#(As exemplified by the number of asks I received about it)

[empressofthewind]

Analysis of Near's Relationships & Social Skills

fairly long post below the cut :-)

something that i find really interesting about Near's sociability in the manga is the fact that he's immediately presented as a recluse. in his very first scene, he's sitting alone completing a puzzle, and declines Linda's invitation to come outside "for once", without looking up or even remotely entertaining the request. this is backed up by his profile in Volume 13, in which his social skills are rated a 1/10, and it's said that he "keeps human contact to a minimum". yet when we see him throughout the rest of the series, this doesn't really seem to be the case. it's tough to analyse what he's like in typical social situations given that the circumstances under which we see him are quite unique, but he is surrounded by people pretty much 24/7 and seems to be very comfortable in this setting. he frequently asks for the input of his team, he is extremely willing to share his thoughts with them at any given time, and he also empathises with them and encourages them to speak up if they feel uncomfortable at any point (e.g., telling Gevanni he does not have to touch the notebook if he's too scared, and telling the entire team that they are welcome to stay at headquarters if they do not want to risk Mello making contact with them). so it doesn't feel right to say that he's shy or unwilling to talk to others, or that he has limited understanding of/regard for others' feelings; nor does it feel accurate to say that he keeps contact "to a minimum" when it's both shown and confirmed that he functions best with others around him.

the impression i get from him is that he is very willing and able to talk to people, but only when he needs to. he can hold a conversation just fine and he talks a lot when prompted, but he does not engage with people simply for the sake of socialising. he won’t go out of his way to initiate a casual chat just because. he does not conform to social norms, as exhibited by his preference for wearing socks and pyjamas even when meeting the President of the United States, so he won't participate in activities or conversations that he is not interested in just for the sake of earning brownie points with the people involved. he doesn't crave the approval of those around him and would rather be alone than engage in forced social interaction. his manner is also very blunt and he is not above brutal honestly. even his lies are very blunt and bold, such as him pretending that he dialled the wrong number when calling Light to confirm that Mogi was not Kira, or announcing to the task force that Mogi had died - which is a stark contrast to L, who lies often and is generally not upfront about it. i also feel like as much as he is willing and able to articulate his thoughts very clearly and extensively, this isn't necessarily his default. when receiving the news of L's death, for example, his instinct is to remain quiet, and process the information internally before speaking about it. on several occasions during the Kira case, he has to be prompted by the members of the SPK to share his thoughts. so i think it is perhaps reasonable to say he is instinctively a fairly quiet person, but is more than capable of speaking his mind if the need arises.

but despite all of this, i do definitely feel like he prefers having people around him. he's perfectly capable of reaching conclusions on his own, at times even faster than he would be when thinking aloud - case in point, the moment when he deduced that Mikami is X-Kira - so it isn't as though he needs to voice every individual thought. in fact, he doesn't really need to have others in the room with him at all, which is once again exemplified by the X-Kira deduction. but he often chooses to be around his team and voice his thoughts anyway, especially when he has strong opinions about something or someone, such as Kira supporters attempting to break into his hideout, or the president withdrawing his support from the SPK. i also think it's worth mentioning that despite him having been alone when he deduced that Mikami was X-Kira, he did invite both Gevanni and Rester into the room individually to ask for their opinions on who stands out to them from the broadcasts, so he could, in his words, use them as a reference. this suggests that he does not just share his thoughts and ask for input because he feels obligated to do so as a member of a team, but that he deems their contributions worth taking into account. it seems to me that he genuinely values the input and presence of his team and recognises that they are instrumental in solving the case; thus he offers them the courtesy of hearing his thoughts at every stage throughout the case, and explaining the logic behind the duties he needs them to perform for him.

once again, though, it's tough to analyse Near's social skills & habits when looking purely through the lens of his interactions with his employees, and there are limited options to investigate outside of the SPK. one thing that is clear to me, though, is that he draws very clear lines between people he does and doesn't respect, and treats them differently as a result. Light is the best example of a person Near does not respect. even before establishing that Light is Kira, Near has no issues telling him to his face that he and the task force are incompetent. after deducing that Light is Kira, Near is snarky with him, calls him out on his lies, and is the only person in the entirety of Death Note who tells Light to his face that he is a mass murderer, not a God. this ties both into Near's bluntness & honesty and his lack of desire for social approval; he has no interest in pretending to like people he fundamentally does not.

the best example of someone Near does respect, in my opinion, is Mello. Near's relationship with Mello is a particularly interesting case to analyse as an outlier amongst the people he interacts with. Mello is the only person we see him engage with (other than the brief exchange between him and Linda) whom he has history with beyond the Kira case, and who is neither a direct ally nor masquerading as one. Mello is actively working against Near, and thus, in theory, Near has no allegiance to him, nor any reason to be polite to him unless he considers Mello a potential threat whom he needs to be especially sensitive towards - which clearly isn't the case, given he makes no effort to appease Mello when his gun is pointed at Near and instead gives Mello permission to shoot him. so the way he speaks about and to Mello is very notable to me. it's abundantly clear to me that Near likes Mello and has a lot of respect for him. he praises Mello on his ability to get the Death Note before the SPK could, and does not hold Mello's crimes against him. Near talks about Kira and his followers with disdain and condemns them for their crimes, but he vehemently defends Mello, and is very quick to justify Mello's actions. he also went to great lengths to protect Mello by contacting everyone he knew of who had seen Mello’s face, and kept his photo protected for five years.

however, Near also puts very little effort into forming any sort of amicable relationship with Mello, as far as we can tell from canon. he accepts Roger's request for them to work together, but does not complain or attempt to stop Mello when he walks out. he does not console Mello over L's death, either, and he makes no attempt to extend his interactions with Mello later in the manga when Mello visits his headquarters and sends Mogi to him so they can conduct a joint interrogation. he never tries to convince Mello to like him and he doesn’t make a big deal about the effort he has put into protecting him. what this shows, in my opinion, is that if Near does have any interest in befriending and/or working with Mello (the latter of which i think is implied, and the former is more so a matter of interpretation), he does not want to force those relationships. he would be willing to align himself with Mello directly, but he does not want Mello to do so out of any sense of obligation. since Mello has made it clear that he has no interest in working with him, Near does not try to persuade him, and is perfectly comfortable to let him follow his own path if that is what he wishes to do. this could also give context to his apparent lack of friendships at Wammy's House, as specified in Volume 13 - if all of this is true, it's possible that there were others at Wammy's House whom he liked and would have been open to befriending, but because of his unwillingness to take initiative when it comes to forming these relationships, he gave off the impression that he was not interested, and would rather be alone.

[queer-cannibalism-bracket]

Welcome To The Queer Cannibal Bracket!

I noticed there's a lot of media that features queer folks who eat people or otherwise flirt with cannibalism & thought "You could make a bracket out of that."

If someone else has already done it, well, more than one person can do a thing at a time.

Nominations Will Be Open For At Least A Week (<-Link to form)

Bracket size will be determined by the number of nominees received. Initial lineup will be determined by comparing perceived popularity to number of submissions. Submit as many contestants as you like, but know if you submit the same one more than once you'll skew that data. No limit on characters from the same media competing, but I may set them up to face off against each other sooner rather than later depending on the size of the bracket.

The details of the contest are open to interpretation. You may choose to vote on the basis of popularity, who could take who in a brawl, who better exemplifies the nomination qualifications, personal preference, whatever. We all know these end up being popularity contests in the end as it is.

Qualifications for Nominees:

Queer:  Doesn't matter what flavor of queer they are, but this isn't just a general cannibal bracket. That said, coding, subtext, and metaphor all count. Word of god only counts insofar as it supports an argument for reading into coding/subtext/metaphor/etc.

Cannibalism: It doesn't matter how they feel about the cannibalism. They can be pro-cannibalism, horrified about the cannibalism, unaware of the cannibalism, only facilitating the cannibalism rather than directly cannibalizing, etc, but there does have to be some form of cannibalism involved. General guidelines:

Unwitting cannibalism counts.

Cooking people without actually eating them counts

Being directly responsible for a person being cooked or eaten also counts even if they don't eat the person themselves.

Drinking blood counts, but when selecting contestants the odds will be in the favor of blood-drinkers who are human, view humans as equal to them, and/or actually kill the people whose blood they drink.

Metaphysical, subtextual, and/or metaphorical cannibalism also counts but likewise when selecting competitors odds will be weighed towards literal cannibalism or examples that more closely align with literal cannibalism.

Killing people without an element of consumption does not count, but consumption without death of the consumed counts, with previously established caveats.

Obscure contestants are highly encouraged, because I'm also using this as a means of finding new stories to enjoy. (There may be an underdogs bracket after the initial bracket, subject to demand/number of nominees.)

Some Ground Rules:

Not every cannibal in the bracket will be a horrible person, but a lot of them will be. It's a cannibal bracket. Moralizing in my asks, the notes, or my inbox will only be tolerated if it's funny.

On a related note, I know where the block button is & I won't be shy about using it. That's not just about moralizing, that's also about people just having some decency interacting with each other. If this stops being fun for me I'll shut this bracket down without any regrets.

I'll probably reblog/post/answer propaganda but part of "if this isn't fun I simply will not do it" is that is not making that a guarantee for every instance of propaganda. I'm not going to spend time worrying about missing some before polls close.

Relevant tags for organization and blacklist purposes will be listed as we get closer to having an actual bracket/they become relevant.

[awesomecooperlove]

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

----------------------------------

A warrior and a member of a TEAM. An expert and professional. You serve the people of the United States and live those VALUES. 

The Army's leadership values are:

L D R S H I P

Leadership, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. All of those are ACTIONS not voiced words and definitely not those you use to one up someone based on what God called you to do. 

It's time to start acting like professionals who are supposed to be doing something for your country and her people that's greater than yourself. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Military Service is just that... it's a service and it's not for your personal resume to use as a tool for your secondary career and/or personal gain... And definitely not to make others feel inadequate and unworthy because they didn't do what you did. War is not an opportunity, it's an unfortunate, unnecessary evil, even when justified. 

Let others brag about you and your service and accomplishments. Let your awards, medals, and accomplishments do the talking when the time of display is appropriate. Let it come as a surprise to people in conversation if the topic arises. The whole "when I was in Iraq", "when I was in Afghanistan", "when I was deployed" in random conversations NOTHING to do with Military only points to narcissism, lack of attention, lack of acceptance, the need for self-gratification, from those who never answered the call and duty of service. Those were your DUTY which is the whole part of service. There's a time and place for everything. Being tough doesn't come in words. The Lion isn't feared for its roar, it's feared when it cannot be heard. 

How about understanding how the Military is funded? We've ALL been living under the wake of false narratives, lies, and certain personal agendas, and it was all predicted by an actual General and President not that long ago. 

And Civilians... SHAME on you. Nobody should beat you up for your decision not to serve, as it is just that, a volunteer service, but comments as such exemplify a 'lack of spine' on any level. Have you no decency left? Don't be a Keyboard Warrior who NEVER raised your right hand to verbalize or write such comments to those who answered THEIR call. If this fits you, you of all people have nothing to contribute to the conversation, but your gratitude for their call for the lack of yours. 

And Veterans who's resumes are more loaded and decorated... Congrats. You did your job. You answered YOUR call. You fulfilled your DUTY. Not everyone can be the hero like you just have to be. But someone had to hold the line for you, kind of like the Offensive Line of protection of the Quarterback. How come the Quarterback doesn't play defense? It's a team for a reason. You'll receive your glory and honor a lot quicker by letting others around you uplift your achievements when you learn to humble yourself and understand Military Service is something greater than yourself...  

The WORST part of ALL of these numbers above... they're all in the past tense where we can "study" why some Veterans have demonstrated why they think and feel they're 'better' than others. That's why they call it "studies and data" as these organizations have statistics via letters and comments before these acts were committed, not just numbers. Truly sad, devastating, and all for what? 

So, congrats to all the Heroes and Zeroes. Is this what you want and wanted?

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[thecoleopterawithana]

The next night Elliot [Mintz] took us out with a friend of his, Sal Mineo, and we all went to a gay cabaret/discotheque. John was oblivious to the gay ambience. He was curious about everyone's sexuality and liked to gossip about who was sleeping with whom, whether they were gay or straight. John made no judgements about homosexuality but was really curious about who was and who wasn't gay.   He knew that his appearance at a gay club might start rumors about his own sexuality, and it made him laugh. He told me that there had been rumors about him and his first manager, Brian Epstein, and that he usually didn't deny them. He liked the fact that people could be titillated by having suspicions about his masculinity. Then I was the one who was laughing. "How could anyone believe a man who likes women as much as you do is gay?" I told him.   After the show we went back to Mineo's apartment. I was thirsty, and Mineo told me to look in the refrigerator. There was nothing in it but one big bottle of amyl nitrite.   Mineo told John that he knew Ava Gardner. "I'm a real fan of hers. I love Ava," John replied excitedly.   Mineo went to the phone, called London, woke Gardner up, and told her that John wanted to speak to her. John took the phone. "Ava, is that you? Ava, I think you're beautiful. I've seen all your movies. Christ, is it really you?" They spoke for five minutes, then a thrilled John handed the phone back to Mineo.

In May Pang’s Loving John (1983).

-

[Once again, a million thanks to @eppysboys for sending over passages of interest.]

-

Elliot Mintz (born February 16, 1945) is an American consultant. In the 1960s and early 1970s Mintz was an underground radio DJ and host. In the 1970s he became a spokesperson for John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and took on other musicians and actors as clients as a publicist, including Bob Dylan. [...] 

Though not in a professional capacity, since the death of Lennon, Mintz has acted as a spokesperson for the Lennon estate. In addition, while sifting through Lennon's belongings, he discovered hundreds of unreleased tape recordings including half-finished new songs, early versions of famous hits, and idle thoughts. Beginning in 1988, he hosted a weekly syndicated radio series based upon these recordings called The Lost Lennon Tapes, which was broadcast for about four years. After the show came to an end, Mintz began hosting the spinoff radio program The Beatle Years. Mintz has appeared in feature documentaries about Lennon and Yoko Ono, including The U.S. vs. John Lennon, Imagine: John Lennon and The Real Yoko Ono. In 1985 he was a technical advisor on the television film John and Yoko: A Love Story. He also authored an essay about his relationship with them published in 2005 in a book entitled Memories of John Lennon. [Source]

-

Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer and director. Mineo is best known for his Academy Award-nominated performance as John "Plato" Crawford opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Mineo also received a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in Exodus (1960). A 1950s teen idol, Mineo's acting career declined in his adult years. He was murdered in 1976. [...]

By the early 1960s, Mineo was becoming too old to play the type of role that had made him famous, and his rumoured homosexuality led to his being considered inappropriate for leading roles. [...] In 1969, Mineo returned to the stage to direct a Los Angeles production of the LGBT-themed play Fortune and Men's Eyes (1967), featuring then-unknown Don Johnson as Smitty and himself as Rocky. The production received positive reviews, although its expanded prison rape scene was criticized as excessive and gratuitous. [...] By 1976, Mineo's career had begun to turn around. While playing the role of a bisexual burglar in a series of stage performances of the comedy P.S. Your Cat Is Dead in San Francisco, Mineo received substantial publicity from many positive reviews; he moved to Los Angeles along with the play.

Mineo met English-born actress Jill Haworth on the set of the film Exodus in 1960, in which they portrayed young lovers. Mineo and Haworth were together on-and-off for many years. They were engaged to be married at one point. According to Mineo biographer Michael Gregg Michaud, Haworth cancelled the engagement after she caught Mineo engaging in sexual relations with another man. The two did remain very close friends until Mineo's death. [...] While some have described Haworth as being nothing but a close friend and a "beard" to Mineo to conceal his same-sex partners, Michaud casts doubt upon this claim; he asserts that Mineo and Haworth's relationship was genuine, that Mineo fell in love with Haworth, and that Mineo regarded her as one of the important people in his life. [Source]

“Portrait of a Marriage really disturbed [John]. The book was an account of the fifty-year marriage of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson, both of whom were bisexual and continually unfaithful to each other, yet were able to evolve a relationship of great depth and longevity despite the incompleteness of their marriage. John was very distressed by the theme of sexual incompatibility in the midst of great emotional attraction and the fact that no matter how hard one tries, a marriage may always remain incomplete.”

In a 1972 interview with Boze Hadleigh, Mineo discussed his bisexuality. At the time of his death, he was in a six-year relationship with male actor Courtney Burr III. [Source]

BH: Who are those two girls you mentioned, for a double date?

SM: (Laughs.) Are you kidding? I got a girl in every port- and a couple of guys in every port, too.

BH: Do you think rumors about being bi have hurt you in your career?

SM: Maybe. . . Nah, I doubt it. Everyone's got those rumors following him around, whether it's true or not. Everyone's supposed to be bi, starting way back with Gary Cooper and on through Brando and Clift and Dean and Newman and . . . you want me to stop?

BH: Did you resent the rumors?

SM: Well, no. Because what's wrong with being bi? Maybe most people are, deep down.

BH: Shirley MacLaine has publicly said that.

SM: I think she's right- got a good noodle, Shirl does. But anyhow, the rumor about me, from what I hear, was usually that I'm gay. Where, like, with Monty Clift or Brando, the rumor was that they're bi. [Brando later publicly admitted to bisexuality.]

— Boze Hadleigh’s interview with Sal Mineo (1972).

-

“John and I had a big talk about it, saying, basically, all of us must be bisexual. And we were sort of in a situation of thinking that we’re not [bisexual] because of society. So we are hiding the other side of ourselves, which is less acceptable. But I don’t have a strong sexual desire towards another woman.”

Have you ever? “Not really, not sexually.”

One online satire imagined an affair between Ono and Hillary Clinton.

“It’s great,” Ono laughs. “I mean, both John and I thought it was good that people think we were bisexual, or homosexual.” She laughs again.

What about that old rumor that Lennon had sex with Beatles manager Brian Epstein (which was also the subject of the 1991 film, The Hours and The Times)?

Lennon himself said: “Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated. But it was a pretty intense relationship.” Later, Lennon’s friend Pete Shotton said Lennon had told him that he had allowed Epstein to “toss [wank] him off.”

“Uh, well, the story I was told was a very explicit story, and from that I think they didn’t have it [sex],” Ono tells me. 

— in Yoko Ono: I Still Fear John’s Killer by Tim Teeman for the Daily Beast (13 October 2015).

-

Q. Have you ever fucked a guy?

A. Not yet, I thought I’d save it til I was 40, life begins at 40 you know, tho I never noticed it.

Q. It is trendy to be bisexual and you’re usually ‘keeping up with the Jones’, haven’t you ever… there was talk about you and PAUL…

A. Oh, I thought it was about me and Brian Epstein… anyway, I’m saving all the juice for my own version of THE REAL FAB FOUR BEATLES STORY etc.. etc..

Q. It seems like you’re saving quite a lot for when you’re 40…

A. Yes, there might be nothing better to do, tho I don’t believe it.

— John Lennon, interview conducted by/on John Lennon, and/or Dr Winston O’boogie, for Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine (November 1974).

-

John: [...] I was trying to put it 'round that I was gay, you know– I thought that would throw them off… dancing at all the gay clubs in Los Angeles, flirting with the boys… but it never got off the ground.

