#ban ban must atone for his sins

[toastedsquare]

It’s been a while…

[drconstellation]

The Altar of Eccles Cakes

(updated 21 Oct 2023, for Grain Offerings example) (updated 21 Nov 2023, for link to First Temptation)

The mysterious plate of Eccles cakes. Are they really to "calm people down?' And why do they just ...disappear? They must be there for a reason?

Yes, they certainly are. They are just the first course of a fascinating meal on offer in S2.

So far, most of the meta around the Eccles cakes has focused on the meaning of their name. Eccles is an old name for church. We could view it as Aziraphale trying to calm Crowley down. They are also known as "squashed fly cakes." The white outside and the black inside could be seen as a metaphor relating to Gabriel. Or it hints at the Roger the Stunt Fly, that contain Gabriel's memories, flying around the book shop, who's purpose we don't find out about until the end. There is even a link to the 1650 Sorry Dance that Aziraphale mentioned, in that were banned by Oliver Cromwell for being pagan! (Did I get that right? I've not kept the post link.)

[Edit: They also represent the First Temptation as Jesus fasts in the wilderness for 40 days before the Entry into Jerusalem at the start of the Passion narratives, where bread was made from stones.]

Take another look at the blocking in this shot. The dark horse statue, representing Crowley - even wearing his sunglasses! - has the placating plate of Eccles cakes placed before it, in supplication. Yeah, it didn't work this time, but it's the thought that counts. What we have here is Aziraphale making an Sin offering to the altar of Crowley, to ask for atonement in advance for what he has done (taking Gabriel in.)

Once you frame it in that reference, you realize its not the only altar offering made during S2. It also adds a bit more depth to some of the other scenes, where they have all been mentioned already in some way, but it certainly helps to explain the Eccles cakes!

Firstly, we need to mention the main types of altar offering that are made:

Burnt offerings - for general atonement of sins and for expression of devotion to God. It could be a bull, a ram, goat, or a bird in the form of a dove or pigeon. Such as this magnificent example in the Job minisode.

Aziraphale certainly devoted himself to the sin of gluttony on that occasion. (hang on, that didn't come out the right way, did it...?) But he was still devoted to God, despite his nocturnal conversation with Crowley while they waited out the storm in the cellar.

Grain offerings - a voluntary expression of devotion to God. This was grain prepared in different way, but always seasoned, unsweetened and unleavened. Recall at Gomorrah Lot offered to prepare the visiting angels unleavened bread as part of a meal.

Originally when I wrote this post I didn't think I had any Grain offering examples, but a few days later as I was writing my post on The Ineffable Ducks I realized where the missing S2 Grain offering was - in S2E1, when Crowley yells at the Azerbaijani spies in St James Park. The ducks are usually offered bread, which is leavened with yeast, so technically not quite correct, but when you review all the instances of feeding the ducks crumbs or bread crumbs it certainly fits. Unless you are Crowley, and you'd rather have the current state of quiet "frozen peas" between Heaven and Hell. See my Ineffable Ducks post for an elaboration.

Peace offering - This could be cattle, sheep or goat without defect, but the main purpose to was consecrate a meal between two or more parties before God and share that meal in a fellowship of peace and commitment to each other's future prosperity.

You know where we see one of these? At the eldritch ball!

I did see a nice meta about the vol-au-vents recently, mainly about their name, but I don't seem to have saved it, and can't find it again. They are usually filled with chicken (a bird) and the eldritch ball is ostensibly the shopkeepers monthly meeting, after all, where they are there to talk about their mutual prosperity in the future. Just so happens its also an opportunity for Aziraphale to talk to Crowley about their future...oh, and Nina and Maggie's, as well, of course!

Sin offering - atonement or unintentional sin. It would have the elements of a Burnt offering, as well as a Peace offering, but not be shared. These are what the plate of Eccles cakes are, so they were never meant to be eaten. They were an olive branch to Crowley regarding Gabriel, but he turned it down. So they softly and suddenly vanish away, never to be met with again.*

There is one more altar offering that needs to mentioned, another Sin offering. The one Crowley consumed in Elspeth's place in The Resurrectionists minisode in 1832 Edinburgh - the laudanum.

It pretty clear to most observers that Crowley did a good and "kind deed" for Elspeth here, which angered Hell in the process and then he was dragged forcibly downstairs to be duly punished for it. There is a post here from atlas-hope that suggests this is a parallel of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, drinking the cup of God's wrath to absolve Christians of their sins. They point out the laudanum is even poured into a goblet. Crumbs, that's a hefty bit of spiritual lifting, dear demon. What were you thinking, Anthony J. Crowley? It might cast that conversation you had with the carpenter back on the mountain in a new light, or least make us look back twice at it. (Plenty of time for contemplation before S3 arrives...)

Remember, a Sin offering has elements of both a Burnt offering and a Peace offering: a giant Crowley gets Elspeth to promise to devote the rest of her life to being "properly good, not just pretendy good" and the money Aziraphale is forced to donate to her ensures her future prosperity. Sounds like a win-win situation there, Elspeth!

[*OK, if you don't get the ref, its from the Hunting of the Snark. The Snark represents happiness, a most elusive thing to find, and more often than not its a fruitless search, and you find the terrible Boojum instead. During the third verse the Baker recounts the lecture his uncle gives him about how to hunt the Snark, and to be aware of his fate if he is unlucky enough to encounter a Boojum. It kind of fits in with S2, I feel.]

[francis-writes]

okay, but imagine. Sub Frollo misbehaving so you ban him from any sexual contact and he thinks he’s going to be fine with it.

cut to day three and he’s begging in tears to at least let him put part of you in his mouth, if not full blown eating you out. And of course, you being you, you tease him mercilessly.

if you could do headcannons or a oneshot, I would be extremely grateful!

that’s all, thank you for all your hard work!

tw: a bit of misogyny, foot worship

"I can't believe you said it" you stormed into your chamber, casting an angry glance at your husband. "You dare claiming that man is superior to woman?"

Frollo chuckled maliciously.

"Of course, darling. Men are more powerful and they have more rights... that's just how it is. That's how God created the world"

You pointed a finger at him, your eyes lighting up with anger.

"Say it one more time and and you will never touch my body again"

He shrugged.

"You think I care about it? I am over it. I don't need carnal pleasures. They are... nice, but not something necessary to life. Especially for a man of God like me" Frollo grinned "I would be more worried about you. After all, as a woman you're weaker... more prone to the whispers of devil"

He turned back and left the room with a smug smile on his face. You were enraged, but you knew well that sooner rather than later he would come back crawling to you and begging for forgiveness.

~~

As usual, you were right. Only three days passed since your promise and despite his expectantions, you didn't seem moved at all by temporary celibacy. But Claude found himself yearning for your touch and the taste of your body; he tried to convince to to give up punishing him. But when he tried to pull you closer in the night and kiss your back, you always got up and locked yourself in other room, sentencing him to sleep alone in a cold bed.

This period of chastity impacted even his work. Instead of focusing on official matters, the only thing Claude could think about was his yearning. It turned out that after all that time spent together, your body became his strongest addiction. Intoxicating sin, the one he wasn't able to live without.

He had to agree with her if he wanted to get back into your good graces. Frollo hated admiting he was wrong... well, in this case he didn't even believe that strongly in what he said. He only insisted that men are superior to annoy you. It turned out that his joke had consequences.

Frollo came back from work earlier that day. He couldn't pay attention to his duties anyway so he decided to go home and apologize. At least, he would get his pleasure earlier.

He entered your chamber to find you reading a book.

"Darling... I thought about our little argument and you are right. Men and women are equal"

You nodded, without looking up from the book.

"Good. I'm glad you came to your senses"

Frollo sighed with relief and came closer, putting hand on your shoulder.

"So maybe we shall celebrate our agreement in the bed?"

"No"

He froze.

"No? Why not? I admitted you were right!"

You looked at him mockingly.

"Yes, but you didn't atone for your mistakes. If you want anything now... you must beg for it"

Frollo clenched his fist. He would storm out of the room but after three days he was desperate.

"Please..."

"On your knees"

Claude kneeled before you and looked you in the eyes.

"Darling, I beg you.. let me touch you"

You exposed your feet in front of his face.

"Then show me how much you want it"

He smirked and took your feet in his hands. But he didn't manage to do anything before you pushed him strong enough that he landed on his back. You stood up and came closer to Claude. Looking down at him, you put your feet on his chest, pressing him to the floor.

"So you say men and women are equal..."

Frollo was still in state of a shock after what you did but he nodded. It was unexpected but thrilling and exciting at the same time.

"Yes"

"It is true... but there's one exception" you leaned over "You aren't equal, Claude. You are my slave. Do you understand?"

Frollo smirked. It started looking good.

"Yes, my goddess"

You moved your feet and put it on his face.

"Then show me how much do you worship me"

[a-queer-seminarian]

Jesus flipping tables: a more accurate & respectful reading

This post shares a large chunk of chapter two of Amy-Jill Levine’s book Entering the Passion of Jesus. (Read the whole chapter as a PDF here.) Levine is a Jewish woman who is also a Professor of New Testament Studies.

Levine combats traditional readings of the text with their antisemitic layers by evincing how Jesus’s anger reflects the anger of his predecessors Jeremiah and Zechariah — an anger focused not on the simple fact that sacrificial animals were sold in the Temples’ outer courts, but on the way the Temple (like many of our worship spaces today) had become a safe place for corrupt oppressors, who behaved as if their daily atrocities would be overlooked by God if they paid for a sacrifice every now and again.

TL;DR: to sum up Levine’s points, she evinces how:

Jesus’s whole table flipping, whip-wielding stunt is more symbolic than practical (echoing similar stunts pulled by his people’s prophets).

Some have argued Jesus is mad about gentiles not being allowed to worship in the temple, but they very much were welcome. (There were places and rituals off limits to them, just as there are certain things non-members can’t do in our own worship spaces, like take communion or be on a committee). 

Jesus wasn’t pissed about animals being sold in the temple’s outer courts; that was normal and logical. There’s also no evidence of exploitation or unjust prices, so he’s not angry about the poor being cheated here either.

Jesus did not reject the Temple, or its laws & rituals! He followed them himself and helped restore people to them. (He even has “zeal for his father’s house.”)

Jesus also isn’t condemning the high priest or other priests with his actions here. That’s just not in the text; plus Caiaphas’s worry about Jesus’s actions inciting political violence that could harm his people were reasonable.

What Jesus is communicating with his table flipping and whip-wielding: he’s upset that the Temple is as “a den of thieves,” a place where people who sin and oppress in their everyday life feel perfectly comfortable, instead of feeling called to repent and reform. His words hearken back to previous prophets with similar concerns.

And finally, in the version of this story told in John’s Gospel, Jesus seems to be looking forward to a time when the Temple is no longer needed, for all places will be sacred and God will speak directly to everyone of every nation -- once again, Jesus is hearkening back to previous prophets who looked forward to the same thing. This is also a concept that the Pharisees were into, so stop depicting the Pharisees as “evil” or “backwards” or completely at odds with Jesus! (One key difference between Jesus’s vision and the Pharisees’ if of course that Jesus identifies a “new temple,” his own body.)

One last thing: if you’re unfamiliar with the various Gospel versions of the “temple cleansing” -- Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:11-17, Luke 19:45-46, and John 2:13-17 -- or want to reference them as you read this post, visit this webpage to read them all.

Without further ado -- the excerpt from Levine.

________________

The incident known as the ‘Cleansing of the Temple’ is described in all four Gospels. Most people have the idea--probably from Hollywood--that this is a huge disruption. When we see this scene depicted in movies, we find Jesus fuming with anger, and we inevitably see gold coins falling down in slow motion. Everything in the Temple comes to a standstill. ...But we are not watching a movie: we are studying the Gospels. 

Here's what we know about the actual setting. We begin by noting that the Temple complex was enormous. It was the size of twelve soccer fields put end to end. So, if Jesus turns over a table or two in one part of the complex, it's not going to make much of a difference given the size of the place.

The action therefore did not stop all business; it is symbolic rather than practical. Our responsibility is to determine what was symbolized.

For that, we need to know how the Temple functioned.

The Jerusalem Temple, which King Herod the Great began to rebuild and which was still under construction at the time of Jesus, had several courts. The inner sanctum, known as the "Holy of Holies," is where the high priest entered, only on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, to ask for forgiveness for himself and for the people. Outside of that was the Court of the Priests, then the Court of Israel, the Court of the Women, and then the Court of the Gentiles, who were welcome to worship in the Temple. 

The outer court, the Court of the Gentiles, is where the vendors sold their goods. The Temple at the time of Jesus was many things: it was a house of prayer for all nations; it was the site for the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot/Pentecost, and Sukkot/Booths; it was a symbol of Jewish tradition (we might think of it as comparable, for the Jewish people of the time, to how Americans might view the Statue of Liberty); it was the national bank, and it was the only place in the Jewish world where sacrifices could be offered. Therefore, there needed to be vendors on site.

Pilgrims who sought to offer doves (such as Mary and Joseph do, following the birth of Jesus, according to Luke 2:24) or a sheep for the Passover meal would not bring the animals with them from Galilee or Egypt or Damascus. They would not risk the animal becoming injured and so unfit for sacrifice. The animal might fly or wander away, be stolen, or die. And, as one of my students several years ago remarked, "The pilgrims might get hungry on the way." One bought one's offering from the vendors.

And, despite Hollywood, and sermon after sermon, there is no indication that the vendors were overcharging or exploiting the population. The people would not have allowed that to happen. Thus, Jesus is not engaging in protest of cheating the poor.

Next, we need to think of the Temple as something other than what we think of churches. A church, usually, is a place of quiet and decorum. ...The Temple was something much different: It was a tourist attraction, especially during the pilgrimage festivals. It was very crowded, and it was noisy. The noise was loud and boisterous, and because it was Passover, people were happy because they were celebrating the Feast of Freedom. ...We might think of the setting as a type of vacation for the pilgrims: a chance to leave their homes, to catch up with friends and relatives, to see the "big city," and to feel a special connection with their fellow Jews and with God. It is into this setting that Jesus comes.

______________

Driving out the Vendors 

...It seems to me that Jesus, in the Temple, was angry. But what so angered him? I hear from a number of people, whether my students in class or congregations who have invited me to speak with them, that the Temple must have been a dreadful institution; that it exploited the poor; that it was in cahoots with Rome; that Caiaphas, the High Priest in charge of the Temple, was a terrible person; that it banned Gentiles from worship and so displayed hatred of foreigners; and so forth. ...Some tell me that the Temple imposed oppressive purity laws that forbade people from entering, and so Jesus, who rejected those laws, rejected the temple as well. No wonder Jesus wants to destroy the institution.

But none of those views fits what we know about either Jesus or history.

First, Jesus did not hate the Temple, and he did not reject it. If he did, then it makes no sense that his followers continued to worship there. Jesus himself calls the Temple "my Father's house" (Luke 7:49: John 2:16). ...

Second, Jesus is not opposed to purity laws. To the contrary, he restores people to states of ritual purity. Even more, he tells a man whom he has cured of leprosy, "Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them" (Mark 1:44; see also Matthew 8:4; Luke 5:14). 

Third, Jesus says nothing about the Temple exploiting the population. As we'll see in the next chapter, when we talk about the widow who makes an offering of her two coins, Jesus is concerned not with what the Temple charges, but with the generosity of the worshipers. 

Fourth, we've already seen that the Temple has an outer court, where Gentiles are welcome to worship. They were similarly welcome in the synagogues of antiquity, and today. They do not have the same rights and responsibilities as do Jews, and that makes sense as well. When I [a Jewish woman] visit a church, there are certain things I may not do. We might also think of how nations function: Canadians, for example, cannot do certain things in the USA, such as vote for president; nor can citizens of the USA vote in Canadian elections.

As for Caiaphas...Caiaphas is basically between a rock and a hard place. He is the nominal head of Judea, and he is supposed to keep the peace. Judea is occupied by Rome, and Roman soldiers are stationed there. Caiaphas needs to make sure that these soldiers do not go on the attack. He needs to placate Pilate, and he needs to placate Rome. 

At the same time, as the High Priest, he has a responsibility to the Jewish tradition. Rome wanted the Jews to offer sacrifices to the emperor...but Caiaphas and the other Jews refused to participate in this type of offering because they would not worship the emperor. The most they were willing to do was offer sacrifices on behalf of the emperor and the empire.

When Jesus comes into the city in the Triumphal Entry, when people are hailing him as son of David, Caiaphas recognizes the political danger. The Gospel of John tells us that the people wanted to make Jesus king (John 6:15). Caiaphas has to watch out for the mob. Caiaphas also has to watch out for all these Jewish pilgrims coming from all over the empire celebrating the Feast of Freedom, the end of slavery. When he sees Roman troops surrounding the Temple Mount, Caiaphas has to keep the peace. And Jesus is a threat to that peace. But none of this has to do directly with Jesus' actions in the Temple. He is not at this point protesting Caiaphas's role.

Sometimes I hear people say that Jesus drove the "money lenders” out of the Temple. That's wrong, too. Money-lending was a business into which the medieval church forced Jews, because the church concluded that charging interest was unnatural (money should not beget money). Yet people needed, then and now, to take out loans. The issue for the Gospel is not money lending but money changing. These money changers exchanged the various currencies of the Roman Empire into Tyrian shekels, the type of silver coin that the Temple accepted. We experience the same process when we visit a foreign country and have to exchange our money for the local currency.

