#of which both are your identity and your signifier of faith and those are one in the same-

[mudstoneabyss]

fuck this. fuck you. gives your girlboss religious trauma

[pansyboybloom]

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States, by Samantha Allen - A Review (8 out of 10)

"That's precisely the question we asked ourselves on November 9th. To stay, or not to stay? I found my answer at the top of the pride flag: there's no way of course that the color of its first stripe was a commentary on our geographically divided political climate. Red didn't mean Republican and blue didn't mean Democrat until the year 2000 anyway. Red is simply the first color in the rainbow, not a sign from the cosmos for me personally. But back when Gilbert Baker first designed that now ubiquitous emblem of LGBT rights in 1978 he did want that red stripe to signify life."

Samantha Allen, a reporter, wife, and transgender woman who was raised in Utah amidst the heart of the Mormon Church and left the South and its redness behind after beginning her transition, asked herself the questions that many Americans, especially queer ones, asked themselves after Donald Trump's win in the United States Presidential race in 2016. But, instead of moving out to Canada, Samantha decided to move down. Down to Utah, Texas, Indiana, and other red states that had seemingly made it clear that she and people like her weren't wanted, to answer a question that she couldn't shake:

Why weren't the Southern queers leaving?

"What makes an oasis, an oasis?"

In Real Queer America, Allen snakes through the south to pockets of queer safe havens ranging from queer bars in small rural towns, to LGBT shelters across from Mormon temples, to protests in Austin, TX, and places of safety throughout all of red America, no matter how small

As a Southerner, this book called to me. It was written with love, with the respect that only a Southern queer can give to other Southern queers. Allen examines the parts of the queer South that those outside its borders might struggle to understand, like LGBT youth political groups that work with the Mormon church to secure transgender rights in Utah. The chapter on Utah struck me in particular. I won't pretend to have any good opinions of the Mormon establishment, but the fondness Allen has for the community who raised her, even after it hurt her, is mind-blowing. Hearing from people like an ex-Mormon radical who works hand in hand with the church to secure LGBT safety, a mother who is deeply supportive of her transgender son because of her Mormoness, not despite it, a gay youth rights advocate who stated in the heart of Mormonism out of an unshakable faith in the goodness in the people of Utah, and, most remarkable, a trans man who has been told by the church that, should he continue his medical transition, he would be excommunicated, but chooses to love God anyways.

Of course, another favorite chapter was that on Texas. As a Texan, I am all too familiar with names like Paxton and Abbott, but also Wendy Davis and the Briggle family. Allen shows the Briggle family as human, and continues that humanity into her trek into the Rio Grande Valley, an often forgotten part of the state, demonized by both the North for its poverty and the South for its tie to immigration from Mexico. Allen approaches the complexities of race interacting with queerness with attempted grace, but her analysis seems to fall flat-- something she acknowledges later on, in Indiana, in which she has in-depth conversations with a black trans woman on how while Allen may feel safe holding hands with her wife here, her blackness will forever keep the 'queer eutopia' she lives in from truly being safe.

She tells Allen: "There is a difference, it seems, between an oasis and a eutopia. When you're in a desert, an oasis can be a single well of water in the sand, or in this case, one college town with an incredible queer bar. A watering hole doesn't make the desert safe, it just makes it habitable. Even then, when you arrive at the refuge that is Bloomington, so much of your experience here depends on the identities you bring with you. And eutopias? Well, eutopias don't exist. If they did, every LGBT person in the country would move there, and queer making would end."

Allen also carries some of the uncomfortable, if not plain disheartening, pro-veteran beliefs quintessential to the South, spending a long time speaking in depth with veterans surrounding Trump's trans military ban. She repeatedly references a shirt she saw while at an Austin rally: I fought for your right to hate me. The reverence she holds and the anger she feels for veterans was upsetting at times and showed further Allen's privilege.

Still, Allen's beliefs need not be perfect in a book about how the Northern need for perfection leads to the Southern LGBT community being abandoned. This abandonment is mentioned in the Indiana chapter when discussing Mike Pence and his 'return to religious freedom' act, which lead to North wide economic protests and boycotts-- that affected the queers of Indiana far more economically than it did Pence. It was grassroots organizations and local state fighters that pushed back the collection of bills, and many, like the ones Allen interviewed, felt abandoned by blue states that seemed to care more about protesting through inaction than action.

Grassroots education, safety, activism, and community are a recurring theme in Real Queer America, unsurprising to any rural or Southern queer. One such example is the Back Door, a queer bar-- not gay, but specifically queer, an active choice maybe by the "dyke daddy" of the club-- that serves as a bastion of fun and sex in a rural town, but also as a place to come together and practice activism.

"The 'Back Door' is a perfect example of the red state queer ethos-- that being politically active is a responsibility, not a choice."

Allen stresses one thing above all: community. The queer chosen family, and the queering of friendships, she argues, are just as threatening to the average bigot as her sex life or her gender identity, if not more. Together, Southern queers thrive-- something many Northerns don't see. Allen critiques Northern journalism from her own writing background, citing that Northerners only care about Southern queer lives when a politician is passing a bathroom bill, a gunman is shooting up a night club, or a high school has their first trans homecoming king, not out of a desire to share his joy, but to further stress how backward the South is. Amidst the shared meals with bisexuals in Tennessee, watching the dancing queers of the Back Door, the support groups across from Mormon temples, the protests in Austin, and more, Allen asks the reader, is the most radical thing to do as a queer person to simply live and love? Is living, thriving, fighting together, arm in arm-- is all of this what being queer in the South means? She finds answers in each place she goes, and while I will leave her answer up to the reader, I find her comment when meeting with the trans cafe owner of Allen's college youth to shine clear:

"Watching Rachel run her own small business in south central Indiana was my first vision of a future where I turn out okay."

Please, check to see if your local library or bookstores have Real Queer America before buying on Amazon! Let's support local reading!

[nangbaby]

So from what I can tell you simultaneously think blocking people/being blocked is so traumatic and permanent and undoable, that it is essentially the same crime as murder; but ALSO so inefficient and weak that no one should bother with it because people can get around it so easily? What is the distinction in the two cases?

The distinction is in who is affected.

Much like a DNI or BYF, a block isn't going to deter anyone who is a determined attacker. An attacker who wants to cause harm has the causing of harm as their priority. Many attackers simply don't want to be known, even pseudonymously. The whole point of stalking someone is surreptitiously following them to cause the most harm when the target lets their guard down. Because they don't care about personal identity, a block directed at that type of attacker is meaningless.

For those attackers who are well-known, they instead use their followers to do their dirty work. Consequently, a block button is worthless in these cases because these attackers typically outnumber their victims in terms of followers. Because you can't block all a blog's followers when you block a blog, and because you can still see a blog's post after you block them, this renders blocking worthless in cases where blogs with large followings act against smaller blogs. This also gets rid of any potential competition for the bigger blog, which only enhances the large blog respectively.

As long as you are on any service that encourages you to get followers or any curated audience, you can never eliminate a threat of someone disrupting your peace, because such a service invites people to harm by design, and a block is like covering a bullet wound with a cloth napkin.

Who a block does affect are the people who do use the service in good faith, but those who are not popular, which is the vast majority of its userbase. For good or for ill, social media and Internet culture not only signifies individuals as users, but encourages a concrete identity through usernames. However, it also gives people the ability to unperson other distinct identities, something that is not possible in real life. This, instead, makes people even more vulnerable as people are both singled out and reduced into inconveniences, not people with the same rights as them. It also undercuts any person's ability to determine their own identity by allowing other people to craft yours for you without your consent. Blocking is one of those tools which does it by cutting a person off entirely and even rewriting their past experience. Since the good faith user has no intent to circumvent a block, such an act is punishing that person indefinitely. This actually gives a perverse incentive to break the rules, as it is easier to target and isolate someone and harm them by blocking than it is to actually get someone who is causing actual harm to stop.

Blocking merely ensures that if you are an ordinary user and no one follows you, not only will no one ever follow you, but you will see no one else and be forcibly excluded from even a common experience. It benefits those who subvert the idea of identity just for kicks, and those who successfully exploit the idea of identity for power. That means for the rest of us, we're at their mercy, given an illusion of choice with the block button, but a choice that is not reciprocal and thus not free.

[astro-lekha]

Pisces can discover their soulmate in these 3 zodiacs, which include Taurus, Virgo, and Cancer.

Pisces and Taurus value love. They are each believers in a long-lasting relationship and work tough to maintain it. Both their values are the same, so their shared values may be their sturdy point. This may be a long-time period partnership.

The stability of the Taurus is a welcome aspect of Pisces. The Taurus notion of love is also something that the Pisces will appreciate because it's also identical to theirs. There can be no difficulty with those zodiacs as long as they'll learn to complement each other.

The Taurus will love the mysticism and sensuality of the Pisces, each believing in dedication and loyalty. This partnership will truly move places and could create an effective bond and a long-lasting, loving courting.

Pisces with a Virgo zodiac signal will have a natural and intuitive partnership. They will each “click on together” and could admire every other. Virgo will find the features of a Virgo brilliant. These qualities can be: imagination, faithfulness, and perceptive character, not to say the empathic nature of the Pisces, which the Virgo will like as they are to others.

Virgo will locate the caring and loving nature of the Pisces impressive and attractive. They will feel excessive regard for Pisces.

These zodiacs will provide other help and can be there for every other, not simply in good times but also in bad. They may have differences, however, they'll try their great to treat every difference with excessive respect, which is important, in any courting. This can also be something in order to preserve the relationship sturdy.

They both like to make every other sense essential and will see the private growth of 1 another.

The Pisces and Cancer partnership will be an element of splendor as each will construct a long-lasting relationship together. There is a better understanding of every other and will fulfill every different’s longing in a relationship. Dating will enhance them since they may be stable in every different, knowing the opposite person loves them.

There is a meeting of the soul for this partnership, in which one hears the longing of the opposite. Even if there may be an emotional disillusion from miscommunication at times, that is easily remedied and could not be a reason for a split due to the fact they'll constantly discover the cause to live in the relationship. It isn't like different relationships in which the opposite will discover lots of reasons to go away from their partner, however, as a substitute, those zodiacs will discover in their heart why they ought to live and will constantly discover extra reasons to live than to stroll away.

What Is The Pisces Soulmate Age?

Some people discover their soulmate at a younger age. Others discover the one true love that they've been waiting for while they are old, however, still, they can discover the time to be together. Others did not realize it till it turned too late.

While the Pisces soulmate age is 19, they'll be ready to satisfy the man or woman they need to be with at any age. They will search for that person whom they'll have deeper know-how with. It isn't only a fleeting relationship, but, something that may be a lifetime commitment. They will not simply discover romance, love, and commitment, but also friendship due to the fact that's what a soulmate signifies. You also discover that one man or woman that you may dangle out with, where there may be no pretension reason you'll not be afraid to expose your authentic self. No hiding from the other, but simply complete disclosure and love.

The Pisces can either discover their one authentic love or maybe the best buddy at that age, a person they can rely on and to whom they may be their authentic self no matter what.

Who’s Pisces Soulmate?

Since Pisces is dreamy, loving, and peace-seeking, they'll discover the completion in a soulmate with the Taurus zodiac sign. Taurus may be the romantic companion of Pisces. Taurus is practical, romantic, loving, and maybe the best buddy to a Pisces. They are an appropriate match, person-wise. Both may have a lasting relationship, even a lifetime of togetherness.

Taurus signs can provide the Pisces with what they want and vice versa. The Pisces will offer the Taurus masses of admirable men or women, which the Taurus will locate attractively, and could maintain them hooked as years will skip by. They can complement every other and realize the way to make every other happy.

With the loving person of those zodiacs, it's going to not be surprising that they may be soulmates.

Where Is Pisces Soulmate?

Pisceans can meet their soulmate at the seaside as they're meditating and trying to be around nature. They also can locate their soulmate in a meditation camp or someplace in which there may be peaceful surroundings.

A Pisces soulmate may be found in the theater as Pisceans are dreamy at instances and would like to locate their escape while looking at movies. This is an area in which Pisceans also can daydream while looking at their heroes or heroines on the large screen.

There is likewise an opportunity to locate the Piscean soulmate in a web relationship app in which different shy people would like to meet different feasible partners. However, there may be also a chance in locating the proper individual on the net dating app as there is also a pretentious individual who's covering their real self, pretending to be a terrific individual while they're not.

They also can locate their soulmate in an outreach in which the Pisces continually try and assist others while reaching out to those who aren't as fortunate in existence as they're. There is an opportunity that they'll meet their soulmate in such surroundings as the person will absolutely have the same belief that they have and also will have a large heart just like the Pisces.

But as with the notion of others that your soulmate will come to you and also you don’t need to cross seeking out them. There is know-how that if that soulmate is supposed for you, then you may meet them even in case you are in the dance club, church, or maybe in the maximum restricted spaces.

To reach us out in offline mode do not forget to visit

Astro Lekha G-36, G-Block, Outer Circle, Connaught Place, Delhi, 110001, India

Email:  contact@astrolekha.com

Visit Our Website- https://astrolekha.com/

[lightbeyondeden]

Like the Property Brothers

Like the Property Brothers

Derek Morgan x GN!Reader

a/n: I love Derek. He needs more hype in this fandom. Also this is my first attempt at a gn reader so please correct anything I may have done wrong!

Wordcount: 1.1k

Warnings: none :) just babies being babies and a reference to an obscure joke about a canadian tv show

masterlist

Having a handy boyfriend came with many perks; like the time Derek had built you a table that was identical to one you found on pintrest and fell in love with, or the time he helped you fix the hole you kicked through the wall of your apartment while trying out a new workout video - though he never let you live that one down. 

Having a handy boyfriend also meant that he would frequently spend the Saturdays he wasn’t on a case working on one of his many properties. You loved that he was so passionate about his hobby, and the bonus that it was something he could make money off of, but it was getting to the point where you were legitimately jealous of a house. So much so that your pillow talk had turned to talk about the rentals, or how much you hated the rentals, or how much Derek loved the rentals. 

You couldn’t ask your boyfriend to give up his hobby, but you needed to be able to spend more time with him. That's when it hit you, the perfect compromise; you would simply go help Derek. It couldn’t be that difficult, and maybe you would even have fun together! 

That's what you had told him, but he had shaken his head and chuckled to himself. That, however, had only made you more determined to show him you could have a good time renovating a house together. 

Okay, maybe he had a point. That didn’t exactly sound like your ideal weekend - but Derek would be there, and that always makes it worth it. 

When your eyes first fluttered open it was to the sun dancing through your curtains and you knew that meant Derek was already at the house. That was another thing about him that you both deeply admired and hated about him, when he had something to do there was no way he could sleep in or relax till he got it done, even if it was something he enjoyed.

Slinking out of bed, feet padding on the hardwood as you made your way to your closet to pick out something to wear. A pair of denim overalls and a red top jumped out at you as the right choice, it was something to make Derek squirm at the very least.

