Her flashback and motivation in the past, in my opinion, is too sympathetic (something that Araki claimed to avoid whenever he writes a main villain). To save her son from her curse, rather than sacrificing her life, she preferred to sacrifice the life of other (stranger). To be honest, I prefer her method than Norisuke IV, therefore Jobin (and her other children) do not need to lose a mother figure (which ironically happened). This is a husband’s common mistake; assuming that his wife is not different with his mother, hoping that his wife will do the same thing with what his mother has done. Basically, a mom who did sacrificing her own contented life for the sake of her child, imprisoned for 15 years away from her children, she had just been released and is still reorganizing her life. Unlike other JoJo main villains, in which their trouble pasts had become a past completely (that happened years ago) as their current life in the present storyline is much better but Caato still had to face her ex-husband who seemed to abandon her and had to try re-bond her relationship with her children again (idk why but her story kinda reminds me of Cookie Lyon from Empire). She just barely regains her life back.

Her personality that is too obvious for a villain. Being very two-faced and deceptive, showing her true calculating personality to those she deeply trusts yet truly capable of however seems to intimidate and inspire fear, but in public, she comes off as charismatic and loving person. It’s like “Oh looks… she is evil… she must be the main villain!!” I mean, just as she first appeared (which is not long ago), she already acted menacing, intimidating and declaring her objectives. Whereas JJBA main villains in general were acting pretty casual.

Most likely, Araki did the Principal and The Pauper to Norisuke IV’s character. From the fun & loving dad and a supportive father figure for Josuke to be an asshole husband who is disregarding his wife for the sacrifice she had made and even refused to pay her alimony. Now I am confused whether I should cheer for Norisuke IV (Josuke’s side) or Caato. This will potentially rival my disappointment over Xiao Fan ruining Zhao Yun and Xiao Meng’s dynamic. >:(

She doesn’t have any moment that can be mocked over and meme’d. Also, all of her appearance so far is like a boss. If she constantly stays like this till the end, I’m afraid that she would potentially ruin the funny dynamic between The Main Villains gang in fandom!!!

I don’t need another mom archetype in JJBA main villains gang, we already have Kira as the mom.

Her determination to live free from the men (read: husband)’s control and decision yet seems to be in control of her son (and possibly grandson) makes her sound like feminazi. I hope I’m wrong though, hopefully Araki doesn’t write her to be main villain only to fulfill the quota (due to the lack of female main villains) or as political correctness. I just want my first female main villain to be just a character of her own without being the feminist advertisement (though that’s what you likely will get from a character with just housewife as background). I have faith in Araki though because in my opinion he was quite successful as he wrote Jolyne, she is very likeable for the only female JoJo as she is simply being who she is without promoting feminism.

A mother controlling her children (in this case, Jobin). Though this is personal, I’m never into this kind of villain. I think it is very cheap, there is a teach that children must respect their mother who had nurtured and raised them and one mom decided to take this as an advantage to control her children. Most likely, Caato could be the main cause of Jobin's authoritarian attitude to his son, Tsurugi.

Mom: “Okay son, remember that I had carried you in my womb and suffer for 9 months for it, I had painful labor to bear you, I had taken care of you when you were a helpless baby, teaching you everything and saved your life from the curse, even saved you from your crime, by letting myself go to jail and lost my 15 years of life… all because I love you. Now, do me a favor and never question it!” Son: “No, sorry mom.” Mom: “(How dare you!) Why not?” Son: “Because I never ask to be born (especially by you).” (I don’t think Jobin would ever say that, probably Joshu).

So, if Caato turns out to be the main villain, she could be my least favorite main villain despite I am being a female myself. Though it's still too early to judge, there is still a hope that she will deliver something more interesting than those 5 points above. One of them is the theory and possibility that she is the mysterious head doctor or the Rock human’s leader.

My other personal wish is that Holy Kira is the actual main villain. This is purely crack theory and something that is even less likely than Caato, but I think Holy Kira will deliver something more interesting than Caato:

Her more interesting background as an Ophthalmologist, emergency doctor, and guest professor. A woman, a mother and A PROFESSOR!!!

Her more direct connection with Rokakaka fruit, it is revealed that Holy created the hidden Rokakaka lab at T.G University Hospital, she was researching the fruit! Therefore, A SCIENTIST!!! There is a possibility that she was part of the Rokakaka Research Organization (though probably she just did the research independently).

She is a direct descendant of Johnny Joestar, therefore… a Joestar! Imagine being a Joestar and a main villain at the same time!! Okay, despite being a Joestar, Holy is not a JoJo. But this will be hilariously the greatest irony ever, a main villain is descended from a JoJo.

Her, tricking Josuke, the main protagonist (who is also part of her son) to cure her is something far more brilliant than a mom straightly controlling her son through intimidation. Perhaps her illness is part of her master plan (“計画通り/keikaku doori!!”ala Light Yagami or Aizen), it’ll be a greater troll than Joseph trolling Jotaro as reincarnated DIO XD.

Holy Kira might be the antithesis of Holy Kujo, the purest and most loving milf ever in JJBA to be the worst and ambitious mom.

Holy Kira might fit the theme of the villain being the opposite of the protagonist, what is the opposite between Josuke and Holy? One being the guy stitched together from two other guys and one being a woman who has a lot of missing parts (in this case, her brain).

She already had her possibly funny/crazy moment when she was trying to use a nurse like a pair of boots and a magazine XD.

Personally, I think that Holy has better design than Caato. While Caato looks like the older version of Jolyne, her messy appearance looks like a middle-aged woman who couldn’t let go her teenage years (that’s why she can’t beat Lisa Lisa as a hot milf in 50s imo, her appearance is tidier and more elegant). Look at Holy Kira, she is trendy and the dark cape looks fabulous for a villain’s design.

Holy may possess a more interesting Stand, I’m sure she is a Stand user if she can see Paisley Park and knows about Killer Queen. Please, Araki… show me what her Stand is capable of!!

If Caato stays the same until the end of the story, she will be the most deviated villain in JJBA history besides being female, Araki might breaks the pattern with her. But isn’t using Holy Kira as main villain would be a greater pattern breakers??

Besides Holy Kira, I found another crack yet brilliant theory of Yasuho being actual main villain without her realizing it, played it like an alter ego ala Doppio. Disclaimer, it is not written by me. While this is very interesting (and I support this theory tbh), this could be another case of The Principal and The Pauper in Yasuho’s character.

Hopefully, Caato is just a red herring for the actual main villain (as she is too… obviousss), but the possibility of Holy as the main villain is even smaller. That’s why I keep my expectation of evil!Holy so low, she could be just a straight SBR counterpart for Holy Kujo (the purest mom in critical condition that needs to be cured asap) with slightly bigger role, nothing more. Perhaps, the main villain could even be neither Caato nor Holy.

Now, let’s countdown the villains we had so far and how Caato or Holy will fill it up:

A vampire (and an ex-lawyer student)

A Pillar Man, boss of his own kind

A vampire… again (at least he is hundred years old now)

A salary man and serial killer

A mafia boss

A priest (and the vampire’s lover best friend)

A president of alt!US

A former housewife and former inmate / A mad scientist and a Joestar / A Rock human and head doctor (another mad scientist), assuming the third possibility of main villain is a guy / The main villain is a concept (not a person), the Locacaca fruit itself (I love this one tbh)

Pick your choice!!

Summary: I welcome Caato as villain, even as major villain. She is the first female villain who has her own motivation without being a mere pawn for the main villain. She deserves a big role, but not the biggest role. Gappy!Josuke deserves a greater villain to fight than a greedy and vengeful milf who is wronged (by her husband) in the past, someone who hasn't even reached the top (and her own happiness). The mystery of Locacaca’s fruit, the origin of the Higashikata’s curse;the rock disease, what’s up with the Rock humans and the Wall Eyes should be prioritized over the game of throne inheritance fight drama of the Higashikata family’s property and power. To be honest, I still prefer the main villain to be a man… again rather than Caato (even if it is Jobin).

TL;DR Caato will still be my most favorite female villain but potentially becomes my least favorite main villain in JJBA.

[that-one-soggy-nacho]

He is half of my soul, as the poets say.

