I love my siblings, all of them (5, no including me) are either too young or too broke to live outside my parents' house. As an Atheist, I have no problem whatsoever going to Church, praying, reading the Bible, and participating in religious activities with them. Doing religious things may not mean anything to me but to my family it's very important and makes them feel good so I don't mind. However, unlike my siblings who don't complain to me about my atheism, my parents (especially my mom) do.
Whenever I'm visiting, my mom will constantly bring up God and religious teachings, making sure to restate over and over that sinners who don't follow him are going to be tortured in hell. I don't mind much since its like someone trying to threaten me about my soul going to the Shadow Realm, but she has been on my back trying to force my conversion with a ton of arguing/preaching then blaming me for starting the argument and bringing "all this stress" to "HER" house and making """"absolutely everyone feel uncomfortable around me.""" when its only her and my dad.
In the past she has had times where she wouldn't let me come over to see my siblings and now is threatening to do it again if Im not trying to go to confession, church, and praying on my own time. She actively tries to get updates from me and asking whether Im doing it or not.
In the past, Ive tried faking that I still believed in god but had to stop doing so because she religiously manipulates everyone's life into doing what she wants and tried to continue doing so with me.
Any ideas what to do? I still want to see my siblings but this religious stuff keeps getting worse. Unfortately, siblings have no visiting rights in court.

So, obvious throwaway account - cause I’m fairly certain my wife may stalk some of the reddits I subscribe to on my main account.
Some history to begin - M39 - I got read the riot act from the doctor late last year. Scales tipped in at 199kg - 438 pounds… I’m not wanting to ever condone the way we lived and behaved during the time before vaccinations, but covid isolation policies in Australia, newborn just before covid blew up and all the challenges of sleep deprivation combined with WFH in a very stressful job and the convenience of Uber eats made my weight skyrocket.
Anyway, doctor tore strips off me, I buried it, as I always do with these things. I’m male, it’s what we do.
I would take my child to activities on the weekends, important life skills that I feel are vital for children to learn given how dangerous things are now. Anyway, it was also a gym. So, I signed up and started. For context I did all this stuff 12 years or so ago, got down to a weight where I did obstacle racing with friends - running 20k a day and loving life. Met my wife when I was at my peak and my nights rapidly changed from worshipping at the iron church to worshipping the idiot box or playing computer games. Pissed at myself for that.
Anyway, I started at the gym, I got checked out, all those things in March, I’d lost 6kg - so down to 193kg - the joys of catching covid - apart from the side effects of it, its a great way to cut weight /sarcasm - but still a long way to go considering how far I need to go.
My trainer, was supportive. He said for the first week all he wanted me to do is show up, spend 5 minutes on the treadmill and go home. By the end of that week, I was doing 20-30 minutes - the briefest flicker of what I missed had come back to me. The second week, we got into food prep, and weights - foundational stuff to get me back into the groove - nothing heavy, nothing complex, just tighten the up the ligaments and make sure everything would handle what would come over the next couple of months. I threw myself into it each night, after the family were sorted out for the evening, I’d spend an hour to start off with in my church.
I then had to travel for work - it’s not uncommon, but put a distinct damper on what I wanted to do. I bought a blender, packed it in my stuff and went away for work for a couple of weeks. I ended up signing up to a gym where I was - I spent my days at work, my evenings with my team members and the late evenings/very early in the morning (till 12.30-1am) in the gym each night. My food prep stuff was changed to allow me to do it relatively low effort - a couple of smoothies, packed with fruit/vegetables and one with protein powder and coffee. I’d go back to my apartment at lunch, make the next one and come back to work - so there was more incidental walking than I expected, anyway, caught gym flu. Who’d have thought, my calorie intake was so low, plus my expenditure was higher than my body would take, I had managed to grind myself into the ground. I eased off slightly, ate more food - not necessarily better food, but I ate, needed to build up again. By the time I got back I had lost 2kg, I wasn’t happy, but anyway, loss is a loss.
Over the course of the next month or so, I lost another few kgs, like 4 or so, but i was living at home again. When I train, I can be a moody, emotional shit, I know this. I’m like a bear with a sore paw.
This is where the rant comes in - My wife, and her family - aren’t exactly the most supportive in this - some never had to exercise in their life, lucky people. I constantly had to hear about it, defend my position - no, I don’t want a beer, I don’t want lasagne and I should live a little.
My wife on the other hand, has struggled all her life, and apparently it’s easier to just use the credit card and buy McDonald’s, kfc, multiple times a week at dinner and for lunch at work - then leaves the bags, boxes, etc in clear sight - kitchen bench, coffee table in front of the couch, in the car. She’s had weight loss surgery and it helped, but apparently, it’s easier to tap a few buttons on the phone instead of defrost something she’s made and chucked in the freezer. One of the things I do, at least 3-4 times a week is go around the house and tidy up after her, throwing out empty packets chips, fast food bags. I can feel the support there eh? Nothing like having my willpower tested every few days.
I had it out with her a few weeks ago, told her I couldn’t afford this and apparently cause I don’t eat with them anymore and my food is so expensive, it’s my fault. To be clear, it’s not cheap, it’s certainly less expensive than Uber eats multiple times a weeks.
We didn’t talk for a few days and I went away for work again, so I could cool off. I got to do my meal prep in the apartment again and didn’t have to see any takeaway boxes for a few days. Just to be clear - I do not ask her to make my food, and I often make my child’s meals, but the limit of how I’m helped is her ordering shopping online or may be take something out of the oven.
Whilst this was all happening, I was frustrated as anything. Scales weren’t moving, for like 2 weeks, despite how much I was putting in. I got sick as well whilst I was away - so I was like the bear with a sore paw. But, I persisted, and as of this morning, in a single month of persistence, I managed to drop 7.7kg (a sliver under 17 pounds). A proverbial shit tonne of cardio, and workouts anywhere between 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours a night that helps me live in my life that I . And I had to buy all new clothes - I probably should have bought the size lower than I got cause these ones are baggy too - oh well, first world problem right there🤣
Anyway, my journey so far 199kg to 174.9kg (438 to 385) dropping 24.1kg (53 pounds) through highly regimented cico, being stubborn and working out now I I have that thirst for trying to get back to my best life.
It’s the start of another month for me - I count my progress on the 3rd of the month, wish me luck 😃😃

I'm from south-east europe.. . I've been looking for chats/friends. All the good stuff. I'm into music, anime/manga/youtube, ,video games, history and animals. I'm mostly into old music and into ton of sports as well like tennis/basketball/football/swimming... Also like to hike and do kayaking as well.
Send me a chat and tell me about your day/life/things you like/what brings you here, or whatever you want to talk about :)) Got 1 exams left and stuck at home nowadays srudying for exams,so got ton of time to text. Just looking for friends from diffeent places and idc about time zone cuz I generally sleep late. Also would be cool to have workoout/progresa buddy too

Hello! I'm dead inside and would very much like to change that!
Jokes aside, I want to be part of something spiritual. I want to be able to convince myself that there are supernatural forces at work in the world in order to give my life meaning and direction and to also give me a sense of community. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of guy who feels absolutely nothing in a space where everyone else feels connection to something greater than themselves that is, at least partially, beyond human comprehension. I grew up Christian, going to church, private Lutheran school, bible camp, youth groups, you name it. I never once felt the power of God, no matter how hard I tried. I hit my a-hole atheist phase HARD at 13. I lived for reasonable explanations of how the universe came to be and how animals evolved and how I don't deserve to burn forever for wanting to be a boy.
Now, all my friends are some variety of LGBT+ and many are into witchcraft and horoscopes. I see how happy they are with what they've found after leaving Christianity themselves and I deeply wish I could join them. I've tried doing what they do and feel nothing still. I don't feel empowered, I just feel silly. I want my rocks to heal people and my cards to direct people, but they're really just rocks and cards with pretty pictures. I hate feeling like such a stick in the mud. I hate feeling different. I hate being a spiritual dead-end among such cool, confident, creative people. How can I turn my brain off and trick myself into believing something I don't so I can fit in with people who are supposed to be my peers?

This started after I was watching a TV documentary about the holy grail, and the subject came up about all the efforts Himmler and the SS had made to find it in the south of France/Spain. This included a visit to the castle the SS was using as their main training facility, which they'd completly rebuilt using psuedo-aryan symbolism. This included a number of representations of the rune "Sigil" as their emblem (the SS symbol on their tunics and devices was a double "Sigil" or twin lightening runes), which got me wondering if Mr. Fujishima had considered this when he named Sigil. (Heil Skuld!) The SS was supposed to be Hitler's bodyguard unit and Sigil is certainly Skuld's bodyguard. (mostly humorous intent here)
So I decided to look up myself (and there I was) what the rune sigil meant. I'd read all the standard Oh/Ah My Goddess! explainations, but they just repeated what was in the Dark Horse translated manga. It proved interesting and shows just how hard it is to pin these things down sometimes.
Sigil is an Anglo-Saxon rune located in the second Aett (or Heimdal's Aett), or group of 8 runes. It is also known as sighel, sowilo, saugil, sigel, sol, soilleir, and other varients, depending on the source. It's associated color is yellow.
Besides the phonetic letter "S", the rune literally means the sun, but also represents lightening. It symbolizes natural power, the sun representing both life force and elemental energy (fire & lightening). Interestingly, in the Germanic myth it was regarded as a feminine atribute. (Two sigils crossed make a sun-wheel, otherwise known as a swastika. Another reason the SS used two sigils.)
Symbolically ( rune readings ), sigil represents success, goals achieved, honor, one's life-force, health, a time when power will be available to you for positive changes in your life, victory, health, and success. It relates to one's contact between the higher self and the unconscious. Wholeness, power, elemental force, sword of flame, cleansing fire.
If cast in opposition (Sigil cannot be reversed) it represents false goals, bad counsel, false success, gullibility, loss of goals, destruction, retribution, justice, casting down of vanity, and the Wrath of God (or at least that of a teenage goddess).
So it's a bit more than just the rune that signifies "Life".
And as long as I was looking up Sigil, I thought I'd take a look at Peorth.
Peorth is also an Anglo Saxon rune located in the second Aett (or Heimdal's Aett), or group of 8 runes. It is also known as poerdh, pertho, perdhro, pairthra, Peordh, None, Pailt, and other varients. It's associated color is Blue or Red (Dark Auburn hair?)
Besides the phonetic letter "P", the rune's meaning is uncertain, having been translated as hearth, fruit tree, vagina, dice cup, and chessman amongst other things.
It's called the gambler's rune because of its shape (like a cup for casting dice from), and in this way is connected with major changes in life, opportunity on one hand, disaster or failure on the other. It doesn't however predict the outcome, only that such a situation will present itself. (Thus Peorth's name associates her with fate, or Wyrd, much like the norns are)
In other contexts it's a symbol of the feminine, implying "womanly traits" as well as sexuality. So Peorth certainly is living up to her name.
Symbolically ( rune readings ), peorth has a number of meanings, making its exact meaning unclear. It reminds us of the uncertainties in life and represents freewill in connection with the restrictions we have due to our circumstances. It is viewed as a rune of memory and problem solving. It can be symbolic of secret matters, mysteries, hidden things and occult abilities. Initiation, knowledge of one's destiny, knowledge of future matters, and determining the future or one's path through life.
In its feminine context it can refere to the feminine mysteries including female fertility, and "matters of the vagina". (I had to quote this one) It also can be found in relation to good luck, chance, the unknown, fellowship, joy, finding things that are lost, evolutionary change and alternatively, can be linked with sacred music, bardism and the sacred dance. (You'll note that most of these also apply to our Peorth.)
If cast in opposition or reversed (upside down), peorth can mean addiction, stagnation, loneliness, or malaise.
So it seems obvious that as a rune, peorth is considered a general utility symbol that covers a wide range of things, much like the goddess who's named after it.
While I don't think Mr. Fujishima is an expert on runes and rune casting (though you never know) it's pretty obvious he knows someone who is. While he could have picked Sigil and Peorth's names off a website, the detailed rune reading he has Belldandy cast for Urd in Another Me is the work of someone who knows their business. (If you hadn't noticed, the names on the casting circles are the Norse versions of their names, Urda & Verthandi. A detailed examination of Bell's rune cast can be found at the AMG Fan, Observations Website.)
My guess is he described the characters he had in mind and this someone suggested the runes to name them by. Then, with the rune profile in hand, he fine tuned the characters to more closely fit their names.
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20061215032223/http://www.goddess-project.net/index.php?pid=76
I am not the original creator.

