To discuss our bookclub choice Blood Meridian.

Next week we'll cover chapters XX-Epilogue, it will be the first part of our final discussion.

!bookworms

WARNING: The list of books you are about to view is HIGHLY subversive

Public libraries have always been at the forefront of the fight against censorship, leading to the creation in 1982 of Banned Books Week, a time to highlight titles that were targeted for removal from schools and libraries. However, book banning is not new—it's one of the oldest recorded forms of censorship. Despite the legacy of censorship threatening books and authors, there continues to be a particularly aggressive wave of bans and challenges across America. The American Library Association, which pioneered Banned Books Week, has reported a record amount of books banned in recent years—many of which center people of color and LGBTQ+ voices.

NYPL has created a book list for all ages, selected by our expert librarians, to highlight titles both past and present that are targets of bans and challenges. While this list is just a small sample of the different books that are challenged, it demonstrates the wide range of books that are deemed “too dangerous” to read—and also how these bans and challenges are often aimed at silencing the voices, perspectives, and stories of marginalized communities.

To discuss your weekly readings of books, textbooks and papers.

!bookworms

NOOO STOP YOU CAN'T DO DRUGS AND HAVE S*X!!! YOU HAVE TO BE TRAD!

!bookworms, to discuss our Bookclub choice Blood Meridian.

Next week we'll cover chapters XVI-XIX.

How's the pace going?

Source: The Club by Clegg and Robinson

!football

I'll be going away for work and I'm travelling light, which one do you recommend?

I also wanna read comics on it (Alan Ford, Dylan Dog, Mister No).

Pros, cons?

!bookworms

To discuss your weekly readings of books, textbooks and papers.

Apart from Blood Meridian I started “Alexander The Great” by Philip Freeman, here are some excerpts which might be of interest for dramacels

I'm learning a lot about ancient Macedonia, didn't know much about Alexander's father Philip II, also Olimpyas sleeping with snakes , very interesting book and I'm currently on page 46 with Alexander trying to take control after his father's assassination and getting ready for the war against Persia, on the other hand because I started it I got behind on Blood Meridian.

This is gonna be a post listing the sources I used in the Commie Waco posts and giving a short summary of them, in the interest of transparency. If anyone was suspicious of the info in my posts or whatever you can check these out and call me out on it, at which point I will delete my posts, issue an apology, delete my account, transfer all my savings to the concerned parties, donate all my assets to the Palestine Advocacy Project, paint myself in blackface, and livestream myself jumping off the One World Trade Center before activating an explosive suicide vest half way down.

1. Historical Narrative

The Tailor King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster, by Anthony Arthur

AND

False Prophets and Preachers: Henry Gresbeck's Account of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Münster, Translated and Edited by Christopher Mackay

These two are where I got most of the historical narrative from. Arthur attempts to give an objective, detailed account of events as they happened in Munster while the translation of Gresbeck's account is (obviously) heavily biased and very disjointed, but gives many interesting anecdotes about Munster and insight into what someone actually there might have thought of the incident. Gresbeck's account is heavily footnoted, so that clears a lot of the confusion up and clarifies a lot of biases.

Another source I wish to give attention to (but did not directly use) is Hermann von Kerssenbrock's "Narrative of the Anabaptist Madness the overthrow of Munster, the famous metropolis of Westphalia." He was a Catholic monk who lived in Munster prior to February 27, when all non protestants were exiled from the city. His account is sourced from a variety of contemporary witnesses to Munster, including himself. Once again, it's obviously heavily biased (it's also over 700 pages, and frick that). Anthony Arthur uses it as one of the sources for his book which is why it's important to list here.

2. Wider Context

Anabaptism: Abortive Counter-Revolt within the Reformation

Lowell H. Zuck

Church History

jstor.org/stable/3161743

Just attempts to lift the fog surrounding the beginnings of the early Anabaptist movement, its leading figures, and their beliefs. Zuck criticizes subsequent Anabaptist historians and Munster's apologists as guilty of spreading narratives on Anabaptism and Munster similarly as misleading as Catholic historians.

State and Anabaptists in the Sixteenth Century: An Economic Approach

Walther Kirchner

The Journal of Modern History

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1875955

This article does not directly relate to Munster, but it gives important context on the form Anabaptism took in the Lowlands (where many Anabaptists Munsterites migrated from). It also serves to clear up some misconceptions spread about Anabaptists, particularly that they were mostly of lower classes. In realty, a vast majority of Anabaptists in the Netherlands and North Germany were middle class (which classes were represented in Anabaptist demographics was largely dependent on geographical location), with a non insignificant number of them possessing upper class backgrounds (that's one of the misleading narratives Anabaptists apologists like to push: that Anabaptists were lower class, and thus pushed into violent activities by their poverty).