It was about eleven o'clock by the time you finally made your way up the stairs of Derek's Barber Street property, iced coffee in hand. You tentatively pushed the door - which was already slightly ajar - and stepped inside, calling out for Derek. 

“Hey there hot stuff.” He laughed, wiping his hands on his pants before coming to give you a kiss on the cheek. “Isn’t it a little early for you to be working?” 

You rolled your eyes, “Yee of little faith! You’ll be eating those words when we become such an amazing renovating duo that HGTV wants to give us our own show.” You paused to take an overly dramatic sip of your iced coffee, “Mhhm! Like the Property Brothers!”

“The Property Brothers? Did I just- did I just get brother zoned by my actual partner?” Derek forced out, feigning disgust. 

You picked up a paint roller and turned to look at him, plastering an over exaggerated smile. “Let's get to work Drew!” 

“If that's the name of a property brother I swear-” Derek rubbed his hand across his forehead, trying to signify that he was already exhausted by you.

Keeping your expression blank, you shrugged your shoulders and turned away but as soon as you weren’t directly facing him you both burst out laughing. 

The task of the day was to paint the living room. Derek had already primed it the week before, and had stopped at Home Depot earlier in the morning to pick up a can of dull lavender toned paint and new rollers. 

By three that afternoon you were almost done, the room actually looked quite nice. You and Derek however, had gotten a little messy - smears of paint down the side of your face and on all sides of his arms stood starkly contrasting the tones of your skin.

Just as you had plopped down on the dropcloth to finally rest your aching hands and body (and probably bitch to your boyfriend about how physically taxing this ‘painting’ thing was), Derek’s work phone began to ring. 

“No! No no no! Derek Morgan do not pick that up. You promised me a day together.’ You whined, giving him your best puppy dog eyes. “I did home improvements for you!”

Derek shot you a sympathetic look before answering JJ’s call. They had a case - and it was urgent. 

“I hate the FBI.” You announced from your spot in the passenger seat of Derek’s car. “There’s no way every case is urgent. I think JJ just misses you guys.” 

He just chuckled and reached out for your hand, placing it under his on the gearshift and drawing his thumb up and down it. 

“I know baby, but you get to come see Penny now - and we had such a good day.” 

God. He was right - as always. You dropped your pouty facade, knowing that you could never stay mad at the charming Derek Morgan for very long. 

There had been no time to change, so the two of you arrived as you had left the rental; sweaty and paint covered. You honestly hadn’t even realized until JJ made a comment about staying off the furniture till you got cleaned up. 

“We had a painting day at one of Derek’s properties - it was actually kinda cute.” You gushed to the team. 

“Maybe next time we can start fixing up our house, once you finally move in with me.” Derek joked back. 

You looked up at him with stars in your eyes - moving in together was something you had talked about in the abstract before, but you had been a little hesitant that Derek hadn’t seemed 100% committed to the idea of living together, But seeing him talk about it so casually in front of his team made you sure that he meant it. You wrapped your arms around his neck and gave him a chaste kiss. 

“I love you you know.” You whispered, allowing the two of you to relish this moment, even in front of the team. 

“You guys are so adorable. Totally relationship goals!” Penelope said, coming in to give you a hug. 

“Totally.” Emily echoed “Just like the Property Brothers.” 

Derek’s eyes shot up; “What the hell does that mean!?” 

[lavendermilkandhoney]

6/22 The Hierophant – Goro Takemura

In Game

The Hierophant symbolizes a respect for tradition. It represents one who tries to maintain the established order, even though their very character is shaped by it. The Hierophant places his faith in institutions – for the alternative is pure chaos. Only by placing his faith in order can he draw strength.

Location

The Hierophant is right next to the white gate, located close to where V and Takemura meet Oda in Japantown.

Zodiac Sign : Taurus

The Hierophant is assigned to the zodiac sign Taurus because The Hierophant conveys a carefulness, and certain deliberateness, those same qualities can be found in the sign of Taurus.

Misty’s Reading (After the Heist 2/2) - Reversed

“But watch out. A reversed Hierophant lurks in the darkness. He brings crisis both in life and authority, rebellion and fanaticism… he is a grave threat.”

In Tarot

UPRIGHT: Spiritual wisdom, religious beliefs, conformity, tradition, institutions

REVERSED: Personal beliefs, freedom, challenging the status quo

The Hierophant is the masculine counterpart to the High Priestess. He is also known as the Pope or the Teacher in other Tarot decks and is ruled by Taurus.

The Hierophant is a religious figure sitting between two pillars of a sacred temple – though this temple differs from the one in which the High Priestess sits. He wears three robes – red, blue and white – and a three-tiered crown, both representing the three worlds over which he rules (the conscious, sub-conscious and super-conscious). In his left hand, he holds the Papal Cross, a triple sceptre that signifies his religious status. He raises his right hand in a religious blessing, with two fingers pointing towards Heaven and two towards Earth.

Before him kneel two followers. The Hierophant’s task is to pass down his spiritual wisdom and initiate the two into the church so they can take up their appointed roles. This imagery speaks to a shared group identity and a rite of passage to enter the next level. The crossed keys at the Hierophant’s feet represent the balance between the conscious and subconscious minds and the unlocking of mysteries, which only he can teach.

Upright

The Hierophant card represents an established set of spiritual values and beliefs and is often correlated with religion and other formal doctrines. Before you can discover your own belief systems and make your own choices (as associated with the next card, the Lovers), the Hierophant encourages you to learn the fundamental principles from a trusted source.

Work with a teacher, mentor, or guide to teach you about spiritual values and beliefs in a structured way. He may be an authority or a kind and generous mentor who nurtures your spiritual awareness and helps you access the Divine by understanding the traditions and core principles. You may also undertake a period of formal study as you delve into a subject that has been widely explored and documented.

If you have already mastered a particular field of study, you may be taking on the role of teacher and mentor to others. In this position, you honour and acknowledge your responsibility to share your knowledge in a structured way, one that respects the age-old traditions.

The Hierophant‘s arrival suggests you are following convention and staying within the bounds of a ‘tried and tested’ model. You are not yet willing to go out on a limb or offer any new and innovative ideas. Instead, you adhere to the key principles and rules that you know will lead to a successful result.

The Hierophant may call you to honour family traditions or sacred rituals that sit neglected. You are being asked to commit to spiritual practice in its most wholesome form – no customisation, no adaptation, no bending the rules. If you have been lacking ritual and tradition, create a regular practice such as daily prayer or saying grace before a meal. Consider exploring your spiritual or religious heritage.

The Hierophant Tarot card often speaks to group membership or being part of an institution. You may enjoy a deep sense of comfort being surrounded by people who have well-established belief systems and explicit values. Finding them may be as significant as exploring a new church or religious group, or as simple as joining a gym or online Tarot community. This card is about identifying with others and a way of thinking that will prompt further learning.

Reversed

In its most positive form, the reversed Hierophant reminds you that you are your own teacher. All the wisdom you seek comes from within – not from some external source or power. You are being guided to follow your own path and adopt your own spiritual belief systems rather than blindly following others’. It may feel unsettling at first as you make your own way, but over time, you will learn to trust yourself and tap into your inner knowledge. Others may question your motivations to go against tradition, but you know deep within that now is the time.

With the reversed Hierophant, you no longer need external approval to succeed. You are ready to go it alone and do it your way, even if that means going against convention. Give yourself permission to trust your inner guidance system as you create your own path forward.

The Hierophant reversed is also about challenging the status quo. You see alternative ways of viewing the world and are ready to test the very ideas and concepts you were taught were the ‘truth’. You no longer accept the rigid structures, tradition and dogma surrounding you; instead, you seek out opportunities to rebel and reclaim your personal power. If you feel restricted or constrained and have lost your sense of freedom and flexibility, now is the time to make your own rules.

The reversed Hierophant encourages you to examine ‘the way we do things around here’ and ask yourself whether it aligns with your values. You may have been running on autopilot so far and following the crowd, but now you see that changes need to be made. Taken further, the Hierophant reversed is like a rebellious teenager who begins to question society and take part in anti-institutional activities. There may be a run-in with authorities or conflict with a parent or authoritative figure.

---

Thank you so much @cybervesna​ for the polish traduction from the official guide book and its associations with the characters!

[loreolympusanalysisforfunsies]

How to put this-

What are the ethics of using queer coded characters and themes in a narrative that has no explicitly queer characters?

Welp, that question can be asked of many stories in media. Like, a metric shit ton. A lot. But since Lore Olympus is the flavour of the week (month? year?) for my brain, that's what I'll be applying this question to. And right away, asap, I'm talking critically about Lore Olympus. Critically as in taking a subject and thinking about what themes are in it and what those themes mean to me as a reader, not critically as in badmouthing it. Also, I'm no expert and I've only read my favourite chapters fifty million times, the other chapters maybe three times. So there's stuff I could have missed, please feel free to correct me. Also also I will be using the word queer a lot because that's what I am and what I'm talking about.

Just wanted to make that crystal queer.

Alrighty, queer-coded characters in Lore Olympus. Hello Eros, nice to be talking about you again. He's a fan favourite for some pretty good reasons. Compelling romantic sideplot, clear adversary to the asshat, and he's just plain fun. There can be plenty of heavy content when he's around, but he's also the guy that lightens the mood. Some of the faces he makes-fucking priceless. And hoo boy does he come off as the gay best friend. Romantic advice, shopping trips, make overs, the squeeing, those are some very old tropes. But he's not the gay best friend. Or at least, so vaguely bi/pan/etc that it can be written off as none of the above. The only hint we get that he's not straight is that orgy mentioned waaay back in the beginning. After that we get his backstory with Psyche and no mention of other interests since. The gay best friend trope was made when hollywood and equivalents stopped being quite so nasty to the LGBTQ+ community, but not quite to the point of queer positivity. It took signifiers that were used maliciously in the past (feminine aspects and interests) and put a humerous spin on them. Ah look, it's a guy that can expertly apply make up, how funny and nonthreatening he is. Maybe it was that funny and nonthreatening bit that the author was going for. Both Persephone and the readers just endured some pretty awful shit, so here's a new person for her support system that isn't threatening at all and brings along some lighter atmosphere. Super flamboyant and never shown to be sexually attracted to her-that's perfect, in you go.

And honestly, seeing a man that's in a relationship with a woman whose also in touch with his emotions and feminine side, that's pretty great. But it comes in a narrative completely without queer characters. When I first saw him I was pretty sure he was a stereotype. Now that I know he isn't, I feel mixed. Straight dudes should be able to be soft. But a story with so many characters, that talks seriously about their complicated inner lives, with all these romantic relationships, all that with no queer representation? Ehhhhhhh-

Getting to the endpoint a little early there, so onto the other queer coded characters. Most notable are Athena and Artemis. Athena is very androgynous in her design. And Artemis has a very telling moment with Persephone in which she tries to push the conversation away from the danger zone of her personal feelings. A loud, embarrassed exclamation that she isn't attracted to anyone? Yeah I've seen that one before. And here's where I'd like to think somewhat positively, because this is going somewhere. It might just be a similar line as Persephone, being torn about her membership with the eternal maidens. Or Lore Olympus Artemis may very well be a lesbian or asexual as her mythic counterpart has been. There's a lot of potential in her storyline.

Heck, there's a lot of potential all over this story. Greek mythology is filled to the brim with LGBTQ+ people. Skip Zeus and Apollo, because fuck those guys. We've got Achilles and Patroclus as the most well-known, but to be fair the mortals don't heavily feature in this one. Athena was bi, Hermes was bi, Dionysus isn't born yet but again, super bi. Aphrodite and Poseidon are both in open relationships within the story, and oh hey bi the way in the myths. Just saying, the greeks were very very gay.

But even if they weren't. Guess what. When you write a story of your very own, you can make your characters be anything. Case and point with Hera. This is a very, very different version of Hera. Sure, she can be capricious and act on a whim. But this isn't the same goddess that committed cruelties against women that Zeus forced himself on. At least to our knowledge. Nerp, this author has reinterpreted her to be a very sympathetic woman, and that's without changing what she went through. Hera was always someone that endured a lot of crap from her husband, but I didn't feel bad for her when I read her stories in class because hey, she was a vindictive shrew. By changing the patriarchal perspective that has some pretty strong opinions on women scorned, to the perspective of a woman author sympathetic to the woman character who is constantly shit on by everyone around her, the author has improved on the original subject material. Change, it's a good thing.

Ok, queer themes. Again I'd like to make a point right away, and the point here is the themes I'm about to talk about don't just affect queer people. These are lived experiences for many. But being kept naive of an outside world, being unable to explore your sexuality, people trying to override you when you tell them what's best for you and your body, are all things that deeply affect the queer community. There's a very good reason this fandom has so many LGBTQ+ members. Many moments in this story are affirming to us, and that's a good thing. This story also has a lot to say about gender roles. Persephone is the most recent of women that people are looking to use for their own selfish advancement. Hera has a very powerful line about sacrificing her power and potential to make Zeus feel comfortable and happy. And boy is that a line that fits millions of women and afabs throughout history. Making people comfortable by keeping a part of yourself shoved down, whether it's your ability in a field of work or your identity. Or maybe your disability. Or your religion. Your background. Lore Olympus hits pretty hard with a very real feeling of sacrificing bits of yourself to make what people see more palatable, easier for them to deal with. Hera and Persephone have breakdowns over these forced versions of themselves, the facade that's too much to keep up.

These problems don't exist in a bubble. They are problems that weave through many different subcultures and peoples. And unfortunately, some affected people can be excluded when such problems are addressed. I don't think the author decided to be exclusive on purpose. The kindest interpretation is that this simply isn't something that affected her directly, so she either didn't think to include it or didn't feel comfortable writing from a pov she doesn't share. The less kind interpretation is that she wanted to appeal to as broad a demographic as possible, and decided this was the way to do it. I'm not inclined to think that way of her, because she's showed herself to be very empathetic and thoughtful with pretty much every other aspect. But when we become so close with a piece of media, a story that touches us so deeply, one that strives to be realistic in themes like abuse and trauma, the question comes up. What about us? Do we exist? Are our problems seen? The end result of a narrative using queer-coded characters and themes without explicitly being queer is a disconnect. A feeling of separation from a story and characters that I otherwise feel very close to. A worry that these problems are only seen by, only affecting, heterosexual and cisgendered peoples. And I realize this would be hard to cover for someone who hasn't written queer characters in this story yet, someone who may or may not be LGBTQ+ themselves. But even so, even though there would be mistakes and bad faith critics and all else, I would rather she try. I would rather be seen.

[eternal-echoes]

Catechism of the Catholic Church

II. Christ

436 The word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means "anointed". It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that "Christ" signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets.29 This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively.30 It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet.31 Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.

