#I made my story’s government have 7 different main family powers that all line up with the continents

[reader-104]

I hate whenever I think I came up with an original idea for a book but then realize it’s just made up of a bunch of elements from different things I’ve read.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Water Seven

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

i’ve mentioned several times before that the davy back fight is one of my least favorite arcs, mostly because i found it very dragging and tedious when i was reading it, but there are a couple things i really like in it, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, most of them have to do with zoro. i really like his moment here with chopper, and it also showcases his ability to act as more of an authority figure to the crew, which is something that makes a substantial return after enies lobby with the matter of usopp’s return. 

zoro and sanji’s match in the davy back fight is far and away my favorite part of the entire arc. it’s just really fun.

like i said, this arc isn’t a favorite of mine, but i do definitely understand why it’s important to the saga and greater story in a couple different ways. one of them is that it’s just an easy, lighthearted detour that both gives the audience a chance to breathe and the strawhats a chance to showcase just how much they love each other and work well together- which turns into a fucking sledgehammer to the skull in the next arc when that unity is directly threatened. and the other reason this arc is important...

...is because of aokiji.

aokiji’s introductory scene is a brutal showcase of absolute power, and a very clear reminder that the strawhats are still very much little fish in a very, very big pond. all of the strawhats are impacted by this to some degree- it’s how badly they get curb-stomped here that leads luffy to come up with his gears as a way of closing the huge power gap he’s just learned about.

most important, though, are robin and usopp. for robin, this is a stark reminder of the fact that the government will never stop hunting her down; for usopp, who’s less obvious, it’s the seeds of the full-blown inferiority crisis that will later explode with the news about merry. both of their arcs throughout water 7 and enies lobby, essentially the twin emotional backbones of the saga, start right here.

i really like that the other strawhats all fell asleep waiting for robin and luffy to wake up. it calls back to them doing the same when nami was sick before drum, and also it’s just so fucking sweet. 

water seven is my favorite island, full stop. if i was going to live anywhere in one piece’s world, i’d want to live on water seven. it’s just so creatively designed and visually great, with the canals and the tiered city and the massive fountain in the middle. the supporting cast are still one of my favorites, and the culture feels very real and authentic. i just love water seven a lot.

i just said it but it bears repeating- the water seven supporting cast is really good. iceburg, the galley-la shipwrights, franky and his family, kokoro and chimney are all really memorable, and most of them are really likable, too- and cp9, with all their eccentricities, fit in perfectly. water seven’s cast is very interconnected, as well, and their relationships all feel very believable.

all of which, of course, only makes the later treachery hurt all the more.

the atmosphere of water seven is really, really well done. the bad starts slow, with the news that merry is unfixable, and then continues into an accelerating downwards spiral of hopelessness: usopp and luffy’s fight and usopp leaving the crew, robin’s seeming betrayal, the assassination attempt on iceburg, the city and galley-la turning on them as a result, and the agua laguna- it just gets worse and worse and worse.

and then, after they’ve been stomped down about as far as they can go and come out alive anyways, they pick themselves back up again and go to save their friend, because that’s what the strawhat pirates do.

i just really like getting to see these four going feral on the franky family, it’s one of my favorite scenes in this whole arc. in general, i tend to love the moments where luffy specifically gets properly angry, and we get a lot of them in this arc. 

even though the fight between luffy and usopp is genuinely very tense and  fast-paced and would probably be exciting if it were any other two characters fighting, it never really feels anything other than melancholy. i think that’s a testament to just how good oda is at setting the mood of the scene. it’s made very clear, especially through the reactions of the other characters- merry ‘crying�� is fucking heartbreaking- that this is nothing less than a tragedy. 

:(

i think it’s kind of interesting we aren’t shown franky’s face until about halfway into water seven. prior to this, we’re given pretty much only reasons to hate him, with his theft of the strawhats’ money and the franky family beating usopp to shit. but just after this point is when we start getting our first humanizing and sympathetic moments for him, starting when he gets worried and a little frantic when he hears about the attempt on iceburg’s life.

i just really, really like the way some of these water seven action sequences are depicted. they feel very tense and desperate, which matches the general mood of this part of the arc perfectly.

this panel of usopp working on merry always reminds me of the shots of the klabautermann doing the same during skypiea. i’m not sure if it’s even intentional, honestly, but it’s an extra little bit of heartbreak either way.

one piece has a lot of amazing spreads, but this might be one of my favorites for sheer impact. cp9, watching as the city they’ve lived and worked in for years burns down in a fire they set, satisfied by a job well done. it’s almost all in black and white with very little grey, which creates some fantastic contrast, and their pitch-black silhouettes against the nighttime inferno are just striking. 

this entire scene between usopp and franky, as usopp works on the merry and franky gives him advice and tries to make him see its hopeless and they kind of awkwardly, accidentally bond, is probably my favorite in the whole of water seven. it was also the scene that singlehandedly made me love franky as a character.

they have a really good, really enjoyable dynamic, and at the same time the conflict between them is real and understandable, and brought about because they’re both trying to do the right thing.

tom’s workers are one of my favorite little groups of characters in the whole of one piece’s story, and they deserve more appreciation. they’re family!! a little family of broken pieces who worked together to build something really, really amazing. and they still care about each other in the present, even though they got shattered apart so badly and none of them ever really recovered. 

this is a tremendously under-appreciated chopper moment. not only did he carry two full-grown men out of a fire, he even managed to get zoro’s sword and iceburg’s hamster. extremely cool of him.

this is also the exact moment the strawhats’ collective luck begins to turn: chopper saves the day, and nami learns that robin did what she did to protect them, and sanji gets aboard the sea train, and from there it’s a no-brakes train from their very lowest low straight to the triumph at enies lobby.

i love all the shenanigans sanji gets up to with the sea train, i think the whole sequence is absolutely one of his shining moments. it’s always a delight to see sanji get up to Sneaky Bastard Bullshit, and the whole thing is just so fun, which is a dearly needed breath of fresh air after how relentless this arc has been until this point.

robin’s little smile when thinking of luffy and when she joined the strawhats... :( i’ve noticed it’s a recurring trend for strawhats who try to leave the crew to flash back to when they joined as they do. usopp has it earlier this same arc just before leaving, and sanji does it in whole cake island in the sanji vs. luffy chapter. 

i really like how much everyone comes together at the end of water seven leading into enies lobby. after how fractured and fraught things have been throughout the arc, both within and without the strawhat crew, it’s great to see them not only all united again for a common goal, but with a huge group of allies at their backs. 

these three are SUCH a hilarious team, and i would love to see them work together again like this sometime. they’re literally just clowning on the marines all the way up the train, it’s fantastic. 

factually i understand sanji’s aversion to fighting with his hands and his fighting style is very unique and cool and also meaningful to him because he learned from zeff, and also if i remember right it’s implied he learned how to swordfight from the vinsmokes which makes it very reasonable he would want absolutely nothing to do with that skillset 

but speaking purely in terms of stupid idiot lizard brain i think sanji should fight with knives more

this is another of my absolute favorite spreads, and i think what makes it for me is the casual confidence- luffy tells zoro to cut the train, and zoro does, both of them with no doubts at all about zoro’s ability to do so. it really goes to show how far they’ve come from back in east blue when zoro couldn’t even cut luffy out of a metal cage.

there’s something very impactful about the fact that of all the strawhats, robin gets this speech from usopp. usopp, who’s had the worst falling-out with luffy in the series to date, is the one who tells robin: you haven’t left the crew yet, you can’t leave the crew yet, luffy is coming to get you. believe in him. 

franky’s “existing is not a crime” line is one of the most memorable and iconic lines from this entire saga, and for good reason. it sums up one of the main themes of not just this arc but also the series as a whole- the very same idea will come up again for ace during marineford, and in law’s backstory as well. it’s never a crime to just exist, and people should not never be persecuted for their blood or heritage. one piece doesn’t fuck around with its theming, it really doesn’t. 

to be continued next time, with enies lobby!

[jokerfan99]

My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villains (Updated) by DarkChild316

In a different time and a different world, I did a list of “My 10 Favorite Anime Villains”. I am older now, and hopefully much wiser and now thanks to the global pandemic and my new subscriptions to Hulu and Funimation I’ve had the opportunity to go back and revisit so many classic anime that I feel like I should re-do it. Plus I’ve gone back and looked at my previous list and shook my head thinking to myself: “My God man, what in the f**k were you thinking with some of these choices!” So, I’ve gone back and redone the list, now this list is strictly for the men only. If you want to see a list dedicated to my favorite female villains, check out my list of “My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villainesses.” But for this list, here is my updated list of My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villains:

#10. Shishiho Makoto (Rurouni Kenshin): Growing up as a kid, Ruroni Kenshin was one of the first anime I had ever watched, and this guy was someone who I hated with a passion. Looking back at it years later, I realize now what an amazing villain and foil to Kenshin that Makoto was. Unlike a lot of villains on this list, Makoto wasn’t just evil for the sake of being evil, Makoto’s evil came from the worst type of trauma: betrayal! In this case the betrayal came from Makoto’s own government, where Makoto survived not only multiple gunshots, but being doused in oil and burned alive, leaving him in complete and utter agony. What puts Shishio on my list is what he manages to do after surviving death. He compiles an army of the best fighters Japan has to offer and plots to overthrow the entire Meiji Government. While in complete agony. Who else can claim that? Did I also mention he’s topping the list of the best fighters in the show? His swordsmanship is second only to Kenshin himself as he proves in their absolutely epic fight.

#9. Hisoka Morrow (Hunter x Hunter): Hunter x Hunter is a show with several great villains that truly stand out, and while Meruem was memorable, pardon me for believing that Hisoka was the standout villain from that show. A devious killer and master Nen user, Hisoka is driven by little more than his desire to find and kill strong opponents. Be they young children or master criminals, he’ll pursue them to the ends of the Earth with a bloodlust on par with that of a wild predator. Likewise, he doesn’t care what happens to himself or others in this pursuit. Mass civilian casualties, the loss of his own villainous allies or even the loss of his own limbs barely phases him, so long as he gets to fight with someone that tests his limits. As a result, he more often than not embodies chaos incarnate, wreaking havoc in his pursuit of battle and leaving a mountain of corpses behind him. Needless to say, this puts him at odds with the series’ protagonists at regular intervals. Not only do Gon and his friends fit the bill for what he seeks, but they often take on enemies that prove to be exactly what Hisoka is looking for. And yet, this also serves to make him all the more interesting. Where other villains might strike out at the protagonists and heroes immediately, Hisoka schemes, allies himself with and double-crosses people regularly, always finding the best angle to work in order to reach his goals. He may not be a world-ending anime villain on the level of a Meruem with seismic ambitions, but he’s undeniably the most interesting and brilliant villain in Hunter x Hunter to see at work.

#8. Izaya Orihara (Durarara!!): If you think of a list of top anime villains and this guy isn’t one of the first people who comes to mind, please raise your hands so I can have a few words with you in private with no cameras or eyewitnesses. The crazy thing about Izaya is that he doesn’t even realize he’s evil, and that’s what makes him great. He loves humanity; from the depths of his bones he loves us all. This is why he makes it onto my list; he does progressively more cruel acts against humans, putting people in situations that generally lead to their deaths. He is also a master of parkour and highly skilled with a switchblade in his hand (as evident in the above picture), which he generally only uses in dire situations or fights against Shizuo. In short, I absoulutely love this guy. I thoroughly enjoyed the way he manages to manipulate an entire populous, and that’s why he’s more than earned a spot on my list.

#7. Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure): You might have thought it was someone else, but it was me, Dio! All meme-worthy jokes aside, Dio Brando is unquestionably one of the most iconic anime villains of all time and, thanks to his series’ late-blooming popularity outside of Japan thanks largely to the 2012 anime adaptation, one that still feels modern in our minds. Dio is a tenacious bastard that takes advantage of the generosity of the Joestar family to further his own power, being intolerably dickish to Jonathan by constantly tearing him down, trying to make him look bad in front of his dad, spreading rumors to sully his reputation, and sabotaging his relationships. This escalates into killing his dog (his f***ikg dog of all things!), poisoning and later stabbing his adoptive father (I mean WTF!), and becoming a freakin vampire. Even after decapitation, Dio gets his revenge and sets in motion many of the events of the series, making a formal return in Stardust Crusaders as the main villain once again. With raw ambition taken to the extreme, iconic lines, poses, and outfits, incredible abilities from Aztec mask-induced vampirism and the time-stopping power of The World, Dio’s menacing presence towers over his series and over anime as a whole, which makes him MORE than deserving of a spot on my list.

#6. Light Yagami (Death Note): Yes, he’s a VILLAIN, get over yourselves Light Yagami fanboys! Anyway, there are a number of different adjectives and superlatives that could be used to described the lead character of Death Note: Diabolical, calculating, and determined to make the world in his own image all describe Light who was easily the most clever man in  Death Note, as evidenced by the layers upon layers that composed his elaborate plans.  Light started out as a good kid, doing well in school and heading to a bright career in police work like his father. But when he gets possession of the death note, he begins a remarkable descent into a disturbing mastermind who becomes judge, jury, and executioner for the entire world. But what truly makes Light's character stand out remains complicated throughout the story. His ultimate goal is to make the world a happier, safer place; a noble but perhaps misguided goal. His idealism and nobility still shine through when he doesn’t have the Death Note. When he temporarily relinquishes ownership of the death note to throw L off his trail, Light loses all memory of the death note and he reverts to his normal personality. His sense of morality returns and he shows more compassion for those around him. He even refuses to use Misa Amane to get information out of her when L asks him to. These qualities help to create a complex character who ends up being a detestable villain, yet you still kind of root for him to come out of this story as a winner. Light’s progression through the series is marked by his sheer brilliance. He's got a calculated and strategic mind that would make the great philosopher Machiavelli jealous, and the power of the death note adds a callousness that makes him free to use people in whatever way necessary to accomplish his goals. It’s highly entertaining to see his intricate plans play out. But Light’s messiah-like ego is just as big as his brain, and that arrogance ultimately leads to his tragic downfall.

#5. The Major (Hellsing): An evil Nazi Scientist, I know everyone is just rolling their eyes right now thinking I’m reaching for the low-hanging fruit for this one, but just hear me out here. While he may seem like an obvious pick for a list like this, The Major’s goals, however, are somehow far more unhinged than what may first appear. Despite being an impassioned orator and uncompromising strategist willing to sacrifice countless soldiers, the Major himself had no especial loyalty or passion for the cause of Millennium. His sole obsession is to plunge the world into an unending conflict to the point of endangering not only the lives of others but also his own. The Major’s leadership of Millennium, his decades espousing the genocidal ideology of fascists, and subsequent war against the Hellsing organization, the Vatican, and the entire world serve only as a pretext to satiate his insatiable bloodlust. The Major is one of anime’s most insidious villains, a charismatic, nihilistic sociopath driven purely by his sadomasochistic death wish.

#4. Shou Tucker (Fullmetal Alchemist): Now, you may be recalling that in my previous version of this list, I had Envy listed as my choice as my favorite villain from this show. Well after careful reconsideration, I’ve had to reevaluate my decision and give that spot to this creep, because while Envy’s actions were despicable to a point, they PALE in comparison to this guy! He only really appears in one episode if I remember correctly, yet in that one single episode, he made more of an impact then most villains make in a lifetime, which really says a lot about this guy’s character. What was it that made him so memorable you ask? Well, it could have something to do with the fact that this man transmutaed his own dog and daughter to create a talking chimera, which hadn’t been done before, and for what other reason��all in the name of recognition in the world of alchemy! That mere fact alone made this guy the most hated man in all of anime, the fact that he sacrificed his own family for the sake of fame, with absolutely no hint of remorse, made this guy the definition of an absolute living piece of shit and the only thing worse is how the episode ended, but I won’t spoil that one for you if you haven’t seen it.

#3. Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion) Up next is a man competing with the likes of Medusa Gorgon for the title of “Anime’s Worst Parent”, Gendo Ikari, please step up to the front of the congregation. Now Gendo is a man who’s list of atrocities throughout Evangelion is far too many to name, but I’m going to try my best to list them here: You have being actively complicit in the premature instigation of a biblical apocalypse, resulting in a near extinction-level event that caused the death of nearly two-thirds of the human population. Emotionally neglecting his own son Shinji estranging himself from him for over twelve years, only to offer him up as a sacrificial pawn in his bid to artificially bootstrap humanity’s ascent into evolutionary godhood so that he could be reunited with his dead wife. Cloning said wife’s DNA into a harem of emotionally dependent albino ingenues who share a dogged infatuation for their creator. And that’s not even mentioning the horrific emotional abuse and mental manipulation he inflicts on Dr. Ritsuko Akagi and her mother Naoko. All-in-all Gendo is proof positive that love not only has the capacity to overcome any obstacle, but sometimes it can truly make monsters out of us all.

#2. Griffith (Berserk): Griffith did nothing wrong; at least, not by his own drives and ambitions. A peasant who grew to become the leader of his own mercenary band, Griffith was a self-driven man who pursued his desires with unparalleled efficiency. No matter the situation or obstacle, he found a way to overcome them, whether that meant facing down an army of thousands or assassinating a country’s leaders. All the while, he amassed a legion of friends and followers who would follow him to hell and back, caring for him as much or more than he cared for them. As a result, they were dragged down with him when his ambitions saw him imprisoned, tortured and maimed. They cared little though, risking life and limb to save him and help him salvage a life with what he had left. That wasn’t enough for Griffith though. When given the option to become a demon and continue the pursuit of his dreams, he whole-heartedly accepted it; even though it came at the cost of sacrificing the lives of each and every one of his friends and allies. But that wasn’t the worst of it, to further spite the early desertion of Guts, Griffith proceeds to rape Casca, Guts’ love interest, in front of him as Guts is held down by demons. So yes, Griffith did nothing wrong by himself. By everyone else though, he did them the worst of injustices, and continues to do so with each breath he takes, all of which makes him a compelling and infuriating villain.

#1. Johan Liebert (Monster): I’ve covered a wide variety of monsters (pun fully intended) on this list, but THIS monster (again, pun FULLY intended) truly takes the cake when it comes to anime villains. A serial killer who would fit in well in any blockbuster film, Monster told the story of a man who had truly become monstrous; a charismatic, intelligent sociopath with no other goal than to kill everyone else in the world. Johan didn't just kill people, he made other people into monsters just like him. This skill of his corruption is first displayed in his youth, when he used stories to convince the other boys in his orphanage to kill all the staff, and each other. Johan is often compared to Light Yagami of Death Note, but the two couldn’t be any more different. Light's fatal (and genius) flaw is his own ego, which leads him to put his own life above all else, even his goal of changing the world. But Johan has never been afraid of death. Quite the opposite, he welcomes and embraces it, being more than willing to put his own life at risk, and one of his signature traits is how he challenges people to shoot him. Another of Jonah’s signature traits is his skills as a masterful manipulator. Where Light and other on this list had to resort to supernatural means to get what they wanted, Johan just used his own wits and knowledge of human nature. He's easily the most frightening villain on this list because he’s the truest to life villain on this list and he exposes the base human nature of his victims and of human society. Monster's remarkable story was almost entirely due to Johan alone, and it’s why he’s #1 on my list.

