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lindamarak · 2 months ago

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Hourglass Beauty Products Revolutionizing Luxury with Innovative Formulas

In the upscale beauty sector, Hourglass has made a name for itself as a trailblazer by providing innovative products that blend ethics, performance, and style. Hourglass beauty products are well-known for its dedication to cruelty-free procedures and premium ingredients, which combine science and artistry to produce flawless results.

The Theory Underpinning Hourglass Beauty

At Hourglass, we've always been about pushing the envelope in terms of innovative beauty. Their basic tenet is to offer upscale goods that are both morally and practically sound. Hourglass makes a resolute effort to be completely cruelty-free, guaranteeing that no animals are injured during the production process. The company has also made a commitment to go vegan in recent years, solidifying its reputation as a conscientious beauty brand.

Essential Elements Technology and Elegance

Advanced chemicals are used in the formulation of Hourglass cosmetic products to promote skin health and provide transforming effects. Many products are more than simply makeup because they have anti-aging and skin-perfecting qualities. Key components frequently include hyaluronic acid for hydration, antioxidants for protection, and light-reflecting particles for a perfect finish.

For example, their Ambient Lighting Powders imitate the appearance of attractive lighting by diffusing light and producing an ethereal glow through the use of photoluminescent technology. In a competitive beauty market, Hourglass stands out thanks to its blend of luxury and science.

Iconic Products from Hourglass

Famous Hourglass Items: Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick This full-coverage foundation stick's remarkable coverage and lightweight composition have made it a cult favorite. It applies smoothly and smoothly on the skin, giving a perfect finish without seeming cakey. It is appropriate for both formal and informal settings due to its long-wearing composition, which is great for all-day wear.

Ambient Lighting Color Scheme One of Hourglass's most sought-after items is the Ambient Lighting Palette, which is a brand hallmark. Users can enhance their complexion with a delicate, diffused glow by using the distinct lighting effects that each powder in the palette simulates. The powders are designed to blur blemishes and provide a radiant finish, making them a mainstay for people who wish to achieve a natural yet luminous look.

Unlocked Instant Mascara Extensions With only one swipe, this mascara—which is renowned for its cutting-edge film-forming technology—creates long, lifted lashes. The long-lasting and smudge-proof vegan composition produces striking results without the use of hazardous substances. If you want strong lash definition without clumps or flakes, this product is a need.

Confessional High-Intensity Ultra Slim Lipstick The Confession Ultra Slim Lipstick from Hourglass is a stylish and eco-friendly option thanks to its refillable lipstick design. The lipstick, which comes in an extensive array of opulent tones, has a rich, creamy composition that nourishes and hydrates lips while providing a striking, long-lasting finish.

Mineral Veil Primer One of the best products in the Hourglass lineup is the Veil Mineral Primer, which is well-known for its capacity to conceal flaws and offer a flawless, level surface for applying makeup. It’s oil-free, making it suitable for all skin types, and it also offers SPF 15, delivering sun protection without feeling heavy or oily.

Devotion to Ethical Beauties

Making a good effect on the beauty business is the mission of Hourglass, not simply about luxury. The brand has made the commitment to go entirely vegan as part of its objective to promote cruelty-free beauty. Hourglass made sure that by 2020, no products they made contained any chemicals sourced from animals. Their charitable endeavors encompass animal welfare organizations, as they donate a portion of their product sales earnings to these groups that defend animals and against animal abuse. The Hourglass Aesthetic: Minimalism Meets Glamour

The packaging of Hourglass beauty products is one of their best features. The brand's packaging is sleek, contemporary, and understated, radiating elegance. Products with bold designs, such as the Ambient Lighting Palette and the Confession Ultra Slim Lipstick, provide a luxurious, tactile experience that matches the high caliber of the contents. Every aspect of Hourglass, from the recipe to the finished product, is intended to exude elegance and sophistication.

A Timepiece for Every Skin Tone

Products from Hourglass are designed to suit a range of skin types. Hourglass offers solutions that are tailored to suit all skin types, including oily, dry, and mixed skin. Their solutions are powerful but lightweight, so they provide benefits without irritating skin or clogging pores. Hyaluronic acid and vitamin E, two components that are good for your skin, are included to keep your skin moisturized and healthy even when you use makeup. Eco-Friendly Beauty Techniques

With the importance of sustainability growing, Hourglass is dedicated to lessening its environmental impact. As evidenced by the Confession Ultra Slim Lipstick, the brand is putting more of an emphasis on refillable packaging as part of a bigger initiative to reduce waste. In addition, Hourglass makes an effort to employ recyclable materials whenever possible, establishing itself as a luxury brand that also values the environment.

Why Hourglass Is Different

The ability of Hourglass to blend moral behavior with superior products is what sets it apart from the competition. Finding a company that is successful in both markets is uncommon, yet Hourglass has succeeded in doing so. Their goods provide opulent outcomes without endangering animals or the environment. Hourglass is the best option for individuals who want to look beautiful while upholding their moral principles.

In conclusion, use Hourglass to enhance your beauty routine.

Hourglass beauty products are more than simply makeup—they’re a statement of luxury, innovation, and ethical responsibility. Hourglass provides a unique experience in beauty, offering a line of products that uphold cruelty-free and vegan standards while enhancing the skin's inherent beauty. Hourglass provides a product to improve your routine, whether your goal is bold lips, a glowing complexion, or perfect foundation. So, Hourglass is the brand to check out if you're ready to invest in beauty that feels as wonderful as it looks.

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guttcd · 2 years ago

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𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐁𝐎𝐌𝐁𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀...

DEJAN BENNANI ( cismale , he/him , emilio sakraya ) is 26 and a BOXER from PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. they are known as THE HEDONIST because they are CHARMING , but if things kick off, they can be a bit NARCISSISTIC they’re PANSEXUAL and describe their type as FUN AND EXCITING . from their time in the villa, they’re hoping to find FAME. ( aesthetics: going on a run at midnight, aggressive reassurances, bloody noses, backstage pep talks, the sudden urge to show off, clumsy attempts at being gentle, getting drunk off expensive liquor, lavish nights out, feeling like everyone is out to get you, )

CONFESSIONALS | MUSINGS | MIRROR | PLAYLIST | PINTEREST

b a s i c s

full name: dejan hassan bennani sexual orientation: pansexual occupation: boxer age: twenty six birthday: july 26 likes: fucking around and finding out, spending a ridiculous amount of money on materialistic crap, reading, sports, dislikes: clingy people, escape rooms, ketchup, clowns

h i s t o r y

being the only son of a renowned boxing coach meant his future was practically sealed from the moment he was born. after having trained some of the best boxers of his generation, dejan’s father made it his mission to make dejan on of the best boxers the world had ever seen.

unfortunately for him, the journey to make a certified punching machine was going to be a long one.

growing up dejan was a gentle kid, the type that would cry if he stepped on a worm and who preferred to go to the library to read books during recess.

he loved reading. every genre. his favorite book? moby dick. ( i’ve never read it lol ) he can’t remember much if it now, but he recalls daydreaming about going on a great ocean adventure someday. it was thanks to that book that dejan developed a love for the ocean and it even fostered a desire of becoming a marine biologist someday.

of course, that dream was cut short when his father began ‘ pushing ’ his son to pursue a career in boxing instead and by that I mean his father practically bullied him into it tbh

all’s well that ends well though ‘cus dejan ended up really enjoying it! the only setback? he became a spitting image of his father

his aggression, his narcissistic attitude, his inability to prioritize anything outside of himself and his desires, the list goes on and on.

p r e s e n t

one thing that dejan’s father got right was his son’s ability to kick ass. dejan had a natural athleticism to him so pair that an acquired taste of blood, glamour, and adrenaline? boom— you got yourself a professional boxer.

so with his ever growing career, what the heck is this guy doing on love island?

well, dejan had become a bit of an online personality, especially after having fought the one... the only... lo.gan pa.ul ( 🤢)

he ended up getting injured during his fight with him which resulted in dejan not only loosing the fight but also being unable to participate in any upcoming tournaments.

dejan was building good social media momentum though, so his manager suggested he goes on the show as to not loose the public’s interest.

if anyone asks, he'll provide that basic answer of wanting to find love yada yada yada

in truth, he’s here to stir shit and continue to add to his bad boy persona online.

does he believe in love? sure. does he think he’s capable of feeling it? maybe. does he think he’s going to find it on love fucking island? hell nah.

fun fact: he dated romi about two years ago. they had been friends since childhood but their relationship only lasted about a year. how did it end? romi walked in on him cheating on them with their... cousin. dejan being the man ( derogatory ) that he is, never fully apologized for the affair. they broke up, went their separate ways, and had absolutely no reason to interact. until now.

p e r s o n a l i t y

+confident +competitive +ambitious -judgmental -narcissistic -manipulative mbti: entp natal chart : ↑ cancer, ⊙ leo, ☾ sagitarrius

he’s a fuckboi your honor. an absolute menace to society.

fluctuates between being honest to the point it’s cruel and lying through his damn teeth to get what he wants.

years of being ridiculed for his softer side has caused dejan to become.... an asshole tbh. at this point he feels it’s become so engrained in his psyche that he doesn’t think he could change even if he wanted to.

the hedonist is his title because dejan is the type of man who puts having a good time above all else.

god complex whom?

judgmental little b omg his inner monologue? terrible. 9/10 is just thinking of reasons why he is better than everyone.

socializing for an extended period of time stresses him out lol i imagine the first thing he does when he gets in the villa is look for a quiet place where he can read.

feel free to try and fix him. lord knows he desperately needs it lol

gaslight gatekeep getfucked ™

OOC: hi i’m nuve! dejan is a new character for me so bear with me as i try to figure him out lol but im so hype to be here and i can’t wait to write with you all <3

#crackon:intro #intro:dejan

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tipsycad147 · 3 years ago

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Matthew Hopkins, Witch-Finder General

by Ellen Castelow

The kingdoms of Scotland and England were united in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland also became James I of England. James certainly had a strange fascination with all things associated with the occult: shortly after assuming the throne, he released his best-selling book, ‘Daemonologie’ which explored the areas of witchcraft and demonic magic. He was so obsessed with the ‘black arts’ that he even convinced Parliament to pass the Witchcraft Statute of 1604, which ruled witchcraft as a crime punishable by death.

Such a background led to a heightened public anxiety about witches that would slowly fester in the decades that followed, inspired in no small part by similar concerns across The Channel in mainland Europe. Within the political and religious chaos that reigned throughout the period of the English Civil Wars, one previously unheard of Matthew Hopkins emerged.

Records of Hopkins’ early career in the art of witch hunting are a tad vague, however it appears to stem from when he moved to Manningtree, Essex in 1644. An impoverished lawyer with a strong puritanical background, Hopkins appears to have seen it as his mission to destroy anything to do with the “works of the devil”.

Hopkins believed that there were several witches regularly practicing their dark arts close to his home and apparently began his career as a witch-finder after he overheard various women discussing their meetings with the Devil in March 1644. Of the twenty-three women accused of witchcraft, four were said to have died in prison with nineteen later convicted and hanged.

Hopkins appears to have assumed the title of Witch-Finder General in 1645, claiming to be officially commissioned by Parliament with the brief to uncover and prosecute witches. Together with his entourage that included a merry band of ‘lady prickers’, they travelled the villages and towns of eastern England, trying and examining women for witchcraft.

Of course, all of this came at a very ‘reasonable’ price, said to be “twenty shillings a town”, although the records reveal that the small market town of Stowmarket paid £23 for his services. A true entrepreneur, Hopkins appears to have quickly turned his mission into a well-paid career, so much so that local taxes were even being levied in order to fund his obsession.

Many of the methods that Hopkins adopted to investigate these cases of witchcraft were taken directly from King James’ best seller ‘Daemonologie’. And although considerably less violent than those methods adopted in mainland Europe, they did include keeping the suspect awake for days on end, resulting in the suspect, now suffering from sleep deprivation, being coerced into confessing to almost anything.

And on to the work of those lady pickers; well, their job involved cutting the arm of the accused with a knife, needle or pin, and if she did not bleed, she was said to be a witch. However, with a very good living to be earned from unmasking witches, retractable or blunt blades were often adopted.

Engraving of needles used to prick suspected witches and so to determine their guilt

Hopkins’ favourite confessional method of torture however was the infamous “swimming test”. This unbelievably simple but effective test involved binding the arms and legs of the accused to a chair before throwing them into the village pond. If they sank and drowned, they would be innocent and received into heaven; if they floated, they would be tried as a witch.

Between the years 1644 and 1646, Hopkins and his associates are believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 300 women. And in the days when an average farm worker’s wage was just 6 pence a day, it is estimated that Hopkins may have collected fees of around £1000 for his gruesome services.

