#nothing you make has any root in the source material save for names and sometimes faces

[hidingoutbackstage]

Tbh I feel like if your only interest in a fandom is in the popular aus that popular users make then maybe you don’t actually like the content of the media

[msfbgraves]

Capitalism speedrun

I have nothing to go on to support my opinion but some everyday observations and yet. I feel like capitalism is somehow accelerating? Ever more profit for ever fewer inhumanly rich people made by ever fewer megacorporations who have already colonised the entire world. The 'products' and so called 'services' they put out are being worse sometimes even after they have been sold. If indeed they have been sold and not merely leased. Newspapers are also owned by corporations, so whether or not they report any resembling facts can only be ascertained by extensive fact checking and or compairing of sources. The Internet is a group of maybe six social mediums being mined for data to be put into machines to completely replace the cost of human labour. Regardless whether or not anyone wants this. They control the entire supply of raw materials on the market, so you'll take what they give you and you'll like it. They'll decide of you're exploitable enough to be allowed survival, and if not, you can go and die. Those exploitable enough are so overworked or underpaid, that they won't have any initiative, ideally, to make anything or do anything outside of this system of exploitation. And they're not hiding it. "Cereal for dinner!"

I know capitalism as we know it has always run on extraction on a planet that is built for feeding things back into it. Anyone with the slightest bit of interest can see that since the planet's resources are finite when not replenished, at some point there is nothing left to mine. Similarly, if you mistreat peole until they die, you won't even have the workers left to build your robots. They've been trying to combat this problem with AI, because seemingly, a planet full of dead forests and dead people save your few slaves is a nice place to live on. "Ah, no," they cry. "But we'll simply colonise Mars next!"

I'm not sure whether they think that this will fly unopposed, or that they're trying to extract the last riches until in 20 years all the boomers will be dead and those left can rebuild another system on the ashes of this one.

Because they can't be trying to keep the status quo alive. If they were, they would have had to start feeding back into the system. Whether that is by being decent to people or renurturing soil. The boomers are selling their very own grandkids because even with their money, your flooded Malibu beach house is not a nice place to stay.

So far, most people angry with this have been doing what they're supposed to do, namely vote for fascism. But that'll only bring war and more destruction. But so far, every act of human cruelty and natural disaster has only ever led to more cruelty. A global pandemic? Let's jack up the price of healthcare! And attack Ukraine, disrupting global food security. Which, you know, is an excellent incentive to raise the price of food! Don't talk about petrol/gasoline, because that's been at a record high so long that people don't even blink anymore. So what if they simply don't heat their house in winter? And while the world is busy with Ukraine, let's play "genocide, what genocide?" again; the last time we did that was 1994. We're due another round, yeah?

It's not even for the money or the power anymore. They must be partying on the vulcano for the thrill of it. Do they want to see the world burn? Are those shareholders this dead inside?

Because they're being mean for the sake of it even if it is actively detrimental to them. The WGA strike, with $500 mln in losses, only not to have to pay the $47 mln originally demanded. They're scraping Tumblr for data because they've been everywhere else even though everyone can tell you nobody wants to get a Goncharov synopsis when they're looking for Martin Scorcese's work. But it hasn't been exploited yet and so it must be.

They've spent the last two decades telling us that evil is really complex actually, and rooted in trauma. Those cartoon villains were there to illustrate the concept to elementary schoolers, but real villainy is actually almost heroic.

No it isn't. It is exactly as shortsighted and as banal as it has always been depicted, or that's we're all experiencing in real time.

I'm so scared. I am as scared of being crushed by capitalism as being crushed by the inevitable fallout of this.

If it all blows up within the next five years, where are all these billionaires even going to go? Cuba? Africa? If the banks topple there won't even be any money anymore. Do they really not think about that? Is it fun living in underground bunkers? Or don't they think that far...?

[cienie-isengardu]

Erron Black. Arguably a character I don't know much about. Is Erron Black feminist, sexist, or just soft on girls? Now I know MK everyone can fight everyone, but in story mode...

In MK10 Milenna impale his hand with a knife, but he doesn't fight her. I'll except injury for that one.

But then with Cassie Cage later, he fights her, only after she engages him, but once he knocks her down he stops fighting her to fight Kung Jin in the market.

Later on the bridge fight, we do see him fighting Jacqui Briggs, in the background, but she charged him, so she initiated it, and when they focus in he is fighting Kung Jun again.

In MK11, when young Erron Black goes after Jade and Kotal, he let's Jade leave without so much as a glance.

In the Black Dragon fight pit, even though she is right next to him, he ignores Sonya Blade until she actually attacked him. He doesn't even point the other gun at her, he points it up and looks away, until she punches him.

The only time it looks like he initiated a attack on a woman was when Sheeva got shot in her shoulder armor (and shrugged it off), but we immediately see him chasing down Nightwolf, so that looks like a accident. And they only fight after she punches him across the room.

And in the comic's when he kidnapped Cassie and Jacqui he defended them against Kano, telling him not to hurt them, and when he realized they were in serious danger, tried to free them and help escape.

Unless I'm missing something, well he doesn't avoid it, he doesn't fight initiate fights with women.

Before I will talk at length about Erron Black and his attitude toward women I wish only to emphasize this is my subjective opinion and there is no need to agree with me on this. Because no matter how much source material will be brought into discussion, there are many ways to interpret his mindset, especially since A) what Erron says is not always compatible with what he is doing and B) the specific game mechanics that limit and/or adapt his “personality” to the needs of the storyline.

Long text ahead!

Mortal Kombat X’s stated Erron Black was hired by Shang Tsung 150 years ago. So he was born and raised at least the previous century and half, thus his approach to women may be old-fashioned but I wouldn’t say he was somehow deeply concerned per se about gender to begin with. Yes, the mentioned examples suggest otherwise but their context is as important as Erron’s action alone. Because the context of the game will not always work well with in-universe logic. I’m talking here stricte about game mechanics that are built around chapter’s main hero that must win against the opponents and in the mentioned examples Erron was sadly just an obstacle to beat down so it is not like he could headshot Mileena, Sonya or Sheeva or any woman and be done with the problem despite how marksmanship is his forte. Also, the game mechanic in MKX kinda made me joke that Erron shouldn’t be left on his own for too long because his competence in those chapters seemed that bad (from Outworld’s main cast only D’Vorah looked to me as a competent character and she was a traitor, that says a lot about Kotal’s team doesn it?). Anyway, on the basis of the specific nature of the game alone I wouldn’t go so far to judge Erron’s mindset, especially since he was a background/supportive character in MKX and MK11 story modes. So far, Black didn’t have his own chapter - thus the story isn’t told from his POV.

To be honest, games and comics present Erron in different lights, thus his approach to women may vary from one source to another. Because of that let’s firstly look at the sources separately.

In MKX, on Kotal’s voiceless order, Black was going to kill Rain. Mileena attacked Erron by surprise before he could shoot down the rebel but it was Kotal’s chapter so the emperor was the one that dealt with her. Erron was part of the background during chapter 2 without any impact on the story.

Then we have chapter 4 about Kung Jin.

When Cage Team met Erron Black for the first time, the man demanded to know what is Special Forces’ business here including “a reason why we shouldn’t kill you”. Despite the not so friendly welcome, Erron was willing to address Takeda’s remark (“I can read you… You’re not from Outworld.”) and did not resort to violence once Cassie’s explanation did not satisfy him. Looking at the uncertain situation of Outworld, Erron’s lack of trust is understable - Kotal was still at war with Mileena thus in constant danger. Of course, it is up to interpretation, did Erron listen to Jin solely because the prospect of money spoke to him so much or there is some bias (thus the cynical remark about Raiden’s seal and dismissive attitude) against Cassie, the woman in charge. I personally tend to think Erron was simply cautious because the last Earthrealm that got close to Kotal tried to kill the emperor. And yeah, Kano is nothing like Cassie, Jacqui, Takeda or Jin but there was no way for Black to know that for sure, especially since Outworld and Earthrealm weren’t really at the best terms at that time and Raiden’s name did not foreshadow anything good.

The next sequences may be interpreted as Erron being soft on women but I’m gonna present here different possibilities:

Once Jin went ahead to disrupt the execution, Erron’s first reaction was to shoot him yet Black took aim instead of shooting blindly without care for the crowd (or at least the slow down of his action is how it looked to me). Because he was focused on Jin - the main culprit whose action caused unwanted riot, Cassie easily stopped the attack. Should Erron be more focused on the female soldier at his side? Most likely, but all of this happened in mere seconds so I can understand why stopping Jin acting on his own accord was priority to the mercenary since it was related to his job and he was the one that agreed to take Earthrealmians to Kotal. Which may be the reason why Black just knocked down Cassie and immediately ran after Jin. And mind you, Erron knocked down Cassie by hitting her on the head with the butt of the pistol, which is not a gentle way by no means.

The chapter 6 is focused on Takeda and partially on Cage Team’s run from captivity. The Earthrealmians were important hostages, even if falsely accused of working with D’Vorah. So it makes sense that “Outworld Champions” weren’t trying to kill them. Otherwise Kung Jin would be shot down for good yet Erron kept him just at gunpoint. Once again, the game mechanics don’t make much sense considering how Jin stayed behind as air support but somehow ended up on the bridge while Jacqui disappeared somewhere in the background. Also, the same as with Cassie in Chapter 4, Erron did not kill defeated opponents nor tortured / injured for fun (Rain is a different matter because Erron went for killing only after Kotal’s voiceless order to finish the traitor).

In Chapter 11, Erron is even more degraded into a support role and he did not attack nor take part of the skirmish in the forest until Jacqui beat down Kotal. Personally I suspect he could be (in universe) too injured for hand to hand combat but once Team Cage was surrounded and Kotal gave the order for execution, Erron was aiming at Jacqui and if Sub-Zero did not show up, Black most likely would shoot to kill.

(Also, he did not shoot any enemy from a distance, so the women and men were treated the same although if this is a matter of game mechanics or Erron’s own moral code, hard to tell. Black recognized himself more as Outworlder than anything else so he may actually follow the common there idea of one on one fight.)

So, MKX story mode alone does not tell us much about Erron’s mindset about women because he has never been the one starting fights in the first place. This kinda makes sense since he is a mercenary and kills or injures only those who Kotal wishes to see dead or punished. Besides that he didn’t injure / kill Cassie when he had a chance but he didn't do so with Jin either. MKX!Erron gives the impression of a collected, detached type of person who is far from macho stereotypes or psychopath/sociopath like Kano.

Thankfully there is additional information like dialogue intros and Erron’s ending (from what we learned about Erron's approximate age) that aren’t canon per se but at least give some insight into his psyche.

The best counter argument for eventual Black’s habit of going easy on women is his own ending in which he ambushed and killed Cassie, Jacqui, Takeda and Jin (this situation was repeated in Briggs’ ending except this time Cage Team was saved by Jax). This is a rare moment in which Erron was the attacker and on his own initiated the violence toward others. In this case, he attacked women and men alike.

Then we have intro dialogues in which Erron usually deals with people in a professional manner, some even sometimes addressing in a polite way. Like “Mr. Kung” to Lao, “Mr. Hasashi” to Scorpion and “Mr. Takahashi” to Takeda. Surprisingly, he addresses Cassie and Sonya by their military rank (Sergeant Cage and General Blade respectively) which suggests that whatever Erron learned a century or two ago about gender-related social norms most likely evolved accordingly to his own life experiences, especially those gained in Outworld.

At the same time, it seems some of outfashioned - harmful - convictions are still enough deeply rooted in him to say stuff like that:

Kenshi: The friendless wanderer.

Erron Black: Least I don't take orders from a woman.

Kenshi: Which century are you from?

Which is kinda ironic since Kenshi takes orders from Sonya whom Erron addresses by high military rank without any snide comment about a woman in the army. But as far as I managed to check the intros, this is the only(?) one outright sexist thing Erron said to anyone and surprisingly, he didn’t say that to any woman, just to Kenshi. Frankly, if the idea of taking orders from women was so offensive, why would Erron bother to call Mileena the Crownless Queen or Kitana the Fallen Princess, if both titles by itself imply facing women that are used to give commands or even hire people like him? Once again, there is little to no sexist attitude toward women in context of their power over other men. Which suggests that whatever prejudices Black may have, he does not allow them to affect his interaction with other characters. Usually, at least.

Okay, the insult toward Kenshi could be some of Erron’s deep-seated sexist beliefs adding to the reason why he didn’t support Mileena in the fight for the throne. Yet, at the same time, if that was the case, he could outright say he doesn’t agree to be bossed by a woman to her (or he could be accused of that by her or any character really). Of course, it could be something similar to Black’s claim to care only about money with MK11 strongly hints he is saying one thing and doing differently but I will come back to this topic in a moment.

Another argument against this insult: Erron was one of the characters that did not mock Mileena’s look, origin or called her crazy. If he really thought listening to women's orders was so bad, then he didn’t show that when interacting with her or other female characters.

At the same time, like many other male characters, Black is not immune to the beauty of women around him and some of his comments sounds disrespectful and are unwelcome by the ladies:

Sonya: The gunslinger.

Erron Black: I could take you away from all this.

Sonya: I must be a jerk-magnet.

→ Sonya is not amused by Erron’s words at all.

Erron Black: Hello, beautiful.

Jacqui: Messin' with the wrong girl.

Erron Black: But it feels so right.

Jacqui is like the only one woman described by MKX!Erron as the beautiful one, the other he usually referred to along the lines of hot / sexy. Yet once Jacqui outright warned him to not mess with her, Erron deliberately ignored her because it amuse him. Whatever it is a sign of an old-fashioned mindset (a remnant of the times he grew up) or just simply (male’s) egoism on his part, Erron likes to flirt with women but he does not always respect their opinion or wish to be left alone.

At the same time, Erron rarely tried to change women’s minds about him or their eventual relationship. So far, only the intro dialogue with Kitana seems to be the exception:

Kitana: Stop!

Erron Black: We've barely begun, my lovely.

Kitana: It will end quickly.

Black may put his own amusement above other people's personal comfort, yes, but didn’t act creepy like Kano did, especially toward Blade-Briggs-Cage family as a whole.

So we have this

Jacqui: I really don't like you.

Erron Black: I really don't care.

Jacqui: As long as we're straight on that.

in which Erron doesn’t care for Jacqui’s dislike of his person but doesn’t impose himself on her. He does not resort to the common rapist “excuse” that woman says no but her body says otherwise, like Kano did (“Your mouth says Kano, but your eyes say Kan-yes.”) and this contrast puts Black in a more positive light. Similar thing happened in the intro dialogue toward Tanya.

Erron Black: My friend, Tanya.

Tanya: We are not friends, bounty hunter.

Erron Black: Have it your way...

Again, whether trying to be friendly or ironic, once Erron was “turned down”, he simply accepted the situation without any additional crude remarks.

Interestingly, interaction with Sonya showed that Black was capable of rethinking his statement about hot/sexy women:

Erron Black: Girls with guns? Always hot.

Sonya: I'll shove 'em up your ass and fire.

Erron Black: Almost always hot.

Those examples suggest Erron may treat women differently, depending on their “fighting experiences”, age and origin and maybe even how sexually / aesthetically appealing they are to him. For example, veteran Sonya’s threat was taken seriously while (novice / new generation) Jacqui’s warning was ignored. At the same time, the intro dialogues didn’t hint at any romantic or sexual interest in Ferra (a young female symbiote) nor D’Vorah (Kytinn) and relatively good looking Mileena who deserves a separate paragraph.

To be honest, Erron, Johnny and Kano are like the main three men openly showing their (sexual?) interest in women around them. Understable, Black’s flirting / comments rarely were appreciated yet he still was less creepy or aggressive towards others than Kano. Erron didn’t bother to hide his eventual (sexual) interest in beautiful women but it can’t be said A) he had no control over his sexual drive and B) has rapist / sexual predator tendencies.

Another interesting thing: with few exceptions like Kano or Quan Chi, Erron threatened people with violence usually after they offended him and most of the time maintained professional neutrality toward his rivals. In that regard, Erron treated other characters the same regardless of their gender.

This is something worth keeping in mind how Black, as mercenary, in general is not the initiator of violence. Unless someone will pay him. For money, Erron would attack (kill) anyone, including women (to Tanya, “The Kahn wants your head.” + Erron’s Epilogue).

The last detail to talk about: one of the intro dialogue with Cassie suggests Erron thought she was an easy opponent.

Cassie: Is something funny?

Erron Black: I'll win this easy.

Cassie: You're going down hard.

but to be fair, he thought the same about Sub-Zero

Erron Black: You're an easy target.

Sub-Zero: As are you.

