#Three Exceptions Doctrine

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

Most of the time, I enjoy making political predictions. This one, however, makes my stomach turn: Conservatives want to do away with ‘exceptions’ for women’s lives. In fact, they’ve been laying the groundwork to eradicate the exception since Roe was overturned—though I didn’t fully piece together the move until recently, when I saw a leading anti-abortion activist refer to life-saving abortions as ‘elective.’

The short version is that they’ve been strategically redefining ‘abortion’ across law, culture and medicine, while pushing the false claim that abortion is never necessary to save a person’s life. The end game is legislation that bans abortion in all cases, mandating that doctors only end life-threatening pregnancies using c-sections or induced vaginal birth, no matter the risk to the pregnant person.  I’ll explain in detail, but please know that like most anti-abortion strategies, this one is being rolled out quietly and incrementally. In the same way that Republicans won’t pass an outright ban on contraception—instead chipping away at access until birth control is impossible to get—the plan is to methodically eradicate the exception right under our noses.  Because the idea of eliminating life-saving abortions is so radical—who would suggest such a thing?—there’s a real risk that Americans won’t notice until it’s too late. The unthinkable-ness of their extremism is protecting them. 

Redefining ‘abortion’

Abortion is a medical intervention to end a pregnancy, for any reason. But since Roe was overturned, conservatives have been trying to redefine abortion as an intention. For instance, they claim that treatment for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies aren’t really abortions—even if the medication or procedure is identical—because these pregnancies are presumably wanted. In addition to dividing women into those who ‘deserve’ care and those who don’t, the goal is to divorce abortion from healthcare. Even though this definition has no basis in medicine or reality, Republicans have embedded it in state laws and policies anyway—often after being lobbied by anti-abortion groups.

Replacing ‘abortion’

Republicans aren’t just redefining abortion, they’re replacing it with the made-up medical term ‘maternal fetal separation.’ [...]

Claiming abortion is never medically necessary

The effort to redefine and replace “abortion” in legislation has always been about laying the groundwork for one central—and false—argument: that abortion is never medically necessary. After all, if abortion is just the intentional ending of a pregnancy, and if women with life-threatening pregnancies can just be treated with ‘maternal fetal separations,’ then all abortions can be labeled elective. That’s the goal.

Sometimes, they say this outright. This summer, for example, I reported on a paper published by anti-abortion activists Ingrid Skop and James Studnicki. They argued that “there is no disease, illness or condition for which an induced abortion has been determined to be a standard of care” and claimed there is “no justification” for health- or life-saving abortions. Instead, they suggested women can simply be given ‘separation’ procedures—in other words, c-sections. Just a few weeks ago, well-known anti-abortion activist Dr. John Bruchalski echoed that sentiment, calling life-saving abortions ‘elective.’ He said, “There are no advantages for a mother to end her pregnancy by an elective abortion, even in the most life-threatening circumstances.’” Again, the idea is that a standard abortion procedure isn’t necessary because women can be induced or forced into surgery.

This isn’t a fringe belief of random activists. Some of the country’s most prominent anti-abortion groups are on board. When the first post-Dobbs deaths were reported, for example, I noticed that major anti-abortion leaders responded by saying abortion bans allowed for life-saving care—but wouldn’t say the law allowed for life-saving abortions. Instead, they said bans allow doctors to “treat” patients or “intervene” to save lives, carefully sidestepping the word ‘abortion.’

That’s deliberate—and not just because they don’t believe abortion is medically necessary. The nation’s leading anti-abortion organizations will never say doctors can legally provide life-saving abortions because their ultimate goal is to eliminate that exception entirely. If you’re skeptical, consider this: It wasn’t so long ago that Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA-PLA) lobbied against an exception for women’s lives in Tennessee. When the state first passed its trigger ban, there was no exception for life-threatening pregnancies—just an affirmative defense mandate. That meant doctors had to break the law to provide a life-saving abortion and then defend it after the fact.

[...]

How they’ll do it

You won’t see states passing laws explicitly banning life-saving abortions anytime soon. Republicans are too strategic for that. Instead, they’ll use the same incremental approach they’ve employed elsewhere—chipping away bit by bit. Most egregiously, I feel certain they’ll exploit women’s suffering and deaths to do it. In fact, that tactic has already started: You might remember how anti-abortion legislators first started codifying their false definition of abortion after stories emerged of women being denied care. They claimed they were simply “clarifying” bans to address any confusion and ensure doctors knew they could treat women with ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, or life-threatening conditions. Republicans framed these legislative tweaks as protections for women.

But let’s be clear: these people have no interest in protecting women. Their “clarifications” are a cover for the real end goal. In the coming months, I expect we’ll see even more language about ‘maternal-fetal separation’ and legislative changes framed as efforts to ‘clarify’ abortion bans—especially as more stories of women dying come to light. I suspect they might even use a specific woman’s death as justification for tweaking a state ban. At the same time, anti-abortion organizations will continue to normalize treating life-threatening pregnancies with c-sections and vaginal labor rather than traditional abortion procedures. Groups like the Charlotte Lozier Institute already explicitly recommend that emergency abortions “be done by labor induction or c-section,” falsely calling it “medically standard.” (It most certainly is not.)1

Meanwhile, Republican leaders in anti-abortion states will offer “guidance” to doctors about how to legally treat women with life-threatening pregnancies, stressing ‘separation’ procedures. All of these same groups and legislators will also spread propaganda claiming that abortion procedures like D&Cs or abortion medications are far more dangerous than c-sections or vaginal labor. Eventually, we’ll see a test case: a state where legislators pass a total abortion ban without exceptions. Because, they’ll say, abortion isn’t medically necessary anyway. As I noted earlier, when that case reaches the courts, conservative legal groups will point to years of legislation from multiple states as evidence that it’s “widely accepted” that abortion is simply an intention. And while it’s true that this strategy is a slow and quiet one, it’s important to know that it’s already unfolding. Reports show that doctors are increasingly performing c-sections on women—even when it’s too early for a fetus to survive—out of fear of breaking the law.

The conservative anti-abortion movement’s end goal is to eventually end abortion ban exceptions and deceitfully redefine the meaning of abortions.

[dirtbagwitch]

MAGIC FOR THE CITY DWELLER

CHAPTER ONE: WELCOME TO THE CONCRETE JUNGLE, WHERE MAGIC NEVER SLEEPS

magic isn’t just for the deep woods and moss-covered stones. it’s not limited to candlelit covens or ancient runes etched in a sacred grove. magic is where you are. in the humming neon signs, the flickering streetlamps, the rhythm of bus doors opening and closing, in the energy of walking amongst a crowd on a busy street.

urban magic is about finding the mystical in the mundane, harnessing the city’s restless energy, and using every graffiti tag, liminal space, cracked pavement, and forgotten coin as a tool for enchantment. the city is alive—a churning, breathing, chaotic organism—and if you listen closely, it’s whispering spells in the wind between skyscrapers.

this isn’t some high-brow, ceremonial magic doctrine. here, we work with sigils written on coffee shop napkins, metro card protection spells, and phone screens charged as scrying mirrors. this is magic for the streets, for the punks, for the witches in walk-ups and studio apartments, for the ones who find the divine in the hum of a dive bar at 3 AM.

WHAT MAKES URBAN MAGIC DIFFERENT?

the biggest shift between traditional and urban magic is the environment. instead of sacred groves, we have community gardens. instead of rivers, we have storm drains. instead of bonfires, we have neon lights and power grids pulsing with raw electricity.

but just because the setting is different doesn’t mean the magic is weaker. city magic is potent as hell, because it’s charged with movement, history, technology, and millions of lives overlapping in real-time.

ELEMENTS IN AN URBAN CONTEXT:

• earth → concrete, bricks, asphalt, parks and park dirt

• air → the wind between high-rises, the whispers of overheard conversations, the endless streams of information moving across the city

• fire → electricity, neon lights, the heat of a crowded bus, a match or lighter

• water → rain pooling in the streets, sewer systems, fountains in public squares, water dripping from rooftops

• spirit → the city itself, the collective energy of its people, the ghosts in old buildings, the echoes of everyone who’s walked these streets before you

this practice isn’t about forcing the old ways into a modern setting. it’s about adapting magic so that it fits your world, your reality, your city.

THEORY & FRAMEWORK: CHAOS MAGIC, QUEER MAGIC, AND CITY SPELLS

urban magic thrives on three key principles:

1. ADAPTATION – use what’s around you. city witches need to be resourceful as hell. your “wand” can be a pen, a drumstick, or a crowbar if that’s what speaks to you (though a crowbar is a little extreme). your “altar” can be a windowsill, a shoebox, or even temporary like the back of a bus seat where you traced a sigil in the condensation.

2. INGENUITY – urban magic is subtle, fast, and often disguised. your ritual circle might be drawn in spilled coffee, your sigils hidden in street art, your glamour spells worked through fashion choices and body language.