Hopkins even wrote a short pamphlet detailing his witch-hunting methods: ‘The Discovery of Witches’, which was published in 1647. His own end however, is far from clear; some accounts say he drowned undergoing his own “swimming trial” after being accused of witchcraft himself.

Many strange events appear to have taken place during the turbulent days of the English Civil War 1642-51, when the rule of law and order had all but broken down. Just a few decades later, the last execution for witchcraft in England took place in Exeter, Devon, when Alicia Molland was put to death in March 1684.

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Matthew-Hopkins-WitchFinder-General/

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copias-thrall · 5 years ago

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Apparently it did cut off, 😬 I wanted to ask if you could see them in a relationship, and if you don’t, just if and how you would see them in bed with eachother?

Ohhhhh what do you think of papa II/Copia - if you could see them in a relationship, and if you don’t, just if and how you would see them in bed with each other?

Ooo, yes, nonny! I actually think these two are well suited to each other in terms of dynamics.

It’s true that Papa II favors women, but what really gets him going is pliancy in the bedroom—that’s really what it’s about for him, and he loves dishing with Dommes on technique. He loves that sweet submission, whether it comes from a female or male lover.

Which is why Copia intrigues him. Sure, he’s seen Copia perform—but something about the man just niggles at him. Copia says he’d like to fuck the audience … but when called out he backtracks and changes the subject. Sure, he thrusts aggressively on stage … but when meeting fans he’s always chaste and respectful.

So, Papa II watches. Observes.

*D/s; spanking; domestic discipline*

He sees the way Copia nervously defers to Nihil. He notices the reverent way he acts toward Sister Imperator. He spys how Copia lets his Ghouls walk all over him. To his practiced eye, it all screams Sub to him, and soon Papa II’s hands are twitching with the desire to get Copia into his playroom. That man needs a firm hand, and Papa can’t wait to bring his down upon him.

In general, the two men don’t really have much reason to talk. They attend the weekly report meetings and each other’s services, of course—but outside of that, they don’t really run in the same circles. Papa II decides to change that.

He’s nothing if not exactingly meticulous, and he starts showing up everywhere Copia has reason to be: band practice; meals; office hours; walks around the ground in the gloaming. It makes Copia nervous, to be honest—Papa II and his intensity just. Lurking. Papa definitely means to be intimidating, and it’s working—Copia can’t figure out what he’s done to bring this intense man’s attentions on himself—the idea that it might be interest never occurs to him.

Now, Papa II is sure he could easily cajole Copia into his bed—and the thought of outright demanding it makes his dick twitch—but he knows it’ll be so much more satisfying to have Copia come to him begging for it. He knows from his surveillance that Copia doesn’t really have a preference for lovers: male, female, other, Ghoul—so it’s only a matter of artful seduction. And if people think his younger brother is the master (the fools!), then they’ve never been on the receiving end of his intentions.

Oh, Copia’s had his brother too? Pfft. Time to show this Cardinal who’s a boy and who’s a man.

Papa II is no stranger to subtlety—half of his inclinations require a deft hand in addition to control—so it’s no real effort for him to cunningly give Copia a taste of what the man could have under his thumb. At the weekly meetings, he starts telling Copia when to sit and if he’s dismissed. At first, Copia seems confused—Papa can practically hear the gears in Copia’s mind grinding, wondering if he misstepped—but he acquiesces to Papa II’s commands. Encouraged, Papa keeps on, and soon enough Copia even starts to wait for Papa’s orders..

Papa II then starts into the Cardinal at mealtime, always making sure to tell Copia what he thinks Copia should be eating and how much. Now, this is a gamble—because the Cardinal loves his carbs—but some well-placed sounds of disgruntlement and several disappointed comments on Papa’s end have Copia adhering to Papa’s dietary restrictions.

Phase 1 & 2 a success, Papa II implements phase 3: remove the stick from Copia’s ass. Now, everyone would agree his younger brother needs to buckle down more on his Churchly duties (not that Papa II really has a leg to stand on), but Copia is quite the opposite! When he’s not rehearsing or on stage (or housing a pasta dish), you’re most likely to find him filling out paperwork in his office, or reading in the library (his older brother finds much consternation in the fact that Copia can keep pace with him on theology and scripture).

So Papa II makes it his mission to start doling out the self-care advice. He stops by Copia’s office to drop hints on when he thinks the man should keep his office hours (“What about free time for yourself?”), and he shows up at the library—eyebrow arch firmly in place—to “suggest” Copia put down the tome and get a good night’s sleep (“That volume will be here in the morning.”). Lucifer knows if he took his face paint off those bags would still be in place.

This endeavor is met with much more resistance. Whereas Copia knows his diet needs work (though all his lovers love his little pot belly), his studious disposition and excellence is what allowed him to rise through the ranks of the Church despite not being of the Emeritus line. Copia knows he needs to keep in Imperator’s good graces to not only keep his current position, but also to advance—and a few digs at his tired appearance aren’t enough to initially sway him to knock off.

This only causes Papa II to up his game. In his—ahem—experience, he’s found working his subs’ desires to please to work wonders over strict command. So, he goes from “you look like you could use the break” to “I know I would feel better knowing you got some rest.” That trick works wonders. Watching Copia scramble to close his books and folders just to please him, only drives home to Papa that the Cardinal sorely needs someone to hold him accountable.

(It doesn’t even occur to Papa II at first that he maybe wants to see Copia get a good night’s sleep or practice self care. Stupid rat man.)

Phase 4 has Papa II intruding on Copia’s band practices to see how far he can push him. Papa gives him little digs like, “I’d’ve been more artful in that monologue,” and “You’re here to gain initiates, not audition for American idol.” He scoffs at the way Copia’s Ghouls run feral.

Copia scowls at him, but his performance improves.

(The Ghouls continue to run feral—apparently some things can’t be helped.)

Of course, the hardest part will be making Copia come to him—make Copia think that it’s his own idea. It’s time to get Copia thinking about him sexually. All he does really is brag about his exploits—loudly and in hearing range—to Papa III after the weekly meeting (while their eldest brother merely rolls his eyes at their locker talk, he and III have always maintained a friendly one upmanship). So he talks about being such a great stress release to Sister so-and-so and a guiding hand to Brother whosiwhatsit. He makes sure to emphasize how much his discipline is such a boon to them.

Papa III just gives him an unimpressed look.

“We all know you’re gagging after the dear Cardinal.”

Papa II just scowls. “Do fuck off, brother.”

Papa III affects a sly smile.

“I can’t say I blame you, brother of mine. He does make the most delicious rat noises.”

“I didn’t take you as the jealous type.”

Papa III slaps his chest in wounded pride. “You mistake me! I am just confirming that dear Copia is a very enjoyable lover.”

He goes to leave, but hesitates. He places a gloved hand on II’s arm.

“Try not to destroy The Rat. He may be a social climber, but he is not like us.”

Papa II continues to scowl even as his brother leaves the room. His eyes dart to Copia’s—who’s standing in a corner bobbing his head at Nihil—and he’s pleased to see The Cardinal’s cheeks flush slightly when their eyes meet.

In the end, it’s actually all too easy to get Copia to come to him—a fact that only strengthens his idea that Copia needs to take orders.

All Papa does is stop. He’s given Copia the carrots; now it’s time for the stick.

He stops telling Copia when he can sit and when he can leave. He stops showing up at meals to comment on Copia’s intake. He stops showing up at office hours to close Copia’s books and take the pen out of his fingers. He stops his flirty critiques at band practice.

Just. Stops.

He ignores the way Copia now casts mournful eyes at him during meetings; ignores the haunted look that casts a pall over his face in the halls; ignores the reports of how short he is during band practice. He ignores his brother’s raised eyebrows and his own restlessness.

So, it’s an unblesséd relief when Copia finally shows up at his personal quarters. Papa II is lounging in a pair of silk pajamas his younger brother got him for his birthday, when he hears a knock at his door. Sighing, he goes to answer it.

The Cardinal stands there in his full robes, hands behind his back and looking pensive. Copia takes in Papa II’s state of dress.

“Ah. I have come at a bad time.”

“Not at all,” says Papa as he gestures him in. Now, usually Papa finds power in looming over his … conquests—but right now he feels it’s at his advantage to appear lax, so he sits back down on his couch, draping himself nonchalantly.

“How may I help you, Cardinal? And at this hour?”

Copia stands ramrod straight, hands still clasped behind him.

“I apologize if I am intruding, your Dark Excellency—”

“Sir.”

Copia squints. “Excuse me?”

Papa II waves his hand. “You may address me as ‘Sir’.”

Copia hesitates, swallows.

“I apologize, sir, but something has been weighing on me.”

“Any reason you come to me now—here—like this, instead of confessional?”

Copia brings his hands together to wring, and starts to pace.

“It’s not … it’s of a more …” He sighs. “It’s of an interpersonal matter.” He brings his mismatched gaze to Papa’s. “Between us.”

“Oh? There is something personal between us, Cardinal?”

Papa watches the subtle fall Copia’s face performs before he locks a blank look on it.

“Of course not, sir. Nothing … personal. I only meant to ask if I’d done something to … displease you.”

Papa II rests his head on his hand.

“Why would you think you’ve displeased me, Cardinal?”

Copia goes to bite his nails, realizes he’s wearing his leather gloves, then brings his hands behind him again.

“It’s just … you no longer speak to me.”

“Should I be speaking to you?”

Copia’s facial expression twitches. He lingers before saying, “No, of course not. My apologies, sir, for this intrusion. I shall take my leave of you now.”

He turns to leave, but Papa II pipes up.

“Cardinal—I did not give you permission to leave.”

Copia falters. Stops.

“Of course not, sir. May I be … excused?”

“No.”

“No?”

“You’re here now. Please sit in that chair,” Papa gestures at the chair by his writing desk, “and don’t speak unless spoken to.”

Copia hurries to comply, sitting stiffly.

“Now, dear Cardinal. You have come here, during my recreational time, to inquire as to my feelings towards you. Is that correct?”

“I, um, yes?”

“Yes or no, Cardinal.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good,” says Papa, nodding. “I don’t have feelings towards you. You don’t matter to me at all.”

Copia gulps.

“You are a worm. Say it.”

“I-I am a worm.”

“I am a worm, what?”

“I am a worm, sir.”

“Very good, Worm.”

Papa II gets to his feet and stalks over to Copia.

“Now, you can either sit there quietly, or you can leave.” He puts a finger under Copia’s chin and raises it so their eyes meet. “You can either be a worm, or you can be nothing.” Before he takes his hand away, he swipes a thumb over Copia’s cheekbone. Then, he goes back to the couch to finish the book he was reading. He is relaxed at the knowledge that Copia is here in his room and obeying his orders.

After what must have been hours—he’s made a giant dent in his book—a motion catches in the corner of his eye. His gaze flicks up to see Copia squirming.

“I know you’re a worm, but—even so—that’s a lot of wiggling. Am I boring you, Worm?”

Copia looks down, cheeks flushing.

“No, sir. It’s just …”

“Just what? You may tell me.”

Copia sighs even as he shifts in his seat. “Erm. My bladder?”

Now Papa II will admit the right kind of piss play can be a turn on—he loves having full control over his lover’s bodies and what he can and cannot make them do—but he’s also into informed, consensual play, and Copia hasn’t agreed to anything yet. So Papa just waves his hand.

“The water closet is that way. Don’t dawdle.”

When Copia comes back, Papa indicates for him to sit back down.

“Tell me, Worm. Why are you here?”

Copia gulps.

“Well, sir. It’s just. I mean, I—”

“Don’t flounder.”

Copia blinks and gulps again.

“I wondered what I did to lose your attention.”

“Do you want my attention?”

Copia smooths out his robes.

“Maybe.”

“Yes or no,” Papa growls.

He snaps to attention. “YES, SIR.”

“Mmm. I appreciate your candor. But tell me: why should I waste my attention on a worm like you?”

Copia fidgets, worrying his robe between his fingers.

“I understand that I am not worthy, sir, but I—I need it. And I know you …”

“You know I, what?”

Copia rubs at his face.

“You deal in that kind of … need.”

“Discipline. Say it.

“That kind of discipline, sir.”

“You want my brand of discipline, Worm?”

Copia finally looks up and meets Papa’s eyes, gaze fiery.

“You know I do,” he snaps. “Sir.”

“Careful … worms don’t have backbones.”

Papa leans back casually into the couch while Copia tries to school his temper.

“I like you, Cardinal. You seem fun to play with. I’d like to see you squirming on my hook.”

Copia doesn’t say anything, but the line of his body relaxes just the slightest.

“Ok—you can go, Worm. I’ll send you the paperwork tomorrow.”