So that's my updated list, what did you guys think about it? Love it, hated it? Go on and tell me what you think and let me know who your favorite anime villains are. See you soon!!!

Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/darkchild316

[morkmywords]

Not Really a Cinderella Story | Royalty au | Exo | Sehun | Part 12

Masterlist | Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 8.5 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12  Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 [FINAL]

Royalty!AU

Length: 3.2k

Note: uhhhhhh hi, so school ate my life and i have no time anymore but this is finally finished even if its a shorter part also its not edited but when is it ever

I also want to that @haveanotherkpopblog and @theonethatcompletesyou  you have supported me since i first started this fanfic and blog in  general and you guys are my main motivation most of the time and i’m so sorry i can’t update more regularly but I hope you like this

Warnings: nothing really

Pairing: Sehun x Reader

Genre: Fluff/angst

Summary: When a strange string of not so great events somehow and you with a job at the palace punching the wrong people can be not so great.

The tapping of your slippers against the old marble floors was the only sound aside from your breathing as you once again stepped into the ballroom. The murals which decorated the domed ceiling of the cavernous room seemed to be covered with a grey filter, blurring the once bright colours which were now peeling away. You had been in Oclaria’s palace for almost two months now but the image of the forgotten ballroom haunted you as if the spirits of the people who once danced within it were buried in your heart. Ever since you had crossed the border between the two countries it felt as if a thin sheet had been thrown over your eyes, everything felt so familiar yet the sheer fabric only let you see shapes, hiding the details from your eyes.

Soon after entering the palace you quickly learned about the king who had passed, Sehun’s uncle. Long before you or Sehun were born the Queen, whom the King loves dearly, finally was pregnant with a child to the joy of the entire kingdom. Parties were held at every street corner, that is, until the baby was born still and took the Queen’s life with it. Heartbroken, the King locked himself away, sending every courtier back to their own territories and dismissing all the staff, keeping only those necessary to make sure the palace didn’t crumble around them. Nobody heard or saw from the King aside from those few servants, no parties or meeting were held and thus the palace was forgotten. Instead, being taken over by years upon years of dust and cobwebs.

The staff you arrived with easily outnumbered the current ones left by the King five to one, they were given the option to leave or stay when Sehun arrived and much to everyone’s surprise many chose to stay. With that, slowly the palace began to fill up again, more staff were hired, the stables and gardens were restored, and slowly the lords and ladies once again took up their places at court. The palace quickly transformed from the desolate and erie place you arrived to, when the grime was scrubbed away and a new coat of paint was slathered on the walls the palace was beautiful, more so than even the ice palace of Matus. But the ballroom was left untouched along with most of the east wing, which made it your favourite place to spend the long days. Though more often than not, you found yourself spending most of your time alone, the days were never predictable. For a man who was supposed to be preoccupied with learning how to govern a country Sehun sure managed to find a lot of free time. Almost every morning you would wake up to find a gift addressed to you waiting in front of your door from none other than the soon to be king. The gifts ranged from anything as simple as a bouquet of your favourite flowers which as the note explained, he grew in the gardens himself, or a new book for you to read. Sometimes he would to to such extremes as leaving a huge arm chair so plush and cushioned you had no idea how it would fit through your door, and gifting you an entirely new wardrobe full of hand crafted gowns, all with sleeves that would cover to your wrists. When there weren’t gifts there was always a letter left, your name scrawled on the envelope in familiar hand writing asking you to meet later in the day or apologizing and promising to make it up to you if he’s too tied up with work.

His favourite place to go with you was the palace gardens, a maze of paths twisting in between rows of flowers and plants that stretched almost as far as the palace itself. The first time you visited it with him he told you that the previous queen had loved to garden too, so much in fact, that as a wedding gift his uncle had ordered the expansion of the garden to add six different expansions, spring, summer, autumn, winter, day, and night. Over the course of her life the gardens were constructed one by one. Spring which bloomed every year with a myriad of colours in the warm rain, summer which was filled with ponds, a large oak tree with a swing hanging off one of the large branches in the center. Autumn was lined with orchards and other crops, providing endless produce that will last throughout the season and into the winter, speaking of which, winter was a forest of pine and spruce trees, pond in the middle freezing over and creating a skating rink. Day and night were the last two gardens going to be created but as soon as day’s glittering greenhouses and sparkling fountains were completed, the Queen died along with the baby girl they were going to name Luna after the moon which she admired. Overwhelmed by grief, the king had ordered the construction of the Night garden to be stopped and over the years it never resumed and thus fell into disrepair.

One of his other favourite things to do was to steal you away to the palace kitchen under the rouse of cooking a meal together when in reality you usually ended up doing all the work as Sehun played around with whatever weird vegetables he could find. Sometimes you two would wander around the city together, or you two would just sit in each other's company reading in the library. As much as spending time with Sehun made you bubble over with joy and your heart soar it didn’t.

And it all started when he first asked.

“Will you marry me?”

The chuckle in his voice and smile on his face would suggest there was a light heartedness around his question but with one look in his eyes you could see how it was weighing on him. With a seriousness you had never seen before. Jokingly you brushed it off, making some excuse about him snoring to loud but he kept asking. And with each time he asked the seriousness grew no matter how much you turned him down. There was always a nagging at the back of your mind, making your stomach churn with nerves so you kept turning him down.

The fact that most of the palace residents knew of your infatuation wasn't doing much good either. Many of the staff members fawned after your relationship, telling you their endless dreams of finding a significant other that was as sweet as Sehun was to you but as much as the mention of your relationship to the prince made you squirm they weren't the problem. The real problem was the court officials, it was no secret that they were pushing Sehun who had only just been crowned king to get married and for good reason too. He had to solidify his standing as king and the best way to do that was to find and marry a queen so there was always a seemingly endless stream of eligible women in the palace and yet through all their finery he turned them all down. And it was no secret to anyone that you were the reason why. The glares weighed heavy on you like a clock made out of led, and even if you were with Sehun, whether he noticed and chose to ignore it or was simply oblivious to the watching eyes their gazes still found their way deep inside of you. As the little worms of doubt and anxiety buried themselves in the lining of your stomach, arms, legs, and even through your spine and up the back of your neck you firmed your decision. As the seriousness in Sehun’s proposals grew so did the seriousness in your answers, there was no way you could marry him and become queen, he couldn't forgot marrying some rich young lady from a family of power and marry you, some lowborn commoner, it wouldn't be fair to him or the people of his country.

Fortunately the people of Oclaria are much kinder than those of the court. Lord Cha had grown to be much more of a father figure in your life over the past while. Whenever you weren't occupied, which was more often than it may seem, he took you to see the wonder of Oclaria. It was the second largest kingdom on the continent after the freezing plains of Lokya which were bathed in eternal winter that it said to have been cursed by a with centuries ago when the continent had no kingdoms, or kings, or queens. And after so many trips through the large cities with bustling markets and the quiet countryside with hills covered in flowers you had barely even seen a third of it.

----

Moonlight filtering through the stained glass windows which lined the walls and creating colourful patterns on the floor was the only thing illuminating the hallway aside from the quickly melting candle you clutched in your hand as you scurried through the hallway. You found yourself in quite similar situations for longer than you can remember at this point, nerves wriggling inside you and refusing you sleep until the early hours of the morning. Books had been the solution to quelling the pent up writhing of your emotions and you had taken refuge in Lord Cha’s private library as he too, was often a stranger to sleep due to reasons unknown. Earlier in the month you had borrowed a book titled ‘Greatest Composers of the Five Continents’ and as interesting as it was, it was incredibly long and you had finally finished it. Feeling ever so enlightened about the history of music in your great world you pushed open the door and stepped into the library. Without looking up from the diary on his lap Lord Cha offered you a wave a greeting which you quickly returned before diving into the shelves of books.

A few moments later after having successfully shelving your borrowed book and grabbing a new one you were settled in the generously stuffed armchair across from him.

“Y/n I wanted to ask you about something,” Lord Cha said as he put the cap back on his pen. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses before placing whatever he was writing about on the table side him. “In two days I'm heading back to the territory I'm from, Iyle. It's the largest territory in Oclaria, covering the border to Edesea and all of Oclaria’s southern coast and islands. It's been without a lord for many years since the line died out and I've been put in charge of governing it and I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope you'll come with me.”

You stared at him blankly for a few moments before clearing your throat. You shifted in your seat as your mind raced, to what you didn't know, but it was flying so fast you couldn't even form a coherent sentence.

“Lord Cha, It sounds amazing- I'd really love to go- but the thing is-” you sputtered out.

“It's okay darling,” he cut you off with a chuckle as he reached over to pour you a cup of tea.

“I really would love to go-”

“I know, it's hard to decide in this moment. You have a lot to consider seeing as you've only just arrived in Oclaria and you'd be leaving the man who you loved enough to follow here for who knows how long as I don't know yet when we will return to the capital,” He smiled at you, “It's a hard decision to make and I don't expect you to make it now,” he straightened his tie and stood up, “We’re leaving at Sunset in two days time, meet us at the southern gate if you wish to come.”

With that he bid you goodnight and returned to his chambers and you returned to yours.

----

The darkness of your room didn’t seem dark. You stared at the ceiling, then rolled onto your side and looked out the window, before rolling onto your stomach and burying your face in the pillow. The soft glow of the sunrise was making your room brighter and brighter and with the light came the realization that you hadn’t slept at all the night before. You tossed and turned endlessly because of the nightmare that was your reality at this point in time. Lord Cha had invited you to go with him and you almost agreed on the spot but you hesitated. As much as you wished to escape the empty palace that seemed to be closing farther  in on you every day, trapping you within the confines of the gilded walls and luxury, you couldn’t make the call. A small nagging in your heart which you had been feverishly trying to burry over the past weeks had unearthed itself and halted you from making a decision because if you left, would you ever be able to come back?

The sun had risen when you finally pushed yourself from under the quilt and got dressed, it felt almost mechanical as you went about your daily routine.  You felt empty, why were there no tears? No frustration and indecision? Why were you nothing but a shell?

When the realization finally dawned on you it walls you had created came crashing down all at once and dread filled the pit of your stomach.

No letter came that day, nor did any gifts and you were thankful. A decision hadn’t been reached by the time you drifted into sleep in the late morning and slept the rest of the day away.

The nagging invaded your dreams and filled them with all your unanswered questions.

Should you leave Sehun alone?

Should you leave without telling him?

What if while you’re gone he gives in to the court and marries some noble lady?

Why do you care if he marries a noble woman? He’s a king after all…

Why do you care so much about him?

----

You had to make the decision today, your bag was packed and shoved under your bed but would you take it or not?

You were pacing back and forth in your room trying to decide what to do when a knock on your door interrupted you.

“You’re needed in the garden,” the guard said, “please follow me.”

Nodding you trailed behind him as he offered up no more information. The two of you snaked through the familiar halls to the garden, a path you had gotten very familiar with very quickly. Time seemed to slow as you stepped through the glass door and around the rose garden to be met with a beautiful sight. Sehun waiting for you, sun dancing on his face like rays of pure delight as a smile lit up his entire face when he spotted you. The guard who escorted you hung back as he rushed to meet you, grabbing your hand in his own and kissing your cheek lightly. Today something seemed different about him, maybe it was the changing seasons but he seemed lighter than before, like the world wasn’t resting on his shoulders anymore.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he whispered and instinctively you smiled brightly back at him.

“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” you said.

He chuckles and clutched your hand tighter, “You’re right on time, we have to go somewhere but first promise me you won’t ask any questions, okay?”

You raised an eyebrow, “Should I be worried?”

“I don’t think so,” he answered pretending to scratch his head which made you laugh, “just trust me.”

You eyed him up and down. Pretending was hard especially since his joy was so infectious, so you nodded and stuck out you pinky which he gratefully took before pulling you after him. You walked for what seemed like only seconds when his hand clutched yours like it was the only thing that mattered. Another twinge was felt in you heart as you spotted a small gazebo which is where he seemed to be headed.

He dropped your hand and stood across from you, you shivered from the loss of the warmth and comfort against your palm, “Sehun, wha-”

“You promised not to ask questions, right?” he said. There was a different tone in his voice now, something between excitement and nervousness, but why? “Just let me talk first.”

You nodded as the atmosphere suddenly changed into something more serious.

“You know I love you right?”

You nodded again.

He took a deep breath, “I know I’ve been asking you this over and over for the past few weeks, and I know you needed time to think but I think a month is enough time to make a decision. Y/n, will you marry me?”

You felt you heart shift, “Sehun…….. No.”

HIs demeanour changed. He was dripping with something you couldn’t place and towering over you even if he was only a few inches taller than you in reality.

“Y/n I’ll give you one more chance, this is the last time I’m going to ask, so what’s your answer!” he asked.

It was as if the whole world had stilled, “No.”

“WHY?!” he exclaimed, latching onto your wrists in desperation, “Tell me why you have to keep turning me down when I love you so much!?”

“No Sehun,” you cried out trying halfheartedly to wrench yourself free from his grasp, “I can’t-I can’t be a queen!”

“WHY?!”

“Because I don’t love you!”

You could see his heart shatter in that very moment as his arms fell to his sides and his eyes went blank, focusing on something in the distance.

“Sehun-”

“LEAVE!” he bellowed, “I don’t want you in my sight!”

No tears fell as he spun away from you and you could do nothing but back away in horror at what you had just done. As you sprinted back into the palace your tears fell freely even if his didn’t because in that moment when the words tumbled from your lips you knew they weren’t true. Even if you had never been sure enough before to say it out loud you always knew deep down. And as soon as you opened your mouth you knew that you did love him, possibly more than he loved you. But now you had broken him beyond repair so you pulled your bag from under your bed and raced out to where Lord Cha said he would be waiting, hoping desperately they hadn’t left yet as the sun was beginning to set.

He didn’t question the tears which were still streaming down your face bus helped you onto a horse before setting off.

When the palace walls disappeared into the darkness behind you, you also felt the last shreds of something inside you snap.

[co-mixed]

TROS: How should Ben’s redemption work?

Minor spoiler warning, but by this point, we’d be surprised if you haven’t heard the news.

Fans of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo did get something they wanted in The Rise of Skywalker. A redemption arc, that not all of us found truly satisfying. Not everyone was sold on that, and it ended in death.

That was both lazy and emotionally empty. Kylo’s scene with Han, him dealing with his memory, is a good start, but him sacrificing his life and losing it is not a great ending.

Ben Solo is a character for this, young generation. He lives in the world his predecessors “left” for him, he blames them for the state it is in. He struggles with himself, and reality surrounding him. In a way, he embodies all three types of storytelling conflicts in one (they define 6 or 7 now, but we’re taking the three main ones). This is why nearly every single person these days can relate to Ben.

Kylo Ren is a comfortable mask, that covers his emotions, but doesn’t truly destroy them.

People look at him in the light of killing Han Solo, but that’s what falls flat in the context of war. It’s war. Rey killed people (stormtroopers, who were like her buddy Finn), buddy Finn kills his former friends, the ones he grew up with. Body count for any of them is quite long. But Ben kills his father, the person he is emotionally attached to, as well as the audience. For us this is a worse crime than killing people you don’t know. I am not defending patricide here, but I will say, that there are cases in which even law sides with the accused. This might not be one of them though, even considering that in the middle of war he was killing an enemy perpetrator.

We don’t even know if his parents forgive him in the end, because none of the ghost cared enough to show up, and drop him a line.

So Ben is very imperfect, like many of us are. He takes one wrong turn after another, sometimes to save his own life, sometimes to prove to himself and the others just how far he’s gone. But does he deserve a second chance?

Who gets a second chance?

My first analogy is Bucky Barnes. Brainwashed by Hydra, forced to carry out various evil deeds, murder people etc. What Marvel does is they redeem him, and leave him to reflect on his mistakes and correct what he can.

Marvel, the guys probably comfortably hanging down the hall, made this choice.

While we can’t say that Ben wasn’t programmed to kill people, we can argue that from a very young age, he was exposed to all kinds of influence. Be it Snoke, Palpatine, or even Dark Side Luke. So he wasn’t entirely in his right mind, especially considering what Dark Side does to people. Imagine if Luke finished his night chat and killed his nephew? And then let’s not forget Rey, who’s killed a bunch of people in the shuttle discovering her lightning, and stabbed Kylo. We just forgive her, because stormtroopers are evil (except are they?).

But that’s just throwing blame around.

Who doesn’t get a second chance?

Let’s see two more examples of redemption arcs, and why exactly this one had to be different.

Natasha Romanoff. Even though Marvel movies seem more lighthearted, they also don’t dismiss death. Natasha jumps on Vormir, because she believes that this is where all her actions were leading her. She knows that to save the world, to save people, someone needs to die. And she chooses to do so, because Hawkeye in her eyes deserves to live more. He has people, he has family, and he has a future despite his recent murder rampage (again, evil people are still people). She does it knowing exactly what she’s doing, and she is not forgotten.

Tony Stark. Again, Tony does the snap, because he has sins to repay for (Ultron, for starters), and he has a family to save and a future to give to his daughter. I know that many people are still hurt that Marvel made this call, and it is a very emotional moment, but death in the MCU, as well as in Marvel Comics, is just a word. No one is gone. Besides, it’s just Earth-199999, and everybody knows that the true canon is the mainstream Earth-616.

So as much as these deaths hurt the fans, they can always dive into more stories, find out what the characters are really like. Learn how many things the movies got different, for example.

You have options, and they don’t include the need to write or read fanfiction, and trick you brain into believing them more than canon. There are movies, and they can be good, but the characters themselves are safe, and if they die, you know it’s Marvel, so there is always hope (usually measured in sales).

Back to Star Wars. Movies are our undeniable canon. So much so that story group has to rewrite everything to fit them. Whatever happens to a character there, stays as concrete history. I don’t know how many people were devastated, and couldn’t move past it for at least a week, but the stories you hear honestly make you question sanity of those responsible. There was a way to not kill off one of the most beloved (and most marketable) characters in the Sequel Trilogy.

Three ways this could go

The main question is What does Ben do after him and Rey defeat Palpatine?

Path 1.

Ben is not a coward, so we immediately dismiss the idea of him running somewhere far far away. He has to face the others, and he has to accept his own evil deeds. The only way for him to disappear is for Rey to convince him to do so. He has no ties to the rebellion, he doesn’t have to show up there. But she wouldn’t want to find out how far the angry mob could go. Besides, no reason to ruin the celebration by bringing that guy everyone hates.

I don’t really believe this would be the best course of action, but it’s possible.

Path 2.

He is still technically the Supreme Leader, so it’s up to him to reform the galaxy. This was not all the fleet the First Order has, they have forces on every conquered planet. There are governments to consider, alliances, etc. This also allows him to free the slaves, and truly finish what Anakin had started.

Then, if he gives up the power to let’s say, senate, there will likely be a trial. And would he defend himself? No. That’s not in his character. Would anyone else do this? Only the Force Ghosts and Rey can truly explain what was all that mess and how he got there. He’s either gonna need one hell of a space lawyer, or a great public speaker, who could convince everyone that the best possible choice is exile (let’s make it a nice one on Naboo). This is where you pull the writer card, and come up with a bunch of excuses as to why death penalty and prison is not an option.

Path 3.

