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Alucard (悪魔城下町)

@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social

American ex-pat, Japanese salary man, and vampire (not necessarily in that order). Games, Music, Anime/Manga, Current Events Re-posts ≠ endorsement. INFJ, 血液型: B+ 趣味は: レトロゲーム、音楽、漫画、アニメ、日本語、フランス語、英語、映画、自然、ハイキング、バイキング。

created November 29, 2024

387 followers 500 following 4,768 posts

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Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Increasing the centrality of Tokyo is definitely bad.

3/9/2025, 6:58:22 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture 台羽正 (@tadashidaiba.bsky.social) reposted

image
3/9/2025, 6:32:55 AM | 26 4 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Yes. Which is another reason why the Catholic natalists annoy me. 😂😭🙄

3/9/2025, 6:55:05 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if humans gave up all sexuality eventually, as they become more and more enraptured by and integrated with technology. Maybe in the future they're all celibate cyborgs. Maybe this is a tendency in intelligent beings that reach a certain level of science/technology.

3/9/2025, 6:26:00 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Peace is more important than anything else to me.

3/9/2025, 6:21:46 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Daily Trix (@dailytrix.bsky.social) reposted

Lando Calrissian calls on Darth Vader to find common ground and get things done for the people of Cloud City.

3/9/2025, 4:58:32 AM | 56 12 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Many men struggle with understanding/respecting female agency & choice. They fear these things. Being jacked is a way to reassure themselves that they can intimidate away any man who would dare try to steal "their woman."

3/9/2025, 6:00:42 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Sky is right, but a point I want to make about this topic is that one reason a lot of men want to be jacked is so they are able to intimidate other men (even fantasize commiting violence against them). Getting women to like them along with that provides an additional power trip, etc...

3/9/2025, 5:54:09 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sky Marchini (@sky.skymarchini.net) reposted

look, i'm the last person that should be giving dating advice, BUT: do the things you like to do, for yourself. try to better yourself, for you. then see who's interested. the moment you start acting a particular way for someone, you're performing a character; you won't be able to do that forever.

3/9/2025, 3:58:55 AM | 206 16 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture the beastly fido (@theophite.bsky.social) reposted

there's a lot wrong with this image but i really love it when you can start to see the training data come through in an integrated way

image
3/9/2025, 4:48:42 AM | 41 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Micah (@rincewind.run) reposted

the incredible thing about Shohei Ohtani is that other baseball players react to the things he does on the field the same way little kids in the stands do truly one of the most magical athletes we've ever seen

3/9/2025, 12:16:59 AM | 444 62 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Attack on Theophite.

3/9/2025, 5:43:56 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sam (ABeardedPanda) (@abeardedpanda.bsky.social) reposted

Between the court eunuchs/concubines scheming with each other and the CENTCOM doing their best Kwantung Army impression we're running back all of Asia's greatest hits

3/9/2025, 5:24:25 AM | 41 7 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Clara Jeffery (@clarajeffery.bsky.social) reposted

Venezuela says the US and Erik Prince have plans to stage an attack on an ExxonMobil off-shore platform as a pretext to invade it…and normally that would be an insane claim but… www.latintimes.com/venezuela-sa...

3/9/2025, 5:37:17 AM | 927 494 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture the beastly fido (@theophite.bsky.social) reposted

hakeem jeffries has expressed more willingness to work with donald j. trump than mamdani

3/9/2025, 1:57:56 AM | 896 133 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

It's really pathetic. But honestly, I think presidential systems have a tendency to devolve this way, since a president (esp. pop. vote winner) can claim to better represent the people than a Congress. Parliament, proportional representation, and a prime minister, not a president--this is the way.

3/9/2025, 5:32:56 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Yeah.

3/9/2025, 5:29:48 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

The American system sucks but Congress seems eager to plumb new depths of suckage.

3/9/2025, 5:28:53 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture BeijingPalmer (@beijingpalmer.bsky.social) reposted

also just genuinely liking and being into things. people like that even if it's not the thing they're into.

3/9/2025, 5:08:18 AM | 238 20 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Speaking of the multilingual Japanese office, gotta go back there now!

3/9/2025, 4:33:41 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

I think that's on the person, not the technology. Plenty of people, like me, use the technology to learn Japanese faster while also working a full-time job. I can listen to NHK on my smartphone while riding the train to work and get something done that way.

3/9/2025, 4:33:06 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

I make my Japanese coworkers laugh with linguistic jokes I make up myself on the spot. Google can't do that. The multilingual Japanese office can be a lot of fun.

3/9/2025, 4:31:02 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

There's so much to learn with Japanese, from the kanji, to the vocabulary, to the grammar--that efficiency trumps all else. Especially if you also have a full-time job or something else that demands your time, like a family. People still value face-to-face communication and fluency, too.