Erron Black: Bullets beat snowballs any day.

so I wouldn’t say it was the bias toward Cassie because of her gender and just Erron’s own arrogance (and maybe lack of good judgement on his part).

In summary, MKX!Erron in game alone tends to act in a professional manner. He had an occasion to shoot defeated opponents but did not seize the opportunity against not only Cassie but Jin as well. During the storyline he was rather collected, emotionless. In intro dialogues he openly expresses his interest in tough, relatively attractive women yet the banter is far from the creeping tone of Kano’s interaction with female characters.

Then we have Mortal Kombat 11 in which past and future timelines are messed up. Sadly, Erron’s characterization departs from the neutral-polite one seen in the previous game. Of course, this could be blamed on the younger version of Erron, but frankly, twenty years for someone living at least for a century and half shouldn’t make that big difference in behaviour and well, MK11 outright claims Erron is prone to violence for violence’s sake instead of just money. Which is one of many plot-holes and divergences between both games I guess.

Anyway, Erron, again, was the background character to beat down, so it is worth remembering that he couldn’t permanently hurt or kill anyone from the main cast. In chapter 2 he let Jade get away when he was facing Kotal and frankly, there is little explanation for that in-universe wise. I personally suspect it may be related to Erron’s own sense of honor, as in respecting one on one fight without cheap moves like shooting someone’s beloved person. Not practical in the mercenary job but it is possible for someone born and raised around two centuries ago. Also, Shao Kahn’s anger was focused mainly on killing Kotal for taking the throne. Because of that Erron could be not interested in Jade who simply did not have any significant political matter at that time. Sadly, it is really hard to say for sure what was on his mind.

In chapter 6, past!Erron stormed the Special Forces Base alongside Black Dragon members. There were women in that group but sadly, Black did not interact with anyone beside Johnny Cage. We can at least assume, Black did not mind fighting side by side with women.

Similary, present!Erron in chapter 7 showed up in the background during the alliance attack on Coliseum. The attack was led by Kitana (albeit did Erron join her to save Kotal out of loyalty or for money, it was not explained) and there were female fighters in the group. It seems then Erron does not mind fighting side to side with women.

During the pit fight (chapter 8), past!Erron faced the past!Sonya and the past!Johnny. Frankly, the same as in the previous chapter, game mechanics make little sense because there was no real reason for Erron to open the ring and face the characters when he could simply shoot down both from a safe distance. This really undermines the whole point of Black being a gunslinger, isn’t it?

Anyway, Cage took the forward position (which I think is both because despite his injuries he tried to shield Sonya AND because he actually met Erron during an attack on a Special Forces’ base) and got shot in the arm. After a short skirmish, Erron knocked down Johnny and aimed to kill the injured man.

The most logical thing for Erron in this situation would be to shoot down Sonya first and then finish already beaten down and exhausted Johnny. In defense of the Black though it is worth emphasizing that he didn’t completely ignore Blade nor turned away from her.

Most likely the weird slow-down action of aiming at Johnny was a moment of distraction that Sonya simply used to attack. Similar to MKX, game mechanics do not allow Black to headshot the main heroes, even though, in-universe, he should do just that and be done with the job. There is also a possibility that past and present Kano still wanted to keep Sonya alive for their own amusment (torture and sadly most likely rape) what could explain why Erron didn’t shot her from safe distance. I mean, the game alone did not voice what Kanos really ordered Erron to do.

I know that MK games like to slow down action for dramatic effects, but I strongly believe it was actually a matter of a few seconds of distraction (Erron looking aside to shoot Johnny and aiming) that Sonya took advantage of rather Black ignoring her on purpose. Even more since Black did not hesitate to shoot at her and seemed to enjoy facing “the legendary” Sonya Blade.

The same as MKX, Mortal Kombat 11 does not explain Black’s mindset. He does not shoot Jade or Sonya when he has a chance but he does not make any rude remarks toward women in general. However the intro dialogues shed a light on the complicated relationship that Erron has with women.

From what we learn about Erron, his childhood was far from normal or safe. We don’t know details, but what he shared with Cetrion and Cassie strongly suggest that Erron’s both parents were abusive people:

Cetrion: You shot your own father, Erron Black.

Erron: Sonofabitch had it coming.

Cetrion: Honor thy parents, mortal!

or

Erron: My Ma would’ve loved you, Cassie Cage.

Cassie: Aw, sounds like you miss her bunches.

Erron: I hated Ma.

or

Erron: I grew up around tough women.

Cassie: Didn’t they teach you respect?

Erron: They taught me to hit back.

The last statement suggests young Erron was abused by women (most likely including his own mother) to the point he is now willing to hit back anyone regardless of their gender without remorse. Erron himself says “I ain't above shootin' a lady” (intro dialogue vs. Sonya).

Beside that, an abusive mother alone could influence Black’s approach to women - and most likely she did, since he admitted to hate her. Surprisingly, Erron uses the past tense (“I hated Ma”) so there is a chance he gained distance over time in that matter. It also seems like whatever he feels about mother usually doesn't affect his relationship with other female characters. For example, in the mentioned banter he did not insult Cassie for reminding him about the abusive parent. Despite the bad childhood intro dialogues hint Black actually likes dangerous women.

Erron Black: I stepped out with Nitara before you.

Skarlet: You clearly have a type, Erron.

Erron Black: Just like living dangerously.

Like in the previous game, Erron openly shows his (sexual) interest in various women. The interesting change however is how:

His interest extends now to more alien-looking female characters like Nitara or Sheeva. Surprisingly, Mileena’s advances are still rejected. Also, Erron has like zero respect for the goddess Cetrion but to be honest, he does not respect any god.

Erron is more disrespecting by using nicknames like Legs or Baby Doll for Sonya or Sugar for Cassie. Of course, it may be just the “charm” of younger Black - hard to tell in most cases which version is speaking - but it creates an overall feeling of ironic, at times irritating or insulting approach to female fighters. At the same time, there are women that Erron refers to in a rather consistently respectful manner - Jacqui (Miss Briggs, Little Lady), Jade (ma’am, missy), Kitana (Princess, Kahn).

Before I will focus on the complex situation with Mileena, I need to talk about Erron’s important trait: he often says one thing but does the opposite. This is especially noticeable in intro dialogues concerning money and loyalty. Both games agree the main motivation for Black is a good payment, albeit MK11 highline also the thrill of danger. Anyway, Erron admitted he is willing to betray Kotal, a current employer, if someone offered a better deal (“Until a better offer comes along.”, “There's always a better offer, Kotal”). This strengthens the impression Black cares only about himself yet he rejects all propositions coming from Kotal’s enemies such as Shao Kahn, Rain or Mileena, Quan Chi, Shinnok and Kano/Black Dragons. At the same, he is willing to work with/ for Kitana who happens to be the best friend of Jade, Kotal’s beloved. Which makes Erron still operate in a group wishing no harm to the ex-emperor.

I’m bringing this into discussion because there is strong possibility that under the tough guy act, Erron still follows some “old-fashioned” sense of morality and is decent enough to not attack or harm women (and in my opinion, people in general) unless A) it is part of the job or B) is self-defense. Which could explain why he let Jade walk away or why he didn’t shoot Sonya from a safe distance but faced her in hand to hand combat. Depending how long he lived in Outworld, he could simply adapt into local customs - the people of Outworld are a combat-focused society and because of that have a strong sense of honor code. Erron’s eventual softness toward female fighters would get him in serious problems and I doubt he could afford such weakness when serving Shang Tsung or Shao Kahn.

So, why did Erron not want to serve Mileena, the designated successor? As the Empress, she was in position to offer the best (materially wise at least) deal after all.

In MKX!banter Erron claims Kotal paid him better:

Mileena: You aided the usurper.

Erron Black: He offered more coins.

Mileena: ...and no protection.

Meanwhile, MK11!Black outright says it was not a matter of money but of Mileena’s behaviour. Considering how prone to violence she was, it is no wonder why Erron decided to work for someone else.

Erron Black: Now what's got you all rip-snorting mad?

Mileena: When I gained the throne, you abandoned it.

Erron Black: Wasn't no pay worth dealing with your crazy.

This brings me back to the MKX’s banter suggesting Erron may dislike being bossed by women. Considering the implication he is currently negotiating a proper deal with Kitana Kahn (“New Kahn, same deal?”), the problem is more complex than judging someone by gender alone. I mean, Erron worked for Shao Kahn who himself was a cruel tyrant so sadism shouldn't be anything new for Black, right? Except, he was hired by Shang Tsung and because of that I think it is highly possible Erron had just indirect contact with the Emperor. Thus Erron could be not ready for Mileena’s unstable nature(?) and cruelty.

I mean - Erron comes from a pathological family and grew up around tough women. In his opinion Cassie has some traits or behaves in a way for which his mother would’ve liked the girl. So there are certain things that Black connects to hated mother. Now, Cassie is more of an extrovert type of person, showy and with sharp ripostes but she is one of the good guys and cruelty for fun is not her thing. So, if someone like Cassie can somehow make him think of a hated parent (that most likely is dead for decades now), how much Mileena could trigger Erron in the wrong way? To the point he chooses his mental health over money and/or thrill of danger?

If this is true, we may further wonder if bad experiences with tough women in childhood are the reason why despite flirtatious nature, Erron’s interest in female fighters usually is strictly sexual attraction? Because it really looks like he does not try to emotionally connect with women. Even his “thing” with Skarlet seems to be more a matter of thrill than a serious relationship, considering how Erron was okay with her eventual death.

(The possibility of Erron being freaked out by Mileena also rises an interesting question about her mental state between MK9 and MKX)

This is why I think Erron did not have a problem with working for women as long as they did not remind him too much of past abuse. And this is pretty nice implication, considering how tough guy Erron is for most of the time.

Because of that, Kotal questioning if Erron is jealous of Jade could be read in different way too:

Erron Black: So, you and Jade, huh?

Kotal Kahn: Jealous, Erron Black?

Erron Black: She's quite the looker, Kotal.

And yeah, Erron brings this to the matter of appearance alone, but hopeful as I proved earlier, Erron sometimes says one thing but does (thinks) something totally different. Because of that I suspect he may not be really jealous of Kotal for having a sexy lady but actually of the relationship itself. You know, build on respect and love than just build on sexual drive.

Like I said before, the game cutscenes and character banters may be interpreted in many ways but for me MK11!Erron Black - at least the older version - seems to mask his trauma and/or complex nature of his relationship with women under the act of tough guys. At the same time, there is a high possibility he still follows an out-fashioned sense of honor and though he is not above shooting women, he does not attack them unless it is demanded. Though to be fair, in my opinion this is how he approaches everyone. A mercenary’s mindset that distinguishes him from the likes of Kano.

In Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermatch, Erron met Sheeva, when the Shokan Queen in the company of Fujin, Nightwolf and Shang Tsung carried a coffin to the Soul Chamber. Black and Baraka decided to confront the Shokan woman and it quickly turned into a fight (and the typical game mechanics).

There is a question though - did Erron really take Kitana's offer or did he stay with Kotal? Because it’s really suspicious that he happened in the place where defenless, injured Kotal was in the healing process. Anyway, whatever the case, Black directly or indirectly worked for the new Kahn so it is highly possible his actions were dictated by Kitana’s best interest rather than his liking or disliking anyone.

Let’s just look at the situation - Kitana is the empress but she promised to treat her allies as her equals. That means Sheeva, as well respected Shokan Queen, plays an important role in the new regime - killing her or permanently injuring was out question, otherwise Shokan people could rebel against Kitana and in result the freshly established peace would go straight to hell.

In my opinion, this is why Erron asked Sheeva’s group to go with them quietly so the situation could be explained to Kitana without unnecessary violence. Black actually was okay with Sheeva go to Soul Chamber as long as Shang Tsung (Shao Kahn’s sorcerer) and the suspicious coffin was returned to him. Thanks to Shang Tsung, one of Tarkatan warrior died and thus the situation got out of hand. It makes sense Erron was more focused on Shang Tsung (hated by Kitana), Nightwolf (whose current self is revenant) and Fujin than on Sheeva who, potentially, was protected by political immunity.

When the Shokan Queen beat down Baraka, Erron in my opinion did not try to hurt her, only fired a warning shot. Maybe to make sure Sheeva will not kill Baraka (another important leader whose support Kitana needed to uphold the peace in Outworld). The Earthrealmers on other hand were another matter. Maybe Erron was too trusting or too reckless to not pay more attention to Sheeva or simply didn’t really think she was the traitor. It was after learning she is trying to resurrect Kitana’s evil mom - a dangerous, not consulted with Empress decision - Erron faced Sheeva in hand to hand combat.

Not much to analyse here, especially not with limitations of game mechanics yet I strongly believe Erron’s course of action was dictated by political situation and Kitana Kahn’s best interest so killing or seriously injuring Sheeva could be out of question. Also, like I said previously, Black is rarely the aggressor, what I believe is related to his mercenary’s mindset.

The last source, Mortal Kombat X comics series, requires a little clarification: I treat it as a potentially additional insight into Erron’s psyche than any real canonical material. Partially due to many plot-holes but also because of overwhelming violence used for violence’s sake alone. That said, here what happens:

Earthrealm (Special Forces) and Outworld (Kotal Kahn) weren’t on the best terms. To help Kotal, Erron and Black Dragons kidnapped young (under 21 years old) Cassie and Jacqui and took them to Outworld. During the journey through the dangerous jungle, girls tried to run away but got hurt in the process by Kano. Erron openly talked against brutal treatment of prisoners.

Looking at the difficult situation of Kotal, it was in Erron’s best interest to keep Cassie and Jacqui in one piece. Otherwise the whole plan would fail and then Kotal would be forced to deal with really pissed off Sonya Blade. And that would take a bad turn for Black himself. But like I said earlier, the tough guy act could also cover Erron’s more empathic nature that in the mercenary world was seen as a weakness to exploit. I personally think he did not like torturing people if that was unnecessary but also that he would have spoken against it even if Cassie and Jaquie were boys.

Then the Red Dragons attacked to take over hostages.

(Once again, a tough guy act with the “girls are Kotal’s property” as in cover up his worries about the situation or his true mindset, or mix?)

When the fight started, Erron went to tied hostages:

One one hand, Erron needs the girl to stay alive and not be taken by the enemy. On the other hand, he does not promise them safety nor ask them to run away. He is freeing them so the two girl (both under 21 years old) will fight against experienced criminals armed with swords and other dangerous stuff. This is actually an interesting detail, because it suggests Erron thought Cassie and Jacqui had a chance against thugs or that at least that way they wouldn't be a burden to him.

Jacqui punched him and Erron, either was taken by surprise or did not want to hurt her, was “saved” by Kano. And then betrayed by the Black Dragon leader.

Kano’s worlds raise a question, how much Erron is driven by the money and how much he uses the tough guy act to actually hide his unwanted “vulnerability” (as in, having moral sense and not being the heartless psychopath like Kano).

My general conclusion about Erron is that, for a side character he has a really complex relationship with women around him. I strongly believe that Erron sticks to some old fashioned sense of honor that mixes well with a mercenary's mindset. Thus rarely he is the one attacking first. This most likely influences his interaction with female fighters but at the same time, Outworld is not a place where people are judged by gender but for their skills and powers. So, Erron living there for decades for sure got influenced by that mindset to some degree.

I would not call him a feminist - not because he couldn’t be one but for lack of proper material to analyse. Feminism has many shades but in the most general sense is about establishing the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Erron does not show much opinion on that matter and does not interact with “common” women; those truly weaker than him, disabled or anything else other than warriors, soldiers or queens. With lack of such interaction there is no chance to come to a proper conclusion.

Does Erron have a soft spot for women? It is possible but that would not stop him from hitting back or killing them if the situation called for such action. I think the safest option is just that Erron is in general a more emphatic and honorable human that he wants to admit, to not look weak or be exploited by others. In contrast to Kano, Black for sure has some moral code he follows no matter what. Even if this get him into trouble more often than not.

Hope it answers your question!

[talesofsonicasura]

Origami Dreams

Another experimental fic involving Jujustu Kaisen but with Yuji this time.

Origami, the craft of folding paper to create extraordinary creations. An art very treasured in the far East especially one specific legend. It was said if one were to fold a 1,000 paper cranes, then the gods will grant that person a single wish for their dexterous hard work. Something a lot of people gave up on from how difficult or monotonous the task was.

To one little boy named Yuji Itadori, it was a pastime he spent alongside his grandfather. For it all started when a classmate had given him a book on origami. He couldn't remember her name but he never forgot the image of fire and lightning upon the memory.

Not even the next day, his classmate had perished in a vicious car accident. To keep her last gift from becoming forgotten, little Yuji began to learn the craft of origami. First it started small like flowers or a snake, then in three months he crafted fantastic dragons, phoenixes and even an origami castle from scratch with masterful talent.