Same as path 2, but he doesn’t give up the power, he represents the First Order, but he creates an Alliance with other planets. He makes a great compelling speech, he surrounds himself with people who are trustworthy, and together they come up with a solution of how to protect the galaxy from wars. It would’ve been a better option, if we didn’t have a time jump, because that would just mean that he’s done it as soon as he got the power, but well, we can’t get everything.

There is a moral side to this path, but how many people in the galaxy really know who Ben Solo (Skywalker) is? If he is prepared to deal with the past, and make up for it, this would be perfect for his actions to truly matter.

You may agree or disagree, and we hope you have better, more logical ideas. If you do, please share them! If you disagree, and have questions, ask away!

[manifestoonmoralmanlove]

Soulless Riffing: Brainless Wrap-up

I got a supernatural action/romance book series as a gift that’s just riddled with stuff that I hate….and as a steampunk Victorian London action romance story filled with werewolves and vampires…it’s yeah gonna be easy to poke fun at.

I just want to say, it’s totally cool if you like this story or ones like it!  It’s certainly a better caliber than a lot of what I make fun of…however…I can’t help but want to make fun of it.

Over here for the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7+8, 9, 10+11, 12, 13, 14, and Epilogue.

So here are my final thoughts on the book Soulless for those interested in such things:

It’s not good quality but hell, you’re probably not reading magical woman in Victorian times bangs hot werewolf while hitting zombies with an umbrella cause you want really deep themes and tight prose.

Despite my grumblings on Alexia’s Italian prosecution complex and supernaturals as an oppressed race, it’s not really that problematic.  I think it’s a pinch ignorant and unintentionally glib, but dang I’ve seen way worse.

I think the book’s greatest strength and weakness are kinda one in the same, it just depends on your perspective. 

That would be the abiding and consistent frivolousness of it all.  I personally feel as if it hurts the story cause it feels as if there’s no stakes and that the conflict doesn’t matter.  But you can see the appeal.  Even when shit is really going down, it’s not properly stressful or scary.  Humor is never far away, it’s just straight up fluff!

The plot contradicts itself for no apparent reason, it has giant holes, and what sense it does make is highly dependent on every single character (even ones meant to be smart) not having enough brain function to make sentences by themselves.

This is more subjective but the relationship at the center wasn’t great if you ask me. The conflict is all childish, with no suspense that it’ll be a more than chapter long hindrance. The main differences in their personalities are basically on gendered lines, with a little werewolf vs. human culture for color.  Alexia has lower self-esteem, gets sad sometimes, is more likely to be polite, and is more reluctant about a sexual relationship.  Besides that they’re incredibly similar to one another. They’re antagonistic, strong-willed, self-righteous, frivolous, stupid, short-sighted, not self-aware, and have similar politics. They’re so similar when they have an argument they just circle the drain.  Nobody adds anything or learns because they’re just vomiting the same unprocessed, inept perspective at one another.  You’ll never be short on conflict, but it’s all non-arguments about petty bullshit that don’t even manage to be funny.  

For something that’s meant to be fun and frivolous there’s a surprising lack of action and sex. The story wants to both be kinda that virginal ravishment and female empowered libidos at the same time and it just...doesn’t mesh. I honestly feel they should have leaned more on having a horny protag, and just played up feigning confidence, clumsiness, with a bit of uncertainty.  Instead Alexia both wants to both spend a week locked in a cabin fucking this man, but also IS THIS AROUSAL????? WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?!?!?!?!  There is 1 page of a sex scene, the make out scenes were frankly underwhelming and froze the pacing, and Alexia only has 1 proper fight in it all and that’s over by what page 5? LAME!

I feel as if she should’ve leaned more into the cheesy ridiculousness of it all.  Like her umbrella is actually a living familiar (her father’s) who’s perhaps at first begrudgingly working with Alexia.  The umbrella is sarcastic and dramatic but ends up being deeply loyal to Alexia. Named Parry or Saul for parasol?

Her evil family, or maybe a higher up in government is actually connected to the genocide club? DUN DUN DUN!

Queen Victoria seems like a delicate older woman, but in a climactic battle it turns out she can take care of herself and says some dumb nonsensical one liner like, “JUST LIE BACK AND THINK OF ENGLAND!” when she blunderbuss’ the antagonist out a grand window in her castle.

Well…to be fair… I haven’t read the whole series so who knows if that last one happens.

But let me give you a proper Too long; Didn’t read:

On the good side:

It’s easy to read frivolous fun that indulges in the Victorian aesthetic with a supernatural flavor. The opening of the story, I still contend is good. There is genuine friendship tenderness in this story that is lovely.  It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and sprinkles humor throughout.   The lead has sexual agency, women’s libidos are celebrated, and there’s an implication that sex outside of marriage is fine.  It does follow a sensible (if could be improved) pattern of intrigue, romantic development, climax, and conclusion. It’s also written in a particular voice that many would probably enjoy.  The voice is horny, juvenile, and superior both in the respect that Alexia is NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS but also a snotty kinda British superior attitude for being witty enough that your backhanded compliment seemed polite enough that it wasn’t recognized for what it really was.

…Okay so maybe that last line was in itself a backhanded compliment.  I found the voice irritating, but I can understand why it’s attractive to so many young women.  What does any reasonable person want from a young adult novel aimed at young women?

For it to be sexy, silly, that the protagonist is better than the average person and by extension YOU ARE for enjoying her adventures.  And hey listen, young women are shit on ALL THE TIME for all sorts of bullshit.  Women should have these outlets to just briefly, BRIEFLY feel as if they’re smart, powerful, and sexy!  I give a hearty fuck yeah to that!

On the bad side:

There is a caveat I have with what I just said above. Some of the superior tone of Soulless (and it’s not exclusive to this title I assure you) is that some of the superior tone comes down to misogyny, classism, and even a little of what’s appropriate for a GOOD MAN (beyond yanno don’t be shitty.)  I cannot abide by that.

The story’s frivolousness when it comes to serious topics is a disservice.  

It could have easily been more fun.

The story could have also been EASILY molded into a plot that made more sense.

The story has no idea how to be subtle…which helps it feel as if it’s a YA novel.  This novel books itself as adult, but it’s really really, really, really, REALLY a young adult book and it should have been labeled/marketed/etc as such.  I came in expecting a fun saucy novel, but left feeling condensed to by a 16 year old. Like honestly, I feel as if she wrote a young adult novel, her editor wanted a sex scene at the end, so she quick pushed out a page of a tame one, and because of that they felt weird labeling it YA.

But what the hell do I know?

If you want turn your brain off fun and like supernatural Victorian hooey? Go for it!

If you don’t like those things? Be a butthead like me and hate read things for a masochistic thrill.

Did you know there’s a sequel? THIS BAD BOY IS A SERIES AND YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO SUFFER THROUGH SCROLLING PAST MY RIFFS ON THE SEQUEL TOO SOON BUCKO! WOOHOO!

[canaryatlaw]

alright, well today has certainly been interesting. my alarm went off bright and early at 7:30, and though I was tired of course the adrenaline for today’s events kicked in pretty quickly and I was off getting ready. I did my makeup to make sure it was impeccable (and it did turn out really nice) and got my freshly dry cleaned suit on with all its buttons and such. Spent about ten minutes eating breakfast before getting an uber to the juvenile courthouse. I was still feeling kind of tired so I decided it would be a good time to use a piece of my caffeine gum, which starts as like a hard tablet thing then turns into gum as you chew it (kinda like a gumball). So I’m chewing it and I’m like wtf there’s like something hard in the gum??? so I pulled it out and oh, that’s definitely a piece of tooth. great. I have about a billion fillings so I figured it had to be one of those, so the first place i checked was the last one that had gotten done that wasn’t all that stable but it was fine, and it ended up being the last tooth on the top left side of my mouth. Well, not much I can do about it at the moment. I got dropped off at the courthouse around 9:15 and just decided to wait around for a few minutes since it wasn’t terribly cold out rather than find another place to stake out for a bit. so I called my dentist’s office and told them what happened, and they said I could come in today at 11:30 or 2:30, I wasn’t sure I’d make it back from the interview for the 11:30 so we decided on the 2:30. I waited a couple more minutes before going inside and going through security, I swear it was the same sheriff that manned that security check point my first summer there that was so much better than the other ones, but after that first summer I moved and my public transit was closer to the other entrance. but they let me through easily, even though I definitely did set off the metal detector 😂story of my life. so I went up to the 4th floor where their office is and ran to the bathroom by the elevators right outside their actual office to make sure everything was good and kill a few more minutes so I wasn’t too obscenely early. Once I figured it would be a decent time to go in I headed in, the email instruction had said to you know let the receptionist know your name and that you’re here for an interview, except I knew the receptionist, so I didn’t have to do any of that lol. They gave me a standard employment application to fill out (which I’ve filled out for them before) which stated you didn’t have to rewrite any info that was on your resume, you could just write see resume, so that’s a lot less annoying, and to email a reference list in afterwards. So I finished that and gave it back, then a few minutes later the woman I’ve been communicating via email with, who I also know, came and got me to take me back to the conference room, which is in the back of the office, so while we were walking there she was like oh I love your suit that’s so cool, is it custom?? so that was cool to hear, I said it was and that a former employer had decided to get it for all of us and she was like awesome, my husband has a custom suit he loves lol. Once we reached the conference room she walked me in and, unsurprisingly, I knew the two people on the other side of the table that would be interviewing me (so just to keep track, I’ve officially known every person I’ve encountered in the office). One of them was actually in my first interview for being a law clerk way back in 2016 and then she ran the training so I knew her quite well, the other guy I didn’t know that well but I was familiar with him and he said he remembered me so that was a good sign. So they asked me about what my experience working with the office had been so I talked about the unfounded reports and the child death case and the permanency hearings and the interviews ranging between a 4 year old who’s been in her foster home for 3 days and is already calling her foster mother “mom” and wants to stay with her forever, to a 16 year old boy involuntarily in a psych ward which he would be stuck in way past the point of medical necessity (like, two months past when he was cleared after 6 days there) to the point where we had to get a court order for DCFS to place him somewhere else- so really running the gamut of different experiences here. So I talked about some of my other legal experiences like working for my dad (which is always a good one to use because I can bs it pretty freely to fit whatever I need it to be) and at the DV clinic and how I handled dealing with judges and clients and all that good stuff. They asked some question about the majority of the population they serve being African American and why I thought that was, so I said that of course the fact that 95% of parents qualify for a public defender means that the vast majority of them are living in poverty (and sadly a lot of people living in poverty in Chicago are African American), and while poverty itself is not child neglect it makes it a lot more difficult when you have to choose between going to work to feed your family and leaving your 8 and 10 year olds home alone which is child neglect, or not being able to afford a bed for your child, which is child neglect. And of course that while child abuse takes place across all socioeconomic levels, those in poverty are often in positions where their actions could be reported to DCFS a lot easier whereas someone with some social standing would probably be given the benefit of the doubt by not reporting when they see what could be evidence of abuse/neglect. There were a few other questions about using common sense and if I could give an example of how I thought that played into the job, so I talked about how when I was reviewing unfounded reports there was one against a daycare owner that had originally been indicated but was unfounded on appeal because the supposed act of abuse had been fairly minor, but the fact that the owner would treat a small child like that to begin with coupled with the fact that she lied to the parents and lied to the investigators and completely refused to cooperate were all big flags for me that this is not someone who should be entrusted with young children when they are capable of such actions, and how I took steps to ensure something was done about the situation. They wanted to know more about the child death motion so I talked about that and how I had researched it and the ultimate conclusion the judge reached that while he did not grant the motion, we were successful in convincing him he had the power to do what we were requesting, it was just the facts that he found unconvincing which of course we don’t have any control over, so I was still pleased with the outcome. And yeah, lots of questions about handling a high case load and all that good stuff, they had said since they lost a lot of staff they were down to like 3-4 attorneys per courtroom when it used to be more like 5-6 so caseloads had been rising again and that I’d have to be prepared for that. I asked them if they had a timetable as for when they would be making hiring decisions, but they were like oh yeah we have no idea, so still don’t know what to do with that other than wait I guess. So yeah, overall I think it went pretty well, I was confident in pretty much all of my answers and I think my passion for the work really followed through. So when we finished I headed out, it was like 10:40 at this point so I called the dentist office back and asked if the 11:30 was still available and they said it was, so I got an uber pool and rode it downtown to where my dentist is located. So he checked it out and got his little camera pen thing in there so I could see, basically a fairly large part of the tooth/filling had come off revealing the silver filling beneath it, which means it wasn’t a filling that we’ve done over the past 3 years I’ve been here with this dentist, but was something my New York dentist had done. The dentist said it was stable for now though, so we made an appointment for next week to put a crown on it. I took the brown line to the bus and then home which was fairly easy. After changing out of the suit I made some lunch and tried to relax for a bit, watched some Reign and made sure I sent the reference list over. I also started picking at my gel nail polish because once you start doing that it’s really hard to stop, so my nails were not in good shape by the end of the day, but that was okay because once Jess got home we met up at the nail place we’ve been going to and got manicures, and then walked over to main street and got dinner and then ice cream because ice cream is always needed for birthday celebrations, even if it’s slightly delayed. Headed home after that and looked at stuff on my phone for a while trying to figure out what I want to do tomorrow. I’m supposed to (and by that I mean I responded yes on facebook) to this event with Illinois prosecutors and government attorneys where there are a bunch of different government agencies attending and will be possible networking attorneys. And of course part of me is like just suck it up and go it could be helpful, but another part of me knows I’m really not interested in any of the options listed, I don’t want to end up in some random government office, and I highly doubt I could get hired by the SA’s office given my dearth of experience with criminal law in the actual courtroom. The one thing that might’ve been slightly interesting was the office of the inspector general, which I would be interested in as they have a division that works inside DCFS that I would love to work for, but those that are attending are apparently from the office of the executive inspector general, which just means they oversee state operations and such and basically has no connection to the DCFS branch. and I mean, what am I gonna do, hand them my resume and ask them to give it to someone at a totally different office? they’re obviously not going to do that, so at this point I’m seriously doubting going, I really just don’t think there would be anything worth going for, but I guess we’ll see. And yeah, after that I showered and got ready for bed and now I am here and I am definitely ready to pass out, so I will end this here. Goodnight darlings. Congrats on being halfway through the week.

[atamascolily]

First Line Meme

List the first lines of your last 10 published stories (or whatever number you like). Look to see if there are any patterns that you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any!

1) As the Millennium Falcon rocketed away from the pull of Tatooine's gravity, Luke Skywalker's tiny X-wing starfighter was right on the freighter's tail. (Suicide Run)

2) "You look tired." ((Never) Too Late To Change)

3) Fire. (Tired of Cleaning Up After You)

4) "Single human Jedi seeks life partner for adventure, romance, and restoration of ancient religious order with strong political ties to New Republic government." (Single Human Jedi Seeks Life Partner)

5) Mara Jade spent five years plotting Luke Skywalker's demise, but when she finally murdered him, it was an accident.  (Resurrection Blues)

6) There's a word in High Alderaani, Leia says, for a man who acts as your father, whether they're related to you by blood or not. (Four Fathers)

7) Calvin is eleven years old in 1997, the summer the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition hits the local multiplex, and he is instantly smitten. (Star Wars Without the Kissing)

8) Luke had known about the womp rat hive on the edge of Beggar's Canyon for weeks, but between the main 'vaporator breaking right in the middle of harvest, and the monthly ordeal of shipping the harvested water to town, he hadn't managed to get off the farm to deal with it yet. (The Dry Land)

9) The desert was a harsh teacher, but a fair one. (Hidden Springs in the Desert)

10) Luke's not sure why he decides to do the gene test - maybe he just wants tangible proof of his heritage as opposed to the ramblings of an unreliable ghost - but the results, when they come in, leave him reeling.  (Family Matters)

META/COMMENTARY:

I have a love-hate relationship with first lines. On the one hand, they're infinitely important to setting the tone of a piece and engaging the reader; on the other hand, they're a pain in the ass to get right. I spend a lot of time thinking about the perfect lede - the sentence that makes the reader want to keep reading - in my professional writing. I'm not super-neurotic about it in my fics, but it’s something I notice and pay attention to. Sometimes I start a fic with nothing but a good opening line, and other times I have to tweak it until I get something "good enough" that works.  

In general, I want the opening paragraph of my fics to give the reader a good idea of what they're in for. Even if the plot itself is full of twists and turns, or is a bait-and-switch, I want the opening to be consistent with the overall style and tone. So in #6, the opening makes it clear that this piece is about fatherhood and relationships and different ways that can be structured and interpreted; #9 establishes the desert as a major player from the get-go. #4 is very clearly a meta parody about Luke Skywalker's love life in the Legends universe, and #7 is about a budding geek falling in love with Star Wars for the first time and the power of the imagination.

#10 is especially interesting to me because it highlights Luke's desire for "tangible" proof of his heritage, and introduces the "ramblings of an unreliable ghost" as a thing right from the start. Also "reeling" is a great foreshadowing of the tumble Luke will take later on in the fic. I totally didn't notice any this of before, and it's nice to see I can unconsciously synchronize a piece like this even when I'm not deliberately thinking about it.  

Many of my opening lines - most notably #5, and #10 - are designed to hook you in right from the get-go. (They're what I call BAM lines, because that's the sound effect I make at the end of them when I read them aloud.) You want to know how Mara Jade can possibly murder Luke Skywalker by accident and you want to know what the results of Luke's gene test are, because of course you do. I want to know, too, that's why I wrote the fic. If I can get something like this on the page, I know the fic is going to be good.

Less sensational, but still intriguing, are openers like #6 and #8, where you want to hear more about Leia's interpretation of parenthood, and Luke's encounter with the womp rat hive, but they don't make a big show about what they're doing the way that #5 and #10 do.

My writing mentor once told me never to start with a piece of dialogue. Like most writing rules, it's made to be broken, but it's interesting how I apply that to my fic pieces as well as my more professional writing.

I tend to prefer long, involved sentences, so it's fun to see where I try to play against type in my more recent fics by opening with a shorter one!

One advantage that my fics have over my professional articles is the A03 summary, which takes a lot of the pressure off to find the perfect lede. #1 is very simple: it's a description of a scene in ROTJ, and establishes where we are in the narrative of the OT. It's doesn't have to be flashy or fancy because if you're reading the piece, you've already bought the premise in the fic summary, namely that this is an extended character study of Luke Skywalker in that film.

#3 is the same way - it's establishing where we are in The New Rebellion, and referring back to the quote from that novel that serves as the epigraph. It doesn't have to be fancy or establish the premise in itself, because the summary does that for me.

#2 is the only one I read and wonder if I could have done better. It's not a great opening in context, and Luke being tired doesn't much of a role in the fic that follows. But it's not surprising given how fast I wrote the fic. That particular piece might have benefited from a few days in the drawer before publishing, but I was too excited to slow down and pace myself like I usually do. It's adequate, but not exceptional, and that's fine - you can't win them all.

You can see the same principles at work in the openings of my non-Star Wars fics as well. The openings are designed to pique your interest, and I think it still works even if you aren't familiar with the franchise in question:

A) When Steve Rogers arrived at the gym in the basement of SHIELD's DC headquarters, there was a skinny blond kid wailing on one of the punching bags with a wooden sword. (Spar Wars)

B) Tenar woke in the morning with a smile on her lips. (Out of the Wind)

C) It was always entertaining to watch Firouz at work, especially when he was on the verge of a breakthrough. (Two-Part Invention)

D) It happened in the space between heartbeats. (In the Belly of the Beast)

Going back to some of my earliest fics for the Sinbad fandom, it's clear that my opening lines have improved dramatically over the course of the last year. Practice definitely helps!