When Copia doesn’t make to leave, Papa II snaps Dismissed!, causing Copia to scramble and leave. All in all, Papa is pretty pleased with the current state of affairs. He calls for a Ghoul, whom he instructs to send the standard questionnaire & contact to Copia and to summon a play partner for the night.

He has some steam to blow off, after all.

There’s actually not a lot of back and forth. There aren’t really any surprises on Copia’s paperwork—though the group sex does cause him to raise and eyebrow at the Cardinal—and they both agree that their dynamic is to mostly be restriction and discipline.

“And sex?” asks Papa II.

Copia lowers his eyes. “As reward and punishment, sir.”

Papa’s dick twitches.

Once the two of them have come to an understanding with signed contracts in witness of a Ghoul, Papa II takes Copia to his playroom as a reward. He straps Copia down and fucks him almost disinterestedly. Copia is moaning and straining at the restraints—he does make delicious rat noises—and Papa pumps into him until Copia is begging for release. Since this is a reward, Papa leans down and tugs on Copia’s dick until he’s cumming hot and sticky. However, Papa doesn’t stop fucking him—despite Copia’s whines—until he too is cresting over that edge. It’s never a bad time for a reminder of who’s in control here.

Papa II’s rule over Copia is a subtle thing—though if you know to look for it, it’s easy to spot. It’s the way Copia’s eyes find his, looking for a tilt or shake of the head. Or how—even when pressed—Copia sticks to his new diet or office hours. Or even in the lovers he takes.

Now, Papa II likes his things and he likes them to be his—but Copia isn’t a random Sibling. He’s a senior Clergy member and the current Ghost leader. It’s really unrealistic for Papa II to demand celibacy to any but himself, so they have an arrangement. Copia is allowed to take any lover, but (Ghoul care and initiations aside) he must recount each and every one to Papa, who will then decide on which and the severity of the punishment for each indiscretion. Some days Papa thinks the man does it on purpose—there’s always a fine line between discipline and reward, and Copia always seems to skirt it.

But Papa II doesn’t dwell on it too much. His Worm sings so wonderfully under Papa’s skilled hands—whether he’s being spanked over the knee or canned to tears. He’s so pliant, always letting Papa manhandle him into position or taking his cock so well on either end. Copia has a bit of a humiliation kink, and Papa II is ready and willing to make the Cardinal gag and choke on his cock or crawl around after him like a worm.

On one memorable occasion, Papa II had his former Ghouls take turns fucking Copia and covering him in cum; next, he buckled Copia down onto his spanking bench and paddled his ass until it was fire-engine red and Copia was sobbing. Finally, he made Copia sit on his sore ass while he jacked off over him. Afterwards—even through the tears—Copia thanked him, and Papa soared high. He praised Copia for being such a good Worm, and the man had just closed his eyes and sighed.

There’s nothing Papa II likes more than watching Copia squirm around on a sore bottom in meetings. If their schedules allowed it, he’d always make sure the Worm had a smarting ass—a reminder of him and of his potential discipline. But alack the day—he’ll just have to make due with heated glances and strongly-worded texts.

His younger brother just rolls his eyes and tries to get Copia into as much trouble as possible. Copia doesn’t seem to try too hard to keep out of trouble—if the welts on his back have anything to say about it.

And if at the end of the day Papa II’s favorite part is running salve over sores & bruises and running a pampering bath where he can praise his sub for taking it so well and being such a good Worm, well—that’s just between him and Copia.

#asks #papa ii #cardinal copia #in this fic they are unlreated #D/s

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 4 years ago

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The violent “peace-loving” messiah, Sun Myung Moon

▲ Sun Myung Moon liked to keep a heavy wooden stick ready, as seen above.

There are unconfirmed reports of leaders being beaten at East Garden and of Kim Won-pil being beaten so hard by Reverend Moon that he was hospitalized.

There is another unconfirmed report that a Japanese leader had his arm broken by Reverend Moon at a meeting in Alaska in July 1992 when the leader gave a report about the Press Conference which Black Heung Jin Nim / Cleopas Kundiona had just given in Tokyo. It was recorded by a Japanese national TV channel. Reverend Moon was furious. LINK to Cleopas 1992 conference video

Reverend Moon has reportedly been seen going into a leader’s meeting carrying his baseball bat. Others have apparently seen leaders lying on the floor in distress after such a meeting. There are many witnesses, but they are all keeping quiet.

At one church wedding in the 1970s Reverend Moon was allegedly not happy about how hard a Korean couple had beaten each other during their indemnity stick ceremony. Reverend Moon told the couple to beat each other a second round of three times each. He was still not satisfied and he took the stick and beat each of them hard himself. The couple could hardly walk out of the hall.

________________________________________

Reverend Sun Myung Moon

UNTITLED ADDRESS TO CONFERENCE OF U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL LEADERS

Tarrytown, New York, September 20, 1976 Translator – Col. Bo Hi Pak

“I will never retire. The only thing you can do to stop me is to leave no work for me to do. Do you think that if you do, I would hit you with a baseball bat and tell you to go away, stop blocking my way? Suppose I were to hit you with the baseball bat to stop you, bloodying your ear and breaking a bone or two, yet still you insisted on doing more work for Father.”

________________________________________

True Parents Birthday Pledge Ceremony

Reverend Sun Myung Moon New Yorker, February 13, 1997

“Your mission is only the territory of your relatives. How much easier it is for you compared to True Father’s course. You have absolutely no excuse. Those who have the confidence to fulfill your mission of accomplishing 3.6 couples Blessing this year, show your hands. (Applause) Father wants Reverend Kwak to keep a baseball bat in his hand all the time and if he sees anyone neglecting their mission in this regard then he can freely use it. Particularly those who are sleeping and hiding, Reverend Kwak’s baseball bat will fall upon you at any time. Father is ordering all of us to make our absolute commitment to Reverend Kwak to accomplish the 3.6 million couples Blessing this year.”

________________________________________

In the US, in the 1970s, Ken Sudo reportedly expressed fear of being beaten by Reverend Kwak when he had to fly to New York to give a report at a leader’s meeting.

________________________________________

Reverend Sun Myung Moon February 24, 1996, Sao Paolo, Brazil

“From today on, if you meet anybody around you who criticizes or judges True Family because of what is happening right now, you can hit them in the mouth. If anyone writes a wrong letter to True Family you can break their arm.”

Nansook Hong, Moon’s daughter-in-law, wrote in her tell-all book:

In The Shadow Of The Moons: My Life In The Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Family

page 101 – “In Jin disapproved of my friendship with her sister but she could be nice to me herself when it suited her purpose. She came to me once, asking to borrow some clothes so she could sneak out that night. Her own room was next to her parents’ suite in the mansion and she did not want to risk running into Father. Why not? I asked. She told me that recently she had come into her room on tiptoe about 4:00 a.m. It was still dark. She thought she was in the clear, when she saw Father’s shadow in a chair across the room.

As Sun Myung Moon struck her over and over again, his daughter told me, he insisted he was hitting her out of love. It was not her first beating at Father’s hands. She said she wished she had the courage to go to the police and have Sun Myung Moon arrested for child abuse. I lent her my best blue jeans and a white angora sweater and tried to hide how shocked I was by her story.

As much as anything about my new life in the True Family, the antipathy between the Moon children and their parents stunned me. Early on, I was disabused of the idea that this was a warm and loving family. If they had reached a state of spiritual perfection, it was often hard to detect in their daily interactions with one another.”

....

pages 150-153 – “We all gathered to greet [The Black Heung Jin] at Father’s breakfast table. He was a thin black man of average height who spoke English better than Sun Myung Moon. He seemed to me intent on charming the True Family, in much the way a snake encircles and then swallows its prey. I was anxious to hear some concrete evidence that this man possessed the spirit of the boy I once knew. I was not to hear it. The Reverend Moon asked him standard theological questions that any member who had studied the Divine Principle could have answered. He offered no startling revelations or religious insights. Maybe what most impressed Father was his ability to quote from the speeches of Sun Myung Moon.

The Reverend and Mrs. Moon suggested that we children meet with the Black Heung Jin privately and report back to them on our impressions. It was an amazing meeting. Hyun Jin, Kook Jin, and Hyo Jin kept asking the stranger questions about their childhood. He could not answer any of them. He did not remember anything about his life on Earth, he told us. Instead of inspiring skepticism, the Black Heung Jin’s convenient memory loss was interpreted as a sign of his having left earthly concerns behind when he entered the Kingdom of Heaven. Everyone in the household embraced him and called him by their dead brother’s name. I avoided him and found myself thinking that I was living with either the stupidest or the most gullible people on earth. There was a third alternative I did not consider at the time: the Reverend Moon was using the Black Heung Jin for his own ends, just as he had used the American civil liberties community before him.

Sun Myung Moon seemed to take pleasure in the reports that filtered back to East Garden of the beatings being administered by the Black Heung Jin. He would laugh raucously if someone out of favor had been dealt an especially hard blow. No one outside the True Family was immune from the beatings. Leaders around the world tried to use their influence to be exempted from the Black Heung Jin’s confessional. My own father appealed in vain to the Reverend Kwak to avoid having to attend such a session.

The Black Heung Jin was a passing phenomenon in the Unification Church. Soon the mistresses he acquired were so numerous and the beatings he administered so severe that members began to complain. Mrs. Moon’s maid, Won Ju McDevitt, a Korean who married an American church member, appeared one morning with a blackened eye and covered with purple bruises. The Black Heung Jin had beaten her with a chair. He beat Bo Hi Pak – a man in his sixties – so badly that he was hospitalized for a week in Georgetown Hospital. He told doctors he had fallen down a flight of stairs. He later needed surgery to repair a blood vessel in his head.

Sun Myung Moon knew when to cut his losses. When you are the Messiah, it is easy to make a course correction. Once it became clear that he had to disassociate himself from the violence he had let loose on the membership, Sun Myung Moon simply announced that Heung Jin’s spirit had left the Zimbabwean’s body and ascended into Heaven. The Zimbabwean was not quite so ready to get off the gravy train. At last sighting, he had established a breakaway cult in Africa with himself in the role of Messiah.”

________________________________________

Eu Shin-hee was interviewed in the early 1990s. She was the cousin of Eu Hyo-won who wrote the 1957 Divine Principle.

Q.11: We heard that Sun Myung Moon always had different new women around to attend him. Wasn’t there any trouble among the women?

Eu: There was. Of course every woman is jealous and wants exclusive possession. Sometimes the women would get into intense fights. There were times when Sun Myung Moon punched these women. He would often end his personal relationships with women; when their bodies were used and their property was taken, they were driven out. I was one of those who were kicked out.

Q.12: Was the Six Mary system set up for swapping the women when he wanted a new one, or a wealthy one? Was Sun Myung Moon ordering the changes?

Eu: We didn’t know. One day five women were replaced and sent out of personal relationships with him, and then we talked to each other. We exchanged information and could find out that a really large number of women had been victimized. He impregnated virgins and let them give birth to children; he took the virtue from married women. Mothers and daughters were taken from families which then broke up. Rich people were robbed of their wealth and left almost naked. One after another I came to know of so many tragedies. Many people came to feel really indignant. I learned that Sun Myung Moon was a genuinely bad man.

This is an extract from: The Tragedy of the Six Marys, Chapter 7

________________________________________

LINK: Moon neglected and beat his own children. How did it affect them?

Black Heung Jin Nim – Violence in the Moon Church

Photo of Sun Myung Moon kicking his first wife

Bullied by Sun Myung Moon

#baseball bat #Sun Myung Moon #violence in the Moon church

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rosalynbair · 6 years ago

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Father Francisco Garupe NSFW Alphabet

A/N: So i’m going to hell, and i’m blaming it all on Anne

Taglist: @aclamclriver @oh-adam ( + @tonguepopperr I don’t know if u want to be tagged in this B, sorry if your don’t <3 )

Warnings: NSFW under the cut, defiling a holy man of the church

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Garupe is loving after he cums - although the first thing he does is grab his rosary to return it to it’s place on his neck, sending up a small prayer for forgiveness before he helps you clean up and wipe down so you weren’t shamed by the others in the village if they ever saw something on you that could give your relationship away. He would always give you a gentle kiss on the brow - where the ash would go if it were the middle of the week. Garupe never stays long after though.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

He’s a fan of his shoulders. They’re strong and large enough to show that he is in fact a man under his robes. On you though, he loves your hips and thighs. They’re so soft and womanly, he loves to hold them and watch the skin indent as his fingers dig into your flesh when he’s holding your legs up as he makes love to you on the floor of your home.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

Garupe loves to see his cum on you. He loves to watch it drip from your mouth and cheekbones down you your shoulders and collarbones. He feels no shame in the sin he’s committed while he watches his cum fall onto the small silver crucifix the rests between your collarbones. He feels no shame as you stare up at him, swallowing what cum you had been able to catch with your mouth. This man also fucking loves having your cum on his fingers - the smell to remind him of what he’s done as he holds his hands up to his face during prayer, his pussy soaked hands the only thing he can focus on.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

You’re his dirty secret. Other than you, he’s the perfect priest. (( He sometimes likes to hear you moan his title as he kisses you in the confines of the church ))

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

PUH-LEASE. Garupe has no experience. No clue what he’s doing. Like someone wandering unknown territory during the darkness of night. He went into the church a virgin, having not even touched himself until he caught your gaze during service.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Missionary. It’s comfortable for him, he can hold himself up and watch you unravel and beg for him with the same lips you use to drink the communion wine and swear loyalty to god. He also enjoys holding you up against a wall - It’s quick, he can show off his strength to you, and you can fix yourselves quickly if anyone happens to accidentally come near you while you’re fucking like animals against the wall (( He also just really loves holding your thighs ok? My man Garupe is a thigh man.))