His favorite pieces of origami were simpler than all of his creations. It was a pair of sibling rulers, a king and his younger sister. They sat happily together on two thrones belonging to his origami castle, although he needed his grandfather's help to put them there properly.

Something that always brought him joy was looking at his masterpiece alongside his grandfather. You can only imagine the look of 7 year old Yuji on a day that could be described as a nightmare. A small boy with chocolate brown eyes, salmon hair sitting over almost black thin locks, and barely 3 ft tall watch his grandfather get carted into an ambulance.

The man had suffered a severe stroke which had put his only guardian into a deep coma. A tragedy that left a child returning to an empty house all alone. For a few days, Yuji barely ate anything and avoided his room where his castle lied. One day, he had found or to be precise tripped over the origami book given to him by his fallen classmate.

The book opened onto the legend of the 1,000 paper cranes. Something that gave the boy's soul fire once more. He returned to his room and began his quest to fold the finest paper cranes he could make. Searched every room for spare paper, if he ran out then he took any he could such as pages and color sheets.

Over the span of months, the little boy crafted paper crane after paper crane. Even if he missed up multiple times or lost a few cranes, Yuji never gave up. Finally on the night before his birthday, the child was crafting the last two paper cranes. Cranes crafted from various paper circles around the near 8 year old at his desk.

Slightly pudgy hands tiredly work to fold the wings of a red paper crane with the light of his desk lamp. Above his highest shelf sat a large green checkered origami castle and between its walls were two thrones which sat two origami people. They were sibling rulers for the folded crowns that sat on their sun blond hair heads.

"I'm... almost finished." Said the little boy, drowsiness slowly taking over his senses. He shakily picked up the last piece of blue construction paper and began to fold. Yuji's eyes felt heavy as fog filled his thoughts. First was the body, then came the head, and the wings were to follow.

"Only...a few…*yawn* more folds…" His head turned slightly to the castle of origami's sitting rulers. Their smiling eyes looking back at him as he was on the last two folds. Yuji needed to make a wish before folding the last crane.

It was getting harder to stay awake but he wouldn't sleep until he finished this. The salmon haired child looked at the incomplete paper bird in his hands. Vision growing fuzzy from tiredness, Yuji made the last fold and with his last bit of consciousness made a wish.

"I wish I wasn't alone…" And the boy's mind went black followed by a soft thud. Unbeknownst to the child, his wish would come true as the clock struck twelve. It wouldn't be how he expected though.

Something dull and pointy began to poke the boy's pudgy cheek. Crumbled words reaching the child's ears as his brain slowly came to life. "Hey brother! Our not paper creator is waking up! His rosy cheeks feel like pillows!" A childish young girl's bursting with excitement spoke as Yuji tiredly realized he wasn't alone.

Sleepy brown eyes slowly open to two very familiar pieces of origami overlooking him. Two people with one female and the other male. The female had blond hair with two large curls folded at the back, a folded dress robe made from yellow construction paper, peach paper forming the head with two small black strips to make little eyes, two point folded paper crown that adorn her head, white point fold arms and dark brown point fold legs.

Her male companion had pale blonde hair folded into a large curl that cover the left side of his face, a royal robe made from dark violet construction paper, a gold three pointed paper crown sat on his head with narrow black pieces paper to form eyes that were in a deadpan expression at the moment, purple point fold arms and white point fold legs.

Yuji knew who these surprisingly 1 ft and half tall origami were, they were the two siblings of his Origami Castle: Olly and his little sister Olivia. His two prized creations were floating before, completely alive almost if by magic. The 1,000 Paper Cranes magic. In seconds, the sleepiness faded away as the salmon hair boy sat up in relative shock.

"No doubt the young child is having an existential moment. He may have crafted the 1,000 paper cranes but he wasn't aware of the power that origami can possess. Particularly to those dedicated to the art." Spoke Olly who floated around the room to observe the child's work.

Olivia merely sat herself on the boy's desk to look at the various cranes that sat there. "Creator, take a few deep breaths. It should help calm you down a bit." Without even questioning her instructions, the little boy took a few deep breaths. His nerves and shell shock dissipating in little time.

"You're saying that all my hardwork brought you both to life? Does it mean that something happened to Grandpa too?" Olly flew over to Yuji upon the spoken question. "If you are talking about 'Wasuke Itadori', the hospital had made a call a few hours ago. His pulse has returned to normal and should be waking up soon. He is in extensive care, sadly. It means he can't leave without further risk to his health."

Even though his grandfather was stuck in the hospital, knowing his only family is going to be okay made the little boy happy. The 1,000 Paper Cranes had fulfilled his wish although with two extra attachments. Olly and Olivia had been brought to life. Speaking of which…

"You guys don't have to call me Creator all the time. Just call me Yuji." Yuji smiled brightly at the origami siblings. Olivia giggled before playfully patting the child's cheek. "Sure! Olly, Olivia and Yuji! That sounds like the beginning of a fairytale." The paper princess wasn't wrong on that assumption.

After that day, the little boy now lived in the once empty house with the two living origami. Something that had a lot of obstacles to face but nothing too harsh. First was money for necessary essentials, such as food and water but learning material too.

Selling origami was actually a good source of income with the presence of the two paper siblings. Olly and Olivia had magic which they used for various things but at the moment was to keep any origami Yuji sold to be immune to both damage and age. Some of his creations went from 200 yen to even 5,000 yen per piece depending on how advanced it was.

The two siblings would have to keep out of sight since any normal person would hunt them down for bad purposes. Luckily, Olly and Olivia could fold themselves to pocket size pieces that Yuji could carry with no trouble but they couldn't come to school.

Cooking wasn't much of an issue to learn although there were quite a few accidents with cookbooks and a blender that should never be told. However it appeared that there was much more to his life than magical Origami. For two years later, Yuji learned Olly and Olivia weren't the only ones who changed. He did too.

A 10 year old Yuji Itadori had found himself in a very bad situation. Sometimes selling origami creations would be difficult at some point during each year. This often led the young boy scavenging through abandoned places to look for anything valuable to sell.

He had found an old empty shack that wasn't too far from his house. It had enough scrap metal and loose change that could make up around 9,000 yen in cash alone. Problem was that there was... something living in the shack. And it wasn't friendly.

Yuji was running for his life with Olivia and Olly in his pockets. Behind the child was a blobfish-like abomination with multiple bulging yellow eyes across a gross green body, 15 deformed hands bent in unnatural ways that serve as legs and a large mouth filled with monstrous teeth along a long slimy tongue.

"What is that thing?! It looks so gross!" Olivia screamed within his shirt pocket. The monster had taken them by surprise when they were searching for more scraps. Too fast to prepare anything except to run. "I think it might be a Curse. Something about this world felt off so I did a personal investigation." Chimed Olly from Yuji's jacket pocket.

Both kept their little tirade about breaking the house rule quiet to hear what vital information that could save their life. "Curses are creatures invisible and invulnerable to those without Cursed Energy. I did come across an interesting fact, our Origami Magic can be used to successfully fight them!" Eyes widened upon Olly's explanation.

Too bad Yuji's foot got caught on a tree root which sent the child to the ground hard. "Yuji!" Olivia shot out of his pocket quickly unfolding herself to full size so she could help the boy up. None of them could prepare when the hideous Curse leapt at the two. Life flashing before his eyes, a single thought went through the salmon haired boy's head.

I want to live!

In seconds, the sound of rippling paper and a distorted gasp tore the silence to pieces. Opening eyes he didn't realize that he even closed, Yuji was greeted by an incredible sight. The vicious curse had been snared in large peach ropes of folded Origami that led to a dark blue fold. The very paper itself was the child's own arms, flesh and cloth turned into powerful origami of 1,000 folds.

Without hesitation, Yuji held the monster tighter in his grips as he raised his long origami arms into the air. "Leave us alone!!!" And the child slammed the monster brutally into the ground. It splatted but not into blood or gore. No, the creature exploded into paper confetti of its original green color.

Olly slipped out of Yuji's pocket to stare at the scene in utter shock before turning to his sister. A glowing orange symbol of a hand was on the right side of her chest which vanished upon Yuji's hands turning back to normal. "That was the 1,000-Fold Arms Technique you just did! And the...Curse turned into confetti." Olivia gawked in absolute shock.

It made no sense. Only paper or origami could use the technique and only origami would become confetti upon defeat. Not the hands of a child or a defeated monster. There was only one explanation. "Our magical presence has affected Yuji. He can use origami magic." That very sentence from male origami ruler was enough to picture how things had drastically changed.

After that day, the boy and his two paper companions learned to understand the powers little Yuji now had. It was a hard task for experimentations were needed thus led to occasional battles against Curses. Over the span of 5 years, the child had grown into a young man skilled in the art of origami magic.

There were still some spells he couldn't do without assistance from either Olly or Olivia but Yuji could defend himself against moderate strength Curses now. Although, nothing could compare for the third thing to come into his life. The Cursed Finger of Ryomen Sukuna.

It had occurred two weeks before afternoon clubs would begin at his local high school. The once small child now was a teenager standing around 5'8 in height and most of his baby fat was replaced with lean powerful bulk. Even though Olly and Olivia couldn't really grow like he could, the two happily took advantage of his new height to hang onto his shoulders instead.

Wearing a long coat or cloak on his back along with this 'koala cuddle' meant they didn't have to hide in his pockets if the weather was nice. Anyway, he had a huge cram session to deal with since there would be a big test in a few days. This meant that sometimes he couldn't cook and had instant ramen substitute for dinner.

What he didn't know was in the extra large cup of beef and pork ramen, something had accidentally got inside the package. Olly was sitting across the table looking through the stack of books Yuji had brought home. The origami prince had taken up reading and writing as a personal hobby so the teen often picked up books or writing material.

Olivia was sitting on the couch watching a cartoon on the TV. She usually spent her time drawing comics or acting out scenes from her favorite shows. In fact, Yuji made an account on the computer where the origami princess could post her comics whenever she wanted. Something that exploded across the internet as they end up getting emails to publish them on real paperback.

"Hey Olly, that stapler you wanted to buy should be in stores a few days from now. You want me to grab it for you?" Yuji questioned while slurping some noodles. "Table manners Yuji. And yes, I would like that. It's been so long since I've seen my beloved pet." The origami prince replied while flipping to the next page of his book.

The salmon haired young man pulled up something wrapped up in his ramen noodles. It was too tightly wound to take a better look but the teen could see it was dark meat of some type. Shrugging his shoulders, Yuji put the clump of noodles and meat in his mouth.

Olivia who was about to ask her brother something instantly paled at what was about to go down her creator's throat. It looked like a decrepit old rotten finger with a large claw, so old that it was dark purple and clearly toxic. "That's a crusty finger not beef!" And the finger went down the boy's throat before anyone could move.

Olly quickly flew over to the couch as the kitchen table exploded into splinters. The cause being their salmon hair roommate whose arm was held up in a swipe manner, an arm covered in intricate black tattoos and had large violet claws. Both watched as two slits that emerged under Yuji's eyes alongside black tattoos opened to reveal smaller red eyes.

Or the fact their friend laughed in a deeper more manic voice reminiscent of a psychopath. "Ahahahaha! It feels good to be alive again! Wonder what massacres I can unleash upon this age! The women and children crawling around like lambs to the slaughter!" The possessed Yuji then rips off his shirt apart to reveal even more intricate tattoos going down his slightly more powerful looking body.

"Our big brother got possessed by a psycho devil stripper!!" Olly could only freeze upon his sister's cry as four blood red orbs had now spotted them. Not Yuji stared at the two origami people behind the large plush furniture. Surprise and confusion crossing his four eyed face before he let out a manic chuckle.

"Hahaha! It seems this body belongs to a Jujutsu Sorcerer who knew how to craft living origami. Quite an interesting Cursed Technique… I wonder what I can learn from tearing you apart!" Both siblings were ready to fly away when Not Yuji suddenly froze. A familiar hand symbol emerged on Olivia's chest as Not Yuji's hands morphed into long appendages made of folded origami.

The Thousand Fold Arms wrapping itself around the possessed teen like a straitjacket much to their anger. "What?!" He shouted only for a mouth to pop up on his right cheek and the right eye's iris turning brown in color.

"Good to know origami magic can counter possession to an extent. Alright asshole, who are you? You already pissed me off since you tried to hurt my family and now ruined my study session!" Yuji threatened from the sudden transmutation. Not Yuji growled at the threat in irritation realizing he couldn't move or even retreat into the teen's soul.

This boy had somehow purposely locked him out from both the inside and outside. "No matter what age, you Jujutsu Sorcerers are still a pain in the ass! I am Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses! Show some respect you damn brat!" Howled the possessor as he struggled to break the teen's powerful hold over this body.

"Jujutsu Sorcerers??? What the heck is even that? And Curses have a king??? Then again, your crusty finger ended up in Yuji's ramen so maybe you're a gag?" Sukuna decided that he was going to tear the yellow origami girl apart first for the blatant disrespect. If he got out of this boy's grip. Her questions however raised one of his own.

"You telling me that not only do you fools don't know about me but also Jujutsu Sorcerers? Are you a bunch of dumbasses or completely ignorant?!" The King of Curses would've said more if a large blade didn't pop appear by his neck.

This blade or to be precise, blades, belonged to an inhumanly large pair of cutting scissors that were the size of a van. His three crimson eyes burned holes at Olly's own whose paper left arm was enveloped in a wild green circle depicting the tool ready to chop off his head. The prince's face burned red with rage.

"You're lucky I care about Yuji or I would cut your head off for disrespecting my family. We don't know about you or these Jujutsu Sorcerers and frankly don't care. Get out of our older brother's body now so he can study for his exam." Olly threatened, his tone similar to a lion ready to cut down intruders targeting its pride.

"Well too bad! I can't leave your little master's body even if I wanted too! He only ate one of my 20 fingers and even if he did eat them all, the boy's body will become mine! Unless you can fully pull my soul out then I'm stuck with you brats." Sukuna's words dripping with foul venom.

The information painted a very bad picture for the makeshift family of three. A psychotic demon was trapped in the eldest body and soul split into 20 pieces. Even if they could find all the fingers, it didn't mean the King of Curses would leave Yuji's body willingly.

"Then let's find those fingers." Yuji's second mouth grabbed everyone's attention. "You might be stuck in my body but that doesn't mean I can get you out somehow or someway. At best, I can make a origami body that you can possess temporarily so you won't be cooped up in my soul. And once we find all the fingers, I can get you out of my body with the 1,000 Paper Cranes."

A look of realization passing over Olivia's face. "That's right! The 1,000 Paper Cranes ritual can grant a free wish if you can make all the cranes faster than you did the first time! We can use that wish to get Sukuna out of your body! Nice thinking Yuji!" The King of Curses' couldn't help the shellshock.

These three were willing to collect every piece of his soul and use some wish making technique to make him whole again? None of them had any idea what they were getting themselves into by him or those who still seek to destroy the demon. If he played his cards right, then he will finally live once more.

"Alright you cocky little shits. I can help you locate my fingers since they're a part of my soul. Don't think we'll be buddy buddy because once I get out of that brat's body, I will rip you to shreds! Hear me?!" The pair of scissors by the two faced being's neck shrunk back to normal size before hitting the floor.

"We'll fight back when that time comes. For now, you better behave yourself. Come Olivia, let's see what paper we can use for Sukuna's origami vessel." With that said, Olly dragged his sister out of the room. Yuji's arms returned to normal once the magic connection was cut then ripped Sukuna's control over his body.

The tattoos vanished and one of the slits closed except for the right he forced open which took its original red hue. "Why haven't you fully blocked me out yet? You clearly have enough control to fully suppress me. Are you pitying me, dumb brat?!" Yuji merely ignored Sukuna's threat to grab a piece of paper and a pencil.

"What do you want your origami body to look like? It'll have a form similar to Olly and Olivia but you can choose the customization. Even give it four arms if you have the normal amount of fingers per hand like a human does." Yuji questioned, the mouth on his cheek going silent for a moment.

A few seconds later Sukuna spoke up once Yuji finished the body's outline. "Give it four arms and four crimson eyes. The clothing should be a kimono but I want different color sleeves." The salmon haired teen smiled as he got to work on the concept with the demon's instructions.

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad despite having to search for 20 fingers of a literal demon that had entered his life.

And that's it. Today's story was mixed with the newest Paper Mario game: The Origami King. Without spoiling the game to those who wish to play, it's a very fun game but the ending is very bittersweet.

I also wanted to experiment a bit with Yuji as a kid. How different this Yuji could turn out than his canon incarnation since there is new factors to his life.