Season 2 Ep 6 Pas De Deux

1. The title is a play on the phrase it takes two to tango, *which means “two involved parties need to act cooperatively if an endeavor is to succeed.”** Hints at the agenda.
   
2. “Since I got here, I have tried to make people feel safe.” Another reason he won’t easily disclose his experience. Just like how Donna told Jim to shut his mouth. Might create panic. Boyd continues defending his decision to safeguard Sara to Tian-Chien. It also showcases he’s a natural born leader.
   
3. “Here’s what I know, things are changing and if we don’t use everything we have, every little thing…” Validating there is a shift in the town trap. *Call back to trees changing.
   
4. Music box plays in an empty church, Boyd sees a ballerina dancing, he spins her a bit then the ballerina opens her mouth revealing worms. May imply “They’re” trying to establish a deeper connection to influence Boyd; he then falls from having the vision, Kenny helps him to Kristi.
   
5. Dale complains about food shortage, mocks Ellis on potential drama with Fatima
   
6. Marielle was on her way to rehab! Her major life change. She lied to Kristi. “You were on your way to rehab but you end up here.
   
7. Boyd and Kenny walk to the clinic, Kenny touches the branch, studying it, Boyd: “yea I noticed that myself, leaves changing colors, falling off the trees. Never seen that before.” Kenny agrees. Perhaps more proof the cycle is coming to an end.
   
8. Worms are hurting Boyd much more now, causing him to finally confess to Kenny about the worms.
   
9. Suddenly, Boyd hears the music box again, the same ballerina emerges from the bunker. Perhaps music symbolizes “Their” arrival as evident with Martin. *“They” may be *conditioning** him to create some change in his behavior.*
   
10. Pain of the worms causes a frustrated, suffering Boyd to finally confess to Kristi; “My blood is your blood now… It feels like something’s coming for me now… Whatever these things are, they had been feeding on him for years. They passed it on to me because they wouldn’t let him die. It was so bad, all he wanted to do was die.” Whew, this is some tea right here! Quite possibly “They” were draining Martin of hero essence that’s made from trapping and torturing people. Boyd is to replace Martin for the new cycle; a transfer of worm blood between old leader to new leader must be done. I wouldn’t be surprised if Martin was the leader in kid Victor’s cycle.
    
11. Kenny and Kristi don’t believe Boyd; Kristi: “Parkinson’s can lead to dementia. But not for years in.” Kenny: “But it does happen though?” Kristi: “Yea.”
    

S2 E4 This Way Gone

1. As the title suggests, this episode marks a major turning point of the town
   
2. Flashback with Kenny’s family; reminds us of his hardships; his dad suffers from dementia
   
3. Boyd learns Sara teleported straight to church (using SAME Farway tree) and confirms the Boy in White told her to use them; “They” needed Boyd to meet Martin. Sara confirms a different experience with Boy in White (BIW) compared to the other voices (more proof there’s 2 forces at work). BIW told her Nathan was right, they made the place angry.
   

I feel this could be further manipulation to initiate the next chain of events.

1. Boyd tells Kenny about Sara’s “gifts.” Boyd: “Someone is talking to her. Using her like, like a—“ Kenny: “Like a pawn.”

This exchange helps confirm how “They” are manipulating people’s behavior in order to create a desired outcome—MCs are all pawns!”

1. Boyd and Kenny argue over Sara; Boyd avoids the truth regarding Kenny’s dad. Right as Boyd screams, “no one’s going inside the fuckin box!” The worms become active causing Boyd to lose his balance, possible transformation occurring or “They’re interfering.
   
2. Ethan visits Victor as he was drawing a scary looking man/monster; brings markers and apologizes for bringing Jade to his room stealing his things
   
3. Julie comforting Elgin shows how far she’s come since S1
   
4. Kristi evaluates Boyd believing it’s his Parkinson’s; he avoids convo regarding his cut; Boyd laughing at Kristi’s “don’t put extra stress on yourself” proves how traumatic his into the woods experience was and how stressed he is about his role.
   
5. Bus driver lady says Elgin told her to turn around.* Jade asks when “before or after the tree?” She confirms “after” to which Jade mocks, “oh then you were already screwed.” Further implies that once you’re caught/chosen, there’s no escaping it. You’ll be pulled in regardless. Bus Driver lady and Jade share their major life changes: she was going to switch careers after getting her degree and Jade sold his software company.
   
6. Tabitha meets Marielle, catching her in the drug cabinet.
   
7. Jim and Tabitha talk; Jim asks the right questions: “Why did that road lead us here? What the fuck is the point of all of this?” Mentions Kristi’s fiancé was on the bus, acknowledges wires not being connected; Jim, as a mechanical engineer who designs rollercoasters, explains how its infrastructure is built to do the impossible– to get a stronger reaction from the people riding it; highly referencing the design of the town trap.
   

Jim: What if this was all designed just to see how we’d react? I mean, what if this is all some kind of fucked up experiment? The radio worked. We made contact with someone.” This whole exchange confirms their behavior is being manipulated, they’re being watched and there’s forms of control in order to produce more fear and trauma.

1. Boyd talks to a dead Father Kahtri, confirming he no longer gets tremors; could imply “They” healed him.

Perhaps his exchange with the “spirit of Kahtri” is actually “Them” dictating his behavior, especially how Boyd hears and sees the music box soon after.

1. Kahtri sits at a desk with the CHESS BOARD in frame (Easter egg).

More proof the people are the pawns with two opposing forces controlling the board AKA the town trap!! It just gets fuzzy who’s influencing who.

1. Kahtri never cursed, whichp even threw off Boyd—this also suggests it’s “Them.” Especially when Kahtri pushes the leader role once again, pressing he must make the hard decisions. He also encouraged Boyd NOT to tell Kenny the truth because what good can come of it. Very manipulative! As if “They” wanted Boyd and Kenny to fight!
   
2. Father Kahtri: “Broken people don’t survive out here, Boyd.” (Easter egg)
   
3. Jim wants to work with Donna, confronts her about the voice they heard. Donna argues, “How fuckin stupid are you?” —simply enforcing it’s not a good idea to seek the truth right now considering how defeated people already are. She knows “They” are watching, and NOT helping and “who knows if it was a human on the other line.” Donna: “To keep our fuckin mouths shut! Until we know more.” This also justifies Boyd’s behavior as their leader.
   
4. Tensions are high in Colony, especially with hot head rebellious Randall; he refuses to share his stuff
   
5. Kenny and Sara talk; he confronts her wanting to make things clear her arrival will greatly affect Boyd’s reputation. Sara knows she deserves punishment and confessed to Kenny about the murder of his dad
   
6. Donna kicks out Randall out of Colony to live on the bus
   
7. Boyd officially meets Tillie, the strange old lady; she brings up Boyd’s journey into the woods
   
8. Showdown between Boyd and Kenny; Kenny confronts his substitute dad in Boyd about his betrayal. “You fuckin knew!” Showcasing Kenny’s trauma; irony tied to beginning of episode
   

I'm from south-east europe.. . I've been looking for chats/friends. All the good stuff. I'm into music, anime/manga/youtube, ,video games, history and animals. I'm mostly into old music and into ton of sports as well like tennis/basketball/football/swimming... Also like to hike and do kayaking as well.
Send me a chat and tell me about your day/life/things you like/what brings you here, or whatever you want to talk about :)) Got 1 exams left and stuck at home nowadays srudying for exams,so got ton of time to text. Just looking for friends from diffeent places and idc about time zone cuz I generally sleep late. Also would be cool to have workoout/progresa buddy too

If you’re leaving intending on going NC, consider taking this checklist and updating your account so no mail, calls, or email is going to the narc, make sure to update any and all things you subscribe to. Just gives them a plausible reason to contact you or get in the middle of your life if something is sent to them.
Government Offices and Documents: Post Office Drivers License Vehicles Registration Voter Registration Social Security Administration Passports Department of Revenue
Utility and Service Providers: Electricity Provider Gas Suppliers Cabel/Satellite Provider Water Company Trash Removal Service Internet Provider Cell Phone Provider
Financial Services and Documents: Bank/Credit Card Companies Loan Agreements (mortgage, auto, federal) Insurance Company (homeowners, auto, etc.) Financial Advisor Accountant Lawyer Mortgage Broke Real Estate Agent
Employment and Education: Employer(s), Employee(s) Clients/Business Relationships Insurance (health, life, dental) Pension and Other Retirement Accountants Current Colleges or Educational Providers Alma Maters (and associated organizations) Child Care Provider Child’s School and After-School Activities
Family, Pets, Groups, and OTHER: Health Care Providers Pharmacies Veterinarians Pet Insurance Company Pet Tags Churches Community Groups Memberships (gym, wholesalers, library) Reward Programs Subscriptions (online, direct mail) Return Addresses Labels/ Business Cards Friends and Family