437 To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah promised to Israel: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord."32 From the beginning he was "the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world", conceived as "holy" in Mary's virginal womb.33 God called Joseph to "take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", so that Jesus, "who is called Christ", should be born of Joseph's spouse into the messianic lineage of David.34

438 Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine mission, "for the name 'Christ' implies 'he who anointed', 'he who was anointed' and 'the very anointing with which he was anointed'. the one who anointed is the Father, the one who was anointed is the Son, and he was anointed with the Spirit who is the anointing.'"35 His eternal messianic consecration was revealed during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his baptism by John, when "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power", "that he might be revealed to Israel"36 as its Messiah. His works and words will manifest him as "the Holy One of God".37

439 Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus the fundamental attributes of the messianic "Son of David", promised by God to Israel.38 Jesus accepted his rightful title of Messiah, though with some reserve because it was understood by some of his contemporaries in too human a sense, as essentially political.39

440 Jesus accepted Peter's profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man.40 He unveiled the authentic content of his messianic kingship both in the transcendent identity of the Son of Man "who came down from heaven", and in his redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."41 Hence the true meaning of his kingship is revealed only when he is raised high on the cross.42 Only after his Resurrection will Peter be able to proclaim Jesus' messianic kingship to the People of God: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."43

[horizonwitch]

The Archangel Theory - A Possible Explanation to MCR's new symbolism

Hello! This is a very long post, but I hope it’s worth the reading. Sorry.

I am Nana, and today I bring you a fan-theory on the meaning behind MyChem's symbols presented to us in the occasion of the band's return announcement and later on, at the actual reunion concert day.

First Considerations:

1. being it, as the title implies, a fan-theory, I do not claim any of the exposed to be factual when associated to MCR. I bring this thread to you guys in hopes that we can discuss, expand, teach and learn with each other, and maybe come to some sort of conclusion. Riddles are fun to play, especially together. I love riddles in fandom experience. :)

2. I highly apologize for my limited vocabulary and weird phrasing. I am not a native english speaker, but I'll try my best to make this understandable to everyone;

3. Despite my personal beliefs and stupid jokes, I mean no disrespect to any religion or symbol mentioned in here. (just as much as I believe MyChem also doesn't, on the wild possibility of this thread being on point with what they planned, lol).

That being said, before we start, I have some thanks to give:

this theory was only put together thanks to my lovely mychem group chat, composed by Raffs, Clara, Caroline and Hana. thanks for all the time and effort we shared, and for holding my brain with your bare hands when it was about to melt, friends.

Also thanks to Frank Iero himself, for laughing at me on twitter for me not being able to understand the reunion clues, despite "wearing a California 2019 shirt for 6 years". I humbly accept the possibility of this theory having nothing to do with the truth, but I sure hope I can laugh back at you in the end, rat. I love you.

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Now, let's finally head to The Archangel Theory, or, as I like to call it, The “If We're Not Careful We'll Turn Into Catholics” Theory, and how it all started.

It was Halloween. Everyone here was minding their own damn business (I was being a clown on twitter, Hana was putting on her badass revenge-themed makeup. You know, the usual). And we all know what happened: MCR raised gracefully from the dead, dropping brand new symbolism and a stunning angel image to our poor panicked hearts. A few days later, when Hana’s crying ruined makeup was long gone and everyone calmed the F down a little bit, people started to ask themselves: okay, cool, but what does it mean?

Like many of you, the first thought that crossed my mind was tarot. Because, well, how f-ing cool would it be, right? I draw tarot everyday. I just loved the idea. Mychem posting a latin countdown with some eerie photo was just… yea, I was very excited with this.

Many of us also associated the symbols with past albums and even with the members themselves. All of these theories are very valid to me, and I loved reading them. I agree with many points raised.

Well, everything was fine (as fine as it could be, because I am so damn curious). The Return concert happened at the faithful date of December 20, California. We all freaked out and enjoyed the noble services’ of days_fate and diet_shampoo’s streaming. All that jazz.

But then: well… another angel. I started to think to myself: is this a pattern? The show ends, we get very emotional, everything is okay (i hate this pun) with the world. Frank Iero makes a post-concert post on instagram, talking about how everything was pure Magick. With a K.

For those unfamiliar, this is an occultist term related to Aleister Crowley’s Thelema, to differentiate the religious concept from the “stage magic” that we are used to. A very carefully picked name that I highly doubt someone would drop around without knowing what it implies.... Don’t even start me with the K and C keys being so damn far away from each other on a keyboard.

At this point me and my groupchat were starting to be very done with Frank’s clownery (we indeed love him very much for that), and so we started to hurt our minds every single day since then. that’s the result:

THE ARCHANGEL THEORY

Let’s Return™ to the basics: angels and, probably, tarot.

Funny enough, there are actually angels in tarot cards. There are many types of decks, but for this we are using the most famous one, which most people believe holds ancient symbolism, The Rider-Waite Tarot.

There are many angels and archangels mentioned in the Bible (only a few by name, tho), but only four of them made it into being represented in tarot cards: Uriel, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Let’s get the gang together and meet the holy crew (please, forgive me for the puns).

Uriel:

whose name means “the light of god”, “the flame of god”. It’s the Wise Angel, often pictured as the one who holds books and scrolls and bears holy knowledge and understanding. or Clarity, if you will. They’re sort of the goth one™, associated with the Tartarus and being pictured as pitiless as any demon would; even holding the key to Hell during the end of times, Uriel is described as the angel who watches “over thunder and terror”. Uriel is sometimes even mistaken for a demon (apparently, the eastern catholicism accepts Uriel identity as an archangel, while the western catholicism gives more credit to its dark side, and does not encourage worshiping); this duality comes from the notion that very often, enlightenment may be the end result of dark times. Every archangel has many, I said MANY symbols attached to them, so other elements associated with this angel can be found on the image attached to this post.

About Uriel’s Tarot Card: if you were raised in a catholic family and slept through as much catechism as I did as a kid, maybe you’ll be surprised to know that Lucifer, Satan and Uriel are all different beings. Let it be a lesson: no matter how edgy of a teen you are, please accept knowledge from any possible source. Putting this thread together would’ve been so easier to me now if I did, haha... That being said, our angel Uriel is actually the Devil in the Devil Tarot card, which meaning touches on addiction, obsession, feeling imprisoned or restrained, but it being only an illusion of powerlessness. This card is an invitation to free yourself, fight distractions and temptation, and finally fulfill your destiny. Please, consider that tarot readings are very deep and variable; there’s extensive books only on tarot meaning, so I won’t explore much on each card. that’s just a very general notion.

Some sources also consider Uriel to be the responsible for the change represented in the Death card, despite not being directly pictured in such card. As stated before, Uriel is associated with the concept Death brings, being a turning point, and ending route.

The symbolism presented in the Devil card (as for the Rider-Waiter deck):

“At the foot of the Devil stand a man and a woman, both naked and chained to the podium on which the Devil sits. They appear to be held here against their will – but look closer, and you will notice that the chains around their necks are loose and could be easily removed. Each has small horns on their head, like the devil’s, a sign that they are becoming increasingly like him the longer they stay here. Both have tails, a further symbol of their animalistic tendencies and raw instincts, and the grapes and the fire on their respective tails signify pleasure and lust.”

Poor people. If only they knew better. A lil bit of Clarity, huh?

That’s it for MCR’s clarity symbol, conveniently shaped as a candle.

Michael:

whose name means “who is like god” (being it a rhetorical question, to mean that no one equals to God). It’s the Protector Angel. They’re the leader of angels in the battle against demons, Defender of God’s realm against Satan in the Book of Revelation. Michael is a warrior, and is often seem with the sword in hand, to allure to the idea of bravery. They’re described as the angel of strength, protection and Courage.

About Michael’s Tarot Card: Michael appears on the major arcana Temperance. In fact, even the name “Temperance” comes from the process of refining and strengthening materials in metallurgy. this one likes swords a lot, huh. That’s a card which meaning touches on patience and prudence. It means already having a clear vision and knowing what you want to achieve. Now It’s all about thinking before action, and accepting the balance of things, blending the opposites to achieve an ideal solution. Apparently a very suited card for a warrior of faith. Prepare yourself: in my research, I’ve found a source that associates this card with the color blue (the very same of the archangel) and the musical note G. Yes, the universe has a strange sense of humor.

The symbolism presented in the Temperance card: “The vessels in the angel’s hands represent the vessel that contains eternal life. The flowers are Irises symbolising the goddess Iris who links God to humanity. Iris travels from one end of the world to another, into the depth of the sea and the underworld. The angel’s feet, one on land and one in water, symbolise the unification of the external and internal, conscious and subconscious. It also represents testing the waters before jumping into the unknown. The red wings on the angel represent blood which symbolizes life. The sun conceals a crown which represents a connection to higher power. The triangle on the angel’s dress is an equilateral triangle and symbolise spirit, divinity, fire, life, prosperity, and harmony. It can also symbolise God and the holy trinity. The square outside the triangle represents protection and stability.”

The MCR symbol for Courage is a drop. is it a drop of blood? for an warrior angel and their endless battles on God’s behalf? Of water, the waters of unknown? The water of balance of life? I don’t know.

When Michael / was a young genderless being,/ their father…

Gabriel:

whose name means “strength of god”. It’s the Messenger Angel; Gabriel is often portrayed playing the trumpet, to make announcements of God’s will. (many angels play the trumpets on Revelations book,, but Gabriel seems to be the most intimately attached to this concept). In the hierarchy of angels, Gabriel seems to occupy a very high position, being knows as the “Left Hand of God” (our Michael aforementioned being the Right-hand angel).

Their famous appearances on the Bible includes appearing to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Islam also has Gabriel appearing for many prophets, telling them the divine plans. In a way, all those messages are basically callings to a higher purpose, a proof of faith, a personal Sacrifice. This idea is reiterated by the symbolism of Gabriel’s tarot card.

Gabriel is also one of the Angels of Death (depending on the religious we are speaking about, there are over 14 different angels with this role). Not in a dark way, their role is to comfort and bring peace to the deceased, guiding them into the light. Gabriel is therefore an angel of mercy, redemption achieved through a proof of faith (often a self-sacrifice, of any nature), after a fair judgement. speaking of which…

About Gabriel’s tarot card: Gabriel appears on the major arcana Judgement, which meaning touches on taking responsibility for your actions, speaking the truth. It’s a beginning/ending type of card, but a different kind of change than the one represented on one of Uriel’s card, Death. While Death brings something unstoppable, more powerful than anyone’s options, Judgement usually portraits something you can actually choose to take part in. But it also your responsibility any consequences of not taking this step. A fair judgement, indeed.

The Symbolism presented in the Judgement card: “The angel with the Trumpet could be a reference to the angels and the seven trumpets in Revelation, bringing apocalypse and resurrection. The white banner with the red cross can be St. George Flag, and a reference to Saint George gives Judgement the symbolism of sacrifice done in the name of our faith. Both the flag and the trumpet are military symbols of authority. A man, a woman and a child are being called from the tomb of ego consciousness. The three people are reflected on the other side of the river, another symbol of the soul’s victory over death. The three people are also a symbol of the three pillars of the tree of life. The man and the woman has changed side from the familiar feminine on the left and masculine on the right. In Judgement it is the other way around. Perhaps it is to unify us and to tell us to look at a situation from a different perspective, from within. You are seeing the pillars from the Angel’s perspective. This symbolises to raise your thinking and ask for Divine Perspective. The mountains represent the structure that surrounds us all.”

Calling all units! Time for the ultimate vibe check.

I guess that’s it for our third MCR symbol, Sacrifice, shaped as hand. Is it a left hand, just like one of Gabriel’s titles? that would be interesting.

But not so fast.

Now we come to an interesting point. Gabriel is the first of our angels to have a sculpture used by My Chem. :) It’s actually endearing how, if this assumption is correct, they chose the messenger archangel to bring the good news: mcr is alive!

About Gabriel’s sculpture: our Return angel, as some of us already know by this point, is actually a piece called “Angelo e Alma”, by italian artist Pasquale Rizzoli. It is located on Cella Magnani, a memorial chapel of the Magnani family, inside Certosa di Bologna, which is a very antique monastery, later transformed on a monumental cemetery for many italian families. You can take a look here, it’s stunningly beautiful.

Finished in 1906, this piece was a commission by the widow of a war veteran called Natale Magnani, who apparently died young. As far as I understand written italian, since I speak portuguese (latin languages perks, yey!), it’s still difficult to me to do further research on this family. Being it an old, traditional italian family, there’s tons of Magnanis, but there’s little to no info on Natale or his wife’s lives on the internet, it seems. If you’re italian and have any info about this, please comment. It can actually be relevant to this thread.

This sculpture portraits an angel ascending to heavens, guiding a soul (represented as a woman in a long dress). There’s rose branches and lilies at the feet of both the angel and the soul, as they fly together. These flowers pay homage to Magnani’s family blazon, as stated by the Storia i Memoria di Bologna Project website, that also offers on their site a brief explanation on the meaning behind the many other plants on this piece. they all basically allure to death, sleep, and resurrection. you can check it out here.

The presented symbolism, being an angel appearing to a soul in their travel to the spiritual realm, and even the flowers used, lead me to conclude that this sculpture very likely pictures our Archangel Gabriel, in their judgement roles again.

Now, our holy rpg party already has a mage, a paladin and a bard. It’s time to introduce the most underappreciated (and my personal favorite) class:

Raphael:

whose name means “God heals”. Raphael is the angel for healing, thus making ‘whole’ everything that has been broken. They’re also a patron for lovers, role that he plays by using his healing powers in a non-literal way. Pay attention to the “fixing the broken and making it a whole again” part, that’s the connotation.

Both of these titles come from the roles Raphael played, depicted on the scriptures: the most famous ones being when Raphael was sent by the Lord to heal Tobit of his blindness and to deliver Sarah, his future daughter-in-law, from the demon Asmodeus, who killed every man she married on their wedding night before the marriage could be consummated.

Another famous role commonly related to Raphael is about the Pool of Bethesda. Despite not being mentioned by name, manuscripts of John 5:1–4 describe an angel that blessed this pool, healing the illness of those who touched its waters:

"an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under". It’s usually given credit to Raphael for this action, since they’re seem using healing power to fulfill God’s will in many occasions through the Bible.

About Raphael’s Tarot card: Raphael appears on the major arcana The Lovers, as the angel blessing the couple depicted. This is a card about romantic, even sexual, attraction, but not purely that. It’s about finding peace within yourself, and in someone else, about the journey to pick “the one” for you. Making a whole out of two halves is a common concept associated with this card.

Symbolism presented on The Lovers card: “the man and the woman in the image are being protected and blessed by an angel above. The couple seems secure and happy in their home, which appears to be the Garden of Eden. The fruit tree with the snake behind the woman is a reference to that story, which tells of humanity's fall into temptation and into the realm of flesh and sensuality. The angel depicted here is Raphael, the angel of air - who is of the same element of the zodiac sign that governs this card: Gemini. Air is associated with mental activity, and communication in particular, which is the foundation for healthy relationships. His blessing seems to give this card a sense of balance and harmony, the symbolization of union in a grand and cosmic sense between two opposing forces.”

