#we also love a reformed womanizer but that's neither here nor there

[bitacrytic]

We love a consistent man in this household

I usually hate it when characters only change their perspective when it directly concerns them or someone they love. It's realistic but so heartbreaking.

But Janghyun has been consistent in one thing: rape doesn't ruin a woman.

He's said this about strangers. He's said this to the little gisaeng that grew up. Which was why his reaction to Gilchae was magical.

He wasn't just suddenly realizing it. He wasn't just changing his mind because the woman he loved had been violated. He wasn't making an accommodation just for her.

He was just stating a fact that he believes: she deserves hugs not insults.

[berlinbabylon]

review of s4 (skip if you don’t want to read criticism)

SPOILER WARNING

so, i finished season 4 a couple of days ago and... i liked some parts of it and one episode was good (episode 8) but for the most part i really absolutely hated this season and i never thought i would say that. in my opinion, it actually got worse towards the end! i must be living in a different reality from everyone else.

i’m sorry. i really am. but i have to get this off my chest:

- charlotte double-wielding guns and shooting up those white hand idiots like she’s in a john woo movie? awesome! except... it was dumb af. this could have been so good, i’m a huge genre fan of this type of action, but not at the expense of a character’s intelligence. there was zero reason for her to barge in there when she did. at least make it seem like they’re just about to kill the good pathologist, have them string him up or whatever and she sees and has absolutely no alternative but to intervene. or have them conclude their meeting and start making for the door. please, i’m begging, just anything to make her desperate actions make sense.

- malu taking a shot for kiddie fiddler wendt? thanks, i fucking hate it. for that matter, i hate what they did to wendt’s character.

- for that matter, awesome lgbt+ rep or uhmm not. reinhold and fred don’t even get a kiss or any significant scene together (the couples date at the very end is cute but too little too late) although fred actually has a fairly important role to play this season. we never even really get to see them talk about his decision to work for that nazi paper. like, what. okay, fred quits at the end, good for him, but does this qualify as a character arc now?

- speaking of lgbt+ rep, them blowing up the esther/edgar/walter polycule only to have walter go “well whattaya gonna do. i loved him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” right as he croaks was the most ridiculous thing i’ve seen in a long while and didn’t land at all. i actually cackled. i can’t believe they turned the complex dynamic they had introduced in s3 into this clichéd jealousy mess that had no nuance whatsoever. i’m stunned people preferred their storyline this season. it didn’t track at all. neither did edgar showing up again (as i had predicted) and gereon believing him about wanting to broker peace in the underworld. el oh el.

- also edgar being like “oh btw we need to kill doktor schmidt, he’s an evil mastermind” was an absolutely ridiculous and lame way to try and advance that storyline. it also just got dumped in there and you don’t get any sense that it’s influencing gereon or his character actions at all. not that he has much of an arc or anything this season anyway but back when the show was still good (and by good i mean exceptional), his drug addiction and guilt complex was a major driving force behind much of what he did, how he behaved at work etc. here, in s4, you have to be grateful that they belatedly remember to send him to confession because he’s a catholic but that scene also just unceremoniously gets dumped in there. not to compare but since we have already seen an absolutely outstanding confession scene this tv season (in interview with the vampire, fabulously acted by jacob anderson), i couldn’t help but notice how the confession with gereon was neither written well, nor particularly acted well, nor integrated in its episode well, nor, in fact, scored well.

- max raabe’s ein tag wie gold is a bop but other than that, this season was not scored well and i say that as someone who owns the first two soundtrack releases on vinyl. there were many times when i noticed that something was off, where the music actively worked against the scene it was supposed to be enhancing. the song at the shabbat dinner was nice but as a jewish friend who i watched it with pointed out, them playing piano on shabbat is very sus, even if they’re a reform household. there was a woman with a wig which indicates (ultra) orthodox. not going to nitpick that scene any further though because the shabbat dinner and abe goldstein’s character in general were a highlight (although i loathed the storyline he was stuck in).

- tell me you don’t want to write actors out of the show without telling me. nyssen and helga have long overstayed their welcome. nyssen they could justify by having him pop up from time to time in connection to the rocket science “plot”. but he’s lars eidinger (who’s great), so. helga has just become whatever they needed her to be. anne marie’s actress had some extremely dodgy acting going on this season, sorry to say. i don’t even want to talk about the idiocy of how they wrote this storyline which could have been extremely good and important. i’ll just say that i laughed my ass off when anne marie clocked abe with her flute but generally it was not a good choice to play these kidnappings for laughs (and i guess these rich people just have no security whatsoever, even after the first kidnapping). there’s a time and a place and this storyline wasn’t it. but rich people, funny, or something. well, they are ridiculous.

- the whole story with the butler. talk about wasting screentime. his götz von berlichingen monologue was also really bad although i was delighted when i heard the verses. it just didn’t land. that goes for many scenes this season imo. i don’t know if it was the directing or what but even stuff that looks interesting on paper just does not come across well. it just comes across as ridiculous and manieriert. but not in the good way. (there is a way to do this well and the show used to walk that line very well. not anymore, it seems.)

- (side note: the frivolity of the movie industry provided the perfect pastiche for that sort of thing in s3. which is why i really vibe with it, as someone who’s a huge fan of 1930s movies. didn’t even mind that they relocated the apex of expressionism into the late 1920s when that’s very ahistorical. but anyway that’s a different topic.)

- actually as a last point on the nyssen storyline, abe goldstein shooting a hole in the ship instead of shooting anne marie in the head made me groan. it was so obviously written that way just to give her a chance to pop up later again. it made absolutely no sense, even if you try to handwave it as an attempt at poetic justice. neither did helga leaving her down there make any sense. she had no way of knowing that abe would kill her or make it seem like he killed her. at that point, helga still looked like she could think straight, she didn’t tumble around deliriously, she made a clear choice. and they just did it for the twist, not because it made sense for the character in that moment.

- the show was always very drunk on coincidences, twists of fate etc in that 19th century charles dickens / victor hugo way and i could dig that for the most part because they had this rich tapestry of social commentary going on. while i can still appreciate the breadth of society that they’re trying to show, it now comes across as shallow, there’s no immersion, i was extremely distanced from everything going on and couldn’t have cared less, which is a damn shame considering that this is where we should start feeling even more involved.

- as for one storyline that i couldn’t have cared less about: everything to do with toni. in fact, i think it would have been far more poignant if we hadn’t seen her for a season and hadn’t known what had become of her after running away and then when we least expect it, charlotte comes across her living on the streets, maybe while chasing a suspect or something. now that’s a coincidence i could buy. and such a scene would play like a gut punch. but they rob themselves of any dramatic impact by wanting to overexplain and overshow and being all pedagogical which is a huge problem in the writing of german tv shows and s4 of babylon berlin has started showing all the hallmarks of mediocre german tv and it makes me feel sick, considering how stylish and epic the previous seasons were.

- toni’s actress is not good. i’m sorry. i just have to say it. but also, they stuck her in a nothing storyline. moritz’ actor fares better but if they wanted to pair off the spares and get rid of them, they needed to do that in a way that would’ve left more screentime for the interesting and/or relevant stuff. like, uhm, everything to do with malu/litten/charlotte etc. it’s a damn crime that they didn’t do anything with lotte being fired from the police and then hired by litten. nothing. she gets to mope around at the bar a little bit and poor jacky gets to be her hapless sounding board (he deserves better, so many characters and actors in this cast deserve better). and then she gets to be gereon’s emotional support system. once again, charlotte is deprived of any and all agency and no, the double-wielding scene does not make up for it. the scenes in that haus sonneborn institution were well-shot, the horror film genre influence was clear, but unfortunately i don’t much care for horror films and i also, at that point, did not much care for toni or her friend or the pathologist (f*ck him for getting rudi killed in a very lame rip-off of stephan’s much superior exit) and we all knew lotte wasn’t going to die. that’s what i mean by immersiveness: where in previous seasons i’d have been on the edge of my seat with tension and dread, this didn’t elicit much emotion from me at all. except for the groan when lotte did her thing at the end there. the only good thing to come out of that was her conversation with gereon about her guilt which was the only time in the entire season where i believed a scene between them, emotionally, and was invested.

- i guess that, on the bright side, she got to be happy. i support that. even though i don’t believe it should have to come at the expense of the show being good. and she still had to go through that awful ordeal of the dance marathon. (one of the few memorable scenes of the season, at the very least.)

- random but i very much liked the actor playing oskar. and he was very much underutilized. really, don’t get me started on the entire debacle that was malu’s storyline. i think i’d rather have watched an entire season set on that zeppelin than what we ended up with.

- litten not even being in the finale should actually be considered a crime against humanity considering he’s literally the best character on the show at this point. for that matter, the trial against katelbach and the undermining of the legal system and the press should have been a much bigger arc and point. katelbach still being a comic relief character only used to bumble about not knowing whether he did propose to behnke or not is absolutely ridiculous. these are the characters we’ve come to know and care about and they were paid absolute dirt in s4. behnke’s best scene was the train heist and even that was not edited or scored well but hey, at least it was amusing and they did something with some sort of flair there.

- going back to lotte for a moment. i’m happy for the charlotte/gereon shippers that they got so much fucking out of them this season (to be crude, then again so is the show) but i can’t be the only one who thought they were awkward as all hell together. i never shipped them but i did always like their dynamic and i thought their kiss in s3 was magical. what they did with them here did absolutely nothing for me, i cringed when she visited him at the station and their idea of sexy talk in between kisses was discussing case-related work. none of it had the levity, flirtation or charm you’d see in a lubitsch film (one of the alleged inspos for this season) although liv lisa fries sold the hell out of her infatuated smiles and looks. volker bruch trying to smile was physically painful to me, however. sure, it could be charming that he’s an awkward turtle duck but considering everything we know about the bts issues, it really didn’t endear me any further. i dread having to watch them be awkward together in future seasons and i absolutely dread lotte’s only purpose being tied up in that. for that matter, how did she earn her badge back at the end? surely not with her double-wielding gun action? but it’s not like the show really cared to pursue this as a storyline or her as a character this season, so why should i care.

- the way they threw rukeli in there at the very end of the season was almost offensively bad. i was extremely excited for him to show up ever since they had insinuated that he’s her half-brother in s3. the actor here was fine (i wouldn’t count on him being accurately or sensitively cast bc german productions usually don’t do this, haven’t checked it, however) but you’re really going to do a whole season where boxing is at the very least on the periphery and you’re only going to throw him in at the end to make some sort of point? we didn’t even get to stay with him and lotte during their first meeting? we’re just supposed to believe they have some sort of relationship now after that camera shot panned out, showing them through the window of the café? i’m sorry but what?

- worst of all: them having him use chalk as white paint to mock the nazis in the audience to make a point. you can’t make a character we’ve barely even met the dramatic and emotional high point of the season. and i’m sorry but rukeli was a real person and in real life he was forced to present himself with bleached hair and white paint in an “aryanized” form, this was part of the abuse he suffered!!! it makes me absolutely mad to think about how they tried to turn this into some kind of empowerment thing here. nevermind that at this point in time, audiences were still overwhelmingly on his side and actually protested against fights being rigged against him. i just absolutely hate everything this scene chooses to be. i also hate how gereon walks up to that one guy who can command~ the crowd and we get a flashback to something that happened in the same episode, like, just 30 minutes earlier, to remind us that this is the guy he refused to shoot so they can defuse the situation in the dumbest most construed way possible. i feel like i’m losing my mind when i see people say that this is good writing. good writing would have involved audiences not needing a flashback to something that happened in the same episode, just because almost nothing in this season is giving anything resembling the appropriate weight and focus.

- speaking of which, the case of the season was so uninteresting and lame i even forgot to talk about it. and i still don’t have anything to say. except one thing: why did weintraub not immediately suspect that something was up with max (the henchman) when that car bomb went up killing the other henchman? because weintraub arrived in the car, went inside, came back outside and suddenly a bomb has been attached to his car in the meantime and max was standing there all the time? like, what?? this season is littered with this dumb shit and maybe it was prevalent in the other seasons as well and i just chose to overlook it because there was so much for me to love but i genuinely can’t believe five adults wrote this season and struggled so much with thinking any of it through. it feels like they just had little chess figures with pictures of the characters attached to them and tried moving them across a board.

- oh and one more thing about the flashback issue. böhm and his family being in that apartment at the very end was an absolutely ridiculous scene. his money issues were well-telegraphed, a little too well-telegraphed if you ask me, and his involvement in the shoot-up was already extremely obvious by the time his wife demands to know where he’s got his money from. that bit where he collapses against the wall and we get all these flashbacks to things an audience that’s half-way intelligent and half-way paying attention has already gotten long ago was just embarrassing for the show. the issue wasn’t just with the flashback, however, it was also with the way it was shot and edited. so many scenes this season really don’t land as intended. i feel bad for the actors because they’re doing their best and they’re also not at fault for this weird issue in german shows where they do really bad ADR (re-dubbing scenes when there were sound issues in the footage from set, it makes dialogue sound very unnatural and strange and the show always had this issue in certain scenes but in this season it’s amplified to the max, i almost couldn’t watch the edgar/gereon reunion because of the bad sound engineering). but woof that böhm family scene could have been a highlight but the way he creepily said something to the effect of them never being separated (probably telegraphing an eventual fate that we call “erweiterter suizid” in german where usually a man kills his family and then himself) and then the show just straight up cutting to the nyssen last will scene without giving any of it the time to sink in was absolutely comical. i’m sorry. but there are scenes this season that feel amateur and i don’t think you can blame it on covid when the editing is at issue.

- having said all of that, i was excited for gereon’s arc this season and imo they never did anything of note with him undercover in the SA. why not have him befriend stennes for real, become conflicted about what he’s trying to do (and, well, in fact him and the police president do want stennes to succeed so it wouldn’t even have been that outlandish). him talking to the police president about the mission at home while his very much indoctrinated nephew is in listening distance was so so dumb omg.

- the stennes putsch which i also was very much looking forward to was such a flop that fizzled out without any real spark. his confrontation with wendt was lame af. the actor is awesome, his interactions with wendt in s3 were intriguing and this what it all leads up to? gdi. i can’t believe they wasted so much time on that homophobic blackmail material plot when it was never even picked up again after it got stennes out of prison. he never should have gone to prison before the putsch, he already had his conflict with wendt from last season, they could have saved so much time on this and dedicated it to something actually interesting. and if you actually want to get into the messiness of homophobia and homosexuality in the SA, röhm and all, you better be prepared to bring on figures like magnus hirschfeld (it’s honestly ridiculous he hasn’t even been referenced on the show yet because he was super famous in berlin and germany in general and also a favorite target of the nazis). reference the harden-eulenburg affair. do something with this. not just have wendt buggering a kid in a park. i like that gräf was quietly pissed at gereon about the whole thing but this should never have been a storyline in the way it was implemented.

- it really ruined wendt on top of things. not that it made him worse as a person because he was already bad before (though lbr it did make him worse ofc) but it made him a whole lot more uninteresting as a villain (he only seemed to find his groove back in the last two episodes). the interesting part of his dynamic with malu in s3 was the intellectual clash of ideologies. while i did not and do not ship them, i was very intrigued to see where they would take that in s4. well, i have my answer. they skipped any and all interesting and relevant development and turned it into an extremely clichéd and lame honey trap plot because we all know communists loved honey traps. groan. (yes, i watched the americans.) also, rilke is my favourite poet and has been for many many years and wendt needs to keep his words out of his damn mouth. i can’t believe they revealed that wendt used to sexually abuse underaged boys and still wanted us to think that his relationship with malu is in any way romantic, cute or intriguing?

- i was so rooting for doktor völcker to get him and then malu just had to take a bullet for him. bruh. just when i thought i couldn’t hate this season more. i know i already mentioned it but still. at least she didn’t die from it, small blessings, but her getting shot straight through the chest and then being back to spy shenanigans on the zeppelin not much later was just the height of ridiculousness. i always hated the train confrontation between gereon and bruno and it seems that the show is very very determined to evermore move towards that pulpy comic book-y version of the show that i can barely tolerate in order to get to the good stuff. but when there’s barely any good stuff to get to, it gets tough.

- do i even want to talk about edgar? him taking the kids away from esther was lame. anything to do with esther was lame. i can’t even muster more to say and edgar/gereon was one of my absolute favourite dynamics in s1/2 so i should’ve been overjoyed to see it make a return here. but, in the eternal words of the matrix: not like this.

- finally, doktor schmidt, eh? well. where to begin. first of all, jens harzer is one of the best living german actors, he’s phenomenal, and the fact that he still gets so little development is a fucking joke, frankly speaking. i might have liked his scene with alfred lying on the floor best. at least it was funny. his sessions with gereon were hamfisted in their analogies. his last scene with gereon also didn’t land, it was just groan-worthy. gereon repeating back his words just made it all the more obvious how much of their luster they have lost at this point. i can’t believe someone spoke schmidt’s platitudes in a serious way like some sort of cool mic drop when the “quelle der angst” stuff only works in that hypnotic evil drugged out therapy session way jens harzer says it. the cgi was also bad but that’s neither here nor there (there was a surprising number of badly lit and framed scenes in this season, idk if they changed cinematographers but even the staple shot of following a centered gereon with his hat around became extremely overused). the thing is that i’ve long been convinced that doktor schmidt isn’t actually anno / gereon’s brother, so i should be happy that he seems to be finally be revealed as a svengali type which i also find very fitting for the movies and culture the show references as well as the history it tries to reflect (in fact, this season was as thematically rich as ever, with many metaphors and analogies for the rise of evil etc etc but what good is that if it’s all pedagogical and the actual character writing is either non-existent or utter bullshit?). they’ve dragged this out for too long now. they also, and this might be the worst offense, have completely lost the connection gereon is supposed to have to this plot. nevermind helga or moritz. have doktor schmidt be a svengali figure, fine, love that, i vibe with it, but that doesn’t mean this plot should have no advancement. it really feels like they treaded water for as long as they could because they only had a very vague idea of where they wanted to go with this and still needed to figure out the details. well, hire some fucking writers (and by that i don’t mean hire your wife, like one of the director/writers did for s4).

- i’ve really come to loathe this very german tradition of producers, directors and others thinking they can write scripts themselves and that there are barely any decent writers around who are just that, writers. we have some that are barely okay but the structural issues of underpayment etc ensure that the talent that exists can’t turn this into a job. instead you really just have nepotism and all those people who think they can write but where the wheels eventually come off. now i’ve loved babylon berlin for a very long time, i’ve been there since the beginning, i’ve actually been there since the first press announcement (the show spent a lot of time in production hell before s1/2 saw the light of day, the budget kept ballooning etc). and i will say that i think the first three seasons featured some of the best that german tv has to offer. (s3 slightly less so but it was still entertaining and i think they did a really good job introducing a number of great characters like malu and litten in it, plus sabin tambrea is always fun!) but i must now question whether i was not more so taken in by the direction, the music, the style, and some very expertly shot and executed scenes that the show either cannot or does not want to afford anymore. the type of scenes that are needed to let the wild and often nonsensical plotting breathe and give the characters a chance to shine, to give all of it depth and resonance. i’m really so profoundly sad by the direction this show’s quality has taken and i have no idea whether it’s because one of the directors did more this season than the others, whether it was because of the new writers (i hope not). whatever happened, they had enough prep time and this just ain’t it.

- last point: i know how annoying it is when a show that you love gets hated on by others, so this is the last thing i’ll say about that. but i really needed to get this off my chest because i’ve been loving the show for a very long time, i’ve been investing a lot of time (not so much in recent years but before that) into spreading the word, at least here on tumblr and irl where i got several people into the show who all disliked s4 as well btw, i loved making gifs (which is also why i’d say i have a very good eye for the cinematography and style of the show and all the finer details but gif-making isn’t a real credential ofc lol). and i’m usually quite chill about stuff, i’m neither a super stan even when i love something (which is also why i didn’t watch it first thing it came out) nor am i a hater when i don’t like something but a case like this, where i genuinely loved something and it turns sour, that hurts, man. i’ll probably watch the next season - if there’s a next season! - because i still hold out hope that it might be better, i think it’s an important history to tell and the show had everything set up in order to tell it. there are two gif sets i want to make of this season (which is also always a good gauge for me to tell how i feel about something, and even those sets aren’t sets i absolutely want to do but i’ll do them nonetheless at some point; probably). after that i don’t think i will use this blog much anymore but i’ll keep it online for as long as tumblr is online because i always find it annoying when other people delete their stuff.

so long und auf wiedersehen!

[reallifesultanas]

The myths around Kösem Sultan's execution / A Köszem szultána halála körüli legendák

One of the most frequently discussed topics about the Sultanate of Women is the brutal execution of Kösem Sultan. Usually, the casual people think that she was assassinated by her son-in-law Turhan Hatice Sultan during a long power struggle. We have plenty of accounts of the events, but there are quite a few of them that are contemporary. In this post, I would like to summarize what we know, who were the characters of the events, and what might have happened that night. In the comments section or in Tellonyme, I look forward to everyone's opinion and comment about the topic so that we can discuss it! :) If you don't know Kösem Sultan, you can read her biography HERE.

What do we know for sure?

- After Ibrahim's dethronement and execution, Kösem Sultan became a regent to her grandson Mehmed IV. - Turhan, Mehmed’s mother, and Kösem Sultan were on different sides during the political games. - Kösem Sultan was killed by her enemies on September 2, 1651. - Turhan Hatice became the new regent, Kösem Sultan's executioners were not punished, but her supporters were soon killed.

Backstory

Kösem Sultan came to power for the second time in February 1640. Along with her crazy son, Ibrahim I, she began to rule the Ottoman Empire as regent. Everyone loved her, she had a huge experience in rule, she did a lot of charity. Everything seemed perfect, but her son, Ibrahim, soon came under the influence of bad advisers. Cinci Hoca was a religious leader in occult sciences who took advantage of the Sultan’s mental problems and seriously influenced him. As a result, the Sultan executed his Grand Vizier in 1644 and exiled his mother. He originally intended to send his mother to the island of Rhodes, but eventually, his concubines persuaded him to send her only to another palace. Kösem Sultan spent the next few years there in exile, but during that time she corresponded regularly with the statesmen and tried to keep everything under control. She probably wrote her well-known letter to Hezarpare Ahmed Pasha here, saying, "In the end, he will not leave you or me alive and we will lose control of the state again, thereby destroying our society." The situation deteriorated to the point that in 1647 Kösem Sultan and the new Grand Vizier, Salih Pasha and Seyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi tried to dethrone Ibrahim but they failed. The next year, both the Janissaries and the Ulema joined the rebellion, and on August 8, 1648, the mad sultan was easily dethroned and imprisoned and his followers were removed from positions.

Ibrahim was succeeded by his son, Mehmed, who was barely 6 years old, andso he needed a regent. The statesmen asked Kösem Sultan for the honorary task. The position of regent was usually held by teachers, pashas, or mothers (in the case of Mehmed II, the Grand Vizier was regent; in Ahmed I, his mother and teacher; in Murad IV, and Ibrahim's case their mother), so Kösem Sultan was the first grandmother to become regent. According to the most accepted opinions, this happened because Mehmed’s mother, Turhan Hatice, was not even 25 years old at the time, too young and inexperienced to run the empire. Anyhow Kösem Sultan started her third regency and she constantly disregarded Mehmed’s mother, Turhan. Because of Turhan’s youth, she might truly would not have been the best regent, yet she had every right to control the harem. Kösem Sultan, however, did not allow this to the young woman either. So Turhan, in vain was the mother of the reigning sultan, all her duties were ruled by Kösem Sultan. Kösem Sultan gained more and more enemies both in the divan and the harem, so both places split into two sides: Kösem Sultan and her supporters and Turhan Sultan and her supporters.

Two opposite sides and characters

Kösem Sultan and her supporters

Kösem Sultan ruled the empire as a regent for decades, and when she was not a regent, she followed events as valide sultan. Earlier in her life, she worked together with most of the pashas. During her first regency, she said that she, as the representative of the ruler, intended to be there at the divan meetings in person. This was not allowed by the pashas and so she was forced to accept. During her third regency, however, she was not bowing before anyone’s will. She had lost all her sons, buried at least one daughter, sacrificed her whole life for the empire, so then she refused to compromise on anything anymore. She wished to rule the empire as an absolute monarch. And in the divan she dismissed everyone who disagreed with her. More and more people began to debate her right for ruling. One of her well-known divan speeches happed around this time. Kösem Sultan accused the Grand Vizier Sofu Ahmed Pasha of wanting to kill her, then she continued: “Thank God I survived four rulers and I ruled for a long time myself. The world will neither collapse nor reform with my death.”

Kösem Sultan went too far. She didn't just change the pashas she did not like but replaced them with Janissary officers. The Janissaries have served her with allegiance since the first regency of Kösem Sultan. Back then, in 1623, she went against everyone and gave the Janissaries a huge amount of money after Murad IV's accession to the throne. Although there were rebellions and disagreements, basically the Janissaries - but at least some of their corps - were loyal to Kösem Sultan. Representation of the Janissaries has been a thing for centuries, but to make Janissaries — or simply soldiers — vizieres was too much. Pashas learnt a lot and bore a lot to reach the highest possible positions and they were aware of how to be good veziers. This was their only aim and Kösem put Janissary officers there instead of educated statesmen. Everyone in the divan felt that Kösem Sultan wanted to build a military rule so that she could lead the empire in a way she liked. Thus, by 1651, only a few corps of Janissaries were actually on the side of Kösem in political terms. Although the people still loved her for her generous charity, in political terms their support did not mean much.

In addition to the growing tension with the pashas, Kösem Sultan had a rival in the harem also. Although most sources treat it as a fact that the relationship of Kösem Sultan and Turhan was terrible, there is no evidence to that effect. The relationship between the two of them only began to deteriorate over time, but in general, it can be said that Kösem Sultan just did not care about Turhan at all. She certainly looked down on her and didn't think much about Turhan. Kösem Sultan, although she had her own harem staff, did not have the most influential eunuch. Moreover, some said most of her servants also found her unworthy after realizing the way she treated Turhan. Perhaps it is no coincidence that so many sources mention a servant named Meleki Hatun, who famously switched sides and betrayed Kösem Sultan and began to strengthen Turhan’s side.

Turhan Hatice Sultan and her supporters

Turhan Hatice had more allies and so was in a better position in the harem than Kösem Sultan. She received help from an influential eunuch, Suleiman Agha. Suleiman aga was the leader of the harem agas, an ambitious eunuch with great power and contact system, with significant political influence. The harem was actually torn in two, thanks to the supporters of Kösem Sultan and Turhan Hatice. Both sides had their own chief eunuchs, which caused immense chaos within the harem, people did not know whose instructions to follow. And although the title of Valide Sultan belonged to Turhan Hatice as the mother of the sultan, the vernacular referred to her only as “small valide,” while Kösem Sultan was called “big valide”. Suleiman Agha's support, however, was worth its weight in gold. The eunuch looked primarily at his own interests throughout his life, and he had a great understanding of how to exploit and influence people. This is precisely why the possibility arises that it was Suleiman who set Turhan up and turned her against Kösem Sultan. Perhaps it was Suleiman who - hoping for his own rise from the young valide - persuaded her to take what was her right. In addition, Suleiman Agha was very liked by the young sultan, becoming a kind of father figure for the boy. Of course, it is not my intention to underestimate the role of Turhan in the events, but at the same time, I feel that the role of Suleiman Agha is actually underrated and I would like to make that clear. I’m not saying Turhan was a naive girl led by the evil Suleiman Agha, I just think that without Suleiman’s support and incitement, Turhan probably wouldn’t have, or much later, confronted Kösem Sultan.

In addition to Suleiman, three other major eunuchs also sided with Turhan: Hoca Reyhan Agha, Lala Hajji Ibrahim Agha, and Ali Agha. Hoca Reyhan Agha was closest to Turhan as his associate and religious leader, but Lala Hajji Aga was also a long-term partner in Turhan’s life. In addition to the eunuchs, we must also mention Meleki Hatun, whose legend is well known. According to this, she was the one who betrayed the plan of Kösem Sultan to Turhan, thus saving the little Sultan Mehmed from death and dethronement. However, the reality is probably less romantic. It is unlikely that a previously insignificant, never-ever mentioned servant like Meleki would have known about Kösem Sultan's plans and so could betray her. Certainly, Meleki was given a bigger role in the legend than she actually had. Maybe Meleki has agreed to be a scapegoat, testifying against Kösem Sultan if she gets goods in return. Given what a huge fortune Meleki gained after Kösem Sultan’s death, we can’t rule out this option either. Even if Meleki brought supporters for Turhan within the harem, she could have had quite a bit of an impact on the whole event. In addition to Turhan, the key figure was Suleiman Agha, who also had a close relationship with the divan, so he could easily connect members of the divan who were dissatisfied with Kösem Sultan. The most influential supporter was none other than the Grand Vizier, Siyavuş Pasha, but practically the entire divan turned against Kösem Sultan so far. It should also be mentioned that although most formations of the Janissaries were impartial or were on Kösem Sultan's side, the Sipahies tended to the group of Turhan and her supporters.

What led to the tragic night?

Before turning to the immediate causes, we need to jump back a bit in time to better understand Kösem Sultan's behavior. As is well known, Ibrahim I was succeeded by his son, Mehmed, barely 6 years old, who needed a regent. The statesmen asked Kösem Sultan for the honorary task. However, the request was rather strange. Why is that? The regent position was usually held by teachers, pashas, or mothers, and Kösem Sultan was none. Moreover, Kösem Sultan rejected the request for the first time on the grounds that she no longer has the strength to rule further.