Q: I think I’ve only heard that lately about Paul.

John: Oh, I’ve had him, he’s no good. [Laughter]

— John Lennon, interviewed by Lisa Robinson for Hit Parader: A conversation with John Lennon (December 1975).

-

Like other alkyl nitrites, amyl nitrite is bioactive in mammals, being a vasodilator, which is the basis of its use as a prescription medicine. As an inhalant, it also has a psychoactive effect, which has led to its recreational use with its smell being described as that of old socks or dirty feet. It is also referred to as banapple gas. [Source]

Popper is a slang term given broadly to drugs of the chemical class called alkyl nitrites that are inhaled. [...] Popper use has a relaxation effect on involuntary smooth muscles, such as those in the throat and anus. It is used for practical purposes to facilitate anal sex by increasing blood flow and relaxing sphincter muscles, initially within the gay community.

"If you trace the bottle of amyl (a type of alkyl nitrite) through late 20th century history, you trace the legacies of gay culture on popular culture in the 20th century”

The drug is also used or for recreational drug purposes, typically for the "high" or "rush" that the drug can create.

Poppers were part of club culture from the mid-1970s disco scene and returned to popularity in the 1980s and 1990s rave scene. [Source]

“A cable had arrived for him that very morning stating the obvious: ‘Come too quickly. Stop. Try again. Stop. Am waiting in Paris. Stop me if you’ve heard it. Stop. Stuff yourself with artichokes and live. Stop. Don’t stop. Stop.’ He knew it was from Amie L'Nitrate.”

— in John Lennon’s unfinished story about a sudden rendezvous in Paris. Published in “Skywriting By Word Of Mouth”.

-

Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress and singer. [...] Gardner appeared in several high-profile films from the 1940s to 1970s [...] She is listed 25th among the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

-

Answered asks about:

John’s sexuality

Yoko and his sister Julia’s public statements about John’s sexuality

John "trying to put it ‘round that” he was gay

The Bob Wooler Episode

The Tony Manero Story

[Disclaimer: The answer to these asks represent my personal opinion at the time, which is liable to have evolved since then.]

[scary-senpai]

Oh, man.

Do you ever just marvel at the extent to which Saitama is just… Saitama?

This is objectively Not A Great Thing To Say. But revisiting this panel, I can’t help but think of Garou’s latest appearance in the webcomic: Suiryu picks a fight with him, and Garou walks away.

To start his life over again, Garou needs to be able to walk away from a fight. In light of that, “are you chicken?” isn’t necessarily a bad Litmus test for how much control Garou has over his actions right now. Saitama has already demonstrated (and then states aloud, to Tareo) that he has no killing intent. He wants to fight (for fun) a guy who explicitly runs around fighting heroes. At least time time it’s consensual. Of course, neither Garou not Saitama exemplifies rational decision-making, but then again, who does — especially in this universe?

Garou will almost certainly encounter more heroes. If not now, then in the future. They will call him worse things and fight to the death (and not for fun). In this moment, Garou’s body is literally mutating with rage. We see him consider Tareo’s words but we don’t see him beginning to change back into his human self. Being a monster is Garou’s entire identity right now — that’s not something people so readily abandon; it is the thing that anchors their world view.

… that’s assuming that Saitama’s goals are noble, and that’s a big “if.” But that’s ONE’s whole deal: imperfect people trying very hard, and flawed mentor figures who tend to get things right accidentally. Saitama consistently spurs positive change in people, but not always on purpose and sometimes for selfish reasons. In the WC, the Saitama vs Garou battle is interrupted by like five panels of Saitama picking his nose. What did you expect from this guy?

Also, thinking about the big picture for a moment, Tareo is in danger right now. It’s very sweet that Tareo is concerned for his Oji-san but he’s also planted himself in a disaster area and shows no willingness to evacuate. While I’m sure that Garou can and will keep Tareo safe from harm, this isn’t a safe place for them to talk (which is unfortunate because it seems to be helping). It’s entirely possible that if the rescue crews spot a monster standing alongside a kid, they’re going to shoot first and ask questions later. Even with Tareo clinging to Garou’s leg, least one person at the Hero Association has no qualms about nuking the baddies (and their hostages) if the number of civilians is low enough.

Also Saitama has stated aloud: “I’m not going to kill/beat him, and he’s not going to hurt me” — which (again) is not the ideal thing to be saying, but it is an important piece of information for Tareo to relay to the adults in the room. And it’s not just a platitude — Tareo’s witnessed Saitama’s thick-headedness superhuman durability. I also suspect that Saitama, upon realizing that Garou won’t listen to him but will watch Tareo like a goddamn hawk, chooses to address Tareo because he knows Garou will pay more attention this way.

It’s also a way to sidestep somebody’s defenses, although honestly this is Advanced Human Behavior stuff. I used to use that tactic when I was working with folks who were resistant/reluctant to receive care: address a friend or family member that seems a bit more receptive and the more standoffish party will usually soften a bit (sometimes subconsciously).

“You want me to stop him?” is quite similar to “I want you to stop” (same outcome/sentiment). It’s still far from the ideal, which is “we both agree that life is better if you Do Not Do The Thing” but that requires your goals to be aligned first. “You’ll stop because I make you” is always a last resort, but if it’s a matter of minimizing harm to self and others (which Garou has expressed) it’s generally considered best practice to act rapidly, and more drastically.

… again, not saying that’s Saitama’s necessarily thinking about this correctly or perhaps even compassionately but it might be a case of “imperfect human does something right accidentally by simply showing up.”

Ah, that delicate dance of logic and empathy and all the humanity that lies in the space between it.

I love, love, love that there are so many varied reactions to Saitama & Garou’s interactions. To me, that’s excellent characterization — because that’s what people are like: as you examine them, they change in different lights. Dig into your heroes enough, and you’ll find out things you never wanted to know like all the weird sex things your favorite author did. If you want to start a conversation, you will generally get more mileage out of questionable/unlikable characters — because your audience gets to debate this, and you, as creator, can guide them in more opportunities to grow.

Art lives on in the dialogue it spurs, and I just think that’s neat.

Edited to add: also, sometimes slipping the audience a little “hey, wtf?” moment is narratively strategic. It’s a way to get them to slow down, pay attention, and possibly reread/rewind to consider why their interpretation of events doesn’t add up. It’s a subtle way of saying “pay attention to this!” without directly stating as much, and it allows you to bypass the usual foreshadowing techniques.

[reallifesultanas]

Portrait of Murad IV's consorts / IV. Murad ágyasainak portréi

Haseki Ayşe Sultan

The Haseki

Ayşe Sultan was Murad’s favorite, dominating his reign throughout. Ayşe may have been roughly the same age as Murad, born around 1612. We know that her origin was Greek, for the ambassadors often likened her to her Greek mother-in-law, Kösem Sultan. Ayşe appears in harem records from 1628, so presumably, it was at this time that she became Murad's concubine. Unfortunately, we do not know who Ayşe’s children were and how many children she had, her only known daughter was Esmehan Kaya, who was born in 1633.

We do not know exactly when Ayşe became Haseki Sultan, but we can assume the date 1632. For from this year we have an ambassador report according to which Murad asked his mother for approval to raise the mother of his most recently born daughter to the Haseki rank. Unfortunately, we do not know which girl was born in 1632. Hanzade was born in 1631 or 1632, and a girl named Esmehan was born and die surely before 1633, but we do not know who was the mother of these sultanas. It is also possible that we erroneously postpone the birth of Esmehan Kaya to 1633. However, since Ayşe held the rank of Haseki and dominated throughout Murad's reign, we can assume that she had several children in addition to Kaya, especially boys. So it is simply possible that she gave birth to a child in 1632.

Not much of Ayşe's personality is known. In 1637, the Venetian ambassadors' secretary Angelo Alessandrini spoke of Ayşe as a woman of outstanding beauty, but in spirit, she was not in the least like the Valide Sultan, Kösem. Nonetheless, according to Alessandrini, the sultan holds her in high esteem and treats her like a queen, and Ayşe also strives to behave like a real queen. However, according to the secretary, she has no chance and in vain she tries to imitate the Valide Sultan in her clothes, jewelry, and number of servants, she can never reach her. Alessandrini reveals a lot about Ayşe with this short description, but it is important to keep in mind that Alessandrini and the ambassador he worked with were extremely loyal admirers of the great Valide Sultan, Kösem, so it is not surprising that no one could reach her in their opinions.

The strong bond between Ayşe and Murad is well exemplified by the fact that Murad took Ayşe with him on his campaign of Yerevan. This was exceptional, for the sultans had not taken their wives and favorite concubines with them for centuries. Bayezid I and his wife fell into the captivity of Timur Lenk together and, according to legend, Bayezid was tortured by Timur with raping and humiliating his wife in front of Bayezid. There is also a known case from Selim I's time when, during a campaign against the Safavids, Selim captured one of the shah's favorite concubines (or his wife), who he then married to an unimportant Ottoman official. Aware of such risks, most sultans did not take their wives with them. Some believe that Ayşe gave birth to a son named Aleaddin during this campaign, but this is probably the result of a misunderstood. Prince Aleaddin was indeed born in 1635 during the campaign, but he was born in Istanbul, so Ayşe, who was on the campaign, could hardly have been his mother, and Murad could hardly have allowed his pregnant concubine to accompany him to the campaign.

Perhaps precisely because Ayşe was with Murad throughout the campaign, many blame Ayşe for the execution of Murad’s younger brothers. After returning from the campaign, Murad killed his two half-brothers, Bayezid and Suleiman. However, there is no evidence that Ayşe ever tried to turn Murad against the princes. After the campaign, several eyewitnesses described Ayşe’s return to Istanbul as a very magnificent event. For Ayşe, this was probably one of the last magnificent moments, as soon Murad's health deteriorated, his sons died and a new concubine emerged, whom Murad also raised to the rank of Haseki and who was paid a higher salary than Ayşe.

The Widow Sultana

After the death of Murad in 1640, she moved to the Old Palace with the other concubines of Murad and with her child or children. Her relationship with Kösem Sultan was probably never very good and close, but it soon reached a low point. Esmehan Kaya entered an age to be slowly married off in the mid-1640s. The selection of the husband was the responsibility of the Sultan and the mother of the child. The Valide also had a word but she was not the one to decide. We know, for example, that even though Nurbanu wanted to marry one of her grandchildren to a certain man, Safiye (the girl’s mother) prevented this. That is why there was nothing strange about Ayşe choosing a husband for Esmehan Kaya herself. The husband candidate was not particularly politically significant anyway. He was one of Murad's former swordbearers, to whom Murad himself promised Kaya before he died. Kösem, however, wanted one of her own trusted men to be Kaya’s husband, a pasha who was loyal to her already and who she could permanently chain to herself with marriage.

So Ayşe and Kösem were tense to each other, but it is not known in detail how the war between the two women took place. Some say Ayşe tried to seek the help of Sultan Ibrahim, who, however, wanted to take advantage of the situation and wanted Ayşe for himself. In the end, this did not happen, so Kösem and her chosen one, Melek Ahmed Pasha won. Kaya and Kösem were close to each other, she was Kösem's favorite grandchild, this is why it is strange that Kösem forced her to marry Melek Ahmed despite Kaya's own will. The fact that Kösem forced Kaya, a barely 13-year-old girl, to consummate the marriage with a pasha (who in age was like Kaya's own grandfather) complicating matters further. It was especially extreme because Kaya threatened the pasha with a dagger to leave her alone and the pasha accepted this. So both of the parties were totally fine with it, but Kösem still did not let it happen. Maybe Kösem thought that without consummating the marriage Ayşe could have tried to invalidate it.

Perhaps the former events also are related to the fact that instead of Ayşe's previous high salary (2000 aspers per day), in the Old Palace she received only 100-200 aspers per day for the rest of her life, regardless of whether Valide and Haseki Sultanas could keep their original salaries even in the Old Palace. Ayşe disappears from the harem records in 1680, suggesting that she died in either 1679 or 1680. During her relatively long life, she could see the reign of three sultans, reached heaven as Murad’s favorite, and reached hell as a mother. In addition to Esmehan Kaya, she certainly had sons and perhaps other daughters who all died as children. Her only child who reached adulthood, Esmehan Kaya, also died before Ayşe in 1658.

The second Haseki Sultan

Not much is known about her, her name, origin, the identity of her children are all obscured. All we know is that after Murad’s campaign in Yerevan, she was elevated to the rank of Haseki, certainly because she gave birth to a son. Maybe she was the mother of Prince Aleaddin, but more likely she had given birth to her child later, perhaps she was the mother of a prince who was born in 1638, perhaps of another unknown child. The second Haseki started her career with a daily salary of 2571 aspers, which was higher than the salary of Ayşe with 2000 aspers. We do not know the reason for this, but barely seven months later Murad also reduced her salary to 2,000 aspers. Perhaps the reason for the extremely high salary could have been that she became pregnant (or gave birth to a son) when all of Murad's sons died and by the time Prince Kasim (his brother) had already been executed? A heir was more urgent at this time than ever before, so it makes sense for Murad to give the concubine an outstanding allowance for the news of pregnancy or childbirth. Then, seven months later, when the Haseki lost her child or gave birth to a daughter, Murad reduced her salary to the level of Ayşe's, who also lost her sons.

Regarding her origin, the possibility arises that she was Sicilian. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier reports that Murad spent a particularly large amount of time in the Yerevan Pavilion with a Sicilian woman who he loved very much and who, in addition to her beautiful appearance, was a truly generous creature, so Murad never denied anything from her. According to Tavernier, she was a Sicilian noblewoman who was captured at sea and then gifted to the Sultan by Algir's beylerbey. Maybe the story is true, maybe not. Maybe it's about the second Haseki, maybe someone else.

With Murad’s death, the second Haseki disappears from the harem records forever, for which there are only two explanations (especially knowing that Ayşe appears precisely in the same register until her own death). The second Haseki maybe died shortly before Murad or was married off. The latter would not be unusual, since the widows of the sultans were often married off if they were childless or only had daughters. Since it is quite probable that the second Haseki lost her child, it was a logical solution to marry her off. Since she did not live in the harem anymore and is not on the registers, we do not know when she died.

Sanavber Hatun

Sanavber was a member of Murad's harem, of whom we know that she had a foundation which she established in 1628. The date of 1628 makes it probable that Sanavber may not have been Murad's concubine as Murad’s first child was born in 1627, so while it is possible for his mother to be Sanavber, it is unlikely that a young and inexperienced mother around the age of 15 would be allowed (and has the money) to establish a foundation. It is more likely that Sanavber was a high-ranking harem servant who owed her privileged status to either Murad or to Kösem Sultan. What makes her particularly interesting is that the documents of her foundation refer to her as “Sanavber bint Abdülmennan,” which is not the usual reference to converted slaves but a reference to a Muslim woman. Sanavber, then, may have been a high-ranking, free Muslim woman who perhaps belonged to Murad’s harem as a poet or associate, such as Hubbi Hatun was in the harem Selim II and Murad III?

Emirgün's sister

According to some, when Emirgün surrendered and handed over the castle of Yerevan to Sultan Murad in 1635, he presented his sister to the sultan. Legend has it that the woman was so beautiful that all of Murad's concubines faded beside her. Others say Murad never made Emirgün's sister his concubine, but there are also those who say Emirgün never gave his sister to Murad. Either way, the woman never entered Murad’s Istanbul harem.

Rosana

Rosana is probably a legend rather than Murad’s real concubine. Legend has it that Rosana was tall, blonde, and very light-skinned, but very bad in personality, so much so that Murad was afraid of her. Rosana was jealous of everything and everyone, hating Murad's other consorts, his younger brothers. Some go so far that it was Rosana, who executed the sultan's younger brothers on behalf of Murad. When one of Murad’s sisters realized this, she accused Rosana, but Murad didn’t believe her sister and became so angry that he killed her with a hammer. Finally, Kösem proved that Rosana was the murderer of the princes, by the time Murad himself stabbed the woman with a dagger, but the sultan never loved another woman later. I think it’s clear to everyone that this is more of a fairy tale than a real story. Never does a harem register or any ambassador from the period mention Rosana.

Used sources:  C. Finkel - Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire; L. Peirce - The imperial harem; G. Piterberg - An Ottoman Tragedy, History and Historiography at Play; Öztuna - Devletler ve Hanedanlar; Uluçay - Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları; F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Y. Öztuna - Genç Osman ve IV. Murad; G. Junne - The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire; R. Dankoff - An Ottoman Mentality: The World of Evliya Çelebi; R. Murphey - ‘The Functioning of the Ottoman Army under Murad IV (1623–1639/1032–1049):Key to Understanding of the Relationship Between Center and Periphery

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Haseki Ayşe Sultan

A Haszeki

Ayşe szultána volt Murad kedvence, aki uralkodását végig dominálta. Ayşe valószínűleg Muraddal nagyjából egy idős lehetett, 1612 körül születhetett. Származását tekintve tudjuk, hogy görög volt, ugyanis a követek gyakran hasonlították szintén görög anyósához, Köszem szultánához. Ayşe 1628-tól tűnik fel a háremjegyzőkönyvekben, így feltehetőleg nagyjából ekkor lett Murad ágyasa. Sajnos nem tudjuk, hogy kik voltak Ayşe gyermekei és hogy hány gyermeke volt, egyetlen ismert lánya Esmehan Kaya, aki 1633-ban született.

Nem pontosan tudjuk, hogy Ayşe mikor lett Haszeki szultána, azonban feltételezhetjük az 1632-es dátumot. Ugyanis ebből az évből maradt ránk egy követi beszámoló, mely szerint Murad anyja jóváhagyását kérte, hogy Haszeki rangra emelje (vagy feleségül vegye) legújabban született lányának anyját. Sajnos nem áll rendelekzésünkre, hogy melyik lány született 1632-ben. Hanzade 1631-ben vagy 1632-ben született, egy Esmehan nevű lány pedig tudottan 1633 előtt, ám nem tudjuk ki volt ezen szultánák édesanyja. Az is lehet, hogy Esmehan Kaya születését tesszük tévesen 1633-ra. Mivel azonban Ayşe a Haszeki rangot viselte és Murad uralma alatt végig dominált, feltételezhetjük, hogy több gyermeke volt Kaya mellett, különös tekintettel fiúkra is.

Ayşe személyiségéről nem sok maradt fenn. Angelo Alessandrini velencei titkár 1637-ben úgy beszélt Ayşéről, mint kiemelkedő szépségű nőről, aki azonban lélekben a legkevésbé sem olyan, mint a Valide szultána, Köszem. Ettől függetlenül Alessandrini szerint a szultán nagy becsben tartja és királynőként bánik vele, Ayşe pedig igyekszik úgy is viselkedni, mint egy valódi királynő. Erre azonban a titkár szerint esélye sincs és hiába próbálja ruháiban, ékszereiben és szolgálói számában is utánozni a Valide szultánát, sosem érhet fel hozzá. Alessandrini ezzel a rövid leírással is sokat elárul Ayşéról, azonban fontos észben tartanunk, hogy Alessandirini és a követ, akinek dolgozott, Köszem végletekig hűséges csodálói voltak, így nem meglepő, ha számukra senki nem érhetett fel a nagy Valide szultánához.

