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onisiondrama · 3 years ago

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"let's talk" April 29, 2021, Speaks

Summary part 3 (final)

Says his father went on the documentary. The child who accused his father was very clear to himself, his mom, his family, and their therapist that they knew things they weren't supposed to know because of his father. They had phycological damage and refused to talk to his father to this day. He asked this person about their dad and they refused to talk about it. He kicked his pedophile father out of his life when he was 19. He says his father actually targeted a prepubescent child. He says it's so fucked up people celebrated his father as a hero when he went on the documentary. He says putting the accusations aside, what kind of fucked up dad goes on a documentary against their own son. Any parent would say that's fucked.

He announces he's going to explain parenthood. When you have a kid, your life no longer matters. You have no idea what love is until you have a child. No clue. Once someone or you push your baby from their lower religion, you're whole life changes. You would give up everything and kill yourself for them. If someone handed you a gun and said it's you or your kid, without hesitation you'd blow your brains out. If your child had a disease and god asked if you wanted to take the disease, like equivalent exchange like Full Metal Alchemist, you'd say yes without hesitation to let your child live. What kind of parent goes onto a documentary to ruin someone's life? That's his dad. If his own kid was Hitler or Satan, he'd still fall on a sword for them. He doesn't care, it's his kid.

He asks how it's possible a parent can love their kid then disown them when they come out as gay or tans? Some people don't know how to be parents or love the human they're responsible for. He doesn't get how you could lie to your kids.

Kurt Cobain and Eminem had the same problem with their moms. They hated their moms.

If his kid said they wish he was dead, he wouldn't care. As long as they're alive and safe.

He said he was told by someone on Discord that people don't actually believe the things they say about him. They just like to troll him and see him squirm. He says that's not true, people believe the shit they say. He says that's evil.

He says he's so rude, people want to hurt him. That's what caused all this. He's sorry he was rude.

After a certain amount of time, if someone is in his life and it's not working out, he kicks them out. Tobuscus did the same thing to him. He was hanging and at some point he told him to get the fuck out. It was so weird.

He says they were hanging with Tomato Bisquette, who is apparently disconnected from the internet, he doesn't know why. James says they were hanging out, making music for fun and Tobuscus was ranting about a woman who accused him of rape. He said he didn't even go near that woman and she was screaming passed out on his front lawn. James told him to tell people, so Tobuscus made a video and it was successful. He said it was great to see him cleared by the public. He says not everyone gets that luxury. If you're hated, people don't want to see you innocent.

He says they were hanging and at some point Tobuscus decided the night was over and told them, "alright, get the fuck out." He said it was not angrily, it was causally. He offered pie first and James ate it. James says he only tells people to get the fuck out when he's serious. Like when people do illegal drugs. He says he never had anyone do illegal drugs around him.

The law and legal system resonate with him because he's a former USAF cop. It deeply stuck to him. He appreciates the law because it keeps the order in society. Illegal people can influence the law and make it unfair so it's complicated. That's what happens when the world is run by humans, flawed people.

He says we don't have real freedom. Real freedom is The Purge, but he doesn't want that because it's awful.

He says according to the internet he can't be raped, even though they (Sarah) apologized twice. He can't be blackmailed and extorted, even though they admitted to it in a livestream.

He doesn't understand if the legal system can charge a child as an adult, that means you can selectively decide when someone is considered an adult. Yet James Franco texted a 17 year old. Can he charge them as an adult? He says James Franco apparently tried to sleep with a 17 year in in a state where it's not legal. Apparently the legal system can deiced to treat someone like an adult. He says god knows what happened with the 14 year old Elvis Presley went road tripping with and eventually married. He says apparently Elvis could do that back in the day when the legal age was 18 in his area, yet James Franco can't text the 17 year old? He says it's probably better that way. He says he'd rather be fucked by James Franco then thrown in a cell with a bunch of people who are going to rape him in the butt. He says that's what happens in jail. The law charges someone as "an adult" (finger quotes) and dooms them to a life of being raped in prison. Yet people can't have "consensual sex" (finger quotes again) with James Franco because reasons. He clarifies he's not saying James Franco should be allowed to have sex with people like that, but what the fuck is charged as an adult? If they're not an adult, they're not an adult. You can't just make up age. Nobody should be charges as an adult. He doesn't care is a 10 year old hacks up an entire school bus. It's fucked up, but they're not an adult. He says it's like being allergic to a peanut, but saying you'll eat it as a grape. It's still a peanut and you'll still explode.

If the legal age of consent in your state is 18, you probably shouldn't send 17 and 16 year olds to die in war. He says he served with a 17 year old in the air force when he was 19. You can sign up to go to war and be killed, but you can't sign up to take a dick. He says he's not saying we should change the age of consent laws. He's saying we shouldn't treat people who consents to sex the same as someone who was shot in the head. He says to him, war and prison are worse than sex with James Franco. He says we can all agree James Franco is a good alternative to Bubba raping us in prison.

Says we should let people like Jake Paul and Michael Jackson be proven guilty in court before we pass judgement. Or if they're stupid, we can pass judgement right away, like James Charles admitting to talking to people romantically who were not the age of consent. He says that's jail shit.

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spacesnaill · 4 years ago

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Holds you at gunpoint. Every question for Jupiter. (you can skip some if you want-)

i love you, you motherfucker 🔫

1. what is your character's relationship to the traveler?

jupiter is aether’s and lumine’s big sibling, so they all get along very well. i like to think aether and lumine are way more brash and “act before you think” kind of people, while jupiter usually is the one who takes lead (both because of the big sib energy and because they are way more analytical). that being said, jupiter is aware that the twins are very much capable of surviving on their own and fighting if there is any need for that, which is why even after losing touch with them in tevyat they know that the twins will manage somehow, they just need to find them

2. is your character proud of, ashamed of, or indifferent to their feelings towards members of a certain gender?

i’d like to think that the species/society the trio comes from doesnt give a fuck about gender and sexuality so jupiter would never feel ashamed or upset about their feelings towards specific genders. i dont think they would rlly label themself but they are definitely not straight. as to having feelings towards others: they are usually straight forward in their approach

3. what is your character's relationship with themselves?

jupiter knows their purpose and objective very well, but that often clouds their true desires. i like to think that they havent really been thinking for themself up until they were stranded in tevyat and had to rely on themself. they came to realize their own opinions and perspectives that they carry with themself everywhere they go. tho, their views are rather flexible, because they are very much willing to learn if an oppoturnity arises. that being said, they dont quite know themself well just yet, they are still learning after all

4. what is their favorite region? why?

with how much of the game is available rn, liyue is definitely their favorite so far. it’s culture is incredibly rich and full of fascinating stories and legends. i personally am looking forward to the release of sumeru, but what will come out of it is yet to be seen

5. what is their relationship with Zhongli? do they have one at all?

oh they very much do. while his charm and politeness are qualities that they very much enjoy, what originally drew them closer to him was his vast knowledge over liyue’s traditions and customs. at first during their stay at liyue harbor they would wait to catch him during his afternoon and evening strolls around the city to ask him things and carefully listen to everything he has to say. id like to think that zhongli appreciated having such an active listener and even a conversation partner at some point. eventually their little friendship grew into fondness for each other and they would seek each other’s company, until jupiter straight up confessed. id like to think their relationship is fairly innocent and very much founded on mutual respect and admiration. they both value honesty and communicate with each other rather well. and even though, zhongli hesitated before agreeing to travel with them, leaving liyue behind, he doesnt regret doing it

6. who is their love interest? If they do not have one, who is their closest friend?

while zhongli is both their love interest and their dear friend, venti is their first close friend. during the events of chapter I they both bonded. venti seemed like someone containing a vast amount of knowledge that jupiter was eager to discover. it quickly became apparent to them that the bard doesnt particularly like to talk about the past in detail, but venti still would surprise them with how much he knew about art and the culture surrounding it. they are both pretty light spirited so they always enjoyed each other’s company and their bond only grew stronger during their travels.

7. what do they think of Mona?

they are curious about and intrigued by her methods. they can also very much relate to her pursuit of lost/forgotten knowledge. they like to ask her about astrology and theorize with her, asking her to teach them little things for an exchange of a hot, homemade meal

8. what do they think of The Knights of Favonius?

their opinion on the knights is mixed. they can very much see that most of the people working for them are underqualified and not cut for the job or only doing it for the renown. while the idea of a city without a ruler is appealing, in practice the knights are the ones ruling over it and jupiter was left feeling sceptical when thinking about their methods and the possible future. they dont have anything against the individual people in the organization, but they do think their approach is highly flawed

9. wine is Mondstadt's most popular drink. do they drink wine?

while they do indulge in alcohol from time to time, they dont seem to be able to get drunk or even tipsy. they’ve concluded that since their body is built differently than a person of this world’s, its very probable that they dont react to certain foods and products the same way. alcohol is like any kind of a drink for them and many people are terrified when they see them consume it in large quantities

10. what do they think of Kaeya?

they like his playful nature and think he is a highly intelligent person, who doesnt show anyone what he is truly capable of. his methods, while very cunning, seem rather brash, which somehow reminds them of their siblings. while they are very much curious about his motives and history, they dare not to pray if it isnt welcomed. during their stay in mondstadt they would often times catch kaeya lurking in the tavern and spending time with the local gangs and bandits in order to extort information from them while drunk. in the rarer occasions where he would be alone, they would sometimes keep him company, filling the night with talks about nothing in particular

11. if they were forced to make the choice between killing their love interest/friend or killing themselves, what would they choose? why?

that very much depends on when that would happen. pre-separation with their siblings, they would very much operate on the hard logic of “whoever has more information/more important information should survive”. however after spending time in tevyat and meeting its people, jupiter learns to greatly value life and their inicial stance would change to a more selfless one. the more they get to know about the world the more they are willing to put their life on the line to preserve life in it, especially if its the life of someone they hold dear

12. what do they think of Childe? 16. is there a canon character your character hates? why?

at first they were open to the idea of being childe’s friend, however with time they started noticing that something was wrong with his overt friendliness. when he revealed his true intentions, jupiter was not surprised, but learning what he had chose to do made them absolutely despise him. staying in liyue has taught them a lot and made them care about the people living in this world. however childe seemed to have no disregard to them. they will not hesitate to fight him if their paths do cross again

13. do they carry a lot of Mora?

having a large amount of mora is basically a requirement when travelling with zhongli and venti. jupiter does take on a lot of jobs and comissions, though mora is mostly a secondary issue for them. they do find themself owning quite a lot of it at times until they overspend with their companions and are forced to rely on their survival skills in order to save up enough to get a roof over their heads

14. does your character side with Kaeya, Diluc or neither?

when it comes to the family feud: neither. jupiter doesnt like to pry into family matters and they understand both kaeya and diluc never talking about their issues with one another. while they cant imagine siblings behaving like that, due to their own experience, they dont feel like its their place to judge.

when it comes to the knights of the favonius: jupiter slightly leans more on diluc’s side, recognizing the many weaknesses of the organization as it is, however they both come from different places when critiquing it.

15. what do they think of Venti?

venti has become their best friend and they value him deeply. they worry about him sometimes, aware of the origin of his appearance and the history behind it. they like how venti seems to perceive life in a very poetic way and are fascinated by it. they get along very well and venti often fill their time during their travels by his songs, both known and not yet named

17. how did they acquire their vision?

they seem to be blessed with the same ability as their siblings when it comes to being granted powers without aquiring a vision themself

18. what is your character's weakness?

their curiosity and hunger for knowledge

19. what is their strength?

they utilize the knowledge they have gathered into things they can use to their advantage be it in battle or daily life

20. what is your character's theme song?

pure gold by half·alive

21. what weather do they love the most? why?

they love when its sunny. jupiter very much enjoys the feeling of sunlight on their skin

22. what do they think of Paimon?

jupiter would be Ecstatic to get to meet paimon. her vast knowledge in all matters would make her a valuable companion. in the current story they have no idea who she is as of now though

23. what do they think of the Fatui?

while they do not approve of the fatui’s methods, they cant help but think that something much deeper must be going on. jupiter wants to believe that the tsaritsa cant be simply evil and that perhaps she has some other, hidden motivation for her actions. having spent time with and got to know the fatui in liyue, they also know that not all of them are cartoonish bad guys

24. what do they think of the archons?

overall the concept of archons seems very new and intriguing to them. they do try to get as much information about their godhood out of venti and zhongli. they wonder whether this world really needs the archons as much as it claims to

25. what is the worst thing that could happen to your oc?

either losing their siblings or losing their memory (its a great fear of theirs)

26. what does your oc want the most?

their long term dream is to write down all the knowledge they’ve gathered so far and make it accessible and understandable to anyone willing to read it

#genshin impact #gi #genshin impact oc #gi oc #original character #oc #the third star au #ask #friends #jupiter

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creepingsharia · 5 years ago

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“I Never Thought We’d Face This Much Hatred”: Muslim Persecution of Christians, November 2019

by Raymond Ibrahim

Slaughter of Christians

Syria: On November 11, Islamic gunmen opened fire on a vehicle known to be carrying Christian leaders. Two Armenian priests, a father and son, were killed; a deacon was seriously wounded. ISIS claimed the murders of Father Abrahim Petoyan and Father Hovsep Petoyan. The Armenians were going to inspect repairs on an Armenian Catholic church that had been earlier damaged in Deir ez-Zor. “We continue to feel the presence of ISIS,” responded the Armenian Catholic Archbishop Boutros Marayati of Aleppo, adding that Deir ex-Zor “is a very important town for us, because it is there that many of our martyrs were killed as they fled the Turkish genocide of 1915. Today there are no Armenian Catholics left there. Undoubtedly, the Turks don’t want us to return, because our presence would be a reminder of the Armenian genocide.”

Turkey: On November 19, in the streets of the city of Diyarbakir, Korean evangelist Jinwook Kim, 41, was stabbed and later died from his injuries. A 16-year-old Muslim was later arrested. According to the report,

Kim had arrived in Diyarbakir with his family earlier this year and was pastoring a small community of Christians. The assailant stabbed Kim three times: twice in the heart, once in the back. Officials, however, claim that the incident occurred in an effort to steal Kim’s phone. Local believers urge the authorities to investigate the incident as an assassination, rather than an attempt at extortion. Kim was married and had one child, although his second is expected to be born in the coming days…. He had lived in Turkey for five years.

“This wasn’t just a robbery; they came to kill him,” insists another local Christian, who received a death threat the day after this incident:

We always get threats. A brother prophesied a few days ago that they (the government) are going to kick out these foreigners, and probably kill a few Turkish brothers. They are going to cause chaos. They know that I am trying to spread the Gospel, so they may target me too. This may be a sign.