First- Previous
The planetary alarms sounded again, waking me up from a deep sleep as dawn approached. It was likely warning of another solar assault on our planet. I thought myself lucky that Op'olat and his brothers had rescued us from the cave system before it flooded.
But now I wondered if that was really such a good thing. The mountain would have easily protected us from the massive radiation storm heading towards us now. The solid stone construction of the ancient town hall would provide some protection, but will it be enough?
“Reilla!” I could hear the fear in Ael’la’s voice. The woman had been helpful since we were rescued. Even with her infant, she had taken on the care of all the orphaned children, giving them hope and comfort. But she was full of fear, even if the little ones never noticed.
“Reilla? What is happening now? Why are the sirens going off again?”
“I know as much you, but it must be another radiation storm. Get the children into the basement. Get them settled in. Sing them songs. Keep them calm and quiet.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.”
While she got the little ones into the shelter, I went searching for D’rylla. If anyone would know what is happening, it would be our grumpy little radio operator. She knew more than anyone about everything.
The alarms cut off abruptly before I found her.
“D’rylla? What is happening?”
“Oh, there’s just too much. There is a huge solar storm heading towards us with a radiation count high enough to kill anything caught on the surface. But the humans placed their fleet between the us and the sun. Their shields took the brunt of it.”
The tiny woman ran outside, surely an insane thing to do with a radiation storm hitting the planet.
“What are you doing? Get back in here!” I raced after her to stop her from committing suicide.
“No, you don’t understand. The humans stopped it. They said the energized particles are causing rivers of light in the sky and the humans say it is safe to go watch.”
The humans have proven themselves to be competent. If they say it is safe, then I believe them. So it was with only a little trepidation that I stepped outside.
The predawn sky was filled with magic. I had heard of auroras at the poles, but never this far south. It was glorious to behold. In the sky, I could see the rivers of red, purple, green, and gold light running from the far north to the equator and further out, and in space I could see bubbles of light with colors dancing wildly across the spectrum.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered in awe.
“That must be the human’s ships,” D’rylla whispered back. “There’s at least three hundred or more.”
“If they can protect the planet from the radiation storms, then maybe our planet will survive.”
I found myself believing in the possibility. I am bitterly aware of how little the Confederation had done to help juxtaposed with what the humans had done out of their innate kindness. There is no way we can ever repay them for the gift of life, the survival of our people. And to simply say thanks seemed inadequate.
I’d spoken to one of the human search and rescue teams during a meal. Yrsa Hellström told me that just our simple survival was not good enough. She wanted our people to thrive and if we did so, then that was thanks enough for her. The concept was alien to me. In Confederation society, such acts incur debts that last generations.
“Oh! I forgot about Ael’la and the children. I left them in the basement.”
“I need to get back inside to the radios. I will tell her it is safe to come out. You stay here and enjoy the show.”
I don’t know how long I stood there, gazing at the brightening skies. Even as the sun peaked over the horizon, I could still see the rivers of light. I was so engrossed with the spectacle I did not realize I was no longer alone until I heard someone speak my name.
“Good morning, Reilla.” I recognized Op'olat’s voice right away. He’d spent quite a bit of his free time with me. I did not know if he was wanting friendship or something more. And if he wanted something more, I did not know how I felt about that just yet. So many people had lost their mates in the past weeks. I was not one of them, but I had lost the one I’d planned on marrying in the first few days. I’d not had much time to think of Hav’ed lately. I’d only had time to survive until our rescue. And after that, I’d been busy here, helping those less fortunate.
“Good morning, Op'olat.” His name meant ‘generous laughter’ in the old tongue. He lived up to the name. He was both generous and funny, even amongst all of this. He never missed the opportunity to make others laugh and was an endless source of humorous stories. The children adored him. Even the most withdrawn came out of their shells around him.
“The human Ejvar Sivarsson informed me that a Confederation naval force dropped out of hyperspace and threatened their cargo fleet, thinking to force them to leave.”
I shook my head in disgust. “The Confederation could not be bothered to send help, but they could send ships to chase off those that did come to help. Typical Confederation shit. When are the humans leaving?”
“They are not leaving. Apparently, an even larger human naval force had been waiting in hyperspace. Ejvar called them wolfhounds guarding the flock. Whatever that means.”
“Probably something like huuda guarding the atu.” I’d not seen any huuda since the storms hit. The domesticated guard beasts protect the atu flocks from predators. With atu wool being the main source of soft um’idar cloth and our main textile trade product, protecting them was important.
“Hmm. Makes sense,” he replied absently. “But the Confederation fleet thought better of it and left. When the humans detected the radiation storm, they moved all their ships to block it. They had no idea if it would work, but they put themselves in harm's way for us. It was fun to watch, though.”
“It would not have been so if it didn’t work.”
“Lek told me they were ‘in for a penny, in for a pound.’ Humans have a lot of sayings that I do not quite understand. But I looked that one up on their datanet. It means that humans should finish what they started, even though it may be difficult or expensive.”
“Their help has been truly both.”
“I wanted to tell you that the last time I went out foraging, I found some canned ippa fruit and ground multda. I saved a bit for you,” he told me.
Ippa fruit is an expensive delicacy. One that I rarely could afford when fresh. Canned was not as good, but still a rare and delicious treat. Ground multda when steeped in hot water made a wonderful savory drink that is mildly addictive. I’d not had any in weeks. It was just another in a long line of small things he’d done for me. But he did not pry, did not press me.
“Here.” He handed me a pack loaded with the foods. “There’s also some f’lad bread and rivi sweet beans you can share with the children. The should make them happy. I’d give it to them myself, but I’m going out on another mission soon. We got word of some survivors holed up in an abandoned copper mine in the Wyst’adt mountains. They have been drinking contaminated water and have some really sick kids. I should be back by dinner. I’ll see you then.”
“Thank you. I will see you when you get back, I guess.” I did not know what else to say as I watched him head to the human rescue ship.
Less than a minute later, the ship lifted off, heading south. Watching him leave left me with a hollow feeling. I knew enough about trauma to know that it caused people to feel vulnerable and confused. I knew I would eventually have to figure out how I feel about him.

Well I like to state I self prescribe myself as a Mexican-American and I apologize I don't write this in Spanish I thought I'll get my point across better as of rn I'm more used to writing stuff in English. So to start with has been a old issue being brought up. I will state first of all I date multiple people yes they know of each other and ok with the arrangement.
Two of my partners live with me one southern us american and one midwest white american with Mexican descent. I love to consider myself as proud to be a Mexican for the most part. I was raised as many people of the Mexican diaspora to the US would stereotypically associate. My parents came here not so well as legal as one might want to. Most of my life I experience through that lense I grew up with Mexican/Hispanic food. My parents exclusively prefer to always speak in Spanish and hang among other Latinos. I was disciplined harshly but with care of course. I've been into Esol courses to "better" my English comprehension. Ate at Mexican own establishments, shopped at Latino own establishments. For the majority of my life up until late high school exclusively hanged around other Latinos. My partners not so much I would say before I met them they had on many cases an outsiders view of what it means to be a Latino in US especially one of Mexican heritage. Now that's to be expected to the southern white american and unfortunately my other partners father was deported before knowing his heritage.
He loves to claim it as his but I'm not sure he has a right to it rn. Let me explain, He's as white american has he can be. Doesn't speak Spanish has what appears to be no interest to learn. He continues with no substantial effort to want to learn Mexican or Hispanic culture despite the resources to learn. His closest connection being his father that to be fair is the worst you could possibly ask for one in this situation. They're cut off due to his own wishes to not interact with their father. Up until for years he would refer to Hispanics and Latinos in general as beaners and would say very blatant hatred for the culture. He has become better through the years. But I would still have to occasionally be like dude wtf. I believe my discomfort is due to his lack of connection to the culture. Especially as a whixican. I don't even believe he should care to talk as if he is Mexican.
The reason I'm saying this is mostly recently he's been angry with my other partner from the south. For multiple accusations of racism to Mexicans. I remember that at one time they joked about wetbacks due to a joke about my experience of being called that. He took offense to that and I as well and asked him to chill. And for the most part I feel that's been the only true transgression. From here I believe my Midwestern partner has been over reacting and reaching for shit.
A few weeks down the line he ask what a wet back was expected me to answer but my southern boyfriend chimed in and gave a proper answer to what it meant. And my Midwestern partner took offense for him explaining it but in all cases I didn't an issue since genuinely he just wanted to explain.
I believed that was it of the issue until my southern partner was complaining about another Mexican on Reddit for saying some fucked shit. And they refer to the poster as this Mexican due to his bio stating his origin. Explain how the person was causing harm to his fellow Hispanics by shutting them down and their concerns.
My Midwestern took offense to the Mexican comment and wants me to be outrage at my southern partner for him stating that. And I for one didn't see the problem as I believe anyone would say the Italian or French individual if referring in that specific context. But my major issue is him demanding me to be angrier. That he finds my reaction complacency to my other partners actions even when I stated my objections to many statements. He apologized before and promised improvement. I believe for one he has. But my major gripe is that he has a right to be outrage like he's the wounded party. That his culture was insulted. Like he fucking knows anything.
Idk man I just find this bs
But I want an outside opinion
Tldr: Conflict between partners. They (singular) don't have a right to be outrage about Mexican culture they know nothing about and should get over it