So, if Jesus is not condemning the Temple itself, or financial exploitation, or purity practices, what is he condemning? Let's look at what the Gospels actually say.

According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, ...the concern is not the Temple, but the attitude of the people who are coming to it.

In Mark's account Jesus begins by saying, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?" (11:17). Indeed, it is so written. Jesus is here condensing and then quoting Isaiah 56:6-7... Jesus' rhetorical question should be answered with a resounding “Yes!"--for the Temple already was a house of prayer for all people. More, he is standing in the Court of the Gentiles when he makes his pronouncement. ...Thus, the problem is not that the Temple excludes Gentiles. 

Already we find the challenge, and the risk. Are churches Today houses of prayer for all people, or are they just for people who look like us, walk like us, and talk like us?

How do we make other people feel welcome? Is the stranger greeted upon walking into the church? Is the first thing a stranger hears in the sanctuary, "You're in my seat"? When we pray or sing hymns, do we think of what those words would sound like in a stranger's ears? ...

Matthew and Luke drop out "For all nations," and appropriately so, for they knew it already was a house of prayer for all nations. Matthew and Luke thus change the focus to one of prayer. And prayer gets us closer to what is going on in the Synoptic tradition.

___________

Den of Thieves

Jesus continues, ‘But you are making it a den of robbers’ (Matthew 21:13). Here he is quoting Jeremiah 7:11: “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight?”

A "den of robbers" (sometimes translated a "den of thieves") is not where robbers rob. "Den” really means "cave," and a cave of robbers is where robbers go after they have taken what does not belong to them, and count up their loot. The context of Jeremiah's quotation -- and remember, it always helps to look up the context of citations to the Old Testament -- tells us this.

Jeremiah 7:9-10 depicts the ancient prophet as condemning the people of his own time, the time right before Babylonians destroyed Solomon's Temple over five hundred years earlier: “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are safe!’ -- only to go on doing all these abominations?" 

Some people in Jeremiah's time, and at the time of Jesus, and today, take divine mercy for granted and see worship as an opportunity to show off new clothes rather than recommit to clothing the naked. The present-day comparison to what Jeremiah, and Jesus, condemned is easy to make: The church member sins during the workweek, either by doing what is wrong or by failing to do what is right. Then on Sunday morning this same individual, perhaps convinced of personal righteousness, heartily sings the hymns, happily shakes the hands of others, and generously puts a fifty-collar bill in the collection plate. That makes the church a den of robbers -- a cave of sinners. It becomes a safe place for those who are not truly repentant and who do not truly follow what Jesus asks. The church becomes a place of showboating, not of fishing for people. 

Jeremiah and Jesus indicted people then, and now. The ancient Temple, and the present-day church, should be places where people not only find community, welcome the stranger, and repent of their sins. They should be places where people promise to live a godly life, and then keep their promises. ...

___________

Stop Making My Father's House a Marketplace

John's Gospel says nothing about the house of prayer or den of robbers. In John's Gospel, Jesus starts not simply by overturning the tables, but also by using a “whip of cords" (since weapons were not permitted in the Temple, he may have fashioned the whip from straw at hand), and driving out the vendors. Jesus when says to the dove sellers, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" (John 2:16). He is alluding to Zechariah 14:21, the last verse from this prophet, "and every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and use them to boil the flesh of the sacrifice. And there shall no longer be traders in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day."

In John's version of the Temple incident, Jesus anticipates the time when there will no longer be a need for vendors, for every house not only in Jerusalem but in all of Judea shall be like the Temple itself. The sacred nature of the Temple will spread through all the people. He sounds somewhat like the Pharisees here, since the Pharisees were interested in extending the holiness of the Temple to every household.

The message is a profound one: Can our homes be as sanctified, as filled with Worship, as the local church?

Do we “do our best" on Sunday From 11 a.m. to 12 noon, but just engage in business is usual during the workweek? Do we pray only in church, or is prayer part of our daily practice? Do we celebrate the gifts of God only when it is time to do so in the worship service, or do we celebrate these gifts morning to night? Is the church just a building, or is the church the community who gathers in Jesus' name, who acts as Jesus taught, who lives the good news? 

Jesus' words, citing Zechariah, do even more. They anticipate a time when all peoples, all nations, can worship in peace, and in love. There is no separation between home and house of worship, because the entire land lives in a sanctified state. Perhaps we can even hear a hint of Jeremiah's teaching of the "new covenant," when "no longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, 'Know the LORD,’ For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). Can we envision this? Can we work toward it? ...

[radcatcrown]

Stephen’s Cosmos

Alternative title: My frustrations with Steven Universe coalesced into form in an AU

So Steven Universe: The Movie came out and after months of slumber, it woke my gripes with the series due to stuff that happened within the movie that irked me. I’ve had my problems with Steven Universe for some time now, and it's not that the movie is the straw the broke the camel's back, but hey, seems like a good time as any to do this.

Statement of Purpose: My main problem with Steven Universe is not an issue of the attempt at redeeming villains, for a dude like myself that grew up on an anime media diet, villains getting turned good is old hat. I’ve seen it better done than SU and worse than SU. The idea that yes, somebody that has done wrong in the past and has recognized the error of their ways has a possibility to atone is a good message. The problem is with SU scale, because of its insistence of going cosmic and having most serious problems have the sake of the world in the balance as an allegory for family issues makes it less credible, and more than a tad reprehensive. So this is an AU that remixes the show to do away with it. Mind you this is just a basic, vague, ranty pitch, probably not going to write out any episodes. We good? Ok. Let's begin.

Premise and Setting: In the interest of cutting down on the ‘epic’ scale of original SU, I’ll have this set mostly on modern-day earth and maybe other realms if necessary. Stephen’s Cosmos would have more of a straight-up magic/fantasy feel than the sci-fi magi-tech the show uses. This is because we’re not using aliens here, we’re using witches. And since we’re going for differences I’ll be using a Floral/herbal naming scheme for these witches, maybe even have them have developed plant-like features, but having them be human women at least as a basis. The backstory would go like so; existing for centuries in the shadows there would be a coven of powerful Witches known as the Chrysanthemum Circle, composed of the Elder Sister; White Chrysanthemum, Middle Sisters; Blue and Yellow/Golden Chrysanthemum and the youngest Red Chrysanthemum. They would rule over a pseudo-amazonian secret island in the middle of the pacific ocean, where they have built a society of witches that work under them, basically for both the preservation of the society itself and for them to be able to live in luxury. Red would be treated as a child by the other three instead of an equal, constantly the victim of abuse and punishment for her oddities in her sister’s eyes. This causes her to run away a few times before burning bridges in an impulsive manner, escaping and taking a few like-minded witches with her, namely her handmaiden and confidant Lily, the mysterious Sunflower, and a few others. Red would shed her imperious persona for a softer, friendlier Pink Rose. From there they would wander the world of man, picking up a young human girl that would come to name herself Carnation. They would settle and build a temple in the small coastal city of Beach City eventually, where they would live until the foreseeable future as the coven of the Wild Flowers. There Pink would find Mr. Universe and things would progress as cannon... except Pink doesn’t need to die here. So we have Pink Rose as part of the secondary cast. The main premise of the story would be to have an episodic structure with monster/problem-of-the-week setups(depending on how much action it makes sense to have in it), slowly integrating Stephen and the Flowers into the quirky town of Beach City, as well as learning lore and having the Flowers help with the strange occurrences in this town. These episodic seasons would get broken up with two-parter season finale to have a nice bombastic event. It would get slightly more serialized as it goes along, more-less the Avatar: The Last Airbender model. There would be a reveal of who Rose is about halfway through where Lily reveals it under dire circumstances and would fragment the Wild Flowers. Why not go with a completely mundane plot? Because flora is pretty, witches are cool and lesbian witches are double cool. (If you must though it's actually not that hard, the Diamonds are an old money/noble family, staunchly elitist and traditionalist, have them be in Europe where they rule over a township. Rose runs away due to similar situations and we’d have her and other runaways come to Beach City and slowly get integrated with ensuing hijinks and slice-of-life situations.)

Characters

Red Chrysanthemum/Pink Rose: Ok this is the big one so we better get it out of the way first. Since she’s going to be around her main impact on the show is actually being able to be there and explain herself but also deal with the fallout of her own choices. Her personality would be very nice, motherly, soft and friendly but in a way that she seems above it all, careless and perhaps a little too hands-off. Her main flaw to be dealt with is her selfishness. Her main arc would be raising Steven, and recognizing other people as her equals that she loves instead of her inferiors to be protected. The secondary arc would be having to deal with the repercussions of her past actions and her secrets.

Stephen: If one’s theme is generational abuse then exploring the next generation is crucial. Stephen would serve as an instigator to get the Flowers closer to the regular human population, and the audience closer to the bizarre and mysterious Wild Flowers. Stephen’s arc or arcs rather would focus on many things, but the main one being on his growth is the best of both worlds, his mother and father’s better qualities without the baggage that brought them into being, having to struggle with his identity between two worlds and the friction therein. He would eventually mature to be better than Pink. 

Lily: Lily would be Pearl’s equivalent, a Handmaiden literally sworn to serve Red; now Pink. The first thing that was done after their escape was to break her oath. We’d keep her arc of her having unrequited feelings for Pink, and her issues with her self worth and need for outside stimuli and approval. Her feelings would eventually need to be confronted and her dependency issues would be dealt with by her efforts to own her own person, be well with herself by being independent, and find maybe a new love?

Sunflower: Sunflower would be the fusion between two witches in love, separated by their classes back in the Island; the knightly and flaming Poppy and the serene seer Tulip. They wanted to be together with such fervor that when they were ordered to stay separated due to their social standings they performed a forbidden ritual that bound them both as one sole entity, sort of as a witchy marriage. The Chrysanthemums banned this ritual due to the exponential increase in power between the two participants, fearing it may topple them, so they declared it forbidden and decadent due to the ‘loss of two precious lives to bring in one tortured life’. The ritual cannot be sustained forever and it would be dissolved every new moon, and the preparations to properly perform it take a few days at least. This allows the two cute lesbians to be cute together. There would be parallels between them and the Rose/Lily relationship, but also serve to contrast them. Their arcs would mostly be relationship-based, regarding if they are codependent, if their relationship is healthy, they would have their rough patches and arguments like any married couple and hopefully a second more human wedding. 

Amy Thistle Aka Carnation: Carnation would be a neophyte witch kicked out of her foster home due to her magical inclinations. Finding a kindred spirit in their search for freedom Rose takes her under her wing. Carnation turns out to have the more ‘normal’ demeanor of the three witches. She would have parallels with Rose in the sense that even after Stephen’s around she’s treated like the kid and even not a ‘proper’ witch, this results in aggravating the self-worth and self hate issues she had. Rose’s words of ‘you’re perfect as you are’ would soothe her but in the long run, it just put obstacles in her development. She would grow to have frictions with Stephen, but would resolve them together with him. 

Connie: Basically the same but make her parents actually overbearing or traditionalist as to make parallels with the Chrysanthemums.

Lavender: A cloudshaper that got caught up in a riot against the Chrysanthemums, was sealed in a mirror until Stephen liberates her accidentally. Once out she lashes out against even the ones that gave her a helping hand. Her way to cope with her own trauma due to being sealed for hundreds of years would be violent and volatile. Her arc would be of her working through that trauma and for her to serve as a MASSIVE red flag for Rose of what her sisters’ deeper sins may be.

Mint: Keep Peridot’s arc and just adjust for lower scale. Her whole arc should be about broken misconceptions about the society outside the Island, and breaking through the behaviors that repressive society has ingrained. Parallels with Rose on that one. 

Oak: Oak would have more-less Jasper’s role in the story at large, first as a weapon for the Chrysanthemums and later as a recurring antagonist. Functionally she would begin to show to Rose and the others the consequences of her running away and other past actions since Oak was a member of her former court. 

Peony: An original member of the Wild Flowers that was found by Stephen as he messed around with portals. Her conflict with Rose originally would be more-less the same than Bismuth, their ideological differences, in this case, Peony has created a garment that would sever one’s connection with magic, reducing the user to a regular human. As with the original, she would be right in wanting justice and revenge. She wanted to use that to topple the Chrysanthemums and have them face the people’s justice. Rose exiled her before, and kept her secret. When she appears again old wounds are opened, and it is Peony that plants the seeds of direct rebellion within the Wild Flowers.

Townies: Most of these are fine and we don’t need to touch it, there are three major changes to be done though; Kevin, who should get a rehabilitation arc from a douche creep to a decent person, as a sort of practice for Stephen to help everybody else. Lars, since he can no longer be of the Stars, would become a part of the human contingent of Wild Flowers, mostly out of a search for purpose and adventure. Ronaldo would be rehabilitated from a self-important conspiracy buff into another, Dipper Pine’s-ish Wildflower.

The Chrysanthemums: Ok now the big bads. The Chrysanthemums would be aristocratic and authoritarian, capable of atrocities and overall believe themselves to be superior to everybody else. They would be the center of a “Diamond-Days”-esque arc in which Stephen, Rose and the other Wild Flowers go back to the Island with the explicit purpose of changing things for the best. They would need to test the lessons learned by Rose and her growth. General personality for the three? Yellow should be be imperius and ruthless, Blue should feel sublime, like the serene calm for a perpetual storm. White would actually have a god complex; she thinks of herself as perfect and eternal. They have been ‘mourning’ Red since she ran away, but the mourn an idealized version of her, the Red they wish they had lived with. From here during their story arc we would slowly begin to find out that Blue and Yellow act the way they act out of fear, though there is a degree of them that did buy into White’s beliefs. They’ve seen what White is capable and they know they’re not powerful enough even combined. Rose would end up confronting all three of them about the trauma they put her through, not only that but for the combined suffering and pain their rule of repression has caused to the witches in the island. She would reach through to Blue and Yellow… but not White. White reacts how an angry god might. They would manage to repel her and she would become the true antagonist, a goddess ousted from her temple. Blue and Yellow over the course of the next seasons begin to realize the true extent of their actions and set upon trying to fix and atone, but it would be made clear that hundreds of years of oppression cannot be easily wiped away. White herself would end up being defeated, depowered, and put on trial. Ultimately she would be sealed away.

So yeah, that’s it, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[flatsuke]

for you, the world

Title: for you, the world

Summary: Sometimes, he wished someone out there could grant the wishes of a god. Time Loop AU

Genre:  Angst, Romance

Pairing:  MC/Leon

Rating: T

a/n: Happy Belated Birthday @maidofstars!! I’m sorry this came really late, but I wanted this to be good lmao! This fic was heavily inspired by Madoka Magica’s 3rd Movie! I thought it would be fitting for Leon :’) 

Also a big thank you to @kiserusmoke for getting my ass into overdrive  also @angel34jolly-blog, i finally made a Leon fic :D

?.

The wishes always came to Leon in endless streams.

As a Wishes minister, he’d heard them all before. The annoying lottery wishes, the please-let-me-get-an-A wishes, the heal-my-dog wishes—he’d heard everything, and frankly, he was tired of doing so.

None of those could hold a candle to the sheer amount of love wishes that landed on his desk, however.

Humans never seemed to stop wishing about love, and that annoyed Leon to no end. There was always someone out there who wanted love to be shaped according to their terms, without any consideration for anything else. Leon thought there was nothing more disgustingly human than that.

It came to a point where he had to put his foot down and ban granting love-related wishes in the department. He was sure the other gods had their misgivings with this development, but no matter. His word was the next best thing to the law in the heavens.

“Leo, don’t you think you’re being a bit hasty with this decision?” Karno asked him. Typical of the Cancer god, Leon thought. Always the only one brave enough to question me.

“Of course not. There’s no merit in granting wishes that aren’t worth anything.”

It was true. Leon couldn’t think of any goldfish wishes that didn’t have some hint of human greed or selfishness in them. The mere thought of granting any of them left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Except, maybe, for one wish.

There was one goldfish whose wish didn’t disgust him immediately. The human—a little girl—always looked at the stars with her hands clasped and asked for the same thing—

“I wish something wonderful would happen.”

It was vague, childish even. But it held the hopes and dreams of a little goldfish with stars in her eyes.

Maybe just once, he’d grant this wish.

i.

That trickster of a king must’ve had a twisted sense of humor if he thought sending Leon on Earth to erase his mark of sin was funny.

But sending him on earth knowing full well that he’d fall for the ex-goddess? The king was an absolute bastard.

The goldfish, in her enthusiasm, had invited to him to attend the Star Festival with her. He willingly chose to indulge her—after all, this was the last thing he could do for her before he’d face the wrath of the heavens. He had to leave her with something, and all he was allowed to give was a memory worth keeping.

Unfortunately, their evening was ruined when Minister Ponytail decided to make himself known.

“Lay a hand on her and you’ll regret it.” Leon was smirking, but his words had no mirth in them whatsoever.

“…Because you don’t want any harm to come to her?”

For the first time in the long time they’ve known each other, though he’d never admit it, Leon agreed.

Leon knew, deep down, that Zyglavis did nothing out of malice. He only acted out of a sense of misplaced duty and honor, not to mention the fact that he was incapable of seeing things beyond black and white logic.