Why did Kösem Sultan take on the task? Did she really want to retire?

To understand Kösem Sultan's thoughts, we need to jump a little further back in time. Kösem Sultan was in exile for years during Ibrahim's reign. From her exile, she repeatedly attempted a coup against her own son. From one of her surviving letters in exile, it is clear that she was part of the coup that eventually dethroned her son. Outwardly, however, she showed a very different picture. After Ibrahim was shut down, they wanted to put his son, Mehmed, on the throne. Kösem Sultan then met with the statesmen at Topkapi Palace to discuss with them what Ibrahim's fate should be. They negotiated for hours, but Kösem Sultan all along refused to give Ibrahim's eldest son to the statemen. The statesmen had to publicly convince Kösem Sultan for hours. Kösem Sultan who had previously done everything to dethrone her son is now standing by his son. Why? Of course, we will never know exactly what happened in her mind. However, it seems probable, that Kösem Sultan wanted to keep the image of a loving mother in front of the soldiers and the people. If she would just agree to Ibrahim's dethronement and Mehmed's enthronement that would be strange from a loving mother. Therefore, she held a sham debate with the pashas not to lose the sympathy of the people, but at the same time to keep the empire safe. Kösem Sultan was an experienced politician who was able to rule for years, and her loving and caring mother image was essential to that. Thus, with Kösem Sultan's consent, Sultan Ibrahim was eventually closed up and Mehmed has proclaimed their new sultan. Perhaps the first rejection of regency in 1648 was also part of a play like this. Kösem Sultan maybe felt the people expect this of her, so she offered to retire, while maybe in the background she had already agreed with the pashas.

And why did the members of the divan let Kösem Sultan to be the regent? After all, any of the members of the divan or even Mehmed's teacher could have applied for the task. And that would give huge power to them. So why did they give this opportunity to Kösem Sultan?

Ibrahim I was executed on August 18, 1648. Some say Kösem Sultan gave her consent to the execution but it cannot be ruled out that the execution took place behind her back. As I mentioned above, the mother of the dethroned or assassinated sultans has traditionally retreated to the Old Palace, where they lived their remaining years politically inactive. In her case, however, this did not happen. This raises the possibility that Kösem Sultan was unaware of Ibrahim’s execution and the pashas tried to reconcile the shattered woman with this gesture. Maybe Kösem gave her consent, knew what will happen, but still in the end she couldn't bear the pain. Either way, after the execution Kösem Sultan has changed. She turned against the pashas with whom she had always cooperated before. Whichever version is true, we can clearly see that the Kösem Sultan who became a regent to Mehmed IV, was no longer the same woman who had previously been considered the beloved mother of the empire.

But who ordered the execution of Ibrahim? Do we know? No, we do not know. Actually any of the statesmen could do it, but either Suleiman Agha or Turhan Sultan could make the little sultan to sign the fetwa petition and then send it to the Seyhülislam to authorize. Anyhow, the fetwa was authorized with full right, as Ibrahim was very harmful to the empire.

The murder

As can be seen from the above summary, Kösem Sultan was trying to build an absolute monarchy in which no one but a few Janissary corpses supported her, so a huge team gathered against her. According to the well-known version, over time, the strife between Kösem Sultan and the statesmen escalated to the point that, with the support of Turhan Hatice, the statesmen tried to remove her from her position. Kösem Sultan in response to this planned to dethrone Sultan Mehmed and put her other grandson on the throne instead. To do this, she wanted to let the Janissaries into the palace so that they could carry out the coup at night, which is why she left the gate to the harem open for the night. However, Kösem Sultan's plan was revealed to her enemies. According to some it was a servant named Meleki Hatun, who betrayed Kösem and told her plans to Turhan. Thus, as soon as the men of Kösem Sultan opened the gate on September 2, 1651, the men of Turhan Hatice, led by Chief Eunuch Suleiman Agha, closed it and sent an execution squad to the residence of Kösem Sultan. When she heard knocking on her door Kösem Sultan thought that her own allies had come, so she shouted at them, “Have you come?”. However, instead of the voice of the Janissaries, she heard the voice of the eunuch Suleiman Agha, which made her panic and flee. It’s not exactly known if she did get out of her apartment and if yes then how because the descriptions don’t match. Some said she hid in a closet inside her apartment, others said she tried to get to the Janissaries, but she couldn’t get through the closed gate, so she finally hid in the room next to the gate.

The execution squad, which consisted of several eunuchs (Suleiman Agha, Hoca Reyhan Agha, Lala Hajji Ibrahim Agha, and Ali Agha, as well as some unknown eunuchs) continued the search. Kösem Sultan hid in a closet from which the edge of her dress protruded, revealing her hiding place. When they found her, she threw money at her executioners, trying to pay them off, but she had no chance against Turhan's loyal men. Legend has it that while the men tried to capture and strangle the valide sultan they ripped out her diamond earrings - which she had received from Sultan Ahmed - from her ears; torn apart her clothes as they tried to take away the precious ornaments from her. Kösem Sultan beyond her sixties fought very hard but in the end, the eunuchs overcame her. Some say she was strangled with her own hair, others said with a curtain. She survived the first strangulation attempt but did not survive the second.

However, there are several points in the story above that raise doubts:

- Kösem Sultan's problem was not Mehmed but was the pashas, Turhan and Suleiman Agha. Then why didn't she get rid of them? Wouldn’t it have been easier and more logical to kill these people than to dethrone one child sultan for the benefit of another child? Of course, we can justify this with the fact that Kösem Sultan was no longer sane, so let’s not even look for logic in her actions. However, it may also raise the possibility that perhaps Kösem Sultan was completely or at least partially innocent throughout the series of events. She may not have planned anything with the Janissaries, the whole plan was only invented by Turhan and her men to legitimize their own actions. However, it contradicts that the Janissaries were indeed preparing to gather on the tragic night, and it is unlikely that Turhan and her team could successfully cheat the Janissaries without Kösem Sultan realizing it. It is possible that Kösem Sultan was indeed prepared for a minor coup, but it was perhaps not directed against Mehmed. Kösem Sultan had to realize that besides the pashas, Suleiman Aga was behind the "rebellious" behavior of Turhan and Mehmed. I think Kösem Sultan planned a smaller coup in which she would have got rid of the eunuchs and servants she didn’t like and would have scared Mehmed and Turhan. This would have ensured her own power and that neither Turhan nor Mehmed would question her anymore.

- Why was Kösem Sultan killed in such a strange way? After all, the lawful, usual method of execution was by an execution squad with Seyhülislam fetwa and silk/bow string. (It is important to note, however, that female members of the dynasty have not been executed before, women have typically been punished only with exile.) Kösem Sultan in contrast was killed by inexperienced eunuchs, with a kind of fake fetwa, and by her own hair or a curtain. The question arises that perhaps the execution of Kösem Sultan was not even planned. If the execution would be planned, executioners could clearly kill her after a legal fetwa. About the fetwa... There was, of course, a fetwa, but the temporality is somewhat disturbed by the fact that the Seyhülislam was replaced by one of Turhan's trusted men just when the execution took place. Precisely because of this, and because of the unusual brutality of the execution, there is a possibility that perhaps the execution of Kösem Sultan was not originally planned, only things slipped out of control, and in the heat of the moment, the Eunuchs executed Kösem Sultan. In retrospect, to legalize the events, they produced a fetwa with the new Seyhülislam.

- But then who and why did finally decide that Kösem Sultan should die? Turhan was not present at the events, and since the murder was not planned in advance - based on the fetwa and executioners - I would remove her from the list of suspects. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Turhan Hatice Sultan and Suleiman Agha talked about this possibility also. It is more probable, however, that they originally merely wanted to scare Kösem Sultan, to show her that she had been exposed, that time had passed over her. In my opinion, Turhan hoped that Kösem Sultan would admit her defeat and simply retire to the Old Palace. It would have been too risky to kill a venerate and beloved valide, especially knowing that none of the female members of the dynasty had ever been executed before. They probably wanted to resign her, but so far there was nothing to lose for Kösem Sultan. The only thing that still made her vivid was power, so she certainly objected to the idea of ​​forced retreat. When Suleiman Agha realized that Kösem Sultan was not listening to them, perhaps out of fear, he decided they had to kill her. After all, if the enraged Kösem Sultan had come out of the palace, Suleiman and the other eunuchs would have found themselves headless at once. Although there is no evidence of it, my personal opinion is that Suleiman may have wanted this from the first minute, as he knew full well that Kösem Sultan would never retire. Either way, the eunuchs eventually defeated and executed the elderly valide in a way that could not be called professional at all.

- Can we completely rule out that Kösem Sultan was executed with a truly legal fetwa and by an execution squad? Unfortunately, this cannot be ruled out either. The English ambassador, for example, reported that an execution squad had killed Kösem Sultan after a fetwa requested by the young sultan. He said that the execution happened in front of Mehmed eyes. We must admit though that the English ambassador was not among the best-informed ones. It is likely that everyone at the time believed that the fetwa was pre-issued. Only later, after historians’ research, it became very possible that the fetwa was presumably made after the execution of Kösem Sultan. It is not seems reasonable that Kösem Sultan would have been executed before the eyes of her 10-year-old grandson, Mehmed. Turhan tried very hard to protect her son, unlikely to have exposed him to such a trauma. Mustafa Naima agrees with the English ambassador that the execution was planned in advance, but he said it was not the eunuchs but an execution squad that killed Kösem Sultan. However, then why was the execution brutal? Why wasn't there a silk/bow string? Why was it performed by unfit eunuchs?

The aftermath of the murder

To prevent any resistance, during the night, Turhan Hatice and her men removed all statesmen who would have endangered them. The first man to be appointed that night was Ebu Said Efendi, the new Seyhülislam. He was the one who eventually issued the fetwa for the execution of Kösem Sultan (in retrospect). Turhan then sent a message to all statesmen and soldiers to immediately go to an audience where they would take allegiance to Sultan Mehmed. Most, out of fear or out of sincere feelings, immediately approached the Sultan, and those who did not, the new Seyhülislam issued a fetwa for them. Thus it became lawful to execute the supporters of Kösem Sultan, since they did not appear before the Sultan either. And the rebellious Janissaries were thus stigmatized as traitors and were legally executed. For commoners, they became the scapegoat for the death of Kösem Sultan. After the murder, Kösem Sultan was transported to the Old Palace, where her body was prepared for the funeral. She received an imperial funeral, and the people of Istanbul voluntarily held 3-day mourning, closing all shops and stores. Kösem Sultan has always been popular among the people, but interestingly the same people did not turn against Turhan because of the death of Kösem Sultan, in fact, Turhan became as loved and revered valide sultan just as Kösem Sultan was.

What happened to the real culprits? Turhan and Mehmed escaped, of course, but it is questionable whether they had any part in the murder at all. It is true that a rebellion in 1656 seriously shook their power, but in the end, they did not lose it. The main reasons for this were the weak Grand Veziers, the resurgent Celali rebellion, and the war with the Venetians. Due to the war people of the capital did not get enough grain, the soldiers were not properly paid, but ordinary people were also increasingly dissatisfied, especially angered by the extreme wealth of those close to the Sultan. Eventually, under the leadership of the Janissaries and Spahis, the people revolted on the fourth of March 1656. During the rebellion, several of those close to the sultan were brutally executed, the whole capital was ravaged. The mob hung all 31 people on trees next to the Blue Mosque. Among them was Meleki Hatun, whom the sultan especially loved. Although the capital has been shaken by riots in the past, such a rebellion has never happened before. Not only did the soldiers revolt, but the people also stood by the soldiers as one. Everyone closed their shops, a general strike took place during the rebellion.

Suleiman Agha was no longer in power when the rebellion took place and perhaps this held his head on his neck. After the assassination of Kösem Sultan, he became the chief black eunuch, but he could only enjoy the position until July 1652. Suleiman continued to stretch beyond his blanket, trying to change political issues that had nothing to do with him. Turhan Hatice also began to realize that Suleiman was not on their side at all, but only on his own. Of particular interest is that Lala Ibrahim Agha convinced Turhan of this, who himself took part in the execution of Kösem Sultan. Lala Ibrahim Agha was Turhan’s personal eunuch and he never longed (or wisely didn’t show her) for a higher position. Turhan was thus finally dismissed Suleiman Agha in 1652 and exiled him to Egypt. The refined eunuch even invented himself in exile, growing into an influential figure who became one of the main figures in Cairo’s local politics. He died in 1676/7.

Epilogue

We will probably never know exactly what led to the execution and how it took place. Nor was my aim with the post to present a perfect solution in the manner as Hercule Poirot usually does. I merely wished to shed light on the fact that the generally known and accepted theory should be regarded with some healthy doubts. The fact that it is the most generally accepted theory, does not mean it is the most thorough. There are plenty of question marks, dubious information which makes it clear that this whole situation was more complicated than two women fighting for domination over the harem.

Kösem Sultan was the sultana who broke the highest, who could have been at the top for a long time, but from the great heights, she finally fell down and became the only murdered valide sultana ever. Kösem Sultan had several titles during her life: Naib-i Sultanat (regent of the Ottoman Empire), Umin al-Mu'minin (mother of all muslims), Büyük Valide Sultan (great Valide Sultan), Valide-i Sehide (martyred mother), Valide-i Maktule (murdered mother), Valide-i Muazzama (magnificent mother).

Used sources:  M. Kocaaslan - IV. Mehmed Saltanatında Topkapı Sarayı Haremi: İktidar, Sınırlar ve Mimari; L. Peirce - The Imperial Harem; Ö. Kumrular - Kösem Sultan: iktidar, hırs, entrika; C. Finkel - Osman’s Dream: the History of the Ottoman Empire; M. P. Pedani - Relazioni inedite; N. Sakaoğlu - Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları; G. Börekçi - Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I and His Immediate Predecessors; F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Faroqhi - The Ottoman Empire and the World; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; F. Suraiya, K. Fleet - The Cambridge History of Turkey 1453-1603; F. Suraiya - The Cambridge History of Turkey, The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839; Ö. Düzbakar - Charitable Women And Their Pious Foundations In The Ottoman; G. Junne - The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire, Networks of Power in the Court of the Sultan.

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A Nők szultánátusának egyik legtöbbször tárgyalt témája Köszem szultána brutális kivégzése. Általában a laikusok elintézik annyival, hogy Köszem szultánát menye, Turhan Hatice gyilkoltatta meg hosszas hatalmi harc lezárásaként. Rengeteg beszámoló áll rendelkezésünkre az eseményekről, ám meglehetősen kevés van köztük, mely konkrétan korabeli lenne. Ebben az írásban szeretném összegezni, hogy mit tudunk, kik voltak a szereplők az eseményekben és hogy mi történhetett azon a bizonyos éjjelen. A kommentszekcióban várom mindenki véleményét, megjegyzését a témáról, hogy meg tudjuk vitatni a posztot! :) Aki nem ismerné Köszem szultánát, az ITT tudja elolvasni életrajzát.  

Mit tudunk biztosan?

- Köszem I. Ibrahim trónfosztása és kivégzése után régens lett unokája IV. Mehmed mellett. - Turhan, Mehmed anyja és Köszem külöböző oldalon álltak a politikai játszmák során. - Köszemet 1651. szeptember 2-án meggyilkolták ellenségei. - Turhan Hatice lett az új régens, Köszem gyilkosai nem lettek megbüntetve, támogatóitól azonban rövidesen megszabadultak.

Előzmények

Köszem szultána 1640 februárjában másodjára került hatalomra. Zavart elméjú fia, I. Ibrahim mellett régensként kezdte irányítani az Oszmán Birodalmat. Köszemet mindenki szerette, az uralkodásban hatalmas tapasztalata volt, rengeteget jótékonykodott. Minden tökéletesnek tűnt, azonban fia, Ibrahim hamarosan rossz emberek befolyása alá került. Cinci Hoca okkult tudományokkal foglalkozó vallási vezető volt, aki kihasználta a szultán mentális problémáit és komolyan befolyásolta őt. Ennek az lett az eredménye, hogy a szultán 1644-ben a nagyvezírét kivégeztette, édesanyját pedig száműzte. Eredetileg Rodosz szigetére szándékozta küldeni anyját, de végül ágyasai meggyőzték, hogy csak egy másik palotába küldje. Köszem elkövetkezendő éveit ott töltötte száműzetésben, ám ezalatt az idő alatt is rendszeresen levelezett az államférfiakkal és igyekezett kézben tartani mindent. Valószínűleg itt írta meg jól ismert levelét is Hezarpare Ahmed Pasának, mely így szólt: “Végül sem titeket, sem engem nem hagyna életben és újra elveszítenénk az uralmat az állam felett, ezzel pedig lerombolnánk társadalmunkat.” Odáig fajult a helyzet, hogy 1647-ben Köszem szultána és az új nagyvezír, Salih Pasa és a Seyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi megpróbálták trónfosztani Ibrahimot, azonban lebuktak. A következő évben a janicsárok és az ulema is csatlakozott a lázadáshoz és 1648 augusztus 8-án könnyűszerrel trónfosztották és bebörtönözték az őrült szultánt, követőit pedig eltávolították a pozíciókból.

Ibrahimot a trónon fia, az alig 6 éves Mehmed követte, aki mellett szükség volt egy régensre. Az államférfiak Köszemet kérték fel a megtisztelő feladatra. A régensi pozíciót általában tanítók, pasák vagy édesanyák látták el (II. Mehmed esetében a nagyvezír volt régens, I. Ahmednél anyja és tanítója, IV. Muradnál és I. Ibrahimnál anyjuk), így Köszem volt az első nagymama, akiből régens lehetett. Erre a legelfogadottabb vélemények szerint azért kerülhetett sor, mert Mehmed édesanyja, Turhan Hatice még 25 éves sem volt ekkor, túl fiatal és tapasztalatlan volt a birodalom irányításához. Köszem tehát belekezdett harmadik régensségébe és folyamatosan semmibe vette Mehmed édesanyját, Turhant. Turhan fiatalsága okán talán tényleg nem lett volna jó régens, ugyanakkor a hárem irányításához minden joga megvolt. Köszem viszont ezt sem engedte meg a fiatal nőnek. Turhan tehát hiába volt a regnáló szultán anyja, minden feladatkörét Köszem uralta. Emellett Köszem a divánban is egyre több ellenségre tett szert, így a hárem és a divan is két oldalra szakadt: Köszem támogatóira és Turhan támogatóira.

Két, szemben álló oldal és a szereplők

Köszem oldala

Köszem évtizedeken át uralta régensként a birodalmat, amikor pedig nem régens volt, valideként követte figyelemmel az eseményeket. Életének korábbi szakaszában a legtöbb pasa mellette állt, ami nem volt elmondható harmadik régensségéről. Köszem első régenssége alatt is jelezte, hogy ő, mint az uralkodó reprezentálása ott kíván lenni a divan gyűléseken személyesen. Ezt akkor a pasák nem engedték meg neki, amit ő kénytelen-kelletlen el is fogadott. Harmadik régenssége során azonban szó sem lehetett arról, hogy meghajoljon bárki akarata előtt. Elveszítette összes fiát, legalább egy lányát is eltemette már, egész életét a birodalomnak áldozta, nem volt hajlandó többé bármiben is kompromisszumot kötni. Gyakorlatilag egyeduralkodóként kívánta irányítani a birodalmat. A divanban pedig aki nem értett vele egyet, azt eltiporta és menesztette. Köszem jogát az uralkodáshoz egyre többen kezdték el vitatni, egyik ilyen divan vita során hangzott el a jól ismert beszéde is. Ekkor Köszem megvádolta a nagyvezír Sofu Ahmed Pasát azzal, hogy meg akarta őt öletni, majd így folytatta: “Istennek hála négy uralkodót segítettem és én magam is hosszú ideig uralkodtam. A világ nem fog sem összeomlani sem megreformálódni a halálommal.”

Köszem azonban nem elégedett meg a pasák megalázásával, tanácsaik el nem fogadásával. Még csak nem is neki tetsző más pasákra cserélte le őket, hanem janicsárokat kezdett vezíri rangra emelni. A janicsárok Köszem első régenssége óta hűséggel szolgálták az asszonyt, amiért az mindenkivel szembe menve 1623-ban hatalmas trónralépési jussot adott a janicsároknak IV. Murad trónralépése után. Bár voltak lázadások és egyet nem értések, alapvetően a janicsárok - de legalábbis néhány hadtestük - hűségesek voltak Köszemhez. A janicsárok képviselete évszázadok óta működött, azonban az, hogy janicsárokat - vagy egyszerűen katonákat - tegyenek vezírré a kitanult államférfiak helyett, több volt a soknál. Mindenki úgy érezte a divanban, hogy Köszem egy katonai uralmat kíván kiépíteni, hogy a neki tetsző módon vezethesse a birodalmat. Így Köszem oldalán 1651-re tulajdonképpen csak a janicsárok néhány hadteste állt politikai értelemben. Bár a nép továbbra is szerette őt bőkezű jótékonykodása miatt, politikai értelemben az ő támogatásuk nem jelentett sokat.

Amellett, hogy a pasákkal egyre nőtt a feszültség, Köszem a háremben is riválisra akadt. Bár a legtöbb forrás tényként kezeli, hogy Köszem és menye, Turhan viszonya tragikus volt, nincs erre utaló bizonyíték. Kettejük viszonya csak az idő előrehaladtával kezdett megromlani, általánosan azonban inkább az mondható el, hogy Köszem egyáltalán nem foglalkozott menyével. Mindenbizonnyal lenézte és nem tartotta sokra Turhant, így komolyan sem vette a nőt. Köszemnek bár megvolt a saját hárem személyzete, a legbefolyásosabb eunuch nem volt a kezében. Mindemellett egyesek szerint szolgálói nagyrésze is méltatlannak találta, ahogy Köszem Turhannal bánt. Talán nem véletlen, hogy oly sok forrás említi a Meleki Hatun nevű szolgálót, aki híresen oldalt váltott és Köszemet elárulva Turhan oldalát kezdte erősíteni.

Turhan Hatice oldala

Turhan Hatice a háremben jobban állt, mint Köszem. Segítséget kapott egy befolyásos eunuchtól, Szulejmán agától. Szulejmán aga volt a hárem agák vezetője, aki nagy hatalommal és kapcsolatrendszerrel rendelkező, ambíciózus eunuch volt, jelentős politikai befolyással. A hárem tulajdonképpen két oldalra szakadt, Köszem és Turhan Hatice támogatóira. Mind a két oldalnak megvolt a saját főeunuchja, ami hatalmas káoszt okozott a háremen belül, az emberek nem tudták, kinek az utasításait kövessék. És bár a valide szultána titulus a szultán anyjaként Turhan Haticét illette meg, a köznyelv csak “kis valide”-ként hivatkozott rá, míg Köszem volt a “nagy valide”. Szulejmán Aga támogatása ugyanakkor aranyat ért. Az eunuch első sorban a saját érdekeit nézte egész élete során, azonban remekül értett ahhoz, hogyan használjon ki és vezessen meg embereket. Épp emiatt felmerül annak a lehetősége is, hogy Szulejmán volt az, aki Turhant felbújtotta és Köszem ellen hangolta. Talán Szulejmán volt az, aki saját felemelkedését remélve a fiatal validétől, meggyőzte arról, hogy vegye el ami a saját jussa. Emellett Szulejmán Aga az ifjú szultánnal is megkedveltette magát, egyfajta apafigurává vált a fiú számára. Természetesen nem célom alábecsülni Turhan szerepét az eseményekben, ugyanakkor úgy érzem, hogy Szulejmán Aga szerepe ténylegesen alábecsült és ezt szeretném mindneképpen érzékeltetni. Nem azt mondom, hogy Turhan egy naíva volt, akit megvezetett a csúf, rossz Szulejmán Aga, csupán azt gondolom, hogy Szulejmán támogatása és felbújtása nélkül, Turhan valószínűleg nem, vagy sokkal később szállt volna szembe Köszemmel.

Szulejmán mellett három másik jelentősebb eunuch is Turhan oldalán állt, Hoca Reyhan Aga, Lala Hajji Ibrahim Aga és Ali Aga. Hoca Reyhan Aga állt legközelebb Turhanhoz, mint társalkodója és vallási vezetője, de Lala Hajji Aga is hosszútávú partner volt Turhan életében. Az eunuchok mellett meg kell említenünk Meleki Hatunt is, akinek legendája jól ismert. Eszerint ő volt az, aki Köszem tervét elárulta Turhannak, ezzel megmentve a kis Mehmed szultánt a haláltól és trónfosztástól. A valóság azonban valószínűleg kevésbé romantikus. Valószínűtlen, hogy egy korábban sosem említett, jelentéktelen szolgáló, mint Meleki tudott volna Köszem terveiről és el tudta volna árulni. Minden bizonnyal Melekit csupán oldalváltása miatt ruházták fel nagyobb szereppel, mint ami valójában volt. Talán Meleki elvállalta, hogy lesz bűnbak, tanúskodik Köszem ellen, ha cserébe javakat kap. Legalábbis tekintettel arra, hogy Meleki milyen hatalmas vagyonra tett szert Köszem halála után, nem zárhatjuk ki ezt az opciót sem. Meleki ha a háremen belül hozott is támogatókat Turhan számára, az egész eseményre meglehetősen kevés ráhatása lehetett. A kulcs figura Turhan mellett Szulejmán aga volt, akinek komoly kapcsolata volt a divánnal is, így könnyedén tudta csapatukhoz kapcsolni a divan Köszemmel elégedetlen tagjait is. A legbefolyásosabb támogató nem volt más, mint a Nagyvezír, Siyavuş Pasa, de gyakorlatilag szinte a teljes divan Köszem ellen fordult eddigre. Azt is meg kell említeni, hogy bár a jancsiárok legtöbb alakulata pártatlan vagy Köszem párti volt, a szpáhik inkább húztak a Turhan támogatói csoport felé.

Mi vezetett a tragikus éjszakához?

Mielőtt a közvetlen okokra rátérnék, kicsit vissza kell ugranunk az időben, hogy jobban megérthessük Köszem viselkedését. Mint ismert, trónfosztása után, I. Ibrahimot a trónon fia, az alig 6 éves Mehmed követte, aki mellett szükség volt egy régensre. Az államférfiak Köszemet kérték fel a megtisztelő feladatra. Ugyanakkor a felkérés meglehetősen furcsa volt. Miért is? A régensi pozíciót általában tanítók, pasák vagy édesanyák látták el, Köszem pedig egyik sem volt. Sőt, Köszem a felkérést először elutasította arra hivatkozva, hogy már nincs ereje tovább uralkodni.

Miért vállalta el Köszem mégis a feladatot? Valóban vissza akart vonulni?

Ahhoz, hogy megértsük Köszem gondolatait, még egy kicsit visszább kell ugranunk az időben. Köszem Ibrahim uralkodása során száműzetésben volt éveken át. Száműzetéséből pedig többször kísérelt meg puccsot saját fia ellen. Egyik száműzetésben írt levele alapján egyértelmű, hogy részese volt a puccsnak, mely végül fiát trónfosztotta. Kifelé azonban egészen más képet mutatott. Miután Ibrahimot elzárták, trónra szerették volna léptetni fiát, Mehmedet. Köszem szultána ekkor találkozott a Topkapi Palotában az államférfiakkal, hogy megvitassa velük mi legyen Ibrahim sorsa. Órákon át tárgyaltak, Köszem azonban végig megtagadta, hogy kiadja Ibrahim legidősebb fiát, Mehmedet. Így pedig nem lehetett őt kikiáltani szultánnak. Az államférfiaknak órákon keresztül kellett nyilvánsoan győzködniük Köszemet. Az a Köszem, aki korábban mindent elkövetett fia trónfosztásáért, most fia mellett állt ki. Miért? Természetesen sosem fogjuk megtudni, hogy Köszem fejében pontosan mi játszódott le. Valószínűnek tűnik azonban, hogy Köszem szerette volna megtartani a katonák és nép előtt a szerető anya képét, melybe nem fért bele saját fiának trónfosztása. Ezért egy álvitát tartott a pasákkal, hogy ne veszítse el a nép szimpátiáját, de ugyanakkor a birodalomnak is jót tegyen. Köszem tapasztalt politikus volt, aki éveken át tudott vezető szerepben maradni, ehhez pedig nélkülözhetetlen volt az imázs is. Így végül Köszem beleegyezésével elzárták Ibrahim szultánt, Mehmedet pedig új szultánjukká kiáltották ki. Talán a régensség első elutasítása is egy ehhez hasonló színjáték része volt. Köszem talán úgy érezte, hogy a nép ezt várja tőle, ezért felajánlotta visszavonulását, miközben talán a háttérben már régen megegyezett a pasákkal.

És a divan tagjai miért hagyták, hogy Köszem legyen a régens? Hiszen a divan tagjai közül akárki vagy akár Mehmed tanítója is jelentkezhetett volna a feladatra. Ez pedig hatalmas befolyást tett volna a férfiak kezébe. Miért engedték hát akkor át ezt a lehetőséget Köszemnek?