“There are men who seem born to be the opposite, the reverse, the counterpart. They are Pollux, Patroclus, Nisus, Eudamidas, Ephestion, Pechmeja. They live only on condition of leaning on another; their names are sequels, only written preceded by the conjunction “and”; their existence is not their own; it is the other side of a destiny not their own.” - Victor Hugo

okay but i feel like we don’t talk enough about Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths as a society

when he says Remember the pact of our youth, Where you go, I’m going, so jump and I’m jumping, Since there is no me without you it feels like my heart was set on fire and is only now being put out

[madeleineovendenccc]

Written Component: Tapu/Noa

Tapu and noa work as a mutual dependent duality, rather than as binary opposites. Tapu and noa are relational principles which are kept in balance yet can vary depending on context or events. Tapu is the strongest force in Māori life. It has many meanings. Tapu can be ‘sacred’, or defined as ‘spiritual restriction’, Typically principals such as touching someone's head, or food are common forms of noa, and when associated with tapu matter, it is considered offensive (Higgins). For example, associating Māori elements with certain goods, like alcohol, could be considered offensive as these things can devalue Māori culture. "A Rangatira avoided scratching his head with his hand because this would make the hand tapu. Until correct procedures had been followed to reverse the Tapu to the state of noa - the opposite of Tapu, it would be dangerous to use his hand for common activities." (Tapu - sacred Māori code) 

There are times where you can possess more of one than the other. Tapu represents something forbidden or restricted, "Noa is the antithesis of tapu, describing the state of a place, resource or activity that is deemed ordinary or safe, and not subject to control" (Ataria). Tapu helps to control the randomness and thoughts you have with Noa. Stories throughout my childhood have given me the sense that Māori men exercised power over Women, from racially insensitive adverts and movies of Māori men beating their wives to even in primary school when you learn stories of Whakapapa. Predominantly male characters are the main focus and influential female roles are downplayed. 

Colonisation has skewed peoples views on Tapu and Noa, this is in part to enable westerners understanding of it to be more comfortable. In doing this, women in Māori culture seem inferior to men and have had their mana stripped of them, with dominant western ideologies positioning Non-Māori as well as Māori men as being superior to Māori women (Pihama). Mana is something that comes from knowing who you are and the connection to where you come from. You can test someone's mana by the equal respect you get from them, such as standing above someone while talking takes that persons mana away, as it insinuates you are not equal. If you look at the Maiori language, it becomes apparent that inequality between sexes was not even a concept, as both personal and possessive personal pronouns are gender-neutral.  Because women carry more Noa than men, they have been perceived to be only useful to cook and to carry children and not have any form of status. 

Women and Men are essential parts in the collective whole of Tapu/Noa, both forming part of the Whakapapa that links Maori with the past present and future. Mikaere explains "The very survival of the whole was absolutely dependent upon everyone who made it up, and therefore each and every person within the group had his or her own intrinsic value." (Mikaere). In western society Males are perceived as the head of the household, when born you are property of your father, and once you are married you are property of your husband, 'woman and children were chattels to be used and abused by the paterfamilias as he chose.' (Mikaere). When comparing western and Māori ideologies of marriage it is evident that the way women are perceived in Maori culture has been whitewashed, but in fact once 'married' they retain their name and their primary source of support is with their whānau, not the husband.

'You could say that Kahukiwa's art is a form of biochemical warfare: in thrall to a hormonally-driven gynocentric world view, she relegates males to a secondary role. Women, it's stressed, articulate muscular energy every bit as impressively as males.' (Eggleton)

To Māori, women are te whare tangata – the house of humanity, Robyn Kahukiwa is regularly celebrating essential female elements in Māori culture. The series 'Upoko Tapu' is based on traditional Tikanaga, with the head being the most tapu part of your body. Huia feathers have been used to emphasise the Tapu because huia feathers are Taonga which are the treasures of ancestors and nostrils are flared to draw in Te Ha (the breath of life). The Woman in Kahukiwa’s painting possesses a lot of Mana. She makes a point of these women being important with the use of their Moko Kauae, For Māori women, as historian Michael King notes in his seminal book Moko, the moko was a rite of passage, marking the passage between girl and adulthood. Kahukiwa’s art has a strong feminist theme. 

When the influx of English settlers arrived, Māori were pushed from their land and conformity began. Tohunga was then banned, and children were not allowed to speak Māori at school and by the 1970s the Moko had died out. Only a few elders wore Moko Kauae, and facial tattoos carried a negative connotation 'adopted by disaffected urban Māori, they became associated with gangs and crime.' (Duff).

For Maori Woman, it spoke of healing, reflection, empowerment and identity. Kahukiwa quickly shows all of these things through her artwork, 'she attempts to redress the conventional portrayal of women as less important than their male counterparts.' (Ministry for Culture and Heritage). In her paintings, Kahukiwa makes a secure connection between the Mana of birds/land with Wahine and helps Māori Woman as a form of holistic healing from the impact of colonisation, and helps to remove the stigma that Māori woman have been burdened with and encourage equality between Men and Woman - ‘kanohi ki te kanohi’ eye to eye as equals’ (Iti)

Reference List.

Higgins, Rawinia. “Te Mana o Te Wāhine – Māori Women.” Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 5 May 2011, www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/te-mana-o-te-wahine-maori-women/print.

“Tapu - Sacred Māori Code.” TNZ Media, 7 Mar. 2016, media.newzealand.com/en/story-ideas/tapu-sacred-maori-code/.

Ataria, James. From Tapu to Noa – Maori Cultural Views On Human Biowaste Managment  , stream.massey.ac.nz/pluginfile.php/3837535/mod_label/intro/Ataria, James (Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Tūwharetoa), et al. %22From Tapu to Noa-Māori cultural views on biowastes management- a focus on biosolids.%22 Centre for Integrated Biowaste Research Report 16-01 (2016)..pdf?time=1594808802452.

Mikaere, Annie. “Maori Woman: Caught In the Contradictions of a Colonised Reality.” Maori Women: Caught in the Contradictions of a Colonised Reality - Annie Mikaere - Te Piringa: University of Waikato, 1994, www.waikato.ac.nz/law/research/waikato_law_review/pubs/volume_2_1994/7.

Simmonds, Naomi. “Mana Wahine: Decolonising Politics.” Women’s Studies Journal, vol. 25, no. 2, Dec. 2011, www.wsanz.org.nz/journal/docs/WSJNZ252Simmonds11-25.pdf.

Pihama, Leonie. “Tihei Mauri Ora: Honouring Our Voices. Mana Wahine as a Kaupapa Maori Theoretical Framework.” Tu Tama Wahine o Taranaki, 2001, www.tutamawahine.org.nz/tihea_mauri_ora.

'Hinetitama by Robyn Kahukiwa', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/hinetitama-robyn-kahukiwa, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 8-Mar-2019

King, Michael. Moko Māori Tattooing in the 20th Century. David Bateman Ltd, 2014.

Duff, Michelle. 'It's Transformative': Māori Women Talk About Their Sacred Chin Tattoos, 13 Sept. 2016, www.vice.com/en_us/article/9k95ey/its-transformative-maori-women-talk-about-their-sacred-chin-tattoos.

Catnip, Published by Content. “Mana Wahine: The Female Moko in Māori Culture.” Content Catnip, 11 Nov. 2018, contentcatnip.com/2018/07/15/mana-wahine-the-female-moko-in-maori-culture/.

Ocarrol, Hine. “Biography.” Hineocarroll, 11 Nov. 2015, hineocarroll.wordpress.com/biography/.

Eggleton, David. “Earth and Spirit Robyn Kahukiwa's Mauri Ora! Exhibition.” Art New Zealand, 2003, www.art-newzealand.com/Issue105/robyn.htm.

Pitts, Pricilla. “Book Review.” Art New Zealand, 1984, www.art-newzealand.com/Issues31to40/books3101.htm.

Iti, Tame. “Mana: The Power In Knowing Who You Are.” TED, 17 June. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeK3SkxrZRI&feature=emb_title

[saracanaries]

wtatennisfreak-blog replied to your post

“there is a certain person in this fandom who seems to believe they can...”