WILD MAN: Saint or Sinner Posted on May 2, 2021by Dana Rehn The Representation of Wild Folk During the German Renaissance The wild man was inspired in part by pagan hybrid woodland creatures like the satyr, however, much of the mythology of the wild man stems from barbarians of Europe.[i] For much of the Middle Ages, they were considered the antithesis of the civilised Christian society. They were cannibalistic, sexually deviant predators whose many characteristics were related to monstrous races as well as the insane. Despite the wild folk’s outsider status and the antithesis of Christian morality, the wild man and woman nevertheless became an icon of German nationalism. The image of the wild man and woman became a pervasive figure throughout the German Renaissance, depicted on a vast range of media from stained glass, woolen tapestry, playing cards (fig. 3), and ordinary household objects. The wild man and woman transitioned from a demonic brute beast to a romanticised image of the noble savage. They recall a simpler time in German history and became a part of the image of a united and strong German people. They also posed as an affront to the court culture of Rome and became associated with the virtues of the natural wilderness. Cleric, Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg, associated them with the image of the hairy saints who found redemption in the wilderness by categorising them as a type of wild man in Die Emeis.[ii] The German forests that the Wild Man was thought to reside were starting to be romanticised. Geographer, Johannes Rauw, praised the ancient forests that had long been demonised by Italians as a place of barbarians.[iii] From rapists of damsels, wild men were depicted with the virtues of the nuclear family in the Garden of Eden before ‘The Fall’ (Genesis 3). In this way, the wild man and woman became increasingly mythologised, merged with ancient Germans, ascetic saints as well as Adam and Eve. Although there were a growing number of romanticised images of the wild man and woman during the sixteenth century, negative representations persisted. Their depiction was not a simple shift from demonic woodland creature to the image of holy saints; many possessed both contradictory notions of sinner and sainthood. The multifaceted representation of wild folk reflected many of the contradictions of German Renaissance society. Man or Animal The reputation of the wild man stems from antiquity. Aristotle believed that people who lived outside the civilising influence of the urban city lacked the ability to reason.[iv] In this way, they were considered closer to animal than man, subjected to their impulses.[v] The wild man and woman were also believed to lack speech, used primitive tools such as the club, and lived away from civilisation.[vi] Even the food that the wild folk would eat – berries and uncooked food – was a mark of uncivilisation and thus associated them more with animals than man.[vii] Many were also thought to crawl on all fours, which is illustrated by the often bare knees of wild men and women.[viii] The wild man as well as the woman were characterised for their violence and unhinged rage. They both shared a love of combat and have even been depicted jousting against one another.[ix] It is not just appearance, but also behaviour that made someone bestial like peasants who were described with animal qualities. The wild man has also been associated with bears and mythology exists with bears who were able to transform into wild men.[x] Their unbridled sexuality was also more associated with animals. Wild men were thought to abduct pretty maidens, while the wild woman would transform herself into a beautiful woman and attempt to seduce men with her true ugliness only to be revealed during intercourse.[xi] In this way, they were also associated with other pagan and hairy woodland hybrid creatures from antiquity including satyrs and centaurs, who were also known for their immoral behaviour and insatiable sexual appetite.[xii] Albrecht Dürer combined classical mythology with German folklore in the engraving of the Abduction of Proserpine on a Unicorn (1516) (Fig. 1). The print recounts the mythology of the abduction of the goddess of fertility by Pluto (Hades), God of the underworld – the pagan equivalent to the Devil.[xiii] In place of the classical god is a wild man on the back of a unicorn. Although this wild man is not covered in think body hair, he has wild hair on top of his head and a large bushy beard. He is identified as a wild man by his riding of a unicorn where the wild man was believed to be the only creature strong enough to overpower it by force.[xiv] Unicorns were originally regarded as ferocious beasts who used their horn as a weapon.[xv] Tales and visual art from the fourteenth century tell of wild men who become tamed by love after abducting a woman.[xvi] Yet this print illustrates man’s sexuality was thought to reduce them to a brute beast. Fig 1. Albrecht Dürer, Abduction of Proserpine on a Unicorn, 1516, Etching, 30.8 x 21.3cm, The Institute, Chicago. During the Middle Ages, many people concluded that wild man and woman were degenerative humans. They became an irrational beast in the same way that the insane were believed to be a form of wild people. Medieval romances frequently described people who suffered a crisis and lost their mind and ran into the forest living as semi-human wild people.[xvii] In Hartmann von Aue’s (c. 1160/70- c. 1210/20) Iwein, the protagonist who has broken a promise to his wife and is rejected, roams around in the forest until he is discovered by a lady who saves him from his insanity.[xviii] The wilderness in part created the state for wildness as it was away from civilisation and rationality.[xix] Like many monsters during the period, the wild man and woman were defined by their nudity. In this way, they were symbolically outside civilisation – both physically and behaviourally.[xx] Even those who have become temporary wild men through madness and fled into the forest shed their clothes and only returned to civilisation by again putting their garments back on. While in the forest they begin to grow hair all over their body to signify their move away from the human realm and into the animal one.[xxi] The wild man and woman encapsulated the fears of Europeans and what happens to one if they abandon civilisation.[xxii] The theme of civilising the wild man was popular during the Middle Ages. It was knowledge and acceptance of the one true faith that inevitably brought the wild man back to civilisation.[xxiii] In a thirteenth-century Bavarian epic poem, republished in the sixteenth-century German collection of stories, Das Heldenbuch mit synen figuren (‘The Book of Heroes’), recounts a wild woman called Raue Else (‘Rough Else’). The woman who was hairy all over and walked on all fours approached the knight, Wolfdietrich, who questioned if she was an animal. [xxiv] The wild woman demanded the love of the knight and upon his refusal turned him into a crazed wild man who crawled on all fours for half a year until God commanded her to disenchant him. In return, Wolfdietrich offered to marry the wild woman so long as she was baptised. She took him back to her kingdom at Troy and after bathing in the fountain of youth she was transformed into her former self, the beautiful princess, Sigeminne (‘Love’s victory’).[xxv] Wild Man as Noble Savage Although the wild man and woman were frequently represented in literature during the Middle Ages, they were rarely depicted in visual art until the fifteenth century.[xxvi] Therefore, their most ferocious reputation left little mark in visual culture. Instead, the wild man and woman were frequently represented in Renaissance art as the image of purity, with their family representing the virtues of parenthood and a companion or as a saint. Lynn Frier Kaufmann argues that the idea of chivalry and courtly love during the Middle Ages influenced the way wild men and women were depicted during the Renaissance.[xxvii] Larry Silver on the other hand interpreted their new role as cultural emblems brought by the rise in Germanic nationalism, which inspired the new translation of Tacitus’s Germania, describing wild people who only wore a cape of animal’s hide, as the first proud inhabitants of the Germanic lands (for example, fig. 2) .[xxviii] In this way, Tacitus’s Germania transformed the wild man into the romanticised version of the noble savage during the German Renaissance.[xxix] They lived a simple and virtuous life. They needed no written laws because they had good morals and rejected the habits of outsiders.[xxx] The nobility and urban elite began to romanticise the wild man for their strength and freedom from the rules of society.[xxxi] Conrad Celtis described a counterpart to early Germans in the Lapps. He described them as speechless but also that they had not been corrupted with luxury, fame, or wine. ‘Here no jurist twists the law, no doctor accumulates his blood money, and no tonsured man plagues the people’.[xxxii] Fig. 2. Nicolaes van Geelkerken after Clüver in Philipp Clüver, Germaniae antiquae libri tres, Leiden: Louis Elzevir, 1616, Engraving, London, The Wellcome Library. Source: archive.org On a playing card by Master ES printed in c. 1461, a wild woman is depicted with a unicorn (fig. 3). While wild men overpower the unicorn with their bold ferocity, it was the wild woman’s sexual purity that allowed her to get close to the unicorn. A tale of the unicorn captured only by pure virgin maidens arose during the Middle Ages. This led to the unicorn being represented as a sign of purity and thus underscores the image of the wild woman as epitome of the noble savage.[xxxiii] A sense of innocence accompanies their ignorance of the civilized world. Playing cards usually consisted of four suits with illustrations of plants, animals, and heraldic symbols. The wild woman with the unicorn is one of four cards surviving in the animal suit by Master ES.[xxxiv] Richard Bernheimer suggests that the images on the cards represent a hierarchy.[xxxv] Therefore, it places the wild man and woman in the realm of animals.[xxxvi] This is plausible since this wild woman represents the Queen of the Animals. However, her clasping grip of the unicorn who is dwarfed by the wild woman shows her dominate position in nature. Fig. 3. Master ES, Wild Woman and Unicorn (Queen of Animals from the Small Playing) c. 1461, Engraving on Playing Card, 10.5 x 7.3cm (Sheet); 9.8 x 6.cm (Plate), New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. The wild man also featured in more than 200 coat-of-arms across Europe, most of which were in German lands.[xxxvii] They were particularly popular during the second-half of the fifteenth century.[xxxviii] Interestingly, the wild man was illustrated beside coats-of-arms of popes and kings as their protector or guardian of the coat-of-arms despite the wild man’s history as a heretical being.[xxxix] Roundel prints of coat-of-arms were likely used as templates for goldsmiths or glassmakers who would fill in the family crest.[xl] It has also been suggested that these roundels were used by the middle class to emulate the coat-of-arms of the nobility. The templates were used as a substitute for commissioned coat-of-arms.[xli] In Wild Woman and Heraldic Shield, c. 1490 (fig. 4), a wild woman suckling her baby is reminiscent of the Madonna and child. This image reveals the redemption of women through childbirth for their responsibility for Original Sin (Genesis 3.16). She also serves as an emblem for fertility for the family whose shield she holds to ensure the family line. Fig. 4. Martin Schongauer, Wild Woman and Heraldic Shield, Colmar, c. 1490, Engraving, 7.7 diam. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Return to the Garden of Eden The image of the noble savage in turn influenced the idyllic images of the wild family. Master bxg’s Wild Folk Family (c. 1475) parallel Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve who were portrayed in animal skins after ‘The Fall’ are akin to the hairiness of the wild family.[xlii] In Master bxg’s print stands the tree of knowledge, overlooked by an owl in the background, symbolising potential danger as owls served as a symbol for evil.[xliii] A rabbit bounds towards a forest in the top left. Rabbits were used as a symbol for fertility and has been depicted in images of Adam and Eve during ‘The Fall’ and thus can symbolise carnal knowledge. The wild woman’s long hair symbolises her fertility and thus her unbridled sexuality and parallels with the depiction of Eve in the Garden of Eden with long, loose flowing hair.[xliv] Although the representation of the wild family references Original Sin, they are still in a state of nature and innocence and their ignorance of God therefore cannot constitute sin.[xlv] However, it also provides a mirror of the tensions between good and evil within German Renaissance society – between temptation and godliness.[xlvi] The wild family not only recall Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but also the image of the Holy Family who were often represented against the backdrop of the wilderness.[xlvii] In a comparative print in Hans Leonhart Schäufelein’s, Wild Man and Wild Woman originally printed in c.1520 (fig.5), the wild family are still hairy and naked, although they wear fig leaves to help preserve their modesty. The fig leaves allude to after ‘The Fall’ in the Garden of Eden once they have eaten from the tree of knowledge and realise their nakedness and feel shame. In this way, the sins of the past are not completely forgotten. However, the image lies in opposite to the unbridled sexuality of the earlier idea of the wild man and woman. One son attempts to place a leash around a domesticated dog, which further symbolises a new domesticity to the wild family.[xlviii] Despite its clear reference to Original Sin, it illustrates an idyllic family scene, away from the corrupting influences of ‘civilised life’.[xlix] Fig. 5. After Hans Schäufelein, Klag der wilden Holtzleüt, uber die ugetrewen Welt, verse by Hans Sachs, printed by Hans Guldenmundt, Augsburg, 1560 Coloured woodcut, 20.2 x 24.2cm (sheet), 20.2 x 15.2 cm (borderline) The British Museum, London. This image was later copied with an addition of a poem written by Hans Sachs in 1530. In the poem the wild folk lament against the corruption and evils of society such as the lust for wealth, flesh, and violence. The wild folk in Sachs’ verse have chosen to discard worldly pleasures to live the simple and pure life in nature. The verse ends with the wild folk declaring that they will be happy to return to civilisation once the world ‘see the light’.[l] This verse parallels the wild man with ascetic monks whose wildness is a temporary state and who seek redemption away from civilisation. Wild Man as Saints The tales of saints who found redemption in the wilderness by discarding worldly pleasures, growing hair on their body and then returning to civilization and shedding their hair once more became co-opted with the image of wild men and women during the Renaissance. Many stories of anchorites parallel with others, to the point that they can become indistinguishable.[li] Onuphrius is one of the better-known ascetic saints who lived during the fourth century. Paying penance, he lived in a cave for sixty years, as wild men and women were thought to do. His clothes wore away and he grew a thick coat of hair to protect his body against the elements (fig. 6).