#Another way to exploit the generosity of women

[coochiequeens]

First purchasing parents exploit women to have their kids then they exploit women who are able to donate their milk.

Challenges of Breastfeeding Surrogate Babies: Overcoming the Hurdles

By Harriet Collins- 2023-08-22

Top Takeaways

Breastfeeding is a natural process that provides babies with essential nutrition and protects them from infections and diseases.

It helps create a bond between mother and child.

Babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life.

Surrogacy can pose challenges for breastfeeding, but induced lactation is possible for intended mothers.

Induced lactation recreates the process of breastfeeding and requires advanced preparation.

Breastfeeding is not a choice but a necessity for the good immunity of future generations. Lack of awareness about breastfeeding in surrogacy cases can be a barrier. Intended mothers can lactate and breastfeed their surrogate child.

Quoting a recent article on WIONews, breastfeeding surrogate babies can be challenging, but it is possible. Breastfeeding is a natural and beautiful process that provides babies with all of their nutritional needs and helps create a bond between mother and child. However, some mothers may choose alternative feeding methods such as formula feeding.

Babies can start breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. During this time, no other foods or liquids should be provided, including water. This is important for the baby’s growth and development, as breast milk protects them from infections and diseases.

However, the journey of pregnancy and childbirth is not the same for everyone, and mothers may face numerous challenges. One such challenge is surrogacy, where a woman carries and gives birth to a baby for another person or couple. Surrogacy can be a complex legal and ethical process, and regulations vary by country and jurisdiction.

When it comes to breastfeeding a surrogate baby, it is crucial to carefully consider all aspects and legalities before pursuing surrogacy. However, it should not be a hurdle for the baby to receive basic needs, such as breast milk.

Dr. Manpreet Sodhi, a Consultant in Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Art at Paras Health in Gurugram, explains that intended mothers can lactate and breastfeed their child even without experiencing pregnancy. This is possible through induced lactation, which recreates the process of being able to breastfeed gradually and requires advanced preparation.

Dr. Yashica Gudesar, a Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at HCMCT Manipal Hospital in Dwarka, emphasizes the health benefits of breastfeeding and notes that it is a necessity for the good immunity of our future generation. In cases of surrogacy, lack of awareness sometimes becomes a barrier to lactation, as doctors and patients may not be aware that lactation is possible in such mothers.

Breastfeeding a surrogate baby is similar to nursing a newborn, and it is essential to provide the baby with the best start in life. Breast milk provides numerous benefits for the baby’s health and well-being, and it also helps strengthen the bond between the mother and child.

In consideration of all these factors, while breastfeeding surrogate babies may present challenges, it is possible through induced lactation. Intended mothers can prepare themselves for breastfeeding and provide their babies with the nutritional and emotional benefits of breast milk. It is important for healthcare professionals and patients to be aware of this possibility and to provide support and guidance to ensure the best outcomes for both mothers and babies.

Milk Banks are supposed to benefit sick babies or babies who lost their mother. Now families, wether that be a hetro couple or two non-women, that were able to exploit a woman for a bio baby could be taking from the supply that families in temporary crisis are dependent on.

[haggishlyhagging]

The use of multiple women in families for reproduction is grounded in many religious patriarchal traditions. Men took an array of wives and concubines, not only for sex but also to reproduce. The reproductive use of multiple women was culturally and religiously legitimated as extended family, otherwise known as polygyny. In ancient Israel, for example, a large family, in particular a large number of sons, was regarded as a blessing from Yahweh. The desire for progeny was partially responsible for the system of multiple wives and concubinage. Surrogacy, especially family surrogacy, replicates this model, with the man inseminating a female family member in order to reproduce "his issue." As one commentator noted, we are really talking not only about surrogate mothers, but about "surrogate wives."

The potential for women's exploitation is not necessarily less when no money is involved and reproductive arrangements take place among family members. In fact, the family is the least safe place for women. More women are sexually abused, battered, and killed in the family context than anyplace else. Yet most of the literature on family surrogacy—sisters bearing children for sisters, for example—romanticizes the family as the foremost place of protection. However, unique affective "inducements" exist in familial contexts that do not exist elsewhere. Although there is no legal "coercion of contract" or perhaps no "inducement" of money, there could be the coercion of family ties, in which having a baby for a sister or another family member may be rationalized as the "greatest gift" one woman can give to another. In these family situations, sisterhood becomes surrogacy; that is, sister love is equated with one sister becoming pregnant for her sibling. Yet, rather than surrogacy enhancing sisterhood, is it not exploiting a sister to put her at risk physically and psychologically? As one woman wrote, "What kind of a society do we live in, that would condone women using other women in this way?"

Gifts often have an operative role and power in shaping family life, as in social life in general. In The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies, anthropologist Marcel Mauss contends that gifts fulfill certain obligations. These obligations vary, but in all instances, whether gifts are used to maintain social affection or to promote unity or loyalty within the group, they are experienced in some way as prescriptive and exacting. This is true on a cultural level, as Mauss has pointed out, but it is even more true on a family level, the context most often cited as the desirable site of altruistic reproductive exchanges.

Family opinion may not force a woman, in the sense of being out-rightly coercive, to become pregnant for another family member. Where family integration is strong, however, the nature of family opinion may be so engulfing that, for all practical purposes, it exacts a reproductive donation from a female source. When a surrogate arrangement is represented as generosity to a family member in need, the ideal of altruism binds the woman to the norms of family duty.

Within families, it may be considered selfish, uncaring, and even dishonorable for a woman to deprive a relative of eggs, fetal tissue, or her gestating abilities. The category of altruism itself is broadened in family contexts to include all sorts of nontraditional reproductive duties that would be frowned on if women did these for money. Within families, it may be considered selfish for an infertile woman to deprive her husband of children by not allowing the use of another female family member, especially because the arrangements will be kept within the family.

It is also likely that those with less power in the family will be expected to be more altruistic. Indeed, their altruism may be outrightly coerced, as happened to Alejandra Muñoz. Muñoz, a poor, illiterate Mexican woman, was brought across the U.S. border illegally to bear a child for relatives at the urging of family members. Told by relatives that if she became pregnant the embryo would be flushed out and transferred to the womb of her cousin, Muñoz was deceived about her reproductive role. When this embryo transfer did not happen, Muñoz vowed to end the pregnancy and was thwarted by family members who kept her under house confinement until the delivery. When she fought to keep her child, she was threatened with exposure as an illegal alien. In family surrogate arrangements, relatives do the brokering. Family members are inevitably used as essential intermediaries and gatekeepers between the woman and the would-be recipients of a child.

And women are still negotiated by family agents, whether for money or for free. We should also not assume that, because surrogate arrangements occur within the family context, no money changes hands. Increasingly many relatives accept a "return gift" for their services. In the realm of organ donations, by comparison, Dr. James Light of the Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center, one of the nation's largest transplant centers, estimates that some economic benefit accrues to 15 to 20 percent of living organ donors who give to a relative.

-Janice G. Raymond, Women as Wombs

[gegengestalt]

Grushenka...

The fact that Grushenka as a character is often put into the femme fatale box (as if it wasn't a character archetype that is completely out of place in the context of the novel) by careless commentators and the statement that she was meant to be a "beautiful sinner" (very unserious wording) in the sequel irk me, because I believe she's meant to be a positive character and have reasons to think so.

It's understandable to think of her that way in the beginning of the novel through the descriptions of her alone. She seems like an enchantress, an otherworldly beauty, a harlot even. The first time she makes an appearance denies some rumours and confirms others. Simply put, she's quite a regular woman, but a charismatic and daring one as well.

I won't try to argue that her jab at Katerina Ivanovna wasn't narrated with any other purpose than to portray her as being a little cruel. It's true that she took pleasure in Katerina's shame and anger. However, Katerina was not exactly the noblehearted and reasonable one in that situation. She tried to control Grushenka from the beginning, acted condescendingly sweet towards her while being insincere and immediately started insulting her as soon as Grushenka made it clear that she wasn't going to do as Katerina wished. And she did it out of pride. Grushenka is an unmarried young woman without parents in 19th century Russia, a businesswoman at the age of 22 at a time when women doing such work was a rare sight. She knows how to make the most of the little power she has in society and tries to have fun while she's at it. It might seem like she's cruel for no reason during that scene, but I believe that no sad background story is needed to recognize it as the statement that it is.

Beneath the cattiness and mischief, Grushenka is kind- hearted and generous. She keeps accepting Rakitin into her home and giving him money despite the fact that he's ashamed of her and he slanders her, she's grateful to Samsonov for rescuing her from poverty, hunger and suicide, even when he sexually exploited her when she was young (something that ruined her reputation permanently*). She let old Maximov stay at her house and took care of him, and showed kindness and generosity to pan Mussyalovich, another man who deeply hurt her, in Book XI. She tried to do something for Mitya, even going out of her way to talk to Grigory. And most of all, she was the one who truly transformed Alyosha, not the other way around. She showed her true heart and in return received the onion, the chance of redemption.

(*Let us remember how her status as a fallen woman has affected her. Despite this, I don't think she has resigned herself to that fate. I do not believe she sees herself as truly ruined even if she calls herself wicked. She's one to bite back, not to victimize herself, and she has proved that she's capable of moving forward.)

Grushenka's quick to act out of spite, though she's not completely ruthless. She is one with noble impulses too. Fyodor Pavlovich is not the most reliable, but even he remarks how quickly she runs to the side of the fallen man, though he attributes it to mere rebelliousness. Grushenka has a very strong guilty conscience, declaring herself responsible for the murder. While she added some fuel to the fire with her feigned indecision, Dmitri and Fyodor are grown men who can make decisions themselves and she was not forcing them to collide. On the contrary, they are the ones who pulled her in their feud first. The fact that she got defensive and said that Dmitri blamed her for what happened (Book XI) when he said nothing of the sort only shows how guilty she truly feels, as well as the self- consciousness she hides to protect herself. By the end, she has the potential to turn her insecurity and jealousy into responsibility and compassion.

Much like Dmitri, Grushenka is considered sinful, yet she doesn't stray away from God and respects what is sacred. She's honest about her own feelings no matter what other people say, and this makes her a little capricious, but also gives her certain integrity. The themes of childlikeness, joy and laughter in her character are remarked by the narrator and some characters. These are all positive traits in the symbolic world of the Dostoyevskyan novel. She's capable of both spontaneous malice and spontaneous good. Chapter 3 of Book VII, which presents a situation with a certain resemblance to the story of Katerina and Dmitri, portrays a triumph of this spontaneous good. If Dmitri can have a wide heart, why can't she?

As a female character, Grushenka is in an interesting position. At the time the novel was written, female characters were still tied to the development and stories of male characters; however, fleshed out female characters with agency were starting to become more common as well. What then happens is that, while these types of female characters still depend on the personal journeys of the men in the story, the men's fate and trajectory end up being influenced by the actions and decisions of the female characters immensely. Grushenka is not the protagonist of the story and her psyche isn't given as much attention, but in the way she's fragmented between the arcs of other characters and their journeys while retaining individual characteristics, she becomes a central piece of the story, and even becomes a narrator the fable that expresses one of the most important statements of the story: that salvation doesn't come at the expense of others.

[agecfwonder]

*:·ﾟ✧ is that that jonah zale , who is originally from cardonia , and living in valachia ? it’s nice to see the member of transvania's kings guard / dragon rider out and about on such a fine day as this. i’ve heard from the court spies that they notoriously stubborn , whilst also managing to be quite charming . the twenty-seven year old was born human, and hails from the kingdom of transvania. 