That, Leon thought, was his greatest mistake. He would never beat Leon as long as he lived by that outdated mentality.

Leon was already preparing to block Zyglavis’ attack, but he underestimated how foolish she was.

(And how selfless she was.)

Humans were not supposed to have holes in their chests, but here she was, charred skin surrounding the gaping wound right on her heart. She slumped onto the ground, and he was reminded of the little fish they won earlier, now flapping helplessly beside her.

“Why did she…?” Not even Zyglavis could’ve predicted that she’d try to shield Leon from the attack.

But none of that mattered right now.

Leon felt his suppressed power well up in him in waves, and despite all the chaos around him, he could only see red. How dare this insolent god hurt her, how dare this filthy world reject her—

How dare you for not protecting her, Leon.

“Leon! Don’t do this, there are humans here!” Zyglavis’ screams were already white noise to him.

He remembered a wish long ago that he promised himself he’d grant.

If there was anything Leon was completely sure of, it’s that he would do anything to make sure it would come true.

Even if I have to do it over and over.

ii.

This time, he was able to save her before Zyglavis’ attack reached her. Only, in her attempt to keep him from going berserk at Zyglavis, her body absorbed all the impact from his unleashed power.

This time, it was his fault.

But despite all that, she forgave him. Even when he was being dragged off to the heavens to stand trial, she didn’t blame him for causing her pain. Hell, she even begged him to take her with him.

(How could he compete against that?)

In the end, both of them stood before everyone in the Punishments court. She was beside him, obviously unnerved by the scrutinizing looks of all the gods. Still, she met all their gazes head-on with the hidden strength he came to love.

That’s my goddess.

He was, as the humans would say, in deep shit. But seeing her stand her ground against the likes of the ponytailed stick-up-the ass gave him a reason to smile through all this.

“The time of judgement has arrived,” Zyglavis’ stern voice rang across the hall. “You were exiled to Earth for committing the sin of defiling a goddess. However, instead of spending your time on Earth atoning for your sin, you broke a law of the heavens.”

She trembled beside Leon, holding his hand tighter—tighter than she did the first night they met.

“Do you admit to this sin, Leon, wild lion of the heavens?”

He smirked. Of course, he knew exactly what he did better than anyone. The old adage of the heavens, “a god must not love a human more than any other,” rang in his head, but he didn’t bother entertaining the thought further. In fact, he’d abandoned that thought long before he arrived in court.

You’re the only person here that matters.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Zyglavis,” Leon said, giving the other god his best sneer. “I never denied that I broke the law.”

“Tread carefully, lion—”

“But the fact remains that she helped me erase my sin. So make of that what you will.”

The furrow in Zyglavis’ brow only grew more pronounced. “Of all the gods here, your power is paramount to the balance heavens.”

Again with his “balance” foolishness—

“That’s no concern of mine," Leon said.

“Watch your mouth,” Zyglavis scolded, his voice reverberating. “Despite everything, you are still the head of the Department of Wishes—for the time being. I will have you decide now. God or human—which do you choose?”

Leon knew this was a trick question. Should he choose to be human, he would lose his powers, thereby rendering her unable to return to Earth. If he chose to remain a god, he would have to do the unthinkable.

“…Are you asking me to kill her?” His voice took a deadly edge.

“If you don’t, then the only path left for you is extinguishment.”

She panicked visibly at that, and Leon could already read her thoughts—all of which asked him to kill her and save his own life.

Like I would ever let that happen.

She’d told him before that she never wanted to be separated from him, even at the cost of her life. As a wish-granting god, Leon could only do what he did best.

The space around him shifted. The light around him grew to a blinding gold, and he knew the end was near. Yet, none of that mattered to him.

To hell with the King, the gods, and the heavens. If he was a sinner, then so be it. Let the world condemn him, so long as she could have another chance at happiness.

And I would do it again, just to see you smile.

iii.

He was back at the planetarium again, just like the first night they met.

True to her nature, she leapt off the planetarium’s balcony to save a little boy from falling. The force of the boy’s fall was too strong, and just like before, she was pulled over the side of the roof, falling to what could have been her untimely death.

But unlike before, he wasn’t the god who saved her this time.

Leon distinctly heard her heart call out for Huedhaut.

True enough, Hue responded at a moment’s notice, and Leon had never seen the god of Aquarius look so desperate before.

Not since he’d lost that person all those years ago.

Hue held her carefully, guiding her gently back to the planetarium. She, in turn, clung onto him as tightly as she could.

At the back of his mind, Leon always knew that she and Hue had a connection of some sort. He wasn’t a fool not to know that Hue’s missing stars and the reincarnated goddess’ existence were related. In fact, Leon never missed the way Hue looked at her longingly, as if she would disappear from his sight if he didn’t watch her.

Still, seeing them together still sent a stab of pain in Leon all the same.

He supposed this world wasn’t the one meant for him. If he was right, then she was meant to be with Hue in this world. It wasn’t Leon’s place to interfere. He would stay in the sidelines and support them. All that mattered was that she ended up happy.

However, Fate loved to play tricks on the good, and she was the greatest of the good.

Huedhaut returned to the heavens after his mark of sin faded, but her heart didn’t sit well with his absence. Day after day, the rain never stopped its barrage on Earth—a clear reflection of her feelings.

Feelings Leon knew all too well.

Zyglavis, ever the dutiful square, gave her the option of letting Huedhaut die to save Earth, or to let herself die to save both him and Earth.

And, just like always, she gave herself up so easily.

(He wondered if this unending agony was what Hue had to live with for eons.)

iv.

Leon remembered an interesting question Vega posed one day.

“If the gods grant the humans’ wishes, then who grants the gods’ wishes?”

For the life of him, he didn’t know. Supposedly, gods were existences of the highest order; they were at the pinnacle of the everything, able to manipulate the laws of creation at will.

Yet the only wish he’s ever had, the only person that made his world have any semblance of meaning in it—

“I’m sorry, Leo,” Karno had his eyes closed in sorrow. “She was trying to save a boy from a moving car, but…”

He didn’t need to hear Karno continue. He’d already seen her body sprawled on the crosswalk, blood and viscera splattered everywhere.

Humans prayed to the gods to grant their wishes, but Leon had no one to pray to.

v.

Gods didn’t fail.

They were perfect beings that naturally excelled at everything. That was how everything was and always will be.

But after holding her limp body against his chest for the nth time, Leon didn’t think so anymore.

vi.

If this world was the King’s doing, Fate’s doing, or some sick being’s doing, then they were truly despicable in the worst ways.

Leon looked everywhere, but he couldn’t find a single trace of her in this world. He went to the planetarium and asked her friend Hiyori about her, but she only told him that no one of that name ever worked there. Her ever-cozy apartment was vacant, with no sign of anyone ever living in it. Hell, he even checked her family registry only to find out her parents never had any children.

It was utter blasphemy for her not to exist. No one among the gods could fathom his grief, not Karno, not Zyglavis, not even Hue. To them, Leon holing himself up in his private flower field was just another show of his apathy toward everything and not a means of escape from his dreadful reality.

So be it.

He would leave this world and let it rot like the trash it was. A world without her in it wasn’t one worth living in.

vii.

Leon already stopped counting when he reached the thousands. Snapping his fingers was growing tiring at every failure he’s lived through, and the gods have noticed his growing disdain for the universe.

The King had told him once before that gods loved all beings equally.

However, all Leon could think of was how fast this world could end.

viii.

Supposedly, as a god, Leon had all the time in the world. In theory, it made sense. Gods were immortal by nature, and the long stretch of time was nothing to the lifespan of a god.

But if Leon was being honest, his greatest enemy wasn’t the Department of Punishments or even the King.

It was time.

There was never enough time to prepare himself for her inevitable death. There was never enough time for him to save her.

(How he wished to grab time by its throat and crush it with his hands, so that it would know at least a fraction of his pain.)

ix.

Maybe, Leon thought, he should just ask her to wish for his unconditional success.

(He stopped for a while and asked himself if it was possible for gods to go insane.)

x.

Why?

Why are you still so selfless even after everything?

xi.

I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.

xii.

He still had one last option, one last trump card he’s kept to himself all this time. If he used it, he’d be breaking not only the laws of the heavens, but that of the universe as well—of reality itself.

But that didn’t matter to him. It never did.

He’d told her this before, and he’d say it forever:

If loving you is a sin, then let me be a sinner.

xiii.

None of the other gods could hold Leon down in his divine form. The King himself tried to step down and intervene, but Leon was stronger. No one in the world could ever hope to understand his grief.

It was for her alone.

He would become an existence far beyond the god of Leo; he would be her direct antithesis—selfishness itself.  The universe would be rewritten according to his terms, and his terms alone. She would never again be hurt by anything or anyone.

He would specifically make it a universal law to never have her be hurt.

“Please, think about what you’re doing!” Karno yelled at him. “You can’t just destroy everything like that!”

Leon only held her in his arms tighter, the light around them becoming blinding.

Even the scorpion couldn’t hide his panic. “You’re messing with shit beyond our realm!”

“Leon, this isn’t what I—” she tried to plead with him, but he only smiled at her.

Now I can finally—

“Leon! Stop!”

—grant your wish.

xiv.

He sat alone on his throne, marveling at his new creation. The threads of his new cosmos were beginning to form, and he was satisfied. Everything was just as it should be.

“Leon,” said a low voice from the end of the hall. It was Huedhaut, still in his divine form.

How impertinent.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Hue said. His eyes blazed a cool, blue fire.

“Oh, I do. But feel free to enlighten me.”

“You—you’ve tampered with something that shouldn’t be touched,” he said. “You may be a god, but you have no right to just change the order of the universe—even if it was for her!”

I would’ve expected you of all people to understand, Hue.

“Maybe not. But well, I’m not a god anymore, you see. I’ve become something far beyond that, so I doubt it’s in your best interest to defy me like this,” Leon said, a deadly grin on his face.

“I won’t just let you do this, Leon.” Hue channeled his energy into an orb, aiming it at Leon.

“Before that, let me ask you something,” said Leon. “Why are you missing stars in one eye?”

“You know exactly why—”

With a snap of Leon’s fingers, Huedhaut reverted back to his regular Wishes uniform, his godly form nothing but an afterthought. He stood there, dazed at the sudden shift of power in him.

“Let me ask you again. Why are you missing stars in one eye?”

Hue’s expression became clouded, like he was trying to decipher the world’s mysteries. He held up his hand to his right eye, but his face remained troubled.

“II’m not sure…was it always like that…?”

If Leon were still his old self, he would’ve felt guilt at meddling with his friend’s memories. All he could feel now, however, was impatience.

“Yes, it was. But don’t worry, I’ll give them back to you on one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t interfere.”

If loving you is a sin, then let me be a sinner.

?.

Donning his human disguise, Leon visited the planetarium roof—the place where it all began—and he hoped to find her there.

Sure enough, she stood at the balcony, hands clasped in prayer at the stars. He felt his heart break at the sight of her smiling so openly.

How long has it been since he last saw her smile?

Too long.

“So, are you making a wish?”

She turned to him, startled, before giving a reply. “Well, um, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there, sir. Are you hoping to ask more about the Star Tour package?”

She was still the same flustered goddess she’s always been. His eyes narrowed in affection.

“I’m talking about the stars,” he said, pointing up. “Do you actually believe wishes come true when you wish upon them?"

“Oh…well, I guess I do. It’s nice to think that there’s someone out there who can hear me.”

I will always hear you, so you can wish for anything you want.

“Is that so?”

“Yes…” she said, trailing off. “Honestly, this is going to sound weird, but I feel like my wishes always come true when I see a shooting star. I guess I’m kinda lucky in that sense.”

I’m glad I could make you happy here, then. Never stop smiling, my precious goddess.

“But you know,” she turned back to the stars, a faraway look in her eyes. “Sometimes, it all feels strange. Like I’m supposed to be somewhere else, and that this isn’t real at all...”

He felt a surge of divine power come from her, and he knew that this was her innate selflessness rejecting the very nature of this universe, which was borne from his own selfish wish. If he let her power run amok, she would surely choose to restore everything back to what it once was, and he couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything they’d been through.

I’m sorry.

Leon immediately embraced her as tightly as he could, both to repress her power and to feel her softness against him. It had been far too long since he held her like this, far too long since he felt any semblance of peace. He couldn’t stop his tears from falling.

“You’re perfect,” he told her gently. “You should stay exactly as you are.”

“Um, s—sir?” She was obviously confused at his sudden boldness, and the power that once flowed from her halted to a complete stop at her shift in mood.

This is all for you. It always has, and it always will be.

He stepped away from her, taking in the apple-red blush on her cheeks. He’d missed this more than anything.

“Just as I thought,” he said. “The stars in your eyes really are the most beautiful.”

He knew she was probably confused—but that was okay. He didn’t want her to suffer with the burden of knowledge; she never should. Maybe the day will come when her memories come back, but for now, all she had to do was be happy.

He’d promised himself on that day so many, many years ago that he’d grant the wish of that little goldfish girl.

And that was all that mattered.

[gduncan969]

What is Happening to the Church?

2 Thessalonians 2: 1 - 2 “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.  Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first..’

It’s now been over four months since the government shut down the churches and banned Christians from holding services together as they have for centuries because of the risk of spreading the Covid-19 virus.  There has been some relief these last few weeks to allow limited numbers to assemble in church provided they separate at least six feet apart or twelve feet if they want to sing and everyone must wear a mask.  As we all look for an end to this difficult time the news is now that a second wave is raising its ugly head and the wearing of masks is now mandatory in all closed public spaces with heavy fines for those who don’t obey.  As a result, many are wondering if the end to all of this is much further away than we’d hoped and will anything be the same when it’s all over? We have been warned that when it does end there will be “a new normal”—whatever that means.  The big question is, “How is the Church of Jesus Christ” coping with all of this?”  Is it surviving, thriving or dying through it all.  The final answer to this question is clearly spelled out in the bible—we win!  Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18 “..I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.  Jesus is coming back for a spotless Bride, the Church, to which all who call on his name belong but He warned us in Matthew 24:21-22 the time before he comes will be a time of trial and tribulation “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”  That sounds to me like things will get pretty tough as we head into the final days before He comes and the one thing we will needs lots of is endurance because He told us (Matthew 10:22) “you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved”.  Endurance is not something to look forward to but it is the one thing that will be necessary to survive.  

So, how is the Church enduring this pandemic?  The Barna Research Group has just released a poll describing the state of the Church in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The poll’s headline is: “One in Three Practicing Christians Has Stopped Attending Church During COVID-19".  At first glance, I thought they must be referring to practicing Christians unable to attend church due to the government shut-down of churches but surely they must still be attending “on-line” either with their own local assembly or maybe “church-hopping” to one of the many mega-church broadcasts that fill our TV screens?  Not so, it turns out! One in three practicing Christians has quit attending any church whatsoever! That is an extremely disturbing statistic by any standard and it suggests a worrisome “falling away” from the Church and its message of salvation through the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Also, it’s of little comfort to realize that Barna studied only the US Church because I suspect the picture for the Church in Canada and many other countries will be similar.  Worse still, Barna also found that among millennial Christians—our youth, half are not attending any church whatsoever! We can convince ourselves that it’s only temporary, that everything will return to normal once a vaccine is found.  We can reassure ourselves that the Church is not a building but a body; not an organization but an organism and that we can continue through this time of separation from each other without any real harm being done but that’s not what these numbers are telling us. For the Church to be a real body and not a virtual (digital) body it must come together as an assembly to worship and praise the Lord and grow in relationship with Him and each other.  This cannot happen at a distance and cannot be stopped for long without incurring the losses that the poll shows. Laying this sad picture against the backdrop of a world in turmoil, the daily mayhem and madness in many US cities, politicians scrambling to defund the police, the media trying to convince us we are all racists, the financial upheaval, the gender confusion, the loneliness, depression and suicides and an upcoming election in the US which is a ticking time bomb for untold lawlessness, we are forced to ask, “What does all this mean, Lord?”  If a third of all practicing Christians and half of all young practicing Christians are no longer attending any church what kind of relationship do they have with the Body of Christ?  If that’s too painful a subject to contemplate, we might simply write the whole thing off as a glitch, an anomaly that will evaporate once we have a vaccine at which time everything will return to what is was before.  Given the multitude of prophecies appearing on social media these days about what lies ahead, it appears that God is beginning to shake the whole earth in readiness for His coming and He’s beginning with His Church.  Are we ready?

2 Thessalonians 2: 1 - 12 clearly speaks of the days before the Lord returns: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.  Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.  Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?  And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”  

We are not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled and we are not to be deceived because Jesus will give us clear signals of His impending return: there will first be a “falling away” from the Church followed by the coming of the “lawless one” who will dazzle and delude the world with lying signs and wonders. Hmmm!!! “falling away”?  Isn’t that what Barna is reporting. “Lawlessness”, “deception” and “delusion”.  Isn’t that what fills our TV screens right now with the riots across the globe? Will the rioters soon turn their attention to the churches to vent their hatred?  It’s already begun.  There are many other signs the Lord has given His Church about his return (see Luke 28) but in all of them we are given the promise that He will never leave us and never forsake us and we will be held safe provided we endure to the end (Mark 13:13).  It is that last phrase that presents our greatest challenge.  The only way we will ever know how to endure anything is to endure through it so get ready.

What’s the answer for the Local Church?