[lii] Saint John Chrysostom similarly went into the wilderness to pay penance and vowed to crawl on all fours until he found favour with God.[liii] Ascetic saints were similarly depicted with bare knees as wild men and women were also believed to crawl on all fours like an animal, wearing away the hair. In Leben der Heiligen (1499), where Saint John Chrysostom is depicted as covered in thick hair and crawling on all fours in the forest is described as an ‘abominable animal,’ despite being depicted with a halo around his head.[liv] Ascetic saints were therefore reduced to a beast just as the wild men and women had traditionally been as they are seen as degenerating into an animal who grow hair on their body and ate raw food.[lv] In this way, the figure of the hairy monstrosity was able to find redemption, at least in part, cast as the model of repentance. Fig. 6. Anonymous, Saint Onuphrius, c. 1480-1500, woodcut, 14.6 x 11.4cm, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. During the German Renaissance, Saint Mary Magdalene, who was regarded for her beauty,[lvi] was frequently represented covered in hair like a wild woman. Her hairy image found wide devotion through the southern Germanic region.[lvii] In a tale originating in the tenth century, Mary was set adrift by non-believers and by divine guidance found her way to the south of France where she preached and converted the locals. She lived in a cave in Saint-Baume, Provence, paying penance for her former sinful life.[lviii] The name Magdalene means manens rea or ‘remaining in guilt’.[lix] She grew hair all over her body in the same way as a wild woman. In her cave she remained silent and when a hermit approached her, she had trouble speaking after being secluded for so long, not unlike the wild man and woman.[lx] Every hour, angels would ascent her to the heavens where she would gain nourishment as she was so remote that there was no food or water.[lxi] Mary’s ascension into the heavens as a hairy wild woman was a theme in German Renaissance prints and is illustrated in a print by Hans Baldung Grien (c.1484-1545) in c.1512 (fig. 7 ).[lxii] Her ascent represents her body’s transcendence from both worldly pleasures and the wilderness. Fig. 7. Hans Baldung Grien, St Mary Magdalen, c.1512, Woodcut, Sheet: 13 × 8.7 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The image and identity of Mary Magdalene during the Renaissance is believed to be conflated with the story of Saint Mary of Egypt who lived in the fifth century. Mary has long been thought to be a prostitute. She travelled to Jerusalem where she became aware of her sins when she could not enter a Church as she was held back by a spiritual ‘force’. She saw the image of the Virgin Mary staring back at her and realised why she could not enter. Mary of Egypt, the antithesis to the Virgin prayed to her for forgiveness and renounced her life of sin.[lxiii] Mary went to live alone in the desert to repent for forty-seven years.[lxiv] The desert was a place to be tested against sins, for punishment, but also for contemplation and redemption.[lxv] Both Mary of Egypt and Mary Magdalene have both similarly been depicted covered by hair that represents their place outside of civilization and discarding worldly possessions. It was also used to provide modesty to discern from their previous occupation of the flesh.[lxvi] As seen in the print by Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Ecstasy of St. Mary of Egypt (1506) (fig. 8) who was thought to levitate in prayer,[lxvii] is similar to the composition of prints of Mary Magdalene being accented by angels. The naked saints signified the return to nature before ‘The Fall’ in the Garden of Eden.[lxviii] Despite this earlier legend, Mary Magdalene was not depicted in art as covered in hair until the mid-fifteenth century but was rather naked with her long hair covering her modesty. The image of the hairy Mary Magdalene was therefore believed to originate in fifteenth-century Germany.[lxix] The detail of the hairy Mary Magdalene was also not included in the popular thirteenth century The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine (c.1230-1298) that combined the tales of Magdalene. Her nudity was implied as the hermit who visited her passed her a garment to wear.[lxx] The hair covering Mary of Egypt was also a later addition to the story and also does not appear in The Golden Legend.[lxxi] She similarly does not seem to appear in art until the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries.[lxxii] The same can be said of other saints who turn into a wild man, at least temporarily such as Saint John Chrysostom.[lxxiii] This suggests ascetic saints who grew hair over their body was a contemporary idea that arose at the same time that the wild man and woman were popular in Renaissance prints. However, as Bartra notes, the idea of the hairy ascetic saint derived from Ancient Egypt when long haired hermits sought solitude in the desert.[lxxiv] Fig. 8. Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Ecstasy of St. Mary of Egypt, 1506 Woodcut, 24.4 × 14.2 cm, The Met, New York, Wild Man in Reformation Propaganda The image of the wild man was also co-opted into the Protestant Reformation in Germany and has been used by both Protestants and Catholics in contradictory ways. The engraving of The Pope as a Wild Man was created by Melchior Lorck (c.1526/7-1583) in 1545. This wild man with characteristic thick body hair with bare knees is a hybrid with long rat-like tail. Perched on top of his head is the three-tiered crown of the pope, but the last tier is a tower of excrement. Beneath his crown are ass ears, which represent folly and dishonesty. The ass’s ears allude to the myth of Apollo who made Midas grow the ears of a donkey to tag him for his dishonesty.[lxxv] On his back appears to be a bat with stretched out wings, which is a symbol for the Devil.[lxxvi] The wild man carries his characteristic wooden club, but this one has three cross branches at the end to represent the papal cross. He holds onto the papal key that is shattered at the end, which is a sign that the temporal powers of the papacy have been broken.[lxxvii] From his mouth pours a stream of toads and reptiles. This appears to reference the beast, the dragon, and the false prophet who release four foul spirits. A version of this image was discovered cast on a canon of Protestant troops captured during the Schmalkaldic War.[lxxviii] Melchior Lorck, The Pope as Wild Man, c. 1545, Etching, 22.9 × 19.4 cm, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett Conclusion In Renaissance Germany, complexity existed in people’s relationship with the wilderness. It both conjured up images of the Garden of Eden before ‘The Fall’ as well as the dangers that may lurk beyond. The wild man and woman were just as complex and represented sinfulness, but also redemption and innocence. As Merry Wiesner-Hanks concludes ‘beast, saint, or hero? the wild man was all three’.[lxxix] A closer look at images of the wild man reveals their complexity. There was not a simple evolution between a demonised creature associated with cannibalism and rape to the holy saint. In the age of the apocalypse, the wild man and woman provide a reminder of Original Sin and the need for repentance at a time of social reform. In this way, the hairy woodland creature is not entirely absolved. Further Reading: Abulafia, David, The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic Encounters in the Age of Columbus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008 Bartra, Roger, Wild Men in the Looking Glass: The Mythic Origins of European Otherness, trans. Carl T. Berrisford, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1994. Bernheimer, Richard, Wild Men in the Middle Ages: A Study in Art, Sentiment, and Demonology, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952. Colin, Susi, ‘The Wild Man and the Indian in Early 16th Century Book Illustration,’ in Christian F. Feest (eds.), Indians and Europe: An Interdisciplinary Collection, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999, pp. 5-37. Husband, Timothy, The Wild Man: Medieval Myth and Symbolism, exh. cat., New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980. Kaufmann, Lynn Frier, The Nobel Savage: Satyrs and Satyr Families in Renaissance Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1984. Moseley-Christian, Michelle, ‘From Page to Print: The Transformation of the “Wild Woman” in Early Modern Northern Engravings’, Word & Image: A Journal of Verbal/Visual Enquiry, vol. 27, no. 4, 2012, pp.429-442. Schama, Simon, Landscape and Memory, London: HarperCollins, 1995. Wiesner-Hanks, Merry, The Marvelous Hairy Girls: The Gonzales Sisters and their Worlds, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009. [ii] Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory, London: HarperCollins, 1995, p. 97; Timothy Husband, The Wild Man: Medieval Myth and Symbolism, exh. cat., New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980, p. 12. [i] Bartra, Roger, Wild Men in the Looking Glass: The Mythic Origins of European Otherness, trans. Carl T. Berrisford, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1994, p. 79. [iii] Schama, 1995, pp. 95-6. [iv] Bartra, 1994, p. 9. [v] Richard Bernheimer, Wild Men in the Middle Ages: A Study in Art, Sentiment, and Demonology, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952, p. 11. [vi] Joyce E. Salisbury, The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages, New York: Routledge, 1994, p. 151; David Abulafia, The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic Encounters in the Age of Columbus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008, pp.16-7. [vii] Susi Colin, ‘The Wild Man and the Indian in Early 16th Century Book Illustration,’ in Christian F. Feest (eds.), Indians and Europe: An Interdisciplinary Collection, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999, p.8. [viii] Abulafia, 2008, pp.16-7. [ix] Colin, 1999, p.6 [x] Bernheimer, 1952, pp.165, 59. [xi] Colin, 1999, p.8. [xii] Husband, 1980, p. 11. [xiii] Walter L. Strauss (ed.), The Complete Engravings, Etchings and Drypoints of Albrecht Dürer, Courier Dover, 2013, p. 178. [xiv] Bernheimer, 1952, p. 135. [xv] Anne Clark, Beasts and Bawdy, London: Dent, 1975, p. 46 [xvi] Lynn Frier Kaufmann, The Nobel Savage: Satyrs and Satyr Families in Renaissance Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1984, p. 34. [xvii] Salisbury, 1994, p. 152. [xviii] Classen, Albrecht (ed.), Meeting the Foreign in the Middle Ages, New York: Routledge, 2002, p. xx. [xix] Colin, 1999, p. 9. [xx] Danielle Régnier-Bohler, ‘Imagining the Self’, in Georges Duby (ed.), A History of Private Life: vol. II Revelations of the Medieval World, trans. Arthur Goldhammer, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988, p. 368. [xxi] Régnier-Bohler, 1988, p. 369. [xxii] Colin, 1999, p. 9. [xxiii] Colin, 1999, p.6. [xxiv] Husband, 1980, p. 62; Merry Wiesner-Hanks, The Marvelous Hairy Girls: The Gonzales Sisters and their Worlds, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009, p. 42. [xxv] Husband, 1980, p. 64; Bartra, 1994, p. 101; Bernheimer, 1970, p. 37. [xxvi] Gilmore-House in Husband, 1980, p. 139. [xxvii] Kaufmann, 1984, pp.32-4. [xxviii] Michelle Moseley-Christian, ‘From Page to Print: The Transformation of the “Wild Woman” in Early Modern Northern Engravings’, Word & Image: A Journal of Verbal/Visual Enquiry, vol. 27, no. 4, 2012, p. 431; Tacitus, Cornelius, Agricola and Germany, trans. Anthony Birley, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 46. [xxix] Schama, 1995, p. 96. [xxx] Caspar Hirschi, The Origins of Nationalism: An Alternative History from Ancient Rome to Early Modern Germany, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 169. [xxxi] Colin, 1999, p. 23-4. [xxxii] Lewis W. Spitz, Conrad Celtis: The German Arch-Humanist, Cambridge: Harvard Universtiy Press, 1957, p. 100-101. [xxxiii] Anne Clark, 1975, p. 46. [xxxiv] Gilmore-House in Husband, 1980, p. 168. [xxxv] Gilmore-House in Husband, 1980, p. 167. [xxxvi] Gilmore-House in Husband, 1980, p. 168. [xxxvii] Wiesner-Hanks, 2009, p. 35. [xxxviii] Bernheimer, 1952, p. 180. [xxxix] Husband, 1980, p. 4. [xl] Wiesner-Hanks, 2009, p. 44. [xli] Husband, 1980, p. 187. [xlii] Moseley-Christian, 2012, p. 438. [xliii] George Ferguson, Signs & Symbols in Christian Art, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959, p. 22. [xliv] Christa Grössinger, Picturing Women in Late Medieval and Renaissance Art, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997, p. 82. [xlv] Husband, 1980, p. 15. [xlvi] Husband, 1980, p. 17. [xlvii] Kaufmann, 1984, pp. 36-7. [xlviii] Schama, 1995, pp. 97-8. [xlix] Colin, 1999, pp. 23-4. [l] Husband, 1980, p. 133. The full translation is found in Appendix B of Husband, 1980, pp. 202-4. [li] Husband, 1980, p. 97. [lii] Husband, 1980, p. 95. [liii] Husband, 1980, p. 102. [liv] Husband, 1980, p. 105. [lv] Bartra, 1994, pp. 83-4. [lvi] Roberta Milliken, Ambiguous Locks: An Iconology of Hair in Medieval Art and Literature, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2012, p. 189. [lvii] Wiesner-Hanks, 2009, p. 41. [lviii] Joana Antunes, ‘The Late-Medieval Mary Magdalene: Sacredness, Otherness, and Wildness’, in Peter Loewen and Robin Waugh (eds.), Mary Magdalene in Medieval Culture: Conflicted Roles, New York: Routledge, 2014, p. 117; Wiesner-Hanks, 2009, p. 38; Husband, 1980, p. 100. [lix] Husband, 1980, p. 100. [lx] Antunes, 2014, p. 118. [lxi] Milliken, 2012, p. 189. [lxii] Wiesner-Hanks, 2009, p. 38; Husband, 1980, p. 100; Milliken, 2012, p. 189. [lxiii] Michelle Erhardt and Amy Morris, ‘Introduction’ in Michelle Erhardt and Amy Morris (eds.), Mary Magdalene: Iconographic Studies from the Middle Ages to the Baroque, Leiden: Brill, 2012, p. 9; Else E. Friesen, ‘Saints as Helpers in Dying: The Hairy Holy Women Mary Magdalene, Mary of Egypt, and Wilgefortist in the Iconography of the Late Middle Ages,’ in E.E. DuBruck and B.I. Gusick, Death and Dying in the Middle Ages, New York: Peter Lang, 1999, pp. 240, 242; Milliken, 2012, p. 204. [lxiv] Erhardt and Morris, 2012, p. 9; Friesen, 1999, pp. 240, 242. [lxv] Bartra, 1994, pp.47-8. [lxvi] Erhardt and Morris, 2012, p. 9; Friesen, 1999, pp. 240, 242. [lxvii] Milliken, 2012, p. 206. [lxviii] Friesen, 1999, p. 242 [lxix] Husband, 1980, p. 100. [lxx] Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (c.1260), ed. Eamon Duffy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012, p. 381. [lxxi] Virginia Burrus, The Sex Lives of Saints: An Erotics of Ancient Hagiography, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, p. 149. [lxxii] Voragine, 2012, p. 228; Milliken, 2012, p. 205. [lxxiii] Husband, 1980, p. 102. [lxxiv] Bartra, 1994, pp. 74-5. [lxxv] Hélène A. Guerber, The Myths of Greece and Rome, New York: Cosimo, Inc., 2007, p. 57. [lxxvi] Russell, 1986, p. 232. [lxxvii] Robert W. Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk: Popular Propaganda for the German Reformation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981, pp. 135, 80 [lxxviii] Scribner, 1981, pp. 163, 164. [lxxix] Wiesner-Hanks, 2009, p. 35. Share this: Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Related Wild Men and Heraldry February 20, 2022 In "wild folk" Representations of Monsters in German Renaissance Prints September 5, 2021 In "cynocephali" Monstrous Women: Hair, Gender, and Sexuality in Early Modern German Prints June 6, 2021 In "Human-Animal Relations"