Ethiopia: “Two Ethiopian pastors have been beheaded in Sebeta, near the capital Addis Ababa, in an outburst of violence against Christians” that erupted after a leading Muslim incited his supporters against the government over some supposed infraction against him. The report adds that “the situation on the ground has become quite challenging for Christians and many churches have been burnt this year. There is also an unverified report that a group of Christians has been forced out of the majority-Muslim town of Ginir, located 303 miles south-east of the capital.”

Nigeria: Muslim Fulani herdsmen continued their murderous raids on Christian communities. Two incidents were especially notable and identical. First, in the early hours of November 14, machete-wielding Muslim raiders hacked to death four Christians as they soundly slept in their bedrooms in Agban village, near Kagoro. All of the slain were farmers and members of the local church. Ten days later, on November 24, Muslim herdsmen attacked Agom, a Christian village in southern Kaduna state’s Sanga Country, around 4:30 a.m. There they hacked with machetes an 87-year-old Christian to death and shot another Christian in the head, killing him instantly. Both of the slain, regular churchgoers, had also been sleeping in their homes.

Cameroon: On November 6 in Moskota, Islamic militants connected with Boko Haram attacked a church where they killed David Mokoni, a retired pastor, as well as a hearing-impaired Christian boy; another pastor was shot in the leg. Afterwards the militants looted the church, taking even the pastors’ ceremonial robes. “Boko Haram has been stepping up its attacks on Christian villages in Far North Cameroon in an attempt to establish an Islamic caliphate from north-eastern Nigeria all the way to northern Cameroon,” the report says. This most recent attack follows a “brutal spate of attacks since late October, by gangs of up to 200 militants, [which] has left eight dead”: “The first of the attacks came on 30 October with the looting of six mainly-Christian villages in Mayo Sava district…. On 31 October, five people were hacked to death when militants armed with axes, knives and wooden clubs stormed the village of Kotserehé. A sixth wounded man later died from his injuries.” Rebecca, a witness, described the slaughter of a boy in Kotserehé: “He was a 15-year-old adolescent. He was so deeply asleep in his bed that he didn’t hear any of the noise around him. They thrust the blade of the axe so deeply into his skull, to the point we had to use a hammer to get it out of his head.” Many Christians have been displaced by these ongoing attacks and live in “extreme misery,” added another local: “This is beyond persecution. It is a dramatic situation, plunging thousands of families into a deplorable humanitarian crisis.”

Pakistan: Muslim bakers murdered a teenage Christian coworker and police are covering it up, alleged Sarwar Masih, the father of Akash Masih, the slain 18-year-old: “My son was an expert at baking and making shawarma and burgers” and his “expertise was liked by the customers.” As a result, “he faced discrimination and religious jealousy at his workplace. He often complained about the unfavorable situation at the bakery, but he continued working to help his family.” One day the bakery called the father and said his son was sick and sent to a hospital. Sarwar rushed there only to learn that his son had already died. When he contacted police, the bakery threatened him and police were unresponsive, claiming that his son had “committed suicide,” even though signs of torture were visible on his neck and back. “These are delaying tactics to defuse the evidences against the culprits,” Sarwar last reported: “Christians face hatred and discrimination even after their death.”

Separately, on November 16, an armed Muslim mob attacked and drove out the Christian families of a small village in Lahore. One Christian teenage girl, Sonia Sarwar, was killed and six others were seriously injured in the riot. “The attack was aimed at displacing around ten Christian families from this area,” Nazir Masih, whose legs were wounded in the attack, explained: “Arshad Kambho, an influential Muslim, wants to grab the property of the Christians.” Since 2015, Kambho had been trying to steal the Christians’ land; he took them twice to courts and twice the courts ruled in favor of the Christians. “Since then, Kambho has been creating disputes with the Christians to damage them and drag them into an allegation,” said another local.

Attacks on Christian Churches

Syria: On November 11—the same day that two Armenian priests were killed in a hail of bullets (see above)—three car bombings occurred in the city of Qamishli, which holds a significant Christian population. One of the bombs detonated near a Chaldean church and killed at least six civilians, as well as damaging the church building; another detonated near an Assyrian Christian owned market, and a third detonated near a Catholic school. All were claimed by ISIS.

Egypt: On Friday, November 1, a fire broke out in a Coptic church in Shubra. According to the report, “The fire had started at around 8:30am close to the church theatre hall, in a building adjacent to the church itself. Anba Makary, Bishop of South Shubra, was then officiating Mass on the ground floor for persons with disabilities. They were all safely evacuated.” In the preceding two weeks, two other churches were torched in October. Police concluded that the fires in all three cases were due to electrical malfunctions. Christians argued otherwise, indicating that arson was responsible.

Separately, the civil council of the village of Neda ordered the church of St. George to remove its bell tower, in keeping with Islamic law. The church, fearing that this is just the first warning of a downward spiral to closure, made a direct appeal to President Sisi. According to the November 17 report,

[T]he actual construction of the church has been a slow process. It was originally established in 1911, but it didn’t receive building permits until 2006. Because the village Christians are poor, construction has been slow. They are afraid that the village extremists will stop them from continuing construction without the intervention of the President. Churches are a contentious subject in Egypt, which is an officially Islamic country. The construction of churches is tightly regulated by the state…

Pakistan: A Muslim mob demolished a wall and the front door of a Catholic church in the Punjab on the pretext that it was not formally registered. However, according to church member Naseer Masih, “Muslims do not want the church in the village because they have bad feelings towards Christians.” The report explains:

“On 4 November 50 policemen arrived in front of the [church] gate and asked Catholics if they had ever had problems praying in church. Christians have responded that they had never had difficulties. Meanwhile, a crowd of 60 people gathered to bring a tractor and hammers. With the tractor they knocked down the door, then the Muslims completed the destruction with hammers.”

Police just stood by and watched. “[W]e had no warning from the police before the accident,” said Naseer. “The Muslims carried out the destruction and the policemen did nothing against them. This means that they are on their side…. We have prepared all the documents,” he added, concerning the legality of the modest and now ruined church that was built in 2007.

Turkey: According to a November 21 report, “Turkey’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, has recently approved changing the historic Chora Greek Orthodox Church located in Istanbul, currently a museum, into a mosque”:

Commentators say that sets the legal precedent for transforming Hagia Sophia, the very symbol of Byzantine and Orthodox Christianity, which is also currently an official museum, back into a mosque…. The interior of the [Chora] church, which was originally built as part of a monastery complex outside the walls of Constantinople, is covered with some of the oldest and finest surviving Byzantine mosaics and frescoes.

Chora Church’s uniquely old and surprisingly intact artwork was first made in 1315—over a century before the Turkish invasion and conquest of Constantinople in 1453—and includes images such as of Joseph and Mary (above). All these historically precious frescoes are set to be destroyed in the church’s transformation into a mosque.

France: On Sunday, November 3, a statue of St. Bernadette in the chapel of the St. Florent hermitage in Oberhaslach was found beheaded. Because two churches are reportedly violated every day in France, this bit of vandalism attracted little attention. According to PI-News, 1,063 attacks on Christian churches or symbols (crucifixes, icons, statues) were registered in France in just 2018. A separate January 2017 study revealed that “Islamist extremist attacks on Christians” in France—which holds one of Europe’s largest Muslim populations—rose by 38 percent, going from 273 attacks in 2015 to 376 in 2016; the majority occurred during Christmas season and “many of the attacks took place in churches and other places of worship.” Unsurprisingly, the parish where the beheaded statue was found suffered an arson attack the year before.

General Hate for and Abuse of Christians

Norway: A group of Muslims beat, robbed, and threatened to kill a Christian evangelist if he did not convert to Islam. According to the report, Roar Fløttum was “preaching the gospel and praying for the sick” on November 27, following a prayer meeting in the church he attends in Trondheim, when he encountered a group of Muslim men. During their conversation, the Muslims indicated that they had physical pains and injuries. Fløttum offered to pray for them, they accepted, and he complied. They said they felt better and urged him to go with them and pray for another of their friends who was also suffering from a foot injury. Fløttum went. “They were very nice and I couldn’t believe they would deceive me,” he later explained. They took him to a backyard, pushed him down a cellar staircase, and began to beat and kick him in the face. They kept him hostage there for about an hour, robbed him of his credit cards and about a thousand kroner (equivalent to about $108 USD). “While they kept me there, they threatened me and said they would kill me if I did not convert to Islam,” recalled the Norwegian. “They wanted me to say some words in Arabic [likely the shahada, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah,” which, when recited before Muslim witnesses, makes the reciter a Muslim]. I was scared and actually thought they were going to kill me because they said they had a knife and didn’t want witnesses.”

Egypt: A knife-wielding Muslim man stabbed a Christian family—consisting of a mother and her two sons—and left one of the sons in critical condition. The incident occurred on the evening of Sunday, November 17, in Minya. When the Muslim man saw the family sitting outside their home, as is customary in Egypt, he began yelling at them to go back inside. When the older son refused to comply, the man, identified variously as “Ali,” or “Muhammad” went to his nearby home and returned with a knife. He lunged at the family, stabbing the mother in the head, slicing the younger brother’s face, and stabbing the older brother several times in the gut (images here). A separate report adds that, “Last year, Mohammed attacked another Christian man with a cleaver…. He is known to hate Christians.” “We can’t get back to the village,” one of the sons last reported. “Right now, we try to avoid fights and disputes with them. The extremists’ family live in a house which is not far away from us. We will not let them induce us to fight them or anything like that. If we did something like that, we will lose our rights to punish the extremist. We want law enforcement.”

Uganda: On November 10, Muslim relatives of a Christian father of four young children poisoned and almost killed him for leaving Islam. Ronald Rajab Nayekuliza, 48, had converted earlier and proceeded to build a church and raise pig livestock. His brothers, already angered by his conversion, responded by building a mosque near the church, while local Muslims regularly hurled stones at the church during Sunday worship. Next, his older brother, Anus Wako, began sending threatening messages: “You rearing pigs is against the faith of our father. We are from a Muslim family, and our father did not allow the keeping of pigs. While our father was still alive, you were a Muslim; that is why he gave you land to live in, not for the construction of the church. Our family has become a laughingstock to our Muslim neighbors.” Then, on the morning of November 8, Ronald found six of his piglets slaughtered: “I knew it must be my brothers; that really confirmed my earlier fears. My brothers had threatened me with witchcraft as well as receiving curses from Allah. This has made me live in great fear of my life and that of my family.” Two days later he attended a memorial for his father, where his brothers and other local Muslims were gathered. Before leaving, Ronald told his pregnant wife that “he was feeling a kind of nausea,” she said. “Immediately he started to vomit, then followed by diarrhea, with fever and complaining of abdominal pain.” They rushed him to a hospital, where he lost consciousness. After doctors confirmed that he had been poisoned with a pesticide, police were sent to the brothers’ home: “When the four brothers saw the police vehicle, two of them fled,” a Christian local said. “The police arrested two brothers, Anus Wako and Kalipan Waswa, who were released on bond after four days.” Ronald spent more than a week recovering in the hospital. “My husband is better but still very weak, with blurry vision and feeling numbness in his body,” his wife last reported.

Pakistan: On November 10, Muslim arsonists reportedly torched a Christian home in Al-Noor town. Witnesses saw two motor cyclists who had attended a nearby Islamic rally hurl a packet near where the house first caught fire. “The fire was extremely hot and it melted the stuff inside,” Manzoor Masih, the father of the family explained:

It looks like they used some chemical which turned all the stuff into ashes within no time. The fire damaged beds, mattresses, furniture, trunks, cloths, crookery, fans, computers, the UPS, and the entire electric system…. For the last six months, different groups keep [sic] pressuring my family to leave this neighborhood and go to a Christian settlement. However, we never gave into their threats…. I never thought we would face this much hatred for not selling our house. It’s really heartbreaking and disappointing for a Christian living in this country…

Turkey: A recreational facility in the town of Dargeçit which is being referred to as the “Nation’s Garden” is, it was revealed in November, being built atop the graves of Christian and Armenian Christians—both of whom were victims of the 1915 genocide by Ottoman Turkey. “Is it now the turn of our deceased?” responded Evgil Türker, chairperson of the Federation of the Syriac Associations: “This mustn’t happen; we strongly condemn it… Of course, this event reminded us of the past. There had been similar cases in the past…. [T]his is looting. This is proof that the deceased of others [meaning non-Muslims] are not respected…. [T]his mentality has to be stopped.”

Egypt: In order to silence him, a Christian activist and social media blogger who exposes the plight of his coreligionists was arrested and falsely charged with “terrorism.” In response, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a statement in which it “strongly condemns” Egypt’s treatment of Ramy Kamel:

Mr. Kamel is an activist and prominent member of the Maspero Youth Union, advocating for full civil rights for Egypt’s Coptic Christian community and documenting abuses against its members. On November 23, National Security Agency officers stormed his home; confiscated his mobile phone, laptop, and other belongings related to his advocacy work; and took him into custody. One day later, the Supreme State Security Prosecution announced a series of spurious charges against Mr. Kamel, including membership in a terrorist organization, spreading false information, and disturbing the public order.

USCIRF Vice Chair Nadine Maenza elaborated:

USCIRF calls on the Egyptian government to immediately release Mr. Kamel from detention and dismiss the preposterous charges against him. His arrest casts doubt on the sincerity of Egypt’s promises of working toward greater religious freedom; Egypt cannot pledge improved rights and freedoms for Copts and other non-Muslim communities, while at the same time bringing false charges against its own citizens who are advocating for those same reforms.

The USCIRF statement concludes with relevant background information:

Egypt’s Coptic Christians represent the single largest non-Muslim community in the Middle East, likely comprising 10-15 percent of the country’s population of over 100 million. Despite their integral role in Egyptian society and history, they have long faced discrimination and periodic violence for their faith. In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF found that although the Egyptian government has made some modest progress toward legalizing informal churches around the country and improving public discourse about Coptic rights, it has taken few steps toward systematically improving religious freedom conditions for vulnerable Christian populations, particularly in rural areas.

Pakistan: The only Christian journalist registered with the Lahore Press Club finally resigned after years of harassment and discrimination from her Muslim coworkers. Gonila Gill, 38, covered the persecution of minorities since 2002. In 2014 she married a Muslim journalist, while remaining Christian. The harassment began in earnest soon thereafter. Her coworkers “told me that I would never get pregnant until I converted,” while her husband was accused of being an “infidel.” She finally quit, “owing to the mental torture her colleagues put her through from not converting to Islam” notes a November 19 report. “Speaking to the media, Gill said people are vile, but no matter what she will not lose faith in her religion.”

Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

About this Series

The persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has become endemic. Accordingly, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed in 2011 to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that occur or are reported each month. It serves two purposes:

1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, persecution of Christians.