What is this person saying

this particular person - who you do seem to have reblogged quite a bit of, so I hope you’ll understand I am wary to get specific here - is making harmful assumptions not only about the content of the crossover (which we still know next to nothing about, btw!) but also about the reactions and feelings of every jewish member of the fandom. to list a few:

they seem convinced that this crossover takes place in a world where the entire jewish population has been exterminated, despite this having never been stated. is it possible? sure. but here’s where I need to remind people that judaism is not just something you’re born into - it’s a series of beliefs and texts and morals. historically, during times of oppression, jews have had to study these sacred texts in secret (see: the spanish inquisition, ancient rome, and yes, also nazi germany/europe, among others - including a synagogue in texas that was forced to hold its rosh hashana services in secret just this past week) and that is how we’ve passed on our culture. the assumption that jews would simply lie back and fail to pass on our culture in the face of hard times when that’s the exact opposite of everything we’ve ever done is not only offensive, but incorrect. the EPs of “the ray” have literally stated that the freedom fighters would be made up of “women, gay men, [and] jews” so I have no idea how anyone could interpret that to mean that there are actually NO jews... (y’know, unless you’re trying to start an argument) 

another argument this person has been making is that it would have been just as easy to make up a villain that was that universe’s equivalent of the nazis. but... no, no it isn’t. surely you know how fandom loves to glorify its villains. the death eaters, the storm troopers, the daleks, even project cadmus on supergirl last season, were all very clearly coded as nazis, and yet how many people are there claiming that lillian luthor deserved a redemption arc, or writing draco x whoever smut, or insisting that anakin was just a smol precious cinnamon roll who made a couple bad decisions? even hydra over on the marvel side of things isn’t just coded as nazis, they ARE nazis, and yet you still get people screaming “hail hydra” at cons and trying to defend ward over on aos. so sometimes you just have to call a thing by its name - yeah, these guys are nazis. no, there’s no defending them this time.

in my own humble gay jewish opinion, earth x is starting to feel less and less like an alternate reality. the alternate reality part of it is that there’s a group of heroes who stands up to fight the nazis. lord knows we don’t have that here. what we do have is a bunch of people claiming that somehow a show where superheroes fight nazis is... promoting nazism? this isn’t some “confederate” style show that’s about the oppressed people’s suffering. it’s about us fighting back. (and by the way: andrew kreisberg is jewish. marc guggenheim is jewish. mark pedowitz is jewish. a simple google search told me that. this show is being written BY JEWS. why are we not trusting jews to tell a jewish story???)

this person seems to be of the belief that overgirl is kara danvers, that nazi!flash (hopefully he has a catchier name tbh) is barry allen, etc. this is not true. earth x overgirl is not supergirl. earth x whatever his name is is not the flash. these characters are played by the same actors as their earth 1/earth 38 counterparts, but they’re not the same characters. evil!flash even seems to be dressed like the reverse flash, just to drive home the point of how not the same person they are. these characters will most likely be wearing masks for the crossover, or have their faces hidden in some way (stephen posted a video of him in his Dramatic Oliver Smoky Eye, and the sample art shows overgirl with a mask), which goes along with my previous point about dehumanizing the villains. this “others” them. this is a good thing.  

this particular person has... shall we say, a history of starting unfounded drama. now normally I don’t give a shit about tumblr drama, but when it concerns my people, my culture, and something I’m very educated about that I know not many people are, then it concerns me. people have enough harmful misconceptions about jews, especially people on this website. I’ve seen and experienced firsthand what can happen when the wrong people grab hold of an anti-semitic ideology and run with it. we get things like neo-nazis marching past a synagogue in charlottesville that had to hire its own private security because the police didn’t care enough to protect it. and there’s a smaller scale, too: anti-semitic jokes, blaming jews for our own suffering, constantly trying to paint us as the aggressors. 

now, I don’t know if this person actually believes the shit they’re putting out there or not. maybe they really do believe that depicting superheroes fighting nazis on tv is somehow anti-semitic, and if they do, then that’s their right as a jew to feel that way. but they’ve led non-jews to think that this is the only opinion in the fandom, and that’s manipulative and untrue. and the fact that people are complaining about this rather than focusing on actual anti-semitism in the real world tells me they don’t actually care about our suffering; they only care that it makes their faves look bad. 

[asinglebulb]

Tastes just like cherry cola

I’m going to try and write down some of my thoughts regarding this whole Methodist mess. Messodist. Ha. 

Every conservative Christian I know purports to love their LGBT brothers and sisters. They love them, they affirm them, they welcome them into their congregations. They just can’t let them get married or be ordained or do a whole load of other things that their hetero counterparts are allowed to do. This is because the Bible states clearly that their lifestyle (God, I hate that word) is a sin and, therefore, is in opposition to Christian beliefs and values. 

I do not argue that the Bible provides a clear statement condemning homosexuality. The most well-known examples are found in Leviticus, chapters 18 and 20.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (18:22)

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. (20:13)

So. Pretty cut and dry. Here’s the thing, though. There are a couple of different camps concerning the reading of the Bible. Either you believe that the Bible was written during a certain time period for a certain audience in a certain context, and it’s important to update our own interpretations based on a modern audience and context. Or you believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God and can therefore only be interpreted in one way, and that is to the letter. (Spoiler alert: everyone in the second camp is wrong.)

If you happen to be among the folks who believe that every statement in the Bible requires immediate and unqualified acceptance, more power to you. It’s definitely a way to live. I imagine it’s safe to assume that, after reading this entry, you’ll be emptying out your checking account and 401k, selling your home, and giving every penny to the needy. We are commanded to do this, and a number of other uncomfortable things, repeatedly throughout scripture. 

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

So we’re all agreed to go ahead and update our understanding of the Bible for a modern audience, right? Good. This leaves us with the possibility that, even in a modern context, the Bible still argues that homosexuality is a sin. Let’s unpack that.

The aforementioned Book of Leviticus is, for the most part, a code of conduct dictated to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai. It’s basically “Ten Commandments: The Director’s Cut.” In reality, it’s a list of rules, written down over a very long time, governing things like hygiene and societally acceptable behavior. Throughout the text, it’s made clear that this code is to prevent the Israelites from behaving as the Egyptians and Canaanites historically had. This behavior included fertility rites consisting of sexual rituals. During these rituals, whole families, including husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, cousins, aunts and uncles would sometimes have sex. Also included was sex with temple prostitutes. In short, every kind of sexual practice imaginable was performed at these rituals, including homosexual sex. They liked to party.

Historians have concluded that, in Canaanite culture, long-term homosexual relationships did not exist. A tribal culture where there were strict divisions between men’s and women’s work, and offspring were considered essential for survival, simply would not have allowed for that sort of development. It’s unreasonable, therefore, to believe the author of Leviticus intended to prohibit a form of homosexual relationship that did not exist at the time. When read in textual and historical context, the "abominations” mentioned in Leviticus 18 and 20 are clearly directed at homosexual temple prostitution, and that is how they should be interpreted.

So maybe the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn homosexuality as a lifestyle (that damn word again, ugh), but does that mean it’s explicitly supported? Fortunately for us, there is scriptural evidence to answer this question, unlike, for example, abortion, which has no material whatsoever for reference, meaning the right-wing evangelicals arguing a pro-life case based on religion have no Biblical leg on which to stand. But I digress.

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour. (Matthew 8:5-13)

A quick lesson in Greek vocabulary: there are two words used in the original translation of this scripture that are noteworthy - pais and doulos. Doulos is a generic term for “slave”, which lines up with the English translation used above (NRSV, for anyone curious). Pais, however, has three different meanings. It could mean “son or boy;” it could mean “servant,” or it could mean a particular type of servant - one who was “his master’s male lover.” When the centurion referred to this particular slave, he used the word pais. When referring to any other slave, he used the other term, doulos, as if to draw a distinction. The clear implication is that the sick man was no ordinary slave. And when pais was used to describe a servant who was not an ordinary slave, it meant only one thing — a slave who was the master’s male lover. Jesus knew this and still healed the man, taking time to remark on the exemplary faith displayed by his lover. 

Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said,

“Do not press me to leave you    or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go;    where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people,    and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—    there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me,    and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”

When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. (Ruth 1:14-18)

A Hebrew lesson this time. The word translated into the English “clung” was originally dabaq. There’s another place in the Bible that word is used.

And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones    and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman,    for out of Man this one was taken.”

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:22-24)

That’s Adam and Eve, by the way. A man clings - dabaq - to his wife. The very same way that Adam felt about Eve, the same way a husband is supposed to feel about his wife, is the way Ruth felt about Naomi. That love is what led her to proclaim, “Where you die, I will die - there will I be buried.” 