I. Ibrahimot 1648. augusztus 18-án kivégezték. Egyesek szerint Köszem szultána beleegyezését adta fia kivégzésébe, ám az sem zárható ki, hogy a kivégzés a háta mögött történt meg. Mint már fentebb említettem a trónfosztott vagy meggyilkolt szultánok édesanyja a tradíció szerint a Régi Palotába vonult vissza, ahol politikamentesen élték hátralévő éveiket. Köszem esetében azonban nem ez történt. Ez felveti annak eshetőségét, hogy Köszem nem tudott Ibrahim kivégzéséről és a pasák ezzel a gesztussal igyekeztek kiengesztelni az összetört nőt. De akkor ki rendelte el Ibrahim kivégzését? Gyakorlatilag bárki megtehette az államférfiak közül, de akár Szulejmán aga vagy Turhan is aláírathatta a fetwa kérvényt a kis szultánnal, melyet aztán a Seyhülislam teljes joggal engedélyezett, hiszen Ibrahim nagyon kártékony volt a birodalomra nézve. Akárhogyan is, Köszem a kivégzés után megváltozott. Vagy azért fordult a pasák ellen - akikkel korábban mindig együttműködő volt -, mert azok átverték őt Ibrahim kivégzésével kapcsolatban; vagy egyszerűen anyai szíve nem bírta elviselni, hogy beleegyezését adta fia kivégzésébe és megbomlott az elméje. Bármelyik verzió is igaz, azt tisztán látjuk, hogy az a Köszem, aki IV. Mehmed mellett régens lett, már nem ugyanaz az ember volt, akit korábban a birodalom imádott anyjának tekintettek.

A gyilkosság

Ahogy a fenti összefoglalásból is kiderül, Köszem egyeduralmat próbált kiépíteni, melyben néhány janicsár hadtesten kívül senki nem támogatta, így hatalmas csapat gyűlt össze ellene. A jól ismert verzió szerint, idővel a viszály Köszem és az államférfiak között odáig fajtult, hogy Turhan Hatice támogatásával az államférfiak megpróbálták Köszemet eltávolítani pozíciójából. Köszem válaszul erre azt tervezte, hogy trónfosztja IV. Mehmed szultánt és helyette másik unokáját ülteti a trónra. Ehhez a janicsárokat be kívánta engedni a palotába, hogy azok az éj leple alatt elvégezzék a puccsot, emiatt nyitva hagyatta éjszakára a hárem bejáratát. Köszem terve azonban ellenségei fülébe jutott, egyesek szerint egy Meleki nevű szolgáló által. Így amint Köszem emberei 1651. szeptember 2-án, kinyitották a kaput, Turhan Hatice emberei, a főeunuch Szulejmán Aga vezetésével bezáratták azt és kivégzőosztagot küldtek Köszem szultána lakrészébe. Mikor emberei Köszem lakrészéhez érve bekopogtak az ajtón, Köszem azt hitte, hogy saját emberei jöttek, ezért kikiabált nekik, hogy “Megjöttetek?”. Erre azonban a janicsárok hangja helyett Köszem az eunuch Szulejmán Aga hangját hallotta meg, amitől bepánikolt és menekülni kezdett. Nem pontosan tudni, hogy hogy jutott ki lakrészéből vagy ki jutott e egyáltalán, mert a leírások nem egyeznek. Egyesek szerint lakrészén belül bújt el egy szekrényben, mások szerint megpróbált kijutni a janicsárokhoz, azonban a zárt kapun keresztül nem tudott, így végül a kapu melletti szobában bújt el. A kivégzőosztag, amely több eunuchból (Szulejmán Aga, Hoca Reyhan Aga, Lala Hajji Ibrahim Aga és Ali Aga, valamint néhány ismeretlen eunuch) állt folytatta a keresést. Köszem egy szekrényben rejtőzött el, melyből ruhájának széle kilógott, ezzel felfedve rejtekhelyét. Amikor megtalálták, kivégzői elé pénzt dobott, ezzel próbálva lefizetni őket, ám esélye sem volt Turhan hű embereivel szemben. A legenda szerint a férfiak próbálták lefogni a validét, miközben füléből kitépték gyémánt fülbevalóit, melyeket Ahmed szultántól kapott; ruháját is megtépkedték, ahogy próbálták leszedni róla az értékes díszeket. Köszem túl a hatvanon is erősen ellenállt kivégzőinek, ám végül felülkerekedtek rajta. Egyesek szerint saját hajával, mások szerint egy függönnyel fojtották meg. Az első fojtogatási kísérlet után még magához tért, a másodikat azonban már nem élte túl.

Van azonban több olyan pont a fenti történetben, ami kétségeket ébreszt:

- Köszem problémája nem Mehmed volt, hanem a pasák, Turhan és Szulejmán Aga. Miért nem tőlük szabadult meg? Nem lett volna egyszerűbb és jogszerűbb meggyilkoltatni ezeket az embereket, mint trónfosztani az egyik gyermek szultánt egy másik gyermek javára? Természetesen megindokolhatjuk annyival a dolgot, hogy Köszem nem volt már épelméjű, így ne is keressünk logikát cselekedeteiben. Ugyanakkor felmerülhet az is, hogy talán Köszem teljesen vagy legalább részben ártatlan volt az egész eseménysorozatban. Elképzelhető, hogy nem tervezett semmit a janicsárokkal, az egész terv csak Turhan és emberei által lett kitalálva, hogy legitimizálják saját tetteiket. Ennek azonban ellent mond, hogy a janicsárok a tragikus éjszakán valóban gyülekezni készültek, az pedig nem valószínű, hogy Turhan és csapata sikerrel vezette meg a janicsárokat úgy, hogy Köszem erről ne szerzett volna tudomást. Lehetséges, hogy Köszem valóban készült egy kisebb puccsra, de az talán nem Mehmed ellen irányult. Köszemnek látnia kellett, hogy a pasák mellett Szulejmán Aga a fő felbújtó Turhan és Mehmed "rebellis" viselkedése mögött. Úgy vélem, Köszem egy kisebb puccsot tervezett, melyben megszabadult volna a neki nem tetsző eunuchoktól, szolgálóktól és ráijesztett volna Mehmedre és Turhanra. Ezzel biztosíthatta volna saját hatalmát és azt, hogy többé se Turhan se Mehmed ne kérdőjelezze őt meg.

- Miért gyilkolták meg Köszemet ilyen furcsa módon? Hiszen a jogszerű, szokásos kivégzési mód kivégző osztag által, Seyhülislami fetwával és selyemzsinórral történt. (Fontos ugyanakkor megjegyezni, hogy a dinasztia nő tagjain nem alkalmaztak korábban kivégzést, a nőket jellemzően száműzetéssel büntették.) Köszemet ezzel szemben képzetlen eunuchokkal, hamis fetwával és a saját hajával vagy egy függönnyel gyilkolták meg. Felmerül a kérdés, hogy talán Köszem kivégzése nem is volt eltervezve. Ha a kivégzés el lett volna tervezve, könnyedén tudtak volna kivégzőket szerezni selyemzsinórral és a fetwa kikérésének körülményei is egyértelműek lennének. Volt természetesen fetwa, de az időbeliséget kissé megzavarja a tény, hogy a régi Seyhülislamot ugyanakkor váltották le Turhan egyik megbízható emberére, mikor a kivégzés zajlott. Épp emiatt, és a kivégzés szokásostól eltérő brutalitása miatt, felmerülhet annak a lehetősége is, hogy talán Köszem kivégzése nem volt eredetileg eltervezve, csupán menet közben csúszott ki az irányítás Turhan kezéből és a pillanat hevében az eunuchok kivégezték Köszemet. Utólag pedig, hogy legalizálják az eseményeket gyártattak egy fetwát az új Seyhülislámmal.

- De akkor ki és miért döntött végül úgy, hogy Köszemnek meg kell halnia? Turhan nem volt jelen az események során, és mivel a gyilkosság nem volt előre eltervezve, őt kihúznám a gyanúsítottak listájáról. Természetesen az nem zárható ki, hogy Szulejmán Agával beszéltek erről az eshetőségről is. Valószínűbb azonban, hogy eredtileg csupán rá akartak ijeszteni Köszemre, megmutatni neki, hogy leleplezték, eljárt felette az idő. Véleményem szerint Turhan azt remélte, hogy Köszem beismeri vereségét és egyszerűen visszavonul a Régi Palotába. Túl kockázatos lett volna megölni egy ennyire tisztelt és szeretett validét, úgy, hogy korábban sosem végezték ki a dinasztia egyik nőtagját sem. Nem vall épelmére szánt szándékkal előrekitervelten, ilyen módon megölni Köszemet. Valószínűleg le akarták mondatni, Köszemnek azonban eddigre már nem volt vesztenivalója. Az egyetlen dolog, ami még éltette az a hatalom volt, így minden bizonnyal ellenkezett a kényszer visszavonulás gondolatától. Mikor Szulejmán Aga felismerte, hogy Köszem nem hallgat rájuk, talán félelemből úgy döntött meg kell őt ölniük. Hiszen ha a felbőszített Köszem kijutott volna a palotából Szulejmán és a többi eunuch azon nyomban fej nélkül találta volna magát. Bár nem utal rá bizonyíték, de személyes véleményem az, hogy Szulejmán talán az első perctől kezdve ezt akarta, hiszen tudta jól, hogy Köszem sosem fog visszavonulni. Akárhogyan is az eunuchok végül professzionálisnak egyáltalán nem mondható módon legyűrték az idős validét és kivégezték.

- Teljesen kizárható, hogy legális fetwa és kivégző osztag végzett Köszemmel? Sajnos ezt sem zárhatjuk ki. Az angol követ például arról számolt be, hogy kivégző osztag ölte meg Köszemet, az ifjú szultán által kért fetwa után, Mehmed szeme láttára. Igaz, hogy az angol követ nem a legjobban informáltak közé tartozott. Valószínű, hogy mindenki úgy hitte akkoriban, hogy a fetwa előre volt kiadva, csak később, a történészek kutatásai világítottak rá arra, hogy a fetwa feltehetőleg Köszem kivégzése után készült el. Azt pedig, hogy Köszemet a 10 éves Mehmed szeme láttára végezték volna ki, nem tartom valószínűnek. Turhan nagyon erősen igyekezett óvni fiát, nem valószínű, hogy kitette volna őt egy ilyen traumának. Mustafa Naima abban egyetért az angol követtel, hogy a kivégzés előre megtervezett volt, ám szerinte nem eunuchok, hanem kivégző osztag végzett a valide szultánával. Azonban akkor miért volt brutális a kivégzés? Miért nem volt selyemzsinór? Miért alkalmatlan eunuchok vitték véghez?

A gyilkosság utóhatása

Hogy megakadályozzanak bármiféle ellenállást, Turhan Hatice és emberei az éjszaka folyamán minden olyan államférfit eltávolítottak posztjáról, aki veszélyeztette volna őket. Az első ember, akit kineveztek akkor éjjel, az Ebu Said Efendi lett, az új Seyhülislam. Ő volt az, aki végül kiadta a fetwát Köszem kivégzésére (utólagosan). Ezekután Turhan megüzente az összes államférfinak és katonának, hogy azonnal menjenek audienciára, ahol hűséget fogadnak Mehmed szultánnak. A legtöbben félelemből vagy őszinte érzések által vezérelve, azonnal a szultán elé járultak, akik pedig nem, azokra az új Seyhülislám fetwat adott ki. Így vált jogszerűvé Köszem támogatóinak kivégzése is, hiszen ők sem jelentek meg a szultán előtt. A lázadó janicsárok pedig így árulóként lettek megbélyegezve és legálisan kivégezték őket. A nép szemében végül ők lettek bűnbaknak kikiáltva Köszem haláláért. Köszemet a gyilkosság után a Régi Palotába szállították, ahol előkészítették testét a temetésre. Birodalmi temetést kapott, Isztambul népe pedig önkéntesen 3 napos gyászt tartott, bezárva minden boltot és üzletet. Köszem mindig népszerű volt az emberek között, ám érdekes módon ugyanaz a nép, nem fordult Turhan ellen Köszem halála miatt, sőt, Turhan hasonlóan szeretett és tisztelt valide szultána lett, mint amilyen Köszem volt.

Mi történt a valódi bűnösökkel? Turhan és Mehmed természetesen megúszták, ugyanakkor kérdéses, hogy a gyilkosságban egyáltalán volt e részük. Igaz egy 1656-os lázadás komolyan megrengette hatalmukat, de végül nem veszítették el azt. A lázadásnak a legnagyobb oka a gyenge nagyvezírek, az újjáéledő Celali lázadás és a velenceiekkel vívott háború voltak. A körülmények miatt nem jutott elég gabona a fővárosba, a katonák nem kaptak rendesen fizetést, de az egyszerű emberek is egyre elégedetlenebbek voltak, különösen dühítette őket a szultánhoz közelállók extrém gazdagsága. Végül a janicsárok és szpáhik vezetésével a nép fellázadt 1656 március negyedikén. A lázadás során a szultánhoz közelállók közül többeket brutálisan kivégeztek, az egész fővárost feldúlták. A csőcselék Mehmed 31 közeli emberét a Kék Mecset mellett akasztotta fel egy egy fára. Köztük volt Meleki Hatun is, akit a szultán különösen szeretett. Bár korábban is rázták meg lázadások a fővárost, ehhez fogható még sosem történt. Nem csak a katonák lázadtak fel, a nép is egy emberként állt ki a katonák mellett és állt be mögéjük. Mindenki bezárta boltjait, általános sztrájk lépett érvénybe a lázadás idejére.

Szulejmán Aga már nem volt hatalmon amikor a lázadás megtörtént és talán ez tartotta helyén a fejét. Szulejmán Köszem meggyilkolása után a fő hárem eunuch lett, ám a pozíciót csupán 1652 júliusáig élvezhette. Szulejmán tovább nyújtózkodott, mint a takarója ért, olyan politikai témákba is igyekezett beleszólni, amihez semmi köze nem volt. Turhan Hatice is kezdte felismerni, hogy Szulejmán egyáltalán nem az ő oldalukon áll, hanem csak a saját magáén. Külön érdekesség, hogy az a Lala Ibrahim Aga győzte meg erről Turhant, aki maga is részt vett Köszem kivégzésében. Lala Ibrahim Aga Turhan személyes eunuchja volt és maga sosem vágyott (vagy bölcsen nem mutatta ki) ennél magasabb pozícióra. Turhan így végül 1652-ben megfosztotta pozíciójától Szulejmán Agát és száműzte Egyiptomba. A rafinált eunuch még a száműzetésben is feltalálta magát, befolyásos személlyé nőtte ki magát, aki Kairó helyi politikájának egyik főszereplője lett. 1676/7-ben halt meg.

Epilógus

Valószínűleg sosem fogjuk pontosan megtudni, hogy mi vezetett a kivégzéshez és hogyan zajlott az le. A poszttal nem is az volt a célom, hogy egy tökéletes megoldást mutassak be Hercule Poirot módjára, csupán szerettem volna rávilágítani arra, hogy az általánosan ismert és elfogadott teória, inkább megszokásból tekintendő a legáltalánosabban elfogadottnak, nem pedig alapossága miatt. Rengeteg a kérdőjel, kétes információ és helyzet a kivégzés körülményei között, ami egyértelműsíti, hogy ez az egész helyzet bonyolultabb volt annál, minthogy két nő harcot vívott a hárem feletti uralomért.

Köszem volt az a szultána, aki a legmagasabbra tört, aki sokáig lehetett a csúcson, azonban a nagy magasságból zuhant végül alá és vált az egyetlen meggyilkolt valide szultánává. Élete során több címet is kapott: Naib-i Sultanat (az Oszmán Birodalom régense), Umin al-Mu'minin (minden muszlimok anyja), Büyük Valide Sultan (nagy valide szultána), Valide-i Sehide (a mártír anya), Valide-i Maktule (a meggyilkolt anya), Valide-i Muazzama (a csodálatos anya).

Felhasznált források: M. Kocaaslan - IV. Mehmed Saltanatında Topkapı Sarayı Haremi: İktidar, Sınırlar ve Mimari; L. Peirce - The Imperial Harem; Ö. Kumrular - Kösem Sultan: iktidar, hırs, entrika; C. Finkel - Osman’s Dream: the History of the Ottoman Empire; M. P. Pedani - Relazioni inedite; N. Sakaoğlu - Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları; G. Börekçi - Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I and His Immediate Predecessors; F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Faroqhi - The Ottoman Empire and the World; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; F. Suraiya, K. Fleet - The Cambridge History of Turkey 1453-1603; F. Suraiya - The Cambridge History of Turkey, The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839; Ö. Düzbakar - Charitable Women And Their Pious Foundations In The Ottoman; G. Junne - The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire, Networks of Power in the Court of the Sultan.

[j-amespotter]

★ the last great american dynasty - s. b.

“i had a marvelous time ruining everything.” 

Pairing: Sirius Black x Muggle-born!Reader 

x. x. x.

Summary: A one-shot diving into Sirius’s complicated relationship with Grimmauld Place and where the Muggle-born he falls for fits in.

Genre/Warnings: angst, emotional abuse, alcohol, language, mentions of death & war 

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: so.. this is more of a character study on sirius & his dynamic with his family – i know this song is meant to be about a woman but it also screams sirius to me. i’m a sucker for romance so it’s a reader-insert. fun fact, i was almost done writing this when i realized i wanted it to be a wolfstar fic, but i was too lazy to change it, so just putting that out as a concept lol. let me know what you think & if you’d like me to tag you in future works!! 

masterlist

When Sirius first showed signs of his rebellious nature, Walburga wasn’t worried. After all, many children were incapable of sitting still in large gatherings, mouthing off to their parents, or incessantly teasing their younger siblings. “He will be kept in good company. He will learn,” Walburga would say to her husband. He often exasperated her, but there was no denying her immense pride. Despite his antics, even at a young age, Sirius displayed impressive magical ability and had a commanding presence – excellent qualities for the heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. 

She worried only a little when he preferred to spend time with Andromeda, who was clearly becoming disillusioned with their family values, and Alphard, who Walburga believed was beginning to get a little too soft. Still, the Blacks were not raving lunatics. They were traditionalists, committed to upholding the high standards of Wizarding society. Sirius would not defy them, not when the weight of their bloodline rested on his shoulders, not when Regulus would never be able to stomach such responsibility.

On his first night at Hogwarts, Sirius didn't write home. It wasn’t until the morning after that Narcissa delivered the dreadful news to her mother. Walburga’s sister-in-law relished discussing this most recent embarrassment, as the family’s attention was now off her daughter’s courtship of a mudblood. Young Sirius, their direct heir, was sorted into the House of Muggle-lovers and blood traitors, into the House of Godric Gryffindor.

Blown apart by this development, Walburga turned to her younger son. She had no intention of repeating her mistakes and resolved to train him for the responsibility that should have belonged to her eldest. That way, if she was unable to correct Sirius’s behavior, she had back-up. Her legacy was secure. 

During every subsequent holiday, she noticed that the damage was getting more-and-more irreversible. Sirius unabashedly consorted with infamous blood traitors and pathetic half-bloods. He seemed to dread seeing his family as much as she dreaded seeing how much of him she had lost. She tried; no one could say she didn’t. But she was too stern with him. He had inherited his flexibility, or lack thereof, from her. She pushed him too far away. Soon, he stopped returning home for Christmas. When he was sixteen, she spat at him as he closed the door to Number 12 Grimmauld Place one last time, without sparing her a final glance. 

He never expected he would have to return. Offering up the property to the Order seemed like a good idea at the time – he hardly put any thought into it. That was how he made most of his decisions. His track record certainly proved so. When Remus didn’t have anywhere to stay, and neither did the newly-reformed Order of the Phoenix, Sirius knew that his family estate in London was not just their most ideal option, but also the only one they had. 

He managed to enter undetected in his Animagus form with Remus. He had to hand it to fate – there were no extra security measures to keep him out. It was as if she anticipated his arrival. Swallowing, he absorbed his surroundings. Despite the eerie silence and decomposing furniture, it looked like an image straight from his memory. Sirius suddenly felt sixteen again. 

What he did not expect to see, however, was a currently-sleeping life-sized portrait of Walburga Black in the hallway. Though now in his human form, Sirius growled inadvertently. She knew. She always knew that he would come back. She wanted to be there when he did. Unbelievable, he thought to himself. 

Aware of Remus’s wary gaze on him, Sirius walked forward and began pulling on the frame. “Get off, you hag! Remus, help me get this off!” 

Remus went to join his old friend in what seemed like a fruitless mission in his mind but came to an abrupt halt when the portrait, disturbed by her son’s grunts, awoke in a flash of fury. “Filth! Scum! Abomination of my flesh! You are no son of mine,” portrait-Walburga hissed. 

“Shut up, just shut up!” He had not heard her voice since he was near a Dementor, reliving the worst of his teenage years. The visual made it much, much worse. 

“Permanent Sticking Charm, it seems…” Remus said to appease his friend, pulling the withering velvet curtains over its towering frame with all his strength.

“This is torture,” sighed Sirius. “Maybe we can find another place.” 

Remus refused to meet his eye. “For now, it is all we have, Sirius. If it was going to be a problem, you should not have offered it to Professor Dumbledore.” 

Sirius frowned. “It’s all I’m able to do this time around. It’s not like I can go around trailing Death Eaters and infiltrating the Ministry with everyone else.”

“Hopefully, it’s only temporary,” assured Remus, though he was equally as uncertain about Sirius’s fate as a fugitive. “Try not to let this place get into your head, okay?” 

Sirius Black was never good at keeping promises. He had three-and-a-half decades of evidence to back that up. In the weeks following, the Order settled in, consisting of many highly competent Aurors, half-a-dozen Weasleys, and an ex-Death Eater he could do without seeing. Sirius found himself never too far from alcohol, itching for more access. He longed to see Harry and to get away from his wretched house-elf, along with the constant, stinging reminder of his mother's existence. 

But there was something else inside of him, something he couldn’t describe. It was an emotion that was egging him on. He felt it inside of him every time Kreacher muttered complaints about wandering red-headed blood traitor brats. It swirled in his stomach when his mother shouted scathing insults at the clumsy half-blood and filthy half-breed that took temporary refuge in the former pure-blood paradise. 

Then she came. 

She was new. She worked at the Ministry; many of his houseguests were incredibly fond of her. He recognized the innocence in her eyes. It was the same innocence that he had when he first joined the Order seventeen years earlier. It was the same innocence that differentiated every new member from every returning one – they had yet to see tragedy in its fullest form. 

“Hello,” she greeted. She seemed strangely unperturbed by the fact that she was in the presence of an alleged mass murderer. “I’m (Y/N). I’ve been told this is your house. Thank you for playing host.”

“My pleasure,” responded Sirius. Involuntarily, he reached for her hand and kissed it. Suddenly, he became painfully aware of his hollowing cheeks, untamed hair, and liquor-infused breath.

She flushed slightly at the gesture. Black family habits die hard. Just because he chose to refrain from practicing them did not mean he had forgotten, nor did it mean that he wasn’t any good at them. 

Walburga Black’s portrait watched her son fall in love with her. Sirius watched her watch him. There was no telling how she would react. Regulus was dead – it was up to him to preserve their family’s name and purity.

(Y/N) was witty and flirty and incredibly intelligent. He found himself feeling a decade younger as he enjoyed their banter and her overall easiness. Before long, she kissed him in his dimly-lit pantry, and he was too selfish to stop her. They would kiss in every corner of the house, hardly caring that anyone was watching, ignoring the ghosts living within the walls. For Sirius, (Y/N) was his greatest act of defiance. She was born to non-magic parents. As narrated by a disgruntled Kreacher to his now-helpless mistress, she was nothing but a “filthy mudblood.” 

One night, weeks after the children departed for Hogwarts and the house was, as on most days, empty, he caught her staring at the Black family tapestry. Without making a sound, he inched behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Hello, beautiful,” he whispered, pressing a kiss on her shoulder. “Sickle for your thoughts?” 

She leaned into him. As the days went on, she would tire easily. Still, she found happiness in Sirius as he did with her, and they both were old enough to know to reach for it in any capacity they got. “It’s nothing. It’s stupid. Let’s get to bed.” 

“As much as I’m a fan of that idea,” he started with a smirk, “you look upset. Is it work? Fudge?” 

“No, nothing like that.” Her fingers traced his blasted name on the wall. She looked thoughtful. “I’ve just… noticed something about you.” 

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” 

“The way you look at your mother.” 

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Well, it’s no secret that I hate her. I hope that’s not off-putting. You’ve seen what she’s like – it was worse when she was alive. I promise I’m a gentleman in general circumstances… for the most part,” he added cheekily. 

She smiled tightly. “No, I get it. It must be terrible for you, being back here.” 

“It is,” he affirmed. “I’ve got you, though. You make me happier than anything, love.” 

“That’s the thing,” she uttered as if it pained her. Sirius could stare at her fiery expression for days on end. To be on the receiving end was strange. “I can’t help but think that you’re only in love with me to spite her. Like your feelings aren’t love, they’re just a culmination of your hatred for her.” 

It took Sirius an eternity to process what she just said. Realizing that he was not going to say anything, she continued. “Believe me, I know you hate it here. But at the same time, you look so… satisfied. You’re hosting a bunch of blood traitors, half-bloods, and a werewolf in this place that was once the pinnacle of blood purity. You’re providing a haven against the bloody Dark Lord. And worst of all, you’re with a mudblood.” 

“Don’t call yourself that,” interrupted Sirius harshly. 

“It’s the truth. If you weren’t in this position, would we even be together?” 

“Of course,” said Sirius. To answer this question, he didn’t even have to think. “I love you because you’re you. You’re beautiful and smart and make me laugh until my stomach hurts. You’re so good with Harry and you can put anyone in their place. You make me feel new again… God, that’s fucking sappy, but it’s true. I indeed hate this place and I hate her but… but if I let her dictate my choices, even when she’s bloody dead, then she’s won. I don’t want her to win. If I was only with you for your blood status, then I would be no different from my mother.” 

She stared up at him, her eyes betraying a wave of emotions. She reached up to kiss him, tangling her fingers in his hair. “Thank you for saying all of that. Just hold on for a little while, alright? Soon, we’ll be out of here. We can have our own house – you, me, and Harry.” 

He smiled at her sadly. It seemed too unreachable of a goal to him at the moment. “By the beach?” “Wherever you’d like,” she answered, leading him to his bedroom, his only sanctuary in the horrible house. 

As they made their way towards the stairs, Sirius glanced at the tapestry over his shoulder, at the seven generations of Blacks behind him. He gently squeezed (Y/N)’s hand. For the first time in his entire life, he felt the weight of carrying his name lift off him. He’d done his part to corrupt his bloodline. It was time for Sirius to focus on himself in a way that the shadows of his past never allowed him to, even in his schoolboy days with James. Being a Black was a part of who he was, and even a disowned Black deserved his long-overdue happiness.

Tagging: @strawberriesonsummer​

[jewishconvertthings]

Can I convert Orthodox being trans?

My father is a secular Jew and my mother is a lapsed Christian. For almost the entirety of my life, I have wanted to convert Orthodox and have done everything I possibly can to observe, I taught myself how to read Hebrew, I davened regularly, I tried to keep shabbos and kashrut in a house that observes neither, I briefly joined a Hebrew elementary school before I was urged to leave for mental instability, I became a member of a local shul, I even had a non Orthodox bar mitzvah, all while knowing that in reality I am not Jewish but just zera yisrael. I don’t think I could serve Hashem and the world in any better form than Judaism, and I feel that it could be my duty to to ensure that Judaism in my family will not disappear and that the G-D loving pious men and women I am descended from did not go to Auschwitz in vain. The problem is that I intend to transition once I turn 18 and I’m scared that no Orthodox beis din would take me. What are my options? Can I swerve around the fact that I was not born female once I have the operation? That doesn’t seem right and I can’t imagine Hashem would look too favorably on me joining this way. And also while I respect reform and conservative, there are certain theological beliefs in both that don’t align wth how II perceive Judaism so I don’t want to go that route. I just cannot abandon my heritage and I simply cannot not be a girl and yet I am born in a predicament where I have to sacrifice one for the other. What can I do?

————

Hi @lanasmoczynska,

Some caveats before I answer this - I did not convert orthodox, although I did work with an orthodox rabbi for a bit and seriously considered it. I still have ties to that community, that rabbi, and (pre-pandemic) would still attend services there. Ultimately, it was not possible for me to convert orthodox because my spouse was not converting with me; my non-binaryness seemed to pose less of a problem, albeit we didn’t end up having to quite reach that question. However, it is also worth noting that I would likely have ended up effectively converting as my assigned sex at birth despite my non-binaryness being respected for non-ritual purposes. Therefore, I have neither the experience of actually completing an orthodox conversion nor of trying to do so while sitting on the opposite side of the mechitza from my birth assigned sex.

Even in my community, however, while there are trans men who sit on the men’s side, dress as men, and observe halacha as men, they still do not count toward minyan and are not called up to the bimah. I am not sure if they would insist on counting a trans woman or not, as we do not have any active members who are trans women, although I suspect not. As a non-binary person, I was accommodated with being referred to using the right pronouns, allowed to choose my presentation mode, and allowed to sit in either a third space or pick the side of the mechitza that best fit my presentation, which would have been the women’s side. Unfortunately, I don’t know how conversion would work for a trans person in this community, since the trans members we have were born halachically Jewish. It is worth noting that this community is at the outer left edges of orthodoxy as far as I’m aware. Therefore, I can say that it is possible to exist as trans in this community, it may even be possible to assemble a beit din that would convert a trans person in this type of community, but there will still be ways in which it is not perfect.

All that said, my recommendation would be to reach out to Eshel and see if they can recommend an orthodox rabbi who you can work with who will respect your gender identity. I would recommend following this up by having a conversation with trans members of your prospective community if they exist. (If they don’t, you will want to consider seriously what it would mean for you to be the first one.) Regardless, it certainly won’t be an easy road, but if that is what is in your heart, all you can do is try.

Eshel’s info can be found here: https://www.eshelonline.org/transeshel/.

Additionally, I will also point out that orthodoxy does not have a monopoly on traditional halachic observance. If you cannot make orthodoxy work, the traditional egalitarian movement might be a viable alternative for you. Hadar is a good place to start looking if you are interested.