"It may not pertain to your question but I am the answer to all your prayers." The song this is from isn't about god but it still fits god so well. At least the god the church leadership sells. He is always there and always listening but He doesn't bless you in the ways you expect but in the ways He knows you need. Tithing and trials and callings are all just blessings He is bestowing on you. Every good and bad thing in your life is god looking out for you, whether you want the help or not. All with the promise that after a couple decades of "help" you'll be blessed with all you ever wanted.

EDIT: Okay, "take my life in my hands" was meant to be funny, and a little dramatic--forgive me. More correctly, I'm asking if I did a "stupid tourist thing", and walk where I "shouldn't go", or did I just encounter a regular day in that area?
I visited the fair city last May (BTW, immediately I know (a) I love your city already, and (b) I'd love to visit again soon). I took a walk down La Rambla, and decided to do some off-the-street looking around. Late May around 1700-1800 in the evening. Sun still up, but definitely evening.
I walked down Carrer de Sant Pau, up Carrer del l'Arc de Sant Agusti (by Sant Agusti church, where they were having some kind of cool Rose Festival), then back onto La Rambla via Carrer dell'Hospital.
Kind of got the whole Ralph from the Simpsons "I'm in danger" vibe about half way through my walk. Lots of eyes on me from "street" looking 20-35 year old males (for reference, I am a kinda bigger but short black dude, middle-aged, obviously American, but dressed and chilling out, trying not to look or act it). I kept alert, looking at surroundings (and the interesting buildings), while keeping an eye out and minding my own business.
Aside from some indicators of "female companionship" for sale, and dudes that may have wanted to talk to me, nothing "bad" happened to me. But was this a dumb idea to do--taking a walk at that time of day, where I walked, and being who I was? Or am I just being paranoid?

It has been almost ten years since I have served a mission for the Mormon church. Many years now after an incredible experience on mushrooms and a healthy recent life with weed. The walls have crashed down. I have overcome my fears that I have left off of doubt and that I’m lost. I know that is my cult upbringing manipulating my own thoughts. I have left a cult. I have finally done it.
I’m proud that I finally did it. I managed to beat this unhealthy life depriving entity. This cult.
Recently a couple missionaries somehow found my home address. My fiancé invited them in. She’s never been affiliated with the church. After a brief visit by them. We treated them respectfully. And they were very kind to our boy. I told my fiancé I know it’s a cult. Because during their visit for a split second I was doubting my own assertion that they belong to a cult. All the dogma and indoctrination came flooding back. And I reasserted in my mind that I was right. This church destroys individuals and families.
Mormonism is a church of man. Another cult. For any Mormon reader reading this. If you are reading my post as if I’m blaspheming the church, or that I am in the devils grasp, and feel attacked by me. These are all clear signals in a sane world that you are immersed in a cult. They will make you doubt your doubts. They will tell you not to search the truth. To trust the leaders. They will tell you anyone who strays is unhappy and living lives in sin.
I’m the happiest I have ever been. My world full of love. This testimony stands as a direct contradiction to everything they say about leaving. Leave and live your life. If you must believe in a God. Then trust God alone. And love your neighbor.

DOMINIC. I REQUIRE YOUR SERVICES.
I thought I told you not to contact me again.
IT IS NECESSARY.
I watched the small campfire dance, a ballerina to it's own crackling symphony.
What do you need, Azgarath?
A FAVOR.
You'll need to specify.
FOOL. I GAVE YOU YOUR POSITION. I GAVE YOU A LIFE. I LIFTED YOU OFF THE STREETS.
He paused, seemingly hesitating for just a second.
I CAN PUT YOU BACK ON THEM.
I stood up, and walked a bit towards the woods.
"Dominic," the bard, Mikael called out. "What's going on?"
"Church business," I responded, and continued on my path.
Mikael seemingly gave up and started to fiddle with the strings on his lute, before a tune started to pierce the air through the forest.
Why did you come to me, Azgarath? You have many followers besides me that you could call upon, and-
THE OTHER FOLLOWERS ARE THE PROBLEM.
His voice rang out in my head, rattling my skull. For a split second I clapped my hands to my ears, but quickly regained my composure.
What do you mean?
THEY BELIEVE THAT, TOGETHER, THEY CAN OPEN A PLANE TO THE HELLS AND DEFEAT ME.
And?
I BELIEVE THEY ARE CORRECT.
Silence filled the forest, save for the sounds of bugs and other creatures of the night.
So you need me to take them out before they can open the portal?
EXACTLY. YOU WERE ALWAYS A CUNNING FELLOW.
I don't want or need your compliments. Understand this, Azgarath: after I pull this off, you will no longer contact me.
THEN WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT.
• • •
"Welcome back," Mikael said while absent-mindedly fiddling with his loot. "What's going on? Did you talk with your God?"
"Something like that," I replied.
Grunts from somewhere to my right alerted me to Tasha's presence. "That means we have a job?" she inquired.
"Yeah, there's a bunch of cultists out near the Spinetail Mountains. They're planning on opening a portal to the hells."
Prince Arith, our resident magician, pushed back his glasses. "The Kingdom would pay great money to prevent that, I do suppose."
The rouge, Lily, looked up. "Well that's gonna be one hell of a payday, huh?"
I faked a chuckle as I raised an armored fist. "Then the Arendale Five ride at dawn."

New Music Friday is the weekly thread dedicated to cataloging all the Album/EP releases that came out this week, including non-subreddit relevant releases. This is also a great place to discuss these albums, or bring to attention other albums released this week.

❓ "this seems intriguing after a cursory look"
⭐ "im interested in this for one reason or another"
❤️ "ive been waiting for weeks, months/i'm absolutely in love with this"