The Anabaptist Movement in Amsterdam and the Netherlands, 1531-1535: An Initial Investigation into its Genesis and Social Dynamics

Gary K. Waite

The Sixteenth Century Journal

jstor.org/stable/2541180

This article theorizes that economic troubles present in the Netherlands at the time of the 1530s was what pushed many middle class residents to Anabaptism. As the middle class is most susceptible to changes in economic well-being, economic downturn in the Netherlands (particularly in the South) pushed many people to the Northern cities, and served as the impetus for the popularization of radical sects of the Reformation.

The Dutch Nobility and Anabaptism, 1535-1545

Gary Waite

The Sixteenth Century Journal

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2542489

Similarly to his above article, Waite discusses here the forces pushing the upper classes toward Anabaptism. Though they were relatively safe from the economic troubles effecting the middle class, social changes in the Netherlands still pushed the upper class toward a similar direction as them. Government administrations of the region were increasingly looking to employ highly skilled or educated civilians in government positions, rather than the nobility, who had previously held dominance in those areas. Waite theorizes that the loss of social power incurred by the Lowland nobility was what pushed them toward Anabaptism.

The Munsterite Tragedy

Constantine Prokhorov

Novosibirsk Baptist Theological Seminary, Russia

https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/166016

Provides a comparative analysis of Anabaptism with other popular sects of the time. Prokhorov advocates for a much more nuanced position on Anabaptism, one not colored solely by the events in Munster, but instead taking the wider movement into consideration.

3. Anabaptist Theology

Restitution

From "A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts With Introductions"

Bernard Rothmann

This is a translation of one of the texts Rothmann published while the events in Munster took place. It's a short pamphlet clarifying some Anabaptist beliefs and calling anyone willing and able to assist in Munster's struggle against the Bishop.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find any other translated copies of his work and I would really like to see them. I know if it's a long shot, but if anyone knows where I can find "On Revenge" (1534) or "A Confession of Faith and Life in the Church of Christ of Münster" (1534) in English I'd be your bestest friend ever in the whole wide world

This has got to be the gayest thing I have ever done

Hello ghouls of !writecel and anyone else interested in participating. With Homoween officially upon us, it is time for SpOoOkY stories

The prompt is as follows:

Your protagonist is cursed and must pass the curse along if they want their soul to see peace in this realm or the next.

Genre and minimum word count are your choice, maximum of 1.8k words. Deadline is the 31st of October

King came out with his new book Holly a few days ago and I just finished it. What it's about isn't important; what struck me while reading it is how badly being a lib on Twitter has infected King's brain. The following are just some of the Trump mentions in the book:

“That sounds right,” Holly says.

“And bonus! Trump's gone.”

Leaving behind a country at war with itself , Holly thinks. And who's to say he won't reappear in 2024? She thinks of Arnie's promise from The Terminator: “I'll be back.”

It was Charlotte who died.

An avid Trump supporter—a fact she trumpeted to her daughter at every opportunity—she refused to get the vaccinations or even to wear a mask. (Except, that was, at Kroger and her local bank branch, where they were required. The one Charlotte kept for those occasions was a bright red, with MAGA stamped on it.)

On July 4th, Charlotte attended an anti-mask rally in the state capital, waving a sign reading MY BODY MY CHOICE (a sentiment that did not keep her from being adamantly anti-abortion). On July 7th, she lost her sense of smell and gained a cough. On the 10th, she was admitted to Mercy Hospital, nine short blocks from Rolling Hills Elder Care, where her brother was doing fine… physically, at least. On the 15th, she was placed on a ventilator.

“Divorced. Herbert and I dissolved our partnership three years ago. Political differences were part of it—he was all in on Trump—but there wereplenty of other reasons, as well.”

“How did Bonnie feel about that?”

“Handled it in very adult fashion. And why not? She was an adult. Twenty-one. Besides, the first time Herbie came home wearing a MAGA hat, she actually laughed at him. He was… mmm… displeased.”

Here is another relationship chilled by the fast-talking man in the red tie. It's not fate and not coincidence.

The jagged laugh comes again—nerves rather than amusement. “He's in Alaska. Left for a white-collar job in a shipping plant about six months after the divorce. And he has Covid. His idol refused to wear a mask, so Herb refused to wear one. You know, Trumper see, Trumper do.

“I don't know exactly. I've been working at that Jet Mart a long time. Seen em come and seen em go. But Trump was running for president, I remember that because we joked about it. Seems like the joke was on us.” He pauses, perhaps thinking over what he just said. “But if you voted for him, I'm only kidding.”

Like fun you were, Holly thinks. “I voted for Clinton. You called him the bowling guy?”

There is also a hilarious bit where King let's you know a character is evil because they find the Jan 6th insurrection inspiring, and another character is good because they cried during it:

Bonnie needs to see her as the stereotypical elderly academic: head in the clouds, losing a few miles an hour off her mental fastball, and largely helpless outside her own field of expertise. And harmless, of course. Would never dream of insurrectionists hanging elected representatives of the United States government from lampposts. Especially the blacks (a word which in her mind she will never capitalize) and the fannyfrickers. Of which there are more every day.

She's cried so much lately. Tears of relief after Biden won the election. Tears of horror and belated reaction after Chet Ondowsky, a monster pretending to be human, went down the elevator shaft. She cried during and after the Capitol riot—those were tears of rage.