This was a lot of fun, thanks @teagrl for tagging me!

[pocsuperheroes]

Hi can you tell me some Latona superhero’s from DC Thanks :)

I assume you mean Latina so all go off that but if I’m wrong I’m sorry. And sorry this took so long! 

The Question (Renee Montoya): Originally made to be a cop on Batman: The Animated Series but she migrated to the comics where she eventually became a superhero. She is also one of the most prominent lesbian superheroes in comics which has caused her family to disown her and caused trouble in her job. But she is nothing if not a survivor and BA. Victor Sage, the original Question, picked her to be his successor as he was dying of lung cancer. Renee has also had a romance with Batwoman.

I’d recommend reading

Gotham Central mainly Volume 3 Half a Life ( issues #6–10) where she is outed to the whole police station. 

52 (the series not the relaunch) where she becomes the Question

DC Comics: Bombshells (2015-2017) #45  onward. It’s an alternative universe but its a fun one. I mean Renee gets to fight Nazi’s what not to love.

I haven’t read but I’ve heard is good

The Question # 37

Question: The Five Books of Blood

Question: Pipeline

Detective Comics Annual # 11, 12

Batman Annual 27, 28

The Question # 37

Birds of Prey # 11,12

Convergence :The Question # 1, 2 

More under the cut

Green Lantern (Jessica Cruz): She is a Mexican American who was traumatized after her friends were murdered. This left Jessica Cruz with anxiety issues which would make her role as a Green Lantern hard. Especially since she was forced to accept the ring, unlike most Green Lanterns who accepted it willingly. Even with such hardships she had grown into her role as protector of earth and has formed a strong connection with her fellow Green Lantern, Simon Baz.

Haven’t read but heard is good

Justice League Vol 6-8. (Forever Evil and JL Vol 5 for more context)

DC Super Hero Girls: Spaced Out this is definitely 

Green Lanterns: Rebirth She and Simon Baz team up to.

Aquagirl (Lorena Marquez): She is from San Diego and found herself was submerged with the city after an Earthquake. Instead of dying she found that she could breathe underwater. Lorena then proceeded to help Aquaman locate other survivors and take down the man responsible for this a Scientist named Geist. Eventually, she became the second Aquagirl.

I’d recommend reading

Aquaman #15-20 [2004] This storyline is the first appearance of Lorena (specifically issue #16) and it has been collected in Aquaman (2003-2006): Sub-Diego 

52: #35-40 [2007] these issues are mainly about Steel (Henry Irons) but she helps.

Haven’t read but heard is good

Teen Titans #17-19 [2004]

Aquaman #26-28 [2005]

Teen Titans #34 [2006]

World War III: The Valiant [2007]

Teen Titans #69 and Teen Titans Annual 2009 where she officially joins the Teen Titans.

Teen Titans  #99-100 [2011]

Fire (Beatriz da Costa): She has two main origins that I know of

#1 Her parents were surveyors of the Amazon River Basin. Due to this, she was born among a tribe of people known as the Ge and it was foretold that she would be given powers from the Sky Spirit. Her family was skeptical of this but when she turned 15 she got superpowers which she used to fight crime. She eventually became the head of the Brazilian branch of Wayne Enterprises. 

#2 She started as an amateur model in Brazil before becoming a showgirl, stage performer, and an undercover secret agent for the Brazilian government. An unusual career path to be sure. While working as a secret agent she was caught in a pyroplasmic explosion which gave her fire-based super-human powers

Regardless of the version, she is known for her long stint in the Justice League (mainly the Justice League International) along with her friendships/partnerships with fellow league members Tora (Ice) and Sigrid (Ice Maiden).

I’d recommend reading

Justice League International (1987-1989) #14 onward or Justice League International Vol. 2 and Justice League International Vol. 3 onward

Formerly Known as the Justice League (2003)

Haven’t read but heard is good

Justice League International (2011-2012) Vol. 1: The Signal Masters 

Super Friends #25

Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders/ Kendra Munoz-Saunders): Okay there have been several Hawkgirls who tend to be reincarnations of the first one so it can be a little confusing. Kendra Saunders is the semi-reincarnation of Shiera Hall. Kendra was her Grandniece but when she committed suicide Shiera’s soul walked in but she retained no memory of her previous lives and refused to believe that she was Shiera. Then three years in one line of dialogue in “Hawkman #1” that Kendra’s mom had been a “beautiful Hispanic woman.” While Kendra Munoz-Saunders is from an alternative universe where she a treasure hunter has wings permanently grafted to her back. And she is definitely latina.

Many different kinds of media have embraced Kendra as Latina even though it was a rocky start. Such as DC Superhero Girls and the CW superhero shows.

I’d recommend reading

JSA Secret Files and Origins #1 

DC Comics: Bombshells (2015-2017) #58 onward. In this version, she was raised in a Mexican orphanage.

She makes several appearances in Birds of Prey my favorite is #104. It’s barely any screen time I just find it funny that after dealing with the Secret Six, Oracle gives her with a car a for her troubles.

Haven’t read but heard is good

Earth 2 #2 onward 

Empress (Anita Fite): She is the daughter of Donald Fite, of the All Purpose Enforcement Squad (APES.), and his wife Oshi. Oshi was the daughter of a powerful Voodou priestess. Anita’s grandmother preformed a ritual where she asked the Oya, goddess of the wind, fire, and thunderbolts, to “sponsor” Anita and serve as her “Gros Bon Ange” (Big Guardian Angel).  Anita Fite grew up displaying considerable athletic abilities and learning Vodou from her mother and grandmother. Her mother was killed when she was young by the villain Agua Sin Gaaz. Anita would join the Young Justice team. However, she was written out when her father was killed and her parents reincarnated as babies that she would end up raising. Which isn’t weird at all…

I’d recommend reading

Young Justice #16 onward even if she ends up raising her own parents

Haven’t read but heard is good

She apparently made several minor appearances in the Wonder Girl miniseries in 2007-2008

Wildcat II (Yolanda Montez): Yolanda Montez was born with meta-human powers due to the genetic manipulation and had retractable claws. Yolanda became the god-daughter of Ted Gran (Wildcat I), a close boxing friend of her father, “Mauler” Montez. She died but has made a come back on Earth 2.

Haven’t read but heard is good

Infinity Inc. #12 onward

she makes appearances in Earth 2

Black Orchid (Alba Garcia): A former army private whose arms had been amputated during her time in a magical alternate dimension which gave her powers as Black Orchid. Currently, she is a member of both A.R.G.U.S. and Justice League Dark.

Haven’t read but heard is good

Justice League Dark (2011-2015) Vol. 2: The Books of Magic 

Catwoman (Selina Kyle): Pretty I don’t have to give a backstory on this one. She is half Cuban (as confirmed by Catwoman #81), however, that regularly ignored. But I’m bitter and you can pry her being Cuban from my cold dead hands

I’d recommend reading

Catwoman (1993-2001) #81 

Catwoman (2002-2008) Vol. 1: Trail of the Catwoman onward. There is no mention of her being Latina but it is a good series (would have been better if she was confirmed, Latina)

Wonder Woman (Maria Mendoza): The daughter of a local judge in Peru, she was an activist protesting against the brutal excavation of an ancient holy site.  The man in charge, Armando Guitez, wanted the power of the runes within the site to gain enough strength to rule the world. When he kills Maria’s father is she sneaks onto the site to get revenge but stumbles upon two runes. The second rune, one of light spirits, is accidentally shattered and she is whisked away by the Sun God of the Incan people. She was gifted with magical powers which she uses to defeat Guitez.

She came from a story written by Stan Lee and it’s not that good to be honest (you can watch Linkara’s review here: X) but I’m a sucker for her design and the idea of a Hispanic magical girl Wonder Woman.

I’d recommend reading

Just Imagine: Wonder Woman

Ya'Wara: When she was a child her plane crashed in the Amazon Rainforest but she was saved by the Forest Mother who would then give her special powers so she could protect the forest. She became a member of the Tapirape tribe. She would later go on to join The Others, who wanted to gather the Seven Artefacts of Atlantis to keep them from falling into evil hands. They would split up the relics with Ya'Wara who took the Globe of Transportation.

I’d recommend reading

Aquaman #7 - The Others, Chapter One onward

Aquaman and The Others

These are the one that comes to my mind and there are probably great (or better) ones that didn’t make it to the list. And a few of these characters I’m not super familiar with so there may be mistakes. Also, some of these are or have poor representation (‘big surprise’). Even so, I hope these helped you. 

[stone-man-warrior]

January 23, 2021: 11:34 am:

====================================================

https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1352761662068166658

We interrupt this Corona Virus Important Announcement for these words from our sponsors:

https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1353030814397829120

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2XO39vz01M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=891zKx2Ffvg

============================================

One more time:

“Patrick Vallance = Hamburger Patty Drapery Cover, Top Rail Overcast Configuration.

We have to go back in time, in Twitter news, take the Way-Back Machine to a time when the words: “Less than ten“ were a standard statement from news media when reports from a “Schul Schut” list of the number of dead was the result of some tragic event.

What used to be the standard “Less than ten” is now the rules are up to “13 to 14 people are going to die every day”.

Mr. SAG Universal Patty of Tommy Burgers on Victory Blvd in San Feranando Valley Vallance, is calling for some: “Sodomy”, “Coke… no! Pepsi… no! Coke!” to happen. The Christian SDA pronounce the word “sodomy” as “soda me”. Is important to know that, is standard, means there is a “Save the Princess” and the one who says “soda-me” is the “Princess”, and is also one of the assassins of a larger group that shows up as a result of “soda me” when spoken by someone playing role of victim.

In English: He needs a distraction, something that will use up a lot of global security and rescue resources, to draw attention into the direction of a controlled environment that happens to also be a fake “Schul Schut” garden variety of tragic events played out by nbc/Universal Studios/Comcast terror actors and engineers of all kinds (Disney Imagineers, because of it’s Britain, and they like castles over there) in effort to stall some sudden interest in the activities of “powerful people” in high places in UK, EU, USA, SA, Canada, nz, Down Under in the Outback, Africa, Amazon, Tesla, the Vatican, and Jim Dunlop humble maker of guitar picks and Cry Baby Wah, and other places, such as Boeing, nasa, and Lockheed Martin.

Patty Vallance seems to be ordering a “Schul Schut” to me.” ~StoneMan 1-22-2021.

=======================================

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi_BHHY5A8M

Customer see’s Cal Worthington and his dog Spot on TV, incredible bargains of new, used cars at Long Beach. Customer buys one of the new ones instead of the one that one seen on TV, that one is not available anymore. Customer registers the new car.

Spot eats customer.

Cal Worthington makes a new commercial with some new used new fresh inventory.

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1353027314750263298

“Long Beach” shows up at the 1:48 minute mark here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_zhBLF1Fu0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfXhf0kfG4E

At the 0:12 mark, some comfort is requested by the Queen.

Rampart Division is there, “Johnny on the Spot” at the 0:13 mark.

Very powerful, and comfortable.

Like the Ottoman Empire was.

It’s about the Children.

At the 0:38 mark, after Rampart is comfortable there propping up the feet of the Throne, then, the big request, babies, lots of babies.... all shapes and sizes... the Queen requires babies, US Citizen babies.

On Saturday night’s, they are on blue plate special at the Church Yard Sale picnic.

=====

Disclaimer:

Real Police = Officers

Fake Screen Actor Guild Police = Ham = Pigs

Royal Canadian Mounted Police disguised as State Police = RCMP = Pig Farmers = Bring Home the Bacon = Keeps the Pigs in Blanket all nice and cozy so they don‘t get cought kidnapping and raping the babies of the Cal Worthington customer who just registered their new car at the California DMV and was eaten by his dog, Spot.

now, it’s just a state mandated euthanasia administration where citizens are ordered to line up to be put to sleep at the COVID 19 Test Center near you.

==================================================

6:03 pm:

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353126296692387842

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353122031580147714

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353117009983250434

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353112504835203076

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1353103380353323008

This series of Tweets seems to add up to other than what the packaging is saying.

I am seeing the one on top about the mine as the main subject, while the others are there to help terror soldiers read the information in the one about the mine.

All speculation:

The tweet is saying something about the Lithia Motors new car dealerships, seems to be a nation wide subject, as Lithia is very large car dealership.

Key phrasing is in “Fast Tracked”.

The phrasing, when combined with the past two days of very tiny hints about that tweet contained in many other news stories is about “billiards” to say a message in a story about mines.

The phrase “I am feeling a little behind the eight ball” is part of the basis of how the message is presented.

So, to be behind the 8-Ball, is to be shadowed, or, protected, or, otherwise are not in range of a incoming cue ball.

I think the inclusion of Nevada is only there to get the reader to see that there is a game in the message.

“Energy” is power. “Mining” is not clear, could be children, could be a possessive statement, I am seeing the possessive statement use.

“Final Approval” is not a good thing for the subject of the tweet, witch seems to be the Lithia Motors Car Dealerships nation wide. They are all hard core terror cells.

The way it all reads, is what was once in possession of “Democrat” terror control, was taken by Donald Trump terror branding cells.

“Lithia is Under New Management”

(Trump/Benedict Vatican/Boris Johnson Brexit, branding)

... seems to be the headline in an English translation to the Tweet about the Nevada mine.

All speculation, but it seems as though Trump managed to steal away a number of terror holdings from the Democrat leaders.

I could also say what I usually say, that it was in possession of “Britain/Bergoglio/Canadian“ terror cells, and that would also be accurate enough.

Democrat political party controls much of the Britain/Bergoglio terror cells, Canadians, of course, would be the actual people at the Lithia car dealerships who do the murders and trafficking that is done by Lithia Motors, the Democrats run the place from a Command Center position, for marching orders to Rank & File Canadian terror soldiers at terror cells such as Lithia Motors. Looks like Donald Trump stole the car.... dealership.

The tweet says the “Fast Track” happened before Joe took office, so, my read is that Joe cannot “pocket” the proceeds made from the terror trafficking, and the proceeds could include kidnapped children.

The Democrat political party are all Screen Actor Guild members who also run the SAGClubMed terror cells, hundreds of very large medical industry companies and underground operations, and hundreds of thousands of smaller medical associated terror cells. The “AARP Family of Brands” is another way of saying Democrat Political Party, so, when the Democrats do terror comm, they sometimes use drug analogies for updates and marching order shell jargon. That is where the “Fast Track” turns into an “8-Ball” to say the comm about billiards with drugs.

See? simple.

My read about the major difference between Republican and Democrats is that there is no difference between the two, with a few exceptions. They are all SAG members, and are all part of the terror leadership, The difference seems to be that the farther over on the Democrat side you look, the more likely you are to find drug addicts in Government, while the farther you look on the Republican side, the more likely you are to find a lot of Bibles.

Donald Trump is neither Democrat or Republican.

He is “Afterswords”. A completely different animal in the house.

He is SAG, same as the Dems and GOP, but is not one of them.

==========================

7:20 pm:

In other news:

Today and yesterday at Pope Francis Pontifex Twitter account, I read the most offensive Tweets I have seen yet.

The “Text” of the information is very difficult to decode, and explain.

There are signs from MOOG Music in email promotion today the suggest the MOOG synthesizer makers are preparing to target a selection of visual graphic artists for take out. Once the people send in the requested information for a contest they say they are promoting, the Google terror cells will be tracking the people, learning all about them, and then will show up at their homes for COVID 19 murder operations.

I am not going to decode any of it. These Pope Tweets are far too depressing, and hurt to know that there is no one watching the baby, while the Pope is eating them.

The Pontifex account on Twitter has more than 18 million followers, each one is a terror soldier. The way Google/Twitter terror works, is that when a new follower shows up at Pontifex, those people are scrutinized, followed around, spied on and the local church where those people live will be sending assassins eventually. There may be some COVID choice to make, or not, but eventually the new Pontifex follower will become a Christian terror pirate one way, or another way. Either those people already are Christian pirates, or will choose to get and use the required Smart Phone for tracking and spying on others as a murder cell member, or, if they refuse, they will be killed and replaced with a recruit from a nearby place, in USA that would be a recruit from Canada, who takes possession of the victims ID, home, car, Twitter account, voting status, and that persons whole life is consumed and portrayed by the terror pirate recruits.

So, all 18.8 million of them are terror pirates. There is no other way for them to be. The Vatican does not allow any other way to be, and the Screen Actor Guild enforces the rules made by the Vatican, and so does the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who are disguised as State Police in USA. The RCMP are employed by the State Government, paid from Department of Transportation payroll the same as any real police are paid. They are real in every way other than being loyal to USA or Freedom, they are loyal to the British Throne only, ad so are the SAG actors they work alongside with for commanding the Christian terror pirate army of more than 18.8 million pirates who all use Twitter to get their marching orders.

=============

MOOG Music:

“Moo”

It’s what the cow says on a “See n Say” toy where pull the string after putting the little pointer thing on the farm animal you want to hear.

Cattle G = Steer Gnosis = Heard the Cattle, make lies = Slaughter House 5 Liars = a gruesome movie from the 1970′s, and lie to cover it up.

(the “5″ are from the Thunderbird’s TV puppet show for kids from the 1960′s. The Tracy Family Kids, all are representations of Christian terror family cell members in the neighborhood where you live, everywhere that people live.)

Moog Music. Humble makers of electronic musical instruments. A employee owned company for more than fifty years.

MOOG Music is part of the Democrat specific terror branding. They are stepping up the pace with the Joe Biden Brigade in the fake White House Government.

Please note, that the MOOG Music (house painting) Contest was announced before Joe was inaugurated, then was advanced today.

I suspect the winning selection will contain a lot of Red.

“We are painting the town Red” is a old democrat terror motto from way back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG8_f0HdlMQ

(insert Eddy Grant: “Electric Avenue” video here)

(Tumblr is hijacked, I cannot post the video)

=================================

11:36 pm:

I have to stop doing the Local Update, at least for awhile.

The Local Update is working against what I started doing it for, as a record of neighborhood terror conditions for comparative purposes as compilation over time, and to help preserve my own memory of events, people. vehicles, ways terror bastards do what they do.

The Local Update has taken a wrong turn, into the realm of the “Vigilante Community Watch” arena. That is not what is going on.

So far, it’s super apparent that the Joe Biden Democrats are taking the helm of the Christian Pirate Ship. There is a huge difference in the terror branding that is happening now compared to about two months ago. This week has proven that Joe Biden is driving the pirate boat, and is all over the place, cannot steer the thing.

If you have ever received a notice from a government federal agency where along with the notice there are four pages of information that explanes that the same information is available by request in 52 different languages, and there a few statements that are written in each of the 52 languages, all listed on four pages of the federal notice, that only takes a half page to say, then, that is the people who are fucking with me this past week. It’s not that there are other languages being spoken, it’s an identifiable terror branding component that I am seeing displayed in many ways so far this last few days, a signature style of terror ways that I can see, recognize from the past, and can identify as that of Democrat terror styling.

Too many small details to say here.