Edit: If you would like to further discuss my personal experiences around what it’s like existing in that community as trans and/or what my work with that rabbi looked like, you are more than welcome to DM me.

[widebodymasi]

Islam and Muslims in the U.S. Prison System

I believe that every American has the duty to know what is going on with incarceration in our country. We house the largest number of prisoners in the world, pay for it with our tax dollars and support it by legislation that we vote for. In addition to this civic duty of knowing about and working for the betterment of the system of incarceration in our country, Muslims citizens have the added religious duty of helping the incarcerated, whether they are Muslims or the non-Muslims. We should know where this religious duty comes from and why. Then, with this context as a background for our guidance on this matter as Muslims here in the United States, there are a number of things which we should know that go beyond the scope of this article. Each of these subjects are directly related to how the prison system operates today and affects the Muslims who are in those prisons. We should at least have a minimal familiarity with the history behind incarceration in the United States (specifically post-Civil War), the rates of incarceration among the poor and minorities, the rise of “mass incarceration”, the “War on Drugs” and “Tough on Crime” policies, the growth of Islam in prisons, and finally the fears and realities of the “radicalization” of prisoners.

THE STANCE OF ISLAM ON HELPING PRISONERS

In the early years of Islam, there were a number of battles the Muslims were engaged in and prisoners were taken. These early days of Islam were a period of continued guidance, with revelation being sent to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as events occurred. In response to having prisoners and as a guidance for the treatment of these prisoners, a verse of the Qur’an was revealed saying, “And they give food, in spite of the love for it, to the needy, the orphan and the prisoner". The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave further emphasis to this in a Hadith which states, “I enjoin you to treat the captive well”. The result of this guidance was that the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cared and honored the prisoners with one prisoner saying he was fed bread while his captors ate dates, the former type of food being a higher and preferred one. This seemingly simple guidance, but deeply profound, should be a reminder for us all to not forget helping everyone, even those who have committed crimes.

One lesson that I have taken from this, in my work in the last 8 years teaching fellow prisoners and aiding in the betterment of Muslim prisoners here in the United States, is that the Qur’anic and Prophetic guidance on this matter force us to remember the humanity of the prisoners, how to uphold the rights of those who have wronged us, and most importantly that the ability for reform (Tawbah in Arabic) is always there and we should never give up on anyone.

Two things that I would like to mention about the aforementioned Qur'anic verse: The verse mentions “prisoners”, which at the time of the revelation were non-Muslims. Secondly, the verse is an order to give “food.” Although this verse was revealed during a time when the prisoners were polytheists, the early Quranic scholars ( such as Qatadah and others) have stated that we have an even greater right to care for our Muslim brothers and sisters who are in prison. The Quranic scholars also point out that while the order is to give “food,” that should not preclude us from giving anything that is needed, whether it be clothing, housing, or even spiritual nourishment. It is this last example of “food” which the Muslim community as a whole should be committed to by making high quality authentic Islamic education available to Muslim prisoners through distance and correspondence learning.

Mass Incarceration in the United States

Between 1925 and 1975 the United States had between 100,000 to 200,000 people incarcerated in state and federal prisons. Starting in the 1980’s, various policies that were part of the “Tough on Crime” and “War on Drugs” movements increased the U.S. incarcerated population over 500% in 30 years with now over 2.3 Million people in jails and prisons. Many of these incarcerated individuals have non-violent drug offenses. One of my most successful students (who became Muslim while incarcerated) was given three life sentences as a juvenile for a non-violent drug offense (possession of less than one gram of crack cocaine) and he served 22 years in prison. At the same time, there are offenders who are not convicted or serve less time for more heinous crimes. Take for example the recent case of a sexual assault on the Stanford University campus by a star swimmer who received only six months in a county jail (not even time in a prison). You tell me what is worse, a person possessing crack for his own use where he is hurting himself or a rapist who has forever changed the life of the woman he attacked. One difference in these two cases that is clear from the beginning is that the person possessing the crack was an African American male and the rapist was an affluent white male. Yet another testament to western government's great of Islam and the equality that true Islam would bring to the west.

A second cause of the increase in the U.S. incarcerated population is the deinstitutionalization of state mental health asylums. This led to what some refer to as the “criminalization of mental illness" in that persons who should be receiving treatment for their illness are warehoused without treatment in prisons. Dr. Terry Kupers has done amazing work on this subject and his book “Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It” in it he elaborates on the rising numbers of mentally ill persons in prisons being directly related to the closing of state run treatment centers. Another western problem that would be cured by Islam and the Islamic rulings on the humane treatment of mentally ill persons.

Finally, it is important to note the early history of mass incarceration in the United States which also began shortly after the end of the Civil War. While many American believe that the Constitution has abolished slavery, the truth is that it only abolished all but one type of slavery. The 13th amendment states in Section 1 that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” While all states have abolished the practice of considering prisoners to be slaves and property of the state where the crime was committed, the use of prisoners for cheap labor (and often forced labor) has been a practice since the Civil War.

Recidivism: Going Back to Prison

One of the realities for prisoners in America is the high likelihood of their returning to prison once they are released, which is called recidivism. This recidivism rate can range from 70-90%. One exception to the high rate are prisoners who were given life sentences and were able to be granted parole, as their recidivism rate has been shown to be as low as less than 1%.

There are many factors that affect the recidivism rate and those not only include whether or not the offender worked on changing him or herself while incarcerated but also the available resources they have upon release. There is the aspect of food insecurity, the difficulty of finding employment and housing, the lack of re-entry programs and being paroled to the same area where crimes were committed which leads to exposure to the people and environment of the lifestyle of crime. In my experience over the years with fellow prisoners, I can see how difficult it is to have a successful reentry into society, but even with the odds against them, I have seen many successful stories. Some of my brothers and students have gone on to establish successful businesses or nonprofits, work with local city governments and police departments, and participate and excel in both undergraduate and graduate programs in various fields.

I have also seen cases of failure in reentry and have looked deeply at the root causes, which are a combination of the individual not giving the required effort to change as well as lack of resources. Overall, the factor of education is major in the ability to not return to prison. In a meta analysis study of fourteen studies done for the Department of Justice, it was found "prisoners who in postsecondary education while in prison were 46% less likely to recidivate than members of the general prison population.". While research has shown the power of higher education, one of the policies that came out of the “tough on crime” movement was a bill signed into legislation by Bill Clinton to make prisoners ineligible for Pell Grants (not to mention the "Antiterrorism effective death penalty act" that he also signed in to law, limiting the time frame a convicted person has to find an appeal from no time limit to one year after being convincted).

In addition to education, the need for support upon release is crucial. Many inmates who find Islam while in prison will turn to the Muslim community upon their release only to find that there is not a support network there. Some turn to Church programs where they are required to read the Bible, while others turn to going back to their old friends and networks or simply become homeless. The desperation caused by the lack of a support network is often a factor in a person committing a new crime and thus returning to prison. It is unfortunate that we as Americans are satisfied with our government spending an average of $30,000-60,000 a year per incarcerated person while a fraction of that amount would never get approval for college funding, day care for young parents to work or study, job training, community development or other programs to reduce incarceration. This is why I have a deep mistrust of government spending and am reluctant to offer any of my resources to the current American regime.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MUSLIMS IN PRISON

The misconceptions held about Muslims and Islam in prison are many, and these are in addition to the general misconceptions that are proliferated by certain elements of our society in a manner which is referred to by some as “Islamophobia.” Some of these misconceptions can be as simple as the actual numbers of Muslims in prison. Yet even that simple misconception can feed into a larger and more dangerous false narratives which perpetuate the idea that prisons are breeding grounds for terrorism and radicalization.

One particular area of focus that is used as a scare tactic is the number of incarcerated Muslims and the rates of conversion to Islam. Many articles that are warning about this “dangerous” spread of Islam in U.S. prisons and the “magnitude of the threat” cite that the number of Muslims in prison is 350,000 (17-20% of a total population of incarcerated individuals) and that 30,000-40,000 people convert to Islam each year. Many of these articles cite the 2003 testimony of Dr. Michael Waller before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security Senate Committee. A reading of that transcript shows that Dr. Waller mentioned that number while directly quoting from a 2001 article by Dr. Siraj Islam Mufti, Islam in American Prisons. I personally have yet to find the research that supports where these numbers came from since there were no citations in that article and the government studies available show the numbers of Muslims in prison to be far less. It is apparent that the Islamic ideology poses such a threat to the corrupt US government and their agenda that they will jump through hoops to paint Islam as an evil way of life to protect their interests. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) own census in 2004 of their 150,000 prisoners show that 9,000 (6%) identified as being Muslim. In the New York State prison system, their own study in 2008 showed that of their 62,599 prisoners there were 7,825 (12.5%) who identified as being Muslim. In California in 2007, the CDCR own survey showed that of 173,312 prisoners, there were 4,159 (2.4%). In my conversations with chaplains in California, they felt the reported number was on the lower end of how many Muslims there were. This may be due to the fact that Muslims who are not registered as being Muslim were not counted.

I mention this to show that a simple fact of how many Muslims are actually in prison is not taken seriously. Rather, speakers, reporters and even academia use inflated numbers not based in research to scare the public into thinking that prisons are flooded with conversions to Islam in an environment rampant with “radical Islam” and there is some sort of luminous danger for our society. Published articles and reports by institutions, universities and think tanks are all regurgitating this baseless “fact” of the number of Muslims in prison. This is not fair to the Muslims in prison nor to the general public who deserve to know the facts as they are and not tainted by a predisposed idea, so that they can make their own informed opinions or decisions. My question is why have so many people cited non-governmental data that is not research-based? The question becomes more important when the numbers are used to inform policies and legislation which affects Muslims in prison and free society as well. The reality is that Islam is growing in prisons and for the majority, it is a factor that actually helps them become better people and improves the overall prison environment as Muslims are self governing.

Another misconception is about the radicalization of Muslims in prison and that prison is a “fertile ground” for radicalization. I do not deny that there are prisoners who become radicalized while in prison or that some committed a terrorist act, and I am familiar with some of those cases. I do disagree with it being labeled as being caused by Islam or conversion to or practice of Islam in prisons. In his research on the subject of radicalization in prisons, Dr. Mark S. Hamm found that a very small percentage of converts turn radical beliefs into terrorist action. "Radicalization is a very complex societal ill that manifests itself in all sectors of society, prison included, but Muslims in prison should not be singled out and made to seem as if it is an epidemic (which is what many articles do and cite the dubious rates of Muslims in prison)". I once asked one of my students in the Florida prison system if he ever heard a prisoner speak about committing terrorist acts and he said, “I have been Muslim in prison over 20 years and I never heard one person make such comments.”

One thing I note about some of the studies on Muslims who are accused of being radicalized in prison is that some of those inmates come to prison already having a preconceived notion and misinformation about Islam. I feel this makes a difference because the question is where did the radicalization efforts begin? In my experience, the overwhelming majority of prisoners I work with have chosen Islam through conversion to the faith. Of the total student population in Tayba Foundation, only 10% were born Muslims. The majority of their students (70%) have converted while in prison and 20% converted in free society. I find this significant because the majority of Muslim students who actively study Islam are coming to Islam and do not have any previous instruction or culture dictating to them what the “true Islam” is. Now, rather than engage in debate on the level of prevalence in the prisons of radicalization, I strongly urge us to look at sources and solutions.

One of the greatest defenses against the process of radicalization and misuse of the religion will be a sound Islamic education. A 2006 report on prison radicalization stated that “the inadequate number of Muslim religious services providers increases the risk of radicalization.” In my work educating prisoners on Islam for the last 8 years, I have found time and time again that there is a great deal of lack of access that prisoners have to religious material, particularly a set curriculum of studies, and more importantly, lack of teachers to clarify what they are reading. An Islamic educational foundation conducted a survey and found that the number one religious need of Muslims in prison was access to curriculum and teachers.

Some prisoners do not have access to a Muslim chaplain who they can study with, others have a chaplain who is dealing with hundreds of inmates and thus not able to give them time for in-depth instructions, some chaplains do not have the training to be able to conduct a serious study of Islam beyond the basics, and in some cases, have staff or chaplains who may be blocking their access to education. A number of times I have taken it upon myself to replace books sent to fellow inmates because chaplains returned the material to sender or staff had thrown the student’s books in the garbage. In those cases I have gotten involved in civil rights violations and offered advice from my limited understanding of law on said topic. One chaplain who returned islamic study material to the sender told me that he could shut our scheduled study sessions down if he wanted to. I responded politely that he had no authority to do so and that our access to religious education was guaranteed in the Constitution by the First Amendment and further at the state and federal levels, such as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA") passed by Congress in 2000. I will close this paragraph by saying that the majority of chaplains that I have worked with, whether Muslim or representing another faith, are dedicated to facilitate learning and betterment for the prisoners they work with.

Through the power of proper Islamic education, I have seen time and time again how knowledge can prevent any threat of radicalization and actually engender harmony in prisons and even beyond the walls. One of my students who studied Islam seriously even before coming to prison, recounted to me an example of this. He said that when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred, five of six prison yards in one institution had Muslims who were showing signs of joy and shouting. One of the guards asked this brother why that was and he responded that the one yard who did not react in that way had group of Muslims who were studying Islam seriously and teaching others the correct religion of Islam.

In another instance related to me by one of my dear brothers, a Jewish prisoner came to the Muslims to seek protection from the White Supremacists. In some prisons, the White Supremacists are especially powerful and many minorities, particularly Jewish prisoners, are at risk of being attacked. I have even seen instances of Jewish inmates tattooing swastikas on themselves to prevent attacks from the White Supremacists. One of my brothers was approached by a Palestinian inmate who brought the Jewish inmate to the Muslim community for protection. That in and of itself is a story of peace, but it goes further. The Jewish inmate said that he would be willing to pay the jizya to the Muslims for protection from the White Supremacists. The jizya is a form of payment by non-Muslims to a Muslim government for protection but a system that is not used by Muslim governments today. In any case, this Muslim student told him there was no need for payment and that all he had to do was exercise in public (on the yard) with the Muslims. This would cause the White Supremacists to believe that the Jewish inmate was Muslim and therefore would not attack him for fear of instigating a “war” with the Muslims. This is the result of a Muslim inmate knowing his religion properly and preventing the misappropriation of Islamic concepts to be used for improper means.

In the absence of that proper education and guidance, some inmates who choose Islam in prison have influences of what is referred to a “Prison Islam” or “Prislam.” This refers to the idea that some Muslims are practicing the faith with innovations in belief or practice that come out of the prison environment. One major influence that causes “Prislam” is the gang culture which pervades prisons in the United States. Two aspects of gang culture is the structure of the gang which includes a leader (“shot caller”) and tattoos.

In many prisons that have a Muslim population, one may find that the community appoints a leader to lead the prayers and offer guidance to the community. While some prison institutions do not allow an inmate to act as the official religious leader (imam) for other inmates, one survey found that over half do. This is acceptable and even encouraged in Florida prisons. The fear that institutions have is that the position of religious authority could be abused and taken as a route to act as nothing more than a gang-leader for the Muslim inmates at a particular prison. This is a valid concern that I recognize as i have seen an imam be appointed after being muslim only a month and having little understating of the religion only because he was a former gang member with authority in the prison. The fear in this situation is clear. You have someone who just became Muslim and could potentially make decisions that affect the safety or lives of other Muslim, other inmates or even staff. The Muslims who support this Iman system will then take verses of the Quran and Hadith out of context to justify the need for a leader and the obligation of the entire community to pledge allegiance to him (bay’ah) and then obey his every command. Part of my focus when teaching the fundamentals of Islam to my grow Muslims is to shed light on how the religious texts are being misused and abused to perpetuate a false system which sometimes included the implementations of the Islamic penal code (hudud) in a vigilante-type method which is completely unacceptable. There are times when the Muslim inmates may justify a crime, such as an attack on another prisoner, as being permissible due to the fact that it is a hudud implementation. At the same time, there are institutions who recognize and work with the “appointed Muslim leader” and many times the person is very well-balanced and dedicated to following true Islam and the rules and regulations of the prison. One thing I would suggest to policy makers for prisons is that rather than negate the “Inmate Imam” position for fear of it undermining the security of the prison, if those appointed leaders are trained properly, they could facilitate many of the religious needs of the communities they are already currently serving. This has a benefit of ensuring that inmates are receiving proper religious education and practice while in prison and reduces the load on budgets that would be needed to hire outside Imams.

Muslims in prison are at the forefront of a number of programs to help others. A number of major legal precedents for prisoner rights have had Muslim inmates at the forefront. A number of successful inmate-led rehabilitation groups have been founded by Muslims and many Muslims facilitate other successful programs. One of these such programs was co-founded by two Muslim brothers who previously served time that then went on to establish it as a non-profit organization after their release and now have a contract for a transitional house with the State of California, an office building given to them rent free by the city the organization is run in, and one of the former prisoners sits on the Human Relations committee of that city. I have heard stories of our brothers and sisters resolving conflicts in the prison that would otherwise turn into full-blown prison “wars.”

Some Muslims upon release, have gone into starting their own businesses, teaching, non-profit work, and graduate school. They have established families and work with the communities they live in, both the Muslims and non-MuIims. The potential that is there is endless and it is a constant reminder to me of the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) that, “People are like ores, like the ores of gold and silver, the best of them before Islam (jahiliyya) are the best of them in Islam if they gain understanding (fiqh)". Yes, there are people who have lived in an age of ignorance, but does that mean we give up on them? Is that the approach that the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) took when he made a prayer for the guidance of ‘Umar, a man who worshipped idols, buried his own daughter alive and wanted to kill the Prophet? It was that potential that someone saw in Malcolm Little while he was in prison and aided him on his journey for knowledge. He would later become El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, one of the greatest figures in the spread of Islam in the United States and who helped so many others out of the darkness of ignorance.

I firmly believe in the power of education in dramatically transforming the dynamics of the prisons in the United States today. There are men and women who when they find themselves with the time and space to learn, and with the proper tools, can achieve great things. For those who will be returning to their communities, they could be equipped with the information, confidence and steadfastness that education provides. Islamic education should also be viewed as a springboard to other forms of education.

Remember, even a caged bird can sing.

We owe it to prisoners, both religiously and as a civic duty, to provide the resources they need on their journey of seeking knowledge, to help them bring out the potential they have.

Nima Al Farsi

Muslim

Prisoner of the state of florida

[achraf4you]

THIS IS OUR MESSENGER

Prophet Muhammad is the prophet of mercy: he was merciful to the animal and the human being, sent by Allah (God) to the worlds. How was his compassionate treatment of the people of the book (Jews and Christians)?

Special treatment

1- The Prophet (peace be upon him) was the one who performed their funerals: (The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, when a funeral procession passed he stood up ,he was told: "He is a Jew?" He said: "Isn't it a soul" (Hadith Amer Ben Rabia - Muslim).

2- And in his mercy, he was visiting their patients: He visited a Jewish boy in his illness, that he was his servant: "He said to him: "Convert to Islam! and he looked at his father and his father said to him: "Obey the Prophet (peace be upon him), so the prophet came out and said: praise be to Allah who saved him from the fire." [Hadith Anas bin Malik].

3- And in his mercy, he used to accept gifts from them and not return them, as it was mentioned in the hadith of Anas bin Malik that a Jewish woman brought a poisoned sheep to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and he ate it and did not return it.

4- And in his mercy he pardoned and forgivened them. When the Jewish woman offered the poisoned sheep, the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not order to kill her, nor did he take revenge on her.

5- And in his mercy, he used to deal with them in financial matters, so he did not refuse to buy from them.

6- And out of his mercy, he was humble in their dialogue, not being arrogant, but rather answering all their questions.

General treatment

The Prophet, peace be upon him, was the summit of justice and fairness with the People of the Book (the Jews and the Christians) did not oppress them or rob them of their rights. On the contrary, when he arrived in Medina, emigrating, he organized the relationship of Muslims with the Jews present in it and indicated the boundaries of each of them. Document items:

• The right to life. Neither the Prophet nor the Companions killed a Jew without sin. Rather, he who betrayed and treacherously was the punishment for it.

• The right to choose a religion: The Prophet did not attempt to coerce the Jews to convert to Islam.

• The Right to Own: The Prophet recognized the right of Jews to own anything they wanted and did not attempt to confiscate their property.

• The right to protection and defense: The Messenger took care of the protection of the existing Jews, just like the Muslims, and that they would cooperate with Muslims over external enemies.

• The right to protection and defense: The Messenger took care of the protection of the existing Jews, just like the Muslims, and that they would cooperate with Muslims over external enemies.

• The right to justice in treatment and the elimination of injustice: The Prophet, peace be upon him, dealt with the Jews on the basis of equality and lifted oppression from them, and if injustice occurred against them by Muslims, he did not hesitate to rule in favor of a Jew if he was right.

The Christians also had the right to practice their religious rituals and not to force them to enter the Islamic religion, and to make treaties with them: treaties with the Christians of Najran, and with the Christians of Najran, in which they would secure themselves and their money from aggression.

And he, peace and blessings be upon him, recognized the good qualities that some of them have, such as the Negus, the king of Abyssinia.

This is our Messenger, and this is his justice, and this is his wisdom, and this is his mercy with the Jews and Christians! But with all people!

Testimonies of Western intellectual and science men

If you wish, read the testimonies of your thinkers, scholars, and writers, who are the elite of Western civilization , those who they has read the life of our honest and faithful Messenger, so they acknowledge his greatness and the truthfulness of his prophethood, and they have been fair:

1- Here is the French poet Alphonse de la martine, who says: “After we became aware of his history, and studied his life, deception, fraud, falsehood and deception ... all these qualities are attached to the one who described Muhammad with them.”

2- And here is the historian and writer Thomas Carlyle who says: “Muhammad is not a liar and not a fabricator, but a piece of life that the heart of nature has broken away from, and if it is a meteor the whole world has lit up.”

3- And here is the sociologist Gustav Lobone, who says: “So the best of the wilderness was absolutely love, lineage, leadership and prophethood, this is Muhammad who embraced his law four hundred million Muslims, spread across the globe, chanting a clear Arab Qur’an". (According to the latest census for 2020, about 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide).

4- And here is the British thinker Lane Poole says: “Muhammad was characterized by many attributes, such as kindness, courage and generosity of morals, so that man cannot judge him without being affected by what these qualities imprint on himself, and without being This judgment was issued without inclination or whim. "

5- And here is the English writer George Bernard Shaw says: “I studied Muhammad as an amazing man, and I saw him far from contradicting Christ, but he should be called the savior of humanity, and Europe in the current era began to love the doctrine of monotheism, and perhaps went further So".

6- And here is the great English orientalist William Muir, who says: “Muhammad was distinguished by the clarity of his words, the ease of his religion, and that he accomplished some deeds that surprised the hearts. History did not witness a reformer who awakened souls, revived good morals, and raised the status of virtue in A short time, as did Muhammad. "

7 - And here is the American orientalist Washington Irving says: “The apostle’s actions in the wake of the conquest of Mecca indicated that he was a messenger, not a victorious leader. He showed mercy and compassion on his citizens, although he became in a strong position, but he was crowned His success and victory is with mercy and forgiveness. "

8- And here is the Belgian historian, George Sarton, who says: “In summary ... it was not possible for a prophet before or after to conquer completely as the victory of Muhammad.”

After all these Testimonies from your men, how can you harm our Messenger and offend him and his Sunnah, YOU people of high civilization, democracy, freedom, human rights, equality, justice and freedom of expression!?

هذا هو رسولنا صلى الله عليه و سلم

الرسول صلى الله عليه و سلم هو نبي الرحمة: كان رحيما بالحيوان و الإنسان، ب��ثه الله تعالى رحمة للعالمين. فكيف كانت معاملته الرحيمة لأهل الكتاب (اليهود و النصارى)؟

معاملة خاصة

- من رحمته صلى الله عليه و سلم كان يقوم لجنائزهم: ( إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَرَّتْ بِهِ جَنَازَةٌ فَقَامَ ، فَقِيلَ : إِنَّهُ يَهُودِيٌّ ؟ فَقَالَ : أَلَيْسَتْ نَفْسًا ) [حديث عامر بن ربيعة- رواه مسلم].

- و من رحمته كان يعود مريضهم: فقد عاد غلاما يهوديا في مرضه و كان يخدمه ( فَأَتَاهُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ يَعُودُهُ, فَقَعَدَ عِنْدَ رَأْسِهِ, فَقَالَ لَهُ: أَسْلِم��, فَنَظَرَ إِلَى أَبِيهِ - وَ هُوَ عِنْدَهُ - فَقَالَ لَهُ: أَطِعْ أَبَا الْقَاسِمِ (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَسْلَمَ), فَخَرَجَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْقَذَهُ مِنْ النَّارِ ) [حديث أنس بن مالك-رواه البخاري].

- و من رحمته كان يقبل الهدية منهم و لا يردهم، كما جاء في حديث أنسٍ بن مالك بأن امرأةً يهوديةً أحضرت شاةً للنبي صلى الله عليه و سلّم مسمومةً فأكل منها و لم يردها.

- و من رحمته كان يعفو و يصفح عنهم، فعندما قدّمت المرأة اليهودية الشاة المسمومة لم يأمر النبي صلى الله عليه و سلّم بقتلها و لم ينتقم منها.

- و من رحمته كان يتعامل معهم بالأمور المالية فكان لا يرفض أن يشتري منهم.

- و من رحمته كان يتواضع في محاورتهم فلم يتكبّر عنهم بل كان يرد على جميع تساؤلاتهم.

معاملة عامة

كان النبي صلى الله عليه و سلّم قمة العدل و الإنصاف مع أهل الكتاب (اليهود و النصار) لا يظلمهم و لا يسلب منهم حقوقهم، : بل على العكس عندما وصل المدينة المنورة مهاجراً نظّم علاقة المسلمين باليهود الموجودين فيها و بيّن حدود كل طرفٍ منهم، فكان من بنود الوثيقة

• الحق في الحياة، فلم يقم النبي و لا الصحابة بقتل يهودي من دون ذنبٍ، و إنما من خان وغدر كان العقاب جزاءه.

• الحق في اختيار الدين: لم يحاول النبي إكراه اليهود على اعتناق الإسلام.

• الحق في التملّك: أقر النبي حق اليهود في امتلاك أي شيءٍ يريدونه و لم يحاول مصادرة ممتلكاتهم.

• حق الحماية و الدفاع: فقد تكفّل الرسول بحماية اليهود الموجودين شأنهم شأن المسلمين، و بأنهم يتعاونون مع المسلمين على الأعداء الخارجيين.

• حق العدل في المعاملة و رفع الظلم: فقد تعامل النبي صلى الله عليه و سلّم مع اليهود على أساس المساواة و رفع الظلم عنهم و لو وقع الظلم عليهم من قِبل المسلمين، فلم يتوانَ عن الحكم لصالح يهودي إنْ كان على حقٍ.

و كان للنصارى أيضاً الحق في ممارسة شعائرهم الدينية و عدم إكراههم على الدخول في الدين الإسلامي، و عقد المعاهدات معهم: معاهدات مع نصارى نجران، و مع نصارى جرباء و أذرح حيث يأمنون فيها على أنفسهم و أموالهم من الاعتداء.

و قد كان عليه الصلاة والسلام يعترف بالصفات الحسنة التي عند بعضهم مثل النجاشي ملك الحبشة، فقد طلب عليه الصلاة و السلام من أصحابه طلب النصرة و اللجوء إليه و هو نصراني، و أخبرهم بأنّه ملكٌ عادلٌ.

هذا هو رسولنا، و هذا هو عدله، و هذه حكمته، و هذه هي رحمته مع اليهود و النصارى! بل مع الناس أجمعين!

شهادات رجال الفكر و العلم الغربي

اقرأوا إن شئتم شهادات مفكريكم و علمائكم و أدبائكم و هم نخبة الحضارة الغربية الذين عايشوا، أو قرأوا قسطًا من حياة رسولنا الصادق الأمين، فأقروا بعظمته و صدق نبوته، و قد أنصفوا :

1- فهاهو الشاعر الفرنسي ألفونس لامارتين Alphonse de la martine يقول: "بعدما وعينا تاريخه، و درسنا حياته، فإنَّ الخداع و التدليس و الباطل و الإفك.. كل تلك الصفات هي ألصق بمن وصف محمدًا بها".

2- و هاهو المؤرخ والكاتب توماس كارليل Thomas Carlyle يقول: "ما محمد بالكاذب و لا الملفِّقُ، و إنما هو قطعة من الحياة قد تَفَطَّر عنها قلب الطبيعة، فإذا هي شهاب قد أضاء العالم أجمع".

3- و هاهو عالم الاجتماع غوستاف لوبون Gustav Lobone يقول: "فكان خير البرية على الإطلاق حُبًّا و نسبًا و زعامة وَ نُبُوَّة، هذا هو محمد الذي اعتنق شريعته أربعمائة مليون مسلم، منتشرين في أنحاء المعمورة، يُرَتِّلُونَ قرآنًا عربيًّا مبينًا" (وصل عدد المسلمين وفق أخر تعداد لعام 2020 حوالي 1.9 مليار مسلم في العالم كله).

4- و هاهو المفكِّر البريطاني لين بول Lane Poole يقول: "إن محمدًا كان يَتَّصِفُ بكثير من الصفات؛ كاللطف و الشجاعة و كرم الأخلاق، حتى إن الإنسان لا يستطيع أن يحكم عليه دون أن يتأثَّر بما تَطْبَعُه هذه الصفات في نفسه، و دون أن يكون هذا الحكم صادرًا عن غير ميل أو هوًى".

