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mattspinksjoyblog · 4 months ago

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All Are Included | Thesis #7

One of the biggest hurdles the church needs to overcome is our struggle with celebrating the beauty and glory of every person. We desperately need to see that Jesus includes all inside His very own Body!

There are many scriptures which seem to immediately contradict that. In Matthew 7, Jesus says that he will tell some people, “away from me, I never knew you.” In 2 Thessalonians 1, Paul writes that evildoers will be punished and sent away from the Presence of the Lord. (In some translations… 😜)

Since I began to believe some years ago that Jesus has saved us all, that Jesus has included us all, I get approached or questioned almost every week in some way about it. Well-meaning Christians don’t know what to do with these scriptures, or what they’ve been taught for so many years. And, really, that’s understandable… but, it’s got to change!

It won’t change until we see the other scriptures, the ones that give us the greater context. The most important part of scripture is that it reveals the Person and Work of Christ. And, yet, most of us haven’t heard the clearest passages on His person and work emphasized!

Rom 5:18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

2Co 5:14-16 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; (15) and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (16) From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We must take time to meditate on the implications of these lesser known passages.

The inclusion that we are promoting here is not one that denies that we had a sin problem. All of us had gone astray from God at some point. We all got lost! However, rather than emphasizing who has gotten themselves back in by some act, or even by having faith, we are emphasizing the Person & Work of Jesus!

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who brought all 100 sheep back home.

Faith is important, but faith is merely the recognition of what Christ has done. Faith isn’t what makes it real. We can only have faith in something that has already proven to be real. We love because He first loved us. Our faith doesn’t make him include us. We have faith because He included us in Christ from the start!

“The secret of every man, whether he believes it or not, is bound up with Jesus” - T. F . Torrance

“During my first week of office as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland when I presided at the Assembly’s Gaelic Service, a Highlander asked me when I had been born again. I still recall his face when I told him I had been born again when Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and rose again from the virgin tomb, the first-born of the dead. In other words, our new birth, our regeneration, our conversion, are what has taken place in Jesus Christ himself, so that when we speak of our conversion or our regeneration we are referring to our sharing in the conversion or regeneration of our humanity brought about by Jesus in and through himself for our sake. In a profound and proper sense, therefore, we must speak of Jesus Christ as constituting in himself the very substance of our conversion, so that we must think of him as taking our place even in our acts of repentance and personal decision...” - T. F. Torrance

Now, the Torrance family of theologians also make it clear that it is important for us to come to personal faith in Christ and have a conversion experience. But, they remind us that these are not what get us IN. Jesus included us, therefore we can believe.

The difference here is between subjective and objective realities.

Objective reality is what is actually real.

Subjective reality is what we believe to be real.

Objectively, everyone has been included in what Christ has done, and who He is. This means we are all insiders!

Subjectively, we need to come to faith in that so that we experience all the wonderful fruits. Like an insane person becoming sane, we need to believe that we are included so that we can live that way, and avoid the subjective hell that follows. But, objectively, everyone is already included!!!

As a church, we need to stop treating people as if they are only holy, celebrated, and beautiful IF… they meet some condition. The truth is that everyone is objectively included!!

“Nobody, in other words - not the devil, not the world, not the flesh, not even ourselves - can take us away from the Love that will not let us go. We can, of course, squirm in his grip and despise his holding of us, and we can no doubt get ourselves into one hell of a mess by doing so. But if he is God the Word who both makes and reconciles us, there is no way - no way, literally, even in hell - that we will ever find ourselves anywhere else than in the very thick of both our creation and our reconciliation.” - Robert Farrar Capon

This is the message that everyone needs! We need to know that our God never, ever, ever abandons us. As Dr. C. Baxter Kruger says, “Our Papa doesn’t do abandonment.”

We’ve seen it change the way we treat people, the way we do church life… it’s so refreshing and much needed. It doesn’t mean that we don’t ever confront issues, but it’s always from a place of, “You are a holy and beautiful child of God that will always be celebrated in Jesus!”

Every single person is seated at the table with the Trinity, forever! This is what Christ has done! This is our God, unconditional Love!

-Matt Spinks

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Believe in this kind of message and ministry? Donate at: thefirehouseprojects.com/donate

Also, please watch the video version of this thesis where Matt shares more:

youtube

#inclusion #jesus #gospel #grace #mattspinks #jubilee #Youtube

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antifainternational · 4 years ago

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Info-Sharing for Antifascists

Rose City Antifa has compiled this excellent list of good info-sharing for antifa that we, well - had to share with you all! Various folks have been asking us for a while if we would make a publicly viewable version of some of the basic suggestions we've offered community members and allies about what constitutes a useful tip, how we decide to share info, etc.

Part 1! What makes a useful tip or "spotted" post?

Concrete physical and descriptive details of *both* the individuals in question *and* their behavior, the time, and the place. No suspected affiliation (i.e. "they look like Proud Boys,") is ever more useful than actual details. Physical details include: clothing, height, approximate age, hair and skin color, tattoos, etc. Behavior details (and/or group details) are things like, "Were they with a group?," "Were they threatening ppl?," and any other actions that brought them to your attention initially. Remembering things is hard! And unless you're really experienced at it, grabbing details from a brief snippet of stressful memory is extra hard. When trying to recall, it helps to find a friend and have them lead you through a series of "X or Y" type questions. Write it all down. Start from the top if it helps: "Hat or no hat?" "Long hair or short?" "Glasses or no glasses?" and make your way through physical appearance. Let yourself be less than perfect--just focus on getting a real good handle on the couple details that really drew your attention.

With cars, if you are not a car person, do not let a car person try and talk you through what kind of car it might have been. You will end up very annoyed. Just do the same as above for recalling details about people: "Truck, SUV, sedan...?"; "Older or newer?" If you are a car person, IDK, live your life I guess. License plate numbers are great for distinguishing one car from other very similar looking other cars. We are not cops, your average antifascist cannot instantly find out who owns or was driving a car based on the plate number. One thing *anyone* can do is look up a plate number (and the state) on one of many free online databases and find out if there is a car currently registered with that number in that state, and what make and model that car is. Useful for confirming you got a plate number right.

When thinking about how to describe or recall someone's demeanor or behavior, examine what your initial reaction was to seeing them and how it made you feel. Then assess what it might have reminded you of to provoke that reaction. Did the person seem out of place? Why? Sometimes it is because the person's behavior seemed out of control and they are someone you felt potentially in danger from. This definitely is relevant to your (and their) safety in that moment, but does not make them a fascist. We aren't just cops for people who hate cops. Also, other than maybe the literal name/history of a specific, recognized fascist, the most pressing information is almost always what the person was doing, when, where, (especially if it was actively threatening or invasive) and whether or not they are still doing it.

Part 2! Public information sharing practices!

There is no guidebook for how to be a community information resource, and lots of different groups do it their own way. All we really want to do is talk about what guides our own decision-making processes.

We view "tip"-style or threat-related information put out for our community as something intentionally shared to provide people with actionable details they can use to keep themselves and others safe. Being able to inform yourself and others helps us all have a sense of agency. There's lots of ways information can be actionable, and different people might use it different ways. "Stay away from here, there's Proud Boys!" can maybe be useful...for people who aren't already "here" and have the ability to leave. If you are already "here" but don't know who to look for, and you have’nt e been given more detail? Unhelpful. If you, say, work or live "here" and do not have a choice about leaving, not only is no description a problem, having everyone who might help just peace out is a problem too.

So not only do we try to provide people with actionable information, but we try to make sure that actionable options that we present people with centre the needs of the most vulnerable in that situation. We find those needs out by fucking asking, if at all possible. Also be aware that people might want a chance to inform their own close community, their co-workers, their family, of an imminent threat to them specifically before you tell the entire world "on their behalf."

Not trying to get on too many high horses here, but honestly don't fucking clout chase on the backs of other peoples', or other communities', targeted death threats and traumatic experiences without their consent or needs taken into account. Everyone makes mistakes, and learning takes time. Being open to feedback and requests from people directly affected by a situation, or those who you can establish are in contact/speaking for those directly affected is like a big deal. That's being accountable to community. If you're an individual who's just seen something scary and you feel like other people need to know, then you're in a great position to potentially help others come together and protect your community from a threat! Take a second to ensure that you're in a safe enough place to stop and communicate what you've seen. Then, unless it's just absolutely a clear and imminent threat you can already convey in direct terms, we would strongly suggest taking like, 5-10 minutes before you go "public." During that 5-10 minutes, there's a few quick things you can do that will really help everyone reading your potential tip or PSA make the most of whatever information you present. 1. Find or contact a friend/loved one and tell them about what just happened to you, what you saw, how it made you feel. Then, after you've briefly told them, assess with them whether or not you feel like you still need to tell "the public" and what info you can share. It can be hard to at times distinguish between the feeling of needing to tell *someone* and the feeling of needing to tell *everyone.* Finding even a sympathetic stranger or fellow protester, and getting their support and take on a situation can help you assess this for yourself.

2. Do the little tasks/exercises we related above to see the most you can remember or take note of about what you've seen, and compile those into a brief, informative note you might be willing to share. If you have a second, have someone else look it over for you before sharing.

3. If the information, or the thing/people you saw was ambiguous and you aren't sure whether it was what you thought it was, or if it even happened at all, look around for corroborating accounts. Does that famous fash still have that haircut? Did anyone else see that car?

If you feel that what you have to say is really important, even though it's still unclear what it means or what it was, you should absolutely still share it. Just let people know the limitations of your knowledge. Being a resource doesn't mean being some "all-knowing" authority!

Mostly, just...we try--though we don't always succeed--to share information with people that also allows the community to share the sense of purpose and agency that we derive from learning and making informed decisions to fight fascism in our community. Hope that helps!

#antifa #tips #antifascist #info #antifascism #rose city antifa

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fratresdei · 4 years ago

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How to Create Sacred Space

Sacred spaces are some of the clearest examples we have of humanity’s active involvement in cultivating the Sacred. Within sacred spaces, the lines between “what is ‘just people’ and “what is ‘purely divine,'” are, blessedly, blurred to indistinction.

For example, when humans build temples, they often believe that holy presence resides within it. However, there is no delusion that the temple was not built by human hands. That reality is in fact celebrated! Within sacred space we are free to relish in our participation, or co-creation, of divine presence in our world. This power we possess does not detract from the mystery of sacred space, but is something to cherish. If we have the power to construct and nurture sacred space, that says a lot about our standing in the universe.

So, what constitutes a sacred space? The answer could include many possibilities: perhaps you have a favorite quiet spot in your place of worship or out in nature. Maybe you grew up with a shrine or altar in the home, or you may be seeking to curate and maintain a space for yourself. The space may be hidden away where only you can access it, or out in the open where you spend most of your day. There may be objects that represent deities, loved ones, prayers or intentions present. It could be a clear, clean space, empty of clutter, where the mind and spirit feel free to declutter as well. Your sacred space may simply be your own body. While the size and structure of a personal sacred space may vary, the core is the same: a place that has been set aside for contemplation or communion with the divine. The beauty of a sacred space, like many facets of spiritual life, derives from the meaning it carries for you.

To help illustrate the many variations and nuances of a sacred space, Fratres Dei Spiritual Direction Contributor Saint Gibson @stgibsonofficial and Communications Manager Caroline Crook @yourfavoriteauntcarol (yours truly), have each shared a picture of our own sacred spaces and described the contents therein.

Saint’s Space

There are a number of sacred spaces scattered throughout my house; the rose-scented Our Lady of Guadalupe candle and collection of crystals in my bedroom, the shelf where my fiancé and I remember our departed ancestors with little photos and trinkets, and the font of holy water affixed to the wall by the front door. But the most prominent sacred space in my home is the altar table set up in the living room, underneath a gilded icon of the Madonna and child.

On it, I keep all my candles and figurines representing the saints and angels, and some beloved keepsakes, like dried flowers, gifted rosaries, and letters from friends. The plate in the center of the altar features a painting of the last supper and is used for offerings: generally water, and sometimes alcohol or milk depending on whether or not that's appropriate to the petition or the day on the church calendar. My household celebrates both the Christian holidays and the pagan wheel of the year, so the decorations on the altar change out with feast days and seasons. The candles around the offering plate change, but there's always a sacred heart of Jesus and a Mary mother of God burning away, and usually a Saint Jude and a Saint Joseph as well. I burn a rainbow candle to remember the queer saints of the church both known and unknown, and to ask for God's protection on LGBTQ+ people worldwide.

My patron saint is the archangel Uriel, patron of confirmation in the Episcopal church and of poets and scholars widely. My golden Uriel figurine presides over his side of the altar, along with a figurine of the archangel Raphael, my fiancé's patron. We've got all sorts of talismans and charms representing the four archangels, and we have a fiery red candle for the archangel Michael that stands looped in a necklace featuring a ward against the evil eye. A golden pietà, my fiancé's greatest thrift store find, watches over all the candles. We've also got a colored figurine of the Infant of Prague standing proudly over a photograph of my fiancé and I. That's because the very first letter my fiancé ever sent me was a photograph of the Infant when he was traveling abroad, and we like to think he watches over us.

There are prayer cards littered about, and I often find myself reaching for Saint Ignatius of Loyola or Saint John the Revelator in times of need. We also usually keep incense burning in a metal cauldron that's always stuffed full of salt and ashes. Frankincense, rose, and lemongrass are my favorites. There are also many taper candles that I've saved from trips to other churches or from sung masses on Michaelmas and Christmas Eve.

I've been curating sacred space in every dorm room and apartment I've lived in for years, and this is by far my most favorite space yet. There's enough room to stand while you pray and move items around, but it's small enough that I could pack up everything on the altar into one box if I needed to. The table stands right between the living room and the kitchen, in the heart of the home, and it makes me feel like blessings are being disseminated from the altar to every room in the house. It's a way to keep a little bit of divinity always within arms reach, incarnate in rosaries and candles and bottles of holy water. With my altar nearby, I feel prepared for any spiritual celebration or crisis, and I know exactly where to retrieve up my spiritual tools when the occasion calls for it.

Caroline’s Space

Let’s call my sacred space an acoustic version of what a sacred space can be. It’s only a few months old; yet another quarantine project. Cluttered? Yes. Often mistaken as just a shelf for all my candles? Also yes. But it serves my spiritual life in ways that I personally find intuitive and accessible.

Of the three bookshelves in my apartment, this one is in a central spot in the living room, facing the couch. It’s part of the space and rhythm where most of my daily life takes place. Especially during quarantine when my brain fog is even worse than normal, it’s nice to be able to naturally glance over at this shelf and quickly check in with its contents.

Said contents are 95% candles. Whenever I need to set aside some time for an intentional, spiritually fulfilling practice (whether prayer, yoga, reading, writing, or just a break from social media) I light a candle. On days of significance (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) or to pray for a loved one, I’ll light a smaller tealight candle in the centerpiece and let it burn for the day.

The remaining 5% is all gifted, bought or found objects from friends and family members. The centerpiece is a candle/incense holder one of my oldest and dearest friends gave to me. There is a glass dish of crystals, shells and sharks’ teeth, all collected over the years between Florida and DC, with family and friends. The glass bottle in the corner was a gift from a friend’s wedding last summer, and I keep that filled with rainwater or holy water, depending on what’s at hand. There’s a crystal seashell towards the back that was a gift from my late grandmother. Each of these objects, to me, represents the many connections, joys and loves in my life. I’m also part magpie, so it’s nice to have a place where these odds and ends I collect can be 1) on display, 2) out of the way.

Other objects come and go, as I like to place items on this shelf that symbolize what’s on my heart at the time. Coins, written turns of phrase, scraps from old clothes, photos of loved ones, etc. Occasionally the odd tarot card, if I’m looking for a stronger visual.

For years this surface was just part candle repository, part please-God-do-not-forget-to-return-these-library-books shelf. It had a vague purpose, and certainly held things that are important to me, but not in an especially meaningful way. The act of curating this space -- choosing that shelf, cleaning it up, deciding what to place where, and maintaining it over time -- has been a source of calm, inspiration, and reflection. It’s still a work in progress though; I have a holly wreath I place around the centerpiece during the holidays, and am looking into getting a wreath to celebrate each season in the year. To, you know, help me remember that time is still passing in quarantine (I want to say April was… two weeks ago?)

If you feel so inclined, we would love to hear from you as well: what does a sacred space mean to you? What sacred spaces have you cultivated or visited?

If you’re curious about cultivating your own sacred space with the help of an expert, book your first free virtual session with Fratres Dei Spiritual Direction in the comments.