3. INTERACTION – the city is alive. talk to it. work with the spirits of your apartment building, the crows and raven and wandering city cats who see a lot, the graffiti messages that seem to answer your questions in cryptic scrawls, street names that feel like answers to questions. trust your gut, keep watch for the synchronicity

MAGICAL SYSTEMS THAT THRIVE IN THE CITY:

1. CHAOS MAGIC: THE DIY APPROACH TO WITCHCRAFT

urban magic truthfully falls under the umbrella of chaos magic.

chaos magic is sort of like punk rock spellwork. no rules except what works. it’s the belief that magic isn’t just about ancient texts and strict traditions—it’s about belief as a tool. hacking reality, using symbols, and experimenting with what actually gets results. if something stops working you chuck it and move on to something new.

• create sigils from street signs, corporate logos, and subway maps.

• use “reality hacking” spells—like placing intent in a QR code or whispering an incantation into a social media post before it goes viral.

• swap out outdated correspondences for modern tools—your phone can be your scrying mirror, your router a beacon for intention-setting.

chaos magic thrives in the city because cities are chaotic. they’re full of random encounters, glitches, synchronicities waiting to be tapped into.

2. QUEER MAGIC: BREAKING RULES, BENDING REALITY

witchcraft has always been the domain of outsiders, rebels, and the marginalized. queer magic embraces fluidity, resistance, and radical self-expression.

• use genderfluid deities, archetypes, and spirits in your workings.

• cast spells at drag shows, pride marches, and underground raves—because those are modern sacred spaces.

• turn self-love into a spell, defying the narratives that say queer people don’t deserve power, joy, or love.

urban queer magic is loud, unapologetic, and built on the bones of those who paved the way before.

TOOLS & MATERIALS: USING THE CITY AS YOUR SPELLBOOK

urban witches don’t need fancy supplies. we use:

• 📱 smart phones – scrying mirrors, digital sigil boards, enchanted playlists

• 🎫 metro cards & transit tickets – protection charms, travel blessings

• 🗝 keys – for unlocking opportunities, closing doors that need to stay shut

• 🖋 pens & sharpies – sigil-making, graffiti spellwork

• 🪙 spare change – prosperity charms, offerings to city spirits

• 🧾 receipts – paper magic, petition spells, glamour workings

if it exists in your daily life, it can be a tool.

EVERYDAY SPELLS & RITUALS

🔮 PROTECTION SPELLS FOR NAVIGATING CITY LIFE

• “doorway ward” – rub salt along your threshold, whispering “no harm may cross this line.”

• “metro shield” – imagine a glowing energy bubble around you before stepping onto public transit.

💰 PROSPERITY & SUCCESS SPELLS

• “lucky coin” – pick up a found coin, say “bring me fortune,” and carry it for a week.

• “resume enchantment” – anoint your job applications with cinnamon for luck before sending.

💡 HACKING REALITY WITH CHAOS MAGIC

• “digital sigils” – set a sigil as your phone wallpaper and charge it every time you unlock your screen.

• “parking spell” – whisper “open the way” as you search for a spot—watch as one appears.

🌀 COMMUNITY SPELLS & URBAN COLLECTIVE MAGIC

• “city-wide sigil work” – drop the same symbol in different places and see what manifests.

• “full moon offerings” – leave a quarter at a crossroads to honor the city’s spirits.

THE CITY IS YOUR ALTAR

this is your grimoire, your spellbook, your guide to turning the city into a magical playground. don’t just live in it—work with it, enchant it, let it enchant you back.

magic is everywhere, babes. you just have to know where to look.

[tanadrin]

selected doctrines of Tanadrinism

working on the sabbath is forbidden. the Sages explain that by "work," the scripture means "anything you're just not feeling at the moment," and that "the sabbath" extends from 3:30 Friday afternoon to 11:00 AM on Monday

the Light of God is not present in Indiana, and the faithful are forbidden from setting foot in that accursed place

the world was created August 12, 1973, at 8:36 PM. all human memory, history, artifacts, and so forth were created in place, producing the illusion of an ancient cosmos. all major world religions were actually developed in the 70s as a way to try to explain the stuff people found lying around. except us. tanadrinism is an authentic tradition from the beginning of time (51 years ago)

smoking weed and jerking off are among the sacraments. you can combine them if you want.

the light of LSR J1835+3259 is bleak and sinful; do not let your gaze linger upon it or images thereof

salvation is achieved by mailing a filled out Standard Salvation Request Form along with a recent utility bill and a photo ID to a PO Box in Panama City. the exact address can be found in the holy scriptures. also, you can substitute a Polaroid with your name scrawled on the back, endorsed by two witnesses

all falling down old buildings, abandoned rail yards, weird blocks of concrete you found in the middle of the forest, and empty subway platforms are the abode of God on earth, or the fane of one of God's nameless saints. it is considered virtuous to leave offerings to God or the saints in such places, viz., cigarettes that are only half-smoked, or not-quite-empty bottles of booze.

there are 15,346 true commandments, but only three and a half have been revealed to the faithful. the prophets say not to worry about it, it's probably fine.

the physical, metaphysical, and ontological center of the universe, the seat of the axis mundi, the place to which all sacred forces in the cosmos converge or from which they radiate, is located in the stockroom of the porn store next to the döner shop near the Beusselstraße train station in Moabit, Berlin. if you are very quiet, you can sometimes hear the choirs of angels singing from the sidewalk outside.

the holy scriptures state that God apologizes for the inconvenience of creating the universe, that They did so by accident, and They are not sure how to fix it. but They weep with our sorrows and laugh with our joys, and swear that one day, howevermuch labor on Their part it might require, we shall be free of all the former, while the latter will increase without limit. in the meantime, They implore you to seek more joy than sorrow, and to do what you can to ease the suffering of others.

blessed are they who are kind to others, even when they're in a really shitty mood, saith the Lord; they shall get a free large soft-serve ice cream at the celestial ice cream bar, next to the eternal laser tag arena.

[lets-try-some-writing]

What does Ultra Magnus's funeral plan for Kids includes? 😂 Is it based on Cypertron or Earth customs? UM's search history looks very worrisome, "How to bury a dead child?". Ultra Magnus has funeral folder for each kid.

Ultra Magnus's plans for each of the children varies wildly between all three of them. He has not told anyone about his funeral plans, but the team know he has them stored away somewhere and have helped him work on them in quiet ways. His plans are as follows:

Jack

According to Earth customs, Jack still being a minor, is to have all of his inheritance go straight to his creator for her to handle. Aside from that and the legal hassle, according to the laws of Cybertron, Jack is also to receive additional honors in the event of his death.

As a chosen Herald of a Prime, in the event of his death, he is to be given religious honors and buried on Cybertron's holy grounds. Or barring that, his frame is to be melted, or in this case burned and turned into an ornament that the reigning Prime may wear on his frame. This way the Herald may serve eternally, at least according to religious doctrine. His remaining family is to be given a singular wish within reason to be granted as payment for his service.

Ultra Magnus made some additional notes in response to Jack's habits. That being that Jack's body will need to be cleaned out by humans before funeral handling since no Cybertronian in their right mind will want to run that kind of mortuary work. His body is to also be dressed as the humans see fit before being fitted with ritualistic armor, as is only proper according to the Primacy.

Miko

In accordance to Earth customs, Miko's body will go back to her family for a limited time so that they might settle her affairs. But in the event of her death, that mourning period will only be permitted for so long. As a Wrecker, Miko's body must undergo the correct Cybertronian rituals.

Her body is to be cleaned and then a badge of honor laid over her chest. From there, the Wreckers who mentored her, worked with her, or had direct interactions with her are to give her a funeral rite that they feel fitting with their knowledge of her personality. In this case, all control over her funeral rites falls to Bulkhead and Wheeljack. Ultra Magnus got their statements and according to them, the only end they find fitting for her is simple.

Wheeljack has stated that for a Wrecker like Miko, she should go out with a bang and have a pyre built and laced with explosives. Her body can then be lain on it and join the flames. Bulkhead suggested instead having her body preserved within Cybertronian crafted armor in order to honor her warrior's spirit. Those two ideas are likely to be combined in spectacular fashion if and when she dies.

Rafael

In accordance with human customs, Rafael's body will be entirely returned to his family, except for one key component. All his affairs will be handled by his human family due to his youth and position, but there is one small Cybertronian addition that must be seen to.

Rafael doesn't know. Ratchet doesn't know. Not even Bee knows. But in order to protect Rafael and give him proper honors, he is listed as a Cybertronian special agent on record. His name is Redacted and all information on him is carefully secured. According to Cybertronian tradition and law, when a special agent dies on a foreign world, a piece of their frame is to be returned and added to the hall of the fallen faceless.