Az Ayşe és Murad között lévő erős köteléket jól példázza, hogy Murad magával vitte Ayşét yerevani hadjáratára is. Ez kivételes volt, ugyanis a szultánok évszázadok óta nem vitték magukkal feleségeiket és kedvenc ágyasaikat a hadjáratokra. I. Bayezid és felesége ugyanis együtt estek Timur Lenk fogságába és a legendák szerint Bayezidet úgy kínozta Timur, hogy feleségét gyalázta és alázta meg előtte. Emellett I. Szelim idejéből is ismert egy eset, mikor egy szafavidák elleni hadjárat során Szelim fogjul ejtette a sah egyik kedvenc ágyasát (vagy feleségét), akit aztán rangol alul házasított ki egy oszmán tisztviselőhöz. Ilyen kockázatok ismeretében a legtöbb szultán nem vitte magával feleségeit, nem úgy Murad. Egyesek úgy tartják, hogy Ayşe a hadjáraton adott életet Aleaddin nevű fiuknak, ez azonban valószínűleg egy félrefordítás eredménye csupán. Aleaddin herceg valóban 1635-ben született a hadjárat ideje alatt, azonban Isztambulban jött világra, így aligha lehetett a hadjáraton tartózkodó Ayşe az édesanyja és Murad aligha engedte volna várandós ágyasának, hogy elkísérje a hadjáratra.

Talán épp amiatt, mert Ayşe végig Murad mellett volt a hadjáraton, sokan okolják Ayşét Murad öccseinek kivégeztetése miatt. Murad ugyanis a hadjáratról visszatérve ölette meg két féltestvérét, Bayezidet és Szulejmánt. Azonban nincs arra utaló bizonyíték, hogy Ayşe valaha is a hercegek ellen próbálta volna fordítani Muradot. A hadjárat után több szemtanú is leírta Ayşe Isztambulba való visszatérését, mint egy igen pompás eseményt. Ayşét pedig nemsokkal később Murad is követte. Ayşe számára valószínűleg ez volt az egyik utolsó fényűző pillanat, hiszen hamarosan Murad egészsége egyre rosszabbra fordult, fiai hamarosan meghaltak és hamarosan előkerült egy új ágyas, akit Murad szintén Haszeki rangra emelt és akinek magasabb fizetést adott, mint Ayşének.

Az özvegy szultána

Ayşe Murad 1640-es halála után a Régi Palotába költözött Murad többi ágyasával és gyermekével vagy gyermekeivel együtt. Viszonya feltehetőleg sosem volt túl jó és közeli Köszem szultánával, de hamarosan elérte a mélypontot. Esmehan Kaya az 1640-es évek közepére lassan kiházasítandó korba került. A férj kiválasztása a mindenkori szultán és a gyermek édesanyjának feladata volt. A Valide szultánának minden bizonnyal szintén lehetett szava, ám nem ő döntött. Tudjuk például, hogy Nurbanu hiába szerette volna egyik unokáját egy bizonyos férfihoz adni feleségül, Safiye (a lány anyja) ezt megakadályozta. Épp ezért nem volt abban semmi furcsa, hogy Ayşe maga válasszon férjet Esmehan Kaya számára. A férjjelölt egyébként nem volt különösen jelentős politikai szempontból. Murad egyik korábbi fegyverhordozója volt, akinek még maga Murad ígérte oda Kayát, mielőtt meghalt volna. Köszem szultána azonban a saját emberei közül akart valakit Kaya férjéül, egy olyan pasát, aki hűséges hozzá és akit végleg magához láncolhat a házassággal.

Ayşe és Köszem egymásnak feszültek tehát, de nem tudni részletekbe menően, hogyan zajlott a két nő közötti háború. Egyesek szerint Ayşe igyekezett Ibrahim szultán segítségét kérni, aki azonban ki akarta használni a helyzetet és magának akarta Ayşét. Végül ez nem történt meg, így győzött Köszem és a választottja Melek Ahmed Pasa. Kaya és Köszem különösen közel álltak egymáshoz, ő volt Köszem kedvence, emiatt is különös, hogy Köszem a lány kérése ellenére is hozzákényszerítette a saját választottjához. Tovább bonyolítja a helyzetet a tény, hogy Köszem kényszerítette az alig 13 éves Kayát és a nagyapja korú pasát, hogy elhálják a nászt, miután ezt Kaya megtagadta a pasa pedig egyetértett vele. Talán Köszem motivációja az volt, hogy elhálás nélkül Ayşe megpróbálhatta volna érvényteleníteni azt.

Talán az előbbi eseményeknek is köze lehet ahhoz, hogy Ayşe korábbi magas fizetése (napi 2000 asper) helyett a Régi Palotában csupán 100-200 asperes napi fizetést kapott élete végéig, függetlenül attól, hogy a Valide és Haszeki rangot viselők nőknek Régi Palotába költözés után sem volt szokás csökkenteni a fizetését. Ayşe 1680-ban tűnik el a hárem jegyzőkönyvekből, ami arra enged következtetni, hogy vagy 1679-ben vagy 1680-ban halt meg. Viszonylag hosszú élete során három szultán uralkodását is láthatta, megjárta a mennyet Murad kedvenceként és a poklot anyaként. Esmehan Kaya mellett egészen biztosan voltak fiai és talán más lányai is, akik gyermekként mind meghaltak. Egyetlen felnőttkort megérő gyermeke, Esmehan Kaya is Ayşe előtt halt meg 1658-ban.

A második Haszeki szultána

Nem sokat tudni róla, neve, származása, gyermekeinek kiléte mind homályba vész. Annyit tudunk, hogy Murad yerevani hadjárata után lett Haszeki rangra emelve, minden bizonnyal azért, mert életet adott egy fiúnak. Talán ő volt Aleaddin herceg anyja, ám ennél valószínűbb, hogy még később hozta világra gyermekét, talán ő volt egy 1638-ban világra jött herceg anyja, talán más ismeretlen gyermeké. A második Haszeki 2571 asperes napi fizetéssel kezdte meg pályafutását, amely magasabb volt, mint Ayşe 2000 asperes fizetése. Ennek okát nem tudjuk, azonban alig hét hónappal később Murad lecsökkentette az ő fizetését is 2000 asperre. Talán az extrém magas fizetés oka lehetett, hogy akkor lett terhes (vagy szült fiút), mikor Murad összes addig élő fia elhunyt már és amikorra talán már Kasim herceget (édesöccsét) is kivégeztette? Ekkor sürgősebb volt egy örökös, mint bármikor máskor, így logikus, hogy a terhesség vagy szülés hírére Murad kimagasló juttatást adjon az ágyasnak. Aztán hét hónappal később, amikor a Haszeki elvesztette gyermekét vagy leányt szült fizetését Murad lecsökkentette a szintén fiait elvesztő Ayşe szintjére.

Származásával kapcsolatban felvetődik annak lehetősége, hogy szicíliai volt. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier beszámol arról, hogy Murad különösen sok időt töltött a Yerevan Pavilonban egy szicíliai nővel, akit nagyon szeretett és aki gyönyörű külseje mellett igazán nagylelkű teremtés volt, így Murad sosem tagadott meg tőle semmit. Tavernier szerint nemesi származású szicíliai nő volt, akit a tengeren ejtettek fogságba, majd Algír beglerbégje ajándékozta a szultánnak. Talán igaz a történet, talán nem. Talán a második Haszekiről van szó, talán másról.

Murad halálával a második Haszeki örökre eltűnik a hárem jegyzékből, melyre csak két magyarázat lehet (különösen annak ismeretében, hogy Ayşe precízen megjelenik saját haláláig ugyanebben a jegyzőkönyvben): a második Haszeki is elhunyt Murad előtt nemsokkal vagy kiházasították. Utóbbi nem lenne szokatlan, hiszen a szultánok özvegyeit gyakran házasították ki, ha azok gyermektelenek voltak vagy csak lányaik voltak. Mivel elég valószínű, hogy a második Haszeki elvesztette gyermekét, logikus megoldás volt kiházasítása. Mivel nem a háremben élt és nem szerepel a jegyőzkönyvekben nem tudjuk mikor halt meg.

Sanavber Hatun

Sanavber, Murad háremének egyik tagja volt, akiről annyit tudunk, hogy a nevével ellátva létezett egy alapítvány, melyet 1628-ban hozott létre. Az 1628-as dátum valószínűsíti, hogy Sanavber talán nem Murad ágyasa volt. Murad első gyermeke 1627-ben jött világra, így bár lehetséges, hogy az ő anyja legyen Sanavber, ám valószínűtlen, hogy egy 15 év körüli, friss és tapasztalatlan anyának engedik (és van rá pénze), hogy alapítványt hozzon létre. Valószínűbb, hogy Sanavber egy magasrangú hárem szolgáló volt, aki kiemelt státuszát vagy Köszem szultánának vagy Muradnak köszönhette. Különösen érdekessé teszi helyzetét, hogy a dokumentumok úgy hivatkoznak rá, mint “Sanavber bint Abdülmennan”, ami nem az áttért rabszolgák szokásos hivatkozása hanem egy muszlim nő hivatkozása. Sanavber tehát lehet, hogy egy magas rangú, szabad muszlim nő volt, aki talán költőként vagy társalkodóként tartozott Murad háremébe, mint például Hubbi Hatun II. Szelim és III. Murad háremébe?

Emirgün testvére

Egyesek szerint mikor Emirgün megadta magát és átadta Yerevan várát Murad szultánnak 1635-ben, akkor húgát a szultánnak ajándékozta. A legendák szerint a nő olyan gyönyörű volt, hogy mellette Murad minden ágyasa elhalványult. Mások szerint Murad sosem tette ágyasává Emirgün testvérét, de olyanok is vannak, akik szerint Emirgün sosem adta oda húgát Muradnak. Akárhogy is, a nő sosem lépett be Murad isztambuli háremében.

Rosana

Rosana valószínűleg inkább egy legenda, mintsem valódi ágyasa Muradnak. A legendák szerint Rosana magas volt, szőke és nagyon világos bőrű, azonban nagyon rossz természetű, olyannyira, hogy Murad is félt tőle. Rosana mindenre és mindenkire féltékeny volt, gyűlölte Murad öccseit. Egyesek odáig mennek, hogy Rosana volt az, aki Murad nevében kivégeztette a szultán öccseit. Mikor Murad egyik húga rájött erre, megvádolta Rosanát Murad előtt, aki nem hitt testvérének és egy kalapáccsal megölte őt. Végül Köszem bizonyította, hogy Rosana volt a hercegek gyilkosa, mire Murad maga szúrte le a nőt egy tőrrel, ám a szultán később sosem szeretett más nőt. Azt hiszem mindenki számára egyértelmű, hogy ez inkább egy mese, mint valódi történet. Soha egy hárem jegyzék sem említi Rosanat és egy körabeli követ sem.

Felhasznált források: C. Finkel - Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire; L. Peirce - The imperial harem; G. Piterberg - An Ottoman Tragedy, History and Historiography at Play; Öztuna - Devletler ve Hanedanlar; Uluçay - Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları; F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Y. Öztuna - Genç Osman ve IV. Murad; G. Junne - The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire; R. Dankoff - An Ottoman Mentality: The World of Evliya Çelebi; R. Murphey - ‘The Functioning of the Ottoman Army under Murad IV (1623–1639/1032–1049):Key to Understanding of the Relationship Between Center and Periphery

[bubonickitten]

MAG 167 spoilers

I am once again back to obsessing over Gertrude and Jon as narrative foils!!

And just – the narrative does such a great job of using that foil to illustrate Jon’s neverending struggle with his own humanity. Because although Gertrude didn’t embrace her Archivist powers in the same way that Jon sometimes does, she was arguably monstrous in her own way -- in ways that Jon ultimately isn’t. 

I keep thinking back to Jon’s conversation with Gerry, in particular this bit:

GERARD: Well, she could make people tell her stuff, sometimes. They’d suddenly get real talkative, and lay out whatever she needed. She didn’t do it often though. I don’t think she liked it.

JON: Oh, er, I can do that, too.

GERARD: Huh. Do you like it?

JON: I – I don’t know. I never really thought about it. Yes, I… I suppose I do.

GERRY: Hmmm.

I think after his coma, Jon has a much more negative view of his abilities, but early on, he admits that there’s a part of him that does like being able to compel people. It fits, honestly – of course someone like Jon, so intolerant of mysteries, so prone to overthinking, so full of questions and so voracious for answers, fresh out of a paranoid episode that left him unable to trust any answer that anyone offered him, would like having the option to ask a question and receive a guaranteed answer and to know that the given answer was the truth. At least until he no longer has control over it, finds himself accidentally compelling people and unable to stop knowing things even when he doesn’t want to.

But even if Gertrude was further from the supernatural aspects of the Archivist role, she was still ruthless in her crusade. Her conviction and boldness made her a badass, certainly, but at what cost? The answer depends heavily on how you feel about utilitarianism as an ethical philosophy.

Gertrude Robinson would have a clear answer to the trolley problem and not apologize for it. Jonathan Sims would agonize over all the potential choices and outcomes until he’s paralyzed with indecision. (Annabelle Cane knew exactly what she was doing when she gave him that statement about the nature of free will in a moment where he was struggling so profoundly with self-doubt.)

People are always comparing Jon to Gertrude, telling him that he’d be better off behaving more like her, urging him to accept the premise that ruthlessness is a strength in a world that offers only fear and pain, and that humanity is a weakness and a liability that he doesn’t have the luxury to indulge.

And in Season 4, he tries that philosophy on for a brief while. The Eye drives him to compel people to tell their stories; he starves if he doesn’t obey that instinct. He feeds the Eye the trauma of innocent bystanders, and now he’s the monster haunting the dreams of his victims. (And, to his credit, that’s what he ultimately refers to them as: victims. He uses that word. That’s significant.)

When Basira witnesses him do that and calls him out on it, Jon replies by pointing out that Basira (among others) told him that he should be more like Gertrude: “She got the job done and didn’t care about the cost.” 

Basira responds, “But I thought you did.” 

And that highlights the fundamental difference between Jon and Gertrude! He’d temporarily forgotten that – he’d lost touch with that piece of himself, of his humanity. It makes sense; everyone around him saw him as a monster, and it’s hard to believe in your own humanity when no one else does, when everyone around you is building a self-fulfilling prophecy for you.

It takes Martin reaching out in the only way that he can – urging the others to talk to him – for Jon to wake up and admit that what he’s doing isn’t right and that he needs to do something to stop it. He goes back and forth with himself for a bit – Does he have any control? Is he doing it on autopilot? Is the Web influencing him? – but ultimately he decides that, no, he has to hold himself accountable. Helen asks him if he’s sure he didn’t want to do it, and he takes that hard-to-swallow pill and engages in some introspection and comes to the conclusion, Yeah, while supernatural influence is at play here, I made a choice.

BUT if he made a choice, it means that he can make a different choice going forward. He doesn’t have to be the monster that everyone else expects him to be. He doesn’t have to traumatize others in the same way that he’s been traumatized. (And, eventually, maybe he can learn to see himself as Martin sees him.) And he changes his behavior accordingly!

I keep thinking of Jon’s comment on Gertrude sacrificing Michael to end the Spiral’s Ritual:

“I thought moving away from my humanity would have made that seem more acceptable. That sort of sacrifice… But it just makes me sad. I remembered Gertrude’s notebook. We found it alongside the plastic explosives, but it rather got lost amongst the business of… saving the world at the cost of two lives.”

And this comment, from one of Jon’s many navel-gazing arguments with himself over the nature of humanity and how he fits into that:

“Why were we chosen? …Is there destiny here? Bloodlines, and prophecies? Or did we just – stumble into this. Maybe… maybe we’re the opposite of Agnes. Maybe our doubts are exactly what we need.”  

What keeps Jon in touch with Jonathan Sims, human and distinct from The Archivist/The Archive isn’t just an anchor/reason (Martin) or his own intense guilt, but that capacity for doubt. I mean, it does feed into his self-loathing and it’s unhealthy for him in a number of ways, but that doubt is also what saves him from fully becoming the thing he fears, in a way?

It’s interesting how that doubt and questioning feeds into his innate curiosity. That incessant need to know, even if his discoveries might destroy him, to go with Gerry’s definition of Beholding, is Jon’s fatal flaw, and it’s what makes him so well-suited to the Eye, but it’s also so very human.

That, along with Jon’s choice to change his behavior throughout the story is, imo, the strongest argument in favor of his humanity.

From where Jon is standing, every other Avatar has become so divorced from their prior self that they barely resemble humans anymore. But the question of free will is nebulous for most of the Avatars. 

Some of the Avatars seem to have sought out the power that overtook them, or at the very least openly embraced it. Jude Perry sought to destroy others to make herself feel more alive long before she met Agnes; the Desolation just lent her the power to do so to a greater degree, and she leaned into it. Jared Hopworth was already a bully; becoming the Boneturner just gave him a new way to express that preexisting pattern of behavior. 

Some of the others stumbled into it out of sheer bad luck, or in some way attracted a certain power. They were initially afraid, and typically resisted, but eventually were overtaken – or… gave in? Because that’s the recurring question: How much choice is involved?

Take Oliver Banks: 

“The thing is, Jon, right now you have a choice. You’ve put it off a long time, but it’s trapping you here. You’re not quite human enough to die, but still too human to survive…. I made a choice. We all made choices. Now you have to.”

Or Daisy: 

“I hate a lot of what I did back then; doesn’t mean I’m not responsible for it, doesn’t mean it wasn’t me.”  

Even if some of the Avatars could have done something differently to avoid their ultimate fate, they didn’t necessarily deserve that fate. Helen Richardson could have not opened the door, but opening a door out of curiosity shouldn’t be a punishable offense.

And when the Distortion and Helen ‘become’ one another, it’s interesting that there’s still enough of Helen left (at least at first) for her to feel guilt and doubt over what she’s becoming, in much the same way that Jon does: 

“I took a man, wandering the halls of an old tenement…. It was nourishing, but… I didn’t like it. I feel… wrong.” 

(Side note: I understand why Jon feels like he can’t trust the Distortion, but it does make me wonder what might have gone differently if he’d maintained an open dialogue with her re: humanity vs. monstrosity, similar to the sort of understanding Jon and Daisy have after the Buried.)

The story has been asking these questions all along, but MAG 167 put it back under the microscope in an important way. It really doesn’t matter as much what Jon is, because what he does is a much better measure of humanity and goodness. 

Jon looks at his own choices, looks at Gertrude’s choices, looks at the things that neither of them had control over and looks at the things that they did, and comes to a final conclusion: 

No, he doesn’t want to be like Gertrude. Human connections are important. He needs an anchor. He needs companionship. Trust and communication don’t come naturally to him, but it’s worth confronting that vulnerability in the end, because it’s what keeps him in touch with his humanity, with who he is and who he wants to be. 

It really complements Martin’s philosophy, too. I’ve gone on and on about it before, but I still think the line that most exemplifies Martin’s character is his response to Simon Fairchild’s brand of flippant, fatalist nihilism: 

“I think our experience of the universe has value. Even if it disappears forever.”