Saint offers tarot readings that are affirming, insightful and welcome to all. Check out Holy Roots Tarot using the link in the comments.

February 18, 2021 | Denver, Colorado

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fragiledewdrop · 5 years ago

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11 Questions

Rules: Always Post the rules. Answer 11 questions, then make up 11 new ones and tag 11 people. Inform the person who tagged you that you answered their questions.

Tagged by @vengefulnoob , which I am very happy about because I love these questions.

1) If you had the chance, would you go to the International Space Station?

Are you kidding me? Hell yes!

2) What are your greatest irrational and rational fears?

Irrational: spiders. They terrify me to a level nothing that can’t at least mutilate me should

Rational: dying young, but also dying old and sick and bedridden and alone. I am especially afraid of those illnesses that steal your mind and your memory. I have seen too many loved ones succumb to them.

3) What distinguishes love from lust or a crush to you?

Love is different from lust because when you love someone there are feelings involved that go beyond physical attraction and desire. The difference between love and a crush is more subtle: when you have a crush on someone, you tend to idealize them. They are beautiful, charming, perfect in every way. Well, no human being is like that. No two people fit together like puzzle pieces without jagged edges. At this stage, half of what you think about the object of your affections is the fruit of imagination or projection. I start to think and talk of love when I have seen beyond that rosy tinted veneer, when I have witnessed facets of the ugliness that hides inside everyone-flaws, bad habits, despair, neurosis, whatever is there- and that has not been enough to drive me away. On the contrary, it has made my feelings stronger. When you love someone you are prepared to go through thick and thin with them, and you have to know what “thin” looks like for that particular individual.

Having a crush means seeing only the rose, loving means seeing the rose and its thorns and wanting to cradle it close to your heart anyway, bleeding be damned.

(There are limits to this, of course. I am not talking about accepting abuse, just the inevitable flaws that every human being naturally hides behind their best facade. And this is just one possible interpretation anyway. )

4) Who is the one person you’ve looked up to most in life?

There have been many, but I think it’s my father.

He is not perfect, but he is so strong and so gentle. He taught me resilience and sacrifice and loyalty. He taught me to welcome strangers with open arms, to help whenever I can. He taught me the difference between good and bad when I was not yet old enough to discern it on my own. He taught me to have passion for learning and that no field or job is inferior to another. He thought me to think for myself.He taught me about nature and mountains and adventure. And, maybe without realizing it, he taught me about love through his actions. He taught me that people can change if they really want to.

He also taught me half the curses I know ,and impatience, and perfectionism. He taught me that the gentlest people need an outlet for their anger and frustration.

He taught me songs and stories and ballads.

I love him for all the good things and for all the bad things and I want to teach him how to be better and happier in return.

He is one of the best and yet most imperfect people I have ever met, and I wouldn’t be who I am without him.

(Nor without my mother, but this asked for one person and my relationship with her is a tad more complicated)

5) Given a choice of historical figure to take to the current day, who would it be and why?

Leonardo da Vinci , because I think that, give a little time to study, he would be great t inventing new way to harness renewable energy. He would be a wonderful ally in the fight against climate change. If nothing else, he would find a better solution than the Mose for the flooding of Venice.

Plus, he would be so enthusiastic about all the advancements in science in the last few centuries! I would relish the opportunity to tell him that he can perform autopsies without having to smuggle bodies through the night (in catholic universities too!)

6) Is humanity, in it’s totality, a thing to be celebrated or reviled?

I don’t have a clear answer to this question. I think about it often and my opinion changes.

I will say this: even though history and observation show that we are capable of great evil, they also show that, even in the direst of circumstances, we (or at least some of us) will find a way to do good. That is enough for me to have faith in us, and to fight daily to tip the balance in our favour.

7) At your lowest points in life, what has picked you back up again?

My family.

8) You’re about to see the most incredible thing the universe has to offer, something so spectacular that you will be unable to ever describe it or photograph or video it adequately, but you have the chance to take someone with you to experience it too. Who is it?

Either my brother or my best friend. I guess it would be the one who needs it most at the time, but it would gut me to choose.At least I know that they would understand.

9) Is it better to be born good, or become good through force of effort?

Okay, I’ve had this question on the back of my mind since I first read it, and let me tell you, it made for one intense dinner conversation.

My instinctive reaction is to reject anything that precludes the existence of choice and free will, but I tried to play devil’s advocate and think about the benefits of a world inn which everyone is born good. At first glance it would be perfect: no violence, no crimes, no terror. But then comes the question: what does it mean to be “born good”? How do you define “good”? Is there even a universal answer to that? And what about that theory according to which we are good as long as we act according to what we think is good? If those who killed Jesus really thought what they were doing was the right thing, than they can’t be considered evil, or even at fault. If those who crammed children into gas chambers really, truly thought it was for the good of the world, they are not evil. Hell, they might even be considered heroes, in their own eyes. I have always thought this kind of extreme relativism is wrong: there is something else, outside of what we think or believe, that determines whether an action is good or evil. But we have to allow for the possibility of this being a factor when we speak of people being “born good”.

There is also another problem. As beautiful as a world without evil might be, it is simply not the world we live in. It follows that, if some people are born good (and therefore incapable of evil), some people have to be born “bad”. What is the point, then, of teaching children the difference between good and evil, or of rehabilitating prisoners, if the evil in them cannot be washed away? And how long until the “good” people decide hat it is best (and indeed “good”) to kill all the “evil “ones, or exile them, or deport them? Are we really back to predestination? Why live at all, if you are born evil and there’s no chance for you to change it?

This system doesn’t allow for mistakes or redemption. In its effort to be good it’s actually merciless.

We are not “born good”: just look at children and how thoughtlessly cruel they can be with themselves, or with animals.

We are born in a gray zone, and we can make what we want of ourselves, including trying to figure out what the difference between good and evil really is. We can fall, and we can get up. We can change. That is beautiful, and I think it’s closer to the reality of things.

In the end I am always horrified by anything that denies me choice on an ontological level. I prefer to live believing I can build my own fate, even if it turns out to be an illusion, because otherwise, what even is the point?

10) Which D&D statistic is most valuable to you? (strength, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, charisma, and constitution)

I have never played D&D, unfortunately, but I think I’d go with wisdom. I sorely need it.

11) How does this make you feel?

It makes me smile, It’s brilliant!

My questions:

1) Are things worth doing even if you know they are impermanent?

2) If you could see you favourite play or musical, live, anywhere in the world, which would it be, where, and in which language?

3) If you could magically learn to speak any language, which would it be?

4) Regardless of what you believe in, which scares you more: reincarnation, the idea of an afterlife, or the idea that we dissolve into nothing after death?

5) What’s the last book you read?

6) Liberté, égalité, fraternité : which is more important to you and why?

7) What’s your favourite beverage in winter?

8) To be or not to be?

9) A place in your country that you wish more people would know about and visit?

10) Which do you think is sweeter: pleasure, or the expectation of pleasure?

11) Which do you prefer, this or this ? (I hope they make you laugh)

I am going to tag the usual people. I I forget you and you want to do it, do it anyway. Firstly, @procasdeanating because I have a feeling you might like both some of the answer and the question; @vengefulnoob because your questions were interesting, and I hope mine are too (and that the answers were ok); @awed-frog even though you know you probably don’t have time (un abbraccio a tua figlia. Spero che qualcosa in questo post ti faccia sorridere); @justsomeonerandom17 ; @snovolovac ; @pod7et ; @yourobriensource (sono curiosa); @maryshelleey ; @leeaneea ; @vivianecarstairs

Have Fun!

#11 questions #tag games #ask games #about me

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homesception · 6 years ago

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May 31, 2013 - part 1: wherein Lobac eats a cookie.

To be fair, it has been like two hundred years since my last update. That’s a pretty good nap. Just means I’m all the more rested to work on new stuff, right? I mean, I need to keep a spritely pace up if I still plan on catching up to Lobac’s liveblog before said liveblog catches up to the comic. Which for sure is still an actual thing at all, and not a bit of exclusive humor between friends.

Last time Lobac was getting into some theory crafting and analysis of the classpect system. I didn’t have much to say about that at the time, particularly not much that wouldn’t qualify as spoilers, so iirc I was mostly just responding with random thoughts and video links, half of which are dead now. There was a bit left over looking at the troll’s perster names, which was also good stuff, but lacking anything coherent to say about it, I’ll just gloss past the rest of that post, apart from:

Lobac said:

Thank you all for sticking around °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

As if you could ever get rid of me. ~{@PQ}~

Moving on, we rejoin the comic with PM visiting the Black Queen to retrieve the mysterious GREEN PACKAGE, which had been impounded by agents of the Black Court as a result of a traffic violation. The Black Queen cuts an imposing figure, and Lobac is, of course, duly imposed.

later, Lobac said:

Are those… tentacles ( ´ _ ｀) I thought only the imps were affected by the prototypings?

OH SHIT OH SHIT THAT LOOKS SO COOL HOT DAMN (゜▽゜) Wowow look at her joints! Look at all the carapace-y stuff going on there!

These days, Lobac’s soft spot for this particular sort of shiny, black, possibly betentacled monster-type aesthetic is well documented. I’m pretty sure she would have loved the black queen’s design even if it wasn’t just objectively cool as hell, but that certainly doesn’t hurt. I’m kind of sad that we never got a proper fight scene out of this particular version of her.

That’s not a spoiler is it? I’m pretty sure that’s not a spoiler.

Yeah, the random objects the kids threw in the general directions of their seizuresprites are directly affecting the final boss. NOTHING COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE

I don’t see the problem here. Nothing the kids could possibly put in those sprites could be at all unsettling or dangerous.

haa haa. hee hee. hoo hoo.

Her face is so weird though It’s Jaspers-shaped, and her eyes are constantly narrowed, I can’t even tell whether it’s in distaste or amusement

Why not both?

Andrew sure is proud of that hand’s close-up She’s not even dramatically pointing she’s literally just saying “yeah I dunno anything about that kinda shit you best go down there and ask my pretty princess, I mean, subordinate”

It is a pretty great hand, honestly. I think this particular image gets called back to a few more times yet.

Yeah Rose! You go and fulfill your as of yet unclear vaguely Seering-related destiny

Yeah, Rose! Get on that, maybe!

ROSE NO YOU ARE 13 THAT IS GONNA TASTE AWFUL TO YOU Heh I legitimately don’t know whether her mom would be proud of or disappointed in her if she could see her now Is this an act of defiance or emulation Just silly teenage antics, probably, but I’d like to think she misses her

Rooooooose Rose nooooooooooooooooo （ ´ω｀） Ehehe I love how the artstyle turns super silly to reflect how upset/surprised she is

These two panels constitute one of the most iconic funny moments in the comic. It works really well. Shoot, I should have done the post topper-edit based on these, huh? Oh, well. The one I already did took like four hours, mostly due to my extreme rustiness, so I’m not going back now.

Otherwise, I also like to think of Rose missing her mom here. Maybe not admitting it to herself, but still. I also still ascribe to the “everything Mom ever did was 110% unironic, Rose made up the whole passive aggressive conflict between them in her head, her mom wasn’t passive agressive she was just a bonkers drunk rich lady” headcannon that I think I spoke about ages ago in this very liveblog.

Anyway, yeah, this is both a hilarious joke and a fantastic little character moment for Rose. Another contributing factor to Rose being my big early favorite with a seemingly insurmountable head start in the ‘best character’ race.

Actually, lately, since the end of the comic, she’s been gaining ground again for me? I mean, one of the trolls definitely surpassed her for most of my Homestuck fan life, but... eh, whatever. There’s no way I can getting into how my feelings about those characters developed over the comics life without being way more spoilery than even I’ve already been, so that kind of talk will have to wait for later. Even if later means ‘years from now’ or ‘never’.

BOO FUCKING YAH, IT’S THE WHITE QUEEN Or Windswept Questant, for now She’s also as of yet uncorrupted by the kids’ silly sprite shenanigans

Lobac had been waiting for this reveal for a while, I think.

PM: Command John to put the carved tablet into a pyxis.

You follow the command telling you to command John to put the carved tablet in the pyxis and type, “John, put the carved tablet into the pyxis.” You successfully do that, and he successfully does that too. Everyone is friendly and cooperative.

Ah yes, you so rarely get this kind of friendly cooperation from narrators these days

It was a rather uncommonly tidy sequence, for this comic.

Shit I just remembered those typing hands we saw when trying to name Jack, the reader is like a physically present entity??? Maybe???

What prompted this thought? The earlier black queen hand image hanging in your head, then a bit about narrators entering text, and that old bit just pops up? It’s cool how brains work, making intuitive connections and all that.

What if we eventually zoom out to reveal a human exile commanding everyone. We’ve only been watching that human mess around up until now. The real story begins when they just suddenly go “whelp that was kinda fun. gotta look for food tho” at an incredibly dramatic moment.They turn away from the console. And then we watch them slump through the desert for thousands of pages and their journey of introspective self-discovery is the actual story. Yes.

Shit, Lobac just predicted the whole narrative! No point in continuing this liveblog, I guess. “[#P%]t

Well, obviously this means that WV has an uncanny knack for distances and PM has one for sounds AR can probably track down crimes by their scent He’s like McGruff the Crime Dog, but a little less fluffy

I used to love McGruff the Crime Dog. Until I grew up and realized he was a tool of THE MAN.

dear gOD SHE REALLY IS PUTTING JACK IN DRESSES (*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ He and Slick are basically the same person, right? Oh man he is gonna stab the shit out of her one of these days

~{%|%}~

Jack Noir, more like JACK NO. NO YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE OUT THERE MURDERING PEOPLE AND FROLICKING THROUGH THE STREETS WITH YOUR ASSHOLE CREW. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS IS PATHETIC o(`д´ ｡)

I’d say this is a “be careful what you wish for” moment, but I think Lobac knew exactly what she was doing here.

Ticket? Oh, this thing. Ha, ha, look at that, you are holding a ticket. How did that get in your hand? It belongs on the desk with the others. No, you are not here to pay a parking ticket. You explain to the frightening man that you are here to pick up that green parcel.

GIVE ME A C! GIVE ME A U! GIVE ME A T AND I AND E! sheeEEEE’S A CUTIE!!!!

Honestly, they’re all cuties. the cuteness of the entire cast, even the villains mostly, in both visual depiction and personality, really is a big selling point of the whole comic.

There was a time when I wasn’t super into cute things. I was never viscerally opposed to cuteness, never when through a virulently anti-girly-stuff phase, but these days I’m MUCH more into things being cute. I just like cute characters! Sure, I like things that are somber and spooky, but the best is when they’re somber and spooky AND super cute!

Like, Hollow Knight. That whole game is like exactly my favorite aesthetic these days. Sad and morose and dark and adorable.

But more often than not homestuck still comes pretty close to that ideal. You just want to hug the shit out of all of these doofuses, a few stab wounds here or there be damned. Speaking of stab wounds...

WHOOPS TENSION. THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT. I DO NOT ACTUALLY WANT YOU TO START KILLING PEOPLE OK

Maybe Lobac didn’t know what she was asking for earlier.

Wait, the crowns, what the fuck, he wants her to KILL THE KING AND QUEEN??? SHE’S JUST A MAIL LADY ヾ(´･-･｀)ノ”

How does he even know she’s desperate enough to kill people just to get one package?

The PARCEL MISTRESS departs with her mission of double agency. You wonder if she’ll actually be so foolish as to attempt to uphold her end of the lopsided bargain. You make a policy of handing out a REGISWORD and a HITLIST to just about everyone who enters your office. But you never think anyone’s actually going to GO THROUGH with it.

What a phenomenal asshole That explains that

pretty much. As for the box itself...

Yeeeeah you’re not actually gonna show me so, go ahead, taunt me, get it over with

PFFFFPFPFPFPFFF WHAT SOMETHING COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS APPARENTLY? NOT AS RIDICULOUS AS HIS FACE THO. Magnificent asshole cutie

Hahah, \[&P%]/

Anyway, at this point the action cuts back to the kids, and that seems a good a time as any to take a break. I could just save this as a draft and finish the rest of lobac’s post later? I mean, then I wouldn’t have to take extra time for another panel edit? But I kind of want to post something now, so I guess well do this one in parts again. part 2 scheduled for, let’s be ambitious and say may 2022

How did I ever use to have the time for this blogging shit? I’ve been working on this for like six hours, and only got like a third of the way through one update? I guess I was just younger then.

I’m so old now. Time just gets away from me.

And my back hurts all the time.