It’s obvious that my cries for help to stop the mass murder have been turned against me, and now I am being portrayed as a rogue neighborhood watch person, rather that a captive victim who needs to get some help for myself and other captive victims who are in far worse shape than I am.

So, I need to discontinue the Local Update of conditions on a walk to the mailbox. I can only go outside for a short time otherwise the terror bastards follow me everywhere, try to run me over, shoot at me, poison me with different kinds of airborne gasses, mostly is nitrous oxide, and the terror bastards watch and listen to my front door so that they know when I open the front door to step outside, and then they show up every where I need to be, no matter where I go, or for how long I am there, there will be some terror bastards there to interfere, distract, then attack.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2017 Anime Overview: Re: Creators

Okay, time to review our next batch of Summer 2017 anime. I watched 7 anime this season. I’ve been ranking them from worst to best. Previously, I reviewed what I considered to be the weakest anime I watched this season. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we’re getting to anime that...well, kinda sits squarely in the middle of this season’s batch as far as “good”and “bad” go. I have a lot of mixed feelings and a lot of things to talk about. So let’s get down to it! This is a review, so it’s gonna spoil a bunch of things.

Re: Creators

Oh, Re: Creators. What am I going to do with you. You had such good ideas. You could have been so much better than you were.

Which isn’t to say Re: Creators is a bad anime. It isn’t. But it’s kind of in the area of “fine” rather than anything great, mostly because it couldn’t figure out how the execute the very interesting concepts it had going effectively. 

Re: Creators was a story about writing itself. Basically, a bunch of animanga, light novel and video game characters were transported to the “real” world by a mysterious woman in a military uniform, who encourages them to take vengeance on their creators who made their lives hell.

Like I said, that a hell of a great concept, and Re: Creators does do some interesting things with it. The show is at its strongest when it’s discussing the struggles of writing and the power of stories. It also does really interesting things with how writing functions in the internet age. 

For instance, the mysterious military woman character ends up being a very popular fan creation named Altair. A teenage girl named Setsuna created Altair as an alternate version of a character from a story she liked- essentially she was a fanfic. But then her design went viral and she morphed into a character all her own through the internet. 

Since Altair is a collective creation of the internet, basically everything the fans on the internet do with her- all the scenarios, all the music videos, all the fanfic and fanart- is accepted into her “canon” which means she’s infinitely powerful and versatile compared to the other characters because she’s not bound to one author or continuity and is constantly being updated. Basically, she’s Hatsune Miku. 

And that’s really cool, and shows a real understanding of how storytelling has morphed thanks to the instant and collective communication the internet has.  It also shows the negative side effects has- the reason Altair wants to destroy the world is because Setsuna- the one who had the idea for her first place-was driven to suicide by the cyber-bullying and harassment she got as a writer and artist. So Altair’s here to take revenge for her author.

Again, REALLY cool and impactful concept for a story, something that really cuts to the heart of issues creators face in the internet age. And when it comes down to it I think the main issue of the anime is how it fumbled in telling that story. Basically, they felt the need to filter Altair and Setsuna’s story through the lens of a Bland Male Protagonist and that ruined everything. Setsuna’s story was told the point of view of her male friend who felt all guilty because he got jellus of Setsuna for being a more successful creator than him and stop talking to her and he feels that contributed to her suicide and YAWN I really don’t care about his manpain.

Basically, because of this filter, we don’t learn that much about Setsuna as a person, or Altair’s inner struggle,  or the relationship between Altair and Setsuna. This makes the actually-really-cool-high-concept ending to their story have a lot less emotional impact than it should. 

Seriously, this show well done and interesting resolution to its central conflict(so cool I screencapped it for imgur to show my gf. You can see it here.) It just...wasn’t built up to properly at all. It’s an ending that depends of Altair and Setsuna, but they were barely characterized throughout the show, so it falls flat- and that’s such a shame, because it is the kind of ending that DESERVES strong characters behind it. 

I know it’s very easy to say this is “how I would have written” a story after the fact, hindsight being 20/20 and all, but if I’m going to tell you anyway. I would have written this story from Altair’s point of view. I’d have shown Setsuna’s struggle and her suicide from the point of view of the character she created. I’d have Altair enact her plan to destroy the world on her authors behalf, but at the same time she’d be using it as an opportunity to find out more about her author’s life. 

She’d spefically attack Setsuna’s friends and loved ones who abandoned her and demand to know why they did what they did to her creator. Rather than it just be one boy manpaining over everything, I’d make it so Setsuna had a couple different writer friends and family members who treated her badly due to jealousy or insecurity over her success, and Altair’s encounters with them, where she used their favorite characters to bring them down, would have been central to the anime. 

The story would have been so much more effective if it had actually focused on the characters who were at the center of everything. Instead it just ended up being a show with really good concepts and cool meta shit, but one that didn’t use it’s full potential in executing those concepts, and kind of threw the concept of “characterization” in the trash.

The show has a lot of meditative thought on writing, from the dark side of it- the struggle, the tears, the weird relationships creators have with fans- to the positive impact and powers of stories. “A story has the power to save someone” was a line in the show. As a writer I found it all very moving.

Unfortunately, though, as good as Re: Creators is with concepts- as good as it is when it comes to how it TALKS about characterization and writing and all that, the writing and characters on the show are actually pretty weak. It’s kind of hilarious that a story about the power of writing, a story that does this whole spiel about how the audience needs to be invested in a story for it work....also forgets basic things like “show, don’t tell” and “don’t include more characters than your story can handle” and “carefully build up your character arcs”.  

This is an anime that would have benefited GREATLY from having less characters. We’ve got a huge sprawling cast and none of them are developed properly. Altair should have been a great character, but up until the very last episode she was basically a very 2D villain, alternately stoic or cackling, only to suddenly have this emotionally moving finale which would have been way more effective if the show had built up to it properly and explored her point of view more. 

The show tended to communicate the character motives, backstories, feelings etc through boring exposition rather than showing them. A good demonstration of this is when one of the characters is making this heartfelt appeal and her writer says knowingly “she’s talking about her dead childhood friend”. OKAY THANKS. WHY SHOULD WE CARE. We don’t know this childhood friend, we don’t know anything about her story. Having a character randomly say “this is Significant” doesn’t make it actually significant.

Honestly it seems such a waste to have characters coming from all different kinds of stories and never showing what their stories they came from are LIKE, aside from a few extremely brief flashes. Ideally, this show would have cut to scenes from their stories, each in a unique art style, and got us involved in where these characters were coming from.

They have characters who TALK about having relationships and feeling all these emotions with these various other characters, but we never see them. One character came from a brutal dark fantasy and is all mad because of that, but the show never shows us a full scene of the story she came from. Who did she lose? What horrible things happened to her? 

This really ended up badly hurting the show at a key points- and example is when the main female action hero’s mentor shows up to fite her, it’s supposed to be this big dramatic twist but it makes zero impact because we know nothing about this dude other than she’s mentioned liking him a couple times. The show quickly tells us he feels world weary or whatever and that’s why he’s opposing her and then they have a big fight. But the fight is not going to have any emotional punch if the very REASON for it is just stated hurriedly and randomly at the last second, if this relationship and character have basically no foundation. The anime needs to show the audience actual scenes that demonstrate and build these characters’ relationship, show this mentor character worn getting down by life, at least give us SOMETHING. 

If the cast had been cut in half and if they’d given each character the time and care they deserved, this show could have been something really great. But it ended up focusing more on boring government meetings and dull explanations of the battle mechanics.

For a show that focused on writers interacting with the characters they’d written, it didn’t seem to care about its characters all that much when it came down to it. This stung especially because a few of them had some really good potential that was promptly wasted in a needlessly cruel way.

 An example of this was the bond between this dark fantasy knight lady (Alicetaria) and a Precure-style magical girl (Mamika). It was one of the highlights of the show for a while and I was pleasantly surprised a show like this was paying so much attention to the friendship between two female characters- then I realized that, the way this show was going, the fact these two characters were getting any attention at all had to be because one of them was going to get killed off so the other character could swear vengeance and yada yada cheap drama. 

GUESS WHAT, I WAS RIGHT. And it was even stupider and more manufactured than I expected- Mamika got killed in a totally idiotic way that was the show basically saying “LOOK her magical girl ideals are SO NAIVE she believed she could solve things with friendship and kindness but it just got her BRUTALLY MURDERED” (wow so edgy this has never been done before OH WAIT IT’S BEEN DONE TEN BILLION TIMES will these grown-ass men ever get tired of shitting on shows for little girls for daring to be optimistic and hopeful?)

 And the most untrustworthy character on the show just HAPPENED to witness Mamika’s death and then for some reason Alicetaria believed this VERY OBVIOUSLY untrustworthy source when she said it was one of the good guys had killed Mamika and attacked the good guys. It was all so goddamn manufactured and pointless and accomplished nothing. 

It led to some storyline where Alicetaria became a double agent and tried to bring down the bad guys from within that ALSO went absolutely nowhere- she didn’t like, weaken their team or get valuable intel or anything, she had no apparent strategy, and the villain knew about her plan the entire time. So she just ended up being killed off like a chump. So, this story about respecting the characters you create...had its character be unbelievably stupid for cheap drama and gave them utterly meaningless deaths. Nice. 

 Mamika in general deserved a lot better. The idea of a kids show character entering the real world and experiencing shock that things work differently is a cool concept. I liked the scene where Mamika was horrified her attacks made someone bleed because there’s no blood on her show. But I think that sort of story can be told without shitting all over the idealism of kid’s shows. It would have been a much more interesting story if Mamika survived and struggled to maintain her idealism in this harsh world. If it was tested time and time again and she lost hope and broke down and got angry, but in the end realized the world of kindness she wants is still worth fighting for. Killing her off is the absolute laziest way to go about it.

(Also the fact Mamika violently attacked a character who disagreed with her for no apparent reason and this was condemned as if it was something endemic to the magical girl genre made me think whoever wrote that ep had never seen Precure, even though that’s what she clearly based on. Magical girls, especially Precure style ones, don’t attack first and ask questions later. They try to reason with their opponents and don’t fight unless they are attacked or others are attacked. A Shonen hero might respond violently to someone arguing with them/ consider physical fighting the best way to solve a problem, but a magical girl never would. Sorry just a PET PEEVE I had as magical girl fan).

Sigh. I’m glad I watched Re: Creators. It was really moving in how it discussed writing. The ending was very good, even through it wasn’t built up to properly. How it wasted so much of its characters and ideas makes me really sad, but it also inspires me. I want to think of something like these concepts and execute it in a way that satisfies me. And that’s really what Re: Creators was all about- the power stories have to inspire.So while it was a very flawed show I have incredibly mixed feelings about, in a way, it did its job, and I commend it for that. 

[loose-cannon-aka-mark-barber]

The Triple crown is waiting

العلامات سباعية سابوع وعلامات اخر صور ومكان وزمام وزمان ونظام وجيل شر.كي استنكافي شنكافي ونازوكي وشهبي وشعبي وشبهي وشبابي وشهمي وشلاعي وشري وشيوعي وشيوخي وشحمي وشخا وشحاطي وفي اياديهم وظهورهم واكتافهم 7 شفرات 7 عللية علامات عري عوج عجز عدو عصر علن علق عبق عبث عبد عجب عجل عدل عند عدم عمر عكر عصب عصم عضو عدو عصر ع ف عرف ع علامات عس عس عيان سباعية ع سحارة سجية سمية سريعة سليمة سيحة سمرة سابوعية سباعية سبوع سبورتيه سباعية و