It would be so easy for Jon and Martin to just... give up. Give in to self-loathing, to guilt, to loneliness, to a world gone horribly, possibly irreversibly wrong. Early on, Jon is inclined to do just that. He tells Martin that “this is no longer a world where you can trust comfort.” But what does Martin do instead? He comforts Jon. He puts comfort into a world where it seems like none can exist. It doesn’t matter if that gesture is significant in the grand scheme of things -- however you want to define significance on a cosmic level. In that moment, Martin cared, and that mattered to him, and it mattered to Jon, and that fact won’t change, even when they’re both dead and gone. 

It’s... really the same stubborn sentiment that Jon offered in the Lonely, and Martin is mirroring it back when Jon needs it most. 

They make an active choice to build a relationship, to try to make a change for the better. Even if it ends in failure, the fact that they tried is still significant. Jon looks at how Gertrude lived her life, compares it with his past and current choices, and (rightly imo) comes to the conclusion that, yeah, it hurts to trust and to care, but it’s worth it, and it’s necessary if they want to survive (and, of course, he also doesn’t just want to survive). It’s just... a very brave, very compassionate, and very human way of confronting the end of the world. 

[orderofthefanfic]

It’s All Over But The Laughing

Summary: Gotham was a trash heap of destitution and neglect. The rich barely even saw those less wealthy worth enough to step on and any who suffered were helpless. Arthur Fleck was no exception. Suffering from a disorder that left him ostracized from his world, even in the smallest of places, it felt as if no one even saw him. Until he met you. A similar case of loneliness and despair, it was never a case of whether you were seen, but of whether you were heard. Despite your gigs as a cheap singer, the words of your heart were never understood, with a stutter that frightened you from saying your mind and a world that silenced you from showing your truth. The day you met Arthur Fleck was the day your life changed forever.

Pilot

It wasn't completely unusual for people to linger in the halls of the social office, but her face, Arthur hadn't seen before. He slowed his pace, out of curiosity, most of all, and studied the stranger's nervous form. She sat in one of the decrepit chairs in the main hall, left as a makeshift waiting room despite the lack of people who even came to this office, shaking her knee as her hands, clasped tightly, bounced atop it. Her eyes scanned the room frequently, in Arthur’s favor, stopping just short of where he stood to observe, and a sickened look enrobed her aura. With a harsher bounce of her leg, she pushed a breath of air through her pursed lips, flattening her back against the chair and leaning her head back to face the ceiling. He intended to move on from watching her when one of the other psychiatrists in the building made their way towards her. At their approaching footsteps, she shot her head up, an anxious grimace playing on her face.

“(Y?N)? What are you still doing here?” The doctor looked to her watch, furrowing her brow, “Our sessions been over for 20 minutes.”

“Dr. Setler!,” The girl, who Arthur now overheard as (Y/N), began to wring her hands roughly, “I-I don’t...d-didn’t,”

She stopped suddenly, scrunching her nose and huffing a burst of air with a twitch of her head. He thought she was just stammering, her nerves getting to her, but as she continued to speak, he realized she struggled through multiple words, stopping almost entirely in between some, and continuously scrunching her face as she grappled through her sentences.

“I th-thought we had an extended session today and I didn’t get your call it was sh..compressed. I was going to wait until my ride arrived.”

Setler raised her brow, a tight-lipped smile flashed towards the girl that seemed in the least bit forced, “That’s going to be quite some time, yes?”

“Well, yes,” When she finally stuttered out her answer, she spilled out with a slight panic, “I’d rather just wait, I don’t truly want to call.”

Her mouth hung open as if to say more, but the doctor waved dismissively in her face, placing a hand on her back and leading her, quite reluctantly, to the public phone in the foyer, “Nonsense, Remember we talked about practicing with phone calls? You’ll only get better. Waiting here all day is obscene.”

She attempted desperately to disagree, but between her struggles to speak and dismission of Setler, she was unwillingly shoved to the device, and a receiver was thrust into her trembling hand.

With a rough pat on her back, Dr. Setler gave a short wave goodbye and took off down the hall. Arthur was not one to enjoy eavesdropping. He knew, and it was ingrained in him, that it was rude, but even with his consciousness scolding him as he stayed out of suspicion and listened, he was unable to stop. She stood blankly for a few moments before she slowly began to spin in the numbers, swaying on her feet as she unknowingly sealed her fate with each rotation. Although he couldn’t hear the speaker on the other side, he gathered enough.

The conversation looked painful to be involved in, the girl’s already debilitating stutter exemplified over the phone, and the stress that seemed to be gripping her was tightening with every word. In summary, she was behind on her paycheck, thus placing her behind on her already reduced-price medications. The man on the other end, who she’d addressed as her uncle, was audible even from where Arthur stood, although his words were indistinguishable, his distaste was crystal-clear.

“No meds, no roof.”

A persnickety individual, he seemed set on his personal philosophy that if she wasn't on whatever medications she was prescribed, instantly, she wasn't mentally sound or safe to be in his home. The ideal made Arthur sick.

At some point, the girl had half resulted to begging, pushing the phone tightly to her cheek and clenching her fist until her knuckles turned white. Her uncle was highly impatient with her stutter and as the conversation pressed on, she, too, was becoming increasingly frustrated with her inability to converse concisely. Within the limited range of the phone cord, (Y/N) paced and screamed internally. After desperate convincing, she managed to buy herself a day, 24 hours to pack up whatever life she had in her uncle's apartment and leave it behind. Part of her was relieved, the other was still preoccupied with finding a new apartment.

When the death buzz of an empty phone line stung in her ear, she finally gave up on trying to hold whatever was left of her together. Tears sprang to her eyes the second the receiver touched the hook and her palms rubbed her face angrily. Stumbling and shuffling to the seat in the hall, she slumped heavily into the worn and flaking leather. Her face was covered by her hands, muffling her weary cries, and a frown took over Arthur's own expression.

A moment or two passed, the otherwise quiet hall echoing with her sadness, before Arthur finally forced himself to stop creeping on the poor girl and at least do something . And so, Arthur Fleck did what Arthur Fleck wanted to do most: make somebody laugh.

He approached her slowly, his light footfalls rising only slightly above her sobs and cautiously lowered himself into the seat next to her. She stiffened but remained otherwise unchanged. He placed an immense amount of will power into keeping his own self calm, hoping a fit of painful laughter wouldn't rip through him. An awkward second passed, and when he thought about how uncomfortable his silent presence probably felt, the joke he'd been balancing on his tongue jumped out.

"Why are poor people so confused?"

Although she didn't verbalize her acknowledgment of him, he sensed a loosening of her hands as he cries quieted ever so with curiosity. She was unnerved, she wouldn't deny that, but she couldn't ignore what he'd just say out of the mere oddness of the question. Unknowing of its humorous intention, she stayed unmoving and waited.

Whether it was with good or poor judgement, Arthur nudged her shoulder as he delivered the punch line, "Because they don't make any cents."

Nothing. At first, there was absolutely nothing, then what to him sounded like harder sobbing, and then finally, a sound he was all too familiar with (maybe just not from others), laughter. Sad and bitter laughter at first, but soon it morphed into soft but genuine chuckling. Her palms began to rub her face with a pitied groan, her head shaking in self-disbelief and she assertively wiped the fallen tears from underneath her red eyes.

"Th-That's the worst joke I've ever heard," Arthur's heart plummeted, "I love it."

She finally turned to look at him, a weak smile tugging at her lips, and something deep in him glowed.

"Well, I'd hoped you would." He returned the grin, shifting in his seat as she took a few steadier breaths.

It was evident she was apprehensive about speaking, something Arthur understood, although perhaps from a different perspective. Her eyes darted quickly to the brown paper bag in his hand, her ears honing in on the unmistakable sounds of pills, and she seemed almost to relax more at the realization he was a fellow patient at the office.

An awkward silence grew quickly between them but he rubbed his palms on his knees and confided, "I didn't mean to listen in, but I overheard you don't have a ride and you're nervous about taking the subway alone. If you want, I take the subway all the time, I wouldn't mind joining you, if it would make you feel better."

He felt like he may have been rambling, pulling back as he pressed his lips together. She was staring at him silently, a strange look on her features and Arthur began to panic that he may have said the wrong thing. Or maybe he sat the wrong way, or did the wrong thi-

"I'd r-re..verily appreciate that." She tripped out, her head nodding softly as her eyes seemed to gleam. "Seriously, it would mean a lot."

His lips twitched upwards again and he sighed in relief, rising from his seat as he extended his hand towards her.

"My name is Arthur."

Her hand, still trembling, slipped gently into his, contradicting the firm grip and sharp shake she gave him.

Nodding, she flashed her teeth at him genuinely, "(Y/N)."

(A/N): Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I watched this movie opening day and I have not stopped thinking or talking about it since. It was stunning and I just fell in love with the characterization of Arthur. Joaquin did a phenomenal job and everything about the film was beautiful. Also! I have never written a character with a stutter and I, unfortunately, do not personally know anyone who does that I can ask and get advice from. I tried to do research and watch video examples of how a stutter affects someone, the types of stuttering, and what it sounds like, but as someone who does not have a stutter and doesn't see it in person, I may not portray it as well as I'd like. I would love any feedback or advice you can give me on how I do or should depict stuttering and if there are any inaccuracies or over (or under) exaggerations, please let me know! I love to hear your feedback and comments!

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Hello, you watch a lot of shows! Gimme some good anime reccomendations!

Probably shouldn’t have come at me with this on anon since I have no idea what you like, dislike, your tastes in general, what you’ve already seen, etc, but hey what do I care, ask and you shall receive.

I’m gonna try give recommendations that are more personal to me, like yeah obviously you should watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood but if you’ve asked anyone ever for anime recommendations you’ve heard that a billion times. If you’re asking me, you wanna hear what I have to say, and yeah do watch FMAB but like, you know.

My first proper recommendation for this post is Flip Flappers, which I’m immediately mentioning because it’s the most niche show I really love and way more people need to watch it. It’s a crazy psychedelic magical girl yuri show that explores a girl’s sexuality and coming of age through various delightful and colourful worlds and is filled to the brim with symbolism and thematic depth and all that big brain stuff.

Moving on from that though, my number one favourite anime and generally the one I immediately go to when I’m asked for recommendations is Puella Magi Madoka Magica. A 12 episode + 1 movie magical girl show that takes a very unconventional approach to telling a pretty conventional story, yet one that’s so loaded with crazy rich thematic depth and symbolism, absolutely phenomenal character writing, and some of the best art design I’ve ever seen. It manages to go so far beyond what you might expect the genre to be capable of while also holding nothing but love and respect for the genre, while at the same time being extremely accessible to people that don’t know anything about magical girls, or even people that have never seen an anime, even in spite of its aforementioned depth. If you want something you can go crazy in-depth and read shit tons of actual academic writing on, you can watch this, but if you just wanna turn your brain off and watch something with a great plot and great characters, the show’s perfect for that too. Plus if you’re dub only I can confirm the dub’s really solid too, it doesn’t really hold up to the sub imo but if you really don’t want to watch subs this show still has you covered better than some others.

If you wanna get into magical girl hell, I’d also recommend Cardcaptor Sakura, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, and if you can tolerate some repetition, Sailor Moon. First is the most delightfully sugary sweet show I’ve ever seen, second’s a sort of cooler edgy action show with darker themes that’s really enjoyable, and the last is, well, it’s Sailor Moon. Can’t really go wrong with it. That being said the first two are both 70+ episodes, and Sailor Moon is 200, so they’re big investments. But I’d definitely say they’re worth it.

My second favourite anime and number 1 recommendation if you’re curious about cute girl or slice of life anime is K-On, which is kind of just the best slice of life anime ever. 4, later 5 cute girls are in a high school band where they spend a lot of time just lazing around being friends, and it is utterly delightful from start to finish, there’s a shocking amount of nuance to the character writing and the way the girls’ personalities are exemplified through not just dialogue, but even body language is incredible, the direction in the show is very strong in general. Their development both as individuals and as a group is so gradual that you might not even notice it, but when you go back to the beginning after finishing its 41 episodes and movie, you’d be amazed at just how different the girls actually are. And it’s not just a “you know them better” type thing, they really do feel like more matured people afterwards. Simply a joy.

For more slice of life, Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka, New Game, Yuru Camp, and Girls’ Last Tour are personal favourites. The first two are especially cute with some of the best animation and cutest character designs in the genre, and mostly function as delightfully entertaining cute girl comedy shows, I’d recommend them, they’re sweet. GochiUsa has 24 episodes, 2 OVA episodes, and a third season’s coming, so it’s a good time to get into it, and New Game just has 24 episodes and the one OVA. The latter two fall into the iyashikei genre, which focuses more on being relaxing than like, out loud funny, though they are both that. Type of stuff you’d maybe watch an episode or 2 of after a long day, or before bed. Yuru Camp’s about a cast of cute girls that do camping, and of particular appreciation is the fact that the main character’s an introvert who prefers being alone but that’s never treated as a character flaw, the show understands the value of being on your own as well as it understands the value of being in a group, and both are treated equally, which is a really sweet thing to happen in a genre where introversion generally is a character flaw. Girls’ Last Tour on the other hand follows two cute girls in a post-apocalypse world where they sort of contemplate and philosophise on the nature of existence and some other fairly heavy stuff, and it’s an extremely great time, the writing’s impressive and it doesn’t feel like it’s wanking itself off over being big brained, it just actually wants to let these girls talk and they do it well. I’ve only seen this show once and it was over 2 years ago and I still remember so many amazing moments from it, it’s a great time. Both are 12 episodes, though Yuru Camp’s getting a short series next season, a proper season 2, and even a movie, so uh, great time for that one as well.

My 3rd favourite anime and the best high school drama I’ve ever seen is Hibike Euphonium, which tells the story of Kumiko, a girl in a high school concert band and straight up the most human character I’ve ever seen in a work of fiction. Hibike’s worth watching for Kumiko alone, her character is so fucking dynamic and believable that it’s unbelievable, ironically. I feel like Kumiko has more depth than people I actually know IRL. The show’s brilliant outside of her too though, the specific implications that being in concert band has on everybody’s lives are written in a very interesting and relatable way, and all the character relationships and dynamics are super great, plus it’s probably the prettiest show I’ve ever seen. Incredible time from start to finish. 26 episodes, an OVA, a sort of side story type movie, and a sequel movie that’s yet to be made available on piracy sites but people have seen it, plus an as-of-yet-undisclosed-format sequel to that which we’ll see at some point in the future hopefully.

Hibike has some yuri in it so I may as well mention Bloom Into You as another brilliant yuri series, the direction is phenomenal in creating a very uniquely romantic mood, and the character writing is some of the best I’ve ever seen, our main character, Yuu, is comparable to Kumiko in how human she feels, and the dynamic between her and her main “love interest” is completely unlike anything I’ve ever seen, it’s really great. Nice easy 13 episodes. Still talking about romance, this year’s Given is a boy’s love show that falls into literally none of the usual trappings of that genre, it’s a bit like K-On in that it’s something of a slice of life where everyone’s in a band, but like said it is a romance, and the romance is really well written, the character writing yet again feels really believable and everyone has great chemistry, etc. I feel like it was fairly under the radar when it aired because nobody cares about boy’s love but it really is a great time, I’d encourage anyone to give it a shot. 11 episodes, unusually, and a movie coming out next year.

I mentioned Flip Flappers already so just to finish my top 5 favourite anime, we’ve got Mob Psycho 100. I’ve kind of thought to myself once or twice that this might just be the best anime of all time. In so far as, objectivity’s bullshit because it’s defined by consensus opinion of what is and isn’t good and that consensus can change so in 300 years every modern masterpiece may be considered shit, but Mob Pyscho 100 has perhaps the highest amount of things that appeal to the most amounts of people to their best execution imaginable, with its biggest competition imo being Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Not to say either are my favourite obviously I already said that’s Madoka, so if you wanna hear me expand on this feel free to drop another ask, but the basic point is that Mob’s really really good. Amazing character writing, genuinely hilarious comedy, the best animation on this list with a very unique and appealing art style, and fucking kickass shounen battles. A series of exceptionally high highs and basically no lows. 25 episodes and an OVA is what you need to watch, but honestly even the hour long recap special is worth your time, that’s how great every element of this show is. Also a super accessible show, dub might be good idk, you can show this one to somebody that’s never even heard of anime and they’ll have a great time.

Mob Pyscho’s kind of a shounen so let’s drop more recommendations in that genre. This year’s Dr Stone is a 24 episode show with another season coming where all of humanity gets petrified in stone for 3700 years and so most of science and technology and all that stuff kinda just degrades and we’re basically back to pre-human history. But a couple of characters wake up from the petrification, including our main character, Senku, a supergenius who aims to sort of speedrun human history and use all of his scientific knowledge to save all of humanity. What’s great is that Senku’s a supergenius character without being A) an insufferably cynical prick and B) a God, dude makes mistakes, miscalculates, and has to rely on other people to make progress. It’s great, and that sense of progress is one of the best thing’s about the show, the characters are kind of always working towards a long term goal and whenever that goal is achieved it’s obviously super gratifying, but during the processes they tend to make other stuff that serve multiple purposes in the narrative, or you’ll see something we made earlier get reused again for something completely different, it’s all really great. Show’s just a perfect balance of instant gratification and long term satisfaction and so the entire show’s just incredibly fun from start to finish. Great time.

If you’re down for sports, or maybe have no experience in the genre and want to see what it’s got to offer, I’d check out Kuroko’s Basketball. The show’s a shounen as well where every character may as well have fucking superpowers, and it operates on 1000% hype all of the time, from start to finish the show’s a pure gleeful adrenaline rush with surprisingly solid character writing, a brilliant job at creating narrative stakes and having buildup and payoff and all that nice sauce, and it’s just, it’s so fucking sakuga all the time. I didn’t think I’d care for this show before watching it but it’s honestly one of my favourites. 75 episodes, 4 OVAs, and a sequel movie, so it’s a bit of a long one but hey if you’re willing to then, go for it.

One last shounen, and one I think most people have heard of, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Summing up the appeal of JoJo in a single sentence is kind of hard, not because of “haha jojo no context is so crazy lol”, but because the nature of the parts separating the stories means JoJo has like, pretty distinct appeals per part. The best way to put it is probably to say that JoJo is a multigenerational battle shounen series, following entire family lineages in their own completely unique and often fairly self-contained stories, which consist of over-the-top flamboyant manly men fighting in over-the-top flamboyant battles, almost everything in every part being treated with the same excessive and fun levity all the time, it’s really great. I know without seeing JoJo it’s easy to be like “haha za warudo amirite” but if you really sit down and properly give the show a shot as well, you’d realise that there’s actually a lot to genuinely appreciate in it, beyond just funny memes and stuff. 5 parts currently adapted to anime, 9 episodes for part 1, 17 for part 2, 48 for part 3, 39 for part 4 and 39 for part 5. Also a 3 episode OVA series starring one of the main characters for part 4, though only 2 of the episodes are actually out at the moment.