But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.” (Matthew 19:11-12)

Last one, promise. Although I could do this all day. This particular passage is Jesus’ response to the permissibility of divorce. Hi answer is, more or less, you’re not allowed to get divorced - another thing that folks who argue strict Biblical adherence might struggle with - but clarifies these three groups as people who should not marry women. What’s a eunuch, you ask? The short version is that it’s a man who has been castrated. Generally, we assume this castration is a physical act, but in this case, historical context implies a more symbolic meaning.

In reverse order: eunuchs who "have made themselves” eunuchs. It stands to reason that there aren’t many people out there who would castrate themselves, so we’re meant here to understand that these are men who have foregone marriage in order to better serve God. Sort of like Catholic priests. Well, the non-creepy ones, anyway.

Next, eunuchs who were “made eunuchs by others.” Yeah, that’s... that’s a regular old-fashioned castrato. Ouch.

Finally, eunuchs who “have been so from birth.” In ancient Jewish culture, “natural” or “born” eunuchs were not associated with missing testicles. Rather, they were associated with stereotypically effeminate characteristics and behavior, not unlike modern gay men. I’m not saying the stereotype is accurate, just that it exists. Moreover, eunuchs were commonly associated with homosexual desire. Jesus would have been well aware of this common view, yet states in no uncertain terms that some people are just born that way. You’re welcome, Lady Gaga. 

Finally, my favorite piece of evidence that the Bible doesn’t really give a shit who you love: There was no word in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek for "homosexual" or "homosexuality." These words were invented near the end of the 19th century when psychoanalysts began to discover and understand sexuality as an essential part of the human personality in all of its diversity. Consequently, it cannot be claimed that the Bible says anything at all about it. The writers of the Bible had neither the understanding of it nor the language for it.

There’s a church here in town, part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, with the following statement on their website:

The Scriptures clearly proclaim homosexual behavior as contrary to God's will and therefore sinful. The EPC affirms a life-changing gospel which can heal and transform even such a deep-rooted and serious deviation as homosexuality. A position paper on homosexuality is available.

This is wrong on so many levels, and I don’t even really want to tie it into the rest of this post, but it makes me so angry every time I think about it that I couldn’t not include it.

The United Methodist Church’s brand promise, since 2001, has been:

Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.

However, they have just made it clear to the world that members of the LGBT community are second-class citizens. They are not worthy of marriage or ordination. Pastors who officiate same-sex weddings will be stripped of their titles. Churches that do not certify adherence to this position will be removed from the denomination. Time to find a new slogan.

Almost all Christians claim to love everyone, gay or straight, black or white, you name it. But claims and actions can be very different, and any belief which serves to diminish other people is clearly not born from love. Homosexuality is not a lifestyle, it is an important part of a person’s identity. Any position which states that God loves LGBT people but disapproves of this aspect of their identity is misguided. I don’t know much, but I know this: God created everyone, that creation was intentional, and it was deemed to be good. It is not possible, then, for God to disapprove of or consider sinful a fundamental part of this creation.

Bearing all of this in mind, I’m left with just one belief: “Christians” - and I use the quotes there with the maximum amount of snark available - who hold themselves in opposition to homosexuality or any other group on the gender or sexuality spectrum, do not do so out of any legitimate religious belief. Instead, these positions are rooted in a misguided morality and then justified via deliberately misinterpreted scripture. It breaks my heart to know there are so many who would pervert my faith to assuage their fears and increase their comfort. I mourn for my LGBT brothers and sisters, and I hope for a day when we can all agree that hatred has no place in the Kingdom of God. 

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

[archangelmichaelus-blog]

2019, New Nodal Axis, Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter, Be Ready for changes!

Dragon Head, Persian Manuscript

2019, New Nodal Axis, Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter, Be Ready for changes!

Year three: Faith and Trinity. Triangle, Trinity, the merging of three energies for manifestation. Or, You, the environment and God. That could be an interesting experiment for many!

Violence in Paris: we understand the population’s complete ‘raz le bol’. It takes a good dose of wisdom and detachment, to go on and bare the economical dead-end faced by an increasing number of people. Not even speaking about those living in Yemen or Syria! While Chinese are counting their new billionaires… The protesters were angry and often drank… Is this how we want to change the system? Yes, we welcome globalism and sharing but we are also feeding the dumbing down — nivellement par le bas— of our societies.  Braking other people’s property and destroying historical artifacts or monument does not change the present aberration that has engulfed our political and economic systems.

Should the French work during the weekend? That might stop the protests. Or, learn from American entrepreneurs… ‘You wanna make big bucks? Who’s suffering? Create a charity, uses tax dollars and reward yourself’: Mr. Sanchez, grew up ‘along the Mexican border’. His family was very poor, but he managed to go to Harvard (how did he do and is the chief executive of Southwest Key, a charity providing shelters for the migrant children.

“Mr. Sanchez seized the chance to expand his nonprofit when thousands more unaccompanied children began crossing the border during the Obama era. When the Trump administration needed to house migrant children it had separated from their parents, Mr. Sanchez took them in.” “Southwest Key has collected $1.7 billion in federal grants in the past decade, including $626 million in the past year alone”…. Mr Sanchez, calling himself ‘a social-justice warrior’ ‘was paid 1 was paid $1.5 million last year — more than twice what his counterpart at the far larger American Red Cross made.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/02/us/southwest-key-migrant-children.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Souwest Key and Mr. Sanchez: https://www.swkey.org/about/leadership/dr_juan_sanchez/

As for politicians, besides making millions miserable, they do not stop entertaining us with their attempts in balancing egos and power. Trump is back dining with Xi Jinping because the enemies need each other.  Well, let’s be children and speak about the stars. A refreshing start with the voice of a very young man, preparing for ascension! ttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM_EBs-6Of2Z8Cpsg9plnYA/about . Oh, maybe the old generation has not worked in vain!  After 60 years of service, 30 preaching in the Desert and 20 years, literally in the Desert, it seems that more people men are finally ready to hear!!

2019, be ready for the changes! Lunar nodal axis moves in Cancer-Capricorn

An important event happened in November: the lunar nodes changed sign. First, remember that the nodes move mostly retrograde – reverse from the planets.

Astrologers use two indicators: the True Node, in which the motion of the nodes is recorded, as is, with a motion mostly retrograde, yet sometimes direct. You can check that in the Ephemeris.

Descending node- Dragon Tail

The Mean Node, which is a calculated average between steps, retrograde and direct. The Mean Node always goes retrograde.

The nodal axis, the line between North and South nodes, indicates what type of energies we are clearing up and evolving through collectively during 1.5 years. It also determines the type of general karma/background of the babies born within a nodal cycle. “We will soon see the births of children who are members of a very different soul-tribe than the babies who’ve been born since early 2017. That is because south node energy is what you see in a newborn baby’s eyes, at least once you have stripped away all the required rhapsodic cooing. Babies are as human as you or me, warts and all. As the south node switches signs, the nature of warts switches too.” https://www.forrestastrology.com/blogs/astrology

For you, the nodal axis and the eclipses, happening around the nodes, indicate what you will need to work on to grow; most importantly, eclipses are the windows for freedom of the past and opportunities for the future. The nodal axis is called the karmic axis or cosmic destiny axis.

The nodal axis changed in October 2015; in April May 2017, the nodal axis was Aquarius/Leo. Then, in November 2018, it shifted to Cancer/Capricorn. The last time that we were on the Cancer-Capricorn axis was from April 2000 to October 2001. This gives an indication of the situations that could be presented in your life.

Immediately, we must stress out that the sign of Capricorn currently hosts two heavy duty celestial bodies: Pluto, still at 20 Capricorn (= at 20 degrees) while Saturn is at 11 degrees, in its own sign.

The Leo-Aquarius energies have emphasized on finding self, shining the ego and cultivating freedom or self-centeredness- depending at what level we are.

The Dragon Head or North Node is now in Cancer. Ruled by the Moon, Cancer emphasizes on home, your roots, family and traditions, mother and emotions. Comfort, security, food are primary concerns. The Cancer is receptive and could become passive, even weak. Psychologically, the feeling of being safe comes from inside. On the opposite side of this axis, the Capricorn creates his boundaries from external sources.

Collective connection to the feminine aspect and matriarchy. Women can use this transit to grow in power and income! Countries are rethinking their position towards a global economy, earth changes and protection of eco-systems, migrants. Protectionism, nationalism, borders are part of the trends.

The Head is in the Moon= The emotional Moon takes a dose of reason, awareness and thinks straight.