Run the numbers in Sadi

THE 53097401461 OF 30966074232 AND 22632024504 TO 19347398077 IN 16891065263 A 15310087895 IS 8384246685 THAT 8000768228 FOR 6545282031 IT 5740085369 AS 5700645258 WAS 5502713968 WITH 5182797249 BE 4818864785 BY 4703106084 ON 4594521081 NOT 4522732626 HE 4110457083 I 3884828634 THIS 3826060334 ARE 3700433333 OR 3667713965 HIS 3611377789 FROM 3469207674 AT 3413452256 WHICH 3140226612 BUT 2792350185 HAVE 2777439117 AN 2726250863 HAD 2616021603 THEY 2462131290 YOU 2337737641 WERE 2270487439 THEIR 2152980325 ONE 2148983086 ALL 2062779102 WE 2057296224 CAN 1665414118 HER 1633278704 HAS 1632148758 THERE 1623700147 BEEN 1619043628 IF 1564986692 MORE 1547251508 WHEN 1519738651 WILL 1485140664 WOULD 1472811049 WHO 1464601967 SO 1449153410 NO 1400645478 SHE 1392695717 OTHER 1383185827 ITS 1369438835 MAY 1318050430 THESE 1305787385 WHAT 1222533828 THEM 1199636039 THAN 1185020453 SOME 1182318418 HIM 1180769747 TIME 1167810273 INTO 1144226142 ONLY 1135235700 DO 1116608183 SUCH 1100072478 MY 1082298016 NEW 1073292865 ABOUT 1070877995 OUT 1048211344 ALSO 1038616504 TWO 1034082956 ANY 983649138 UP 975409474 FIRST 923189150 COULD 886891028 OUR 874965041 THEN 872791735 MOST 860964491 SEE 846494292 ME 819570654 SHOULD 814245936 AFTER 802220137 SAID 757996425 YOUR 750769635 VERY 746876416 BETWEEN 744064796 MADE 737658132 MANY 732675942 OVER 715517744 LIKE 709849832 THOSE 691668501 DID 689814257 NOW 679337516 EVEN 677507335 WELL 675415316 WHERE 671644491 MUST 662994536 PEOPLE 658716166 THROUGH 647091198 HOW 630072115 SAME 624529137 WORK 621797228 BEING 616194541 BECAUSE 612321946 MAN 609019192 LIFE 607266209 BEFORE 605166565 EACH 601281917 MUCH 601262291 UNDER 585610545 S 569891879 YEARS 563247544 WAY 559785767 GREAT 557149997 STATE 553386027 BOTH 543776931 USE 535798133 UPON 532434413 OWN 524268424 USED 524065144 HOWEVER 519207264 US 516975345 PART 515815125 GOOD 509939542 WORLD 505870068 MAKE 502804979 THREE 487787199 WHILE 483440546 LONG 477333877 DAY 471012276 WITHOUT 465581954 JUST 454162727 MEN 454094525 GENERAL 450612588 DURING 448173996 ANOTHER 444695376 LITTLE 442854872 FOUND 436617767 HERE 432309508 SYSTEM 428655277 DOES 426675356 DE 424296592 DOWN 422555509 NUMBER 421670920 CASE 416258729 AGAINST 410444403 MIGHT 409560494 STILL 408263128 BACK 406548203 RIGHT 405717045 KNOW 405542218 PLACE 401396238 EVERY 393306866 GOVERNMENT 390643826 TOO 387800392 HIGH 384098421 OLD 383853789 DIFFERENT 381761001 STATES 379406076 TAKE 378659319 YEAR 377400785 POWER 374440251 SINCE 371590865 GIVEN 370958373 GOD 368677508 NEVER 367408537 SOCIAL 362939226 ORDER 360669813 WATER 355340324 THUS 352803269 FORM 352032932 WITHIN 351785120 SMALL 350484848 SHALL 343397728 PUBLIC 342759195 LARGE 342399659 LAW 338265440 COME 337666242 LESS 337388744 CHILDREN 336723802 WAR 335494566 POINT 333858038 CALLED 329762185 AMERICAN 329409247 AGAIN 326183679 OFTEN 325385700 GO 323996019 FEW 321537010 AMONG 321351351 IMPORTANT 318798581 END 318429766 GET 318321184 HOUSE 316642686 SECOND 316484908 THOUGH 315756488 PRESENT 313754008 EXAMPLE 313505718 HIMSELF 311869400 WOMEN 311778830 LAST 310248709 SAY 310063047 LEFT 306802162 FACT 303323018 OFF 302535533 SET 302361340 PER 300402417 YET 298106656 HAND 297264744 CAME 294530569 DEVELOPMENT 292567752 THOUGHT 292090261 ALWAYS 289326176 FAR 288760391 COUNTRY 287858905 YORK 287117910 SCHOOL 286198020 INFORMATION 285127664 GROUP 284672959 FOLLOWING 282890287 THINK 282298331 OTHERS 280160469 POLITICAL 279042950 HUMAN 279027691 HISTORY 277771947 UNITED 275947752 GIVE 275807450 FAMILY 275638251 FIND 274292734 NEED 273479350 FIGURE 273002399 POSSIBLE 272346265 ALTHOUGH 269984217 RATHER 269938951 LATER 269420608 UNIVERSITY 267605414 ONCE 267334111 COURSE 267248526 UNTIL 266946065 SEVERAL 266874027 NATIONAL 265411421 WHOLE 264397495 CHAPTER 263277218 EARLY 262989441 FOUR 262968583 HOME 262557366 MEANS 261935832 THINGS 261491585 PROCESS 261231720 NATURE 258607404 ABOVE 257260161 THEREFORE 256680119 HAVING 256366406 CERTAIN 255354603 CONTROL 254704442 DATA 254114763 NAME 253016135 ACT 252837316 CHANGE 252169887 VALUE 251727013 BODY 251658904 STUDY 251146114 ET 249406150 TABLE 247925745 BECOME 247467268 WHETHER 245964864 CITY 245776687 BOOK 244679041 TAKEN 244444700 SIDE 244375385 TIMES 244274912 AWAY 243726011 C 243374626 KNOWN 242748318 PERIOD 240810310 BEST 239519326 B 239260173 LINE 237500159 AM 236082024 COURT 235765991 JOHN 235323655 DAYS 235135424 PUT 234694082 YOUNG 233692423 SEEN 232791574 COMMON 232507127 PERSON 232353232 EITHER 231828021 LET 231529250 WHY 230806163 LAND 230194244 HEAD 229586755 BUSINESS 228894757 COMPANY 228554181 CHURCH 228296650 WORDS 227368818 EFFECT 227026494 SOCIETY 226962849 AROUND 225965973 BETTER 225159108 NOTHING 224710005 TOOK 224536350 WHITE 223783182 ITSELF 223352412 SOMETHING 223298632 LIGHT 223142561 QUESTION 222529720 ALMOST 222456557 WENT 222172805 INTEREST 221787128 MIND 220137001 NEXT 219433560 LEAST 219366839 LEVEL 217515046 THEMSELVES 216975281 ECONOMIC 216707350 CHILD 214513506 DEATH 214241154 SERVICE 214015710 VIEW 213769776 ACTION 212759202 FIVE 212389943 II 211760644 PRESS 211628967 FATHER 210972103 FURTHER 210653665 LOVE 210137973 RESEARCH 210101214 AREA 209904357 TRUE 209902030 EDUCATION 209865301 SELF 209487136 AGE 208047899 NECESSARY 208018922 SUBJECT 207720288 WANT 207691335 CASES 207684567 EVER 207615532 GOING 207111364 PROBLEM 207066989 FREE 206158509 DONE 205603672 MAKING 204240192 PARTY 203139462 KING 203072868 TOGETHER 202762516 CENTURY 202612948 SECTION 202298684 USING 201536862 POSITION 201281266 TYPE 200474855 RESULT 199933678 HELP 199252187 INDIVIDUAL 199046341 ALREADY 198197475 MATTER 198029580 FULL 197457082 HALF 197368932 VARIOUS 197327756 SENSE 197220509 LOOK 197095972 BASED 197020666 WHOSE 196188708 ENGLISH 195298116 SOUTH 194907298 TOTAL 194645191 CLASS 193633305 BECAME 192781007 PERHAPS 192537809 LONDON 192383215 POLICY 191429651 MEMBERS 190942415 AL 189349849 LOCAL 188970118 ENOUGH 188948038 PARTICULAR 188618420 RATE 188524311 AIR 187006770 ALONG 186532177 MOTHER 186371465 KNOWLEDGE 185412728 FACE 184744335 WORD 184603724 KIND 184534482 OPEN 184266698 TERMS 183434872 ABLE 182787681 MONEY 182729316 EXPERIENCE 182659383 CONDITIONS 182610089 SUPPORT 182544724 LA 182088211 PROBLEMS 182033209 REAL 181565857 BLACK 181542099 LANGUAGE 180585791 RESULTS 180160027 ROOM 179662401 FORCE 179566043 HELD 179077711 LOW 178926877 ACCORDING 178815411 USUALLY 178737795 NORTH 178650422 SHOW 178523179 NIGHT 177813198 TOLD 177717884 SHORT 176858591 FIELD 176569485 REASON 174823900 ASKED 173745399 QUITE 173456485 NOR 173428887 HEALTH 172752751 SPECIAL 172749212 THING 172738438 ANALYSIS 172535798 EYES 172228666 ESPECIALLY 171145125 LORD 169071283 WOMAN 168921413 MAJOR 168841614 SIMILAR 168686666 CARE 168579579 THEORY 168319212 D 167799877 BROUGHT 167509544 WHOM 167398469 OFFICE 166126353 ART 165726241 PRODUCTION 165669185 SOMETIMES 165282667 THIRD 164752523 SHOWN 164618363 BRITISH 164541425 DUE 164237479 INTERNATIONAL 163591875 BEGAN 163262683 SINGLE 163205541 NATURAL 163033916 GOT 162985190 ACCOUNT 162780963 CAUSE 162187677 COMMUNITY 162100278 SAW 161350792 HEART 161254474 SOON 160678206 CHANGES 160538481 STUDIES 159772512 GROUPS 159418843 METHOD 159053948 EVIDENCE 158753663 SEEMS 158520801 GREATER 158013141 REQUIRED 157770281 TRADE 157534593 FOREIGN 155858655 WEST 155720736 CLEAR 155451094 MODEL 155409143 E 155009877 NEAR 154954539 STUDENTS 154638455 PROBABLY 154301146 FRENCH 154091688 GAVE 153925918 INCLUDING 153800374 READ 153605720 ENGLAND 153296679 MATERIAL 153214581 TERM 152976238 PAST 152399625 REPORT 151675470 CONSIDERED 151545059 FUTURE 151100623 HIGHER 150778139 STRUCTURE 150602123 FIG 150377590 AVAILABLE 150037688 WORKING 149602561 FELT 148292456 TELL 148165666 AMOUNT 147854681 REALLY 147420684 FUNCTION 147417217 KEEP 147405178 INDEED 147261279 GROWTH 147031630 MARKET 146995195 NON 146456349 INCREASE 146162071 PERSONAL 146111561 COST 146106969 MEAN 146013228 SURFACE 145677703 KNEW 145643159 IDEA 145406908 LOWER 145218962 NOTE 145170586 PROGRAM 144947729 TREATMENT 144883050 SIX 144460042 FOOD 144138399 T 144097590 CLOSE 144027294 SYSTEMS 143847585 BLOOD 143765938 POPULATION 143726550 CENTRAL 143504901 CHARACTER 143305637 PRESIDENT 143231208 ENERGY 142518230 PROPERTY 142167084 LIVING 141598875 PROVIDE 141554873 SPECIFIC 141363074 SCIENCE 141250014 RETURN 141090661 PRACTICE 140702777 HANDS 140696114 ROLE 140590569 COUNTRIES 140381058 MANAGEMENT 140362524 TOWARD 140324365 SON 140264746 SAYS 140186080 GENERALLY 139841620 INFLUENCE 139632645 PURPOSE 139327457 AMERICA 139130506 RECEIVED 139080046 STRONG 138949457 CALL 138858263 SERVICES 138796737 RIGHTS 138786228 CURRENT 138569643 M 138549303 BELIEVE 138049846 EFFECTS 137897766 LETTER 137746343 X 137589571 LOOKED 137482513 STORY 136788548 FORMS 136468034 SEEMED 136340001 GROUND 136169686 MAIN 135766466 PAPER 135586065 WORKS 134992496 AREAS 134941395 MODERN 134920850 PROVIDED 134897102 MOMENT 134838703 WRITTEN 134806145 SITUATION 134610698 TURN 134505772 FEET 134348666 PLAN 133951245 PARTS 133867316 VALUES 133213477 MOVEMENT 133198779 PRIVATE 132458739 LATE 132159565 SIZE 131691612 UNION 131560771 DESCRIBED 131540958 EAST 131239699 TEST 131231093 DIFFICULT 130577321 FEEL 129516227 RIVER 129050101 POOR 128893459 ATTENTION 128701456 BOOKS 128685076 TOWN 128248209 SPACE 127941942 O 127592144 PRICE 127365117 TURNED 127075437 RULE 126808176 PERCENT 126774559 ACTIVITY 126420735 ACROSS 125969728 PLAY 125848745 BUILDING 125844801 ANYTHING 125837838 PHYSICAL 125807765 CAPITAL 125735242 N 125421809 HARD 125255025 MAKES 125236883 SEA 125103373 CENT 125071257 APPROACH 125032805 PRESSURE 124800018 FINALLY 124762454 MILITARY 124721452 MIDDLE 124608043 SIR 124152316 LONGER 124113646 SPIRIT 123746611 CONTINUED 123662279 BASIS 123422191 ARMY 123310034 RED 122998966 ALONE 122890524 SIMPLE 122864411 BELOW 122666600 SERIES 122648090 SOURCE 122508876 INCREASED 122496287 SENT 122390977 PARTICULARLY 121435155 EARTH 121334649 MONTHS 121167402 DEPARTMENT 121167286 HEARD 121054582 QUESTIONS 120973232 LIKELY 120758940 LOST 120728633 COMPLETE 120475549 BEHIND 120225593 TAKING 119919305 WIFE 119667451 LINES 119425686 OBJECT 119195088 HOURS 119182573 TWENTY 119057697 ESTABLISHED 119035887 COMMITTEE 118868748 RELATED 118838205 RANGE 118834139 TRUTH 118722538 INCOME 118647362 INSTEAD 118485329 BEYOND 118422939 REST 118218918 DEVELOPED 118108656 OUTSIDE 118074170 ORGANIZATION 117575520 RELIGIOUS 117449364 BOARD 117325679 LIVE 117234948 L 117220317 DESIGN 117049361 NEEDS 116865318 PERSONS 116745553 EXCEPT 116721782 AUTHORITY 116697449 PATIENT 116454325 RESPECT 116205867 LATTER 116154349 SURE 116091233 CULTURE 116003133 RELATIONSHIP 115960669 TEN 115708195 METHODS 115683616 FOLLOWED 115410114 WILLIAM 115262883 CONDITION 115246769 POINTS 115158315 ADDITION 115111424 DIRECT 114945752 SEEM 114793384 INDUSTRY 114733976 COLLEGE 114625844 FRIENDS 114335214 BEGINNING 114330225 HUNDRED 114288698 MANNER 114272160 FRONT 114244970 ORIGINAL 114070624 PATIENTS 114060991 APPEAR 113979614 INCLUDE 113661157 SHOWS 113416183 WAYS 113283389 ACTIVITIES 113101457 RELATIONS 112325996 WRITING 112154899 COUNCIL 111961286 DISEASE 111922686 STANDARD 111899749 FIRE 111793160 GERMAN 111778665 FRANCE 111695924 DEGREE 111537970 TOWARDS 111513874 PRODUCED 111503587 LEAVE 111442661 UNDERSTAND 111365730 CELLS 111296827 AVERAGE 111225011 MARCH 111017382 CARRIED 110953787 LENGTH 110823907 DIFFERENCE 110581448 SIMPLY 110224005 NORMAL 110176830 VOL 110098926 QUALITY 110037183 STREET 110013571 RUN 109873076 ANSWER 109738829 MORNING 109646842 LOSS 109639032 DOING 109588230 STAGE 109565790 PAY 109289513 TODAY 108960014 DECISION 108947093 LABOR 108728677 PAGE 108390018 V 108064400 PUBLISHED 107976995 WORKERS 107751613 BANK 107713584 TOP 107686513 WANTED 107546531 JOURNAL 107491373 PASSED 107205319 DOOR 107165852 P 106894432 IMPORTANCE 106610622 WESTERN 106592600 TAX 106424130 INVOLVED 106252318 SOLUTION 106000254 HOPE 105991336 VOICE 105822860 READING 105673771 OBTAINED 105602979 BRING 105435509 PEACE 105430654 NEEDED 105352008 PLACED 105053742 CHIEF 104936898 SPECIES 104777832 ADDED 104772904 EUROPE 104380168 LOOKING 104343071 FACTORS 104238296 LAWS 104226443 BEHAVIOR 104177552 DIE 104147370 RESPONSE 103816451 LED 103672634 ASSOCIATION 103663697 PERFORMANCE 103654915 ROAD 103446400 ISSUE 103420145 CONSIDER 103396986 EQUAL 103238744 LEARNING 103238640 INDIA 103234898 TRAINING 103222916 FORCES 103159527 CUT 103037571 EARLIER 102977377 BASIC 102960618 MEMBER 102879701 FRIEND 102792326 LEAD 102763510 APPEARS 102703030 TYPES 102702549 SCHOOLS 102673006 MUSIC 102628158 JAMES 102601697 TEMPERATURE 102534206 CHRISTIAN 102337125 VOLUME 102231218 KEPT 102131747 REVIEW 102040164 SIGNIFICANT 101999263 J 101980525 FORMER 101846921 MEANING 101764328 ASSOCIATED 101716328 WROTE 101295092 CENTER 100841549 DIRECTION 100827132 EVERYTHING 100209737 JOB 100179458 UNDERSTANDING 100058677 REGION 99947510 BIG 99488298 HOLD 99442715 OPINION 99413974 TEXT 99367890 JUNE 99367805 DATE 99163252 APPLICATION 99149278 AUTHOR 99092074 F 98925228 CELL 98824016 DISTRIBUTION 98801980 FALL 98777178 BECOMES 98769246 WASHINGTON 98704427 LIMITED 98575904 INDIAN 98531340 PRESENCE 98464008 SOUND 98359048 III 98208308 MEETING 98128650 CLEARLY 97843943 EXPECTED 97832275 FEDERAL 97641247 R 97228768 NEARLY 97223334 ED 97120955 EXTENT 97114220 PARENTS 97099001 YES 96899883 IDEAS 96892979 MEDICAL 96691323 OBSERVED 96654419 ACTUALLY 96637249 FINAL 96624825 GEORGE 96604675 MILES 96533288 ELEMENTS 96488567 LIST 96243232 PROJECT 96234298 PRODUCT 96228667 THROUGHOUT 96182381 CHRIST 95948428 DISCUSSION 95836510 APPLIED 95584186 RULES 95446866 PRODUCE 95384159 RELIGION 95336728 DEEP 95321084 OPERATION 95100641 ISSUES 94936661 ELSE 94712154 MASS 94678376 COMING 94643724 DETERMINED 94480905 EUROPEAN 94407549 EVENTS 94350605 SECURITY 94081024 OIL 94078195 FINE 94065909 DISTANCE 94015589 MOVE 93962800 EFFECTIVE 93845257 PAID 93735031 NATION 93534315 STEP 93522951 GIVES 93485484 SUCCESS 93383234 LITERATURE 93086473 PRODUCTS 92985765 NEITHER 92913536 RESOURCES 92890018 FOLLOW 92875751 CROSS 92631653 ASK 92326874 LEVELS 92296964 IMMEDIATELY 92279838 CERTAINLY 92207776 PRINCIPLE 92207363 MORAL 92086790 JULY 91750068 FORMED 91737307 REACHED 91732623 FAITH 91679190 DEAL 91637705 RECENT 91426553 LEGAL 91243628 ADMINISTRATION 91223973 COMES 91173579 MATERIALS 91143958 POTENTIAL 91052860 PRESENTED 90941683 CONGRESS 90923426 CIVIL 90893209 DIRECTLY 90710253 MEET 90681024 MET 90663973 PRINCIPLES 90657731 EXPRESSION 90569415 MYSELF 90480990 BORN 90297418 WIDE 90243089 POST 90205323 JUSTICE 90057247 STRENGTH 90040288 RELATION 90003036 STATEMENT 89976766 FINANCIAL 89946991 DEAD 89942531 LARGER 89837443 CULTURAL 89796487 HISTORICAL 89471481 EXISTENCE 89086621 BUILT 88977072 WEIGHT 88931850 REFERENCE 88812899 FEELING 88796885 ROUND 88680611 REPORTED 88357597 RISK 88332946 APPEARED 88081092 INCLUDED 87961423 SCALE 87945524 INDIVIDUALS 87854335 SUPPLY 87778086 MILLION 87612893 DIFFERENCES 87593624 WRITE 87398762 DOUBT 86837636 HOUR 86782301 INDUSTRIAL 86710235 APRIL 86612130 PRIMARY 86561888 BASE 86517782 LETTERS 86483192 INTERESTS 86405949 NUMBERS 86377548 SEVEN 86326705 PLACES 86150103 WALL 86098266 COMPLEX 86083324 ENTIRE 86075488 TRY 86024314 ARTICLE 86017205 COUNTY 86016942 COSTS 85952250 THINKING 85735136 RECORD 85612085 FLOW 85584876 FOLLOWS 85545433 SUN 85535857 ATTEMPT 85325513 BAD 85320148 INSTANCE 85306493 COMMISSION 85299537 EASILY 85185742 UNIT 85082435 DIED 84913888 GREEN 84883858 CHARLES 84830217 WEEK 84735902 DEMAND 84566589 ACID 84436627 ENVIRONMENT 84401739 PROPER 84248955 TAKES 84145451 POSITIVE 84081928 TALK 83995152 ACTIVE 83964190 IMAGE 83929870 PLANT 83847060 FREEDOM 83831865 LIBRARY 83724358 DARK 83668292 KEY 83552147 MENTIONED 83540627 CO 83487330 SPEAK 83469645 ALLOWED 83426595 WHATEVER 83396786 CONCERNED 83350541 MEASURE 83157475 LIVES 83154557 MERELY 83043351 FEAR 83025936 PARIS 83003865 INDEPENDENT 82973548 HEAT 82916476 CIRCUMSTANCES 82859794 THOMAS 82734020 GIVING 82617922 MASTER 82454164 TRIED 82422379 CHINA 82354191 EYE 82308670 UPPER 82015080 GONE 81987916 ACTUAL 81881900 COLD 81812697 FREQUENTLY 81661621 EIGHT 81515476 ABILITY 81500208 UNLESS 81484257 REGARD 81462519 HENRY 81403955 STATUS 81390371 HEAR 81378760 THOUSAND 81181403 MINUTES 81117083 PARTIES 81116646 STOCK 81089976 STUDENT 81078065 RISE 81063866 ARMS 80956755 FACTOR 80951457 CHARGE 80928075 EASY 80893690 CREATED 80763009 STAND 80686346 STARTED 80515153 CONTENT 80471016 SHARE 80467423 PICTURE 80466092 HERSELF 80318677 AGREEMENT 80276151 REMEMBER 80168659 CONSTANT 80167769 NONE 80150779 POPULAR 80074272 APPROPRIATE 80022252 STYLE 79906426 START 79891984 GOODS 79809435 CONSIDERABLE 79770275 READY 79609735 Y 79536358 OCCUR 79479712 NOTES 79463444 FORWARD 79381233 RATES 79237251 RETURNED 79199231 DEFINED 79139469 CONSTRUCTION 78888353 MINISTER 78885515 USEFUL 78871232 REMAIN 78855958 NATIONS 78827475 ISLAND 78815401 STOOD 78683031 CHOICE 78633933 DISTRICT 78585014 SPEECH 78548997 ECONOMY 78392321 JESUS 78352447 MOVED 78308876 POWERS 78184548 PAUL 78063298 DESIRE 78023132 DIVISION 78010703 BILL 77905466 GERMANY 77889212 HIGHLY 77844910 TASK 77779959 STAFF 77708958 ADDITIONAL 77664573 PROGRESS 77622452 SITE 77606105 REASONS 77424645 SERIOUS 77351744 RE 77257723 GOLD 77223152 BOY 77220366 BROTHER 77196407 REMAINED 77179789 JANUARY 77148384 SORT 76748889 RELATIVE 76673081 PASS 76642270 PREVIOUS 76638735 PAIN 76589902 SEPARATE 76484418 PLANNING 76437277 LAY 76414354 EXCHANGE 76398427 DER 76206810 PROCESSES 76196139 ROBERT 76162406 CRITICAL 76145395 ANIMALS 76126929 ANCIENT 76060198 FUNCTIONS 76050556 OCTOBER 75987271 AUGUST 75950243 SUFFICIENT 75910173 DISCUSSED 75791362 MARRIAGE 75597009 REMAINS 75547626 PROGRAMS 75509847 INTRODUCTION 75350470 EFFORT 75329669 MEMORY 75319047 GIRL 75288361 SOURCES 75269037 INTERNAL 75228149 SOUL 75109866 NEWS 75088462 BED 75087117 LE 75050930 DES 75044809 BROWN 75023376 CAUSED 75022109 CHINESE 75019978 LACK 74862176 HUSBAND 74612454 SEPTEMBER 74566913 LIVED 74523682 LEARN 74450821 COMMAND 74409169 POLITICS 74316154 DECEMBER 74262603 DUTY 74211760 TEACHER 74147301 DAILY 74143745 TECHNOLOGY 74134226 ESSENTIAL 74121670 ALLOW 74009167 BOX 73974790 IRON 73912969 FAILURE 73834492 DECIDED 73604266 CONCEPT 73598965 NOTED 73569863 NAMES 73408991 GETTING 73375416 PATTERN 73371169 AGO 73358573 PHASE 73292544 TEACHERS 73279702 OTHERWISE 73189721 VARIETY 73108031 DETERMINE 73035028 HENCE 72980522 BLUE 72974499 PREPARED 72924152 FIGURES 72916620 CONTACT 72897350 LOT 72894408 H 72827269 CONTINUE 72786692 MEASURES 72774916 HEAVY 72613321 LABOUR 72574389 COMPANIES 72557544 SUGGESTED 72555131 SOUTHERN 72546462 SUBJECTS 72417020 FEATURES 72363939 COMMUNICATION 72359865 FULLY 72304884 OFFICERS 72282982 WISH 72239553 OPPORTUNITY 72227568 COMPUTER 72150984 EXERCISE 72067303 POLICE 72033659 CREATE 72032879 REALITY 71920825 ADD 71846370 WORKED 71844417 LEARNED 71787022 INSIDE 71761839 DESCRIPTION 71716121 TEACHING 71709226 SUMMER 71669834 GAS 71631004 CAR 71566944 SCIENTIFIC 71545578 TITLE 71430817 SOIL 71250643 CLAIM 71229695 OBJECTS 71202828 VILLAGE 71188072 TRYING 71151809 TRADITIONAL 71120417 PROTECTION 71001976 ENTIRELY 71001785 EMPLOYED 70975469 SOVIET 70956695 FIXED 70927704 LADY 70866011 PROVIDES 70820003 EFFORTS 70808999 CAPACITY 70798559 COMPLETELY 70695291 EXPRESSED 70616426 MAJORITY 70452760 IV 70418238 PRINCIPAL 70383823 PURPOSES 70367846 MENTAL 70316772 ACCESS 70273491 SAYING 70213724 RAISED 70194506 REDUCED 70099950 FAMILIES 70068465 CHANGED 69992672 COMPARED 69960215 PRACTICAL 69860667 SUCCESSFUL 69664268 INTERESTING 69655404 CODE 69596496 CAUSES 69543312 INCREASING 69530493 PLANTS 69487892 IMPOSSIBLE 69416389 GROWING 69385925 FACTS 69361489 DEVELOP 69342356 COLOR 69334092 BEGIN 69317502 SOMEONE 69306780 EVENT 69296813 SOMEWHAT 69242663 MONTH 69201284 OFFERED 69064840 NOTICE 69035963 REVOLUTION 68999580 PHILOSOPHY 68932185 LEADING 68886037 SHOWED 68805694 ONES 68802924 AFFAIRS 68716682 BEAUTIFUL 68637744 RELATIVELY 68593730 COVERED 68569446 EMPLOYMENT 68561659 OFFER 68537056 NOVEMBER 68507059 OPERATIONS 68494352 WRONG 68462528 NEGATIVE 68431010 EXAMPLES 68415550 REQUIRE 68399544 ACTS 68321327 ATTACK 68207552 TREE 68119957 ADDRESS 68024298 INSTITUTIONS 67994139 AID 67970418 AFRICA 67945763 DAVID 67869725 PROPOSED 67817278 HALL 67814436 MOTION 67756261 G 67743309 RECEIVE 67739361 TILL 67715750 CARRY 67589761 CONNECTION 67589468 FEMALE 67579818 SERVE 67412909 WEEKS 67337561 STONE 67310166 QUICKLY 67282635 CONSTITUTION 67156640 FORMATION 67087752 EVENING 67063297 RACE 66940365 ANIMAL 66921780 PROCEDURE 66904035 COLLECTION 66607266 ANNUAL 66566187 ROYAL 66531300 SECRETARY 66502317 RICH 66499063 EN 66416081 MALE 66340217 PROFESSIONAL 66329317 GREATEST 66308784 CONTEXT 66145330 TRUST 66094897 UNITS 66087714 TREES 66033516 MARY 66021880 APPEARANCE 65998192 FIRM 65972267 BALANCE 65883702 BRITAIN 65825505 SPRING 65760939 STOP 65673690 REACTION 65622588 CHARACTERISTICS 65577627 LEADERS 65488082 SAMPLE 65476686 CLASSES 65300245 FOOT 65276705 BATTLE 65239064 CONTRACT 65231279 THIRTY 65218473 ACCEPTED 65209499 JAPANESE 65199997 MATTERS 65056493 RESISTANCE 64991796 HAIR 64980632 BELIEVED 64898939 DRAWN 64897953 REPORTS 64893091 STANDING 64890602 EQUIPMENT 64858025 CALIFORNIA 64701169 WOOD 64530458 FLOOR 64500064 MARRIED 64470207 ARGUMENT 64366769 FILE 64366267 MARK 64363165 SMITH 64298764 MISS 64251611 HILL 64209533 OPENED 64164929 DAUGHTER 64124472 DESPITE 64074399 PROPERTIES 64066475 CONFERENCE 64052525 OH 64028903 GLASS 64025067 ADVANTAGE 63931110 EXTERNAL 63895944 PREVENT 63858667 GOES 63818616 OUTPUT 63738756 JUDGE 63704000 HOUSES 63698859 STATED 63693123 REPRESENTED Loose Cannon