Very few are allowed into that hall, and only there will his identity be revealed for the correct parties to see. That way he will be forever remembered, but in a way that won't compromise those closest to him. It was Optimus's suggestion to list him as an agent, and so in the event of his death, an officer is to retrieved some core part of Rafael, be it his heart or his brain, to be turned into a gemstone and preserved.

Ultra Magnus is prepared for their deaths. He knows fleshies don't last long.

[shoutydwarf]

also the popular theory of qunari originating from elves is shut down completely imo.

the elves are our most reliable lens into the origins of thedas. i think it's very pointed that the dalish recount that humans came from par vollen - what we know now as fleeing the devouring storm post-creation of the veil. i think it's VERY safe to reason that the qunari didn't CONQUER par vollen. the humans already living there BECAME qunari.

i think 'kossith' refers actually to the avvar/chasind (rather, the alamarri), because it's said that they worshipped animist gods before the qun. the kossith are the race that predate qunari. what little lore we have of them is either very particular in never describing their appearance or theorizing that they were a collection of different races not unlike the qun we know today. from that, we can reason that they were either humans or a mix of human, elf, and dwarf.

and i know bioware says the kossith had a colony in the korcari wilds (CHASIND TERRITORY BTW) which is how the darkspawn first created ogres. however we know that the blights came AFTER the veil/devouring storm, which means after the creation of the horned race that ogres come from.

take all of this and add it to the connection between the avvar doctrine and the qun. three chief gods representing the primordial forces of thedas. the lady of the skies is a spirit (mythal) is the mind. korth the mountain-father is a titan is the body. hakkon wintersbreath is a dragon (??) is the soul. there's also the parallel of the avvar and the qun being TOTAL inverses of each other. the avvar are so free with magic that creating 'abominations' is a regular, standard practice, where the qun collars and silences their mages.

i guess what we now have to figure out is what IS the devouring storm? clearly something caused by the veil. maybe the veil itself. likely something to do with executors, which we know nothing about except that they were mages. maybe not even that, maybe they just have a form of magic we haven't seen yet.

i think theirin blood might have a play here. reavers definitely. yavana for sure. thinking and thonking.

[ryin-silverfish]

Is JTTW Buddhist Propaganda?

(Hmmm...I could swear I wrote something about this one before. Consider this post an expansion, then.)

But first, let's analyze what this question means, and gives it some context.

When people say "JTTW is basically Buddhist propaganda", they often point to the caricature of the Celestial Realm, the mocking of Daoists, and how Buddhists are not subjected to the same degree and intensity of satire.

Which is true, and I'll agree that JTTW likes Buddhism better, but I still disagree with the statement as a whole.

See, the "JTTW as Buddhist propaganda" takes imply that 1) JTTW is promoting Buddhist doctrines and only Buddhist doctrines, and 2) Buddhism and Daoism can actually be divided into two distinct, totally dissimilar camps in this period, and you cannot believe in both at the same time.

I'll use this Reddit post as an example, which is what sparked the discussion that inspired in the first place.

Here, the OP summarizes Subodhi and SWK's exchange in Chapter 2 as "Subodhi listing a bunch of Daoist immortality methods that Don't Work, which SWK rejects, before he teaches monkey how to actually be immortal via proper Buddhist ways."

Except...well...Subodhi doesn't actually teach him immortality via proper Buddhist ways. Here is the mantra he recites to SWK after the monkey solved his riddle:

This bold, secret saying that's wondrous and true: Spare, nurse nature and life—there's nothing else. All power resides in the semen, breath, and spirit; Store these securely lest there be a leak. Lest there be a leak! Keep within the body! Heed my teaching and the Way itself will thrive. Hold fast oral formulas so useful and keen To purge concupiscence, to reach pure cool; To pure cool Where the light is bright. You'll face the elixir platform, enjoying the moon. The moon holds the jade rabbit, the sun, the crow; The tortoise and snake are now tightly entwined. Tightly entwined, Nature and life are strong. You can plant gold lotus e'en in the midst of flames. Squeeze the Five Phases jointly, use them back and forth— When that's done, be a Buddha or immortal at will!

It's full of Daoist metaphors, like the reference to 精气神 in line 3, the triad of fundamental forces in internal alchemy. The talk about Jade Rabbit/Moon and Crow/Sun, as well as the Turtle and Snake, are alluding to Water and Fire, the Kan and Li trigram——again, very important in internal alchemy.

And it's not an isolated case. There are enough internal alchemy stuff in JTTW that multiple Qing commentaries are dedicated to reading JTTW through a Daoist cultivation lens, to the extreme of finding internal alchemy metaphors in every line and paragraph.

Nor does JTTW only poke fun at Daoists while portraying monks as paragons of morality: Elder Jinchi, the start of the Wuji Kingdom arc where the local temple head acted like an asshole to Sanzang and was threatened by SWK into providing him lodging, the acolytes of Zhenhai Temple who were seduced and eaten by Lady Earth Flow...

So is JTTW a secretly Daoist work in a thick Buddhist trenchcoat, then? The Chan Buddhist allusions and the dissing of Daoists would beg to disagree.

But more importantly, the idea that JTTW has to be either Daoist or Buddhist propaganda implies an "exclusivity", that if you are promoting one thing, you have to be a doctrinal purist for that thing while thoroughly rejecting the other things, which just isn't how religions work in imperial China.

Though the "Three Teachings as One" tradition does not mean there weren't back-and-forth dissing between Buddhists and Daoists, they usually don't do it by proclaiming that the other is Wrong and False and Needs to Go Away, but "Sure, they have something to offer, but it's actually the same thing as our teachings, and we can do it better anyways".

Thus a Neo-Confucian following Wang Yangming's school of thought could incorporate Buddhist ideas into their philosophical writings, a Daoist could believe in karma and reincarnation, and a novel about attaining Buddha-hood could be laden with internal alchemy jargons and symbolism.

Constant borrowing from each other aside, Daoism isn't a monolith either. JTTW did not portray external alchemy——making elixirs of immortality with actual chemicals——in a favorable light, but it has no problem with internal alchemy.

Like, pay attention to the Daoists who were made buffons of (and usually turned out to be yaoguais in disguise). They got where they were by promising the kings of the local kingdom immortality elixirs.

The White Deer Demon is the most notable example, but the Three Immortals of Chechi Kingdom were also promising the king immortality elixirs, after they cemented their superiority through their rain-calling rituals.

Such cases are pretty remiscient of certain Daoism-obsessed Ming emperors, like Jiajing/Ming Shizong (the novel might have been written during his reign, but even if it wasn't, the author would be quite close to, and aware of what came before).

What I'm getting at here is, JTTW is perfectly capable of criticizing the sort of Daoism and Daoists it doesn't like, while also believing that internal alchemy is a valid and worthwhile framework, compatiable with the Buddhist pursuit of enlightenment.

Conversely, just because the novel poked fun at all three religions and made their deities very human, doesn't mean it is somehow a purely secular/atheist work.

It still believes in what it thought as the common "core" of the three religions: the inner cultivation process that underlies Daoist internal alchemy, Buddhist pursuit of enlightenment, as well as certain Neo-Confucian schools.

This coexistence and syncreticism, even if individuals or groups may lean more towards one school or teaching, is pretty hard for modern people to grasp.

I guess my best analogy is: if you visit a Buddhist temple in modern China, you can often see Guan Yu being venerated as a guardian deity in one of the side halls, as well as the occasional Wealth God.

The presence of those Daoist deities doesn't make it stop being a Buddhist temple, anymore than a Guanyin statue in a Daoist temple does.

JTTW is kinda like this temple. Technically, it is still a Buddhist one because it has a Buddha in the main hall, and is occupied by monks.

But it also has numerous Daoist deities in the side halls, and there's a souvenir store at the entrance selling Taisui-warding talismans and zodiac animal charms, like most popular temples.

It will be inaccurate to classify the whole thing as exclusively Buddhist, in the same way a Protestant church is exclusively Christian. However, the mix-and-match of deities and the souvenir shop don't make it a shopping mall (entirely secular) either.

[beardedmrbean]

The Catholic Church has issued a warning to its clergy in Washington state: Any priest who complies with a new law requiring the reporting of child abuse confessions to authorities will be excommunicated.

The new law, which will take effect on July 27, eliminates the long-standing confidentiality of the confessional, forcing Catholic leaders and lawmakers into a highly charged standoff over religious liberty and child protection.

However, the Archdiocese of Seattle and several bishops argue that the law not only contravenes church doctrine but crosses constitutional lines, while supporters maintain it is a crucial step to protect minors from abuse.

Newsweek contacted the Archdiocese of Seattle and Washington Governor Bob Ferguson and the three Democratic state senators who sponsored the bill for comment via email and online inquiry forms.

Why It Matters

The issue spotlights the enduring tension between religious freedom and the state's duty to protect children from abuse. By compelling clergy to breach the confessional seal, Washington joins a small group of states stripping traditional confidentiality protections.