2) To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Islamic Sharia.

#Legal #Islam #Muslim #Sharia #Jihad #News #Politics #Religion #Media #Travel #Persecution

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saxonspud · 5 years ago

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Masterlist - Updated

Outlaw - Born and Bred - [Complete] - Wattpad - A03

Casie Mallard is 12 years old. She’s only ever know the life of an Outlaw with her Father. When her Father is Hung by the Sheriff in Valentine who holds a grudge. She has to try and make it on her own. Her first mistake is to try and rob the Van Der Linde Gang.

Beware of the big bad wolf - A03

Kidnapped by the O'Driscolls after a Robbery gone wrong, She is rescued by members of the Van Der Linde Gang, only to go out of the frying pan and into the fire…

Annabelle’s Revenge - A03

When the Van Der Linde Gang attack Colm O'Driscolls camp in the Grizzlies, to retrieve the plans for robbing the train. The lone rider that Arthur Morgan goes after and captures, is not a young boy, but none other than Colm O'Driscolls niece. The Daughter of his brother, who was killed by Dutch Van Der Linde. The problem is, she looks nothing like an O'Driscoll.

Every Last One - A03 - Wattpad

A dying woman, a desperate child. But the Doctor in Valentine, doesn’t give credit. Especially when he stands little or no chance of getting paid. Leopald Strauss on the other hand, does. He preys on the desperate, and then sends Arthur Morgan to collect, in whatever way he can.

Innocence Lost - [Complete] - A03 - Wattpad

Whilst in the Grizzlies, Dutch Van Der Linde comes across a young girl half beaten to death by the O'Driscoll gang. Can he save her and make her his own by any means possible, and will he be able to untangle the secret of how she ended up there.

Just in Time - A03 - Wattpad

A freak accident with Francis Sinclair’s time travelling device, causes Dutch Van Der Linde, Arthur Morgan and Micah Bell to be catapulted in time to 2019. How will the three 19th century cowboys cope with life in the 21st Century. Will they be able to return the their proper timeline. Everything becomes more complicated, when Dutch is convinced that he has found his beloved Annabelle.

Reckless Hearts - [Complete] - A03 - Wattpad

Dutch Van Der Linde finds Kara Finlay in a saloon in Blackwater. She is young and pretty. A talented poker player, and pickpocket. After recruiting her to the gang, he finds she is also talented with a gun, if not a little reckless. An Ideal addition to the gang or is she a disaster waiting to happen.

The Fire Inside - [Complete] - A03 - Wattpad

When Dutch sends Arthur and Charles to buy Jake Adler they find a young woman trying to defend the property. Blair Adler is the daughter of Jake Adler, however Sadie is not her mother. The two women have an intense Hatred of each other. How will having these two women in the gang affect it. Will they side with one woman or the other, or spend most of the time trying to stop them from killing each other

Trust is a Dangerous Game - A03 - Wattpad

Amy Macintosh was raised by her mother. She never knew her father. Her mother just said he was a good man. On her fourteenth birthday, Amy and her mother are surprised when her father turns up out of the blue. Her mother reveals in that he never wanted either of them. Amy’s life is suddenly torn apart, who should she believe her mother, or her father who now wants to be a part of her life.

Bulletproof - A03 - Wattpad

Jesse Maddox lives with her daddy, looking after him and trying to keep him off the bottle since her mama died. Her daddy doesn’t do much apart from sit around the house and drink since his wife died. Bringing the money in is left to Jesse. She has a little scam going with the saloon owner in Valentine. She robs the strangers passing through, and he turns a blind eye, for a cut of the take. One night she robs a group of strangers, only to find out later that the man she robs is Dutch Van Der Linde. He doesn’t take kindly to being robbed, he will stop at nothing to get his valuables back.

Remember Me - A03 - Wattpad

Stumbling into a home robbery gone wrong, Arthur Dutch and Hosea find a mother and baby. The mother is dead, the baby is just a few days old, and very much alive. But there is something different about this baby…

Bloody Outlaws - A03 - Wattpad

Everyone heard the rumours of the vampire of St. Denis. The citizens never went out at night, safe in there homes. But that was St. Denis. Not Valentine. Why would the citizens of Valentine worry about vampires. They were more concerned about Outlaws. Outlaws that despite having a huge bounty, were never caught.

I know why they're never caught. Because they're too fast, too strong, unkillable.

Be afraid citizens of Valentine, because the Outlaws that walk among you. They're not human. They're vampires!

Outcast - A03 - Wattpad - Tumblr Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 -17 -18

This is the story of Nizhoni, a native american who has been abandoned by her tribe. The Van Der Linde gang find her at Colter, where she is taking shelter from the storm. Will they accept her, or will she cause a storm in the gang.

PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY INCLUDES PERIOD TYPICAL RACISM

IF IT OFFENDS YOU - DONT READ IT!

Kidnapped - A03 - Wattpad - Tumblr Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12

Emmeline McKenzie lives with her parents in a large house in the outskirts of St. Denis. Her father is a rich businessman. She lives a life of luxury, until one night several men break into the house. The men lead by none other that Dutch Van Der Linde, kidnap her. Her father has only three days to pay the ransom. What will happen once the three days are up?

The Outlaw and the Treasure Hunter [Complete] - A03 - Wattpad

Tumblr Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 -26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 -33 - 34 - 35 & Epilogue

Arthur Morgan is an Outlaw, rugged, handsome and vicious. He is prepared to do anything to bring in the money. He'll even resort to murder, kidnapping, and extortion, in order to get what he wants. Especially if it involves a pretty, young treasure hunter. Even the leader of his gang, wouldn't stoop that low. But he enjoys the money that Arthur brings in. But will Arthur's behaviour, be a step too far, Even for the notorious Dutch Van Der Linde. He will have to decide, which is more important, Money, or Morals.

Scars - A03 - Wattpad

Tumbler Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

Some scars are visible, others aren't. You carry a lot of scars. You also have a secret. If any of the O'Driscolls discover what it is, you're as good as dead. Living on a knife edge, everything changes when you're is captured in the Grizzlies by the Van Der Linde Gang. you expect the same treatment from Dutch Van Der Linde as you would get from Colm O'Driscoll once they discover who you are. But Dutch Van Der Linde isn't Colm O'Driscoll. It might just be possible that the Van Der Linde gang can help heal those scars.

#rdr2 fanfic #master list #a03 #wattpad

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ontherockswithsalt · 6 years ago

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A Made Man

/1/ /2/ /3/ /4/ /5/ /6/ /7/ /8/ /9/ /10/ /11/ /12/ /13/ /14/ /15/ /16/ /17/ /18/ /19/ /20/ /21/ /22/ /23/ /24/ /25/ /26/ /27/ /28/

A/N: I’m getting excited about lots of things in this universe. Eeeeee! Here’s Jamie on patrol on Christmas and this is all starting to get very real in New York City.

Chapter 29.

“I feel like we gotta go Chinese on Christmas, yeah?” Vinny proposes.

I consider the lunch option as the two of us make our way up the sidewalk at Seventh Avenue. Vinny and I had agreed to take a Christmas Day shift and neither of us really mind. So far it’s an easy morning – pleasant, cold but clear – the holiday settling the city.

Working on Christmas when I don’t really have other commitments at home is actually kind of fun. The energy in the city changes once the chaotic lead-up to the holiday subsides, crowds disperse, and what’s left is a classic Manhattan that’s festive and at ease. For a morning, at least. It won’t be long before people start drinking and estranged family members are reminded that they hate each other and we start getting calls.

“Dim sum?” I ask. “That place in Hell’s Kitchen?”

“Yeah, brother,” Vinny agrees with an eager clap of his hands before he rubs them together. “So what’s your family’s game plan on Christmas?”

Stepping off the curb, I round the front of our patrol car and head for the driver’s side. “I saw everybody last night. And I might go over to my dad’s later on,” I tell him as I settle into the car and adjust my radio. “I think he’s down at the Bowery Mission with the mayor today.”

“Look at that.” He pulls on his seat belt beside me. “The PC putting the rest of you Reagans to shame.”

“Yeah, I know.” I smirk, pulling away to start up the block. “Hey, I’m being a good Samaritan today.”

“You did help that delivery guy change the chain on his bike.”

“See?” I chuckle. “So what about you? How are the Cruz festivities up in Washington Heights?”

“Bro–” He manages a weary groan. “We all went to my aunt’s last night after Mass and I’m feeling it today. My sisters gave me a hard time for going home after one drink but I had to get some sleep.”

“One year I’ll have to party with you guys. It sounds way more fun than what goes down at my house.”

“Oh we get rowdy, man. And if you win the dance-off against my nieces and nephews, you can open the first present.”

Amused by the visual, I shake my head, always appreciating the stories Vinny has of his big family, growing up the only boy among four sisters.

“But I’ll probably head over to my mom’s later and see about any leftover tamales and call it a day.”

“Sounds good to me,” I muse, scanning the block for a place to park as we roll along Forty-Ninth.

Stuffed eggplant and spring rolls make for fine holiday meal. And after grabbing two green teas to go, Vinny and I make our way out of the sleepy restaurant.

I feel my phone buzz and I take a moment to retrieve it before I sink down into the car. Clicking open the message, I see it’s from Noble.

Noble: I know you’re working but can I call real quick? 2 minutes.

“Hang on,” I mutter aloud while I text him back the go-ahead. “Let me take this call.”

Settling back, Vinny flips open his memo book. “Sure thing, man.”

After a second, my phone rings and I clear my throat to answer it, glancing out my driver’s side window. “Hey. What’s going on?”

“My man!” He greets and the effortless, happy sound of it rouses a warmth in my chest. “You got a minute?”

“Sure. Just finished up lunch.”

“What was Christmas Day lunch on the streets today?”

“We hit up Buddha Kitchen,” I tell him. “And it was a good decision.”

He lets out a needy, wistful groan. “Dude, I’m jealous. AirDrop me some crystal dumplings.”

“Will do.”

“Well listen,” he starts. “What if I had the chance to get in a trip to New York after I get back from the beach? Would I be able to see you?”

“Really?” I wonder with this hopeful note that I notice piques Vinny’s attention. “Uh yeah I think so. So what, like New Year’s?”

“The 29th and 30th.”

Pondering that Saturday, I scratch my jaw and silently remind myself not to let my mind start spinning over how badly I want to see him. “We could do that,” I reason. “That’s good. I gotta work New Year’s Eve anyway.”

“Ugh yikes,” he grumbles his quick sympathy. “Also. What if Bianca came with me?”

I consider it, dragging my teeth along my lower lip. I merely hum a pensive, “Huh.”

“We’d stay at the Greenwich. I’m not asking to crash with you or anything–”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just… surprised she’d be ready for that.”

“She says she is,” he offers. “Think about it. In terms of, y’know the risk. I’m not pulling the trigger on tickets just yet. But tonight, maybe we could figure it out.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“So Saturday works though?” He verifies. “We could have like… our own early New Year’s.”

An unguarded smile hints the corner of my mouth and I turn my head with a casual glance out the window. “Alright.”

“Is Vinny right there?” He wonders.

“Yeah we’re in the RMP–”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS, VINNY!” Noble shouts through the phone, so loud I have to angle it away.

I blink hard and tell my partner, “Nick says hi.”

“Yo what up, Nick!” Vinny glances up from the report he was writing to lean closer.

“Alright, I’ll let you go,” Noble says. “We’ll talk more tonight–”

“Sounds good.”

“If you know–”

“No–” I warn.

“–What I mean.”

I sigh, managing to clear my throat before any heat creeps into my face.

He goes on, “What are you wearing?”

“Alright–”

Noble laughs, pleased with himself. “Fine. I’ll go. I know what you’re wearing but I’ll ask you again later. And I’m sending you a work-safe picture, by the way.”

“Don’t you need to go lay in a hammock or something?”

“I do. I’m late for hammock time.”

With a chuckle, I scratch my nose and glance down at my lap. “Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Ending the call, I put my phone away and tilt the warm paper cup of tea to my lips.

“How’s your boy?” Vinny asks.

“He’s good. Christmas in the Bahamas. Guess he can’t complain.”

“So this witness protection life. He’s got no parents, no cousins, nothing? Just him and his sister.”

I scan the block out the windshield and shift back against the seat. “Yep. His mother died when he was a kid. Dad’s in federal prison in West Virginia doing a life sentence.”

“Damn,” Vinny muses. “Murder?”

“Murder for hire. Conspiracy, fraud, extortion,” I list. “Quite the renaissance man.”

“The works, huh?”

Nodding in agreement, I take a quiet moment to think about Noble and mentally will him to feel it. It’s this strange practice I do every now and then because I swear, at random moments in the day, there’s a heavy squeeze and I feel it someplace deeper than my core. And without analyzing it too hard, I simply tell myself it’s him thinking about me.

“You meet the guy?”

I swallow another gulp of tea. “I never met his father. I met his uncle though, and I’m pretty sure he got a similar sentence.”

“Was his dad a mob boss for real?” He questions.

Here and there, Vinny’s managed to draw out pieces of information from me with regard to that case, purely out of his own curiosity. I’ve talked about Noble enough to him that the shock value of his whole back story has worn off. I mean hell, the two of them shout hellos to each other through the phone. So by now, it’s only natural that Vinny knows how deep my boyfriend’s criminal ties run.

“His dad was up there. He was a captain,” I explain. “So technically not a boss if you’re talking hierarchy. But–”

“Like, that’s some real gangster mafioso shit, Reagan.”

I scoff in amusement. “Yeah.”

“La Cosa Nostra.”

I laugh again. “I mean, I don’t think it was that heavy. Not like old school Italian mob–”

“But they tried to kill you.”

“Well, yeah. And him.”

“And Nick’s just clean,” he supposes. “Nothing? No record. He’s on the up and up?”

“It’s fair to say he probably… participated in plenty of shady business. Whether he really knew it or not,” I acknowledge. “He said growing up, he didn’t have the attention span and the vindictiveness in him to be of much use to the family like that.”

Vinny hums a good-natured chuckle.

“So he’d distract himself or let other people get their hands dirty and hope it kept him on the fringe of it all.”

He blinks with a nod as he seems to process it.

I sniff a soft laugh. “Does his whole situation make you uneasy?”

He shrugs. “No I mean, you wouldn’t be with him if he wasn’t solid. I do wanna meet the guy though.”

“He’ll be here this weekend.”

Vinny reaches out to smack my shoulder with the back of his hand. “So we should hang out.”

I turn and look at my partner to consider it. Drawing in a deep inhale, I have to laugh a little, my nerves not exactly settling at the idea.

He grins. “Come on, let’s all go out. Can he go out?”

Just then my phone buzzes once more and I remember Noble promised to send me a picture. Normally, I wouldn’t take a look until my tour was over. But he assured me it’d be innocent, plus it’s a quiet day on the radio and I miss him, so I check it out.

