#and imprisoned /sold into prostitution

[bioswear]

I’m sick with excitement

[purplealmonds]

How Mizue's costume design unlocks her tragic backstory in the original Bakeneko story arc

I believe that prior to being married into the Sakai family, Mizue was an oiran or perhaps even a taiyu. Recently, I learned that the hyogo hairstyle is exclusively for taiyu, the highest class of oiran.

Mizue has the same hairstyle, down to the last detail.

Oiran were not your average courtesan. They were well versed in music, conversation, poetry, and a plethora of other sophisticated activities which appealed to their aristocratic clientele. As such, they highly regarded as the "ideal woman" in Japanese society.

Unlike other yujyo (prostitutes) working in yukaku (the red light district) their high status grants them the privilege to reject customers they dislike. To become an oiran's patron, a prospective customer must not only spend exorbitant amounts of money, but also be a gentleman. They are afforded a level of dignity and power that most women of this era did not have.

But of course, with such manners there's always a darker side to this glamorous facade.

Mizue had to work her way up to be an oiran. As a lowly yujyo, she was likely sold to prostitution as punishment because her family owed a debt or committed a crime. The life expectancy for yujyo is abysmal - many die from disease or just terrible living conditions long before they can pay off their debt. What's more, if they become pregnant, they must go through horrific abortion practices.

At first glance, it seems like a foolish decision for Mizue to marry into the Sakai family. But let's examine the potential events that lead to that choice. It's entirely possible her first and only contact with the Sakai family is Yoshiaki. He's not particularly clever. He's also not particularly dangerous. Most importantly, he's filthy rich.

It was a common dream for those in her line of work to escape prostitution through marrying a patron. To Mizue, it would be laughably easy to manipulate this clueless man to propose. Then she's home free - access the Sakai's coffers and married to a man who admires but doesn't sexually desire her. Sadly, her ambition for higher status and freedom became her downfall.

In the Sakai clan, she is forced to face past traumas. In the original anime, is implied that Mao's father is Mizue's her father-in-law, Yoshiyuki.

This is more or less confirmed in the 2023 stageplay.

⚠️Be warned, stageplay spoilers abound beyond this point!⚠️

There is a scene where Mizue spurns her newly-wed husband, Yoshiake's, dimwitted advances. Yoshiyuki drags a screaming Mizue off stage. Shortly after, Sato, who isn't necessarily thriving in this hell as much as relishing her position as a lowly servant granting immunity to such torments, smugly congratulates Mizue for bearing a child for the Sakai family.

This surely gives Mizue flashbacks of her time as a yujyo before being promoted to an oiran, having to bed with whatever deplorable man who has enough coin to pay for her services.

This pregnancy granted her a twisted form of protection. In the stageplay, Mizue is suspicious of Sato delivering food to an unknown person. Sato deflects her inquiries, so she investigates for herself. She descends to that basement, and witnesses Yoshiyuki beating the imprisoned Tamaki.

Sato cooly reassures a horrified Mizue that she has immunity against this treatment. This is the difference between being a Sakai mistress and a Sakai childbearing wife.

Mizue knew that helping this wretched stranger would compromise her safety. She feels guilty, of course. But she didn't get as far as she did by choosing compassion. This lack of compassion was Mizue's time-tested survival mechanism. It is a sad irony that when she let her guard down to love Mao, it also made her vulnerable to the bakeneko's possession.

When Mao was born, perhaps Mizue a had brief reprieve. This was a child she did not have to abort. Perhaps this will be a daughter who will be free from the suffering she endured.

We don't get much characterization of Mao in the anime. But in the stageplay, she is portrayed as an innocent and carefree. Even the worst of the Sakai men seemed to humor her childish antics. Doted upon her, even. The risk of her innocence being shattered, however, is ever on the knife's edge.

When a young Mao scampers up to uncle Yoshikuni inquiring of grandpa Yoshiyuki's whereabouts, he easily divulges the information. Just then, Mizue and Yoshiyuki emerge together. Given the former's flustered reaction, it's highly implied the latter just finished violating her. Despite what just transpired, Yoshiyuki takes a grandfatherly (fatherly?) interest of the drawing Mao wanted to share with them.

In another scene, young Mao encounters and becomes enamored with a black cat. Yes - the very same black cat that escaped from Tamaki's basement some time ago. She procures a temari ball - one that grandpa Yoshiyuki gifted her - to play with her new feline friend. Yoshiyuki happens upon them. He balks and sends Mao away to do her studies. Yoshikuni watches on smugly, knowing full well why Yoshiyuki reacted the way he did. Then he draws his sword and begins his cat murdering spree.

Mizue is a perceptive woman. I fully believe she was aware of these happenings. But to act out would mean forfeiting her tenuous protection from becoming another Tamaki, now rotting away at the bottom of a sealed well.

What's more, acting out would also put Mao in danger. Tamaki was doted upon and showered with gifts too, once. One small act of defiance was all it took for the late mistress to fall from favor. There's no telling how Mao would react once she learns how horrible the men of this family actually were.

So Mizue plays nice and carves a place for herself within the Sakai family's power dynamics. Through her machinations (because Yoshiaki doesn't seem the type to power-grab), she usurps Yoshikuni's position as the head of household.

This new status grants Mizue and her beloved daughter an extra layer of protection. Unfortunately, with this new power, her husband's financially irresponsible tendencies are paired with unlimited access to the family's coffers.

When the family falls into debt (yet another trauma from her days as a yujyo), Mao was to be married off to the Shiono family. Perhaps Mizue, who's implied to handle Sakai family finances, proposed this idea.

I would like to think it was to give Mao a better life rather than for financial gain. Given her final words of advice to a living Mao, and her hysterical weeping over a dead Mao, it's clear Mizue cared deeply for her daughter.

Mizue was a women who was determined to rise above the unjust situations life threw at her. When her debt-ridden family sold her off to prostitution, she rose to become taiyu, the highest ranking courtesan amongst even the oiran. Her misstep of marrying into the Sakai family brought her low once more, but she used her wits to regain some of her lost power not protect only for herself, but her beloved daughter, Mao.

When she loses Mao to the bakeneko, it's no wonder she finally has a nervous breakdown. All her quiet suffering in the Sakai family to ensure a better future for her daughter was all for naught.

It's no wonder that the bakeneko latched onto her, a woman futilely fighting tooth and nail to regain her lost agency finally succumbing to that primal fury of the indignities that befell her from cruel men.

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

genuinely curious because im new here, what do you mean by leftists wanting women to be a public resource?

this means advocating for things like paid surrogacy and sexual services where its essentially the female body that is being sold. so instead of women being a resource (for sex and childbearing) to her husband, she is available (for sale) to the public, which is what most modern/western leftists support. usually they argue since all labour under capitalism is coerced, that means any paid „service“ makes the exploited woman a worker who needs worker protection and rights. even though according to their own logic, since the sex/pregnancy is coerced (under financial duress in a capitalist society), its abuse. the law recognises this too until it comes to the sex industry.

for example, in my country germany, the left leaning center parties successfully pushed for the liberalisation of prostitution (womens „right“ to sell our bodies/mens right to buy us) over 20 years ago while abortion is still technically illegal (albeit decriminalised) and up until recently, gynaecologists were fined and even imprisoned for saying they do abortions on their website. surrogacy is not legal here, but wealthy couples just go to eastern european countries like ukraine to exploit impoverished women for it, because of course they do. of course they are more liberal but leftists consider surrogacy and sexual acts labour which makes the (female) body a resource, a means of production even. as far as i know marx was against prostitution so this is kind of ironic.

did this help? anyone feel free to add or correct me.