June 2nd

⭐ Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert
Label: Domino
Genre: Post-Punk, Art Punk, Gothic Rock
Beach Fossils - Bunny
Label: Bayonet
Genre: Indie Pop, Jangle Pop, Dream Pop
❓ Bully - Lucky for You
Label: Sub Pop
Genre: Indie Rock, Noise Pop, Post-Grunge
⭐ Pupil Slicer - Blossom
Label: Prosthetic
Genre: Mathcore, Post-Hardcore, Blackgaze
Body Type - Expired Candy
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Punk
❓ KNOWER - KNOWER FOREVER
Label: n/a
Genre: Jazz-Funk, Synth Funk, Art Pop
RVG - Brain Worms
Label: Fire
Genre: Indie Rock, Jangle Pop
Baxter Dury - I Thought I Was Better Than You
Label: Heavenly
Genre: Art Pop, Indie Pop, UK Hip Hop
Ben Folds - What Matters Most
Label: New West
Genre: Piano Rock, Pop Rock, Singer-songwriter
Jake Shears (ex-Scissor Sisters) - Last Man Dancing
Label: Mute
Genre: Pop, Pop Rock
Lanterns On The Lake - Versions Of Us
Label: Bella Union
Genre: Dream Pop, Chamber Pop, Indie Pop
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Council Skies
Label: n/a
Genre: Post-Britpop, Chamber Pop, Post-Punk Revival
FRANKIIE - Between Dreams
Label: Paper Bag
Genre: Indie Pop
Generationals - Heatherhead
Label: Polyvinyl
Genre: Indie Pop, Bedroom Pop, Electropop
Anthony Naples - orbs
Label: ANS
Genre: Ambient Techno, Downtempo, Neo-Psychedelia
Purr - Who Is Afraid Of Blue?
Label: ANTI-
Genre: Psychedelic Pop, Indie Pop
❓ Half Moon Run - Salt
Label: BMG
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Folk, Folk Rock
Sam Blasucci - Off My Stars
Label: Innovative Leisure
Genre: Indie Pop, Singer-songwriter
❓ Gorgeous - Sapsucker
Label: n/a
Genre: Experimental Rock
Vulfmon - Vulfnik
Label: Vulf
Genre: Pop Soul, Jazz-Funk
Gula Blend - Allt har hänt
Label: Rama Lama
Genre: Surf Rock, Garage Punk
Gal Pal - This and Other Gestures
Label: Youth Riot
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
❓ Lost Under Heaven - Something is Announced By Your Life!
Label: n/a
Genre: Art Pop, Indietronica
De Staat - Red / Yellow / Blue
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Rock, Dance-Punk
The Aquadolls - Charmed
Label: Enci
Genre: Surf Rock, Indie Surf, Indie Rock
Rancid - Tomorrow Never Comes
Label: Epitaph
Genre: Punk Rock
**Kildas - No Harmony
Label: n/a
Genre: Progressive Rock, Jazz-Rock
WITCH - Zango
Label: Partisan
Genre: Zamrock, Acid Rock
Louise Post - Sleepwalker
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop
⭐ Tigercub - The Perfume of Decay
Label: Loosegroove
Genre: Alternative Rock, Stoner Rock, Garage Rock
Sorry Girls - Bravo!
Label: Arbutus
Genre: Pop Rock
McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
Label: City Slang
Genre: Jazz Rap, Conscious Hip Hop, Neo-Soul
❓ DZ Deathrays - R.I.F.F.
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Rock, Garage Rock Revival
Ben Harper - WIDE OPEN LIGHT
Label: Chrysalis
Genre: Singer-songwriter, Folk Rock
OLTH - every day is sOmeOne's speciaL day
Label: n/a
Genre: Screamo, Metalcore, Emoviolence
MILLY - The Freed Milly (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Shoegaze, Indie Rock, Noise Pop
❓ Public Phone School - Public Phone School
Label: n/a
Genre: Noise Rock, Powerviolence, Synth Punk
Kiltro - Underbelly
Label: n/a
Genre: Psychedelic Folk, Indie Folk, Latin Alternative
Speakers Corner Quartet - Further Out Than The Edge
Label: n/a
Genre: Jazz
Brandt Brauer Frick - Multi Faith Prayer Room
Label: Because
Genre: Minimal Techno, IDM, Electroacoustic, Nu Jazz
The Stools - R U Saved?
Label: Feel It
Genre: Punk Rock, Garage Rock
❓ Levyosn - Levyosn's Lullaby
Label: Borscht Beat
Genre: Folksong, Acoustic, Klezmer
Wire Crimes - The Impermanence of Things (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie
Jelly Kelly - Warm Water (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Punk, Indie Rock
Monika Linkyte - HEALING
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Soul, Adult Contemporary
Trixie Mattel - Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Dance-Pop, Nu-Disco
Stray Kids - 5-STAR
Label: JYP
Genre: K-Pop, Trap, Pop Rap
CIL - Tears Dry On Their Own (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop
Big Time Rush - Another Life
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop, Dance-Pop
Elettra Lamborghini - Elettraton
Label: Island
Genre: Reggaetón
Sophie Ellis-Bextor - HANA
Label: Douglas Valentine
Genre: Pop Rock, Synthpop, Alternative Rock
The Aces - I've Loved You For So Long
Label: Red Bull
Genre: Pop Rock, New Wave
Dj Smokey - Nuked Out Dance Party
Label: n/a
Genre: Instrumental Hip Hop, Trap, Experimental Hip Hop
DaBoii & The Mekanix - Soakin Game
Label: n/a
Genre: West Coast Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap, Detroit Trap
J Billz & Pi'erre Bourne - Streetz Hottest Young'n
Label: n/a
Genre: Trap
Moneybagg Yo - Hard to Love
Label: Cocaine
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Trap, Pop Rap
Metro Boomin - METRO BOOMIN PRESENTS SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (SOUNDTRACK FROM AND INSPIRED BY THE MOTION PICTURE)
Label: n/a
Genre: Film Soundtrack, Trap, Pop Rap
❓ Ghais Guevara - Goyard Comin': Exordium
Label: n/a
Genre: Hardcore Hip Hop, East Coast Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop
⭐ Avenged Sevenfold - Life is But A Dream...
Label: Warner
Genre: Avant-Garde Metal, Progressive Metal, Metal Metal Metal Metal
Bongzilla - Dab City
Label: Heavy Psych
Genre: Stoner Doom Jams
❓ Girls Under Glass - Backdraft
Label: n/a
Genre: Gothic Rock, Industrial Rock, EBM
Omnium Gatherum - Slasher (EP)
Label: Century Media
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
⭐ Rival Sons - DARKFIGHTER
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Hard Rock, Blues Rock
BURNT SKULL - Daylight Mutilation
Label: n/a
Genre: Noise Rock
❓ IUSA - ABANDON
Label: n/a
Genre: Blackened Sludge, Post-Metal
Einar Solberg - 16
Label: InsideOut
Genre: Symphonic Rock, Progressive Rock, Art Pop
Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
Label: Roswell
Genre: Alternative Rock, Power Pop, Shoegaze
❓ Messiahvore - TRANSVERSE
Label: n/a
Genre: Stoner Metal
Red Cain - Nae'Bliss
Label: n/a
Genre: Progressive Metal, Alternative Metal
Risin Sabotage - MACABRE
Label: Interstellar Space
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Saint Karloff - Paleolithic War Crimes
Label: n/a
Genre: Stoner Metal
To Descend - Mindless Birth (EP)
Label: HPGD
Genre: Horror Pain Gore Death Metal
⭐ Unfurl - Ascension
Label: n/a
Genre: Sludge Metal, Mathcore, Dissonant Hell
Wytch Hazel - IV: Sacrament
Label: n/a
Genre: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock

May 26th

Sparks - The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
Label: Island
Genre: Art Pop, Synthpop, Progressive Pop
Miya Folick - ROACH
Label: Nettwerk
Genre: Indie Pop, Alt-Pop
❓ Water From Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed
Label: Matador
Genre: Experimental Rock, Art Pop, Post-Industrial, Dance-Punk
Kevin Morby - More Photographs (A Continuum)
Label: Dead Oceans
Genre: Folk Rock, Singer-songwriter, Indie Folk
Arlo Parks - My Soft Machine
Label: Transgressive
Genre: Bedroom Pop, Alt-Pop
Saya Gray - QWERTY (EP)
Label: Dirty Hit
Genre: Psychedelic Folk, Indie Folk
Bayonne - Temporary Time
Label: Rough Trade
Genre: Indietronica, Indie Pop, Ambient Pop
Gia Margaret - Romantic Piano
Label: Jagjaguwar
Genre: Ambient, Field Recordings
Shirley Collins - Archangel Hill
Label: Domino
Genre: English Folk Music, Traditional Folk Music
Boy & Bear - Boy & Bear
Label: n/a
Genre: Folk Rock, Indie Rock, Indie Folk
❤️ Phoxjaw - notverynicecream
Label: Hassle
Genre: Alternative Rock, Post-Hardcore, Noise Rock, Alternative Metal
❓ Stuck - Freak Frequency
Label: Born Yesterday
Genre: Post-Punk, Art Punk, Post-Hardcore
The Orielles - The Goyt Method (EP)
Label: Heavenly
Genre: Space Age Pop Drones
AJJ - Disposable Everything
Label: Hopeless
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Folk, Chamber Pop, Anti-Folk
⭐ Clark - Sus Dog
Label: Throttle
Genre: Art Pop, Electronic, Ambient Pop, Progressive Electronic
Demob Happy - Divine Machines
Label: Liberator
Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock
Panic Pocket - Mad Half Hour
Label: Skep Wax
Genre: Indie Rock, Power Pop
❓ Stimmerman - Undertaking
Label: n/a
Genre: Art Rock, Noise Grunge
❓ Miranda and the Beat - Miranda and the Beat
Label: Ernest Jenning Record Co.
Genre: 60's garage rock/soul
Yuksek - Dance'O'Drome
Label: Partyfine
Genre: Nu-Disco, Balearic Beat, Dance-Pop
Miss España - Niebla Mental
Label: n/a
Genre: new-nowave, punky synthwave, riot grrrl
⭐ Victory Over The Sun - Dance You Monster To My Soft Song!
Label: n/a
Genre: Black Metal, Avant-Garde Metal, Progressive Metal
Jacuzzi Boys - Glue (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Garage Rock, Indie Rock
❓ Twin Princess - Blood Moon
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Pop, Doom Country, Indie Rock
Moon Blue - The Moonlight Disco (EP)
Label: 777
Genre: Indie Pop, Lo-Fi Indie
The Dandy Warhols - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia, Post-Rock, Ambient Pop
Radiator Hospital - Can't Make Any Promises
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Power Pop
quickly, quickly - Easy Listening (EP)
Label: Ghostly
Genre: Jazz Fusion, Neo-Soul
Nate Schieble - plume
Label: n/a
Genre: Ambient
M. Sage - Paradise Crick
Label: Rvng
Genre: Ambient, ECM Style Jazz, Progressive Electronic
Divine Sweater - Down Deep (A Nautical Apocalypse)
Label: Better Company
Genre: Indie Pop, Sophisti-Pop, Chamber Pop
Chris Staples - Cloud Souvenirs
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Folk, Singer-songwriter
Kassi Valazza - Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing
Label: Fluff & Gravy
Genre: Americana, Singer-songwriter, Progressive Country
RF Shannon - Red Swan in Palmetto
Label: Keeled Scales
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia, Americana
sophie meiers - shine__space
Label: Epitaph
Genre: Bedroom Pop, Alternative R&B
Crucchi Gang - Fellini
Label: Universal
Genre: Indie Pop
The Dirty Nil - Free Rein To Passions
Label: Dine Alone
Genre: Pop Punk, Garage Punk
Daniel Blumberg - GUT
Label: Mute
Genre: Singer-songwriter, Experimental, Art Rock
Daði Freyr - I'm Still Making An Album 2/3
Label: AWAL
Genre: Funktronica, Dance-Pop, Synthpop
Dev Lemons - Delusional (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Alt-Pop, Indietronica, Bedroom Pop
⭐ JAAW - SUPERCLUSTER
Label: Svart
Genre: Industrial Metal, Noise Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Westelaken - I am Steaming Mushrooms
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Alt-Country
Marco Mengoni - MATERIA (PRISMA)
Label: Epic
Genre: Pop, Adult Contemporary, Pop Rock
Matchbox Twenty - Where The Light Goes
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Pop Rock
Tia Kofi - Pride. Power. Pop. (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Dance-Pop
PRETTYMUCH - This Thing Called Love
Label: n/a
Genre: Boy Band, Electropop, Contemporary R&B
Lauren Jauregui - In Between (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Soul, Contemporary R&B
Kari Faux - REAL B*TCHES DON'T DIE!
Label: drink sum wtr
Genre: West Coast Hip Hop, Trap, Alternative R&B, Neo-Soul
Monaleo - Where The Flowers Don't Die
Label: n/a
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Contemporary R&B, Trap
Loïc Nottet - Addictocrate
Label: Sony
Genre: French Pop
Ethereal - Heat Death 4
Label: n/a
Genre: Atmospheric Drum and Bass, Downtempo
Manu Manzo - Luna En Geminis
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop, R&B
Cruz Cafuné - Me Muevo Con Dios
Label: n/a
Genre: Trap, Contemporary R&B
Hunxho - 4 Days in LA
Label: 300
Genre: Trap
Portraits of Tracy - Drive Home
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Rap, Alternative R&B, Art Pop
Khamari - A Brief Nirvana
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop
Dom Corleo - On My Own
Label: n/a
Genre: Trap, West Coast Hip Hop, Rage
Lil’ Keke - 25 Summers
Label: n/a
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap
Cochise - NO ONE'S NICE TO ME (EP)
Label: Columbia
Genre: Trap, Southern Hip Hop
Jay Worthy & Roc Marciano - Nothing Bigger Than The Program
Label: Marci
Genre: Jazz Rap, Gangsta Rap
Lil Durk - Almost Healed
Label: Alamo
Genre: Trap, Gangsta Rap, Pop Rap
$uicideboy$ - YIN YANG TAPES: Winter Season (1989-1990) (EP)
Label: G*59
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Memphis Rap
❓ Heart Attack Man - Freak of Nature
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Rock, Pop Punk
Immortal - War Against All
Label: Nuclear Blast
Genre: Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal
Kostnatění - Úpal
Label: Willowtip
Genre: Black Metal, Avant-Garde Metal, Anatolian Rock
Metal Church - Congregation of Annihilation
Label: Rat Pak
Genre: US Power Metal, Thrash Metal
Vomitory - All Heads Are Gonna Roll
Label: Metal Blade
Genre: Death Metal
Cenobite - Torment Your Flesh and Explore the Limits of Experience
Label: n/a
Genre: Death Metal
The Foreshadowing - Forsaken Songs (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Doom Metal, Gothic Metal
In Tears - Stars Caught Tonight
Label: n/a
Genre: Blackgaze, Depressive Black Metal
⭐ Teitan - In Oculus Abyss
Label: Void Wanderer
Genre: Black Metal, Avant-Garde Metal, Psychedelic Rock
Mesarthim - Arrival
Label: n/a
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal, Space Ambient
❓ The Mon - EYE
Label: n/a
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Drone
Oceanlord - Kingdom Cold
Label: n/a
Genre: Stoner Rock, Doom Metal
❓ Ockra - Gratitude
Label: Argonauta
Genre: Doom Metal
Speedwhore - Visions of a Parallel World
Label: Dying Victims
Genre: Thrash Metal, Speed Metal
❓ Seven Impale - SUMMIT
Label: Karisma
Genre: Progressive Rock, Avant-Prog