———   GENERAL

NAME  : jonah kieran zale TITLE : king's guard ( assigned to the prince ) & dragon rider AGE :  twenty-seven   SPECIES : human GENDER : cis man  PRONOUNS : he/him SEXUAL ORIENTATION : bisexual BIRTHPLACE : cardoniaRESIDENCE  : valachia

———   RELATIONSHIPS

FATHER : unknownMOTHER : tonya zale   SIBLINGS : none ALLIES : prince gabriel dragola ; dante valdinia  ENEMIES : tba

———   PERSONALITY

LABEL : the white knight TAROT : the fool ALIGNMENT : neutral good POSITIVE (+) : curious — charming — compassionate — noble — loyal — perseverant NEGATIVE (-) : stubborn — impatient — follower — exploitable — hotheaded

———   HISTORY

jonah never knew his father. his mother had been a maid for lady dahlia, one of the noble families in cardonia, when she found out she was expecting. there had been rumors, of course, among the rest of the castle's staff as to who the father could be when she could no longer hide her condition but tonya remained tight lipped. some whispers said it had to be any number of the guard-- she was young and beautiful and turned plenty of heads and of course, any friendly interaction even in passing was twisted into some flirtation. others murmured that perhaps it was some bastard child of their lord or maybe another noble passing through that had stopped to intrude upon the dahlia's generosity. lots of speculations and quiet accusations had his mother moved to kitchen staff, where she would be out of the eye of the nobility and that was where she stayed even after his entrance to the world.

it took nearly a year before anyone realized the problems with his ears. he had spent his whole life strapped to his mother's chest while she worked in the kitchens of the castle and tonya and those around her- kinder now that this mystery baby had been brought into the world, his mysterious parentage the last thing on their minds when he smiled at them- assumed that he had just grown used to the constant bustle and noise of the kitchens, it never struck them as odd that he didn't react to the loud clangs and bangs that could happen. when he wouldn't respond to his name, some of the older men would tut and laugh, saying he was just a 'selective listener, like all men' but it was the community of women in the kitchen that took the matter seriously, hands snapping fingers next to his ears for no reaction to pass over his small face. the castle's healer confirmed it- the deafness, in both ears- was first met with sympathy but tonya wouldn't entertain it.

a stable hand for the castle had a sister who worked in the village who was deaf and it was from him that tonya learned how to speak with her hands, exchanging meals or treats from the noble's kitchen for lessons in the stable for herself and the toddler jonah was becoming. she taught everyone she could- showing those who worked in the kitchen with her how to shape and move their hands in order to talk with the little boy who had begun exploring the kitchen on fast legs, the guards who would stop and ruffle his curls on their way for the next watch, the butlers and maids that sneak him sweets as they came to serve each course that was sent from the kitchen. she taught him the shape of words as they left people's mouths, showing him how to hear with his ears those who couldn't speak with their hands.

as he got older and more busy under the feet of those that never stopped working in the dahlia's kitchen, she sent him out ( in hopes it would keep him out of trouble ) to the stables where the hand that had taught both of them to communicate without words could keep an eye on him. mucking stalls, picking hooves, mending ( and cleaning-- so. much. cleaning ) the saddles and bridles of the dahlia family kept him busy for a time but curiosity would inevitably have him venturing to other parts of the keep; like the smithy where he was allowed to watch ( a thick and heavy leather apron spread across his lap and covering skinned knees ) and the gardens where he was allowed to play in the dirt, pulling weeds and tending to the produce that would be gathered and turned alchemy like into the most delicious food.

eventually, he made it to where the keeps guards would train. sitting on the wooden railings of the circular pen where they would spar, he would watch with wide eyes as the sun glinted off swords they swung at each other, feet sliding and kicking up clouds of dust as they moved. his hand wrapped around a stick, he would challenge other children to mock battles, imitating the way those guards had moved their feet, how they had held the swords and swung in wide arcs. plenty of his challengers had run off with throbbing hands from where his stick-sword had whapped them good or bleeding from where that stick-sword had gotten too frenzied and he had made plenty of his own tear-filled walks to the comfort of the kitchen where his mother's face would be scrunched up in gentle frustration and her hands would snap in quiet admonishment as she cleaned his battle wounds.

when he was thirteen, he started apprenticing with the blacksmith and while he was mostly set to keeping the smithy clean or tools sharp or, the most tedious of chores, filing the patches on scullery pots, he watched with those bright eyes when the blacksmith would work on those red hot blades or buffing out the bright iron of a shield. he wasn't supposed to touch them, he knew he wasn't supposed to but find one fourteen year old boy who could resist the siren's call of fresh steel and it felt heavy in his hand but balanced and he had been behind the smithy, feet kicking up those same puffs of dust as he moved like those guards he loved watching so much, his arm ( stronger now that he had been working in the smithy for over a year ) moving in imitation of those thrusts and parries. the captain of the guard had been the one whose blade jonah had decided to play with and he hadn't heard the man when he entered the smithy, much less when he had come around the back to watch from the doorframe as jonah fought imaginary vampires and invaders. when jonah realized he'd been caught, he was certain he was in bigger trouble than he'd ever been in his life, watching as the captain's mouth moved to tell the blacksmith he would 'need to speak with the boy's mother'.

jonah left the smithy only to begin training with the new crop of young men and women who would one day replace those that protected the keep. he was younger than most of them and he was given no concession for the ears that could not hear a commander's call. at first, it seemed like he would be left behind but as time passed, the group learned to work together as a company- learning signs that they could pass down the line to one another to communicate commands, maneuvers, orders. for years he trained with them and when it was time for them to join the guard, jonah was presented with a surprising opportunity. the captain that had caught him all those years ago playing with his sword behind the smithy recommended him for the bran academy in branu, acting as his patron. his mother tried to talk him out of it, deathly afraid of her only son going off to the academy, knowing that there were many children who left to find glory only to be sent home in pinewood boxes or clay urns to their waiting families, for the first time in his life trying to use his deafness as a reason why he would not succeed. it only fueled him more to prove her wrong even though it broke his heart to leave her.

the academy brought on a new level of challenges but jonah- ever bull-headed, ever determined to prove everyone around him wrong- only let those challenges push him instead of drag him down. he left the academy bonded to his dragon- moiraine- and joined the dracovlăst, patrolling transvania's borders for three years before he was offered a place in the king's guard, assigned to the prince-- a position he took up gladly. not too bad for the deaf child of a kitchen maid from cardonia. he's been a part of prince gabriel's personal guard for about two years now.

———   QUICK FACTS ( TLDR; )

jonah is from cardonia, a bastard child to a kitchen maid for the dahlia family.

he's profoundly deaf in both ears and was taught sign language by his mother and a stable hand who worked for the same family that had a deaf sister.

was a blacksmith apprentice for a time before training as a guard for the dahlia family only to be sent to the bran academy under the patronage of the captain of the guard for the dahlia family ( potential wanted connection )

kicked ass and took names at the academy and bonded with his dragon, moiraine and left to patrol the border for a hot second before landing a spot in the king's guard. [ all i do is win by dj khaled blasts in the background ]

bc jonah is deaf he uses sign language to communicate and is able to read lips. his mother tried to teach him to verbalize but it wasn't something he had much interest in.

he's incredibly expressive with his body language-- imagine like the most cartoonish man you've ever met in real life

has the Loudest Laugh- zero volume control. like is generally pretty fucking loud just bc he's not aware of how much noise he makes

just a big himbo

he's not Dumb but he is very impressionable.

can and will teach anyone who is willing to learn sign.

[truthdogg]

Once we recognize that libertarianism is essentially neo-feudalism, and that it is now the dominant conservative philosophy of the Republican Party, it’s not hard to understand Republican priorities.

The basic idea of neo-feudalism, at least as I discuss it here, is that power is properly derived from wealth and the willingness to seize it, and not from votes. Power is held by employers and investors, who use it to build loyalty among the less fortunate, by means of patronage or bullying, without being hindered by popular elected officials.

While this aligns somewhat with fascism, neo-feudalism has different reasons for many of the same priorities. Yet it’s still a a weaponization of the state’s power for the use of wealthy individuals, the church, and corporations—specifically away from traditionally marginalized or non-wealthy groups. (I’d call it more of a “semi-fascism,” although perhaps it’s just another example of how fascism localizes itself wherever it rises.) Shrinking the size and power of democratic government is therefore essential to this philosophy, because it moves power away from the majority and their votes, and toward individual wealth and existing power.

Those with the most capital tend to have a small check on their activities in a democracy already, because they aren’t elected officials and their power can’t be voted away. They also have a built-in barrier to being elected, despite their ability to spend more on their races, because in a democracy the policies they promote will be unpopular with most citizens.

So instead, they build fear and distrust of any government by and for the people by targeting marginal groups, and then point to the weakened and/or untrusted state to create a power vacuum that they themselves can fill. Trump himself is a good example of how this works in action, and the continuing election of extremely wealthy fraudsters like Rick Scott show just how popular this anti-democratic movement has become.

Here are some the tools being used:

Citizens United & unlimited campaign contributions to PACs, including from foreign sources, to ensure higher influence of wealth in votes

Deliberate shift away from democracy and voting by limiting who can vote

Push for any assistance to be church- or corporate-based, creating reliance on generosity of individuals and not society as a safety net for poor

Intense opposition to any government assistance, as it lessens employer dominance; this includes govt-funded healthcare, unemployment assistance, social security, etc.

Pumping money into military budgets at expense of everything else, for this system will require massive enforcement AND because a weak government makes foreign takeover a real concern

Privatize everything, even the military, to link corporate control to all of society’s functions - and enables massive profit-taking for the well-connected (look at the immense fortunes built by decades of ineffective “training” in Afghanistan)

With this “neo-feudalist” lens, it becomes fairly straightforward to predict where the GOP will land on any given issue. Despite their lack of a policy platform, we don’t actually need to read it. After all, it would only expose their most unpopular beliefs, and we can ascertain those simply by looking at what keeps power in the hands of the powerful.

From their opposition to social security, to universal healthcare (harder to exploit people when they aren’t desperate), to FEMA (can’t funnel money through their own organizations that way), to women’s rights, to contraception (same issue on exploitation), to military privatization, to private prisons, to taxes (especially to taxes), it’s all predictable if you see what shifts power to the already-powerful.

It’s what conservatism has always done. It’s simply more brazenly authoritarian now, because it’s fighting back against real power from an engaged and evolving nation.

[sherkirti]

JUNGIAN ARCHETYPES & their Astrological Counterpart

12 JUNGIAN ARCHETYPES IN ASTROLOGY:

The Jester (Aries)

The Lover (Taurus)

The Magician (Gemini)

The Caregiver (Cancer)

The Creator/Artist (Leo)

The Sage (Virgo)

The Everyman (Libra)

The Rebel (Scorpio)

The Explorer (Sagittarius)

The Ruler (Capricorn)

The Hero (Aquarius)

The Innocent (Pisces)

1. The Innocent Pisces/12th house

Motto: Free to be you and me

Core desire: to get to paradise

Goal: to be happy

Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong

Strategy: to do things right

Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence

Talent: faith and optimism

The Innocent is also known as: Utopian, traditionalist, naive, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer.

2. The Everyman  Libra/7th House 

Motto: All men and women are created equal

Core Desire: connecting with others

Goal: to belong

Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd

Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch

Weakness: losing one’s own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships

Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretense

The Everyman is also known as: The good old boy, regular guy/girl, the person next door, the realist, the working stiff, the solid citizen, the good neighbor, the silent majority.

3. The Hero Aquarius/11th House

Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way

Core desire: to prove one’s worth through courageous acts

Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world

Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a “chicken”

Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible

Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight

Talent: competence and courage

The Hero is also known as: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player.

4. The Caregiver Cancer/4th House

Motto: Love your neighbour as yourself

Core desire: to protect and care for others

Goal: to help others

Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude

Strategy: doing things for others

Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited

Talent: compassion, generosity

The Caregiver is also known as: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter.

5. The Explorer Sagittarius/9th House

Motto: Don’t fence me in

Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world

Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life

Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness

Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom

Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit

Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul

The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.

6. The Rebel Scorpio/8th House

Motto: Rules are made to be broken

Core desire: revenge or revolution

Goal: to overturn what isn’t working

Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual

Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock

Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime

Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom

The Outlaw is also known as: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast.

7. The Lover Taurus/2nd House

Motto: You’re the only one

Core desire: intimacy and experience

Goal: being in a relationship with the people, work and surroundings they love

Greatest fear: being alone, a wallflower, unwanted, unloved

Strategy: to become more and more physically and emotionally attractive

Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity

Talent: passion, gratitude, appreciation, and commitment

The Lover is also known as: The partner, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder.

8. The Creator/Artist Leo/5th House

Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done

Core desire: to create things of enduring value

Goal: to realize a vision

Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution

Strategy: develop artistic control and skill

Task: to create culture, express own vision

Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions

Talent: creativity and imagination

The Creator is also known as: The artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer or dreamer.

9. The Jester Aries/1st House

Motto: You only live once

Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment

Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world

Greatest fear: being bored or boring others

Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny

Weakness: frivolity, wasting time

Talent: joy

The Jester is also known as: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian.

10. The Sage Virgo/6th House

Motto: The truth will set you free

Core desire: to find the truth.

Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world.

Biggest fear: being duped, misled—or ignorance.

Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes.

Weakness: can study details forever and never act.

Talent: wisdom, intelligence.

The Sage is also known as: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative.

11. The Magician Gemini/3rd House

Motto: I make things happen.

Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe

Goal: to make dreams come true

Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences

Strategy: develop a vision and live by it

Weakness: becoming manipulative

Talent: finding win-win solutions

The Magician is also known as:The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man.

12. The Ruler Capricorn/10th House

Motto: Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

Core desire: control

Goal: create a prosperous, successful family or community

Strategy: exercise power

Greatest fear: chaos, being overthrown

Weakness: being authoritarian, unable to delegate

Talent: responsibility, leadership

The Ruler is also known as: The boss, leader, aristocrat, king, queen, politician, role model, manager or administrator.

ARCHETYPES INFO SOURCE:

[dwellordream]

“Henry's marriage to Catherine had long since grown cold. Though his wife remained, and would remain, loyal and devoted, Henry was in very different case. The raptures of the early days had faded and the consequent demands upon him for self-discipline and generosity had found him wanting. Catherine was five years his senior. In I527 he was still in his prime, in his mid-thirties, she over forty. As king he could satisfy desire all too easily, for who would refuse a king easily, especially a king such as he? Fidelity was rare among monarchs and the temptation besetting him, in particular, strong.

At first Henry had been a gallant husband. Catherine had accompanied him to every feast and triumph, he had worn her initials on his sleeve in the jousts and called himself 'Sir Loyal Heart'. He had shown her off to visitors, confided in her, run to her with news. Though there had been talk of a lady to whom he showed favour while campaigning in France, he had slipped home ahead of his army and galloped to Catherine at Richmond in order to lay the keys of the two cities he had captured at her feet.

We cannot know when he first succumbed to the temptation of adultery, but it must have been within five years of his marriage, when there appeared on the scene one Elizabeth Blount, a lady-in-waiting of Queen Catherine and a cousin of Lord Mountjoy - and she may not have been the first. She caught the king's eye during the New Year festivities in I5I4, that is, shortly after he had returned from the first campaign in France. Bessie Blount eventually bore him a son, in I519. Subsequently she married into a gentle family, the Talboys of Lancashire, with a dower of lands in that county and Yorkshire assigned by act ofParliament. Hers, then, was a fate less than death; and her son, the duke of Richmond, was occasionally to acquire considerable political and diplomatic significance.