Olly and Olivia will be serving sibling roles to Itadori but also taught him how to use Origami based magic or Cursed Technique. I'm taking the Smash Brothers' approach to bypass the requirement of Cursed Energy since in Smash Bros, rules are changed to allow each fighter to be on equal terms.

The game mechanics such as 1,000-Fold Arms, enemies, bosses and different locations will be incorporated into Yuji's moveset. This Yuji is also smarter due to Olly and Olivia's presence, perfect motivation to learn.

Spoilers?: Sukuna is going to get attached to the three.

I hope you guys enjoy the story! Until next time folks! Oh and have this Origami Ryomen Sukuna design! Chou!

Edit: Fixed a few spelling mistakes and grammar. Apparently me misspelling Jujutsu is pretty common in early works with this franchise. 😅

[captain-of-the-historicfuture]

~hello~ !! For the meta asks!: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, and 25 :))

Hello!! Thank you for sending these; I was really excited to see that ask game and I was hoping somebody would send some in. It still took me a while to actually answer them though, and for that I apologise. But without further ado! Some meta answers (under the cut because they ended up being fairly long, whoops):

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (Consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway.)

I thought of a few examples, but they could basically be grouped together under a common theme: whumpy/angsty scenes that were self-indulgent as all heck. The whole self-indulgent aspect often required the characters to be just the teeniest, tiniest bit OOC and/or necessitated rather unrealistic plot circumstances. So it was simply easier to keep such scenes as maladaptive daydreams, rather than trying to think of explanations for the character/plot issues…or exposing myself to judgement for them LOL.

Receiving permission to write/share one such scene anyway is an opportunity I can’t let slip by though. It might be because I’m writing this while running on zero (0) hours of sleep—let’s hear it for insomnia, y’all!—but I suddenly couldn’t remember any of my newer ideas under this category. However, I did recall a one-shot I had started writing a couple of months ago that sort of counts? “Sort of” because I could actually be arsed to write it since I was, ya know, writing it. Only got about six hundred words down though.

…should I share those six hundred words…?

………nahhh. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.

But here’s the gist of it: Coulson and May (because of course it’s Philinda) were married for quite some time before the Attack on New York. But then Coulson DiedTM and then got ResurrectedTM. But gasp of horror, he had to lose his memories of his romantic relationship with May because reasons. (I actually did have some ideas for those reasons but sshhhh this is about me yeeting context and setup.)

The first half of S1 still happens as normal (except MayWard doesn’t happen because??? Vows) and it’s now post-E20 “Nothing Personal”. The morning after (or a morning soon after, whatever) the T.A.H.I.T.I. reveal! May’s mom—who doesn’t know about GH.325 and whom May fed a cover story about Coulson divorcing her or something equally as oof, IDK—shows up at the hotel and starts ripping into Coulson for breaking her daughter’s heart, then dragging her back into the field with her ex-husband (him), then accusing her of terrible things and forcing her away again.

Poor guy’s confused as heck, and so is the team, and soon enough so is Lian. The only one who understands what’s going on is May, and she’s freaking dying off to the side like why is this happening to me��and eventually everybody’s like! Explain??? (Was thinking about including something from Coulson like, “Are you still keeping things from me?” Just for that extra smidge of angst, yay!)

So yeah then May gives a, like, two-sentence debriefing that elicits more questions than answers. Coulson decides to take May aside and they have a heart-to-heart. Lots of feelings and angst and hurt/comfort and at some point plenty of kissing too. Just! May hiding her feelings for Coulson’s sake but really magnified, plus some actual apologies and consideration of the grief May’s been through on Coulson’s part.

And uhh yeah that’s basically it I dunno hdsjncjshd. I warned y’all it’s OOC, plot-bendy, and very self-indulgent!

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

I don’t think I could name a single character for this. I get different things out of taking on different voices, you know? I guess recently I’ve found myself gravitating towards more taciturn and introspective points of view, like JQ from my original novel Rosewood or M. Yisbon from my…other original novel Temple.

Generally, however, I like tackling stories from an outsider’s perspective. That’s why I so rarely write my more “substantial” (serious? demanding? for lack of better words?) projects from the PoV of my “preferred” character. This usually means writing from their love interest’s perspective, but not always. With shorter fanfic, using a more removed/unconventional/niche PoV can be really fun. Like, I once wrote a canon compliant ficlet purely(-ish) about Philinda from Tony Stark’s perspective. That isn’t always sustainable with stories that demand more character development or closer character studies, however, which is why it’s a good thing I like writing drabbles!

9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other?

My word counts tend to run long, but I usually only write one-shots for fanfic. If I’m even inspired with a novella- or novel-length story idea for a fandom, you already know I’m in deep with them. And if I actually find the motivation to plan and execute that idea? Dangg. That’s only ever happened…twice, maybe thrice, and I’m in a lot of fandoms.

At times, I wish I could go for more of a middle ground ’cause, like, you know what I love to see? An AO3 dashboard with several completed novellas for my ship/character of choice. I mean yes, I hecking love >90k fics, but sometimes I’m in the mood for quick reads…and what am I supposed to do when I burn through all the drabbles and 2k one-shots? (Besides despair and/or reread my faves desperately.) Novellas are basically always safe for me LOL, and I’d hope to be able to give as much as I take.

Ultimately though, I think I’m okay with where I am with regards to that. I wish I could write more in general, but I’d be okay with “writing more” just meaning “writing more one-shots”, ya know? More than okay, really. I have mad respect for fic writers who have, like, a hundred or more one-shots under their belt for this one ship. The fandom ecosystem would be incomplete without them (as well as every other type of writer, but sshhh that’s the type of writer I’m closest to being right now).

I’m definitely a plotter, and I definitely prefer it that way. It’s cool having such a detailed record of my process. I like feeling like a frazzled genius on the brink of a major discovery with all of my different outlines and colour coding and many drafts and various websites.

12. Do you want your writing to be famous?

Not exactly. It might be cool if my original works were recognisable in the world, but I don’t think I’d want to be recognisable. As for fanfic, I’d low-key enjoy gaining a place in that fandom’s community as a fic writer. Like someone who gave and got fic gifts from fic writer friends, who participated in challenges and GCs, who received writing prompts on Tumblr, whose name was known for doing a certain trope/genre a bunch of times… Ya know what I mean?

Unlikely to happen when I’m so hecking hesitant to publicly (i.e., outside of AO3) claim credit for my writing, but fjnskfsjhfjs. A writer can dream, right?

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Of those three, tags are the easiest for me, for I have a reliable system for figuring out those.

Next easiest would probably be titles. For fanfiction, I like to use titles that are a quote from the source material. You should have seen all of my old Hamilton fanfic… I was really proud of some of those titles. And I don’t mean, like, whole lines—usually only two to five words. It’s a unique type of wordplay that I just love dabbling in.

And lastly, summaries. Sometimes inspiration strikes me and a snappy and intriguing synopsis just jumps out—one that I’m quietly pleased with—but most of the time I’ll spend way too long trying to think of such a synopsis and eventually just go with whatever I’d come up with so far. And live with my quiet dissatisfaction for the rest of time.

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (Plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations...?) Tell us about them!

Typically, no. If I have deleted scenes, I save and publish them separately, but that’s about it. I sometimes think of AUs for my own work and might talk about them in my author’s notes—might even talk about writing them—but I never really do anything with them.

Although…

It’s not uncommon for me to decide a plotline isn’t working for a certain story or to think of an interesting but undoable arc for a certain character, but what I’ll do is make a whole new story for those ideas. Once I’m done developing the original idea and the branched-off one, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell they grew from the same roots. Does that count?

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as (film, webcomic, animated series, etc.)?

That depends on the story. I’ve actually written stories in other mediums—movie screenplay, musical stageplay, poetry, TV show scripts, play scripts, roleplay—but the novel does tend to be my comfort zone. Sometimes, if I have an idea that I think could work, or would even work better, as another medium, I’ll label it as such in my folder of ideas and decide not to write it as a novel.

Most of the time, my non-book projects are collaborations. I’m working with five different people on six different story ideas: two webcomics, one stage musical, one anime, and two animated TV shows. Little concrete progress has been made in any of those, mind you, but they’re still fun to discuss!

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

Absolutely. But I’ve been writing stories since I was five years old, so we would hope so, huh?

I wouldn’t say my writing’s changed completely, though maybe that’s just my insider’s perspective.

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Oh gosh, I can’t believe you’d make me choose. Writing is just such a wonderful experience for me; I love just about everything to do with it. Admittedly, not all the time, but. Since that barely qualifies as an answer, however, I’ll give you this—

The endings. Not only that intense feeling of rightness when you wrap up that last sentence, but also the moments before. The adrenaline of knowing you’re almost there but you gotta push just a bit more to actually get there. And also the part right after—the real wrap-up, honestly: the revision and the editing. Heavens, I love revising and editing my work.

Which is not to say I don’t like writing it out for the first time, too—there’s nothing quite like seeing your cursor scroll to the next page, like going from a blank expanse to a Oh man, how many more lines are even going to fit on this page?, like watching that page counter tick up another number. However, there’s something cathartic about finally ironing out those problems I had to force myself to stop worrying about earlier because “just finish the first draft dangit”.

I guess that’s not really the end of the writing process, but whatever. Close enough (as fic writers are wont to say).

Another thank-you for these asks, and feel free to come back with more at any time! ;P

Send in fun meta asks for your friendly neighbourhood writer!

[pastelpoison88]

PastelPoison’s Witches Story

So I thought of this after I saw a Medieval Warriors M.A.P on “Song of the Witches” by S. J. Tucker and now am finally going to write it down.

I was thinking about witches all over the world, not just Western interpretations of witches and such (I have no idea about modern witches) and had never heard of witches from anywhere but the west and basically this is how my story would go if I had the time to write one.

BTW: I talk about myself a lot but just know that these are my frustrations of being a multi-racial person trying to figure out some of my roots on my own.

Though it wasn’t the first thing I thought of, it’s best for me to write down what the world is like for the sake of organization:

Time period has to sort of make sense (ex. While this is happening in Japan in 1400 AD, that is happening in Europe around the same time)

Attitudes have to make sense (ex. two groups are racist towards each other, female homosexuality is more accepted than male homosexuality, mild sexism)

Demographics have to make sense (ex. no one of African descent is going to be in Japan in 1400 AD [unless it’s our traveling cast of characters] and no one is going to be trans and not looked at like a freak, even by our main cast [tsk, tsk; shame, shame]) 

Keep in mind: I’m trying to explore what witchcraft is in other cultures so how should I make my characters meet? (ex. slave trade, running away)

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

First thing I think about is my characters and 1) my main one, or at least the one that shares (most of) my cultural background, is Japanese. Before even thinking about this, the most I had ever heard of Japanese witchcraft was about this dog demon in a temple in a Japanese murder-suicide graveyard near Honolulu who bit a Filipino man who got very sick and couldn’t be healed because he wasn’t Japanese. And so I did some of my own research but the most common “witch” I could find were people who hired foxes. There was some mention of snake employers but I could never find any reading material that goes in-depth. Also, I want this character to be a reflection of me, I’m mostly Okinawan (25% Okinawan to 4% Northern Japanese, a very unbalanced ratio) but if I have to make her fully Japanese for the sake of keeping her simple enough I will. 

So, “Yuki” is a simple name and a memorable one and I also imagined a picture of Yuki-onna that I saw once whenever I thought of the character so that’s her name for now. And I will alter some stuff in the story as long as I can explain the alteration, so if people don’t turn into animals in the origin story but do in mine, I should be able to explain why I didn’t stick with it, this is basically a fanfic.

Witch by association (has a tsukimono as a familiar/pet) [+also might have it possess her at some point if it fits]

Very close to her family but the relationship with her community is strained due to being slightly wealthier and also being part of a tsukimono-suji. Otou-san is still in charge but Okaa-san is the one that is more than happy to get back at you if you mess with the family business simply because she can get away with it. And letting it be known to any outsiders that there’s a spirit helping out, not that good when you’re looking to support your family. It didn’t help that Obaa-san is from the Ryukyu Kingdom and works with her hands, often exposing the odd tattoos that she wore. 

Eventually is the sole survivor of a massacre.

Overall is a neutral character, going her own way, not trying to change or dismantle society (just doesn’t want to be in one)

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

2) The second and third characters I know I want to be European, one female and the other male because the first and second verses of the song are sung by females (I don’t know if it’s another woman or her putting on a different voice, but it’s definitely female) and the last is sung by a guy.

I’ll put the guy down first, his name is... I don’t even got a name for him yet. “Lennox” he used to live in an elm forest, just roll with it.

I had a druid in mind when I was thinking about him but Druids disappeared when the Roman Empire took over so instead he’s a scholar. He knows a lot about astronomy, plants, herbs, law, religion, geography, trying to get him as close to a druid as I can.

He’s from Soctland (whether to have him be Scottish or Irish really tripped me up so just bear with me here). He can speak English and Gaelic.

Overall good guy, wise teacher, oldest member of the group

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

3) The female European. “Minerva”

Basically what first pops into your head whenever you think of a witch. 

Looks normal, my vanilla witch. Just your average white girl in whatever time in whatever village.

Doesn’t always have the best intentions and usually has less than stellar results 

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

4) The Little African Girl. I don’t really have an official name as she’s more of an idea at the moment than an actual character so I just gave her a title.

Represents regular people who perhaps seeks the help of witches

More of side character as she doesn’t stick with the group but engages in business with them against some sort of tyranny to save her family, community, friend, etc.

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

5) “Tyranny” S.J. Tucker says in the song that the witches fight against tyranny and I only thought of one character representing tyranny but perhaps there will be multiple forms of tyranny as I expand on this (if I expand on this).

But the one I have in mind so far is the Little African Girl’s rival. Some sort of corrupt leader or evil witch. 

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

6) Others I’ve thought of:

Hawaiian witch (I’ve been surrounded by Hawaiian culture my entire life but have only recently heard of Hawaiian witchcraft. It’s sort of like skinwalkers from what I’m told: the more you talk about the more it comes closer to you. Also in Hawaii: you’re not supposed to outright say that someone’s wrong, they’ve just been taught differently “maika’i” [good/fine/alright] so if I’m writing down too much detail or not enough, hopefully this answer will satisfy you) The forbidden portion is this martial art but every family is tied to the Gods and certain spirits (aumakua).

Gypsies (might be a racist stereotype but I want a crystal ball with a ghost inside it)

Australian Aboriginals (a culture I know nothing about, have only learned about in the last three months, and want to research more of)

Native Americans (again, a culture I know nothing about besides wendigos and skinwalkers)

Voodoo 

Also I should mention: sometimes there’s going to be two characters representing the same type of witchcraft but going against each other just to balance everything out.

Sources

Witchcraft in Japan: The Roots of Magical Girls - https://www.cavernacosmica.com/witchcraft-in-japan-the-roots-of-magical-girls/

Encyclopedia of Shinto - Tsukimono - http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=792

The Yuta, The Noro, and The “Okinawan Witch Trials” - https://www.tofugu.com/japan/yuta-noro-okinawa-witch-trials/

The Romans and the Druids - https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ancient-rome/the-romans-and-the-druids/

To be continued?

[mst3kproject]

1013: Danger: Diabolik

 I haven’t seen this episode.  How could I possibly just sit down and watch what was, for years and years, the last ever episode of MST3K?  I’ve always felt there would be something symbolic about that, like it would somehow mean the show was ‘really’ over, and even though I know it’s irrational, that feeling is even stronger now that we’ve had two new seasons.  So here is the movie, but I won’t be discussing the episode at all.

Despite all the precautions attendant on a shipment of ten million dollars, master thief Diabolik and his girlfriend-slash-accomplice Eva still manage to get away with the loot.  While they head back to their extravagant underground lair to have sex in a big pile of money, the government tries to figure out what they’re going to do about this intolerable situation.  They grant emergency powers to the police.  They make deals with gangsters.  They even offer a one million dollar reward – nothing works!  When Diabolik blows up the tax offices, threatening the country with bankruptcy, it seems there’s only one thing left to do: protect the national treasury by pouring all its gold reserves into one giant, twenty-ton ingot. Surely, even Diabolik can’t steal that… can he?

Danger: Diabolik reminds me of several things.  The most obvious is the Adam West Batman show.  Part of this is just the colourful sixties milieu and the overblown, comic book feel of everything that happens – but Diabolik himself, with his fancy gadgets, his high-tech cave, and his apparently untold wealth, seems very much like a Batman of Crime. He’s even got things helpfully labeled like the ‘anti-exhilirating-gas pills’.  The only thing those are missing is the word bat.  But it also makes me think of First Spaceship on Venus, in that it’s a movie in which a lot happens, but it still feels weirdly unfocused because it has no interest in its people.