[balkanradfem]

I’ve had this idea for a book a while ago, and started thinking of it again today. I don’t feel like I can write it, but I can at least present the concept in a text post.

The book begins with an underground temple of an ancient female goddess; she’s been watching the state of her wards, and she’s angry. She’s been sealed underground, but she’s been festering anger and power, and finally, her seal breaks. The night sky lights up, and consequently, every m*n on the surface on the earth finds that he can no longer move.

Some are motionless on their beds, some have fallen to the floor, finding themselves completely immobile. They cannot speak either. They’re found by their flatmates and wives who are concerned, but ultimately unable to do anything about it; they can bring water and food, but he’s not able to eat or drink. Women quickly realize it’s all of them, and it’s not an individual illness. Female researches, scientists and doctors hurry to figure out what is wrong; but there’s no cause whatsoever, they’re all just immobile and mute. They can’t go to work, they can’t eat or drink, they can’t do anything.

In absence of m*n in the work force, women are quickly forced to take over their shifts and get their work done for them; some work is taken over by co-workers, and sometimes it’s a sister or a wife who is called to guess his passwords, and stays for the job. A lot are facing unpleasant discoveries about the m*n in their life, such as their p**n habits, proofs of pedophilia, stalking, exploitation of prostituted women, cheating, grooming younger women, misogynistic ideas online. The women get even less friendly-feelings towards their male counterparts once they have access to all of their finances - they quickly figure out just how selfish and secretive they’ve all been.

Meanwhile, there is some progress in the male condition. Some males have managed to move around a little, not to speak, but some have realized that the bed/floor they’re laying on, has gotten pretty dirty, and decided to clean it. As soon as they had this thought, an ability of movement was granted to them, and very relieved, they were managing to drink water and wash themselves, only to find themselves immobilized once again, this time on their bathroom floors. Few of them have managed to get up again. Few of them figured out just why. None of them have been able to get out of the house, or to get to work.

Women taking the places of CEO’s get access to the financial records of the companies, and very clearly see just how much it’s possible to pay the workers, vs what they’re actually paid, in order to increase the profits. And women decide to put that practice to the depth of hell. New laws are made where all the profits are equally redistributed to the workers, giving them all a chance for a safe and comfortable life. And these workers, are now women only, so for the first time ever, women are the only ones with significantly big buying power.

Women generally use their money to provide food and safety for their families, so with the increased availability of food, furniture, clothes and weather-protective items, the economy is experiencing a new type of boom, where things geared towards women are now sold easily, and women are gaining the power to purchase their own land, houses, farms.

The women are also having some angry confrontations with the still-immobilized, still speechless m*n on the floor; about their misogyny, about the cheating, about the lies, sexualizing minors, leading businesses that cause massive damage and harm to the workers, about how life is suddenly, easier somehow, instead of being harder and more miserable. Domestic violence victims, for the first time, are safe to walk out of their homes, to report, to start their own lives, because now the entire earth is a safe place. Victims of pedophilia, incest, rape, imprisonment, pimping, are now free to speak up, to do in fact, whatever they wanted to the now motionless abusers who are lying on the floor, unable to hit, rape, abuse, murder, talk back, unable to deny anything.

The m*n who did realize they can move, have managed to figure out how to do it more. They won’t be able to move if they’re thinking about their jobs, or what they need to say to their wives to make sure things go their way, they don’t get to move if they want to do anything for their own satisfaction. But, they can move if they decide to wash the floor. Or wash the toilet. If they think about making a meal for his wife. If they’re doing laundry. Same as it appeared, the ability to move disappears as soon as they fail to be doing that specific tasks. They’ll be allowed to eat or drink, but only as much as it’s necessary for them to be doing the manual labour.

They women notice, and convey this information; m*n, if you want to move, think about domestic labour. Some m*n are just grateful to move, and start cleaning the houses, washing the windows, doing laundry, making meals - but they also don’t get to do meals they like themselves. They get to move if they make food their wives like. Some m*n decide this is beneath them, and refuse to do anything until they’re at the very brink of death by dehydration. Some decide to die rather than to take this role upon themselves. They go angrily, but quietly. They don’t get to yell their indignation at their housemates. The women sadly realize there’s nothing they can do at this point - the m*n have chosen their own destiny. They could have lived, if they just did a bit of housework.

The world is looking for an explanation of what is going on, and the book follows a team of female archeologists, who have recorded some explainable findings, patterns and rocks leading close to the underground temple, that we have seen in the beginning. They feel they’re onto something, and their exploration is being reported on social media, the women hoping to find out what has caused this world-wide event of m*n losing their power to move.

Some women decide this is an act of god and something that cannot be influenced or explained, and the reasoning for it is mysterious, but they’re doing the best they can to keep leading their lives, now free of harassment and sexual abuse. Some women decide, that since it destroyed their relationships and love, it must be an act of a demon or a devil, and they gather and start a cult of blaming other women for it, trying to find which horrid witch was evil enough to do this to them, personally. They’re wreaking havoc on the most vulnerable women in the population, before they’re seized and stopped in their tracks, other women refusing to tolerate the religious nonsense, and violence towards their own. 

The women  gain power to reduce carbon footprint and exploitation of the third-world workers and resources; now that the goal is no longer to increase profit, these issues become resolvable by paying for the resources fairly, and quitting the practices that cause insane amounts environmental damage. The women are taking several months to get it down, but within a year, practices have changed, and new laws have been put into motion to prevent the development of more harm.

It’s now months since the m*n have been rendered motionless, and some have started recovering, and walking around to some point; but never outside their house. They’ve been grateful they’re allowed to eat meals, and sleep in a bed. They’re spending their days doing housework, and they also found out, that there’s differences in what each of them has to do in order to move. If this specific one had a woman continuously cook for him, and clean for him, then these specific actions are what he has to do. If the woman has been taking care of his child around the clock, now he has to do it, in the same way she would, or he goes limp again. If he wasn’t specifically counting on a woman to do these tasks, then he’s recovering a little bit faster than the others, allowed to get some free time, only unable to tell when it’s going to end.

They discover they can talk, if they’re saying pleasing and loving things to women. They can clean themselves, as long as the soaps they use are nice-smelling to women. They can fix their appearance, as long as women like to see them like that. They can make themselves sexually appealing, but only if a woman is in the mood for that. If they reach to touch her, to make her, the ability to move is denied for days. Some of them learn the first time; some of them fail to survive this.

The team of the female archeologists, after going through multiple perils, finally find their way down into the ancient goddess temple, and they’re rewarded for their effort; they’re allowed to speak to the goddess directly. They ask, for how long is this going to last? And she replies “For as long as the opposite lasted.”

-

With a book like that, I’d want to put all m*n into a situation where all women have been at one point or another. Where their survival depends directly on being useful and convenient to m*n. Where their appearance, demeanor and behaviour is allowed to exist, only while it’s convenient and attractive to m*n. Where their only option is to appeal to m*n, offer up their labour, their time and energy, their love and compassion, to be rewarded with nothing but continued survival. Where the only place they’re allowed to exist in, is a property of a male. Where the laws are being made not for their success, but for them to be stripped from protection and rights. Where people in power have no regard for their interests.