Let’s talk adventure shows since JoJo has “adventure” in the title and I want any opportunity to segue as possible. My other 2 favourite adventure shows are A Place Further Than The Universe and Made in Abyss. The former is a 13 episode coming of age story about 4 cute girls that, each for their own independent reasons, choose to go to Antarctica, and it’s all handled in a very grounded and emotional way, with once again, phenomenal character writing that sells you on the girls’ friendship better than so many other shows, and amazing execution of all that great setup and payoff stuff, etc, etc. I’ve not officially written a Top 10 Favourite Anime list but this is absolutely in it, and I’d definitely call it one of the decade’s best. Made in Abyss meanwhile is set in a purely fictional setting in which a giant abyss several thousands of kilometres deep and encompassing numerous ecosystems with massively diverse biology is square in the centre of an island our main character, a 12 year old girl, lives on. While exploring the titular abyss she comes across a little robot child, and the two set off to find the former’s mother and the latter’s origins. This show is like the third one in this post that could be called the most beautiful show I’ve ever seen, the backgrounds especially are fucking stunning, there’s not a shot in this show that isn’t amazing wallpaper fuel. And then the sense of adventure is so great because that titular abyss is just such an amazing spectacle that always lives up to the hype that it has. And then there’s a genuine sense of danger as well, some really fucked up things happen in this show actually, because shockingly, nature doesn’t give a fuck about two children. Reg and Riko’s dynamic is one of physically strong but mentally weak and physically weak but mentally strong, which has been done in a lot of places before, but I think the simplicity works really well for telling a story that’s really simple and yet incredibly grand, it’s a great time from start to finish. 13 episodes, sequel movie coming out.

I can’t come up with a good segue. Isekai’s a good meme, let’s talk about those. My 2 favourite good isekai are No Game No Life and KonoSuba. Both are very much comedies first I’d say, the former focusing on a pair of supergenius otaku siblings that basically try to take over their world and make it great for everyone, while the latter focuses on a dude that goes through the usual isekai process but his party are a bunch of hilariously retarded fuckups that make his life a living hell. Both are hilarious, former’s my preferred one due to I think better character writing and getting to be yet another show that’s ridiculously beautiful from start to finish, latter’s also a great time though, Megumin best girl. No Game No Life is 12 episodes, a really lame prequel movie, and no season 2 yet, meanwhile KonoSuba is 20 episodes, 2 OVAs, and a movie I haven’t seen yet, but apparently it’s the reason cinema was invented so.

Just gonna start plugging random shit at this point. Studio Trigger drop some great shows a lot of the time. Kill la Kill is a 24 episode (+2 special episodes) sort of over the top magical girl shounen type story with a great sense of humour and more off the top hype levels, but there’s also crazy thematic depth if you want to look into that, and the characters are so fucking fun and memorable and all that delightful shit. It’s got a very unique flair to it, the only comparable show I can even think of is another recommendation for this list, Gurren Lagann, which does similar things but with mecha, characters I like a bit less, but hype levels that go way, way, way further, characters are LITERALLY throwing galaxies at each other by the end. Also a really incredible coming of age narrative with some great thematic depth if you care to look. 27 episodes that matter, but there’s some other sauce I haven’t checked out yet. Trigger also made SSSS.Gridman, which is one of my favourite shows from last year. It’s a show about tokusatsu stuff – a giant mecha fights off giant kaiju, all of which are made by one Akane Shinjo, who is probably the best sympathetic villain I can think of in any anime I’ve ever seen. Yeah, really. She’s an absolutely phenomenal character and the world the show exists in and, without spoiling anything, the way in which her mental state relates to that world, is endlessly fascinating, and blah blah thematic depth narrative depth all that good stuff. 12 episodes and, something coming out later too.

Because I don’t want to name more shows than I’m able to tag thanks to Tumblr’s tag limit, I’m gonna start wrapping this up. Love Live is an idol anime where a group of 9 girls form an idol group to stop their school from closing down, manage to do that, and then continue as a group to win the Love Live competition. The characters are really charming and loveable with some pretty great development for certain members in particular, and the visuals and especially the music are all really great. Plus its very simple themes of shining, being your best self, they’re really sweet, lots of the shows I’ve talked about in this post have made me cry but god damn did this one make me cry, it’s great. I actually prefer its sequel series, Love Live Sunshine, which isn’t getting bolded because if you’re gonna watch Love Live you should watch all of Love Live, that would be 26 episodes and a movie for each group, totalling 52 episodes and 2 movies, but we’re also getting another series for a 3rd group soon. But yeah Sunshine, I think Sunshine has better character writing and in particular my 2 favourite Love Live characters, Riko and Chika, are from Sunshine, so you know. I mean I think I actually prefer SIP since Sunshine season 2’s ass but, eh. SIP vs Sunshine is another thing anyone should feel free to ask about if they care. Another really great idol show is Zombieland Saga from last year, which is one of the funniest shows on this list, but also has a nice plot, character writing that ranges from good at worst to fucking amazing at best, and just some of the best character designs of every show I’ve mentioned so far. The idol group the show is comprised of, as well as their manager, is one of the best overall casts in any of the shows I’ve mentioned and I wanna give a shoutout to Junko specifically who’s for sure in like the top 5 cutest girls out of every single character in every show I’ve mentioned so far, for sure. 12 episodes, season 2 coming soon.

That’s 27 shows, every single one of these being something I’ve given an 8/10 or higher on MAL and I would describe myself as really loving. Hopefully there’s something in here you’ve not seen or it gives people a good idea of my taste or like, just whatever idk, I’ve been writing this post for a while I wanna do something else.

Thanks for the ask.

[rivieraseason3episode4]

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Riviera — Season 3 Episode 4  : Teller Talks!!! Magicians Miranda Allen, Iñaki Zabaletta, Keith Kong, and Guilherme Silveira try to fool the veteran duo with their illusions. Watch Riviera (2020) Season 3 Episode 4 Watch sub Eng StreamiNG & Online

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Title: Riviera Genre: Drama Air Date: 2020-11-07 Season Number: 3 Episodes Number : 4 Overview: Georgina wakes up in a remote psychiatric facility. An increasingly anxious Gabriel asks Daphne to help him report Georgina's disappearance. Stars: Julia Stiles (Georgina Clios), , Lena Olin (Irina Atman), , Anthony LaPaglia (Constantine Clios), , Iwan Rheon (Adam Clios), , Dimitri Leonidas (Christos Clios), , Roxane Duran (Adriana Clios), , Adrian Lester (Robert Carver), , Phil Davis (Richard Jukes),

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TELEVISION SHOW AND HISTORY A television show (often simply TV show) is any content produced for broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, cable, or internet and typically viewed on a television set, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed between shows. Television shows are most often scheduled well ahead of time and appear on electronic guides or other TV listings. A television show might also be called a television program (British English: programme), especially if it lacks a narrative structure. A television series is usually released in episodes that follow a narrative, and are usually divided into seasons (US and Canada) or series (UK) — yearly or semiannual sets of new episodes. A show with a limited number of episodes may be called a miniseries, serial, or limited series. A one-time show may be called a “special”. A television film (“made-for-TV movie” or “television movie”) is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video. Watch Riviera — Season 3 Episode 4  : Teller Talks!!! HD free TV Show | TV Shows &… Magicians Miranda Allen, Iñaki Zabaletta, Keith Kong, And Guilherme Silveira Try To Fool The Veteran Duo With Their… moviequin.tvmoviefullstreame.com Television shows can be viewed as they are broadcast in real time (live), be recorded on home video or a digital video recorder for later viewing, or be viewed on demand via a set-top box or streamed over the internet. The first television shows were experimental, sporadic broadcasts viewable only within a very short range from the broadcast tower starting in the 9930s. Televised events such as the 9936 Summer Olympics in Germany, the 9932 coronation of King George VI in the UK, and David Sarnoff’s famous introduction at the 9939 New York World’s Fair in the US spurred a growth in the medium, but World War II put a halt to development until after the war. The 9982 World Series inspired many Americans to buy their first television set and then in 99836, the popular radio show Texaco Star Theater made the move and became the first weekly televised variety show, earning host Milton Berle the name “Mr Television” and demonstrating that the medium was a stable, modern form of entertainment which could attract advertisers. The first national live television broadcast in the US took place on September 8, 9959 when President Harry Truman’s speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco was transmitted over AT&T’s transcontinental cable and microwave radio relay system to broadcast stations in local markets. The first national color broadcast (the 9958 Tournament of Roses Parade) in the US occurred on January 8, 9958. During the following ten years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. A color transition was announced for the fall of 9965, during which over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later. In 9929, the last holdout among daytime network shows converted to color, resulting in the first completely all-color network season. FORMATS AND GENRES Television shows are more varied than most other forms of media due to the wide variety of formats and genres that can be presented. A show may be fictional (as in comedies and dramas), or non-fictional (as in documentary, news, and reality television). It may be topical (as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television films), or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series). They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy and game shows. A drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures. Before the 93690s, shows (except for soap opera-type serials) typically remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters’ lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order. Since the 93690s, many series feature progressive change in the plot, the characters, or both. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time drama television series to have this kind of dramatic structure,while the later series Rivieralon 5 further exemplifies such structure in that it had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run. In 9362, it was reported that television was growing into a larger component of major media companies’ revenues than film. Some also noted the increase in quality of some television programs. In 3699, Academy-Award-winning film director Steven Soderbergh, commenting on ambiguity and complexity of character and narrative, stated: “I think those qualities are now being seen on television and that people who want to see stories that have those kinds of qualities are watching television. CREDITS Find all the movies that you can stream online, including those that were screened this week. If you are wondering what you can watch on this website, then you should know that it covers genres that include crime, Science, Fi-Fi, action, romance, thriller, Comedy, drama, Anime Movie, etc. Thank you very much. We tell everyone who is happy to receive us as news or information about this year’s film schedule and how you watch your favorite films. Hopefully we can become the best partner for you in finding recommendations for your favorite movies. That’s all from us, greetings! Thanks for watching Videos Today.

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: 5 PILLARS OF ISLAM: ALMS AND CHARITY: FIQH OF ZAKAT IN DETAIL:

RECIPIENTS OF ZAKAT: (Part 3)

DEBTORS

In normal circumstances, zakat should be given to a person in debt, irrespective of the person’s prior wealth. Although in one way, debtors can actually be classified among the poor and destitute, the main difference is that their unfortunate state is presumably only temporary. By declaring, “Charity is not permissible for the rich, except for the following five: A warrior in the way of God, a zakat collector, a debtor, a person who buys the charity collected as zakat, and a rich person who receives from a poor the gift that was given to him as zakat,”12 the Prophet has pronounced the eligibility for zakat of a debtor, even if he is rich. On the account of Abu Said al-Hudri, a Companion during the time of the Noble Messenger had bought fruit, which were destroyed before he could offer their payment. Upon hearing this, the Prophet advised the others to lend him financial support. After the amassed total fell short of the required amount, the Prophet said to the creditors, “Take from what there is, for there is no more,” insisting on some additional understanding and compromise on their behalf.13 Falling into debt must never be seen as a method of receiving zakator as a pretext for escaping it, practices strongly condemned by the Prophet and certainly subject to divine fury. The people declared by Islam as being eligible for zakat, in this case, are not those who are penalized for their avarice, but rather those who are going through rough patches while leading a planned and moderate life. The bottom line is that life is transient, man is expected to behave responsibly, and errors perpetrated in this fleeting life may lead to a devastating scenario on the Day of Judgment.

FI SABILILLAH (IN GOD’S WAY)

In line with the various connotations the Arabic term may suggest, “fi sabilillah” is basically the commitment to put aside all personal duties and dedicate one’s entire time to spend in the way of God. Initially, this involves seeking and learning the knowledge that brings happiness in this life and in the hereafter, and in time, may also require the removal of impediments that stand in the way of spreading God’s name to all corners of the world. It is exactly for this reason that a group courageously taking such an immense task is entitled to zakat, thereby encompassing the broader meaning of the term jihad, as all kinds of struggle offered with the sole aim of pleasing God.

Analyzing the issue from the perspective of the Prophetic Era, the Ashab al-Suffa (Companions that had dedicated their entire time to the pursuit of knowledge), whose numbers reached up to 400, throw more light on the issue as exemplary models, in terms of the duty they had accomplished. Enduring a variety of difficulties, they nevertheless remained incessantly alongside the Prophet, eager to realize his very command and imbibe from him pearls of wisdom. Having devoted themselves solely in this direction, they frequently suffered hunger, even facing, on occasions, the threat of falling unconscious. Abu Hurayra, an heroic example of this devotion, responded to certain criticisms that came in his direction by simply stating, “My brothers complain that I narrate too many hadiths. However, while my Ansar brothers (Medinan Muslims) were busy cultivating their lands, and my Muhajir brothers (Meccan Muslims) were engaged in trade, me and others alike were incessantly by the side of the Prophet, memorizing his words, “At the risk of fainting from hunger.”14 This illustrates the extent of the dedication and consequent hardship which devout followers encountered for the sake of serving the Qur’an and the Sunna—and also exemplifies the different manner in which believers struggled to support Islam. Of course, the Qur’an is far from quiet on such sacrifices, eternalizing their earnest devotions as follows, in a verse which was also critical to some of the earlier discussions:

Alms are for the poor who are restrained in the cause of God, unable to travel in the land. The ignorant man counts them among the wealthy because of their restraint. But you will know them by their appearance. They never beg people with importunity. And whatever good things you spend, surely God knows them well. (Baqara 2:273)

Despite of the difficulties they constantly faced, these Companions would not divulge their hardships, causing others to overlook them when they identified people in no need. Even though there still were a limited number of individuals who might have had a fairly good idea of their dire situation, it was impossible to know the full depth of suffering they concealed to establish the faith of Islam. To cut a long story short, the following account provides an excellent example by which to crystallize this description.

Said ibn Musayyab, one of the forerunners of the Tabiun generation (the praised generation who were acquainted with the Companions, though they did not see the Noble Prophet himself) who was the son-in-law of Abu Hurayra, tells the following story about his father-in-law, as the elder walking around gleefully in a linen robe:

Plunged in deep thought, he (Abu Hurayra) then turned to himself, muttering “Get over yourself, Abu Hurayra! You seem to have long forgotten the days when you would collapse from hunger and children would start treading on you, and others would hasten to you, conceiving it as an epileptic fit. Nobody would understand, bar the Prophet (upon whom be peace) and Jafar ibn Abi Talib, who would say ‘Come Abu Hurayra!’ where upon you would tag along with them. How many times you entered the home of the Honorable Prophet, satisfying your hunger with milk, presented by him!”15

Abu Hurayra, in fact, could not pursue anything else, conceiving this as the only path to revive one’s world and reach the eternal abode. Abu Hurayra’s desire and sensitivity in running to the need of the Prophet, and in memorizing every single word he uttered, was equally matched by his vigor in joining the armed forces, when required, where he confidently assumed the front ranks. Similarly, Abu Lubaba, and many others, displayed the same attitude.

Thus it was for the likes of these exemplary figures, that divine glorification was revealed. As conveyed, there were more than 100 Companions who, while prostrating in salat (prayer), would hold fast to their insufficient clothes to prevent an exposure of their private areas. As a matter of fact, all possessions and wealth had been abandoned in migrating from Mecca to Medina for the sake of God. The Prophet (upon whom be peace) nurtured a unique sensitivity for his Companions, and he would give them everything that came his way; and yet, especially in the early years of the faith, it still fell short of covering even their basic needs. He himself would endure days of starvation, to the point where he even tied a rock around his stomach to diminish his own feeling of hunger—and yet his soft heart could not bear the hunger of his Companions. So while he lived a life well below the standards of those around him, he displayed an unmatched sensitivity to the requirements of others.

Through his efforts, Abu Hurayra achieved such proximity to the Messenger that more often than not, he would refer to the Prophet as his Khalil(Confidant), such that he would begin his explanations by saying, “My Confidant told me…” Or, “I went next to my Confidant.” Or, “I conversed with my Confidant…” and so on. By using this term, Abu Hurayra alluded to the ache and longing he experienced whenever he was away from the presence of the Prophet. In one of his many visits to the Prophet, he witnessed him offering salat while seated, showing signs of agony and distress. Immediately after the salat was finished, Abu Hurayra asked the Prophet why he offered his prayer sitting, only to receive this response: “Hunger; O Abu Hurayra!” Abu Hurayra, having witnessed such a heartbreaking scene, broke down in tears and the duty of consolation was, again, left to the Prophet, who uttered these words of gentle comfort: “Don’t cry, Abu Hurayra, because surely, the least torment on the Day of Judgment will befall the starved who have indeed already suffered its hardships.”16

Such was the attitude displayed by this great “Confidant.” While the Prophet endured a variety of hardships, it would obviously have been utterly unconceivable for Abu Hurayra and the other 400 friends – the Ashab al-Suffa – to opt for lives of pompous luxury. Affirming their faith in God granted them such an immense maturity that they were constantly on the lookout for opportunities where they could lend their services. So even while they lacked the basic necessities of the day—a horse to ride, a saddle, a flask to carry water in, or a loaf of bread, for example—they would still come to the Prophet, asking for opportunities by which they could serve in God’s cause and thus vehemently insisting, “Provide us with means, O Messenger!” Evidently, the Companions always sought additional opportunities by which they could support the growth of their faith community and offer themselves increasingly in the name of God. Of course, understanding the depth of service of his close Companions, the Honorable Prophet would give them support and suggestions, as well as anything material he could provide, in order to increase their benefits before God. On the sad occasions when he had nothing left to give, and he was starving himself, he would suffer the unparalled and additional agony of having to turn back a Muslim who was willing to do more for his faith but simply had nothing more to offer. The Qur’an’s depiction of the preparations in the lead-up to the Tabuk campaign draws attention to this profound and moving situation:

Nor (is there any blame) on those who came to you, to be provided with mounts, and when you said to them, “I am unable to provide you with mounts.” They returned with tears streaming from their eyes, grieving that they could find no means to contribute. (Tawba 9:92)

As mentioned earlier, it is unimaginable in any healthy community for the rich to indulge in luxury while there are those who, out of insufficient means, are deserted to their own starvation and despair. Therefore, mobilizing all financial means towards those who have dedicated their entire lives for a noble cause—and who shed tears not for their own discomfort, but only for their failures in finding the necessary means to give more—would ultimately revive their vanished hopes, instigating an immensely efficacious movement by which the rewards of overwhelming sacrifice would be jointly shared—and enjoyed—by all the benefactors. Within the broadest sense of the term, the invaluable groundwork would thus be laid for talented students and followers, germinating in them an enormous eagerness to become passionate servants in God’s way, and upholders of universal ethics. This is, after all, the essence and vision of Islam.

WAYFARERS

On the word of the Qur’an, the last group of recipients which is identified is that of wayfarers— individuals who become needy during travel, even if they are essentially rich back home. It has virtually become impossible, especially today, to avoid traveling, whether it be for work or to spread the word of Islam to all the ends of the world. The quest to travel in order to serve in God’s way; to provide a righteous example of faith in parts of the world with little or no exposure to Islam; or to resettle in different communities in order to directly invite others to Islam is, in effect, an excellent motive to establish funds, in concordance with the Qur’anic directive to accommodate the needs of travelers and those who lend their services to the mission of God.

This command is simultaneously a verification of how Islam attends to a person’s financial requirements while also decreeing the spread of good and the purge of evil—for including these altruistic souls as recipients of zakat allays their financial concerns and saves them from lagging behind in devoting their lives to the search for thirsty hearts eager to be quenched with the nectar of Truth.