[rosiemotene]

My three passions in life are Women, Arica, and the arts. When I founded my Pan African talent agency, Waka Talent, in 2011, my dream was to have a footprint and synergies with territories across Africa. Rwanda was one of the countries that were in my Pan African expansion plans. I, like many people, was awakened to the country Rwanda through the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Through the media, we were fed a few of the facts that the Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda during the Rwandan Civil War, which started in 1990. It was said to have been directed by members of the Hutu majority government during the 100-day period from 7 April to 15 July 1994. At that time in my life, I was uneducated about the history of our continent, as our educational system was based on the biased and untrue view through the eyes of the colonizers. In 1994, I was in a relationship with a boy who was of Rwandan origin and before the brutal break-up, I was able to hear of the harrowing stories of how his family fled the country. I remember a few days, whilst visiting them in their Johannesburg home, the family were incredibly worried, as their grandmother had gone missing from her village in Rwanda but was soon discovered after walking for days, she was then brought to South Africa to live with the family. Although she did not speak English the pain and trauma in her eyes spoke volumes. Fast forward to 2004, I was cast in one of the first films made on the genocide, Hotel Rwanda. Once again the trauma and history intrigued me.

My Rwandan experience. The background. Rwanda is a republic in central and eastern Africa. Uganda is to its north, Tanzania to the east, Burundi to the south, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west. Over the years, it has been reported that the capital city, Kigali is the safest city in Africa. I was rather overwhelmed at the sense of calmness and as a global citizen who has traveled to many cities, I can honestly say that I felt 100% safe, walking the streets, lying in bed or exploring in the middle of town. The streets are immaculate, the people, like the rest of East Africa, are welcoming, humble and wonderful to talk to. On my morning walks,​ I was welcomed to the magnificent landscape of rolling hills, organised traffic, Bod-Boda driver (Motorbike taxis) and as mentioned before, a wonderful​ sense​ of calmness.

On the streets of Kigali.

Since the end of the Genocide, the country has been socially and politically stable. As a result, agriculture, roads, mining, and tourism have developed. The government also placed itself as the leader in gender equality principles.

The Memrorial. On visiting the genocide memorial, I learned many interesting facts but the one that stood out the most was the truth behind the fraction between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes, facts that media have not revealed. This is what i discovered- Humans migrated to what is now Rwanda after the last ice age. Hunter-gatherers settled the area in the late Stone Age and were followed by early Iron Age settlers. These were ancestors of the Twa, a group of Pygmy hunters who still remain in Rwanda. Additional migrations took place between 700 BC and 1500 AD. This divided society into three groups which are the Hutu, Tutsis, and the original Twas. For centuries, these three groups live in harmony, it was only when the colonizers entered the territory, did they create the tension and hierarchy between the Hutus and Tutsis. It was in 1884, the Berlin Conference assigned Germany Ruanda-Urundi. German East Africa was then formed when this area was combined with Tanganyika. In 1894, Gustav Adolf von Gotzen explored the country. The Germans favored the Tutsi group and help suppress the Hutu group of people. During World War I, the Belgians took the territory.

It was World War I, Rwanda became a League of Nations mandate with Belgium in control. Belgium also kept the class system in place and promoted Tutsi supremacy. They also considered the groups to be different races and created identity cards labeling each person a member of the Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa group. They based this classification on arbitrary physical characteristics. This fact, sent shivers down my spine as it reminded me of the South Africa apartheid laws of classifying black people, with the pencil test. (The pencil test is a method of assessing whether a person has Afro-textured hair. In the pencil test, a pencil is pushed through the person’s hair. How easily it comes out determines whether the person has “passed” or “failed” the test. This test was used to determine racial identity in South Africa during the apartheid era, distinguishing whites from coloureds and blacks. The test was partially responsible for splitting existing communities and families along perceived racial lines. Its formal authority ended with the end of apartheid in 1994. It remains an important part of South African cultural heritage and a symbol of racism.)

This friction continued after World War II, here the two groups emerged and became rivals, one based on the Tutsi elite and the other based on Hutu emancipation. This rivalry continued throughout the ages right up until the known 1994 Genocide. My time at the memorial was traumatic as the two-hour tour gives you insight into the back history. Picture, artifacts, clothes, personal items are on display. There is also a beautiful rose garden of remembrance, where families can go and show respect to their family members and friends that were killed in the genocide. As a group, we laid a wreath on the tombs and said a prayer.

The Mashariki film festival. Earlier this year, I reached out to the Mashariki Film festival as I wanted to create a synergy between them and my agency, http://www.wakaagency.biz. They responded​ and we entered​​ into a partnership​. I flew into​ Kigali​ for​ the festival, which​ is in its 5th edition. My agency was an official partner and I also sat on the jury for the African​ feature film category. I wanted to host an acting and producers master class but the schedule was full, so on my​ next visit in the year, I plan to see Waka Agency can work with actors and performers​ from http://mashirika.com​. They are a performance art​ and​d media company, not affiliated to the festival but have been in existence for nearly two decades. ​

– Opeing night of The festival.

The festival categories were made up of the following: African feature films, African short films, African documentaries, East African feature films, East African short films, East African, and national short films. Each category had a team of three jury members, assigned to watch, critique and analyze each submission. The jury groups were made up of film and industry practitioners​ from across the world. My jury included Klaus Keli​ from Germany and Kivu Ruhorahoza, from Rwanda. Klaus, a revered filmmaker​​ educator​ , ​and trainer, who has worked extensively in Europe and has been instrumental in training in East Africa, particularly in Rwanda. Kivu is internationally known for his feature film Grey Matter which won the Jury Special Mention for Best Emerging Filmmaker at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and the Ecumenical Jury special mention at the 2011 Warsaw Film Festival. He also won the Grand Prize of the Tübingen French Film Festival, Best Director and Signis Award of the Cordoba African Film Festival and the Jury Special Prize of the Khouribga Film Festival in Morocco.

We were given the task of watching​ 12 full-length​ feature films with the aim of sourcing the best in the selection. The films submitted came from all African territories​ from South Africa,​ Kenya, Morocco​, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and others. Of the jury’s​ that I have​ sat on, I have to say that this selection was incredibly tough, the majority of the films were all high​ callibre. After many hours of debate, deliberation, a few​ disagreements​s, we all agreed that the best film in our selection came from Morocco.

The film Indigo by Selma Bargach. Indigo is the color blue of the aura given by a psychic to children who have the gift of clairvoyance​. This is shown through the main character, Nora. The actress, Rim Kettani is a first-time actress and is only 13 years old, she brilliantly narrated the story of a young girl who is confronted with violence and the world of the irrational. The filmmaker​​ did an excellent​​t job in narrating the story and directing the film, creating magnificent​​t mise-en-scene and emotionally driven scenes. We as the jury believed​ that the story has universal appeal.

The lack of gender equality. As Rwanda has become known as one of the most gender equal territories, I was rather disappointed at the lack of representation​ of female filmmakers. On the opening night, there was very little mention of the female input to the festival, The festival has a platform titled, ‘Girls in film’. At first, this intrigued me as I saw it as a possible platform for young girls to learn the world of filmmaking, only to discover that the platform is for women who have graduated in film and working as producers and filmmakers. Another alarming incident was on the closing night, along with other jury members and delegates, both male and female, it was noted and discussed the lack of female representation in speeches, acknowledgment, and presence. The prize for the best actress was awarded by an all-male delegation and as the emcee stated the most powerful filmmakers in Rwanda. I find that worrying as there are many female filmmakers and practitioners who could have added value to that. The snide and below the belt comment from the emcee was also unwelcomed by many, it went along the lines of perhaps the actress knows each of the male representatives personally. We need to move away from that type of language. After the comment, there was an uncomfortable silence from the audience. I have brought these facts up with the organizers but being the feminist that I am,I have also made contact with local female filmmakers on how we can work together as African filmmakers and writers, so to ensure this gender disparity does not occur again. The festival has welcomed the suggestion.

Other activities. In between my jury duties, workshop attendance and watching films, I managed to experience some of Rwandan city life. My Kenyan sister, Nyambura Waruinzi and I treated ourselves to steak at a lovely restaurant​, close to our residence. The food was delicious, ambiance​​ and decor were​ magical, a little pricey but worth the experience. When two powerful​ Africa​n female forces get together over red wine and a meal, it can only lead greatness. Watch this space for future Kenya​- SA projects​.

After our meal, we met up with our other delegates​​s for a night of dancing, laughter, ​and fun.

I also was treated to true Rwandan cuisine​, thanks to my Jury colleague, Kivu.

We had Cassava leaves known as Isombe, Chicken curry, spicy aubergine with potatoes​ and chicken​ curry, East​ African style.

On another day I had the opportunity​ of having a meeting at the Ikirezi Bookstore. This book​ store hosts a bouquet of African​ authors and hopefully will stock my book soon. The book store is close to downtown Kigali and has a spectacular view.

My love for East Africa has now been extended to Rwanda, I would like to give special thanks to my superb hosts Jean de Dieu Ngirabaganwa, the Assistant Coordinator of the festival. He is also a revered director, camera operator, ​and fixer in Rwanda. Our on the ground hosts, Mwiza Gloria, Didier Mpatha and Bingo Regis. All three ensured we were happy at all times, drove us to the necessary destinations and shared the beautiful East African hospitality. They truly made our stay a memorable one. To my new family and friends who stayed at the same apartment compound as me as well as the other delegates, thank you for the laughs, honest conversations and for sharing delicate and beautiful stories.

When creative Africans unite.

Look out for my next blog where I will share my time with some ofRwanda’s most talents performers.

Until next time Murakoze Urakoze, Asante Sana, thank you!!​

Rwanda- The land of a thousand hills My three passions in life are Women, Arica, and the arts. When I founded my Pan African talent agency, Waka Talent, in 2011, my dream was to have a footprint and synergies with territories across Africa.

[themikeymonster]

went in to halfprice books today, remembered the terrible theory of not being able to tolerate books because of the awful cliches - --- --------- the boring main male characters and regrettable plots --- ----------------- which i also saw a lot of ----------- and quickly fell into despair --------------

i defaulted to horror, because even if your protagonists are awful, you just cheer the monster on :3c

saw a lot of John Saul??? I don’t know authors very well. If fanfic didn’t let me immediately access all of an authors works, then I’d be even worse at following someone’s entire anthology. anyway.....

Picked up one of his books, Creature. Im screeching, because I just checked and apparently this is a book from 1990? nice. The back is like “A powerful high-tech company. A postcard-pretty company town. Families. Children. Sunshine. Happiness. A highschool football team that never-ever-loses. And something else. Something horrible ....” What made me buy the book was where it switched to italics. “Now, there’s a new family in town. A shy, nature-loving teenager. A new hometown. A new set of bullies. Maybe the team’s sports clinic can help him. Rebuild him. Then they won’t hurt him again. They won’t dare.”

If John Saul ends up being a tolerable writer, I’ll have lots of material to read. I mean, the shelves were full of all kinds of books - apparently he’s pretty prolific.

I also picked up a couple of werewolf books, because I’m always a slut for werewolves, and I’ve been thinking a lot about my original story which riffs off the standard horror tropes involving werewolves (but seems like it’s actually going to feature a lot of social commentary ............ a favorite default of mine, it seems. :\ )

One is Wolf’s Trap, the back of which reads like a hilariously bad cop/noir novel. “Nick Lupo is a good cop - a bit of a renegade at times, with the instincts of a great detective .... or maybe a wolf. Lupo has a lot in common with wolves, which is only natural considering he’s a werewolf. He’s battled the creature inside him for years, but now there’s another predator in the area. A bloodthirsty serial killeris leaving  atrail of victims, and it’s up to Lupo to track him down and stop the slaughter. Will Lupo dare to unleash one beast to stop another?”

I’m going into that book with no expectations, because Lupo, are you serious? The cover art is also a bit ridiculous. This one is a bit harder to date, but apparently was a finalist for the Bram Stoker award in 2004.

The other book, I wasn’t initially certain was a werewolf book despite the title “Red Moon.” I found out when I cracked it open looking to avoid any first person pov, where someone is explicitly called a Lycan. This one reads, “When government agents kick down Claire Forrester’s front door and murder her parents, Claire realizes just how different she it. Patrick Gamble was nothing special until the day he got on a plane and hours later stepped off it, the only passenger left alive, a hero. Chase Williams has sworn to protect the people of the United States from the menace in their midst, but he is becoming the very thing he has promised to destroy. So far, the threat has been controlled by laws and violence and drugs. But the night of the red moon is coming, when an unrecognizable world will emerge ... and the battle for humanity will begin.”

It’s got a rather minimalist cover and seems to have been published in 2013, so it’s probably the most recent of the books I picked up. It seems to be a more classic type of book that I enjoy reading from time to time - like the way Michael Crichton writes. The kind where the characters take second position to the plot. I find that’s the easiest original content to consume for me, where as with fanfiction, I have to have character exploration and focus on relationship dynamics to remain engaged.

Then I somehow came across a legit zombie heroine. I actually didn’t read the title until I got it home: “The Year of Eating Dangerously”. The back of this one reads, “As a lawyer, Mallory Caine considers it her duty to defend the innocent. As a flesheating zombie, she knows how to take a bite out of crime. So when a scared ten-year-old boy asks for her help - claiming that his mother wants to eat him - Mallory rises to the occasion. Unfortunately, the occasion is a Satanic Ritual, the mom is a monster, and the boy is a sacrifice. Before you can say ‘the devil made me do it,’ Mallory is caught dead center between a family of freaks, fire-breathing demons, and the final battle of good versus evil. If she doesn’t have enough on her plate, the brain-chomping lawyer has to defend her zombie-hunting father in court. And, oh yeah: her flesh-eating secret is about to be exposed by a sexy LAPD detective who’s good enough to eat. What’s a zombie girl to do ...?”

IT’S JUST SO DELIGHTFUL??? I HOPE THE STORY IS AT LEAST AS GOOD AS THAT BLURB. I was pretty bored until I discovered that book. Horror is entertaining and all, but few things are as delightful as the completely absurd. I’m only dismayed to discover it’s not the first in the series - i really prefer to read series in order - but if it follows the usual format of book series of this genre, then I can probably deal with it. It’ll probably be one of the last ones I read, because I always save the delightful for last =w= This one came out in 2012.

and the book that I picked up that I’m most excited to read, “Heart Sick” which actually wasn’t in the horror section but next door in the Mystery/Thriller section. This one reads: “Portland Detective Archie Sheridan spent years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful and brutal serial killer. In the end, she was the one who caught him .... and tortured him ... and then let him go. Why did Gretchen spare Archie’s life and then turn herself in? This is the question that keeps him up all night - and the reason why he has visited Gretchen in prison every week since. Meanwhile, another series of Portland murders has Archie working on a brand-new task force ... and heading straight into the line of fire. The local news is covering the case 24/7, and it’s not long before Archie enters a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the killer - and his former captor. But this time, it’s up to Archie to save himself ...”

I mean, aside from the fact that i’m always a slut for serial killers, EW LITERALLY DRAWS COMPARISONS TO HANNIBAL LECTOR ON THE COVER, IM CRYING!!!!! LIKE??? IS THIS NOT THE RED DRAGON??????? UM??? Only made extremely heterosexual lmaooooo

but it’s somewhat interesting for the man to be the victim, and also I was seduced by the bright red cover and crude heart shape and the title “heart sick”, I am predictable and weak. “Love hurts. Sometimes it’s torture.” COVER BLURB PLEASE, I ALREADY PICKED THE BOOK UP, IT IS PAID FOR.