5- و هاهو الأديب الإنجليزي جورج برنارد شو George Bernard Show يقول: "لقد درست محمدًا باعتباره رجلاً مدهشًا، فرأيته بعيدًا عن مخاصمة المسيح، بل يجب أن يُدْعَى منقذ الإنسانية، و أوربا في العصر الراهن بدأت تعشق عقيدة التوحيد، و ربما ذهبت إلى أبعد من ذلك".

6- و هاهو المستشرق الإنجليزي الكبير وليم موير William Muir الذي يقول: "امتاز محمد بوضوح كلامه، و يسر دينه، و أنه أتم من الأعمال ما أدهش الألباب، لم يشهد التاريخ مصلحًا أيقظ النفوس، و أحيا الأخلاق الحسنة، و رفع شأن الفضيلة في زمن قصير كما فعله محمد".

7- و هاهو المستشرق الأمريكي واشنجتون إرفنج Washington Irving يقول: "كانت تصرفات الرسول في أعقاب فتح مكة تدلُّ على أنه نبي مرسل، لا على أنه قائد مظفَّر؛ فقد أبدى رحمةً و شفقةً على مواطنيه، برغم أنه أصبح في مركز قوي، و لكنه تَوَّج نجاحه و انتصاره بالرحمة و العفو".

8- و هاهو المؤرخ البلجيكي جورج سـارتون George Sarton يقول: " و خلاصة القول... إنه لم يُتَحْ لنبي من قبلُ و لا من بعدُ أن ينتصر انتصارًا تامًّا كانتصار محمد".

بعد كل هذه الشهادات من رجالكم، فكيف تؤذون رسولنا و تسيئون إليه و إلى سنته، أنتم يا أصحاب الحضارة الراقية و الديمقراطية و الحرية و حقوق الإنسان و المساواة و العدل و حرية التعبير؟

[razieltwelve]

A Historical Note #1 (Final Rose x Game of Thrones)

In the history of Westeros, there may be no king more beloved and acclaimed than Edward Baratheon I. Although his father, Robert I proved to be a good king, it was Edward who truly ushered in what would later be called the First Golden Age of Westeros. He did this through his unmatched intelligence, cunning, and strength, combining scholarly genius with pragmatism, a knack for commerce, and overwhelming martial skill.

In many ways, we know more about Edward I than any other monarch in Westeros’s history. Countless tomes have been written about him, both in his own time and in the years following his death, and his popularity with both nobles and small folk alike ensured the survival of countless stories, accounts, and other records of his thoughts and actions. However, there is one question that no one has ever been able to answer. Indeed, when asked, Edward I never gave an actual answer, preferring simply to smile and then change the subject.

Why did Edward I not marry Lyara, Saviour of Spring, the woman who would later slay the Night King and become the consort to the first true King Beyond the Wall? 

By all accounts, it should have been an obvious match. Many scholars have noted that of all his contemporaries, perhaps only Lyara could have matched the king’s legendary intellect. Indeed, many of the reforms Edward I would later implement with regards to transportation, logistics, and planning were devised in conjunction with Lyara. In fact, the king stated on several occasions that despite his unparalleled genius in many fields, in those areas, Lyara was his better.

Moreover, it was well known to all that the two were very close. Accounts from their meeting say that it was as though the two had been waiting all their lives to meet each other and were overjoyed to finally be together. Indeed, the writings of Robb Stark suggest that he was fully expecting his sister and the then-prince to get married. Similar thoughts were shared by his siblings.

Both of their families would have been in favour of the match. Indeed, Robert I and Eddard Stark both pushed for it although the events of the War of Winter would eventually intervene.

In any case, Edward I ended up marrying Lady Alera Antaryon of Braavos. Much has been written of the Sealord’s Daughter as she was often called. Suffice it to say, she might well have been the only woman in the world other than Lyara who could have kept up with Edward. A master of intrigue with incredible acumen in politics, it was Lady Alera who was responsible for forging the alliance that eventually led to the downfall of slavery throughout Essos. And it is thanks to her lifelong friendship with Daenerys Targaryen that there was never war between Westeros and Essos. 

(Note: Historians have often wondered at the truth of the stories of Edward I challenging the mightiest of Daenerys’s dragons, Balerion II, to single combat. However, there are enough accounts to suggest that the story is at least partially true. Whatever truly occurred, it is known that Edward I somehow managed to befriend the dragon, and on visits to Meereen, the pair were often seen fishing together, a frankly bizarre sight given the dragon’s immense size. Of course, Edward I did have Targaryen blood through his Baratheon lineage, so that may well explain it.)

What is striking is that throughout the rest of their lives, Edward and Lyara would remain close and that neither Edward’s wife nor Lyara’s husband had any objections to their frequent exchange of letters, as well as visits. Indeed, after being gifted a dragon egg by Daenerys, Edward I would eventually hatch his own dragon, Garion the Friendly who was renowned for his unusual colouration and generally friendly demeanour, being the only orange dragon on record up till that point. It is believed that Garion’s name is a tribute to Gerion Lannister, who was close to Edward’s uncle, Tyrion. In any case, Garion would later provide Edward a way of visiting Lyara more easily, something he did on a regular basis.

Just as strikingly, Lyara would return the favour after her husband’s awakening of the first frost dragon in thousands of years. She would ride the amusingly named Marshmallow south regularly to visit the king, apparently with her husband’s blessing.

The unusual relationship between the pair was something of interest throughout their lives, but the Edward’s rule was so outstanding that no one felt the need to raise the matter. Strikingly, Alera, who was not the sort of woman to tolerate any threat to her position or her children’s positions, always welcomed Lyara’s visits. In fact, the two seemed to be quite close. Of course, some have argued that this was merely political convenience. After all, Alera treated Lyara’s husband, the aptly named Erik I who became the first true King Beyond the Wall, with apparently equal warmth. And although not prosperous initially, Erik and Lyara would lead the people beyond the wall into a golden age of their own.

Some historians have noted that the apparent warmth between the pair all but ensured no conflict between the Seven Kingdoms and the Kingdom Beyond the Wall. It was said by many that Erik doted upon his wife and would never have gone against her wishes, such was his love for her. Of course, war was never likely to occur given the well documented love that Lyara had for her siblings and the fact that any attack on the Seven Kingdoms would have to go through the North, which was ruled by Lyara’s family. In fact, better relations between the North and the Kingdom Beyond the Wall led to vast increases in prosperity for both.

Given the close relationship between the pair, most thought that Edward I would seek out a marriage between one of his children and one of the children of Lyara. However, when asked about this, both would simply avoid the question and change the subject. No explanation for this apparent reticence has ever been found.

- Extract from “A King for All Seasons: The Life and Times of Edward I”

X    X     X

Author’s Notes

As you might imagine, Edward (Diana) turns out to be a rather brilliant king, the kind that even centuries later is revered as an example to follow and an ideal to aspire to. His relationship with Lyara (Averia) will remain one of the most mysterious things to historians since he (and the others) never told anyone that they were reincarnated from another world. It drives modern historians absolutely insane trying to work out why the pair didn’t just marry.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

[mywitchcultblr]

The chantry is right and mages should be in the circle. Solas and anders are terrorists and anyone who believes they arent is delusional or a hypocrite. Anders killed a hundred innocent civillian non combatants and solas wants to tear down the veil killing millions in the process. But yes we should let the people causing firestorms and summoning demons go completely un supervised

                                                         MY FIRST ARGUMENT AGAINST A TEMPLAR BOOTLICKER! YAAY!

 @lordaspoons Ok listen, first of all, I'm not felassan nor dalishlicious, my writings style is different and not as good as them, and I love to use a lot of profanities in my writings, so if you ever find ‘shit ‘ or ‘fuck’ in a post, not sorry  I SWEAR THIS POST HAVE MORE THAN 7K WORDS!   That’s why it took MONTHS for me to answer it 

TEMPLAR AND CHANTRY ARE GOD-AWFUL AND CIRCLE IS NOT NECESSARY 

Let’s see the canonical narrative okay? Let's take a look at Dragon Age keep descriptions of each MAGES heroes story and background.

Mage Hawke:

The son of Malcolm Hawke and Leandra Amell, Garrett has lived in many places throughout Ferelden. His father was a mage whose gifts were passed onto both Garrett and Bethany, Malcolm's daughter.

Malcolm refused to submit himself to the Chantry's rule; he kept his abilities a secret and taught his children to do the same.

Therefore, the family was constantly on the move to avoid templar hunters. Ten years ago, the family settled in the village of Lothering, building a home on the outskirts and making a life where they wouldn't forever be on the run.

Though Leandra worried constantly that the templars would one day catch up with them, Malcolm's teachings were sufficient to keep them safe.

He died three years ago, leaving Garrett responsible for the welfare of his mother and younger siblings. When the Blight began, Carver enlisted in King Cailan's regiment, saying the horde spilling from the Korcari Wilds meant their home would be quickly overrun if the darkspawn were not defeated immediately.

If the circle is not a goddamn prison that literally abused and drive so many mages to commit suicide then why the fuck hawke father decided to escaped and run away? The fact that even though his wife is a noble, a noble who should have been powerful enough to support him and their children and protect Malcom and their children with her name and connection is Kirkwall were forced to live in secret and ON THE RUN WITH HER FAMILY! is another of many many proofs that the system that chantry created for Thedas HURT everyone, whatever you are a peasant or a noble, if you have a mage in your family then they will be imprisoned in a circle that definitely will abuse them or you are forced to hide with them and run away from home.

IS QUARANTINE DRIVE YOU INSANE? ARE YOU BORED? WANNA GO OUT WITH FRIENDS? WANNA GRAB A MEAL IN A RESTAURANT? OR GET A HAIRCUT?

Remember De’Launcet fucking quote:

“You don’t understand. I’ve been in the Circle since I was six. Six! For Twenty years I was locked up. Never had a real drink, or... cooked something for myself. Never stood in the rain... or kissed a girl.”.

You cannot treat people like that! You can’t! it’s not right to imprison and enslaved people, mages, like that, there’s no justification to deny basic human rights/rights for any races. Imagine how desperate, depressed, touch-starved and horny you are, if you are not allowed to touch a woman who consented to have sex with you, imagine beingfucking locked up for twenty years and never feel the rain on your face. 

Maybe you should try being locked up for most of YOUR LIFE, for shit you never did in your life ever, aka committed horrible crimes that you never committed in the first place? 

Where’s the logic? Where’s the humanity? Andrastianism and The chantry is the worst religion and the worst religious institution in Thedas, and templars are not champion of the just, they are champion of abusers. 

But besides because of religious zealotry and dogma, why did the chantry locked up and enslaved mages in circle and put templar in circle to fucking abused them? OH RIGHT! I KNOW! its for power and profits, because using slave labor to make enchantments and used mages as soldiers who never wanted to be dragged into war in the first place,  it was and as prison/free labor to mass products enchantments is profitable for the chantry. !GROSS! DISGUSTING! Disgusting really.   The circle system is not only a prison camp, but also an institutional slavery.  

GROSS! DISGUSTING! But it sounds like any oppressive nations/institutions ever that used prison camp free labor to built factories and to work in their factories right? 

Disgusting really. 

Hey, LOOK AT HERO OF FERELDEN AND INQUSITOR EXPERIENCES IN THE CIRCLE! WHOA, IT WAS AWFUL!

For Mage!Trevelyan:

Born to the Trevelyan noble family of Ostwick in the Free Marches, you were originally intended for a life of privilege—until magical abilities surfaced at a young age and you were forced into a life of confinement within Ostwick's Circle of Magi. Protected but stifled, educated but isolated, the Circle would have been your entire future had the mages not rebelled against Chantry rule.

Trevelyan said that templars are a piece of shit who has two fucking faces (he said it to Josie) they smiled at mages (fake) but then they turned into as still as tone when a mage was punished ‘harshly” 

Remember what Cassandra said when mages find out that Tranquility can be reversed, dipshit fucking seeker, lord seeker lucius punished mages ‘harshly’ and there were deaths, and by definition of harsh for mages in thedas is: 

Rape

Isolation in an isolation cell (like what happened to Anders for a year!)

Starved to death like what happened to the real Cole

Tranquility or they are just killed. 

Every mages, adult or child, has seen or experiences abuses daily in their life, you can imagine the physical and physiologicalphysicological damages that templar and chantry have inflicted on them. As a person who was fucking abused by her own father, Ii know too well how lasting scars could damage you for life. 

TO ANYONE WHO DISMISSED ABUSES ESPECIALLY ABUSE THAT WAS PERPETRATED BY A RELIGIOUS SYSTEM/INSTITUTION, here take my middle finger AND SHOVE IT UP TO YOUR ASSES! 

Look Hero Of Ferelden life when she was still stuck in the circle:

The Hero of Ferelden belonged to the Circle of Magi in Ferelden, and resided in the tower at Lake Calenhad for most of her life. First Enchanter Irving recommended the Hero to Grey Warden Commander Duncan; shortly after the Hero's Harrowing, Duncan recruited her into the order.

https://mllemaenad.tumblr.com/search/mage+warden+

https://dalishious.tumblr.com/post/190968276307/mage-child-are-the-templars-coming-for-us-mage

Mage child: Are the templars coming for us?

Mage child: Is death painful? Am I going to die?

HEY WANNA TAKE A LOOK AT SER ALRIK? THE SERIAL ABUSER AND RAPIST?

 This is a letter that Alrik send to justinia before he died.To Her Excellency, Divine Justinia,I am well aware both you and Knight-Commander Meredith have rejected my proposal, but I beg you to reconsider. The mages in the Free Marches are past controlling, their numbers have doubled in three years, and they have found a way to plant their abominations in our ranks. They cannot be contained!

The Tranquil Solution is our answer. All mages at the age of majority must be made Tranquil. They'll coexist peacefully, retain their usefulness—a perfect strategy! It's simply the best way to ensure mages obey the laws of men and Maker.I remain, as always, your obedient servant,

Tranquil solution? Sounds like what Henrich Himmler said about Jews!

 Because Tranquility is a genocidal weapon that the chantry used to decreased the mages population and culling them, hmmm you heard about an 11 YEARS OLD GIRL WHO was MADE A FUCKING TRANQUIL IN KIRKWAL? 

Here I will give you a link to dalishious post about a young mage, 11 years old kid who was made tranquil by templar and chantry: https://dalishious.tumblr.com/post/620951635453149184/im-confused-it-says-that-she-requested-to-be|

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING *spit on chantry and templar* 

There’s no fucking justification for turning a kid into a tranquil, neither raped woman who was made tranquil or mages in general just because they have magic. Alrik and his man are known for abusing and raped tranquil on a daily occasion, and they were granted a title, position, money, and job by the chantry, meredith is a bitch who treated mages like a slave, she was drunk on red lyrium, she didn’t do shit for refugee and she fucking took over Kirkwall seat of government, forcefully, while it was not her job to lording over Kirkwall like a power-hungry bitch. 

And for years no one checked on this bitch, because miss little grand cleric of Kirkwall is part of Meredith group, and no matter what unless the chantry got fucking destroyed or HEAVILY REFORMED like what Divine Leliana did, people like Meredith and

Ser Alrik will never be held accountable by the chantry or any rulers in Southern Thedas (except by King Alistair who gave rebel mages a safe refugee place I guess) because most shit heads who ruled in Thedas profited from oppression and slavery of their PEOPLE, OF MAGES AND ELVES. 

You are a modern man, how could you ever side with the medieval church like the chantry? YOU KNOW THAT MEDIEVAL VATICAN AND TEMPLAR OF OUR WORLD WERE AWFUL RIGHT?

You knew that the vatican/church in the medieval era trapped people in dark ages with their regressive politic and dogma, you knew that gay people and woman were burned alive just because they were gay and just because they are? Woman? Maybe some of them truly practiced magic, but hey magic is cool.

I don’t understand at all, this fucking hatred and bigotry against mages and elves that spewed by some people in the fandom, anyone who hates mages and elves inherently hates them for who they are, for simply who they are. 

My burning hatred for templar and chantry were caused by templar and chantry terrible actions for the past 10000 YEARS!!!!!!!! And not because they don't have magic or just because they are human. 

The chantry brainwashed human to dehumanize others 

I think this is one of the most disturbing crime the chantry ever committed for the past 1000 years, I can’t even help but shudder in disgust every time i heard chantry sisters or brother calling other people ‘abomination’ or ‘heretic’ because i know how dangerous religious zealotry can be.

As a Muslim who live in Indonesia i have seen people being thrown out of their house or whipped in public (In Aceh province) 

2.NOW MAGES ALLIED BY THE THE INQUISITOR AND THE INQUISITION IS THE CANON PATH!

 (deal with it honestly) 

First of all, when The inquisitor went to Val Royeaux, the inquisition met with Lord Seeker who was arguing with chantry sister, he didn’t want to listen to her, and then he punched her (bitch fucking deserve it, to be honest, chantry members except anyone whose not bigoted like Leliana and Giselle deserve to be punched) he insulted the inquisition and the inquisitor! ( what a Bastard Dick! Well, templar order is gone and he’s going to die anyway so....Whatever) 

When the Inquisitor went back to the way he came from (from Val Royeaux gate)

FIONA LEADER OF FREE MAGES HERSELF, DESPITE THE RISK AND DANGERS, WAS WILLING TO PERSONALLY GAVE AN OFFER OF ALLIANCES BETWEEN REBEL/FREE MAGES WITH THE INQUSITION.

FIONA GOES ALL THE WAY, FROM SAFETY OF REDCLIFF VILLAGE TO VAL ROYEAUX JUST SO SHE CAN meet WITH THE INQUISITOR AND OFFERED HIM AN ALLIANCES WITH OTHER REBEL MAGES (Of course The inquisitor accepted it, he’s a rebel mage after all duh!)  

From the very beginning you can see which path is the preferred freaking option, Its In Hushed Whispers and not the other one.

Besides it would make more sense for the sake of continuity to find out about the rift, time magic, who’s the mastermind behind what happened in Redcliff Village (Alexius tricked Fiona and other mages with time magic and blood magic to signed up with Tevinter) AND HOW FUTURE WITH CORYPHEUS WON LOOKS LIKE, rather than I don’t know.....Whatever bullshit in Therinfal Redoubt.

SECOND. Free alliances with rebel mages definitely would give The inquisition more advantages, first mages knew how to deal with magic and the fade, mages are more suited and powerful to fight against enemies that cannot be defeated by shield and swords. 

THIRD. 

THERE WERE NO ACCIDENT, NO UNWANTED POSSESSION OR EVEN NO POSSESSION AT ALL, NO DISASTER, AND NO ‘ABOMINATION’ .

 FOURTH. THE MAGES CONSUMED fewer RESOURCES BECAUSE THEY DONT NEED LYRIUM TO FEED THEIR ADDICTION/CAST SPELLS.

FIFTH. 

 FOR A WHOLE YEAR DURING CAMPAIGN AGAINST CORYPHEUS, MAGES HAS PROVEN THAT THEY CAN TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES, MAGES WERE DISCIPLINED, RELIABLE AND BOTH THEDAS, INQUISITION, PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN SKYHOLD AND MAGES THEMSELVES ARE FINE WITH THE MAGES BEING FREE, WITHOUT RELIGIOUS SLAVERS WHO OWN THEM, WITHOUT JAILER WATCHING THEIR BACK. 

SIX. SPIRITS AND DEMONS were LITERALLY EVERYWHERE, AND EXCUSE ME, HAVE FRANCOIS EVER RECEIVED/READ REPORTS ABOUT HIS FELLOW MAGES FALL INTO DEMON POSSESSION? HELL NO! NOT EVEN ONCE

SEVEN. 

MAGES ALLIED AS FULL ALLY WOULD BE MORE INDEPENDENT, AND THEY COULD TEACHED YOUNG MAGES HOW TO SURVIVE ON THEIR OWN, THEY COULD BE MORE INVOLVED WITH SOCIETY, AND MAGES ASSIMILATED TO SOCIETY  

AND FINALLY.

DO YOU want A ANOTHER FUCKING PROOF OF MAGES FREEDOM BEING SUCCESSFUL? DO YOU WANT LITERAL CANON PROOF THAT MAGES BEING FREE IS ONE OF THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED IN THEDAS?

 The Inquisition's mages – the former rebels led by Grand Enchanter Fiona – are left with a choice.

Alliance

Leliana is Divine

When Leliana disbands the Circles, they leave the Inquisition and reform the College of Enchanters as a new order. The College, they say, will allow mages of the South to gather in peace and seek new solutions to age-old problems. For the moment, it appears to be working – mages are enjoying unprecedented acceptance throughout Thedas. 

Epilogue for mages freedom in Trespasser:

NOW College of Enchanters, Thedas third or fourth most powerful mage order and government (third if Rivain mages flocked to The College but I think Rivain mages after all mages has been freed (remember its canon) they will unite with Rivain government or if College Of Enchanters turned out to be stronger than mages order in rivain ) , the college is third/fourth-strongest order after Tevinter obviously, Nevarra death mages, and Rivain mages.

And everything is totally fine.

Leliana Divine, Mages recruited as allies

The end of the Inquisition as it had been sent shock waves through the College of Enchanters. Madam de Fer ably played on the mages' fear. Her followers united to build a new Circle - with Vivienne as its Grand Enchanter - in direct competition with the College. What the Circle lacked in numbers, they made up for in political connections; soon they were a force to be reckoned with.

Well about this stuff in trespasser it’s just vivienne stuff I guess *shrug* 

College of enchanters will always exist because like I said before so many many many times, that ever since Hero of Ferelden Era, To Kirkwall and then to Dragon 4:41/ 4:44, the canon and preferred path is to support mages and elves equality and freedom!!!!

THERE I GIVE YOU ONE, AND IT WAS MORRIGAN WHO SAID IT HERSELF.

Even a chantry sister from haven admitted that the mages looked happier and she said that she supports/give them chance to 

 SO WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?! CIRCLE IS NEVER BEEN FUCKING NEEDED! IT WAS JUST DRAKON STUPID BIGOTED MOVES TO ENSLAVED AND COLLARED MAGES AND ELVES.

Rivain mages were fine, and their society worked well with mages have their freedom Rivain trained their female mages to be seers, and seers hold important positions within Rivain government and society, oh but what happened? When the chantry fucking find out that Rivain didn’t treat their mages like shits and slave, that Rivain treated mages with respect like any other people. 

The chantry fucking send right on annulment and committed genocide against Rivain fucking mages, chantry you shit organization, Rivain will hate you more than before and I wouldn’t be surprised if the grand cathedral in Rivain will go boom too (i will support it, fuck those people) the chantry literally murdered children there and committed genocide against people of Rivain, No one will defend them in Rivain, no one. 

Codex Entry:

 When we heard of the injustices against our fellow mages at the White Spire, the Circle of Magi in Val Royeaux, I feared what was to come. Our Circle at Dairsmuid is small and isolated; it exists largely as a façade to appease the Chantry.

When the other Circles rose up, the Chantry sent Seekers across the bay from Ayesleigh to investigate. They found us mixing freely with our families, training female mages in the traditions of the seers, and denounced us as apostates. Perhaps they thought we were spineless robes who could be intimidated with a little bloodshed. Before I was first enchanter, I was the daughter of Captain Revaud, of the Felicisima Armada. I know how to plan a battle.They brought with them a small army of templars. We fought. And we might have won. But they invoked the Right of Annulment, with all the unrelenting brutality that allowed. 

It is their right to put screaming apprentices to the sword, burn our "tainted" libraries, crush irreplaceable artifacts under their heels, tear down the very walls of our home. 

No mage has the right to disagree. We of the Dairsmuid Circle wait now, behind barricades. I have sent word to our brother and sister mages of this outrage. When they breakthrough, we will not die alone.—Final journal entry of First Enchanter R

Whoaa look at the chantry and templar, casually committed genocide because they are ass hole who cannot accept that they are wrong, maybe they should accept those different nations have different cultures and traditions? Hmmm, maybe templar and chantry should accept that people are not a mother fucking weapon and slaves to be used and imprisoned since they discovered their magic, chantry and Templar  should learn when to stop, and they should learn that they didn’t know shit and doesn’t want to know shits about spirits? self-righteous much? 

Circle system, templar system, and chantry system cannot be saved because it’s just awful, those systems systematically oppressed and abused people, and we all know that time and time again YOU CANNOT KEEP PEOPLE OPPRESSED AND ENSLAVED FOREVER, THEY WILL REBEL AND SOONER OR LATER THEY WILL WIN THEIR FREEDOM AND THE OLD SYSTEM WILL BE BURNED TO DUST.

No matter how you tried change the circle/templar system, it will always be prone to corruption, because the system put templar above mages, and when someone have more legal immunity and power above other people, then abuses of authority will always happen, hey....LOOK AT COPS IN OUR WORLD.

if anyone tries to prevent other people from being equal and free just like any outer people there who have privileges and advantages, holy shit you are horrible, that’s a shitty bigoted view. 

BEFORE INQUISITION WAS EVEN REBUILT, MYTHAL AND MORRIGAN PREDICTED THAT THERE WILL BE GREAT CHANGES COMING, MORRIGAN PREDICTED THERE WILL BE A HERALD OF CHANGES IN THEDAS. 

They were talking about The Inquisitor who will completely turn Thedas upside down and changed systems that Thedas know it with better ones. 

SO why even bother to fucking keep an old system that doesn’t work and very oppressive and it was designed to imprison and enslaved people? 

okay, listen here you little templar- oh I mean Ex-Templar, because templar order of the south is just gone forever  ( who the hell wanted to be a templar again after people knew how dangerous lyrium could be? Especially after they saw lumbering red templar ABOMINATION, *not sorry they are really ugly bastard* Wrecking havoc all across Thedas 

3.MAGE FREEDOM AND DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLAR ORDER IS A GOOD THING FOR EVERYONE AND FOR THEDAS! 

Let me explain it to ya! 

1. Mages won their freedom means, no more tranquil, there would be no more long-suffering half walking, half living person who’s cursed in the emotionless body (well at least in the south) 

2. Mages could finally raise their own children, have family, married without fear and they don't have to run away from templar and chantry if they want to marry someone, mages children who were taken forcefully from their parents could finally meet their parents again, you don't want kids who were kidnapped from their family since a young age to be reunited with a family who loves them and misses them so much? Holy shit that’s monstrous.

3. Mage Orphan who has no relatives/family/home/ or friends to return could stay with College of Enchanters with other mages.

4. No more children will be kidnapped from the parents, no more mother who will lose their mage baby again because the templar and chantry ripped their baby away from their arms, never again.

5. New Generations of Mages kids who never have to endure torture and abuses in the circle, they can grow up in a safe and happy environment with their family or with the college.

6. Mages actively participated in society, and they can invent a great many things for Thedas modernization and advancement, remember Zither? He’s a mage and he uses his magic to play in a band, imagine the possibilities of Thedas technology-magic advancement with unrestrained magic, boi based on the newest leak, it seems like Arlathan was a magical cyberpunk empire. 

7. As a free citizen, many mages abilities/ skill can be implemented for different kinds of jobs, hey remember Lysas who wanted to be a mage farmer? Agriculture in Thedas could be improved with magic, Medication, and medical studies could be greatly modernized with magic, not to mention fashion, opera/plays, and music, hell even professional chef jobs will be much easier with magic, The inquisitor used telekinesis/spell to fixes broken bridges, and lit a veil fire are another example that magic could be used for mundane stuff and not just for

8. College of Enchanters definitely would be a steadfast ally for The Inquisition and The inquisitor, and not to mention that the Inquisition new operations area would be in the north/Tevinter, mages would be able to help greatly.  9. With templar order gone forever in southern Thedas, then there will be no more people who are force feed lyrium and suffer from lyrium addiction to the point they become a beggar because they wasted all of their coins for lyrium. 10. So mages now are free, no more circle, then what’s the point of templar or seeker anymore? Actually Seeker, circle and templar are never needed, then how southern Thedas  should handle with magic related crime or just crime in general, well I’ts easy, you see mages guard in Tamriel world? You know those guards in Skyrim? Or guard/law enforcer in Warcraft world who use magic? With mages free they also can work as guards

Why templar and chantry bootlicker literally believed in The chantry fearmongering false propaganda about mages and magic? It’s like medieval Vatican bullshit! fearmongering about technology and ‘sin’, fearmongering about spirit and magic? 

We live in the modern era! So stop believing chantry propaganda! 

Stop living as if its the 10th centuries, don’t keep clinging on the awful terrible system and it’s past, dude, see the future in front of you, and  try to be positive about progressive changes. You know what happened to a world who refused to change? Yeah man look at Anor Londo, everything rot there.  And have we ever heard about terrible accident that was caused by mages from College of Enchanters? Or by any mages at all? NO ONE EVER CONFIRMED THAT FREE MAGES OF THE SOUTH WRECKED HAVOC ALL ACROSS THEDAS, BECAUSE THE FREE MAGES DIDN’T DO ANYTHING AT ALL. AND THE MAGES HAS BEEN FREE FOR TWO YEARS! COLLEGE OF ENCHANTERS HAS BEEN OPERATING FOR TWO YEARS WITHOUT ANYONE ENSLAVED AND JAILED THEM  Hey man, i gave you straight fact that mages being free is the best choice to support, and facts that nothing bad happened with mages being free, so your theory and your fear (that actually is just wrong, and it’s sounds kinda like paranoia to be honest Persecution is really stupid, that’s why it’s called persecution in the first place. HA!  

ANDERS WAS, RIGHT!