Next there was Mary Boleyn, since 1521 wife of William Carey, daughter of a royal councillor and diplomat, and sister of Anne. That Mary was at one time Henry's mistress, and this presumably after her marriage, is beyond doubt. Years later there was a strong rumour that she too had born Henry a son, but we cannot be sure. Anyway we may guess that the liaison was over by l526, and when her younger sister climbed on to the English throne, with perhaps pardonable pique, she dismissed Mary from the court. The latter was to do well enough, with her family at the centre of affairs during the reign of her niece, Elizabeth I - which was more than could be said of Bessie Blount. And finally there was Anne, Thomas Boleyn's younger daughter.

Following in the wake of her sister, who had been in the entourage that accompanied Mary Tudor to France in 1514, Anne had crossed the Channel about 1519 to enter the household of Queen Claude, wife of Francis I, an amiable lady who had several young girls in her care and supervised their education. The newcomer to the royal school must have been about twelve years old. She stayed in France until the out- break of war in 1522 and then came home, by which time she was on the way to becoming an accomplished and mature girl. She does not seem to have been remarkably beautiful, but she had wonderful dark hair in abundance and fine eyes, the legacy of Irish ancestors, together with a firm mouth and a head well set on a long neck that gave her authority and grace.

On her return, if not before, her future had apparently been settled, ironically by Henry and Wolsey. She would marry Sir James Butler, an Irish chieftain and claimant to the earldom of Ormond, to which the Boleyns, rivals of the Butlers, had long aspired. Anne was therefore to mend the feud by uniting families and claims. Had this familiar kind of device been executed, and had this been the sum total ofher experience ofhow marriage and politics could interweave, things might have been very different for England, if not for Ireland. But Butler's price was too high and Anne remained in England.

Her father, aided perhaps by her grandfather, the second duke of Norfolk, had meanwhile brought her to Court, as he had her sister before her. There she eventually attracted attention, first from Sir Thomas Wyatt, the poet, a cousin of hers; then from Henry Percy, son of the earl of Northumberland and one of the large number of young men of quality resident in Wolsey's household. Alas, Percy was already betrothed. At the king's behest, Wolsey refused to allow him to break his engagement and, summoning him to his presence, rated him for falling for a foolish girl at Court. When words failed, the cardinal told the father to remove his son and knock some sense into him. Percy was carried off forthwith- and thus began that antipathy for Wolsey that Anne never lost.

But it may well be that, when Henry ordered Wolsey to stamp on Percy's suit, it was because he was already an interested party himself and a rival for the girl's affection of perhaps several gay courtiers, including Thomas Wyatt. The latter's grandson later told a story ofhow Wyatt, while flirting once with Anne, snatched a locket hanging from her pocket which he refused to return. At the same time, Henry had been paying her attention and taken a ring from her which he thereafter wore on his little finger. A few days later, Henry was playing bowls with the duke of Suffolk, Francis Bryan and Wyatt, when a dispute arose about who had won the last throw.

Pointing with the finger which bore the pilfered ring, Henry cried out that it was his point, saying to Wyatt with a smile, 'I tell thee it is mine.' Wyatt saw the ring and understood the king's meaning. But he could return the point. 'And if it may like your majesty,' he replied, 'to give me leave that I may measure it, I hope it will be mine.' Whereupon he took out the locket which hung about his neck and started measuring the distance between the bowls and the jack. Henry recognized the trophy and, muttering something about being deceived, strode away.

But the chronology ofAnne's rise is impossible to discover exactly. All that can be said is that by I525-6 what had probably hitherto been light dalliance with an eighteen or nineteen year-old girl had begun to grow into something deeper and more dangerous. In the normal course of events, Anne would have mattered only to Henry's conscience, not to the history of England. She would have been used and discarded - along with those others whom Henry may have taken and who are now forgotten. But, either because of virtue or ambition, Anne refused to become his mistress and thus follow the conventional, inconspicuous path of her sister; and the more she resisted, the more, apparently, did Henry prize her.

Had Catherine's position been more secure she would doubtless have ridden this threat. Indeed, had it been so, Anne might never have dared to raise it. But Catherine had still produced no heir to the throne. The royal marriage had failed in its first duty, namely, to secure the succession. Instead, it had yielded several miscarriages, three infants who were either still-born or died immediately after birth (two of them males), two infants who had died within a few weeks ofbirth (one ofthem a boy) and one girl, Princess Mary, now some ten years old. His failure to produce a son was a disappointment to Henry, and as the years went by and no heir appeared, ambassadors and foreign princes began to remark the fact, and English diplomacy eventually to accommodate it, provisionally at least, in its reckoning.

Had Henry been able to glimpse into the second halfofthe century he would have had to change his mind on queens regnant, for his two daughters were to show quality that equalled or outmeasured their father's; and even during his reign, across the Channel, there were two women who rendered the Habsburgs admirable service as regents ofthe Netherlands. Indeed, the sixteenth century would perhaps produce more remarkable women in Church and State than any predecessor - more than enough to account for John Knox's celebrated anti-feminism and more than enough to make Henry's patriarchal convictions look misplaced. But English experience of the queen regnant was remote and unhappy, and Henry's conventional mind, which no doubt accorded with his subjects', demanded a son as a political necessity.

When his only surviving legitimate child, Mary, was born in February 1516, Henry declared buoyantly to the Venetian ambassador, 'We are both young; if it was a daughter this time, by the grace of God sons will follow.' But they did not. Catherine seems to have miscarried in the autumn of 1517 and in the November of the following year was delivered of another still-born. This was her last pregnancy, despite the efforts of physicians brought from Spain; and by 1525 she was almost past child-bearing age. There was, therefore, a real fear of a dynastic failure, of another bout of civil war, perhaps, or, if Mary were paired off as the treaty of 1525 provided, of England's union with a continental power.

Catherine, for the blame was always attached to her and not to Henry, was a dynastic misfortune. She was also a diplomatic one. Charles's blunt refusal to exploit the astonishing opportunity provided by his victory at Pavia and to leap into the saddle to invade and partition France had been an inexplicable disappointment. Of course, had Henry really been cast in the heroic mould he would have invaded single- handed. But established strategy required a continental ally. Eleven years before, in 1514., Ferdinand of Spain had treated him with contempt and Henry had cast around for means of revenge, and there had been a rumour then that he wanted to get rid of his Spanish wife and marry a French princess.

Whether Henry really contemplated a divorce then has been the subject of controversy, which surely went in favour of the contention that he did not - especially when a document listed in an eighteenth-century catalogue of the Vatican Archives, and thought to relate to the dissolution of the king's marriage - a document which has since disappeared - was convincingly pushed aside with the suggestion that it was concerned with Mary Tudor's matrimonial affairs, not Henry's. Undoubtedly, this must dispose of the matter even more decisively than does the objection that, in the summer of 1514, Catherine was pregnant. In 1525, however, the situation was different. Charles had rebuffed Henry's military plans and, by rejecting Mary's hand, had thrown plans for the succession into disarray.

For a moment the king evidently thought of advancing his illegitimate son - who, in June 1525, was created duke of Richmond. But this solution was to be overtaken by another which Henry may have been contemplating for some time, namely, to disown his Spanish wife. Catherine, therefore, was soon in an extremely embarrassing position. Tyndale asserted, on first-hand evidence, that \Volsey had placed informants in her entourage and told of one 'that departed the Court for no other reason than that she would no longer betray her mistress'.' When Mendoza arrived in England in December 1526, he was prevented for months from seeing the queen and, when he did, had to endure the presence of Wolsey who made it virtually impossible to communicate with her. It was the ambassador's opinion that 'the principal cause of [her] misfortune is that she identifies herselfentirely with the emperor's interests'; an exaggeration, but only an exaggeration.

The king, then, had tired of his wife and fallen in love with one who would give herself entirely to him only if he would give himself entirely to her; his wife had not borne the heir for which he and the nation longed, and it was now getting too late to hope; he had been disappointed by Catherine's nephew, Charles V, and now sought vengeance in a diplomatic revolution which would make the position of a Spanish queen awkward to say the least. Any one of these facts would not have seriously endangered the marriage, but their coincidence was fatal. If Henry's relations with Catherine momentarily improved in the autumn of 1525 so that they read a book together and appeared to be very friendly, soon after, probably, Henry never slept with her again.

The divorce, which came into the open in early 1527 was therefore due to more than a man's lust for a woman. It was diplomatically expedient and, so some judged, dynastically urgent. As well as this, it was soon to be publicly asserted, it was theologically necessary, for two famous texts from the book of Leviticus apparently forbade the very marriage that Henry had entered. His marriage, therefore, was not and never had been, lawful. The miscarriages, the still-births, the denial of a son were clearly divine punishment for, and proof of, transgression of divine law. Henry had married Catherine by virtue of a papal dispensation of the impediment of affinity which her former marriage to Arthur had set up between them.

But Leviticus proclaimed such a marriage to be against divine law - which no pope can dispense. So he will begin to say. And thus what will become a complicated argument took shape. Henry had laid his hand on a crucial weapon - the only weapon, it seemed, with which he could have hoped to achieve legitimately what he now desired above all else. How sincere he was is impossible to determine. More than most, he found it difficult to distinguish between what was right and what he desired. Certainly, before long he had talked, thought and read himself into a faith in the justice of his cause so firm that it would tolerate no counter-argument and no opposition, and convinced himself that it was not only his right to throw aside his alleged wife, but also his duty - to himself, to Catherine, to his people, to God.

At the time, and later, others would be accused of planting the great scruple, the levitical scruple, in Henry's mind. Tyndale, Polydore Vergil and Nicholas Harpsfield (in his life of Sir Thomas More) charged Wolsey with having used John Longland, bishop of Lincoln and royal confessor, to perform the deed. But this was contradicted by Henry, Longland and Wolsey. In 1529, when the divorce case was being heard before the legatine court at Blackfriars, Wolsey publicly asked Henry to declare before the court 'whether I have been the chiefinventor or first mover of this matter unto your Majesty; for I am greatly suspected of all men herein'; to which Henry replied, 'My lord cardinal, I can well excuse you herein. Marry, you have been rather against me in attempt- ing or setting forth thereof' - an explicit statement for which no obvious motive for misrepresentation can be found and which is corroborated by later suggestions that Wolsey had been sluggish in pushing the divorce forwards.

Longland too spoke on the subject, saying that it was the king who first broached the subject to him 'and never left urging him until he had won him to give his consent'. On another occasion Henry put out a different story: that his conscience had first been 'pricked upon divers words that were spoken at a certain time by the bishop of Tarbes, the French king's ambassador, who had been here long upon the debating for the conclusion of the marriage between the princess our daughter, Mary, and the duke of Orleans, the French king's second son'. It is incredible that an ambassador would have dared to trespass upon so delicate a subject as a monarch's marriage, least of all when he had come to negotiate a treaty with that monarch.

Nor was it likely that he should have sug- gested that Mary was illegitimate when her hand would have been very useful to French diplomacy. Besides, the bishop of Tarbes only arrived in England in April 1527, that is, a few weeks before Henry's marriage was being tried by a secret court at Westminster. The bishop could not have precipitated events as swiftly as that. No less significantly, another account ofthe beginnings of the story, given by Henry in 1528, says that doubts about Mary's legitimacy were first put by the French to English ambassadors in France - not by the bishop of Tarbes to his English hosts.

He and his compatriots may have been told about the scruple or deliberately encouraged by someone to allude to it in the course of negotiations, but did not invent it; nor, probably, did Anne Boleyn - as Pole asserted. It is very likely that Henry himselfwas the author ofhis doubts. After all, he would not have needed telling about Leviticus. Though he might not have read them, the two texts would probably have been familiar to him if he had ever explored the reasons for the papal dispensation for his marriage, and he was enough of a theologian to be able to turn to them now, to brood over them and erect upon them at least the beginnings of the argument that they forbade absolutely the marriage which he had entered.

Wolsey said later that Henry’s doubts had sprung partly from his own study and partly from discussion with 'many theologians'; but since it is difficult to imagine that anyone would have dared to question the validity of the royal marriage without being prompted by the king, this must mean that the latter's own 'assiduous study and erudition' first gave birth to the 'great scruple' and that subsequent conference with others encouraged it. Moreover, Henry may have begun to entertain serious doubts about his marriage as early as 1522 or 1523, and have broached his ideas to Longland then - for, in 1532, the latter was said to have heard the first mutterings of the divorce 'nine or ten years ago'.'

By the time that Anne Boleyn captured the king, therefore, the scruple may already have acquired firm roots, though probably not until early 1527 was it mentioned to Wolsey who, so he said, when he heard about it, knelt before the king 'in his Privy Chamber the space of an hour or two, to persuade him from his will and appetite; but I could never bring to pass to dissuade him therefrom'. What had begun as a perhaps hesitant doubt had by now matured into aggressive conviction.”

- J.J. Scarisbrick, “The Repudiation of the Hapsburgs.” in Henry VIII

[allie1804-fan]

Malaise (Chapter 1 - Calling Tara)

Warnings: Mentions of escort services and sexual acts

Notes  - I wanted to try and write something that I imagine might be a bit closer to the real experience of Keanu than my stories with romance and babies etc. Not completely sure where it’s going just yet but thought I would put out my first 2 chapters and see what people think.