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

He doesn’t know how to be goofy. He once laughed in fear of his sin and the fact that he had betrayed his vows and he was going to hell. But other than that, he’s serious during intimate moments. They’re rare moments, and he wants to make sure you know how serious and rare they have to be.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Not groomed, very dark hair but there’s not a lot of it. Most of his hair is on his head, chin and legs. He doesn’t bother with - or even consider - grooming down there.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Garupe is very intimate. He doesn’t get a lot of time with you. Just fleeting moments under the cover of night, or minutes between services against a pillar in one of the rooms off the chapel. He tries to be romantic, but he also makes sure not to take it too far, as he knows that this could never be anything more than what it is.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

He doesn’t masturbate until after the first time he sinks himself into you. When he goes on mission trips, he finds himself wandering off from his companion to hastily grab onto himself, pretending that you were there to bend over in front of him so he could sheath himself into you. He’s not very good at jacking off, he’ll use both hands, one at the base to keep pressure and the other to tease right under the tip of his cock until he’s spilling against his stomach.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

This boy has a praise kink. He loves to be praised by you. He loves to hear how good he makes you feel, how he’s the only one you think about and want in you. He also has a minor hair pulling kink. It’s a roughness that he enjoys - when your fingers are tangles in his hair and your tighten your grip as waves of pleasure run through your body, pulling the soft strands and tightening at the roots until he can’t help but release a guttural moan. Garupe also 100% has an edging kink. If you have the time, he’d willing let you edge him for hours. Hours for him to beg and cry for release.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

In your home. It’s safe, private, and quiet. There’s no peering eyes, and you can always say that he was visiting for a private confession if anyone did ask questions. He loves to take you on your bed on top of the soft blankets and furs - very unlike his own bed which was stiff and uncomfortable.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

The way you look at him during service. The way you look up through your lashes during prayer, giving him the secret smile meant only for him. The way your lips wrap around the goblet as he holds it for you to drink - the way the red wine drips down your chin and onto your chest, almost exactly like his cum does. The twitch of your hips when you walk away to return to your seat. The unsettling feeling that runs through his body when the matchmakers of the town try to set you up with young men that could actually be with you - it’s often those days that he sobs into your shoulder as he makes love to you.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Public sex/voyeurism. The fear of getting caught is too high to even consider partaking in public excursions.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Garupe loves eating you out - he’s not very good at it at first, but after a few times, you’ve never received better orgasms. You squirm a lot when he’s sucking on your clit and shoving his tongue into your cunt, and he often holds you down until you’re almost sobbing from the constant pleasurable stimulation. You give him head fairly often, when there’s not enough time to both undress and you still want some physical contact. He’s never felt pleasure like the orgasms he gets from your mouth. The way you suck at the head and tease his shaft with gentle licks of his tongue - it’s enough for a saint to want to sin (heh. Get it?)

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Slow and sensual. Garupe likes to take his time with you, to watch you fall into the pits of pleasure. He likes to make it last with you, because he never knows when it’s going to be the official last time, so he always makes your longer moments together worthwhile.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Quickies almost don’t exist for Garupe, unless you have no time and you know you won’t be able to see each other for a lengthy period of time. Though occasionally, he’ll take you quickly against the wall of his small bedroom before rounds and praying hours are over.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Garupe doesn’t risk anything. He worries about everything, especially when it comes to you. The only risks he’ll take is minor experimental moments with positions or oral techniques he picked up from someone’s confession.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

One or two rounds at 25 minutes for the first one, and 15 for the second. There can be roughly a five or ten minute break between the rounds. As more time goes on, he begins to last longer, his longest session with you being almost a full hour.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

No toys (does holy water as lube count???)

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

You tease him much more than he teases you. Like stated above, you can edge him for a long while, Garupe doesn’t have the heart to tease you. The moment you beg for his cock, he’ll eagerly give it to you.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Quiet. Garupe has spent his life keeping silent, which also translates to the noises he makes when he’s balls deep in you. He whimpers a lot, breathy moans - one loud groan when he cums, but other than that, he’s pretty good at keeping quiet.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

He’s masturbated in the confessional once during a service.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

8 inches, probably looks like a micro when he’s not hard tbh.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Non-existent until he meets you. After that, he sees sex everywhere. He craves it all the time - though he’s good at keeping a straight face. He’s almost always needing you. Can have sex every day if he wanted to.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

If your relationship was under better circumstances where he was able to court you and marry you, he’d fall asleep right away while holding you close. But since that’s not the reality he lives in, he never falls asleep afterwards, he always has to make sure he leaves and returns before anyone questions his absence.

#father garupe #father garupe imagine #garupe imagine #garupe x reader #garupe x you #father garupe x you #father garupe x reader #francisco garupe #francisco garupe imagine #rosalynbair #its 1:30am #so uh #yeah #enjoy bbys

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rainydawgradioblog · 2 years ago

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Alegría @ Allegro

Dawg with a Blawg: Ed. 3

Any dawg's dream: listening to local artists in a cozy venue near campus, without paying a cover. OK– maybe it’s just my ideal way to spend an Autumn evening in the U District, but I definitely wasn’t the only fan in attendance last Sunday at Café Allegro…

Allegro’s reintroduction as a live venue for acoustic performances was brought on by the efforts of Bay Area artist Holland, a barista at the café. (Last month’s event included artists Liv Victorino of Ponzi and Julian Pearlman of Balcony Bridge.) This month, Holland (they/them) stepped into the headliner position, following the opener Maria Hoffman (she/they) from Puget Sound. “Obsessed” with intimacy, Holland explained their choice of PJ ensembles as a way to connect, reflected in the bedroom-like setup where soft string lights and a starry, ocean-blue light projector marked off the stage area. Some quick warmups facilitated by Holland and Pearlman made me eager for the show. Maria and Holland absolutely had voices intriguing enough to be accompanied by a single instrument at a time.

Each artist did their own MCing, writing, and instrumentals on keys/guitar. True to bedroom-rumination indie, they both displayed confessional songwriting styles in addition to their booming vocal deliveries. Despite the severe heartache expressed, they were charming in their transitions and hosted without taking their performances too seriously. A real friend to the scene, Holland made Jasmine tea for Maria and offered me a chair for notetaking since I sported a pleather skirt. :’)

Maria, who had a wishbone tattoo on display, told the audience about her affinity for lucky imagery when introducing her first song “Lucky Star”. Their poetic and relatable storytelling resonated with the mostly femme attendees. Her songs recounted relatable topics of mistakes made when you’re inebriated and high on emotions, being subjected to casual misogyny, and romanticizing public transit. Maria begins her song “Greyhound” with the lyric “Tyler’s a monster”, the best opening I’ve heard in recent memory. Bursting with personality, they admitted the song was really about taking the Cantrail from Vancouver to Washington, but that its name isn’t as sexy, making the audience laugh in agreement. They later picked up the strumming pattern only to hit us harder with the line “us girls have to stick together, they’re charlatans and we’re soldiers”. When asked, she said they wanted to leave others with the phrase “people can do hard things”.

Holland debuted a handful of tapes of their demo “A Leg That Can’t Stand” generously sold with sliding scale pricing (they even signed mine!). This project started as a collection of “voice memo demos” that escalated to a sleepless week spent bouncing ideas off friends with polished mic vocal cuts. A fan of live music, Holland likes it loud and isn’t afraid to belt in the coffee shop they work at during regular business hours. One of my favorites performed was the song “Haunting Me” (featured on the demo) because of the line “Love ain’t your mission– then why do you keep showing up: apparition”. They told us it’s about people that reenter your life and keep showing you that they don’t have your best interests in mind: “I played the fool enough times to know that I’m mad, believing you’re my savior.” “At War with Peace” was written using a chord taught by Pearlman during the demo’s production and made me want to hear them perform with supporting vocals and a band. Then in “Doves//Starved”, Holland showcased adept piano playing on an extended cut, self-proclaimed as the demo’s “Track 5” (as Swifties know them as). A standout line on Evergreen, though not yet recorded was the personification “Winter ain’t got much to say, ‘cause she don’t do pain.” Damn. Holland seems to be keen on others’ perceptions of their songs, which is less characteristic of being impressionable and more indicative of intense self-reflection. In general, I find our generation’s inclination towards self-awareness and development to be something we’re not credited for.

Holland can breathe out fast-paced lyrics in a way that is so vocally controlled, you easily adjust to their continuous flow of ideas. And it wasn’t until the end of her set that Maria revealed it was her first full performance! For updates on demo acquisition and future Bandcamp announcements, find Holland on Instagram @HollztheBallz. You can find Maria Hoffman on Spotify under the former stage name Alaska Monroe and on Instagram @styrofoame7.

Xoxo, Millie

Musical notes from a budding musician

#seattlemusic #live shows

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 years ago

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youtube

PALE WAVES - EIGHTEEN

[6.40]

After one 1975 tour, one Jukebox appearance, about seventy-million singles, and, at last, one album, here's "Eighteen"...

Edward Okulicz: This is the one. This is what Charli XCX should have been by combining guitars with gothy obesssions. This song takes all the great things about a murderer's row of good songs and just one-ups them in every way -- two that come to mind are "Clarity" by Zedd and "Heaven Sent" by Killing Heidi, but the list could stretch on for paragraphs. Songs with anthemic qualities that are a little bit doomed at the same time and don't care about that and don't regret one thing. The lyrics to the chorus describe a first love, but as I've got older I've learned that these ideas don't stop being true, and in fact get even more so. Falling in love doesn't change; some of us are lucky enough to get better at it over time, but every time you have that moment where you see someone for the first time, or you see someone in a new way for the first time, it's a revelation, and that's the same whether you're 18 or 28 or 38 or 118. Heather Baron-Gracie is singing the life I wanted at 18 and still want two decades on. The performance is a masterpiece of tension and timing and pop hooks and guitar crunch, but on top of that, it's just a perfect piece of pop songwriting. [10]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: The verses brim with a romanticism that peaks early on: a declaration from Heather Baron-Gracie that she can "finally see in color." The arpeggiating synths and reverberating drums conjure up a dreamlike state that her vocal melody cuts through: a representation of one's thoughts as they transition from "is this happening?" to "this is happening." That she doesn't repeat the melody in the second verse is heartwarming. This absence acknowledges the ecstasy of that honeymoon stage while allowing the ensuing parts of the relationship to feel just as meaningful; the second verse is still dreamlike, still intimate, still life-affirming. The chorus finds the fog clearing, almost blindsiding one with how direct the singing and instrumentation is. Here, Baron-Gracie provides a diaristic recounting of how much her lover means to her, sounding like Avril Lavigne during this endearing confessional. Hearing her profess that she "poured [her] heart out, spilled all [her] truth" makes one want to do the same. The pop-punk spirit of that chorus may scream teenager, but "Eighteen" understands that the people we cherish from those times -- or any time -- stick with us for eternity. [7]

Alex Clifton: "Eighteen" sounds like a lost Killers track full of youthful ebullience. Some songs remind you of being young and have you lost in thought of what that was once like; others put you back directly in the moment, bringing forth vivid sense memories you thought you'd lost. For me, "Eighteen" is the latter, throwing me back to a time when every day felt like a new kind of heartbreak while losing myself in whatever new song I'd found. It's a good kind of ache to remember that kind of youthfulness. I'm never going to be that girl again, but she'll live on in both my memory and in songs like this; in the end, that's all I can ask for. [7]

Thomas Inskeep: Throbbing rock with a Moroder-esque pulse that explodes into Paramore-colored rainbows on the chorus. If I was, in fact, 18, I'd probably be way into this. Since I'm almost 48, I'm just moderately into this. [6]