#homestuck #homestuck liveblog #homestuck liveblog liveblog #lobac #chaos chaos #i can do anything #apparently tumblr mobile displays #this neatly and cleanly formatted post #as a nightmare mishmash of different font sizes #and text styles #with no particular marcation for quotes #oh well #if you're 'reading' this on mible #i'm sorry #it looks fine on desktop I promise you

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seenashwrite · 6 years ago

Text

(see HERE for part one of answer)

Ah, mass appeal, that oft elusive lil' stinker. How to get it is one of those age-old questions for us creator-types. We want it, for personal reasons, for perhaps monetary reasons, and determining what constitutes it and how to tap into it and even if we should try to tap into it are all pickles.

No, not that type, those are fabulous. I mean sticky situations. The non-tempuraish bliss with delusion of "Hey, I'm doing great on my diet, 'cause it's a vegetable!" kind.

Spoiler Alert: I'm not going to tell you not to compare yourself to other people, of course you are, and in many ways this is a good thing, it's called having an ideal to which to aspire, except it shouldn't be rooted in popularity, the admiration should be for their work. . . . Thanks for your question!

I'm kidding, Dean, and you damn well know it. Bite me. And fetch me a whiskey. And some Death pickles. I got talkin’ to do.

Part Two: Water Chumming & How That Shark May Bite Your Ass, So Here’s A Bunch Of Other Stuff That Can Be Done From The Safety Of The Shore

C/P for convenience:

Is it worth trying to please the masses when we can't please ourselves? Am I poking the bear?

Let us recap from Part One:

We talked about how to get from a feeling of ineptitude to - at first - just mild trepidation when it comes time to hit "publish", and started delving into "but how to get there?" so that the path can lead on to an actual measure of confidence, which brings us to the second part of your question up there - which is, I find, a completely normal thought, stemming from exasperation, when it feels like you're surrounded by a ton of people who are having ungodly amounts of success, and it seems like the biggest mystery in the world. So it's natural to wonder: should I follow their lead? Try to do what they're doing?

Maybe - let's unpack that, dig into what that would entail, the pros-and-cons, what some alternatives may be.

Near the end of Pt. 1, we talked about not understanding why some stories/writers gain traction, while others don't, specifically regarding the quality of their stories. As facetious and jokey and snotty and funny as I made that "rant", and said how you could always use the SSDTs [Same Shit, Different Title] stories as a "How Not To Do It" guide, I also mentioned how they must be doing something right - and they are, the metrics we've got (hearts, notes, feedback, asks r/t stories, followers, reblogs) bear it out. It's right there. There's nothing to interpret. It's there. It's fact.

Not to mention, as much as I've tried to drill down on objective parameters for my rec list, to try and smoosh down subjectivity, both on my part and on the part of people who rec to me, there's still a pretty substantial margin of subjectivity. There just is - a story could be ridiculous in plot, could be littered with reprehensible grammar, could poorly represent Sam/Dean/etc., could have a shallow Y/N. Yet if something within the story, no matter how oblique, speaks to the heart of a reader? In the immortal words of Private Hudson:

Game. Over. They’re in. Case closed.

I also mentioned that little number in the corner, that overall snapshot of how much action a given story/that writer accumulated and pondered - does it indicate how great the story is? Also known as: Does that mean their story/their writing is better than mine?

Well. No. Not necessarily. I suspect that - and this would take a huge data mining mission on every single one of a given writer's high count stories to know - in part, some of the number represents a manifestation of a cult following. I'll save you the trouble of clicking the link:

"A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a work of culture. A film, book, musical artist, television series or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fanbase. A common component of cult followings is the emotional attachment the fans have to the object of the cult following, often identifying themselves and other fans as members of a community. Cult followings are also commonly associated with niche markets."

I've no idea why "musical artist" was the only human example they threw in there, because in my experience/observation over **cough** decades of life on the planet, I see cult followings for humans more than stuff, and public figures of other areas beyond music (actors, politics, etc.) just as much. There are men-I MEAN-people who will never be socially ostracized no matter how inappropriately they behave, no matter the amount of evidence, doesn't matter - their following will absolutely make preserving the (fake) image that person cultivated their hill to die on.

But we're getting negative, and where I'm going with "cult status" in our context isn't negative. The "cult" mentality aspect to which I refer is about loyalty of followers (specifically reader-followers) in general, and then further, the loyalty of that subset of reader-followers who were early readers. They adored "x" number of that writer's stories in the past, and even if the quality of newer stories has declined, they are still gonna hit that heart and reblog it and say it was great. Do they actually believe it? Some of them, to be sure. Do some of them have on cult following rose-colored glasses? Friggin' of course.

Like I said above the cut - I'm not going to tell you not to compare yourself to other people, of course you are, and in many ways this is a good thing, it's called having an ideal to which to aspire, except it shouldn't be rooted in popularity, the admiration should be for their work. But there's admiration owed to these writers for maintaining their follower base, regardless of whether those follower-readers aren't in the admiring-for-the-work mode. So while you can't admire them for their stories, because you think they blow, there is an ideal, a definite modelling to consider: what are some of these writers who are getting huge numbers doing to maintain what popularity they've accrued?

Let's pause here for a recap of what we know for sure:

1. You won't know if telling stories is legit in your wheelhouse or not until you start getting some feedback from readers, which is going to help get you out of Ineptitudeville;

2. Ideally, this would begin with an honest, straightforward editor who knows how to give constructive critique --> in the meantime, use The Nail's guiding standards to serve as an at-home editor til you feel ready to find such an editor;

3. You can't get feedback for your supplemental self-editing documents of "nailed it" and "Achilles' heels" unless you put yourself out there (which, hopefully chipping away at #1 will get you over the ineptitude hump and into a healthy trepidation territory so you can do);

4. There's potential modelling to be done by observing what the "popular" writers are doing outside of their stories to accrue/maintain followers, and trying to see what their loyal reader-followers see in stories you don't find very good.

Again - assuming you've gotten comfy enough to just feel a normal nervousness vs. ineptitude, it's on to getting an audience. So, what could it be? That these mega-number generators are doing? I think it's two things:

(A) They have broad exposure that brings others into the fold (B) There's more at work than just stories

But Nash, are you not paying attention? I don't have exposure, they've got a bazillionty followers - you may say.

Then let's get you some exposure that has nothing to do with follower counts, nothing *inherently* due to the potentially not-so-robust nature of your stories at present, things that just might get you more followers, hopefully turning a chunk of them into reader-followers somewhere along the way.

(A) Exposure that doesn't require "popularity":

1. SPN Fanfic Pond ---> 24/7/365 - join it and submit your stories - never know who'll see it - guaranteed reblog

2. SPN Hiatus Creations ---> specific dates - I don't think many people know that they include fics, since they mostly get submissions of art - weekly topics to choose from - join in, submit your stories - the folks behind it most always put a little comment in their tags, so be on lookout for your feedback doc - guaranteed reblog

3. SPN Family Birthdays ---> 24/7/365 - their kindness gets your name "out there" to more people, both the mods behind-the-scenes, as well as that blog's followers - guaranteed exposure - *mandatory* to reblog this with a thank you and at least one point of feedback about it to whomever created that birthday wish for you

4. Bingos: SPN Genre Bingo - SPN Fluff Bingo - SPN Kink Bingo - SPN Angst Bingo ---> specific dates - variety of topics - guaranteed reblog - good/decent potential reblog from others via their followers and those who follow the tags

5. Challenges from individuals ---> sporadic dates - variety of topics - follow people who you see hosting them, if they've hosted one they'll likely host more - hosts will typically reblog each fic (good chance with a touch of feedback), and/or put your "@" and link to your fic onto a master post - more popular the blog/higher follower count, the more exposure, so high reblog/new reader potential

6. Seasonal Celebrations ---> specific dates - Secret Valentines, secret Santas, etc. - do it and you're also probably making a friend, maybe gaining a new follower, maybe their followers will come visit your place because your assigned person reblogs what you did for them - moderate-to-high potential for reblog *

(*Should be a guarantee but some people are dicks; my Valentine didn't ever send me shit this year, not even an apology through the organizer, but you know what? I don't care. Legit. I made a friend through it, and really enjoyed making what I did for them.)

7. “Bangs” ---> sporadic dates - a.k.a. Mini-bangs / Big-bangs - focused on a topic/character - guaranteed reblog

8. Appreciation Days ---> specific dates - Angst, Smut, Fluff appreciation days - you can even submit already written fics/don't necessarily have to whip out something new - specific tags can draw readers - good/decent potential for reblogs

9. Prompts ---> 24/7/365 - imagines, those generic prompt blogs - follow some, keep an eye out for the interesting ones - challenge yourself to crank out one a week, short little 500-ish word blurbs - reblogs, maybe, who cares, this is serving to get you out of the funk and get used to posting your work; it's practice, and if it gets love, then great, if not, you still got stuff to put on a master post - and make a master post and get it in your profile so it's easily find-a-ble

10. Outside of Tumblr * ---> 24/7/365 - Fanfic.net and AO3 - join and put fic there and put your links somewhere on your blog - both have stats - both give opportunity for people to comment and to share direct links to their blogs, which is how this connects to the goal of visibility in the SPN fandom here - also a way to self-reblog your story in a “fresh” way/cuts down on repetition popping up on your followers’ dashes (i.e. - helps cushion the ol’ “Oh they’re posting this again?!” feeling)

[* Note: many of us have great distaste for Wattpad because it is a breeding ground for thieves - people will c/p stories from here and present them as their own, some trying to excuse it by “giving credit” in a blanket manner a la “found at Tumblr” or listing the “@” of the writer. The problem is, Wattpad’s method of reporting leaves much to be desired - like Instagram, they only seem to be interested if a published author takes issue. The only real way to call out these thieves is via an immense amount of pressure from the SPN Family commenting directly at their Wattpad page. My point? Your choice, but if you do join up and post there, proceed with caution.]

(B) The stuff that's more than just writing:

1. Reblog interesting things that show who you are - fan art is a great start - shows your tastes and what you like - when feeling confident, host a challenge, as what you choose for the framework (one of mine, for instance, was using lines of dialogue from Archer) will also reflect what you like, what you're into - tag people you're friendly with and say something like "Even if you're not interesting in joining, signal boost, please??? [cute emoticon]"

2. Narrow down focus - if you're multi-fandom, drill down on your favorite - start by building up a solid following in that one fandom - keep a ratio of about 80% primary fandom, 20% to cover the others/personal/non-fandom stuff - use a "Not [fandom]" tag for that 20% so your followers can choose to opt-out - or if you can't manage this, do a side blog or two

3. Set your queue to pop stuff out (at minimum) 2 or 3 times/day - stuff it - start with CanonSPNgifs - keep your blog active - unless something you want to reblog is time-sensitive, chuck it to the queue - a wall of posts from the same person on the dash is off-putting - same for constant reblogs of your own stuff*

(* Which you should do, yes, but have an understanding of time zones, will ya? I swear some people are re-blogging for myriad time zones in Oz and Narnia, as well, I've no idea... I've digressed)

4. Send Asks to people like the "spread the love" stuff - if they post "Ask Me" things, send them one - reblog the answered ask and say what you think about their answer/at minimum say "thanks, this was great" - reblog those ask games posts for your followers so they ask you questions - get engaged

5. Respond to a good portion of the comments people leave for you, whether feedback or just funny things they said - specifically, feedback with reblog deserves reply of thank you, whether in the notes or a fresh post; see my blog for copious examples - make a post that says your tags are open/offer to tag folks - anytime your follower count jumps by, say, 5, reblog it - make an OMG!-type post every time your follower count increases by, say, 10 - you’re telling them you actually give a shit that they follow

6. Keep an eye out for folks (especially those who make rec lists, so always check out rec lists for who did it when you spot them) who have said it's okay to tag them - always tag them, even if they seldom reply/reblog/feature you on their list, as you never know

7. When you read stories by other writers that you love, reblog them *with some feedback* - do unto others, etc., etc. This is in huge headline size for a reason. Take the hint.

ETA - I chimed in and gave some tips since I composed this post, and it may be helpful for you/for people who are shy or intimidated or just not particularly comfortable verbalizing feelings.

...and here’s what I suggested:

If you want to get specific, say what your favorite thing/things is/are; in my mind that could go something like this:

I felt like I was right there with them in the ____ [setting]

I felt like I was right there during ____ [part of the plot]

I felt like I was watching an episode of the show

I could relate so much to ____ [character]

My favorite line(s) was/were ____

___ [character(s)] sounded just like they do on the show

___ [character(s)] acted just like they do on the show

And there’s also more generic things, such as:

This story really touched me, I needed something heartwarming!

This story cracked me up, I needed a good laugh!

This story made me smile, I needed some cheering up!

This story got me crying, I needed a good cry!

This story was really creative, I needed a change of pace!

And if you want to keep it really simple? This can apply to any story:

I enjoyed this more than I can say, thank you so much for writing it

Is full-on blind cult following an "ehhhh" thing? Yeah. But the basis of it, the true, legit loyalty part of it, is wonderful. You want that. The more readers know you, the more they'll feel comfortable interacting with you, and the greater their comfort, the more likely they'll give you feedback and, eventually, some constructive critique*

(*You gotta make it clear you're fine with critique, though, and don't dare say it if you're just gonna pitch a fit when you get some, however poorly phrased the critique may be; but that's another topic, for another day).

Great, Nash, you still haven't answered my question about pleasing the masses - you may say.

The answer is: that's a call you gotta make for yourself. To hopefully help, I'll tell you two stories about chumming the waters with (what seems to be) the standard wares that get a ton of followers/reader-followers.

Interestingly, I *just* this past week or so had a great discussion with someone (who I won't reveal, of course, because it was PM) on this very topic. You'd recognize their name, if not follow them/have read their stuff, they've got a healthy fanbase, etc., etc., etc. all that jazz. It would surprise you, is my point, to know that they've been pondering on their writing - specifically, the genre in which they feel entrenched. They accrued their popularity (I hate that word, but can't think of a better one) in a certain, ah, niche. You know the holy trifecta: angst, fluff, smut. One of those.

(I am not going to go down the road of how much I loathe the limitations of those, I know myself, this will turn trash fire and neglect you. But they are the cards we've been dealt, there's nothing to be done to change it, we must play our hands. #flames on the side of my face #haaaate #I'm done)

Anyway, they've sat here "x" year/years later and looked back at their pre-SPN fanfic foray (read: how they used to write/what they used to write), and are like - Where'd my voice go? Where'd my style go? Can I get it back? Sure I can get it back, but if I start being "me", what will my reader base do with that? Will they stick around and support me? Will they bail? etc., etc., etc. You get the idea. Reasonable thoughts, all.

I tell you this next bit because while what is going on with above writer is on the side of Got A Wide Reach, like I said in Pt. 1, I am presently on the other side, the Modest-in-Number, Large-in-Loyalty reader collective. And I *have* chummed the waters, though not entirely purposefully. And it didn't work... well, hasn't, I can't predict the future, could blow up tomorrow, but not likely. I suspect I know why. We'll get to that.

I say not entirely purposefully because I stumbled into Fluff and Smut, one of each. (There is a second fluff, but that doesn't count because it was tailored to a very specific person who gave very specific things to include for a Valentine swap thing.) The fluff was via a thing I did, and my dear friend nailed it, gave me three cringy words that were meant to hit the fluff bullseye, and I doubled down. You can see that here, should you care.

People fucking lost their shit. I repackaged it into its own post in case folks didn't like the snark in the one linked above/would rather reblog sans snark. People lost their shit, part deux. Flattering as hell. I appreciated it immensely, truly.

On the smut*, I lost a bet (I can't even recall what it was, maybe I mentioned it somewhere) with the friend that drew me into SPN because they were (are? yeah, still are) frustrated with the show and I needed a writing exercise and I had (at the start time) eleven years of source material, so hells yeah I said yes. The bet was for smut, and I said - Fine, but I can't not plot. Great, was the answer, but I had to typical it up, this was a punishment, after all. And typical, for me, means so much detail that it made brain cry. Copious detail works my nerves. Copious pondering works my nerves. Any one thing that’s too much will Work. My. Nerves. And I wrote it (it's five parts now, but part one and two was the orig piece and ended open), and said to friend "This won't get shit response" - "You wanna bet?" - me, the idiot: "Yup" - "If it does, you have to finish it out".

(*no link because I don’t know your age, and it’s set to sensitive)

People fucking lost their shit. On FF.net and AO3, that is. Not the numbers some people get, but holy hell. Hence, parts 3 through 5. Far as here, not so much the hit. But the people here who've liked it have REALLY liked it, so there's that, and it's flattering as hell, and I appreciate it immensely, truly.