“He can,” I answer while I swipe the screen. “We’ve just gotta be sort of strategic about where we go.”

“Alright,” Vinny agrees.

The picture he sends makes a half smile curve on my face and I shake my head. “They’re such dorks,” I mutter.

“Let me see.”

I tilt my phone screen toward Vinny to show him the picture. Noble – with sunglasses on and the end of a candy cane between his teeth like a cigar – and Bianca wearing a Santa hat with an exaggerated wink leaning into one another by the pool.

Vinny coughs an appreciative laugh. “Tell them to hook us up with the invite next time.”

“Yeah really. Well if you’re free on Saturday, we can all go out for drinks or something–”

“Now wait a minute.” He stops me from pulling my phone away and angles closer. “You told me about the sister but you didn’t tell me about the sister.”

I hiss a soft laugh. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He just tilts his head and looks up at me, his forehead creased as if I should know exactly what it means.

I cut a skeptical glance his way. “N-No-no-no–”

With a hopeful twitch of his eyebrow, he wonders, “Is she coming too?”

“Vin– don’t even–”

“Hey look–” He fakes a contemplative gaze at his own phone. “I’m free this Saturday.”

#jamie x noble #fun fact this story still exists and i can't stop #please enjoy jamie and vinny the christmas edition #things are happening

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butterflydm · 5 years ago

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The Magicians Revisited: 1x06 Impractical Applications

Significant moments: Q is freaking out over Penny having actually been to Fillory; Penny is frustrated over Q’s nerdiness and doesn’t really believe he actually was in Fillory. Q confirms that Fillory has talking animals but no hobbits. Alice and Kady back up Q’s credentials when Penny starts to walk out, but Penny is annoyed when Q says the Beast isn’t in the books and leaves with Kady. Q lets himself be vulnerable with Alice about how the Beast coming from Fillory bothers him, but there’s still a disconnect there, as she doesn’t understand (and he doesn’t correct her) that Fillory is still a current coping mechanism and not just one from his childhood.

Julia goes back to the safe house; after confirming that the guy running it ratted her out to Marina, he does give her another location to try for a safe house. She’s being watched by a hedge witch named Hannah, but doesn’t notice until she reaches the new safe house she’s checking out (which is empty and has an eviction notice on the door). Julia takes Hannah back to her own safe house and they do cooperative spells together. Once they run out, Julia suggests they steal spells from Marina.

Kady gives Penny the anti-traveling tattoo. She did ink spells in high school with a friend. Penny asks her about her past and she lies about her parents. Or at least her mom, I guess we don’t know about her dad for sure. Penny mentions that he’s still hearing Victoria calling for him. The Beast hasn’t been talking to him since their encounter last time.

Q is kidnapped for The Trials. Margo plays it up as a virgin sacrifice, Q mentions he’s not a virgin, and Margo and the other student flip up their masks and take Q along to the rest of the first-year students. Eliot makes a big production about how this is a difficult challenge that ‘thins the herd’ and that students who fail will flunk out. I’m not sure if this gets confirmed or not later on, since our main first-years all pass. Margo does say that the Dean is the one who created the trials.

The teams for the first round of the trials are assigned - Penny and Q are on a team together with one extra person, Alice and Kady are each solo on teams with people we don’t know. Each team has to decrypt and cast a spell by 9am. Q and Penny's team is having a hard time, so Q suggests cheating (off Alice) and Penny is all on board. It works and he and Penny make it to round two.

Kady has presumably made it through the first trial? We didn’t see where she was placed or how she did, but we do see her meet up with Julia and Hannah (who is Kady's mom). Kady is not thrilled to see Julia, after what happened last time. Hannah asks Kady to help them create a new safe house and Kady is very dubious and untrusting of the idea. She takes the ‘invisible safe house’ spell that Julia made and leaves (though it’s actually the ‘fishhook’ that Julia plans to use to steal the filing cabinet of spells from Marina). Kady gives the spell to Marina along with items she’s stolen from Brakebills in the last week.

Ah, it’s the episode where we find out Margo is a stealth nerd (and Fillory fan)! After the first round of the Trials are done, Margo comes into Q’s room and teases him about reading a Fillory book while there’s a party going. He tells her that Fillory is real and that the Beast that attacked his class and the Dean was from there. She agrees with him that this is not tonally consistent with the book series, but tells him to stop beating himself up over another world being awful and “celebrate the world you’re in” (which, again, goes back to that “live your life here” theme that gets thrown at Q a lot, which feels. bitterly ironic these days, but. okay). Anyway, she gave him a drink that was (magically?) drugged to get him into the second trial.

Q “wakes up” in a forest, without magic, and Eliot is sitting at a table drinking wine and eating cucumber sandwiches. He’s told to get Eliot one of the fish from the river and it’s implied he should use a bow and arrow to do so, which fails when he tries alone. Kady was given a net and told to get a pheasant; Alice was given rope and told to chop down a tree; and Penny was given an axe and told to get a horse for Margo. Penny runs into Kady in the woods and he sees how upset she is. After he asks about her trial, he’s the one that volunteers that they should find the other students in the woods. He’s figured out that the second trial involves them cooperating, sharing their tools and skillsets, and helping each other out. Penny will use Kady’s net to catch a fish for Q; Q will use Alice’s rope to catch a horse for Penny; Alice will shoot a pheasant for Kady with Q’s bow and arrow; and Kady will chop down a tree for Alice with Penny’s axe.

Meanwhile, Julia is casting the ‘fishhook’ spell to nab the cabinet of spells from Marina when Hannah comes into her safe house. She unpicked the wards on the door. She convinces Julia to let her do the spell together. They bring the filing cabinet, but it’s a trap. Hannah is killed in a very bloody way and Julia calls 911 but then runs away.

The last trial is to bare your ‘governing circumstance’/‘utmost truth’ to another magical adept. After they face their truth, they turn into geese and all fly off together. Q and Alice share their truths with each other; Kady and Penny share theirs with each other.

Penny’s truths: he’s scared to tell Kady this because it’s true he’s falling in love with Kady

Kady’s truths: she’s a liar she flirted with him at the start because he looked useful she’s been using him this entire time it was all a lie

Alice’s truths: she tries not to be the best because she feels like it would make her even more unpopular than she already is if she let herself be as good as she feels like she could be she’s worried about dying alone she has no idea what she’s capable of, because she’s trying so hard to be normal

Q’s truths: he’s been institutionalized more than once he always runs away even with magic in his life, he still hates himself

Trial one: results matter more than rules Trial two: cooperation and communication is essential Trial three: trust at least one person with your secrets

Magic: 1. The anti-traveling ink spell. 2. Kady has an ink spell that gives her 20/20 vision in the dark. 3. The Brethren encrypted hundreds of spells in 18th century England to hide them from the church. 4. Julia and Hannah do cooperative spells together. 5. Hannah uses a bespelled piece of glass to look at the wards on Marina’s safe house. 6. Penny astral-projects behind Alice and cheats off her work. 7. The fire spell for the first trial. 8. A cooperative illusion/dream spell of some kind that is the second of the trials. 9. Q tries to do the ‘detect magic’ spell but it doesn’t work in the location of the second trial. 10. Julia tries to cast her ‘fishhook’ spell to steal the cabinet of spells from 11. Marina but is interrupted by Hannah. 12. Hannah ‘unpicked’ Julia’s ward. 13. Margo and El do a spell to bring them all back to the physical cottage. 14. Hannah and Julia do the ‘fishhook’ spell together. 15. One of Marina’s hedges starts a spell to stop the cabinet from being stolen but she interrupts him. 16. Kady and Penny do the ‘secrets’ spell together; Alice and Q do the ‘secrets’ spell together. 17. Hannah examines the cabinets with her magic detect glass. 18. Marina’s trap spell kills Hannah. 19. The secrets spell ends with the students getting turned into birds.

Relationships: Quentin & Julia: estranged friends Quentin & Eliot: friends, confidantes, romantic undertones Quentin & Penny: …actual friends? with a snarky undertone Quentin & Alice: friends, magically-prompted confidantes, romantic undertones Penny & Kady: romantic & sexual relationship -> manipulation revealed Marina & Julia: burned bridges Marina -> Kady: blackmail/extortion Quentin & Kady: friendly but don’t really interact Eliot & Margo: best friends Margo & Quentin: friends, confidantes Alice->Kady & Penny: allies Penny->Alice: allies Kady & Julia: burned bridges

Physical contact: Kady touches Penny’s stomach. The guy from the safe house Julia rejected grabs her hand briefly. Kady tattoos the anti-traveling mark onto Penny’s arm. He touches her wrist. Margo and another student put a bag over Q's head and grab him to take him to the trials. Eliot puts a hand on Q’s shoulder when he congratulates Q and Penny for moving past the first trial. Hannah holds Kady by the shoulders when they meet up with her. She also holds Kady’s wrist while getting her to sit down next to her. She touches Kady’s hair while trying to convincer her to help her and Julia to create a new safe house. She grabs onto Kady’s arm again to try to keep her from leaving at the end of the conversation. Margo smacks Q’s leg lightly while she's encouraging him to go back to the party. Hannah grabs Julia to break her concentration on her spell. Penny grabs Kady’s arm while he’s trying to get her to talk to him in the woods during the second trial, she’s panicking and, after a brief, confused struggle, she hits him in the nose. She cups his face to check on his injury. He touches her gently on the arm when she tells him it’s “life or death” for her to be at Brakebills. She grabs his shirt and hugs him as she cries. He touches her back after he gives her back her net. Eliot and Margo sit pressed against each other as they congratulate our group of four on passing the second trial. Kady touches Penny’s bare chest to apply the paste for the third trial; Penny returns the favor. Alice holds onto Q’s shoulder as she undresses for the spell. Q helps Alice take her dress off. Q applies the paste to Alice’s face and shoulders; she applies the paste to his face and shoulders. They bind each other’s wrists. She touches his arm after he tells her he hates himself.

Character Notes: Quentin: not a virgin. Went to junior cowboy camp (hated it). Penny: grew up in Florida and knows how to catch fish. Kady: her birthday was seven months ago. Margo: loved the Fillory books; would pretend she was ambassador to the Fillorian Outer Islands. Her favorite sandwich is possibly liver. Eliot: calls himself ‘daddy’. His favorite sandwich is possibly cucumber. Alice: lost her virginity with all her clothes on.

Students: Third-years: Victoria Second-years: Margo, Eliot First-years: Alice (team fishpunchers), Penny (team horny chupacabras), Quentin (team horny chupacabras), Kady (team ???)

Timeline Notes: Starts immediately from the end of 1x05.

#TMRevisited #the magicians #tmwk3 #long post #text post #keeping track of things

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cxnsigliere · 6 years ago

Text

King’s Backstory.

Warnings; mentions of:

teenage pregnancy / teenage birth

large age-gap relationships

physical abuse / physically abusive relationships

sexual abuse / sexual manipulation / sexually abusive relationships

prostitution / underage prostitution

pedophilia

rape

suicide threats / suicide

strangulation / death by strangulation

Note: Please keep in mind that I am in no way glorifying the messed up things that take place in this backstory at all! King has done things or has had things happen to him that I would NEVER approve of and that I DON’T condone in any way, shape, or form. These are simply things that... just happened to him, shaping him into the character he is now. Please don’t think I’m fetishizing or romanticizing anything here or something like that. SO, now that that’s out of the way, I present you... King’s full backstory!

Hildred--now known as “King”--was born on October 7, to Garrett and Clarisse Brasher, who were both only seventeen years old--seniors in high school--when they had the baby. Garrett would eventually become a respected capo of the Giraldi Mafia family when he was around 23, though surprisingly enough, he had been a very emotional and sensitive man, perhaps unfitting for his line of work. Clarisse had gone to law school when she was 19, then becoming an attorney when she was 26--she was a very rude woman through and through, even to her husband and especially to her child.

Because they had Hildred at such a young age, their respective parents had pressured the young couple into getting married as soon as they could, thus tying the knot the minute they graduated high school, 18 years old. However, it had been clear to just about anyone who knew either of them that their relationship wasn’t healthy in the slightest. They argued constantly. Garrett loved his wife more than anything in the world, and did everything he could in order to provide for her and their son, giving them more than enough money than the family probably needed. Clarisse, on the other hand, never showed any appreciation for her husband, and in fact came to resent both him and their baby--she had dreams of becoming a world-famous jazz singer, which Garrett had promised he could make happen for her when they had first gotten together in the first place, but because of their hassle with the young pregnancy and to get married so quickly, it never happened for her. So Clarisse blamed the both of them for that. While Garrett was not home, she would very frequently physically and verbally abuse Hildred. She and Garrett later had two other children, Zariah and Connor, years later.

It wasn’t long until Garrett’s way of life was, of course, the Mafia. Though he was a good man, his morality was astray--he thought that money was what made people happy, and so he worked hard in any way he could to make that money for his family--even if that involved committing crime, such as loansharking, gambling, extortion, political corruption, and even murder. These were all things that Garrett viewed as bad, but had good outcomes in the long-run. If he killed somebody, yes, it was sad and he would regret it, but in the end, the money he gets from that would make his wife and children happy--and wasn’t that what really mattered?

So, with that mentality in mind, Garrett had wanted that same fortune for his son as he got older. He raised Hildred to someday become a made man in the Mafia himself, to know exactly what his job was like--unlike most Mafioso parents, who would typically keep their line of work a complete and utter secret from their family. Garrett taught Hildred how to shoot a gun. He taught Hildred how to intimidate people if anyone ever gave him trouble. He taught Hildred to always throw the first punch in a fight. He taught Hildred to never tell anyone, even close friends, what Garrett did for a living. And Hildred was a quick learner--he did exactly as his father told him to.

But instead of growing up bold and noble like Garrett had planned him to, Hildred grew up to be quite a bully as a child, violent and arrogant, and had anger issues like you could never believe, even given his young age. He had absolutely no friends growing up. He got into fights constantly with his fellow students at school, cussed out teachers, made poor grades, all very much to the dismay of his father, who could only gently tell Hildred that this behavior was going to get him nowhere in life, but it only did so much. The child’s terrible attitude and mentality carried with him throughout most of his life, up to the age of 16 or so, if not older.

When Hildred was 13 years old, he had managed to court a girl, an 18-year-old cheerleader in his school, named Lainey Chung. Many of their peers were surprised by the fact that Lainey, one of the most popular girls in school, would date this overweight bastard delinquent with no friends, but in truth, the only reason Lainey went out with Hildred was for the sex--which he had assumed was perfectly normal, given it was his first relationship. Hildred lost his virginity to Lainey within the first two days of dating each other--and their relationship came to an abrupt end when he had found out that she was cheating on him with a senior football player, Trystan Carballal, after only one week of dating.