This is not a revenge fantasy; no m*n is murdered, tortured, raped, dismembered, sold into sex slavery, or turned into a corpse against his own will, they all have a choice, and it’s a choice women have been invisibly making for centuries. I’d like m*n to be aware, just for a moment, what that position feels like, what it means looking at a life of servitude, versus ensured silence and death.

It also calls attention to how bad our situation really is, or was at some point in our lives. We had all but no choice, but to do housework for males at some points in our lives. To cook for them, to clean their property, to take care of their children/animals/possessions, to comfort them, to please them, to appeal to them, to endure whatever abuse they put our way, if we want to keep living and to be acknowledged as human beings. We don’t get rights if we don’t prove to be useful. That is painful. That feels like being motionless and useless and in danger of perishing, unless we do as we’re told, as we’re conditioned to. I want us to be aware as well, that this is a crime against our humanity. We never should have been in that position. Nobody should.

[jim-fetter-illustrations]

Is Trump of religious material, or is he just playing one on television........?

Donald Trump increasingly infuses his campaign with Christian trappings,.... in that he says Christian things that his actions can't back up!

Many of the T-shirts and hats that are sold at his rally's proclaimed religious slogans such as “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president”.

And many trump supporters say they believe Trump shares their Christian faith and values, among them opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, particularly to their beliefs that transgenders are abominations and should be imprisoned for the publics safety.

Like their God would want in his perfect world, which we haven't ever had yet, but Trump supporters are hopeful that separation of church and state will be a thing of the past,........ and I mean most other nations have forgone excluding religious mandates from their governing practices, so why not the United States too?!?!?!?

With Trump's America we can penalize the sinners and send a message these kinds of despicable actions will not be tolerated in a civilized Christian society.

Myself personally I'm not sure I want to live in a civilized Christian society remembering their Christian roots of bloodshed, and just killing non-believers in the Crusades and earlier in history,........ those were savage and brutal times for people who did not believe the religious fairy tale.

Now most of academia in the last decade have been trying to understand why so many highly religious Americans have a favorable view of Donald Trump, asking how the values of voters can support a candidate who has been divorced twice, married three times and found liable for sexual abuse, hired prostitutes while being married, and outright lying to supporters to get their support.

I think it's people who identify as Christians but aren’t actually religious in any religious definition, they are religious like the Christians during the crusades that use to punish and kill non-believers, and those are the times they wish to see again, because I know a few Christians, and they aren't in any eventuality supporters of a man like Trump,....... again because his actions aren't Christian-like, they are deceitful & hoodwinking-like!

....... now it really don't matter to me who the hell you vote for because one way or another we will reap the benefits we have sown,....... regrettably no doubt, but we do tend to learn from our regrets, like when you as a child put your hand on a hot burner on the stove, you learn to never do that again.

So if that's how we must learn Trump will be a disaster then so be it. America has been through, as they say,.. "Hell and high water" and we survived those difficulties, and we will survive Trump as president i think,.... we may not like it, but we will survive, because as things get really bad the American people have a tendency to rise up and strike back at the controversy with a harshness never before seen when we have to.

So if ya think Trump is some kind of manifest of a demagogue like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were, because Trump himself has said no less, and he thinks he's been appointed by a higher power (God) no less to guide the masses to that preverbal promised land they all read about in their bibles.

Where and exactly what that promised land is, has yet to be determined, and therefore suspect.

I think Trump supporters are so desperate for what they think will be better times for themselves, they are willing to go outside the box of logical thinking and delve into the fantasy world most religious poppycock is famous for, like Noah's Ark, the parting of the red seas, feeding the multitudes with five loaves of bread and two fish, and that one every distillery on earth wishes they could do.... turning water into wine............ all no doubt pipe dreams only in the mind, and not reality.

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[noahjo]

Swallowtail Butterfly

A rollercoaster of a film that I feel like at times did not know what it wanted to be. It takes place in the fictional city of “Yen Town” where people around the world flock for money. The Japanese natives refer to them as “Yentowns.” It first starts off almost as a Life of Oharu with the main character, Ageha, being pushed from woman to woman after her mother dies. I expected the worst when she is sold to the club prostitution place and is assaulted by the owner, but when Glico decides to take care of her it immediately switches tones. That is the general vibe of this film, many tones that confuse me on how I am supposed to think or feel. I do however believe the many plot threads and ideas the film presents come together at the end decently.

I really enjoyed the characters in this film, and they make for a very nice found family for Ageha. Chinese immigrant Glico is kind and gentle with Ageha, giving her the name “Ageha” as she did not have one before. She is a prostitute which is not the best environment for Ageha to live in, however, she is treated like a sister. Watching their relationship blossom is nice to see. When Ageha finds work with another Chinese immigrant, Fei Hong, by helping him scam people with his mechanic business, she truly finds her place. I find the ways they execute their scams very funny, especially the scene where they hide on the side of the road to clean the cars of drivers and then ask for payment. They have to do whatever it takes to survive. A lovable character that I wish would have been around longer, Arrow, is an African American ex-boxer who wants to go home. He lives in the same apartment as Ageha and Glico, we’re introduced to him hanging out with Ageha in his room. Despite his short time of being in the film, he leaves a great impression. His biggest spotlight is saving Glico and Ageha from one of Glico’s clients that tried to rape Ageha. He punches the man out the window by accident, and then a truck drives over the man, killing him. This sets off the real story of the film and the supposed “crime” aspect that makes it a crime film. Within the dead man’s body is a cassette tape of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” that the Chinese mob is after for some reason.

By using a counterfeit strategy, the gang finds a way to make tons of money illegally. Arrow goes back home (sadly) and Fei Hong opens a club where Glico gets to sing. This is where things go wrong. Glico goes big with fame, leaving behind Ageha and Fei Hong. Her manager then calls the feds on Fei Hong to get rid of his connection with Glico, so he is imprisoned and deported. Ageha now lives on her own with the gang of kids she became the boss of. How things wrap up matters less than what the film's message is. I believe is going over a lot about identity, and family. Ageha identifies with being a Yentown despite not having many of the characteristics of being one, and finds he home in Yentown to be something to celebrate. Good film, would watch again.

[jpnfilmhistorynmore]

The Life of Oharu

The Life of Oharu by Kenji Mizoguchi was an incredibly sad and somber film. It would often leave me speechless at the constant and perpetual misfortune befalling the film’s star. Although the film is unpleasant to watch, it can also be impactful at times. The film follows the life of a woman named Oharu, as you could have probably guessed by the name of the film. When Oharu was young, she was a noble daughter from a noble family. During her youth, Oharu fell in love with someone from a lower social rank than her, and ended up having sex with him. Upon being caught during the act, her family were stripped of their noble status and exiled. In addition, her lover was exiled for his actions. In despair, Oharu attempts suicide, but after being stopped she decides to live out her dead lover’s wish for her to marry for love. After this, against her will Oharu is sold to Lord Matsudaira to be his concubine as his wife was infertile. At first she was uncomfortable with the proposition, but she began to feel at home after giving birth to the child. Unfortunately, shortly after the child’s birth, she is deemed useless and expelled from the castle. Upon returning home, her parents sell her as a courtesan due to their crippling debt. After her freedom is purchased, she is adopted by new parents. At first, things go great with the new family. After some time had passed, the new parents discover her past work. This leads the mother to become jealous and upset, and the father to attempt to sexually assault Oharu. Oharu then finds a genuine, caring husband. This leads to the first time Oharu seems to be genuinely happy since the very beginning of her misfortune. Mizoguchi doesn’t let the positive emotion last though, as just a scene or 2 later her husband dies. After her husband’s death, she tries to become a nun, only to be kicked out due to being caught nude with a man (who seemingly tried to rape her due to knowing her past work). After being thrown out of the temple, she becomes a street-musician, and then a prostitute. In the end, she tries to go live with her son and see the man he has become, only to be told that for her sexual history she will be imprisoned. She runs away and escapes, and lives the rest of her life wandering. Through these examples, I feel that the film shows the struggles women who are deemed ‘impure’ go through. The film also, more specifically, shows the struggles of women who were sold into sex work by their parents. The reason that I chose this specific image for my post is due to the contrast between the nun and Oharu. The Nun is an image of purity and is well-lit and isn’t casting a shadow, while Oharu is covered in shadow, and is casting a shadow that runs off-screen. I believe this was meant to be a visual metaphor for her ‘impurity’.