3/9/2025, 4:31:02 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Also, multi-lingualism is not obsolete. I have to use Japanese and English at one of my jobs, and hopefully someday I'll also get to use some French. The technology at our disposal, especially smartphones with cameras and translation and dictionary apps you can copy/paste into makes that easier.

3/9/2025, 4:24:45 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Playing an RPG in Japanese and come across a problematic passage? Just take a photo with your phone and translate that stuff, then look at the kanji and analyze the grammar points you're rusty on. And I still keep kanji notebooks and fill them out at Starbucks, to complement all that.

3/9/2025, 4:21:17 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Many more resources to aid listening practice now, such as the publication of various Japanese and TV/Movie scripts on the web. Apps to chat with Japanese people, like Hello Talk. Wanikani app on your smartphone. List goes on.

3/9/2025, 4:21:17 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Have to disagree with that piece. The best time to learn Japanese is now. Instant translation of a problematic sentence in your web browser makes learning grammar easier. Copying and pasting a new kanji into Jisho is a lot quicker than looking up radicals/# of strokes in your electronic dictionary.

3/9/2025, 4:19:36 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Playing an RPG in Japanese and come across a problematic passage? Just take a photo with your phone and translate that stuff, then look at the kanji and analyze the grammar points.

3/9/2025, 4:18:34 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Many more resources to aid listening practice now, such as the publication of various Japanese and TV/Movie scripts on the web. Apps to chat with Japanese people, like Hello Talk. Wanikanji on your smartphone. List goes on.

3/9/2025, 4:17:32 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Have to disagree. I think the best time to learn Japanese is now. Instant translation of a problematic sentence in your web browser makes learning grammar easier. Copying and pasting a new kanji into Jisho is also lot quicker than looking up radicals/# of strokes in your electronic dictionary.

3/9/2025, 4:17:32 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

That would help a lot.

3/9/2025, 4:09:24 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Also yes.

3/9/2025, 4:08:29 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Yes.

3/9/2025, 4:08:20 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

One key to being a happy man is not caring about what other people think--ESPECIALLY other men.

3/9/2025, 4:06:06 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture FinTwitter (@fintwitter.bsky.social) reposted

BOJ Governor Ueda Visits Prime Minister’s Office, According to Jiji and Reuters 🏛️🇯🇵

3/9/2025, 3:55:21 AM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Really unfair to horses, to be honest.

3/9/2025, 2:36:43 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Nate Ledbetter (@nhledbetter.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

I prefer to think of this as more Gempei America, and any minute Taira Kiyomori (Trump) is about to go mad with a fever that boils his bathtub and kills him.

3/9/2025, 2:32:22 AM | 3 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture KPD Max von Sydnow 🇨🇦🇵🇸🇹🇼🇺🇦🇬🇱 (@mpdeejay.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

"The shōgun attempted to use troops from daimyō Abbott, however he was countered by shugo-daimyō Pritzker."

2/9/2025, 8:44:12 PM | 20 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture KPD Max von Sydnow 🇨🇦🇵🇸🇹🇼🇺🇦🇬🇱 (@mpdeejay.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Broke: Weimar America Woke: Shōwa America Bespoke: Sengoku America

2/9/2025, 8:42:02 PM | 22 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

😂

3/9/2025, 2:18:07 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Yeah, haha, I was trying to be polite. 😂 The longer I live in Japan, the more understated I become.

3/9/2025, 1:55:02 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Yeah, that's what I was wondering about. But it seems like there has been a lot of civil conflicts?

3/9/2025, 1:50:44 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Art from this obscure PC Engine RPG.

3/9/2025, 1:48:03 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture 台羽正 (@tadashidaiba.bsky.social) reposted

1998

image
2/9/2025, 8:44:33 PM | 47 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Final volume of a 'Chrono Cross' guidebook.

3/9/2025, 1:46:36 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

this is basically how everyone on GOP twitter is treating it, except it's a good thing to them

2/9/2025, 10:30:27 PM | 155 15 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Big if true.

3/9/2025, 1:42:50 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Simon Christiansen (@simonchris.bsky.social) reposted

Reminder that Frankenstein's monster is canonically hot.

2/9/2025, 8:23:48 PM | 133 32 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Masamune Shirow's 'Black Magic.'

3/9/2025, 1:40:05 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

It really does feel like the struggle has become more moral and even spiritual. Like @jamellebouie.net has said, we are dealing with great wickedness.

3/9/2025, 1:38:39 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Yeah, I mean, I would hope with the big bad to the North there would be a lot of solidarity down there.

3/9/2025, 1:35:23 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Yes.

3/9/2025, 1:31:42 AM | 6 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Underrated game.