Keanu stared at the phone in his hand again, thumb poised over the green phone symbol. He didn’t quite know why he was hesitating.  He had found himself unable to make even the simplest of decisions with any speed lately. His hand drifted down to his groin where he rubbed himself absent-mindedly. He took a deep breath and tapped “call”.

 “Codename please” the robot voice said

 “KCR”

 “please type in your pin”

He punched in 090264 wondering once again if he should really try to cover his tracks with things like this but nothing had leaked in the 10 years+ of using the agency . They were discrete and the system was designed to shield the calls by using the pin system and he was careful with his phone, never giving details to strangers. Heaven forbid if his number got out to hackers and they figured out that he made fairly regular calls to an elite escort agency!

Once through to a human being at their end, he asked for Tara who was his regular. He needed sex and as soon as she was available.  He specified “the usual” and put the phone down, going out to sit by the pool and have a smoke as distraction from his horniness.

He’d  tried a couple of his “friends with benefits” before calling the agency but they were out of town and he didn’t want to call Autumn, she was too needy for how he was feeling right now. There was history there of an on and off relationship in the early 90s that had been one of the ones that proved to him that he wasn’t cut out for commitment. She couldn’t deal with his regular absences to shoot films and he couldn’t stay faithful for that long either. Still, even now, they’d  end up in bed together sometimes, but he knew she still wanted more, more than he could give so it wasn’t fair to her. Back in the day she’d been more wild and bohemian, more aligned with his view that sex was just sex and you could enjoy it with or without the emotional baggage.  And she’d been willing to let him try things in his younger days like anal sex and a bit of BDSM - she liked to be dominated. Neither of those things were really his bag now but he’d been on a journey  of sexual discovery back when they started adding sex into the mix and she’d been a willing traveller.

He’d been in London a couple of weeks back and met up for dinner with an actor /writer friend Doraly – she wasn’t seeing anyone just now either and they both needed release so they’d gone back to her flat afterwards and fucked. That had been the last time and now he was antsy.

He got a text from the agency about 15 minutes after placing the call. Tara could come tomorrow. With Tara, part of the deal was to share some conversation and food first, basically a bit of a fake date night. The irony wasn’t lost on him that he wanted to have the trappings of a date as part of the sex he was buying! He dropped her a text to ask what she fancied  -  she chose dim sum and wan tons - she knew him well enough to choose something he liked too.

Later when he went to bed, he jerked off not wanting to come too quickly the next day. He thought about Tara as he pulled on his cock, imagining her fragrant thighs astride his head. That was always the first part of ‘the usual’  - she had the most delicious pussy and he would always feast on that first before straight sex of some kind. He wasn’t required to specify positions for that, only if there was anything they classified as kinky or out of the ordinary.

The next day, he went for a long ride up PCH to clear his head and kill some time.  Tara was due to his house at 6.30 and the dim sum at 7. He’d got a fine bottle of Chablis, her favourite white and he was looking forward to catching up with her. She was always interested in his work and she enjoyed theatre, movies and books so there was always something interesting to talk about. Best of all, there were no demands. He only had to give what he was willing to and mostly that was wanting to be sure she had at least one orgasm – he derived at least some of his satisfaction from that as well as the obvious appreciation she had for his body. There was no need to keep her at an emotional distance because she didn’t ask for emotional closeness from him, not beyond the session that is. She was good at the whole date night scenario as long as it lasted though and that’s what he wanted tonight.

With the other women in his life, barriers were put up. Sometimes that was in quite a formal way so if he was with someone new, he’d make clear he wasn’t able to commit to a long term or monogamous relationship. He’d usually blame this on work and of course that was a major practical factor, but a voice inside told him there were probably other things in his personality or life experience that prevented him from wanting a long term relationship. He valued his time alone as well – not just the time to pursue his career and help run the Arch business. He wanted to be able to spend a day reading or playing chess against the computer or simply taking off on his bike or to the beach without anyone being pissed off about it.

The other barriers to closeness he put up were more subtle. He was always very guarded about sharing personal information beyond what he liked in the arts and what food he liked, he would avoid introducing women to other friends or family and would rarely go out with them in public, ostensibly to protect them from publicity.

In his younger days, he simply had not been ready to commit to one person and the practical issue of going away so often for filming or publicity had made that impossible too in combination with his healthy appetite for sex - he wasn’t able to go without for that long. Then as he’d got older and more famous, meeting someone who was really interested in him as a person,  not as a meal ticket or a connection to exploit, became increasingly difficult and led him to put up barriers. And then there had been Jen and Ava, a terrible situation filled with loss and angst that had finally closed the door, he was pretty sure, for good. In truth, he hadn’t gone into that relationship with monogamy or kids in mind either, it had been thrust upon him but he had loved her and the loss of both the baby and then her left him feeling like him being in a relationship was a curse that he should not inflict on anyone.

He thought about all this on the ride. He knew his physical needs could not be met without ‘work’ (at maintaining a relationship or multiple ‘special’ friendships) or resorting to calling on Tara or one of the other escorts when she wasn’t free. That need for sex was one of the reasons he had 2 or 3 friends with benefits on a kind of rotation and why he sometimes, against his better judgement usually, embarked on a fling with a fellow cast member, or occasionally there would be a random meeting in everyday life like Anita who had worked as a PA to his mother for a while. Those flings could sometimes be quite passionate for a month or so, sometimes longer and he knew his instincts for generosity and chivalry could sometimes war against those proclamations of not wanting commitment. That had caused some fiery endings  such as with Lynne Collins. He’d even been quite public with her, eating out, shopping, flying up to New York to see her in “As you Like it” and attend the after party as her date – all signals, along with the good loving he always tried to give his ladies, that suggested he hadn’t really meant it about not committing – but he had and she sure did not like it, dropping him like a hot potato when he made that abundantly clear. That wasn’t an unusual pattern in terms of how women eventually responded to his lack of commitment. He was always clear about his position up front, but it didn’t always put off the women who did want something longer term. They probably thought they could change him and those behavioural mixed signals no doubt kept them thinking they would be the one to break him! Eventually though, they would lose interest and the cycle would start again.

He loved sex and exploring women’s bodies, getting to know them – that’s one reason he kept going back to the same friends and escorts. The flings came in for the thrill of the new he guessed, it wasn’t that he was looking for ‘the one’, at least he didn’t think so.  With a few women in the past there had been a real connection and intimacy that had been monogamous for a time but that was a long ago now.

He returned from his ride at around 4 giving him time for a shower, a nap and putting fresh sheets on the bed before Tara arrived in her cab.  He hadn’t seen her for a few months having been away on a shoot  - as she stepped out of the car and came up the drive, he saw she was as slender,  beautiful and well turned out as ever. She was tall with long, wavy chestnut hair and in keeping with his taste, quite large breasts – all natural too, another preference. He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and invited her in.

@penwieldingdreamer @fortheloveoffanfic @kindainlovewithkeanu @ladyreapermc @witty-wallflower @gatsbynouvel @bitchyslut99 @keanureevesisbae @omg-imagine @iworshipkeanureeves @fics-not-tragedies @ficsnroses @kindainlovewithkeanu @paperplanesandwallflowers

[eagle-raider]

Of hidden meanings

I wrote this back in August and it’s been collecting digital dust in my draft folder ever since. To celebrate International Translation day (yes, it is a thing, and yes, it’s today) I told myself I’d post it. Behold the wall of text.

I’ve been (re) reading one of my all times favorite books, which is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1782, Choderlos de Laclos), but in English this time – after months of trying to get my hands on a translation (the one I got is by Thomas Moore and was published in 1812).  

The book is a classic of French literature, an epistolary novel telling the story of the Marchioness de Merteuil and the Viscount de Valmont, two narcissistic rivals (and ex-lovers) who use seduction as a weapon to socially control and exploit others, all the while enjoying their cruel games and boasting about their talent for manipulation.  

The book has had several movie adaptations, ranging from the most faithful (Dangerous Liaisons, Stephen Frears, 1988) to the most forgettable (Valmont by Milos Forman, 1989), to a loosely based adaptation/Modern setting re-writing (Cruel Intentions, 1999 and that infamous tongue kiss between SMG and Selma Blair). So yeah, you’ve probably either heard of it, or seen one of those movies, or at least the gifs of that kiss.  

Now, this book has been censored to hell and back because of its depiction of amorality. It explores different subjects: revenge, manipulation, malice and even female homosexuality (briefly, but it’s there – both in the book and the movie adaptation by Frears), with feminist undertones, which, for a book written by a military man in 1782 is a real novelty.  

Yes, the Marchioness de Merteuil is a villain, if you look at the book through a Manichaean perspective (which is what the movie did), but above all, she is a victim of her time. And again, for a man to fully grasp the societal burden of women circa 1782 is absolutely unprecedented. And it’s way too real for it to be a happy coincidence.

I know this book almost by heart my copy is filled to the brim with annotations and almost all pages are dog-eared.  

Now, one of my all-time favorite letters within the book is letter 141. It’s about 2/3 through the story – the Marchioness de Merteuil is peeved at Valmont because he is too enamored with his lover to pay her any attention – said lover is a married noble, a devout Christian he managed to defile—his words not mine.  

The reason she’s peeved is never explained. Jealousy, perhaps, but it’s not borne out of love. Merteuil doesn’t love him, she just wants him wrapped around her little finger.

So, in this letter, as per their twisted game, she tells him that now that he got what he wanted, it is time to break things off with that Christian woman. And, in her infinite generosity, Merteuil provides him with the perfect breakup letter. I was really looking forward to seeing how the translator – Thomas Moore – would handle the nuances, and I wasn’t disappointed for the most part.

It goes as follows:  

One tires of every thing, my angel! It is a law of nature; it is not my fault. 

 If, then, I am tired of a connection that has entirely taken me up four long months, it is not my fault.

If, for example, I had just as much love as you had virtue, and that’s saying a great deal, it is not at all surprising that one should end with the other; it is not my fault

It follows, then, that for some time past, I have deceived you; but your unmerciful affection in some measure forced me to it! It is not my fault.

Now a woman I love to distraction, insists I must sacrifice you: it is not my fault.

I am sensible here is a fine field for reproaches; but if nature has only granted men constancy, whilst it gives obstinacy to women, it is not my fault.

Take my advice, choose another lover, as I have another mistress—The advice is good; if you think otherwise, it is not my fault.

Farewell, my angel! I took you with pleasure, I part you without regret; perhaps I shall return to you; it is the way of the world; it is not my fault

It’s perfect, it’s vicious, it’s exactly what you’d expect to receive from an asshole like Valmont.

Now why am I telling you this? Because there’s a slight change in the movie adaptation, that I think fully grasps the hidden meaning behind “It is not my fault,”  which is the literal translation of the original French version: ce n’est pas ma faute.

The writing team decided to change “It is not my fault” to “It’s beyond my control” and if you’re a purist, you might think they were absolutely stupid and why choose another option when word for word translation works just fine in this case? Why change it when the meaning behind the words is there?  

To answer your question: because it’s not.  

Keep in mind that the book is written in old-French, or an older iteration of French, rather. Words had a slightly different meaning than they do now, e.g. the verb to hear (entendre in French) meant “understand” which is something that the French verb kind of lost while the English retained somewhat (when people say I get you/do you hear me).

So, when the letter says “It is not my fault.” what it really means is, “It’s beyond my control.”  

Earlier, I said that Merteuil wanted to have Valmont wrapped around her little finger? This is what I meant. It’s beyond his control. She demanded of him that breaks up with his lover, she provided the means to do so, and as she writes earlier in the same letter:

“My comparison appears to me the more just as, like [a Sultan], you never are the lover or friend of a woman, but always her tyrant or her slave.”

Boom. Burn.

Valmont is Merteuil’s slave and she spelled it out to him (quite brutally). Which is why, I believe that the translator could have maybe underlined the hidden take behind “It is not my fault.” 

The movie did, because it fully grasped Merteuil’s intention: Valmont is her puppet. He should break up with his lover because Merteuil wants him to and because it is literally beyond his control. Which is what Valmont keeps repeating in the sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjUmvHBgHr0

(apologies for the potato quality)

It’s nitpicky but it matters in this case because the nuance is lost in the translation, unless the readers pay careful attention. I’m not saying the translation is bad, because it’s not. Literary translation is a balancing act of subjectivity.  

It begs the question: how far can you adapt a translation into your target language before it reaches the point of no return and everything that made the text special/authentic/flavorful is lost? It’s the eternal debate between traductology scholars: are you a target-oriented/source-oriented translator. Most translators will say they’re target-oriented, and they’re right.  

However, the game changes when you’re translating classics, because you’re not just translating a text into a language your audience can understand—you’re translating a chunk of history with it. You can’t dissociate the book and its author from the historical context it was written in because the context gives crucial clues on how to navigate the translation. A book, whatever it may be about, is a testimony of its time.

Does an English-speaking audience in 2020 understand that “It is not my fault” means “I’m somebody’s puppet, your life and mine aren’t ours to do as we please?”

Does “it isn’t my fault” hold as much meaning in 2020 than its French counterpart did in 1782?

If yes, keep it.  

It not, then change it. Adapt it, make it more obvious even if you stray a little from the original version. 

This is what the movie did, in all subtlety, forgoing a literal translation for something else that was in line with the context of the book/history/plot.

