#i know someone whose family legacy is also “serving in the army.” he wants to get in too...

[timetravellingkitty]

Going Anonymous for security reasons here. So, regarding Kashmir: I am sick and tired of how people on Tumblr (or rather Hindublr tags) really believe that Kashmir is healing when it is still the most armed state in the world. I am horrified of how these people glorifying Army personels, who are no more than paid abusers and rapists and this is coming from a person whose family legacy is that of 'serving in the Army' I am not Kashmiri (And I cannot say I have faced the same shit they faced and I commend their resilience and their spirit) but I've had the chance to visit the 'non tourist' spots and let me tell you, it is fucked up. Even from the perspective of a person who is very privileged in this situation. I've literally seen some of these 'brave sons of India' beat up a seven year old boy just because he was 'being a hindrance in the road' One of my dad's colleague just got a 'warning' even after being a convicted assaulter after he raped two Kashmiri women (And this was back in 2013) and I came to know about this through Twitter out of all things. I remember going through those small towns in Kashmir and it being fucking empty and everything being closed up because they were afraid of the people who were stationed to 'protect' them. I am so sorry for venting out on your inbox like this but I've seen some of these blogs defend the Militarisation in Kashmir and it is awful and inhumane of how these people could even defend that out of all things. And to burst their bubble of delusion, it has gotten worse after the bill was passed. So many Kashmiri Muslims are getting wrongfully evicted out of their homes to 'house' the Pandits (but doing nothing when they were living as refugees and in destitution in Jammu) and the internet ban during the pandemic and people think Kashmir is healing?

And most of all, I wanted to thank you for posting the masterlist about Kashmir. It is very informative and has helped me learn and unlearn a lot of Kashmiri history.

This isn't even the first time the Army has done something like this. The IPKF was responsible for the massacres and rapes of multiple Tamil civilians it's insane how dedicated we are to glorifying the Indian military

[its-not-a-pen]

eunuch rating system: part 2 electric boogaloo! part 1 based on the original post by @welcometothejianghu wherein i continue to rate REAL historical chinese eunuchs! this is a non-exhaustive list and there's honestly no metric to it. i just pick the guys i like.

Han Dynasty (yes, again. the Han was like 400 years long lol) Cao Teng was a pretty normal guy whose biggest claim to fame is his extremely infamous grandson, Cao Cao. Because of this, Cao Teng is the only enunch in chinese history to get a royal title; Emperor Gao of Wei, which was granted posthumerously through Cao Cao’s grandson Cao Rui.

Cao Teng was a good judge of character who promoted a bunch of famous people, one of whom was a guy who had even tried to impeach him previously. After 30 years of service, he retired, got married, and adopted a son. 

i decided to put him on the list because the common perception of the eunuch is a "mutilated" man living a lonely, unfulfilled life. What is often left out is they are highly motivated people who excel at their jobs, exert a lot of influence, and are able to have families and leave a legacy.

the majority of eunuchs came from poor families, and serving at the palace gave them an opportunity to obtain wealth, status and an education they would otherwise never have access to. it does require an unimaginably painful sacrifice, but that shouldn't be the only thing that defines them.

Cao Teng's hard work benefited his entire clan and lifted them out of poverty. But there was a complex interplay between him being a venerable ancestor, and someone marked by the stigma of castration. I imagine there was something bittersweet here for Cao Teng, knowing that he had done so much for his family, but they would rather he didn't exist.

Cao Cao was able to become a prime minister because of the wealth, connections, and education earned by his grandfather. At the same time, he appeared to resent him. The source of his ancestory was a sore spot which was repeatedly brought up by his political enemies to discredit him, something he never commented directly on or attempted to defend.

ming dynasty

MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE FOR THE COOLEST PERSON IN THE MING DYNASTY!!!! actually scratch that, MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE FOR THE COOLEST PERSON IN CHINESE HISTORY, PERIOD.

Zheng He was born Ma He to muslims living in Yunan, which was ruled by Mongols at the time. He was captured by the Ming army between the age of 10-14, castrated, and given to the young Yongle Emperor as a servant. Incredibly enough, he was like "no hard feelings mate" and went on to work in EVERY SINGLE JOB. and kick absolute ass in ALL OF THEM. he started out as a soldier on the northern frontier (the toughest place to serve, that was where all the border conflicts were) and fought in several campaigns with the future emperor, distinguishing himself and earning the emperor's trust.