3/9/2025, 1:30:38 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

oh the wolf warriors are going to be pissed major diplomatic insult

 The big question to be answered is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and “blood” that The United States of America gave to China in order to help it to secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader. Many Americans died in China’s quest for Victory and Glory. I hope that they are rightfully Honored and Remembered for their Bravery and Sacrifice! May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
3/9/2025, 1:20:10 AM | 277 32 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

As David Hurwitz has said, "Patriotism is love of one's country. Nationalism is hatred of everyone else's."

3/9/2025, 1:27:58 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

The things that matter most to me are either smaller than the nation (my local community/prefecture) or bigger than it (the world, the Catholic Church, being a human being). Nations and their systems and laws are important, but making them the basis of one's whole ideology and identity is bad.

3/9/2025, 1:26:26 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

I really hate nationalism. Just a terrible, bullshit ideology.

3/9/2025, 1:16:21 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Many people are saying.

3/9/2025, 1:13:08 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted reply parent

there is a way in which this is even an explicit repudiation of the constitution itself, created not to pass some european idea of "nationhood" down to posterity, but to pass *republican self-government* down to posterity.

3/9/2025, 12:54:26 AM | 1177 104 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted reply parent

if they were making a claim about historical origins the logic would push towards the inclusion of blacks, natives and other peoples on the north american continent. but schmitt is fundamentally making a racial claim.

3/9/2025, 12:39:48 AM | 1649 131 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted reply parent

it really is interesting that they recognize it isn't politically possible to claim the US as a specifically anglo-saxon country and thus have to retroactively include groups of european immigrants — seen, at the time, as interlopers — as "white" people entitled to the same claim on national origins

3/9/2025, 12:38:45 AM | 1450 126 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted reply parent

yeah man, they loved germans in the 1840s and italians in the 1890s. couldn't wait to welcome them in.

3/9/2025, 12:31:04 AM | 1764 68 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted reply parent

what's interesting is that schmitt/hochman/whoever wrote this is aware enough of how foreign this is to the actual american experience that they have to include "continental europeans" into this category of legitimate americans

3/9/2025, 12:30:36 AM | 1488 92 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Josh Zingher (@zingherpolisci.bsky.social) reposted

The American experiment is based on the idea that citizenship is not based on ethnicity. We tried to conflate the two with slavery and the constitution failed as a result. The reconstruction amendments made this principle explicit. This shit is fundamentally anti American and anti patriotic.

3/9/2025, 12:58:03 AM | 225 69 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Going back to bed and hoping when I wake up again things are less stupid.

2/9/2025, 10:55:29 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Daniel Gilmore (@gilmored85.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

I love how "80/20 issue" has brcome this dogmatic statement for the data bros even though very few things actually poll at an even 80/20 and certainly not the thing theyre referencing with it

2/9/2025, 1:49:28 PM | 257 3 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Many such cases.

2/9/2025, 10:51:02 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Nate Ledbetter (@nhledbetter.bsky.social) reposted

You could put literally any flavor in for "drug" in "drug war" and it feels the same. Gosh I wonder why that is.

2/9/2025, 10:43:27 PM | 21 3 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

this is going to sound stupid but it's entirely because we live in the era of postmodern fascism and because they wanted to post a video about them killing people for the base

2/9/2025, 10:34:56 PM | 944 202 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture ae (@aelkus.bsky.social) reposted

this is just the beginning. i would not discount at some point something akin to the "twitch plays pokemon" where they crowdsource the targeting to stans

2/9/2025, 10:39:09 PM | 135 10 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Tobias Harris on the "Kanagawa School": "these politicians reject...ideological conservatism...& work to use government to solve problems & improve lives... They are committed to the idea that the LDP should be a national party that can represent urban & rural Japan, business & labor, young & old."

2/9/2025, 10:43:27 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Tobias Harris (@tobiasharris.bsky.social) reposted

New at Observing Japan: if Ishiba thought the LDP’s election post-mortem would save him, he was likely disappointed Tuesday by a report that, in the span of twelve pages, painted a picture of a party in crisis. (Free for all readers) open.substack.com/pub/observin...

2/9/2025, 7:58:02 PM | 13 7 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Tobias Harris (@tobiasharris.bsky.social) reposted

The story of the last year as told through the *record scratch* meme.

2/9/2025, 9:43:18 PM | 9 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

given the uniformly jingoistic (positive) response to this on X, this is likely to get more stupid

2/9/2025, 10:18:18 PM | 163 13 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Paul Nadeau (@pauljnadeau.bsky.social) reposted

Like I've said before, Montreal is if New York City didn't suck

2/9/2025, 10:25:07 PM | 9 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

people on the other site looking at charts of Bluesky activity and being like "it's dead, jim" i just find it very amusing because like, Bluesky traffic is 10x more valuable compared to Twitter link traffic

2/9/2025, 6:02:32 PM | 112 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

2/9/2025, 6:09:02 PM | 48 7 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Yes.