The law has triggered a national conversation about the boundaries of church and state, setting a precedent that could have implications for religious practices and privileged communications nationwide. The outcome may influence how other states approach mandated reporting requirements for clergy, especially as constitutional and civil rights groups enter the debate.

What To Know

Washington's new statute requires clergy to report suspected child abuse, explicitly denying exceptions for information revealed during confession.

"Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession—or they will be excommunicated from the Church," the Archdiocese of Seattle warned, according to Fox News.

The Catholic Church's canon law regards breaking the confessional seal as a grave offense: "A confessor who directly violates the seal of confession incurs an automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See."

The U.S. Department of Justice said it is investigating whether the law infringes on First Amendment religious protections.

Voting by the College of Cardinals to select the next pope is set to begin Wednesday, following the death of Pope Francis on April 21.

Francis' funeral took place at the Vatican on April 26, with dignitaries including U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prince William in attendance.

The current favorites are Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, according to U.K.-based bookmaker William Hill, with odds of 12/5 (29.4 percent) and 3/1 (25 percent), respectively.

On April 2, Trump sparked controversy by sharing an AI-generated image that depicted him as the pope on his Truth Social website.

What People Are Saying

Speaking to Newsweek Professor Michele Dillon, an expert on Catholicism at the University of New Hampshire, said: "This is highly controversial because it directly challenges a core element of the Catholic faith...For the government to require priests to report any instance of sex abuse that they learn about through the sacrament of confession would directly violate the core of the sacrament and its significance in Catholics' lives. The Church has made significant strides in recent years to safeguard children from sex abuse, and so it's unfortunate that the controversy stoked by the Washington State law – and the church's opposition to it based on core theological belief and practice – may erroneously convey to people who are not familiar with the full meaning of the sacrament that the Church is opposing the requirement simply to evade dealing with the issue of sex abuse."

The Archdiocese of Seattle: "All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church."

Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle: "Priests cannot comply with this law if the knowledge of abuse is obtained during the Sacrament of Reconciliation."

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon told the New York Post: "SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion."

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson: "We look forward to protecting Washington kids from sexual abuse in the face of this 'investigation' from the Trump administration."

What Happens Next

The law's implementation is set for July 27, unless halted by litigation or further legislative action. The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division review could determine whether the statute will stand or be blocked on constitutional grounds.

Meanwhile, Catholic bishops indicate they are prepared to face legal consequences rather than violate Church law. This standoff may provoke broader reevaluation of confidentiality protections in other states, as well as the balance between religious freedom and mandated reporting.

[strawberrypinky]

Now that Enver and Elodie are married and knowing the lengths Enver will go to for Bane, would he be willing to "sacrifice" his own wife for his God? Not literally, but putting her in danger under Bane's command. We know he refused to go through the entire initiation protocol during his wedding to Elodie (her dress cough cough). Is his obsession with her greater than his obsession with Bane right now?

That is such an interesting question, dear anon 👀

First of all: Thank you 🩷 - I love getting to yap about this fic and I'm also pretty sure my beloved @heyitszev is also interested in the answer to this.

Short answer? Yes - he would be willing to sacrifice Elodie if Bane asked him to.

Long answer? It's a bit more complicated than that and involves a bit of lore 👇🏻

Enver’s reluctance to fully undress Elodie in order to burn her wedding dress stemmed not from compassion, but from possessiveness. To him, Elodie is his - his possession, his prize - and he refuses to expose her body, even partially, to anyone else (aside from Bane). Even the act of undressing her, no matter how symbolic, is something he jealously guards. That same possessiveness surfaces in chapter three when Astarion touches her shoulder, and even earlier when Enver learns she's rejected other men before him.

According to Faiths and Avatars, "Bane was to be feared by his faithful and even more feared by the unfaithful."

Enver may not have immediately stripped Elodie of her Lathanderian wedding dress, but he accurately pointed out that she had already given Bane what he demands most: submission and fear. By that point, the dress became secondary. Burning it served only as a symbolic assertion of dominance - a power play meant to reinforce superiority. And as Bane's Chosen, Gortash always gets the final word. Reasserting his own authority (particularly in front of the clergy), his divine right, is entirely in line with the tenets of the Church of Bane.

As for whether he would ever sacrifice her - be it through harm or even death - if Bane demanded it, the answer remains yes, as stated above, but it would bring him no satisfaction. Enver wants Elodie to obey because he has no desire to hurt her; in his mind, pain should be unnecessary if devotion is given freely. Still, that conflict between what he wants and what his god commands comes to a head in chapter five, when the conversation turns (spoiler alert) to the question of children, yet the underlying tension stays the same: Enver is devout, and when forced to choose, he will always obey.

Faiths & Pantheons (published in 2002 and partially serving as a canonical foundation for fire & ice) makes this uncompromising doctrine clear: "He [Bane] has no tolerance of failure and seldom thinks twice about submitting even a loyal servant to rigorous tortures to ensure complete obedience to his demanding, regimented doctrine."

If even Bane’s most faithful are not spared, Enver would never presume that he - let alone Elodie - would be the exception.

Does Gortash love Elodie? For now, I leave that question to the readers, though you will get an answer in time. His obsession with her is fuelled by a belief that she is his equal in wit and his match in will - something rare enough to fascinate him. Bane's demands only intensified his fixation and gave him divine license to pursue her. He told her plainly on their wedding night that while he may not want to hurt her, he has no qualms doing so if it becomes necessary. The only reason he shows any leniency at all is because he views her as his equal - but, as with him, she will always be subordinate to Bane. Enver will always serve his Lord first.

Enver may want her loyalty out of desire, but if forced to choose between her and his god, there is no choice at all.

[gehenna-checklist]

Log 21.1-FCSPN, by Ak'dul Op'tar Ga'hre (Cithlar, Cithlari Prime/Teerna IV, Sector 1 - Segment Delta, ''-'-'''---')

"Welcome, this is a log regarding first contact with the Human spacefaring species from Terra/Earth (Sol III), Sector 2 - Segment Delta, ''-'-'''---'. The official date of contact was on GY.: 82.

First contact circumstances were unique and noteworthy. We were in the middle of yet the Third Exorith Infestation, with one of its probe-asteroids being aimed at Sol III and scheduled for first impact in four Terran months (180 rotations). Humanity (as they refer to themselves) is not an advanced species and struggles with FTL transportation, relying on primitive and crude jump drivers to move large distances, often at a speed inferior to ten LY/Y. They also lack nearly all qualifications for the Federation's criteria of galactic empires, including total unification, high quality of life standards, and subspace technology.

As the Federation's policy demand, the Cithlari Union attempted to intercept and destroy the probe aiming at Sol III, but failed due to a logistical error on Aajel Prime and we clearly realized how it would not be possible. In disrespect of the standard policy the chief researcher for Sol III, Tu'nil Ge'bre Ja'nem, started communications with them using their archaic radio technology to alert them of the upcoming invasion and we, with our non-interference policy now lifted, began introducing them to the Confederation and how to prepare for the invasion.

What was unexpected and the purpose of this log was their reaction. We expected a young species panicking under the threat of what to them would be giant monstrous space bugs invulnerable to conventional weaponry. Instead, we were faced with a new 'deathworlder' species.

This short contact procedure clearly painted to us and the Confederation as a whole how brutally violent humanity's evolution was. I will keep detailing of that in a future log, but their military prowess and culture are exceptional for their development in other aspects, which, combined to their natural aptitude for combat led them to become dominant in Sol III. In four Terran months, when the first probe fragment landed on the African continent, it took them two rotations of their planet to locate it and destroy the entire vicinity with atomic weaponry.

The next six probes were all quickly neutralized. One was intercepted in orbit by an airborne vehicle, another was destroyed in lower orbit by a railcannon, two were attacked by their army and air force in inhabited areas and the last one landed on a populated area of high density, causing thousands of casualties until the zone was isolated and could be bombed as their doctrine demands.

First contact procedure resumed naturally and it became paramount that they were included in the Confederation post-haste for three primary reasons. The first one was their qualification at fighting Exorith in ground warfare, the second was that many demanded their extermination but that would be a high crime, and the third is that they could led to massive damage in the situation of a spacefaring war.

A study has been initiated to explore the Human race and its biological, cultural, and evolutionary traits. We are eager to study another warmongering species after the introduction of the Konith Empire to the Confederation, and it seems to us that humanity is excellent at this matter.

End log, goodbye."