Juan F. Carruyo: Received nostalgia isn't what it once was. This sounds like third-rate Paramore. [2]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: This is an unholy fusion of Body Talk Robyn, Speak Now Taylor Swift, and Days Are Gone HAIM with all of the interesting edges or imperfections shaved off, leaving the most deeply radical centrist indie pop record I've heard in a long while. [6]

Katherine St Asaph: I continue to dislike "Call Your Girlfriend" on lyrical grounds, but it's still very obvious how crucial the melodic lift on "that you just met somebody new" or "the only way your heart will mend" or "and then you let her down easy" (Robyn has about six per song) is to the chorus, and how flat a similar chorus would sound if it didn't have one. [6]

Nortey Dowuona: Rattling synth arpeggios lift from the ground as searing guitar swings, and then is swept in a big, goofy hug by the limber, devastating drums. The bass silently bridges the gap alongside Heather Baron-Gracie, and both watch the guitar and drums race on ahead, then swing back as Heather rides it on the way to the beginning of her first relationship. [8]

Alfred Soto: For once dampening the synths for a sugar rush of guitars and harmonies, "Eighteen" takes Tegan and Sara into Undertones territory. Like good pop punk, it distills matters to essentials: "I finally felt like I feel for the first time" -- boom. [7]

Josh Love: Pale Waves present a fabulously goth visual aesthetic but their music is closer to brighter synthpop practitioners like Tegan and Sara or Carly Rae (even Chvrches is moodier). "Eighteen" itself engages in a similar bait and switch; at first blush it seems clearly like a rueful lament -- "I was just 18 when I met you/Poured my heart out, spilled all my truth." Yet the lyrics never deliver the expected betrayal or breakup, and so we're surprisingly left with either a love that's still thriving or one that can be looked back upon without bitterness or regret. [7]

Claire Biddles: Pale Waves' debut single (and my Amnesty pick for 2017!) "There's a Honey" was a big ol' perfect ten -- dually a mission statement for their teen-dream goth aesthetic and a self-contained delight. Each single since then (and there have been a lot, thanks to the over-eager contemporary rollout process) has felt like a watered-down version of that initial sharp hit; same shiny Cure-esque guitar waves, same vocal inflections, same song structure, but less magic. "Eighteen" is no exception to the tried-and-very-tested Pale Waves formula. Being a descendent of such crystallised pop perfection means it retains some sparkle. There's a couple of lovely moments -- the couplet "We sat on the corner kissing each other/Felt like I could finally see in colour" is cute -- but overall the lyrics are a little clunky ("Finally felt like I could feel for the first time," yikes) and the transition between sections is too sudden, too formulaic. They've definitely got something but I'd love to see more variety on the second album. [5]

Jonathan Bradley: Pale Waves makes glistening, tear-struck synth-pop that aches like MUNA and quivers like Matt Healy. Even that alone is not nothing -- good bands have survived on finding one sound and doing it well -- and "Eighteen" has more than that. Moments of Heather Baron-Gracie's narrative detail catch on adolescent crisis: "The city depresses me, but you try to be everything I need/We sat on the corner kissing each other," is drifting emotionalism worthy of a YA novel or a teen movie voiceover. Her tones curl like cellophane: gaudy, thin, and brilliant. That this band is capable of sharper hooks and more potently melodic tracks speaks well for "Eighteen"; even when their inspiration is meanly apportioned, it still shines so bright. [7]

Maxwell Cavaseno: As Dirty Hit distressingly grows into a factory of 1975-soundalike music, Pale Waves were merciful enough to grant us a reprieve from that and to give us their single which sounds the least like The 1975! It's unfortunately marked by Heather Baron-Gracie giving one of her worst vocal performances yet, a continuous grating whine and a mix that feels like an amorphously sleek pop-punk drive to earnestness paired with inane, cheesy lyrics. But at the same time, given the fact that the band has been in a subtle danger of falling victim to perception of simply being a vehicle of extra ideas from their label's cash cow, you have to commend the them for deviating just slightly enough from that mold. Should we be so lucky, maybe they'll get even bolder with time and find an identity that may stand parallel, or even superior. [3]

Nicholas Donohoue: On the level of "Eighteen" being a universal anthemic love song I'm not moved, but I fully see the person who would love this and I have no reason not to be happy for them. [5]

Will Rivitz: This song is the Biggest goddamn Mood I've heard all year. Starting off the song -- and My Mind Makes Noises as a whole -- with the line "This city depresses me"? Big Mood. Doing that over an uncompromisingly triumphant major-key instrumental that only gets louder and more expansive from there? Bigger Mood. Encapsulating the entire scope of young love in a fifteen-second chunk, in which "I finally felt like I could feel for the first time" somehow loses all semblance of cliché thanks to a delivery that teeters on the brink of euphoria before the bridge pushes it over to the other side? Biggest Mood. This is the last twelve lines of "The Fish" mixed with Gerard Way mixed with Carly Rae Jepsen, and I do not make that last comparison lightly. Even if "Give Yourself A Try" had lyrics that fit its sonic tone instead of Matty Healy's too-wise-for-you clunkers, it still wouldn't pack nearly the thunderbolt as this, and I gave that a [10] too, so... [10]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Pale Waves #pop #writing #music review #music

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livingcorner · 3 years ago

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Aaron Song@|hell\’s kitchen season 3 what was wrong with aaron@|https://ift.tt/3hmbZGF

“ I’m Aaron. Oh, you already know my name because it’s on my shirt! ”

Aaron Song (November 19, 1959 – November 30, 2010) was a contestant on Season 3 of Hell’s Kitchen. He ranked in 10th place. On November 30, 2010, he passed away as a result of diabetes complications.

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Aaron was a kind and passionate chef. Unfortunately, that didn’t do any favors for him. He was a consistently poor performer in the kitchen, slow during service and prep, and was constantly ill. He fainted during punishment and was not able to continue the competition.

Season 3

Episode 1

The twelve new aspiring chefs were heading down to Hell’s Kitchen in SUVs, while getting to know each other on the ride. Once they arrived at Hell’s Kitchen, Jean-Philippe introduced himself, but before he could go into how he and Ramsay met, the latter appeared and told the former to cut the crap. Afterwards, Ramsay ordered the contestants to cook their signature dishes.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Aaron was final person to have his signature dish judged by Ramsay, and surprised the latter with his cowboy appearance. Ramsay if he brought his horse, and he claimed it was parked outside, with Ramsay saying he has never seen an Asian cowboy before. He made a finger food platter, but while Ramsay liked it, he said there were too many things on the plate.

Before dinner service, Aaron struggled to make the ice cream in the blue kitchen and was starting to feel stressed, but Rock came to help him. During the briefing, Ramsay asked him how he was feeling, but he broke down crying. While Ramsay tried to calm him down, Jean-Philippe stalled the waiting diners outside the restaurant. Eventually, he calmed down as he knew he could do it.

During dinner service, Aaron was on the meat station with Josh. He sent up his first order of chicken, but it was black on the bottom. As he tried to redo the chicken, he felt useless as he could not do anything correct all day while Ramsay ordered him to wipe off his snot. Later, he started to get dizzy and left for a while, but an unsympathetic Brad wanted him to get better at cooking and felt that he gave up when he walked outside. Ramsay checked on him at the back, but he refused to quit as the former tried to calm him down. Josh took over the meat station but found out that all of the meat he cooked was ruined, leaving the men with no meat to continue service. A dismayed Sous Chef Scott asked how they could be out of meat if they have not served any.

During the post-mortem, Ramsay asked Aaron how he was feeling, and he claimed he was feeling a lot better. The blue team won the service, but while being dismissed, he felt he dodged a bullet, hoping for the best if his body held up.[1]

Episode 2

Back at the dorms, the men expressed concern for Aaron’s health problems in service, but he reassured them that he was alright. However, his comment on under eating caused more concern, and he secretly knew he was the weakest link on the men, knowing he must suck it up for the team.

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Before the Dover Sole Challenge, Aaron started to cramp when he was carrying his bucket along with Eddie, much to the latter’s concern. He sat out because he felt dizzy, but at the same time, it evened the teams at five members each. The blue team lost the challenge 8-9, and they were punished by prepping all the Dover soles and both kitchens for the next service. During the punishment, Bonnie told him to get better and take care of himself as he slept for four hours until he came back. However, he was still dizzy and aching from his cramps. He contemplated quitting the competition due to his poor health, but Brad called bullshit as it would leave the men down a member. So, he was convinced to stay, with Rock knowing that the most important mission was supporting him through the next dinner service. Afterwards, the men had a group hug.

Later that night, Aaron confided to Julia about his standing with the younger men as they knew more than him, but she told him not to worry about the men’s experience. Before dinner service, Brad named him the one to serve and clean Dover Soles tableside. One hour before service began, he went out to the dining room to meet with Ramsay and Jean-Philippe. Even though Ramsay tried to give Aaron a pep talk, he continued to black in and out during the talk, eventually sitting down due to stress. Fortunately, he bounced back, and Ramsay told him to come out of his shell, even though he was still cloudy.

During dinner service, Ramsay spotted Aaron talking with the diners instead of being at his station and told Jean-Philippe to get him out of there. After receiving Vinnie’s Dover Sole, he prepared to serve it tableside but was very slow at deboning the fish, taking fifteen minutes for one fish and leaving it cold for the customers. Later, his deboning was not going well as many customers found tiny bones in the Dover Sole. When Jean-Philippe told Ramsay that, the latter called him over and told him to concentrate when he claimed that he could not see the bones due to the poor lighting. After several mistakes, Ramsay kicked the blue team out of service, accusing him of failing to filet a fish. The blue team lost the service, Ramsay reminded he how he shook hands with everyone in the dining room like the President of the United States, and he apologized for failing that night. Rock was named the “Best of the Worst”.

Aaron was not nominated for elimination, even though he was really surprised by that decision.[2]

Episode 3

At 5:58 AM the following day, a group of navy officers and army soldiers woke the teams up and ordered them to get dressed. Aaron was cramping again and needed Rock and Brad helped him get dressed as they refused to leave a man behind. During the Army and Navy Service Challenge, he started off at the omelet station. Despite having the confidence to cook breakfast food, his omelet pan caught fire and threw two burnt orders in the trash. His poor performance on omelets was slowing momentum, causing Brad to name him the blue team’s weakest link. Josh and Brad took over his station, but he was seen going silent and accidentally dropped a pan of bacon, further putting the men behind.

The blue team lost the challenge, and they were punished by doing KP duty, which included prepping a thousand pounds of potatoes and onions. During the punishment, he collapsed due to the stress of moving the bags into the kitchen, much to his team’s concern. They called the medic over, and Josh was scared for him as he was sent to the hospital in an ambulance. The following day, at the hospital, he received a phone call from Ramsay, and learned that he could not return to Hell’s Kitchen because of his health, much to his disappointment. Ramsay gave no comment on Aaron’s departure, and he received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence immediately after the phone call.[3]

Nomination History

Week 1 Win Week 2 Safe Week 3 Hospitalized

Season 4

Episode 3

During the red team’s reward, Aaron made a cameo, where he was a customer at the Saddle Ranch Chop House. When the team and Ramsay entered the restaurant, he was riding the rodeo, and greeted Ramsay and the red team, giving all of them big hugs. Ramsay mimicked his crying before the opening night on the previous season, but he declared there was nothing to cry about now. After, he wished a good day to everybody and left, and Vanessa compared him to a big teddy bear.[4]

Season 6

Episode 1

Aaron made another cameo appearance during the opening of that season, and gave a rule to the contestants about what not to do. He said that he was so excited for his first dinner service, and then, a clip of him crying when both teams were lined up minutes before service was shown. Finally, he revealed the final rule “There’s no crying in Hell’s Kitchen”.[5]

Post Hell’s Kitchen

After his appearance on the show, Aaron became a celebrity chef. He also gave cooking demonstrations and worked with the Salvation Army to teach veterans how to cook. He was also a spokesperson for Henry’s Farmers Markets, before passing away in November 2010.

Trivia

He is the second contestant who withdrew from the competition for health reasons, following Larry (Season 2).

He was the second Asian-American contestant to compete on the show, following Wendy (Season 1), and the first male Asian-American contestant to compete on the show.

He is the first contestant to be medically removed who received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence on the episode that he left.

He was the first ever contestant to reappear in the show after departing that was not a winner. However, he is not the first to reenter the competition as that title would go to Robert (Seasons 5 and 6) three years later.

He is the only contestant in the season who was never nominated for elimination.

By nearly two decades, he was the oldest contestant of that season, at 48 (would be 62 today, passed away at 51), and would’ve been the oldest Hell’s Kitchen contestant ever when adjusted for time.

He and Bonnie (also from Season 3) are the first two contestants from the state of California.

He is the second former contestant to pass away, following Rachel (Season 2). He is the oldest contestant who passed away when adjusting for time (born 1959).