[california-slow-take]

By looking west to California, Jean Pfaelzer shifts our understanding of slavery as a North-South struggle and focuses on how those who were enslaved in California fought, fled, and resisted human bondage. In unyielding research and vivid interviews, Pfaelzer exposes how California's appetite for slavery persists today in the trafficking in human beings who are lured by promises of jobs but who instead are imprisoned in sweatshops or remote marijuana fields, or are sold as nannies or sex workers.

Pfaelzer relates the history of slavery in California across its entire spectrum, from indentured Native American ranch hands in the Spanish missions, children sent to Indian boarding schools, Black miners, kidnapped Chinese prostitutes, and convict laborers to the victims of modern human trafficking, and she argues that California owes its origins and sunny prosperity to slavery. Spanish invaders captured Indigenous people to build and farm the chain of Catholic missions. Russian otter hunters shipped Alaskan Natives down to the California coast—the first slaves to be transported to California. The Russians also launched the Pacific slave trade with China. Southern plantation slaves were marched across the plains to help their owners mine during the Gold Rush. San Quentin Prison was the incubator for California’s carceral state. Kidnapped Chinese girls were sold to caged brothels in early San Francisco. And Indian boarding schools supplied farms and hotels with unfree child workers. 

Pfaelzer's provocative history of slavery in California could rewrite people's understanding of the settling of the West, and redefine the actual paths to eventual freedom for many Americans.

[alexandremacieira]

A escola de Niterói amadrinhada pela Portela, @unidosdoviradouro, vai entrar na Avenida em busca do seu 3º ouro no Grupo Especial! Hoje ela foi a segunda e última a ensaiar e pôde também prosseguir com testes de som e luz. 🎵 Seu enredo foi desenvolvido por @tarcisiozanon e conta sobre a vida e trabalho de Rosa Courana, considerada a 1ª mulher negra a escrever um livro no Brasil. 👩🏿 Rosa Courana era natural da terra de Courá, no Golfo do Benim. Ela foi vendida e desembarcou no Rio em 1725, quando tinha apenas 6 anos. Após ter que se prostituir, aos 23 anos doou seus bens, se aliou à igreja e começou a ser conhecida como profetisa. Escreveu um livro onde relatava ter tido contato com Jesus e começou a realizar sessões que misturavam o cristianismo com práticas afro-brasileiras. Por causa disso, foi denunciada pelo Bispo e ficou presa em Lisboa por cerca de um ano. 📌 @erikajanuza segue em seu segundo desfile como Rainha de Bateria. Estará ao lado do Mestre @mestrecicaoficial. 📸 @alexandremacieira / Riotur . . . The Niterói school @unidosdoviradouro, will enter the Avenue in search of its 3rd gold in the Special Group! Today she was the second and last one to rehearse and was also able to proceed with sound and light tests. 🎵 This year’s plot was developed by @tarcisiozanon and talks about the life and work of Rosa Courana, considered the 1st black woman to write a book in Brazil. 👩🏿 Rosa Courana was from the Bay of Benin. She was sold and landed in Rio in 1725, when she was only 6 years old. After having to prostitute herself, at the age of 23 she donated her assets, joined the church and began to be known as a prophetess. She wrote a book where she reported having had contact with Jesus and began holding sessions that mixed Christianity with Afro-Brazilian practices. Because of this, she was reported by the Bishop and was imprisoned in Lisbon for about a year. 📌 @erikajanuza continues on to her second parade as the school’s Queen of Drums. She will be performing next to Master @mestrecicaoficial. #unidosdoviradouro #niteroi #riodejaneiro #carnavalrio2023 #sambodromo #sapucai #samba #brazilianculture Reposted from @riotur.rio (em Sambódromo da Marquês de Sapucaí) https://www.instagram.com/p/Coj7b9OOnA5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[haskahuskaooo]

Are legal Escorts in UAE

Despite its illegality, prostitution is widespread, especially in Dubai  and Abu Dhabi. The authorities generally turn a blind eye provided it is kept out of the public eye. Escorts in UAE are legal. Punishments for engaging in Escorts include heavy fines and imprisonment, with foreign prostitutes typically being deported from the UAE. In 2006 the UAE deported 4,300 foreign Escorts UAE.

Read More-  Escorts UAE

UAE nationals are permitted a number of residence visas. These are mainly used for domestic staff, but any surplus are often sold through middlemen to prostitutes to enter and remain in the country for two years. Although there is street prostitution, notably Hamdan Street in Escorts UAE, most Escorts takes place in the bars and nightclubs of hotels. Residence visas may change hands at upwards of £5,000. Despite a law forbidding entry to unaccompanied females under 31 years of age, "agents arrange for prostitutes to enter the country on a 30-day tourist visa.

[iomontecillo]

The only reason why “niceties” ever appear in the household is due to the rape-motive. They Call it “surrogacy”, “assisted conception” or prostitution, but if the child/woman doesn’t know what’s expected, and the real context consent is never an option. In any case such “consent” would still be invalid, and it would still be rape. The case of John Wayne Gacy is equally transferable to women, if not being more realistic depiction of the history of The Great Game described by Fadladn in the 920’s, where he States “the girl seemed distracted” implying she was being manipulated in a way he couldn’t clearly identify. In Requiem For A Dream the ending scenes show all the main characters personally linked to Sara Goldfarb and her son are killed of as a an erotisized act of rape, violence, imprisonment and murder. The electroschock scene, following the process of Sara’s introduction to “the doctor” and the “diet pills” shows a “healthcare and psychiatric system” designed to drug, immobilize, desorient and traffick the “patients”, as we eventually see how Sara is displaced from place to place, sidewalk to sidewalk, while we see the lineup of her “friends” observe her bled dry over time untill she dies in a hospitalbed entirely catatonic from the trauma of the longterm abuse. Her son loses an arm following an addiction process. His girlfriend becomes a rapist drugdealer’s junkie puppet. Their African American friend is placed in prison still screaming for his friends to be helped. We observe how the entire surrounding environment of this small group of people observes these changes over time and exploits it all while smiling and posing “concern” as those people die. We see how the girl, Miriam, like Sara, has a relation to the drugdealer posing as “a friend” who simply serves as an entry to more abusers, specifically rapists, whose interest ot is to create a scene of suffering they Can Watch directly while being in the room. Similarly we Can say that the nazi propaganda of the 1930’s, Selling ritualized rape and murder scenes, sold 400.000 copies as a record of the same form of practice, where people paid Money to observe abuse, which is factually a crime. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck2h24Qt838/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[venicepearl]

Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France. She was executed, by guillotine, during the French Revolution due to accounts of treason—particularly being suspected of assisting émigrés flee from the Revolution.