Another source adds: “The couple stands in a beautiful, fertile landscape, reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. Behind the woman stands a tall apple tree, with a snake winding its way up the trunk. The serpent and apple tree represent the temptation of sensual pleasures that may take one’s focus away from the Divine. Behind the man is a tree of flames, which represent passion, the primary concern of the man. The twelve flames suggest the twelve zodiac signs, the symbol of time and eternity. The man looks to the woman, who watches the angel, showing the path of the conscious to the subconscious to the super-conscious, or from physical desire to emotional needs to spiritual concerns. The volcanic mountain in the background is rather phallic and represents the eruption of passion that happens when man and woman meet in full frontal nudity.”

Despite the latter being a bit too horny for my tastes, lol, both descriptions reiterate Raphael’s influence on the role of patronizing health and union, a journey of Devotion.

Oh, about the MCR symbol, shaped as a half-sun. at first I couldn’t find a correlation to Raphael and this sun shape, as for the first three angels it was very clear to me since just as I started reading about them. Then I realized the huge sun portrayed on The Lovers card, behind Raphael.

Despite holding its individual meanings, Tarot cards are not meant to me taken isolatedly. (that’s one of the reasons many people are not found of the single card yes-or-no type of drawing). That being said, it is not a surprised to find traces of one card on another, and many shared symbolism. As for the sun, it appears multiple times on the Rider-Waite deck, but only one card holds the same exact half shaped, upside down, centered sun as the MCR symbol. and that’s The Lovers. :)

Now, our romantic archangel lead us to a very lovely part:

About Raphael’s Sculpture: as we waited for MCR to dramatically drop the curtain at the reunion show, we were being watched over by a piece nicknamed “Angel of the Waters,” from the Bethesda Fountain (have you heard this name before?), located in the Bethesda Terrace, Central Park, in NYC. sculpted by Emma Stebbins in 1864, this piece’s history, together with Central Park’s history can be fully read in this awesome article that my friend Clara found: here.

But since we’re already here, let’s try to make a shorter version, focusing on what’s relevant to this thread.

Upon release, the angel, which stands and above and blesses a water fountain, was directly associated with the Bethesda Pool mentioned in the Bible, and the healing acts of Raphael. On the dedication pamphlet it was quoted the very same passage from the Gospel of John, chapter 5, verses 2-4 I’ve mentioned before. It’s a shame I couldn’t find any pictures of this pamphlet on the internet. Old documents, huh. NY people, if you have access to this, I’d love to see it.

If we stopped there, it would be enough evidence to assume the connection to Raphael, but there’s more! There’s some particularities about this statue.

Its conception was a huge deal: Emma was the first woman to receive a major sculptural commission in New York City. Also, she had a female lover, the world-famous American actress Charlotte Cushman, who, for Cedar Miller, historian that wrote about Central Park and Emma’s statue, holds a huge impact on the Angel of Waters actually making into existence. In 1869, Cushman was diagnosed with breast cancer. In addition to having two mastectomies, Cushman tried water cures in England. (Water cures were a big craze from the 1830s through the 1860s). The historian who wrote about them finds it another connection to the statue itself. Unfortunately, Cushman's treatments were ultimately unsuccessful, she passed away in 1875. Emma followed her not long after, in 1882. To this day, the statue remains, and to NY is a gathering place to find tranquility, peace of mind, even in the darkest times through the its 141 years of existence. It’s a place to heal yourself.

It’s not your average Raphael statue.

We have the archangel connection, a devoted couple's backstory, and lesbian/sapphics rights. I don’t know about you, but I can even picture Gerard Way carefully picking this himself, haha.

Oh, a spicy fact I’ve learned while writing this: This angel sculpture is actually even older in MCR’s history, tracing back to revenge era merch. (I didn’t have much access to mcr merch back in the day so I didn’t know about this, I apologize!)

I guess someone got nostalgic for some catholic aesthetics, huh. Bless!

Angels in tarot, bonus addition:

It is valid to mention that not only all of the 4 mentioned archangels have their individual cards, they also appear together in a single card, The Wheel of Fortune. In this card, each angel can be seen in a corner: Raphael (Aquarius) is upper left, Gabriel (Scorpio) is the eagle, Michael (Leo) is the lion, and Uriel (Taurus) is the bull, appearing in disguise, a common thing for angels though the scriptures, it seems.

If you draw tarot, you understand how big of a deal it is. If you’re not familiar, here’s the basic notion: “The wheel of fortune is a card about cyclical change. The wheel keeps on rolling, churning events in a ceaseless progression of ups and downs, either way freeing us from the past. No one can escape its cyclical action, which can feel somewhat terrifying -- no matter whether we are rising or falling. When one is balanced on top of the wheel, there is a moment of crystal clarity. However, the only part of the wheel that's actually not going up and down is the hub, which represents your eternal self. Every one of us will occupy all the points on the wheel at one point or another. The cycle of the wheel is its lesson -- and we can learn to take comfort in it. If you don't like the look of things right now, just wait -- things will change. Of course, if you do like the look of things right now, enjoy it while it lasts, because that will change too!”

It is quite a powerful card that holds all of the aforementioned symbolism. Woa.

More symbolism seem on this card includes:

“The Wheel of Fortune card shows a giant wheel, with three figures on the outer edges. Four Hebrew letters – YHVH (Yod Heh Vau Heh), the unpronounceable name of God – are inscribed on the wheel’s face. There are also the letters TORA, thought to be a version of the word Torah, meaning ‘law’, or TAROT, or even ROTA (Latin for ‘wheel’). The middle wheel has the alchemical symbols for mercury, sulphur, water and salt – the building blocks of life and the four elements – and represents formative power. On the outer circle is a snake, the Egyptian god Typhon (the god of evil), descending on the left side. The snake also represents the life force plunging into the material world. On the right side rises the Anubis, the Egyptian God of the dead who welcomes souls to the underworld. And on top of the wheel sits the Sphinx, representing knowledge and strength.”

THE SECOND SET OF SYMBOLS - STILL A MYSTERY

So, after all this, if any of this is correct at all, we just learned the meaning behind the first four MCR symbols, released on halloween: Clarity, Courage, Sacrifice and Devotion.

Now, what about the ones released at the reunion show, on the merch truck? Well, my friends, we still have a lot to think about.

I am a doctor, and in my profession there’s a saying which instruct us to always think of what seems like a complicated situation, with many possibilities, as a single disease causing many effects. That was my train of thought as I tried to associate these new symbols with the Archangels that we already have. It may have nothing to do with that at all, but it’s worth trying.

Differently from the first set, the second set didn’t get an official release, and does not hold text captions to guide us on it’s meaning. the symbol shapes, however, are easier to associate with tarot cards than the first ones, in my opinion. I’ve seen people online trying to guess it too.

Having the angels and their aforementioned traits as a guiding line, I used some symbolism associated to each one to connect them to a new symbol, as you can see on the picture attached to this post.

I have some major problems with this, tho, the biggest one being the order of the symbols not matching the first set sequence. We had Uriel (Clarity) / Michael (Courage) / Gabriel (Sacrifice) and Raphael (Devotion). The second set order was Sword / Moon / Tower / Wand, so the sequence goes like Michael / Gabriel / Uriel / Raphael. It doesn’t match. Please, help me.

THINGS THAT KEEP ME UP AT NIGHT: ABOUT WITCHCRAFT AND… SOLDIERS?

During the past weeks of my life I’ve been researching all types of things to break this down, so I came across some very unsettling things that may be just wild coincidences or... something else? Just in case, I am putting them here in case anyone finds some connection that I couldn’t.

Sigils and Pagan influences, maybe?

As some people on twitter and reddit noticed, Gerard was using a sigil on his arm that reads “My Chemical Romance”. Every Archangel mentioned here also holds its own sigil, which is shown on the picture attached to this post. While I was excited about the dates for new concerts, I started to think, is there anything special about these dates? I tried to not overthink it because we probably have major influences of disponibilities and,,, Label issues...I don’t know? some very practical stuff going on. But still, I came across an interesting match.

There’s 8 sabbaths, composing the Wheel of the Year, “an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by many modern pagans, consisting of the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them.”

eight sabbaths, eight symbols, huh. Initially, I tried to connect each symbol to a sabbath, but it was very… not satisfying enough to me, so I’m leaving that out; nonetheless, I still believe they hold some meaning similarities.

And it doesn’t stop there.

That our lovely wheel of the year: here. We’re using a northern hemisphere version, since MCR is based in the USA.

The band returned on Halloween, which is the Samhain that occurs between Oct 31 / Nov 1. There’s some minor variation on dates because the Celtic day begins and ends at sunset.

Return Show took place in California, Dec 20: which marks the start of Yule. (Yule dates range from Dec 19 to Dec 22, for the Celtic calendar reasons)

The next sabbath is Imbolt, that takes place on Feb 1 / Feb 2. MCR has nothing announced for this date until now.

2020 concerts will happen during the week of March 20, 21, 25, 28 and 29, In Australia, New Zealand and Japan, as for now. That marks the start of the Ostara sabbath, which start range is March 20/21.

so… can we expect something (anything?) being announced at Feb 1 or 2, or near that? What about all the remaining sabbaths? Is that a reach? is it related at all? oof.

Who said Danger Days isn’t goth enough?

Another VERY interesting thing my group chat found on the internet during our MCR tarot obsession. If this theory is correct, this is not the first time they would be alluring to it. Please look at this pic of Grace Jeanette, The Girl in DD universe, posing with the mailbox on the set of the “Art Is The Weapon”/“Na Na Na” video shoot (2010). (Exact source and photographer unknown; likely taken by Jeanette’s mother). (big thanks to tumblr user killjoyhistory).

Bellow the big “OH HELL” we have four tarot cards, on the very same deck we used for this thread, the Rider-Waite deck. The cards are The Tower, The Devil, Death and Three of Wands.

Please note that it may have no correlation to future works, since DD itself had religious symbolism with the Phoenix Witch and this mailbox (go read the comics if you didn’t already. DD rights!), it may be a DD-only thing. Also, please note that 3 out 4 of theses cards were already mentioned in this thread, all possibly related to archangel Uriel.

To wage this war against your faith in me, MCRMY.

So. This one will sound weird and maybe a reach too, but, hey, mychem is alive and breathing, I guess there’s nothing really impossible, haha….?

Are we all familiar with Gerard liking a lot that green coat? After all those years, I guess so.

Indeed, our lovely frontman used yet another green jacket as his return outfit. This time, it was a military one. As a foreigner, and being very ignorant on how the US Army works, I got curious about the badge on his jacket. Maybe that’s common sense to you guys and I’m just embarrassing myself, but hey! be kind to someone who’s sort of dying inside after all this thinking process, would you?

The badge on Gerard’s jacket happens to be from the 1st Armored Division, a.k.a the Old Ironsides, named after an old ship (and the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat).

Actually, the nickname “Old Ironsides” trace back to England in 17th century, during their Civil War, but I didn’t find many relevant content / possible connections, besides them being mostly Protestant, in terms of religion… referring to them after all this catholic-conception angel talk is some sort of metaphorical war going on, MCR? Who knows. History-loving english folks, I’m counting on you too now to confirm this, lmao!

The American side of the “Old Ironsides” term, after being passed down from England during their Independence Wars (please be kind with me, my knowledge about american independence is almost 100% from Hamilton the musical lmao, help me) apparently resides, mostly on the US Army/Navy.

Interesting coincidences (?) about this: the Old Ironside ship, aka USS Constitution, has a familiar date on its history: November 1. I’m quoting its construction period info: “Her keel was laid down on 1 November 1794 at Edmund Hartt's shipyard in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Captain Samuel Nicholson and master shipwright Colonel George Claghorn.”

I didn’t read much about it since I’m already at edge with everything I’ve been researching but, it seems it was a very adored ship. In fact, one of the reasons it’s still in active service it’s because a poet even made it a famous poem about this ship, that you can read here. It’s symbolic and adored, it seems.

About the homonymous 1st Armored Division of the US Army, which badge Gerard used during the return show: being the first armored division of the U.S. Army to see battle in World War II, it also holds a huge historical meaning.

Again, I don’t have much info to share about this and I think some of you will find possible connections on this better than I would.

But wtf does it have to do with all the angels, Nana?

Well, as mentioned before, angels fight battles in the name of God. They’re heaven’s military. Michael, especially, is a warrior angel and leads God’s troupes against the demons.

Something interesting I’ve found relating Gabriel (which statue, let’s not forget, was commissioned by a war widow) to the war concept was the hebrew poem "Elifelet" (אליפלט) written by Nathan Alterman in 1958, often turned into music and played on the israeli radio. it tells of a heroic, self-sacrificing (hm…) israeli soldier being killed in battle. Upon the protagonist's death, the angel Gabriel descends to Earth, in order to comfort the spirit of the fallen hero and take him up to Heaven. It’s very touching, and you can read it here.

I’m not saying any particular work like this poem is relevant to MCR’s possible new concept. (let’s not be political here, but also be honest: Israel wars are a delicate matter to bring up). We’re solely working with symbolism and history. Please keep that in mind.

MCR has touched on war thematics before in many occasions (I will not mention all of them, as I believe that as a fandom, we’re aware of that, and we can help new fans to understand it if needed. This text is already TOO LONG). Maybe it’s time for them to talk about some conflicts again, literal or metaphorical? Let’s wait and see.

Oh, one last thing. There’s actually a whole another navy air test and evaluation squadron, the Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VXE-6 or ANTARCTIC DEVRON SIX, commonly referred to by its nickname, The Puckered Penguins). They’re based on California (lmao) and their motto is… Well, “Courage, Sacrifice, Devotion”. Uriel kinda left behind again, huh. I’m sorry sweetie.

Again, I apologize if this last section (or even the whole thing..haha…) looks far-fetched, but I just… had to take it out of my chest, sorta? Sorry.

That concludes our Archangel Theory. Thank you if you took your time to read through it all.

List of things to maybe expect in the future:

Something on Feb 1 / Feb 2

Two more angel statues, being them related to Uriel and Michael in some sort of way. I’ve tried to find any suitable matches but… there’s just too many, and as we’ve seen it may even not be officially claimed which angel is portrayed. So let’s wait and see.

More pagan symbolism?

Something about War??

Cryptid posts related to UK and paganism, January 17th and January 24th.

## EDIT (01/12): about new mcr cryptid posts...

If you’re following MCR new updates, as for now you’re aware of the United Kingdom Stuff going on... Interesting coincidences (or is it?) about those:

Both posts were made on the same day the lunar cicle changes. This month, the moon shows up a different form every friday, so maybe prepare you heart for January 17th and 24th. Also, I believe they’re using London time for the updates. in fact, the most recent post (the video with theban alphabet) was posted only 30 minutes after midnight in London. So I’m adding that to our list of things to expect in the future.

Also, someone at warner might be in trouble right now. the ig account for Warner Music Artistic Services (@wmas) posted a variation of the video posted by MCR, only a day later, featuring another order for the theban caracters, a slightly different UK flag (it was somehow merged with a picture? it’s difficult to tell), and a new frame that consists of a forest, similar to the one Gerard posted on his own instagram, and the one featured as background for the skeleton holding a witchcraft-related dagger photo from 2 weeks ago. Differently from the previous mcr video, which was silent, this one featured a sound, if my ears are not mistaken, a very dramatic C# note played on piano or organ (church instruments, huh. funny. but it could be worse, at least is not a G note...)