I will admit my own bias because this book is among my favorite pieces of classical literature – and Renaissance/pre-French revolution is my favorite period, so I nerd. A lot.    

Next up: Game Localization and how the Japanese translation/VA work of Ghost of Tsushima influenced Jin Sakai’s personality (goody two-shoes in English vs. darker/grounded in JP)

Happy International Translation Day, folks!

[vimunksl]

Mangrove Conservation and Rural Community-Economy Improvement Project by University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

Horawala Mangrove Ecosystem is an important ecosystem that provides habitats for a number of rare mangrove species as well as many non-mangrove specific species of animals. This vital natural resource is currently facing multiple threats that require immediate action, so, the Center For Sustainability (CFS), of the Department of Forest and Environmental Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ) is carrying out a unique project led by Prof. Priyan Perera. The overall aim being the restoration and conservation of this vital ecosystem, furthermore, it is an initiative by USJ to uplift the economy of the surrounding rural community, teach residents about sustainable resource extraction, and responsible custodianship of a nationally important habitat.

Itthapana Horawala is an enthralling area, extending across approximately 500ha on the banks of the Benthara River, close to the Benthara Tourist Zone. 20-25 years ago, life was simple and sustainable for the local population, who relied predominantly on agriculture to maintain their lifestyle. Saline water intrusion from the nearby Benthara river estuary rarely affected their farming activities and farmers in the area were able to consistently reap plentiful paddy harvests due to the fact that the unique traditional rice varieties used had a higher tolerance level to increased salinity and water levels. According to the villagers, the “Karijja Wella” also provided effective support to mitigate saltwater intrusion up to a point. A small canal with elevated banks the “Karijja Wella” would flow parallel to the main river, in between the river and the paddy fields with gates at different locations. This traditional system functioned through an ingenious mechanism to reduce the salinity of water used in paddy lands from the river at the high tide. In addition to paddy cultivation, women of the household frequently engaged in weaving mats, hats, bags, and different types of handicrafts using reeds grown in the nearby swamps, which generated good supplementary income at the time. Accounts from elderly women in the village reveal that the reed-based weaving industry was lucrative enough to fulfil the financial requirements of both education for children, and most household expenses. The handicrafts were sold in areas like Paravigama, Miigama, Aluthgama and Mathugama and offered a creative and financially sound outlet for local women. The villages of the area remained self-sufficient in other ways too, with several families dedicating time to fishing which would provide an additional source of protein at the dinner table. Some families carved out a living from trading mangrove-related vegetables such as Karan-Koku, Kekatiya, Lotus-roots, etc. providing a varied diet and extra income from selling Lotus and Watakeyya flowers at the closely located and famous Buddhist temple, Kandewihara. Another feature of life included small home vegetable gardens and cattle farms which made life easier in the villages despite a lack of money. Overall, the villagers had something special; a sustainable existence and a deep-seated love and respect for the natural world around them. Even today, from recently conducted interviews, we learn that locals in the area still have a strong passion and desire for this traditional way of life.

However, over time, multiple forces adversely affected the delicate existence enjoyed by residents of the area. Saltwater intrusion gradually began to increase and reduce the productivity of the paddy fields, rendering large areas no longer capable for arable farming. Farmers didn’t receive any financial compensation or higher prices for the unique rice varieties they grew in these harsh habitats using more sustainable agriculture practices, so ultimately the practices and rice varieties dwindled. Further exacerbating the increasing economic strife endured by locals was the introduction of cheaper plastic mats and mass-produced products which substantially reduced demand for reed-based handicrafts. Unable to keep pace with the collapse of local industry and agriculture these mangrove communities were forced to turn to alternative sources of income. Paddy cultivation completely halted and approximately 300 acres of paddy lands were subsequently abandoned then quickly overtaken by alien invasive species (AIS) such as Dillenia suffruticosa, and Annona glabra. As the environmental issues grew and communities drifted into poverty, outside investors started to invade the mangrove forest around the river to exploit the area for financial gain. Taking advantage of the close proximity to the Benthara tourism area, wealthier businesspersons and companies opened non-environmentally friendly tourist destinations, and unregulated boat services appeared along the riverbank which was rapidly being cleared of the once lush mangrove forest. As a result of both large- and small-scale tourism developments in the area, the Benthara River mangrove environment has become one of the most endangered mangrove systems in Sri Lanka. Seemingly very few people could see the social, economic and environmental benefits of mangrove conservation and sustainable resource extraction, and the entire area appeared to be on the brink of collapse.

However, in 2004, environmental economics specialist Dr. Suren Batagoda an alumnus of Faculty of Applied Sciences, USJ, learned of the past and present situation of the stricken Horawala-Ittapana mangrove community. With a desire to help this rural community and the unique ecosystem, he embarked on a comprehensive study of the sustainable economic potential of this mangrove ecosystem.

Surprised by initial results, he took immediate actions. Identifying the need of the community to earn money through eco-friendly businesses, he constructed a small building in the area with the necessary facilities for a beverage manufacturing factory. The surprising venture aimed at using un-utilized Mangrove Apple fruit (Sonneratia caseolaris) for beverage manufacturing and sale. The business quickly drew attention from local villagers and in the pilot project phase produced 30,000-35,000 bottles of Mangrove Apple per month. With low overheads, production and sales of this magnitude ensured the business was a success. A resulting side effect from the success of this sustainable business was a resurgence in reed-based handicraft manufacturing. The area appeared to be on the upswing with locals now viewing the mangrove as a necessary resource that should be preserved for future prosperity but unfortunately due to the ill health of Dr. Batagoda he was unable to maintain these operations of which he had dedicated so much of his life. Once again, the fate of the mangroves slipped into uncertainty.

Fast forward to 2019 and the time when Dr. Batagoda discovered the Center for Sustainability (CFS), at USJ. He was impressed with the many successful projects conducted by the CFS in the areas of environmental conservation, habitat restoration, eco-tourism and eco-businesses. In a great act of generosity and altruism, he decided to donate the land he had bought at Ittapana-horawala with the beverage processing factory building to the university. New life will once again be breathed into the factory building by converting it to a mangrove research facility for researchers, students and the wider academic community.

After 18 months of hard work by the CFS team under the guidance and supervision of the CFS director and senior lecturer in DFES, Prof.Priyan Perera, baseline data was collected on ecology, sociology, economy of the Ittapana Horawala area. The data was subsequently used to create a masterplan with the objectives of uplifting the economic status of this rural community while simultaneously conserving the Horawala mangrove ecosystem. This masterplan aims to cover three main aspects, protecting the mangrove ecosystem, enhancing local and nationwide knowledge, and improving the economic status of the community.

The masterplan highlights the importance of the following key areas of focus:

1. Establishing a field research center for national and international researchers, university students and school students to study the mangrove ecosystem and spread awareness on the importance of mangrove biodiversity.

2. Restoration and rehabilitation of destroyed or degraded areas through clearing invasive plant species and planting mangrove and Mangrove Apple plants.

3. Creating a mangrove arboretum with Sri Lankan mangrove and mangrove associate plants which can maintain and enhance the mangrove gene pool.

4. Establishing and maintaining native fish aquarium and endangered fish species breeding center.

5. Re-starting the Mangrove Apple beverage processing factory, empowering local women and introducing an improved product to the market with the support of the Department of Food Science and Technology, USJ.

6. Restoration of previous reed lands and restarting the reed-based handicraft production industry, in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders and government authorities. Furthermore, a separate center will be established for reed product marketing, promotion, new business development and innovation.

7. Re-farming abandoned paddy lands by providing sustainable farming knowledge, improved/traditional salt tolerance rice varieties, proper technology and guidance. The harvest will be promoted separately with restructured pricing which takes into consideration environmental best practices and quality certification.

8. Maintaining a traditional food and beverage restaurant targeting local and foreign tourists using the labour and products of the local people.

9. Maintaining 3 ecolodges for tourists utilizing expert management practices from a collaborative effort with the Forest department and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority any other government organizations (Including Eco Trails, Eco and Animal Exploration Tours)

10. Enhancing geographical location and ancient value of places such as Pahurakanda temple to the economy by organising bicycle trips between Ittapana-Horawala Mangrove Resource Center and Yagirala forest research center in collaboration with relevant government organizations and authorities.

11. Introducing the concept and practical know how of carbon trading to the community and getting them involved in mangrove conservation through mangrove maintenance.

12. Development of additional businesses including mangrove-related local industries and innovations.

As a university we have an academic team with excellent technical knowledge and experienced, dedicated, staff to carry out all these activities, our financial capabilities are very limited. In spite of these challenges, we at the USJ are ready to do what is necessary to enhance our small but precious Island through these new avenues of environmental conservation. Working with other parties across all sectors will inevitably lead to greater success for the aforementioned mangrove projects and ultimately the protection of one of the country’s most important habitats and natural resources.

If you are inspired by the story of the Horawala people, understand the environmental and economic importance of this mangrove ecosystem or have a general interest in protecting Sri Lankan biodiversity, then please join us on our journey. Whether it be as an individual or an organization any kind of contribution you can make is of vital importance to protecting this area and the local community. Do your bit to help make the Sri Lankan mangrove ecosystems the best they can be.

Contact.

Prof.Priyan Perera

Phone (mobile): (+94) 718656457 / (+94) 777258272

Phone (office): (+94) 112758411 Fax: (+94) 112802937

E-mail: priyan@sjp.ac.lk

Center For Sustainability

sustainability@sjp.ac.lk

(+94) 112758414

[maxodinson]

Carl Jungs Archetypes 

Below I have attached a list, fro my research, of all 12 of Carl Jung's archetypes. This list helped me understand the core personalities of each of the 12 archetypes.

1. The Innocent

Motto: Free to be you and me

Core desire: to get to paradise

Goal: to be happy

Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong

Strategy: to do things right

Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence

Talent: faith and optimism

The Innocent is also known as: Utopian, traditionalist, naive, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer.

2. The Everyman

Motto: All men and women are created equal

Core Desire: connecting with others

Goal: to belong

Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd

Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch

Weakness: losing one’s own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships

Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretense

The Everyman is also known as: The good old boy, regular guy/girl, the person next door, the realist, the working stiff, the solid citizen, the good neighbor, the silent majority.

3. The Hero

Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way

Core desire: to prove one’s worth through courageous acts

Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world

Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a “chicken”

Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible

Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight

Talent: competence and courage

The Hero is also known as: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player.

4. The Caregiver

Motto: Love your neighbour as yourself

Core desire: to protect and care for others

Goal: to help others

Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude

Strategy: doing things for others

Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited

Talent: compassion, generosity

The Caregiver is also known as: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter.

5. The Explorer

Motto: Don’t fence me in

Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world

Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life

Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness

Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom

Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit

Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul

The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.

6. The Rebel

Motto: Rules are made to be broken

Core desire: revenge or revolution

Goal: to overturn what isn’t working

Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual

Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock

Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime

Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom

The Outlaw is also known as: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast.

7. The Lover

Motto: You’re the only one

Core desire: intimacy and experience

Goal: being in a relationship with the people, work and surroundings they love

Greatest fear: being alone, a wallflower, unwanted, unloved

Strategy: to become more and more physically and emotionally attractive

Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity

Talent: passion, gratitude, appreciation, and commitment

The Lover is also known as: The partner, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder.

8. The Creator/Artist

Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done

Core desire: to create things of enduring value

Goal: to realize a vision

Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution

Strategy: develop artistic control and skill

Task: to create culture, express own vision

Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions

Talent: creativity and imagination

The Creator is also known as: The artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer or dreamer.

9. The Jester

Motto: You only live once

Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment

Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world

Greatest fear: being bored or boring others

Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny

Weakness: frivolity, wasting time

Talent: joy

The Jester is also known as: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian.

10. The Sage

Motto: The truth will set you free

Core desire: to find the truth.

Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world.

Biggest fear: being duped, misled—or ignorance.

Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes.

Weakness: can study details forever and never act.

Talent: wisdom, intelligence.

The Sage is also known as: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative.

11. The Magician

Motto: I make things happen.

Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe

Goal: to make dreams come true

Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences

Strategy: develop a vision and live by it

Weakness: becoming manipulative

Talent: finding win-win solutions

The Magician is also known as:The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man.

12. The Ruler

Motto: Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

Core desire: control

Goal: create a prosperous, successful family or community

Strategy: exercise power

Greatest fear: chaos, being overthrown

Weakness: being authoritarian, unable to delegate

Talent: responsibility, leadership

The Ruler is also known as: The boss, leader, aristocrat, king, queen, politician, role model, manager or administrator.

[teamhook]

A Chapter a Day... Savage Heart CS AU

A love story between a pirate and his savior. An innocent, beautiful, selfless woman meets a man with no manners, no formal education and not even a last name. Will Emma fall in love with Killian once she discovers that beneath his tough exterior lies a heart-wild, but a heart of gold? This is a Captain Swan AU

Beta-ed by the awesome @ilovemesomekillianjones

|AO3| |FFN| previous chapter

|AO3| |FFN| current chapter

Chapter 23: Plan of Attack

Booth Estate

"Miss Milah, I think it is time to take the young bride."

"You are taking her today, good; I'm going to need to prepare for my act, I need to convince everyone I'm distraught over her disappearance."

"To not attract attention I had to recruit assistance but the job will be today. Your cousin has enjoyed visiting her parents for days now. She maintains a routine, the only change that was noticed is that she sometimes goes with that husband of hers but for the most part she goes alone and uses the same route."

"That is lovely news, thank you, Malcolm I will be forever in your debt." Milah leaves happily over the news.