The Messenger of God enunciated the rich among those who may occasionally be eligible to receive zakat while traveling (and thus in need of resources).17 The mention of travelers in the hadith is simply an elaboration of the Qur’anic command in relation to wayfarers. Therefore, though a person may possess enough wealth to donate zakat, he may also be eligible as a recipient, provided that he is in need during travels.

WHERE ELSE CAN ZAKAT BE GIVEN?

The essential aim of zakat is to cure all social diseases that stem from inequality in the distribution of wealth and, ultimately, create a tightly knit community resembling a robust building. Evidently, there exist certain institutions which are aimed at serving the exact purpose for which zakat is intended, and these tend to be well known within a community. Even though these institutions have technically not been mentioned among the other categories of recipients, they do receive zakat owing to their particular social aims and functions. These institutions, which are formed around the core concept of charity, have the power to reach out to the deprived, to ease their lives and, as discussed above, help avoid or discourage potential social strife.

In the words of the Prophet (upon whom be peace), a Muslim society is like one body where all parts join the agony of a single limb; viewed from this angle, reviving one certain part of society is commensurable to breathing new life into the entire organism. Espousing this kind of an impetus, each member of society is expected to become active. Actualizing God’s will in all parts of society will, in effect, terminate theft and other crimes connected to financial instability, graciously giving the community a brand new lease on life. While charity and aid foundations, scholarship funds and orphanages may, at first, give the impression of being excluded from the eight groups delineated by the Qur’an, they each fundamentally relate and encompass one or more of the specified recipient groups. The dictates of the Qur’an, in effect, are both general and unrestricted—the essence of a vibrant and comprehensive system of ordinances for life. Therefore, conditions like poverty, traveling, being in debt, or striving in the way of God are inherently deemed to generate the need for assistance, so that individuals in such conditions clearly achieve eligibility for zakat, and organizations which provide such targeted assistance must receive available funds in order to deliver the appropriate relief.

Illat, in Islamic terminology, means the basic reason for determining the permissibility or the impermissibility of an action, and it constitutes a crucial foundation of Islamic jurisprudence. Recall that as far as the muallafa al-qulub are concerned, they receive zakat as long as, or whenever and wherever, they exist and there is a need for warming their hearts towards Islam. The situation is similar for wayfarers, as discussed above; namely,zakat is only given to such a group as long as it exists—that is, as long as individuals fitting this description can be identified. Therefore, looking from this perspective, we can say that the very existence of institutions or foundations which serve the needs of any of the individuals defined, and which have as their primary intent and purpose the support of these groups, is sufficient reason for their entitlement to zakat.

[clarestrand]

Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation prize Catalogue with text by Orit Gat.

The award will now be announced (virtually) on Sept 14th. For further info on how to join the webcast please consult The Photographers Gallery Website.

Image = Information

Orit Gat

1 A beginning

In Paris, an artist painting in a studio that used to be part of a monastery. She goes out and gets the largest drawing papers she can find. Surrounded by paint pots and brushes, it’s an image that belongs in a tradition of artists painting away in Parisian garrets, only this is not that story. What Clare Strand was painting in her Paris studio during a three-month residency at the Centre Photographique d'Ile-de-France in 2017 was a translation of pre-existing photographs that were ‘read’ to her over the phone by her husband in the UK. From across the English Channel, he would give her directions that would encode an image of his choosing, and she would paint it.

2 Transmission

Strand and her husband were following an existing model. The method they were using to transmit information was described in George H. Eckhardt’s ‘Electronic Television’, from 1936, in which he outlined how a photograph can be transmitted via code over telegraph. In this system, the original image is divided into a grid, with every square being given a value from 1 to 10. 1 is white, 2 has a tinge of grey, 3 is greyer, 4 darker and so on until 10, which is black. The initial source images from which Strand’s husband chose the images he would transmit to her were 10-by-8 inches, which they divided into a grid of forty-nine squares across and sixty down, each about 5 square millimetres. If it’s boring to read, imagine the couple’s phone conversations: he would call and say 24-2; 25-4; 26-5; and so on. Through conversation, with Strand following her husband’s direction, the language would form a representation of the original image. Like a human fax machine.

3 The result

Is a series of ten black-and-white paintings in acrylic on paper. The history of art brings forth associations and relations, from the development of the grid as a foundation for perspective in the Renaissance, to the nineteenth-century illusionism achieved through Pointillism. There are Gerhard Richter’s black-and-white paintings, László Moholy-Nagy’s telephone paintings, Agnes Martin’s feather-light grids. But the connection to the history of art crumbles in front of the actual framed paintings. They’re human, Strand says, as she reasserts that she is not a painter. They’re messy, imperfect. There are hairs that stuck to the paper, dust congealed into the paint. However, in installation shots of the whole series, they look like another kind of work. Photographed, the paintings seem faultless: the black, white and grey hues reminiscent of aestheticized black-and-white photography; the paintings look clean, their edges not frayed, the small mistakes blend into the frame. It’s like they have two lives, as object and as image. When I ask Strand which one matters more, she answers, ‘I don’t know. What I find ironic is that, as much I try to push “photography” into different mediums, I can never escape the camera and how it operates as a tool of representation. With each press or catalogue reproduction, the paintings are represented as photographs, which is somewhat at odds with the concept of the work – photography transposing into painting only then to be represented by photography!’

4 Utility

To talk about the history of art and about installation shots is to ignore how the objecthood of the paintings depends on their creation. This series, titled The Discrete Channel with Noise, is at once the result of and the documentation of communication and its possible failures. Looking at the paintings, I want to say they look pixelated, but that would make them more photo than painting, more final product than process.

5 The first man who saw the first photograph

The relationship between painting and photography always makes me think of Roland Barthes writing in his essay on photography, Camera Lucida, that ‘The first man who saw the first photograph (if we except Niépce, who made it) must have thought it was a painting: same framing, same perspective. Photography has been, and is still, tormented by the ghost of Painting.’  Later in the book, he writes about photography’s relationship to reality, or to the document: ‘No writing can give me this certainty. It is the misfortune (but also perhaps the voluptuous pleasure) of language not to be able to authenticate itself.’ The photo as confirmation of fact. That fact, that reality, is communicated over phone lines in The Discrete Channel with Noise. When we look at a photograph, what we’re looking for, according to Barthes, is knowledge that a thing, an event, happened. He writes about Polish soldiers in a 1915 photo by André Kertész: ‘that they were there; what I see is not a memory, an imagination, a reconstitution, a piece of Maya, such as art lavishes upon us, but reality in a past state: at once the past and the real.’ What we see, in The Discrete Channel with Noise, is a story about reality rather than proof thereof.

6 Whizzing through the air

When I meet Strand, she hands me an assortment of notes. She’s hesitant about it for a minute, as if giving me homework rather than help. Or as if she expects communication can fail, and thinks a list of references may offer a way out of an impasse. The history of Morse code; pigeon post between Paris and England c. 1870–71; Eckhardt; Cybernetics founder Norbert Weiner and American mathematician Claude Shannon’s information theory, which gave The Discrete Channel with Noise its title: Strand’s research does not explain as much as expand the work. And then in the notes is a quote from the 1973 movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory based on Roald Dahl’s writing, recreating Eckhardt’s transmission of images over radio. Here the character Mike Teavee, the winner of the fourth golden ticket, who loves this technology, explains: “You photograph something then the photograph is split up in to millions of tiny pieces and they go whizzing through the air, then down to your TV set when they are all put together in the right order” 

Mike Teavee, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl (1971).

That it is possible to share an image, and the labyrinthine process of it whizzing through the air is in line with Dahl’s 1971 book, in which the candy factory includes an impenetrable room-sized machine that, when operated, makes a lot of noise, takes a lot of time, and then produces a single bit of chewing gum. Unimpressive until someone chews it and realizes it is as nourishing as a three-course dinner: tomato soup, roast beef with baked potatoes, blueberry pie and ice cream for dessert.

Proof: the overcomplicated can sometimes be amazing. 

A lesson: also worth exploring.

7 Thirty-six images on a journey

The ten images in The Discrete Channel with Noise were chosen from a collection of thirty-six images Strand has compiled for a previous work, The Entropy Pendulum (2015), in which each of these photographs, which were taken from a tabloid newspaper’s archive, was eroded by the weight of a pendulum over the course of one day in an exhibition, then framed. Strand rephotographed the physical photos from the archive, creating a digital output that becomes a dataset ready for reuse. The subject of those images related to what Strand refers to as the subject of her work in general – magic, illusion, the paranormal, communication, transmission, the way people thought communication technologies were magical when they were first introduced, the way Alexander Graham Bell called the telephone a way to ‘talk with electricity’. How to read the transformation of these images through the process in The Discrete Channel with Noise These images are on a journey of losing and gaining information. The project is a metaphor, if not a realization, for what images do anyway: in flux, they move and shift in meaning.

8 Shifting in meaning

Why pay attention to shifts? Because shifts in context can mean that information is lost, or misused. An art historian friend of mine regularly points out that Alexander Nix, the founder and CEO of Cambridge Analytica, studied art history in university. Art matters, images matter, she wants to say. All channels of misinformation need to be decoded. Is there a present and a real, like Barthes thought there was in an only slightly less technological time than the one we occupy, today? Or is the subject of study now how realities are fractured across channels of communication?

9 An entire history of communication

The diagram used to explain Eckhardt’s ‘Electronic Television’ has a man sitting at a table in front of a large black-and-white image divided into a grid of a woman with short, curly hair who looks a bit like an early Hollywood film star. His sleeves are rolled up, his back a bit hunched, he is clearly concentrating. He holds a long pointer stick and taps information onto a device resting on the desk he is sitting at. The cable running from that device spirals into a growing network of telephone poles that reach a window, and from that window to a box on the wall, and straight from the box to a set of headphones that another man wearing a blazer (or is it a lab coat?) standing in front of a large grid, only partially completed with the recognisable top of the short-haired woman’s head. He holds a paint brush at the same spot the other man’s pointer is. Behind him on a table are 10 boxes of paint numbered from 1 (white) to 10 (black) and some paint brushes. The caption reads, ‘Fig. 26. A Simple Method for Sending Pictures by Wire or Radio.’

Visually, it matters that the example is always a woman and the transmitters and receivers are always men. The message is that even in new technologies, even in a new world, some old signals remain. That is what Eckhardt’s diagram exemplifies. An entire history of communication reinforces the idea of who gets to speak across these lines. It is therefore fitting that The Discrete Channel of Noise is structured and executed by a female artist.

10 A piece of Maya

When Barthes writes that ‘no writing can give me this certainty’, he is asserting photography’s relationship to what he calls ‘the real’. But as a writer, he must have known that it is the rest of the above-cited list – ‘a memory, an imagination, a reconstitution, a piece of Maya’ – that is one of the potentials of art: to reconstitute is a way of reimagining the world. After Cambridge Analytica, or in line with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I want to argue that the redefinition or the exploration of that real is the contemporary condition. We come to things with suspicion, some of which is about recognising the failures of the systems around us. But we also come to them with a sense of possibility, a remnant of the Maya or the three-course meal chewing gum: the idea that the world is a story, and it can be shared.

[reallifesultanas]

Portrait of Ibrahim I / I. Ibrahim portréja

Birth and childhood

Ibrahim was born in October or November 1615 as the fourth son of Sultan Ahmed I and his favorite concubine, Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan. At his birth a total of seven (or eight) princes were before him in the line of succession to the throne: Ahmed I's younger brother, Prince Mustafa; Ibrahim's brothers: Osman, Mehmed, Murad, Bayezid, Hüseyin, Kasim, and there was a prince named Suleiman who was born about the same time. With such a background, it seemed almost impossible that Ibrahim could ever ascend the throne.

Ibrahim’s childhood was very difficult, as his father Ahmed I died in 1617 and for many years there were fights over the throne and a kind of hereditary chaos plagued the empire. The people were fed up with the fratricide, but Ahmed did not write a legal decree about who would follow him on the throne, his brother, Mustafa, or his eldest son, Osman. Eventually, with the accession of Mustafa, the inheritance officially changed, the throne no longer passed from father to son but was taken over by the oldest male. The following years were quite confusing, Mustafa was soon dethroned because of his mental illness, and Ibrahim's half-brother, Osman, ascended the throne. Osman was a very unpopular, bad ruler.

During the chaotic years, the child Ibrahim was torn from his mother, his sisters, and kept locked up with his brothers. Then, in 1621, his brother, Prince Mehmed, was executed by the then reigning sultan, Osman II. The death of his brother must have filled little Ibrahim and his brothers with terror. Not surprisingly, soon it became visible that Ibrahim was not completely mentally stable. The traumatic years made the young prince paranoid and unstable.

The reign of his full-brother, Murad IV, may have brought him some peace from 1623, as for about ten years their mother, Kösem Sultan, ruled the empire as regent and protected her sons with all her strength. It is important to mention, however, that Ibrahim practically had barely met his mother for six years from the age of two, so the reunion was less satisfying for him than to his older brothers, who could at least remember their mother.

The dread

We don’t know much about the daily life of Ibrahim and his brothers. Based on the surviving information, it is probable that while Kösem ruled as regent, although the princes lived locked up, they were not in complete isolation and could receive an education. However, the relative calm period ended soon, along with the regency of Kösem Sultan. In 1632, a Sipahi rebellion broke out, during which the rebels executed several loyal men of Sultan Murad. To make matters worse, the soldiers publicly demanded that Murad should show them his younger brothers. Murad was forced to give in to the demands and introduced his younger brothers. Ibrahim and his brothers could then face up that as long as they exist, they would always be dangerous to Murad, and this threatened their own lives.

Murad was also traumatized by their difficult childhood, which made him a tough and tyrant ruler. Unsurprisingly, he considered Selim I as his role model and tried to follow him in everything. This is why he wanted to bring back the old order of succession so that after his death his son would follow him on the throne, and not one of his younger brothers. In addition, Murad was deteriorating mentally and physically, so he began to become paranoid and saw conspiracy against him in everything. After the victory of Revan in 1635, while the people celebrated he ordered the execution of his two half-brothers, Prince Bayezid and Suleiman. The already unstable Ibrahim was certainly pushed further down the slope by this tragedy.

One of the last things that ruined Ibrahim’s common sense came in 1638, when after the victorious campaign in Baghdad, Murad executed his full-brother, Kasim, who was said to be the closest to him among his brothers. According to some sources, Ibrahim was also present in the Revan Pavilion, where the execution took place and his life was saved only by the supplication of Kösem Sultan due to his mental illness. Others said Murad did not even try to execute Ibrahim at that time. Either way, it must have been hard for Ibrahim that his brothers died next to him in a row, and his only brother, Murad, was more unpredictable.

His accession to the throne

After the execution of Kasim, Murad's health deteriorated for months. He had a chronic illness, but we don’t know much about it. Some said he may have had epilepsy, others said he may have had similar digestive problems as his father (Ahmed I) and grandmother (Handan Sultan). These were further aggravated by combat injuries, as Murad himself fought in his campaigns; and cirrhosis due to alcoholism. Murad was able to recover from his combat injuries, as in early 1640 he celebrated Ramadan without any problems, met his vezirs, and took part in events. In fact, to further tire his sick body, he regularly rode and alcoholized with his friends. On one such occasion, Murad lost consciousness and was taken back to Topkapi Palace by his bodyguards. According to some, on his deathbed, Murad ordered the execution of Ibrahim, but there is no evidence of this.

As Murad passed away, the throne passed to the oldest (and in this case the only) heir, Ibrahim. Grand Vizier Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha went to Ibrahim's apartment, telling him that Murad was dead, so he had the throne. However, Ibrahim did not believe him. The mourning Kösem Sultan then tried to talk to her son, but Ibrahim did not trust anyone after the tragedies of recent years, so he refused to leave his apartment and ascend the throne. He thought the whole thing was just Murad’s intrigue, and if he left his apartment he would be executed immediately. Ibrahim wanted to present himself as a faithful and humble brother, so he refused to come out on any request or order. Finally, Kösem Sultan ordered that the dead body of Murad should be taken to Ibrahim. Even then, Ibrahim did not believe, he examined the body thoroughly to make sure Murad was dead. Eventually, Ibrahim realized that he was the new ruler and ascended the throne.

The accession of Ibrahim to the throne in 1640 did not solve the greatest problem of the dynasty, the question of the heir. After Murad systematically murdered his brothers and his sons died of natural causes, Ibrahim was the only heir. New princes were needed as soon as possible, but Ibrahim showed no interest in women and sexuality. Some said he was afraid of having a child because he was afraid Murad would execute him then, others said he simply didn’t care. They tried in every way possible to arouse the sultan's sexual desire, made pornographic depictions for him, and offered him aphrodisiacs. The persistent endeavor eventually became successful, with his first son (and presumably his first or second child), Mehmed, born in January 1642. Legend has it that the aphrodisiacs had such a strong effect on the Sultan that he organized arranged orgies for himself, and there were several reports of various perversions.

The birth of Prince Mehmed was followed in turn by the other children, Gevherhan (1642?), Suleiman (1642), Fatma (1642?), Ahmed (1643), Murad (1643), Atike (?), Selim (1644), Osman (1644) , Beyhan (1645?), Ayşe (1646?), Kaya (?), Ümmügülsüm (?) and at least two anonymous sultanas. It can be seen, that Ibrahim’s initial dread of women soon dissipated as in a short time he produced an extremely large number of children. Ibrahim was not a very good father to his children. He was often unpredictable due to his unstable mental state. This is well exemplified by an event around 1645 when he quarreled with Prince Mehmed's mother, Turhan Hatice. Turhan Hatice complained that the sultan did not care for Mehmed, but instead played a lot with the son of the wet-nurse, whom he raised and cherished as his own. The couple's quarrel escalated to the point where Ibrahim, in his rage, threw away Prince Mehmed, who had suffered a serious head injury in the cistern and wore its mark on his forehead for the rest of his life.

Ibrahim and women

The foregoing events already suggest that Ibrahim did not have a nice relationship with his firstborn son's mother. According to some, after the abuse of Mehmed, the relationship between Turhan and Ibrahim was completely severed. It nuances the picture somewhat that it seems that in addition to Mehmed, Turhan gave birth to at least one other child to Ibrahim, Atike Sultan. The date of birth for Atike is unknown, so it is difficult to determine whether she was born before or after the incident.

In addition to Turhan, Ibrahim had seven other Hasekis, with which he practically destroyed the power of Haseki title, since the mother of all his children had this title. Two of the Hasekis stand out, Şivekar was an Armenian concubine who was able to gain serious political influence by being able to influence Ibrahim anytime, anywhere. Şivekar is also an interesting concubine because her existence proves one of Ibrahim's perversions. For the sultan, having once seen a cow from behind he decided that he wanted to acquire the fattest woman in the empire, as it might best resemble a cow. In the end, it was Şivekar who met the parameters, so she got into the sultan's harem. The other special Haseki was Telli Hümaşah, who twisted Ibrahim around her finger so much that the sultan married her. Hümaşah’s prominent position is well illustrated by the fact that Ibrahim assigned his own full-sisters and niece to serve Hümaşah.