Capricorn as Goat-Fish

Opposite, the south node (headless on the picture, Dragon Tail) sits in Capricorn, home of Saturn, thus structure. Capricorn is a male, father sign, authoritative, ambitious, looking for social order or status. It is an authority within society, within the consensus and thus leading Mr. Capricorn to emotional repression if uncomfortable.  This sign concerns big businesses, institutions. Individuals marked by the Capricorn, or strongly loaded with Saturnian energies, gets locked in ‘how things should be’ and could abuse their power, even become dictators. The integrated Capricorn is a wise philosopher living as a hermit, or the expert in strategy…

Capricorn is represented as a goat with a fish tail, a reminder of the Sumerian Enki, presiding over creation, magic, water. Enki, who stands with one foot on solid Earth and one on Water, was believed to dwell in the Abzu, the primeval ocean or sea of creative semen. Saturn, ruler of Capricorn is the agent of construction, crystallization of the creative impulse.

The first obvious idea is that mankind is rethinking the balance of power between feminine and masculine energies and leadership. This balance can take many forms. In September 2011, after the event in New York, the US created HOMEland security.

The transit Cancer-Capricorn opposes nurturing the areas of home, family, and emotions versus driving ambitions and social status. It could lead to a struggle between structured power — governments, kingdoms, and democracy.

Eclipses in 2019, your windows of opportunity and change:

This is only a list. Details will be added later:

January 5th: Partial solar

January 20-21: Total lunar

July 2nd: Total solar Visible in South America. Eclipse chasers can contact me if you feel like traveling.

July 16th: Partial lunar

December 26th: Solar, annular.

A fun transit November 11-12: Mercury will move in front of the Sun. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/transit/2019-november-11

In 2019, Pluto and Saturn will be close enough to be considered conjunct and will already feel the impact of Jupiter in the Sagittarius. Saturn will be at 20 Capricorn while Pluto will have progressed up to 23. This conjunction demands to transform or letting go (death, symbolic or not) the structures in your life that have become obsolete.

PLUTO/SATURN AND VEGA

A significant trigger for change is the ongoing conjunction Pluto/Vega. The Star Vega, Alpha-Lyra sits almost opposite to Sirius. One of the most important renewals in our Cosmic energy system is the handover of power and leadership from Sirius to Vega. This is the uttermost transmutation that is taking place with Pluto, then Saturn and then will be blessed by the powerful Jupiter.

NOTES:

French: Capricorne et astrologie mondiale, Saturne http://www.astrologie-conseil.eu/2017/11/2017-2020-saturne-en-capricorne-en-astrologie-mondiale-et-individuelle-video-youtube.htm

Killing Mr. Kashoggi, video, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000006154117/khashoggi-istanbul-death-saudi-consulate.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[les-bian-eponine]

On this post I’m going to be recording every single gay thing that happens in Les Mis starting with that full-page rant about how fucking GAY he was

“Still, this sceptic had a fanaticism. This fanaticism was neither an idea, nor a dogma, nor an art, nor a science; it was a man: Enjolras. Grantaire admired, loved, and venerated Enjolras. To whom did this anarchical doubter ally himself in this phalanx of absolute minds? To the most absolute. In what way did Enjolras subjugate him? By ideas? No. By a character. A phenomenon often seen. A sceptic adhering to a believer; that is as simple as the law of the complementary colours. What we lack attracts us. Nobody loves the light like the blind man. The dwarf adores the drum-major. The toad is always looking up at the sky; why? To see the bird fly. Grantaire, in whom doubt was creeping, loved to see faith soaring in Enjolras. He had need of Enjolras. Without understanding it himself clearly, and without trying to explain it, that chaste, healthy, firm, direct, hard, candid nature charmed him. He admired, by instinct, his opposite. His soft, wavering, disjointed, diseased, deformed ideas, attached themselves to Enjolras as to a backbone. His moral spine leaned upon that firmness. Grantaire, by the side of Enjolras, became somebody again. He was himself, moreover, composed of two apparently incompatible elements. He was ironical and cordial. His indifference was loving. His mind dispensed with belief, yet his heart could not dispense with friendship. A thorough contradiction; for an affection is a conviction. His nature was so. There are men who seem born to be the opposite, the reverse, the counterpart. They are Pollux, Patroclus, Nisus, Eudamidas, Hephaestion, Pechmeja. They live only upon condition of leaning on another; their names are continuations, and are only written preceded by the conjunction and; their existence is not their own; it is the other side of a destiny which is not theirs. Grantaire was one of these men. He was the reverse of Enjolras. 

     We might also say that affinities commence with the letters of the alphabet. In the series, O and P are inseparable. You can, as you choose, pronounce O and P, or Orestes and Pylades. 

     Grantaire, a true satellite of Enjolras, lived in this circle of young people; he dwelt in it; he took pleasure only in it; he followed them everywhere. His delight was to see these forms coming and going in the fumes of the win. He was tolerated for his good-humour. 

     Enjolras, being a believer, disdained this sceptic, and being sober, scorned this drunkard. He granted him a little haughty pity. Grantaire was an unaccepted Pylades. Always rudely treated by Enjolras, harshly repelled, rejected, yet returning, he said of Enjolras: ‘What a fine statue!’”

I highlighted all the names that were gay (that I knew of). That’s really a lot of comparisons to Ancient Greece.

EDIT: Actually, I’m highlighting everything that’s gay. I’m not letting anyone read this brutal block of text without any points to read from.

[republicstandard]

US Embassy in Jerusalem Opening Tomorrow: Regional Unrest Ahead

The Iran-Palestine Peace Circus: Two Non-Deal-Deals in Likud Clown World

Deals! They come in three forms: Good deals, bad deals, and forced deals; the first two depend on whether you correctly assess your risks, but they’re agreed upon by both parties; the last depends on whether you’re being conquered or not. If you’re being conquered your only real choice is to fight, rather than accept a deal probably not offered in good faith to begin with. If you trust the word of a person who knows they have the ability to force you into an unfavorable compromise, they’ll probably, eventually, take to themselves even that which you have been offered.

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This was the sentiment held by my best friend when growing up; a young Palestinian named Peter with a few Lebanese roots, exiled in an Australian capital city with his Christian family, separated from other family members exiled in Lebanon. They were some of the most welcoming, truly conservative people I have ever met, the strength of their family bond being an amazement to behold. Perhaps a strong family bond is easier when your birthright is stolen by a new nation which ejects you from the land of your nativity, finally your family being forced to settle halfway across the planet in a foreign country. Tough times make tough people.

Palestinians, as Christians, had been thriving in Palestine for almost two thousand years until 1947 when the government of Great Britain created a power vacuum, announcing it would remove its mandatory administration. In swept tens of thousands claiming a birthright lost to them in 70AD; though from a Christian perspective this birthright was rejected on Passover 33AD during a Messianic Regicide. Perhaps this is why the Palestinian Christians were the recipients of especially egregious disdain. Today, less than 30% of these Palestinian Christians worldwide still reside in their homeland.

Christian Zionism: Likud Christmas gift that keeps on giving

As a result of this exodus, Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ which was 86% Christian in 1950, was by 2012 only 12% Christian; the rest of the town being Muslim. This de-Christianization of the birthplace of Christ is a direct result of the formation of Israel in 1948 – not the result of Muslims driving out Christians – though if you were to ask a Christian Zionist living in America what they thought of the situation, you’d think modern Palestinians were worshipping Molech, sacrificing babies on altars, Joshua having returned in a secular reappearance.

Pope Francis visited Israel/Palestine back in 2014 during the 50th anniversary of the first Papal visit to Jerusalem (1964 Pope Paul VI visit). During this 2014 visit Haaretz reported an inconvenient truth which might come as a surprise to some western Christians, but not Christian Zionists as it will go through one ear and out the other: The Palestinian Authority is far more accommodating towards Palestinian Christians than the administration in Israel;

... the PA’s record is far better than Israel’s. The president's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, is a Christian. So are two cabinet members, for Finance and Tourism, and two members of the PLO's executive committee. The deputy speaker of the Palestinian National Council, Qonstantin Qurmush, is a priest. Christians abound on boards of banks and chambers of commerce, and head its largest company, CCC. By contrast, in its 66 years, Israel has had no Christian presidential spokesman, government minister, or bank chairman. Where Palestine has eight Christians in its parliament, Israel has two. Where Palestine has at least five ambassadors, including to London and Berlin, Israel has none. … Israel’s prime minister [Netanyahu] ... in his first term in the late 1990s aroused Christian ire by backing construction of a mosque next to Nazareth’s Basilica of Annunciation, while his Palestinian counterpart, Yasser Arafat opposed it. [!!] ... Israel does give its Christians native citizenship, but when its leaders endlessly trumpet their status as a Jewish state, many feel they have second class status. They are not spared strip-searches at Israel’s airports. Exacerbating Christian anxieties, hate-graffiti – such as "Mary is a prostitute" – is daubed on church doors, and increasingly rife. Priests in Jerusalem say spitting on their habits has become well - a habit.