Malcolm goes to search for Cora to inform her of the status of his task. He walks toward the office as per Enith, she was last seen there talking with August. He arrives and listens carefully since the door is not completely closed.

"Mother, please, doesn't make this into something more. I will never regret my decision to marry Milah. I love my wife, I just feel a responsibility towards Emma. A need to protect her, she is family after all."

"If you say so son but those thoughts you are having are a little out of the ordinary and besides, you both made your bed, now lay in it."

She walks out of the office and runs into Malcolm.

He leans to her ear and whispers, "It will be done today." He walks away and heads to the front door.

Golden Cove: Much later that day…

Emma's eyes suddenly go wide as her panic takes over and she realizes her situation is not a nightmare. She is not home in the warmth of her husband's embrace. She squints as she tries to make sense of the dark room.

She doesn't recognize her surroundings, and in that moment Emma Jones realizes two things. She will find her way home and she knows Milah is behind her predicament. Milah had warned them that if she was unhappy so would they be. Well, Milah is in for a rude awakening because Emma is not about to give her the satisfaction.

Emma focuses on remembering how she ended up in her current situation. It has to be her cousin's idea, she feels sorry for the poor idiot she convinced to help her. She wonders if she is to be killed off so Milah can have Killian. The thought angers her. She may have taken August away but she will never sink her claws into Killian ever again. She will reveal her for the conniving witch she truly is, to everyone if she has to. She can't help but feel sorry for August.

She has to be smart to find her freedom. She wants it dearly but if she is to find her way home, she needs to plan not rush things. She waits for her captor or captors to appear. The last thing she remembers is speaking to those two boys. What if they were taken because of her?

She hears the door creak and slowly open. She doesn't know if she should pretend to still be asleep or just confront her keeper. She closes her eyes and calms her breathing while assuming the fetal position facing the wall.

"Felix, should she still be sleeping? Should I go get the doctor?"

"Rufio, you worry too much. The Doctor said she would slowly gain consciousness."

Emma slowly turns her body toward the voices whilst keeping her eyes closed.

"She looks fine."

"He said she wouldn't be hurt. Felix, Captain Jones is going to be angry. I still think we shouldn't have done this. We should have gone to him, to warn him."

"Do you really think he still cares for us? If she is around he will forget about all of us."

"She seems nice; I think she would help us."

"You are so naive. We are nothing to a rich girl like her. I still don't see why the Captain married her. She is pretty but he has had so many women. What makes her special?"

"Felix, you talk like you want her to disappear."

"Rufio maybe the Captain isn't wrong about you. You are not ready to be in anyone's crew. You are soft." Felix pokes at Rufio's chest to enunciate each word. "You are weak and no one wants a man like that on his crew."

"I'm not weak! I just think there was another way. Felix, she is not going to disappear, at least that is what the man said."

"Accidents happen all the time."

Emma is listening carefully and although the words she is hearing scare her she knows she has a chance. The boy Rufio is her chance and if he helps her get home she will promise him the moon and the stars. She knows Killian may consider this as a betrayal on the young boy's part, but she will beg him to forgive Rufio if she has to. She hears the door open and slam shut.

She slowly opens her eyes only to be met with brown eyes and a dirty face. She hadn't really looked at the boy before. He has dark shaggy hair that hasn't been washed in a long time. She manages to smile at him.

"May I please have some water? My mouth is dry."

The boy rushes to a little table in the corner that she had missed in her earlier inquiry. There is a small pitcher with water and a small cup. He pours the clear liquid without taking his eyes off of her. He smiles sheepishly at her as he approaches her with the half-full cup. "Mrs. Here is your water, please drink it slowly."

"Thank you." She drinks the water as instructed. "May I please have some more."

"Yes, but keep drinking it slowly." He goes to get her more water leaving the pitcher now empty. He grabs a wooden chair and pulls it next to the little cot she in on.

She hands him the cup. "Why would you help someone hurt Killian? You have to believe me because this will hurt him."

"I'm sorry." He gets up and walks to the door.

"You know him better than I do. Help me and I will make sure he knows that."

He stops dead in his tracks, she is correct he knows Captain Jones. His temper is known all over the docks.

"Help me go home to him and I will make sure he knows. He will overlook this because he doesn't deny me anything. Please at least think it over."

The door shuts behind him and Emma stays put. She slowly rises and goes to walk around the barren room. She realizes it has been a while since she last ate. Her stomach growls as if confirming her thoughts. She hopes Rufio is back to check up on her soon. The other boy Felix seems to have made up his mind, from the conversation she heard he would let her starve if he could.

As if reading her thoughts or perhaps he had heard her stomach growl too, Rufio enters the small room with a small basket with crusty bread and some fruit along with a few pieces of cheese.

Hours turn into days as their routine continues. Felix hardly shows his face and when he does it is only to sneer at her and show his distaste toward the young woman he blames for putting a stop to his pursuit of happiness, in the shape of joining Captain Jones' crew. It is well known how strict Jones is but being a part of his crew for a lowly orphan is a dream come true.

Emma misses Killian so much, well her parents as well but she worries for Killian. She has asked Rufio to share some of the stories he has of Killian with her. The boy is happy to. She learns little bits and pieces of her husband and his generosity. He donates some of his bounties to the orphanage anonymously. She falls, if it's was at all possible, more in love with him. She shares the food she is given during those conversations. She can see moments when he is leaning towards letting her go. She will not give up until he has decided to help her.

Killian and David leave his and Emma's house. The house feels so empty without her, he is glad to be anywhere else. They venture to Killian and Archie's office. His father-in-law, always the optimist saying words of encouragement to the distraught younger man. As soon as they enter the space, Archie knows something is amiss.

"Killian, David, what is wrong?" The concern is evident in the kind man's voice.

"Emma is missing, she's just disappeared," Killian answers.

Archie is looking at Killian's appearance and glances to his old friend. "Disappeared, but how?"

"We have no idea, we haven't heard anything yet. She left in the morning for her visit with her parents and vanished."

"Killian, she will be okay and we will find her." The older man tries to reassure his friend in an effort to calm him.

"Why is everyone trying to convince me of that?"

"Killian, I understand there hasn't been any information but she was just taken. I'm sure this is an attempt to extort money from us."

"I hope you are right but I will not stand here waiting. I'm going to Tiny's and the docks. Maybe someone has talked. Most men cannot keep quiet and have to boast about their exploits." Killian walks out and heads to the tavern.

Archie looks at David. "I'm sorry David, he is obviously distraught and he has never really had anyone to be there for him before."

"Will he be okay out there?"

"Killian is a survivor; I worry more for the idiot that thought it was a good idea to cross him. Taking Emma was an error that may come with dire consequences."

"That is all I have ever wanted for her, someone to love her as I love her mother and somehow she found it in the least expected place."

"He truly does love her and if there was ever a doubt, it has disappeared. He truly found his happiness with your wonderful daughter."

"Archie, he is like a son to you, like the son you never had."

"He truly is; his father was one of my closest friends." Without realizing the small slip, Archie smiles his most encouraging smile to David. The same smile he always gives his closest friends. He has always been so supportive and encourages him at the times he is about to lose hope. "Come on old friend, now for the hard part." Archie looks again and finds his friend's sad face.

"We have to tell Snow. I have to tell her that within days apart; her husband has returned only for her daughter to disappear. How do I tell her?"

"Snow is strong and resilient. Where do you think Emma gets it from? Emma will be okay, there is a reason she and Killian fit so well together. There seems to be a connection between the two, just like you and Snow. Now let's go and tell Snow about the situation." Archie grabs his hat and they leave the office. His sudden stop grabs David's attention, as the other man looks at him a bit confused. "David wait we need to make a quick stop."

"Why would we need to make a quick stop Archie?"

"We need to send Liam a message asking him to come, his brother needs him. He also has an exemplary military record he may be useful."

"It is a good idea Archie, but I hope Emma is not gone for that long. A missive to Liam would be fast but how long will it be before Liam arrives, at minimum 10 days and that is if the weather cooperates."

"I know David but Killian needs his brother and even if by the time he arrives Emma is safe, a little reunion of their own would be nice."

With their minds made up, they head to send the emergency message and then go to the Nolan's. Archie and David arrive at the Nolan's home. Archie gives his friend an encouraging look. The scene feels so familiar but this time it will not be to deliver happy news, but the opposite.

"I will be here waiting for the two of you when you are ready," Archie says.

David slowly makes his way toward the bedroom he shares with his wife He opens the door gently and the creak stirs his wife from sleep.

"David, is that you?"

"Yes, my love."

"Sorry, sometimes I forget you are truly back." She sits up and her head rests on the headboard.

"You look tense is there something wrong?"

"Snow," he approaches the bed and sits next to her, "I have some news to share."

She looks at his blue eyes and smiles to encourage him to continue. "David, from the expression on your face I can tell it is nothing good." she raises her hand to caress his face. "I'm all ears."

He gets as close as he can to her as he puts his hand over hers. "Killian came earlier to pick up Emma, to take her home."

"He was here to take her home? But she wasn't here."

"Snow, Emma left their home in the morning to come here."

She darts out of bed. "But she never got here, she must have stayed home."

"Sweetheart, that is the same conclusion I reached but sadly it is the wrong one."

"David, how can you be so sure? Maybe-"

"Snow, Killian and I went to their home to check to see if she was home and the house was empty. There was no sign of her."

Tears slowly shed as she closes her eyes. "He is keeping her from us-"

"SNOW, he is as upset as we are, if not more. He doesn't know where she is anymore than we do."

"David, she has to be okay. This has to be a sick joke." She paces the room to alleviate the fear rising inside her.

"We will find her."

"Snow, Archie is downstairs waiting for us. We need to establish a plan."

She goes to grab something more suitable to wear. "I will be down in a few minutes. Go keep them company." Snow always the hostess.

"Keep them company?"

"I assume that Killian and Archie are both downstairs."

"Killian ventured by himself. It is just Archie waiting."

"What do you mean Killian went off by himself?"

"I think he is frustrated and he thinks maybe his old connections may help."

"Well, he is not the only frustrated one or one with connections. We should go ask Cora for help. She cares for Emma," Snow says, not realizing how well she is playing right into Cora's hand.

"We will decide once we are all together. I hope he has the sense to come here after he is done with his inquiry at his old haunts."

The Golden Goose Tavern

After leaving his father-in-law with Archie, Killian had done as he had said. He went to Tiny's to see if he could learn anything about his wife's disappearance. So far his visit has been fruitless. He knows it is late in the evening but he can't even think of going home. The house without Emma is nothing but walls and spackle.

Killian leaves the tavern drunk after imbibing one too many rum glasses. He tried to monitor his consumption, but the thought of Emma, out there without him is killing him. He wanders to the docks and looks around, there it is, his beloved ship, the Jolly Roger, swaying in the water.

He instantly calms. His lass is a beautiful, stubborn, amazing woman and in that moment he knows they will find their way to each other. He remains at the docks looking at familiar faces.

He notices a few faces missing from the lost boys; they usually all swarm to him whenever he is at the docks. He forces a smile and tells them that there is someone he wants them to meet, soon. He waves goodbye to them and makes his way back to the Nolan's home. He can't go home right now, not with the ghost of Emma too fresh in his heart and mind.

He knocks and is greeted by Snow. Her eyes are still rimmed red from the tears that she has been unable to stop and with the fresh ones that threaten to spill as she sets her eyes on him. His hair is a mess and his eyes match hers. His clothes are unkempt, his vest open and the shirt untucked loose over his trousers. She opens the door wide enough for him to enter as she scrutinizes his attire. He looks lost and distraught.

Soon they are all gathered in the living room; the trio of men and a lone woman talking and arguing over the best tactic.

David and Archie agree that they need to wait for a ransom or note before they proceed. The most likely outcome will be for them to reach out to Sheriff Nottingham.

Snow wants to ask Cora for help, to use the Booth name, power, and influence. Killian hates both plans. He doesn't want to wait, but he does see the validity in the theory. He for sure does not want to go to the Booth's for help, much less deal with a corrupt lawmaker like Nottingham.

David had hoped that Sheriff Humbert was still in the position, instead of his now-successor. The good sheriff had retired not long after David had left Misthaven all those years ago. He can understand Killian's hesitation with Nottingham in office.

Sadly, Killian is outvoted and it is decided to reach out to the unsavory sheriff as early as possible the next day.

"I believe it will be best if I don't come with. The meeting with Nottingham will flow better if I'm not there," Killian says.

"Killian, Emma is your wife and it would be expected for you to accompany us."

"Yes, I'm aware Emma is my wife but Nottingham and I don't have the best history. Besides, I have to go home, perhaps there has been news or a ransom letter delivered to the house by now."

"Alright, if you truly believe this is the best way, Archie and I will go."

"I will stay here in case the ransom letter gets delivered here." Snow chimes in. She has decided to go visit Cora the next morning on her own, without the men.

"Then it is settled, Archie and I will go to talk with Sheriff Nottingham, Killian will stay home, and Snow will stay here in case there is news on either residence."

"Killian, we can share the carriage. David, I will be here early. Snow, Emma will be brought home soon, please don't doubt that."

Killian nods in agreement. Snow and David finally attempt but fail to sleep. Archie goes to his empty home and prays he is not wrong because the heartache they would suffer would be too great. Killian finally goes home and he cannot find rest in their bed. Her scent is still too fresh. He decides to forgo sleep and goes to the guest room Emma was readying for Tink. She is just about done with the room. He walks throughout the room, seeing each small detail. The bed is comfortable, much more than Tink had ever had before. The room is engulfed by the scent of flowers, each picked by his wife.