In order for the king to take Jeanne as a maîtresse-en-titre, she had to be married to someone of high rank so she could be allowed at court; she was hastily married on 1 September 1768, to Comte Guillaume du Barry. The marriage ceremony was accompanied by a false birth certificate, created by Jean du Barry. The certificate made Jeanne younger by three years and dissimulated her “poor” background. Henceforth, she was deemed as an official maîtresse-en-titre to the king.

Her arrival at the French royal court was considered scandalous by some, as she had been a prostitute and a commoner. For these reasons, she was disliked by many, including Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette's disfavoring Jeanne and refusing to speak to her was seen as a major issue within the royal court and had to be resolved. On New Year's Day 1772, Marie Antoinette remarked to Jeanne, “There are many people at Versailles today.” This little interaction pleased both Jeanne and the royal court, and the dispute ended, though the latter still disapproved of Jeanne thereafter.

During the Reign of Terror, a subpart of the French Revolution, Jeanne was imprisoned due to accounts of treason, the claims being made by her page Zamor. Soon after her imprisonment, she was executed—by guillotine—on 8 December 1793. Her body was buried in the Madeleine cemetery. The gems she had smuggled out of France during the Revolution were found due to her confession, and were sold at in auction in 1795.

[mkobooks]

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevesky

Last year, I read Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. I had mixed feelings about--it was at times incredible and moving and at numerous others, an enormous slog. Until a few weeks ago, it was the only Russian classic that I’d read.

Crime and Punishment was one of those books I’d heard of, of course, but it never came onto my radar as something I might want to read until I saw it featured as a “McGuffin” in The Flight Attendant on HBO (I got the novel from the library the other day and will probably be reviewing it in about a month). Then, as luck would have it, I stumbled onto Reddit’s “Classic Book Club” subreddit. They were staring off 2021 with C&P so I decided to join in thinking that reading one chapter per day shouldn’t be too difficult. Instead, the greater challenge was to limit myself to read only one chapter each day!

Spoilers for a 150+ year old classic~~

From the very beginning, I found myself pitying and relating to Rodya, the destitute former student who commits the eponymous crime and suffers its punishment. He’d been keeping to himself inside his (completely disgusting) apartment, reluctant to even run into his land-lady, and moping about without purpose. Despite his poverty, he gives money to the sickly wife of Marmeladov a stranger he meets at a pub, and despite his listlessness, he has actually been formulating a plan to murder and rob the pawnbroker to whom he has sold several possessions. 

Then, he does it. He actually does it! 🪓 🪓

And Dostoyevsky presents the reader with the question that is prominent through the novel: Is there good in Rodya’s heart? Or is he a deranged murderer?

To further complicate things, a police detective seems right on his tail thanks to Rodya’s recently published article about criminals and their motivations, and his sister, Dunia, is engaged to Luzhin, a rich, creepy, asshole, and being low-key stalked by Svidrigailov and even creepier asshole. All the while, Rodya goes back and forth about whether or not he should turn himself in or kill himself.

This novel was at times a thriller--so many tense moments between Rodya and the detective, Porfiry--and at others an intense character study and philosophical critique. Is the murder of one “louse”--as Rodya often characterizes his victim--justified if it could help hundreds of others?

That said, Rodya is not a great person and he spends most of the book irritable, sickly, or just plain rude to his friends and family. But when contrasted with the other monstrous men in this book: Marmeladov, whose alcoholism has impoverished and ruined his family; Luzhin who’s looking for a poor but pretty woman to “rescue” through marriage; and Svidrigailov who killed his wife and abused several others, is he that bad? Is he redeemable? Should he be redeemed and like Lazarus, be able to come back to life?

I enjoyed the comparisons between these objectively terrible men--and the contrasts with the more decent male characters, Detective Porfiry, and Rodya’s friend Razumihin. Yet, as a modern reader, I couldn’t help but bristle at the treatment of Rodya’s foil and eventual love interest, Sonia.

Marmeladov’s daughter from his first marriage, Sonia is forced to become a prostitute (a “yellow ticket” as it’s referred to in the book) in order to support her family. She is described as child-like and innocent in her devotion to her family (she is “technically” a young adult) yet the narrative presenters her as sinful as he. “The murder and the harlot” as they’re described shortly before Rodya implores her to go away with him, exclaiming: “we are both accursed, ... [because] you, too, have transgressed... you have laid hands on yourself, you have destroyed a life... your own (it’s all the same!).”

It’s never exactly clear why Sonia likes him, but without her support Rodya never would have been able to confess and--bafflingly--she follows him to Siberia where he is imprisoned. This angered me when I read it in the first part of the epilogue. Why would she follow this loser to the least hospitable part of Russia where he was sentenced to eight years in jail? 

But, to my surprise, C&P ends on an optimistic note. Unlike Petersburg, the rural village in Siberia is actually great for Sonia. She helps the prisoners and easily earns the love and respect she deserves from the community. And, thanks to her love, Rodya is able to see the “dawn of a new future, of a full resurrection into a new life.” In my opinion, he’s not exactly redeemed since he’s not all that contrite, but at the very least, he’s less unpleasant and open to changing himself and finding a way to repay Sonia.

This is just scratching the surface of everything that happened within this book. I would absolutely recommend it (here it is on Project Gutenberg). It is exciting, thought-provoking, and timeless; well-deserving of its status as a “classic.” 

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are chance meetings with strangers that interest us from the first moment, before a word is spoken.

[multiverseforger]

Edit

Early life and back-storyEdit

Bullseye grew up in The Bronx, where he lived with his brother and their abusive father. His brother's main form of recreation was playing with rifles, leading him to become an expert shot. When he was 10 years old, his brother started a fire in their home in an unsuccessful attempt to kill their father. Shortly thereafter, Bullseye was placed in a foster home, and became a baseball player in high school. He was an extremely talented pitcher, and was offered a scholarship, but instead opted to enter the minor leagues. After three games, he was called up to play a sold-out Major League game. He had surrendered no hits the entire game, and in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, he became bored and requested the coach pull him from the game. The coach refused, and insisted that he finish the game. The opposing team's batter mocked him, accusing him of cowardice. Bullseye threw the ball at his head, killing him. As the ball struck, he said only one word: "Bullseye". He was barred from professional baseball and convicted of manslaughter.

This is a retcon of a previous origin story, which depicts Bullseye growing up as a below average student in a trailer park with an alcoholic, physically abusive father. In this version of events, Bullseye fakes his father's suicide using a handgun set off by a toy arrow.[volume & issue needed] It is unclear how many elements of this version are actually true.

His cold demeanor and unique skills, however, meant subsequent recruitment by the National Security Agency as an assassin was inevitable, and he was soon assigned to train Contras in Nicaragua. By the time he arrived, however, he claimed to have already been planning to leave the NSA. He had planned on robbing the Contras blind and fleeing, but soon discovered they were desperately poor. Bullseye made the best of the situation: within seven hours of being informed of their poverty, he had led the Contras in seizing a landing strip that the Colombian cocaine smugglers were using as a staging area before moving on to the United States. Without use of the airfield, the smugglers were unable to send new shipments. Bullseye set up his hapless Nicaraguan translator Paolo as the leader of the new force controlling the airfield, and let the word spread around, however, Paolo was nothing but a patsy. Bullseye planned to invite several organized crime heads to the airfield to broker a new deal with him as Paolo's supposed "right hand man". He would take their money and disappear, presumably leaving Paolo to suffer the wrath of the Mafia, Russian Mafia, Yakuza, and various other criminal elements. However, before the deal could be finalized, the Punisher (Frank Castle) arrived.