Despite this reality, adherents of the relatively new phenomenon known as Christian Zionism - with their ironic blindness to the implications of Messianic Regicide as applies to the land deed of Mosaic covenant - cheer on the consummation of the remaining land by an ethnic in-group so detached from the Old or New Testaments, it leaves a person actually familiar with that sacred text scratching their head in bewilderment.

This travesty bears heavy irony: Christians thus cheer the historical displacement of fellow Christians by a nation which despises the person of Christ, most of whom, as secular, regard not even the person of Moses; two men respected by almost all Muslims as two of six sacred prophets. Of course, secular leaders like Netanyahu will never miss an opportunity to wheel out the proverbial corpse of Moses endowed with everlasting political capital, citing the land deed promised by (to?) this titan of history as part of a conditional covenant.

It might sound like a generalization, but let’s face it: Christian Zionists actually believe themselves to epitomize the purity of right-wing conservative doctrine in the United States. They consider fellow Christians who hold a position of empathy towards Palestinians to be either ‘liberals’ or anathema to true Christianity. Accordingly, denouncing the false image of largely secular lebensraumist Zionism is a heresy too upsetting to Cyrus Scofield’s ghost. As a result, most Christians who don’t overtly agree with Scofield’s gibberish simply hold their silence. The Christian Zionist cannot but judge, though they should remember, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

Well, I’m sorry to be the messenger carrying the uncomfortable flame of truth, but holding your silence is just as bad. It’s time to speak up; something early Church fathers were also persecuted for. It is our duty. It is what qualifies our Christianity. Never shrink from controversy because Jesus Christ died for this very same reason; testifying against this same ethnic group the Palestinians are now also confronted with, I might add. All Christians need to realize that ethnic Palestinians worldwide are over three times as likely per capita to accept the blessing of Jesus Christ than Jews; they also have a much higher conversion rate.

From the same Haaretz article quoted above :

The Knesset bans Christmas trees which sprout all over Palestine from public display on its premises.

The above should be read in context of the National Menorah being erected annually next to the National Christmas Tree directly south of the White House, which if not attended by US officials yearly to celebrate Hanukkah would be shouted from the rooftops as a sign of disrespect, anti-Semitism, probably even garnering hyperbolic insinuations that gas chambers were nigh. Oh, how accommodating we are in the west, regardless of the treatment of Christians by that nation claiming the name of Israel in the east. The Smithsonian magazine gives a little history of how the National Menorah was lawyered into the national capital highlighting the coincidental relevance of Iran ever since its inception in 1979 :

Every year, the White House has two holiday symbols on the Ellipse: the White House Christmas tree and the National Menorah. The tradition of the National Menorah dates back to 1979, and to an Orthodox Jewish leader in Washington named Abraham Shemtov, who thought the nation’s capital needed a menorah as well as a Christmas tree. Then, the secretary of the interior initially denied him a permit to put a menorah on government property, on the grounds that it would violate the First Amendment … Shemtov … “called his friend Stu Eizenstat, an adviser to President Jimmy Carter. Eizenstat gave the secretary a choice: Either approve the permit or deny the National Christmas Tree’s permit too. If he disobeyed, Eizenstat would take the matter straight to Carter, who would side with Eizenstat—a major embarrassment for the secretary.” Shemtov got the permit, and a tradition was born. That year, President Jimmy Carter participated in the lighting of the menorah, mentioning the Iran hostage crisis in his speech.

70 Years: Reversing the symbolism of Cyrus the Great

Cyrus Scofield wasn’t just the author of the most influential pro-Zionist commentary on the Bible, but his parents happened to name him after a man of completely opposite purpose; liberator of those who deserve covenant clemency. Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia is commemorated in Judaism and Christianity, for freeing the People of the Covenant in 539BC from a 70 year captivity in Babylon; the number 70 being of further importance in Christianity as Jerusalem was obliterated by Rome in the 70th year (70AD) since the birth of Christ. Cyrus also lived to 70 years of age and Trump was 70 years old when elected. Haaretz reported the religious buzz in December 2017 :

Christians and Jews Now Compare Trump to Persian King Cyrus – Will He Build the Third Temple? Like Cyrus 2,500 years ago, Trump is seen as an instrument of God. And the plan: to build the Third Temple on the Temple Mount – where the Al-Aqsa Mosque currently stands

Currently, in 2018, during the 70th anniversary of the 1948 Israeli Declaration of Independence, the opportunity to invoke this important number and its relation to Cyrus the Great has not been missed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; leader of the Likud coalition in the Knesset. US President Donald Trump has been happy to indulge Netanyahu’s semiotic fancies for this anniversary by declaring Jerusalem to be the official capital city of Israel – a ‘holy’ grail endorsement justifying the 1967 border violations by Israel.

On March 1st – Purim (!) – Netanyahu made a speech at the United Nations HQ in NYC where he, characteristically, held up a Persian rug made in Iran in what the Jerusalem Post called a ‘Purim Parody’. He declared the rug a weapon of subversive warfare and a vector for money laundering by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Four days later, on March 5th, he met Trump and wife Melania in the White House for a presser ;

It’s always a pleasure to see you, both but this is the first time we meet in Washington – America’s capital – after you declared, Mr. President, Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. And this was a historic proclamation followed by your bold decision to move the embassy by our upcoming National Independence Day. I want to tell you that the Jewish people have a long memory. So we remember the proclamation of the great King Cyrus the Great — Persian King. Twenty-five hundred years ago, he proclaimed that the Jewish exiles in Babylon can come back and rebuild our temple in Jerusalem. We remember, 100 years ago, Lord Balfour, who issued the Balfour Proclamation that recognized the rights of the Jewish people in our ancestral homeland. We remember seven[ty] years ago, President Harry S. Truman was the first leader to recognize the Jewish state. And we remember how a few weeks ago, President Donald J. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Mr. President, this will be remembered by our people throughout the ages. And as you just said, others talked about it. You did it. So I want to thank you on behalf of the people of Israel. And I also want to — I look forward to our discussions on both challenges and opportunities. If I had to say what is our greatest challenge in the Middle East to both our countries, to our Arab neighbors, it’s encapsulated in one word: Iran. Iran has not given up its nuclear ambitions. It came out of this nuclear deal emboldened, enriched. It’s practicing aggression everywhere, including on our own borders. And I think we have to stop this country — the chants, “Death to Israel,” “Death to America.” Iran must be stopped. That is our common challenge.

Thus, Palestinian Christian and Muslim captivity by Israel, is portrayed as a period of Israeli captivity, Trump is likened to Cyrus the Great, the rebuilt Temple is invoked (!), and the actual Persians are portrayed as if they are Babylonians who need to be thrown off by the might of King Trump at the 70 year mark. Reversals! This is Likud Clown World!

#Netanyahu thinks he can complain about #Iran's nuclear program to the international atomic agency, Is he going to tell them about #Israel's illegal nuclear weapons program too?

— Partisangirl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) April 30, 2018

Trump’s actions to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem during this 70th year, in spite of Palestinian protestations, is not exactly the sort of conciliatory stance a person makes when apparently just about to offer the Palestinians a deal for statehood – in good faith we are told. This deal which will be publicly tabled by the end of May 2018 is not a good deal. It’s not even a bad deal. It’s the third option; the forced deal. This is conquest in continuation. There is no good faith here towards the Palestinians.

A cadre of four comprising of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and wife, together with Jared Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump, are to open the US Embassy on the 70th anniversary; May 14th. I have a hunch that Kushner is Donald Trump’s chosen peace ambassador to present the deal shortly thereafter. Jared, the geopolitically inexperienced heir of a billionaire Orthodox Jewish New Jersey felon’s real-estate empire headquartered at the Kushner Companies building at 666 Fifth Avenue – who married the non-Jewish daughter of the first billionaire POTUS, shunning Rabbinical marriage custom – will perhaps be ‘offering’ a ‘peace deal’ in Jerusalem to the Palestinians and Israelis (which the Likud totally engineered). Could this get any more clown world?