‘Terrorist’ is a term that can be overused and utilized by people in power to demean and demonized freedom fighter/Resistance movement against tyranny.

  https://mllemaenad.tumblr.com/search/is+anders+terrorist%3F

There’s fuck tons examples of people who were falsely accused as terrorists by tyrannical power to labeled them as a danger and to demonize them, while ‘the terrorist’ who fight for equality and freedom were demanding their people to be treated like a human, and they wanted equal rights. 

 examples: 

[ I am an Indonesian btw, so I knew personally some stuff about dictator and dictatorship government]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgwS_FMZ3nQ&ab_channel=PhilosophyTube

 https://www.britannica.com/event/resistance-European-history

https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/09/07/long-road-to-see-justice-over-munirs-murder.html

As an Indonesian woman, our people were oppressed by many European nations, from Dutch To British to French and Portuguese, our nations were stripped and reduced to mere colonies of European powers, our people were enslaved in their own lands, woman raped and children murdered, then after Dutch leave, because Hitler almost sunk their nation during WWII, Japan fucking invaded our land and then enslaved us again! 

Japan lost the world war alongside with its axis allies, YAAY! We are free, but wait, the Dutch Empire was such a baby they wanted their ‘toys’ , they fucking demanded the allies to helped them invaded Indonesia again because in the eye of Dutch Empire we are nothing but their slaves to be milked dry and taken advantages of, but we fought back! And now all Indonesian people from children to the elderly are free!

Did Indonesian people won their freedom and built their nation with being subservient and asked nicely? 

FUCK NO, blood was spilled and heads were cut, a lot of head, but at least now generations upon generations of Indonesian people will never taste the brutality of slavery and how does it feel to be enslaved. Our first president was considered as a menace and a terrorist by Dutch Royalty, he was imprisoned in isolation but managed to escape over and over again! 

|

But wait, if any person who rebelled against the government regardless of their intentions can be labeled as a terrorist *gasp* IS THAT MEAN GEORGE FUCKING WASHINGTON WAS A TERRORIST?! Apparently, by British Empire standards, he was.

 The guy and his friends waged a war against the crown, because British Empire keep treated American colony like shit, from the perspective of King George, Washington was a piece of shit who kept ruined his country and his colonies, but boi Americans would be angry if someone called Washington a terrorist right? Because for them, Washington's struggle and rebellion were righteous. 

YOU CAN’T SIMPLY USE THE LABEL OF ‘TERRORIST’ TO CONDEMN ANDERS AND HIS ACTIONS WITHOUT EVEN UNDERSTAND HIS MOTIVE.

Because if you keep doing then, in your perspective every single freedom fighter who rebelled against cruelty and tyranny should be condemned? 

We are talking about what is a ‘terrorist’ here, and if you want to label someone as a terrorist then you have to read their manifesto, understand their motive, try to hear what they wanted to say, and understand the core of ideas behind their rebellion. 

Here’s the thing, will you call the Stonewall riot as an act of terrorism? ( i presume from your blog description you are a supporter of LGBT right? ) 

What about Joachim Ronnenberg? A man who leads a daring raid against Nazi Germany nuclear weapon factory had the german succeded in their efforts, we might have read devastating histories about the nuclear bomb that destroyed London like what happened to Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

From the perspective of Nazi Germany...This guy  wasis a terrorist and an enemy!

But it feels so wrong to describe freedom fighter as a terrorist right? How could we label people who resist nazi Germany as a terrorist?!

Because we know, despite the casualties, despite everything that happened, what they did was right, and they needed to fight back. 

Allies marched to Berlin was the right thing to do, American colonies rebelled despite they knew that a lot of people will die in war, but have you ever condemned the founding father and his people for their rebellion? Or argued that it wasn’t necessary for them to rebelled. Soekarno wars and rebellion against dutch colonists and invaders cannot be condemned, because objectively, no one should support slavery and colonization of other nations. 

French people were so sick and tired of their nobilities and royalties bullshit to the point they cut off their own monarch head, but they were right, because French Monarchy was corrupt and incompetent, while nobles and royalties were feasting and drinking as if there’s no tomorrow, poor people in French can’t even afford bread. 

Trans and Gay people who fight back and demonstrated against injustice was right, the woman who demonstrated and rioted against the oppressive system and patriarchy was right.

WE KNEW DEEP DOWN THEIR CAUSE ARE NOT EVIL, OR CONDEMNABLE, THEIR CAUSES ARE OBJECTIVELY RIGHT! 

But what if it were someone like Adolf Hitler who hmmm rebelled against the Weimar Republic, back before his raises to power around 1920-1923, I’m sure that you are familiar with his Beer Hall Putsch, when he held 14 mass meetings in Germany, for the nazi it was a historical moment, ‘a glorious resistance against the weak and incompetent Weimar Republic’

For his supporter it was glorious, but despite their best efforts to convinced themselves that they were right, WE KNEW HE WAS NOT RIGHT, Nazi was god awful.

What is the core idea of nazism? (I'm going to compare it with socialism/communism because some people keep saying that communism is just like nazi, and it's absolutely wrong) 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/communism/Marxian-communism

https://www.britannica.com/event/Nazism

They are very different. Ya see despite some people who keep yelling that communist is just nazism by any other name. ( and I’m not a communist) 

Adolf Hitler might see himself as a savior, a martyr, and his party also people who supported him

richard spencer, see himself as a ‘liberator’ and voice of white people, but behind all of his fucking bullshit, his core ideas are just Naziism, he is a nazi, Richard Spencer is a white supremacist so does any other alt-right edge lord on the internet who insisted that they are not nazi, despite the fact they fucking followed nazi ideologies and practiced hatred ( btw nazi ideology is based on white supremacist and eugenic ideologies too, so what’s the difference really?” Nazi is white supremacists and white supremacists will always be a nazi) 

Alright and how all of it ties back to Anders and mage rebellion, you might ask, ‘why did you write about histories lessons that I already knew about?’ 

Well templar child, it’s all lead back 

TO THE CORE OF ANDERS IDEAS AND MANIFESTO AND WHY HIS IDEOLOGIES/BELIEVES AND MAGES REBELLION WAS ON THE FREAKING RIGHT SIDE. 

I wrote that fucking long-ass paragraphs so people will be able to differentiate the righteous kind of rebellion (or ‘terrorism’ from the perspective of the power/oppressors) and the god-awful kind of rebellion/terrorism.  

Because instead of listening and learning about what anders wanted, some people are often so fixated on the semantic of the word ‘terrorist’ and got too distracted by that stupid chantry explosion. THE CHANTRY EXPLODED IS THE SAME KIND OF THING IF HITLER OR STALIN’S OFFICE too  

People died? Yeah so does people who died during USA war against British Empire, was it terrible that people died? Yeah it was terrible but just like what i wrote before, the rebellion had to happened. And you said that he killed hundreds? Huh the numbers was never 100% confirmed because i don't think Isabela count the bodies, and second we cannot be sure about numbers of the casualties, because we never really see  ALL them in the first place. And actually arent Hero of Ferelden, Hawke and Inquisitor killed SO MANY PEOPLE? What about The Dragonborn? No to mention that in their journey they also destroyed private and public property and killed so many god damn animals to the point they could have been the reason why some species of animals are endangered.  And no one ever protest or raised a fuss when heroes killed tons of people.  Arent templar and chantry also killed and tortured so many people? What about mages who were killed or made tranquil for the past 1000 years? What about mages who committedcommited suicide like Orsino friend who locked herself in a closet then set herself on fire? Because she no longer can’t stand living in Kirkwall Circle prison? What about Anders friends who often committedcommited suicide because what templar did to them and that lead to severe depression? What about mages and elves who were hunted down and killed just because they escaped from their circle prison, they were killed by order of the chnatry and templar cut them down with their sword? What about Elves of Dales who died because Orlais wanted to expand its fucking territoryterrtotry and justified their racial superiority? Chantry and templar supported that. What about Karl who asked Anders to killed him because he preferred to die rather than be a tranquil again? Or captured by templar again? TEMPLAR AND CHANTRY COMMITED MORE CRIMES FOR THE PAST 1000 YEARS MORE THAN ANY PERSON DID, THE TEMPLAR AND CHANTRY MURDERED, ENLSAVED, TORTURED AND IMPRISON PEOPLE ALSO SUPPORTED GENOCIDE FOR 1000 YEARS!  IF WE CALCULATED NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WHO DIED BY THE CHANTRY ORDER AND TEMPLAR SWORDS, IT’S MORE THAN FREAKING MILLIONS!  ANDERS DID WHAT HE DID TO FREE THE MAGES AND FUTURE MAGES CHILDREN, SAME THING WITH FIONA  AND THE MAGES WHO REBELLED TO FREE THEMSELVES AND  FOR THE FUTURE OF MAGES, THEY ALSO REBELLED FOR FUTURE MAGES FREEDOM, THEY REBELLED FOR THE FREEDOM OF PEOPLE (because unlike what noodle and chantry said and spread, mages are PEOPLE!) so what are you saying again? HUH ? what is your justification? What is your defense? CHANTRY AND TEMPLAR CRIMES CANNOT BE DEFENDED!   If you justified Templar and chantry crimes then THE EVANURIS AND TEVINTER and the stupid qun ideals  can be justified too? From OBJECTIVE perspective Anders ideology WAS RIGHT! HE AND THE MAGES BELONG WITH THE RIGHTEOUS REBELS. Let’s compare chantry/templar mentality and moral vs mages and elves believes and pursuit of freedom. 

Let’s see examples of chantry/templar mentality based on evidence and popular opinion in Thedas that was forced by The chantry to people head.

1. The interpretation of chant of light that mages and nonhuman are abhorred by the maker, and they are ‘evil’ and corrupt’ i must remind you that MODERN and RELEVANT andrastianism in modern Thedas, has twisted whatever Andraste said and they strayed so far away from what andraste possibly could have wanted. 

What if Maferath Betrayal was not based on maliciousness? Or not just based on maliciousness? What if Andraste was truly a mage? The chantry lied about Shartan, the chantry fucking lied about Ameridan, if there’s one IRONIC TRUTH about the chantry, they lied, they twisted story and histories for their political power and their gains.

the whole ‘magic must serve man and not rule over him’ was purposely misinterpreted to fucking justify drakon fucking fanfic holy book, and his campaign to conquer the rest of Thedas. And the chant verses were twisted as a stupid and terrible justification to demonize and enslaved mages and elves in circle towers. 

In a nutshell that chant actually said that magic is a gift that should not be used for terrible deeds. But andrastian changed the meaning and twisted their own prophet words to enslave and oppressed southern mages.

2. The chantry believes about Everything that related to the fade/spirits/ or demon are dangerous and inherently evil, I ALWAYS LAUGHED MY ASS OFF, whenever templar/chantry/andrastian/non mages spouting hateful shits about the fade and spirits, it’s incredibly ironic, because there’s an implication that ALL PEOPLE who were not made by Titans (dwarves was made by titan) were spirits from the fade who ‘created body from the earth’ after they descended to the material world.

The evanuris, first of elven people, Solas and his people were spirits, it can be safely assumed that modern elves, humans and qunari in their truest form are spirits as well. 

 I think during his personal quest, All New Faded forFor Her, Aka The Dreadwolf Fen’harel, Solas has explained the truth about what human, elves and qunari truly are and what is their true form would be once they are died ( if they are not a remarkable person then they will simply be lost to the fade ) 

Besides it’s the chantry who spread hateful and ignorant propaganda about evil of spirits/demons, the fact that chantry spread such misinformed propaganda and derailed hates of the fade and spirit into people mind actually is one of the reasons why demons and unwilling possession as modern thedas know it exists, I know Cole explained that  spirit who crossed from the fade to the world was simply traumatized by their journey, the veil hurt them ( we can blame Solas for that) rules in the material world is just confusing, the earth and it’s mostly inflexible and unchanging rules confused them.

But if The fade can be bend and shaped by powerful dreamer/mages/ dreams and believes of people. That means...Demons were also created by The chantry ignorant and hateful propaganda. If many people believed that spirits are dangerous or ‘they are demon’, that spirits and the fade are scary then that’s how they will manifest.

The fade and spirit can be influenced by people's collective beliefs and perceptions. That’s mean it also The chantry and their dogmatic backward propaganda that made spirit/demon as we know it today, I mean for some reason Cole called himself a ‘demon’? While the boy was never corrupted nor twisted from his true nature, i think it’s because people perception of him and spirit.  The chantry dogmatic believes backfired on their own face. rule about 

3. Blind devotion to Orlais Chantry, theThe chantry foundation was made of bones upon bones and blood, emperor kordilius drakon butchered many cults and stamped out any non-andrastian religion or branch of andrastianism that didn’t conform to his cult believes so he can establish his cult of andraste as the dominant religious power in southern thedas or thedas in general. 

The Daughters of Song 

Wine. Music. Poetry. And the wanton and frenzied indulgence of carnal fancies. These things characterized the hedonistic cult known as the Daughters of Song. Calling them an order of the faithful lends them a legitimacy they do not deserve. The daughters (and sons, though they saw themselves also as "daughters") celebrated Andraste's holy union with the Maker in almost every way imaginable. And it was only the "holy union" they venerated. Andraste's life, her war, her teachings, and her sacrifice were blithely ignored.

At its height, the Daughters of Song numbered in the thousands. They maintained a stronghold in a village called Virelay, in the Fields of Ghislain. Virelay saw a yearly event during which the Daughters of Song paraded carven images of the "Maker's Glory" through the square.The Daughters of Song were wiped out by the righteous forces of Emperor Drakon during his campaigns to unite all of Orlais. When the emperor's forces sacked the village, the Daughters would not arm themselves and were either killed or captured. The village was destroyed, and the cult never recovered.—From Before Andrastianism: the Forgotten Faiths by Sister Rondwyn of Tantervale

HA! Blithely ignored her fucking war and ‘sacrifice’ is much better than using the story of andraste life as propaganda and tools to conquer, murder, enslaved, and wiped out groups of people who didn’t buy to your shit.

The daughter of the songs was not a cult of a sex-crazed hedonist, they were another group of pacifist andraste cult who didn’t do anything wrong at all (seems like they were peaceful, they didn’t even willing to armed themselves when Drakon butchered their people) and they just wanted to be left alone to their own device, but of course Drakon,  that egotistical bastard who sees himself as a martyr and narcissistic self-proclaimed holy man, so he put any people who didn’t want to listen to his bullshit to sword. 

The chantry and Orlais using their god, their prophet words, and their religion as a bludgeoning tool to conquer and forcefully converted people, the foundation of modern andrastianism religion was based drakon totalier philosophy his ambitions to rule all of Thedas. 

Ironically if there are people who smeared and desecrate andraste and the maker, its their followers. 

This kind of religious militant mentality has ledlead to people justification of exalted march, because they thought that they were doing it for the maker, they believed that the march is the maker works, anyoneany one who supported exalted march were so convinced that they were right to spilled so many blood and butchered so many people for their religious zealotry (and political ambition of their rulers but eh peasant rarely know anything about what happened in winter palace right?) 

if you supported exalted march of dales or exalted march against mages then.... As a Muslim i just want to say, what’re the differences between exalted march and Christian crusade? And we know that Crusade was a waste of resources and lives  or ISIS ambition for expansionism? 

Military and Religion is a dangerous and scary combination. And I can’t comprehend why any modern human could be so thirsty and horny to destroy other people's nations for their religion and their interpretation of their religion. and let me remind you again, the chantry and templar supported this mentality and often using the maker as a reason and justification of their terrible deeds.  The chantry refusal to acknowledge and respect different kind of andrastian religion and their outright rejection of different religion lead them to wiped out pre-chantry andrastian cult aka their own brethren and destruction of The dales, destruction and deaths of so many dalish clan, prejudice and bigotry against qunari and dwarves. and we don’t have to talk about what happen to old god religion worshipper. Y’know sounds like dark age church and their obsessions to stamped out any kind of ‘heresy’ , you like that shit? You supported it? EWWWW. D:  4. Templar and Chantry brainwashed people to be hateful bigot, I don’t care about any kind of justification or ‘positive deeds’ that andrastianism has done, a thousandthousands years of proofs and facts has proven that most of the time they spreading bigotry and hate for their own political power and gains, the chantry instilled intolerance on people mind and using terror as a way to control population of Thedas, people except for the ruling class are live in uncertainty and fear, we might see peasant in thedas just living their simple life, but if the temple and chantry find out that they are doing anything ‘suspicious’ or they hide their relatives who can use magic then that’s it, their life will end by chantry order and Templar sword, not to mention that the chantry bigoted cheating also lead to  these kind of situation, remember  that mage who were murdered in the storm coast by villager? She died because the chantry brainwashed people to hates on anything non-human and to hate on mages. NOW THE MAGES, let’s take a look at the mages and elves. 1.The mages and elves just wanted to be free and to be treated as an equal in society, not as a walking weapon to be enslaved and imprisoned and not as a servant/slave to non-mage human (or in tevinter and the qun not as a slave in general for elves and mages too who suffer under the qun ) if anyone supporting an ideology or people who deny other people rights, BASIC RIGHTS, then all of you fucktard can rot in hell. 2. Fiona, despite the chantry and Templar oppressed and enslaved her people for must I remind you again 1000 year! Fiona Was still willing to let other fraternities and other circles to vote, whenever they wanted to follow her rebellion or not, AND THE SOUTHREN MAGES CHOSE TO REBELED AND FOLLOWING HER! 3. Now mages freedom is canon, the mages now have their own government and they   rule over themselves( college of enchanters) and they never try to enslave, oppress, brutalize and hurt non mages 4. Now Briala rule in Orlais, she  could help to keep:  1. Remember that mage who died in Gaspard on leash and preventing him from invading other nations, not to mention that she definetly

4. 

Oh, Solas where are thou ~

Now about Solas and the veil, we might speculate to our heart content about Solas plans and what he might do in the future, but to be honest, truth to be told, NO ONE EXACTLY KNOW what is his actual plan for the evanuris, for the blight, for titans and to tear m down the veil. We only have morsels of information about his plans from trespasser, and Tevinter night (also from the leaks).  Who knew maybe Solas plan will ironically save the world? Doomed it? Saved some people? Only doomed half of the world? Will the world end? Or survive?  Now i want all magic to come back but without have to kill millions of people in Thedas, Because it will solve non-mages vs mages problem, everybody will be mages and the centuries of problems will be solved, not to mention that with the minuscule amounts of magic Thedas physical world now have, people seemed to slowly devolving, being cut from magic of the fade is not only horrible for mages but also for non- mages (Because the fade is the sources of power and life itself, not to mention that Solas referred to it as ‘The sea of souls’ in Tevinter Nights)  Here’s the thing, with or without Solas even waking up from his long sleep, i think The veil will be destroyed either way, here’s the evidences that supported my theories (But i still have no idea about What exactly will happen just like many other people out there ) Sandal Prophercy:  “Sandal: One day the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see.”  Grand Duchess Florianne: “ A great CHANGE  is coming for all of us lord seeker lucius:  “ We created a decaying world, and  fought to preserve it even as it crumbled, we had to be stopped” Kieran:  “My mother is the inheritor of the next age” Mythal: WE HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT WHAT SOLAS PLAN IS, what is he going to do with other evanuris? What bout the titans? What about mythal? and ghilan’nain creatures that has been slowly emerge from the sea? What about the blight and darkspawn? I feel  like Solas wouldn’t be the true next main villain, he wouldn’t be Corypheus 2.0, why? Because unlike the blight or Corypheus, Solas have important relationship with The inquisitor, while most any other fucking villain have little to no relationship with heroes. So here Solas quote from Tevinter Nights: His look pinned her “I have no choice.What  I am doing will save this world, and those like you- the elves who are still remain-may find it better, when  it is done.” Solas might call himself “Prideful, hot headed and foolish.”  but he’s not a fucking idiot, he wouldn’t just tear down the veil  just to bing elven glory back,  there must be something bigger behind his motives, like the evanuris and well titans I don’t want to say much about the possible consequences of what might Solas  do, because frankly we don’t know anything about it. It is possible tho that the veil destruction will be the same thing just  like the fifth blight, mage and elves vs Templar and chantry/human war, Corypheus rises and fall  and the fucking explosion of both Kirkwall chantry and temple of sacred ashes,  it just going to happen, it is what fucking it is man. To quote Steve Jobs “One more thing” Patrick  fucking Weekes and their wife supporting mage and mage rights MEANWHILE... if you could live anywhere in Thedas, where would you live? PATRICK: I would live in Rivain. Because Rivain is not as hung up on magic, because they have seers who let themselves get possessed... they also have a relatively peaceful relationship with the Qun. And they're kind of a melting pot and multicultural... they're a place where a lot of different cultures come together. And also? Beachfront property. KARIN: I was just gonna say... if you need further justification, they get to say, "I want to live on the beach."

Yeah, that was a really good one. Okay, moving on: Mages or Templars? PATRICK and KARIN (in unison): Mage

http://www.dumpeddrunkanddalish.com/2020/05/castles-fennecs-and-player-engagement.html http://www.dumpeddrunkanddalish.com/2020/04/chatting-with-weekeses-part-3-romances.html

[professordrarry]

A Cat Person, Reformed

part 1: part 2: part 3

Draco didn’t hear from Pansy for three days. Other people may have worried about this, agonised, even. Not Draco. Draco Malfoy was not one to agonise over a boy, nor was he worried about his friend. If she wasn’t calling him, it was just because she was busy. Or finding his number. Or...something. 

So what if he didn’t manage more than a few hours of sleep both those nights? Work was stressful, he had a lot on his mind. And yes, fine, he was avoiding the park. But that didn’t mean anything, necessarily. The park was busy and noisy and Draco just found it easier to walk Barkley down by the high street or through the gardens. 

By the middle of the next week, Draco started leaving his mobile at home; not for any particular reason, and certainly not because Joseph had finally told him he was going to need to keep it in a desk drawer because he was falling behind in the filing. This meant that when he went home for lunch and found the blasted thing flashing, Draco’s heart didn’t have time to drop to the floor and his stomach didn’t flop unpleasantly. Not at all. 

“Draco,” Pansy’s voice whined at him. “How dare you send me on a wild goose chase to find your former obsessive crush and then not even answer my call. So bloody inconsiderate. Anyway, I, er, ran into that Granger girl at her office. Shut up. I didn’t go there on purpose, I had called Luna first. It’s just that….wait, no, never mind. You don’t get to know why. She wouldn’t give me his number, but she did inform me — after some convincing, mind, you owe me big time — that he walks that park every day on his way home from the school where he teaches. Around four.  If you make me regret this or become the lovesick fuck-wad you were in school, I swear to god I will just knock you out and move you to the coast to detox. Don’t call me again tonight. I have..erm, plans.”

“Bloody hypocrite,” Draco said, looking down at Barkley who was yipping at his feet and spinning in a circle to go out. “Tells me not to get obsessed, but you fucking know she’s going out with Granger tonight, isn’t she? Alright, alright. Calm down. You’re coming back to the office with me this afternoon. I have a bespectacled git to intercept on the way home.”

*. *. *

The rain truly started in earnest at a quarter to four. Harry was extremely tempted to take a taxi home instead of walking, but there was a niggling insistence in his mind that he just...check. So, he pulled his hood tight, threw an umbrella up as he headed out the door, and trudged his way to the park. 

He was rewarded for his perseverance.

“Malfoy!” He called as he approached the sopping bench where Malfoy and Barkley sat beneath a large, purple umbrella.

His trousers must be soaked, cold and extremely uncomfortable. Harry gave himself a stern talking to take his mind off of Malfoy’s trousers and held up a pathetic half wave that he instantly regretted. He really was such a git. Trying to cover his embarrassment, he moved toward the bench slightly faster. 

“Why on earth are you out here? Britain has remembered to be in Britain. Had you not noticed?”

Malfoy stood slowly, prompting the dog to follow him begrudgingly. “Best part of owning a dog in England,” he said, his tone gentle and teasing. “Look how quiet the park is!”

Harry laughed a surprised laugh, and Malfoy smiled widely. 

“Come on,” he declared. “I know a place nearby that has a very lax policy on dogs inside. We can get out of the rain.”

“We can?” Harry asked. He knew, and he knew that Malfoy knew, that he’d only walked today in the hopes of running into this man again. But still, he was surprised.

Malfoy turned back, an awkward half-turn that screamed of his hesitation and uncertainty. “Yes,” he said finally, surveying Harry for a moment longer. “We can."

They walked in companionable silence, Barkley happily trotting between the two umbrellas, getting interminably wet. Harry couldn’t be certain, but it appeared that the sturdy dog was grinning up at them, looking back and forth between them and then pulling them along faster. They marched up to a small cafe with an awning that eerily matched Malfoy’s umbrella. 

“Luna?” he called as he opened the door.

“Draco! Oh, and Barkley! What a wonderful afternoon.” 

A silver-haired woman in a long kaftan that had the entire galaxy printed across its wings embarrassed Malfoy warmly. 

“Luna!” Harry said, shocked to see his old school chum here in London. He’d thought she was off travelling the world. 

“Harry!” she exclaimed. “Goodness.”

“Luna, can we sit inside with him?” Malfoy asked.

“Of course! I’ll bring you some scones and tea and then get out of your way. You both look like you might be sick. Are you feeling quite alright?”

The men looked at each other, and then away just as quickly. Luna was right. They looked pale and embarrassed, terrified for reasons they both knew and did not understand. They sat in a corner booth, Barkley settling down on Harry’s side without being prompted. Malfoy looked quite put-out, but nonetheless offered him a towel he pulled from a wide pocket in his coat. Harry dried off the dog, scratching him behind the ears as they waited for tea. 

For a few moments, after Luna disappeared back into the back, they sat awkwardly. Finally, Harry cleared his throat and put his hands on the warm cup in front of him. 

“Malfoy...Draco,” he started.

“What?”

“Why are we here?”

“We’re having tea.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Well...why are we here, Harry?” 

Harry closed his eyes for a second and charged bravely into the conversation he’d wanted to have when he’d grabbed Malfoy’s dog that day in the park. 

“I have three questions for you.” 

At the slight, dignified nod that Draco gave him, telling him to go on, Harry wanted to scream. Instead, he made himself stay calm. He inhaled deeply. Closed his eyes a moment. 

“Number one,” he said. “Why did you ask Pansy for my number? Yes. Hermione told me. Also, she’s very interested in why Pansy then showed up at her Ministry event last night, but I feel like that’s a conversation for another day.”

Draco cocked his head at him. He did not respond. 

“Number two, how on earth does a person who is so clearly a cat person end up with such a glorious dog?”

“I mean, he sort of found me, to be honest, and—” 

“And third,” Harry interrupted, “is there a reason you pretended not to know me in the park?”

“Harry—”

“Are we going to keep pretending that the kiss from the first year of uni didn't happen? Because we both know it did. And we both know your friends know about it.”

“That was technically four questions,” Draco replied quietly. 

“Draco,” Harry whined.

“I know, I know. That’s why we’re here, Harry. That’s your first answer. I was...I was such a mess in first year, Potter. I barely remembered that day until I saw you in the park. Until Barkley…”

“Go on,” Harry muttered, a hard tone in his voice that he hadn’t intended. 

“I was serious, Harry. He doesn’t like people. He stays away from...literally everyone. But he didn’t stay away from you.”

“Unlike his owner.”

“Okay, so we’re doing this?” Draco interjected gruffly. “Do you really want to go there? Really? Want to discuss how much your friends fought against you and I doing anything more than that kiss? How much they hated me in school? Pansy and...and Theo.”

“Theo is not a part of this.”

“Still. Why did you come to the park today? You had to know I was coming.” 

“Yeah. I did.”

The sat and stared at each other across the table. Neither moved a muscle, neither dared enter the space between them, the years of unspoken history, the attraction they’d ignored, and then dealt with, and then ignored again. Finally, Barkley—likely confused by the silence and the disappearance of his scratches—sat up with his paws on the table and gave a loud and irritated bark. Both Harry and Draco looked at him in surprise. And then, both laughed. 

“So. Want to go on a date, then?” Harry announced, glancing back at Draco. “Your dog seems to think it’s a good idea.”

Draco took a sharp breath. “Want to just call this date one? I mean, we’ve already gotten the whole inappropriate public snogging out of the way.”

“Not forever, I hope,” Harry said brazenly. He laughed when Draco blushed. “Oh goodness, Barkley. This is going to be fun, isn’t it?”

“Forgot how much I hate you,” Draco whispered fondly, his cheeks getting a little brighter as he watched Harry smoosh his face into the face of his very picky dog. 

“You’ll learn to love me,” Harry sang in a ridiculous voice. “Won’t he Barkley.” 

“I might, but the cats are going to eat you alive.”

[weaselbeaselpants]

Hazbin Hotel Review part 2: Mistakes were made please don’t kill me

This pilot is polarizing at the moment. In between the two sides of the anti-fanbase (ppl crying “if you like HH you’re homophobic”, or the BWW with it’s cringey politics), you have lots of fans who are falling over themselves about how good this is. If you love Hazbin unconditionally that’s fine, but here’s the thing:

I like it too.

I’m the kind of person who’s naturally critical, pokes harmless fun at what I like, and is always rewriting and reimagining things within the fandoms I like. I want to be a ‘Hazbin’ fan but I don’t know if I’m allowed to since the fanbase can be so staunchly overprotective and Viv herself has said she doesn’t like criticism, no matter how valid or done in good faith.

Tbh, that’s why the drama revolving around @frootrollup1​ upsets me: the fandom is fine with lumping all criticism or redesign stuff in the realm of ignorant hate, when redesign, rewrites, revamps and other fan dribble are kind of a labor of love onto itself in other fandoms. Guess that’s a talk for later though.