Quotes

“I left it parked outside, chef.”

(Out of breath) “Hehe, I knew I shouldn’t have worn this outfit!”

(To Chef Ramsay) “I’m cracking up right now……”

(While crying) “I can’t believe I’m cracking up right now!”

(Greeting the customers) “Hi, welcome to Hell’s Kitchen. I’m Aaron. Oh, you already know my name because it’s on my shirt!”

(After withdrawing) “I feel disappointed. I mean I’ve worked almost 40 years in the kitchen, for what? Guess I’m coming home.”

Gallery

Aaron’s Intro Spot

Aaron in Blue Jacket

Aaron’s Confessional

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Aaron after collapsing

Aaron medically evacuated

Aaron’s Signature Dish

Aaron in Season 4

Aaron in Season 6

References

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source https://livingcorner.com.au/aaron-songhells-kitchen-season-3-what-was-wrong-with-aaronhttps-static-wikia-nocookie-net-hellskitchen-images-c-c7-aaron_song-jpg-revision-latestcb2017120819075125/

#livingcornernews

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officialotakudome · 4 years ago

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New Post has been published on Otaku Dome | The Latest News In Anime, Manga, Gaming, Tech, and Geek Culture

New Post has been published on https://otakudome.com/thus-spoke-rohan-kishibe-anime-review/

Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe Anime Review

A new spinoff from the JoJo world staring mangaka Rohan Kishibe is out on Netflix. Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe adapts the spinoff source of the same name into an animated series of horrifying tales lead Rohan experienced prior to and sometime following his meeting of Josuke Higashikata, Koichi Hirose, and Okuyasu Nijimura. Rohan tackles curses, ghosts, and ghouls in what’s hopefully the first half of a two part adaptation.

Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe is a 2017 shounen OVA adaptation of the original 1997 manga of the same name. It is produced by David Productions and licensed by Netflix for streaming in the US. Four chapters have been animated and are available in English and Japanese audio.

Editor’s Note: This review may contain near complete to complete spoilers for Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe and it’s source material (main and namesake).

Former JoJo antagonist turned protagonist Rohan Kishibe takes center stage in a new spinoff.

Originally debuting in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4/Diamond is Unbreakable, Rohan started off as a villain antagonizing Koichi while pretending to be his friend. Upon meeting Josuke Higashikata and learning what happens to people who insult his iconic hairdo, Rohan while not completely turning into a hero does end up becoming a valuable asset to the Joestars of Morioh. As Koichi prepares to depart to Italy (starting the events of Golden Wind), he asks Rohan for a favor who instead decides to tell him and the others about his supposed encounters with the supernatural.

JoJo focuses on it’s beloved horror elements in Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe.

THE GOOD: The initial source to Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe is eight chapters long and ran from 1997 to 2018 with chapters being released several years apart from one another. The anime follows a similar production schedule with the first four episodes being released within a year from each other except for the last two which were both released in 2020. The four chapters adapted in the anime are “Millionaire Village”, “Mutsu-kabe Hill”, “At a Confessional”, and “The Run”. In the first episode (in Netflix’s order) Rohan encounters Koichi who asks him to use his stand Heaven’s Door to force fluent Italian into his life story as he’s getting ready to head out to the country on behalf of the Speedwagon Foundation for a mission. Rohan decides to tell Koichi of his own time spent in Italy following his meeting of the former and the other Joestars. Rohan learns that a young man had been cursed after accidentally killing a homeless man having overheard his story when he incidentally posed as a preacher in a confessional box. The curse relays that the homeless man shall come for the young man as a cursed spirit to kill him during the happiest moment of his life. Several years pass and the young man has become insanely wealthy with a family, one day while out with his daughter he’s suddenly attacked by her who has been possessed by the homeless man now seeking his revenge. The young man tries to claim that the homeless man’s death wasn’t his fault, so the homeless man says they’ll let faith decide. He challenges the young man to catch popcorn that his daughter was eating in his mouth three times after tossing it in a high distance. The young man succeeds twice following distractions from pigeons, however on the third try he fails and has his head cut off. Rohan is about to question the validity of the man’s story before he’s stopped by the man explaining that he had switched identities with a loyal servant through surgery and the servant was the one who was killed by the spirit. It is then revealed that the servant having been tricked has also cursed the man along with the homeless man swearing together to curse him on the day of his daughter’s happiest moment in life as he continues his escape. Following this story, Rohan meets with his editor, Minoru Kaigamori asking for an advanced for work on his latest manga shocking him. He explains that he lost his money purchasing a huge piece of land in Mutsukabezaka rumored to be haunted, but scheduled for road work. He purchased the land in an effort to prevent the supposed spirit from being scared off. The supposed spirit belongs to Naoko Osato; a woman scheduled for an arranged marriage by her wealthy family but is visited by her lover Gunpei their gardener who she accidentally kills after an argument gets physical. Gunpei’s body seemingly continues to pour blood no matter what she did. When her fiancée and father come to visit Osato panics and hides the body while clearing the blood. The wound pours blood years after Osato marries everyday requiring her to clean the spill.

In the present, Rohan heads to the property where he meets a young girl. After a discussion with the girl she trips and suffers a surprising fatal wound. Rohan is stunned to see her body bleeding out profusely like Gunpei in the story. Using Heaven’s Door he looks into her past learning she is the child of Gunpei & Osato and is suffering from the effects of a generational yokai curse. Rohan rewrites the girl’s past erasing the curse and saving her life. He decides to use the story as inspiration for his new manga. Later he meets up with another editor of his, Kyōka Izumi who wants Rohan to accompany her on a trip to purchase a famous villa where the owners are notoriously strict on manners. They arrive and pick up a lost baby bird & are then greeted by doorman Ikkyū. Upon entering the home Ikkyu immediately notes that they have already failed to respect the three main rules. Kyōka begs for a second chance, but gets a call informing her that her mother and boyfriend died in a car crash together. Rohan also finds the baby bird has been killed. He quickly uses Heaven’s Door on Ikkyu learning that the villa has a direct connection to mountain gods who rewards those who succeed in following the rules and punishes those who don’t with a sacrifice of something precious. Rohan’s use of his stand causes another break in the rules which gives Kyōka a heart attack. Ikkyu gives Rohan a chance to redeem himself and Kyōka if he can properly eat an ear of corn. Rohan passes and tricks Ikkyu into failing to remain respectful of the house rules reversing the infliction of the mountain gods on Kyōka and her family. The final story is told from the perspective of male model Yoma Hashimoto who works out at the same gym as Rohan. He quickly rises to fame & success while forming a rivalry with Rohan following a competition back in the past in which Rohan cheated to win. Yoma becomes obsessed with improving his physique and steals money from his girlfriend for more high end equipment. After showcasing strange behavior on top of the stealing she kicks Yoma out. While in the gym alone Yoma challenges Rohan to the same competition they had before which is accepted. Yoma increases the stakes by breaking the glass window behind them as the speed on the treadmill goes faster killing whoever stops first. Rohan attempts to grab the remote controlling the machines, but is stopped and has his fingers broken by Yoma. The speed continues to accelerate as Yoma’s body changes. Rohan uses Heaven’s Door and learns that Yoma killed anyone that got in the way of his training including his girlfriend. Upon further investigation Rohan realizes that Yoma has become the avatar of speed god Hermes. As Yoma wins the competition Rohan uses his stand to force Yoma to stoop his treadmill instead seemingly killing him. Rohan shows regret for feeling forced to kill Yoma and likely earning Hermes’ wrath causing trouble in the future.

Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe is an eye-opening experience in just how expansive the potential of the JoJo world can be. And as we’ve seen with recent arcs for the franchise mangaka Hirohiko Araki is not afraid to experiment with his work. Part six, Stone Ocean acts as a soft reboot for the franchise completely upon it’s climax redesigning several fan favorite characters as well as successfully introducing a new wave of main characters in between. While Rohan is focused on an already established character itself, it does build the world of JoJo without a dependency on stands. Instead opting to tackle the more supernatural elements that’s spread throughout the centered world. Something that’s consistently praised in the JoJo fandom is Araki’s use of horror for more dramatic scenes in the series. This is where ‘Rohan’ gets most of it’s inspiration from. It weirdly fits for Rohan to be surrounded by non-stand related supernatural phenomenon oddly fits his character being a mangaka and all. It’s also been suggested that Rohan is also an avatar for Araki himself within the series.

Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe breaths new life into a decades old franchise.

I mentioned early that Rohan while a good assist to the Joestars isn’t a full on good guy, but Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe explores his more human side. He’s still an asshole, but he has a heart when it counts even going out of his way to save one of his editors who’s nearly killed from mountain gods. It shows his development is continuing to grow after the end of the Kira arc when he expressed his sadness for Reimi Sugimoto finally being able to move on following Kira’s defeat. ‘Rohan’ also introduces the potential of gods possibly being used in the JoJo franchise. I’m not too familiar with the spinoff material over the main canon so I wouldn’t know if they haven’t already done this. But I do think it’s odd for Araki to reference gods twice in the spinoff if he wasn’t considering having them be apart of a main storyline or spinoff down the line. If anything ‘Rohan’ proves that JoJo can indeed exist without the use of stands, as it did with Harmon before. Thus keeping the franchise’s ability to stay fresh vast and wide. In regards to the new characters introduced there’s not really much to them they were more or less minor plot devices to either introduce the story or move it forward. If Araki wants to continue with experimenting on giving other characters their own self-contained stories this could always be changed in the future.

Old favorites have small speaking roles in Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe.

THE BAD: While not likely it’s possible that the four out of eight adapted chapters could be all there is. At least for quite a while. The COVID-19 pandemic heavily effecting the anime industry aside David Productions has been quite busy these days picking up series after series for adaptation efforts, And it’s significantly slowed down how much work they can do on the JoJo franchise. If you were expecting some decent interaction between Rohan and the core cast you’ll be rather disappointed. While some characters have voice roles in the spinoff this is very much the Rohan show and they have maybe a combined five or so combined minutes of screen time with him. Speaking of limited appearance, Josuke Higashikata does make an appearance in the spinoff. Two in fact, but they aren’t voiced which is odd. Story wise it makes a bit of sense as Rohan kind of despises Josuke so maybe it was intentional? Or maybe they couldn’t schedule Josuke’s Japanese VA for the spinoff to do lines and just cut him from having a speaking role.

New characters and experiences opens JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure into a world with limited Stand use.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe feels like it’s job was to be more than “just another spinoff” and it succeeds with flying colors. It not only properly represents it’s namesake, but it also provides the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise with a multitude of doors to open for experimentation into new directions and the potential move away from Stands in the near future. There’s tons of JoJo material outside of the canon which could and should be animated in some point in time, including a sequel novel to Golden Wind which people still debate on the canonical relation it has to the series. It’s nice seeing a series that debuted in the 80s still having some more tricks up it’s sleeve to captivate viewers almost forty years later. Otaku Dome gives Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe a 95 out of 100.

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murder-popsicle · 7 years ago

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7 Deadly Sins: Pride

"The beginning of the pride of man, is to fall off from God: Because his heart is departed from him that made him: for pride is the beginning of all sin: he that holdeth it, shall be filled with maledictions, and it shall ruin him in the end.” - Sirach 10:14-15

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” Bucky recited, crossing herself as she knelt in the Confessional. “It has been four days since my last Confession. I confess to almighty God and to you, Father.” She took a deep breath and said, “I struck my schoolmate. Several of my schoolmates, actually. Several times. And smashed a banana in one’s eyes.”

“A banana,” Father Gallagher repeated. “Really, Jane?”

“Well, see,” she said, “I was on my way home when I saw this fella beatin’ up on Steve, and I didn’t have my bookbag with me, so...”

She heard Father Gallagher sigh, but it was the sigh that meant he was amused, so she continued the story with an easier heart. She wouldn't be damned, not for this.

It had been a few days since Steve had led the rescued soldiers back to the camp proper, and the world still hadn’t righted itself.

Straight away, the brass had given her a shot of benzedrine and dragged her off for questioning – what had the doctor done, how much had she told him, what did she mean he hadn’t asked about the Allied forces at all? – but it had ended abruptly when she’d had to lurch out of the tent to vomit. Whatever the liquid fire Zola had shot her full of was, it clearly didn’t get along well with bennies. So the nurses had taken her for a physical instead, noting down each cut, each scar, each bruise, frowning deeply at the blood crusted around her ear, the skin stretched too tight over her ribs, and the scar that ran down her abdomen in an angry red line.

Finally she had been allowed to collapse, but she had woken to a world that was still off-kilter, somehow muted and fuzzy and jagged as broken glass all at once. She had a bed, a blanket, food, Steve --- But even that was wrong; he was huge, broad-shouldered and pink-cheeked, with none of the familiar catch in his breathing or twist to his spine. She could barely stand to be near him, half-convinced that she was still hallucinating, that any moment she would wake to find herself still strapped down in Zola's lab.