Pretty sure if you gave me a year I could write Shakespeare quality work.

Like if someone hadn't read all of Shakespeare and you randomly gave them me or him, on average they couldn't tell the difference.

Of course without the blind test people would pretend it wasn't as good.

— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) October 9, 2023

https://x.com/RichardHanania/status/1710735038621602211#m

This idea actually started with SBF going statistics shows us Shakespeare wasn't that good

https://x.com/RichardHanania/status/1711209801785761877#m

I have never heard of this guy before but he seems very dramatic. He holds (held?) actual academic positions but then was cancelled for some allegedly white supremacist stuff he wrote when he was young and now he has a book about wokeness coming out, I guess he thinks that's more worthy of his time than writing something greater than Hamlet.

Something I just made up:

“Man so powerful yet so weak. Conqueror of stars yet farts and squeaks. Oh man! An ape we know it is true. Darwin has revealed me and you. Yet we go on, forward still. For if not us, then who will?”

See? Basically Shakespeare, plus modern science

— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) October 9, 2023

!bookworms

Today we discuss chapters VI-XI, next week we'll discuss chapters XII-XV.

I still have to finish chapter XI, will comment about that later today, are you guys enjoying the book?

I couldnt put it down for the first half but it became a snoozefest later on. the writing felt really stilted and it turns out i read a translation of a translation . interesting ideas but couldve done more with them

https://apnews.com/article/nobel-prize-literature-ee1bd9e65cbce0d32026712f94a2ef3a

!bookworms thoughts?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Fosse

To discuss your weekly readings of books, textbooks and papers.

!bookworms

I'm reading Blood Meridian, but only a chapter per day so as too keep pace with the bookclub, so I'm gonna start a reading “Prometheus bounded” an ancient greek tragedy by Aeschylus as soon as it arrives (I ordered a few days ago).

incels.is is a criminally untapped vein of content.

Hello, I am currently writing a story focused on reincarnation. My main characters have the ability to be reincarnated with their memories intact as babies and then continue to develop normally (meaning they go from childhood to adolescence and so on).

What happens is that in one of the reincarnations they reach the current time (2000-2023) and one of them mentions that in high school he had many relationships with girls from 16 onwards, since he is technically older mentally (although physically he is still 16 years old) I wouldn't know if this is morally wrong.

I mentioned it to my best friend and she told me that it could be something "creepy", I didn't have a problem at first, as a woman I didn't see anything wrong with it, but now that I think about it again I have my doubts. What do you think?

Look, I may be an 800 year old reincarnating demigod who retains the memories of every life, but I can still go to high school and smash teenage kitty with the best of them.

as a woman

That's right, I'm a WOMAN. What now chuds?

That's just Mushoku Tensei debate brought into r/writing lol

Good, because I hate that Anime for those reasons.

So you hate this anime for those reasons but then write something similar yourself and ask people if it's wrong? I think you have an answer to your question already but for some reason don't want to admit it.

'm 54 years old. Would it wrong of me to have s*x with a 16yo? Heck yeah, it would. What if I could disguise myself so I looked 16? Would it be okay then? Heck no, it wouldn't. Nor would it be okay if I were an 80 of 160 or 250 year old vampire, or a 10,000 year old immortal.

It doesn't matter what you look like. If you're an adult, you don't have s*x with children. That's my morality.

100% it's creepy. We need to stop validating creepy scenarios and trying to justify why someone immortal/OLD can have s*x with a TEENAGER.

Okay but in this made-up fantasy scenario I created myself, can't you agree that there's some nuance to fricking 16 year olds?

If anything vampires would hate being around teens. Except the really perverted ones like the type of wants to write. I feel edward would have much enjoyed the company of an 80 year old who is tired of life and doesn't take life seriously anymore. Sorta like what we do in the shadows

Ok I do want to see a Twilight remake where Edward's a nursing home orderly

you need to have your own thoughts on this fully formulated before you write it so you can reflect these questions in the narrative effectively. no one can tell you what you should think. It isnt even a real situation, so there cannot be a right answer. Your character is also under no obligation to behave morally, and 16yos often dont.

Morality doesn't exist in hypothetical situations. That's why my solution to the trolley problem involves r*pe.

i think the bigger question here is how does retaining past life memories affect a 16yo? If you're 100 and you suddenly become 1 again what does that do to you? If you are 1 with memories of being 100 do you understand them yet? Is a 100yo interested in a 16yo romantically? why? You need to understand your character well enough to understand why he is having these relationships in high school before you can decide if his motivation and thought process in having them is moral.

This sounds like it would require thinking. Unfortunately, I'm an /r/writing user.

IMO this kind of thing really depends on the reader's intended perspective and the purpose of the story. I don't think Twilight is creepy because it's a fantasy for the teenage girl audience. Many romance fantasy scenarios would be messed up if they happened in real life. Now If Twilight were a fantasy for an adult male audience it would read differently.