Castle killed all the organized crime leaders in a fiery explosion from which Bullseye barely escaped. The two engaged in a fierce battle in which Bullseye was able to wound the Punisher and evade or disable several of his weapons. Bullseye then used some blood-reddened mud to paint a bull's-eye on his forehead, mocking Castle's inability to hit him. The fight concluded when Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrived, and the Punisher fled. Bullseye turned himself in to the D.E.A. agents and soon was assigned to infiltrate the Kingpin's criminal empire. He obtained a costume, fled yet again, and became one of the most dangerous hitmen in the world.

All of the above information is given by Bullseye during a subsequent interrogation by US intelligence. Just prior to escaping from custody, Bullseye confesses he made up some or all of his story to amuse himself; for example, he claims that he was really the one who started the fire which burned down his childhood home. The whole capture was a plan by the assassin to gain access to the prison where his father is being held. Bullseye finally gets revenge on his father, leaving him to burn as the prison's security systems torch everything inside.

Costumed criminal careerEdit

Bullseye battles (and defeats) Daredevil at a circus in order to establish his reputation as an extortionist.[10] Shortly after, Daredevil by chance overhears him in the midst of an extortion attempt and captures him.[11] Bullseye is later hired by Maxwell Glenn to kill Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, and Daredevil interferes. Although Bullseye wins again, Daredevil escapes death,[12] and Bullseye's professional reputation is damaged as a result. Seeking to regain his credibility, he challenges Daredevil on live television, but is soundly defeated.[13]

Smarting from this even harsher blow to his reputation, Bullseye hires Eric Slaughter's gang and kidnaps the Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) to bait Daredevil into a revenge bout.[14] Daredevil defeats him again, and the despair of this repeated humiliation drives him to a mental breakdown.[15] It is later revealed that this breakdown was in part caused by a brain tumor, which begins causing migraines, paranoia and hallucinations that everyone he meets is Daredevil.[16] He escapes from prison, but is recaptured by Daredevil, and the tumor is successfully removed.[16] The tumor's symptoms quickly disappear, and defense lawyers are able to have him freed on the argument that his criminal behavior was caused solely by the brain tumor. He is hired to assassinate the Kingpin, but meets with repeated failure.[17] Inexplicably, this convinces the Kingpin to employ him as a chief assassin, but he is fired the same day he witnesses the Kingpin's humiliating defeat at Daredevil's hands.[18] Bullseye's repeated failed attempts to regain this briefly-held position became a running joke of the Daredevil series.

While in prison, he learns that the Kingpin has employed Elektra (Daredevil's former lover) as a new chief assassin. After escaping prison, Bullseye attacks and impales Elektra on her own sai. This fails to convince the Kingpin, says he'll only be rehired if he kills Daredevil.[19] Bullseye attempts to ambush Daredevil, but their battle ends with his arch-foe dropping him from atop a telephone wire. The multi-story fall breaks Bullseye's back, paralyzing him.[19]

During Bullseye's extended hospital stay following the fall, Daredevil breaks into his hospital room and forces him to participate in a two-man variation on Russian roulette. The revolver used in the game is secretly unloaded, but Daredevil has Bullseye take the even-numbered turns so that he would feel sure that the last shot is going to kill him.[20] Bullseye has repeatedly cited this incident as his greatest grudge against Daredevil.[21][22]

Japanese scientist Lord Dark Wind liberates Bullseye and has him brought to Japan, lacing his bones with adamantium and thus restoring his mobility. Lord Dark Wind did this so that Bullseye would work as an assassin in return, but in spite of this favor being done for him, Bullseye refuses to work for free.[23] He instead makes another play to regain the position of the Kingpin's chief assassin once again if he kills Daredevil, knowing he would fail.[21] Bullseye is imprisoned for several years.

Bullseye eventually escapes prison,[24] and then battles Captain America.[25] He battles Crossbones in an attempt to assassinate the Red Skull to regain his old position with the Kingpin.[26]

After encountering the amnesiac Daredevil,[27] he takes advantage of this by impersonating Daredevil and committing robberies in an attempt to destroy his nemesis's image.[28] In one of his early heists, he is caught by his mark's disillusioned trophy wife. He becomes enamored of the wife who pleads with him to be taken away by him, but he keeps the wife in his derelict hideout as his lover, attempting to flatter her by showering her with stolen money and jewelry. However, the woman comes to realize that he is mentally weak and, frightened by one of his psychotic outbursts, leaves him.[29] Gradually, Bullseye becomes so immersed in his Daredevil impersonation that he believes himself to truly be Daredevil, a confusion which the real hero takes advantage of in order to defeat him.[30]

Bullseye later has another run-in with the Punisher when he is part of Frank's frame-up scheme that ends with Bullseye getting both of his hands shot and losing a finger to the Punisher's brutality. Bullseye encounters Deadpool[31] and Gambit[32] during another long interval in which the character was seldom used.

Bullseye is hired by the villain Mysterio to attack and confuse Daredevil. In the course of their battle, Bullseye kills Karen Page (Daredevil's longtime love interest) with one of Daredevil's own billy clubs.[33]

Bullseye is recruited to steal the Identity Disc, purported to be in possession of A.I.M. and have vital information on the world's superheroes, along with Deadpool, Sabretooth, Vulture, and Juggernaut.[34]

Bullseye offers to kill Daredevil for Kingpin, later entering Daredevil's apartment and attempting to kill Milla Donovan (Daredevil's new girlfriend). Enraged and already near the breaking point, Daredevil attacks Bullseye and throws him out the window. During the fight, the hero reveals to Bullseye that he knows his real name Lester, his mother was a prostitute, and that he never knew his father.[35] He mocks the assassin's new 'Bullseye' tattoo and carves a new one over it with a rock.[36]

Bullseye seeks purported documents confirming Daredevil's secret identity. After a brutal fight with Daredevil and Elektra, Bullseye flees into open traffic where he is hit by a truck, sustaining severe injuries.[37]

ThunderboltsEdit

Main articles: Thunderbolts (comics) and Secret Invasion

Bullseye, along with many other villains, is recruited into the Thunderbolts by Iron Man and Mister Fantastic to hunt down anti-registration superheroes in the Civil War storyline.[38] Afterwards, he is recruited by Norman Osborn into the reformed team led by Moonstone. He operates invisibly and is not seen by the public. He is used as a last resort and has a nano-chain fed into his system, so if he disobeys orders, he will receive an electrical shock.[22]

Bullseye fights American Eagle after having been deceived by Songbird and told that his nano-chain is disabled. During the fight, he simultaneously receives an electrical shock from the nano-chain in his system on order of Moonstone and is attacked by American Eagle. American Eagle beats him severely, mocking him throughout for purposely avoiding fights with superpowered foes, and finally breaks Bullseye's neck. As a result of the damage sustained from both being attacked by a man with superhuman strength and being shocked by the nano-chain, Bullseye is paralyzed, is unable to speak, and has incurred severe brain injuries.[39] Bullseye is later shown walking due to nanomechanical surgery, then goes on a killing spree using scalpels to "get some target practice in".[40] Later, he joins the Thunderbolts in their efforts to assassinate Moon Knight.[41]