She was alone in one of the tents, trying and failing to write a letter to her parents, when she heard someone approach. Not Steve. Dum Dum, she thought, judging by his footfalls. She didn’t look up until he’d taken a seat beside her.

“They got a priest here, you know,” he said, a little awkwardly. Clearly he’d been selected by the men as a delegate. They were worried about her. It was sweet, almost.

“I talked to him yesterday,” Dum Dum continued. He bumped her shoulder gently with his own and, voice softer, said, “You think you might wanna...?” But she shook her head before the words had finished leaving his mouth.

“Naw,” she said. “I think I’ll talk to God on my own.”

It bordered on sacrilege, but she didn’t care. Talking to Colonel Phillips had been bad enough. If she had to go over what had happened one more time, she might start screaming and never, ever stop.

It was the only time the Winter Soldier had ever balked at a mission.

"He's a priest," the soldier protested when General Karpov gave her her orders. Priests were clean, weren't they? Clean and pure and somehow above the political mechanations that concerned Department X.

"The church exists only to exploit the people," the General said dismissively. "This man is a leech, living off the work of others. Now, what strategy would you propose?"

The answer didn't sit well with her, but she tamped down her dissatisfaction. It wasn't her place to argue. Instead, she considered the General's question. After several moments' thought, she suggested, "During Confession? Confessionals are small, dark, private --- a good place for secrecy."

The General was looking at her oddly.

"Sir?" she asked.

"Confession takes place in public here, soldier," he said.

She frowned, puzzled. She could have sworn--- small booths, dark, with a screen between them...

"Report to Dr. Rodchenko," the General said. "You're confused. Confess any other old memories to him, so that he may remove them."

“Want to come to Mass with me?” Steve asked one day. They were curled up together on the couch in Steve’s living room, half watching the news and half simply enjoying each other’s company.

“Mass?” Bucky said, a little surprised. “When’d you turn so religious, Stevie?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and gave a small one-armed shrug. “A lot of stuff’s changed -- even Mass -- but... I dunno. It’s comforting, I guess. I go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, up in Manhattan. It’s got a good thousand people on Sundays. S’not so hard to blend in.”

She shook her head and, before he could protest, said, “Steve, I’m not goin’ to Mass without first goin’ to Confession. And that’d be the ugliest confession any priest’s ever heard.”

“Bucky---”

“No. Just drop it, okay?”

“Okay,” he said softly. He wrapped his arm around her, and he never brought it up again.

#memories #seven deadly sins meme #torture cw #(implied but not shown)

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haku23 · 8 years ago

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ok i need to talk about guardians of the whills in Extreme Detail so i’m gonna put it under a cut cause i’m basically just going to spoil the whole book re: the gays and also it’s long so

they’re so married? like. the “the tea is in the middle drawer” I was like wow, this is not subtle also this is in the first part of the book like immediately they’re just being married

they share a room which like isn’t super gay considerin the state of jedha but like. it says “the bed” it doesn’t say “the bedS” like literally “chirrut took his place on the floor beside the bed” like. he was meditating he wasn’t going to sleep... and neither was baze... they were both telling the other one to go to sleep... like .... eyes emoji like yeah ok maybe they take turns sleeping but why they’re literally always together so they’re always awake at the same time

also related to ^ baze instead of sitting on the bed?? he?? sits down beside chirrut? no need to he just sits there with him like there’s a bed you old man you can sit on the bed?

baze not wanting to kill indiscriminately even tho he’s not a guardian anymore and chirrut knows this about him even tho he doesn’t say it

chirrut just constantly dragging his husband into things bc he knows that baze will always follow him even tho he acts grumpy on the outside(them both knowing that it’s an act but they keep it up bc it amuses them i would assume). also the entire tea thing throughout “oh baze would LOVE some of this tea he hates” like lmfao

baze going all attack dog on ppl and only backing down when chirrut is like “nah ba(z)e it’s fine”?? is my entire fucking sexuality like FHNGHHHH i love that i love it so much

the fact that baze blatantly doesn’t trust anyone who chirrut doesn’t like just a “i don’t trust him” is enough for baze to be like “that person is a shady bitch and i don’t like him”. like literally someone is like “why don’t you ask this other pilot?” and baze is like “chirrut doesn’t like him” like. that’s it.

also chirrut inherently trusts baze’s judgements and impressions of people so if he says “looks like a shady bitch” chirrut is gonna agree literally he asks the same thing from the movie “does he have the face of a killer” and baze is like lol he’s seen some death and chirrut’s like ya tru i can sense that lol

them working so well together?? like?? amazing this is my other sexuality tbh i fucking love...that shit like put an iv of that into my fuckin veins

them constantly worrying for the other even tho they have no need to and they know it

they’re always seated beside one another or standing beside one another. if they’re not it’s mentioned cause it’s clearly out of the norm.

them LAUGHING TOGETHER SO MUCH bc they have so many jokes that only the other one finds funny their sense of humour is the same and it’s great like baze laughed so much and it was so good

baze shoving chirrut into the alley and drawing the troopers away from him?? like ?? chirrut clearly not wanting to go into the alley bc he knew baze wouldn’t be able to come and baze just ?? lying to him bc?? he knew that chirrut would never leave him willingly??

BAZE DOES THE COOKING

them bantering about the cooking

BAZE WONDERING WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO HAVE BEEN A PAINTER, SCULPTOR, OR BAKER OUR BOY IS A SENSITIVE ARTIST I NEED THIS AU (i’m writing it maybe)

chirrut knowing what baze is thinking so much that baze doesn’t even have to say anything and vice versa like baze knows just by the tiniest fucking difference in how chirrut holds his staff that he’s about to Get Extra

chirrut mentions baze’s presence calms him like at least two times as in like he’d feel better if baze was around and not having him there knocks him off kilter and he doesn’t like it

baze clearly going down a bad road with saw’s men bc chirrut isn’t there to keep him centred

baze getting fucking pissed bc people try to tell chirrut he can’t come on a mission bc he’s blind and chirrut being like lol it’s fine... but then saving the dude’s ass later probably while vindicated by dashbord confessional plays

there is like one(1) mention of baze finding a woman pretty and then it’s never mentioned again literally he’s like “she’s pretty and she’s even prettier bc i’m relieved she’s safe” like. that’s it. he hugs her. and that’s about it he literally spends the rest of the book beside chirrut cooking for chirrut and bantering with chirrut

the fact that they’re apart more and more is played as something unusual and upsetting and reads like a relationship quarrel and

baze thinking during the convo with saw that he should have let chirrut come with bc he would have enjoyed the convo like... amazing. bc he left w/o him and then immediately was like ah. i am regret this. like it was so ?? couple-y like y’all it was like the call by bsb. like oh yeah no you don’t have to come with me stay home don’t wait up like... u could feel the wedge being driven between them... they needed to bone

but then after he’s like damn maybe i should listen to chirrut and all is set right by the end

chirrut with a tiny alien child i died even tho i don’t like kids i was still like ?? yes. like. just ?? him and baze adopting a small alien kid ok. baze is like hmm bc he doesn’t want to fuck up a kid but he can’t say no bc chirrut is so set on it

chirrut being angry at himself bc he SO BADLY WANTS TO HELP EVERYONE AND DRIVE THE EMPIRE AWAY BUT HE CAN’T DO IT AND HE FEELS LIKE A FUCKIN IDIOT FOR THINKING HE WAS STRONG ENOUGH LIKE?? MY BABY

“baze tried to remember the last time he’d seen chirrut happy” like. he’s so sad and baze is thinking of this like he notices his moods and everything and that’s of concern to him

them both knowing FROM FAR AWAY THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG/KNOWING THAT THE OTHER ONE KNOWS SMTH IS WRONG like. literally baze is like “welp. he knows something’s fuckarinoed” just by the SLIGHT EXPRESSION ON CHIRRUT’S FACE

honestly chirrut was just really amazing in the book and i love him so much and baze was also amazing and i love him so much

THEM BOTH??? TRYING TO GET THE OTHER TO LEAVE JEDHA?? BC THEY WANT THE OTHER TO HAVE A CHANCE AND THEM BOTH BEING LIKE HAHAHA...guess i’m not getting rid of u huh and that’s the END SCENE.it says “their city” as they stand and watch the orphans go to safety after they literally dadded saw’s men like “wow i’m not angry just disappointed” lmfao

anyway it was such a good book they share a bed. like. amazing.

#this is really long and basically is every thought i had #they just? love each other so much? like.. gdi

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troublewithcomics · 8 years ago

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Writer: Charles Soule Artist: Goran Sudžuka Colourist: Matt Milla

“The Seventh Day” begins in Daredevil #15, following up on the traumatic events of the previous “Dark Art” story-arc that left Daredevil’s protégé, Blindspot, in the hospital with life-changing injuries.

There is a lot of guilt in this issue and Charles Soule lays it on thick. There’s Matt Murdock’s guilt over failing Blindspot and having him wind up in the hospital, but it’s compounded later by Matt going to confessional and adding Catholic guilt to the mix. It’s ultimately kind of bleak and feels rather heavy-handed.

Now, I have to say that I enjoy darker Daredevil stories, I’ve always felt that he’s a character that lends himself to more serious stories that go to deep, emotional places. That’s not really what I see here. Soule instead seems to be pushing Matt into a situation where he’s set himself up for suicide-by-supervillain and that just seems extreme.

Given the reveal at the end, maybe it was to draw someone out, but it ultimately feels like an irrational decision based on guilt. There’s a parallel drawn with one of the would-be-assassins attempting to claim the bounty Daredevil puts on himself, through the guilt and anger he feels over the loss of his wife and his son’s losing the use of his legs, but it’s cut short in the confrontation, with an ending that will likely only lead to more guilt on Matt’s part. It also seems even more irrational when you think about events in Matt’s life, some of which are recapped through his thoughts at the church, for which he’d feel even more remorse and responsibility.

Somewhere during the “Dark Art” story-arc--most noticeably during the big Inhumans guest-starring issue, but it started a bit in the second part of the arc--Matt Milla started using a more elaborate colour scheme. The colours were still muted, and there were still dotting effects for shading and colouring, but it was closer to “normal” palette. Here in the first part of “The Seventh Day”, the stylistic effect that the rest of the series has seen is gone and Milla is using a fairly flat, “normal” colour scheme.

I miss the stylistic flair. It really set the book apart and now it just looks like any other comic.

That’s not to say that the artwork looks bad, that’s impossible when the story is illustrated by Goran Sudžuka, just that one of the things that made Daredevil distinct has been lost this issue.

For his part, Sudžuka’s art is great and it’s nice to see him trading off arcs again with Ron Garney, even if this is just another short two-parter. He provides a nice, clean style ample with solid black shadows that suits the world of Daredevil.

Ultimately, this is probably my least favourite of Soule’s run on Daredevil so far. I’ve really liked everything up to this point, so there’s no fear of me dropping the title, but the first part of “The Seventh Day” is kind of a weak point. There are some nice things in following up on the end of “Dark Art”, and there’s an attempt from Soule to have Matt do some soul-searching after how detached he’s been throughout a large part of the run, but the guilt... The guilt is just heavy and how Matt’s dealing with it feels odd. Sudžuka delivers some great art, though.

Although I would easily recommend Soule’s Daredevil from the beginning, and despite this issue being relatively easy to slip into with previous necessary information being provided, I wouldn’t recommend starting here. The emotional resonance that would inform the story is lacking for new readers and I’d suggest starting at the very least with the “Dark Art” story-arc that began in #10, if not from the beginning of this volume.

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Sara Pichelli Inking Assist: Gaetano Carlucci Colourist: Justin Ponsor

Spider-Man #12 kicks off a crossover with Spider-Gwen that sees Miles dimension-hopping over to Gwen’s Earth to track down his father, who has gone missing after being sent on an off-the-books mission from Maria Hill and SHIELD. Technically, the story started last issue, focusing on Miles’ father’s training before being sent on the mission, but it’s not necessary to read for the enjoyment of this story.

Brian Michael Bendis tells this story as a story being told by Miles to his roommates, which in one fell swoop allows for the possibility of an unreliable narrator and a reason for some of Bendis’ telltale dialogue quirks of characters sounding the same and different people repeating the same lines of dialogue.

In regards to the first point, it sets up both the sequence of Miles and Gwen making out in a more suspect light. It could just be Miles trying to show off to his friends and fabricate a story as to how his meeting with Gwen occurred. It certainly goes a ways to make the idea of a twenty-something Gwen making out with a teenage Miles a little more acceptable, although I’m not sure anyone reasonably thought about that aspect of the pairing through with the promotion and advertising I’ve seen for the issue.