Ironically enough, despite his temper, Hildred did not fight Trystan over this. Admittedly, he hadn’t really grown that attached to Lainey--they didn’t last very long, after all. Actually, Trystan and Lainey didn’t last long, either. They broke up after a few months for the exact same reason Hildred had broken up with Lainey for--she cheated on him. Though unlike Hildred, Trystan was genuinely hurt by this, and came to Hildred after they had broken up, because he knew that they were in the same boat now.

Trystan was then Hildred’s first real friend, though it was a little awkward between them at first. It wasn’t long until Trystan told to Hildred in confidence that he was bisexual, but was terrified of the truth coming out to the rest of the school. Of course Hildred didn’t care what Trystan’s sexuality was, and thought nothing of it at first--until it made Hildred begin to realize that he was developing the same feelings for Trystan that he had developed for Lainey, realizing that he may be bisexual as well. Or gay. Maybe straight. He was never quite sure. One thing he knew, though, was that he liked Trystan--that much he could be sure of.

Eventually there came a time that Hildred would tell his feelings to Trystan. He was delighted when the feelings were requited, and the two formed a relationship--although it remained a secret from everyone, since they both were in the closet.

However, he came to realize that Trystan was not too far off from Lainey. He never cheated on him, but used the younger boy for sex constantly. Again, Hildred just guessed that this was normal for every relationship, and could never bring himself to say no whenever Trystan would make any advances on him, just wanting to make him happy--and afraid of the consequences if he said no. There came a point where Hildred just became blindly obedient to the senior football player, answering to his every request like a puppy wagging its tail when its owner calls.

One day Trystan told his boyfriend, “there’s a car park down in Manhattan where you can make extra money by having sex with older men,” inviting Hildred to do this with him, “for support,” as Trystan referred to it. At first Hildred was obviously very hesitant about this, but because he didn’t want to disappoint him, he agreed to it, and began going down to that car park after school with Trystan, where he would perform sexual favors for these older men, mostly middle-aged, nearly every day. At the time, he honestly thought nothing of it, or didn’t fully realize the affect this would seriously have on him both mentally and physically until it was far too late.

This went on for about two years. On one particular night, while waiting for the subway to go back home, coming back from this car park, the 14-year-old Hildred hadn’t even noticed a man stalking him. Judging from this man’s appearance alone, he must have been in his mid-thirties to early forties. Hildred was all alone, this being a rather secluded area unbeknownst to hardly anyone. So, with no witnesses around, the man grabbed Hildred from behind, dragging him into a nearby alleyway. The attacker knocked the boy down, then smashed his face onto the ground with one hand and ripped his pants off with the other. He does not remember anything after that, other than waking up in the hospital with his father, his 7-year-old sister and 3-year-old brother by the side of the bed, sobbing as they worried about Hildred’s well being. This was how his parents finally found out about what Hildred had been doing every day after school, which of course Hildred had never dared to tell them before. This put a bit of a rift between him and his parents--his mother especially. His father did not blame him for what happened to him, but only wished that he wouldn’t have kept all of this a secret for so long. After Garrett had found out what those men had done to Hildred, he gathered people from Giraldi--the Mafia family he worked for--to raid the car park, killing every pervert there and shutting the entire place down. Trystan was obviously upset about this, knowing it had been his boyfriend’s father to have done this, and so he broke up with Hildred, leaving the younger boy in shambles.

After he healed and returned to school, Hildred was obviously deeply hurt by everything that had happened, and by the breakup with Trystan. He couldn’t even tell anyone that he had just gotten molested. Only his parents knew--and that hadn’t even been his own choice. He had, however, reached out to a rape crisis helpline one time in secret, but was told very matter-of-factly by the woman operator on the other end, “This number is only for girls and women--men are the abusers. Women are the victims,” and she hung up to, “terminate the call so that they can help real victims.” Given this was in the early 2000s, male rape was not really considered real by many people at the time--especially not a male of his bulk. Though he was young, he was already nearing six feet tall and was vastly overweight. So, aside from the support only from his father, Hildred was completely and utterly alone on this, forced to keep silent.

The only other person that Hildred went out of his way to seek help from was his mother, Clarisse--which turned out to be a mistake. When Hildred had anxiously asked if he could perhaps see a professional about this, a therapist, she only got angry and shouted at him. “It’s your own fucking fault that you’re a goddamn mess, ain’t it? Grow up! You went to that car park in your own free will! You’re just a whore--I’ve got a slut for a son. How do you think that makes me feel, huh?”

And then Hildred began to cry.

This angered Clarisse even more. Since Garrett wasn’t home at the time, Clarisse saw no problem in grabbing the boy and forcibly drugging him in order to shut him up and keep quiet--but that’s not all it was for, either. She had then took his clothes off, tied him to the kitchen table, where she then performed a botched enema on him. He hadn’t even completely passed out, lying awake while this all happened, but because of his dazed state, he couldn’t even do anything to stop it.

Afterwards, being without the help that he clearly needed, Hildred still had a bad tendency to sleep around with older men he would meet up with, and the other students in school--most of them boys, several girls. At this point, the fights he frequently got into, just his over all anger issues, were still very much prevalent, but now he just desperately wanted to fill the void where Lainey and Trystan (particularly the latter) had been--and at this point, he firmly believed that the only thing he was ever any good for was sex, figuring that was the key to making people like him. His perception of healthy relationships was completely warped now, and he was willing to accept just about anybody that came into his life.

Rumors did spread throughout the school of Hildred’s past in the car park, though no one knew for certain if it was true. One of his teachers, Mr. Chance Ortiz, had heard about this, and instead of talking to Hildred about it, the man simply came to resent the student for it, though he never said why. In the beginning, this wasn’t so bad--he would simply do things like “lose” Hildred’s schoolwork, deliberately giving him poor grades, the like. Hildred, being the delinquent he was, didn’t take kindly to this treatment, and began to act out towards this particular teacher than he ever had with anyone else before. He started playing pranks on the teacher weekly--super-gluing his desk-drawer from opening, putting an apple in the tailpipe of his car, throwing water balloons out of the second story window right onto the teacher down below, even putting laxatives in his coffee. This “war”, as the other students called it, went on for about two years, up until Hildred was 16 years old.

Finally there came a time that Hildred inevitably got detention for this. He was now 16, sitting inside Mr. Ortiz’s classroom after school all by himself, accompanied only by Ortiz himself. Hildred attempted to strike up conversation with the man--nothing too bad. Simply things like, “hey, when am I getting out of here again?” and, “you know, I don’t really think I did anything wrong.” This went on for a while before Ortiz snapped at the student, saying, “My God! Is everyone in your family this infuriating?!”

It was common knowledge that Hildred’s parents both had attended this same school when they were younger. In Garrett’s youth, he had been a troublemaker as well--perhaps not quite as much as Hildred, though. Ortiz had taught Garrett and Clarisse years ago, so he knew full well how much of a handful Hildred’s parents were--particularly his father.

This comment made Hildred pause, and he asked him, “how is my family infuriating, exactly?”

“I knew your father when he was a teenager,” Ortiz said, as if Hildred didn’t already know the obvious. “He was just like you are now. Rebellious, obnoxious, annoying, loud. A whore, he slept around--though I would imagine he must be no different nowadays. He had you, after all.” Then he went on to say something that he clearly did not mean to say aloud, but slipped: “Dumb father, even dumber son.”

This set the student completely over the edge as he got up from his seat, throwing his desk behind him and charging his way towards the teacher. Ortiz then realized he made a mistake--this boy was obviously not above hitting a teacher. He tried to run, but Hildred had caught him by the throat before he could make his escape. Hildred then proceeded to ram the older man’s face against the wall over and over until his face was completely unrecognizable. Ortiz was lucky to survive. He was sent to the hospital for a month, and resigned from his job shortly after that incident.

After this, Hildred was permanently expelled from the school, and was forced to transfer. His father, greatly disappointed that his son could have done this, had insisted he go to a Catholic school. Hildred transferred to Lakeside Catholic School, an all-boys school.

It was in Lakeside that Hildred met a boy named Luca Masini, a short, quiet bookworm, the son of a preacher who worked as an altar boy after school. Hildred found him cute, so he striked up a conversation with him. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for them to bond--Luca seemingly had no other friends, and neither did Hildred. So, they definitely found solace in that.

Lakeside Catholic School would often have dances so that the boys may interact with the all-girls school once in a while--particularly around the holidays. In this instance, it was around Christmas. It being Hildred’s first few months there, he was honestly somewhat excited to go--but he didn’t want to go alone. Seeing as Luca was the only friend he had, Hildred had practically begged him to go with him, but Luca was never one for much social interaction with large groups of people, so at first he refused. But Hildred never gave up, and eventually convinced the other boy to go.

However, Hildred and Luca did not spend much time together as they had planned when the dance finally came around. Luca was admittedly cast aside a bit when Hildred had met three girls--a group of friends--named Amber Kennedy, Veronica Delgado, and Kiera Pickett. Amber was a short, bubbly girl who had been set on flirting with Hildred the minute she’d walked into the room. Veronica was just awkward, but sweet nonetheless, though Amber loved to insult and berate her for everything. And Kiera was quiet, often moody and was the only one of the three who pretty much refused to talk to Hildred, immediately deciding she hated him--perhaps she’d heard the rumors about him, though Hildred couldn’t be sure.

He hit it off with Amber nearly right away. They sneaked out of the dance and into the school bathrooms, where they did it then and there, leaving Luca, Veronica and Kiera to their own devices as they cast them aside. And once they were finished up with that, Amber had given the boy her phone number, telling him, “Call me as soon as you can, okay? We should sooo do this again sometime! Outside of school and whatnot. I’d love to get to know you better!”

And sure enough, during the following days, Hildred and Amber began to date.

It quickly turned out that Amber was no better than Lainey or Trystan, and thus Hildred once again fell into the vicious cycle of letting himself be used for sex in this relationship. Amber was a sex addict through and through, as if it was all she ever thought about, despite being only 16--for what reason, Hildred could never be sure as he never tried to pry into her personal life, but he was sure she must have been through something awful in her life. But regardless, the rare moments when he would tell her that he didn’t want to have sex, she’d often get violent--of course not being able to do too much damage seeing as she was much smaller and weaker than him, but she’d often throw things across the room like plates and such, landing him with quite a few cuts here and there. She’d also threaten to harm or even kill herself if he ever refused to do it with her, and as such he could never really say no to her.

An entire year into this toxic relationship, it had been Luca who had caught Amber cheating on Hildred--he’d been staying after school to talk to one of his teachers, Mr. Huber, where he then saw the 62-year-old man with Amber, who must have visited all the way from the all-girls’ school to meet up with him. Luca immediately ran, the teacher literally chased him, yelling at the boy that he’d kill him. The altar boy eventually found a hiding place at the side of the school building, where he then called Hildred and asked him to pick him up as fast as he could, that he was in trouble and that he had something to tell him. Hildred did exactly as he was told, picking Luca up and driving off to his house, where Luca told him everything that he’d just seen. Mr. Huber was soon fired from his job and, of course, arrested.

After hearing of this, Hildred finally broke up with Amber, which surprisingly to him, left her in tears. He felt bad--when he thought of taking her back shortly after, Luca had to tell him, “Don’t you dare! She's downright awful, Hildred! You deserve so much better than that...” And so... he didn’t! He completely cut Amber out of his life for quite some time, and rightfully so.

Then Amber visited him at his house after several months of not talking, much to Hildred’s surprise. It had been late at night while both of his parents and siblings were asleep, and he was the only one up. And it was there, right outside of the house, right at the doorstep, that Amber cried and sobbed and begged Hildred to take her back and that she could get better. He tried to refuse at first, but inevitably came the moment she told him through pouring tears, “Please--please, Hildred! I- I’ll... I’ll kill myself! I- I’ll shoot myself in the fucking head, or I’ll slit my wrists, s- so please! Please take me back!”

This completely set Hildred over the edge. He wanted so desperately to say ‘don’t do it, I’ll stay with you,’ feeling obligated to say yes to her every command--as he had always felt for every single person who’d taken advantage of him. But he had to remember what Luca had told him. She was downright awful. He deserved so much better. He deserved so much better.

But what he couldn’t keep under control was the voice in his head repeating over and over to him, a voice that sounded oddly like his father for some strange reason:

‘Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.’

And so, without even thinking, Hildred had grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the throat, pulling the girl into the house, and strangled her to death. Fine--if she wanted to kill herself so badly, he’d just do it for her. She, of course, died, and Hildred couldn’t tell if what he felt afterwards was relief or regret. Perhaps... both? Regardless... he had never killed anyone before. When he finally came back to his senses, he panicked, screaming as he ran upstairs to his parents. When he woke them up, they came downstairs only to find a dead girl in their living room. Clarisse screamed and hid in her room, and Garrett simply responded with, “Oh... Oh, jeez...”

Hildred tried to explain, sobbing hysterically. “I- I don’t know what came over me, I- I don’t--I- I- I jus’--!! Sh- She said she’d kill herself if I didn’t... i- if I didn’t take her back, I- I couldn’t control it, I- I couldn’t--!”

Surprisingly, Garrett was not all that mad. He was shocked, for sure, but not mad. “Hildred, it’s... it’s okay! It’s okay. I’ll take care of this, okay? You’ll be alright. I promise.”

Then Clarisse’s voice sounded from up the stairs, though she still refused to look at the body. “You can’t get rid of the body! Somebody might’ve seen her come here. If she gets reported missing, that’s going to seem suspicious...”

“It’s gonna be suspicious if she’s found dead in our home, Clarisse!” Garrett said.

"Yep, it sure will be. But, I... I’m an attorney--I can get him through this, I think.”

Hildred sniffled. “Y- You mean... you’ll lie for me?”

“Sure.”

And so the wisest thing Clarisse said to do was immediately call the police--which Garrett did, albeit reluctantly. He explained to the police that the girl had come to the house with the intent to kill Hildred and tried to attack him, and he acted out of self-defense by hitting her in the head with a pan. Afterwards, Garrett had put on gloves to take a frying pan from the kitchen, bashed it over the dead Amber’s head to get it and her head nice and bloody.

The police easily fell for all the lies that the family told them. Months later Clarisse begrudgingly lied to the court as her son’s attorney, and at first they bought everything she told them, up until the rival attorney cross examined Hildred, practically asking him question after question until he broke down and confessed.

“Why was Amber Kennedy at your house, Hildred?” the other attorney--the Kennedy family’s attorney--asked him.

“She... She wanted t’ get back with me after I broke up with her.”

“Really? So, where were your parents in this ordeal? Where were they when you in... self-defense?”

“Th- They were asleep...”