It’s definitely taunting me lol

I mean, I’m 99.999999% sure already that whatever I’m dreaming up in my own head is better than this book, if only because I can cater to my own psychological quirks 100% and ahhh ahhh but i loVE some psychos in love ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

[johnchiarello]

The Seed

THE SEED Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. https://youtu.be/Bx2bCUCqTxY The Seed https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/1-5-17-the-seed.zip ON VIDEO- . ‘I thought you were one of us!’ .Alice pool closes down .Media bias [who’s doing ‘fake’ news again?] .Mosul- U.N. vote- etc. .ISIS- Shia- Sunni .Protoevangelion .The coming seed [child] .Eve’s child will crush his head .Abrahams son will bless the world .David’s offspring will sit on the throne .Jesus fulfills it all .Ishmael and Isaac .Jesus is the Lion of Judah NEW- In my Galatians study I talked about the promised ‘seed’- Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. God promised to bless the world thru one of the offspring of Abraham. We also saw in my Samuel study that God made a promise to King David that one of his sons would sit on the throne ‘forever’- 2Samuel 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. These promises were fulfilled thru Christ. The first promise of a coming Messiah was given to Eve in the creation account-Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. We call this the Protoevangelion – meaning the first time we see the good news [gospel]. At the time of Christ they were awaiting for a Messiah who was prophesied to come. Yet they were looking for a deliverer In the natural sense- meaning someone who would save them from the ‘occupation’ of Rome. Yet- Jesus fulfilled the promises in a different way- He told us his kingdom was not like the world’s kingdoms- John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

God made these promises to various people thru out the history of the Old Testament. The main figures he gave these promises to did not understand all of the implications at the time. Abraham obeyed God- yet the promise of a son- Isaac- came to pass thru many trials. David had his struggles as well- yet he did Father Solomon- experienced divisions in his kingdom and family- but yet the one seed- the one child spoken about- was still to come. The first promise foretold that this coming deliverer would ‘bruise his head [satan] and he would bruise his heel’- Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Hmm? Heel? The prophecy was fulfilled at the Cross. Yes- Jesus would indeed suffer a bruise- wound- in this battle. Yet- it was thru this ‘bruising’ that he would fulfill the promise. Yes- he is the seed of Abraham- that would bless the world. He is the Son of David- that would arise to sit on the throne. And he is the woman’s Son- who would suffer an injury- And in doing so- would redeem the world- Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

PAST POSTS [These are my past teachings that relate to today’s video ‘The Seed’] GALATIANS [Links] https://ccoutreach87.com/2016/12/26/galatians-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2016/12/30/2nd-samuel-3-homeless-friends/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/02/galatians-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/10/galatians-3/

https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ JOHN 19 https://youtu.be/iS9OG-fiBL0 John 19 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-13-16-john-19.zip John 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! ON VIDEO- .Media bias .Yemen rebels shoot at us .Iran nuke deal .My question for Margie Rose? .animal rescue .Voter I.D. laws? .Did dead people vote? .Passover .No broken bones .Gamble for the coat .Final sacrifice .Made damn sure the Pilate washed his hands… NOTE- just a brief note before I post. In the news right now we are seeing- every night- the ‘advance’ on Mosul- a city in Iraq that ISIS took. Why is this- now- a major news story? [Beside the nonstop talk about Trump]. Because it is an effort- by the media- and our country- to change the narrative. Meaning ‘look- we are really attacking- and killing- ISIS’. ISIS has had this city for about 2 years- many of the people in the city see ISIS as their defenders- because they are on the religious side of ISIS- in the division within Islam. The Iraqi govt. forces are not on the side of some of the citizens in Mosul- and the history is when the Iraqis take back a city- with our help- the people are treated like ISIS. So- we- the U.S. – are willing to side with the actual murder of some of the citizens in Mosul- simply because it serves our political purposes leading up to the election. It gets the story on the front lines ‘look- the Obama administration [who Hillary was secretary of state] is really doing a great job fighting ISIS’. Yet- when [if] the city falls- what will happen next? In a year or 2 [or a month after the election in the U.S.] it will either go back to ISIS- or the Iraqis will persecute the citizens [kill] who they see as siding with ISIS. Some in the city sided with them because ISIS gave them a type of government- which they did not have under the American backed Iraqi leadership. So- that’s why you are seeing this as a top story- sad indeed.

PAST LINKS [verses below] NOTE- The proclamation of John ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’- In Latin the term is Agnus Dei- as a boy we sung this hymn in Catholic church ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world- have mercy on us’. [Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.- this is the full phrase in the Latin – taken from John’s declaration- where the Christian song/chant comes from] JOHNS GOSPEL LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/amos-5/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/jesus-christ/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/father-abraham/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/21/the-flood/ John 3 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/the-well-john-4/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/john-5/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/john-6/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/john-7/ https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/8-10-15-john-14.zip https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/16/john-8/ https://youtu.be/f8VpxlYM_kU John 8- ‘who the Son sets free’ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/john-9/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/31/john-10/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/john-11-the-8th-sign/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/i-found-a-verse/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/13/john-12/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/samuel-john-hebrews-review/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/john-13/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/john-14/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/04/john-15/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/john-16/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/24/john-17/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/john-18/ I mention Corinthians and Ephesians on today’s video- below are my studies- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ephesians-highlights/

Exodus 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. Numbers 9:12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it. Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they [parts] ANTI- CHRIST- [Church Unlimited notes- 2nd- 3rd John] 3John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. https://youtu.be/7dfLhO2HBf8 anti- Christ [2nd, 3rd John] https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-23-16-anti-christ-2nd-3rd-jn.zip ON VIDEO [past posts below] .See my Hillary drawing [sorry] .Who is anti-christ? .Some thought Hitler .Apostles relate to the bride .Soteriology .Was John a theological liberal? Mosul .Iraq- Libya .ISIS .Sunni- Shia division .Execution- or human shields- or just murder? .Abortion .Docetism refuted [parts] OBADIAH- Obadiah 1:7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; that they eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him. https://youtu.be/LaG8b0etYK8 Obadiah ON VIDEO- .Peace treaty? .Leaked emails .How to skew the polls .Do I like to lynch Black people? .The 1 dollar cheese story .Homeless stuff .Iran- Yemen- Libya- Syria .The shores of Tripoli .ISIS .Turkey .Britannia ruled the seas- and lost .Mosul NEW- In this small book- 1 chapter- we read of the judgment of God upon Edom. They were a people that felt like they were unstoppable. The alliances they made were their downfall. As I read the book the other night- it made me think about our present situation. Let’s see if I can hit some high points. [parts] NEWS- [Mosul- 3 Americans shot and killed yesterday in Jordan- Wiki leaks reveals real corruption] I mentioned the last few weeks about our actions in Mosul Iraq. The U.S. is backing up the overthrow of this city- for political purposes. I mentioned how the Iraqi troops we are backing are Shia [Muslim division] and some of the population of Mosul are Sunni. Should we be backing up a ‘genocide’- meaning one group [Iraqi Shia] wanting to eliminate another [Sunni]. I saw a report on PBS news- the interviewer brought up the fact that the tanks that are now rolling into Mosul are flying Shia flags. Meaning- they are not there to ‘liberate’ people- but to murder Sunni. I saw another report where the U.S. backed Iraqi troops shot bullets ‘blind’ into a hiding place. The report on U.S. news did not say if women and children were hiding in there- and if they were murdered by U.S. backed troops. The military man that was confronted with the question ‘why are U.S. backed tanks flying Shia flags’- he avoided the question- and used ‘spin’. As of now- its possible women and children have been murdered- with the backup of U.S. power. That’s wrong. 3 of our men were shot and killed in Jordan yesterday- Last year a Jordanian captain shot 2 Americans. In yesterday’s incident the Jordanians claim the U.S. men did not stop at the gate- so they killed them. Yet- there are resentments that our men are there. The U.S. says it is investigating- because we don’t want it to ‘strain relations’. Meaning- yes- it’s possible they murdered our men- but- it’s more important to not have such a bad headline right before the election- because it might make Hillary and her record on foreign policy look bad. So- maybe they simply murdered our men- but- we have more important political things. Our nation is obviously divvied on the election- and it’s shocking to actually see the corruption in our government that was exposed the last few weeks by WIKI leaks. It shows a level of collusion within politics that covers up for those who have connections. The FBI agent who tipped off the Clinton people about an investigation into the emails- broke the law when he did this. The government’s official response was ‘when he tipped Clinton off- he was using his own personal email- so that’s ok’. People have gone to prison for stuff like this- but it is showing you a level of corruption inside our government. This is not simply a ‘Trump- Clinton’ thing- it is a national corruption scandal. [parts] (1143) THE FALL- God puts man in the garden, he gives him only one restriction ‘don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil’ sure enough, he does! The serpent [satan] tempts Eve in 3 areas, the tree is good for food [lust of the flesh] good to look at [eyes] and can make you wise [pride]. In 1st John 2 we see these three areas mentioned as the common categories of all other temptation. These were the same areas the devil used on Jesus in Matthew 4. The temptation to Eve essentially said ‘look at this God of yours! He wont give you the freedom to do anything you want, he is withholding such a good tree from you’ sounds like the philosopher Freud, he taught that the problem with man was Gods restrictions. That if man would cast off the limits that religion imposed upon them, then all would be well. But what man did not know was that these basic limits were for his own good. When man would choose to walk out from under Gods limits, he would suffer for it. In this chapter [Gen. 3] we also see the great prophecy of the child of the woman eventually crushing the serpents head [called the Protoevangelium- Latin] a prophecy about Christ’s future victory at the Cross. God also covers man with animal’s skins, a type of the future sacrifice of Christ on behalf of man. Man tried to cover up with leaves, God said it wont do, so he sacrificed the life of an animal and used the skins as a covering. The wages of sin is death, the price was paid. In Romans chapter 5 Paul will show us that death and sin passed upon all mankind from Adams sinful act, but thru the obedience of one man [Jesus dying on the Cross] righteousness comes to those who believe. This is the basic Christian doctrine of original sin. Some refer to this as the federal head theory of redemption. I believe it’s vital for Christians to have a grasp of this doctrine. In the 19th/20th centuries you had liberal theologians deny the doctrine of Jesus dying on behalf of man. Along with this they also denied that original sin existed. Most believers realized that this denial was heresy and avoided it, but some are playing with the idea again. The bible clearly teaches the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the behalf of man [Isaiah 53] and it is a foundational doctrine for all true believers. To some it seemed unfair to charge God with the doctrine of original sin, and along with it the doctrine of Penal substitution [Christ being punished for us] these are core Christian truths, if people want to deny them, that’s their choice. But to be a Christian in the biblical sense of the word, these truths are necessary, they are part of the foundation of all true Christian churches.

VERSES- Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? Genesis 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Genesis 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Genesis 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15:2 And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? Genesis 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. Genesis 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Acts 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. Acts 2:25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Acts 2:26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Acts 2:28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. Acts 2:32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Acts 2:35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Hebrews 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. Hebrews 11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Hebrews 11:18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

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Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.#

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Galatians 3

Sunday sermon 3-24-19

2017- Jan- Nov stuff

[theherblifeblog]

Can I Be A Drug Advocate As the Sister of A Drug Addict?

by Kait Heacock

The night I learned of my brother’s overdose, I cooked a large pot of food. Every time I’ve eaten this meal after, I’ve thought of it as the death meal. I was in survival mode: make enough food to feed myself for the next couple of nights because eating was one of the fews things I could guarantee. Eat, breathe, sleep, maybe. That week I drank too much and smoked weed every night. The weekend in Atlantic City, a new couple’s getaway, was damaged beyond repair, but we went, and I consumed everything I could to feed the vacuum inside me.

The Epidemic

Much like survivors of gun violence focus on gun reform or breast cancer survivors raise money for research, those of us touched by the opioid crisis feel a personal responsibility. I did not save my brother; that fact will remain with me for the rest of my life. But I refuse to sit quietly and watch other families fall apart, not when there are potential real solutions. Opioids are a big pharma backed scourge made possible by doctors rushing to dull the symptoms of chronic pain rather than treat the cause. We should stop scapegoating cannabis and put actual funding into more in-depth research.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest report found the number of opioid-related overdoses rose by nearly 28% between 2015 and 2016. These overdoses break down into prescription opioids, synthetic opioids, and heroin. It was heroin that took my brother, though his entry point was the painkillers given to him after foot surgery. After some fifteen years struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction, a doctor handed him a death sentence when they filled out that prescription.

In a report released in April 2018, JAMA found a correlation between legalizing marijuana and a reduction in opiates, and this follows a report from 2017 by the National Academies finding evidence “to support that patients who were treated with cannabis or cannabinoids were more likely to experience a significant reduction in pain symptoms.”

 According to a .gov drug abuse website, “Marijuana use disorder becomes addiction when the person cannot stop using the drug even though it interferes with many aspects of his or her life.” The website carries a whiff of reefer madness, so quick to offer marijuana as a gateway drug because it still holds the counterculture stigma of “turn on, tune in, drop out.” I was raised in the DARE, “just say no” generation, where we were taught that all drugs are the same. Unfortunately there are people, including those high up in our government, who can’t separate cannabis from other drugs.

For the record, former Attorney General Sessions, cannabis is not the same as heroin.

There were moments following my brother’s death when I wondered if I could do it too, need something so much I’d risk my life for it. I hovered on the brink but never dove off it. Is want and need the difference between dependence and addiction?

 In an alternate universe, my brother was told cannabis was not just another “illicit drug” made to fuck him up, but that it was a medicinal alternative to address the pain caused by his surgery.  

The Survivors

In an alternate universe, my brother survives. Not lives, survives. Because this is an epidemic.

I look for answers because I don’t have a brother anymore. A cursory glance at headlines suggest we exercise to combat the epidemic. The Trump administration wants to explore policy allowing the death penalty to be sought for drug dealers, and yet there is no mention of punishing pharmaceutical companies. We are fumbling in the dark for an answer to this plague. Is it really so absurd to suggest cannabis?

Entrepreneur and Ellementa co-founder Ashley Kingsley is a survivor. She is two years sober from pills and alcohol, and attributes her recovery to cannabis. Ashley suffered from undiagnosed Endometriosis for years, and from the age of 15, doctors prescribed her everything from sleeping pills to Percocet. When she was finally diagnosed, she underwent multiple surgeries and began to rely on opiates to dull the pain.

“It was like I had to feed something inside of me, like this beast,” Ashley described of her pill addiction. She tried AA, yoga, therapy—everything to get sober. “I was functional. I wasn’t jobless or homeless. I wasn’t what people pictured.”

Melissa Heldreth, co-founder of Panacea Plant Sciences, considers her family survivors too: “My brother was one of the lucky ones. He is one year and eight months off heroin, and it’s been a struggle for years.”

Melissa is also sober, and she uses cannabis for anxiety and pain relief. She, like so many others who become advocates, knows firsthand the risk of using cannabis when drug addiction is in your family, your life, yourself. When I shared with her my fear of a potential cannabis addiction, she told me, “I 100% understand this battle of thought process, but I look myself in the mirror every day and know this is the right thing for me. I’ve never been healthier or happier in my life.”

 She supports her and her brother’s recovery stories with evidence, pointing me to studies on how CBD stops addiction. “THC is what stops heroin and alcohol withdrawals that could potentially kill a person. While there are people with addictive personalities who should watch their intake, studies show that weed, itself, is not addictive,” she explains.

 “This is my main mission in life, to help end the stigma in using cannabis for sober people. To show people this is a less risky, healthier way to elevate so many things that doctors push prescriptions for. Prescriptions that are extremely addictive,” Melissa adds.

Ashley echoes the sentiment, saying, “Cannabis has changed my life—in so many ways. I want these kinds of stories out there.”

My Survival

I admit that I relied heavily on alcohol, weed, and sex to numb, self-medicate, and distract myself after my brother’s death. I was in survival mode. We don’t always make the best choices in desperate situations. In the nearly six years since, I’ve stopped sleeping around for the sake of departing my body, and I’ve stopped the reckless nights of binge drinking just to force myself to sob on the walk home, a needed pain extraction that was as messy as my wet face.

In the years since my brother’s death, my relationship with cannabis has only deepened. I’ve utilized it in both my running and writing routines, began learning its medicinal benefits through work with a women’s wellness network, and now proclaim myself a cannabis advocate.

I want to normalize cannabis and proclaim its benefits, but it’s hard to do that when first you have to fight stigma and stereotypes. I worry people can’t—or refuse—to see the plant in a new light. But I also worry that their shortsightedness prevents them from utilizing something that can help with pain, sleeping problems, and in my case, wading through the emotional chaos left inside of me in the wake of my brother’s death.

What I’ve found the most interesting in my experiences using cannabis to affect my mood is that it seems to help me better hone in on what I’m feeling and process it. When I drank, it was a distraction from what I was really feeling, or like I was only able to experience the raw, visceral tears. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in for an ugly cry, but sometimes I wanted to dig deeper than that, and that’s where cannabis shaped a lot of my grief journey. It slowed me down and helped me shed the inhibitions that kept me from truly exploring my grief.

I haven’t always felt comfortable admitting that cannabis helped me fight my way out of the dark places I had fallen into in the wake of loss. I worried people would think I was no different than him, using drugs to escape my problems. To preempt that, as anyone with addiction in their family should consider doing, I’ll take breaks from using cannabis and alcohol to check the want versus need ratio, sometimes for a week, maybe a month. I don’t ever want to need it, don’t want to abandon everything and wind up like my brother, frozen in his Alaskan backyard, hundreds of miles away from his children.

In an alternate universe, my brother and I sneak away from Thanksgiving dinner at our parents’ house, pass a joint by the lake, and talk about how big his kids are getting. But I don’t get to live in that universe. I live in this one; I survive in this one.

If you or someone you know is suffering and needs help there are resources available:

U.S.A.

The National Drug Helpline offers 24/7 drug and alcohol help to those struggling with addiction. Call the national hotline for drug abuse today to receive information regarding treatment and recovery.

Tel:1- 888-633-3239

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Tel:1-800-273-8255

Canada

For questions or concerns about substance use during pregnancy, please contact Motherisk’s Alcohol and Substance Use Helpline​ at 1-877-327-4636 (toll-free in Canada).

For access to a listing of programs offered to First​ Nations and Inuit, visit: Addictions Treatment for ​First Nations and Inuit​​.

The new Canada Suicide Prevention Service (CSPS), by Crisis Services Canada, enables callers anywhere in Canada to access crisis support by phone, in French or English: toll-free 1-833-456-4566 Available 24/7

Crisis Text Line (Powered by Kids Help Phone) Canada Wide free, 24/7 texting service is accessible immediately to youth anywhere in Canada by texting TALK to 686868 to reach an English speaking Crisis Responder and TEXTO to 686868 to reach a French-speaking Crisis Responder on any text/SMS enabled cell phone.

KidsHelpPhone Ages 20 Years and Under in Canada 1-800-668-6868 (Online or on the Phone) First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness 24/7 Help Line 1-855-242-3310 Canadian Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line 1-866-925-4419 Trans LifeLine – All Ages 1-877-330-6366

Visit thelifelinecanada.ca for more services.