Besides Covid-19, there’s a pandemic of confusion across the world right now as billions of common folk try to sort out the conflicting advice of thousands of “experts” while their governments keep changing the rules controlling how they must behave.  Lock-downs, quarantines, face masks, travel restrictions, job losses, schooling and a host of other issues pile on to the stress and strain caused by the virus and even local churches are feeling the impact.  Churches are being torn apart from the contentions arising between those fearful of the virus who demand strict adherence to the government’s rules and those rejecting the fear and objecting to the governments’ interference in the life of the Church. Some argue for what appears to be blind obedience to the dictates of their government using the scriptures found in Romans 13:1, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”; Titus 3:1, “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,” and 1 Peter 2:13 , “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake..,” while others use Peter’s defense against the pharisees in Acts 4:18 - 20 “So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” as the reason for their disobedience.  As time passes, cracks continue to appear in the social order as evidenced by the “Black Lives Matter” protests and riots in the US and around the world, the “Defund the Police” movement in the US, the mayhem occurring nightly in some US cities and the upcoming US election, the result of which will be a tipping point between law and order and riot and rebellion.  Also, the large numbers of “practicing Christians” who have given up attending church is a symptom of what the Church—particularly the western Church—has been suffering from for many years, a lethargy towards the “great commission” of taking His Gospel to the neighbours we live beside, a lukewarmness towards the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a lazy attitude towards the gross sin pervasive in our culture as seen in the abortion statistics, homosexual practice, marriage breakdown, gender confusion, political correctness and media corruption, etc., etc.  

If we can accept it, Covid-19 is the Lord’s wake-up call to His Church to be the Church He is building, a Church that will turn the world upside down rather than run terrified from a virus that God has promised “shall (not) come nigh our dwelling” (Psalm 91:10).  I don’t believe the Lord is looking for a Church that blindly obeys authorities when the authorities arbitrarily forbid the church from meeting together, praying together, worshiping together and ministering together under the cloak of “the common good”.  We can all understand the need for caution in dealing with this virus and why the rules have been put in place but we are also aware of the inherent conflict that can arise between “the common good” and the Church. We cannot serve two masters, the Lord Jesus and the civil authorities.  The “common good” can easily be used as a sledge hammer by the authorities to beat the Church into submission and there is already growing concern that the “new normal” being touted by the authorities might well include compulsory vaccinations as a precondition to entry into public buildings and proof of vaccination as an implanted chip in the hand.  If this is where we are headed, (and I hope not) then we are indeed entering “the time of the end” (Daniel 11:35).  

Jesus is building a Church that demonstrates His Power over all the power of the enemy— including his viruses, a Church that is breaking down the gates of Hell and setting the devil’s captives free, a Church with the ability to say, “Thus saith the Lord...” and to stake their very lives on the truth of His Word!  That kind of power is in very short supply in most of our churches today and there will be no change until churches across the land fall on their knees and repent for failing to be the salt and light Jesus has declared us to be.  This will take more than a revival, it will take a new awakening to the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has invested in each believer: a baptism of fire.  It will result in church members no longer remaining passive participants in the pews “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” and “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3: 5, 7).  As Paul said to the Corinthians “How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.”  (1 Corinthians 14:26) That in no way describes the current model for church gatherings which see the congregation mostly sit placidly while those on the platform perform. We can no longer remain as passive participants in our churches and our pastors can no longer carry the weight of responsibilities that we are laying upon them at this time, a weight that is leading many to quit the pulpit discouraged and dismayed. No amount of digital savvy and technical wizardry, electronic gadgetry and slick  delivery will ever substitute for what’s at the heart of the Gospel message—a personal vibrant, living, active relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and His people.  Ultimately, it matters little what we say we believe.  Rather, it’s about WHO we are, WHO we know and WHAT we DO that the world wants to see from the Church.  It’s a relationship with a real Person people want to see, that the Church has real answers to their deepest needs whether it be broken relationships, wayward children, physical calamity, financial worries or Covid-19 and they want to see it both in its members and its pastors.

I sense there are troublesome days ahead when the faith of many will be tested. If a single virus pandemic can result in a third of the church walking away, what will some serious persecution do to the rest?  Some churches in the US have already been attacked by rioters and set on fire but there’s encouraging news from a church in Seattle, Washington which went ahead and held a city-wide public praise rally last Sunday evening.  Between four and seven thousand people showed up to take part and despite the continuous attempts by violent protestors, Antifa and others flashing knives and threatening participants and a satanist group screaming their praise to Satan to break up the gathering, the people refused to be intimidated and never stopped singing.  As a result, the Holy Spirit moved among them with salvations, healings, miracles and baptisms. Would you take part in such a gathering with all the risks it involves---even if the government declares it illegal?  That’s the kind of decision we may all have to make in the days that lie ahead and it’s the kind of decision that requires some heart-searching on our knees before God before we decide.  Such decisions will not be taken lightly because they may cost us dearly but they will have to be taken.  Again, Jesus has told us that “He that endures to the end will be saved” and we can rest on His promise.

[keshetchai]

hey! i saw ur post about human sacrifice/Christ as a sacrifice. just wanted to let you know basically it's taught among Christians that Christ had to pay the price for our sins & He alone was capable of doing that. As someone fully human as well as fully God, He was able to fulfill & forgive that debt that we owed God bc of our sin. If a master tells his servant not to kill any of the master's sheep, it is right for the servant to obey, but it is still within the master's right to kill a sheep.

2/2 I understand that this isn’t the teaching in Judaism and I’m not asking you to agree, just trying to shed some light on the Christian perspective! This is a question that gets asked a lot in Catholicsm (not sure about the other Christian denominations) and if u want to look further into it i know there’s solid theologins out there that have talked about it!!

Ah, maybe it wasn’t clear in how I wrote my post, but I am an ex-Catholic! I am a Jewish convert, but grew up Mexican-Catholic. 

I looked into this kind of theology quite a bit while I was still Catholic, and found the principles and reasons given (like the ones you gave me) to be personally dissatisfying. I get that lots of people believe this, that it is part of Catholic (and Christian in general) belief, and so on, but uh, I guess basically I didn’t accept any of the statements that lead to that conclusion. I know the teaching, I just find it spiritual unfulfilling and “Begging the question.” 

For those curious, this is also a good example of why I was not good at Catholicism™. The asker is right, these aren’t how things are viewed Jewishly (this is all Catholic/Christian theology), but also just in the context of reading the Christian/Catholic Old Testament, I felt I had a list of theological problems I could not solve to my own satisfaction. Because while there are significant differences between Torah and OT, some of the underlying leaps of…well, faith, remain. 

Basically I happily admit this is (part of) the reason why Christian theology was not good for me, but may satisfy others. (Or rather, what spiritually satisfies you, does not satisfy me, and that’s all okay!) 

For the sake of…I don’t know, a dual view, my response to this line of reasoning, I think, makes it obvious why I decided Catholicism wasn’t for me. ;) It also shows I deeply appreciated a Jewish attitude towards theological questions and biblical events, that is to say, “@hashem, what the heck???” 

So ex-Catholic me had the following…issues (and I come from a long line of very argumentative bible readers, ahaha): 

“had to pay the price for our sins“ 

Original sin is not a concept in Judaism and was not “known” to the writers of the Torah/Tanakh. And so by extension, original sin was not a Thing at the time Jesus would have been alive. 

So therefore, which sins? 

If it’s just “sins” in general, why does someone need to die to “pay the price”? (Remember Hellfire and Damnation also Does Not Exist in Judaism) 

Why must a price be paid by someone else? In Judaism and in the Torah, the price of a mistake/sin/harmful act should be rectified by the person who did the thing personally. If a “sin” (and sin means something different in Judaism than it does in xtianity) is committed against another person, then to fix the problem you must essentially pay the appropriate damages (as in a court of law) or make things right between you and them, and “Repent”. If the “sin” or mistake is made against G-d, then we are told A.) a sacrificial offering based on the kind of act done is appropriate BUT B.) failing that, prayer is the appropriate course of action, and a sacrifice is never the only option:Hosea 14:3 Take words with yourselves and return to the Lord. Say, “You shall forgive all iniquity and teach us [the] good [way], and let us render [for] bulls [the offering of] our lips.In point of fact, Solomon, during the inauguration of the temple, tells us that if someone is not in Jerusalem (and therefore able to make a sacrifice), then they should simply pray:Kings I 8:46-4946 If Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by what way You send them, and pray to the Lord toward the city that You have chosen, and (toward) the house that I have built for Your name.45And you shall hear in heaven their prayer and supplication, and maintain their cause.46If they sin against You, for (there is) no man who does not sin, and You will be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, and their captors will carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far or near.47And they shall bethink themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness.’48And they shall return to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land, which You gave to their fathers, the city that You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name.49And you shall hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause.And this will be enough for God. 

What sins are exceptions to the rule that God will accept repentance through prayer and change of deed and action? (See also: God sending Jonah to have a community repent - and they do so only by prayer and fasting.) 

Why are they exceptions? Why were these exceptions previously unknown before, and is that not a “Stumbling block before the blind?” 

Why would God give us a debt we could not fulfill on our own? 

Why does the master need to kill a sheep? For what purpose? 

Why would “the master” declare killing men to be evil and wrong and banned, but then go and do it themselves? 

Is that not hypocritical?

Does that hypocrisy not seem alarming? like if that was a test, then people who accepted the blood sacrifice of a man failed.

And shouldn’t we openly question and rebuke this change of the law, a very important and fundamental law to not sacrifice our children/sons? After all, Abraham rebukes God for threatening to kill everyone in Sidom and Gemorrah since he had promised not to do so after the Flood. Shouldn’t we, as humans, rebuke God for sacrificing his “son” in DIRECT disregard of his own command to not sacrifice children/humans in general? 

Can we trust a God who would sacrifice their own son against their own law? (The lesson of Abraham’s near sacrifice might suggest No, you should not attempt to sacrifice your son, hence why an angel intervened. I also hold that Abraham misunderstood the instruction to “take up your son” as “sacrifice your son” - the words “take up” and “sacrifice” in hebrew sound the same!)

After all, Jesus said he did not come to replace the law, but to uphold it [Matthew 5:17]

Importantly, if Jesus was meant to uphold the law, then any sacrifice done outside the temple mount (as Jesus’s crucifixion most certainly was) is null and void, as sacrifices outside the mount are expressly forbidden and actually a grave sin. 

Does that not nullify said sacrifice pretty dramatically?

[SIDE NOTE: God also very explicitly banned drinking blood at all, whatsoever, and yet Jesus says to drink his blood? what???]

If God is all-powerful and unending, why would God become a man and die, even temporarily? To what purpose? 

God becoming a man takes away from his oneness attribute and quality. Trinitarian doctrine is the reasoning that god is one, except when god is three, which is also one. 

“He alone was capable of doing that”

 why? 

Was God not capable? 

Did God lose their all-powerful ability?

why (again) is an unrelated Son-of-God-figure  the only one capable of redeeming people? (Did not God personally redeem the Israelites in Exodus?) 

Is mankind not capable of atoning for our “sins” and righting our wrongs? 

What could Jesus really do that God couldn’t, if they are indeed the same? (if they are the same, how is this still a singular God characteristic of monotheism?)

what was the point of making a non-human person the only one capable of solving and absolving very human problems? Does it really teach us anything except to be dependent and not worry about our personal responsibilities? 

I could keep going, but these kinds of things are why my mom didn’t think it was wise for me to go to Sunday school, lest I get in trouble for arguing with a nun. lmao.

All of these questions “could” be answered, but they’re more or less rhetorical and I ultimately did not find myself satisfied with the answers I found in/from the Church and also found no person reason to believe in Jesus “saving” anything or anyone. 

[graylit]

                                            HEADCANON     

   SITH ! VERSE ; MORAL ALIGNMENT & REDEMPTION 

One could say Rey tiptoes VERY close to the edge of LAWFUL EVIL in several of my verses, though she will never truly fall into that category. She never once believed that her actions were “right” or justified in all the time she trained under Kylo, Snoke and The First Order. She has never agreed with the course they had steered the galaxy in. She has never taken REAL pleasure in the pain and suffering of others, nor has she inflicted it needlessly. There are of course, situations where she cracks and goes overboard ( she’s only human after all ) If she is angered, wronged, or hurt she WILL take her retribution and relish it.

For the most part though her actions have, and will always be based on SURVIVAL. That was her entire existence on Jakku, just getting through the day to the best of her abilities. This is why I peg her as a CHAOTIC NEUTRAL,bordering on True Neutral back on Jakku. This does not make her heartless or selfish, as we see when she takes BB-8 in. She’s reluctant at first, this isn’t HER problem, this doesn’t aid HER at all… Yet, she knows full well how it feels to long for the help of another and receive nothing in return.

And suddenly Finn is there and she’s been dragged into this inconceivable adventure and her moral compass is going haywire; because on one hand she needs to be HOME, she needs to be there to meet her family, becauseTHAT was what she was fighting for. That is why she never gave up and to be dragged away from her driving force like that was excruciating. And on the other hand her vision, her world has expanded across the stars and suddenly she isn’t the only person in existence. That people, GOOD people like Finn are depending on the information BB-8 possesses.

It isn’t all for one anymore and to a part of something bigger than her life on Jakku is incredible. I will never be able to put into words how important Finn is to Rey, how she flourishes around him and how her throughout the entirety of their adventure jUST– UGH. For the first time in her life she finds someone to cast aside selfishness for, to ban . She was ready to die with him there on Star Killer. She didn’t leave him in the snow in search of a way out. She dropped to her knees at his side and waited for the end.

ofc I take that and ruin it by having Rey scooped up and whisked away.

Without that though, she has nothing to cling to. That spark of goodness that was ALWAYS there and flourished in the presence of Finn dwindles down to nothing. She returns fully to that singular mindset, knowing she has no choice but to comply. She is almost droid like on missions during Shadow Preacher & brutally efficient. She WILLgo to whatever lengths are needed to complete whatever task is at hand, but they are rarely of her design. She is once more a girl fighting to get through the day.

She  DOES enjoy the POWER that comes with the dark side of the Force, however. It’s the only place she finds her solace anymore. The only thing that provides her with a sense of control and comfort, however false it may be under her circumstances.

re·demp·tion   –– rəˈdem(p)SH(ə)n/

                                             noun        1. the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.

I’m going to delve into this from both secular and Christian point of views here ‘cause y’all know I love to ramble. I read a great blurb on the subject a while ago:  forgiveness is something given, redemption is something to seek.  Since there’s no Space Jesus that died to absolve the galaxy of their sins in this story, we’re going old testament where sacrifices are offered up for absolution. To receive redemption in such a scenario one must WANT it and the rest will follow.  If you have to burn incense and flesh at altars, or give a lifetime of service, if you have to walk barefoot along a path of hot coals, or if you have to sacrifice your life by any means you will do so if that’s what it takes. Snoke, Hux, Phasma, and Sidious for example were not and will not be redeemed because they don’t believe they need it, either because they are so deeply rooted in evil that they don’t CARE, or because they believe they are in the right ( or both ) To say characters don’t deserve redemption is ridiculous, to receive redemption a person will have to commit an act that REQUIRES redemption, a blameless person has no need for it.

Even at her darkest Rey is well aware that her actions are wrong. Nearly every order she has followed through was a means of survival, though this does not make her any less guilty. She knows that she will have to atone one day and keeps a list of all those she will have to repay in her head, every child she has stolen, every person she has killed.

The opposite could be said of Kylo to some extent, he believes most of his actions are justified and right, that he is bringing order to the galaxy as his grandfather did. The difference between he and Hux ( and perhaps even Vader, though I haven’t done an extensive character study of him and I’m trying to keep this under ten pages long lol ) is that Kylo feels conflict throughout the entirety of TFA. This is why he’s a prime candidate for redemption because he is still capable of seeking that change out. As stated in the novelization he expresses hesitancy at the genocide Hux and Snoke are keen on committing. This excerpt from the script is another thing that sets them apart during the destruction of the Hosnian system ( ‘Hux watches, his eyes WILD WITH POWER AND EVIL’ ) for all his rage he was never described as such. 

Not to mention the one on one with grandpa’s helmet where he openly admits to his inner turmoil, plus the entire scene with Han Solo don’t get me started. He also fights incredibly hard to keep the Illenium system in tact by saying he could get Luke’s location from Rey ( Snoke: prepare the weapon. Kylo: is stunned by the moment – that isn’t what he meant at all – ) 

Rey never has these fits or blinding moments of light in this verse, it’s a dull and throbbing ache that never really dissipates, a sick feeling that she is wrong without knowing how to resist. What she chooses to do with this and where her negative character development comes into play. Rey’s part in the downfall of the galaxy is not okay she knows this, has accepted it, and does nothing to change it. But she still can, should she find a reason she has the capacity to change. To redeem and forgive is not to condone actions by any stretch of the imagination, nor should it ( a fact that people seem to forget or purposefully overlook )

[hannibalcreative]

Hannibal Creative’s #ItsStillBeautiful Fic Roundup

Thank you to @sheep-in-clouds for the beautiful banner!

Time Did Reverse by 11Mydesign11, Destinyawakened and Identically_Different

Summary: Will Graham is given a rare second chance to go back and do a certain part of his life over again. Forgiveness is akin to love.