And yet at the end of the day, hey guess what, say it with me now:

Now, for all my pseudo-fussing, I was cool with doing it, because at heart I'm wired to think about marketing, and I thought - Oooooh. This will bring people to the goods, the stuff I'm *really* proud of, and then and then and then....

Nope. Some yes, mostly nope. Most of my loyal roundtable were brought into the Nashooligan fold by other stories.

Here's why I think writer above got on the other side of the coin and I'm riding the edge - they went down the rabbit hole on a few, got mega results, and it fills the confidence tank, and why not wash-rinse-repeat? Humans are wired that way, we don't do things that we don't get something out of, it's normal. Thing is, they - as they see it - got lost a bit along the way. It worked, though, that squashing of their voice - "worked" in the sense that it drew the masses. Some people would be completely okay with this, would find it a reasonable trade-off; this writer isn't presently thinking so.

And back to me - I think the reason my smut and fluff didn't hit the stratosphere and draw in the masses (ergo, little motivation to do more) is because my style is still in there. The snark, the focus on accurate characterization, and like I say, I can't not plot. I didn't pullout the recipe, same ol' ingredients, mix up some standard shmoop/standard porn, flop it in the cupcake paper, bake it, then smear a thin layer of canned frosting - flavor: "Meh Plot" - around it. I made that junk from scratch, like I do all my other stories, and while I did use some of the same ingredients, I didn't go all-in. Notably, my evergreen stance that Y/N can die in a fire, ceiling optional, I ain't doing it.

I am not going to insist you read either of them, I'm just gonna ask you to trust me on this: I read quite a bit, and I've yet to see the ingredients of Reader Mommy Married To Dean Have A Baby Sam Has Dogs scenario mixed together like mine, and I've yet to see a Reader Insert Smut With Dean Smut With Sam Inferred Happy Ever After With Dean mixed together like mine.

Which, like I say, is what I suspect is probs the issue. I didn't get as far down the proverbial hole as my writer friend in terms of Typical'ing Up my stories. Could I un-ring that bell? Better put: could I start ringing bells? And I mean weekly, if not twice a week, quickie ones, throw in a lengthy once a month? Crank out the recipes? Plenty of templates to work from, after all. It would be hard for me in the sense of voice-squashing, but could be done.

So if I had to give you a vote on whether chumming the waters is a strategy to take, given those potential pros-and-cons, here's why I vote "no", both for myself, and for you, and others contemplating such.

It's partly that cautionary tale of my writer friend (and there's gotta be more feeling like her, there's just got to be), and mostly it's because of three writers I can think of off the top of my head. They're all quite talented, they consistently turn out solid, creative pieces that can be differentiated from the rest of the fodder floating around, and all three have substantial reader and/or follower bases. One has less than the other two, but nothing to sneeze at. The second - another person I've had great PMs with on the topic of wide appeal - attributes part of their success numbers-wise to specializing not in a niche genre, but due to specialty in a subset of the fandom (a specific, very popular 'ship).

The third, who has a *massive* reader and follower base, I can't get my head wrapped around, and I don't mean that in the sense of not understanding why people adore them, they deserve every bit of it. We'd have to dig deep into years of works and chart out the numbers (likes and reblogs and comments and followers - again, the only metrics we got) to see if there's a tipping point, but there's no magic bullet, so likely there'd be nothing in that data - or data from any highly successful writer around here - that's gonna reveal some secret. And this is the only writer I can think of that I'd really love to know a tipping point on, because: reason I can't get my head around it is because they don't do typical, ain't even in the ballpark of typical. Now, they do inject smut into much of their work, but plenty of other times it's just inferred. Consistently cheeky, if not snarky, if not balls-out-gut-bust funny. Consistently original, creative plots, even when it starts out purposefully trope-y, there's gonna be a slant on their take. I may not personally like everything they put out, I'm not saying they're perfect, but if we're trying to keep it objective vs. subjective, applied to The Nail framework? They're nailing it easily 80-90% of the time. I've actually got a soft moratorium on them, between stuff I find and noms I get on their stuff, I only include them sporadically on the list or else they'd be everywhere.

That gives me hope. Not-a-one of those three are cranking out stuff religiously on some frequent schedule, they write when the muse hits. Not-a-one of those three are following recipes. Not-a-one of those three are blanketing their voice.

And this goes back to the very first thing you said, about pleasing others when we can't please ourselves. Part of the reason you're not pleased is because on whatever level, your stuff isn't grabbing an audience, however big or small. I know it, because I've been there, as I've told you. The biggest part, though? It's because you know you can do better. Maybe you're cranking it out too fast. Maybe you're not fleshing out a character enough. Maybe you wished you'd taken another run at the plot before you published. I don't know, truly. But you're not digging the end result somehow. When you get there? To legit confidence? You're not going to care as much about pleasing others, you just won't. And that confidence is going to show in how you interact with others, little notes you make on gif sets when you reblog, things you say when you feedback others, all that stuff I said above.

People are attracted to confidence. It may intimidate them at first, they may linger on the periphery, but then once they see it's not arrogance or something, they'll be bees circling closer to the honey, because it... it... how to put... it rubs off. A kind've What Would "x" Do kind've thing. And most people will always welcome having more confidence, I mean, the real genuine confidence. We choose who are friends are - to be cheesy - not just because of who they are, but because of who we are when we’re with them. I think the younger we are, we get the wires crossed of "nastiness" and "straightforward". It's the difference between those folks, for instance, who snap and go all "You cum dumpster!" on Anons who word things poorly (I don't mean the ones who are vitriolic, I mean the ones who use less-than-elegant phrasing), vs. the folks who plainly reply something to the effect of "That's certainly something to consider. Thank you for your input". That they can’t discern the difference between a person dishing out hate - actual hate - and a misstep in phrasing speaks a lot to their confidence, that they’re taking a complete stranger’s words as such a personal affront.

I say all that to say: it's not about just the stories; the stories are a piece of a bigger puzzle. Personally, when I see folks being nasty in that manner? My knee-jerk thought is - They are so quick to lash out and write that stuff, and are so careless with their words, I bet their story-writing follows suit. And guess what? I have been 99.9% correct thus far. There's no OOMPHs in their stories: there's no brain-chewy, no heart-grabbing, no snort-giggles, no soul-touching. It's as typical as that comeback. It's lazy. It's easy. It's eye-rolling. It's expected.

Put another way: their lack of confidence in general is what is infesting other areas, in this instance, their stories. I wonder if - since you said “anything I’ve ever created” - that even if it was a slip-of-the-tongue, it may’ve been a meaningful one. If it’s the case, that there are other areas of life where you feel less-than-ideally-confident (a.k.a. - inept), I think you’re smart to start in this area, with fanfic, because as illustrated there’s lots you can do that’s in your control, that’s not dependent completely on others, and probably have some fun along the way, getting to know folks, getting encouragement, seeing your stuff get circulated, etc.

Do you keep a tiny notepad on you? Do that. Grab one from a dollar bin at Target or get you a Moleskine if you're feeling fancy, doesn't matter, but keep it on you, purse, backpack, jacket, wherever. I don't want you doing what I'm about to say on the notes in your phone, not yet. I want you to physically jot down by hand a word or two or five or whatever, about things you see/encounter, turns-of-phrase you hear, mannerisms you note in others - all that stuff - things that do please you. Those OOMPHs. And now you have some inspirational story points ready to go. Even if you aren’t able/feeling up to doing that other stuff above? This is an easy, small place to start.

Bottom line: this isn't happenstance.

It's not happenstance for the subpar writers, and it's not happenstance for the exceptional ones. This is work. Getting confidence is work. Style is a great deal inherent, true, but it can - and should be - honed, and will likely evolve in subtle ways as time goes on. Confidence and proficiency in a skill (like writing) are not automatic "things" that come with age, not even necessarily with experience. Dig in. Take some of the actions listed above. Start with the least stressful to you, then pick away at 'em as you get comfortable. If you're already doing some of those? Then, start again fresh mentally, as if you just today started doing them. Bump up your effort. Push yourself. See what happens. Get confident in the little things, and it will start to add up, overflow into the empty places.

Look at the pickle you’re in presently as an opportunity to alter your current methodology - I mean, we know whatever you’ve been doing isn’t working for you, right? So it can’t hurt. Batter it and deep fry it, tweaking the recipe as needed; it’s still you, but you’ve applied a well-thought-out, well-crafted extra tastiness to it. There’s people out there who will love it, and they’ll turn up.

See? 😉

#Dear Nash #NONNERS #Not Tyler Durden #I swear #Writing Tips #Writing Advice #Queueby Dooby Doo #Dad's on a blog post and #he hasn't been queued in a few days

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kayliemusing · 3 years ago

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1. Do you bite or lick ice cream? - Lick

2. What is home to you? - Cozy, safe, a place I always miss when I'm gone

3. What was the last lie you told? - My work asked me if I wanted to pick up a shift on a specific day and I said I had plans oops

4. Does everyone deserve the truth? - I think it depends on the situation. Generally, yes, but I think that sometimes we lie to people or don't tell an entire truth because we don't want to hurt someone or make something worse or hard on someone; we protect them. So I feel like if the truth is going to hurt them worse or not do any good, keep it to yourself. You don't have to lie outrageously, plus I think these kinds of lies aren't really "bad". They're coming from a place of love sometimes and quite literally wanting to shelter someone.

5. What is the creepiest toy ever made? - Furbies!!!!

6. Describe a moment in which you did something unacceptable in a bad situation. - I don't know if I'd call it "unacceptable" or a "bad situation" lol but one time my manager was really getting on my nerves and I rolled my eyes at her. We had a talk later, but yeah, that's really it. I'm not too crazy with the things I do lol. The most you get from me is a bit of an attitude (but only if I'm at my wits end!)

7. List two things that are more easily done than said. (No, I didn't mix them up.) - tbh I can't think of two but the first one that came to mind for me is showing someone you love them (taking care of them, spontaneously buying them something, giving them the last slice of pizza, listening to them chatter excitedly about something their passionate about, etc) because I think it's easier to subtly show little acts of love than to full on say "I love you/I'm in love with you" (especially if we fear rejection).

8. When was the last time you worked really hard to achieve something? - This week actually. I started a creating writing course and it's really motivated me to get my writing done so I completed an assignment as well as I have been vigorously stripping back my story idea and figuring out the main beats. It's the most productive writing-wise I've been in a while I think.

9. How many all nighters have you pulled? - Not too many. My all-nighters haven't been deliberate since a middle school sleepover, they generally happen now if I'm reading a book I can't put down lol

10. If humans didn't evolve to laugh or smile, how would we express our happiness instead? - Gestures, body language or words most likely.

11. How many romantic "things" or "flings" have you had? - Zero (wah wah wah wahhhh sad trombone)

12. What is your paradise? - I have a few!! I think there's a few lol. I'll give you one. My paradise would probably be a cozy december night, christmas only a few days away, I'm writing something I'm super into while sipping a cup of hot chocolate and I'm wearing a beautiful sweater and red lipstick. Anything cozy is my paradise really. (also in this dreamy-paradise I'm making (good) money off of my own writing so I don't have to work a minimum wage job anymore)

13. What is your favorite background noise? (Ex. Water dripping, people talking.) - I love the sound of rain hitting the car or going down a rain gutter. I also love the sound of birds chirping.

14. How many hearts do you think you have broken? - 1

15. What is the most important thing about electronics? What does this say about you? - I think it's good that we have something small and convenient like cellphones to get a hold of people or to call for help if we ever need it. Like I can't imagine being in the past when something serious was happening and they didn't have anyone to call for help.

16. Why do people care about celebrities? Do you care about celebrities? - I think people like the escape that celebrities bring, whether it's to live vicariously through them or to make fun of them lol. The only celebrity I really care about is Taylor Swift. I don't really know much else about any other celebrity.

17. What is the most annoying thing someone can do to you? - Embarrass me or make me feel stupid or undervalued.

18. Do you overexaggerate? What are the pros and cons of this? - I do sometimes, but not excessively. I do more so as a kid. Pro: it makes stories better. Con: you're kinda lying lol

19. Have you played any instruments before? Which instruments? - I tried to learn the guitar but it didn't work out lmao

20. Do you like taking selfies? Why or why not? - I used to. I'm not totally opposed to selfies, but I find that pictures of any kind make me feel worse about myself so I just quit doing it. If my makeup is really nice that day I'll take one and it'll be fine, but generally I just don't like to.

21. List 3 things you like about yourself? - My attention to detail - My deep seated kindness - I'm strong-willed so my beliefs and values never move

22. What is the best advice someone has ever given you? - Taylor Swift baby. "You are not the opinion of someone who doesn't know you or care about you" but I still have yet to let it sink in truly bc I still care oops. Also, writing advice: "Show, Don't Tell" this advice can literally save a writers life.

23. Do you have what it takes to raise a child? Why or why not? - I think I could raise a child, but I don't think I'm ready to. a) I don't have a person to raise a kid with me, b) I think I still have a lot of growing up to do and that's very important when it comes to having a kid.

24. How do you cheer yourself up after a bad day? - i cry, binge, feel sorry for myself, play some TS, and repeat.

25. When was the last time you felt awkward? - I feel awkward about everything. I felt super awkward at the grocery store yesterday bc there were these teenagers at the store in this huge pack and I had to try to get by them but they kept getting in my way and I felt so awks but also annoyed and angry bc I was trying to get stuff done.

26. Are you introverted or extroverted? Or a mixture of both? - Introverted

27. What constitutes a good friend? - Someone who is loyal, a good-listened, has your back, and defends you to the bone. Something that's always bothered me in friendships I've had is not feeling like my friend was on my side. For example, my sister's best friend always makes me laugh because when my sister is wronged by someone, her friend will immediately take her side and defend her to the ends of the earth. I've always hated if someone hurt me that my friend would remain friends with someone who hurt me or was mean to me. (I know as adults it can be a little different and I think it depends on the circumstance, but I just really value that loyalty of having a friend who would just go to the ends of the earth for you).

28. Would you rather have a lot of friends to hang out with or just one best friend? - One best friend.

29. In a regular day, what do you not want to hear? - my managers talking to me

30. What is your dream job? - Best-selling/successful author

31. Is it better to be lazy but smart or hardworking but unintelligent? -Hardworking but intelligent. Being hardworking I think says more to your character. Intelligence isn't the only interesting thing about you and it only takes you so far.

32. What is a truth about yourself that others find hard to believe? - I think probably that I struggle with my self worth because I preach a lot on self love and I'm definitely not a person to settle for less, but I really struggle to love myself or to feel worthy of love. Or that I'm not confident like people think, because I've always gotten that as a compliment, that I'm confident but I never ever feel confident and always feel like I'm less than.

33. What have you always wondered about the other gender? - why

34. Which fantasy world would you like to visit the most? - Not gonna lie, the Court of Thorns and Roses universe so I could see what Velaris looks like. Or Narnia!

35. Describe the worst friend you have ever befriended. - I had a friend in the fifth grade who was obsessed with beauty and being thin so she used to tell me I was fat all the time and when I would go to her house to "hang out" she would make me weigh myself and exercise. Probably the reason I have a low key eating disorder.

36. Imagine that you have switched bodies with someone you don't know. You can't switch back. What do you do? - I don't even know. I feel like I'd just be confused and then I'd probably have a panic attack.

37. If you found the recipe for immortality, would you sell it or would you burn it? - Burn it because someone bad is gonna get their hands on it I just know it

38. What is the most important, applicable class you have ever taken? - I haven't really taken many classes so far except for creative writing but I wouldn't call it "the most important" but it's definitely really bene benefiting me and my writing!

39. Name the last book you read. - I read Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover and it was a waste of ten dollars

40. Imagine that you are unable to express emotion. How would this affect your world? - I feel like it would call for a lot of hurt feelings, but there's other ways to express emotions through gestures and words. I'm a writer so I feel like that's how I would express it to people if I was unable to do it any other way. However if I was unable to express it through words, I'd be in big trouble bc that's kind of a writer's M.O.

41. When was the last time you made the first move? - Neveerrr

42. What is your opinion on electronic music such as dubstep or trap? - h a t e. it's racket, i'm sorry. however they CAN sometimes add something different to a song and make it more fun or different or just pull out a different vibe which I think is cool. I can't listen tho if it's ONLY electronic sounds. it just wears me down until i feel like stabbing my ears with pins.