With all this in mind, let me go over my thoughts:

There’s no PROPER establishment of Hell as a place, setting, world, or proper establishment of the characters.

The armor-piercing question Hazbin needs to be asked is this:

“is this a generic version of Hell we should all be familiar with and need no introduction to, OR is this a unique take that requires it’s own rules?”

^ It feels like the latter but we don’t get a good rundown of said rules. Besides that, characters are one note and serve either no purpose or become flies on the wall to other characters’ purpose.

Things were said and places were shown but we honestly don’t get a good idea of Hell by the end of the pilot. It’s a ritzy(?) place where souls of the damned literally become demons and then get purged. I THINK. I THINK, that’s what the writer’s were going for here. TBH, it feels like they’re skipping ahead and thinking of the show as a finished, fully realized product with developed characters and plots already, and not an introduction to a series/standalone piece.

If I didn’t have some inkling or the lore prior to watching it, I wouldn’t have known that the demons sans-Charlie were once human. Angel says in passing in the car that he’s already dead, but really references to the fact that they were once human are rare.

Now I’m a simple woman - I ain’t picky with mah demonology - But, call me crazy, when I think Hell I don’t think of the people who end up there turning into demons, I think of people going there to be tortured. That’s the hell I’m used to seeing and is prevelant in like every religion that has a hell. Taking a spin on that and making demons the souls of sinners trapped in hell? A-okay, but I NEED MORE. Instead of talking in a car or spending time on this lolsofuny demon turf war, we really needed more time given to the fact that Vaggie, Angel, and others were once human. No, I don’t want a full flashback, but it would give us a better grasp of the mechanics of sin in this world if these two characters told a little bit more themselves than just having some lines offhandedly explaining how everything works. 

EX- How to do revamp of a familiar setting right while still leaving certain details vague? One Word: Hadestown. 

Hadestown doesn’t need to give you all the details of it’s setting cause that’s not the point. You don’t need to know if the workers of Hadestown are literally dead, metaphorically dead, or both or where other gods live. Those aren’t the things we need to know for the musical to progress. What we need to know is Hades’ underworld is a mining colony of doom, that Hades buys peoples souls so the workers can never leave, that Persephone and Hades are on the rocks which is messing up the seasons, and that oop! Eurydice had to go back. Between the commonplace to complex knowledge westerners have of Greek mythology and the revamped Prohibition-era setting, all is explained that we the audience need explained.

I have the feeling Hazbin Hotel wanted the same thing: explain what needs to be explained for the currant plot and leave bits and pieces in the dark. It just didn’t really work.

The flow of the narrative was bad.

So apparently on the PizzaPartyPodcast Vivziepop admitted there were things that were moved around or turned out rushed.

Fair enough but even with that excuse can someone please tell me why they thought it was a good idea to start the story after Angel has already been made a patron of the hotel?

Getting to know not only how the world works first and foremost, but who our main character (Charlie) is and what she is doing (the hotel), would be the easiest way to drop us into the action of the story and get the ball rolling. But instead we start off with an intro song that sort of shows us what this world is like but doesn’t explain anything about who or what we’re seeing until the newscasters come in. Angel’s introduced in this time and the build up and execution of this character is poor, rushed, and feels more like writers fudging around with a character they like than giving us, the audience, a proper introduction*.

After that, I’m sorry to say the spots where the story picks up, drifts off, lulls about, or comes around all kind of melt into this big slurry the characters are drowning in, without any real care for telling a story. BUT THIS IS A STORY!!!

This is not a little menagerie of random characters ala the Pastoral Symphony from Fantasia. This is not a collection of little things just for the fun of it to get to to know these people (it does a bad job at getting you to know these guys). This is a three act structure. I can tell where the intro, rising action, climax, and falling action are SUPPOSED to be, but they don’t stand out, don’t do their job, and melt into the fluff in a way that makes the emotional impact we’re supposed to feel null somehow...

The pacing was bad. 

While some scenes go by far too quickly others go on for faaaaaaar too long. These are the bits that don’t surprise me when I hear this pilot was changed around, cut down, or fudged with a bit.

Scenes like this include Charlie’s back and forth with Katie Killjoy before and after her song, Charlie and Vaggie’s fight in the car, Alastor explaining himself to Charlie and Vaggie trying to talk him out of it, ALL of the Ser Pentious/Cherry Bomb terf fight bits.

Oddly, it feels like these parts are trying REALLY hard to get a point across but they end up being more of a hindrance to this otherwise snappy dialogue and supposedly simple set up. This pilot is 20+ minutes, but the bits we need to endear ourselves to our main cast are squandered on what the writers thought was “fun to write” at the time.

Too many characters, even in a 20 minute pilot. 

Instead of getting a good idea of our leads, everyone is treated with the same level of importance or interest in a world that hasn’t even been fully introduced yet.

The truly important supporting characters to Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, and Alastor are Husk, Katie, and Nifty. Katie provides conflict to the first half of Charlie’s story, while Husk and Nifty are hires by Alastor for the hotel; they establish his power over other demons and his influence on the hotel and it’s success. Sir Pentious and Cherry Bomb needed to be cameos. Their characters should be glorified plot contrivances/resolutions, No More. I ain’t gonna care about a cast of billions from the start. We gotta start small first. Not only do we have four mains, we also have a bunch of little guys who need to eat up screen time...except they absolutely don’t need to and should be simple background cameos for now.

Sir Pentious and Cherry Bomb get as much character time as the four mains even though Angel is underdeveloped and Alastor is overdeveloped. When it comes to storytelling - unconventional or otherwise - priorities, is what this pilot needs.

Angel basically does nothing after Alastor is introduced. 

Of all the characters in Hazbin to get left in the dust (lol) and be underdeveloped, Angel Dust would be my last guess. He’s popular with his creator and with the fandom but because of how the pilot is set up, his character falls to the back-burners and is kind of unnecessary: (Charlie uses him as an experiment to see if she can reform a sinner but he doesn’t hold up, so when Alastor comes into play the focus of Charlie’s plan switches almost entirely to Alastor and Angel is unneeded). If this were two episodes of a series; one about Charlie getting to know and trying to “fix” Angel, and another about Alastor coming in and taking over, that’d be fine. But this is a pilot so the plot and character development is kinda crushed in and neither Angel nor his existence amounts to much of anything.

I honestly forgot Angel was even in the latter half of the pilot. The poor demon-spider whore dies on the way to his home planet.

Not to fan-blurb here but I think it’d be more interesting if the conflict in the latter half wasn’t Vaggie trying to warn Charlie away from Alastor but Angel feeling shown up by Alastor and him being the one protesting to Alastor’s take-over of the hotel. It would have given Angel more to do and would cement him as one of our four leads.

Alastor gets a backstory because he is A) not the character I thought they were going for, or B), they’re jumping the gun on him. Alastor is a maddening character in my book because if he’s the character I thought he was supposed to be - our main villain - then they royally messed up a good villain by explaining his story. If he ISN’T the main villain, than color me confused on what he’s supposed to be. 

It goes without saying that a good villain should remain somewhat mysterious throughout the rising action, which is what the pilot is building up to (I think?). Alastor’s personality makes him an absolutely wonderful villain and probably the most outwardly “demon”-like of anyone in Hell. Him being a rogue demon that scares the inhabitants of Hell should be alluded to, not stated.

Vaggie and Angel get passing “we dead” bg but our villain gets a backstory dumped on him? For the standalone pilot this episode is, his backstory doesn’t do anything for the plot. For the rest of the series, this feels like a big waste to reveal this guy’s history over anyone else. The rest of the HH cast are sorta small stereotypes and cliches that the writers want to endear to us because of what they do and what they go through, though since there’s too many of them they end up just being there. Alastor, on the other hand, is where they hit gold and really have a character who oozes personality and the feel of their show...but they kind of taint him by giving him an unneeded (at this point) history.

Big problem with him not only being explained but him outright stating his intentions with the hotel.

Maybe I’m wrong and Alastor is not the bigbadvillain in a cast of villains...in which case I don’t know what the pilot wants us to think of him or where the show’s going with him. Is he a demonic version of Harold Hill who learns to care about ppl and gets redeemed? Maybe that will change with future episodes....

Hazbin is confusing as a person not privy to the franchise/development prior ,and feels disappointing from the pov of someone getting hyped for these characters. As a follower of the project it feels like a let down to the respective characters and plots we’ve been anticipating. While, as newcomer, it’s hard to care about anyone. My sister, who had far less info on the pilot than me, was watching it the whole time going “who are you?” and by the end said “why should I care?” Really good summary from this IMDB review here:

Little harsh but my thoughts exactly.

TL;DR: The writers need to really rethink how to introduce their world to newcomers AND fans alike. -

There’s so much passion in Hazbin Hotel but I feel it’s misaimed and a prime example of why “write/draw what you like and what sounds ‘fun’!!!!” isn’t a good idea for storytelling.

There’s technically a story in Hazbin Hotel, but because of the bad pacing and lackluster approach to world and character development, for the kind of project that it is, it’s not very good. 

-

Again, for the people in the back: if you think I’m a bully because I happen to be harsh with my criticism, sorry but harsh critique isn’t the same thing as bad faith criticism (CinemaSins, NC, Bad Webcomics Wiki) and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t lump me in with those turds because I don’t love every second of this. I may not be the best writer, but storytelling is my passion and I think this dropped the ball. IT DOESN’T MEAN I HATE IT. - Alternatively, if you love Hazbin unconditionally or disagree with me on these things: great! Like what you like as long as everything’s safe, which it is. Stuff is problematic but hey so is everything look at the stuff I like. Also, if you’re one of those people who unironically says “if you like HH than I’m blocking you teehee unfollow me”, you fittingly have a very special seat in hell set up for you. Don’t threaten my friends cause you don’t like something they like. =)

[dogbearinggifts]

“Dad Sent Me to the Moon” vs. “Because Dad Made Me”

How Luther and Vanya Talk About Trauma, Part Nine

This is Part Nine of my series comparing and contrasting how Luther and Vanya talk about their own respective traumas, and respond to the traumas of others. This part will conclude my examination of the series itself, and my analysis of each episode’s events. I have one more installment planned, where I discuss my overall findings for each character—both how they are portrayed in canon and how they are portrayed in fandom, as well as some general insights on each that I’ve picked up along the way—so stick around for that. 

If this is the first time you’re seeing this series on your dash, you can find previous installments here: 

Part One  Part Two  Part Three  Part Four  Part Five  Part Six  Part Seven  Part Eight 

and then I swear I’ll finally go through and add links at the bottom of the page on each essay I’m sorry I’ve just been lazy, y’all are awesome for sticking with this

Episode Nine: Changes Part Two (aka Apocalypse…Now?) 

This is not the first mention of trauma in this episode; merely the first mention in this half of it. Nevertheless, it comes when Allison joins Luther, Diego and Klaus in the basement, where Vanya is being held. 

Luther: Allison, what are you doing down here? You should be in bed. Allison: LET HER GO Luther: I can’t do that. She hurt you. Allison: MY FAULT Luther: I’m sorry, but she’s staying put. Just until we know what we’re dealing with. She stays put. Now, come on. Come on. You need to rest.

It’s easy to read this scene as Luther adopting a patronizing attitude toward Allison (“Oh ho ho, I know what’s best for you, silly girl”) or adopting a vindictive one toward Vanya. However, I think both of those interpretations fail to account for the most important piece of the puzzle here: Until very recently, Luther blamed himself for all the awful things Reginald did to him. 

Think back to his reaction upon learning he was sent to the Moon for no reason: “I wasn’t a good enough Number One? I couldn’t cut it?” Luther had just discovered evidence that something awful had been done to him, and he immediately assumed it was a result of something he did. While it’s never explicitly stated that he blamed himself for Reginald mutating him, I would say that based on how Luther reacted to the reveal on his Moon mission, it’s very likely he did blame himself. If only he’d been more careful. If only he’d paid more attention in training. If only he’d done some minor thing that allegedly would have turned the tide in his favor and prevented his near-death. 

And now here’s Allison, who narrowly survived having her throat cut, robbed of her powers and reduced to writing short messages on a notepad—and she’s looking at the woman responsible for her state and saying MY FAULT. 

To Luther, this probably bears a striking resemblance to the self-blame that was his constant companion for years. 

I think that’s why he doesn’t listen to Allison. Not because he thinks he knows what’s best for her. Not because he wants to hurt Vanya further. He’s telling her that Vanya stays put because he believes that Vanya was responsible for her condition. And honestly? He’s right. Allison has received a lot of undeserved ire for her attempted Rumoring of Vanya, but as I pointed out in my previous installment of this series, Allison had no other defense. Vanya was out of control, and Allison had absolutely no idea if catering to Vanya’s demand would allow her to leave that cabin alive or if it would simply prolong her death. What happened to Allison was not her fault. Responsibility for Allison’s state lies with Vanya and Vanya alone. 

Luther wasn’t at that cabin. He didn’t see what happened. But even without firsthand knowledge of what left Allison powerless, he’s still able to recognize self-blame when he sees it. His response to that recognition is poor and leads the family closer to tragedy, but it is rooted in empathy—not spite. 

*********

Our next trauma mention comes from Vanya, who is….technically talking to herself, although it makes sense in context. Regardless of how difficult it is to quantify something like this, I feel as if what Vanya says here is disregarded in favor of the context in which she says it—that is, fandom tends to woobify Vanya for having a psychotic break and ignore the rather unsympathetic motivations she reveals. 

Young Vanya: They’re still afraid of us. Even after all these years. Afraid of our power. Vanya: You’re not real. Young Vanya: We killed Leonard. Vanya: Because he lied to us. Young Vanya: Not about everything. Vanya: What are you talking about? Young Vanya: You know. You’ve always known. Our brothers and sister, they’re just like Dad. Driven to keep us down. A muted voice, isolated from the group, never in the limelight, never the center of attention. It will never end. Not until we act. Vanya: But they’re our family. Young Vanya: They fear you now. They’re gonna keep you in here forever. Vanya: No. Young Vanya: Do you remember what that was like? Staring at these grey walls, hour after hour, day after day while they played together? Do you want to live like this for the rest of our lives?

Much is made in fandom of the fact Vanya is trapped in this anechoic chamber, but very little is made of what she says while trapped in there. While I’d like to give fandom the benefit of the doubt, I’m inclined to believe that the dialogue in this scene is excluded less by oversight and more by design, because this dialogue surgically dismantles the popular image of Vanya as an innocent victim who is neither dangerous nor at fault for what happened in the cabin. 

First, note what she says to her childhood self about Leonard’s murder: “Because he lied to us.” No hesitation. No remorse. No attempt to justify what she did with claims of self-defense. Leonard lied to her, and so she feels she had a right to kill him. 

So many people in fandom have pointed out Luther’s childish moral code. Sometimes this is done to make him appear less sympathetic; sometimes it is done to point out how his proximity to Reginald stunted him, but it’s done quite often. However, Vanya’s moral code is equally childish—if not more so—and I have yet to see anyone point that out. 

Luther’s moral code: If it hurts people, it is an enemy. If it helps people, it is a friend. This is why he locked Vanya up: She hurt Allison, so she is an enemy and not to be trusted. It’s also why he defended Reginald all those years: Reginald saved his life and gave him and his siblings a roof over their heads and three square meals and material possessions and an opportunity to develop their powers, so he was a friend. This completely discounts Vanya’s remorse and the abuse Luther and his siblings suffered, and the harm this code does is clear. 

Vanya’s moral code: If it makes me feel special, it is good. If it makes me feel ordinary, it is bad. Good things should be held close and defended at all costs; bad things hurt me, so I can hurt them back. Leonard made her feel special for most of the series, so she defended him despite all evidence pointing to the fact he was actually a creepy stalker. Allison made her feel ordinary simply by virtue of having access to and knowledge of her powers while Vanya lacked this, and so Vanya felt justified in punishing her with verbal put-downs and abuse and—eventually—open threats and shows of force. 

One thing I’d like to call attention to, before we go any further, is that Luther’s moral code, while childish and leaving no room for reform or wolves in sheep’s clothing, is fundamentally focused on others. He believes it is his duty to protect others from danger, and from those who wish to do harm—no matter the cost to the person he believes is causing harm. Vanya’s moral code, on the other hand, is fundamentally focused on herself. She judges good and evil, right and wrong based on what people do to her and how they make her feel. Luther’s moral code leaves room for selflessness, or a form of it anyway; Vanya’s moral code is fundamentally selfish and cannot be focused outward. 

Another thing I’d like to call attention to is that in this moment, Vanya has nothing to hide and no reason to conceal her motives. She is alone, and hallucinating her childhood self. If ever there were a time to be honest, this would be it. This is when we get to see her motivations, when we get to learn how she feels about her siblings. And we do.

“You know. You’ve always known. Our brothers and sister, they’re just like Dad. Driven to keep us down. A muted voice, isolated from the group, never in the limelight, never the center of attention. It will never end. Not until we act.” 

So often she is portrayed as a lost and broken little girl who only ever wanted love. Her rampage is made out to be the final snapping of a girl who learned she would never gain the affection she craved, but that assumption is torn to pieces by the words of the very character who is so misconstrued. Vanya is not motivated by a longing for love. She never was. She is motivated by a longing for attention. 

Think about it: Leonard never made any overt displays of love, like flowers or candy, but he did shower her with attention. He listened to her more than he talked, put her center stage, wanted to know everything about her and celebrated her triumphs. When Vanya walks in on the emergency meeting and assumes she was excluded, love was never part of the equation. Attention was what they failed to give her. When she bought the typewriter with which she would write her autobiography, it was the comic book featuring her siblings in the pawnshop window that caused her to snap. The world was still fawning over her siblings; she decided it was time the world listened to her for a change. When she goes on her rampage in the next episode, she doesn’t try to find her siblings and scream at them for never loving her; instead she dons a suit and goes to play her concert. Her rampage, like everything else she does, is not a brokenhearted reaction to a lack of love. It is a blatant attempt to make the world pay attention to her and what she can do. 

I don’t think this is indicative of a character flaw in Vanya, or even her fault. Reginald Hargreeves was not an affectionate man, and his favor toward his children was measured in how much attention he lavished upon them. Luther, as the favorite, received the most; Vanya, being excluded from family life, received the least. It is natural that Vanya would crave attention more than she craves love, or even conflate the two. But it is important to accurately name her motivation. Misconstruing it as heartbroken retaliation for a lack of love fails to adequately explain her actions. 

Another thing worth noting: Vanya doesn’t argue with her childhood self’s assessment of the situation. When her childhood self says “They fear you now. They’re gonna keep you in here forever,” Vanya doesn’t bring up the lack of fear on Allison’s face or the fact she wrote LET HER GO on her notepad for all to see. You can argue that, without the ability to hear what was said, Vanya could have mistaken Klaus’ horror for fear and Diego’s anger toward Luther as anger toward her, but it is impossible for her to misinterpret what Allison wrote. Yet she doesn’t mention it, not even for her childhood self to refute it. 

Nor does she bring up the reason why she’s locked in that chamber: the near-murder of her own sister. She flew into a screaming rage because of her own selective memory, cut her own sister’s throat and spent much of the previous episode assuming Allison was dead at her hand—and that doesn’t even enter her thought process. Yes, she now knows Allison is alive, but she also knows that Allison’s powers are gone because of her. She nearly murdered Allison because Allison took her powers away; yet now she knows she has taken Allison’s powers away, and if she feels any guilt over that, we don’t see it. She only thinks about her siblings in the context of how their actions will impact her. 

Finally, her childhood self reveals a lot about how Vanya sees her siblings’ abuse: “Do you remember what that was like? Staring at these grey walls, hour after hour, day after day while they played together?” Her book (shown in a few blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scenes, and in slightly more detail in the comics) mentions that her siblings were experimented on. She knows they went through training. Yet here, they were just playing. Nothing more than that. Playing without her, having fun in her absence. 

I cannot for the life of me understand how Luther has a reputation in fandom for insisting he had it worse than anyone when Vanya is the only one who calls persistent abuse and experimentation playing. It’s true that she was kept at arm’s length and so this misconception was allowed to grow unabated, but it’s telling that in the ten or so years since she’s left home, she hasn’t reconsidered her adolescent perspective on what her siblings went through. 

********

Episode Ten: The White Violin (aka Apocalypse Vanya) 

This episode is primarily the conclusion of all the story threads introduced thus far, and the only moment I’d like to discuss is the montage where Vanya walks through the Academy hallucinating childhood versions of her siblings rejecting her and treating her as if she doesn’t belong. 

Or, so fandom tells me. 

Here’s what actually happens. 

Vanya opens a door and finds Allison and Luther sitting on the bed about to kiss. Allison hears the noise, turns, and screams at Vanya to get out. 

She opens another door and finds Diego sitting on his bed. He looks up and says, “What do you want?” in a rude, demanding tone. 

Behind another door, she finds Klaus and Ben suiting up for a mission. Ben looks to her and says, “To go on a mission, Vanya, you have to have a power.” 

In the parlor (or a parlor—the Academy is fucking huge) she finds her father and siblings posing for a photo. She watches her teenage self beg Reginald to let her be in the photo; he persistently refuses. Her siblings stand mutely as the photo is taken without her. 

Other users have pointed out that these instances of alleged cruelty are actually normal in families with siblings, and I’m inclined to agree. Vanya interrupted a kiss—possibly a first kiss—and I would say Allison is well within her rights to be angry and upset about it. 

Diego’s reaction is a bit less sympathetic, on the surface, although not uncommon in families with siblings. She intruded on Diego’s privacy, which is annoying in families where parents respect the privacy of their children; but if Reginald believes he has a right to walk in and out of his children’s rooms as he pleases, then Vanya’s intrusion is tantamount to a small betrayal. I speak from experience—I grew up in a household where, when we moved into a house with locks on the bedroom doors, it was made abundantly clear that we were never to use them. My parents rarely knocked, and became belligerent the few times I asked them to. As a result of this, my brother and I treated privacy as sacred. We knocked when the door was closed, we knocked when the door was open, we asked if we could come in. When a much younger sibling of mine would traipse into my room without knocking, I would remain angry about it for much longer than was normal or healthy. Point is, Diego’s annoyance could be normal sibling irritation over a failure to respect his privacy, or it could be something more. Either way, it’s understandable. 

Ben’s reaction is blunt, I’ll say that much, and definitely rude. I could see how Vanya would be hurt by this. However, he’s right. At this point in their childhoods, they both believed she didn’t have a power. If she went on a mission, she’d die very quickly. What Ben says here is less bullying and more brutal honesty—and while the line can definitely blur between the two, I’d say he’s more on the side of honesty than on the side of bullying. 

Reginald is the only one who acts out of malice, refusing to let her be in the family photo. While this is par for the course for him, her siblings say nothing in Vanya’s defense; but I don’t think this is a count against them. Yes, they are all probably powerful enough to take Reginald down almost instantly, but he has conditioned them too well. They obey his authority and fear his retribution. None of them are going to risk his wrath by ruining the family photo. 

I think there are two ways to view this montage. 

These are the worst memories Vanya has of her siblings, the most blatant examples of their bullying, as evidenced by the fact they have stuck with her this long and are painful enough for her to destroy whole rooms as a result of them. 

These are not the worst memories she has of her siblings; rather, they are simply the first to come to mind. Her siblings did far, far worse things to her as a kid, but for some reason, she remembers the mildest ones as she walks through the Academy. 

Personally, I think the first option is more likely. Vanya has spent the entire series ascribing the worst possible motives to her siblings’ actions, even when those actions were either friendly or unintentionally exclusionary; and since she’s already in a heightened emotional state, it seems odd that her mind would move to the mildest memories of their alleged bullying when far worse ones exist. Additionally, the one her mind dredges up about Reginald is pretty awful, so it seems her mind would go for memories of her siblings it considers equal to that of Reginald. 

In other words, I think Vanya is an unreliable narrator when it comes to the suffering her siblings inflicted upon her, and I think this scene is evidence of that. 

I don’t think she is fabricating events out of thin air, and I don’t think she’s twisting details regarding her siblings. When she’s storming out of the Academy, ranting to Leonard about how “nothing is good enough next to their holier-than-thou, weight-of-the-world bullshit,” Vanya doesn’t fabricate snatches of conversation and pass them off as fact. She doesn’t change anything about the details of what happened. She does ascribe motive, and the worst possible motive at that. She does the same thing after Allison’s confession: Rather than presenting an entirely new version of events where Allison tosses off some parting shot (”That’s for taking Dad away from me” or some such) Vanya instead presents her own interpretation of events that directly counters Allison’s recollection of her own motives. 

I believe Vanya is doing a similar thing here. I think the events she is hallucinating actually happened. I do think she walked in on Allison and Luther about to kiss, had Diego rudely rebuff her when she entered without knocking, and heard Ben say she couldn’t go on a mission without a power. But I think her interpretation of them is wildly inaccurate—that is to say, she is assuming that these rejections of her presence were an intentional and willful rejection of her as a person and a member of the family; when in reality, they were actually something far more mundane and, while perhaps not quite benign, not actively malicious. 

I do think her siblings participated, to some extent, in Reginald’s exclusion of her. In an earlier episode, we see Allison confronted with this fact as she witnesses Vanya in the security tapes, always off by herself while she and the others went about their training. Allison is surprised and saddened by this. If she participated in an intentional conspiracy to exclude Vanya, I think she would have made some excuse for it (“Well, she didn’t have a power, so what were we supposed to do? Let her play with us and get herself killed?”). Instead, she is disgusted by the actions she took as a child—actions she evidently didn’t put much thought into at the time. 

I think this is at the root of Vanya’s exclusion: Her siblings did exclude her. They didn’t fight back against Reginald’s cruelty toward her, and they didn’t make a lot of effort to try and include her in their daily activities. However, they didn’t do so out of malice, or even a dislike for Vanya. 

In some branches of Christianity, theologians differentiate between sins of commission and sins of omission. A sin of commission is a conscious choice to do something you know is wrong. You choose to steal. You choose to fudge your taxes. You choose to gossip about a person you don’t like. A sin of omission, on the other hand, is a failure to do what you know is right. You don't go to church. You don’t listen to sound advice. You don’t reach out to someone who desperately needs a friend. I may have some quibbles with Christianity now, but I think this principle is a sound one.** 

From all the evidence we have, it seems Vanya’s siblings excluded her in an act of omission. They knew it was right to include her in more than their late-night donut runs, but they didn’t. Maybe they meant to do it and never did. Maybe they were too afraid of Reginald to reach out. Whatever the case, they should have tried to make her feel like a sibling and not a stranger, and they didn’t. 

Vanya, however, sees this act of omission as an act of commission. Where her siblings know it was tragic oversight that led to a childhood of exclusion, Vanya sees it as intentional. Complicating matters is the fact Reginald’s treatment of her was an act of commission, of willful cruelty and a desire to punish her for something beyond her control. Because her siblings were closer to Reginald than Vanya ever was, and because they too excluded her, I think she came to believe they possessed the same motives as he. This isn’t true, but Vanya has believed it for so long that she now sees every act of omission as an act of commission, and every act of commission as monstrous and unforgivable—even when the person sinning against her is working off of incomplete knowledge and a desire to protect others. 

Running count of trauma mentions (cumulative of all episodes thus far)

Own Trauma: Vanya 11*, Luther 11

Trauma of Others: Vanya 5, Luther 5

*I could count the montage where Vanya wanders through the Academy as a trauma mention, but since she doesn’t technically talk about it to anyone—and in fact, no one sees it but her—it doesn’t quite fit the criteria I used to include Luther’s mutation and exclude Vanya’s book. However, I felt it was crucial to my overall analysis, so I included it in that. 

**I have nothing against it as a religion. If you consider yourself a Christian, great! I think it’s a good faith, and I’m glad it works for you. It just didn’t work for me. 

Read on to Part Ten

[the-enraptured]

What is the responsibility of a Christian in the face of social injustice?

The heart of a Christ-follower is naturally empathetic, because to love God is to love one-another. After we are reborn, that carnal nature slowly starts to dissipate. So when we see a lost sheep, we tend to reflect the heart of the Father. Here is the command Christ gives us when we hear the bleating call;

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Matt 10:16

We must be innocent in the eyes of God, which means to have empathy, and to love one another as Christ loves us. However we must also be wise, and we must know what the word love means.

We love to twist God into the form of our own image, instead of letting Him refine our hearts. Because of this it’s very easy to observe a polarity in the modern perception of the being of Christ. Conservatives like the imagery of a nationalist, patriotic gun-toting hero who has come to liberate us from the oppression of Rome. (Sound familiar?) Liberals (more so post-modern neo Marxists) like to view Christ as a guru who martyred Himself for equity, a possibility equal-outcome. This is the group of the itching ears, looking for the land of milk and honey, but still clinging onto the idols of “fairness” and the abolishment of all suffering.

I would say unfortunately, but in reality it’s quite fortunate, that Christ is neither of these things. A common theme I can see in both of these narratives is a complete and utter lack of personal responsibility. Christ was not hung on a tree so we could hold onto resentment toward oppressors. The Word of God reveals that I am the oppressor, and you are as well.

1 Peter 2:23 “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

“For each one will bear his own kid.” Gal 6:5

The wages of sin is death, so how could we expect a utopia to be born out of resentment? The nazis and marxists had this utopia in mind, a new world order. Where did it lead? These wolves in sheep’s clothing disguise themselves as sympathetic, altruistic even. However the common denominator parallels back to the story of Cain and Abel. Cain’s sense of injustice at an “unfair” outcome resulted in the slaughter of his brother. This type of society is led by a mob-mentality, complete and utter chaos fueled by hatred. Hatred towards the government, race, sex, class, power, intellect. However, even the Word declares that it rains on the just and unjust alike.