It also goes to explain how obsequious Maria Hill seems to be in recruiting Miles to search for his father, even if that doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense given how much of an infodump her dialogue seems to be.

The second point of Bendis’ dialogue quirks, while explained away by the storytelling nature of the framing narrative, is still a repeated dialogue quirk present in most of his writing. There’s an in-story explanation for it here, even if it’s not explicitly spelled out, but to those who may be tired of the same dialogue beats, they’re still present here.

As to the story itself, this issue is almost entirely set-up. It’s mainly Miles telling Ganke and Goldballs how he embarked on his dimension-hopping search for his father, a brief run-in with Earth-65′s version of The Ringer, and then running into Spider-Gwen for the cliffhanger.

There’s a bit of humour and some nice characterization for Miles through his narration to his friends, but there’s not a lot of forward momentum beyond setting up the situation, something that was already pretty much done in a single page last issue.

Sara Pichelli’s artwork is nice, though. Particularly nice is Maria’s rocket boots, a bit of Earth-65′s alternate take on New York’s Chinatown which also gives colourist, Justin Ponsor, a chance to show off some neon glow, and her take on Spider-Gwen herself.

While it may seem that I didn’t like this issue, it actually is fairly entertaining. If you’ve grown to dislike Bendis’ dialogue, this isn’t for you, but if you still do, it’s not a bad issue of set-up. It is heavy in exposition and can be seen as an over-extension of something that was essentially accomplished by a single page previously, but it is entertaining. Whether or not the story will be fleshed out more, and given a different perspective or context from Gwen’s point of view, remains to be seen.

Bendis’ Spider-Man can still be fun, and you get the impression that he’s more invested in telling stories with Miles than several other of his current titles, which results in a bit deeper characterization and storytelling.

Writers: Ryan North, Will Murray (15-year old sequence) Artists: Erica Henderson, Steve Ditko (costume illustration) Colourist: Rico Renzi

For Squirrel Girl’s 25th anniversary, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #16 celebrates her 20th birthday with snippets of her life story, told in five year intervals. It starts with her parents and then ends with a possible future.

Ryan North (with help from Will Murray in a sequence I’ll get to late) tells the story of “Squirrel Girl in a nutshell” over the course of five vignettes and an epilogue, beginning with a montage of her parents meeting, going through the usual courtship period, and finally with Doreen’s birth.

It continues on, mainly focusing on Doreen’s birthdays, at five, ten, fifteen, and finally twenty as we see how her squirrel powers manifest, how she first realises that she can talk to squirrels, how she was inspired to use her talents as a superhero by her first squirrel friend, Monkey Joe, how she helped the Hulk defeat the Abomination, and, finally, her current twentieth birthday party attended by a number of Marvel’s heavy-hitters.

North does a great job of spreading humour throughout the book, but I think one of the more important things he does is impart a message to children during the 10-year old Doreen sequence. Not only does he show that anybody can really be a hero with what they’re given, if they can accept who they are and what they have, but also that children shouldn’t give up on dreams or possibilities, just because they’re kids.

Squirrel Girl co-creator Will Murray also writes a six-page sequence of Doreen when she’s 15 of her encounter with the Hulk and the Abomination that is as funny as most of what North presents throughout the book. A blind Hulk in a fight with the Abomination being led by Squirrel Girl’s commands is rather amusing.

It’s also interesting to see Erica Henderson adapt to both the time-period for Doreen’s costume and to the different style of Murray’s writing and more numerous panels, without it at all seeming out of place with the tone or style of the rest of the book.

Henderson’s artwork, as usual, can be something to get used to. She has a habit of drawing “ugly” faces, but it’s a style that suits the offbeat nature of the title and she’s excellent at portraying action, humour, and animal antics, particularly on display in both the Hulk sequence and in Doreen’s rescue of Monkey Joe from a corgi in the panels above.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #16 is an excellent introduction to the world of Squirrel Girl for new readers, giving them a leg up on Doreen’s history as well as the quirky and fun style that North and Henderson employ on the title. Between this issue and last issue’s focus on Nancy’s cat, Mew, there are two wonderful ways to ease yourself on to the series with strong, solid stories.

I’d recommend this to anyone who wants to see what the fuss is about one of Marvel’s quirkier, funnier titles, as well as anyone who just likes offbeat superheroes.

Next: More spiders! And monsters most likely.

d. emerson eddy has never been to the beaches of Ipanema and, perhaps sadly, doesn’t know a girl from there either. He has, however, seen a baby elephant walk.

#Monday #Marvel #Daredevil 15 #Charles Soule #Gordan Sudzuka #Spider-Man 12 #Brian Michael Bendis #Sara Pichelli #Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 16 #Ryan North #Will Murray #Erica Henderson #posts by d. emerson eddy

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theliterateape · 4 years ago

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Ripe for Indoctrination and Thirsty for a Glass of Ice Cold Kool Aid

by Don Hall

It happened my Junior year in high school at a stadium concert in Western Samoa.

The conversion had been a long time coming. I was a bit of an intentional outcast among the more popular kids in my Where-the-Fuck-Are-We? Kansas high school and, being a typical teenager despite my ingrained belief that I was fully non-conforming and different than this cast of Heartland Rednecks, finding inroads to the cool crowd was definitely on my mind.

Krystal Good (name changed because I’m not a complete dick). She was the captain of the cheerleading squad and president of the school’s chapter of the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). Turned out one did not need to be an athlete but you had to be a Christian or at least be open to the relentless witnessing and Bible studies. The thing is I wanted to fuck Krystal. She was untouchable but hung out with that FCA crowd.

At one point, I randomly asked her how to join. Her reaction was effusive.

“Oh, Don. I’m so happy you’re asking. You would be such a powerful witness for Christ.” And she held my hand for a moment that, in my head, was instantly underscored by some awful Christopher Cross song. I was hooked.

Remarkably, as I started attending, I mostly listened and kept my built-in skepticism at bey. I wasn’t there to antagonize the Believers — I was there to get a finger into Krystal’s cheerleading panties. Once I understand the language and the right things to say, I went in for the facade.

I was a True Believer in Getting Laid Through Profession of Non-Existent Faith.

Meetings were almost always the same. Krystal would lead an opening prayer that was designed to remind us all of our supplication to the Lord followed by what could only be called vapid confessionals: each of us had to relate a couple of sins we committed during the week and how we repented for them.

“I cheated on my algebra test. I felt really guilty so I went out of my way to be nice to [INSERT ONE OF THE THREE BLACK KIDS IN SCHOOL].” “I lied to my mom about being at practice because I was playing Dig Dug at the Circle K. I promised God that I would be honest next time.” “I felt really angry at Mr. Telfer and wanted to kill him. I guess I didn’t kill him so that’s OK, right?”

At which point, once we had all told our stone-skipping sins (we rarely got into drug-taking, drinking, or sex because, hey, that’s personal and between me and Jesus...) it all devolved into a standard high school gossip session complete with Mountain Dew, Taco-flavored Doritos, and fudge brownies that one of the girls made in Home Ec.

Despite my efforts to cozy up to Krystal, it was never to be. She really was untouchable. On the other hand, my newfound faith became an entry point to many lesser desired vaginas so it wasn’t a total waste.

Close to the end of my Junior year, I was encouraged to audition for a touring mission group called The Continental Singers. Effectively a proselytizing show choir with a six-piece band, the bonus was summer travel. That summer the group was going to Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, and the Samoan Islands. Plus, we got paid a stipend and had free housing and food.

I put on my best On Fire for the Lord attitude, answered all the questions right, played a few bars on my trumpet and I was in.

What I didn’t realize was that I was now going to spend my every waking hour for three months with True Believers. A few of them spectacularly hot young women. This was going to be a challenge to keep up the pretense and not expose myself for the poser I had become.

Early into the summer, my rooming partner, Steve, started to catch on. When my guard was down, I didn’t seem that Christian in his opinion. Sure, I had all the right answers but got quickly bored with too much dogma and talk of the Bible. Word sort of spread and the indoctrination became a bit heavy-handed.

The show we performed went like this:

Band played an overture

The ‘show’ was an originally written version of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat but with different music and some really terrible dialogue. Turned out a lot of it was verbatim from the Word of God so I’m assuming God can write a bestseller but not a musical.

Following the show (about 45 minutes in length) our director would come up and do a “Come to Jesus, Won’t You?” sermon followed by an opportunity for anyone in the audience to receive the call, embrace the love of Christ, and publicly commit themselves to God.

The last part was always eloquent and a bit relentless.

“You know in your heart that you are a sinner in need of redemption.” “Man is born in sin and must accept the saving grace of our lord.” “Jesus died to fulfill the Law of the Old Testament. Confess your sin and it will be washed clean.” “How about a couple of bucks once you’ve joined?”

OK. That last line was more implied than stated but the last section of the night was a prayer and offering plates passed around by the cast while the band played inspiring tunes adagio. People came up in droves to publicly admit they were permanently stained with sin and receive the acceptance of the rest of the herd.

We were mostly free during the day and we would go out in teams to recruit audience members for that night. The teams shifted around and almost every day I was gently nudged toward the idea that, while I was a Christian (wink wink) it was a beautiful experience to re-affirm my faith publicly.

Every day for 45 days or so this message was pounded into my soft adolescent brain and often by these stellar looking women of Christ. The Kool Aid was looking mighty tasty and I began to question whether my resistance to the whole thing was merely my sinful ways fighting back. It was as if they’d heard my objections a thousand times and didn’t need me to say them out loud to pitch their liturgical woo.

Mind you, this was long before smartphones and I was thousands of miles from home. I felt isolated but only because I simply couldn’t intellectually buy into the party line. I missed American food, my car, my friends, television, movies, and books written by living authors without the agenda to convert me to religion. I missed masturbating and saying ‘fuck’. I missed being myself.

One night at a show in Western Samoa in August, as the director was making his emotional pitch, when he asked if there was anyone who wanted to commit themselves to Christ, he looked directly at me. Three or four of the cast members followed his gaze and looked at me with smiles that said “We understand. Take the leap. We approve.”

And I drank the Kool Aid. All of it. In one weepy gulp.

I was dubbed “Born Again.” And I believed it as firmly as I had previously disbelieved.

From that point, I was in the freaking club. Knowing that soon we’d all be back in various states around the country, the talk was that our friends wouldn’t understand but it was our responsibility to show them. I was told that anyone we couldn’t get to see the power of Christ was a poison that we should cut out of our lives. Friends, family, anyone. Either with us or against us with no wiggle room on it.

When I came home I had heard the pitch so many goddamned times it was like a script filled with buzzwords and catchphrases that I could recite with gusto.

Some five years later, the magic wore off. While my mom is the kind of Christian who truly tries to judge no one and feed the poor, too many I encountered were not. She and the people I’ve met through her are the kind of True Believers you read about and by whom you should be inspired (that’s not me being partial to my mom - she started a Food Bank in a closet of a church that has now grown to serve four counties in rural Kansas). Most were either wearing their Jesus Bowling Shirts each week or worse — the kind of Christians who teargas a group of peaceful protesters so they can walk across the street to pose with a Bible and then make a campaign video about it. You know, the pussy-grabbing kind of Christians.

What happened during those five years are stories for a different time but the result of this conversion and the later coming to my senses is this: I know cult-think when I hear it. When it rears its head, I’ve been there.

Faith is a very personal thing. Like watching a Marvel movie or reading the 1619 project, it requires a certain suspension of disbelief. It can be a salve in the human experience as we are creatures born to existential crisis. Turns out, we need something to hang onto beyond our own survival to thrive as a species. It can also be used as a bludgeon for power and cultural control and has often in history been exactly that.

I understand how easy it is, seeking the approval of others, to agree to a guilt that isn’t yours to bear out of a sense of belonging (or to get laid). Of confessing sins you don’t feel at all responsible for but do anyway because that Kool Aid is delicious, ain’t it? The reward of feeling like you’re accepted by the crowd, that you are, indeed, a voice for the word of...whomever is selling the most potent elixir, is comforting.

One of the hallmarks of a cult is that it tries to cut you off personally from anyone who sees the world differently than they do. When you see people urging others to completely cut off their friends and families over an issue, it's a cult. Anyone selling you the idea that you are “born in sin” based entirely upon inclusion in your race, gender, sexual preference is pitching a cult mindset. Any concept that creates a circular maze of proof (If you admit you’re a sinner, you’re a sinner. If you deny you’re a sinner, you’re a fragile sinner) is offering you an ice cold glass of Kool Aid.

Remember that there are, like, fifty different flavors of Kool Aid but they’re all just sugary water with food coloring.

#Christianity #the tools of religion #Conversion #cult think

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