This begins with the writing.  Every scene in the movie is merely functional – it imparts information about what just happened, or what’s going to happen next, and then it’s done.  There’s very little that might be considered character development, and opportunities for it are almost always sidetracked into artistic nudity. The acting does nothing to save it, either. Not a single member of the cast ever tries to infuse their characters with any personality.  Diabolik himself is merely cackling evil, the gangsters are stock gangsters, the politicians are buffoons.  It’s not going to help that the whole movie is dubbed, but the physical performances aren’t any more interesting.

Diabolik and Eva pull off several heists, stealing money, jewels, and finally the enormous gold bar, always managing to escape right out from under the noses of the police.  The crimes themselves are fun to watch, as we are introduced to the various precautions taken and see how the criminals manage to outwit them, but we never get any idea of these two as human beings.  Thieving and sex are their entire lives, and we don’t even know why they do these things.  They don’t seem to use the items they steal.  The money just gets used as a mattress, the emeralds are thrown into a lake, and we have no idea what, if anything, they were going to do with the gold.  They seem to do this stuff just because they can.

Diabolik himself never even has a proper name.  The one person who might use it is Eva, but she never does, and the police are oddly unconcerned with his identity.  There’s a sequence in which they believe they have him dead on a table, but they make no effort to figure out who he is besides being Diabolik.  After he escapes, there are no wanted posters with his face on them.  This seems to reinforce that Diabolik is not really a person, he’s just Diabolik.  As Crow once said, who you are is irrelevant.

Of course, plenty of movies have a main villain who is nothing more than an evil force.  What keeps us interested in those is the good guys, with their relationships, personalities, and conflicts.  Danger: Diabolik doesn’t have any of that, either.  Opposing Diabolik are various government and police officials, who spend most of the movie shouting impotently and being made fools of.  We’re clearly not supposed to like or root for them, either.  The closest thing Diabolik has to a hero is Inspector Ginko, who sees Diabolik as a personal arch-nemesis.  He is competent and intelligent enough, but he’s not interesting.

What this means is that even as the crimes (and the attempts to prevent them) grow ever more outrageous, and the escapes ever more daring, nothing in Diabolik ever feels like it’s really at stake.  Since we don’t care about any of these people, we’re basically just watching to see what happens next.  It’s less like a story and more like some kind of Rube Goldberg machine. The inner workings are elaborate and it’s neat to see how all the pieces fit together, but the audience never gets involved.

Insofar as Danger: Diabolik has any kind of point to make, it’s pretty obviously about government incompetence, but it doesn’t have much to say about it.  The elected officials in the movie are unable to get anything done.  They shout a lot and hold press conferences, but none of it has an effect on the real world. The aristocrats, embodied in the British couple, are frivolous and out of touch with reality – Sir Harold is a senile old coot who plays with toy soldiers, and his wife thinks a crime spree is ‘frightfully romantic’.  Diabolik’s crimes show them to the people for the fools they are.

If this were intended as commentary, it’s strange that we are never shown how the common people react to Diabolik and what he does.  The only time we get a look at the man on the street is a brief glimpse of television viewers laughing about the destruction of the tax offices.  One may get the impression that while the government is panicking about Diabolik, ordinary people either don’t care, or indeed, think it’s all a big joke – and why shouldn’t they?  Their government are jackasses, and it’s the government that Diabolik is stealing from.  As long as his victims are not private citizens, it’s all in good fun.

Both the movie and the Diabolik comics are Italian, and Italy is of course a country with a notorious history of… let’s be nice and say ‘troubled government’.  We are never given a name for the country in which all this is supposed to be happening, but assuming it’s a stand-in for Italy seems reasonable enough. Perhaps an Italian audience would automatically assume the citizens are rooting for Diabolik, because the government are fools and deserve what they get.  The bit with the million dollar reward tends to support this, actually – as does Dr. Vernier’s warning to Eva.  Nobody wants to turn Diabolik in, not because they’re afraid of him, but because he’s something of a hero to them.

Even then, there’s still something missing, because Diabolik doesn’t care what anybody thinks of him.  He shows no interest in fame, never even bothering to say anything about it. He never leaves his hideout except to perform his next heist.  Sometimes he does seem to be doing things for political reasons, such as the laughing gas prank or his letter saying he’s blowing up the tax offices so that the government can’t waste any more public money on rewards.  Other crimes, such as the theft of the emeralds, seem to have no motive at all except perhaps to entertain Eva.  His inner life is a complete mystery to us.

While Diabolik is poorly-written and poorly-acted, I have to say it does look pretty good.  The elaborate sets and matte paintings that represent Diabolik’s lair are a lot of fun, and there’s some really well-set-up shots.  The whole movie is colourful and campy, but it often goes just a tiny bit too far with its visuals, veering off into weird, artsy asides.  The opening credits, over footage of unidentifiable stuff spinning around and around, made me feel a little ill.  The sequence of cartoon faces while the prostitute describes Eva to the sketch artist is just weird and unnecessary.  A lot of the stuff in Diabolik’s lair, intended to showcase the set design, goes on just a little too long, testing the audience’s patience and drawing attention to their careful staging.

I wonder if a lot of this stuff wasn’t based on things that worked perfectly well in the comics but didn’t translate to the screen.  That’s probably true of some of the artsy shots – you can have something like that in a comic and it won’t come across as contrived, but if you try to put it in a live-action movie the artifice of it is obvious.  The sketch artist sequence feels like a tribute of some sort to comic book art, but it’s intrusive and doesn’t do anything for the story.  Diabolik’s complete lack of identity outside his crimes would probably fare better in two dimensions than it does in three.

Or maybe it’s one of those adaptations that assumes you’re already familiar with the source material or you wouldn’t be watching it.  Maybe the comics did deal with things like Diabolik’s motivations and how people outside the government feel about him.  If so, the film has failed as an adaptation.  Moving into a new medium should bring more people into an audience, not shut them out.

[livingcorner]

How To Prepare Soil For Vegetable Gardens | The Tiny Life

Having taught people to garden for years, many people want to know how to prepare their soil so they can start a vegetable garden.  If you talk to people who have been growing for years, you’ll notice they spend a lot of time building the soil in their garden beds.

You're reading: How To Prepare Soil For Vegetable Gardens | The Tiny Life

For first time gardeners I always recommend to start small and because each patch of dirt is different, I recommend starting with a raised beds, which is nothing more than building a bed of soil on top of the ground instead of in it.  You can add sides made out of wood, edging or other materials as a side wall, but it isn’t required, mounded dirt works just as well if you’re on a budget.

Building A Raised Bed Frame

For most people they want to have the tidy look of a wooden frame and it can be done quickly for little money.  Start with three 2×6’s and cut one of them in half.  This will form the four sides of the bed and create a bed that is 4 feet wide by 8 feet long.

This is an ideal size because it minimizes the number of cuts (pro tip: big box stores will cut it for free for you) and at four feet, you can reach to the middle from either side without having to stretch too much.  A few screws will make a solid frame for you to fill in the dirt with.

Turn The Soil Below

Even though we are going to build a bed above the ground, we want to break up the soil below it so that our plant’s roots have an easier time of penetrating the ground as they grow.  Ideally you would shovel off the top layer if it is grass, but I’ve done it both ways.  Removing the grass below will help reduce weeds coming up later, so it’s often worth the effort.

If the soil is pretty bare, what I’ll do is rake the top then go buy a gallon jug of white vinegar to douse the little bits of weeds or grass with the vinegar to kill a few days before I build my bed.  White vinegar will work well to kill the weeds in spot treatments, but if you have more than 10% coverage, I’d just scrape the top off completely.

The last part is take a “digging fork” and just break up the top few inches of soil, it can be pretty chunky because we’re going to cover it all with our soil bed mix soon anyway.  Don’t get too tied up in making it perfect, this is a really a rough pass that we do quickly and move on.

Read more: 8 Natural & Homemade Insecticides: Save Your Garden Without Killing the Earth

Garden

Like A Pro

Learn How With Our

Beginner Gardeners Guide

Mixing The Perfect Soil To Grow In

First off, there are many different options here and if you ask 100 people you’ll get 101 recommendations.  So understand that if someone uses something different, that’s fine.  For most people just starting out I try to make it really simple and we can get into more of the nuances later.  So use this mix to start and in a few years, start to try different things.  We want to get you to gardening as quickly as we can and if you get caught up in what mix is the best, you’ll never actually start gardening.

So I use a mix of compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. Typically I buy for a single 4 foot by 8 foot bed that’s around 6 inches deep the following:

10 bags of compost (one cubic foot size bags)

1 bale of compressed peat moss (three cubic feet size)

1 bag of vermiculite (2 cubic foot sized bags).

1 small bag of Bone Meal

1 small bag of Blood Meal

If you don’t know what these are, just print this post off and bring it with you to any big box store, they’ll know exactly what you need from this list.  If the employee doesn’t know these items, it’s best to find someone else because these are gardening 101 supplies.

Compost

For compost you’ll find a lot of different options, my favorite is “mushroom compost” which you can find bags at any big box hardware store.  A close second is “Black Kow” compost.  I’ll often grab a few of each to make up my 10 bags for my bed.

If you can’t find these specific ones, it really isn’t a big deal, use whatever compost you can find at your local store or garden center.  Compost provides a lot of nutrients to your plants and serves as the base for seeds to root into.

Vermiculite

Vermiculite is essentially rock dust crushed up, it provides a lot of minerals for your plants, but it’s main function is to act like a sponge for water.  Be sure not to get confused with perlite, it’s not the same.  This one might take some calling around to find, if there is a local gardening group they might have some good leads.

I will also add a note here that if you start searching around about vermiculite, you’ll inevitably run into an old timer that will make the point about asbestos in vermiculite.  This is something that we had to worry about 40 years ago, but today there is no source allowed in the USA or Canada that doesn’t carefully screen and test for this.  The myth still persists today, but you should have zero concerns because the industry has long made changes to prevent this.

Often garden centers or seed/farm supply places carry it.  I’ve even seen it in small bags at your big box hardware stores.  If you can’t find it consider purchasing a few bags off of Amazon, while it’s a bit more expensive locally, you can buy a few of these bags of vermiculite and be good for a 4×8 bed.

Read more: What Is Dolomite Used for With Plants?

Peat Moss

The last part of the soil mix.  This fluffs up the soil, allows for good oxygen infiltration and also acts like a sponge to hold in moisture until plants need it.  This can be found anywhere and they type or brand doesn’t matter.  The only thing I’ll suggest is make sure you get it from the soils section where you’d find your bags of compost or near the bags of mulch section.  Sometimes they sell small bags that are meant for growing orchids, these are often expensive, but the ones in the bagged compost section is usually sold “compressed” for very cheap ($10-$20 for 3 cubic feet compressed).

A common question that comes up around peat moss are concerns about if peat moss is sustainable.  It is true that 10 years ago peat moss was harvested from natural wet lands, but today it is done in a manner that is regenerative.  If you are still concerned, consider sourcing coconut coir which is a material similar to peat moss but made from the waste product of coconut husks.  In the end, I suggest you don’t get too caught up in your first year or so, just get your first year under your belt and then work on improving in later years.

Bone And Blood Meal

I prefer to use bone meal and blood meal, but there are many options.  Obviously from their names, they are a animal sourced product.  Those wanting a non-animal source can try seaweed meal or fertilize, you can buy seaweed fertilizer here.  Bone and blood meal are organic sources of the major nutrient (NPK: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium).

Since we are starting out with such good ingredients, we don’t need much of these.  If we were starting with the soil in ground, there may be need for more as directed from a soil test, but since we are building our own soil we don’t need a soil test for our first year or two.  I start out with one large handful of each, mixed evenly across the whole 4×8 raised bed.

Mixing It All Together

Some people will use a tarp to mix the soil together, I just skip that and dump everything in a pile in the framed bed, then mix with my hands or a shovel.  If you choose compost that is moist, but not sopping wet it will mix easier.  Sometimes this means pulling off the top few bags at the garden supply place so you get to a lower layer of bags that haven’t soaked up any recent rain.

Here is my basic approach:

Take your peat moss bale and place it in the bed

With a shovel stab the plastic in a line to break open the bale

Turn it over to dump the peat on the ground and remove the plastic

Shake out half your vermiculite on top of the peat moss, set the rest aside

Grab one large handful each of bone meal and blood meal, sprinkle across the bed

Place a bag of compost in the bed, stab with shovel to dump on the pile

Repeat with compost about half your bags

Using the shovel and hands, mix it all up until it’s well mixed

Add remaining materials and mix it all up

smooth out the top and give the soil a brief water

How To Water Your Garden

You want to water it a few days before you plant if you can, this will let all the water to absorb into the peat moss and vermiculite.  Water for a count of five and then stop.  Again, counting to five, if the water fully absorbs into the soil so there is no sheen on the dirt from the water, water again for a count of five. repeat counting to five until the water doesn’t absorb all the way in five seconds.  This is a good indicator that the soil is nicely saturated with moisture, but not soaking.

In the end building your soil will set you up for success for years to come.  Following this formula and starting small, you will have a better drastically easier time because we’re not trying to fix our existing soil or battle weeds.  Start with one 4×8 bed, then next year go a little bigger.  The number one thing I see is new gardeners burning out their first year because they took on too big of a garden.

Your Turn!

What are your garden plans this year?

What tips have you learned?

By Ryan Mitchell on April 24, 2020   /   Gardening, Homesteading  

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/how-to-prepare-soil-for-vegetable-gardens-the-tiny-life/

[reefertilizer-blog]

Whether you’re trying to reduce your carbon footprint or simply want to do your part in keeping the planet clean; there are plenty habits you can pick up to make your day to day life a little greener.

Gardening is obviously a planet-friendly activity, so why not grow your own cannabis. By growing your own cannabis, you won’t need to rely on distribution systems that leave behind a large carbon footprint. Here are a few ways you can make your cannabis grow just a little greener.

1. Compost Your Plants

Be sure to compost all your old plant material.

Homegrown cannabis can easily be composted with your other organic waste. When composted with other organic matter, it can produce a very nutritious soil amendment. By adding your leaves, clipping and old roots to your compost bin, you can eliminate all plant waste.

If you’re concerned about nosy neighbors or suspicious smells, just mulch all the plant matter really well. This will make it unrecognizable and will help it breakdown faster.

  Adding organic matter such as compost to soil improves its water-holding capacity.

2. Reuse Your Soil

Many people don’t recommend reusing soil for two reasons, it will be depleted of many nutrients and it could contain contaminants. A good soil mix will have many different organic bits in it, these bits breakdown and add nutrients into the soil. Your plant has already used up most of these nutrients by the time it finishes growing.

To reuse your soil, you will have to remove all leftover plant material (you can add this to your compost). You will have to add fresh organic material to enrich the soil. By adding compost and manure you will enrich the soil with essential nutrients. A 50/50 mixture of old and new potting soil should do the trick. Make sure to mix it all well and break up and large chunks. Soil conditioners and amendments are also available and are a great source of additional micronutrients. Reefertilizer start cannabis soil conditioner contains compost and myco which enrich the soil and help protect and develop new roots systems.

You shouldn’t reuse soil that is contaminated or holding harmful critters. In some cases, you can pasteurize this soil by putting it in a black plastic garbage bag and leaving it in the sun. This will kill many of the living elements in your soil.

Revitalizing and reusing old soil is an easy and great way to save money.

3. LED Lights

If your growing indoors, you might want to consider using LED lights. LED growing technology has come a very long way in the last 10 years. The big pro about these grow lights is that they use a fraction of the energy of other light sources.

Of course, the sun is the most efficient light source around, but we don’t all have the luxury of growing outdoors. Seasoned growers might produce a higher yield with traditional ballast lighting, but for smaller scale growers, the difference isn’t that extreme.

LEDs are also very easily repaired, some soldering skills are required, but a LED replacement is cheap and quick.

Good quality LEDs can easily have a lifetime which exceeds 50,000 hours

4. Grow Outdoors

Outdoor plants can get to be very large.

If possible, try growing your cannabis outdoors. Sunlight is the BEST source of light available, nothing manmade even comes close. By growing outdoors, your plant is growing in a natural habitat. No need to spend energy on lights or fans out here.

Some keen monitoring is required, but outdoor plants typically grow much larger and faster than inside a tent. Start by finding a spot in an area that gets lots of sun during the day. You’ll want to dig a nice big hole, slightly larger than a 5-gallon planter. You will want to remove any large rocks or roots you find, as well as break up the surrounding soil. Replace the soil with your nutrient-rich soil mix. You don’t want to reuse any of the soil you dig up, it might contain bugs or other organisms that might not be good for your plant.

Learn more about growing cannabis at the cottage.

Outdoor plants can grow VERY large, sometimes as large as a small tree like in the photo.