[froggerland]

oh also same anon as before, sorry, but i wanted to give you an opportunity to just talk about your challengers crossover because i like it and i want more thoughts on sojoplittle out there cos so far they've been confined to my mind and one server im in... jopson in a tashi position is genius especially because sol/patrick and edward/art are incredibly dog coded. it works so well

Ooooh thank you so much for letting me indulge!! I never expected ppl would wanna see more of this, my thought process was literally "I love this still from challengers and I love sojoplittle, jop deserves to be pampered by both his dog coded boyfriends so I will redraw it" and the other ones were legit just me having fun at redrawing stills haha

But yeah if you think about it more it could actually be something so I let it marinate in my head for 2 hours and this is what I came up with (brace yourselves this is gonna be a long one)

(Big disclaimer tho I am not a storyteller and the details are a little murky, same with the historical accuracy concerning the Navy but I tried)

(Also sorry english isn't my native language as you've probably clocked by now)

So the first canon divergence is that Little and Tozer know each other before the expedition and were good friends. They met at a military academy or something before Tozer decided to leave for the Marines. Little loves Tozers protectiveness of those placed under his command and his charisma, Tozer loves Littles gentleness and his ability to give commands without being condescending and the respect he earns for it (he also loves to tease Little who's a little prudish).

When they meet again by chance on the Franklin expedition they're obviously stoked. They have had a weird ambiguous "little more than friends little less than lovers" thing going on back in their time at the academy but now on the open sea things are more liberal (you have to be careful still, christian doctrine and homophobia is still a thing but most of your mates will cut you some slack if the last time you've seen a woman was months ago when they find you with another man).

In the first Winter of the expedition they are discovered by Jopson who, instead of telling Command, just smirks and asks if he can join. He'd suspected something for a while and found both Little and Tozer quite handsome. The purely physical attraction soon becomes emotional, especially for Jopson and Little who feel akin in their roles of servitude with their position under Crozier. Jopson and Tozer don't bond all that much emotionally (they match each other in their (idk how graphic I can get with this) physical desires) but with all three there is no jealousy involved and up until Sir John's death they're a relatively happy (secret) polycule.

After the death the story basically progresses as it does in the show, the carnival, the abandonment of the ships, the mutiny. Tozer, after loosing faith in Crozier and Fitzjames, decides that Hickey is their best way out alive. He confines in Little who, still very much loyal to Crozier despite everything, lashes out and begs Tozer not to go. Tozer hesitates to leave his two lovers behind but in this moment the will to survive is stronger and anything physical between them.

So he leaves, the plot continues as it does in the show including Jopsons promotion to 3rd Lieutenant that Crozier gives him in Episode 9 (?). Everything progresses normally until the point where Hickey, Crozier and the mutineers face the tunbaaq. At the same time a rescue party arrives at the non mutineers camp, finding Little, Le Vesconte and the other surviving men. They are fed and treated while smaller rescue party splits off to find Crozier and the rest. They discover them all dead, all except for Tozer who's nowhere to be found. They don't tell Little and Jopson though, obviously not knowing that someone's even missing.

The surviving men are fared back to England, a lot of them die on the ship, almost also including Jopson who clings to life with every last ounce of strength he has. Among the dead is Le Vesconte which makes Little and Jopson the only high ranking officers to make it back (there's a handful of other survivors but none important enough to face the Admirality).

So back in London they're given a short time to recover before they're scooped up and paraded around every Admirality event there is. English society wants to hear all about the brave heroes who made it back from that gruesome, inhospitable land.

Little is absolutely traumatized. The years under Croziers unstable command, everything that happened after they abandoned ship, how close they came to death - it's absurd to him how casually people ask him of it. Jopson comes to the rescue, giving smart answers to nosy young ladies. He's affected by the whole thing as well of course, but he is used to masking his real emotions. In private, Little and Jopson comfort each other, easing the pain at least a little.

After a few months, routine has settled in. Jopson starts to enjoy the life as a Lieutenant, and although the repeated questions are annoying, he starts to appreciate the comforts of a lifestyle so well above that what he was used to. Little doesn't get much better though. Jopsons patience starts to run thin, not only believing that enough time has passed to get back to the realm of the living again, but also because he is dependent on Little: While he is a Lieutenant on paper and much of the Admirality respects him for his "heroism", they can't accept his low birth. The curtesy they afford him at balls is all fake, Jopson knows that, and without Little around to essentially legitimize him they will find a reason to throw Jopson back out on the street. Since he's not interested to actually hold Command as a Lieutenant, the idea that Little needs to secure a place on an expedition to stay relevant and credible forms within him. Because the Admirality is getting impatient, a young sailor like Little should be back on a ship in no time, no matter how gruesome the experience beforehand was.

Jopson gets increasingly more pushy for Little to apply for a command, but Little refuses to ever set foot on a ship again. Jopson is tied to him by classism but also, still, by love. Deep down he still loves Ned, the gentle, caring man always keen to serve. But that Ned is almost entirely gone, left somewhere in the Arctic Labyrinth. Instead he's trapped with a shell of a man in what is basically a loveless marriage, being ushered from ball to ball, retelling the same story's over and over until they don't feel real anymore. Little is still as in love with Jopson as he had been since the first Winter on the ice, not being able to imagine what it would be like to not have him on his side, care for him, reassure him that he's not going crazy, it really happened, tunbaaq, the dead and all.

Pissed off, Jopson takes a stroll down at the harbor one evening, it's a few years after the expedition at this point. At the docks he spots a familiar face: Tozer.

After making sure its actually him Jopson drags Tozer into an alley, cursing and shouting and Tozers treachery, why he would ever go with Hickey, why he abandoned them, how is he even alive.

Tozer responds calmly, simply asking is Ned is still alive. Jopson strikes him. Instead of responding Tozer kisses Jopson (insert the parking lot hate sex scene).

--------

Okay sorry for the abrupt end, I haven't made up my mind how to end the whole thing, the end of the movie is kind of ambiguous so nothing to go by really.

I like the thought of them all making up tho and then leaving England for some remote island in the pacific (maybe the sandwich islands??) to live out the rest of their days happy and undisturbed and never ever cold again :)

Feel free to use this long ass concept, if you're as deep into the brainrot as I am and want to make some content with this tag me lmao

[2demondogs]

Modern au headcanons of the gang except they’re specifically Appalachian/southern trash in the 2000’s? Are you receiving the vision

The vision? Do not cite the dark magic to me, witch... I was there when it was written.

God I <3 these kinda AUs we need more NOW!! I've been scheming one for a while now, funnily enough, so this list ended up being straight from that lore. One or two things are slightly different. Maybe I should write about it, it does inspire me a lot, but I'm scared of longfic :> Been wanting to draw designs for it though.

CW for all kinds of canon-typical things: implied drug abuse, murder, etc.

The gang itself falls in similarly to canon, but in my heart it's based around a trailer park community. People move in, people move out, they're adopted into the "gang" (or not, see: Colm, probably), bullshit ensues, people die, crimes are crimed.

Annabelle's murder is part of what kicked off Dutch's passionate resentment for the local government. It would seem that Colm found a way to pay off the sheriff, or that the bastard just didn't care about yet another young woman being found dead in his town. Meanwhile, Dutch killed Colm's brother and not even Castle Doctrine could save him from a few years in jail.

Dutch often promises that one day, he will have a property big enough for everyone to live on — though he says this in private most of the time, so nobody knows that everyone is invited — somewhere nice and tropical. Do not play Permanent Vacation by Aerosmith around him, he will start spinning you a fanfiction about him and the bros.

Rather than saved from being hanged, John was taken custody of from an abusive home before the foster system could fuck him over even more. It's a legal arrangement, but who really cares about the paperwork? He grew up alright. Sort of. Actually, that's how most of the "adoptions" go, and also...

Everything else. If the cops don't knock, is the Target still robbed? Colm is subletting out the wazoo in his shitty apartment a few cities over, someone is growing weed in their trailer (Sean.), Molly's visitor visa expired over two years ago and her family definitely thinks she's dead, and Hosea has not paid taxes since that time he forgot to do it one year and nothing happened. John wearing daisy dukes around the park isn't really illegal, although it should be so we'll mention it here.

Most of the girls work as servers in a nearby restaurant. There's only a handful of places to work and half require vocational school, which none of them have the money or time for. Granted, if they asked, Dutch would pull some strings and get them better paying jobs.

Nevermind that some of those strings might be attached to coke baggies. Or firearms. Or a lot of other shit the sheriff is not very pleased with but can't do much about, given his own pastimes. This town is a clusterfuck, but if one goes down, they all go down— so for now, everyone's buddy-buddy. Isn't comradery beautiful?

As for others' jobs: Pearson, John, Sean, and Lenny are trapped in the restaurant kitchen; Susan runs the library like it's the army and Mary-Beth suffers at the front desk; Charles drifts around wherever a shift's empty, which is usually the mechanic or the bar; Arthur and Javier are in the mechanic shop full-time; and Strauss and Hosea are definitely not embezzling funds from the only two banks in a thirty mile radius. It's best not to ask what Trelawney or Micah do, and the former lives out in the nearest city.