“not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.” 1 John 3:12

Am I arguing that any group should be oppressed, and that backlash against a group is morally evil? Not necessarily. God heard the cries of the Israelites in Exodus, and led them away from abuse and persecution. God hears our cries, and empathizes with us.

“And now, behold, The cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.” Exodus 3:9

What I am arguing is the manner of practical application. Throwing money at an issue has never worked in history. Polarization leads to the chaotic downfall of empires, like the beheadings in the french revolution. And the simple fact is that the US has a past of racism, more so classism, a system designed to keep the poor oppressed and bound.

Black neighborhoods are over policed, planned parenthood locations are strategically placed near black neighborhoods and impoverished areas. The prison system forces slave labor upon people who have unfortunately learned to fend for themselves for a multitude of reasons, intentionally capitalizing upon the pain and suffering of those in difficult situations which lead them to make rash, impulsive decisions.

I believe the first thing we can do is change hearts and minds. Not even a career criminal, such as George Floyd, who pointed a gun at a pregnant woman’s belly, deserves to die from a knee on his neck. There is no excuse. We are to be innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. We must have empathy for criminals and the poor, such as Jesus did for the prostitutes and thieves. We can’t view ourselves as morally superior, for without God we are just as carnal and capable of atrocity.

Romans 3:12 “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

We can avoid crafty schemes of politicians and the media. Choose to watch news programs not funded by a giant corporation, those who have positive reputations and use statistics correctly without manipulation. Listen to conservative and liberal journalists, listen to non-biased journalists. Look at the data for yourself, and quite being lazy. The FBI website has statistics on a wide variety of hot topics.

“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Eph 4:14

We can in addition reform the prison system and the general criminal justice system. Legally enforce cops to have yearly mental health evaluations screening symptoms of PTSD and other mental health conditions, create incentives for positive reinforcement in police departments for nonviolence.

We can write and speak out to make a small ripple that may multiply amongst eachother, creating a movement of truth without deception and emotional manipulation. We can vote and take advantage of the republic our founding fathers left to us, vote for politicians who don’t buy into the black and white simplistic mentality, those without a confirmation bias living in an echo chamber. Or even better, become a politician, and be the change you wish to see in the world.

Take personal responsibility. You cannot force people to feel what you feel, or to think how you think. God designed us with individual minds to serve different purposes. We only have the choice to control our own actions, and to selflessly love our neighbor as ourself, while at the same time seeing through deception of a false grace, a false love, a false peace, peace that the world gives to us unlike the peace Christ gives to us. If you see a homeless person, buy them lunch. Take them to get a haircut. This is how we need to tithe.

“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” Matt 10:14

We must drop the racist narrative of white privilege, or privilege in general, along with identity politics. We must have empathy yet also be wise in not accepting pure anecdotal evidence and personal experience, until we believe any accusation we must have witnesses.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:28

“This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” 2 Corinthians 13:1

Intercession. Prayer has power, and for far too long we have been dismissing the power of prayer. God tells us to pray for our leaders and our nation, we should be obedient in doing so. Through prayer we not only strengthen our nation, but we allow ourselves to be refined by God, so we are humble and ready to do His will.

Ezekiel 22:30, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”

[livvyplaysfinalfantasy]

It isn't an exaggeration to say that this leg of the story nearly led to me ending my subscription.

Content warning under the cut for sexual abuse.

Hien's reunion with Gosetsu is tense, overjoyed though the young lord is to see his oldest friend again. All present are focused almost entirely on what Yotsuyu's return means for the rebuilding Doma, and although Gosetsu brought Yotsuyu to Hien with the intention of Hien deciding her fate, he does not immediately offer judgment. Instead he places her in the care of a Doman Liberation Front captain - Jifuya - who disappears without a trace.

As it so happens, Jifuya has fled at the mere sight of Yotsuyu - not out of trauma for what she's done, but because he himself caused her trauma. Jifuya is the man responsible for keeping Yotsuyu in sexual slavery. The English script uses the words "master" and "courtesan," but the meaning is quite clear: that her father sold her to repay debts, that she was made to service men, and that she chose to escape her life by becoming a double agent in the Doman Liberation Front for the XIIth Legion.

What we receive here is a thorough explanation of Yotsuyu's trauma from none other than her abuser, and in literal objectifying terms: "'Twas as if she had given up on life. She seemed more a doll than a woman. ... Men flocked to drown themselves in that cold, bottomless gaze." There's no excuse for it; it runs counter to every principle for tastefully writing about sexual trauma. It also runs counter to what I've previously described as 4.0 handling sexual assault with decency: Yotsuyu herself was able to give voice to her abuse in her own words during her final stand at Doma Castle in 4.0, and Hien's response at that time was to declare that he would "remember [her] words" - presumably an acknowledgement to the fact that a new Doma would have a long way to go to be free for everyone.

But the Hien of 4.0 is unrecognizable next to the Hien of 4.2. Neither he nor the rest of the Doman cast of 4.2 seem to care at all that one of their captains previously kept a woman in sexual slavery before joining the Liberation Front. Ultimately, the man's only reprimand is to be relocated to a different post.

Gosetsu: ...I see. Then I shall recommend that you be assigned to a new post.

Hien: I would not presume to defend the life Jifuya led before he joined the Front. Nor will I condemn it. Frankly, it is not my place to judge. I will say only this: the Jifuya I know has ever been a man of courage. That he should feel driven to flee bespeaks the depth of his terror.

It isn't the knowledge of the Warrior of Light's allies admitting to horrible crimes that throws me. I'm well aware that such things often happen in real life, and that they've happened in this game before. What throws me is the stunning lack of grace with which these themes were handled, in a direct departure from 4.0's own writing - and it's the implication that these characters, whom we've come to love for being good and honorable at every turn, would refuse to condemn a slaver within their ranks no matter how long of a time has passed.

Deep breath.

With that out of the way, Hien explains that during our absence, Garlean forces have flown toward Castrum Fluminis for unknown reasons. By the time you arrive with Yugiri and Hien, the ship has sent up a smoke signal traditionally representing surrender in Doman culture. And so you wait to speak with the Garlean who disembarks - Asahi sas Brutus, a Doman-born ambassador who just so happens to be Yotsuyu's biological cousin and adoptive sibling. With flowery, earnest language that gives off villain vibes from the first, Asahi expresses his desire to negotiate peace between the Empire and Doma - and he emphasizes that the emperor himself "personally sanctioned" the mission.

Hien prompts Asahi and his retinue to return to the Doman enclave with him (in the rain), and the peace talks soon begin in earnest. Truth be told, the discussion, beginning at 26:30, holds some fascinating - and much-needed - information on the Empire. As Asahi tells it, there are two major factions within the Empire: the Populares and the Optimates. The Populares are Garleans who wish to reform the Empire's "provincial policy," as Asahi put it in his introduction, and offer a better way for all Garlean citizens to make a living; the Optimates are "pure-blooded" Garleans who intend to maintain power for themselves. The Optimates were behind the attack on the Ruby Sea, Asahi claims - yet of course, we have no reason to believe him. Nor, as Hien points out, will Doma have reason to believe any peace will be honored if negotiations are carried out with a subordinate faction.

Asahi then proposes a prisoner exchange, and in doing so, he reveals his apparent desire to return Yotsuyu to Garlean custody. Hien believes that her value to the Empire lies in what she may have known before her death, but Yotsuyu has lost her memory. However, the return of Garlemald's Doman conscripts and prisoners of war now rests on Yotsuyu's usefulness as a bargaining chip - another way the story makes strips her of her agency.

[atticanow-blog]

On September 9th, 2016, between 20,000 and 60,000 prisoners participated in the largest incarcerated labor strike in American history. The gulf between these two figures, which is 40,000 loud, reflects the unknown conditions of incarcerated experiences. While this action could not have happened without communication within, between, and outside of the prisons involved, such communication is made difficult by the economic and punitive structures that silent prison social networks. This site chronicles the networks that emerged online as prisoners organized for better working and living conditions, focusing in particular on the strike at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility. Ultimately, it suggests that incarcerated communities fill the gaps created by the punitive system in communication and knowledge by reasserting an informal memory of prison resistance, a memory that is expressed as a common heritage with non-incarcerated communities through online social networks.

Image of a Kinross bathroom after riot police violent suppressed the uprising

Integral to organized resistance is effective communication among participants. The American prison system makes communication among incarcerated people and with those on the outside challenging. One way this is achieved is through a privatized phone and email system. Prisons seek out communication companies that will provide the largest “kickbacks.” Instead of offering the most affordable service possible for prisoners, companies are rewarded for charging high prices, which can be as much as 90% of a contract’s value. 

Mignon Clyburn, an official at the Federal Communications Commission, refers to this system as, “The greatest, most distressing type of injustice I have ever seen in the communications sector.” In total, the American prison phone industry is worth 1.2 billion dollars. These high costs affect prisoners greatly, who can spend on average $17 for a 15-minute phone call. Keep in mind, too, that prisoners make from $0.86 to $3.45 per day.  

 Emails can also be costly to prisoners. Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility, for instance, uses a stamp system that charges $0.25 per email “page.” 

While these high prices limit prisoners’ ability to communicate with the unincarcerated world, they are not the only barrier. The services themselves are faulty and difficult to navigate. Incarcerated people do not have the option of leaving Yelp reviews for GTL, the largest prison communications service. However, people on the outside trying to contact them do. Below are some recent reviews of the company:

I include such a long list of negative reviews from across the country to illustrate the GTL’s consistent problems. Such widespread technical errors and hidden fees frequently delay or prevent prisoners from receiving an email or phone call. While it is possible that this is just benign incompetence on GTL’s part, it seems more likely that this is a predatory system that profits off of silenced “consumers.”

The communications system in American prisons reflects and reinforces the obstacles prisoners face when organizing for change. Systemic change requires large, well-organized resistance movements. Much of the organizing for such movements relies on social media. This is reflected in the hashtags present in movements like #BlackLivesMatter, #ArabSpring, and #MeToo, which all used social media, not only to communicate among protestors, but also to broadcast the unjust conditions that make such movements necessary. Prisoners cannot livestream when prison guards use violence against them, when their living conditions are inhumane, or when the carceral bureaucratic system acts unjustly. This lack of visibility creates a lack of accountability in prisons. It is only in extreme instances where abuse of power is made visible. And even then, there is rarely recourse for the victims. 

Darren Rainey

For instance, in 2012, Florida prisoner Darren Rainey was murdered by prison guards, who locked him in a hot shower for two hours. The officers, who had external control over the temperature, forced Rainey to stay in the shower as they turned the water to its highest heat setting--180°F. Images of Rainey’s body, which I won’t display here but which can be found online, show that large strips of skin on his back and legs had been burned off. After Rainey’s death, the officers involved argued that the death was accidental and unexplained. The case was then classified, and the DOC ultimately promoted the guards. However, when The Miami Herald made a visit to the prison to investigate, they heard testimony from other prisoners that officers often used this form of punishment on prisoners, citing at least eight incidents in Rainey’s unit alone. Without outside interest in the events of incarcerated experiences, these stories do not get told, as prison employees and administrators cannot be trusted to admit their own wrongdoing, and prisoners have limited ability to speak out. 

For this reason, the prison abolition’s presence on social media is significant. It is through social media that I first became invested in prison abolition and reform. Neither I nor my friends have many people close to us who are incarcerated. However, the past decade has seen a resurgence of the prison abolition movement. Thinkers like Angela Davis, Michelle Alexander, and Ava DuVernay are a part of an abolitionist heritage that situates prison injustice, not as marginal to America’s systemic inequality, but as fundamental to it. 

A tweet of Angela Davis in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix documentary, 13th

On my Facebook feed, I saw friends and acquaintances using social media to communicate about prison reform and to facilitate community action. Below are images of this community response, with the names of users kept hidden for privacy. 

In this post, a user identifies a relationship between climate and prison justice. 

This post from 2018 shows a user tracking a weeks-long protest in a Canadian prison, which she suggests is tied to American economic and civil justice. 

Posters using Facebook as a call to action to support an incarcerated woman. This text begins with a demand to free Cyntoia, offers contact information, and information about her case in one image. Note that seven people shared the image, and others engaged asking clarifying questions. The use of heart emojis and reactions (15 total) suggests a sense of community with Cyntoia Jackson, that the Tennessee prisoner is a part of a larger collective.

Here, a Facebook event is made to facilitate an action. Note the sense of solidarity and community in the image--hand prints and the words “Until we are all free None of us are free.”

Here, information about the events of the Kinross prisoner strike are shared and tied with an action to call-in.

This image from 2016 reflects a similar sentiment, with the hashtag #UntilAllAreFree and shows a photo of a Kinross prisoner. Note that the image has three shares and that the reacts are angry and sad emojis. I wonder if the directness of this post and its lack of narrative invites more angry/sad emojis than feelings of communal love. 

Here, people use the comment section to update each other on the phone calls they made. Note the user who says, “I’m relatively new to Michigan...but I’ll call at eight & tell my friends to do the same!” This reaction illustrates the sense of solidarity non-incarcerated people feel with incarcerated struggles, even when they are not from the region where the struggle takes place. Also, note the heart sticker, which again suggests a sense of communal bonds.

A French user posts in solidarity with an American prison movement.

Finally, I’d like to examine the role of memory in prison resistance and in the Kinross uprising. In particular, the Attica prison uprising is invoked often as a symbol of resistance and as a reminder of the need to continue fighting. Note the post below, which references the movement, saying, “We remember #Attica!”

The Attica prison uprising was a 1971 movement in a New York prison. After prison guards killed George Jackson at the San Quentin State Prison, over 1,000 Attica Prison inmates seized control of their facility, taking 42 staff hostage. 

Image from the Attica uprising

Riot police were brought in, and after four days of protests, the 28 of the rioters’ demands were met. However, the riot also resulted in 48 deaths, 33 of which were inmates.

Many articles and social media posts commenting on modern resistance movements reference this uprising, using terms like “remembering” and “looking back” in order to understand emerging movements. Two years after the Kinross protest. Note the “We remember #Attica!” comment above. 

A 2018 radio podcast by Rustbelt Abolition Radio uses this terminology to frame its interview with participants in the Kinross labor stoppage (link below).

(via Specters of Attica: Reflections from Inside a Michigan Prison Strike)

In the interview, prisoner Ajhamu Barati explains how and why he participated in the labor strike. Throughout the interview, he identifies the need to read about the past in order to take effective action in the future. The interviewer comments that he often quotes George Jackson, the prisoner whose death sparked the Attica uprising.

To me, this referencing to the past is necessary in the wake of systemic silencing of prison narratives. There seems to be a need to remember what has happened, as the prison-industrial system suppresses communication and asks us to forget the deaths of people like Darren Rainey. In the Rustbelt interview, Barati explains that, “The whole thing is about control: control your movement, control of what you received in here. Because I just received a paper from the San Francisco black national paper and they were talking about the Million Prisoner March that (just) happened August 19th, in Washington D.C. about the human rights and they rejected it. And I asked the counselor about why did you reject it, is that advocating violence? And she just said because it’s speaking about human rights and the conditions of prisoners here. So any time you talk about prisoner conditions, they don’t want the prisons to hear that, they don’t want that kind of news to come in here.”

While this silencing created within prisons is disheartening, the living memory forged through people like Barati can challenge that silence. That his sentiments and experiences are echoed by non-incarcerated people through social media suggests that the slow-moving, deep-rooted knowledge of incarcerated memory tied with the speed and interconnectedness of social networking is perhaps forging a shared heritage of resistance. Barati’s closing comments, though not expressed through the language of emoji and reposting of Facebook, iterate the same feeling. He says, “If you control a man’s thoughts, you don’t have to worry about his actions. And we in a psychological warfare so brothers got to start getting a political consciousness they gotta read, they gotta read, and broaden our awareness. Solidarity and love out there to everyone.” While the gaps in communication and knowledge created by the prison system may seek to obscure the oppression experienced by prisoners, it may be through those gaps that memory and resistance persist. 

[imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs]

The Legendary Wonder Woman: Chapter 1

Perfect.

With a delicate stroke of her knife Hippolyta finished the rounded cheek of the Erotes. All around her sculptures, carvings, reliefs, wreaths, and bouquets of flowers of all colors and materials sat finished or half-finished waiting for the Queen’s loving hand. Ruling the Amazons was her birthright, battle was a gift to all Amazons, but art was her’s. Ever since she had first walked out of Poseidon’s oceans with her sisters she had enjoyed molding clay and stone to her vision and forging fine designs from precious metals. Her passion had even led her to her greatest treasure. She sat back in her chair and smiled. Every detail of the clay figure before her had been constructed with painstaking care, from its winking smile to its layered wing feathers. Its bow had taken her three hours and that wasn’t counting how many times she had cut and rolled a piece of clay for the bowstring only to throw it away. Now came the tricky part. A bulbous pile of clay rested on the sculpture’s otherwise proportionate head. This was to be the hair. Unlike the feathers she could not simply add more clay since it would unbalance the head. It would take all of her concentration to make the lifelike hair she desired for her creation. Wiping her brow, Hippolyta leaned forward to begin carving the first lock.

“My Queen!”

Hippolyta’s hand slipped, jamming her knife deep into the sculpture’s face. Swallowing her frustration and schooling her expression, Hippolyta turned to the door of her quarters. An Amazon stood there, panting and clearly distressed.

“Yes, Io,” said Hippolyta, “what is it?”

The Amazon, Io, bowed low.

“Forgive me, my Queen, but the Lion skin of the Oppressor is missing!”

“What?”

Hippolyta rose and grabbed the golden scepter, the symbol of her rule, where it rested against her carving table. Her own projects would have to wait.

The Grand Temple of Themiscyra was a monument to Amazonian engineering, standing proudly on Reformation Island, a scholarly place of renewal and spiritual guidance in the atoll the Amazons called home. Two-hundred cubits wide, twice as long, and fifty cubits high, the marble and limestone columns shone against the sun of Themiscyra’s eternal springtime. Under its roof, statues of the Amazons’ patrons stood in a circle, embellished with gold and precious stones. They numbered nine, eight goddesses and Gaia, the mother earth herself, who had formed the Amazons from the souls of wrongfully slain women and the earth of the ocean floor. Every day, Amazons knelt and prayed before the statues and would be doing so, if they weren’t flocking to Hippolyta in worry. To quiet them, the queen raised her hand. Silence fell in a heartbeat.

“What is this about the Lion Skin?”

One of the priestesses, a girl with red hair in tangling ringlets who was timidly holding her wrist, stepped before the queen.

“I was down in the vaults, making sure that the guards had their meals and...And the Lion Skin was not there with the other relics.”

The temple was not only a place of worship. Within the deepest recesses of the temple, there sat ancient relics of significance and power. Treasures such as the Golden Perfect, a mysterious tool given to the Amazons by their patron goddesses, the Girdle of Gaia from which all Amazons drew a wellspring of strength, and the Lion Skin of the Oppressor, worn by the demi-god who had subjected the Amazons to pain and indignity. Every year, the Amazons would display it on the anniversary of their liberation and proclaim ‘this is the armor of a fallen warrior’. For it to be stolen was to steal Amazon culture.

“Have you told Castalia about this,” asked Hippolyta.

Castalia was the head priestess of the island. While she was not what many would think of as an Amazon, round faced and a serene in countenance, she was known the island over for her acts of kindness and her skill at divination. She had even taken Hippolyta’s own sister, Menalippe, under her wing when she began to have visions of the past and future.

“Menalippe had a vision this morning,” the priestess who had first spoke said, “so she and Lyla are tending to her to find out what it means.”

“Then they should be told of this,” said Hippolyta, “they are the temple’s caretakers.”

“But what if it is nothing,” said another Amazon, this one with skin like copper and hair cut nearly to her scalp, “This could be nothing. Some sick joke for the sake of rebellion.”

“Then who would be the perpetrator,” asked Hippolyta, “who would gain from this? Who would have the audacity to steal the Lion Skin? Most all of us are here.”

“What of the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall?”

The amazon who spoke was long faced and dark-skinned.

Hippolyta sighed.

“My sister may be…”

She trailed off, searching for the right word.

“…Brash, but Bana-Mighdall has always respected the temple and its treasures.”

Bana-Mighdall was the home of a sect of Amazons that prayed to Ares as their Patron, as odd as it was. While many Amazons followed the ways set down by their Goddesses, Bana-Mighdall embraced the warrior heritage of the Amazons, preferring combat to art and spirituality. They lived on the third island of Themiscyra, the ‘Forbidden Isle’, a harsh overgrown landscape of vicious creatures. They also still practiced Kopís Mastoú, which had fallen out of favor with many other Amazons. Their ruler was Hippolyta’s second sister, Antiope, a bold and fearsome combatant.

“Be that as it may,” the first Amazon said, “she has not appeared in the temple in some time.”

“Neither have I,” said Hippolyta, “nor has our best smith, Althea, nor General Philippus. And is Castalia, our greatest priestess, not attending to Menalippe away from the temple? Does this mean they should be counted as thieves?”

No-one spoke.

“Then we should focus less on blaming one another and more on finding the culprit.”

“Queen Hippolyta!”

It’s going to be one of those days, the queen thought bitterly as she turned to see what the newest problem the day had brought her. An Amazon with richly tanned skin and her hair in a tight braid pushed her way through the throng of her sisters to the Queen.

“Yes, Sophia, what is it?”

“I cannot find Diana, anywhere.”

“Have you checked the stables?”

“And the armory, and the libraries, and I have spoken with Castalia, Antiope, Philippus, and Mala is on her way to Althea to see if she has seen Diana.”

“Have you spoken to Nubia?”

“Twice, my queen.”

Hippolyta turned back to the rest of the Amazons.

“Has anyone seen my daughter?” she asked the crowd.

Each Amazon looked to the sister next to them, a murmur falling over them as one by one each of them answered no.

Hippolyta closed her eyes and partook of a deep calming breath.

“Send out a search party to look for my daughter. At this point, only the Gods know what she’s up to.”

The wind whipped her hair, throwing the Lion skin of the oppressor off of her shoulders as Diana rode through the forests of Paradise Island. She didn’t need to keep it anyway. In a few hours at most she would have somebody’s attention. That was why she stole it in the first place. Besides who would want to ride around with a smelly animal skin on their back was beyond her kin. Dryads, with their willowy arms and wild hair full of foliage and twigs, scattered as Diana bounded out of the woods and into the grassy fields and the sunlight. She answered the raucous calls of the tree spirits with her own, waving to them. The midday sun was out in full, the sky blue and full of bountiful white clouds, as it always was. The island was full of life, as it always was. Birds sang, beasts hunted and played, all was right on Themiscyra, as it always was. This was her home for more than twenty long years, as it always had been. And after the twenty-first long year, things were starting to get downright dull. Diana leaned down to the ear of her steed.

“Faster, Jumpa, faster!”

Jumpa the Kanga had been her friend since she was no more than ten. Roughly four cubits tall, the Kangas served as the primary mounts of the Amazons, their spindly arms and powerful legs making them expert climbers and leapers. They were easier to train than the wild hearted Pegasi, which only a few Amazons in the history of Themiscyra were able to even get close to. Diana would know, too. She had tried to mount one in her youth, only to find herself thrown from its back and saved from death by a tree branch’s timely intervention. But in the five minutes that she clung to the mane of the winged horse she had managed to wrangle, she experienced flight. The freedom, the thrill, the view, that was something she would give anything to feel again. Here on the ground, the ‘heavenly’ days seemed to run together.

Calls for her to stop reached Diana’s ears.

A band of five Amazons, all riding their own Kangas, rode into view from the treeline. Diana turned her gaze back to the path ahead, a smile pulling at her lips. This promised to be fun.

“Head for the cliffs,” she said to Jumpa, “You know what to do.”

Digging her heels into Jumpa’s sides, Diana egged her steed onward. The voices of the other Amazons grew louder and more frantic as her speed increased. She heard their voices shouting, “Diana stop!”

Diana did not stop. Instead, she urged Jumpa to go faster. Over rocks and back into the forest, through streams and weaving between trees, Diana evaded her pursuers. Finally her destination was in her sights. On the southernmost part of Paradise Island, sharp peaks and cliffs rose up like stone knives scraping at the heavens. Diana had already climbed them twice, to see the Griffins that roosted there. She knew how to hold fast to the steep rock face and Jumpa knew her way back to the stables. With a practiced leap, Diana grabbed an overhanging branch and flipped nimbly onto the side of the cliff. Jumpa continued on underneath her. Just as the Kanga had bounded out of sight, Diana’s pursuers came after, shouting for her to stop. Diana bit a laugh down as the other Amazons rode off into the woods. Undoubtedly, they would end up back at the stables with her nowhere in sight. Turning her gaze upward, Diana began her climb to the peak of plateau she was currently clinging to. Hand over hand, foot over foot, one at a time and never looking down Diana scaled the cliff, surefooted as any mountain beast. Finally, Diana felt grass and the edge of the plateau under her hand and hoisted herself up onto the ledge. She’d chosen this place as her refuge, for when things were becoming too stagnant for her tastes on Themiscyra and that was unfortunately becoming the norm as of late. Diana sat on the cliff’s edge and kicked her legs out. From where she sat, Diana could see the entirety of Paradise Island and its two sister islands. In the distance she could see the overgrown tangle of creepers and trees that was Forbidden Island, where her Aunt Antiope’s tribe lived, within the walled city of Bana-Mighdall, and the verdant meadow that was Transformation Island, the place from which she had taken the Lion Skin of the Oppressor. She knew every inch of both of them and of Paradise Island. Diana pushed the balls of her hands against her eyes. She knew every Amazon on the island by name or reputation, every creature that lived on their shores, read every book in their library. Would something new just fall out of the sky and end her malaise?

“The Griffins’ nesting is not until the fall,” a voice behind her said. Diana turned. An Amazon with hair the color of wheat was standing behind her, looking down at her.

“Mala?”

“Hello, Diana.”

Mala had been on of Diana’s closest friends since her eighteenth year, and of the Amazons was one of their most accomplished riders and athletes. None had beaten her in Íppefsi, riding portion of the Games of Liberation.

“I thought I would find you here. It is your favorite spot.”

Mala held out her hand for Diana to take and helped her to her feet.

“And why shouldn’t it be?”

Diana turned her gaze back to the horizon, shining with the golden light of the sun. Diana raised her arms and leaned over the edge of the cliff, a warm updraft keeping her from falling. The serenity of flight and freedom was so close, tantalizingly close.

“When you stand on the edge, it feels like you can fly across the ocean and over the horizon.”

“And come right back?”

Diana turned to look at her friend. Mala’s expression looked hopeful, even longing, though why she would feel like that, Diana couldn’t say.

“Does it matter?”

Mala’s face fell at Diana’s words.

“But Diana, all of your sisters are here.”

Diana nodded.

“And I’ll carry them in my heart wherever I go,” she said, placing her hand over her heart.

“Yes, yes, of course you will…But I came to find you because of the Lion Skin. Did you steal it?”

“Yes.”

“Diana!”

Diana looked to her friend.

“That skin has been in that…crypt for centuries, Mala. What do you expect it to do? Walk out of there?”

“Diana, you caused a panic.”

“At least it is something new around here.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing…it meant nothing.”

Mala ran a stressed hand through her hair.

“Well, it would not be ‘nothing’ if someone else had found you. Diana, you could be in serious trouble.”

“Then what would you have me do?”

“Go to the temple and pray to Athena for wisdom granted by this experience.”

Diana sighed,

“Alright, I will go to the temple today. I have not seen Castalia in some time.”

“What about the skin?”

“I will return that too.”

Mala frowned at Diana.

“I promise. You are not my keeper.”

“With all the grief I have to tell your mother about I might as well be.”

Diana rolled her eyes. She knew the skin was important. That’s why she took it. But then she thought about what her mother would say, what her aunts would say, and she started to regret the decision. Maybe a prayer for wisdom was what she needed. Mala’s hand on her arm broke her thoughts.

“Diana, I was going to ask Lydia if she wanted to go swimming today. Would you like to join us?”

“No thank you,” said Diana, her eyes going back to the horizon, “I went swimming earlier.”

“Then, we could go to visit Nubia. I’m sure that she is getting lonely down near the gate.”

“I will visit her later. Right now, I think I would like to be by myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mala, you do not need to watch over me.”

Mala nodded.

“Very well.”

Mala went to the edge of the cliff where Diana had climbed up before and began her descent. She would feel better soon, Diana thought. Once I return the Lion Skin, I can explain myself to mother and then this ordeal will be over. A soft coo reached Diana’s ears. Landing but a few cubits away from her, was a dove. Diana smiled and crept towards the small creature. It must have only started to fly, it was so little. Diana held out her finger. The dove hopped onto it without a second thought and Diana smiled. Animals always liked Diana. When she was a little girl, she’d once been allowed near a fawn while its mother was near, when every other Amazon was met with the deer bolting into the forest.

“Hello,” Diana said to the dove, “what do you have in store for me?”

The dove said nothing, only turning its head and lifting off from her finger. Diana followed the flight of the dove, grabbing a creeper vine that ran up the side of the cliff and descending. She dropped through the air for the last few Cubits when she was near the ground. She did have to go to the temple, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do it the fun way. Above her, the dove glided through the sky and Diana spread her arms as she ran, their path taking both her and the dove down to the beach. As the ground beneath her feet gave way to sand, Diana saw the dove land with a large flock on the beach. Spreading her arms, Diana did her best lion impression and sent the flock scattering. She laughed.

But then she saw the flock head towards the horizon. Birds could fly away from Paradise Island, away from the sameness. But she could not. What she wouldn’t give to fly.