The video was labeled as LFG, that could mean a million of things. the most relevant ones, I believe, could be “Looking For A Group”, a classic D&D/RPG term (If I close my eyes long enough I can hear distant circus music playing in my head, for I have compared the four archangels to a holy RPG party weeks ago...)or “London Forest Gate”, a neighbourhood in London. please tell me if you have any ideas about what else it could mean, haha....

This video was deleted, but you can still find it around on twitter.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll keep updating this post as more content is released. Keep running!

[dominick3979]

Why Everyone Is Dead Wrong About Portland Job Market And Why You Must Read This Report

Profession Guidance From a True Data Analyst

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Detect your career interests and ambitions. You will find a exceptional offer of job advice that can be uncovered on the Net, both of those by industry experts that have themselves witnessed achievements in their professions and out of men and women who have not experienced significantly likelihood in obtaining their plans. Nevertheless, it is really crucial that you discover your extremely individual most effective pieces of advice, because no two people today are alike. You may perhaps consider that your sole handicap is the unwillingness to boost or an stress and anxiety about getting on much more accountability. There are added things involved, for instance no matter whether your job program is definitely a excellent in shape for your persona or the 1 that just demands a specified ability set.

Seek out out advice from individuals that you respect or that you imagine are good plenty of to acknowledge what they are conversing about. If you have under no circumstances picked out a occupation method or if you're not selected you would like to enroll in 1 solitary, search for enable from persons you have faith in. On the World wide web, it is also attainable to uncover message boards exactly where it is achievable to talk to present workers, present-day college students, and persons with a wide array of educational backgrounds in their adventures in obtaining the career that is ideal for them.

Once you have identified your have particular most effective pieces of vocation assistance, get started to assemble research about diverse career avenues readily available. Look at out internet sites of foremost businesses in your industry: what they are encouraging, who is choosing, and how extended their hottest graduates are residing in the workforce, what kinds of levels they offer, and which industries they are most lively in. Do some digging your personal. Begin with your possess community paper or journal, or phone the community human sources office. The HR department might be completely ready to enable you find a record of legitimate lessons in your city which will coach you on precisely what you truly have to have to comprehend.

one career tips which is specifically enlightening arrives in New York Times organization author Adamantine, who's taught himself the way to get edge of their ceo positions at organizations like Microsoft. Considering that he was acquiring ready to change into a CEOhe obtained information and facts from his supervisor, who told him that he had to shoot classes as these would enable him comprehend how corporate The united states is effective. Then he went about putting alongside one another a curriculum vitae that highlighted his capabilities. Now, he is a CEO and performs with Microsoft. There is a good deal much more in this exceptional posting at the New York Instances.

If you happen to be nervous with getting the ideal occupation details, talk to inquiries in your subsequent profession fair or see an on the internet discussion board and then check with questions. You can expect to explore that the ideal strategy to find out about what firms are on the lookout for is to stop by their internet websites and come across the info you want. Question issues regarding their choosing guidelines along with their client aid. You can find no better position to determine out when they're inclined to pay good income for less than at their website.

And do not ignore to inquire about authentic details like wages and price tag of residing. Most firms will never publish this information, even so it is very crucial to know what your foreseeable future wage will be. This may possibly be the only signifies to put together your self for your new chances. So never hold off - it pays to get started digging currently!

[troybeecham]

Fr. Troy Beecham

Sermon, Proper 11 A, 2020

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Jesus put before the crowd another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”

In the Gospel reading for this morning, Jesus speaks in very challenging language for contemporary sensibilities. Jesus explains his parable to his disciples saying that at the end of days, God will execute judgement on evildoers. Now, to the ears of his disciples and his contemporary audience, they had no trouble in thinking about God and judgement and evildoers being cast into a furnace of fire. Quite to the contrary, they eagerly desired for God’s judgement to begin because they had obvious evildoers in mind – the occupying Roman Empire. Just like his original hearers, our contemporary identity politics lead us to demand that everyone be accepted and celebrated for who they are because any destructive behavior can be explained away due to their intersectional identity, and no one may be considered an outcast, depending, of course, on one’s intersectional identity. Just like the people two thousand years ago living under the crushing might of the Roman empire, our current philosophy of intersectionality also allows for entire groups of people to be branded as unacceptable and worthy of being an outcast based on their intersectional identity, an identity that is inescapable, ruthless, and able to accommodate violence in the pursuit of “justice”. It is sad and absurd, all in one, how in our drive to excuse ourselves of responsibility for our sins and evildoing we have created yet another system of judgement that brands itself as a system that does away with judgement, unless you happen to be part of a politically undesirable group, of course.

Let’s look at the parable for a moment. If you were a subjugated Israelite living under the oppression of the Roman occupation, hearing that God would execute violent judgment was totally acceptable, even desirable. But is that what Jesus is talking about? Doesn’t he talk about God the Father as the God who is self-emptying love? How does Jesus’ teaching about the Father square with the judgment language in this parable?

Like so many of Jesus’ parables, we are so removed in time and place that we miss how the details open up the meaning of the parables. First of all, today’s parable is a continuation of the parable from last week about the sower of seeds who casts seed on all types of soil. In this parable, the sown field contains both good seeds and bad seeds because an enemy, Satan, has snuck into the field at night to sow the seeds of weeds among the wheat. In Jewish law, any field that had more than one kind of seed planted in it made it unclean, and so a farmer would lose the entire crop for the year. What a disaster for people living at subsistence levels! The weeds in this parable produce a plant almost indistinguishable from wheat unless you know what to look for at close inspection. Even then, it is hard to tell them apart. The slaves in the parable (typically used to signify the rightful landowners whose land had been confiscated by the Roman occupation, leaving them, at best, as tenant farmers) rightly ask the landowner (a word often used to signify wealthy, non-Jewish settlers who had been given land by the empire) if they should go out into the field and pluck up the weeds by hand so that the harvest will not be compromised and ruined, leading most likely to malnourishment or starvation, or to increased debt by asking the landowner for enough food to survive. It’s a completely understandable request in the face of crushing poverty and starvation.

When the landowner says let the plants all grow together until the harvest and then let the reapers separate the wheat from the weeds, he has no care that for his tenants nothing that comes out of that field is edible because of religious law. For the landowner, no big deal. He gets his crop either way, and he gets greater control through the instruments of debt and starvation over his tenants. For the tenants it is a catastrophe. Those who were listening to Jesus preach these things understood, and it would have incited deep anger and hatred for the forces of the occupation. No wonder that Jesus’ countrymen who betrayed him to the Roman authorities used his parables as proof that he was inciting riot against the empire. But was Jesus trying to incite riot and violence?

I don’t think so, and here’s why. In explaining the parable, Jesus makes it clear that he is speaking about the end of days, when the chief actors in the parable are God and his spiritual agents, his angels. Using such apocalyptic language was typical of Jesus’ preaching and teaching. ‘Apocalyptic’ in this sense means revealing the truth of the world, the world behind the curtain, which only a few are able to glimpse and see, and even seeing fail to fully understand. Jesus preached and presented himself as one who not only saw behind the curtain but who understood God and the Truth of creation completely because he knew the mind of the Father, and was God’s appointed representative, the Son of Man. He is teaching us the Truth of creation because God created all things through him.

But because we are not able to fully understand the Truth, we often get lost in explanations that make sense to us. I am not making any claims to greater understanding because I know myself well enough to know that I would have misunderstood Jesus just as deeply as his first disciples. Jesus did say, later after his resurrection, that the Holy Spirit would be sent upon his disciples to lead us into all truth. Because of this, I do think that it is profitable, and by the Holy Spirit it is possible, to do our best to be open to exploring as deeply as possible the parables of Jesus to seek ever deeper understanding, perhaps even wisdom.

So, what do I think are some further keys of insight into this parable? How can we inch closer to understanding? First of all, if we read this parable and the explanation that Jesus gives to us and it fills us with a sense that we are being given enough wisdom and authority to decide who is a saint, or the wheat, and someone doomed to judgment, or the weeds, then we have entirely missed the point. If we think that we are wise enough, good enough, innocent enough to walk through the field of humanity and decide who is good and who is bad, then we are showing ourselves to be the most unwise, the most wicked, the most guilty because we are arrogating to ourselves the role of God and his angels. When we try to place ourselves between God and the judgment of evildoers, trying to take the role of judge in deciding who is an evildoer and who is a saint, we are exalting our own ‘wisdom’ and wickedly put ourselves in the seat of God. There is no human system of deciding who is ‘ok’ and who should be excised from society that is holy or wise. We may say that we are being harmed by a person or by society at large, and even turn to the law for redress and protection, but that is a far cry from passing final judgment on others. Only God has the wisdom to discern between “all causes of sin and all evildoers”, and the wisdom to execute justice. Here’s another important thing to ask, because the parable is by nature slippery and leaves us with uncertainty: does the fire that Jesus talks about in this parable represent eternal damnation, or does it signify the refining fire that separates gold from dross, a fire that we all will face so that we might eventually shine like the sun? At this point I think we have simply to say with all humility that only God knows, and that whatever God does is done in love.

In the face of this world’s calamities, of the confusion of our present time, in the face of rage and violence, the only faithful response of a disciple of Jesus in this world is to leave all judgment to God, to never seek vengeance, to love our neighbor – yes, even those neighbors we think of as evildoers, who fail our intersectional system of judgment – as ourselves. Jesus said that the world would know that we are his disciples by the way that we love each other. Do we only love those who share our world view (philia love), or those who are relatives (storge love), or those with who we share the feelings of passion (eros love)? Or will we love as God loves, the love that is self-emptying, that gives all for the wellbeing of others (agape love)? Jesus calls his disciples to this agape love, a love that takes us outside of ourselves and personal desires or hurts, outside our cultural value/judgment systems. He also said that the world would only come to know that he is the Son of God if his disciples are seen living lives of agape love, the love that passes no judgment, that empties itself for the sake of all people, that leads us to serve all people.

Will we be faithful as disciples of Jesus, loving each other so that we are conspicuously different, conspicuously his disciples, so that the people of the world will come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one, the true, the only vocation given to us by our Savior Jesus. Have we gotten enmeshed with the judgment systems of the world? Have we allowed the rage of the world to take up residence within our hearts, leading us to believe that becoming warriors of social justice will reveal Jesus to the world? Have we allowed our hearts to judge others? If we answer yes to any of such things, then let us with our whole hearts fall to our knees and ask God to restore us in grace to faithfulness to Jesus, to the Faith he revealed to us. The only hope for the people of the world is to see humility, compassion, forbearance, mercy, and agape love in the disciples of Jesus, a people set apart by self-emptying love and absolute trust in the mercy and justice of the God who is Love.

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

[afreesworn]

Character Survey: Nabi Kharlu

RULES.  Repost, Don’t reblog! Tag  10! Good  luck!

TAGGED BY. @vysaldhe Thank you!

TAGGING. I’ve seen this go around so who hasn’t done it? @anchor-management! @shaelstormchild!! @jaliqai-and-company!!! @sentryandco?? @mirkemenagerie @trc-xiv @finishing-touch @ember-arrow @fatewalker @andarion @jancisstuff @gegenji @shadottie @zhauric @herd-of-halla (I’m sorry if you have already done this!) and anyone else who wants to!

BASICS.

FULL  NAME :  Nabi Kharlu

NICKNAME :  None that seems to stick since her mother died.

AGE :  In her 20s.

BIRTHDAY :  Summer

ETHNIC  GROUP :  Au Ra, Xaela

NATIONALITY :  Of the Kharlu Tribe

LANGUAGE / S :  Common, Xaela, Hingan

SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :  Heterosexual

ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION :  Heteromantic

RELATIONSHIP  STATUS :  In a relationship with Anchor Saltborn

HOME  TOWN / AREA :  Born in the Steppe

CURRENT  HOME :  Shares an apartment in Shirogane

PROFESSION :  Herbalist, Alchemist, Healer

PHYSICAL.

HAIR :  Raven black hair that she keeps short and cropped near her chin

EYES : Warm gold

FACE : Sun-kissed complexion, soft features, usually with a look of welcome or curiosity.

LIPS : Smiles easily.

BLEMISHES :  None on the face.

SCARS :  Sometimes a few scrapes and bumps, but she is without any significant scars that would have resulted from any serious wound or trauma.

TATTOOS :  An ornate mark on her right back shoulder area.

HEIGHT :   On the short side for a Xaela.

WEIGHT :  On the thin side.

BUILD : Soft, although not unfit since she likes the outdoors, but she is by no means athletic.

FEATURES :  She has youthful features, with bright eyes that are most notable. Her usual cheerful outlook softens her countenance almost always.

ALLERGIES :  None that she’s aware of yet.

USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :  Trimmed around her jawline so it is easily tucked away, but left free and loose otherwise. 

USUAL  FACE  LOOK :  She can be intently studying an herb, pouring through books about alchemy, focusing on mending wounds, or happily chatting up with whatever customer that happens to find their way to her stall or clinic. Her general mood is usually buoyant and welcoming, although there is a certain softness that can be spotted around those she is close to.

USUAL  CLOTHING :  Varies between traditional Hingan fare to woven robes favored in the Steppe. Has a few traveling clothes that are neither, usually a loose comfortable cotton robe and leather boots. She is almost always found with a bag hung over her shoulder. 

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S :  Losing her loved ones. Failing them. Drowning. 

ASPIRATION / S :  She won’t speak of it, but she has only one real goal in mind. To cure someone she loves of what is killing him. Other than that, she has no specific ambitions, only looks forward to discovering what brings joy. She has however kept certain promises close to her heart that she wants to see fulfilled. Something about new sunsets and beaches. 

POSITIVE  TRAITS :  Trusting. Kind. Optimistic.

NEGATIVE  TRAITS :  Hopelessly optimistic. Wants to see the good in all things. 

MBTI : ENFJ

ZODIAC : Virgo

TEMPERAMENT :  Phlegmatic

SOUL  TYPE / S :   Priest

ANIMALS :   Butterfly

VICE HABIT / S :   Rambling, Daydreaming, Throwing herself into work.

FAITH :  Vaguely remembers her mother talking about Nhaama, also believes there are spirits (kami)

GHOSTS ? :  Yes

AFTERLIFE ? :  In the aether stream

REINCARNATION ? :  Perhaps?

ALIENS ? :   From...?

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT :  Anyone that promotes peace she favors

EDUCATION  LEVEL :  ”Home schooled” by her mother

FAMILY.

FATHER :  Deceased

MOTHER :  Deceased

SIBLINGS : None.

EXTENDED  FAMILY :  Uncle and cousin(s?).

NAME MEANING / S :  Her father named her while she was in her mother’s womb, to signify her delicate beauty but also a new start

FAVORITES.

BOOK :  Anything that has to do with herbs. But she also likes romantic tales from foreign lands.

DEITY :  She respects both kami and Nhaaama.