“They didn’t hear the screams from the both of you when you fought?”

“I- I guess not, ahah...”

“You’d think something like that would be quite loud, wouldn’t it? Don’t you have little siblings, Hildred?”

“...Y- Yeah, I do...”

“Now, if your parents didn’t wake up, sure--but children have a very keen hearing sense, don’t they? Why didn’t they wake up?”

“I- I don’t know... I- I don’t know, okay?!”

“Would they not wake up and tell the parents if they heard or saw their brother fighting to the death with anyone?”

“I- I don’t know!”

“Or could it be that there were no screams at all, then? Was it a quiet death? Did you, perhaps, not hit her with a pan at all? Did you do something else? Like choke her?”

Clarisse stood up from her stand then, defensive. “I- I object--!”

But Hildred had bursted into tears right then and there, before exclaiming, “Y- Yes! I killed her, okay?! I- I choked her, I choked her! Sh- She said she’d kill herself if I didn’t take her back, a- and I got angry--I don’t know what came over me, I- I’m sorry, I’m sorry...!!”

The rival attorney smirked, then said, “The defense rests, your honor,” before going back to his seat.

And with that new confession to Amber’s death, Hildred was put into jail, and Clarisse had been fired from her job once it was found out she was lying for her son. Hildred was originally going to get seven years for committing murder, but thanks to the help of the boss of Giraldi--Malcolm Willis--paying people off, Hildred was able to get out in just two years, when he was 20 years old.

While in jail, however, somebody had come to visit him quite frequently. Veronica Delgado, who was already a good friend of Hildred at that point. Surprisingly to him, Veronica completely understood why Hildred did what he did, and didn’t blame him at all. They eventually started dating, even despite Hildred being imprisoned.

After getting out, Hildred and Veronica were able to be happy for a long while. Luckily Veronica was nothing like any of his exes were. She never abused him, never used him for sex, never got violent, none of that. She was genuinely sweet and understood him--a feeling which he’d never got to experience in a relationship before.

But, on the other hand, Hildred had grown so attached to Veronica because of the fact that this was his first healthy relationship, that he was often overly clingy to the point it became a bit mentally abusive towards Veronica. Hildred, much like with what Amber had done before she was killed, would often threaten to harm or kill himself if Veronica tried to leave him, or he would threaten to kill anyone that she talked to that he became jealous of. He was possessive. Very, very possessive.

And eventually, after Hildred had suggested to Veronica that they “get married someday,” Veronica just couldn’t handle his behavior anymore, and Hildred discovered her body hanging by rope in their room the next day. She had hung herself, all because Hildred had scared her too much from trying to break up with him someday, and terrified that she’d have to marry him.

After Veronica’s death, a few days later, Hildred--who was now an utter wreck--had been sitting in a bar, drinking away his sorrows, when a familiar girl had approached him. Not to flirt, but rather, to call him out. It was Kiera Pickett, who had been a good friend of Amber and Veronica--particularly the latter. Kiera had attempted to kill Hildred, plunging a pocket knife through his left eye, blinding him in the eye. Luckily, Kiera was held back by security before she could do anything more, and she was carried away by police as she screamed, “You ruined my life, y- you killed them, you kill both of them, fuck you, fuck you, y- you goddamn WHORE--!!” And Hildred never saw Kiera again after that encounter, although he’d heard that she was put into a psychiatric hospital. Hildred himself was hospitalized for the injured eye and was released a week later, though he was now permanently half blind.

Of course, this put him further into his depressive state as yet another relationship failed for him. At the very least Luca was still there to comfort him. He was the one who suggested to Hildred that he ought to get therapy now, see a professional about his clearly declining mental health--and he did for a very short while, but it didn’t last for long as he simply stopped going after a few weeks or so. Luca did, however, eventually confess feelings for Hildred in this span of time, which were very much reciprocated. So he and Luca began dating, and this time Hildred tried his best to keep his possessiveness and his temper under control, even if it was hard at times. He wasn’t going to lose Luca like he’d lost Veronica this time. They got married that year.

One particular day, Hildred and Luca had both been on their way to Hildred’s father’s house for a nice visit, passing by a small pond which wasn’t far off from the house. However, at the pond Luca stopped in his tracks, grabbing his husband by the arm and pointed towards what he saw. It was Garrett’s body, floating face down in the water with blood everywhere. He’d been murdered.

Out of sheer panic, Hildred had attempted to go into the murky water to drag his father’s body out, hoping that perhaps he may still be alive--though it was obvious that he wasn’t--but unfortunately for him he’d never even learned to swim, so this was a clear mistake as he nearly drowned. It’d been Luca who had to pull Hildred back, asking him, “What were you trying to achieve?!” but Hildred could only respond with sobs and screams. Garrett had just died. He was dead. His dad was dead. He could never get him back.

Detectives never figured out who it was that killed Garrett--or whoever it was, they must have paid them off to keep it covered. Regardless, Hildred never found out. And now, it was during this time that Malcolm Willis, the boss of Giraldi, personally came to Hildred to give his condolences, and to ask him to work for him in his late consigliere’s place. That same week Malcolm’s consigliere, or basically his right-hand man, had died of natural causes, and Malcolm had personally chosen Hildred to be his new consigliere, especially seeing as he knew Garrett probably would have wanted it. Despite being an absolute wreck now, Hildred had assumed it would be what his father wanted, so he agreed to it, becoming the consigliere to the boss.

As Hildred quickly came to learn, Giraldi’s hideout was in a large restaurant by the name of Cavallero, which was owned by Malcolm himself as a cover-up for the crimes Giraldi would commit. Everybody from Giraldi was nearly always found here, including Hildred now, who of course always brought Luca with him.

One particular day, however, while Hildred and Luca were now 24 years old, they both hadn’t noticed a car following theirs as they made their way to Cavallero. Not too long after Hildred and Luca had walked into the restaurant, the people from the car which had been following them came in as well with guns, shooting the entire place up and killing most of the people inside. One of the many who died, much to the dismay of Hildred, was Luca, who fell dead to the ground beside him.

Hildred hid until it was all over and the attackers were finally sent packing. There were a few survivors, such as Malcolm. However, Hildred was not found in the restaurant after that. He just... went missing. Several people got out of the building as it caught on fire, and it then exploded, killing anybody who hadn’t gotten out yet. Hildred was pronounced dead, and the Cavallero building has long since been rebuilt, now even better than it’d been before.

#Shut up Erica;; [Ooc]#Got New York City heart;; [Trivia]#SAVE #HOLY SHIT YALL #I FUCKING DID IT #AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #can you tell i started rushing at the end bc i STOPPED CARING I JUST WANTED TO FINISH THIS SHIT #BUT I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE ME #YALL BETTER FUCKIN READ THIS SHIT I WORKED TOO DAMN HARD ON IT #IM GONNA GO FUCKIN MONKY #also if theres any triggers i missed on the warnings pls feel free to tell me!!!!

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mybeautifulchristianjourney · 3 years ago

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1 Then spoke Jesus to the multitude and to His disciples,

2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do ye not according to their works; for they say, and do not.

4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

6 and love the uppermost places at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues,

7 and greetings in the markets, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’

8 But be not ye called ‘Rabbi,’ for One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

9 “And call no man your father upon earth, for One is your Father, who is in Heaven.

10 Neither be ye called masters, for One is your Master, even Christ.

11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

13 “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

15 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

16 “Woe unto you, ye blind guides, who say, ‘Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’

17 Ye fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

18 And ye say, ‘Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is liable.’

19 Ye fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it and by all things thereon.

21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it and by Him that dwelleth therein.

22 And he that shall swear by Heaven, sweareth by the throne of God and by Him that sitteth thereon.

23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone.

24 Ye blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so, ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous,

30 and say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

31 Therefore ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye are the children of them that killed the prophets.

32 Fill ye up, then, the measure of your fathers.

33 “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! How can ye escape the damnation of hell?

34 Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city,

35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36 Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. — Matthew 23:1-36 | 21st Century King James Version (KJV21) The Holy Bible; 21st Century King James Version Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc. Cross References: Genesis 4:8; Exodus 13:9; Exodus 29:37; Exodus 30:29; Deuteronomy 33:3; 1 Kings 8:13; 2 Chronicles 24:21; Job 22:29; Proverbs 26:23; Proverbs 26:26; Isaiah 9:16; Isaiah 20:6; Isaiah 28:25; Isaiah 46:1; Isaiah 66:1; Jeremiah 7:26; Lamentations 4:13; Matthew 3:7; Matthew 5:22; Matthew 6:9; Matthew 10:23; Matthew 11:16; Matthew 14:18; Matthew 15:14; Matthew 20:26; Matthew 26:25; Mark 7:4; Mark 12:38-39; Luke 11:47; Luke 20:47; Romans 2:21; 1 Corinthians 10:18

#seven woes #scribes #pharisees #Gospel of Matthew #Matthew 23:1-36 #New Testament #KJV21 #Holy Bible #21st Century King James Version #Deuel Enterprises Inc.

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thecreaturecodex · 6 years ago

Text

Scitalis

[There is an official PFRPG scitalis as well, which I quite like. Call one or the other of them a “prismatic drake” if you want to make room for both of them in a campaign.]

Scitalis CR 8 CE Dragon This immense draconic creature has only two stunted legs and wide wings in place of forelimbs. Its scaled hide scintillates with a thousand mesmerizing colors and shimmers of heat rise from its body

The draconic scitalis are thieving, bullying relatives of the wyvern. They delight in tricking ignorant villagers that they are indeed mighty true dragons, and often extort tributes of treasure and food in exchange for not destroying a settlement. Lazy beasts, much of their prey comes from stealing the kills of more motivated hunters. They are strict carnivores and view sentient prey as the finest delicacy. Unlike their more bestial wyvern relatives, scitalis are not venomous but instead possess a fiery touch and ever-shifting coloration. A scitalis has no direct control over its colors, preventing it from using them as camouflage, but the shifting colors shut down the higher minds of thinking creatures.

Scitalis are inherently cowardly and are likely to flee from any creature that is capable of putting up a good fight. They may be forced to serve a more powerful evil creature, such as a giant, fiend or true dragon. Scitalis resent being forced into a servile role and prove to be poor subjects in such cases, betraying their masters at the first opportunity. A scitalis is about twenty feet long, but its stubby legs render it only four feet high when standing.

Scitalis CR 8 XP 4,800 CE Large dragon (fire) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +14 Defense AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +8 natural) hp 105 (10d12+40) Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +8 Immune fire, sleep effects, paralysis; Weakness vulnerable to cold Defensive Abilities heat shimmer Offense Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. (average) Melee slam +15 (1d8+6 plus 1d6 fire), bite +15 (2d6+6 plus 1d6 fire), 2 wings +10 (1d6+3 plus 1d6 fire) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks mesmerizing colors Statistics Str 22, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 16 Base Attack +10; CMB +17; CMD 29 Feats Blind-fight, Flyby Attack, Hover, Power Attack, Vital Strike Skills Bluff +16, Fly +13, Intimidate +16, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Swim +19 Languages Common, Draconic Ecology Environment cold and temperate mountains Organization solitary, pair or flight (4-6) Treasure standard Special Abilities Heat Shimmer (Ex) A scitalis’ body is so hot that it distorts the air around it, granting the creature concealment as per the spell blur. Any attack that deals at least 15 points of cold damage cools the creature sufficiently to remove this miss chance for 1d4 rounds. Mesmerizing Colors (Su) Any creature within 30 feet of a scitalis that can see the scitalis must succeed a DC 18 Will save or be stunned for 1d4+1 rounds by the ever-shifting colors of its scales. This is treated as a gaze attack; creatures averting their eyes have a chance to avoid making saves and creatures that cannot see the scitalis are immune. This is a mind-influencing effect. The save DC is Charisma based.

#scitalis #dragon #wyvern #pathfinder rpg #flashback summer

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tanadidreamer · 6 years ago

Note

Cedric x Sarna for the OTP Meme!

1. Who is the most affectionate?

They’re both equally affectionate, even if Sarna’s more likely to show in during meetings/social events since Cedric has a reputation and image tobmaintain as the Cab’alor. Be it nicknames, gestures or that sorta thing.

2. Big Spoon/Little Spoon?

Cedric’s Big Spoon while Sarna’s Little Spoon. It defiantly helps that Cedric is built like a tank and a tall fella while Sarna’s smaller and more petite. Plus, Sarna loves using Cedric as a pillow too.

3. Most Common Argument?

Cedric tends to walk off and downplay his injuries more than he should, which tends to annoy Sarna quite a bit. And Sarna tends to scare his younger brother more often than not, as much as he may get a kick out of it they still have to be civil with each other.

4. Favorite Non-Sexual Activity?

They both absolutely love cooking, and took to each other’s culture cuisines quite well, it’s a way for them to spend time together. And despite her size, Sarna is Cedric’s most frequent sparring partner.

5. Who is most likely to carry who?

Defiantly Cedric, but if there’s a situation where Sarna has to carry him, then she’ll do so by the best of her ability, even if Cedric’s being dragged a bit.

6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

Sarna honestly loves the bravery and compassion that Cedric bares, she grew up with old stories of men with noble hearts that always put others ahead of themselves but never believed those stories until she met Cedric. She also adores the way he blushes when he’s embarrassed.

Cedric loves Sarna’s fierceness and determination, he hadn’t been expecting Sarna to be a fierce countess with a love of adventure and trouble when he first met her. She was determined to prove herself, and ended up earning his adortion as a result. He also loves the way she smiles when she knows she has an advantage or when he’s teasing her.

7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for each other?

For one, Cedric’s twin brother Conrad makes himself scarce so that he’s not intruding on anything. For the second, they stop acting very snarky at each other and start becoming more open towards each other, Sarna stops acting like an uppity noble and finds ways to catch Cedric in private while Cedric starts to flirt with her a bit. Around each other, they were just Cedric and Sarna, not the next Cab’alor and Countess Thul.

8. Nicknames? & if so, how did they orignate?

Sarna was actually the one to first to call Cedric by Sid, since Sid sounded nicer to her. She also tends to call him darling quite frequently, with her Alderaanian accent more so than the one she developed once coming to Mandalore.

Cedric calls her Sar’ika or cyare (Mando’a for beloved) for the most part. But he also tends to call “my Lady” or “Princess” quite often, which kinda goes back to when he first met her, the former of which went from teasing to endearment. He’s also called her “Mama Nexu” on a few occasions when somebody’s threatened their wards or children before.

9. Who worries the most?

Sarna, defiantly Sarna. She married the Cab’alor, she has seen Cedric come home with serious injuries that could’ve killed him on a few occasions. She’s scared that one day, he wouldn’t come home at all. She still keeps up hope that he’ll always come home.

10. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?