Explicit

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

Morcilla by Weconqueratdawn

Summary: Does Hannibal want to have his cake and eat it too? Will isn’t sure. A meditation on a subject I’ve been thinking about for some time - how exactly do you go about loving someone who also might want to eat you? Will remembered Hannibal’s flushed skin under his palms, the heat of his body. “This afternoon, I thought about blood. I thought about flesh, your flesh. You felt so real. So human.” Hannibal didn’t bother to keep his piqued curiosity hidden. He had no need to pretend anymore. “The body is a gift to one’s lover,” he said, after a beat of consideration. “A sacrifice to their pleasure, that yet receives pleasure in return.”remembered Hannibal’s flushed skin under his palms, the heat of his body. “This afternoon, I thought about blood. I thought about flesh, your flesh. You felt so real. So human.” Hannibal didn’t bother to keep his piqued curiosity hidden. He had no need to pretend anymore. “The body is a gift to one’s lover,” he said, after a beat of consideration. “A sacrifice to their pleasure, that yet receives pleasure in return.”return.”remembered Hannibal’s flushed skin under his palms, the heat of his body. “This afternoon, I thought about blood. I thought about flesh, your flesh. You felt so real. So human.” Hannibal didn’t bother to keep his piqued curiosity hidden. He had no need to pretend anymore. “The body is a gift to one’s lover,” he said, after a beat of consideration. “A sacrifice to their pleasure, that yet receives pleasure in return.”

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

go anywhere to leave you but come with me by liketheysay

Summary: Two years after defeating the Dragon, Hannibal and Will settle into their new lives in Cuba. They pass the time by walking to the pier and picking apart each other's minds. All is well until Hannibal runs into an unexpected guest at the market. Walking to the water’s edge was like a ritual for them— like Sunday morning church with a cannibal by your side. Here they could look out at the water, see how it collided with the curve of the Earth, and confess to unspoken thoughts otherwise too difficult to admit face to face. Here, side by side, they could pretend they were alone in the world, glancing at each other’s reflection to feel safe. They atoned for personal sins, tossing quiet words of love and forgiveness into the open air. The water was where they were born, reborn. It would forever be a sacred home.

Mature

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Molly Graham

Hannigram

and I ate by PKA

Summary: Will wakes up one morning to find the world a different place.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

Flattered, a Lamb; Threatened, a Lion by Purple_Girl

Summary: One of my many imaginings of events post TWotL.

Explicit

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

Tea before the Cake by Cinnamaldeide

Summary: "How is Hannibal in bed", Bedelia just asked with incredible nonchalance, considering her missing legs.

Mature

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Bedelia du Maurier

Hannigram

Banned on celluloid by Nalyra

Summary: Whatever happened to the Dragon's film from the cliff house?^^

Mature

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

Every Moment Since by AlexandraCole

Summary: A look into the lives of Alana, Jack, and Molly, two years after the disappearance of Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham.

Teen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Alana Bloom, Jack Crawford, Margot Verger, Molly, Walter

Hannigram, Marlana

Swords of Iron. by The_owner

Summary: After the fall Will has strange blackouts.

Mature

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Chiyoh

Hannigram

African Sun by DrJlecter

Summary: Hannibal and Will end up on the other side of the world in Africa and face some new challenges, while Hannibal tries to convince himself that Will won’t abandon him.

Mature

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

Naughty Murder Husbands ficlet by Dancey94

Summary: “Be naked when I get home,” Hannibal ordered, feeling the swelling in his pants. He’d rush. He’d break every law, break the speed limit, just to be home sooner. The pride in his chest made it difficult to breathe properly. “Or what?” Will asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.asked playfully.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

The man clothed in the sun by Moonstruckidiot

Summary: Long after the fall Hannibal meets Will again

Gen

Major Character Death

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

Eve of Dreams by inter_spem_et_metum

Summary: A different kind of post-S3 story, wherein Hannibal and Will are thrown back into their respective pre-fall nightmares through chance and circumstance. A little bit Inception meets Angel Heart.Severely injured and once again a resident of the BSHCI, Hannibal believes his worst fear has come true. Will, back home with Molly and Walt, finds himself torn in more directions than his loosening grip on reality can accommodate.As their lives begin to unravel and the lines between memory, dream, and reality start to blur, both men must face the inevitable pull of their connection. Will they survive separation in this world—in any world? Or are they destined to be forever conjoined?

Explicit

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Molly Graham

Hannigram, Will/Molly, Antinous/Emperor Hadrian

As well as the Whiskey by hesterbyrde

Summary: Will slowly spun the glass in his fingers, listening to the fine crystal grumble as it scraped over the rough tabletop. Trust Hannibal to have a rustic cabin to hide away in that had both indoor plumbing and cut crystal whiskey tumblers. Just one probably cost more than all his fly fishing gear combined. Nevermind the liquid inside.tabletop. Trust Hannibal to have a rustic cabin to hide away in that had both indoor plumbing and cut crystal whiskey tumblers. Just one probably cost more than all his fly fishing gear combined. Nevermind the liquid inside.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

If I asked you by starkaryen

Summary: Will and Hannibal have a conversation the following morning.

Teen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

i sole e l'altre stelle by RedFive

Summary: After a night at the Opera, Hannibal destroys the sanctity of the bedroom by breaking his husband's #1 rule and Will is having none of it.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

An Arm and a Leg by shiphitsthefan

Summary: Will finds a dog; a cat finds Hannibal; around and between, they find a quiet life together.

Teen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Bedelia du Maurier, Chiyoh

Hannigram

What You Aren't Wearing by shiphitsthefan

Summary: “Be naked when I get home,” Hannibal says, and the order goes straight to Will’s cock, stokes the growing fire in his gut. Before he can censor himself, Will asks, “Or what?”

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

I Could Lose Myself in You by RubyBakeneko

Summary: Hannibal loves having Will inside him. Will explores some of the needs and feelings behind this.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Hannigram

In Search of Atlantis by Kateera

Summary: Will wakes up from the fall, ready to start his new life with Hannibal, only to be left alone and in the care of strangers. Anger is a small word compared to Will's feelings on the matter.

Explicit

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Alana Bloom, Jack Crawford, Margot Verger, Morgan Verger

Hannigram

[focusontheeasternlightning-blog]

Parable of Jesus—Meaning of the Parable of New Cloth on Old Garment

One day, after a meeting, a sister asked me, “Brother, the Lord Jesus said, ‘No man puts a piece of a new garment on an old; if otherwise, then both the new makes a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agrees not with the old’ (Luke 5:36). Do you know what this parable means? What does the Lord want to tell us through it?”

Hearing the sister’s questions, I thought that I happened to have some understanding of this parable of the Lord Jesus, so I replied without thinking, “In the Old Testament, the Israelites were required to fast on the day of atonement every year. But as the salvation of the Lord Jesus had come, the old practices were no longer applicable, and people should abide by the new requirements proposed by the Lord. By telling this parable, the Lord Jesus warns us that in our faith in Him, we cannot cling only to the laws of the Old Testament like the Pharisees did, but instead should accept and follow the Lord’s words and act in accordance with His teachings.” Upon hearing my answer, the sister nodded her head, and I also felt gratified for my ability to understand the Lord’s will.

Just then, Co-worker Zhang, who had recently returned from another place, said, “Brother Wang, I used to think like you. But God’s words are the truth and contain deep meaning. A couple of days ago, I had a fellowship with a brother from another church on this verse. Through reading a book of truth, I gained some deeper understanding about the Lord’s will behind this parable. How about we fellowship together?”

Hearing that Brother Zhang had a deeper understanding and knowledge about this verse, I said happily, “That would be great!”

“Brother Zhang,” the sister anxiously cut in, “since you have a deeper understanding, please tell us about it!”

Brother Zhang smiled and said, “OK. Let me first read a passage that we read that day.” As he said this, he took a tablet out of his bag and read, “‘Because there are always new developments in God’s work, thus there is new work, and thus there is also work that is obsolete and old. This old and new work is not contradictory, but complementary; each step follows on from the last. Because there is new work, the old things must, of course, be eliminated. … The work of God is always new and never old, and it never forms doctrine and is, instead, continually changing and renewing to a greater or lesser extent. This work is the expression of the inherent disposition of God Himself. It is also the inherent principle of God’s work, and one of the means by which God accomplishes His management. If God did not work in this way, man would not change or be able to know God, and Satan would not be defeated. Thus, in His work there continually occur changes that appear erratic, but which are actually periodic. … God’s intention has always been for His work to be new and alive, not old and dead, and that which He makes man hold firm to varies with the age and period, and is not everlasting and immutable. That is because He is a God who causes man to live and be new’ (‘Only Those Who Know the Work of God Today Can Serve God’).

“From this passage we can see that God’s work does not follow rules, and that He performs new work in accordance with His plan for mankind’s salvation as well as according to the degree of mankind’s corruption by Satan. God’s work varies with the age and period, and is not everlasting and immutable, and He always does newer and higher work. When the new work begins, the previous work becomes out of date, and God embarks on another plan and carries out new work. For example, Jehovah God did the work of issuing laws and guiding the lives of people. Under the guidance of Jehovah God, the Israelites of the time learned how to conduct their lives and how to worship God, and understood what sin was. But in the later period of the Age of Law, as man was becoming more and more corrupted by Satan, no one was able to keep the laws and commandments any longer, and all were in constant danger of being sentenced to death by the law. In order to save mankind, God incarnated into the image of Jesus and, on the basis of the work of the Age of Law, did a stage of work of redeeming mankind through crucifixion. The Lord Jesus brought a new age, fulfilled the laws and commandments, gave people a new way to practice and proposed new requirements for them, such as being tolerant and patient, loving their enemies, being the light of the world and salt of the earth, and so on. From the outside, these two stages of work appear different, but they actually complement each other, through which God saves mankind from the influence of Satan step by step. From this we can see that God’s work does not remain unchanged, but rather is always moving forward, and that God’s requirements of mankind are becoming ever higher.

“The Pharisees back then, however, didn’t know God’s work. They abided by religious notions and used the laws of the Old Testament to examine the Lord Jesus’ new work and words. They said that the Lord Jesus sat at the table with tax collectors, and that He and His disciples had violated the laws by not keeping the Sabbath day and not fasting, thereby denying that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah. So when the Lord Jesus said, ‘No man puts a piece of a new garment on an old; if otherwise, then both the new makes a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agrees not with the old’ (Luke 5:36), He was telling people that God’s work is ever new and never old, that the work of redemption God ushered in was new, and that God wouldn’t do the new work and the old one simultaneously, for that would make it impossible for the new work to be carried out.”

After listening to the brother’s fellowship, my heart brightened considerably. I had read many spiritual books, but none of them explained God’s work so clearly. I said to Brother Zhang, “What you fellowshiped is truly something I have never understood. Do you have any other new understanding? Please share more with us.” After saying this, I anxiously waited for Brother Zhang to continue his fellowship.

Brother Zhang took a sip of water and continued, “We humans love to cling to the old, so when God performs new work, we are apt to be eliminated by the Holy Spirit for holding on to the old work. Therefore, we must understand that God only works on and leads those who are willing to let go of their old notions and who obey God’s new work. The book says, ‘People love to cling to the old. They cling to the notions of the past, to things from the past. This is a great obstacle to their service.’ ‘As of today, God will formally perfect those who have no religious notions, who are ready to set aside their old selves, and who obey God in a simple-hearted way, and He will perfect those who long for the word of God. These people should stand up and serve God. In God there is endless abundance and boundless wisdom. His amazing work and precious words are awaiting even greater numbers of people to enjoy them’ (‘Religious Way of Service Must Be Banned’). These passages tell us that, because we humans have no truth or knowledge of God, we love to cling to the old and to God’s past work. This is especially true for those who have followed God and served Him for many years. When they have some experience in preaching and master some biblical knowledge and theological theories, they treat these things as capital and thus believe that they have known God’s work. However, once they cling to these things, it will be hard for them to accept God’s new work. Meanwhile, those who do not have old religious notions, who are able to obey in a simple-hearted way, and who can accept God’s new work and new words will obtain God’s salvation. Just like when the Lord Jesus came to do new work, those Pharisees, who had served God in the temple for many years and clung to old religious notions, thought that the Lord Jesus was not the Messiah foretold in the Bible because He looked very ordinary and came from a humble background. Especially when they saw that the work performed by the Lord Jesus was not recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible, they condemned and blasphemed Him, and in the end even nailed Him to the cross, thus suffering the pain of national subjugation. By contrast, those fishermen, publicans, harlots and sinners, when seeing that the Lord Jesus’ words were not things that people could express and that His work contained power and authority, were able to believe in and follow Him. Take Peter, Jacob, John and Matthew for example. When the Lord Jesus called out to them, they immediately gave up everything and followed Him, during which time they heard the truth expressed by the Lord Jesus, witnessed His authority and wonderful deeds, and recognized that the Lord Jesus was Christ, the coming Messiah, and in the end attained God’s salvation.”

After listening to the words that Brother Zhang read as well as his fellowship, the sister kept nodding her head, and I also felt that these were entirely new ideas. I said, “Brother Zhang, what you fellowshiped today really gave me a deeper understanding of this parable. Through this parable, the Lord Jesus tells us that God’s work is always new and never old, and that it is carried out based on the degree of mankind’s corruption. When people at the end of the age of the Old Testament could no longer uphold the laws, God performed a new work to save mankind based on this situation. If God begins new work but we cling to our old notions and use His previous work to measure the new one, then it will be hard for us to accept God’s new work.”

Brother Zhang said, “It’s true. We are now in the last days, the prophecies of the Lord’s return have basically been fulfilled, and the Lord is about to return at any time. According to the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, God will perform the work of opening the little scroll, loosing the seven seals, separating the goats from the sheep, the wheat from the tares, and the good servants from the wicked servants, and perfecting a group of overcomers. However, this is just briefly mentioned in the Book of Revelation but is not recorded in detail, so none of us know how God will specifically fulfill and accomplish all this. In light of this, when the Lord Jesus returns to work in the last days, we should be like the wise virgins and open the door to actively welcome Him, be someone who thirsts for and seeks the truth, and investigate any message about the new work done by the returned Lord to see whether it is from God. Only in this way can we have the opportunity to welcome the Lord and gain God’s salvation of the last days.”

Hearing what the brother said, my heartfelt very bright and I said, “Yes, you’re right. The Book of Revelation only prophesies that the Lord will come to work and save mankind in the last days, but none of us can perceive how the Lord will do this work when He returns. This is because God’s work is too wise and unfathomable. But no matter what, as long as the Lord comes back to do new work, we must go out to welcome Him just like Peter, Matthew and the others walked out of the temple to investigate the Lord’s work. This is the only way we can attain the Lord’s salvation. After listening to your fellowship today, I understand a lot more about the parable told by the Lord Jesus. Thanks be to the Lord! Brother Zhang, this book is very good because it can help us know God’s work and understand His will. Could I borrow it to read?”

Brother Zhang agreed right away …

[fear-god-shun-evil]

What Is the Meaning of the Parable Told by Jesus Christ in Luke 5:36?

One day, after a meeting, a sister asked me, “Brother, the Lord Jesus said, ‘No man puts a piece of a new garment on an old; if otherwise, then both the new makes a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agrees not with the old’ (Luke 5:36). Do you know what this parable means? What does the Lord want to tell us through it?”

Hearing the sister’s questions, I thought that I happened to have some understanding of this parable of the Lord Jesus, so I replied without thinking, “In the Old Testament, the Israelites were required to fast on the day of atonement every year. But as the salvation of the Lord Jesus had come, the old practices were no longer applicable, and people should abide by the new requirements proposed by the Lord. By telling this parable, the Lord Jesus warns us that in our faith in Him, we cannot cling only to the laws of the Old Testament like the Pharisees did, but instead should accept and follow the Lord’s words and act in accordance with His teachings.” Upon hearing my answer, the sister nodded her head, and I also felt gratified for my ability to understand the Lord’s will.

Just then, Co-worker Zhang, who had recently returned from another place, said, “Brother Wang, I used to think like you. But God’s words are the truth and contain deep meaning. A couple of days ago, I had a fellowship with a brother from another church on this verse. Through reading a book of truth, I gained some deeper understanding about the Lord’s will behind this parable. How about we fellowship together?”

Hearing that Brother Zhang had a deeper understanding and knowledge about this verse, I said happily, “That would be great!”

“Brother Zhang,” the sister anxiously cut in, “since you have a deeper understanding, please tell us about it!”

Brother Zhang smiled and said, “OK. Let me first read a passage that we read that day.” As he said this, he took a tablet out of his bag and read, “‘Because there are always new developments in God’s work, thus there is new work, and thus there is also work that is obsolete and old. This old and new work is not contradictory, but complementary; each step follows on from the last. Because there is new work, the old things must, of course, be eliminated. … The work of God is always new and never old, and it never forms doctrine and is, instead, continually changing and renewing to a greater or lesser extent. This work is the expression of the inherent disposition of God Himself. It is also the inherent principle of God’s work, and one of the means by which God accomplishes His management. If God did not work in this way, man would not change or be able to know God, and Satan would not be defeated. Thus, in His work there continually occur changes that appear erratic, but which are actually periodic. … God’s intention has always been for His work to be new and alive, not old and dead, and that which He makes man hold firm to varies with the age and period, and is not everlasting and immutable. That is because He is a God who causes man to live and be new’ (‘Only Those Who Know the Work of God Today Can Serve God’).