5. Use Powder Nutrients and Recycle Packaging

When you buy nutrients for your grow, try to find ones that come in a minimum amount of packaging. Also, try to check if the packaging is recyclable. Many liquid nutrient programs require several different products in plastic containers.

Products like Reefertilizer contain all the nutrients required in one recyclable bag, this means there’s less plastic that ends up in a landfill.

Storing powder fertilizer in an opaque glass jar is an option if you don’t like messing with the resealable bag. As long as it’s airtight and stored in a dark place, powder nutrients have an almost indefinite shelf life.

Liquid fertilizers are made up of mostly water. This increases their weight when shipping and increases their carbon footprint.

Learn more about Reefertilizer cannabis nutrients right here.

6. Grow Only What You Need

Sometimes people can go a little overboard when it comes to growing cannabis. One cannabis plant can yield you anywhere between 4oz to 20oz depending on the amount of light energy and the nature of the strain.

If you’re growing for your own personal use, you might end up with a surplus of cannabis flower. Fresh cannabis has a shelf life of about 3-4 months before it starts losing potency. It’s cool to grow these huge plants inside, but if your needs are smaller you might be wasting energy.

Growing one plant instead of 4 will save on energy costs, space, and resources. Instead of aiming for bumper crops, maybe instead go for being self-sufficient while using a minimum amount of energy to reach your goal.

Do you have any tricks to make your grow a little greener? Comment below and tell us some of your tips to help the planet.

Growing your own cannabis is a great activity and I believe everyone should have a closer connection to the things they consume. By growing your own cannabis in a green way, we can help remove the stigma on growing cannabis at home. In my opinion, growing cannabis should be treated the same as growing tomatoes or cucumbers. I live in Canada where it will soon become legal to grow your own cannabis at home. Many landlords are concerned about this, they are afraid of property damages and attracting theft. In reality growing cannabis at home can be quite safe and contained.

If you want to learn even more about growing cannabis, we offer a free 40+ page guide full of images. Get your today!

This guide will answer many questions about growing cannabis, like the following…

Selecting Seeds Identify and Correct Problems Maximize Yield Much More…

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Comment

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The post 6 ways to be more green when growing cannabis appeared first on Reefertilizer.

[brennandavidmerrill]

The Struggle - Misconceptions of Islam

The very sound of the word jihad to the western ear connotes an idea of fervent, sadistic hatred towards the non-Muslim world by the Muslim world. An idea that evokes images of violent, suicidal terrorists perpetrating some of the most heinous acts against humanity. Acts whose devastating repercussions have been perennially imprinted onto our memories. We recall the feelings of utter disbelief when we turned on the news or opened the paper that morning of September 11, 2001. The fear, the sadness, the emptiness, and the vengefulness that we felt while watching such an overwhelmingly disconcerting, unfamiliar act of terror being committed against a monumental symbol of our nation and so many innocent lives. The effects of which reached countless numbers of people; those who made it out alive, those who witnessed from afar, residents of Manhattan, family and friends of the victims, citizens of America, and the world at large. The residual anger still imminent after all these years, and only perpetuated by the more recent actions of extremist groups like ISIS, is entirely justifiable but unfortunately, much of the time, largely misdirected. I have witnessed, on numerous occasions, Americans making disparaging and bigoted remarks against Muslims under the common misconception that terrorism, jihad and Islam are causally related. This is just not the case. People who believe that Islam has an intrinsically violent nature, that jihad cultivates terrorism, and that Muslims are inherently evil are formulating these grandiose beliefs from plain ignorance and misdirection. Islam is not a hateful religion, it is peaceful. Jihad is not a call to violence, but a sanction to defend the good. Muslims are not murderous savages; they are very much like us. People generally have a sufficient understanding of their own culture and religion but often have misguided or false preconceptions about other cultures and religions. It does not help the case when prejudice is involved, as this exacerbates the misapprehension and compounds the problem. It is imperative that people seek to conscientiously acquire truth. The sources responsible for informing and educating the public on all things novel, foreign or unfamiliar must do so meticulously. As important a job as news outlets and journalists have, some exhibit a proclivity to want to be the first to break the story instead of having the most accurate story. Others may be politically motivated and inclined to present the story in a certain light that aligns with their agenda. In addition, the general public has the tendency to unquestioningly believe what our news publications tell us. The point here is that things do not always turn out to be how we presume them to be, and despite ostensible good intentions, we are not always given the full picture by the people we entrust with informing us. Therefore, we should not be reluctant to revise our understanding of things when better knowledge presents itself to us. It seems that after 9/11 happened, many of us prematurely painted a picture of what words like Islam, Muslim and jihad mean to us while having unsubstantial information to accurately do so. In an effort to elucidate the truth and gain a better understanding of the notion of jihad, let us take a closer look at its origins.

The term jihad is literally defined as “a struggle”. This struggle sometimes refers to the external struggles faced by Muslims, such as tyranny or unjust warfare, but more often it refers to the internal struggle faced by the individual Muslim, such as conflicting beliefs and temptations. “While Muslims use the term lesser jihad to refer to what Christians call a ‘just war,’ the term greater jihad refers to the psychological war we wage within ourselves to establish the kingdom of God in our behavior and to build a lifestyle that reflects God’s commandments, both in our individual life and in our collective communal lives. Jihad is about building what Western philosophers would call the good society.” (Rauf 135). Outsiders often misunderstand the notion of lesser jihad to be an exhortation by God for Muslims to wage war against non-Muslims, but this is not the case. Take the following Quranic verse as an example of the type of defensive retaliation permitted by God to Muslims. “Permission is given to those against whom war is wrongfully waged, and have been oppressed—and God is indeed able to aid them—those who have been unjustly expelled from their homes for no other cause than they say “our Lord is God.” And had God not repelled some people by others, it is certain that cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, in which God’s name is much extolled, would have been destroyed.” (Quran 22:39-40). Clearly there is no authorization in this passage for unprovoked violence or antagonistic action. It simply sanctions defensive and protective measures to those being treated unfairly. Does that sound evil? Furthermore, this passage alludes to Islam’s acceptance of the other contemporaneous religions of its time, Judaism and Christianity, wherein their synagogues and churches were saved from destruction thanks to God’s intervention. In fact, Jews and Christians were able to peacefully coexist with Muslims in the early days after Muhammad. Despite conflicts arising intermittently in the early times of Islam, Jews and Christians were considered dhimmi, or “People of the Book”, and were protected under Islamic law. The truth is that Judaism, Christianity and Islam all share the same God, albeit with a varying degree of distinctions. Here is another verse from the Quran confirming the non-offensive nature condoned by God: “Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you. But do not transgress limits: For, verily, Allah loves not aggressors.” (Quran 2:190). While history has been riddled with ages of war and territorial expansion wherein the expression of lesser jihad had more context, more universally sacred to the individual Muslim is the expression of greater jihad. “There is no church organization in Sunni Islam, no priests controlling the sacerdotal meditation by which salvation may be attained. Rather, Islam is achieved by attempting to live the pure Muslim life in the exterior material world. This requires a constant ‘struggle in the way of Allah’, involving all the believer’s assets. His body is to be well maintained, his physical energies are to be directed toward the external obligations of the faith, from daily prayers to the jah, to the support of his family and the poor. His goods are to be used for the same purposes, while his spirit is to fight against temptation and strive for the ideals of Islam that have already been enumerated, from compassion to moderation. This incessant personal struggle for goodness is the true meaning of the word jihad.” (Grieve 265). Unlike the conventional religions that Americans are more familiar with, there are no archetypal spiritual teachers or weekly mosque services within Islam. Instead, the onus is on the individual Muslim to maintain devotional practices, interpret the Quran, and apply it to their life. For the Muslim, Islam is a perpetual internal struggle, a jihad, to singlehandedly overcome the temptations and difficulties of daily life without the luxury of a spiritual guide or congregation of cohorts to aid them along, while simultaneously pursuing a peaceful and just life, glorifying God.

Historical context is often ignorantly or intentionally omitted from arguments against jihad. It is important when dealing with the hostile claims brought against Islam by flagrantly misinformed western criticism, that we compare some of the examples of warfare and violence found in the Quran, often cited by critics, against the counterexamples found in the Bible, to gain a better frame of reference. “Judeo-Christian mythology is rooted in the rewards promised by God to the Hebrews for their entirely unprovoked attacks against the Canaanites and the Philistines. Nothing in the Qur’an can match Yahweh’s bloodthirsty authorization to the Jews in the Book of Deuteronomy for the violent occupation of Palestine.” (Grieve 264). To understand the degree of hypocrisy found in much of the Christian criticism of Islam, here are several excerpts from the Old Testament demonstrating the violence permitted and sometimes perpetrated by God. “Unhappy with the wickedness of man, God killed every living thing on the planet except Noah’s family. Men, women, infants and animals drowned in unimaginable terror and agony.” (Genesis 6 & 7). “God killed the first-born in every Egyptian home that wasn’t marked with lamb’s blood.” (Exodus 12:29). “Under God’s leaderships, the Israelites utterly destroyed the men, women and children of Sihon.” (Deuteronomy 2:33-34). “According to God’s law, if an Israelite soldier was at war with an enemy, and he saw a beautiful woman that he found attractive, he could capture her to be his wife. She must then shave her head, trim her nails and discard the clothing she was wearing when captured. She could mourn her father and mother for a month. If the soldier wasn’t pleased with her for any reason, he could let her go wherever she wishes.” (Deuteronomy 28:53). “God sent a plague on Israel to punish David for sin. 70,000 people died.” (2 Samuel 24:15). While these verses conclusively reveal how diabolical and violent the God of the Old Testament can be, their purpose here serves to indicate that adherents of religions in contemporary times do not generally interpret scripture in the context of the age it was written in. All too often throughout history, however, religious and irreligious communities alike have made vast over-generalizations of religions and cultures which seem foreign to them. “The deep-rooted stereotype of Islam as a warrior religion has its origins in the papal propaganda of the Crusades, when Muslims were depicted as the soldiers of the Antichrist in blasphemous occupation of the Holy Lands (and, far more importantly, of the silk route to China).” (Aslan 106). These classical means of rhetoric and propaganda are a testament to the times in which they were promulgated. It is crucial to understand that the holy books of today’s religions were written in times of war and territorial expansion and consequently incorporate a preponderance of language and narrative related to such times.

Since we have established that the normative meaning and expression behind the notion of jihad is not evil or pernicious, but rather just and innocuous, we must now examine the origin of the misconceptions of jihad. Misinterpretation is a fault of those of us who have made assumptions or drawn conclusions, based in ignorance, prematurely. Reinterpretation, however, is an egregious fault of extremism. Extremist groups do not just misapprehend what the Quran says, they knowingly reinterpret the meaning of the Quran to reinforce their agenda and fuel their hatred. Take, for instance, the idea of suicide bombing among terrorism and the notion that it leads to paradise for the perpetrator. Let us see how the Quran and Muslim world view this. “While we have seen that jihad, a just, defensive war, is sanctioned under Islamic law, suicide no matter to what end is expressly forbidden. The strongest prohibitions are in the Hadith, where the Prophet made explicit statements such as ‘Whosoever shall kill himself shall suffer in the fire of hell’ and ‘shall be excluded from heaven forever.’ It is also related that the Prophet refused the funeral rites to a person who committed suicide. A particularly poignant story is given by the Prophet describing an occupant of hell. This was a man who fought on the Prophet’s side, was wounded in battle, and, unable to stand the pain of his injury, fell on his sword. The Prophet remarks in a version of this Hadith that ‘a man may appear to people as performing the acts of an inhabitant of Paradise while he is [in the Hereafter] an occupant of Hell, and a man may appear to people as performing the acts of an inhabitant of Hell while he is an occupant of Paradise.” (Rauf 139). We can see from this that there really is no way to genuinely misinterpret God or the Prophet Muhammad’s stance on suicide. It would take the efforts of a severely psychologically dismantled person or group of people to reinterpret this in a way that reconciles, even promotes, concomitantly killing oneself and others for the reward of an eternity in paradise. To further unravel the logic of extremist groups, the lives being taken in acts of terrorism are innocent lives. They are not warriors waging wrongful war or tyrannical oppressors. The Quran states that, “God desires to be merciful to you, to make light of your burdens, for man is created weak. Do not kill yourselves; certainly God is ever merciful to you. And whoever commits this aggressively and unjustly, We shall cast him into the Fire; and this is easy for God.” (Quran 4:27-30). We can surmise that one of the prominent reasons why Muslim extremists have such a significant control over the global impression of Islam is due to the implementation of violence to promulgate fear. Since the actions of Islamic extremists reach such a wide and otherwise oblivious audience, many people get their first impression of Islam from these extremist groups and therefore formulate misconceptions and over-generalizations.

Over the course of this paper we have taken into consideration the many facets of Islamic life. We have looked at the origins of words like jihad and concluded that our presumptions, in many cases, turned out to be false. Jihad is not a call to violence, murder or war. It is not an authorization from God to attack innocent people. Jihad is a struggle. This struggle, in historical context, often meant an external struggle against violent oppressors or wrongfully waged wars. In this case, it would be a lesser jihad, or a “just war”. In the more common expression of jihad, it is an internal struggle, a psychological struggle with the self, with the ego, and with temptation. This extends to encompass a Muslim’s entire life as he or she presses on to overcome hardships and pursue a life worthy of Allah’s glory. This is the greater jihad. We unearthed many western misconceptions of Islam and took a rational look at how these misconceptions are arrived at and why we must put them to sleep once and for all. We compared scriptural references between the Quran and the Bible to develop a sober understanding of how unfairly we subject the Quran to scrutiny and criticism when ignoring the same brutalities found in the Bible. Lastly, we clarified the difference between Islam and Islamic extremism by bringing to light the reprehensible misinterpretations of the Quran committed by extremist groups in order to propagate fear and further their retrogressive and pernicious views. In order to extinguish extremism and inhibit further misguided and inimical conceptions of Islam, we must aspire to cultivate an atmosphere that is conducive to honest and informative discourse in an effort to properly educate people and spread understanding.

[spirit-science-blog]

Welcome to Patch Tarot!

What is Tarot? In Essence, the Tarot is a detailed pictographic diagram of the universe and everything within it, and is based on many ancient teachings and spiritual practices; including but not limited to the Holy Qabalah and the Sacred Toroidal Field.

Tarot encompasses the five elements (physical earth, emotional water, mental air, spiritual fire, and the astral – ether), describing how these five geometries weave together to depict the totality of life experiences and the structure by which the laws of creation are set.

Tarot is a language of symbology, numerology, cosmology, geometry, and art – which fuse together in an intricate web of ideas providing a means by which one’s consciousness can engage, and come to know itself better with. The Tarot then becomes a guidebook through the many different aspects of life and supports a higher understanding of one’s experiences in a deeper, more meaningful way.

The history of Tarot has the potential to be quite a lengthy exploration, and so here we shall only discuss the basics. The story appears to begin with the emergence of the cards in the mid-1300s among the wealthier members of society who would use the cards as simple playing cards. To them, there wasn’t anything mystical or spiritual about it, it was just a toy. For several hundred years, they were just that, and nothing more.

However, in 1781 a man named Antoine Court de Gebelin published a book called “Le Monde Primitif”, in which he hypothesized and linked these popular cards to the ancient Egyptians; in particular, the writings attributed to the sage known as Thoth. When these cards first emerged, the writings of the Egyptians and Greeks were almost altogether unknown, due to the destruction of the Library of Alexandria by angry mobs a thousand years prior to their re-emergence in the period known as the Renaissance.

Gebelin’s work in the connections between the Tarot and the Ancient Egyptians propelled a massive surge of spiritual awakening in the esoteric communities, and Tarot soon became realized as a powerful tool for divination. This, however, was only just the beginning for the Tarot, for in the 19th century a French occultist named Eliphas Levi became the catalyst for the connection between Tarot and the Kabbalah. Through his work, now Tarot had not only been linked to the Ancient Egyptians but the Hebrews' mystic sect as well. This would put the symbolism within the Tarot to potentially share roots to the time of pre-Exodus when the Hebrews were still under Egyptian rule.

However, all of these connections which are powerfully demonstrated are still the only speculation in history, due to the fact that the oldest cards that are available in history are from the 1300s, and there does not appear to be any record of them prior. Speculations seem to suggest however that whenever these cards were first drawn, they were likely done so by a hand who had a great deal of understanding – or at least – drew from older sources of information which correlated these ancient faiths.