Cedric does, since Sarna’s a bit of a picky eater when it comes to eating out. She prefers homecooked meals or something with a little more….class.

11. Who Tops?

Usually Cedric, but there are times when it’s Sarna – or at least physically.

12. Who initiates kisses?

Both of them. Cedric tends to go for a forehead kiss or kissing Sarna’s hand (much to her constant embarrasment), as well as leaning for a quick peck on the lips. Due her height disadvantage, Sarna usually as to pull him down by his collar or stand on her toes a bit to kiss him on the cheek or thecorner of his mouth.

13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first?

Both of them, it depends on the situation. Cedric tends to do it as reassurance for Sarna.

14. Who kisses the hardest?

Depends, but it’s normally Sarna. Cedric’s tends to joke that she kisses like how most people punch.

15. Who wakes up first?

Due to Sarna handling the day-to-day politics of House Ordo, she’s usually the first one up.

16. Who wants to stay in bed a little longer?

Cedric. Getting up means he has to deal with Jaster’s antics and probably no sleep for the next couple days.

17. Who says “I love you” first?

Sarna. She had said some point when she realized she had actually fallen for Cedric and didn’t want to see him leave.

18. Who leaves little notes in the other’s lunch? (Bonus: What does it usually say?)

Neither, they do tend to leave notes for each other though. Usually reminders, or poems that Cedric wrote for Sarna.

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship?

It’s not so much as tell as Conrad walking in on the too making out, who then proceeds to tell the rest of Clan Rau.

20. What do their friends/family think of the relationship?

None of Sarna’s family actually knows while most of Clan Rau didn’t approve at first, but they warmed up to her except for Montross who still considers her an outsider. Cedric was in support of them since day one.

21. Who is more likely to start dancing with the other?

Cedric is, simply because he loves seeing Sarna having fun.

22. Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?

Both are talented cooks, and always make enough for leftovers since they always have unexpected guests.

23. Who comes up with cheesy pick-up lines?

Cedric for sure, he loves making Sarna giggle.

24. Who whispers inppropriate things into the other’s ear during inapproriate times?

They both do it, just to see how far they can push each other or embarrass each other. Cedric usually wins though.

25. Who needs the most reassurance?

They both do. Cedric literally has the safety and security of Mandalore resting on his shoulders do his position, which leads to him worrying over rather he’s doing enough, what if he fails and so on. Sarna oversees the day-to-day affairs of Clan Rau and Jaster’s Intelligence advisor, thus has the responability of that, she never knows if she’s successful or not.

26. What could be their theme song?

‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri

27. What do they do when they’re away from each other?

Continue on with work as normal, until Cedric disappears.

When Cedric finds a free moment, he’ll call to check up on Sarna. And Sarna will always be ready in case she needs to go back him up.

After Cedric disappears, he spends every moment worrying over her and his clan while Sarna holds out up that he’s still alive.

28. Who would sing their child to sleep?

Both of them, their children had an absolute delight whenever they both did it.

29. One headcanon about this OPT that breaks your heart

Cedric spent years in Republic custody after being framed by Montross for assassination, murder, kidnapping and extortion. After decades, many began to assume that he had long been dead and Sarna suffered from the knowledge that Death Watch had taken nearly everyone she loved from her.

30. One headcanon about this OPT that mends it

When Cedric’s finally free and reunited with Sarna, they both retire from everything and settle down together. And totally enjoy giving the foster son and grandchildren a hard time, and being the default babysitters for the great-grandchildren.

#sarna rau #cedric rau #my ocs #the countess and her knight

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

Link

Mexico Drug War Fast Facts (CNN) — Here’s a look at the Mexican Drug War. The Mexican government has been fighting a war with drug traffickers since December 2006. At the same time, drug cartels have fought each other for control of territory. Enrique Peña Nieto, who was president from 2012 to 2018, continued the fight started by President Felipe Calderon against the cartels and drug-related violence. A huge victory for his administration was the 2014 arrest of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the boss of one of Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking operations, the Sinaloa cartel. Mexican drug cartels take in between $19 billion and $29 billion annually from drug sales in the US. According to a July 2020 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, about 125,000-150,000 homicides were organized crime-related from 2006 to 2018. The Mexico drug war: Bodies for billions (Sources: DEA’s 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment, US Dept of Justice, CRS reports) Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) – Founded by the four Beltran Leyva brothers, Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo and Hector. Formerly aligned with the Sinaloa cartel. All of the brothers have been killed or arrested, but the group continues to operate in parts of Mexico through “loose alliances” with larger cartels, according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency’s 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA). The subgroups rely on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Juarez Cartel and Los Zetas. Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) – Split from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010, it is “one of the most powerful and fastest growing in Mexico and the United States,” according to the DEA assessment. The US Department of Justice believes it is “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world,” and responsible for egregious violence, loss of life and increasing volumes of polydrug trafficking. Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” is believed to be the group’s leader. Guerreros Unidos (GU) – According to the 2020 NDTA, GU is a splinter group from the BLO and has a working relationship with the CJNG, using the same transport networks to smuggle drugs, which has increasingly become heroin, to the US. Gulf Cartel – Based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, it started in 1920. It split with its enforcers, Los Zetas, by 2010, and the fallout between the two groups had been called the “most violent in the history of organized crime in Mexico,” according to a 2019 CRS report. The cartel is now splintered into small, competing gangs. Juarez Cartel and La Linea – Formerly aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, then began fighting it for control of Ciudad Juarez and the state of Chihuahua. They still hold a stake in the major smuggling corridor between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. La Familia Michoacana – Based in the Michoacan state. Possibly defunct as of 2011. It announced it would disband in 2010, but some cells are still active in Guerrero and Mexico states, according to a CRS report. Los Zetas Cartel – Comprised of former elite members of the Mexican military. Initially they worked as hit men for the Gulf Cartel, before becoming independent. The group has a reputation for being particularly savage and is known for massacres, killing civilians, leaving body parts in public places and posting killings on the internet. The group’s main asset is not drugs, but organized violence, including theft, extortion, human smuggling and kidnapping, according to a CRS report. Sinaloa Cartel – Considered to be the dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico, but some experts believe in may be in decline due to recent infighting between factions and the rise of CJNG. It was founded and led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was arrested in 2014, escaped in July 2015, and rearrested in January 2016. He was convicted in a US federal court in February 2019. The cartel may now be operating “with a more horizontal leadership structure than previously thought.” Tijuana/Arellano Felix Cartel – Based in Tijuana. Most of the Arellano Felix brothers have been apprehended or killed. May be regaining power due to an alignment with CJNG. December 11, 2006 – Newly elected Mexican President Calderon deploys more than 6,500 Mexican soldiers to the state of Michoacán to battle drug traffickers. 2006 – In the first few weeks of the government crackdown on drug trafficking, 62 people are killed. (Mexican government, April 2010) January 2007 – Captured drug lord Osiel Cardena Guillen, alleged former head of the Gulf cartel, is extradited to the United States. February 2007 – More than 20,000 Mexican soldiers and federal police are spread out across Mexico as part of President Calderon’s drug war. June 25, 2007 – Calderon fires 284 federal police commanders to weed out corruption. 2007 – In the first full year of the drug war, 2,837 people are killed. (Mexican government, April 2010) January 2008 – Alfredo Beltran Leyva, of the Beltran Leyva Cartel, is arrested by Mexican police in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. May 1, 2008 – Roberto Velasco Bravo, Mexico’s director of investigation for organized crime, is killed in Mexico City. May 8, 2008 – Edgar Eusebio Millan Gomez, Mexico’s federal police chief, and two bodyguards are killed in Mexico City. May 9, 2008 – The commander of Mexico City’s investigative police force, Esteban Roble Espinosa, is killed outside his home. September 15, 2008 – During an independence day celebration in Morelia’s town square, grenades are thrown into the crowd, killing eight people. The incident has been described as the first terrorist-style attack on innocent bystanders in Mexico’s drug war. November 1, 2008 – The acting head of Mexico’s Federal Police, Victor Gerardo Garay, resigns under suspicion of corruption. 2008 – In 2008, 6,844 people are killed in Mexico’s drug war. (Mexican government, April 2010) November 3, 2009 – The reported head of the Los Zetas drug cartel, Braulio Arellano Dominguez, is killed in a gun battle with Mexican forces in Soledad de Doblado. December 16, 2009 – Arturo Beltran Leyva, head of the Beltran Leyva cartel, is killed in a shootout with Mexican forces in Cuernavaca. 2009 – The Mexican government reports 9,635 deaths in 2009 in the drug war. (Mexican government, April 2010) January 2010 – Carlos Beltran Leyva is arrested by Mexican authorities in Sinaloa. He is the third Beltran Leyva cartel brother to be captured or killed in two years. February 25, 2010 – Cardenas Guillen, head of the Gulf Cartel until his capture in 2003, is sentenced to 25 years in prison in Texas. He is also forced to turn over $50 million to the United States. May 26, 2010 – Pedro Roberto Velazquez Amador, allegedly the leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel in San Pedro, is killed in a shootout with federal forces in northern Mexico. June 11, 2010 – Edgar Valdez Villarreal, “La Barbie,” an American citizen, is charged with trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States between 2004 and 2006. He remains a fugitive with a $2 million reward for information leading to his capture. June 25, 2010 – A leader in the Sinaloa cartel, Manuel Garibay Espinoza, is arrested in Mexicali. July 29, 2010 – Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villarreal, one of the leaders of the Sinaloa drug cartel, is killed in a military raid in Guadalajara’s suburbs. August 25, 2010 – The bodies of 72 migrants from South and Central America are discovered on a ranch in Tamaulipas state. It is believed the 58 men and 14 women were kidnapped by the Los Zetas cartel and killed for refusing to traffic drugs. August 30, 2010 – Mexican authorities announce that they have captured “La Barbie.” September 10, 2010 – President Calderon tells CNN en Español, “We live next to the world’s largest drug consumer, and all the world wants to sell them drugs through our door and our window. And we live next to the world’s largest arms seller, which is supplying the criminals.” September 12, 2010 – A top leader in the Beltran Leyva cartel, Sergio Villarreal, is arrested in the city of Puebla. November 5, 2010 – Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, aka Tony Tormenta, allegedly the head of the Gulf cartel, is killed in a shootout with Mexican forces in Matamoros. January 2011 – The Mexican government says that 34,612 citizens have been killed during the four-year drug war. January 17, 2011 – Flavio Mendez Santiago, one of the original founders of Los Zetas, is captured near Oaxaca. February 15, 2011 – US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Jr. are run off the road in Mexico and attacked by a group of armed men who open fire. Zapata dies and Avila survives a gunshot wound to his leg. The Los Zetas drug cartel is suspected. February 23, 2011 – Mexican soldiers arrest six members of the Los Zetas drug cartel, including Julian Zapata Espinoza, who is allegedly responsible for the death of US ICE Agent Zapata. March 5, 2011 – Alleged Los Zetas drug cartel member Mario Jimenez Perez is arrested in connection with Zapata’s murder. March 7, 2011 – Alleged Los Zetas drug cartel leader, Marcos Carmona Hernandez, is arrested. April 2011 – Several mass graves holding 177 bodies are discovered in Tamaulipas, the same area where the bodies of 72 migrants were discovered in 2010. April 16, 2011 – Mexican authorities announce the arrest of Martin Omar Estrada Luna – nicknamed “El Kilo,” a presumed leader of the Los Zetas drug cartel. Estrada Luna has been identified by authorities as one of three prime suspects behind the mass graves discovered earlier in April. April 29, 2011 – Former drug cartel leader Benjamin Arellano Felix is extradited to the United States. May 8, 2011 – Twelve suspected members of the Los Zetas drug cartel and a member of Mexico’s navy are killed in a shootout on a Falcon Lake island. Authorities say the suspected drug traffickers were storing marijuana on the island. May 29, 2011 – Ten police officers, including a police chief, are arrested on charges of protecting the Los Zetas drug cartel. June 2011 – A congressional report shows that about 70% of firearms seized in Mexico and submitted to the ATF for tracing came from the United States. The report covers 29,284 firearms submitted in 2009 and 2010. June 21, 2011 – Mexican federal police capture Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, also known as “The Monkey,” the alleged head of La Familia Michoacana cartel in Augascalientes. July 3, 2011 – Mexican authorities arrest Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, known as “El Mamito,” a reported founding member of the Los Zetas Cartel and allegedly connected to ICE Agent Jaime Zapata’s death. July 11, 2011 – The US government announces a plan to require gun dealers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to report the sales of semiautomatic rifles under certain conditions in an effort to stem the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels. July 27, 2011 – Edgar Jimenez Lugo, known as “El Ponchis” or “The Cloak,” a 14-year-old American citizen with suspected drug cartel ties, is found guilty of beheading at least four people. He is sentenced to three years, the maximum for a juvenile, in a Mexican correctional facility. July 30, 2011 – Mexican authorities announce they have Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, or “El Diego,” in custody. He is the purported leader of La Linea, the suspected armed branch of the Juarez drug cartel, and considered responsible for the death of US Consulate employee Lesley Enriquez and her husband Arthur Redelfs. August 1, 2011 – Mexican federal police arrest Moises Montero Alvarez, known as “The Korean,” a suspected leader of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA) and allegedly connected with the murders of 20 Mexican tourists in 2010. August 25, 2011 – At least 52 people are killed in an attack on the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Mexico. Witnesses say up to six people entered the Casino Royale and demanded money from the manager. When the manager refused to pay, the building was set on fire. August 30, 2011 – Mexican officials allege that five suspects arrested in connection with the Mexico casino fire are members of the Los Zetas drug cartel. The suspects are identified as Luis Carlos Carrazco Espinosa; Javier Alonso Martinez Morales, alias “el Javo;” Jonathan Jahir Reyna Gutierrez; Juan Angel Leal Flores; and Julio Tadeo Berrones, alias “El Julio Rayas.” September 1, 2011 – A Nuevo Leon state police officer, Miguel Angel Barraza Escamilla, is arrested in connection with the casino fire in Monterrey. September 13, 2011 – A murdered man and woman are found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo. Near their mutilated bodies is a sign saying they were killed for denouncing drug cartel activities on a social media site. The sign also threatens to kill others who post “funny things on the internet.” October 12, 2011 – A suspected top Los Zetas drug cartel leader, Carlos Oliva Castillo, alias “La Rana,” or “The Frog,” is arrested for allegedly ordering the attack on the Monterrey casino. January 4, 2012 – Benjamin Arellano Felix, a former leader of Mexico’s Tijuana drug cartel, pleads guilty to charges of racketeering and conspiracy to launder money. The plea deal calls for the forfeiture of $100 million to the United States and a maximum of 25 years in prison. January 11, 2012 – The office of Mexico’s Attorney General releases a statement saying that nearly 13,000 people were killed in drug violence between January and September 2011. August 31, 2012 – Eduardo Arellano Felix, an alleged senior member of a Tijuana-based drug cartel, is extradited from Mexico to the United States. Arellano Felix was arrested on October 25, 2008, after a gun battle with Mexican forces. He is later sentenced to 15 years in US prison. September 3, 2012 – In his final state of the nation address, President Calderon defends his government’s approach to combating crime and drugs and criticizes the United States for providing criminals with almost “unlimited access” to weapons. September 4, 2012 – Mexican authorities announce the capture of Mario Cardenas Guillen, also known as “M1” and “The Fat One,” a suspected leader of the Gulf cartel. September 27, 2012 – Mexican marines capture and arrest a man claiming to be Ivan Velazquez-Caballero, alias “El Taliban.” Velazquez Caballero is one of the top leaders of Los Zetas. After pleading guilty In 2014, Velazquez-Caballero is sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2017. October 9, 2012 – Mexican authorities confirm that Mexican marines killed Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, leader of the Zetas cartel, in a shootout on October 7. Lazcano’s body was stolen from a funeral home on October 8, but authorities had already taken fingerprints and photographs to confirm his identity. July 15, 2013 – Los Zetas cartel leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, known as Z-40, is detained by Mexican authorities in an operation in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas. August 20, 2013 – Mario Ramirez-Trevino, ranking member of the Gulf cartel and also known as “X-20,” is captured in Reynosa, a city in Tamaulipas state. February 22, 2014 – A US official tells CNN that Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the boss of one of Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking operations, has been arrested in Mexico. March 9, 2014 – Cartel leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, also known as “El Chayo,” “El Doctor” and “El Mas Loco,” The Craziest One,” is fatally shot during an arrest attempt, according to Mexican authorities. He was one of the leaders and main founders of La Familia Michoacana cartel. This is the second time Mexican officials have claimed Moreno is dead. They also announced his death in 2010. October 1, 2014 – Mexican police capture Hector Beltran Leyva, head of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. October 9, 2014 – Authorities announce that Mexican federal police have captured alleged Juarez Cartel boss Vicente Carrillo Fuentes. In 2019, US authorities announce additional charges against Carrillo Fuentes including “running a continuing criminal enterprise” and other related crimes. He has remained in Mexican custody since his 2014 arrest while authorities continue to seek his extradition to the US. March 4, 2015 – Los Zetas drug cartel leader Omar Trevino Morales is apprehended by Mexican authorities in a suburb of Monterrey. July 11, 2015 – “El Chapo” escapes through a hole in his cell block that led to a tunnel nearly a mile long. Guzman previously escaped from prison in 2001 in a laundry cart and eluded authorities for more than a dozen years until his capture in 2014. January 8, 2016 – Mexican security forces arrest Guzman in Sinaloa. While on the run, he met with actor Sean Penn in October for an interview published in Rolling Stone. January 29, 2016 – A cross-border raid by US and Mexican law enforcement officials results in the arrest of 24 Sinaloa cartel members. The sting also netted weapons and hundreds of pounds of narcotics. February 23, 2016 – Alfredo Beltran Leyva, behind the Beltran Leyva cartel, pleads guilty to participating in an international narcotic trafficking conspiracy before US District Judge Richard Leon. In 2017, Leyva is sentenced to life in prison. January 19, 2017 – Mexico’s Foreign Ministry turns Guzman over to US authorities. March 14, 2017 – Veracruz State Attorney General Jorge Winckler confirms that a mass grave containing more than 250 human skulls has been uncovered. The remains appear to be victims of organized crime violence killed in recent years. May 2, 2017 – Dámaso López Nuñez, a high-ranking leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, is arrested in Mexico City. December 19, 2017 – The US Department of Justice announces the extradition from Mexico to the US of two alleged former Mexican drug cartel leaders – Ramirez-Trevino, alleged former leader of the Mexican Gulf Cartel, and an associate of Guzman, Victor Manuel Felix-Felix, alleged leader of a Mexican money laundering and cocaine trafficking organization. Ramirez-Trevino was charged and arrested in 2013 and has been in Mexican custody since. Felix-Felix was indicted in March 2011. February 9, 2018 – Mexican authorities capture the alleged head of the Los Zetas drug cartel, Jose Maria Guizar Valencia. June 11, 2018 – “La Barbie” is sentenced to 49 years and one month in prison and fined $192,000, the US Justice Department says. February 12, 2019 – Guzmán is convicted of 10 counts in a New York federal court. He faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for leading a continuing criminal enterprise, and a sentence of up to life imprisonment on drug counts. His attorneys say they plan to file an appeal on a number of issues. August 8, 2019 – Mexican police find 19 bodies in Mexico City. Nine of the bodies are found hanging from an overpass alongside a drug cartel banner threatening rival cartels. February 20, 2020 – Tirso Martinez Sanchez, a former associate of “El Chapo,” is sentenced to 84 months in prison. June 16, 2020 – Four months after granting the US request to extradite Rubén Oseguera González, the son of alleged CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, Mexican federal Judge Uriel Villegas Ortiz and his wife, Verónica Barajas, are killed in front of their home in Colima. It is alleged that Oseguera Cervantes ordered the killing in retaliation for his son’s extradition. June 26, 2020 – Mexico City’s secretary of public security, Omar Garcia Harfuch, is wounded and three others killed during a shooting, says Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum on Twitter moments after the ambush. Following the attack, Garcia Harfuch says on Twitter that he believes CJNG was responsible. Source link Orbem News #Drug #Facts #Fast #Mexico #war