“From this passage we can see that God’s work does not follow rules, and that He performs new work in accordance with His plan for mankind’s salvation as well as according to the degree of mankind’s corruption by Satan. God’s work varies with the age and period, and is not everlasting and immutable, and He always does newer and higher work. When the new work begins, the previous work becomes out of date, and God embarks on another plan and carries out new work. For example, Jehovah God did the work of issuing laws and guiding the lives of people. Under the guidance of Jehovah God, the Israelites of the time learned how to conduct their lives and how to worship God, and understood what sin was. But in the later period of the Age of Law, as man was becoming more and more corrupted by Satan, no one was able to keep the laws and commandments any longer, and all were in constant danger of being sentenced to death by the law. In order to save mankind, God incarnated into the image of Jesus and, on the basis of the work of the Age of Law, did a stage of work of redeeming mankind through crucifixion. The Lord Jesus brought a new age, fulfilled the laws and commandments, gave people a new way to practice and proposed new requirements for them, such as being tolerant and patient, loving their enemies, being the light of the world and salt of the earth, and so on. From the outside, these two stages of work appear different, but they actually complement each other, through which God saves mankind from the influence of Satan step by step. From this we can see that God’s work does not remain unchanged, but rather is always moving forward, and that God’s requirements of mankind are becoming ever higher.

“The Pharisees back then, however, didn’t know God’s work. They abided by religious notions and used the laws of the Old Testament to examine the Lord Jesus’ new work and words. They said that the Lord Jesus sat at the table with tax collectors, and that He and His disciples had violated the laws by not keeping the Sabbath day and not fasting, thereby denying that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah. So when the Lord Jesus said, ‘No man puts a piece of a new garment on an old; if otherwise, then both the new makes a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agrees not with the old’ (Luke 5:36), He was telling people that God’s work is ever new and never old, that the work of redemption God ushered in was new, and that God wouldn’t do the new work and the old one simultaneously, for that would make it impossible for the new work to be carried out.”

After listening to the brother’s fellowship, my heart brightened considerably. I had read many spiritual books, but none of them explained God’s work so clearly. I said to Brother Zhang, “What you fellowshiped is truly something I have never understood. Do you have any other new understanding? Please share more with us.” After saying this, I anxiously waited for Brother Zhang to continue his fellowship.

Brother Zhang took a sip of water and continued, “We humans love to cling to the old, so when God performs new work, we are apt to be eliminated by the Holy Spirit for holding on to the old work. Therefore, we must understand that God only works on and leads those who are willing to let go of their old notions and who obey God’s new work. The book says, ‘People love to cling to the old. They cling to the notions of the past, to things from the past. This is a great obstacle to their service.’ ‘As of today, God will formally perfect those who have no religious notions, who are ready to set aside their old selves, and who obey God in a simple-hearted way, and He will perfect those who long for the word of God. These people should stand up and serve God. In God there is endless abundance and boundless wisdom. His amazing work and precious words are awaiting even greater numbers of people to enjoy them’ (‘Religious Way of Service Must Be Banned’). These passages tell us that, because we humans have no truth or knowledge of God, we love to cling to the old and to God’s past work. This is especially true for those who have followed God and served Him for many years. When they have some experience in preaching and master some biblical knowledge and theological theories, they treat these things as capital and thus believe that they have known God’s work. However, once they cling to these things, it will be hard for them to accept God’s new work. Meanwhile, those who do not have old religious notions, who are able to obey in a simple-hearted way, and who can accept God’s new work and new words will obtain God’s salvation. Just like when the Lord Jesus came to do new work, those Pharisees, who had served God in the temple for many years and clung to old religious notions, thought that the Lord Jesus was not the Messiah foretold in the Bible because He looked very ordinary and came from a humble background. Especially when they saw that the work performed by the Lord Jesus was not recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible, they condemned and blasphemed Him, and in the end even nailed Him to the cross, thus suffering the pain of national subjugation. By contrast, those fishermen, publicans, harlots and sinners, when seeing that the Lord Jesus’ words were not things that people could express and that His work contained power and authority, were able to believe in and follow Him. Take Peter, Jacob, John and Matthew for example. When the Lord Jesus called out to them, they immediately gave up everything and followed Him, during which time they heard the truth expressed by the Lord Jesus, witnessed His authority and wonderful deeds, and recognized that the Lord Jesus was Christ, the coming Messiah, and in the end attained God’s salvation.”

After listening to the words that Brother Zhang read as well as his fellowship, the sister kept nodding her head, and I also felt that these were entirely new ideas. I said, “Brother Zhang, what you fellowshiped today really gave me a deeper understanding of this parable. Through this parable, the Lord Jesus tells us that God’s work is always new and never old, and that it is carried out based on the degree of mankind’s corruption. When people at the end of the age of the Old Testament could no longer uphold the laws, God performed a new work to save mankind based on this situation. If God begins new work but we cling to our old notions and use His previous work to measure the new one, then it will be hard for us to accept God’s new work.”

Brother Zhang said, “It’s true. We are now in the last days, the prophecies of the Lord’s return have basically been fulfilled, and the Lord is about to return at any time. According to the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, God will perform the work of opening the little scroll, loosing the seven seals, separating the goats from the sheep, the wheat from the tares, and the good servants from the wicked servants, and perfecting a group of overcomers. However, this is just briefly mentioned in the Book of Revelation but is not recorded in detail, so none of us know how God will specifically fulfill and accomplish all this. In light of this, when the Lord Jesus returns to work in the last days, we should be like the wise virgins and open the door to actively welcome Him, be someone who thirsts for and seeks the truth, and investigate any message about the new work done by the returned Lord to see whether it is from God. Only in this way can we have the opportunity to welcome the Lord and gain God’s salvation of the last days.”

Hearing what the brother said, my heart felt very bright and I said, “Yes, you’re right. The Book of Revelation only prophesies that the Lord will come to work and save mankind in the last days, but none of us can perceive how the Lord will do this work when He returns. This is because God’s work is too wise and unfathomable. But no matter what, as long as the Lord comes back to do new work, we must go out to welcome Him just like Peter, Matthew and the others walked out of the temple to investigate the Lord’s work. This is the only way we can attain the Lord’s salvation. After listening to your fellowship today, I understand a lot more about the parable told by the Lord Jesus. Thanks be to the Lord! Brother Zhang, this book is very good because it can help us know God’s work and understand His will. Could I borrow it to read?”

Brother Zhang agreed right away …

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/japan-emperor-akihitos-human-touch/

Japan emperor: Akihito's human touch

Image copyright Getty Images

On a beautiful spring morning last week, I stood on a street corner on the western outskirts of Tokyo. For hundreds of metres in each direction, the road was lined, three-deep, with eager, excited faces. Then, with almost no warning, a large black limousine approached over a bridge, motorcycle outriders on either side.

As the car slipped by, for a few brief moments, we could see Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko leaning forward waving gently. A ripple of applause and waving of plastic flags from the crowd, and they were gone.

To me, it all seemed a little anti-climactic. And I was not alone. Nearby an elderly lady was chastising a policeman.

“Why did they go so fast?” she demanded to know. “Usually they drive much slower than that. We hardly got any chance to see them.”

The policeman smiled patiently. Clearly, he had no control over the speed of the motorcade.

I had expected a few hundred hard-core groupies to turn out for this final visit by the royal couple to the imperial tombs. Instead there must have been 5,000 or more. Some were dabbing away tears as the crowds began to disperse.

“I am grateful for what they have done for the Japanese people,” said a lady wearing an exquisite spring kimono. “I waved at them with the feeling of deep gratitude for all these years.”

“I am really moved,” said her friend. “I hope he can rest and have a peaceful life after so many years on duty.”

Kaoru Sugiyami, wearing a large floppy sunhat, had also come with a group of friends.

“I am not from the generation that experienced the war,” she said. “But when you look back, it is the emperor that has kept peace in Japan through his reign. So I wanted to come and see him on his last visit, to show my gratitude. I wanted to tell him, ‘thank you’.”

What is it that Emperor Akihito has done to inspire such feelings?

The consoler in chief

In January 1989, upon his father’s death, Emperor Akihito succeeded to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

It was an optimistic time. Japan was rich, at the height of its post-war economic boom. Sony was about to buy Columbia Pictures and Mitsubishi was on the verge of buying the Rockefeller Center in New York. The talk, in much of the world, was of Japan the new “superpower”.

Image copyright AFP

Image caption Japanese Emperor Akihito in ceremonial outfit, 1990

But a year into his reign, calamity struck. The asset bubble burst and the Tokyo stock market collapsed, losing 35% of its value. Nearly 30 years on, Japanese stocks and land prices are still below 1990 levels.

For most Japanese people the Heisei era – the name means “achieving peace” – has been one of economic stagnation. It has also been one marked by tragedy.

In January 1995, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake ripped through the city of Kobe, toppling buildings and motorway viaducts and starting fires that burned for days, turning the sky above the city black. Around 6,000 people were killed.

In 2011, an even more devastating quake hit off the north-east coast. At magnitude 9, it was the fourth largest earthquake ever recorded. It unleashed a giant tsunami that smashed into the coast of northern Japan, sweeping away whole towns and killing nearly 16,000 people.

It was after that second disaster that Emperor Akihito did something no emperor had ever done before. He sat down in front of a TV camera and spoke directly to the Japanese people.

Two weeks later, the emperor and empress arrived at an evacuation centre in a stadium outside Tokyo.

People were camped on the floor, a few meagre possessions piled around them. Most had fled the radiation cloud ejected from the damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima. They had left almost everything behind, unsure of when, or if, they would be able to return to their hometowns.

The emperor and empress knelt on the ground with each family in turn, talking to them quietly, asking questions, expressing concern.

Image copyright ISSEI KATO

Image caption Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko talk with evacuees from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami

Japanese people had never seen an emperor behave like this before. To conservatives it was a shock. This is not how the direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu should behave. But many more Japanese were deeply moved by the emperor’s very human show of empathy.

“He has moral authority,” says Prof Jeff Kingston, from Temple University in Tokyo. “And he’s earned it. He is the consoler in chief. He connects with the public in a way his father never could.

“So he goes to shelters and not like a politician going for a photo op, to wave and leave. He sits with people and drinks tea and engages in conversation in a way that was unthinkable in the pre-1945 era.”

The sins of the father

Emperor Akihito does not have the appearance of a revolutionary. He is small, modest and softly spoken. His words and actions are tightly constrained by Japan’s post-war constitution and, unlike Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, he is not Japan’s head of state.

Instead his role is much more vaguely defined as “symbol of the state and unity of the people”. He is banned from expressing any political opinion.

And yet within the tight straitjacket of his ceremonial role, Emperor Akihito has managed to do some remarkable things.

The first thing you need to remember is that Akihito is the son of Hirohito, the god-like emperor who reigned over Japan during its nearly 15-year rampage across Asia in the 1930s and 40s. Akihito was 12 when the war ended with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Emperor Hirohito and Prince Akihito reading a newspaper

At some point in his education, some say under the influence of his American tutor Elizabeth Gray Vining, Akihito became a confirmed pacifist, and he remains so today. He has told people his greatest contentment comes from knowing that during his reign, not a single Japanese soldier has been killed in war or armed conflict.

The emperor has made it his job to reach out to Japan’s former enemies and victims. From Beijing to Jakarta, Manila to Saipan, he has sought to heal the wounds inflicted under his father.

“He created a new role for the emperor, and that is the nation’s chief emissary for reconciliation, criss-crossing the region, making gestures of atonement and contrition. Basically, trying to heal the scars of wartime past,” says Prof Kingston.

Image copyright Keystone-France

Image caption Wedding of Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko, 1959

In the 1990s that was relatively uncontroversial. Japanese politicians encouraged the emperor, arranging a landmark trip to China in 1992. But as he has grown older, Japanese politics has moved dramatically to the right.

The old “apology diplomacy” is out of favour, as is pacifism. The current prime minister, Shinzo Abe, had vowed to rid Japan of its pacifist constitution. He and others on the right want to bring back patriotic education, and expunge what they call the “historical masochism” of the post-war era.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walks past Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko during an annual memorial service for war victims, Tokyo, 2014

In subtle, but determined ways, Emperor Akihito has repeatedly shown his disdain for the revisionists. In 2015, on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, Mr Abe gave a speech.

“He basically said that the peace and prosperity we enjoy today is owing to the sacrifice of the three million Japanese who died during the war,” says Prof Kingston.

“The next day, Akihito was having none of that. He made a speech saying the prosperity we enjoy today is down to the hard work and sacrifice of the Japanese people after the war.”

To the millions of Japanese watching on TV, it was an unmistakable slapdown.

On another occasion at a royal garden party in Tokyo, a right-wing member of the Tokyo metropolitan government proudly told the emperor that he was in charge of making sure all teachers stand and face the flag when they sing the national anthem.

The emperor gently but emphatically admonished the bureaucrat.

“I am in favour of individual choice,” he said.

The long farewell

Throughout his reign, the emperor has been inseparable from his most important companion and advisor, Empress Michiko. She was born a commoner, and has, at times, found life in the imperial household extremely hard. In 1993, the empress collapsed from mental exhaustion and for two months she lost the ability to speak.

Image copyright Alamy

Image caption Empress Michiko married Emperor Akihito in April 1959

Writing recently, she spoke of her awe at her husband’s resolve.

“His duties required of him in his role are the utmost priority at all times and personal matters take second place,” she wrote, “and that is exactly how he has lived these nearly 60 years.”

But for some time, Emperor Akihito has been in declining health. He has had cancer and major heart bypass surgery. Those close to him say he has become increasingly worried that poor health would incapacitate him and make it impossible for him to carry out his official duties.

As far back as 2009, the emperor began quietly agitating to be allowed to hand the throne to his son. This is no easy task.

The post-war constitution makes it clear emperors are to serve “for life”. And so, according to Prof Takeshi Hara, of Japan’s Open University, the politicians ignored the emperor’s requests.

“Over the course of nine years, none of the governments sympathised with the emperor’s feelings,” he says. “They felt that if they complied with the emperor’s desire to abdicate, this would show the emperor has power to make important decisions, and that is against the constitution.”

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako with their pet dog Yuri.

It is a very Japanese conundrum. In increasing desperation, Prof Hara says the emperor and imperial household agency cooked up a scheme.

“The emperor and the Imperial Household Agency were growing more and more impatient,” he says. “So someone in the Household Agency leaked the information to NHK (Japan’s national broadcaster). Then NHK broadcast news of the emperor’s request.”

It was a huge scoop for Japan’s national broadcaster and it broke the impasse. A month later the emperor went on TV for a second time to appeal directly to the Japanese people, explaining his wish to step down and hand the throne to his son.

Opinion polls showed the overwhelming majority of Japanese supported the emperor’s wish. Mr Abe and the conservatives had no choice but to comply. It has taken nearly another two years, but now Emperor Akihito will finally be able to enjoy his retirement.

The country will officially begin a new era on 1 May, when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne as the new emperor.

[olmcdenver]

Divine Mercy: Understanding God’s Message | By: Crystal Peccia

Ciao. My name is Crystal and I am the Religious Education Director at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Denver. I want to share with you something that is very near and dear to my heart: Divine Mercy.

I had never heard of Divine Mercy until a few years ago when my mother-in-law was visiting from Italy. She gave me a pamphlet about Saint Maria Faustina and her visions of hell. This pamphlet was in Italian so I had to ask my husband to translate it for me. As he was reading, I was mesmerized and set out to learn more about this nun and her writings. I didn’t know where to begin and, as often times happens to me, God showed me the way. About the same time, a couple of books had been donated to the Religious Education program and, among those donated books, was a copy of Saint Faustina’s Diary. I took the diary home and began to read. I could not put it down. I read it from cover to cover and bought my own copy and just about everything else I could get my hands on about Saint Faustina and Divine Mercy. As you can imagine, I have quite a collection. In the pages of that diary, I found the limitless love and mercy God has for each of us, especially those most unworthy of His mercy. Now, I already know God is merciful and that His love is limitless. After all, His only Son died on the cross for all of us, but there is something about the words Jesus instructed Saint Faustina to write that is awe-inspiring. I fell in love with Divine Mercy.

A Brief History

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska was born in Poland in August 1905 to a poor family. She had only a third grade education when she became a nun. Mother Superior of the convent where she lived said, “She [Saint Faustina] was no one special with no discernible qualities.” In fact, the other nuns living with her often ridiculed her and labeled her as lazy. No one knew that Jesus had chosen Saint Faustina to be His secretary and that He would appear to her and instruct her to keep a diary that would bring His Divine Mercy to a very troubled world. Saint Faustina recorded her mission in that diary, wrote down all of our Lord’s wishes, and described the encounters between her soul and Him. Consumed by tuberculosis and innumerable sufferings, which she offered for poor sinners, Saint Faustina died in Cracow at the age of 33 on October 5, 1938. 

Even before her death, devotion to Divine Mercy began to spread and became a refuge for those caught up in World War II. In 1941, a priest brought Divine Mercy to the United States; but, as was foretold in Saint Faustina’s diary in 1959, the Church banned devotion to Divine Mercy. Twenty years later however, the ban was lifted thanks in large part to the Archbishop of Cracow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, who later became Saint Pope John Paul II, also known as the Divine Mercy Pope. Saint Pope John Paul II would canonize Saint Faustina on April 30, 2000. That day just happened to be the second Sunday of Easter. He announced that the second Sunday of Easter would be celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday throughout the universal church. Divine Mercy is now celebrated on the Sunday after Easter as our Lord requested.