In 1888, the connections between Tarot, Astrology, Numerology, Jewish Kabbalah and the Ancient Egyptian Mysteries would be realized in a much brighter light, by the work of an established esoteric order called The Order of the Golden Dawn

This Order drew a tremendous number of parallels between these ancient systems and established a new modern understanding of the Tarot (among many other magical practices), and thanks to their work, began a new age for modern Tarot. Almost all of the decks which are available today are based on the two principle decks which emerged from the work of the Golden Dawn, which are called the Rider-Waite-Smith (or simply Rider, or Rider-Waite), and Thoth Tarot.

However, regardless of the history of the Tarot, there is one thing that remains an inherent truth which applies to all things, but especially this subject: The history of Tarot does not make a difference. This can be summarized by this exquisitely simple quote by the author of Thoth Tarot, Aleister Crowley – “The origin of Tarot is quite irrelevant, even if it were certain. It must stand or fall on its own merits.”

One thing that should be noted about the Tarot and these esoteric connections is that for most people, the information is quite impenetrable. There are tens of thousands of books available in the world which seek to explore and dissect the symbolism of Tarot, and the understanding of the ancients for the modern mind; however there is so much information, that it is not easily comprehensible without a great deal of study. This brings us to where we are now, and the creation of a new deck – which seeks to make known the hidden mysteries in a simple, yet comprehensible manner: Patch Tarot.

What is Patch Tarot?

Over the ages, many different Tarot decks have been crafted. Patch Tarot is a continuation and evolution of today’s most prominent Tarot decks of the past hundred years. This deck is a purposeful fusion of the most prominent symbolisms and descriptions across the most notable decks, into a singular unified Tarot deck made for you – the modern alchemical scholar. Herein you will find all of the familiarity of other great Tarot packs, such as Thoth and the Rider-Waite-Smith, along with a touch of Patchman for good measure.

The Book of Patch

Along with Patch Tarot comes a new literary work from our own hearts – The Book of Patch. This is an in-depth explanatory textbook adventure about Tarot, and specifically – Patch Tarot. Similar to Aleister Crowley’s “The Book of Thoth”, this book dives into each card in Patch Tarot, looking at how and why they exist, what their purpose is, and how they fit together with each other.

The Book of Patch also offers in-depth discussions on the esoteric relationship between each card and card sets, going into depth on the Qabalah, Astrology, and Numerology of each card. What you find here on this website contains an abridged version of the Book of Patch, which is more than enough for any avid learner to get started with, and might even be beneficial for you seasoned experts out there.

The Book of Patch is now available for Print! Click here to view it in our shop!

Stepping into the Tarot

Now that you have an idea about what Tarot is as a whole, we can begin to break down the various ways in which this system is established. It is generally observed that there are two or three predominant sections within the cards; the main two are called the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. The third section is called the Royal Arcana, but are traditionally observed as the “court cards”, and most often attributed as an aspect of the Minor Arcana because they deal with the principle forces of each suit of the Minor Arcana. In Patch Tarot, and in the support of learning, we have agreed that these court cards are their own unique system unto themselves, and thus delineate this section as the “Royal Arcana”, but will also use each term (Royal Arcana and court cards) synonymously throughout this material.

The word “Arcana” is a Latin word which translates to “Mysteries” or “Secrets”, and so these three sections translate to say: The “Greater (Major) Secrets”, “Lesser (Minor) Secrets”, and the “Total (Royal) Secrets” – this last one can also be observed as the “Familial or Hierarchical Secrets”, because they describe the hierarchy of elements in the makeup of the universe and across the planes of creation, essentially describing how the various suits of the minor arcana interact with each other. The use of “total” comes from the etymological definition of a royal from the 13th century, which also may translate as “splendid”.

As previously mentioned, within the Tarot there are five elements described. These are Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Ether. Four of these suits collectively make up the “Minor Arcana”, and the fifth element is then represented by the entire 22 cards of the Major Arcana. The Major Arcana is sometimes numbered 1 to 22 but in Patch Tarot, we have decided to stay with the traditional 0 to 21 numbering system, because of the numerological symbolism associated with “Zero” as a sphere or voidness, which is quite appropriate when you understand the nature of the card titled “The Fool”, which is related to this number… or rather, lack of number.

The Minor Arcana contains ten principal cards for each respective element, thus making a forty card grid with ten numbered cards for each of the four elements. The Royal Arcana has sixteen cards with four members of a royal family for each element. This is virtually identical to a modern-day playing deck of cards with the Jack, Queen, and King; but with the addition of a female mirror of the Jack, most often titled as a Page or a Princess. In a very simple sense, modern playing cards were a game-focused adaptation of the Tarot, with much of its spiritual significance removed. There is a lot more to this story, but we’ll save that history lesson for another time.

Each section of the Tarot individually tells their own story; sharing an image of the circle of life from different perspectives, utilizing numerology, symbology, ancient esoteric wisdom, astrology, and much more. Therefore, the more that you learn, and the deeper you go into these subjects, the more and more the Tarot will speak to you. In Patch Tarot, we’ve specifically included a number of keys around the edges of the cards, in order to highlight the most important aspects of the cards, and support you in your spiritual learning.

To learn more about Patch Tarot, check out our site completely devoted to it!

[wigmark]

How can you tell if a wig is real hair?

Real Hair Wigs goes with the name it means are real natural hair that you can style like your natural hair. On the other hand, synthetic hair wigs are made up of plastic fibers by specialized technology to give the feel of real human hair.

If you are on the search like how you can differentiate between the two, it is very easy.

A synthetic wig holds its style even after washing it but the human hair wigs which are made out of real human hair look and feel genuine, so they have to be re-transformed after washing just like real hair.

As for beginner,how can you tell if a wig is real hair? Keep reading to learn more about that.

How can you tell if a wig is real hair?

To many women, getting human hair is indeed an investment. However, it can be quite depressing when you excitedly spend so much money on some hair bundles only for it to start tangling and matting after a few days.

Just by looking at the hair closely and feeling the texture, one can sometimes tell whether it is real or fake. Some fake ones will, however, look and feel real too. So how do you tell whether your Brazilian/Peruvian etc. is genuine or not?

Life span

Synthetic and human hair wigs have drastically different life spans.

Human hair wigs are made of hair that was once on a real human, because of which they have naturally occurring proteins and nutrients in them, which give human hair wigs a longer life span.

Synthetic wigs, on the other hand, have never withstood real environmental conditions due to which they are not designed to withstand environmental exposure for a long period of time.

So while a human hair wig can last you about 6-12 months, synthetic hair wigs have a life of about 1-3 months.

Burn test

Simply cut a strand of hair and put it on a burning flame. If it melts slowly into a ball instead of burning, smells like rubber and produces black smoke, it is not human hair. Human hair will immediately catch fire, burn nearly instantly curling into a little ball, and smell like burning hair. Human hair burns, synthetic melts.

Bleaching

When you bleach human hair, it lightens very fast depending on the grade. If it is fake, it will most likely burn.

Referalls

There are unscrupulous business people who mix human and synthetic hair thus you need to be keen when buying. Good reviews from people you trust will also help in getting the right hair.

Texture

Human hair tends to be softer, shinier and more durable than synthetic hair since they are made from actual human hair. Feel the texture of the hair. Natural hair has each of its strands coated with scales. The hair should thus be smooth if you rub it downward, but resists and feels different if you rub it upward. Synthetic hair is smooth whichever way you rub it.

Colour

If the hair has subtle changes of color and highlights, it is most likely natural. Real hair acquires color through exposure to natural light, which is quite difficult to achieve through artificial means. Human hair comes in the natural color, which is either black or brown. You can always dye it later if you want a different color.

Price

The cost of the hair can also be a huge giveaway. If it is unrealistically cheap, even if they call it a special offer, be wary. If it is real, the seller will try and get the best price for it. This, however, does not mean that you go for overpriced hair. Shop around and get the average cost.

Wave

Whether you bought it straight or curled, real human hair will always curl up when wet; it turns to its natural state. The hair should also have some motion, a ‘bounce’ to it and should not be stiff.

Tangle

Real human hair will tangle, but just a little. The longer the hair, the more likely it is to tangle especially at the back of the neck, but this should not worry you much. If the tangling is excessive, be wary.

Shedding

This too, can happen with human hair but if it is excessive, it is not genuine. Shedding should only be a few strands when you comb through. Sealing the wefts of the weave will ensure the hair stays on. Comb the weave with a wide tooth comb from the tips to the roots to reduce shedding.

How Much Do Real Hair Wigs Cost?

Real hair wigs are highly sought after for their natural look and feel. They offer greater flexibility than synthetic wigs, as they can be colour treated and styled using heat appliances. Yet they also tend to be more expensive, and with prices varying dramatically, getting value for money can be tough. How much do real hair wigs cost? And moreover, how much should you be prepared to pay?

The Cost of Real Hair Wigs

Search for human hair wigs in Google, and you’ll find that the prices range from $40 to $1,400. Quite a difference, right? Naturally, one is tempted to dive straight in and order the £40 wig – but then, the nagging voice of cynicism interrupts. “What’s the catch?”

Unless you know the ins and outs of wig production, it can be difficult to tell at first glance. Like most of the things that you buy, the cost of real hair wigs is generally a reflection of their quality, which in turn is determined by several different factors.

In the case of wigs, these factors include:

The quality of the materials used inside the wig

Whether the hair is European, Asian or Indian

Whether the wig is hand sewn or mass produced

Cap type (traditional, open cap, lace front or monofilament)

Length and volume

Brand

The most expensive real hair wigs are hand-crafted from European hair and have monofilament caps. They are made from high quality materials and tend to look the most natural. The cheapest real hair wigs are mass-produced from Asian or Indian hair and have a traditional or open cap. They are made from cheap materials and look the least natural.

How Much Should You Be Prepared to Pay?

Generally speaking, natural looking real hair wigs made from Asian or Indian hair cost around £300 – and provided you choose a reputable supplier, the more you pay, the better the quality of the wig will be.

That’s not to say that your wig won’t look natural unless you spend in excess of $1000. In many cases, the most expensive wigs are those made from European hair, and while this may be more similar to your own natural hair, it’s less durable than Indian or Asian hair. It’s therefore worth discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each type with your wigmaker before you make your final decision.

If all this sounds way above your budget, you would be better off spending your money on a good quality synthetic fibre wig than a poor quality real hair wig. Modern manufacturing methods have brought us a long way from the plasticky, fancy dress-style synthetic wigs of old, and you can now get amazingly natural looking synthetic wigs at very reasonable prices.

What Are the Real Hair Vendors?

Finding a quality hair weave supplier is your first step in starting a successful hair business! There is no source of supply, your entrepreneurship is just a matter of words. Without a source of hair supply, you cannot formulate an effective marketing plan because you know nothing about the product's market positioning, price, and the shipping method.

Without a good hair vendor, the expansion of your hair business will be severely affected. Poor quality and delayed shipments may cause you to lose costs and customers. Only by establishing connections with reliable and reputable human hair vendors can provide you with reasonable transactions and be competitive. Then:

What Is a Good Hair Supplier?

Can provide you with the lowest wholesale price, which not only saves you costs, but also allows you to sell directly to the end consumer in a local retail store or online, or even when you wholesale to a salon or hairdressing school, you can get the most profit.

Can always provide products with quality assurance. Whether you are in bulk hair wholesale or a small amount of procurement, they can always provide you with the best cost-effective products to ensure your customer satisfaction.

Has the ability to provide a large number of products and personalized customized products. When you have an order that exceeds the usual quantity or a product that needs to meet the special needs of customers, a good supplier should be ready for you at any time.

Can deliver goods quickly and respond quickly, no matter when, except force majeure, please make sure you can easily contact them when you need, and place your order on time.

A hair supplier who can provide you with direct delivery services. It not only allows you to focus on the quality of the product but also saves a lot of time.

Choose a hair vendor who is not only interested in sending you order but can also act as a supplier that your business partner can help you when needed.

Tips to effectively manages real hair vendor and suppliers

Some of the most important relationships you’ll develop in the course of running your business are your relationships with third party vendors and suppliers. As a business person, you will need to rely on other experts for their knowledge of materials, care and maintenance of equipment and more. You can’t be expected to know everything or source everything you need for your business, which is why these relationships are essential to long-term business success.

Below are 9 tips for managing suppliers that apply whether or not your current working relationship is smooth sailing, or has happened to hit the rocks.

Choose Wisely

If you have the luxury of choosing between multiple suppliers, take the time to examine each one’s pros and cons. Determine which one can give you what you need, when you need it and for the right price. Evaluate everything from their response time to their contract terms to their costs. Relationships are most successful if they have the time to grow, so you want to select a supplier that you and your organization will be able to grow with.

Communicate

The easiest way to engender ill will in any relationship is a lack of communication. Take the time to communicate with your suppliers and ask for the same type of outreach in return. This is especially important regarding timelines.

If a project timeline changes, your supplier should be one of the first people to know. An earlier alert keeps them in the loop and could make a mutually agreed upon solution possible. Your supplier should be able to problem-solve and troubleshoot issues pertaining to material quality and delivery, so use these traits to your advantage when you’re facing difficulties.

Also, remember to not use communication as a way to test your suppliers. If you need them to meet a specific date, explicitly tell them. Don’t ask them to guess or read your mind and then be surprised when they can’t.

Understand Their Business

While you don’t need to necessarily understand every nuance about a supplier’s business model or operating procedures, having a general working knowledge of their policies will help you to better understand their values. It will also give you context to the challenges they face, which is especially important if you work in a business with shifting priorities and deadlines that requires a great amount of flexibility. If you understand why a supplier might say “no,” it makes it much easier to plan ahead.

Plan for Contingencies

There are normal everyday contingencies you should plan for, like late shipments or weather-ruined pallets. There are also major disruptions to plan for, like natural disasters or critical equipment failure. Most of these contingencies will probably be developed in-house, but you should make a concession for your suppliers and make sure they have a clear understanding of how you will expect them to behave should the unthinkable happen.

Put as Much Thought into Rewards as Penalties

Penalties are there for those times when someone does not hold up his or her end of the deal. With that in mind, there should also be a reward for when work is above and beyond expectations. Thinking about worst case scenarios is important, but also assume that suppliers will exceed your expectations, and that they should be rewarded when they do. A reward could be an especially prompt payment or a simple “Thank You” note.

Accept Accountability

Both the client and the supplier are responsible for the success or failure of the working relationship. Accept accountability for your place in the process by acknowledging that your decisions, delayed timing or changes in project scope directly impact the supplier’s ability to do his or her job well.

Pay On Time

Your supplier does a job and should be compensated for it. Consider the last time a customer was late paying you. Even if they had told you the check would be a few days late, consider the slight annoyance you felt at having to wait, and the relief you felt when the check finally arrived. Paying your vendors on time demonstrates that you respect them and the work they do.

Stay Flexible

This is different than planning for disasters or setbacks in your production schedule. Staying flexible means adapting to everyday issues that arise.

Continuously Work on Strengthening Your Relationship

Look for opportunities outside of general day-to-day contact. If you have a quarterly meeting or invite your suppliers to come and visit your facility, make sure to spend time with them and forge stronger bonds. Ask your suppliers for feedback. Encourage them to have open discussions with you about ways that the relationship could work better or more efficiently. Supplier relationships are partnerships and as such, are also a two-way street.

Forming long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers will aid you in keeping your manufacturing schedule on time and ensure that you make and sell quality products. These reasons are important enough to make sure that you manage your supplier relationships well.

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[newageislam-blog]

Role of Religions In Promoting Non-Violence: Islam’s Valuable Resources For Peacemaking By Sultan Shahin

Mr. President, Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to begin my talk with an entreaty that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) so earnestly used to make in his prayers several times every day:

“O God, You are the original source of Peace; from You is all Peace, and to You returns all Peace. So, make us live with Peace; and let us enter paradise: the House of Peace. Blessed be You, our Lord, to whom belongs all Majesty and Honour!”

Throughout history religions have played a rather ambivalent role in promoting both peace and violence. They have been used and misused by their supposed followers in both ways. Religious postulates from all religions have been misinterpreted in a variety of ways to promote violence rather than non-violence and peace, though establishing peace and harmony in society is in a sense the primary purpose of every religion. As His Holiness The Dalai Lama once said, answering a question, relating to Islam and violence: “(People of) all religions are violent. Even Buddhists!” [i] Indeed even the beautiful and thought-provoking Buddhist concept of “emptiness” has been misinterpreted to promote violence.[ii] The octogenarian leader of Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan, Syed Ali Shah Gilani quotes not only the Quran but even the Hindu scripture Bhagwat Gita to justify terrorism in the Kashmir valley. [iii] And yet, all scholars are agreed that religion provides “valuable resources for peacemaking”, [iv] and it is possible to give examples of how religions or peace-activists from within various religions have utilised these resources to promote peace and non-violence. “Within each of the great religions there is “a moral trajectory challenging adherents to greater acts of compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation”, Scott Appleby wrote, an “internal evolution” that offers hope for religiously inspired peacemaking.” [v]

One can indeed make this point without fear of contradiction on the basis of the teachings of all religions. Theologian Mark Juergensmeyer [vi] has identified three major aspects of non-violence within nearly all world religions:

a) Reverence for life and desire to avoid harm,

b) The ideal of social harmony and living peacefully with others,

c) The injunction to care for the other, especially for the one in need.