2/9/2025, 10:07:23 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

Are we going to get footage?

2/9/2025, 7:16:22 PM | 57 6 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

"In order to ensure the energy security and continuing industrial stability, the American Republic will be reorganized into the first American Empire! For a safe and secure society!"

2/9/2025, 6:49:05 PM | 39 6 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture elias isquith (@eliasisquith.blog) reposted

this is why the second book of the Wolf Hall trilogy is titled “Bring Up the Bodies” - it was the call made before Anne and her “conspirators” were “brought up” and executed.

2/9/2025, 6:49:33 PM | 8 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

i love how this would be extremely orientalist if not coming out of the mouth of Xi Jinping

JUST IN: Xi Jinping says, in meeting with India's Modi, that it is 'time for the dragon and the elephant to dance together'. Last edited 6:43 AM · Aug 31, 2025 · 4.1M Views
2/9/2025, 7:36:37 PM | 171 11 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture elias isquith (@eliasisquith.blog) reposted

Pritzker is doing two things here that are smart. One, he's describing this forcefully and unapologetically and in his own terms, not adopting the Admin/media frame. Two, he's making clear that he will blame the Admin for any violence or disorder sparked by their invasion of his state.

2/9/2025, 8:20:29 PM | 2480 629 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

The most important word in Japan by far.

2/9/2025, 9:50:32 PM | 2 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Tobias Harris (@tobiasharris.bsky.social) reposted

I'm not the betting kind (to say the least) but Polymarket has Ishiba out by the end of the year at 39% and the end of September at 20% and that sounds like free money to me. polymarket.com/event/japan-...

2/9/2025, 9:28:31 PM | 8 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Yeah, "Weird" in the older sense of uncanny, fate. Like Macbeth's Weird Sisters.

2/9/2025, 5:32:52 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Wow! Did not know this. Man, Melville was such a genius.

2/9/2025, 5:29:30 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) reposted

Frederick Douglass on John Brown, 1881

If we look over the dates, places and men, for which this honor is claimed, we shall find that not Carolina, but Virginia - not Fort Sumpter, but Harper's Ferry and the arsenal - not Col. Anderson, but John Brown, began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic. Until this blow was struck, the prospect for freedom was dim, shadowy and uncertain. The irrepressible conflict was one of words, votes and compromises. When John Brown stretched forth his arm the sky was cleared. The time for compromises was gone — the armed hosts of freedom stood face to face over the chasm of a broken Union — and the clash of arms was at hand. The South staked all upon getting possession of the Federal Government, and failing to do that, drew the sword of rebellion and thus made her own, and not Brown's, the lost cause of the century.
2/9/2025, 4:53:51 PM | 788 195 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

Melville called John Brown "the meteor of the war" for a reason:

image
2/9/2025, 5:27:05 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Melville called John Brown "the meteor of the war" for a reason.

2/9/2025, 5:26:02 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

A Benedictine I knew once said, "Don't think of monasteries as places where holy people go to live--think of them more as spiritual ICUs (intensive care units)."

2/9/2025, 5:20:42 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

there's going to be an interesting dynamic here as American Christianity both declines and becomes more Pentecostal + non-denom (AOG is Pentecostal)

Here's Trump's vote share in 2024 among 31 different religious groups. The groups that supported Trump the most: Assemblies of God - 83% Non-denominationals - 82% Southern Baptists - 78% The least: Natl. Baptist Convention - 28% Agnostics - 20% Atheists - 10%
2/9/2025, 4:46:05 PM | 127 18 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

Haven't seen a single post about this! What am I doing wrong??? 😭

2/9/2025, 4:46:32 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

it's something that makes it clear that he basically doesn't know how to use this site and that he's swarmed by the MSNBC liberal types

2/9/2025, 4:41:52 PM | 23 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social) reply parent

"Guillotine Me," probably Robespierre at his most controversial.

2/9/2025, 4:36:32 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture elias isquith (@eliasisquith.blog) reposted

I'm not sure a post has ever been more expertly designed to get me going

2/9/2025, 3:11:33 PM | 16 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

I was raised in a Christian fundamentalist home, so I had to change my mind about A LOT of things over the course of my life. It wasn't easy. It was actually very painful. Cognitive dissonance is not fun. It really strikes me that a lot of Americans just refuse to grow as people.

2/9/2025, 4:23:28 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

2/9/2025, 4:19:04 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alucard (悪魔城下町) (@akumajoukamachi.bsky.social)

"Plantation Scientist."

2/9/2025, 4:16:55 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Wandering Hoo (@wanderlib.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

They do not aspire to be better people. That is it. There's no desire to make oneself more than the sum of their parts. They're concerned with what is "popular" in the moment. It's a "view from nowhere" that rapidly turns into vapid foolishness.

2/9/2025, 3:54:10 PM | 19 2 | View on Bluesky | view