Bullseye was with the Thunderbolts when they fought the Skrulls in Washington DC.[42] He took advantage of the clone of Andrea von Strucker being distracted by Moonstone to kill Andrea, and nearly killed Moonstone in the process.[43] Bullseye travels along with the other Thunderbolts to Central Park and joins the final battle against the main Skrull force. Obtaining a missile launcher from the Zeus, he fires a rocket through the Skrull Yellowjacket's right eye, thus disabling the Skrull from engaging with other heroes.[44] Osborn orders Bullseye to kill Songbird, finally giving Bullseye the chance for revenge.[45] Bullseye nearly succeeds, but is incapacitated by the Swordsman helping Songbird escape.[46]

Dark AvengersEdit

Main article: Dark Reign (comics)

As a reward for his role during the Skrull invasion, Bullseye is placed on the Dark Avengers and given the costume and codename of Hawkeye.[47]

Osborn hires Bullseye to eliminate Deadpool, from whom Norman stole data about "how to kill a Skrull queen" but Bullseye is unsuccessful.[48]

On the Dark Avengers' first mission, he kills Morgana le Fey only for the woman to return yet again with an army of demons.[49]

When the Dark Avengers fight a rogue Hulkbuster robot, "Hawkeye" disables the robot after killing its pilot. When the robot falls and killing thirty-six civilians, Osborn reprimands Bullseye for his part in the deaths, to which Bullseye demands credit for his kills. "Hawkeye" then goes out and saves a woman from being attacked by three men. He kills the men, and the woman inadvertently infuriates him by referring to Osborn as "his boss". After he kills the woman, he notices a news crew in a helicopter filming the action.[50] He silences the news crew by blowing the helicopter up.[51]

Bullseye is used to take out his old partner Deadpool. Deadpool eventually gains the upper hand and stabs Bullseye through the chest with a meathook, who later wakes up in a hospital and goes after Deadpool again. Deadpool easily avoids Bullseye's attacks, then runs Bullseye down, stopping with one of the vehicle's tires on Bullseye's leg. Bullseye pays off Deadpool (under the pretense that Osborn told him to do so) to save himself.[52]

Elektra stabs Bullseye with his own arrow.[53]

Bullseye is later given the order by Osborn to eliminate Daredevil who has been discovered leading the Hand.[54] Daredevil (who is going through the trials needed to join the Hand) and Bullseye clash. Bullseye booby-traps a building with one hundred people in it. Daredevil continues to battle Bullseye unaware that the building is rigged and that Bullseye has the detonator. When the building explodes, Bullseye escapes and leaves Daredevil to his grief, mocking that if Daredevil had chosen to kill him the people in the building might have been saved.[55]

Molecule Man turns Bullseye into a pool of water to subdue him; however as a liquid he still tries to attack Molecule Man.[56] He is restored by the Sentry.[57] He is also part of the team when they go to Manhattan to look for Noh-Varr. The Sentry finds him first but is distracted and leaves the battle later to find Noh-Varr gone.[58]

Osborn later assigns Bullseye with the duty to kill Lindy Reynolds (Sentry's wife).[59] He takes Lindy for a helicopter ride, and strangles and dumps Lindy's body in the ocean. When the Sentry questions him about Lindy's whereabouts, Bullseye claims Lindy committed suicide over the countryside by jumping out of the copter, and the Sentry flies off to find Lindy.[60]

ShadowlandEdit

In the aftermath of Siege, Bullseye is incarcerated and sent to the Raft. But in the process of being transferred there, he manages to kill his captors and escapes. He makes his way back to Hell's Kitchen and arrives at Shadowland, Daredevil's fortress, and is confronted by Daredevil and a legion of Hand ninjas. Bullseye is unprepared for his enemy's newfound ruthlessness as Daredevil dislocates both his shoulders and then stabs him through the heart with his own sai, in much the same way Bullseye had killed Elektra years before.[61] Later, a group of Hells Bikers put together an unauthorized funeral service (as J. Jonah Jameson had expressly forbade) for Bullseye; Ben Urich is dragged along, as well as Danny Deaver. However, Deaver continually sees visions of Bullseye; it is not clear whether or not it is Bullseye's spirit or simply part of Deaver's psychosis. Bullseye's funeral service is interrupted by Daredevil and the Hand and a massive brawl breaks out, almost killing Urich.[62] Daredevil later exhumes Bullseye's corpse, intending to resurrect him as a soldier loyal to the Hand.[63] The heroes interrupt the ceremony, preventing Bullseye's resurrection.[64]

ReturnEdit

It was later revealed that Bullseye was still barely alive as his body disappeared after the battle, but he has become an invalid due to his injuries who has to rely on a metal lung in order to survive. To get revenge, he is revealed to be the mastermind behind Klaw, Coyote, and Ikari's actions against Daredevil.[65] He is later found by the hero who defeated Ikari and Lady Bullseye. The warehouse where they were is subsequently destroyed, and Bullseye is nearly drowned in radioactive waste, leaving him scarred and blind.[66]

Bullseye would go on to have his body fully repaired by the Hand in an encounter with Elektra.[67]

During the "Secret Wars" storyline, Bullseye is among the villains attending the Kingpin's viewing party of the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610.[68]

During the "Infinity Wars" storyline, Bullseye is among the villains that accompany Turk Barrett to his meeting with the Infinity Watch at Central Park.[69]

When Daredevil’s protege Blindspot was left blinded by the villain Muse, Matt Murdock put out a bounty on himself out of guilt, attracting the attention of Bullseye and several other supervillains. Daredevil beat Bullseye and then revealed that he had put the contract out in hopes of luring Bullseye, as Blindspot’s condition reminded Daredevil of the murder of Karen Page.

[myhauntedsalem]

Portland’s Haunted Old Town Pizza

For well over a century Portland, Oregon’s Old North End had a shady reputation at best.

Since the 1970s a restaurant, Old Town Pizza has been located in once was, the lobby of the Merchant Hotel. This popular restaurant inherited the hotel’s resident ghost.

The Merchant was built in 1880 by two successful lumber barons. It was built atop part of Portland’s infamous Shanghai Tunnels.

These tunnels were used to imprison unsuspecting men, from the 1870s until well into the 1900s. These men were either drunk or drugged and then forced to work on ships without pay.

Despite this nefarious beginning, the Merchant Hotel had a good reputation. But this hotel was also known to provide its elite clientele with “ladies of the night.”

One young lady, Nina (pronounced “Nigh-na”) was sold into prostitution by Portland’s thriving white slavery trade. She became a “working woman” at the Merchant.

Missionaries convinced Nina to share or “rat out” several of Portland’s powerful crime bosses in an attempt to clean up the neighborhood.

Nina agrees to give this information, in exchange for a chance to escape a life she had not chosen. But soon after she cooperated, she was found dead in the hotel.

She had been pushed down an elevator shaft to her death. Since her ghost has not left what was once the hotel.

Guests at Old Town Pizza report feeling someone is watching them, others mention smelling a floral scent without source, they are told, “Oh, that is just Nina.”

One secluded booth at the back of the restaurant sits next to a brick wall that once was the elevator shaft. Nina’s name often appears mysteriously, written on this wall. She has been seen for over one hundred and fifty years at this location.

She is described as tall, wearing a long black dress, with a lovely smile. She is often seen walking down the stairs. She is also seen standing in the restaurant overlooking the diners as they eat.

Her apparition is sometimes spotted beneath this restaurant, in the basement, where one of the many Shanghai Tunnels is still located.

[blackdamed-blog]

Zhonghua Facts

How is Zhonghua different from the real Ancient China?

Zhonghua differs from Ancient China in the way that it mixes various dynasties into one, with a focus on the Ming dynasty.