43. What was the last movie you watched? - Not gonna lie I think it was Halloweentown High a couple weeks ago.

44. Do you like and appreciate your life? - I'm trying to be present and grateful for my life because overall, I feel like there have been this little blessings along the way. I had a good childhood, I had a great dad and I have a wonderful mom, I went to school, I graduated, I've met incredible people, I have a good job that pays well. But I'm still a little unhappy because it doesn't fully look the way I want it to. I'm not totally satisfied yet. So I don't think I fully like it, but I'm trying to.

45. Do you like and appreciate yourself? - No, that's something I really have a hard time accepting.

46. When was the last time you cried? - Yesterday but only got a little teary and I think it was over a tiktok lol. I think I cried a full cry last week but I don't even remember why. It was late at night. I was probably tired.

47. What are you scared of? - Spiders, loss, failure. the fun stuff.

48. What is the most embarrassing, cringe-worthy thing you have ever done? - i can't talk about it

49. What are some of your hobbies? - Reading, writing (obviously), listening to taylor swift music, making lists, scrolling through pinterest/tumblr/instagram, watching youtube.

50. What is a superficial yet annoying mistake you constantly make? - I can't spell occasion or occurrence without autocorrect. Idk if that's superficial or annoying to you but it's annoying to me.

51. Are you a good friend? What makes you a good friend? If not, what makes you a bad friend? - I try to be a good friend but I think there are many areas where I can improve. I think I'm a good friend because I'm deeply loyal and I love deeply. But I think I can be a better listener, less controlling (especially when it comes to things I think they should do vs what they actually do), and I'm really bad at making plans with people.

52. Do you honestly learn from your mistakes? - Yes

53. What have you learned the hard way? - That life is fragile and quick and it's not fair

54. What is the most important thing to have in order to attain happiness? - Contentment

55. Which medium do you use for expressing your artistic emotions? (Singing, writing, etc.) - Writing

56. Are you a creative or a logical thinker? - Creative

57. What is the smartest thing you have ever done? - choosing to stan taylor swift

58. What is your ideal meal? - Just give me a cheeseburger, large free and medium fruitopia from mcdonalds, i'll pretend not to have ibs, and we'll call it a day

59. What is the worst thing someone could do on a date? - talk about their ex or be rude to the wait staff if we're at a restaurant. those would be deal breakers for me.

60. Do you like animals? Which kind is your favorite? - I love hippos, cats, doggos, otters, hedgehogs, turtles, pigs, goats, birds, and raccoons.

61. If you could turn one legal thing illegal, what would it be? - paying minimum wage workers minimum wage. give me 800 bucks an hour for this bs thanks.

62. Do you have any guilty pleasures? - cheesy romance novels and buzzfeed quizzes

63. What is the best thing that the internet has ever created? - youtube. what would i do without tutorials and listening to the game grumps play nonsensical games.

64. Do you like playing video games? Which video games? - I really like choice-based video games like Detroit: Become Human. I also really like something low key like animal crossing where I don't have to think too hard and it's more relaxing than anything else.

65. What is your opinion on beauty in today's society? - Impossible and toxic. you'll never be "right" because it's always changing.

66. Are you a morning person? When do you usually wake up? - Definitely a morning person. I'm usually up between 8 and 9. if I sleep in it's because I didn't sleep well the night before.

67. Do you have a favorite Disney movie? Character? - I think my fav disney movie is Mulan maybe? I'm not too sure on my favourite disney character, I think maybe Prince Naveen from The Princess and The Frog??

68. Would you rather live in the city or in the countryside? - Why can't i have bothhhhh. I've equally wanted to live in a cute apartment in a big city AND on a little farmhouse on a countryside somewhere with a large feel and sunrises that make my heart all achey.

69. Would you rather live near the ocean or in the mountains? - Ocean

70. What are the best things about winter? - Christmastime, cozy sweaters, the crunch of snow under your boots, the pretty lights, coming inside where its arm after shoveling in the cold, hot chocolate, the way the street looks at night with just the streetlights, little snow birds in the trees!! so much so much so much!!!

71. What scares you most about the future? - this is going to sound depressing, but all the loss that waits there. like I know there will be change because everything is always changing and nothing can last forever so the idea of everything being different one day or losing people i love really overwhelms me.

72. What makes you feel old? - GenZ on tik toks making fun of millennials. I'm a "Zillennial" I think because I was born on the cusp of both generations so I relate with both but sometimes they say or do things and I feel like a boomer.

73. How many hours do you spend on the computer or phone on average? -The computer roughly three or four. My phone at least eight or nine hours.

74. What are some of your New Year's resolutions? - Practicing gratefulness and being present

75. What is your life story in 6 words? - What the hell? Well, this sucks.

76. Describe yourself in one word. - Gentle

77. What bad habits do you do? - Nail biting

78. What genre of music do you listen to? - Pop, alternative and worship

79. Most prominent childhood memory? - technically my dad dying - Family vacations to BC I think

80. Imagine if you had an older brother. If you already have one, what is it like? If you don't, how would this change your life? - I feel like my mom would be less stressed with household stuff like mowing the lawn, shoveling, moving furniture, etc. I think it would have been nice to have a brother around, especially after my dad died, but it eeez what it eeeez

81. Spirit animal? - tbh idk

82. Do you believe in horoscopes? - No, but they're fun to read on tumblr

83. What is the worst advice you've ever been given? - I don't think I've ever really had bad advice yet but there's always room for some!

84. List the 3 most important people in your life right now. - My mom, my sister, and my best friend megan

85. Favorite memory of your family. - Any of our family vacations

86. What do you look for in a relationship? - Companionship/Friendship, understanding, similar beliefs, loyalty

87. Do you have a role model? Why or why not? - A few. I really look up to Taylor Swift for obvious reasons because she's a wonderful human and an even better business woman. I look up to my dad because of how much he loved God and was kind to everyone, and I look up to my mom because I admire her strength and how her love grows and grows.

88. What is your opinion on social media? - It's toxic but it's part of our normal life now.

89. Are you a pessimist or an optimist? - A little of both. I think I can be really fatalistic when I'm not doing well, but when I'm in a healthy state I'm fairly optimistic.

90. List some things that you think are overpriced? - Makeup, Skin care, dairy queen combos, shampoo and conditioner.

91. What is your worst memory or creepiest experience? - Worst memory is definitely the one where my dad died.

92. What superpower would ruin the world? - Mind control

93. What is something you swore you would never do when you grew up, but you did anyway? - not go to college immediately. according to eighth grade me, i'm a total disappointment and i should have a full time career by now.

94. What lessons have you learned from movies and which movies were they? - I watched the disney movie Soul and I loved it so much because it was about the main character realizing he was always a musician even if he never made it insanely big. it spoke to me about my writing because I want to be a successful author but I loved the perspective of "you're already a writer"

95. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? - Montreal, NYC, Edinburgh are on the top of my list right now. If I spoke french I'd be moving to montreal tbh

96. How do you approach people? - I don't

97. What is your opinion on first impressions? - They're deceiving

98. What are some things you did as a child that you no longer do? - play with barbies for one thing

99. What languages can you speak? - English (and a couple words in french lmao)

100. What do you think society will be like in 30 years? - I can't even think that far into the future I'm sorry

101. What do you do on your lazy days? - I'm always having a lazy day, but lay around, don't do my makeup or hair, watch youtube, fret about the future, don't eat proper meals, listen to TS, scroll tumblr and then instagram, snapchat with my bestie.

102. What ended your last relationship? - I haven't been in one

103. Favorite food? - Cheesecake

104. What is the most terrifying dream you've ever had? - I'm not sure this is the scariest but I had dream a few years ago that I was in this dark house and there was a demon in the basement and it was pulling me in and I was trying to get away but I couldn't because it was literally sucking me in. I woke up with my heart racing lol

105. When was the last time you got seriously angry? - A couple weeks ago at one of my sister's friends bc I disagreed with something they did.

106. What was the last friendship you broke? - I ended a friendship with a friend about a year ago now because I just didn't feel connected to her anymore

107. Do you have any pet peeves? - TONS. people who don't like taylor swift, people who drag their feet while they're walking so their shoes make scuffing noises, people who put money on the counter instead of into my hand when i'm reaching for it, and people who treat me or others like they're stupid.

108. Who was the last person you gave a hug to? - it's been a while but my mom

109. When was the last time you got seriously stressed? - yesterday bc I couldn't figure out how to hand in my project

110. What are your favourite baby names? - I love Gracie, Ryder, River, Elowen, Leila, Sadie, Spencer, Tatum, Santiago, and Ronan. (I'm kind of into Wilder too but I don't know how I feel about it lol)

#survey

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patriotsnet · 3 years ago

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Why Is There Republicans And Democrats

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-is-there-republicans-and-democrats/

Why Is There Republicans And Democrats

How Things Got This Bad

Why Democrats and Republicans have different priorities on COVID relief

6) The Republican turn against democracy begins with race

Support for authoritarian ideas in America is closely tied to the countrys long-running racial conflicts.

This chart, from a September 2020 paper by Vanderbilt professor Larry Bartels, shows a statistical analysis of a survey of Republican voters, analyzing the link between respondents score on a measure of ethnic antagonism and their support for four anti-democratic statements .

The graphic shows a clear finding: The higher a voter scores on the ethnic antagonism scale, the more likely they are tosupport anti-democratic ideas. This held true even when Bartels used regression analyses to compare racial attitudes to other predictors, like support for Trump. The strongest predictor by far of these antidemocratic attitudes is ethnic antagonism, he writes.

For students of American history, this shouldnt be a surprise.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act cemented Democrats as the party of racial equality, causing racially resentful Democrats in the South and elsewhere to defect to the Republican Party. This sorting process, which took place over the next few decades, is .

7) Partisanship causes Republicans to justify anti-democratic behavior

This chart is a little hard to parse, but it illustrates a crucial finding from one of the best recent papers on anti-democratic sentiment in America: how decades of rising partisanship made an anti-democratic GOP possible.

Taking The Perspective Of Others Proved To Be Really Hard

The divide in the United States is wide, and one indication of that is how difficult our question proved for many thoughtful citizens. A 77-year-old Republican woman from Pennsylvania was typical of the voters who struggled with this question, telling us, This is really hard for me to even try to think like a devilcrat!, I am sorry but I in all honesty cannot answer this question. I cannot even wrap my mind around any reason they would be good for this country.

Similarly, a 53-year-old Republican from Virginia said, I honestly cannot even pretend to be a Democrat and try to come up with anything positive at all, but, I guess they would vote Democrat because they are illegal immigrants and they are promised many benefits to voting for that party. Also, just to follow what others are doing. And third would be just because they hate Trump so much. The picture she paints of the typical Democratic voter being an immigrant, who goes along with their party or simply hates Trump will seem like a strange caricature to most Democratic voters. But her answer seems to lack the animus of many.

Democrats struggled just as much as Republicans. A 33-year-old woman from California told said, i really am going to have a hard time doing this but then offered that Republicans are morally right as in values, going to protect us from terrorest and immigrants, going to create jobs.

Reality Check 3: The Democrats Legislative Fix Will Never Happenand Doesnt Even Touch The Real Threats

Its understandable why Democrats have ascribed a life-or-death quality to S. 1, the For the People bill that would impose a wide range of requirements on state voting procedures. The dozensor hundredsof provisions enacted by Republican state legislatures and governors represent a determination to ensure that the GOP thumb will be on the scale at every step of the voting process. The proposed law would roll that back on a national level by imposing a raft of requirements on statesno excuse absentee voting, more days and hours to votebut would also include public financing of campaigns, independent redistricting commissions and compulsory release of presidential candidates’ tax returns.

There are all sorts of Constitutional questions posed by these ideas. But theres a more fundamental issue here: The Constitutional clause on which the Democrats are relyingArticle I, Section 4, Clause 1gives Congress significant power over Congressional elections, but none over elections for state offices or the choosing of Presidential electors.

Vaccine Advocacy From Hannity And Mcconnell Gets The Media Off Republicans’ Backs But Won’t Shift Public Sentiment

Sean Hannity, Mitch McConnell and Tucker Carlson

Amid a rising media furor over the steady stream of vaccine disparagement from GOP politicians and Fox News talking heads, a number of prominent Republicans spoke up in favor of vaccines early this week.

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, “shots need to get in everybody’s arm as rapidly as possible” and asked that people “ignore all of these other voices that are giving demonstrably bad advice.” House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, got the vaccine after months of delay and then publicly said, “there shouldn’t be any hesitancy over whether or not it’s safe and effective.” And Fox News host Sean Hannity, in a widely shared video, declared, it “absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated.” This was treated in the press as an unequivocal endorsement, even though the use of the word “many” was clearly meant to let the Fox News viewers feel like he’s talking about other people getting vaccinated.

Is this an exciting pivot among the GOP elites? Are they abandoning the sociopathic strategy of sabotaging President Joe Biden’s anti-pandemic plan by encouraging their own followers to get sick? Are the millions of Republicans who keep telling pollsters they will never get that Democrat shot going to change their minds now?

Ha ha ha, no.

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Matthew Gertz July 20, 2021

Jefferson And Jeffersonian Principles

Jeffersonian democracy was not a one-man operation. It was a large political party with many local and state leaders and various factions, and they did not always agree with Jefferson or with each other.

Jefferson was accused of inconsistencies by his opponents. The “Old Republicans” said that he abandoned the Principles of 1798. He believed the national security concerns were so urgent that it was necessary to purchase Louisiana without waiting for a Constitutional amendment. He enlarged federal power through the intrusively-enforced . He idealized the “yeoman farmer” despite being himself a gentleman plantation owner. The disparities between Jefferson’s philosophy and practice have been noted by numerous historians. Staaloff proposed that it was due to his being a proto-; claimed that it was a manifestation of pure hypocrisy, or “pliability of principle”; and Bailyn asserts it simply represented a contradiction with Jefferson, that he was “simultaneously a radical utopian idealist and a hardheaded, adroit, at times cunning politician”. However, Jenkinson argued that Jefferson’s personal failings ought not to influence present day thinkers to disregard Jeffersonian ideals.

, a European nobleman who opposed democracy, argues that “Jeffersonian democracy” is a misnomer because Jefferson was not a democrat, but in fact believed in rule by an elite: “Jefferson actually was an Agrarian Romantic who dreamt of a republic governed by an elite of character and intellect”.

Reality Check #4: The Electoral College And The Senate Are Profoundly Undemocraticand Were Stuck With Them

Because the Constitution set up a state-by-state system for picking presidents, the massive Democratic majorities we now see in California and New York often mislead us about the partys national electoral prospects. In 2016, Hillary Clintons 3-million-vote plurality came entirely from California. In 2020, Bidens 7-million-vote edge came entirely from California and New York. These are largely what election experts call wasted votesDemocratic votes that dont, ultimately, help the Democrat to win. That imbalance explains why Trump won the Electoral College in 2016 and came within a handful of votes in three states from doing the same last November, despite his decisive popular-vote losses.

The response from aggrieved Democrats? Abolish the Electoral College! In practice, theyd need to get two-thirds of the House and Senate, and three-fourths of the state legislatures, to ditch the process that gives Republicans their only plausible chance these days to win the White House. Shortly after the 2016 election, Gallup found that Republican support for abolishing the electoral college had dropped to 19 percent. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a state-by-state scheme to effectively abolish the Electoral College without changing the Constitution, hasnt seen support from a single red or purple state.

History Of The Democratic And Republican Parties

The Democratic Party traces its origins to the anti-federalist factions around the time of Americas independence from British rule. These factions were organized into the Democrat Republican party by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792.

The Republican party is the younger of the two parties. Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. The party presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction and was harried by internal factions and scandals towards the end of the 19th century.

Since the division of the Republican Party in the election of 1912, the Democratic party has consistently positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party in economic as well as social matters. The economically left-leaning activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, has shaped much of the party’s economic agenda since 1932. Roosevelt’s New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until 1964.

The Republican Party today supports a pro-business platform, with foundations in economic libertarianism, and fiscal and social conservatism.

Adams And The Revolution Of 1800

Shortly after Adams took office, he dispatched a group of envoys to seek peaceful relations with France, which had begun attacking American shipping after the ratification of the Jay Treaty. The failure of talks, and the French demand for bribes in what became known as the XYZ Affair, outraged the American public and led to the Quasi-War, an undeclared naval war between France and the United States. The Federalist-controlled Congress passed measures to expand the army and navy and also pushed through the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Alien and Sedition Acts restricted speech that was critical of the government, while also implementing stricter naturalization requirements. Numerous journalists and other individuals aligned with the Democratic-Republicans were prosecuted under the Sedition Act, sparking a backlash against the Federalists. Meanwhile, Jefferson and Madison drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which held that state legislatures could determine the constitutionality of federal laws.