Distinguished scholar and peace activist David Cortright has tried to illustrate these points with examples from several religions. [vii] Illustrating the first point he says: All major religions have imperatives to love others and avoid taking of human life. In Buddhism, the rejection of killing is the first of the Five Precepts. Hinduism declares “the killing of living beings is not conducive to heaven.” [viii] Jainism rejects the taking of any form of life: “if someone kills living things…his sin increases.” [ix] The Quran states “slay not the life that God has made sacred.” [x] The Bible teaches you shall not murder.” [xi]

The second point is illustrated by the ideal of social harmony and living peacefully with other being frequently emphasized in the Old Testament and the Qur’an. Third is the willingness to sacrifice and suffer for the sake of expiating sin and avoiding injury to others, which is common in the Abrahamic traditions.

The third universally accepted norm at the core of all religious traditions is the injunction to care for the other, especially for the one in need. Cortright says: “Buddhism and Hinduism are founded on principles of compassion and empathy for those who suffer. Islam emerged out of the Prophet’s call to restore the tribal ethic of social egalitarianism and to end the mistreatment of the weak and the vulnerable. In the New Testament Jesus is depicted throughout as caring for and ministering to the needy. Compassion for the stranger is the litmus test of ethical conduct in all religions. So is the capacity to forgive, to repent and overcome past transgressions. The key to conflict prevention is extending the moral boundaries of one’s community and expressing compassion towards others.”[xii]

These factors apart, Cortright also finds other valuable resources. He writes: “There are many other religious principles that provide a foundation for creative peacemaking. Nonviolent values pervade the Eastern religious traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism and echo through the Gospel of Jesus. The religious emphasis on personal discipline and self-restraint also has value for peace-making. It provides a basis for constraining the impulses of vengeance and retaliation that arise from violent conflict. The power of imagination, to use John Paul Lederach’s term [xiii] , is necessary to envision a more just and peaceful order, to dream of a society that attempts to reflect religious teaching.” [xiv]

Clearly all religions from ancient eastern religions like Taoism to Buddhism, Jainism Hinduism, and Abrahamic religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all provide us with resources to work for peace and non-violence. Indeed, followers of all these religions and many of their sects have all worked at various times in their own ways in establishing peace. It is not possible in the time available to us here to make a detailed study but a lot of material is available in books and essays published in research journals on the subject.

Mr. President,

I would like to take this opportunity to make a special mention of Islam’s quest for peace and the possibility of using Islamic resources for peace-making and for a peaceful quest for justice. Unfortunately in our time a growing number of people look at Islam with fear and are considering it a violent religion or at least a religion that allows violence for its expansion. Nothing could be further from the truth. But we cannot blame people for fearing Islam as Muslim people in several parts of the world are indeed involved in wars and terrorism while Muslim religious scholars are not doing enough to stop these nefarious activities nor are they even condemning these war-mongers and seeking to delink Islam from them.

This makes it imperative for us to recall Islam’s repeated call for peace like the following:

The Qur’an calls its way ‘the paths of peace.’ [xv] It describes reconciliation as the best policy, [xvi] and states that God abhors any disturbance of peace.[xvii]

The root word of Islam is ‘silm’, which means peace. So the spirit of Islam is the spirit of peace. The first verse of the Qur’an breathes the spirit of peace. It reads:

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

This verse is repeated in the Qur’an no less than 113 times. It shows the great importance Islam attaches to such values as Mercy and Compassion. One of God’s names, according to the Qur’an, is As-Salam, which means peace. Moreover the Qur’an states that the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was sent to the world as a mercy to mankind. [xviii]

The ideal society, according to the Qur’an is Dar as-Salam, that is, the house of peace.[xix]

The Qur’an presents the universe as a model that is characterized by harmony and peace.[xx] When God created heaven and earth, He so ordered things that each part might perform its function peacefully without clashing with any other part.

Because of the importance of peace, the Qur’an has clearly declared that no aggressive war is permitted in Islam. Muslims can engage themselves only in a defensive, not in an offensive war, irrespective of the circumstances. [xxi]

The Qur’an has this to say of the mission of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):

We have not sent you forth but as a mercy to mankind. [xxii]

That the holy Quran equates killing of one innocent person with the killing of humanity is well known. It also equates saving one person’s live with saving the entire humanity.[xxiii]

On that account We ordained for the Children of Isra`il that if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole humanity: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the whole humanity. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear (guidance), yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land. [xxiv]

Islam also puts great emphasis on Justice. And since seeking justice may sometimes call for violence, some people think Islam allows violence in its quest for justice. This is not true. Two examples from the Life of the Prophet should suffice. The first is the treaty of Hudaibiya that the Prophet signed on terms that all his companions found humiliating for what was by then a powerful community which had fended off several attacks and could be expected to do so again. Hudaibiya was not a just treaty they all thought. But the Prophet accepted that as this was the only way to peace. Another example is Muslims victory over Mecca. The Prophet announced a general amnesty after this. Justice demanded that war criminals be punished. But this would have probably created bad blood and possibly led to counter-violence. The Prophet again delinked Justice with Peace. The requirement of peace was paramount in his view.

Following the Prophet’s example, in the last century, the great leader of the then united India’s northwest frontier province, which is now known as Pakistan’s province of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, Badshah Khan devised a strategy that harmonised the demands of a quest for Justice with the interests of peace. He was inspired by the Mahatma and was his greatest, most unflinching ally. But he had worked out his strategy of non-violent struggle and started his unique movement before meeting him. He said he had learnt this from his study of Quran and Hadith. He found his nonviolent strategy in Islam’s call for an unrelenting struggle against injustice and the Prophet’s constant exhortation for patience and perseverance. He brought the two virtues together and thus was born his unique movement of non-violent resistance against British colonial rule. He told his 100,000 strong non-violent army of khudai khidmatgars (Servants of God):

“I am going to give you such a weapon that police and the army will not be able to stand against it. It is the weapon of the Prophet, but you are not aware of it. That weapon is patience and righteousness. No power on earth can stand against it. …tell your brethren that there is an army of God and its weapon is patience….” [xxv]

Many scholars and peace activists who have studied the Khudai Khidmatgar movement in detail consider this as an Islamic model for non-violent struggle against injustice. Let us hope that Muslims all over the world take this as a model that is as relevant today as it was a century ago. It has the force of truth and righteousness behind it. After all Mahatma Gandhi too had been able to work a miracle through this very model of Satyagraha or struggle for truth based on non-violence. The route through which Gandhiji reached this non-violent methodology of struggle was different. But the endpoint was so well fused together that Badshah khan was known throughout the length and breadth of then undivided India as the Frontier Gandhi. That it is the Frontier (NWFP) that is now the scene of a raging battle fought by Muslims who interpret Islam in a different and violent way is a tragedy of colossal proportions and has implications for Muslims the world over. The sooner they go back to Badshah Khan’s interpretation of Islam and perhaps renew the Khudai Khidmatgar movement the better for all.

For more details click here: Liberal Islam

Source URL: http://www.countercurrents.org/shahin011110.htm

[newageislam-blog]

Role of Religions in Promoting Non-Violence: Islam’s Valuable Resources for Peacemaking

Full Text of a Speech delivered by Sultan Shahin, Editor, New Age Islam on 28 September 2010 at a parallel seminar organised by Al-Hakim Foundation and Himalayan Research in the UN Human Rights Council’s September 2010 session at Geneva:

International Day of non-violence:28 September 2010

Role of Religions in promoting non-violence: Islam’s valuable resources for peacemaking

Mr. President, Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to begin my talk with an entreaty that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) so earnestly used to make in his prayers several times every day:

“O God, You are the original source of Peace; from You is all Peace, and to You returns all Peace. So, make us live with Peace; and let us enter paradise: the House of Peace. Blessed be You, our Lord, to whom belongs all Majesty and Honour!”

Throughout history religions have played a rather ambivalent role in promoting both peace and violence. They have been used and misused by their supposed followers in both ways. Religious postulates from all religions have been misinterpreted in a variety of ways to promote violence rather than non-violence and peace, though establishing peace and harmony in society is in a sense the primary purpose of every religion. As His Holiness The Dalai Lama once said, answering a question, relating to Islam and violence: “(People of) all religions are violent. Even Buddhists!”[i] Indeed even the beautiful and thought-provoking Buddhist concept of “emptiness” has been misinterpreted to promote violence.[ii] The octogenarian leader of Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan, Syed Ali Shah Gilani quotes not only the Quran but even the Hindu scripture Bhagwat Gita to justify terrorism in the Kashmir valley.[iii] And yet, all scholars are agreed that religion provides “valuable resources for peacemaking”,[iv] and it is possible to give examples of how religions or peace-activists from within various religions have utilised these resources to promote peace and non-violence. “Within each of the great religions there is “a moral trajectory challenging adherents to greater acts of compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation”, Scott Appleby wrote, an “internal evolution” that offers hope for religiously inspired peacemaking.”[v]

One can indeed make this point without fear of contradiction on the basis of the teachings of all religions. Theologian Mark Juergensmeyer[vi] has identified three major aspects of non-violence within nearly all world religions:

a) Reverence for life and desire to avoid harm,

b) The ideal of social harmony and living peacefully with others,

c) The injunction to care for the other, especially for the one in need.

Distinguished scholar and peace activist David Cortright has tried to illustrate these points with examples from several religions.[vii] Illustrating the first point he says: All major religions have imperatives to love others and avoid taking of human life. In Buddhism, the rejection of killing is the first of the Five Precepts. Hinduism declares “the killing of living beings is not conducive to heaven.”[viii] Jainism rejects the taking of any form of life: “if someone kills living things…his sin increases.”[ix] The Quran states “slay not the life that God has made sacred.”[x] The Bible teaches you shall not murder.”[xi]

The second point is illustrated by the ideal of social harmony and living peacefully with other being frequently emphasized in the Old Testament and the Qur’an. Third is the willingness to sacrifice and suffer for the sake of expiating sin and avoiding injury to others, which is common in the Abrahamic traditions.

The third universally accepted norm at the core of all religious traditions is the injunction to care for the other, especially for the one in need. Cortright says: “Buddhism and Hinduism are founded on principles of compassion and empathy for those who suffer. Islam emerged out of the Prophet’s call to restore the tribal ethic of social egalitarianism and to end the mistreatment of the weak and the vulnerable. In the New Testament Jesus is depicted throughout as caring for and ministering to the needy. Compassion for the stranger is the litmus test of ethical conduct in all religions. So is the capacity to forgive, to repent and overcome past transgressions. The key to conflict prevention is extending the moral boundaries of one’s community and expressing compassion towards others.”[xii]

These factors apart, Cortright also finds other valuable resources. He writes: “There are many other religious principles that provide a foundation for creative peacemaking. Nonviolent values pervade the Eastern religious traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism and echo through the Gospel of Jesus. The religious emphasis on personal discipline and self-restraint also has value for peace-making. It provides a basis for constraining the impulses of vengeance and retaliation that arise from violent conflict. The power of imagination, to use John Paul Lederach’s term[xiii], is necessary to envision a more just and peaceful order, to dream of a society that attempts to reflect religious teaching.”[xiv]

Clearly all religions from ancient eastern religions like Taoism to Buddhism, Jainism Hinduism, and Abrahamic religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all provide us with resources to work for peace and non-violence. Indeed, followers of all these religions and many of their sects have all worked at various times in their own ways in establishing peace. It is not possible in the time available to us here to make a detailed study but a lot of material is available in books and essays published in research journals on the subject.

Mr. President,

I would like to take this opportunity to make a special mention of Islam’s quest for peace and the possibility of using Islamic resources for peace-making and for a peaceful quest for justice. Unfortunately in our time a growing number of people look at Islam with fear and are considering it a violent religion or at least a religion that allows violence for its expansion. Nothing could be further from the truth. But we cannot blame people for fearing Islam as Muslim people in several parts of the world are indeed involved in wars and terrorism while Muslim religious scholars are not doing enough to stop these nefarious activities nor are they even condemning these war-mongers and seeking to delink Islam from them.

This makes it imperative for us to recall Islam’s repeated call for peace like the following:

The Qur’an calls its way ‘the paths of peace.’[xv] It describes reconciliation as the best policy,[xvi] and states that God abhors any disturbance of peace.[xvii]

The root word of Islam is ‘silm’, which means peace. So the spirit of Islam is the spirit of peace. The first verse of the Qur’an breathes the spirit of peace. It reads:

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

This verse is repeated in the Qur’an no less than 113 times. It shows the great importance Islam attaches to such values as Mercy and Compassion. One of God’s names, according to the Qur’an, is As-Salam, which means peace. Moreover the Qur’an states that the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was sent to the world as a mercy to mankind.[xviii]

The ideal society, according to the Qur’an is Dar as-Salam, that is, the house of peace.[xix]

The Qur’an presents the universe as a model that is characterized by harmony and peace.[xx]  When God created heaven and earth, He so ordered things that each part might perform its function peacefully without clashing with any other part.

Because of the importance of peace, the Qur’an has clearly declared that no aggressive war is permitted in Islam. Muslims can engage themselves only in a defensive, not in an offensive war, irrespective of the circumstances.[xxi]

The Qur’an has this to say of the mission of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):

We have not sent you forth but as a mercy to mankind.[xxii]

That the holy Quran equates killing of one innocent person with the killing of humanity is well known. It also equates saving one person’s live with saving the entire humanity.[xxiii]

On that account We ordained for the Children of Isra`il that if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole humanity: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the whole humanity. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear (guidance), yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.[xxiv]

Islam also puts great emphasis on Justice. And since seeking justice may sometimes call for violence, some people think Islam allows violence in its quest for justice. This is not true. Two examples from the Life of the Prophet should suffice. The first is the treaty of Hudaibiya that the Prophet signed on terms that all his companions found humiliating for what was by then a powerful community which had fended off several attacks and could be expected to do so again. Hudaibiya was not a just treaty they all thought. But the Prophet accepted that as this was the only way to peace. Another example is Muslims victory over Mecca. The Prophet announced a general amnesty after this. Justice demanded that war criminals be punished. But this would have probably created bad blood and possibly led to counter-violence. The Prophet again delinked Justice with Peace. The requirement of peace was paramount in his view.

Following the Prophet’s example, in the last century, the great leader of the then united India’s northwest frontier province, which is now known as Pakistan’s province of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, Badshah Khan devised a strategy that harmonised the demands of a quest for Justice with the interests of peace. He was inspired by the Mahatma and was his greatest, most unflinching ally. But he had worked out his strategy of non-violent struggle and started his unique movement before meeting him. He said he had learnt this from his study of Quran and Hadith. He found his nonviolent strategy in Islam’s call for an unrelenting struggle against injustice and the Prophet’s constant exhortation for patience and perseverance. He brought the two virtues together and thus was born his unique movement of non-violent resistance against British colonial rule. He told his 100,000 strong non-violent army of khudai khidmatgars (Servants of God):

“I am going to give you such a weapon that police and the army will not be able to stand against it. It is the weapon of the Prophet, but you are not aware of it. That weapon is patience and righteousness. No power on earth can stand against it. …tell your brethren that there is an army of God and its weapon is patience….”[xxv]

Many scholars and peace activists who have studied the Khudai Khidmatgar movement in detail consider this as an Islamic model for non-violent struggle against injustice. Let us hope that Muslims all over the world take this as a model that is as relevant today as it was a century ago. It has the force of truth and righteousness behind it. After all Mahatma Gandhi too had been able to work a miracle through this very model of Satyagraha or struggle for truth based on non-violence. The route through which Gandhiji reached this non-violent methodology of struggle was different. But the endpoint was so well fused together that Badshah khan was known throughout the length and breadth of then undivided India as the Frontier Gandhi. That it is the Frontier (NWFP) that is now the scene of a raging battle fought by Muslims who interpret Islam in a different and violent way is a tragedy of colossal proportions and has implications for Muslims the world over. The sooner they go back to Badshah Khan’s interpretation of Islam and perhaps renew the Khudai Khidmatgar movement the better for all.

For more details click here: Islamic Society

Source URL: http://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/sultan-shahin,-editor,-new-age-islam/role-of-religions-in-promoting-non-violence–islam%E2%80%99s-valuable-resources-for-peacemaking/d/3606