Receiving Graces

I believe that our Lord, in His great mercy, is giving us yet another opportunity to reconcile with Him. Divine Mercy Sunday is that opportunity. Jesus promises that those of us who participate on that day will receive great graces and forgiveness of sins. To prepare ourselves for Divine Mercy we must do the following:

Repent for all our sins and make a good Confession before that Sunday. Review your sins and express true sorrow for those sins, hatred of those sins, and a firm resolution not to sin again. A great way to accomplish this is to review the Ten Commandments. Remember, actual sin is the sin we ourselves commit. There are two kinds of actual sin, venial and mortal. Venial sins are those sins that we sometimes commit without thought. An example would be a white lie. A mortal sin is very serious and should be confessed immediately. A mortal sin involves the knowledge that one is about to commit a serious sin, one has sufficient understanding of what is about to happen, and one has the freedom of will and acts of one’s own accord. Next, we go into the confessional or face-to-face with a priest and confess those sins we have committed. Another thing to remember is that Jesus is present during Confession. Once sins have been confessed and an act of contrition is made, the priest will grant absolution (forgiveness) and give penance. Penance is an act which we do after leaving the confessional to show God we are truly sorry for our sins and that we will make every effort not to sin again. 

Receive Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday. This must be a worthy Communion, meaning a good Confession has taken place prior to receiving Jesus. It is also accompanied by complete trust in Divine Mercy. 

Venerate the image of the Divine Mercy. Our Lord appeared to Saint Faustina in a vision clothed in a white garment with His right hand raised in blessing. His left hand was touching His garment near His heart, from which two large rays came forth, one red and the other white. Our Lord said to Faustina, “Paint an image according to the pattern you see here with the signature: Jesus, I trust in you. I promise the soul that will venerate this image will not perish” (Diary 47, 48). Saint Faustina then asked what the two rays meant. Jesus replied, “The white beam represents the water that cleanses and purifies the soul, the red, the blood that gives new life to souls” (Diary 299).  To venerate simply means to perform some act or make some gesture of deep religious respect toward the object because of the person it represents – in this case, our most merciful Savior. 

Be merciful to others through actions, words, and prayers. Our Lord’s promise to us on the feast of Divine Mercy is that He will grant complete forgiveness of sin and punishment. His exact words are, “The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment” (Diary 699).

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Jesus also requested that we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, which can be prayed on regular rosary beads. This is a powerful chaplet! Saint Faustina once had a vision of an angel sent by God to punish a certain city. She began to pray for mercy, but her prayers were powerless. Suddenly, she saw the Holy Trinity and felt the power of Jesus’ grace within her. At the same time, she found herself pleading with God for mercy with words she heard internally: “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and the Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” (Diary 474-476). As she continued to pray this prayer, the angel became powerless and could not carry out the deserved punishment. In fact, Jesus asks us to pray this chaplet and meditate on His passion at 3:00pm each day. Jesus said, “This is the hour of great mercy, in this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request on Me in virtue of My Passion” (Diary 1320).

Conclusion

All that is required of us to obtain God’s great mercy is to want it, to ask for it, and above all, to trust in His Divine Mercy. Jesus waits for us! We should not ever be afraid to approach Jesus and ask for His mercy. No matter what we’ve done, He is willing to forgive us if only we ask for it with a pure heart. Many parishes are celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday with the recitation of the Chaplet, Mass, and Confession. Here at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we will sing the Chaplet at 6:30am on Sunday April 23rd followed by our 7:00am Mass. It is my hope that all will take advantage of God’s love and mercy by attending a celebration. I ask God to bless you and keep you always in His constant care and protection. Thank you.

 - Crystal Peccia, DRE

[thong-in-the-twist]

Chapter: Joseon

//Gong Yoo (Kim Shin) x you

Word count: 5,375

Summary: To atone for his sins he is forced to wander the Earth searching for her, before it’s too late.

Prologue: Silla Chapter: Goryeo

As of right now I am too tired to do the usual dictionary. I will probably make it tomorrow, but if you have any pressing questions message me. I am always eager to answer

He never thought he would. He never imagined himself doing that, but he did.

In the end it was a wish, screamed at him, by her. And he had to admit, it was a reasonable wish. Without marriage ban lifted it was impossible for her to become his rightful wife.

It wasn’t that easy either. To lift the marriage ban he needed to create situation where his country’s women wouldn’t be taken away by Yuan Dynasty. Which meant pulling Goryeo from under Yuan rule.

It wasn’t an easy process. Without a family to back him up, with a face that wasn’t getting older, and yet it wasn’t young enough.

So Kim Shin planned. He arrived at the capital, Gaegyong, and planned. He passed national exam, the composition test, placing among the highest rank. He did so good that he was placed in the office responsible for preparing those tests.

Not the best position, but with the knowledge he had, the tenacity, and even broader knowledge of the human nature, he was able to move up through the ranks, until he reached a quite significant position.

He reached King’s Secretary, and when Gongmin ascended the throne, Kim Shin has finally found an eager ear to listen to him. He scoured government offices, ministries for pro-Yuan officers, he picked them out meticulously, carefully, and then, with King Gongmin’s support, he pushed those aristocrats and military officers out of the ring of power.

Then he encouraged his king to strive for land that was taken away, he prepared plans, he even chose the best general to put them into effect, Yi Jachun and his son Yi Seonggye.

He may have started the process of pushing Yuans out, by whispering ideas into a willing to listen ear, but the time made it impossible for him to stay till the end of the process. While people around him were ageing, getting married, he remained unchanged, dodging marriage proposes, making people around him grow suspicious.

So he had no other choice to move away.

He observed from Yuan’s capital, distressed news of one valiant vassal state pushing Yuan’s military out of their lands being the smallest problem for the Mongol dynasty.

Kim Shin saw Mings push out the Yuans, which meant that the way home was open for him.

Coming back was always quite hard. That one thing never changed. He always needed to check what was different from the last time he wandered those lands. This time, for the first time actually, he was surprised.

He wanted to have the marriage ban lifted, and that happened. He may have thought about straightening Wang Dynasty along the way, so he have chosen the most loyal clan to push the Yuans out. The one that would not use it to their advantage.

And yet, he left Goryeo to come back to Joseon. New country, new dynasty. Not Wang. Yi. The son of the general, Yi Seonggye was no longer a military officer, he was no longer Yi Seonggye. He was Taejo, the founding king of Joseon.

The country changed, new laws were erected upon the Confucianism beliefs. And thus the fall of women begun.

It hurt.

It wasn’t supposed to be like that. It wasn’t! Women weren’t supposed to become prisoners of their own houses, they weren’t supposed to be stripped of their rights to learn, to inherit, to live, to matter.

He didn’t work so hard to see women, which all possessed the ability to do great things, be pulled away from opportunities by their life companions.

It hurt.

Seeing in the back of his mind her in her first life (for all he knew), a wife to a king, but an educated one, with vast knowledge and her own private army, reminiscing her other life, her being a queen, a good one, remembering her last reincarnation he met, that young brave woman, who understood, and sought her own death for him.

Knowing that she would be immediately reborn. And he could try again.

But he couldn’t find her.

He searched far and wide, and yet he couldn’t find her. As silly as it may have sounded, he couldn’t even feel her. As is she was hidden from him, because he was sure, that she was somewhere, living hidden away by her father, brother, maybe husband. Somewhere, under the thatch, tucked away.

He knew it was a punishment. Deity’s way to show its discontent with him, that with his actions he initiated political changes that resulted in women losing their rights, among other things.

And he understood it. He lived long enough to understand that, he remembered times when a woman was equal to a man.

But he knew it couldn’t last forever. Deity would allow him to meet her again.

*

He finally did. He met her after about 140 years. Maybe two full lifespans, maybe more. Maybe she finally had a family. Children. Maybe she had finally managed to die in peace, in her bed, in her sleep. Or maybe as it happened before, she died young, of hunger, attack, accident.

It didn’t matter.

He met her. He knew it was her, maybe in the end of that second lifespan.

She was old. Not ill and tired, but just that – old. Under wrinkles he saw her features. In her eyes there was this familiar shine.

She saw him. On the street, between the buildings, surrounded by children. He asked himself whether they were related. Grandchildren maybe?

She was old, and hunched over, probably from spending years carrying children on her back and working field, but her eyes were as intelligent as ever. She ushered kids away, into the safeness of the fence surrounding shack behind her, and slowly, painstakingly she crossed the street to finally stop in front of him.

“You are late.” Her voice was hoarse, devoid of its usual melody. And she seemed disappointed, like a mother of a child that keeps making the same mistake. “You are late.”

For a second Kim Shin believed that she mistook him for somebody. She couldn’t have known him.

But then the intelligence that shone in her eyes came back to him and he realized that she knew. She recognized him, not for being a goblin, but for being Kim Shin.

“I waited. I waited so long, because I was sure you’d come.” She sounded even more tired than she looked. She lamented, and in the middle of her tirade, she raised her hand and hit his chest, like a disappointed lover would do.

It broke his heart. Again.

“I waited so I could take it out, I waited all my life, and now you come!” It’s too late when he realizes that she is crying, with her wiry and crooked fingers clenched on the fabrics above his heart, where his sword was buried.

He hugged her, her hunched and fragile frame, there on the street, as indecent as that was.

In a cruel joke Deity let her keep memories of her previous lives. In a cruel joke Deity lead him away from the one that was waiting diligently, the one that refused marriage life in the country where woman without a husband was nothing.

She waited. And he didn’t come.

*

She died. In her bed. In her sleep.

But she did not go in peace. She kept having nightmares, she kept getting thinner and paler by every passing day, as if he brought a disease upon her.

And probably so he did.

He observed her burial, and he wasn’t surprised to see many people crying and lamenting, even though there was no money to pay for them. People were genuinely upset.

Of course they were. It was her burial.

*

This new era was confusing. And hard. As if it was another plague sent upon him for his involvement in fall of Goryeo Dynasty. People were thriving. They lived longer.

And yet they married so young. Girl over twenty was considered a spinster. Girls at the age of eight were considered eligible to become a wife to a prince. Girls at the age of six entered royal palace, or gisaeng’s houses. Girls at the age of six were given away as a brides to work as a maids at home of their in-laws until they enter their adulthood.

Six, eight, up to twenty. He wasn’t given enough time to search for her. He found her every time, to see her being wedded to another. And he could do nothing about that than wait. Decades. Until she died natural death, and moved on to then next life, giving him a chance to try again.

It was disheartening, but he would never give her up.

Never.

***

Discard all desire to be the wife of one man. When one is able to eliminate all useless emotions, one’s life is much more joyous than other women’s lives. A courtesan must possess vast knowledge and learning. The depth of courtesan’s life is profound. When it comes to beauty, no one is given more freedom than the courtesans. Courtesan do not worry over trifles like money. Her splendor cannot compare even to the King’s women in the Palace. Furthermore, she possess something that not even the princesses have.

Music.

It is the sound of courtesan’s heart. It is the sound of the waterfall, that cascades over and refreshes one’s soul.

A life that feeds on dance and music.

That is courtesan’s life.

You’ve heard it so many times. You’ve heard it for years. You’ve heard it over and over again since your foot touched the wooden floor of the gisaeng’s house. You heard it in the beginning, you’ve heard it along the way, you’ve heard it when you did something right, and you’ve heard it when you made a mistake.

“Chunwoo!” Your hand jerks delicately, as sudden call startles you, but you are skilled enough not do smear your make up. “Chunwoo!”

You fix your hold on the brush, and swipe it across your lower lip, careful not to put too much color on your mouth. Delicate, delicate, delicate.

Slave girl is coming closer, calling your name urgently. Well, not name, it’s pseudonym, Chunwoo, Chun-woo, Spring’s Rain. Fresh, rejuvenating, delicate.

“Chunwoo, I am coming in!” She halts in front of your chambers, her shadow sipping through paper doors, and she enters just as you put the scrap of paper with print made of your lips. “Chunwoo, Overseeing Lady is calling for you.”

“Is that so?” You ask, bowing slightly to retrieve box with accessories so you can choose rings for today. You settle on double jade rings.

You are courtesan, you can wear rings that are reserved for married women, you are courtesan, you are above mundane laws. You are free among the slaves.

And yet you are a slave.

You check your wig, fixed on your head into elaborate hairdo, with various adornments made from finest material by finest artisans.

Were you a commoner, you would sigh, but you are not, so you just stand up, your accessories shimmering and ringing with your every move. Slave girl’s eyes widen slightly, in awe at your luxurious, lavish clothes and adornments, and you assess her – she is not younger than you are, but she is a government slave, and you are…

You are glorified government slave.

She helps you to put on the shoes, made from finest deer’s leather and dyed by the most skilled shoe maker in capital.

You gather your cardinal red skirt, not to stain its hem, your arms falling into your rehearsed position, now nearly natural, elbows far away from your body, pushed forward, spine straight, head held high – you are proud, you are elegant, you are beautiful, you are unconquerable.

Unless somebody pays enough.

You arrive at Overseeing Lady’s chamber. You walk in, nearly not greeting the owner, and you sit down without permission, bringing one of your legs up, putting your hands on your knee, elegant sitting position.

Overseeing Lady doesn’t even bat an eye.

She shouldn’t. Not to her best courtesan.

“Chunwoo, you are booked for tonight. By Minister of Personel.” She says, checking her ledger, and you nod, not surprised. Minister of Personel sends for you every five days. Sometimes more often. It’s actually a night for your to relax, since he pays enough for you not to visit any other patrons. He pays your gisaeng’s house enough to ensure that you won’t be sent to another meeting.

When you step over the threshold, wall-less gama is waiting for you, along with three other courtesans that will accompany Minister’s guests.

You get on, and slaves stand up, and start walking, and other girls follow. There is a guard coming first, and as your procession marches on the street, people greedily peering into your vehicle to see one of the best courtesans.

Of course, they couldn’t recognize you, but courtesan having her own gama? That is a skilled and favored courtesan.

And you know that you deserve nothing less.

*

“Lord, please, don’t do that!” Giggles Sukwol, and you smile indulgently as Minister’s nephew tickles the girl.

You have yet to cross your twenty years, but it’s been long since you did that. You are too elegant to allow any patron to behave like that around you.

Since you take only the highest paying.

Minister laughs coarsely, and turns to you, as if wishing you did that. You won’t. You smile once again, smile not reaching your eyes, as you pick up the vessel with rice wine, and Minister grunts as he picks up his celadon cup.

You realize he is getting disgruntled, and his mood is getting worse every time he calls for you.

It’s because he has yet to bed you.

It’s not like you are still a girl, you’ve raised your hair long time ago, and you lay with patrons, but you rarely do so. And you choose your own partners.

The freedom you are given, and the only one you really enjoy having. A right to choose your partners.

Of course, it’s not that easy as it sounds, it’s hard to say no, and you cannot bluntly refuse – as not to damage the honor of the patron. Gisaeng with enemy will not live in peace. But your wits are enough to keep you out of the chambers of men you don’t want to sleep.

“Lord,” you say, with a voice slow and sultry, to catch his attention. “Would you like to hear me play?”

No official would say no to private concert, especially performed by skilled artist.

And courtesans are the best out there.

Minister calls his slave to bring you gayageum, and you move away from the table, everyone around turning, to prepare to listen to you.

Slave brings you the instrument and you sit down, positioning it on your leg, and you smile slightly at the floor, making sure that everybody sees how shy and lost in your artistry you are.

You struck the first cord only when you are sure that everybody is focused on you.

As they should.

*

You are traveling back alone. Girls stayed to accompany Minister’s guest through the night, and you left to make sure that Minister will once again call for you. You don’t want to lay with him, but you want him to keep filling your pockets.

But you know that you need to make Minister forget about you soon. You know that denying yourself to men make them want you even more, it’s a simple idea. But you realize that the longer you keep that up, the more obsessed they become.

And this night Minister uttered words you dread the most.

Marriage.

Of course your status makes it impossible for you to marry someone. You are courtesan. You are registered, you are a property of government, you and your future daughters (if you ever bear one) belong to gisaeng’s house, to forever be wife to many.

But officials with high positions, such as Minister, can bypass those rules. They can ask for a courtesan to be taken out of the register, so they can take her as their legal concubine.

And if you dreaded your work, you’d dread being Minister’s concubine even more.

Even if low in status, your work gave you certain freedom and power over men from noble families. And as a concubine you wouldn’t have either. You’d be bound to one man, you didn’t even fancy, and you’d be under his legal wife orders. Life of second wife is never easy.

Nor that courtesan’s life is. But it’s still better than concubine.

Night is cold, but windless, and  your hands are getting still, but you have nowhere to hide them. You are not wearing dangui, it’s considered too modest and prudent. Not the image you want to have as a courtesan.

Traveling alone, through cold nights

Lady, where are you going?

Stay, stay, rest with me

No one is expecting you home!

You motion for your carriers to stop, bawdy song reaching your ears. You know it’s impromptu song, because you recognize its melody. Which means that the song is for you, and it does the trick, you are curious.