He takes a note of the flowers she picked, mostly roses of different colors. He will make sure they are fragrant once Emma gets home. They will retrieve Tink as soon as she wants. Killian has decided to make sure upon Emma's return that she has all her desires.

@hookedonapirate @kmomof4 @searchingwardrobes @seriouslyhooked@profdanglaisstuff @let-it-raines @revanmeetra87@snowbellewells@hollyethecurious@kymbersmith-90@branlovestowrite@thejollyroger-writer@shireness-says@ilovemesomekillianjones@thisonesatellite@thesschesthair@winterbythesea@stahlop@resident-of-storybrooke@superchocovian@lfh1226-linda@artistic-writer@thislassishooked@shardminds@winterbaby89@xhookswenchx@ultraluckycatnd@gingerchangeling@laschatzi@wellhellotragic@xemmaloveskillianx@courtorderedcake@pirateherokillian@optomisticgirl@darkcolinodonorgasm@sherlockianwhovian @andiirivera @djlbg @nikkiemms @jennjenn615 @scientificapricot @officerrogers @imlaxdris71 @therealstartraveller776 @kday426​

[tawakkull]

Spirituality in islam : Tawadu (Humility)

Tawadu (modesty and humility) is the opposite of arrogance, pride, and haughtiness. It can also be interpreted as one’s awareness of one’s real position before God, and as letting that realization guide one’s conduct toward God and with people. 

If one sees oneself as an ordinary, individual part of creation, a threshold of a door, a mat spread on a floor or a pavement stone, a pebble in a stream or chaff in a field, and if one can sincerely confess, as did Muhammad Lutfi Effendi: 

Everybody else is good but I am bad; everybody else is wheat but I am chaff, the inhabitants of the heavens will kiss him or her on the head.

In a narration attributed to the truthful, confirmed one, upon him be peace and blessings, it is said: 

Whoever is humble, God exalts him; whoever is haughty, God humiliates him. 

Thus, one’s true greatness is inversely proportional to behaving as if one were great, just as one’s true smallness is inversely proportional to behaving as if one were small.

Humility has been defined in many ways: seeing oneself as devoid of all virtues essentially originating in oneself, treating others humbly and respectfully, seeing oneself as the worst of humanity (unless being honored by a special Divine treatment), and being alert to any stirring of the ego and immediately suppressing it. Each definition expresses a dimension of humility. However, the last definition relates to those made sincere by God Himself and who are near to Him.

A Companion saw Caliph ‘Umar, may God be pleased with him, carrying water in a pitcher on his shoulder. He asked him: What are you doing, O Caliph of God’s Messenger? ’Umar, one of the foremost in nearness to God, answered: Some envoys have come from other countries. I felt some conceit in my heart and wanted to suppress it. 'Umar used to carry flour on his back. Once he accused himself while giving a sermon from the pulpit, and kept silent when people questioned and criticized his action.

Abu Hurayra carried wood while he was the deputy governor of Madina. When he was the chief judge in Madina, Zayd ibn Thabit kissed Ibn 'Abbas’ hand, and Ibn 'Abbas, known as the Interpreter of the Qur'an and the Scholar of the Umma, helped Zayd get on his horse. Hasan, the grandson of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, sat with some children who were eating bread crumbs and ate with them. Once Abu Dharr offended Bilal al-Habashi and, to obtain his forgiveness, put his head on the ground and declared: If the blessed feet of Bilal do not tread on this sinful head, it will not rise from the ground. All of these events and many similar ones are instances of humility.

Both God Almighty and His Messenger emphasized humility so much that one who knows of it does not doubt that servanthood consists of humility. The Qur'anic verse: 

The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk on the earth in modesty, and if the impudent offend them, they continue their way saying: “Peace” (25:63) 

praises humility, and the Divine statements extremely humble toward believers (5:54) 

and merciful among themselves; you find them bowing down and falling prostrate (48:29) 

are expressions of praise for the ingrained humility reflected in their conduct.

Concerning humility, the glory of humanity, upon him be peace and blessings, declared: God has told me that you must be humble, and that no one must boast to another; Shall I inform you of one whom Hellfire will not touch? Hellfire will not touch one who is near to God and amiable with people, and mild and easy to get along with; God exalts one who is humble. That one sees himself as small while he is truly great in the sight of people; and O God, make me see myself as small.

The glory of humanity, upon him be peace and blessings, lived as the most humble of people. He stopped at the places where children were gathered and played with and greeted them. If someone held him by the hand and wanted to lead him somewhere, he never objected. He helped his wives with the housework. When people were working, he worked with them. He mended his shoes and clothes, milked sheep, and fed animals. He sat at the table with his servant. He always welcomed the poor warmly, looked after widows and orphans, visited the ill, followed funeral processions, and answered the call of slaves in his community.

The beloved servants of God, from God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, to Caliph 'Umar and the Umayyad Caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz and from him to numerous saints, purified and perfected scholars, and those honored with nearness to God, have held that the signs of greatness in the great are humility and modesty, while the signs of smallness in the small are arrogance and vanity. Based on this understanding, they sought to show men and women how to become perfect.

True humility means that people must know the full extent of their worth before God’s infinite Grandeur, and then make this fully realized potential an ingrained, essential part of their nature. Those who have done this are humble and balanced in their relations with others. Those who have realized their nothingness before God Almighty are balanced in both their religious lives and their relations with people. They obey the commandments of religion, for they have no objection to the revealed truths of religion, nor do they criticize its method of addressing or relating to human reason. They are convinced that what is contained in the Qur'an and the authentic Traditions of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, is true.

If there is an apparent contradiction between these two sources and human reason or established rational or scientific facts, such people seek to learn the truth of the matter. Therefore, it is nonsense for those without humility and modesty to assert, when confronted with an apparent contradiction between reason or rational premises and the revealed and narrated principles of religion, that reason or what is rational must be preferred. Their further assertion that judgments based on reasoning and analogy must be given priority over revealed principles is also mistaken. The wonders worked and spiritual pleasures felt by following ways not followed by the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, is God’s way of leading people to perdition, for “success” in such endeavors leads to sin.

Those who have achieved humility are completely convinced of the truth of whatever the Prophet said or did. They never doubt it, and seek to practice it in their lives. If something else, such as a wise saying or a great accomplishment, appears to them as more beautiful or acceptable, they accuse themselves of being unable to discern the incomparable superiority of the revealed truths and expressions, saying:

There are many people who find fault with the words having no defects.

However, the fault lies in their defective understanding.

They are certain that one cannot prosper in the Hereafter by following ways opposed to the Qur'an and the Sunna. They find the greatest source of power in servanthood to God. In reality, one who worships God never adores anyone else, and one who serves others cannot be a true servant of God. 

Do not see anything or anybody else other than God as so much greater than you as to deserve adoration or servanthood. Do not boast of yourself in a way to see yourself as greater than others. As creatures are equal in being distant from being worshipped, so also are they equal in that they are all created.

Those who are truly humble do not attribute the fruits of their work and efforts to themselves, nor do they regard their successes or efforts in the way of God as making them superior to others. They do not care how other people regard them, and do not demand a return for their services in the way of God. They regard their being loved by others as a test of their sincerity, and do not exploit God’s favors to them by boasting to others about them.

In short, just as humility is the portal to good conduct or being characterized with the qualities of God (such as generosity, merciful, helpful, forgiving, and so on), it is also the first and foremost means of being near to both the created and the Creator. Roses grow on the earth, and humanity was created on the earth and not in the heavens. A believer is nearest to God when prostrating before Him. While recounting the Prophet’s Ascension (to the heavens), the Qur'an refers to him as God’s servant, as a sign of his humility and utmost modesty.

[malenamoonlight]

What bothers me most on Lagertha's storyline development is that, in the end of the day, she's still in love with Ragnar. I mean, she decided to invade Kattegat to give it back to Ragnar, because she wanted her old life back. It wasn’t some kind of power move. I was like, WTF? It was definitely not foreshadowed or at least not properly foreshadowed. She spoke very clearly about this on the episode "Crossings", 4x16:

But, if he is dead, what will you do? 

I must pick up the burden.

The burden? 

Of ruling. Ragnar hated it. It weighed him down. Perhaps it even killed him. 

Then why do it to yourself? 

I think Ragnar is looking at me, and I can't disappoint him. Nor can I disappoint myself. Or you. Or Torvi. Or any of the shield-maidens who have died fighting at my side. If I walked away now, what would they say about me in Valhalla?

Honestly, she deserved something better. She deserved to be happy with somebody else, perhaps even had another child. I'm aware of Lagertha's privilege on the show, but she deserved a better fate. Why go through so much suffering and unhappiness? Ragnar found happiness and fulfillment with Aslaug, for a while at least. And Lagertha? Only betrayals and tragedies.

Seems to me the narrative here is that one in which the female character has to suffer a lot to be considered a "powerful women", a woman worthy of power. Only enduring so much suffering would make her deserving of her high position. She end up traumatized and acting out of character, because this is what "powerful woman" means to the writer.  

What made Lagertha powerful was her generosity and loyalty. What made Lagertha a queen was that bizarre narrative of suffering. 

And it's annoying to think that my beloved Lagertha was reduced to a subservient woman, always available to the man who betrayed and exploited her throughout her life.

All I’ve wanted is to see my favorite character experiencing some happiness. I’m tired of so much suffering, betrayal and trauma... it didn’t have to be this way.

[96thdayofrage]

That’s a bold statement right? Oprah Winfrey is what most people consider to be the epitome of black excellence. She is a rags to riches story and a story of overcoming childhood sexual trauma and poverty to gain extreme wealth which she uses to “empower women” and “give representation to black women in media”. And in a lot of ways that is true. Oprah’s face every weekday on ABC was definitely something that made way for black women in the entertainment industry and journalism. She supports black directors like Ava Duvernay and Tyler Perry. She “gives back to the community”. What’s not to like about Oprah, right? PLENTY. Plenty is not to like about Oprah and her thirty year long career has PLENTY of anti-blackness, misogynoir, and dirtiness; which should honestly be expected. No one gets that rich without playing the game.

Reasons I don’t fuck with Oprah: The semi-comprehensive rant.

Oprah caters to the white feminist gaze. If you need context on what I mean by this please check out my article: ““Aint I a Woman?”- Feminism, the Illusion of Inclusion, and Historic Betrayal of White Women”. The demographic that Oprah has targeted for viewership of her talk show, and for her magazine are white women. Any episode of her show will feature a mostly white woman audience. This is possible because white women have more economic mobility to be stay at home mothers than black women. And in knowing this, Oprah’s show catered to it’s demographic. Being a registered and loud democrat her show was also HIGHLY liberal in its topics.

She was known for asking the hard questions- which in this context means “willing to gaslight and use dog whistle tactics on her black guests”- especially her black women guests.

One instance of this is when she interviewed Toni Braxton after Braxton filed for bankruptcy in 1998. Toni was embarrassed from having found herself in this situation. She was in an abusive record contract with La Face where she was only making $0.35 per album.

For context, La Face also famously fucked over TLC and in 1995 they had to file bankruptcy as well. Toni had FIVE Grammys and had sold over $170 million in records.

With TLC going bankrupt, the conversation on black women artists in the industry and specifically the record label in question fucking black women artists over was a part of public consciousness… for the black community. But for her white feminist, neo-liberal audience, Oprah wasn’t asking questions about why this continued to happen to black women. The specific abuses of this record company were COMPLETELY glazed over. She chose instead to GASLIGHT THE FUCK out of Toni- essentially victim blaming her for being taken advantage of by her record company. She also asked Toni very pointed questions about why the then five time Grammy winner felt like she had the right to spend the money she should have been earning. Toni is noticeably hurt, embarrassed, and confused by the questions and has been vocal about her feelings in that moment. Oprah is trash as fuck for this shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftLjr4CQcrQ

In another instance of shitting on a black woman, Mo’Nique has also been vocal about her dislike of Oprah. Mo’Nique worked with Oprah for Precious. Oprah asked permission for herself to interview Mo’Nique’s brother who molested her as a child. Mo’Nique approved, but declined her own attendance, then confided in Oprah PRIVATELY about issues with her mother. It was clear that there was no love between Mo’Nique and her mother. Oprah responded by inviting Mo’Nique’s mother and father on the show and interviewing them as well. She also allowed Gerald to “give his side” and talk about how he was hurt by talking about her abuse at this hand and paint himself as a victim, while her mother and father tell how they’re upset that she talked about this and should’ve been discussed within the family (but they all agreed to come to the show).

Oprah allowed Mo’Nique’s family, and her abuser to gaslight her on national TV. And in the interview, Oprah also acknowledged that she was aware of the beef between Mo’Nique and her mother at the time.

Mo’Nique explains her side of the story here: https://youtu.be/Jb6N7aw61z8

Mo’Nique confronted Oprah about going behind her back and Oprah said she would “check into it” and never called back. Mo’Nique then confronted Oprah the next time they saw each other in person and Oprah issued a half assed apology. Oprah, Tyler Perry, and Lee Daniels then engaged in a smear campaign labeling Mo’Nique as difficult to work with because she was not okay with Oprah exploiting her trauma in ways she didn’t approve. Mo’Nique’s career suffered as a result. Mo’Nique is still fighting the effect this has had on her career and even recently has called out Oprah again about her silence on her Netflix boycott and black women not being paid what they’re worth in Hollywood.