They aren't employed anywhere, but Uncle does shoot the shit in the local gas station parking lot every morning with Bill and Swanson and whoever else happens to join them. All while sitting in folding lawn chairs, chain-smoking, drinking coffee from inside, and blocking off at least three parking spaces.

Kieran and Dutch are unemployed as well. Kieran's mulling over working at the library because it would be quiet; Dutch is one of those people that is, in fact, broke, yet magically has money whenever he needs it. Unrelated: don't ask about his credit card debt.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

Texas Republicans are poised to pull a fast one: They’ve convinced Democrats and doctors to support a bill they claim will protect life-saving abortion care and ‘clarify’ the state’s ban. But the rapidly advancing “Life of the Mother” legislation is a Trojan Horse—there’s a 100-year-old ban hiding inside, ready to be revived and used to prosecute abortion funds, helpers, and possibly even patients. Legal experts I spoke to in Texas called it “the most dangerous” anti-abortion bill currently before the legislature. So how has this flown under the radar? Blame a mix of GOP sleight-of-hand and pro-choice politicians so eager for a win—and so desperate to ease the suffering of Texas women—that they’ve missed the fine print. To be fair, it’s not an easy catch: What’s happening is buried in a maze of dense language and historical statutes. I’m going to do my best to lay it out for you, so please stick with me—this one really matters. Chances are, you’ve heard about Senate Bill 311: It’s been framed as Republicans’ oh-so-generous move to ensure doctors can provide life-saving abortions without fear of civil or criminal charges. Texas newspapers and national headlines describe it as a bill that will “expand protections” and “clear confusion” around the state’s ban, while lawmakers on both sides of the aisle claim it will save women’s lives. The Texas Medical Association has endorsed the bill, as have anti-abortion groups.

In short, SB 31 is being sold as a rare moment of bipartisan agreement—a good-faith effort to help doctors and patients. The truth, however, is that Republicans are exploiting Texans’ desperation to stop women from suffering and dying—using that urgency to pass a law that will ultimately broaden their power to punish. At the heart of this deception is a 1925 abortion ban. This Texas law made performing an abortion a felony unless it was done to save the patient’s life. But unlike the state’s modern bans, the century-old law also made it a felony to help someone “procure” an abortion—and it didn’t explicitly protect patients from prosecution. (Remember this for later.) Obviously, this 1925 ban was unenforceable for decades under Roe v. Wade—but after Dobbs, Texas Republicans argued it could go back into effect. Attorney General Ken Paxton, in particular, was eager to use the law: the same day Roe was overturned, he issued an advisory declaring the 1925 ban enforceable—and repeated the claim in an updated advisory three days later. Why was he so eager to dust off a 100-year-old law? In part, because it would let the state start prosecuting people immediately. (Texas’ trigger ban couldn’t be enforced until the Supreme Court issued its formal judgment in Dobbs, which could take months.) But more importantly, Paxton knew that reviving the century-old ban would dramatically supercharge his ability to prosecute. Remember, the 1925 law would explicitly allow Paxton to prosecute abortion funds that help patients ‘procure’ care, and open the door to targeting patients. What Republican legislators did next made it even clearer that the punishment was always the point: the ultra-conservative Texas Freedom Caucus started sending threatening letters to companies that promised to reimburse employees for out-of-state abortion travel—citing the 1925 ban. They also targeted abortion funds, warning that donors, employees, and volunteers could be prosecuted under the 100-year-old law.

Thankfully, Texas funds sued to stop that from happening. Paxton lost the legal battle in 2023, when a federal court ruled that the zombie ban had been “repealed by implication.” (Translation: you can’t enforce a nearly century-old ban when newer laws have already replaced it.) And while Paxton and Texas Republicans continued to claim the old ban was still on the books, that federal ruling blocked them from enforcing it.

[...] In other words, anti-abortion politicians get the best of both worlds if this bill passes: they get to look like they give a shit about women’s health and lives, while expanding the state’s power to punish. And let’s be clear about how serious that punishment would be. One Texas abortion rights lawyer told me this would open the door to prosecuting abortion funds, pregnant people, and the families or friends who help them access out-of-state care. And that’s regardless of circumstance—rape, incest, and fatal fetal anomalies are not exceptions under Texas’ new or old bans.

The so-called “exceptions” bill in Texas is just a trojan horse for anti-abortion reactionaries.

[alpaca-clouds]

Let's quickly talk about the Vows of Chastity

Another thing I have been asked about is the entire thing with the Vows of Chastity, given that a lot of the American Christian sects do not have that, while for the Catholics it is a really big deal.

So, generally speaking pretty much anyone who wants to really join the institution of the church (with a few rare exceptions) will swear at least three vows:

The Vow of Chastity

The Vow of Poverty

The Vow of Obedience

Details may vary depending on what order you join. After all, the Catholic church is basically divided into a variety of different orders, and some of them have additional rules. (Some orders have also stuff like a Vow of Servitude, or a Vow of Hospitality, and other specific vows. Though in Mizrak's case the Order of St. John had only those same three Vows, with them being fairly well known to not fully enforce the vow of Poverty a whole lot.)

If you now wonder, why the Catholics have this and so many other Christian groups do not: St. Paul.

If you are not really firm with your bible, there is the following thing you need to know. Generally speaking a lot of the bigoted stuff in the bible shows up in the old testament. Then Jesus comes around and is like: "Yeah, no, forget about that. We make new rules." Then Jesus dies, and then a guy named Paul shows up, establishes a lot of the basics for the church and he is like: "Yeah, actually, fuck other religions, women and gays specifically." And he also basically made rules for apostles, that then were turned into the rules for priests and monks. And from those writings come the three vows as above.

The Vow of Chastity originated with a Vow of Celebacy, which sounds like the same, but was not quite. See, the Vow of Celebacy was originally about priests and monks not marrying, because they are basically married to God. Of course, because back in the day you are not supposed to have sex outside of marriage, this meant automatically that you were not supposed to have sex. But of course this needed to be made a bit more... clear.

Now, as Maria so rightfully says in season 1: It is rather well known that priests cannot keep it in their pants.

I have grown up Catholic, with my mother being very, very active within the church. I mean, heck, I privately met one of the popes in my childhood, just for reference how much I got roped into the entire thing.

And what I can tell you from that is: There is a lot of stuff happening within Catholic organizations based on this. "Oh, this priest has had a lover." And: "Oh, did you know Priest XY is actually in a committed relationship with his housekeeper?" And: "Bishop XY has a child out of wedlock!" And of course the classic: "When those bishops went to the Vatican there was a gay sex party!!!!"

And that is without going into the entire thing with the rape happening under Catholic organisations.

Now, at the time when both Castlevania and Castlevania: Nocturne take place, it happened that adults joined monestaries and such, but for the most part people joined in their childhood or youth. The high positions in the Church were often taken by the third or forth child of some nobles (the first one has to marry well, the second one will be kept as a backup - given high mortality - but then, because nobility and clergy were very connected, the third son usually would become a bishop or something). And lower ranking positions within the church were often filled with both orphans, and the later surviving kids of poorer families that could not afford anything else.

Today, of course, things are different. Usually people - at least in western countries - joining the clergy actively decide to do so. Which leads to a very strong overhang of queer clergy. It makes sense if you look at doctrine: Being queer is a sin. But we know of course that it simply is something you are. So you never are able to live out your sexuality without sinning. You do not want to marry a woman, because you are not attracted to women. So, why not join the clergy? Then you do not have to force yourself to have sex with a woman. Though of course, you realize soon enough - as you visit priest school - that you are not the only person with that idea. And so you sit there in the secluded school, surrounded by a bunch of self-hating homosexual men. Welp.

Mind you: Within the Catholic Church it is a constantly discussed topic. Because while Paul definitely suggests those things in his letters, Paul technically is not a prophet (he never claims he has a message from God), and neither Jesus nor the actual prophets say that those vows need to happen. This is the reason why so many other flavors of Christianity allow marriage for priests and even open homosexuality. Not to mention that the church in general with all those riches is doing very well on the Vow of Poverty. Same goes with the question of women as priests. This is also fully based on the Paulus letters. There is absolutely a chance at some point a Pope will come around to say: "Yeah, actually priests can have sex now and also hooray for female priests!"

Of course - at the time of this show... Yeah, that had not happened. xD

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTOR

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … January 6

1367 – Richard II of England (d.1400), born Prince Richard of Bordeaux was the second, but only surviving child, of Edward, Prince of Wales (also known as the Black Prince and the eldest son and heir of King Edward III) and his wife, in Bordeaux, Gascony, where the Black Prince was serving at the time. At the age of four, Richard became second in line to the throne upon the death of his elder brother, Edward of Angouleme, and heir apparent when his father, the Black Prince, died five years later (1376). Richard was dubbed a Knight of the Garter by his grandfather only months before the old king died on June 21, 1377. With the death of Edward III, Richard ascended the throne as King Richard II at the young age of ten.