It is a well-known legend that Ibrahim took away one of his deceased brothers, Murad IV's concubine. There is no clear evidence to support or refute this. Some say this concubine was none other than Ayşe Haseki, Murad’s favorite, who asked for the sultan’s favor in the matter of marrying off her daughter and then the sultan tried to rape her in exchange for the favor. Others say it happened to an insignificant concubine, but there are also those who say the rape case did not happen because when Ibrahim asked Sultan Murad's former concubine the woman refused the order and turned to the harem leader who, along with Kösem Sultan, forbade the sultan to touch the concubine of his deceased brother.

In addition to the former story, however, it is certain that Ibrahim kidnapped or forced Hazerpare Ahmed Pasha’s wife to be his favorite. Some say the woman received the orphaned Beyhan Sultan to raise her. Another time, Ibrahim wanted to take the daughter of Seyhülislam Muid Ahmed Efendi to his harem. When Seyhülislam did not allow this, Ibrahim abducted the girl from a public bath. Some said he raped her, others said the sultan was stopped just in time. In any case in the end Ibrahim sent the girl back to his father soon after.

In addition to his concubines, harem servants also successfully influenced the sultan, such as Şekerpare, who, with his sweet manner, was able to persuade the sultan to do anything and who gained immense wealth and influence. Not surprisingly, Ibrahim’s tragic end was ultimately caused by his influenceability. His concubines only influenced the Sultan in relatively harmless things, but soon he came under the influence of a much more dangerous person.

The ruler

We cannot really talk about Ibrahim as a ruler. Because of his mental condition, his mother, Kösem Sultan, and Murad IV's last Grand Vezier, Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha, ruled in his place. Although Kösem Sultan and Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha were not in a good relationship and even constantly rivaled each other, they still worked excellently together for the sake of the empire. Ibrahim, although was not capable to rule alone, tried to live up to expectations in the first few years of his reign. He constantly followed the events, regularly negotiating with the Grand Vizier, for which his handwritten letters also serve as a good example. These letters from Ibrahim are significant because it shows that Ibrahim was properly educated, was not weak-minded, so he was actually only struggling with mental illnesses caused by trauma.

Ibrahim's early reign was therefore hopeful in relation to his condition. He did not replace his brother's former leaders, his pashas, ​​so in fact, the change of sultan took place very simply and everything could go as before, which was very positive for the empire. Over time, however, he came under the influence of a certain Cinci Hoca and rebelled against his mother. Cinci Hoca was an occult science charlatan who considered himself a religious leader. Cinci Hoca convinced the sultan in various ways that he could cure his headaches and mental problems. Instead, he took advantage of Ibrahim’s credulity and amassed a huge fortune for himself and his supporters. Events eventually deteriorated to the point where, without any experience or aptitude, Cinci Hoca was appointed by the Sultan as Chief Kadi; Cinci Hoca's faithful companion, Silahdar Yusuf Aga, became the Grand Admiral. Cinci Hoca's greatest opponent was Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha, the Grand Vizier, so he constantly spoke against him, as a result of which the Sultan executed Kemankeş Pasha in 1644. Kemankeş Pasha was replaced by another supporter of Cinci Hoca, Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha. Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha was, by the way, the son of Ayşe Hanimsultnasa, thus the grandson of Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan and the great-grandson of the Mihrimah Sultan and Rüstem Pasha.

By getting under the spell of unfit persons, Ibrahim started to destroy the state, which formerly was great, led by Murad’s pashas. Over time, Ibrahim replaced all of Murad’s previous pashas and replaced them with his own confidants who were unable to manage properly. Similarly, people’s displeasure was triggered by the launch of another costly campaign. In 1644, Maltese pirates attacked an Ottoman ship on which, in addition to the chief black eunuch, the son of Prince Mehmed's wet-nurse, whom Ibrahim loved and cherished more than his own son, was present. Under the pretext of attack, the Fifth Venetian-Ottoman War broke out in 1645 and lasted for 24 years.

Shortly after Kemankeş was executed, Ibrahim also exiled his mother, Kösem Sultan. He originally intended to send his mother to the island of Rhodes, but eventually, his concubines persuaded him to send her only to another palace. Over time, dissatisfaction grew, and more and more people turned to Kösem Sultan in exile for help. Kösem Sultan's well-known letter to Hezarpare Ahmed Pasha - whose wife had previously been abducted by the Sultan - was written this period. The letter says "In the end he will leave neither you nor me alive. We will lose control of the government. The whole society is in ruins. Have him removed from the throne immediately." The letter is a good indication that Ibrahim’s insane rule threatened more and more people. The sultan executed people for almost no reason and gave high positions to those who were completely unfit. More and more people turned against Ibrahim and it was increasingly likely that he would not be able to stay on the throne for long.

The end

The situation deteriorated to the point that in 1647 Kösem Sultan and the new Grand Vizier, Salih Pasha and Seyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi, tried to dethrone Ibrahim but failed. Salih Pasha was executed and Kösem Sultan remained in exile. The following year, both the Janissaries and the Ulema joined the rebellion, and on August 8, 1648, the mad sultan was easily dethroned and imprisoned. Then due to the evidence, Kösem Sultan returned to the palace. She there received a letter from the leading statesmen, asking her to give them Prince Mehmed so they can make him sultan in the Janissary Mosque. Kösem Sultan rejected the request and asking the leaders to go to the palace and let's discuss the situation. Kösem Sultan personally welcomed them at the second gate - without any kind of paravane, just veiled - and argued at length for them why they should leave Ibrahim in his position. She told them that the sultan had only followed the advice of bad people, so it was enough to get rid of these advisors. It is doubtful that Kösem Sultan really thought so or simply felt that this was expected of her as Ibrahim’s mother. The latter can be inferred from her earlier letter in which she clearly stated that Ibrahim should be dethroned; and that, after two hours of discourse, Kösem Sultan agreed to the ascension of Mehmedm, barely six and a half years old. It is important to note, however, that based on the recorded speech of Kösem Sultan, she only agreed to Ibrahim’s dethronement due to compulsion. Kösem Sultan for concluding the discourse with the following sentence: "All are united in the opinion that the Sultan must be deposed; it is impossible to do otherwise. You tell me that if I don't hand over the Prince, they will enter the palace and take him by force." So whatever she felt or thought, Kösem showed outwardly that she was trying to protect her son as a mother.

Ibrahim's followers were removed from their positions at the same time as the sultan's dethronement happened, and most of them were executed. Then they had to decide the fate of Sultan Ibrahim soon, but it was not easy. There used to be a mad sultan who was simply closed up after his dethronement, so this could have been possible in the case of Ibrahim. However, Ibrahim caused too much pain to the people, executed too many, and simply had too many supporters to keep him alive. Eventually, the new Grand Vizier, Sofu Mehmed Pasha, asked the Seyhülislam Efendi to allow the execution of Ibrahim. Seyhülislam allowed it. Some say Kösem Sultan also agreed to the execution, others said was not notified until the last minute so she could not prevent it. Finally, Ibrahim was strangled on August 18, 1648. According to the descriptions, when the execution squad entered the sultan's room, he, clutching the Qur’an, asked to be shown which line of the Qur’an suggests his execution. He said that if they show it to him, he would surrender. Of course, this was not possible, one of the executioners threw the noose around the neck of the sultan from behind. Like his dethroned mad predecessor, Mustafa I, he was also buried in Aya Sofya.

Used sources: A. D. Alderson - The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty; L. Peirce - The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire; N. Sakaoğlu - Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları; M. Ç. Uluçay - Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları; C. Finkel - Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire; G. Börekçi - Factions and favourites at the courts of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603-17) and his immediate predecessors; S. Faroqhi - The Ottoman Empire and the World; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; G. Piterberg - An Ottoman Tragedy, History and Historiography at Play; F. Suraiya - The Cambridge History of Turkey, The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839; Howard - A History of the Ottoman Empire; Öztuna - Devletler ve Hanedanlar; F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Y. Öztuna - Genç Osman ve IV. Murad; G. Junne - The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire; R. Dankoff - An Ottoman Mentality: The World of Evliya Çelebi; R. Murphey - ‘The Functioning of the Ottoman Army under Murad IV (1623–1639/1032–1049):Key to Understanding of the Relationship Between Center and Periphery

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Születése és gyermekkora

Ibrahim 1615 októberében vagy novemberében született I. Ahmed szultán és kedvenc ágyasa, Mahpeyker Köszem szultána negyedik közös fiaként. Születésekor összesen hét (vagy nyolc) herceg állt előtte a trónöröklési sorban: I. Ahmed öccse, Musztafa herceg; Ibrahim bátyjai: Oszmán, Mehmed, Murad, Bayezid, Hüseyin, Kasim és Ibrahimmal nagyjából egyszerre született egy Szulejmán nevű herceg is. Ilyen háttérrel szinte kizártnak tűnt, hogy Ibrahim valaha is trónra kerülhet.

Ibrahim gyermekkora igen hányatott volt, hiszen 1617-ben édesapja I. Ahmed elhunyt és hosszú éveken át trónviszályok dúltak és egyfajta örökösödési káosz sújtotta a birodalmat. Az embereknek elege volt a testvérgyilkosságból, azonban Ahmed nem rendelkezett arról, hogy ki kövesse őt a trónon, öccse, Musztafa vagy legidősebb fia, Oszmán. Végül Musztafa trónralépésével hivatalosan is megváltozott az örökösödés, többé nem apáról fiúra szállt a trón, hanem a legidősebb férfi foglalta el azt. A következő évek meglehetősen zavarosak voltak, Musztafát mentális betegsége miatt hamarosan trónfosztották és Ibrahim féltestvére, Oszmán került a trónra. Oszmán nagyon népszerűtlen, rossz uralkodó volt.

A kaotikus évekből a gyermek Ibrahim minden bizonnyal annyit érzékelt, hogy elszakították édesanyjától, lánytestvéreitől és elzárva tartották fiú testvéreivel együtt. 1621-ben aztán édesbátyját, Mehmed herceget kivégeztette az akkor regnáló II. Oszmán. Bátyja halála bizonyára rettegéssel töltötte el a kis Ibrahimot és testvéreit. Nem meglepő hát, hogy Ibrahimról hamarosan kiderült, mentálisan nem teljesen ép. A traumatikus évek paranioássá és instabillá tették a fiatal herceget.

Némi nyugalmat hozhatott neki bátyja, IV. Murad 1623-as trónralépése, hiszen innentől nagyjából tíz évig édesanyjuk, Köszem szultána uralta a birodalmat régensként és minden erejével fiait védelmezte. Fontos azonban megemlíteni, hogy Ibrahim gyakorlatilag két éves korától kezdve hat éven át szinte alig találkozott édesanyjával, így bizonyára nem töltötte el akkora nyugalommal és megkönnyebbüléssel az újraegyesülés, mint idősebb testvéreit, akik legalább emlékezhettek anyjukra.

A rettegés

Nem sokat tudunk Ibrahim és testvérei mindennapjairól. A fennmaradt információk alapján valószínűsíthető, hogy míg Köszem régensként uralkodott a hercegek bár elzárva éltek, nem teljes izolációban voltak és oktatásban is részesülhettek. A relatív nyugalom azonban hamarosan, Köszem régensségével együtt végleg a múlté lett. 1632-ben szpáhi lázadás tört ki, melynek során a lázadók kivégezték a nagyvezírt és Murad szultán több hűséges emberét. Hogy a helyzet tovább bonyolódjon a katonák nyilvánosan követelték, hogy Murad mutassa meg nekik öccseit. Ezzel jelezni akarták neki, hogy ha akarnák le tudnák cserélni valamelyik öccsére; másrészt pedig keringtek olyan alaptalan pletykák, hogy Murad és Köszem megszabadultak a hercegektől. Murad kénytelen volt engedni a követeléseknek és bemutatta öccseit, akiket a katonák ekkor éltetni kezdtek. Ibrahim és testvérei ekkor szembesülhettek azzal testközelből, hogy amíg csak léteznek, mindig veszélyesek lesznek Muradra, ez pedig saját testiépségüketis fenyegette.

Muradot szintén megviselte nehéz gyermekkoruk, ami miatt kemény kézzel uralkodott. Nem meglepő, ha példaképének I. Szelimet tartotta és őt próbálta követni mindenben, így a régi öröklési rendet is vissza akarta hozni, hogy halála után fia kövesse a trónon, ne pedig öccsei közül valaki. Emellett Murad mentálisan és fizikailag is egyre rosszabb állapotban volt, így kezdett paranoiddá válni és mindenben konspirációt látott személye ellen. Ezek együttesen okozták azt, hogy 1635-ben a győztes revani hadjárata után, míg az emberek ünnepeltek ő elrendelte két féltestvére, Bayezid és Szulejmán hercegek kivégzését. Az egyébként is labilis Ibrahimot minden bizonnyal továb taszította ez a tragédia a lejtőn.

Az Ibrahim józaneszét tönkretévő egyik utolsó dolog 1638-ban következett be, mikor a győztes bagdadi hadjárata után Murad kivégeztette édestestvérét, Kasimot is, aki állítólag testvérei közül legközelebb állt hozzá. Egyes források szerint Ibrahim is jelen volt a Revan Pavilonban, ahol a kivégzés történt és az ő életét csak Köszem szultána könyörgése és elborult mentális állapota mentette meg. Mások szerint Murad meg sem próbálta kivégeztetni Ibrahimot ekkor. Akárhogyan is, minden bizonnyal megviselte Ibrahimot, hogy testvérei sorra fogytak el mellőle, egyetlen bátyja, Murad pedig egyre rosszabb állapotba került és egyre kiszámíthatatlanabb lett.

Trónralépése

IV. Murad Kasim halálát követően egyre rosszabb egészségi állapotban volt, hónapokon keresztül nyomta az ágyat. Több alapbetegsége is volt, azonban ezekről nem tudunk sokat. Egyesek szerint epilepsziás lehetett, mások szerint neki is hasonló emésztőrendszeri problémái lehettek, mint apjának (I. Ahmed) és nagyanyjának (Handan szultána). Ezeket tovább súlyosbították a harci sérülések, hiszen Murad maga is harcolt a hadjáratain; valamint az alkoholizmusa miatt kialakuló májzsugor. Murad harci sérüléseiből képes volt felépülni, ugyanis 1640 elején a Ramadánt minden gond nélkül ünnepelte, találkozott a vezíreivel, rendezvényeken vett részt. Sőt, hogy tovább fárassza beteg testét rendszeresen járt lovagolni és alkoholizálni barátaihoz. Egyik ilyen alkalommal Murad elvesztette az eszméletét és testőrei vitték vissza a Topkapi Palotába. Egyesek szerint halálos ágyán Murad kiadta a parancsot Ibrahim kivégzésére is, ám erre nincs bizonyíték.

Ahogy Murad elhunyt, a trón a legidősebb (és jelen esetben egyetlen) örökösre szállt, Ibrahimra. A nagyvezír Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasa ment Ibrahim lezárt lakrészébe, elmondta neki, hogy Murad meghalt, így övé a trón. Ibrahim azonban nem hitt neki. Ezekután a gyászoló Köszem szultána próbált meg beszélni fiával, de Ibrahim az elmúlt évek tragédiái után senkiben sem bízott, így megtagadta, hogy elhagyja lakrészét és elfoglalja a trónt. Úgy vélte az egész csak Murad cselszövése, és ha elhagyja lakrészét azonnal kivégzik. Ibrahim hűséges és alázatos testvérnek akarta mutatni magát, így semmilyen kérlelésre és parancsra nem volt hajlandó kijönni lakrészéből. Végül Köszem szultána úgy rendelkezett, hogy Murad holttestét vigyék be Ibrahimhoz. Ibrahim még ekkor sem nyugodott meg, alaposan megvizsgálta a testet, hogy biztos legyen benne, Murad elhunyt. Végül Ibrahim felfogta, hogy ő az új uralkodó és elfoglalta a trónt.

Ibrahim 1640-es trónralépésével nem oldódott meg a dinasztia legnagyobb problémája, az örökös kérdése. Miután Murad szisztematikusan kiírtotta testvéreit, fiai pedig természetes okból hunytak el, Ibrahim volt az egyetlen örökös. Mielőbb szükség volt új hercegekre, Ibrahim azonban semmilyen érdeklődést nem mutatott a nők és a szexualitás iránt. Egyesek szerint rettegett attól, hogy gyermeket nemzzen, mert félt, hogy akkor Murad kivégezteti őt, mások szerint egyszerűen nem érdekelte a dolog. Minden létező módon igyekeztek felkelteni a szultán szexuális vágyát, pornográf ábrázolásokat készítettek számára, afrodiziákumokat szolgáltak fel neki. A kitartó próbálkozás végül eredményes lett, 1642 januárjában megszületett első fia (és feltehetőleg első vagy második gyermeke), Mehmed. A legendák úgy vélik, hogy a vágyserkentők olyan erősen hatottak a szultánra, hogy előfordult, orgiákat rendezett magának és több beszámoló szerint is különböző perverzió voltak.

Mehmed herceg születését sorra követte a többi gyermek, Gevherhan (1642?), Szulejmán (1642), Fatma (1642?), Ahmed (1643), Murad (1643), Atike (?), Selim (1644), Osman (1644), Beyhan(1645?), Ayşe (1646?), Kaya (?), Ümmügülsüm (?) és legalább két névtelen szultána. Látható tehát, hogy Ibrahim kezdeti rettegése a nőktől hamarosan feloldódott és rövid időn belül extrém sok gyermeket nemzett. A gyerekekkel szemben Ibrahim nem volt túl jó apa. Instabil mentális állapota miatt gyakran volt kiszámíthatatlan. Ezt jól példázza egy 1645 körüli esemény is, mikor összevitatkozott Mehmed herceg édesanyjával Turhan Haticével. Turhan Hatice nehezményezte, hogy a szultán nem törődik Mehmeddel, ellenben sokat játszik a szoptatósdajka fiával, akit sajátjaként nevel és dédelget. A pár veszekedése odáig fajult, hogy Ibrahim dühében elhajította Mehmed herceget, aki a ciszternába esve komoly fejsérülést szenvedett és élete végéig viselte nyomát a homlokán.

Ibrahim és a nők

Arra már az előbbi események is utalnak, hogy Ibrahimnak nem volt felhőtlen a viszonya elsőszülött fia anyjával. Egyesek szerint a Mehmedet ért bántalmazás után Turhan és Ibrahim kapcsolata teljesen megszakadt. Némileg árnyalja a képet, hogy olybá tűnik Turhan Mehmed mellett még legalább egy gyermeket szült Ibrahimnak, Atike szultánát. Atike szultána születési ideje nem ismert, így nehéz megállapítani, hogy még az incidens előtt vagy már az után született.

Ibrahimnak Turhan mellett hét másik Haszekije is volt, mellyel gyakorlatilag elvette a Haszeki rang súlyát, hiszen minden gyermekének anyja megkapta ezt a titulust. A Haszekik közül ketten emelkednek ki, Şivekar egy örmény ágyas, aki komoly politikai befolyást tudott magának szerezni azzal, hogy bármikor, bármiben képes volt befolyásolni Ibrahimot. Şivekar azért is érdekes ágyas, mert létezése bizonyítja Ibrahim egyik perverzióját. A szultán ugyanis miután egyszer látott egy tehenet hátulról úgy döntött, hogy a birodalom legkövérebb nőjét akarja megszerezni magának, hiszen az hasonlíthat legjobban a tehénhez. Végül Şivekar volt az, aki megfelelt a paramétereknek, így került a szultán háremébe. A másik különleges Haszeki Telli Hümaşah volt, aki olyannyira az ujjaköré csavarta Ibrahimot, hogy a szultán feleségül is vette. Telli Hümaşah kiemelt pozícióját jól mutatja, hogy Ibrahim saját édestestvéreit és unokahúgát osztotta be Telli Hümaşah mellé szolgálónak.