i became a believer in February, it was going so well and i was the happiest i’ve ever been (i struggle with lots of mental health issues). but these past two months, have been absolutely terrible. i stopped reading my Bible, i don’t go to church much, only pray bc i feel i have to. i’m stuck in my sin, i feel like i can’t stop sinning. i feel like i’m so far gone and i don’t know how to fix it, i don’t want to change but i know i have to. i feel like every aspect of my life has fallen apart, i don’t see a point in living but i don’t want to die. i feel like God just has so many rules i can’t follow, i feel like His plan for me is to only to see pain, i feel like He has no purpose for me. on top of that i feel constant loneliness. i’m 21 and off school for the summer and i spend all my days alone at home, i keep looking at men / boys to fix the problem (which is what i used to do before i became a believer) and obviously it’s not working. i think ab boys / men way too much, i feel like my life is incomplete without a boyfriend. i want to be like other girls my age who have boyfriends and go out drinking and have s*x, but i know i can’t do any of those things. i feel like i only crave things that are bad for me, and the worst part is i don’t want to change most of the time. but i feel so guilty and i know if i don’t change then i’m going down the wrong path.

The month of June falls within the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, which is represented by the liturgical color green. This symbol of hope is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. It is used in the offices and Masses of Ordinary Time.
The Holy Father's Intentions for the Month of June 2023
For the abolition of torture: We pray that the international community may commit in a concrete way to ensuring the abolition of torture and guarantee support to victims and their families. (See also Apostleship of Prayer)
Feasts for June 2023 1. Justin, Memorial

1. Marcellinus & Peter; Ember Friday, Opt. Mem.
   
2. Charles Lwanga & Companions, Memorial
   
3. TRINITY SUNDAY, Solemnity
   
4. Boniface, Memorial
   
5. Norbert, Opt. Mem.
   
6. Ephrem, Opt. Mem.
   
7. CORPUS CHRISTI, Solemnity
   
8. Anthony of Padua, Memorial
   
9. SACRED HEART OF JESUS, Solemnity
   
10. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Memorial
    
11. ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, Sunday
    
12. Romuald, Opt. Mem.
    
13. Aloysius Gonzaga, Memorial
    
14. Paulinus of Nola; John Fisher & Thomas More, Opt. Mem.
    
15. NATIVITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, Solemnity
    
16. TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, Sunday
    
17. Josemaría Escrivá, Opt. Mem.
    
18. Cyril of Alexandria, Opt. Mem.
    
19. Irenaeus, Memorial
    
20. STS PETER & PAUL, Solemnity
    
21. First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church, Opt. Mem.
    

Focus of the Liturgy
The Gospel readings for June are from St. Matthew. All Sunday readings are from Year A, and weekday readings are Cycle I.
June 4 Trinity Sunday
God sent his Son that the world might be saved through him. June 11th Corpus Christi
My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. June 18th Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and sent them out. June 25th Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body. Highlights of the Month
As we begin to feel the warmth of summer, we can reflect that we celebrate the feasts of Trinity Sunday (June 4), Corpus Christi (June 11), the Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 16) and the Immaculate Heart of Mary (June 17). God is Love and the Sacred Heart of Jesus — present on earth in the Blessed Sacrament — is the human manifestation of God's Love for men. Appropriately June is considered the month for weddings where human hearts join and cooperate with the Creator in bringing forth new life. The family they create is a human reflection of the Blessed Trinity. The saints that we will focus on this month are:
St. Justin (June 1),
Sts. Marcellinus and Peter (June 2),
St. Charles Lwanga & Companions (June 3),
St. Boniface (June 5),
St. Norbert (June 6),
St. Ephrem (June 9),
St. Anthony of Padua (June 13),
St. Romuald (June 19),
St. Aloysius Gonzaga (June 21),
Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More (June 22),
St. Paulinus (June 22),
the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24),
St. Josemaría Escrivá (June 26),
St. Cyril of Alexandria (June 27),
St. Irenaeus (June 28),
the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29)
and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome (June 30).
The feast of St. Barnabas (June 11) is superseded by the Sunday liturgy.
A Time of Love
Following Pentecost, the Church begins her slow descent from the great peaks of the Easter Season to the verdant pastures of Ordinary Time, the longest of the liturgical seasons. She pauses briefly, to praise the Holy Trinity — Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; and then the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi. Like the lush June growth all around us, the green of the liturgical season points to the new life won for us by the Redemption of Jesus Christ, the new life of Charity. For Our Lord came to cast the fire of His love on the earth, and to that end, sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost in the form of tongues of fire.
Therefore, the close of the Easter season marks not the cessation but rather the beginning of Ordinary Time is the commencement of the Church’s activity. Ordinary Time is the hour to “go out to all the world and tell the good news.” The feasts of June highlight this expansion of the Church. At least ten times, the Church vests in the red of the martyrs whose blood is the very seed of her growth. She also celebrates the feasts of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and the birth of St. John the Baptist, proto-disciple and prophet.
We, too, are called to be witnesses like the apostles and martyrs. May the Heart of Jesus inflame our hearts so that we may be worthy of our Baptismal call to holiness. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
This item 12552 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org

The country’s life expectancy problem gained renewed attention in recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic after seeing the largest drop since World War II.
As U.S. life expectancy continues to plummet, a new report found the country has been at a life expectancy disadvantage since the 1950s, and it has only gotten worse since then.
The study, published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health, also shows more than 50 countries have surpassed the U.S. in life expectancy since the 1930s, and a handful of states may be partly responsible.
“The scale of the problem is bigger than we ever thought ... older than we thought, (and) the number of countries outperforming the United States is much larger than we thought,” said study author Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and health at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
The findings offer a new perspective on U.S. life expectancy and shed light on how to reverse the trend, experts say.
A 'blueprint' for longevity New study has an answer for why some people live to be over 100

‘Taking the historical perspective’

The U.S. began seeing dramatic increases in life expectancy in the early 20th century, mainly a result of public health advances such as vaccines and sanitation, Woolf said.
The new report shows how that growth continued into the '50s, with U.S. life expectancy ranking 12th highest in the world. But that growth rate began declining in 1955, and by 1968, the U.S. had fallen to 29th.
The decline began much earlier than many researchers had thought, Woolf said.
"When asked when did this problem began, we cited the 1980s ... because we haven’t gone back far enough in the historical data to see what happened before,” he said. "That there was a decline in the 1950s raises questions about what was going on then.”
1 in 8 deaths due to COVID Nearly 107,000 drug overdoses, COVID deaths, push US life expectancy to lowest in 25 years
Story continues
The life expectancy growth rate rebounded in 1974, according to the study, then decelerated again in 1983. Provisional data from 2021 shows U.S. life expectancy has dropped to 76.1 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the lowest it has been since 1996.
The study relied on estimates from the U.N. Population Division and the U.S. Mortality Database, Woolf said, which could skew exact rankings and year-over-year changes.
But the general takeaway remains the same, said Michal Engelman, associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The timeline shows how life expectancy may be heavily influenced by systemic factors that are larger than individual health choices.
“Taking the historical perspective teaches us that things are not predetermined,” Engelman said. “Things change, and that means there’s a possibility for more improvement in the future.”

More countries are surpassing the US

The report also looked beyond the same small subset of peer countries – like the United Kingdom or Canada – that are typically included when studying life expectancy.
By expanding the pool to include countries with populations over 500,000, the report found 56 countries had surpassed the U.S. in life expectancy since 1950 and included countries with smaller economies, lower populations and different government systems.
Middle-income countries made enough gains in life expectancy to catch up and then surpass the U.S. during times when the country’s acceleration slowed, Woolf said. By 2019, the U.S. ranked 40th among populous countries – lower than Lebanon and Albania.
“Countries that don’t necessarily have all the support systems and infrastructure and policies that exist in higher-income countries are still outperforming” the U.S., he said. “What are they doing in those countries that have enabled their people to live longer?”

Some US states are worse than others

Since the '50s, life expectancy grew at a different pace throughout the country, according to the report.
Northeastern and Western states experienced the fastest growth, Woolf said, while south-central and Midwestern states saw the slowest growth.
“This cluster of states really played an outsized role in producing these poor rankings for the United States,” he said. “States doing very well like Hawaii, New York and other high performers are ranked among some the same life expectancy as some of the healthiest countries in the world.”
'State policy matters' More Americans die younger in states with conservative policies, study finds
The findings support previous research showing how policy decisions affect health outcomes and, ultimately, life expectancy.
“The things that influence health and longevity are operating on multiple levels,” Engelman said. “The story of our health goes far beyond thing that we can personally control.”
Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.
Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Life expectancy in US: Problems date back to 1950s, report finds