Why Democrats and Republicans Are Claiming A Midterm Win

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They go further than merely believing the 2020 election was stolen, a nearly unanimous view among the bunch. Over 90 percent oppose making it easier for people to vote; roughly 70 percent would support a hypothetical third term for Trump .

The MAGA movement, Blum and Parker write, is a clear and present danger to American democracy.

2) Republicans are embracing violence

The ultimate expression of anti-democratic politics is resorting to violence. More than twice as many Republicans as Democrats nearly two in five Republicans said in a January poll that force could be justified against their opponents.

It would be easy to dismiss this kind of finding as meaningless were it not for the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill and the survey was conducted about three weeks after the attack. Republicans recently saw what political violence in the United States looked like, and a large fraction of the party faithful seemed comfortable with more of it.

These attitudes are linked to the party elites rhetoric: The more party leaders like Trump attack the democratic political system as rigged against them, the more Republicans will believe it and conclude that extreme measures are justifiable. A separate study found that Republicans who believe Democrats cheated in the election were far likelier to endorse post-election violence.

Early Life And Career

John Quincy Adams entered the world at the same time that his maternal great-grandfather, John Quincy, for many years a prominent member of the Massachusettslegislature, was leaving ithence his name. He grew up as a child of the American Revolution. He watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from Penns Hill and heard the cannons roar across the Back Bay in Boston. His patriot father, John Adams, at that time a delegate to the Continental Congress, and his patriot mother, Abigail Smith Adams, had a strong molding influence on his education after the war had deprived Braintree of its only schoolmaster. In 1778 and again in 1780 the boy accompanied his father to Europe. He studied at a private school in Paris in 177879 and at the University of Leiden, Netherlands, in 1780. Thus, at an early age he acquired an excellent knowledge of the French language and a smattering of Dutch. In 1780, also, he began to keep regularly the diary that forms so conspicuous a record of his doings and those of his contemporaries through the next 60 years of American history. Self-appreciative, like most of the Adams clan, he once declared that, if his diary had been even richer, it might have become “next to the Holy Scriptures, the most precious and valuable book ever written by human hands.”

Democratic View On Healthcare

Democrats have always been in favor of governmental involvement in the wellbeing of Americans, especially the most vulnerable among us. Healthcare reform has been a primary focus for the party since the middle of the Twentieth Century. Medicare, Medicaid, Childrens Health Insurance Program , and the ACA are all major reforms the Democrats fought for and got passed into law. During this election season, healthcare is arguably the hottest topic of debate, and Democrats are pushing for further expansion across the board. The key phrase to remember is quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

Obama And Trump Healthcare Policies Compared

There could not be a more radical divide between administrations than there is between these two. The Obama administration worked against almost insurmountable opposition from the GOP in order to pass the ACA. The Trump Administrations quest is to dismantle everything the Obama Administration has done. They even have court cases pending in order to do so.

When Was The Republican And Democratic Parties Formed

The Democratic Party was founded by Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren on January 8, 1828, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was the United States seventh president but the first democratic President.

The Democratic Partys shocking emergence can be linked to the countrys anti-federalist factions. It was during that time the United States of America gained independence from British colonial masters.

The anti-federalist factions, which democrats originated from, were also grouped into the Democrat-Republican party. This was done in 1792 by James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and other federalists influential opponents.

On the other hand, the Republican Party is pretty much younger than the Democratic Party. It was formed in 1854 by anti-slavery modernizers and activists.

The republicans were against the expansion of slavery in Western territories. They fought hard to protect African Americans rights after the civil war.

The Republican Party is often known as GOP. The meaning is Grand Old Party. The first Republican President was Abraham Lincoln. From Lincolns emergence, Republican Party started gaining ground in America.

The Legal Fight Over Voting Rights During The Pandemic Is Getting Hotter

Or as former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, told NPR, there are no “fair” maps in the discussion about how to draw voting districts because what Democrats call “fair” maps are those, he believes, that favor them.

No, say voting rights groups and many Democrats the only “fair” way to conduct an election is to admit as many voters as possible. Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, who has charged authorities in her home state with suppressing turnout, named her public interest group Fair Fight Action.

Access vs. security

The pandemic has added another layer of complexity with the new emphasis it has put on voting by mail. President Trump says he opposes expanding voting by mail, and his allies, including White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, call the process rife with opportunities for fraud.

Even so, Trump and McEnany both voted by mail this year in Florida, and Republican officials across the country have encouraged voting by mail.

Democrats, who have made election security and voting access a big part of their political brand for several years, argue that the pandemic might discourage people from going to old-fashioned polling sites.

Democrats Or Republicans: Who Has The Higher Income

In the end, many people assume Republicans are richer based on these figures. Although, this is only a look at the richest families and politicians in America though. In everyday American households, it seems that Democrats have a higher mean salary. Its true that many of the wealthiest families in the country are contributing to Republican campaigns. On the contrary, families registered as , statistically speaking.

These findings still have some loopholes in them, of course. For instance, the data was collected over the last 40 years or so. Moreover, it is only based on the most recently collected information. As you know, demographics are constantly changing. These figures may have been affected as well. There is also a margin of error with every type of data collection like this. So, what do you think? Who is richer? Democrats or Republicans?

Where Do Trump And Biden Stand On Key Issues

Reuters: Brian Snyder/AP: Julio Cortez

The key issues grappling the country can be broken down into five main categories: coronavirus, health care, foreign policy, immigration and criminal justice.

This year, a big focus of the election has been the coronavirus pandemic, which could be a deciding factor in how people vote, as the country’s contentious healthcare system struggles to cope.

The average healthcare costs for COVID-19 treatment is up to $US30,000 , an Americas Health Insurance Plans 2020 study has found.

Presidential Election Of 1808

This mayor joining the GOP says theres no Democratic Party anymore’

Speculation regarding Madison’s potential succession of Jefferson commenced early in Jefferson’s first term. Madison’s status in the party was damaged by his association with the embargo, which was unpopular throughout the country and especially in the Northeast. With the Federalists collapsing as a national party after 1800, the chief opposition to Madison’s candidacy came from other members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Madison became the target of attacks from Congressman , a leader of a faction of the party known as the . Randolph recruited James Monroe, who had felt betrayed by the administration’s rejection of the proposed with Britain, to challenge Madison for leadership of the party. Many Northerners, meanwhile, hoped that Vice President could unseat Madison as Jefferson’s successor. Despite this opposition, Madison won his party’s presidential nomination at the January 1808 . The Federalist Party mustered little strength outside New England, and Madison easily defeated Federalist candidate . At a height of only five feet, four inches , and never weighing more than 100 pounds , Madison became the most diminutive president.

What Is Thomas Jefferson Remembered For

Thomas Jefferson is remembered for being the primary writer of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. The fact that he owned over 600 enslaved people during his life while forcefully advocating for human freedom and equality made Jefferson one of Americas most problematic and paradoxical heroes.

Thomas Jefferson, , draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the nations first secretary of state and second vice president and, as the third president , the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. An early advocate of total separation of church and state, he also was the founder and architect of the University of Virginia and the most eloquent American proponent of individual freedom as the core meaning of the American Revolution.

What Republican And Democrats Believe

Lets start with this example. There are one or more reasons why you chose that person to be your friend. It could be because of how he or she talks, sense of humor, intelligence, educational background, ideology, or other factors.

The bottom line is you made the individual your friend because of one or more factors you discovered in that person that pleases you. This explains why most people would prefer joining republicans than Democrats and vice versa.

Republicans and Democrats have diverse ideologies and beliefs. These beliefs or ideology is part of what draws people to join either political party.

Lets start with Republicans. What do Republicans believe in?

Republicans boast libertarian and centrist factions. But they primarily believe in social conservative policies. They abide by laws that help conserve their traditional values. These include opposition to abortion, marijuana use, and same-sex marriage.

So the Republican Partys platform is generally centered on American conservatism. It comprises establishment conservatives, Freedom Caucus, or Tea Party members, described as right-wing, populist, and far-right.

The Republican Partys position has changed over time. They now transcend beyond traditional values, which often includes Christian background. The Republicans evolved position now includes fiscal conservatism and foreign policy.

Heres a quick summary of what the Republican Party believes in:

Heres a quick look at what Democrats believe in:

Was The Donkey Originally A Jackass

Thomas Nast was an American cartoonist who joined the staff of Harpers Weekly in 1862. Nasts cartoons were very popular and his depiction of Santa Claus is still the most widely used version of the holiday icon we see today. During his career, Nast also drew many political cartoons that harshly criticized the policies of both parties.

Nast first used a donkey to represent the Democratic party as a whole in the 1870 cartoon A Live Jack-Ass Kicking a Lion in which Nast criticized the dominantly Democratic Southern newspaper industry as the Copperhead Press. While he did popularize the donkey, Nast wasnt the first person to use it in reference to the Democrats.

Over 40 years earlier during the presidential campaign of 1828, opponents of Democrat Andrew Jackson referred to him as a jackass. Jackson actually embraced the insult and used donkeys on several campaign posters. Nevertheless, cartoonist Anthony Imbert would use a Jackson-headed donkey to mock Jackson an 1833 political cartoon.

However, the donkey never really caught on after the end of Jacksons presidency, and Thomas Nast apparently had no knowledge that it ever was used to represent the Democrats.

Election Of 1796 And Vice Presidency

In the presidential campaign of 1796, Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Federalist John Adams by 7168 and was thus elected vice president. As presiding officer of the Senate, he assumed a more passive role than his predecessor John Adams. He allowed the Senate to freely conduct debates and confined his participation to procedural issues, which he called an “honorable and easy” role. Jefferson had previously studied parliamentary law and procedure for 40 years, making him unusually well qualified to serve as presiding officer. In 1800, he published his assembled notes on Senate procedure as . Jefferson would cast only three in the Senate.

During the Adams presidency, the Federalists rebuilt the military, levied new taxes, and enacted the . Jefferson believed that these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered them unconstitutional. To rally opposition, he and James Madison anonymously wrote the , declaring that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states. The resolutions followed the “” approach of Madison, in which states may shield their citizens from federal laws that they deem unconstitutional. Jefferson advocated , allowing states to invalidate federal laws altogether. Jefferson warned that, “unless arrested at the threshold”, the Alien and Sedition Acts would “necessarily drive these states into revolution and blood”.

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alli-howard · 4 years ago

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“Christianity Will Have Power”: Thoughts on Christian Nationalism

A few days after the attack on the Capitol building, I was talking to one of my friends about what happened. I mentioned how bothered I was by the Christian imagery that was present, from crosses to Jesus Saves flags. “Do you think they were trying to be ironic?” she asked. “Was that supposed to be a joke?” While we can’t know their intentions, I don’t think the people holding these symbols meant to be ironic. Despite Donald Trump’s failure to exemplify Christian values, he has drummed up a significant amount of enthusiasm from white Christian faith communities over the years. This blog post is my attempt to explain why that is the case.

For years, many white Christian churches have aligned themselves with the Republican Party. I have often found myself concerned about that alignment, not because of policy, but because I believe that coupling faith with a political party is damaging to our witness for Christ in the world. Sometimes the alliance is implied in a way that makes others feel like they do not belong in a particular church if they are not a Republican. Other times the connection is made more explicitly, by a pastor from the pulpit or in church-wide communications. Either way, Christians with different political views can often feel like they don’t belong.

Rather than going back through history to explain where and when this phenomenon started, I am going to start instead with the way it escalated during Trump’s 2016 campaign. On a campaign stop at a Christian college, Trump gave a speech in which he said, “Christianity is under tremendous siege, whether we want to talk about it or we don’t want to talk about it… Christianity will have power. If I’m there, you’re going to have plenty of power, you don’t need anybody else. You’re going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that.”

Of course, as Christians we know that Christianity already has power. Paul says in Romans that “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to anyone who believes.” 2 Corinthians says “[Jesus] was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God,” and the Bible says in Acts, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.”

Clearly, that isn’t the kind of power Trump was referring to in his speech. Instead, he was referring to political power – he was telling Christians that he would treat them favorably and enact policies that they like while he is in office. The idea that Christian faith should seek political power to achieve its goals is called Christian nationalism.

It can be easy to confuse Christian nationalism with patriotism, so I want to pause here to say that loving your country is not a bad thing. We need to keep in mind, though, that this is not ultimately our home. We are called to live as aliens and strangers (1 Peter 2:11), and in America, that is hardly the case. White Christians enjoy benefits that people of other races, ethnicities, and faiths do not. Some even try to maintain those benefits by standing in the way of others who seek to pursue equal rights. Let me be clear: that is not the way of the cross.

Jesus came to Earth, lived, died, and rose again to free us from our sin and selfishness. Rather than holding on to His own power and status, Philippians 2 reminds us how what Jesus did:

“[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

Our Savior, whom we seek to emulate, willingly gave up His power to be with us. Then, He allowed Himself to suffer for our benefit. While we were still our enemies, He died for us.

Let me ask you an easy question: does this sound like something Trump would do? No, it does not. Although Trump has at times presented himself as the saving figure that white Christians have been waiting for, he bears no resemblance to our Savior.

By now we all know that 81% of white Christians voted for Trump in 2016, and the number was similar in the last election. I am concerned that some white Christians who were moderate Republicans before are now following Trump towards political extremism, in the form of conspiracy theories or the alt-right. If four out of five white Christians believed him enough to vote for him, will they believe him when he says that the election was rigged? Will they believe him when he says “you have to fight like hell or you won’t have a country anymore?” I am afraid that some will, and many of them will be in our churches.

So how can we live as faithful, American Christians without adopting the beliefs of Christian nationalism? And how can we help our brothers and sisters in Christ from drifting into political extremism? Here are a few of my suggestions:

1. Learn what is true. The world is a lot less scary when we’re centered in Scripture. Similarly, politics is a lot less overwhelming when we understand how government works (@sharonsaysso is currently my favorite resource for understanding how government operates). For example, I imagine that January 6th might have played out differently if the people who wanted Mike Pence to overturn the election results knew that the Constitution didn’t allow him to do so.

2. Ask yourself: who is discipling me? Are you being formed in the image of God through His word and other Christians, or are you being shaped by news outlets and political commentary? Bible studies, mentoring relationships, Christianity Today, and the Quick to Listen podcast are great ways to make sure your heart is being shaped in ways that are spiritually healthy.

3. If you think Christian nationalism is a problem, say so. Being white and a Christian doesn’t mean that you need to defend everything that white Christians do. Similarly, being an American doesn’t mean you have to defend everything about America. James Baldwin once said, “I love America more than any other country in the world, and, for that reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” We can only build a more perfect union if we are honest about our faults.

4. Check on your brothers and sisters in Christ. I recently heard a quote that said, “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” Many people are feeling like they aren’t being heard right now, and that is causing their fears and anxieties to skyrocket. Ask people in your faith community how they are doing and listen to understand what they are going through.

5. Pray for your “enemies.” Our neighbors are not our enemies. Our political opponents are not our enemies. We are all Americans, but one good way to start reminding ourselves of that is to pray for people we disagree with.

As our country increases in diversity of faith, race, and ethnicity, we have the opportunity to ask ourselves a few questions. Do we want to be people who hold on to Christian nationalism, with its talk of God, guns, and freedom, or do we want to follow the way of the Jesus, and sacrifice ourselves for the good of others? Will we be people who seek to hear what we want to hear, or people who cling to the truth? In other words, given the choice, will we cling to Old Glory or the cross?

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keywestlou · 5 years ago

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MORNING STEW #24

So much to share this morning. Calls for a Morning Stew.

Welcome to Morning Stew #24.

At a Trump rally in Tupelo, Mississippi last night, the President described impeachment as an “attack on democracy.” Impeachment is not the attack. The attack is the President himself.

At the same rally, Trump discussed Beto O’Rourke. O’Rourke announced yesterday he was withdrawing from the race for the Democratic nomination. Trump said Beto “quit like a dog.” Plus it is reported the President used words that could not be printed.

A class act, our President!

Dresden was and still is a major German city. The Allies bombed the hell out of it during World War II.

Dresden as with all other German communities, quickly adapted following World War II to a way of life similar to that of most Allied communities. Nazism was totally and absolutely rejected.

Things have changed.

Dresden has a “Nazi emergency.” “Nazinotstand” the term. Means Dresden has “a serious problem…..open democratic society is threatened.”