Early reports are suggesting that this deal is for the Gaza Strip and half of the current West Bank excluding the Jordan Valley; including four peripheral and rather marginal neighborhoods in East Jerusalem as a capital. If true, this new West Bank would be a concentration camp for 3.3 million Palestinians forever placing Israel in charge of Palestinian water supplies, their contact with fellow Arabs in Jordan being cut off. Israel would have a complete choke-hold over this mini-state. If the Palestinians accept or are forced to accept this deal, the new nation could expect to be sanctioned and/or continue to be assaulted by a hostile Israel perpetually citing ‘self defense’; just like Syria and Lebanon, sovereignty would mean nothing.

If one checks the rising war barometer since the Iraq War – especially lately – one gets the impression this symbolic 70th year was singled out so that tensions around Iran and Palestine would climax simultaneously :

Sunni Saddam overthrown. Democracy brought to majority Shiite Iraq.

Shiites inevitably become the dominant force in Iraqi politics.

Shiite ascendancy allows a greater rift to open up between Baghdad and Erbil, fueling the Sunni Kurdish independence movement while Israel digs into the KRG oil and gas industry (previous article) readying it for integration into Israeli water and energy security agendas.

Shiite Iran becomes major power broker in Baghdad and Shiite Southern Iraq.

Sunni ISIS/Syrian Rebel/Al-Qaeda/Al-Nusra NATO-Saudi proxies break out like a virus in order to clear the required pipeline corridors and justify balkanization of Syria (previous article).

Iranian proxy Hezbollah drawn deeper into Lebanon, Syria, Iraq.

Hezbollah strengthened immensely in the Shiite public imagination for preventing the fall of Assad. This is great news for the Likud.

Israel now can claim Hezbollah/Iran have encircled them so that annexation of more Syrian and perhaps Lebanese territory can be claimed as ‘self-defense’ against Iran (actually happening as I type, as I predicted a week ago). This is simply more land theft or theft by proxy. As explained in a previous article, this is to assist Israel and the Saudis to carve out two pipeline corridors, 1) to bring oil and gas from a newly balkanized north-east Syrian puppet state and the KRG in northern Iraq, into Haifa via the Golan Heights, including water from the Euphrates, and 2) to tap the Gazprom Killer in Qatar, linking it with the EU, preventing Iran from tapping this same shared super-field and gaining access to either the EU or Chinese energy markets.

Iran non-deal-deal (explained below) for a nuclear program offered then revoked by successive administrations as if this wasn’t planned all along to provoke predictable reactions in Tehran; for example, the burning of the US flag in their parliament by government officials. Netanyahu, Likud & Co., sit back in glee at this wonderful public relations gift for the Zionist cause. Mission accomplished. Chaos can now resume as desired.

Jerusalem declared the official capital of Israel by the US President and the official location of a newly relocated US Embassy to be opened on May 14th, 2018; the Roman calendar date of the 70th anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.

Palestine offered a “deal of the century” on statehood by President Trump, almost instantly endorsed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman – even though it isn’t public yet – who then threatened Mahmoud Abbas, telling him he has to accept the deal or resign (Isn’t it funny how this happens right after the recent major purge of royal rivals in Saudi Arabia?). It’s as if Salman were the inaugural recipient of the Zionist award for Wahhabist of the Year. I can imagine the award now; it would be a golden clown waiving the black flag of Jihad wearing a suicide vest of peace.

The billionaire Jewish Zionist Sheldon Adelson – the largest political donor in the US and Trumps biggest donor, who openly supports illegal settlements in the West Bank – waits until Trump revokes the Iran nuclear deal including a fresh slew of sanctions on Iran, before donating $30 million to save the House GOP majority. You’ve got to be good boys and girls before you get your pocket money!

Dear reader: None of this is deliberately synchronized.

These are all ‘coincidences’ following foreign policy ‘mistakes’ in Iraq.

Nothing to see here . . . move along now!

Likud Clown World: Come to the big top, to see the show!

The ‘liberal’ Brookings Institution in Washington DC – which is one of many fronts for tabling Zionist geopolitical agendas and presenting them as productions in the best interests of the United States – released a 156-page report in 2009 entitled “Which Path To Persia?” (PDF).

This report is basically a handbook for regime change, such as those which have occurred or been attempted during the Arab Spring (which began two years after the report was released). As I mentioned in a previous article, JINSA and Netanyahu’s Likud coalition have a fixation on Iran which is the crux of this very influential report I would advise serious students of geopolitics to read in full. On page 39 (pg.52 in PDF), the report states the following regarding Sanctions :

For those who favor regime change or a military attack on Iran (either by the United States or Israel), there is a strong argument to be made for trying this option [sanctions] first. Inciting regime change in Iran would be greatly assisted by convincing the Iranian people that their government is so ideologically blinkered that it refuses to do what is best for the people and instead clings to a policy that could only bring ruin on the country. The ideal scenario in this case would be that the United States and the international community present a package of positive inducements so enticing that the Iranian citizenry would support the deal, only to have the regime reject it. In a similar vein, any military operation against Iran will likely be very unpopular around the world and require the proper international context—both to ensure the logistical support the operation would require and to minimize the blowback from it. The best way to minimize international opprobrium and maximize support (however, grudging or covert) is to strike only when there is a widespread conviction that the Iranians were given but then rejected a superb offer—one so good that only a regime determined to acquire nuclear weapons and acquire them for the wrong reasons would turn it down. Under those circumstances, the United States (or Israel) could portray its operations as taken in sorrow, not anger, and at least some in the international community would conclude that the Iranians ‘brought it on themselves’ by refusing a very good deal.

Notice the inclusion of Israel side-by-side with the United States as dual antagonists attempting to convince every other world player of the need to take down Iran.

What actually happened when this planned Iranian nuclear deal was offered up by Obama in 2015? Rather than decline it, Iran accepted the terms. We can see in the report that the intent was for the deal to be rejected so the US and Israel could use the rejection to 1) prove to the world that the Iranian regime cared more about nuclear arms than peace, and 2) use the rejection to stir resentment internally in Iran, turning the Iranian people against the regime. This deal acceptance delayed Zionist plans to overthrow the regime using this initial approach, though in the section on Invasion, on page 65 (pg.78 in PDF), the report continues :

If the United States were to decide that to garner greater international support, galvanize U.S. domestic support, and/or provide a legal justification for an invasion, it would be best to wait for an Iranian provocation, then the time frame for an invasion might stretch out indefinitely. With only one real exception, since the 1978 revolution, the Islamic Republic has never willingly provoked an American military response, although it certainly has taken actions that could have done so if Washington had been looking for a fight. Thus it is not impossible that Tehran might take some action that would justify an American invasion and it is certainly the case that if Washington sought such a provocation, it could take actions that might make it more likely that Tehran would do so (although being too obvious about this could nullify the provocation). However, since it would be up to Iran to make the provocative move, which Iran has been wary of doing most times in the past, the United States would never know for sure when it would get the requisite Iranian provocation. In fact, it might never come at all.

This report is entirely candid that the desired outcome for the US and Israel is a full scale invasion of Iran!

As I hinted earlier, the foreign policy ‘mistakes’ made after the Iraq War which have led to an Iranian influenced Shiite regime talking over in Baghdad, were completely deliberate. The breakout of NATO asymmetric warfare proxies known as ISIS & Co., in Iraq and Syria, were also deliberate (Wikileaks). Hezbollah which is virtually a direct militia arm of the Iranian regime has been drawn down into Syria and they’re even more entrenched in Lebanon as the recent election has proven. Now Israel and Hezbollah are exchanging fire between the Golan Heights and the Syrian ‘buffer zone’ which I predicted in a previous article.

The truth is, the Iran nuclear deal was always going to be revoked in the event that Iran did not decline the offer. This is because it is a non-deal-deal; it was simply a circus apparatus in the world-class Iran Palestine Peace Circus brought to you by Likud Clown World.

The forced deal in Palestine is also none other than a non-deal-deal, being synchronized with the collapse of the Iran non-deal-nuclear-deal during Israel’s 70th year. This is being done so that a Palestinian rejection or acceptance can be tied into a greater conflict where asymmetric warfare techniques (such as false-flag military or terror attacks) can be used to create the PR necessary to sell Israel as the victim and the United States as the savior; rather than both being seen as aggressors having planned this in advance. Thankfully far more people are waking up to the reality of this circus.