HOLIDAY :  She is starting to try and observe some of the foreign holidays, like Nameday. But she always has celebrated Heavensturn.

MONTH :  The month when cherry blossoms are in full bloom

SEASON :  Spring

PLACE :  Home.

WEATHER :  She loves all sorts. Just when the cold is starting to give way to warmth of spring and the birds start to sing. The first sunny day after a snowfall. Cloudy windy afternoons that sends the colorful autumn leaves spinning through the air. That quiet and stillness just before rain is about to fall. She loves them all.

SOUND / S:  Mating call of birds in the spring. The sound of raindrops drumming against the rooftop. The soft babble of a running spring. Distant chirping of crickets in the quiet of night.

SCENT / S :  She enjoys the rich scent of nature in full bloom, from flowers to trees to various herbs. But there is a soft spot in her heart now for rosemary, and the briny scent of the sea.

TASTE / S :  Delicate tastes of Hingan cuisines and teas but also bold savory mixture of flavors from the Steppe.

FEEL / S :  Tingling warmth that rolls up to greet her touch.

ANIMAL / S :  Fireflies. And anything small and adorable.

NUMBER : “Do people have favorite numbers?”

COLORS :  Soft colors like pink and cream, but also rich earth tones.

EXTRA.

TALENTS :  Analyzing and mending wounds. Recognizing natural elements.

BAD  AT :  Knowing when not to empathize. Reading non-verbal cues of people when she is curious about them. Staying mad, she finds it exhausting. Hiding her emotions, it shows plainly on her face. 

TURN  ONS :  She isn’t the type to be easily turned on. But she does take note of those who are honest, even bluntly so, and those who let their actions speak for themselves.

TURN  OFFS :  Violence. Cruelty. 

HOBBIES :  Reading. Drawing. Gardening. Cooking. 

TROPES :  Ho boy. Lots. Some may be spoilerific.

QUOTES : “It’ll be alright.“

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 : If you could write your character your way in their own movie,  what would it be called,  what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?          

A1 :  I’ve always wanted to see Cigarettes and Fireflies as an animated series rather than a movie, first season starting with the Underground Arc.

Q2 : What would their soundtrack/score sound like?          

A2 :  Epic scores (I really love Hans Zimmer) for battle scenes, but also quiet soundtracks from Sleeping At Last for some private moments. But really, there are SO MANY TRACKS I have on the playlist.

Q3 : Why did you start writing this character?          

A3 :  My first main character, Roen, had just completed this huge three year arc of a story, and I wanted to write for someone new, someone who was extroverted, open, and personable. Roen was none of these things. I also wanted to delve into some mystical side of magic, and  the Xaela was introduced.

Q4 :   What first attracted you to this character?          

A4 :   Xaelas were one of my favorite parts from Stormblood. Shamanism and all that. But I wanted her to be also displaced from it, with a loss of identity in a way.

Q5 : Describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

A5 : Sometimes, her reactions are not what come naturally to me. The things she would say and think could seem baffling to someone else, but I want it to make sense in her own head. There are times where I struggle to make certain her reactions feel natural, since I would have definitely lashed out more, been furious and or distrusting, but she decides consciously not to choose those paths. She is a patient and kind person above all, but sometimes I wonder if it comes off believable rather than tropey.

Q6 : What do you have in common with your muse?          

A6 :  She derives a lot of satisfaction in helping people. She also likes to daydream. And seeing her loved ones be happy, makes her happy.

Q7 :  How does your muse feel about  you?          

A7 :  Nabi would probably adore my puppy and would approve of my doting husband. Probably also would like my career choice.

Q8 : What characters does your muse have interesting interactions with?        

A8 :  I love, LOVE the people I am writing with. They are all so fantastic. Nabi’s story wouldn’t be what it is today without Anchor. And we wouldn’t have ongoing arcs without Sentry, Ghoa, and Shael. Pjel recently jumped in, so I am quite excited to see how she gets to know everyone.

Q9 : What gives  you inspiration  to write  your muse ?        

A9 :  Music, sad and not sad head canons (thanks Anchor), lately some AU ideas (again Anchor’s fault), but mostly the RPers/friends I write with. They are AMAZING.

Q10 :  How long did this take you to complete ?          

A10 :  Too long for me. I have work next morning. Which is why I skipped the tropes.

The original art can be viewed here! 

[thebaileymail]

LFRP: Romeo Riviere

The Basics ––– –

Race: Biracial Hyuran Midlander/Ishgardian Elezen

Gender: Male.

Sexuality: Bisexual

Marital Status: Single

Age: Twenty-one

Birthday: Twenty-first of the Third Astral Moon.

Physical Appearance ––– –

Hair: Natural ginger, with streaks of dyed black.

Eyes: Ocean blue, often bloodshot from fogweed consumption.

Height: Five fulms and seven ilms.

Build: On the cusp between muscular and lithe. Romeo spends much of his time grooming himself, and maintaining a conventionally attractive physique.

Distinguishing Marks: Most notably, Romeo’s ears are pointed and sharp, which signifies his Elezen heritage, his left ear is adorned with a mostly faded scar. His visage is littered with freckles, which run down the entirety of his person.

Common Accessories: Romeo is seldom seen without sunglasses upon his person, which either hide his bloodshot eyes, a bruised eye or allows him to see through the veil of a hangover.

Personal ––– –

Profession: Performer (musician, host, model, songwriter, comedian)

Hobbies: Drinking, exercising, camping, 

Languages: Common.

Residence: Lavender Beds.

Birthplace: Ishgard, the Brume

Religion: Common belief in the Twelve. Affinity to Nophica

Patron Deity: Nophica

Fears: Loss of memory and identity, loneliness, aging

Relationships ––– -

Spouse: None.

Children: None.

Parents: Mariah Rivers (Mother), Laurence Dubois (Father, estranged)

Siblings: Matthieu dubois (half-brother, estranged), Gabriel Dubois (half-brother, estranged), Valerie Dubois (half-sister, estranged)

Other Relatives: Romeo knows very little of the relatives from his father sides, although they are ample in numbers.

Pets: None.

Traits ––– -

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––– –

Smoking Habit: Romeo smokes excessively, whether it be fogweed, moko grass or other available narcotics Alcohol: Excessively. Other: Romeo is an antagonistic character. Although not in any way evil, he will likely attempt to offend in whatever way he can. As such, it should be noted that I tend to roll with whatever punches get thrown in his direction, so long as there is no permanent damage. And although Romeo is a character designed for mature audiences, erotic scenes with him will be faded to black, unless there is otherwise some form of character development or story attached.

RP Hooks ––– –

Performer: First and foremost, Romeo has experienced a rather successful career as a performer thus far, and sees no reason to cease that career anytime soon. He will try to make quick ‘friends’ with those that can help further his dreams in any way.

Gil hungry: Despite vast earnings, Romeo continues to feel cravings for richer pockets. So long as the price is right, he will take most jobs offered to him.

Inebriant: Romeo can often be found frequenting taverns and pubs, both notable ones and ones with a penchant for the underground. Often a loud personality, he can quickly reel in patrons around him.

Penchant for violence: Although Romeo himself is not quick at all to resort to violence, his indiscriminately discriminate attitude toward everyone around him and seeming lack of empathy often lands him in positions where he is the one on the receiving end of a right hook. If your character requires a particularly punchable face to vent against, he’s your guy.

Past acquaintances: I’m open to pre-established relationships with Romeo, whether it be as a past friend in the Brume, a past peer of the Conjurers’ Guild, a colleague or client from when Romeo worked as a courtesan, or anything else, so long as it feels right!

Versatile: Romeo is designed to be able to be proactive in nearly any environment. I can easily give him reasons to be just about anywhere.

Contact Information  ––– –

You can contact me here on tumblr - or on discord (Roy#0437), and I’ll be delighted to work something out! It should be said that I’m European, although I’m known to stay up unreasonably late for a good scene!

@balmungrp (shameless plug)

[astrology-with-charu]

Aug-Dec’19 Jupiter transit through houses for each sign - Where is my once in a decade growth opportunity ?

Jupiter moved direct on 11 August & will stay so for next 8 months - it’s time to rise up from the darkness & to let the light in. Jupiter supports our expansion, growth, more importantly it’s a social planet that helps us attract opportunities & support from the outside world. Hope, enthusiasm, higher vision, opportunities, new prospects are encourage, enhanced, brought in our life with ease under the blessings of this great benefic.

After months of waiting, suspense, adjustments, revisions we are finally moving with anxiety & excitement towards things opening up & turning around as Jupiter turning direct unleashing blocked blessings & expansion. What was deferred, lost, altered, postponed now comes to pass albeit with changes. Plans, ideas, new starts, projects of great promise which were put on hold or taken back around mid April, now open up but with modifications from their original form. What you wished then & what you want now is different - opportunities, support, expansion - modify to be in line with the now.

The retrograde period enlightened us to our true Self, now we manifest the external growth inline with who we are. Cause the worst thing is not failing, worst thing is reaching the destination & realising that that’s not what we truly wanted.

Jupiter in Sagittarius is a genie in the bottle - Ask & it is given - an aspect that happens once in 12 years. Now that we know what we want - let’s make a wish by taking an intentional step to manifesting once in decade opportunity in these areas of our life starting this month all the way to 2 Dec’19.

You can look back to 2007 when Jupiter was last in Sagittarius - what did you grow significantly & how did it benefit you in 2008.

Jupiter is not a discretionary planet, so in order to take advantage of its positivity, we do need to focus this energy. Check for your rising / sun / moon sign where you can possibly expect growth, support & opportunities for you to take advantage of, over next four months.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♐️ #Sagittarius

Jupiter your ruler turning direct in your sign at its best - manifests beautifully to show you once in a decade expansion of who you are, your self image & what you are known for. It gives you faith, confidence, physical energy, sense of adventure to break through in terms of your goals, your external persona, your body, your committed partnerships.

Enhance what you show to the world, get support, expand goals, see more for yourself . “Ask & it is given” has never been more true - look back to 2007 to see how your expansion in 2007 benefitted you in 2008 or longer. The very frame from which you view your life is being expanded, aim higher you will get external support for it, if you seek out. We must allow this expansion to flow through to our professional & personal life by taking a few bold steps. Unwanted weight gain under this influence indicates us blocking this expansion by not giving it faith. This is your rebirth, redefining who you are, your faith, who you commit to & what path you commit to as you gain insights into what you want your next life’s chapter to be about.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Sagittarius or 6 December born benefit most in August, though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♏️ #Scorpio

Jupiter turning direct opens hopes, confidence, faith to pursue new sources of income, growth in material abundance, opportunity to pursue skills that add to our networth and self worth - giving our life meaning & are in line with our values as we have understood in last four months of retrograde period. We might have multiple avenues of making revenue - multiple skills that can yield value in material value. Jupiter in last four months have helped us bring closer to realising what source of income is in line with who we want to be, in accordance with our values. So this is the time to now direct all your resources towards investing time & talents in the direction thats for you. Avoid overspending - invest not expense your resources towards your future growth. Invest in your skills, your body, your future material wealth which should have a higher purpose attached to it for you to continue with it for long period of time.

Earn through publication, travel, spiritual pursuits, speaking engagements, trade, foreign interactions / foreign land / foreign ideologies that expand you make you more than you were once you have a adopted them. This opens gates to your material houses which benefit so your career benefits with this aspect. Also supports going alone vs in partnership- go independent & solo. Supports breaking through situation of debt - karmic or material.

♎️ #Libra

Jupiter turning direct opens our mind to positivity, hope, higher purpose and eases access to commercial & communication opportunities of growth. Opportunities open up to communicate, market, sell, brand, travel short distance, learn new commercial / self made wealth / communication skills, connect closer with immediate environment / neighbours/ siblings (younger) - and manifestation is easier in these areas.

So take steps to expand your commercial & communication skills as well as your contacts. This aspects opens up opportunities to share your life with others, socialise, share ideas & helps make those connections commercially lucrative as well as knowledge enhancing. It gives us courage, impetus, opportunities to write more, read more, connect more, learn more, travel more and in the process of this all it expands our self knowledge.

Take a course, broaden your contacts, launch new marketing campaign/ rebrand yourself/ learn a skill you found tough earlier, reconcile with a sibling, make use of support from your immediate environment/ neighbourhood / friends/ sibling, meet people & share ideas, learn a foreign language, teach, collaborate with others. This signifies increase in busy yet productive time - direct it to relevant projects of biggest impact which uplift you.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Libra or 6 Oct born benefit most in August, though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♍️ #Virgo

Jupiter turning direct supports your sense of emotional well being, your inner world, your faith & spiritual houses to help you give the solid foundations required to go further up in your external life. Hope, positivity, expansion in home & family matters is greatly supported refurbishing your support system. Opportunities to have a comfortable living space with peace & positivity, overall real estate, family property expansion, home improvement/ expansion opportunities are supported in this transit.

Explore your heritage, reconcile with family, Mother or Mother figure can become great source of support, enhance / reach out to refurbish your support system, create a comfortable space of living - your sanctuary, grow opportunities out of a place of security comfort, create home away from home if required as this aspect supports success if you operate out of home or from a place of comfort. Then use this sense of emotional well being to go further up in your external life / career - go beyond your upbringing, beyond what your family thought you could do, heal your heart of any childhood critical memories or feeling of lack as you are being given a rebirth of growth in your inner life. Your core is being reborn here - refurbished first time in a decade, strengthened to taken on more & also to give more. Cause when your cup is full it overflows to your close one’s - it positively touches your private life, your parenting style, your intimacy, your ability to give & receive love which grows immensely.

As this positively aspects the spiritual houses, you might reconnect with past to release it or cherish it, unearth something - get a deeper insight which you didn’t see before - dreams, epiphanies, serendipities, sudden experiences of voila/ aha moments could be very helpful in giving you visions of your future path so listen to your senses. You are expanding the very foundations of your life so it can hold more - it’s time to check out of the past & check into a future beyond your imaginations.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Virgo or 6 Sept born benefit most in August/ September though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♌️ #Leo

Jupiter turning direct emboldens you & opens up the once in decade opportunity to recreate yourself - your “I Am” your identity is embellished & expanded in creative bold ways as opportunities of gains, joy, fun, romance, passion, creativity, hobbies open up or become easier. This is your heart chakra receiving hope, confidence, faith to take more risks in life - both personal & professional.

This phase will help you take a few leaps, take a few risks & this is the year to recreate yourself as Jupiter enhances your confidence & risk appetite to go after what your heart truly desires. Open your heart to love, creativity, joy, hobbies, children & let your child like joy flow as this will come easy & makes you feel like you again. Recreate your identity through creative endeavours, taking more risks in investments - in business, romance & with children. Speculative gains & lucky breaks are highly possible under this & you might see returns of past investments which was blocked for some time. Giving birth to what or who we are passionate about & what we would grow immensely is greatly favoured under this aspect. Having more children, investing more in your children, being joyful like a child, growing a passion project like it’s your child, going into a more adventurous relationship, developing new ways of bold Creative self expression, catering to your heart health are ways to focus this karmic positivity. Options will be multiple so focus your energy on what truly is you.