A neo-Nazi mayor has been elected. Does not mean Dresden has become a Nazi bastion. The City Council voted in favor wednesday night 39-29 in support of a resolution reflecting and showing their dismay for the neo-Nazi mayor and the wave of neo-Nazism which is creeping over Dresden.

The resolution is intended to show the City Council’s position in opposition to neo-Nazism and their opposition to the growth of anti-Islamism in the Dresden. The resolution reflected the City Council’s commitment to fostering “a free, liberal, democratic society that protects minorities and resolutely opposes Nazis.”

Anti-Islamism is on the rise. Sometime in October, demonstrations began. Weekly, every monday night. Described as” an anti-Islam Pegida movement.” Pegida stands for “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West.” Islamophobia at its worst.

Most of the world is moving to the right. Not a healthy situation.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is National Sandwich Day.

Last year many of the chains gave out free sandwiches. This will not be the case this year. Most are advising customers how to sign up for apps. that will assist in ordering.

Subway is doing something . I think a buy one, get one free deal. McDonald’s is giving out coupons directing customers to go to McDonald’s apps and take advantage of any benefits available therfein. McDonald’s is returning to Happy Meals in a limited fashion also. Described as retro Happy Toys from 1988.

All confusing this year. Last year was much easier when most of the chains invited a person in for a freebie.

Syracuse/Boston College at noon. Boston College a 3 point favorite. Hope Syracuse wins. I am screwed once again. The game is being carried on ACCN. ACCN and Comcast have not made their dollar deal yet for Syracuse games. Ergo, we Syracuse fans are left out in the cold.

On this day in 1948, Harry Truman defeated Thomas Dewey for the U.S. Presidency.

Much amusement involved in the result.

Dewey was predicted winner by political analysts and polls. Truman was going to get buried. The Chicago Daily Tribune went to press early election night putting newspapers on the street bearing the headline: Dewey Defeats Truman. H. V. Kaltenborn was the radio man of the day. No TV back then. A much respected radio commentator. He had a very distinguishable voice. Before the results were all in, he went on national radio and announced Dewey the victor.

Truman got them all!

Truman the farm boy who became President. No college education. However a man of honesty and integrity as the nation knew.

After his victory, Truman announced he was going to Key West on vacation.

My life was fortunate to cross paths 3 times with Truman. The most memorable occurred my last year of law school at Syracuse.

Truman was coming to visit the University. Two days. Don’t be shocked. Syracuse was known as a Democratic bastion at the time. The visit was several years after Truman finally left office.

A private luncheon with Truman was scheduled for the purportedly “twelve outstanding students on campus”. As luck would have it, I was selected to represent the law school.

Even better, seating for the 12 plus the former President was at 2 round tables. Six at one, 7 at the other.

Seating was at the discretion of the University. My name card was immediately to the right of Truman. I got to sit next to him for a good 2 hours.

Most of Truman’s comments had to do with the 1948 election. He had a copy of the Chicago newspaper which he had exhibited to us. He also had a recording of Kaltenborn’s words that Truman had lost. He talked about both with a chuckle in his voice. He got ’em!

On November 1, 1950, an attempt was made on Truman’s life. The President and his wife were living in Blair House at the time. The White House was being remodeled.

Around 2 in the afternoon, 2 Puerto Ricans who supported Puerto Rico independence ran up the front steps and reached the front door of Blair House. Shooting along the way.

One assassin was killed as was 1 Secret Service officer.

Mr. and Mrs. Truman were upstairs and never in danger.

The assassins’ acts did not make sense. Truman was openly for Puerto Rican autonomy.

The surviving assassin was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Truman commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.

Trump has become a Florida resident. Cut the ropes that bound him to New York.

No one seems unhappy. The Mayor and Governor in effect said good riddance to bad rubbish.

I can understand Trump wanting to leave. He has been for many years unpopular in New York. The City only gave him 10 percent of the Presidential vote. Additionally, he has never been accepted by the elite, socially, or those in politrics on a personal basis. His reputation and personality make such understandable.

Even as President, he has not been assimilated by New York City’s bigwigs.

Can you imagine, not wanting the President of the U.S. as a friend!

There will be no unhappiness in Mudville that Trump has opted to become a resident of Florida. His residence Mar-a-Lago.

I do not see any social benefit to Trump living full time in Mar-a-Lago. Palm Beach is a seasonal community. A warm weather venue. Otherwise, the homes are empty. Who will he socialize with?

Many retire for tax reasons to Florida. With his income coming from many areas and sources, it will not be easy for a good portion of his income to go tax free.

The Sistine Chapel. Beauty beyond description. As if the hand of God painted the ceiling rather than Michelangelo.

The Sistine Chapel with its newly painted ceiling was opened to the public on November 1, 1512.

Thirty five years ago, I was fortunate to visit the Sistine Chapel. My then wife, children and my parents with me. I was in awe!

The Sistine Chapel was crowded. Shoulder to shoulder, body to body. Heads tipped up.

Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes took several years to complete. The most famous The Creation of Adam. The arms of God and Adam stretched toward each other almost touching.

God is in His Heaven in the ceiling as conceived and painted by Michelangelo.

At one point, my father and I were standing in the middle of the Chapel. My father look at me and told me, did not ask, “What’s the big deal?” I smiled. I had no response.

I could not blame Dad. It was hot with all those bodies crushed together, painful for the neck, tiring to be on one’s feet since it took forever to reach the Chapel through a long narrow crowded hallway.

Many years ago, I wrote an article for KONK Life spelling out how prisoners were entitled to the very best medical care. Some what difficult to understand when you realize how many persons in the U.S. cannot afford health care. Yet we provide it free to those who have broken the law.

The scenario is the result of the U.S. Supreme Court case Estelle v. Gamble decided in the 1960’s.

The situation comes to mind this morning because of Steven Hayes. He is serving 6 life sentences in a Pennsylvania jail. Sentenced because of his part in the murder of Hawke-Petit and her 2 daughters. He and an accomplice perpetrated a home invasion and brutally killed the three. First with beatings. Then dousing with gasoline. Finally setting the whole house on fire.

Hayes has been receiving hormone therapy in prison as part of a gender transition. He says he is in reality a female.

A Pennsylvania statute limits medications per inmate to $600 a month. It prohibits/refuses to pay for any surgery related to gender modification.

I am not aware whether the statute not allowing any payment for gender modification has been tested in a federal court. I would assume the Estelle decision would override it.

The reason behind the Estelle decision is that prisons/the state is required to provide the “very best medical care.” Translated means a right to adequate medical care. Failure to so provide constitutes a violation of the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause of the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The filming of the Rose Tattoo began this day in 1954 at a house on Duncan Street. Two doors from Tennessee Williams’ home. Tennessee Williams wrote the play which was the basis for the movie.

Change the clock again. Do not forget to turn your clock back one hour tonight before going to bed.

Enjoy your day!

MORNING STEW #24 was originally published on Key West Lou

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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What we know about the CBA talks between the NFL and NFLPA

Photo by Larry French/Getty Images

The NFL and NFLPA are trying to get a jump start on negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement two years in advance.

The NFL and NFLPA have a daunting task ahead of them: Reach common ground on a new collective bargaining agreement in time to avoid a work stoppage ahead of the 2021 season.

The current CBA — set to expire after the 2020 season — was agreed upon in 2011 after a 132-day lockout. There were two even worse work stoppages a few decades ago when the 1982 and 1987 NFL seasons were both shortened by player strikes.

Seeking to avoid that kind of labor dispute, the NFL and NFLPA are getting a jumpstart on their 2021 negotiations.

The two sides had early meetings

When exactly the NFL and NFLPA descended on Minneapolis in the spring to get negotiations started isn’t clear. Giants owner John Mara said at the NFL Annual Meeting the two sides would have preliminary talks “in early to mid-April,” and the first indication that the talks started came on April 9.

That’s when ESPN’s Todd Archer reported Jerry Jones missed a press conference to announce a new contract for DeMarcus Lawrence because he’s in Minneapolis for CBA talks. A few hours later, a joint statement was released:

“Today, the members of the NFL’s Management Council and the NFLPA’s Executive Committee met to discuss negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The League and the Union have committed to meet regularly in the coming months, which will involve staff, NFL leadership, members of the NFLPA Executive Committee and Player Representatives.”

They met throughout the summer and finally ended talks in late August ahead of the 2019 regular season.

Did progress on a new CBA actually get made this early?

The expiration of the CBA is still nearly two years away, so the biggest question the sides can answer in these preliminary meetings is just how much work they have to do.

According to the Washington Post’s John Clayton, it might not be much. He wrote that there is optimism a deal could get done as early as this year. That’d be extraordinarily quick, but Clayton says both sides could be happy with the current CBA due to the fast rising salary cap and minimum spending requirement (teams are required to spend at least 89 percent of their caps):

With that much money being spent, the feeling among some union leaders is that there is an incentive for players to make a deal rather than enter into an extended labor dispute. The NFL is on the verge of surpassing $15 billion in revenue, with the league’s television deals due to be extended within the next year. Each team received $255 million of shared revenue last year, with most of it coming from television.

NFLPA president Eric Winston hasn’t been quite as positive about the status quo, though:

Any conversation with NFL owners will be a renegotiation for a new deal, not an extension. At our board meetings we told everyone to prepare for a work stoppage; nothing has changed. https://t.co/DE2RLh1tBL

— Eric Winston (@ericwinston) March 27, 2019

In August, the Washington Post said the talks were “progressing,” but also said it’s still way too early to expect a resolution to come soon:

Executives with several NFL teams said it’s a good sign that talks are taking place without obvious acrimony or public sniping between the two sides. But they described the discussions as remaining in the relatively early stages and said they would be surprised if the process accelerates enough in the coming weeks to produce a near-term deal. A more realistic goal, one of those executives said, might be next spring.

Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, who also serves as the team’s NFLPA rep, also said he doesn’t expect an easy negotiation:

“I’ve got a feeling it won’t be as simple as it was last time,” Jenkins told ESPN. “Just because you have more players like myself who have been through the lockout before, saw how the NFLPA leadership handled that into where we are now, which I don’t think was a bad deal but there is a lot that I feel like we want to get back as players, or get as players.”

A month after the preliminary talks got started, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the conversation between the two sides was “cordial” and “amicable.”

Though it’s possible a deal could be reached before the 2019 season, negotiations would have to ramp up considerably. Unless the pace changes, that’s not seen as feasible. Perhaps more likely is a deal next spring, a year before the CBA expires following the 2020 season.

One source went as far as saying, as of now, there are disagreements but no contentious issues like last time. “Nothing that would make it blow up,” as of now, one person briefed on the talks said.

The New York Times warned that it’s still early to get too optimistic, though.

Officials from the league and the players’ union, who asked not to be identified so as not to be seen as negotiating in public, cautioned that labor negotiations had just begun and could quickly sour.

But the NFL’s early negotiation tactics bode well for the future. Via the Times:

The N.F.L., however, has shifted away from its combative approach of the last round of bargaining. People involved in the current discussions expect the league to agree to a modest increase in the players’ share of league revenue, and for there to be few major changes to an agreement that has led to significant gains in league revenue and player compensation for the past eight years.

Two years ago, NFLPA officials told players to begin the process of saving money for a potential lockout. That’s advice that hasn’t changed.

NFLPA Exec Dir De Smith sent an email out to all NFL agents this morning, advising them to urge player clients to save money in the event of a work stoppage. "We are advising players to plan for a work stoppage of at least a year in length," the letter states. More in SBD.

— Liz Mullen (@SBJLizMullen) May 28, 2019

These early meetings may have given an indication whether or not that’s still likely to be necessary.

What’s the No. 1 priority in the CBA talks?

A wise group of men — let’s call them a clan — once said “cash rules everything around me.” The negotiations of the next CBA will revolve around money, money, money, a couple other things, and money.

In 2011, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to a split of the league revenue with players getting 47-48.5 percent. That was down from 50 percent in the prior CBA. It was widely considered a win for the league and a loss for the players.

With league revenues soaring so much that the salary cap rose from $123 million in 2013 to $188.2 million in 2019 — more than a 50 percent increase in six years — a couple percentage points represent a LOT of money.

It’s unclear what exactly constitutes a “modest increase” for players, but if the NFL is willing to cede a chunk of their revenue it’ll help grease the wheels plenty. What the league wants in return is more games. Via NFL.com in late August:

there still has yet to be a breakthrough on the No. 1 issue, with NFL owners continuing to want more regular-season games and NFL players continuing to want a larger share of revenue without adding regular-season games, sources say. Players are guaranteed 47 percent of total revenue under the current CBA, which is set to expire after the 2020 season.

The two sides are reportedly agreeable on the idea of expanding the postseason field from 12 teams to 14, though.

What other money issues will the NFL and NFLPA haggle over?

The NFLPA will aim to raise that revenue sharing percentage, and that number will likely be the crux of the negotiation. But the money talks will go deeper than that. Both sides have other ways to try to get a bigger piece of the pie. To name a few:

The 89 percent spending floor could be raised to force teams to pay players more, or lowered to allow teams to save more.

The NFL secured large amounts of “stadium credits” in the 2011 CBA — allotments of league revenue that help pay for new stadiums. Owners are aiming to seek even more stadium credits in the next CBA too, according to ESPN. “The [stadium credits] issue has prompted the NFLPA to scoff at the notion that the current talks relate to an ‘extension’ of the 2011 agreement,” wrote Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The NFLPA considers the NFL’s requests “a major tweak” of the 2011 agreement.

A rookie wage scale was introduced in the 2011 CBA to end increasingly gigantic contracts for early draft picks. Sam Bradford received a six-year, $78 million deal after he was the No. 1 pick of the 2010 NFL Draft. In the most recent draft, Baker Mayfield received a four-year, $32.68 million contract for being the No. 1 pick. The wage scale is probably here to stay, but the NFLPA could aim for higher amounts for rookies or shorter contracts for first-year players that lets them cash in on second deals sooner.

The franchise tag could be in the crosshairs too with players now threatening to sit out seasons — and Le’Veon Bell even following through — to avoid it. The tag originally served to give teams more time to extend stars, but now it’s become a way to artificially avoid allowing the best players in the game to set the market higher at their respective positions.

There are a few non-money items on the agenda too

Money is the biggest reason to expect a lengthy fight, but there are also non-money issues: the league’s personal conduct policy, the substance abuse policy, and the commissioner’s unilateral authority to hand down punishment, to name a few.

The possibility of an 18-game regular season, increased or decreased practice time, and changes to the players’ healthcare plan are a few more wrenches that could be tossed into the mix.

The idea of an 18-game schedule has been floated by the NFL for several years. The league reportedly came to the NFLPA with the idea of allowing players to only play in 16 games per season — aiming to quell the union’s concern of players being overworked. There are several issues with that idea that would make it a bad compromise for both sides, though.

That was also around the time a group of Hall of Famers led by Eric Dickerson threatened to boycott future induction ceremonies if the next CBA doesn’t include significantly better healthcare benefits and revenue sharing for Hall of Famers.

The preliminary meetings were a chance for both sides to see just how far apart they are, and how much ground needs to be made up.

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i-just-like-commenting · 7 years ago

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Blue Rose RPG 2nd edition: Introduction and Gameplay

Overview

The Blue Rose RPG is a creation of Green Ronin Publishing, with its first edition coming out in 2006. Recently they ran a Kickstarter campaign to release an updated edition that is available for $50 as a 384-page hardcover volume or $25 for a PDF. That may seem a little pricey, but it includes not just the information from the original basic game guide but also the extension book The World of Aldea which is about 140 pages. It’s also in full-color this time, with lots of new information on the setting, new NPC profiles, and an excellent new gaming system.

The book is written in a very easy style that doesn’t assume any previous RPG experience but also doesn’t condescend to its readers. It provides examples of all its gameplay rules and an extensive section on how to run the campaign as a Narrator. The only flaw in its format is that the section titles can be a little confusing, and you may need to refer to the table of contents regularly to keep track of where you are.

One of Blue Rose’s more well-known attributes is that it is very diversity-inclusive. The first edition included content for playing gay and bisexual characters and possibilities for polyamorous relationships. This second edition adds a section on playing nonbinary or trans characters, and makes use of its color illustrations to expand representation of people of color. In the first edition, for example, the gods of light look like this:

while in the second edition, they look like this:

(image source)

The other nice element of Blue Rose is where it falls on the simulation-game-story scale of RPGs, it lands much further on the story side than, say, D&D and its clones, which are somewhere in the middle. The goal has never been acquiring a “score” of experience points or acquired wealth, but rather completing an episode in a “series” where your character gradually advances by completing missions and stages of an extended sequence of adventures. The Narrator gets a lot of discretion in advancement in the rules.