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bibleteachingbyolga · 4 years ago

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For we do now behold thee gay and glad, As at doomsday: When souls shall wear their new array, And all thy bones with beauty shall be clad. —George Herbert, “Death” (17–20)

Do you ever wonder if our faith can really be true? We outlandishly claim, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” But we never see that happen to anyone. This last week, we celebrated our Easter hope. Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). But the very air we breathe in our culture fills us with dread that this life is all there is.

The message we absorb is to live for now, because when our bodies stop, we stop; there is nothing more. This can seem like brave realism while our faith in life to come seems but a fantasy. How can we answer such reasonable doubts that plague even ardent believers in the midnight hours? I’ve been helped by imagining a literary duel between skepticism and faith. I speculate that this battle occurred between two of the greatest English poets, who wrote just a generation apart.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) threw down a gauntlet through the graveyard scene in Hamlet. With rapier clarity, Shakespeare evoked our secret fear that in the end the most glorious person ends up as but a clod of dirt plugging a hole. A few years ago, I witnessed the power of Benedict Cumberbatch enacting this scene. I felt my faith reeling. Who could ever write an adequate answer? But not long after, I reread the short poem “Death” by George Herbert (1593–1633). What if Herbert’s poem deliberately took the blow of Hamlet’s realism and then, against the ropes of existential despair, deftly countered with a more triumphant hope?

Follow the Body

Decades earlier, even as a bored teenager enduring an interminable play, I snapped back to attention when Hamlet leapt into the grave and picked up the skull of Yorick, once the king’s jester. We’re fascinated and terrorized to see what lies under our skin. The skull is, of course, necessarily a dead person, and so it has ever symbolized the power of death. It is the emblem of the wisdom tradition of memento mori: remember that you die. As far back as Genesis 3:19, we are reminded, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The bones in a grave grimly demand that we recall how quickly beauty fades and life flees away.

Hamlet remembers the full face of Yorick as he examines the ghoulish, unintended grin of a skinless skull. Once Yorick set the boy Hamlet laughing as they played and joked. But now, “My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed. . . . Where be your gibes now? . . . Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table at roar?” (5.1.194–98). The merry crowd-pleaser has only dirt for company.

This sight and smell and feel of bones in a grave cause Hamlet to consider the fate of man:

To what base uses we may return, Horatio! Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bunghole [a plug in a cask]? (5.1.209–11)

The great conqueror Alexander has decomposed into dust, which may now be but corking a keg. Such is the humiliation of our mortal decay. Hamlet continues, picking up a biblical cadence before slamming into the mediocrity of our common fate:

Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam; and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel? (5.1.216–19)

We hear an echo of Paul’s great summary of the gospel: “Christ died . . . he was buried” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4 KJV). But Hamlet does not follow Paul to resurrection. Rather, he views our fate as the Genesis return to dust. Further transformation through the centuries means only that the clay that was once us may be used for the most menial purposes. The hard-packed dirt of the plug in the cask of ale at the pub could contain the same molecules as once comprised the body of a mighty king.

Shakespeare’s scene has leveled a serious challenge to faith in the resurrection. It’s as if he says, “Follow the body!” Those who made thousands quake with their power may now be a clump of earth keeping the wind out of a peasant’s wall. Follow the body and see that we do not rise. We merely decompose.

Who has the literary power to answer this scene? What writer can outmaneuver Shakespeare in exposing this primal fear that there’s nothing more than this life?

Beyond These Bones

Not long after attending Hamlet, I happened to reread George Herbert’s “Death.” I jolted with the realization that this could indeed be a direct literary answer to Hamlet’s despair. (In the academic and court circles in which Herbert moved as a young man, awareness of Hamlet would have been as high as what we have of Hamilton today. I think it’s likely that Herbert saw the play, and almost certain he had at least read it.)

With Hamlet in the Grave

Death once again is personified as a skull. The poem opens with words that Hamlet could have spoken:

Death, thou wast once an uncouth hideous thing, Nothing but bones, The sad effect of sadder groans, Thy mouth was open, but thou couldst not sing. (1–4)

For readers in the early seventeenth century, “Death” easily evoked Hamlet in the graveyard. The merry tunes of Yorick were silent in the mouth of a skull. In fact, Herbert’s poem gets more graphic than Shakespeare’s scene. He takes us beyond Yorick’s jesting at a feast to his dying with the moans of terminal suffering, surrounded by the grieving sighs of those who stood by. The juxtaposition between the boisterous laughter at table and the groans upon the bed of death makes this skull become hideous in our hands. To hold the remains of a living person as we imagine his pangs of death seems uncouth: totally inappropriate. In this duel, Herbert will not let Shakespeare best him in horrific realism.

Even in this first stanza, Herbert is already building the foundation of his counter-hope to death. The “sadder groans” remind us of Romans 8: “We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22 KJV). After the fall of humanity, death entered creation and everything “was made subject to vanity” and placed in “the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20–21 KJV). We groan under the futility that everything living in this world must die.

But the glorious twist in Romans 8 is that this subjection to mortality occurred as an act of hope on God’s part. Rather than let our sin be eternalized, God introduced a natural end until the time comes for the full liberation of all creation into new life (Romans 8:21 KJV). So the groans of death are also birth pangs, evoked by our longing for “the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23 KJV). We groan not just in hopeless sorrow, but precisely because we intuit that there is more to come.

Herbert’s next stanza continues in a way that recalls Hamlet’s gruesome question to the gravedigger: “How long will a man lie i’ the earth ere he rot?” (5.1.168). The sexton’s reply of eight or nine years fits within the poem’s expectation of decay:

For we considered thee as at some six, Or ten years hence, After the loss of life and sense, Flesh being turned to dust, and bones to sticks. (5–8)

Herbert has taken his readers right into the grave with Hamlet, observing what happens to people we know in the decade after they die. We feel the loss of “life and sense.” Hamlet’s reflections looked back farther in time, pondering the results of decomposition through the scattering centuries. That’s why he makes us feel that all human history is encompassed in decay. But Herbert’s next stanza reveals that Hamlet actually had a narrow view:

We looked on this side of thee, shooting short; Where we did find The shells of fledge souls left behind, Dry dust, which sheds no tears, but may extort. (9–12)

Normally, we look on this side of death, the side of material life returning to the earth. That view, declares Herbert’s poem, is shallow. We shoot short. We come up with only a partial answer to what happens to us. The poem wants us to absolutely, realistically follow the body from flesh to dust, from crown to beer barrel. But not to stop there.

Souls Reclothed

Something has happened to give a longer — much longer — and higher view of death:

But since our Savior’s death did put some blood Into thy face; Thou art grown fair and full of grace, Much in request, much sought for, as a good. (13–16)

This is the turning point in the contest. This is the suplex move in a wrestling match, when one combatant uses the full weight of his opponent against him. It is a move that risks defeat and dire injury as the wrestler lifts his opponent, leans fully back, and then flips the other over his head. In theological terms, God created humanity, and humanity sinned, inviting ubiquitous death into creation. But once upon a glorious time, God entered the death-filled world as a man. That God-man died. And paradoxically defeated death. Jesus took the full force of all our dying into himself. He alone among men did not merit death. But on the cross he freely embraced it. He gathered death to himself until it killed him. That appeared to be Jesus��s defeat. Instead it was his suplex. He flipped death in resurrection.

Christ died by exsanguination. It appeared that precious blood was spilled in waste upon the stone and dirt of Golgotha. But Herbert makes us imagine that Christ’s blood was poured into death’s skull, bringing death to life. Paul wrote, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26). Jesus declared, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). But who could imagine that Jesus included death itself as an enemy to be loved back to life? Here is the genius and novelty of Herbert. Jesus by dying made a friend of death for us! Now death is someone on everyone’s guest list as the life of the party — or, more correctly, as the one who ushers us into the life of the party.

Herbert describes why:

For we do now behold thee gay and glad, As at doomsday: When souls shall wear their new array, And all thy bones with beauty shall be clad. (17–20)

He echoes Paul: “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump . . . and the dead shall be raised incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52 KJV). Grim death, personified as a skull, now becomes personified in glad souls reclothed in everlasting bodies. Death’s bones will be transformed from bunghole stopper to resurrected beauty.

So Herbert concludes with a peacefulness in direct contrast to Hamlet’s agitated melancholy:

Therefore we can go die as sleep, and trust Half, that we have, Unto an honest faithful grave: Making our pillows either down, or dust. (21–24)

Pillows of Dust

Herbert met the challenge from Hamlet’s holding Yorick’s skull. He owned the graphic realism, embraced it, and then exposed how mere skepticism is ultimately a failure of imagination, a narrow response to the reality opened up by Christ. The riches and depth of Jesus’s answer make the realism of Hamlet seem shallow. Our Savior came as a man to the place where all die. He came in such a way that, paradoxically, God could die. His suplex move on the cross not only defeated but transformed death. He put some blood back into death’s face. In a sense, he reconciled with his last enemy. He turned the other cheek and made, on our behalf, a friend of death for those in Christ.

I confess that Hamlet’s challenge has sometimes unnerved me. But I give thanks that I have a literary champion. Herbert took up the skull and embraced death as an agent of transformation from lowliness to glory. Death’s “bones with beauty shall be clad.” And we can lie down in peace, whether on a pillow of down in our beds or of dust in our graves.

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