This is our positive karma house - honor your God given / natural talents & gifts as we are given the confidence to let them flow in productive ways to benefit many. Health & physical energy is greatly benefited going forward. A new Creative vision of what’s possible for you over next decade is shown to you - enjoy the insights & now we have the tools to make it all come true.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Leo or 7 Aug born benefit most in August/ September though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♋️ #Cancer

Jupiter turning direct opens up opportunities for expansion in work projects & easier access to better health. Work environment starts feeling more supportive to your growth with possibility of appreciation & support from team / coworkers. Opportunities for expansive project or a new job that expand your knowledge could open up provided you look for it. Past couple of months might have enlightened you on which type of projects / work environment/ work dynamics you would like to operate in which would support your growth & now opportunities matching that are sought & received. This transit brings us out of a phase of being behind the scene or in state of loss to busy active productive times ahead.

Intellectual freedom in projects, multicultural or diverse environment & coworkers, being a mentor / teacher or person with bigger vision at work, work that gives life a meaning by being of service to others in meaningful ways - are qualities that should be sought in your job or project hunt for success. Any daily health routine that you institute under this transit is of great benefit to you for longer term so take advantage of this till December especially. Positive work environment & coworker relationships, easier acccess to suitable work under this transit supports your health as well. It’s also a good time to gain knowledge on health matters & nutrition.

This transit positively aspects your material houses creating once in decade opportunities for more prosperity. So seek work, seek support of a team, seek knowledge expansion in work & health. Don’t overload your daily activities - prioritise what truly adds to you at work & what truly heals you in health - you are given knowledge of both & means to get it.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Cancer or 6 July born benefit most in August/ September though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♊️ #Gemini

Jupiter turning direct in your house of partnerships, opens up the external support from your partners - personal & business, your sponsors, clients, spouse, close one on one committed relationships. It enables you to receive support in projects from clients, mentors, seniors, partners provided you seek it. It unblocks opportunities, gains & success in client contracts, business contracts, partnerships & enhances warmth & support in personal relationships. This aspect supports enlightenment & foresight in terms of what you want in committed personal & business partnerships, enabling you to build those or expand existing partnerships in the right direction. Spouse or committed partner also is likely to benefit from this.

Reach out, socialise, seek support as required, build broader clientele, look for expanded commitments in your personal relationships & professional contracts. Your partnerships are likely to be the source of your expansion & growth. Choose multicultural multinational partners who add to you in terms of your sense of adventure, knowledge & faith. Travel if required to form expanded clientele or partnerships - else create clientele or partnerships with diverse people. Get married or expand existing relationship but more importantly get a broader view of what’s possible for you & what you need to grow in your partnerships. You might have choices & multiple options - this helps you choose what’s additive to you, gives life meaning & purpose. You attract others into your life, learn from them & appreciate what each of these diverse relationships add to you. This transit positively aspects your social houses so social life is positively benefited - share your life with others for success.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Gemini or 5/6 June born benefit most in August/ September though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♉️ #Taurus

Jupiter turning direct expands your proceeds of partnerships - finances in business partnerships & joint finances as well as intimacy & depth in personal partnerships becomes easier to access & grow. Merge your talents, money, emotions to grow more & prosper both financially & emotionally. Blocked or held up financial opportunities tend to open up or money owed to you is usually paid up. Any impending loans/ insurance/ inheritance/ tax matters become easier to resolve. Balance of give & take in joint partnerships becomes easier to achieve. Partner resources usually grow and provide support. Depth in relationships, intimacy brings joy & ease to emotional well being.

This transit usually helps us have a transformation in our life - a much sought after rebirth - in material resources & emotional state. Under influence of Jupiter big life shifts are easier to go through & usually are accretive, lucrative & expansive. That’s why it’s suggested to carry out big shifts under this influence over next four months. Physical transformation, healing, efforts to leave life long addiction to a substance or a habit or a person, repaying a debt karmic or actual loan, merging with a partner are all encouraged & supported under this transit provided we take a step towards it. We also have easier access to deeper knowledge in space of esoteric & philosophical topics as well as are able to become a lucrative manger of other people’s resources - two different spectrums of knowledge - both of which we are able to master if we desire to & take a step towards.

Financial crisis or market volatility or crisis of any kind usually creates great investment opportunities for you under this influence as you are able to see beyond ordinary on how to create value in even the most difficult of the situations. This is a skill set which should be developed & used under this transit for benefiting you & your partners. Power struggles might come up but as you feel comfortable within your skin - you can use them as growth moments of relationships.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Taurus or 4/5 May born benefit most in August/ September though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♈️ #Aries

Jupiter turning direct opens up once in a decade opportunities of expansion of our knowledge, our higher mind & our sense of adventure as we open our life to fresh experiences which will expand our life’s purpose in ways we never imagined before. Progress is made under this extremely beneficial transit through external support & opportunities finally opening up now which were held since past few months.

Experience the beautiful expansion of who you are - your mind, your knowledge, your faith in abundance, your ideology as motivation in life returns & there is enthusiasm positivity about future. This transit encourages us to create a higher purpose or goal of our life & take steps in faith towards it as tools required to make it happen will slowly now start manifesting.

Doors start opening to Adventure, travel, higher education, expansive learning through job or through exposure to multicultural multinational environment with people from diverse fields, legalisation to a foreign country, teaching, publication, becoming a guru / mentor serving a higher cause, Philosophical or spiritual pursuits, seeking home away from home - provided we take the requisite steps believing in abundance of this Universe. Support from mentors, sponsors, foreign partners becomes easier to achieve.

Karmic houses are positively aspected with this transit - giving us faith, creativity, courage to take bold steps as we feel supported spiritually & guided in some ways to ask life for more. Ask & it is given but most importantly have faith in your gifts & abundance of universe to provide you what you have asked for. Fate & faith plays a big role here. Having a faith practice of your choice can greatly benefit as can intentional positive thinking during this time. You have the gift & power of manifestation under this transit so use your words & thoughts wisely and positively. Whenever presented a choice - take the higher ground in arguments, with critics - choose the higher mind, higher ideals & keep the big picture or purpose of it all in mind during decision making - which will bring you more success.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Aries or 4/5 Apr born benefit most in August/ September though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♓️ #Pisces

Jupiter turning direct opens up opportunities of growth, expansion & success in career & public image for you - its time to fulfill the promise of once in a decade growth in career that Jupiter in career house brings. Jupiter brings positive influence to your public image & eases any authority approvals or external support that’s awaited & pending to help you move further up the ladder. It expands the possibilities & options available to expand your job, career reputation, business success & accolades. Your optimistic outlook & faith in your path of choosing helps propel you even further. If progress seemed stagnant in past few months we see things progressing forward provided we take the initiative.

It’s the time to put yourself out there when it comes to your career & business - getting more adventurous, having more faith & taking a few bold steps to expand as it’s once in decade transit which supports our faith in our destiny so we can seek more out of our career or business life or from ourselves as a leader. Seek support from authority figures, move out of your comfort zone in your approach to your career & leadership style, travel if required or interact with people of different background who are influential in your line of work to gain more visibility & success or at the very least gain new perspective, invest in your business to grow it, ask for promotion or expanded role. It’s not the time to hold back or being conservative but direct this energy on the right projects & career choices for Jupiter gives you clear insight into what gives your life higher meaning & purpose - what life path will help you grow over next decade. You also know the trends of the industry well & hence know where it is materially worth investing your time & energy into.

Your family upbringing or past security blanket cannot be sufficient anymore to hold your ambition. You want more & this transit requires you to ask for more. It’s a go big or go home transit & your ambition will be on a upswing. Your faith, optimism, high morals, generosity as a leader of a group or of your journey are assets that would further support you as you boldly go where your ambition wants you to go without inhibition or false inner dialogue of lack. Don’t hold back. Your material houses are positively aspected by this transit so work environment & material resources benefit by you asking for more in your career.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Pisces or 5/6 March born benefit most in August/ September though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♒️ #Aquarius

Jupiter turning direct unblocks opportunities, gains & success through lucrative & diverse network connections, fan base, your tribe - now the big vision & dreams look possible provided you take steps towards it. You are clearly shown what your vision should be for your growth & pathway to get there is through a network - a set of people with shared goals, faith, knowledge & values. You find support in friends, in your business influencers, in your spiritual gurus who guide & support you to launch something to a diverse set of people through online means or by travelling to foreign people or people of diverse background.

This transit also favours easier access to rewards & gains so if you found rewards of your aspirations blocked past few months, you could see that come to pass.

Connect connect connect, share your life, your ideas, socialise, seek support from your network, your business influencers, key business network people, friends, aim for a bigger vision, see more for yourself as more is now possible for you. This transit greatly expands your network influence & your network itself as now your unique ideas start finding acceptance & benefits at larger scale from your network. Accrued wealth through investment or big wealth ideas is positively aspected & set for once in a decade growth provided we take active steps towards it. Expand your network of friends as you refurbish your tribe, expand through group interactions, large group conferences / associations.

You are given keen insight into society or network trends - leverage that to initiate efforts towards a futuristic goal - ahead of current times & bigger in scale. Gains come through network of influential people or through network of people of shared goal or friends, working together towards a vision.

+/-3° or 3 days of 15° Aquarius or 4/5 Feb born benefit most in August/ September though most of you will feel the benefits all the way till 2 December.

♑️ #Capricorn

Jupiter turning direct brings hope, healing, faith, positivity back in our life - it expands our inner life in positive ways such that we feel supported from within. Faith, spirituality, healing & regeneration are made easier for us so we can use this support to break out of any work or health issues boldly & with positive intent. We find support from hidden sources - people or circumstances we have no knowledge of, bring help & support out of nowhere. This is hidden hand of God or higher powers being extended giving us karmic release from a place of lack or suffering or harshness.

Healing physically & mentally are key benefits of this transit as is seeing effective ways on how to access this healing - what blocks well being & what helps bring it about is a key illumination we are given to help us break out of any ailments that are bothering our physical body & mind. As this aspect positively aspects all of your spiritual, karmic houses - positive play of fate & connection to divine are highlighted and strengthened.

This is the house of moksha, spirituality, release - it makes it easier for us to rise above, loose any negativity or negative influence, bury the patterns that we know are our undoing holding us back in terms of growth & happiness. Using few minutes every day to detox people & external environment through a spiritual practice, affirmations, alternative healing methods, having private time, travelling long distance, expand your inner life by feeding it positive reading or listening or yoga practice can benefit you greatly in your external life & work. Your expansion is not in trying to attract growth from outside, your growth is in healing yourself from within, checking in with yourself, paying attention to what your intuition, body & senses are saying, creating positivity within your own inner core and then you easily attract external support & positive work environment as well as good health as a result of being at peace with yourself.

Helping others or giving service to those in need without any expectations of returns, giving compassion, can heal you & add to your positivity & growth. Sleep is key for your healing & positivity so make your bed is big & comfortable, sleep environment joyful, read before bed. Pay attention to your dreams, keep a journal if required as next growth idea strikes in most of the relaxing moments of retreat & ease. Imagination will be vivid - bring it to your work & projects. Private matters in this transit can be easily kept private or things can be easily worked out behind the scene. Bed pleasures expand & become adventurous joyful!

Jupiter’s next stop in December & 2020 is in your sign - expanding your external life, career, goals but before that end a few chapters & patterns with ease or work out plans behind the scene for future growth over next four months.

Good vibes & luck all. Light & love 💫

[humansofhds]

Seokweon Jeon, MTS ’19

“As long as I remember, I was always curious about what religion means to people.”

Seokweon is a master of theological studies degree candidate focusing on Religion and Social Sciences.

From South Korea to the U.S. and Back

Both my parents are Korean. My dad studied in the U.S. for his doctoral degree in Texas and Atlanta. I was born while he was finishing his degree, but I was actually born in Seoul because they wanted to raise their children as Korean. For my childhood, naturally, I always had two different kinds of cultural backgrounds—American culture and Korean culture, too. South Korea is the place I spent more than 20 years of my life.

Now my family is living in South Korea in a very beautiful seaside village. When he was teaching at a college, my dad got a call from his friends from his hometown in South Korea and he told him that there is no pastor or people who can lead the church because he is from a really small seaside village, just 1,500 people. But because it's such a small town in the countryside no pastors or ministers wanted to come lead the church. Right after that phone call, he decided to go back to his hometown in South Korea and lead the church. He went back to South Korea because of that one phone call, and he’s spent his whole life working in that church. And I grew up there in that village: Samcheok, in the province of Gangwon-do.

Son of a (Different) Preacher Man

I was born and raised as the son of a preacher man and professor. But mostly I would say son of a preacher man. Church was my home, as well as my dad’s office. Although I was raised as the son of a preacher man, my upbringing was kind of different, because my dad was, in some ways, a different figure compared to other average “normal” pastors in South Korea. When it comes to South Korean Protestant churches, they are not really rigorous in terms of inter-religious dialogue or engagement. They have a kind of anti-non-Christianity sentiment. So they tend to demonize Buddhism or Catholicism and of course Shamanism, or any other kinds of religious traditions other than Protestantism.

But my dad was really different. Every year on the Buddha’s birthday I went to the local temples and had tea with the headmaster of the temple, and the whole day I would hang around and talk with many monks and nuns and kids around the temple. I visited all the time because my dad really liked having conversations with the headmasters of the temples around the town. I met a lot of shamanists, too, because he really loved to sit and talk with shamans. So he invited many of them, and many shamans would come to my dad’s office or house without appointments. Any time they would just knock on the door and say, “Is Pastor Jeon here?” And my mom would invite them to come inside to have tea, or she would serve them a meal and talk with them. So when it comes to my childhood upbringing, I would say I was surrounded by many religious people like Fathers, shamans, Buddhist monks, nuns, and of course pastors.

Sharing Your Life

My family has a summer house right next to the seashore—a beautiful place. And because my dad is like the pastor “boy-next-door,” he would invite everyone all the time­—for 20 years not a single day has that house been empty. Backpackers, nuns, professors, friends of friends, businessmen, salarymen—everyone could come to my house. And every night if new guests came to my house I would just go there with my dad, mom, and brother and have tea and dinner and listen to their stories and how they live, how they get here, and what their worlds look like.

It was an amazing experience for me because from that time, as long as I can remember, I loved listening to other people’s stories, and that house was my natural setting. So I would listen to many people’s stories about how they live and how they found hardships in their lives. You know, if you go to a really beautiful place you could feel the tension drip away and sometimes you can really talk about your life and you really want to share your life. So that is my good fortune that my hometown had.

Religious Curiosity

Growing up, my dad had an inter-religious mindset. So as long as I remember, I was always curious about what religion means to people and what different faith traditions mean and signify in today's society. When I went to the summer house to see the new guests, they would talk about all the different faith traditions in their lives. Some talk about yoga, some talk about Buddha, some Bodhisattvas, and some Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, and some angels, and some prophets, too. So I was really really curious about what all those things mean to me and to my family and to them. I think that is the place that I started to have an interest in having an occupation as a scholar to study religion and all the different religious traditions and practices. So that's the one part; interreligious settings and listening to different stories at the summer house.