Gameplay

However, the first edition still used a D&D-based engine, relying on a single d20 (20-sided die) for rolls, six ability scores and 25 skills with skill points, a host of feats, detailed weapon, armor, and equipment descriptions, and most of its monsters being straight clones from the SRD.

The second edition ditches this and instead uses Green Ronin’s in-house Adventure Game Engine (AGE), which I think is a better fit. And to get into the details of how the AGE works and why I like it, we’re going below a jump:

The AGE, rather than using a d20, relies on 3 six-sided dice (3d6) where the third (called the Drama Die) is a different color than the other two. The difference here is that with a d20, every number from 1 to 20 has the same chance of appearing. But with 3d6 your rolls from 3 to 18 look like this:

Ah, what a beautiful bell curve! Almost half your rolls will be between 9 and 12, essentially “average.” Since a typical difficulty roll is 11, that means you need to chose who does every roll based on who has the best ability in that area or a focus (more on that in a bit). That means cooperation, not personal glory. Completing the story together is what lets you level up, not being the one rolls a natural 20 and kills the monster.

Of course, it’s not all middle-of-the-road with this system, which brings us to that Drama Die I mentioned before. First, once you hit level six, you can use it to determine the measure of your success. If you succeed a test, you look at the drama die; a 1 means you barely passed, a 6 means you succeeded with flying colors.

Even before sixth level, you can use the Drama Die to have stunt points. Every time you roll doubles (which will happen 4 out of 9 times, yes I did math for this) you can use the score on your Drama Die (1-6) to see how many stunt points you now have. These points can be spent different kinds of "stunts” depending on your situation (combat, arcane, roleplaying, and exploration). If you score low, you only have a handful of options for bonuses on upcoming turns, extra actions, extra damage, etc. If you score high, you can blow them all on one major stunt or choose several smaller options.

This could easily become a mess, of course, but the book anticipates a number of problems off the bat. First, it has all stunts listed on two pages you can print out and turn into a double-sided card that can be passed to a player any time they roll doubles. While initially it might slow things down as they have trouble choosing, presumably the longer you play the more you know the stunts and can select them quickly. Second, it is ultimately the prerogative of the narrator whether stunt points even apply. While combat and arcane stunts are fairly straightforward and apply to many situations, exploration and roleplaying are only useful in some circumstances. If players try to abuse them by making as many rolls as they can to try to get doubles, then the Narrator can say that no stunts apply to this situation.

There are other ways to boost scores. Every player gets 3 conviction points at their first level to spend on rerolls and minor actions. They can get them back at the discretion of the Narrator when they think a player has earned it, usually by roleplaying based on their “fate” or “destiny” (which we’ll talk about in the next part during character building). Lastly, characters have to choose and build relationships, and if they are rated as intense enough they can modify how difficult an action is. It’s easier to psychically contact your best friend or lover; it’s easier to strike an opponent who is your mortal enemy. A higher intensity can give you extra stunt points for actions tied to that person, higher than the 6 your die can go to; with 7 stunt points you can pull off the intensity stunts of “As You Wish” for positive relationships and “Prepare to Die” for negative relationships (side note: heck yeah Princess Bride references!).

Abilities, Focuses, and Talents

In place of the six D&D ability scores (Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength, and Wisdom) the AGE uses nine. Constitution is pretty much the same. Charisma and Wisdom are more or less renamed to Communication and Willpower to better reflect their usage in the game. Accuracy - your ability to aim and strike things - is split off from Dexterity (coordination), and Fighting - combat ability - is separated from Strength. Perception - all those spot and listen checks - is now separate from Intelligence, i.e. what you know and how fast you learn. As in the original edition, there aren’t scores of 1 to 20 for abilities but rather bonuses starting from -2 to 4 (1 is average) that you add to test rolls. Ability points can be allotted in different ways, and the book provides three options for Narrators to choose from.

The bigger change is the elimination of skills and skill points. Skills in D&D have always been ungainly. Pathfinder reduces the number of skills to 19, and 5th edition D&D downplays them heavily in favor of just using ability score mods.

2nd edition Blue Rose just does away with them entirely and replaces them with “focuses” that you acquire from your race, background, and class. There are 82 possible focuses, more than you’ll ever have. Usually they serve to give you a 2-point bonus to an ability score. Example: anyone can gamble using their Communication Score, but if your character has a gambling focus (they’ve gambled a lot and know how to play well), they get a +2 bonus. Other times, though, you are required to have a focus to do a check on something. Example: you can’t just use Intelligence to make a check for sailing a ship if you’ve been landlocked your whole life, you need a Nautical Lore focus. Focuses can stack, and the Narrator will ask you to justify new focuses you add as you level up (i.e. I learned this on the last mission, I realized I was bad at this and did extra training or studying in between campaigns, etc.).

Feats from the old d20 version are now “Talents.” The 133 feats of the first edition (many of them branching, as one feat has another as a prerequisite) have been turned into 38 talents, each of which has three levels: journeyman, apprentice, and master. When you advance, you often have the option of taking a new talent or moving from journeyman to apprentice or apprentice to master within a talent you already have. It streamlines the whole process quite a bit.

All of these are of course tied in with character creation, which will be the subject of the next section...

#blue rose rpg #green ronin #LGBT positivity #roleplaying games

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live4thelord-blog1 · 6 years ago

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“No one wins a victory without fighting,

nor finds rest without working.”

— Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ III.19

The virtues that preserve our freedom as agents are twins: temperance and fortitude. By the former, we are unchained from cruel shackles; by the latter, we are armed for battle.

We have been born into a life of struggle and cannot find peace unless we first admit that we have been summoned to toil and to labor, to fight and to protect. Long before the earth took shape from the remains of exploded stars, the Evil One set himself up against God and was thrown down from heaven with multitudes of rebel angels. When Adam later fell, bitten as Eve had been by the desire to rule himself without regard to God’s law, the earth fell with him, and so, beautiful and orderly though it is, it bears its roses among thorns and offers us sustenance grudgingly. Our pursuit of the good, then, takes place in a context well beyond our choosing or our likes and dislikes. We must strive to preserve life and to pursue holiness in the face of countless and daunting obstacles, both material and spiritual.

“Fear is nothing but surrender of the helps that come from reason” (Wisd. 17:12).

Fear is a terrible passion. Desire always has in it some promise of pleasure; it beckons, entices, beguiles. Fear appalls, unsettles, and puts us in a state of confusion. Great fears repel us. Without tremendous force of character, we simply run from them. Lesser fears shake us. If our firmness does not suffice, we lash out at them, often bringing more injury upon ourselves and others by our irrational self-defense than we would have suffered had we simply endured the pain, discomfort, inconvenience, or insult. Fortitude is reason’s armor and the bulwark of interior peace. If our souls are steadfast, the many fears that must and will assault us every day will not conquer us but will stir us to effective service.

When Aristotle examined the virtue of fortitude, he took special pains to warn his students against dispositions that may look courageous but are not so in truth. One of these is the tendency to act impulsively that we see in the young or high-spirited person. Another is the willingness to fight or to labor under compulsion, as with the mercenary or the slave. By these facsimiles and substitutes for courage, we begin to appreciate the authentic virtue. Our fortitude must be interior, free, and rational. It is a firm disposition to overcome our fears for the sake of a noble end, for the sake of the goods that constitute the communities of which we are the parts, for the good of the family, the neighborhood, the parish, the business, the city. If fortitude is to be a virtue, it must be the result of our choices, our actions.

Yet if we are not ourselves soldiers, how shall we be trained in this virtue?

In the first place, it is by the consistent performance of our daily duties. Our Savior, the carpenter’s son, taught us by his example not to disdain ordinary work, and the witness of the first Christians is unequivocally the same. Whether it is St. Paul stitching tents, St. Timothy attending to the reading and prayers, or Priscilla and Aquila, by their hospitality, making it possible for the Gospel to be shared, the early followers of Christ took up the task at hand forthrightly and with generous hearts. Scripture casts the exhortation to labor courageously in simple terms: “In all your work be industrious, and no sickness will overtake you” (Sir. 31:22). It is true that work is for the sake of leisure, and the highest use of leisure is contemplation and worship. We must indeed keep the right order of goods always in mind. Yet in doing so we must not forget that there are many people to whom we owe our productive work — of whatever kind it may be –and that if we embrace this work as service, it will strengthen our hearts.

The other universal path to fortitude is the daily exercise of ruling our own emotions and keeping them reined in by reason and grace. This life of self-command is no trivial task. What foes are more bitter, more constant, and more difficult to vanquish than our fears and the irrational anger that can well up from our daily converse with others? “He who is slow to anger,” said Solomon, “is better than the mighty” (Prov. 16:32). How very true, yet how difficult to attain the serenity that comes from fortitude. How are we to do it? By taking little steps of patience, perseverance, and constancy.

We can find valuable advice about how to live these aspects of fortitude in the letters of St. Francis de Sales. He wrote thousands of letters during his two decades as bishop of Geneva, some to religious sisters such as St. Jane de Chantal, others to priests and to men and women in the world. No matter his correspondent, he always spoke in the same voice: direct, unpretentious, and above all, warm. Again and again he counseled his friends to find their joy in spiritual things, to look to the saints for inspiration, to strive to maintain a loving attentiveness to God, and to keep in their minds concrete images of the Lord: Jesus kneeling in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus displaying his wounds, Jesus stretching out a helping hand, and, above all, Jesus hanging on the Cross. Throughout these letters, the virtues he most frequently turned to are perseverance, constancy, and patience. All three are dispositions to carry burdens well. Perseverance and constancy regard lengthy works, with perseverance being the disposition to endure the pain of the work itself, and constancy the determination to stick to the task in the face of temptations to abandon it in favor of other, more attractive ends. Patience is a more general virtue of suffering well, but it does have as its special task the bearing of pains caused by other persons. Patience, in particular, is a foundation for the life of virtue and devotion because it is a firm strength of mind in the face of annoyance and suffering. As St. Thomas Aquinas explained, patience “removes by the root the passions that are evoked by hardships and disturb the soul.”

As he taught his correspondents how to live these virtues, de Sales was always practical and encouraging. To a correspondent frustrated because her daily duties kept interrupting her intended scheme of devotions, de Sales wrote with gentle but firm words that adjusted her perspective: “God wants you to serve him as you are, and by the exercises and virtuous deeds that accord with your state in life. And in addition to persuading yourself of this truth, you must also make yourself to love your state in life and its duties, and to love them tenderly, for the sake of the One who has willed it thus.” To other friends, he sent similar counsel. Constancy requires “that our hearts [be] where our treasure is and that we should live in heaven.” And while on this pilgrim journey, we must “walk firmly in the way in which the providence of God has placed [us], without looking either to the right or to the left.” To walk in friendship with God is not the work of a day, but of a lifetime, which is why we must “begin again every day,” remembering that “there is no better path to success in the spiritual life than always to begin again and never to think that you have done enough.” The great obstacle in this attempt is, of course, our own weakness. Yet perseverance itself requires that we have a certain disregard for our shortcomings and maintain our confidence in the Lord: “God will hold you in his hand,” the saint wrote, “and if he lets you stumble, it will be only so that you realize that you would collapse entirely if he did not hold you, and thus to make you tighten your grip upon his hand.”

The appeal to the imagination was characteristic of de Sales’s spirituality, and when attempting to shore up the patience of his friends, he typically asked them to bring to mind some moment in the life of Jesus. To a friend suffering from fear, he wrote: “Be firm in your resolutions. Stay in the boat. Let the storm come. While Jesus lives, you will not die.” To one suffering from depression, he employed stronger medicine: “Continue to embrace our crucified Lord, and give him your heart and consecrate your mind to him with your affections just as they are.” And to one who had complained of bitter suffering, he used the very strongest: “Every day you should bring to mind the sufferings our Lord endured for our redemption . . . and consider how good it is for you to participate in them.” The image of the crucified Savior is the right medicine for our souls: “The whole life of Christ was a Cross and martyrdom, yet you seek rest and joy?” We may be tempted to soothe psychological pain with the false relief of digital distraction, but this is cowardice, not courage, and cannot possibly heal us. When self-pity or stress, suffering, or boredom knocks at the door, we must turn to the Cross and look upon the Lord. He can cast away the darkness of our sorrows and fears and renew our minds for the labors of the Christian life.

Soldiers of Christ

2 Timothy 2:1–7

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,

and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust

to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Take your

share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on

service gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to satisfy

the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless

he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer

who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what

I say, for the Lord will grant you understanding in everything.

Questions for Reflection

– Do I keep in mind the duties of my state in life, so that I

may recognize the obstacles and suffering that confront me

as opportunities to serve God’s kingdom?

– Is there sufficient order in my daily life — my waking, sleeping,

exercise, and fruitful use of time — so that I am ready

to labor cheerfully and effectively in the service of others?

– Am I allowing myself to be susceptible to anxiety, fear, and

irrational anger by failing to think about God’s goodness and

his providential care for me?

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patriotsnet · 3 years ago

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Why Is There Republicans And Democrats

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-is-there-republicans-and-democrats/

Why Is There Republicans And Democrats

How Things Got This Bad

Why Democrats and Republicans have different priorities on COVID relief

6) The Republican turn against democracy begins with race

Support for authoritarian ideas in America is closely tied to the countrys long-running racial conflicts.

For students of American history, this shouldnt be a surprise.

7) Partisanship causes Republicans to justify anti-democratic behavior

Taking The Perspective Of Others Proved To Be Really Hard

Reality Check 3: The Democrats Legislative Fix Will Never Happenand Doesnt Even Touch The Real Threats

Vaccine Advocacy From Hannity And Mcconnell Gets The Media Off Republicans’ Backs But Won’t Shift Public Sentiment

Sean Hannity, Mitch McConnell and Tucker Carlson

Ha ha ha, no.

Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only.

Matthew Gertz July 20, 2021

Jefferson And Jeffersonian Principles

Reality Check #4: The Electoral College And The Senate Are Profoundly Undemocraticand Were Stuck With Them

History Of The Democratic And Republican Parties

The Republican Party today supports a pro-business platform, with foundations in economic libertarianism, and fiscal and social conservatism.

Adams And The Revolution Of 1800

Why Democrats and Republicans Are Claiming A Midterm Win

Voxs German Lopez is here to guide you through the Biden administrations burst of policymaking. Sign up to receive our newsletter each Friday.

The MAGA movement, Blum and Parker write, is a clear and present danger to American democracy.

2) Republicans are embracing violence

Early Life And Career

Democratic View On Healthcare

Obama And Trump Healthcare Policies Compared

When Was The Republican And Democratic Parties Formed

The Democratic Party was founded by Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren on January 8, 1828, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was the United States seventh president but the first democratic President.

On the other hand, the Republican Party is pretty much younger than the Democratic Party. It was formed in 1854 by anti-slavery modernizers and activists.

The republicans were against the expansion of slavery in Western territories. They fought hard to protect African Americans rights after the civil war.

The Legal Fight Over Voting Rights During The Pandemic Is Getting Hotter

Access vs. security

Even so, Trump and McEnany both voted by mail this year in Florida, and Republican officials across the country have encouraged voting by mail.

Democrats Or Republicans: Who Has The Higher Income

Where Do Trump And Biden Stand On Key Issues

Reuters: Brian Snyder/AP: Julio Cortez

The key issues grappling the country can be broken down into five main categories: coronavirus, health care, foreign policy, immigration and criminal justice.

This year, a big focus of the election has been the coronavirus pandemic, which could be a deciding factor in how people vote, as the country’s contentious healthcare system struggles to cope.

The average healthcare costs for COVID-19 treatment is up to $US30,000 , an Americas Health Insurance Plans 2020 study has found.

Presidential Election Of 1808

This mayor joining the GOP says theres no Democratic Party anymore’

What Is Thomas Jefferson Remembered For

What Republican And Democrats Believe

Republicans and Democrats have diverse ideologies and beliefs. These beliefs or ideology is part of what draws people to join either political party.

Lets start with Republicans. What do Republicans believe in?

Heres a quick summary of what the Republican Party believes in:

Heres a quick look at what Democrats believe in:

Was The Donkey Originally A Jackass

However, the donkey never really caught on after the end of Jacksons presidency, and Thomas Nast apparently had no knowledge that it ever was used to represent the Democrats.

Election Of 1796 And Vice Presidency

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