What do the true aggressor’s desire? As I explained in my last two Balkanizing Syria articles (here and here), they desire the final rewiring of mid-east geopolitics: Pipeline corridors; Israeli lebensraum annexations; balkanization; death; misery; flag draped coffins; not to forget massive military industrial complex profits and war debts for the bonds salesmen – Americans can pay the bills and provide the bodies, as usual. US neocons and Zionist JINSA aligned apparatchiks in Washington designed all of this. It is a masterpiece of Hegelian dialectic.

I’ll leave you with one final ominous statement from this Brookings report reminiscent of the chilling “New Pearl Harbor” comment in the 1997 PNAC Rebuilding America’s Defenses report. This excerpt comes from page 66 (pg.79 in PDF), mentioning a “Tehran-sponsored 9/11” :

Most European, Asian, and Middle Eastern publics are dead set against any American military action against Iran derived from the current differences between Iran and the international community—let alone Iran and the United States. Other than a Tehran-sponsored 9/11, it is hard to imagine what would change their minds. For many democracies and some fragile autocracies to which Washington would be looking for support, this public antipathy is likely to prove decisive. For instance, Saudi Arabia is positively apoplectic about the Iranians’ nuclear program, as well as about their mischief making in Lebanon, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories. Yet, so far, Riyadh has made clear that it will not support military operations of any kind against Iran. Certainly that could change, but it is hard to imagine what it would take.

NOTE: Public antipathy can only be manipulated using massive events like the September 11th, 2001, terror attacks in the US, which can be organized as false-flag operations if/when necessary.

I have a good idea exactly what and where such an event may occur, though I’ll save that for a future article. To be clear, I am not against Jews having a sovereign state of their own, but I question the wisdom of them having been given this particular land of all lands; including their M.O. towards their neighbors since their ascension. What is the statute of limitations on a particular land covenant granted by divine right in a largely secular state? 1900 years?

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I urge the reader to take the time to read the “Which Path To Persia?” report. It’s quite obvious from the bold language and tone, the authors consider Iran to be a frustratingly peaceful nation actively attempting not to trigger a conflict, yet the authors are clearly attempting to work out schemes to implode Iran or to justify a military invasion – shades of Iraq WMD’s propaganda. These people are insane. People with psychological profiles like this, could either deliberately, or accidentally, trigger WWIII if public awareness of their intentions does not increase rapidly. It almost might be too late though, based on events taking place on the Syria-Israel border at this very moment.

I don’t know about you, but this Peace Circus is starting to insult my intelligence. Is Netanyahu Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King’s I.T., or am I just having a bad dream? At least a rogue intern got the best of this dangerous clown villain recently during a PowerPoint presentation :

A disgruntled intern slipped this slide into #bibi's speech about #Iran's nukes, it reminds people that #Israel tried to sell nukes to South Africa. Embarrassing! #Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/KdYAhdQA86

— Partisangirl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) April 30, 2018

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[dorkydanmarie]

Historical Essay

Preface: 

According to the Marxist social and political theory, it is the natural process of society for the lower classes to rise up and revolutionise their unbalanced societal structure. This occurred in Russia during the Great War where the autocratic Tsar Nicholas II was forced to step down by the people February, 1917. There was a scrambling for power in the consecutive decade, starting with the Provisional Government whom inherited their power from the Tsar himself. However multiple factors, including the connection to the Tsar and Prince Lvov’s decision, as a part of the Provisional Government, to continue in World War I (WWI). This was a disastrous decision, with the death count having quickly reached the millions and half of the Russian army forced to charge enemy lines unarmed, for Russia was industrially a century behind their western counterparts. In October 1917 the Bolshevik Revolution occurred, headed by Vladimir Lenin and organised by Leon Trotsky. This saw a communist based political party seize power. A civil war ensued pitting the ‘Reds’ (Bolsheviks) against the ‘Whites’ (various conservative generals from the Tsar period and their military divisions, the Socialist Revolutionaries and others along with Western Allied support), with both sides using terror tactics for control. These became more extremist as the civil war continued for they each were ‘egging’ the other on. The Red Bolshevik regime faced many disadvantages, including lower numbers and support both at home and abroad, yet due to Leon’s Trotsky’s commanding of the Red Army and their geographical centralised advantage, the Reds won the civil war. What followed was a period of consolidation and impressive progressivism for all manner of society, including women, when compared to the rest of the world. However this was not to last. When Lenin died in 1924, a political conflict arose out of the question of his successor. Josef Stalin, who had been quietly manoeuvring himself in the background almost since the party’s inception, had the political power and prowess of mind to push his competition, including Trotsky, out of the way and rise to become the dictator he is infamous for. 

“When the name of Stalin is pronounced, what springs to many minds first of all is the repression, and the violation of humanity.” This quote rings true for it cannot be denied that at the hand of Stalin millions fell. Amongst all of the brutality it can be hard to imagine that ‘regular life’ continued on, and yet it did. However Stalinism certainly did impact Soviet culture and society. This essay will discuss how life continued in the areas of education, women and the arts under the influence of Stalin’s Totalitarianism.

Education became much more conservative under Stalinism. Joseph Stalin was singular in achieving his goals, and for his industrialisation plans to succeed, he needed the average worker to have the basic literary skills so as to ensure the efficiency of the working class. Similarly, as industrialisation, the mechanisation of the farms and the militarisation of the country occurred; engineers, specialists and the like were needed to propel Russia and their archaic technology and tactics into that of modern western times. Stalin saw inefficiency in the country and rectified it, and in so doing benefitted the people by giving them higher forms of education though, admittedly, not an entirely truthful one. Non-political subjects such as physics and mathematics were encouraged; Stalin did not want to inspire social reforms. Stalin, the revisionist, altered the history of Russia, ordering teachings of their heroic leaders such as Peter the Great. Teachers gained more authority and education became more conservative under the influence of Stalin, who saw the education of the people as a means to an end: improved efficiency in industrialisation, collectivisation and his five-year-plans.

The roles of women also became more conservative under Stalin’s rule. Under the Bolsheviks, women gained many progressive rights and freedoms, including the legalisation of abortions, easier access to divorce and equal social and political rights with men. However, what Stalin saw was a declining birthrate; the opposite to what he needed for the progress of the country. What is called ‘the great reversal’ saw many of these gains reverted back to how they were pre-Bolshevism, including abortion and divorce rights. Stalin also implemented motherhood benefits similar to Germany, where the more children a woman had, the more benefits; such as 2000 Ruble a year; that woman could receive. While this was a step backward in terms of progressivism, it was a step forward for Stalin and his goals for the country. It can be challenged that the claim that life continued on is false in this regard, however the rights of women had improved for a very short period of time, and in the grand scheme of the country, were inconsequential in the long run; hence life for women continued on as it had before the Russian revolution.

The arts were also influenced by Stalinism. While not entirely eradicated, it was enforced that all works; visual, literature, etcetera; must depict a positive view of Stalin, Russia and the situation of the people. Those who did not, such as Osip Mandelstam, were sent to the Gulags (prison camps), killed, or both. The art movement borne of the constriction became known as ‘Socialist Realism’. Artists who created works in cubist or impressionist styles, as were popular in the west, were frowned upon and their works considered inferior. Stalin influenced this aspect of society and culture to essentially become another source of propaganda in favour of himself, his regime and his plans; using the NKVD (secret police) to maintain control. While the arts continued, they were heavily modified and events often misinterpreted and misrepresented, benefiting the Stalinist Regime.

Life under Stalin in Russia continued on. However many aspects of society and Russian culture were impacted by Stalinism. Education became more conservative, women saw the ‘great reversal’ and the arts transformed into another outlet of Stalinist propaganda. In influencing these aspects of society, Stalin furthered his own means of constantly striving towards his end goal: the modernisation and strengthening of Russia. While he used the NKVD to inspire terror tactics and undeniably caused the suffering of millions, Stalin achieved his goal. A goal once deemed unattainable, he emerged from WWII as the most powerful man in the world with Russia as the second world-superpower. It can be argued, as evidenced in this essay, if Stalin had not infiltrated every aspect of society; if he had not favoured the group over the individual; he likely would not have been able to achieve the ‘impossible’.