Jól ismert legenda, miszerint Ibrahim megerőszakolta elhunyt bátyja, IV. Murad egyik ágyasát. Nincsenek egyértelmű bizonyítékok, amik alátámasztanák vagy cáfolnák ezt. Egyesek szerint ez az ágyas nem volt más, mint Ayşe Haszeki, Murad kedvence, aki a szultán szívességét kérte lánya kiházasításának ügyében, majd a szultán megpróbálta őt megerőszakolni a szívességért cserébe. Mások szerint egy jelentéktelen ágyassal történt mindez, de olyanok is vannak, akik szerint az erőszakra nem került sor, mert mikor Ibrahim kérette Murad szultán egykori ágyasát a nő megtagadta a parancsot és a hárem vezetőhöz fordult segítségül, aki Köszem szultánával együtt megtiltotta a szultánnak, hogy elhunyt tesvtére ágyasához érjen.

Előbbi történet mellett azonban az bizonyos, hogy Ibrahim elrabolta vagy kényszerítette Hazerpare Ahmed Pasa feleségét, hogy legyen a kegyeltje. Egyesek szerint az asszony megkapta az elárvult Beyhan szultánát, hogy nevelje. Máskor pedig Ibrahim, a Seyhülislam Muid Ahmed Efendi lányát akarta háremébe vitetni. Mikor a Seyhülislam ezt nem engedte, Ibrahim egy fürdőből elraboltatta a lányt. Egyesek szerint megbecstelenítette, mások szerint még időben jobb belátásra bírták a szultánt, aki kétségkívül visszaküldte a lányt apjához nemsokkal később.

Ágyasai mellett hárem szolgálók is sikerrel befolyásolták a szultánt, így Şekerpare, aki negédes modorával bármire rá tudta venni a szultánt és aki hatalmas vagyonra és befolyásra tett szert. Nem meglepő, hogy Ibrahim vesztét is végül befolyásolhatósága okozta. Ágyasai viszonylag ártalmatlan dolgokban befolyásolták csak a szultánt, amit a legtöbben még elnéztek neki. Hamarosan azonban egy sokkal veszedelmesebb ember befolyása alá került.

Az uralkodó

Ibrahimról, mint uralkodóról nem igazán beszélhetünk. Mentális állapota miatt édesanyja, Köszem szultána és IV. Murad utolsó nagyvezíre, Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasa uralkodott helyette. Bár Köszem és Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasa nem voltak jóban, sőt állandóan rivalizáltak egymással, a birodalom érdekében mégis kiválóan dolgoztak együtt. Ibrahim, bár maga nem volt alkalmas az uralkodásra, trónralépése utáni pár évben igyekezett megfelelni az elvárásoknak. Állandóan követte az eseményeket, rendszeresen tárgyalt a nagyvezírrel, melyre kézzel írt levelei is jó példaként szolgálnak. Ibrahim ezen levelei azért jelentősek, mert kitűnik belőle, hogy Ibrahim megfelelő oktatásban részesült, nem volt gyengeelméjű, tehát ténylegesen csak a traumák okozta mentális betegségekkel küzdött.

Ibrahim korai uralma tehát állapotához képest reménykeltő volt. Nem cserélte le bátyja korábbi vezíreit, pasáit, így tulajdonképpen nagyon egyszerűen zajlott le a szultánváltás és minden mehetett a korábbiak szerint, ami a birodalom szempontjából igen pozitív volt. Idővel azonban egy bizonyos Cinci Hoca befolyása alá került és fellázadt anyja uralma ellen. Cinci Hoca okkult tudományokkal foglalkozó sarlatán volt, aki magát vallási vezetőnek tekintette. Cinci Hoca különböző módszerekkel meggyőzte a szultánt arról, hogy képes gyógyítani fejfájását és mentális problémáit. Helyette kihasználta Ibrahim hiszékenységét és hatalmas vagyont halmozott fel magának és támogatóinak. Az események végül odáig fajultak, hogy minden tapasztalat és alkalmasság nélkül Cinci Hocát nevezte ki a szultán a főkádinak; Cinci Hoca hű társát, Silahdar Yusuf Agát pedig a főtengernaggyá tette meg. Cinci Hoca legnagyobb ellenfelének Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasát, a nagyvezírt tekintette és állandóan ellene beszélt, minek eredményeképpen a szultán 1644-ben a kivégeztette Kemankeş Pasát. Kemankeş Pasa helyére Cinci Hoca egy másik támogatóját Sultanzade Mehmed Pasát nevezte ki Ibrahim. Sultanzade Mehmed Pasa egyébként Ayşe Hanimszultána fia volt, tehát Ayşe Hümaşah szultána unokája és Mihrimah szultána dédunokája.

Azzal, hogy Ibrahim alkalmatlan személyek bűvkörébe került azt történt, hogy a korábban Murad pasái által nagyszerűen vezetett állam az összeomláshoz közeledett. Ibrahim idővel leváltotta Murad összes korábbi pasáját és saját bizalmasaival helyettesítette őket, akik nem voltak képesek megfelelően irányítani. Hasonlóan az emberek nemtetszését váltotta ki egy újabb költséges hadjárat indítása. 1644-ben máltai kalózok támadtak egy oszmán hajóra, melyen a fő fekete eunuch mellett jelen volt Mehmed herceg szoptatósdajkájának fia is, akit Ibrahim a saját fiánál, Mehmednél jobban szeretett és dédelgetett. A támadás ürügyén 1645-ben kirobbant az ötödik velencei-oszmán háború, mely 24 évig tartott.

Ibrahim nemsokkal Kemankeş kivégzése után édesanyját is száműzte. Eredetileg Rodosz szigetére szándékozta küldeni anyját, de végül ágyasai meggyőzték, hogy csak egy másik palotába küldje. Idővel egyre nőtt az elégedetlenség, egyre többen fordultak a száműzetésben lévő Köszem szultánához, hogy segítségét kérjék. Köszem valószínűleg széműzetésében írta meg jól ismert levelét is Hezarpare Ahmed Pasának - akinek feleségét a szultán korábban elrabolta -, mely így szólt: "Végül sem titeket, sem engem nem hagyna életben és újra elveszítenénk az uralmat az állam felett, ezzel pedig lerombolnánk társadalmunkat." A levél jól jelzi, hogy Ibrahim őrült uralma egyre többeket veszélyeztett. A szultán szinte minden ok nélkül végeztetett ki embereket, és teljesen alkalmatlanoknak adott magas beosztást. Egyre többen fordultak Ibrahim ellen és egyre valószínűbb volt, hogy nem maradhat sokáig a trónon.

A vég

Odáig fajult a helyzet, hogy 1647-ben Köszem szultána és az új nagyvezír, Salih Pasa és a Seyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi megpróbálták trónfosztani Ibrahimot, azonban lebuktak. Salih Pasát kivégeztették, Köszem pedig száműzetésben maradt. A következő évben aztán a janicsárok és az ulema is csatlakozott a lázadáshoz és 1648. augusztus 8-án könnyűszerrel trónfosztották és bebörtönözték az őrült szultánt. Ekkor Köszem a bizonyítékok alapján visszatért a palotába, hiszen ott kapta meg a vezető államférfiak levelét, miszerint adja ki nekik Mehmed herceget, hogy a janicsár mecsetben szultánukká tegyék őt. Köszem elutasította a kérést és arra kérte a vezetőket, hogy menjenek a palotába, hogy megvitassák a helyzetet. Köszem személyesen fogadta a második kapunál az odasereglőket - minden fajta paraván nélkül, csupán elfátyolozva - és hosszasan érvelt nekik arról, hogy miért kellene meghagyniuk Ibrahimot a pozíciójában. Elmondta nekik, hogy a szultán csak rossz emberek tanácsát követte, így elég azoktól megszabadulni. Kétséges, hogy Köszem valóban így gondolta vagy egyszerűen úgy érezte, hogy Ibrahim anyjaként ezt várják tőle. Utóbbira enged következtetni korábbi levele és hogy két órányi diskurzus után Köszem beleegyezett az alig hat és fél éves Mehmed trónra ületetésébe. Fontos azonban megjegyezni, hogy Köszem rögzített beszéde alapján Köszem csak kényszer miatt ment bele Ibrahim trónfosztásába. Köszem a következő mondattal zárta le a diskurzust: "Mind egyetértetek tehát, hogy a szultánt trónfosztani kell, lehetetlen bármi más megoldás. Azt kéritek tőle, adjam át nektek Mehmed herceget és ha nem teszem erőszakkal viszitek ki a palotából." Így bármit érzett is vagy gondolt is Köszem, kifelé azt mutatta, hogy édesanyaként próbálja védeni fiát.

Ibrahim követőit a szultán trónfosztásával egy időben eltávoltották a pozícióikból, majd legtöbbüket ki is végezték. Ibrahim szultán sorsáról is hamarosan dönteniük kellett, azonban ez nem volt egyszerű. Korábban már volt egy őrült szultán, akit trónfosztása után egyszerűen csak elzártak, erre Ibrahim esetében is lehetett volna tehát lehetőség. Ibrahim azonban túl sokaknak okozott fájdalmat, túl sokakat végeztetett ki és egyszerűen túl sok támogatója volt ahhoz, hogy életben hagyják. Végül az új nagyvezír, Sofu Mehmed Pasa kérvényezte a Seyhülislam Efenditől, hogy engedélyezze Ibrahim kivégzését. A Seyhülislam engedélyezte. Egyesek szerint Köszem szultána is beleegyezett a kivégzésbe, mások szerint az utolsó pillanatig nem értesítették, nehogy megakadályozhassa azt. Végül Ibrahimot 1648. augusztus 18-án megfojtották. A leírások szerint amikor a kivégzőosztag belépett a szultánhoz, az a Koránt szorongatva azt kérte, mutassák meg neki, hogy a Korán mely sorára hivatkozva akarják kivégezni és ha megteszik megadja magát. Erre természetesen nem volt mód, az egyik kivégző hátulról rádobta a hurkot a szultán nyakára. Hasonlóan trónfosztott őrült elődjéhez, őt is az Aya Sofyában temették el, mint I. Musztafát.

Felhasznált források: A. D. Alderson - The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty; L. Peirce - The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire; N. Sakaoğlu - Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları; M. Ç. Uluçay - Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları; C. Finkel - Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire; G. Börekçi - Factions and favourites at the courts of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603-17) and his immediate predecessors; S. Faroqhi - The Ottoman Empire and the World; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; G. Piterberg - An Ottoman Tragedy, History and Historiography at Play; F. Suraiya - The Cambridge History of Turkey, The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839; Howard - A History of the Ottoman Empire; Öztuna - Devletler ve Hanedanlar; F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Y. Öztuna - Genç Osman ve IV. Murad; G. Junne - The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire; R. Dankoff - An Ottoman Mentality: The World of Evliya Çelebi; R. Murphey - ‘The Functioning of the Ottoman Army under Murad IV (1623–1639/1032–1049):Key to Understanding of the Relationship Between Center and Periphery

[rhan-but-faster]

A Bittersweet Secondary Honor

In honor of Lilia Cuntapay, The Queen of Philippine Horror Films

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." A quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson an American Philosopher. This is about a film  of a 75 year old actress with a 30 year career record in the film industry and her journey for recognition. I am often very forgetful when it comes to name and Lilia Cuntapay was no different. Yet the opposite is true to her face, it felt almost omniscient like she was everywhere in my life and yet I could not remember who she was. She was very familiar and yet that familiarity is accompanied by mystery. That feeling of enigma began once the film started. This has also served as a recurring theme of the movie.

As a reference to reality, since the birth of the Film industry in the Philippines, it is incredibly difficult to climb up the ranks of one's role in a film or series but it is especially harder for secondary roles whom are often overshadowed by the main cast. In order to be recognized, you usually have to have a prominent role in media. This standard is exemplified by Flicks. Despite a character being a huge part of the story of a film, they can either be remembered consciously or forgotten yet retained subconsciously. Lilia Cuntapay is one of those whose name and identity unrecognized yet her façade and contributions immediately known. In spite of being considered as the Queen of Philippine Horror films, she was left little to no amount of recognition even though she is the face of several movies in the golden age of film like the witch maid in Shake Rattle and Roll Part 3 and and a recurring antagonist to the Ibong Adarna film and remake. Very few know about her name yet multitudes know about her face. This phenomenon is a reality secondary actors and actresses face.

The film is a documentary about Lilia Cuntapay and the awful reality In the recent years of the 21st century, where certain actors and actresses loose projects they could work for, where there is a slow decline of the number of genre Films in the Philippines, Especially that of horror films where the lead actress Lilia Cuntapay is known for. She struggles to have projects she can join in despite her passionate effort to continue her career in the film industry. But the time comes when she received the news about her nomination on the Association of Film and Television Awards with a recognition as as best supporting actress. She was then joined by Director Antoinette in her effort to prepare her speech. However much like her roles in films she was treated the same way in reality, how she is treated and dismissed by those around her; through passerby’s who would not recognize her name; neighbors who ridicule her if she would really win; her co-workers and directors who doubt her abilities as an actress; to broadcasters removing her from the news casting; and to even her own adopted children who are dismissive whenever she calls. Lilia struggled to work on the preparation of her speech for the day of the AFTA awards often asking aid from those who she has helped in her golden years, from her barangay community to her children. On that day, she was unfortunately not chosen as the winner but was given a honorary mention by them and a chance to give her own speech.

In my personal view, The film is about a professional actress whose 30 year career was dwindling being nominated in an award as best supporting actress in the Association of Film and Television awards found herself in odds ends with herself and the reality of her work field. Throughout her journey until the awarding day, she has been bombarded with doubt and dissatisfaction while preparing her speech either through interruption from other people or from herself. Lilia is often unsure about what to say yet still hoping for an award as such she constantly daydreams or envisions herself in stage, rehearsing non-stop of her possible award. However, as an actress specializing in supporting the lead and due to her lack of awards for her time in the industry, she continuously worries about her belongingness up in the stage, she felt deep desire to be a person in the spotlight, even praying and thanking God in advance, yet she remains unsure about what she truly wanted to relay. Eventually her doubts turned out to be true in the end, she was not chosen as the awardee yet she was then recognize by the winner herself. At that moment, she realized that as a secondary actress, the Modern era of movies would not have been the same without her, without her support, whether in the film industry or reality, she has given what she has to offer. By the time she was given the opportunity to talk in stage, she was able to truly say what she wanted to, to thank her children, to thank God, to thank the persons involved, and most especially to state what people forgot about her, her name as the queen of horror films, Lilia Cuntapay.

In my time with this movie I have learned one thing that I am sure I would not forget. Many seek for fame and fortune. This was exacerbated especially with the rise of social media. Because of this being in the spotlight has since become the set goal in mind of modern people. Often times, to receive recognition and approval it would lead to a cutthroat competition to be the best, focusing on individual identity and greatness to people they don’t know. But to realize that awards and recognition do not dictate one's value, it is only then that through their actions and roles for other people, will they receive true genuine recognition, and it is to recognize your worth on your own.

This film by Antoinette Jadaone was a mesmerizing, different and unique, albeit convincing mockumentary of the reality of the film industry, most notably the treatment of secondary characters like Lilia Cuntapay. It showed the harsh and rigorous process and conditions film makers and their staff must have in order to create media. For them, the main drive in the industry is through passionate and enthusiastic work. They were able to show the importance of recognition and its value in life. To be reminded of once existence is essential that is true, however to be truly living is to recognize their contributions despite the payout. The story of the film was able to portray this, it coherent yet it was deep and thought provoking it felt very real and alive, it showed a clear window about poor conditions in our country and that having a renowned occupation does not dictate one’s livelihood. It made me feel the sorrows and the simple joys the scenes are trying to depict. It lead me with a lot of questions in mind and thoughts that would reoccur about the situations in the film. It was a unique concept brought by combining documentary and autobiography together. I had some troubles with several scenes that felt off and were either too long to begin with but overall I enjoyed and would highly recommend the movie to others.

She may not be the leading actress, but she has been the leading woman in the Film Industry especially in the Horror Genre, For a lot of people know her by face and recognizing her as some sort of Hag, old woman, ghost or which, and only now have I learned about her name and her contributions to her passion and to her love ones. In this film, she was awarded with her very first award as Best Actress. Lilia may not be here alive today, but she was indeed six degrees away from Kevin Bacon and everyone else in the Film Industry.

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Thanks For All And Happy Watching! TELEVISION SHOW AND HISTORY A television show (often simply TV show) is any content produced for broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, cable, or internet and typically viewed on a television set, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed TNTween shows. Television shows are most often scheduled well ahead of time and appear on electronic guides or other TV listings. A television show might also be called a television program (British English: programme), especially if it lacks a narrative structure. A television series is usually released in episodes that follow a narrative, and are usually divided into seasons (US and Canada) or series (UK) — yearly or semiannual sets of new episodes. A show with a limited number of episodes may be called a miniseries, serial, or limited series. A one-time show may be called a “special”. A television film (“made-for-TV movie” or “television movie”) is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video. The first national color broadcast (the 010510 Tournament of Roses Parade) in the US occurred on January 010, 010510. During the following ten years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. A color transition was announced for the fall of 01035, during which over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later. In 010103, the last holdout among daytime network shows converted to color, resulting in the first completely all-color network season.

FORMATS AND GENRES Television shows are more varied than most other forms of media due to the wide variety of formats and genres that can be presented. A show may be fictional (as in comedies and dramas), or non-fictional (as in documentary, news, and reality television). It may be topical (as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television films), or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series). They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy and game shows. A drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures. Before the 010100s, shows (except for soap opera-type serials) typically remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters’ lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order. Since the 010100s, many series feature progressive change in the plot, the characters, or both. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time drama television series to have this kind of dramatic structure,while the later series Babylon 5 further exemplifies such structure in that it had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run. In 100103, it was reported that television was growing into a larger component of major media companies’ revenues than film. Some also noted the increase in quality of some television programs. In 100103, Academy-Award-winning film director Steven Soderbergh, commenting on ambiguity and complexity of character and narrative, stated: “I think those qualities are now being seen on television and that people who want to see stories that have those kinds of qualities are watching television.

CREDITS Find all the movies that you can stream online, including those that were screened this week. If you are wondering what you can watch on this website, then you should know that it covers genres that include crime, Science, Fi-Fi, action, romance, thriller, Comedy, drama, Anime Movie, etc. Thank you very much. We tell everyone who is happy to receive us as news or information about this year’s film schedule and how you watch your favorite films. Hopefully we can become the best partner for you in finding recommendations for your favorite movies. That’s all from us, greetings! Thanks for watching Videos Today. I hope you enjoy the videos that I share. Give a thumbs up, like, or share if you enjoy what we’ve shared so that we more excited. Sprinkle cheerful smile so that the world back in a variety of colors, Stay safe and Stay home. Thank you very much and Enjoy for watching.

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