Richard was deemed fit to govern and a series of councils were set up to conduct business in the king's name for the next three years. When the first of these councils met, not only was John of Gaunt, Richard's powreful uncle left out, but also the king's other remaining uncles, Edmund of Langley and Thomas of Woodstock, the Earls of Cambridge and Buckingham respectively. But although John of Gaunt had no official title in Richard's government, he was to remain a leading and influential political figure for nearly the entire reign, though he and the king would not be without their differences.

The young Richard managed to weather a number of crises, including the Peasant's Revolt at the ripe old age of 14. During the following years, the king gradually came of age and moved closer to reaching his majority reign. It was also during this period that he began to come under the influence of a small group of courtiers that were to greedily consume all of his attentions. This group consisted of three primary figures: Sir Simon Burley, the king's tutor since he was a young child; Michael de la Pole, the king's chancellor and Earl of Suffolk after 1385; and Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, whom Richard would ultimately upgrade to Marquis and, soon after, Duke of Ireland.

Richard's close friendship to DeVere was disagreeable to the political establishment. This displeasure was exacerbated by the earl's elevation to the new title of Duke of Ireland in 1386. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham suggested the relationship between the king and DeVere was of a homosexual nature, possibly due to a resentment Walsingham had toward the king.

On top of this, it was also wondered whether Richard was a homosexual since he never bore any children. When thinking of the reign of Richard II, it is difficult not to compare it with that of his great-grandfather, Edward II (another supposed homosexual). Like Edward, Richard had difficulty making decisions for himself and came to be dependent on a small group of favorites for advice, usually bad advice, to run the realm.

This reliance on favorites turned the nobility against him, and he was eventually deposed by Henry IV, and died in captivity in 1400.

1412 – Joan Of Arc, Roman Catholic Saint and national heroine of France (this is a legendary date) (d.1431); Joan wore men's clothing between her departure from Vaucouleurs and her abjuration at Rouen. This raised theological questions in her own era and raised other questions in the twentieth century. The technical reason for her execution was a biblical clothing law. The nullification trial reversed the conviction in part because the condemnation proceeding had failed to consider the doctrinal exceptions to that stricture.

Doctrinally speaking, she was safe to disguise herself as a page during a journey through enemy territory and she was safe to wear armor during battle. The Chronique de la Pucelle states that it deterred molestation while she was camped in the field. Clergy who testified at her rehabilitation trial affirmed that she continued to wear male clothing in prison to deter molestation and rape. Preservation of chastity was another justifiable reason for cross-dressing: her apparel would have slowed an assailant, and men would be less likely to think of her as a sex object in any case.

She referred the court to the Poitiers inquiry when questioned on the matter during her condemnation trial. The Poitiers record no longer survives but circumstances indicate the Poitiers clerics approved her practice. In other words, she had a mission to do a man's work so it was fitting that she dress the part. She also kept her hair cut short through her military campaigns and while in prison. Her supporters, such as the theologian Jean Gerson, defended her hairstyle, as did Inquisitor Brehal during the Rehabilitation trial.

Because Joan wore men's clothes and armor, scholars have speculated about her gender identity and sexuality. Did Joan wear male apparel because she was transgendered? Or did she do so in order to be taken seriously by the men whose support she needed to carry out the orders given by her visions? Was Joan a lesbian or bisexual, if those English terms may be applicable to a French woman living almost six hundred years ago? What relationship did her gender expression have with her sexuality? What about Joan's emphasis throughout her life on her virginity?

It is difficult adequately to address these personal issues based on the historical evidence that we now possess. It is clear, however, that Joan's cross-dressing was a significant part of her life, and that as a cross-dressed warrior and military leader she was venerated by French royalty, soldiery, and peasantry alike.

1854 – English fictional detective, born; What!? Sherlock Holmes? Why include the famous, hawk-nosed detective, a figment of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fertile imagination? Why? Because almost no one realizes that Sherlock Holmes, whom his creator almost named "Sherinford," was Gay.

He was, of course, the first consulting detective, a vocation he followed for 23 years. In January 1881, he was looking for someone to share his new digs at 221B Baker Street, and there being no personal ads in the Village Voice or The Advocate (remember those?) in those days, a friend introduced him to Dr. John H. Watson.

Before agreeing to share the flat, the two men, immediately attracted to one another, listed their respective character deficiencies. Holmes admitted to smoking a smelly pipe, although he didn't mention that he was a frequent user of cocaine. Watson owned up to a peculiar habit of leaving his bed at odd hours of the night.

"I have another set of vices," he admitted, but, then, so did Sherlock. The two became friends and roommates for the rest of their lives. For the sordid details of the famous marriage of true minds that followed, read Rex Stout's astonishing "Watson Was Woman," in which the famous creator of Nero Wolfe (himself hardly a paragon of butch studliness) reveals that Watson and Holmes were the most extraordinary Gay team in sleuthing history.

In 1971, The Traveller's Companion, Inc., an affiliate of Olympia Press, published a book based on the assumption that Holmes and Watson were lovers: The Sexual Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Claiming to be from a newly-discovered secret cache of John Watson's papers, the book retells, very erotically, some of the original stories. It is hard-core gay porn at its best!

1961 – Bill Hayes is an American non-fiction writer and photographer. He has written four books – Sleep Demons, Five Quarts, The Anatomist, and Insomniac City – and has produced one book of photography, How New York Breaks Your Heart. His freelance writing has appeared in a number of periodicals, most notably The New York Times.

Hayes was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the fifth of six children, five of them girls. He remains close with his sisters. His mother Jean was an artist; his father John a military man who had lost an eye as a paratrooper in the Korean War. When Bill was three, the family moved to Spokane, Washington, where his father bought a Coca-Cola bottling plant. His mother opened an art school, where Hayes learned to develop and print film. Hayes was close with his maternal grandmother, Helen, from the age of eleven until he left home for college. In high school, Hayes was drawn to the writing of Joan Didion. Hayes attended Santa Clara University in California.

Hayes knew he was gay at a young age, though he had relationships with women in high school and college. He came out at age 24, and considers his orientation to be a core part of his identity.

Hayes' father never accepted him as a gay man and did not maintain a relationship with him, but when John Hayes developed dementia, he came to believe Bill was an old Army friend, and spoke with him warmly. Bill's mother also suffered with dementia until her death in 2011.

Hayes lived in San Francisco for many years, where he worked at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. His partner of sixteen years was HIV-positive. In 2009, Hayes moved to New York City, where he had a relationship with neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks, until the latter's death in 2015. Hayes' experiences in New York and his six-year relationship with Sacks are the subject of his book Insomniac City.

Hayes has described his adult life as "colored by death" – the deaths he dealt with in his AIDS Foundation work, the sudden death of his longtime partner in San Francisco, and later the death of his partner Oliver Sacks.

1965 – Bjørn Lomborg is a Danish author and adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School as well as President of the Copenhagen Consensus Center. He is former director of the Danish government's Environmental Assessment Institute (EAI) in Copenhagen. He became internationally known for his best-selling and controversial book, The Skeptical Environmentalist (2001), in which he argues that many of the costly measures and actions adopted by scientists and policy makers to meet the challenges of global warming will ultimately have minimal impact on the world’s rising temperature.

Lomborg spent a year as an undergraduate at the University of Georgia, earned an M.A. degree in political science at the University of Aarhus in 1991, and a Ph.D. degree in political science at the University of Copenhagen in 1994.

Lomborg is gay and a vegetarian. As a public figure he has been a participant in information campaigns in Denmark about homosexuality, and states that "Being a public gay is to my view a civic responsibility. It's important to show that the width of the gay world cannot be described by a tired stereotype, but goes from leather gays on parade-wagons to suit-and-tie yuppies on the direction floor, as well as everything in between".

1968 – Today is the birthday of the Hungarian politician Gábor Szetey. Szetey is the former Secretary of State for Human Resources, a role he held since July 2006. He is a member of the Hungarian Socialist Party.

Szetey publicly declared that he was gay at the opening night of Budapest's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, on July 6, 2007. He is the first LGBT member of government in Hungary, and the second politician to come out, after Klára Ungár. Szetey's coming out came at the end of a speech on equality and tolerance:

"When we can be proud of being Hungarian, Romanian, Jewish, Catholic, Gay or Straight... If we can be proud of our differences, we will be proud of our similarities. I believe in God. And I believe that all men and women have the right to love and be loved. Everywhere. Love has no party preference. Neither does happiness or choosing a partner. So: I am Szetey Gábor . I am European, and Hungarian. I believe in God, love, freedom, and equality. I am the Human Resources Secretary of State of the Government of the Republic of Hungary. Economist and HR director. Partner, friend, sometimes rival. And I am Gay."