I originally had him drawn in a more stereotypically "heroic" pose, by all accounts he was a tough guy who "walked like a tiger", and while the main purpose of the Ming voyages were diplomatic, he didn't shy away from violence. (he fought PIRATES. like a fucking shonen protagonist). in the end i decided to go with a picture that showcases less celebrated but equally important leadership qualities like curiosity, patience and discipline. I also want to point out that he wasn't the only eunuch on the trip, around half of the commanding officers were also eunuchs. He wasn't an exception to the rule but rather the face of a largely ignored majority; complicated people who were making the most of a difficult job.

Notes: the giraffe he brought back didn't have a name (at least not on record), but the Ming thought it was a qilin (kinda like a chinese unicorn) and i thought that would be an adorable name for a giraffe.

Ming Dynasty

i feel like we've had too much nuance, so lets finish this list off with a properly corrupt and scheming enunch! Wei Zhongxian castrated himself at age 21 to escape his gambling debts, and it unleashed his potiential like Rock Lee removing his leg weights. once inside the palace, he started out as a minor kitchen hand but managed to hustle his way to being the right hand of the emperor, who was an indifferent ruler that prefered woodworking to running a country. for this reason, I decided to make him a ventriloquist dummy.

Wei Zhongxian then proceeded to go on an extravagant and over-compensating ego trip. actually, it was more like a 40-year-long, olympic worthy, ego-long jump. things came to a terrible end when he tried to stage a coup (it failed and he decided not to hang around the capital, and go hang on some rafters instead). by then, decades of corruption had weakened the Ming, the emperor's only son got exploded in horrible incident that also wiped out most of the Ming Dynasty munitions--and what's this? here comes the Qing Dynasty with a steel chair!!!! notes: I decided to make Wei Zhongxian's design a human version of my cat, because he is also an incredibly devious but rather low-wisdom individial.

[dailyaudiobible]

07/03/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Kings 22:4-23:30, Acts 21:37-22:16, Psalms 1:1-6, Proverbs 18:11-12

Today is July 3rd. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great, as it always is, to come together around this global campfire and spend some time together, allowing God's word to wash over us and wash into our lives and form us and to do it together in community. It's great to be here today and every day. And so today we will take the next step forward, picking up where we left off. We're reading from the Voice translation this week. 2 Kings 22:3-23:30 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in 2 Kings, we read the story of Josiah, who was a king who's perhaps the greatest reformer. Definitely one of the greatest reformers in ancient Israel's history. And we saw what he did. He went on a rampage for God as it were when he discovered the book of the law that was in the temple. It had become obscure. And it was read and he realized just how far from the path that they had wandered. He spent the remainder of his time as king setting thing as right as he could. And as the Bible said, there was no one else like him ever. So, we read of his life and events and times and legacy and we left the Old Testament reading today with his son taking his place on the throne. And we'll have to see where that story goes tomorrow.

Then in the book of Acts yesterday, we saw a mob form, we saw Paul being beaten to death until he was rescued by Roman soldiers. And he was taken into custody. And we begin to see the counter intuitive ways of what's happening because of Paul's incarceration, even today. Because the mob is following Paul, screaming, trying to get at him. The soldiers have to pick Paul up to get through the crowd and to try to save Paul, though it's a pretty tense situation. But Paul reveals himself as a Roman citizen to the Roman guards. They had mistaken him for someone else, but now they're holding in custody a Roman citizen which changes everything. And Paul asks for permission to speak to the mob. So, the people who were going to and would have killed Paul by beating him to death are now his captive audience. And under guard of the Roman soldiers, under their protection, he is speaking the gospel to the very people who were trying to kill him. And that will become Paul's story going forward in all of his travels. Paul could have never shared the gospel story, his own testimony, to that mob. They would have killed him. But he was able to share the gospel story with the very mob that wanted to kill him because he got arrested. So, we will witness the counter intuitive ways of the Lord through the Apostle Paul as we continue forward through the book of Acts and then into his letters.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your ways. Your ways are higher than our ways and Your ways are often counter intuitive to us. But Your ways are always good and righteous and right. And so we ask, Holy Spirit, come. Reveal Your ways to us. Show us what this day is supposed to look like for us and give us clarity and wisdom and awareness. And help us to slow down enough to walk with You so that we might know and follow Your ways. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it's where you find out what’s going on around here.