What exact time does Peony live in?

1492 AD, which would be during the Ming dynasty.

Notable practices

Footbinding for Zhonghuans began in 960 AD and was practiced by most families until 1394 AD (contrasting the 1930s for China). Currently, it is no longer considered healthy or safe. Many of the women in Peony’s family, up until her grandmother, had their feet bound.

It is considered scandalous for an unmarried woman to be alone with a man, they must be accompanied by handmaidens or someone else.

A noblewomen is usually not seen without her handmaidens.

It is not a rule for unmarried noblewomen to stay out of the public eye, but it is encouraged.

Girls start sewing shoes and clothes for their future families at young ages, to be given in their dowry.

Noblewomen wear pale foundation, blacken their eyebrows, redden their lips and cheeks, and paint small flowers on their foreheads when going out in public. Peony does not do this when she sneaks out, because she is masquerading as a commoner. If commoners were to wear such elaborate makeup they would be imprisoned for impersonating noblewomen.

There are several ‘palaces’ within the Imperial Kingdom, although it is collectively called a palace in itself. The Emperor has a palace, as does the Empress, the princes, and even the princess. Women of the court live in one palace of their own.

If the Emperor dies before a son is born to him, his Empress must step down from power. The next ruler might allow them to live in the palace for the rest of their days, but they are looked on in more favor for joining a monastery in honor of the previous Emperor.

Fashion & Makeup

Zhonghua fashion and makeup trends take after the Ming and late-Tang dynasties. Tang dynasty fashion, however, is usually worn in the spring and summer.

Blue is a color commoners usually can’t afford to wear.

Commoners usually cannot afford silk, being an expensive fabric.

Noblewomen can afford nail tint, made out of egg-whites, beeswax, balsamic dye and Arabic gum. The colors are shades of red and black.

Only royalty and court ladies may tint their nails, a member of the lower class caught doing it would be imprisoned.

Scented pouches can be worn around the waist.

Women’s role in society

Women are subordinate to men. They abide by their fathers and brothers, then their husbands.

A mother and father may opt for their daughters to learn to read and write in the common characters, but it is not required. For sons, it is. Most mothers will teach their daughters nüshu, a writing that only women know.

There are female doctors, though few and many did not take official examinations to become doctors. Female doctors are expected to specialize in ‘women’s problems’, like menstruation and pregnancy, and usually only get female patients. In the Empress Peony verse, her handmaiden, Bing Bing, becomes the second woman in the Imperial City to take the exams, but the first to become a doctor for the royal family.

In Zhonghua, court ladies are women living in the palace. They are usually wives and daughters of senior civil officials, daughters of high ranking servants, or are bought into the palace to attend to the royal family ( not to be confused with servants ). To keep from taking up too much space, a civil official’s child must leave the palace at age 16 and they cannot have more than two children while living in the palace. Many sons of civil officials are groomed to take their fathers’ places or take another sort of employment within the palace, while daughters are sent away to be married. This is why many of their daughters are pushed to gain the attention of men in the palace, especially the princes.

The mother of the Emperor is known as Empress Dowager or Grand Empress Dowager ( ex: Peony’s grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Lan ).

The Grand Empress is the woman with the most power in the household, handling finances and their grandchild’s education. They can also be heavily involved in politics.

Names

There is an old belief that fake names ward away spirits, which I include in Zhonghua. Babies are given milk names before they are born. For example, Heavenly Peony, Beautiful Moon, and Dawn Star. Boys are given the same, but they’re usually not mentioned again after they are born. A teacher or mentor will usually give boys a style name, while girls keep their milk names to be used among friends and family.

A style name is a ‘coming of age’ name for men, to be used in addition to their own. It is given in adulthood. Like mentioned above, it can be given by a teacher or even the man’s parents. Those closest to him may use it.

Love & Marriage

In Zhonghua, the relationship between siblings is considered beautiful and encouraged — second only to sworn brothers/sisters and lāotongs. They grew up together and know each other best of all. Because of this, it is not truly the father but the eldest brother has the most say in who his sister marries.

Matchmakers are used, but not often by nobles. Nobles and the royal family prefer arranged marriages, rather than leaving it up to the matchmaker. Those of the upper class, primarily women, rarely choose their own partners.

At weddings, the bride wears red and does not take her husband’s surname. Only by marrying into the royal family does the bride take her husband’s surname.

At the age of 14, girls prepare themselves for marriage. These are called ‘Hair Pinning Days’. At 15, there is a hair pining ceremony; in which her hair is put into a bun and an elaborate pin is inserted -- to keep the bun from falling. The wealthier the girl is, the more elaborate and beautifully decorated the bun is. They are usually married at 16 or 17. Unlike the real Chinese custom, a girl does not need to be engaged for this.

If her husband dies, a woman is expected to not remarry and live as a grieving widow. Many suicides result from this.

Princesses are usually married off to powerful nobles, high ranking men within the army, or foreign lords/royalty, therefore leaving the palace. If she marries prominent man who lives within the place, they are both allowed to stay.

Terms

Milk years: Days as a child.

Hair pinning days: Coming of age, when a girl is about to be married.

Rice and salt days: The time when a woman is a mother and taking care of her family.

Sworn brother/sister: Two are more people who enter close friendship and honor each other similarly to that of true siblings. Most are made out of true friendship, while others are for political gain. An unofficial kinship.

Laotong: Meaning ‘old sames’. This is a relationship that only women can have, because it symbolizes emotional support that many Zhonghuans recognize that only women can give each other. Laotongs are often decided before birth, but can also be given through a matchmaker in adolescence. Laotongs pledge themselves to each other for life, recognized by the families and the matchmaker.

Little daughters-in-law: Girls sold by their poor families to wealthier families/relatives. They are usually married to the youngest son of the family.

Yiji: Talented courtesans, who do not engage in sexual acts. They sing, dance, and act as companions to wealthy patrons. Like prostitutes, however, they have a debt to pay off in order to be free. Sometimes, their wealthy patrons will buy their freedom in order to take the Yiji as a concubine or wife.

Religion

The dominant religion in Zhonghua is Taoism, while other regions may be Buddhist or believe that their ancestors watch over them. The Hui people ( after the actual Hui ethnicity ), who live on the outskirts closer to Qhemet, are Muslim.

Concubines

The use of concubines is practiced in Zhonghua, but have become fewer and fewer under the rule of Peony’s father. Emperor Qiao declined taking concubines to honor his wife. Such was controversial, but none could force him to take another wife. Most of his forefathers, however, did take concubines.

A cairen’s ( royal concubine ) children are usually taken away from her to be fostered by either a mentor, the Empress, or another royal. However, they may visit their child now and then.

Once a cairen reaches the age of 30 and has not given birth to a son, she is either sent back to their family or to become a maid.

Cairens were usually given as tribute to the Emperor from various parts of Zhonghua, even from other noble families. 

Cairens live in a palace of their own, collectively.

If they have given birth to a son, they retain their status and have a greater chance of becoming a consort.

Empress > Imperial Noble Consort > Noble Consort > Consort > Cairen

A consort is allowed to raise the children they give birth to.

Former concubines can only remarry with foreigners, not other Zhonghuans.

Other ethnic groups

There are different ethnic groups in Zhonghua, as in China, though I do not want to go into much detail about them. I just stuck to actual ethnic group names (for example, the majority of Zhonghuans are of the Han people).

Zhonghua began with several clans, the first Emperor being of the Han.