Oprah has been loudly silent recently as well, claiming she’s not going to “meet negative energy where it is”… but she was willing to meet Mo’Nique’s abusers (in more ways than one) and exploit her trauma. TRASH.

Oprah has several problematic business relationships and personal relationships. Her most notable one is with Donald Trump himself. They were so close that Donald Trump once remarked in 1999 that he considered her as a running mate. He even echoed the sentiment in 2015 when he was running. Oprah and Trump have an over 30 year relationship and he has been on her show several times, with the most recent being in 2011. The first known (at least to the indication of my research) appearance of his on her talk show was in 1988. We are now real aware of the kind of vile, racist, sexually abusive, and all around terrible human being he is- but how is Oprah guilty by association if his political views weren’t publicly known until his 2016 presidential run? Answer: Donald Trump has been a racist as long as he’s been a public figure.

Examples of Donald Trump’s historical racism include: being found to discriminate against black renters in the 1970’s, racist treatment of black employees at his hotels and casinos, calling for the death penalty of the Central Park 5 in 1989 (and maintaining that they were guilt in 2016 which is ten years after they were exonerated), stating in 1989 that “well educated blacks have privilege”, blatant racism on Obama’s birth, and this is all before he ever started his political campaign in 2015 with more blatant racism. And this is the man that Oprah gave a platform on her show several times and never inquired about the lawsuits, the sexual assault accusations, nor his political views. And seeing as though he was close enough to her to see her as a potential running mate- I understand why those questions never came up.

Toni Braxton’s Gucci silverware was much, much more important.

Oprah’s Harpo studios have done a lot of work with the Weinstein company. Weinstein is the man behind the co-opting of the #MeToo movement by white feminists. The #MeToo movement was started by Tarana Burke, a black woman who has all been erased from the #MeToo narrative in favor of pretty, white actresses. According to the actresses who have accused Weinstein of assault and harassment, his behavior was no secret. Oprah, as an insider to the business had to have been aware of who this man was and still chose to work with him. Weinstein also used his relationship with and proximity to Oprah to lure in women.

This, of course, is not her fault, but is also easily avoidable by not having a close relationship with a serial sexual abuser.

I don’t kiss on folks I don’t know that well- personally.

Proponents of Oprah often times cite her humanitarian efforts as a means to justify her as a “Black leader” or black excellence, but many are not aware that most celebrities only donate what they would have had to pay in taxes, and Oprah, as an incredibly wealthy woman would have to pay A LOT in taxes. Some of her tales of generosity have amounted to serious harm for its recipients. For example- the recipients of the famous car giveaway found that after being forced to pay taxes on the car, it was much more trouble than it was worth and most couldn’t afford to keep it. At her famous, glamorous school in south Africa, tales of her covering up knowledge and inaction of sexual assault being committed there is ripe. It is also notable that on the list of official charities that she has been known to contribute to- none of them are black women specific with the exception of the Girl’s school. As someone who caters to white liberals, I don’t exactly expect them to.

I grew up in Chicago and went to Harper High School for one year before transferring to a private Catholic school on a scholarship. Oprah featured the school on her show in 2006, then followed up in 2010 (the year after I transferred out). Oprah offered no financial aid to the students of Harper High School who she used for trauma porn. The student exchange program started by the show did continue, however, for a few years after she came and left.

Arne Duncan attempted to “turnaround” the school and gave it some funds, but due to the actual socioeconomic issues that were affecting student enrollment, attendance, and motivation never being addressed, mental health services never being addressed or offered, the violence in the outside community never being addressed, and the actual infrastructure of the school continuing to fall into dilapidation- the turnaround failed.

Arne Duncan never saw the turnatound through- he left Chicago to be Secretary of Education for Obama in 2008, the year I arrived at Harper as a student.

As someone who was an actual student of Harper, but came from a private education the year prior and the years after- it feels like a prison.

It is a place that sucks the motivation from even the brightest students. The work was not challenging to me. The services for students who were gifted and motivated like me were limited and I found myself coasting through because the workload wasn’t challenging. I can understand how students with hard home lives, with different educational ability levels, and with different levels of motivation could walk into that prison and never see or want anything more from their education. Having witnessed this first hand and walked away without offering aid is disgusting of Oprah.

Oprah answered questions about the opening of her South African school in 2007 with the logic ”If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school.” Her inaction is loud. She met with Harper students who were literally asking for the same standards of education as white suburban children, opened a school elsewhere without providing any resources, then went on her show and said “I believe, just as I know all of you watching believe, that every American child deserves the best school” and encouraged people to go to Standup.com for aid instead. She has no problems with broadcasting the trauma of black children so her white viewers can feel like they helped. She has no problems walking away from the same black children she just exploited without providing them resources, then further going to the media and claiming that the black children in the city she claims as home doesn’t want or deserve them. Fuck Oprah.

And yes- this one IS personal.

In the years since Oprah has ignored the cries for help from inner city Chicago kids for better education- CPS (Chicago Public Schools) has gone on a full scale assault on those same children, closing and targeting schools of children in poor black and latino neighborhoods for closure and forcing them to travel longer distances, into unfamiliar and unsafe territories. This is marked by the CPS “ Safe Passage” program where CPS now pays adults to stand on corners on the new routes to these schools and protect children who are in unfamiliar neighborhoods on their way to school. CPS has announced the closure of ALL FOUR high schools in the Englewood area, Harper will close at the end of this year. This means ALL Englewood high school students will have no high school in their neighborhood.

Oprah had a chance to make a real difference here ten years ago and decided these kids weren’t worth it. It is honestly disgusting. But let Oprah tell it- these kids don’t want or deserve more.

Oprah’s Golden Globes Speech this year was when I had officially had enough of her white feminist, neo-liberal nonsense, and pandering to white sensibilities at the cost of erasing the pain of black women and children. In this speech, Oprah compared the historical sexual and racial abuse experienced by black women and girls (like the assaults she covered up at her school) to this pretty little white elite #MeToo movement (the one that calls out her buddies Trump and Weinstein, and has erased black women like Tarana Burke). Erasure and exploitation of black women and children and our trauma for white feminists to feel some sick sense of Munchausen’s by proxy is honestly repulsive.

Their struggle has never been ours.

Oprah has been recently more on the producing side, giving opportunities to black women in film like Ava DuVernay. Most of Oprah’s credit in the black community come from her acting and producing career on the grounds that she provides representation for black people in media. I have a counter for that as well. How many films has Oprah produced that she did not also star in, thus making them self serving? Of those few- how many were actually targeted to African American demographics? Queen Sugar and Greenleaf have found a home on her network- as has Iyanla: Fix My Life- but with those exceptions- Oprah’s body of work is just more neo-liberal white feminist stories about fighting for white approval and acceptance and furthering the idea that proximity to whiteness is an accomplishment. This is an idea that’s just as damaging to black audiences as lack of representation at all.

Her stories also seem to either be black women trauma porn (on theme) or integrationalist. This is most interesting to me, as her projects that are not geared towards black audiences like The Hundred Foot Journey, don’t have these same themes.

The family of one of her films The Great Debaters is currently suing her- claiming she never paid for the rights to their patriarch’s story. She used her promotional tour for Selma to down talk the young, black, grassroots protesters against police brutality in Ferguson. This is a very stark contrast, considering that she is now offering thousands of dollars to support protesters of school shootings in Florida, whom are also grassroots, but also not mostly black and are also in line with the neo-liberal political agenda.

Between Oprah’s dicey connections in the industry, her respectability politics, her exploitation of black pain, her gas lighting of black women in crisis, and her erasure of black women’s SPECIFIC intersectionality for white women’s gaze and coin- I find no qualms with making the following statement:

FUCK OPRAH.

[marginalgloss]

san andreas fault

The first thing worth saying about The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner is that although it is set in a prison for women, it is really nothing like Orange is the New Black. It is also not exactly a ‘prison novel’. Perhaps any description of it ought not to be centred on a prison at all; if we call it instead ‘a novel about a woman who had a rough childhood, who becomes a sex worker and whose life takes a bad turn through circumstances beyond her control’, that would be another way of talking about it. But it could also be called a ‘a novel about the post-industrial American landscape’ or ‘a novel about how capitalist ideology came to occupy unquestioned every aspect of what had previously been the prerogative of the state’. There’s a lot going on here.

Most of the chapters follow a woman named Romy Halls. Hers is one of those names which seems at first almost too Dickensian to be real, but which somehow concedes its own sort of authenticity. Romy is sent to jail after killing a man; after they met in the strip club where she was a dancer, this man began stalking her. Owing to an ineffectual public defender, this was no defence at all in the eyes of the judge. Romy is sent down, separated from her young son, with little hope that she will ever see him again. 

Prison is relentlessly awful. Every pointless, inhumane, degrading, exploitative detail is noted by the author — everything from the arbitrary rules that determine what can be worn to the expensive bureaucratic monopoly of the prison telephone system. OITNB at times suggested a camaraderie between the prisoners, and reminded its audience that the reasons women tend to end up in prison are often quite different to those of the opposite sex. The Mars Room does a little of the same, but it’s far more bleak and violent. By comparison it maintains a certain distance from the other prisoners. Many of them are nasty people: murderers, baby-killers; they throw boiling sugar-water in each other’s faces. The novel seems to concede that a certain kind of person here exists beyond the understanding of a novelist.

It is a bad place and the world outside is not much better. This is California in the early 00s, a blasted landscape of decaying malls, vacant lots, fast food forecourts and dubious strip joints. It is an infinite suburbia, radically decentred, deprived by design. This is where Romy grew up; the novel opens with a long bus ride that takes her out that world and into the prison-world, somewhere nameless out in the vast west coast wilderness. Geography is notable in this novel, but most of these places seem to exist beyond names. You couldn’t point to them on any map. In this regard, prison seems like the ultimate kind of placelessness. Incarceration involves a deliberate separation of the inmates from the natural world — the barren panopticon of the yard and the running track could barely be called nature. Eventually the prisoners come to feel a kind of dread at the sight of the mountains and orchards in the distance. They are only symbols of failed escapes, can only suggest slow suffering in the wilderness. 

But there are other aspects to this novel. From time to time a chapter will be written from another perspective, typically a male one. There is Gordon Hauser, a fairly average middle-class professor who runs classes for the inmates in Romy’s prison; and there’s Doc, a bent cop serving time for murder(s) in a separate facility for sensitive inmates (i.e. those most at risk from violent recrimination). Part of Hauser’s role is to stand in for the naivety of the expected audience of this book. He is educated, liberal, lightly contemptuous of the other staff, and mostly convinced that his role is to rehabilitate women who must have suffered some terrible evil to be where they are in life. He is confounded when some of the women tend towards exploiting his generosity. The reader might be inclined to be more generous towards the inmates. Even this doesn’t seem like an especially unreasonable thing for them to do, given the circumstances. 

Doc, on the other hand, is one of a handful of characters here who are almost entirely without redeeming features. (Kennedy, the man who Romy killed, is the other; the single chapter dedicated to him is a portrait of entitled, predatory masculinity that is grim without reservation.) Doc is simply awful — a sneering shell of a man — uncaring, unapologetic, universally contemptuous. These chapters throw into relief a broader problem that the book has with the voice of its characters: all of them are too much of their own type. If Doc and Kennedy are villainous, Hauser is mostly just an object of pity. Romy, on the other hand, is nothing but sympathetic, and at times her voice seems less like her own and more like an authorial surrogate. The problem is not so much that she’s literate, or that her voice is devoid of an ‘accent’ that we might associate with poverty in the Dickensian sense; it’s that there’s something in it which stretches the confines of first-person narration a little too far, until it feels almost like the narrator has herself become omniscient. She reads like a person commenting on their own life as if it had been lived by someone else. (Perhaps you could argue that this is the point.)

Hauser, meanwhile, does not spend all his time in the prison. We see a good deal of his life outside, underlining the kind of everyday freedom he enjoys in the wider world. Sometimes he retreats to a cabin in the wilderness to read, to live amongst people totally unlike him and to think great thoughts. Other authors are invoked — Thoreau, naturally — but also Theodore Kaczynski, who was once known as the unabomber. A handful of extracts (notably uncredited) from Kaczynski’s diaries are blended into the chapters here. I wondered about this. Those chapters emphasise his violent reaction to the industrialised destruction he saw all around him, which was apparently so at odds with the measured quality of his prose. 

Is that contrast as surprising today as it once was? I’m not sure. The Mars Room seems circumspect about the purpose of these passages. There’s a reluctance in the text to say what should be obvious: that Kaczynski went too far. Perhaps the novel is only trying to suggest that the impulse to tear it all down, by any means necessary, is still compelling. Who amongst us hasn’t been irritated by the sound of loud motorcycles, or appalled at the sight of logging in familiar patch of forest; who hasn’t felt the urge to do something? 

Fifteen or twenty years ago it was the thing to hold up Kaczynski’s writings as being philosophically sound — worth reading, even if the ultimate results of his methodology were beneath contempt. I wonder if this is still the case. The outsider logic of the unabomber — the man who would set himself apart from the rest of humanity, in his cabin, with his rifle — has almost become the new normal. I say ‘almost’ because Ted thought we should do without, while the angry white men who came after him saw no reason to chase the same asceticism. But some of them were happy to take up rifles and to build bombs regardless. They saw something of the same threat in the world around them.