And the one thing that's going on around here right now is what's coming up this Saturday. I mean, there's other things going on around here. Tomorrow is a big national holiday for those of us who live in the United States. It also happens to be my wife's birthday. So, there are other things going on around here. But what's going on in the community happens on the 7th of July. We have our little holiday, our own little tradition. It's called the Daily Audio Bible Long Walk. And it's simple as can be. Doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can participate. Just mark the day off. Take that day and give it to God. Go for a long walk. And let this be one of those times where you had all the time you needed to say everything you needed to say. Just to talk through everything that's going on in all of your relationships, your work environment and in your ambitions and in your hopes and in your dreams. Just take the time to talk about it all. And take the time to listen. And it's a great thing to go somewhere beautiful. Go out into nature where there is some stillness, where you can disrupt the normal flow of your busy life and just breathe and see the rhythms of nature that God has created. And allow that to speak because it does. It's all created by God and it all bares his glory and speaks of his glory. And so, we go out into nature and just disrupt ourselves. It can be very, very (meaningful). So, that's what's happening and thousands of us will be doing it all over the world. What makes it a community experience is that when we're on our long walk, we know that someone else is too. And just take a picture, shoot a video wherever you go, whether it's across the street or across the country. Take a picture, shoot a little video or something. Keep that as a commemorative of your long walk. But you can also post it up to the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page. Just go to facebook.com, search for Daily Audio Bible. Or facebook.com/dailyauiobible will get you there. And we get to watch the windows open into each other's lives as we experience each other's pictures from their long walks and maybe some things that God spoke or just how you were feeling or what the day was like for you. So, make plans for that this Saturday, the 7th of July.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what we're doing together as a community is bringing life to you and bringing transformation to you, than thank you for your partnership so that we can continue to move forward. There is a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the give button in the upper right-hand corner. Or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi. I want to praise God for his love, mercy, and grace. I am a pastor’s wife and I’d like prayer for my two adult children, one son who recently married whose marriage is in deep trouble and a daughter who has been away from the Lord since her teenage years and now serving in the United States Army but not serving the Lord’s army. Thank you so much for remembering those two children who are a great burden to my heart. Thanks and God bless you all. Have a great, wonderful time serving the Lord.

I know the plans that I have for you plans not to harm but to prosper you behold I am making all things new return to me and I’ll return to you what an awesome promise from our Lord that I, even I could be restored sins forgiven, past ignored blessings in and on me pour God I’m so glad that You’re not like men because You’re more patient with me than my most patient patient friend because I return to You again and again and again and again I return to my sin and not just in some mistaken airing way but blatantly disobedient day after day forgive me Father please forgive me now because I do want to serve You please show me how I read your word I fast I pray and I still fall short every single day that’s why I thank You for your mercy and your grace and for Your open arms and your smiling face and You let me know even though I fail victory is mine I will prevail and I thank You for telling me every day Father the battle is not yours because I still need help staying out of those revolving doors because even though I’m out of Egypt Egypt is still in me and even though there are no bars walls or chains I know I’m still not free Father give me more of your Holy Spirit I love Your voice and I long to hear it and one more thing Father grant me please an open broken heart on bended knees blindtony1016@gmail.com. Blessed Like Me and Show Me God’s Love In This life, I hope you’re both still hanging in there. Haven’t heard from you in a while. Know you’re still loved and prayed for every day. And once again Brian, thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flown’ y’all. All right. Bye-bye.

Hi family this is his little Sharif in Canada. It’s a July 1st today. Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians. Last month I called and shared with you prayer plans as a creative way to pray and this month I’d like to tell you about mosquito bite prayers. Mosquito bites are one of the most effective triggers for prayer that I’ve ever discovered. And I call them trigger prayers. They’re just prayers that are triggered by something. For instance, you can decide that every time you hear a certain song on the radio you’ll pray for a certain situation or every time you see a chickadee at your birdfeeder you’ll pray for a certain person, etc. etc. Well, recently, after I spent today in the country I came home with a bunch of mosquito bites and I was scratching like crazy but then I thought, maybe I can turn these bites into prayer somehow. So, I decided that every time they itched, which seemed like every 60 seconds, instead of scratching I’d pray for people I knew who were battling addiction. And, so, that’s what I did. And I found myself praying all day for people like Terry the truck driver and other DABbers fighting addictions, that God would deliver them and give them supernatural strength to resist temptation. So, maybe that’s something that you’d like to try this summer. Mosquito bite prayers, another creative way to pray from the banqueting table of prayer. God bless you family. Bye for now.

Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family. This is Akeem from Edmonton Alberta Canada. I just wanted to say hello and God bless you all in 2018. Today is July 1st. Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends and family. Anyway, I just wanted to check in. I haven’t called in for a while. I just wanted to let you know guys, I’m listening and I’m praying with you all. And 2018 has been amazing. God has been working wonders in my life and with my family and I hope He’s been doing great for you as well. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to Brian and Jill and the family for this wonderful podcast. And I’m just checking on my sister, Nora. She’s from Canada I believe and she hasn’t called for a while. And she’s got an Islamic background. Family, so I hope God is great with you and you are keeping good with Jesus and He’s just working in your life. Take care everybody. Thanks. Bye.

[markoftheasphodel]

For the meme: Alvis and Travant

Arvis

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life (In the sense of being a good antagonist, that is)hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang (Kinda went off on the fabulous bastards with long flowing hair some time ago)hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (Yeah yeah, ambition, but also keep the surface presentation of Arvis, heir to the “emblem of justice,” in mind– imagine him going through life saying out loud “My whole family is Gryffindor” knowing the Hat had a lengthy dialogue with him about his ambition. And yes, Gryffs can go very wrong.)best quality: He had a vision of a better world and the competence and drive to almost get there. He saw a very corrupt world and said “I can do better than that” and tried.worst quality: Pride and a level of self-deception that goes with it. He thought he could handle Manfroy and couldn’t. He thought he could cover his tracks and couldn’t. He thought he could build a better world on a foundation of murder. And to the end, he never apologizes to Seliph. Can he admit, even to himself, the magnitude of his crimes and failures? I don’t know.ship them with: Uh… Aida.brotp them with: Poor Azelle and no one else, really. He’s an isolated man by design.needs to stay away from: Aside from random women who resemble his mother, the legit husbands of his love interests, and random dark mages?misc. thoughts: A++ antagonist but basically he was the party to a whole lotta murder and the architect of many injustices to the common people and the fact that he a) had the best of intentions and b) suffered deep personal losses doesn’t change that.

Travant

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life (Again, in the sense of being a great antagonist. Travant is a personal favorite.)hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang (what I said above about fabulous bastards with fabulous hair, as impressive a figure as he cuts)hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (That’s not even a contest.)best quality: I think it’s that sense of “justice” that Lewyn says doesn’t make sense outside of his own borders. He wants to keep his people safe and well-fed, and the deck’s been stacked against him. He wants brigands rounded up. He hates working for scum like Chagall. He balks at personally murdering a toddler in a world where offing the kids of your political enemies is standard procedure. He stands in sharp contrast to a really awful king like Dannan or a weak one like Bloom.worst quality: The justice doesn’t come with sufficient levels of mercy (Altena aside), so we get lovely things like hostage-taking and orders for reprisals against civilians. For all that he resents the powerful forces that keep him in check and his people down, he’s willing to take the low road if it works, and it usually works.ship them with: Nobody really. Don’t ask me where Arion came from. I can see the argument for the Quan hatesexship but it’s really not my thingbrotp them with: Nobody really. If he could’ve been bros with someone like Hannibal he’d have been better off. needs to stay away from: Ethlyn, Leif, and Finn, both in the literal “somebody gonna die” sense and the “I have seen these ships and lo, they were bad” sense.misc. thoughts: A really great antagonist who serves as a foil to two of the heroes (Quan and Finn) and another villain (Arvis) and shines in every role– ruler of an embattled nation, father waging proxy war through his children, long-game mastermind who wants to reshape the power balance. Travant willingly gets his hands bloody and then offers no excuses; he knows he’s probably going to hell for everything that he’s done and accepts that as the price of his master plan. Arvis quietly arranges for the Tyrfing to reach Seliph and waits at Chalphy for the rebel army to show, but Travant strips himself of his holy weapon and flies off to directly confront the people who most want him dead. Both Arvis and Travant sort of get what they want– an Empire more just than the regime it replaced, a unified Thracia where grain can flow freely from north to south– but Jugdral’s cosmic morality looks at Travant’s own sacrifice and says “good enough” and so his son is spared, his daughter gets the chance to shape his legacy, and the kid sitting on New Thracia’s throne don’t have major holy blood. For whose sake was it all, and who really won in the end?