Singer turns out to be a noble man. You can judge it by his silk robes and clean face. His face tells you that he as a virtuous life and successful son, bound to pass his exam. His posture tells you that he belongs to military’s officials. And his son would to.

“Lord, I gather your lady is waiting for you at home.” You answer with a smile, that is a little too bright for a patron. But he is not. And he is intelligent enough to make you halt. So he deserves an award for that.

Not yet with me, but already jealous

Lady, your beauty is unrivalled

Let me calm your vain heart

On the bed, on the floor, on the rock.

You can’t help, but laugh. He praised you, just to mock you and offend you, but his tongue is skilled enough for you to be unable to take offence.

His voice is also nice, but you can tell that he is not trained in singing, but he is good enough for his songs to be pleasant.

It’s stimulating, and even before you know it, your mind is searching for right words.

The longer the verse

The lesser the meaning

Lord, don’t call for those

You cannot comfort.

He laughs, and bows to you, accepting his loss. You bow back, smile indulgent and warm. You wave to your carriers to pick up your dama.

You smile all the way home.

*

“Chunwoo!” It’s your day off, your fertile days came, you are prohibited from seeing patrons. And yet young slave is calling for you. “Chunwoo! Overseeing Lady asks for you! It’s important!”

You don’t bother asking what for. You don’t bother saying that it’s your lazy day. You just stand up, and go out – posture perfect, even though you are not wearing your usual robes, and you don’t have your wig on.

You don’t reach Overseeing Lady’s chambers, she meets you outside, hurried and urgent.

“Chunwoo, you have a client, important client!” She utters, and you are surprised to see her so shaken.

“I cannot, I am fertile.” You answer calmly, counterpoint to her wavering voice.

“As if you ever bedded patron without wanting to do so.” She snorts, and it’s so unnatural. Overseeing Lady is an ageing courtesan, she would never do something so inelegant like snort. You wonder who managed to shake her stiff demeanor and force her into this crude being. What kind of person was able to do that?

You are curious, and despite your valid objections, you find yourself going back to your chambers to prepare yourself to entertain this important, and mysterious, guest.

You are not quick, but the time you spend preparing yourself is reasonable, considering the fact that you had to wash yourself, change clothes, make make-up and do your hair. Overseeing Lady even send you girl to help. Every courtesan can do it all herself, but help is vital to cut time.

You gather your skirt in your hands, elbows pushed forward, head high, eyes low, careful not to show whites below your pupils, epitome of splendor, personification of men’s desire.

You walk through the gisaeng’s house like an owner – buildings may be government propriety, girls may be overseen by Overseeing Lady, but everybody knows that you rule the place. The best courtesan, the most beautiful, the most skilled, the most mysterious, breathing dream.

Slave boy opens doors for you when you arrive at the main pavilion. That’s where guest are entertained. Most chambers are occupied, and you hear laughter and music as you walk down the corridor. Your ornaments are shaking and ringing minutely, your lavish skirts are shimmering with your every move, but your steps are light enough not to produce sounds. You nearly float, body straight, head not moving up and down, but always staying at the same level.

As you thought your guest is waiting for you in the main chamber, the one reserved for bigger parties, with 8 patrons attending. Another slave boy opens doors for you, and you excuse yourself as you walk in.

You look at the floor, careful not to look at your guest until you reach your pillow. Only when you sit down, you slowly, maddeningly slowly, look up, as you fold your hands on your knee.

It’s singer from yesterday.

You don’t allow yourself to show your surprise.

“Lord.” You greet him, and he nods, looking at you intently. “I have to admit, that I am happy that I decided to go with comfort instead of afford, because I would have lost our squabbling.”

He stares at you for a longer second, maybe deciding what to make of your words, but then he laughs.

“Wit is a sign of intelligence. And yours is unparalleled, my Lady.” He says, and your eyes fly open.

“What lady, my Lord? I am no lady, please I don’t deserve to be called lady, I am just a mere servant.” You say urgently, suddenly horrified for this indecent breach of your country’s laws. You are terrified, and he looks definitely troubled.

“I am sorry for startling you, my…”

“Chunwoo, my Lord.”

“Chunwoo. Spring’s rain.” You nod, confirming characters used for your name.” And you are Chunwoo, because…?”

“Because I bring new will, a rejuvenating water to make all nature alive again after dreary winter.”

“Indeed you do.” He says, and your eyes snap up, at his face. His words are quiet, as if he was talking to himself, and not to you. His face is handsome, but now, in the light, you realize it’s weary. He looks older than you thought, he looks as if his son was already an official, with his wife being pregnant.

That would be about right, since your patron looks around 35years old.

And yet you cannot deny that he emanates power of a man in his twenties, but intelligence speaking beyond his age. He is wise, he is knowledgeable – that’s why he was able to grab your attention with a mere four-verse.

And now you feel like he allowed you to win last round.

You realize that you want him.

“Lord.” You say, throat tight with sudden desire overflowing your body. It’s been so long since you really wanted somebody. “May I dance for you?”

His nostrils flare, and he doesn’t say a word, focused on your face, as if he was enthralled, listening to the words you did not speak. You dare to ask again, and only than he reacts. You wonder if he even heard you asking first time around.

He nods his head, looking shaken.

So you stand up, moving away, to the center of the room. Normally you’d call for musician, but you don’t want to, you can dance without music.

You pour all your heart into your dance, movements light and easy, but full of symbols, heavy with longing and light with joy, weary with grief and enthusiastic with hope. Every move is deliberate, but not rehearsed, you allow yourself to just feel and live the emotions you try to convey.

You don’t know where they come from, but you know that even without music that may be the best dance you’ve ever performed. For dancers the older they are the better their dance, because they can put all of their experiences into their steps – but you are still card blanche, you are still young, and without luggage, so your dance should not be as enthralling.

But it is, shedding layer after layer, pouring ages of experience you shouldn’t have into one perfect dance.

But the time you finish, he is standing up, tears flowing down his face, and disappearing in his neatly cut beard.

You don’t get to bow, because when he realizes that you’ve finished, he comes over, bringing you into his arms, and the warmth feels familiar. Though it should not.

His fingers on the ribbon tying your jeogori together shouldn’t be familiar, but they are. So shouldn’t be his hands on your shoulders pushing the article down your back, but they seem familiar.

His face is familiar, his mouth kissing yours feel as if you’ve kissed those lips many times before.

Except you didn’t.

And yet laying down without bedding to soothe your back seems right. It seems right to fight with his habok’s jacket, it seems right to pull the strings of his hat free, so it fall next to you. Your see-through jacket that was hiding under jeogori falls to the ground, and your naked arms touch the paper floor. It’s not cold, the ondol is working, but it seems to be clouding your mind.

You don’t believe that there could be something more important than laying with him in this exact moment.

You help him with the layers of your skirts, baring your legs, your thighs, your abdomen, baring yourself, and he growls a pained sound, hurrying to unfasten his pants, the multitude of strings making this a gargantuan effort. He seems to be struggling, lost in need and desire, so your hands come up, and you rest them on his face, intimate and calming, and you soothe him, thumbs caressing his skin.

He whimpers, head bowing, and lips leaving a tender kiss on your forehead.

Then he slides into you, and it’s been so long that you whimper.

He cradles you in his arms, fond and affectionate, and it pains you. You are a gisaeng, a courtesan, and over-glorified whore – you don’t deserve this type of emotions. You don’t even deserve this poor substitute of real feeling.

“You don’t even know how long I’ve searched for you.” He whispers against your skin, and you wonder why – he doesn’t have to woo you anymore, he did it, you opened your legs for him. Why he still cares?

But between his long, penetrating thrusts, he keeps caressing your hair, and he keeps whispering into your ear, which leaves you breathless and on the verge of tears, your hands fisting on the back of his undergarment.

“I’ve searched far and wide, I searched for years, I haven’t stopped even for a while. I am sorry it took so long, I am sorry that another raised your hair, I am sorry, I am sorry…”

Were your tears the product of pain piercing your heart, or the pleasure building in your gut?

*

Month.

One month, twenty eight days, filled with longing. It was unnatural, you shouldn’t be so affected by this one visit. But he loved you, on the floor in the main pavilion. He held you close, and he caressed your hair, and he whispered loving words against your skin, to promise that he will comeback. And he left.

He left you alone, to work as you used to, when you felt that it wasn’t possible anymore. In every man you saw him, and every man was lacking in comparison to him.

But Kim Shin told you to wait.

Kim Shin.

So you did.

*

Fifty days. Fifty days since you saw him. Fifty days of heavy heart and even heavier body.

You are no longer Chunwoo, Spring’s Rain, rejuvenating, refreshing. You are Chuwoo, Fall’s Rain, weary, dull and depressing rain that comes to destroy crops, and to bring colorful leaves down from the trees turning them into mushy heaps.

*

Eighty days. Eighty days and no sign of Kim Shin, that promised to come back. To come back for you.

Eighty days since you saw the father of the child you carry under your heart.

*

Hundred and twenty days.

Hundred and twenty one days.

Hundred and twenty two days.

*

You knew what it was the moment Overseeing Lady brought the vessel to you. The liquid inside was dark, leaving the sheen layer of oily smear on the vessel’walls.

She left your quarters, leaving the ominous drink on your desk. You sat on your bedding, perfect hair-do, perfect make-up, perfect adornments, perfectly chosen hanbok. You were as pristine as always.

Hundred and thirty five days.

Your hand snatched the bowl and you poured the liquid down your throat.

*

You woke up in the pool of blood.

Your blood.

Your child’s blood.

Hundred and thirty six days.

*

King’s order came. You were taken out of the registry.

Whole house was stunned, every girl was terrified. Minister has done it, he had managed to take you out from the ministry, to take you as his concubine.

Hundred and forty four days.

*

You tore your sheets. You tore it to pieces, you wrangled with them, but you did not cry. You were told that courtesan should not let her emotions show. She should never let anyone see her cry. She should never be seen looking less than perfect.

Discard all desire to be the wife of one man. When one is able to eliminate all useless emotions, one’s life is much more joyous than other women’s lives. A courtesan must possess vast knowledge and learning. The depth of courtesan’s life is profound. When it comes to beauty, no one is given more freedom than the courtesans. Courtesan do not worry over trifles like money. Her splendor cannot compare even to the King’s women in the Palace. Furthermore, she possess something that not even the princesses have.

You told yourself over and over again, your bare feet tickled by grass, morning dew gathering on your soles and toes.

Music.

It is the sound of courtesan’s heart. It is the sound of the waterfall, that cascades over and refreshes one’s soul.

A life that feeds on dance and music.

That is courtesan’s life.

You sang the song, quietly, allowing the wind to overpower your voice. You danced on the balls of your feet, your heart light for the first time in months.

Hundred and forty five days.

You sang as you threw the sheets over the branch, you sang tying knot. Your feet danced in the air, as you broke your neck.

That is an end of courtesan’s life.

***

He did it. He found her, and he had a way to make her his. And she was willing to become his, she offered herself to him willingly. He vowed to comeback, wanting nothing more than stay his all time with her.

But to take her as his wife he needed to take her out of the register. So he went to the palace. Once again he took the national exam, he passed it with flying colors. He entered six ministries, he worked his way up, he gathered favors, until he managed to do it, until his king granted him his wish. It took him less than a half a year.

He couldn’t believe his lack. Five months! Only five months it took him to obtain the right to make her his. Rightful wife.

Decree in his hand he walked to her, he walked proud and happy, energetic steps of a person that knows that hardship is over.

Energetic steps that falter when he sees a mournful-white on a silhouette hanging on the blossoming plum tree.

[rolandfontana]

Behind Bars, Raging Against the System Can Be Therapeutic

Savvy prison systems such as the Washington Department of Corrections (WDOC) tout dog training programs, sustainability projects, and yoga classes to market their humane and rehabilitative environments to members of the public who are curious enough to want to know what is occurring inside of them.

Yet behind the window dressing, there remains “a trace of ‘torture in the modern mechanisms of criminal justice,” and it is “enveloped increasingly by the non-corporal nature of the penal system.”

Those are the words of Michael Foucault, and they apply to the institution where I am serving a life sentence, as well as to most others.

Those who are confined must endure, according to Foucault:

…physical and sexual deprivation; undernourishment; limited access to healthcare and hygiene; the pervasive odor of urine, disinfectant, and stale food; the noxious and threatening proximity of other bodies; the claustrophobic pressure of confinement and crowding; and the endemic hazard of physical violence, whether by guards or by other inmates.

That’s one reason tension between guards and inmates is all too common in correctional settings.

However, I have learned that it is prudent to cloak my anger and hostility. Being perceived by one’s keepers as a malcontent can result in reprisals, especially in minimum custody facilities where the perception amongst staff is that prisoners—who have the luxury of living in less repressive settings—have too much to lose to react violently when treated unjustly.

Emboldened by this belief, many guards will not hesitate to pluck a seemingly hostile prisoner out of a crowd and pat-search them aggressively.

They will frequently search these prisoners’ cells under pretexts and leave them in shambles.

They will confiscate their property illegitimately and claim it violates policy.

Staff will delay or “lose” paperwork that requires approval for prisoners to obtain jobs, schooling, and transfers to work release.

Such examples illustrate why I don a mask of equanimity. Yet for some prisoners, becoming a sphinx does not inoculate against capriciousness. Those who use writing as a means for venting their discontent and have the nerve to let those views be published can face repercussions.

Case in point: Arthur Longworth, an award‑winning author whose portraits of WDOC have incensed many correctional officials and turned them into petty tyrants when dealing with him.

After having his drafts seized by mailroom staff, getting banned by administrators from participating in volunteer programs, and being dogged by investigators trying to determine whether he profited from publication of Zek: An American Prison Story, Longworth was left to muse in an interview:

To be honest, I don’t understand what bothers them about my writing or why they go to such extremes to punish me for what I’ve written, as well as do all they can to prevent me from writing more. When I look at my writing, it seems to be merely an attempt to convey the experiences of long-term prisoners.

What Arthur Longworth’s experience manifests is that the retributive ethos is omnipresent within the correctional system.

He wrote that prison staff—no less than members of the public—often find “the notion repugnant that convicted murderers, rapists, robbers—subhuman persons—could thrive in a place that should serve as their demise.”

To such minds, we were confined solely to be punished; we have no business complaining as if we are suffering injustices.

To be honest, I despise those who hold such sentiments. Indeed, Nietzsche would also be revolted by those who hold such views, a feeling “actuated less by pity for the suffering of those punished than by the disgust with those who rationalize that suffering….”

Regardless, to those who believe prisoners are working off a debt to society and, by reason of this, are unfit to feel anger that is righteous, Arthur Longworth’s writings are heresy and he fully deserves the backlash he engenders from administrators within WDOC.

There is an irony to this.

In writing about the true nature of imprisonment, as opposed to lashing out due to their predicament, prisoners are employing the very methods that correctional systems force-feed them through cognitive behavior therapy (CBT).

For those unfamiliar with this treatment, the core premise of CBT is simple, according to an article in the National Institute of Justice Journal:

The way we think about situations shapes our choices, behavior and actions. If flawed or maladaptive thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs lead to inappropriate and even destructive behavior, then changing thoughts, attitudes and beliefs can lead to more appropriate, pro-social behavior.

Instead, the object of the Stress & Anger Management CBT program within WDOC is to help “offenders recognize their angry feelings, learn their causes, and deal with them in a new way—a responsible way—probably not the way they learned to deal with them in the past,” according to the aptly titled Cage Your Rage workbook.

Consequently, prisoners are given some of the following instructions for responsibly managing their stress and anger:

 Don’t keep angry feelings bottled up inside. They will only cause you problems and pain.

You know that built-up anger only makes a situation worse—worse for yourself and worse for others.

If we don’t deal with our feelings of anger, they only lead to aggression.

In fact, caging one’s rage “doesn’t mean you should get rid of all your anger [because] anger does have some good uses,” according to the Cage Your Rage script.

From this perspective, Arthur Longworth is a CBT success.

Every time that he manages his anger and stress by weaponizing his pen rather than beating and slashing his keepers, he proves that anger can indeed be put to good use.

As a twist, the final lesson from CBT appears to be that taking to heart the rehabilitative programing provided by WDOC can actually lead to ruin, and, confirms Durkheim’s view that “the essence of punishment is irrational, unthinking emotion fixed by a sense of the sacred and its violation.”

In the end, the pen becomes a blade for a prisoner to perform Seppuku.

In a 2017 article in the Punishment & Society journal, Prof. Steve Herbert recognizes that prisoners such as Longworth who are serving life sentences “exemplify and enact the human capacities for connection, generosity, resilience, and atonement; for these and other reasons, their experiences deserve greater consideration and discussions of punishment policy.”

Jeremiah Bourgeois

He is right in this.

As author Joe Lockard writes, “one of the strongest forces against mass incarceration is the voice of prisoners themselves.”

Accordingly, I hope Arthur Longworth remains committed to being a voice for the mass incarcerated through sharing his perspective.

Let him continue to follow Psalm 4:4— “Be angry, and do not sin.”

Jeremiah Bourgeois is a regular contributor to TCR, and an inmate in Washington State, where he has been serving a life sentence since the age of 14. He is currently petitioning for release from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center. Readers who wish to support him are invited to sign up here.

Behind Bars, Raging Against the System Can Be Therapeutic syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/