!n the audience was Klára Dobrev, the wife of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, as well as four other members of the Hungarian cabinet. The Prime Minister supported Szetey on his blog and called for public debate about same-sex relationships in Hungary. Hungary currently recognises same-sex registered partnerships. After the coming out of Mr. Szetey, the Parliament adopted the Registered Civil Union Act, which came into force 1 January 2009.

In a subsequent interview, Szetey declared:

"There is a small but vocal group of right-wing extremists which is intent on offending everyone... According to a survey, 51 percent of the respondents thought my speech was courageous and that it would improve the situation for homosexuals. It's strange that the conservatives, who attach such great importance to neighboring states giving their Hungarian minorities equal rights, couldn't care less about equal rights in their own country."

1976 – Today's the birthday of child actor Danny Pintauro. Pintauro played Jonathan Bower, son of Angela Bower in the series 'Who's the Boss' from 1984 till 1992. He was born as Daniel John Pintauro in Milltown, New Yersey, USA. Pintauro studied English and drama at Stanford University.

Pintauro first appeared on the television soap opera As the World Turns as the original Paul Ryan and in the film Cujo, but he came to prominence on the television series Who's the Boss?. After the conclusion of that series, he was less frequently cast. Pintauro went on to act in stage productions like The Velocity of Gary and Mommie Queerest. He also worked as a Tupperware sales representative and as of 2013, he was managing a restaurant in Las Vegas.

In 1997, in an interview with the National Enquirer tabloid, Pintauro declared that he is gay.

Pintauro (R) with husband Wil Tabares

In April 2013 he was engaged to his boyfriend, Wil Tabares, and they married in April 2014.

In 2015, Pintauro revealed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he has been HIV positive since 2003. He also disclosed that he had previously been addicted to methamphetamine.

2015 – Florida recognizes same-sex marriages.

[mariacallous]

It isn’t hard to find members of Neturei Karta, the anti-Zionist activist Orthodox group, in New York City.

They show up, habitually, at both anti- and pro-Israel rallies, either as protesters or counter-protesters. And they reliably wear the same outfits — traditional haredi Orthodox dress combined with pro-Palestinian symbols and signs declaring that authentic Judaism rejects Zionism.

On Friday, the group appeared somewhere new: the social media pages of Humans of New York.

“People no longer accept this as being self-defense,” the attached quote says, presumably referring to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. “Killing masses of little children, people don’t accept it anymore. During the holocaust [sic] our grandparents would have been delighted if people in the free world had stood up for them. But today if you stand up for the Palestinian people– who desperately need and deserve the voices of righteous people around the world– you will be labeled as a self-hating Jew. Or if you are not Jewish, you will be labeled as anti-Semitic.”

HONY is a wildly popular social media project founded in 2010 by photographer and writer Brandon Stanton that typically shares photo portraits of everyday New Yorkers, plus a brief, anonymous first-person vignette. It has nearly 30 million followers between Facebook and Instagram (more than three times the city’s population), and has gained widespread media coverage for the way it spotlights — or, well, humanizes — the struggles and triumphs of a diverse cast of the city’s denizens, many of whom live on the margins.

The Neturei Karta post departed from that model in a couple of ways.

Rather than post a portrait of a single New Yorker, it shared a photo of the group, with at least 10 men or boys visible in the photo, including one who’s facing the camera. He’s wearing a long black coat, the fur hat worn by Hasidic men that’s known as a shtreimel, and a keffiyeh-patterned scarf with tassels in the colors of the Palestinian flag.

And unlike most of the stories on HONY — which are famous for sharing intimate, tragic or heartwarming stories — this one said close to nothing about the subject’s life, except that he’s an anti-Zionist Orthodox Jew. Instead, it focused almost entirely on his stance regarding Israel, Gaza, and the pro-Israel response to pro-Palestinian protest.

“So I speak up today, not only for the oppressed and misrepresented people of Palestine,” he said. “But I also speak up for the Jewish people. The masses of Jewish people worldwide who are embarrassed and appalled by what is being done in their name.”

Neturei Karta, which has been estimated at around 100 members, has been doctrinally anti-Zionist since long before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack that launched the war in Gaza. While anti-Zionist Jewish groups have reported significant growth since the beginning of the Gaza war, according to surveys, most American Jews feel an attachment to Israel even as many disapprove of Israeli government policy.

Other, much larger Hasidic movements eschew Zionism, but Neturei Karta is unique in consistently showing up to protest Israel and adopting the language and symbols of pro-Palestinian activism.

The group’s leadership has met multiple times with the leaders of Iran, an Islamic theocracy and Israel’s chief regional adversary, including former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who denied the Holocaust. The group faced particular backlash, as well as condemnation from haredi leaders, in 2007 for appearing at an Iranian conference centered on Holocaust denial.

The quote in the post, and HONY’s decision to platform it, drew immediate protest from a number of commenters.

“Is this a joke?? These people represent like 100 jews worldwide,” one wrote. Another posted, “Wow this is embarrassing tokenization. This is a tiny, extreme, and racist sect of Judaism that is rejected by nearly every Jew in America.” A third: “This post is incitement. These are the fringe of the fringe. Like a cult.”

[ancientcharm]

Wikipedia article that is only available in Spanish. I translated into English some abstract to share here. I always wanted to write a post about that "Antonine dynasty" fallacy. Luckily I found someone who explains much better

Ulpia-Aelia Dynasty

Ulpia-Aelia Dynasty is the new name proposed by Alicia M. Canto and adopted by a sector of current historiography to refer to the seven emperors of the Roman Empire, from Nerva to Comodo. Specifically includes emperors Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and his co-emperor Lucius Verus.

Doctrinal approaches

Unlike other dynasties such as the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the Flavian dynasty or the Severan dynasty, there is no agreement in Ancient History on how to group and name the emperors of the 2nd century, "the best century in the history of Humanity" according the British historian Edward Gibbon.

The most used definitions from the 18th century until today have been and are "the Antonines", "the Good Emperors" and "the Adoptive Emperors". There were only two Antonine: Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, and both were, above all, two Aelii (from the Aelia family). The adoptions were just a political cosmetic operation, but they did not comply with the ideal principles of adoption described by Galba or Pliny the Younger.

The inappropriateness of these three universal classifications is more evident in the face of the 48 ancient texts that demonstrate that throughout that century there existed an authentic dynasty, of Hispanic origins and roots, whose real link was not the adoptions, but the line of blood and kinship, entrusted to the women of the dynasty, who transmitted the legitimacy to inherit the throne: Pompeia Plotina, Vibia Sabina, Matidia the Younger, and both Annias, the so-called Faustina the Elder and Faustina the Younger, ending in Commodus.

After the elderly Nerva as a necessary introducer, the following six emperors: Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus and Commodus - externi (foreigners) according to the Roman historian Aurelius Victor - form an authentic lineage.

All this led Maria M. Canto to propose the term "Ulpio-Aelia", "the Ulpii Aelii", to define the true dynasty of Hispanic origin that goes from Trajan to Commodus (98-192 AD). Some ancient authors, such greek historian Herodian, demonstrate that the Romans themselves did see Commodus as a direct descendant of Trajan, katá thêlugonía ("by the maternal line"), that is, through the aforementioned empresses, and as "A fourth generation emperor".

The reason why names such as "the Antonine dynasty" or "the Antonine emperors" have universally triumphed is not found in ancient texts, but in the European historiography of the 17th and 18th centuries, whose arguments in this sense, although they do not find real foundation in the texts, have been so generally accepted until now.

The new proposal has already been accepted by authors such as José María Blázquez,​ the Italian expert Anna Maria Reggiani, among others,​ and the definition can be seen integrated even in some university subject programs. Although, without a doubt, two and a half centuries of historiographic tradition is still very decisive in favor of the other definitions in use.

​Alicia María Canto y de Gregorio (Havana, April 23, 1949 – Madrid, March 4, 2024), known as Alicia M. Canto, was a Spanish archaeologist and epigrapher. In 2011 she was appointed corresponding academic of the Royal Academy of History.

Nerva was chosen just as transitional ruler following the assassination of Emperor Domitian. Except him, the successors of "his dynasty" were related.

I'm really sick of hearing things such "Marcus Aurelius broke tradition by choosing moron Commodus just because he was his son; He made a serious mistake".

None of those emperors were chosen after going through a casting. Trajan's adoptive successor was his nephew, the only male relative he had, plus was married to Trajan's great-niece. Hadrian would have been emperor if Trajan had had a son? Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina were descendants of Trajan, he on his father's side and she on his mother's side. Marcus Aurelius did nothing more than continue the true tradition of his family.

Just as Augustus' dynasty is known as the Julio-Claudian, ending with Nero, Trajan's is the Ulpia-Aelia dynasty and ending with Commodus. And in my opinion the term Nerva Antonine dynasty, which I find in all English articles, simply doesn't make sense.