Interdisciplinary Study

I studied sociology and theology in undergrad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. From my undergrad years I worked on the sociological study of religion. I was fascinated by the fact that religious traditions and practice can be studied with quantitative methodologies and numbers and data. I also found out that can also provide a really good reflection, overview, and perspective on current movements and the larger picture of modern religion, too. So I was fascinated by two different academic disciplines in college—sociology and religion.

After graduation, I kept on studying religion but through a different lens: history. The reason I chose to study history of religion at a graduate level was to understand religion with an expanded frame of reference, with sensitivity and with an in-depth knowledge. As a student working on the religious movements of the current state or present time, it was really important for me to grasp the historical ways in which religious values and practices, which have a strong bearing on the way we behave and conduct ourselves in the society, have been formed and changed. So in graduate school in the same college I studied Christianity of East Asia. I studied how Western Christianity was introduced into most of East Asian countries, how they rooted to and interacted with the indigenous culture, and how Western Christianity became a model of “modernity” in East Asia. I especially focused on the late eighteenth-and-nineteenth century interplay between indigenous religious traditions and Christianity.

I think studying religion through the eyes of the humanities can give a vibrant framework that can reflect the diverse changes happening now. For me, choosing to study religion with sociology and history has allowed me consider not only what to think about religion, which will one day be outdated and obsolete, but also how to think about religion. I’m really fascinated by that at HDS, too, that I can experience the whole diverse spectrum of religion and be a part of this dynamic community, and reflect it back to my study using various methodologies; sociology, philosophy, and anthropology.

Academic and Cultural Differences

In Korean academia, I could not really synthesize all my different interests. And it is the same in Japan and China. They have their own kinds of boundaries when it comes to academic disciplines. But at HDS, there are not strict boundaries between disciplines. I can fully synthesize all methodologies and disparate academic perspectives in one place. Plus, last semester I went to BC, BU, MIT, HDS, and FAS, and I went to many seminars and classroom. I was a regular member of American politics seminar at BC. I feel like HDS does not attempt to funnel those whole diverse perspectives and methodologies down to one little path across the water but strive to connect the (seemingly irrelevant and distant) dots. In Boston, I can use all these diverse institutions and tools to study modern religious movement in depth and and comprehensive. That’s another big difference I am experiencing.

In Korea academia, its lecture oriented. So the instructor lectures and the advisor guides all your themes, dissertation, thesis, classes. There is hardly a vibrant dialogue between students. But in HDS, its more discussion oriented. And the academic relation between students is really vibrant and active. The second cultural different is rent. It's so expensive! So living in Boston can be overwhelming. Haha!

America Building Walls

Before I came to Harvard, Korea was a mess. The president was impeached and every day there were disturbing new allegations of corruption, scandal, bribery, deception, and collusion, which shook the very foundations of society. But in May 2017, a new president had been elected who was a former human rights lawyer. When I left there to study at Harvard, in August, it was a moment where everything seemed cleaned up. But when I got to HDS it seemed like a new kind of mess had started.

Growing up in South Korea, my parents always told me about the true source of America's greatness and what American greatness really means. Whenever they talked about it, they spoke of tolerance and diversity, and recognizing all different settings, race, ethnicity, gender, and political identity. My dad said that America can be one great country because they embrace all the differences and make them as great a thing, as positive power, the greatest power the U.S. can have. But after coming back to the U.S. in the Trump era, I am sensing and feeling the opposite context and landscape right now: hate speech and building walls rather than bridges.

So at first it was difficult for me because it was different from what I had heard and dreamed. Harvard is a safe haven for us, but if we walk out the door what we are seeing is so different. No tolerance. Too little empathy and compassion. Rather than tolerance what I’m seeing right now is hatred. That was one of the strongest impressions that I had in August and September of 2017, when I first arrived.

Positive Shock

I served in the army about four years. The first two years I spent at the DMZ, around the Joint Security Area (JSA). That is the place that Kim Jong Un and the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, met at that historical meeting and shook hands. So watching that scene gave me a chill because that place used to be a place of hatred, tension, fears, and tears. But things are starting to change. This dialogue gives me a kind of hope that everything can change, maybe if the initial power and gathering can be weak, but if someone starts to work on dialogue, conversation, embracing diversity and overcoming difference, some really great change can happen. When I served the army, I thought this division between the North and South would last longer because, frankly, I sensed no hope there. But now, especially since February, I'm starting to think some really positive and powerful changes can happen and maybe my future generation can live in a united country.

My family cried when they watched the whole interviews and live streaming of the event. It was a fresh shock also to them because everything was so smooth and fast. My dad once told me that if we are trying to achieve peace between North and South Korea, gradual steps would be needed. So this is so different from what I thought because it happened without buildup. This big change happened all of a sudden with a small number of people’s efforts. It was a positive shock. My dad was born in North Korea before the Korean War and both my mom and dad’s parents came from North Korea, too. It inspires hope, and the need for gathering and mobilizing our force because huge positive changes are actually possible and at the darkest and most unexpected moments.

Interview and photos by Anaïs Garvanian

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utilitymonstermash reblogged your post: On the eve of the Great War, the Labour Party...

But like why did Labour eclipse the Liberals? From where and when did things like the gun ban, the nhs, the tv license, and bin this knife come? Why did labor jump in with both feet on the Iraq war?

The questions in your second and third sentences are well beyond the scope of my original post, but I should answer the first.

The necessary but not sufficient reason why Labour eclipsed the Liberals is that Labour represented the working class in a way that the Liberals never did. The first Labour Cabinet was largely working-class men, whereas the Liberals remained overwhelmingly middle-class. Even after middle-class men like Clement Attlee and Stafford Cripps took over the Labour Party, they always had workers on the front bench, like Ernest Bevin, trade union bruiser and Attlee’s Foreign Secretary, Aneurin Bevan, the son of coal miners and the father of the NHS, or Harold Wilson, the scholarship boy.

Liberal identity signifiers were less important, and perhaps not even helpful: the unskilled working classes did not remember Milton, or Cromwell, or the Civil War and most of them did not go to chapel. That last bit is crucial: the middle classes went to chapel, but not many workers did.

Here’s Adrian Hastings on our period:

In larger towns almost nowhere was anything like 40 per cent of the population effectively church-going. Again, almost nowhere was the real urban unskilled working class to any large extent Anglican -- though perhaps a bit more in Lancashire than elsewhere. In places it was Methodist or Baptist or Roman Catholic. Mostly it was nothing. The rural working class was Anglican or Free Church, more occasionally nothing. The upper class was largely Anglican, the middle classes Anglican or Free Church, the skilled working class Free Church, occasionally Anglican, most often nothing.

One inexorable problem is that political religion was becoming less and less salient, as both faith and adherence were in steady decline. In 1874, 747 of every 1,000 marriages were solemnized in the Church of England; by 1909, only 614 were. 

The Liberal faithful had the same problem. The Free Churches not grown as much as the Anglicans had had in the nineteenth century, and now they were both shrinking. In Liverpool, both Anglican and Free Church attendance fell 14 percent between 1902 and 1912.

This was inexorable decline. In 1934, D. W. Brogan remarked that “In the generation that has passed since the great Liberal landslide of 1906, one of the greatest changes in the English religious and social landscape has been the decline of Nonconformity.” The numbers bore him out: there were 435,000 Baptists in 1906 and 355,000 in 1945. 

One less inexorable problem was the expansion of the franchise. England went to the polls in 1906 on a limited franchise: only 62 percent of the adult male population were eligible to vote. Colin Crouch called Britain’s position “extraordinary”: “exceptionally developed economically but backward democratically.”

In 1918, Britain removed the last restrictions on adult male franchise, adding another six million men alongside women -- in a country that had only 39 million people to begin with. It is hard to identify the consequences of that reform, but Ross McKibbin believes that it “almost certainly benefit[ed] the Conservative and Labour Parties but would be of less certain benefit to the Liberals.”

So: having more workers in the electorate makes religious signaling less important and working-class signaling more important.

The more contingent reason why Labour eclipsed the Liberals is the one I mentioned in passing: “The war split the Liberals in two.” Herbert Asquith had been prime minister at the start of the war, but found himself out of the coalition and in opposition by December 1916, as David Lloyd George assumed command.

Lloyd George was ultimately left as the only Liberal in the small war cabinet, as Conservatives backed his thin government. Asquith and Lloyd George led opposing sections of the Liberal Party into the 1918 election. Lloyd George was returned as prime minister, but Conservatives won a majority: 382 seats to his 127 and Asquith’s thirty-six.

This set of contingencies and humiliations made it possible for Labour to usurp the Liberals relatively rapidly. Britain switched from a debate over culture and religion to one over class and socialism. The Conservatives usually won that debate, as I mentioned, but that’s another story.

Now, some suggest that Britain never became a ‘normal’ European country. They argue that the old divisions Liberals--Conservatives axis dominates the new Labour--Conservative one. Here’s Robert Tombs in The English and Their History (London: Allen Lane, 2014):

“Whig” and “Tory,” and the more modern “Liberal” and “Conservative” (terms borrowed from Spanish and French politics in the 1830s): are they now just archaic labels with no significant relationship to their origins in a society in which political choice is thought to follow individual opinion and socio-economic interest? The prudent answer would be yes. And yet: in 2010 the Tories still won in the English counties and small towns, as in the 1840s; the anti-Tory parties were stronger in larger towns, especially in the north, areas where Nonconformity is or used to be strong. London, today as in the 1880s, is different from the rest of the country, divided primarily along plain socio-economic lines; but for most of the country, the old religious divisions remain as a ghostly presence influencing instinctive loyalties. Some Nonconformist sects are still unusually disposed to vote for the Liberal Democrats. Anglicans are far more likely to vote Conservative: in the 2010 elections, twice as likely as Catholics. Furthermore, Tories are still attracted by Disraeli’s and Burke’s “one nation” ideal of unity and harmony, and would doubtless agree with the former that “the Tory party…is the national party; it is the really democratic party of England.” They retain a “Country Party” suspicion of expensive state bureaucracy and of ideology, regarding their own opinions as simple good sense. They are attached to traditional ideas of liberty, at least for people like themselves. If they love lords a little less than Disraeli and Burke did, they are relatively deferential, aspire to social ascension, and are not averse to the idea of a public-spirited elite, even to Old Etonians in government. That elite is often said to possess a complacent sense of “entitlement.” Tories often idealize the past, celebrating a triumphalist version of English and British history, and clinging to ancient symbols such as monarchy. Many retain a fondness for the Church of England, at least as an aesthetic and social, if not necessarily a spiritual and political, presence. Finally, of course, the Tory party is predominantly an English party: even in the 1860s it had only two seats in Scotland; in 2010 it had only one—on the English border.

By contrast, the anti-Tory traditions, Whig, Liberal and Labour (and more recently Scottish and Welsh nationalist), have a different myth of England and Britain. They reject the Burkean vision of harmony in favour of one of conflict—“the rich story of the people of these islands who fought for and defended our rights,” in which the populist royalists of 1381, the hell-fire fundamentalists of the 1650s, ambitious opportunists such as Wilkes and Paine, strait-laced suffragettes, and tight-fisted social engineers such as Beveridge are transformed into a torch-bearing relay of Progress. There is too a streak of Whiggish elitism: leaders of the “left” (a term not applied to English politics until the twentieth century) have usually been of comfortable, even wealthy, backgrounds, sometimes with a family tradition of politics, and a sense of intellectual, moral and even social superiority over plebeian and provincial Tories (“the stupid party,” “the nasty party”), including lofty disdain for popular royalism and today a cosmopolitan distaste for “Euroscepticism.” Alternatively, even simultaneously, comes identification with proletarian, ideally northern, roots. The Nonconformist tradition bequeaths campaigning militancy, a self-image of anti-Establishment rebellion, a view of politics as moral struggle (as opposed to “the art of the possible”), a taste for shibboleths (from Church disestablishment to fox-hunting), and sectarian suspicion of the motives of opponents (“lower than vermin”). Both traditions are very different from the mainstream European right and left, which are based on clearer ideological differences or plainer socio-economic interests that simply do not match English politics. The origins of the English divide can be traced far beyond Gladstone and Disraeli: to the wars against Revolutionary France, to the American Revolution, and ultimately to the religious conflicts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: “The really important attitudes [in Victorian politics] had nothing to do with the Industrial Revolution, much to do with the English Civil War.”

Geographical voting patterns, magnified by the first-past-the-post system, make these deep continuities visible: the Ambridge versus Coronation Street polarity. The pattern is even reflected in our genes, though its reappearance at every national election seems always to astonish us. The areas of strength of the Anglican Church uncovered in the 1851 census are strikingly similar to the electoral strongholds of the modern Conservative Party. In every election since the introduction of democracy, predominantly Anglican areas have voted Conservative. Conversely, there was long a clear correlation between Methodism and Liberal and Labour loyalties. (In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the influence of religion has been, and remains, more marked than in England.) Those who saw themselves as nineteenth-century heirs of the Commonwealth men, whatever their social background, provided the leadership of the Liberal Party, trade unionism and the Labour Party. Nonconformity was the closest predictor of voting Liberal (“the party of Christ”) and then Labour well into the twentieth century. Labour voting was also strongly associated with Catholicism, with its strong links to Irish immigration. The expansion of the electorate strengthened this pattern, in which community identities shaped individual political choices, and it has been strong enough to outlast political changes such as the middle-class shift to Toryism at the end of the nineteenth century and the rise of Labour, the cuckoo in the Liberal nest. In some places today, the mosque is replacing the chapel in this respect, with Muslims now the most strongly left-voting group in the country, despite commonly holding “right-wing” views.

Enduring geographical and religious patterns are found in many countries. In France, Catholics and anticlericals battled for two centuries; the Protestant north/Catholic south divided Germany; and there was long a regional pattern to Republican and Democratic loyalties in the United States dating back to the Civil War. One long-debated question about the English experience is whether the influence of Methodism—proverbially judged more important to the English left than Marxism—restrained extremism and class conflict. Élie Halévy, in one of the many influential histories of England by non-Englishmen, thought so: Methodism explained “the miracle of modern England, anarchist but orderly, practical and businesslike, but religious, and even pietist.” E. P. Thompson rather agreed, but deplored its “self-effacing and apologetic” tone, “forever professing their submission” to the established order. There are doubtless several reasons why English politics has long been unusually peaceful, at least to the extent that it is very rare for people to kill or even hurt each other; but it seems plausible that the shared Christianity of rival parties was one of the causes. When we combine this restraint with a visceral and unrelenting partisanship eager to see the worst in the other party’s actions, an imperviousness to argument, a sanctimonious relishing of moral scandal, a taste for tub-thumping and an aversion to coalition government, we see the legacies of Victorian sectarianism in a political culture strikingly different from that of other Western democracies.

I found this amusing but ultimately unpersuasive. It is, however, far more fun to think about.