I'm looking for Pan in different cultures e.g. Egyptian, Irish, Aztec, African, Native American, Indian, Japanese, Chinese... Any and all I'm just looking for the names. I'm looking to do some research into them for a play I'm writing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

hey! i’m here hoping to make at least one connection! I’m looking to make some friends that I can write to at least through social media/ emails at first and maybe move onto post after! would love to speak to people from all over and even in different languages too (currently studying/ speak french, spanish, german, japanese and mandarin but happy to learn more too! a little about me-
~ I enjoy collecting Lego, plushies and little trinkets ~ I love cats so if you have one or a few it’s a bonus! ~ I play video games and watch anime in my spare time if I’m not playing bagpipes:)
that’s all I’ll put for now or else I’ll run out of stuff to say but hopefully I’m able to find someone who’s interested:) feel free to dm me!

I’ve been scrolling this sub for a few days and I see a lot of students panicking about the AP World Exam. Here are some tips from a teacher who has been teaching this course for the past decade.

1. Make sure you understand the rubrics for the essays. -Use APE for the SAQs (answer, provide evidence, explain how the evidence supports your answer) -an intro and two strong body paragraphs will get you a solid score on the LEQ -you can get a 7 on the DBQ with only 4 docs if your writing is strong. -If something like HIPP confuses you, SKIP IT! Use your time getting other points.
   
2. Focus less on memorizing dates and more on learning chronology.
   
3. When going over vocabulary, think about the SPICE-T theme and unit/time period it goes with. Here’s a gimkit game with 400 ish words gimkit vocab
   
4. At this point, focus on big events or trends. Causation is the skill that is tested the heaviest on the exam.
   
5. Still freaking out? Here are 10 events you should be able to explain:
   

-Increase use of trade routes during 1200-1450
-Growing power of land based empires
-Columbian exchange
-Political Revolutions during 1750-1900 (focus on Haiti and Lat. Am)
-Industrialization in East Asia during 1750-1900
-Imperialism
-WWI
-Cold War
-Decolonization
-Globalization

Or rather, in a dedicated repost, because silly me couldn't read the pinned post and wait a few hours before posting my text the first time.
​
After giving a proper rewrite to Ayano, it's now time to do the same for her love interest. But first, I must give my apologises. The title of my post is "Reworking Taro", but it's actually misleading because there was barely any work to redo to begin with. Ok, there was the easy jab at the original character. Reading my previous rewrite posts isn't necessary to understand this one, but would allow you to grasp the differences with the official game better. If you're too lazy to do so, just keep in mind that my rewrite is a bit more social-focused. Anyway, here's my full-fledged take on our senpai.

Just an ordinary upperclassman: Daiki Tanaka (田中 大樹)

Although Taro Yamada is a perfectly valid Japanese name, it's literally the Japanese equivalent of John Doe. This name just gives me the impression that nothing really matters about him, and that it isn't even worth the effort thinking about a proper name. That might have been the dev's intention, given Taro's characterisation in the game, but I personally can't consider being so lazy about the second most important character. So, rather than keeping this name that makes Senpai seem like some background character, I chose names that actually are very common in Japan in order to keep the "average guy" feeling. The most common Japanese surname is Sato (佐藤), but that sounded a bit too generic for me, so I opted for Tanaka (田中), another widespread name that you might already have seen in some anime. Surprisingly, despite also being common, Yamada (山田) doesn't even come close. For his first name, "Daiki" (written like this: 大樹) means "big tree". It's a fairly popular boy name during the last decades and doesn't refer to anything particular, except maybe the fact that he is a big brother.
Just like many other mediocre harem MC, the main problem with Taro is that he is extremely bland. There's literally nothing worth noticing about him. Now don't get me wrong, making one of your main characters an Average Joe isn't a bad thing in itself, and I know that a yandere having a crush on ordinary people is nothing uncommon in modern Japanese media. However, even the most boringly average person that you can think of still has defined personality, goals, and passions that makes them at least more interesting than a slice of stale bread. In our case, you could replace Taro with a random object and the story would still make as much sense, which usually isn't a good sign for a story meant to have a serious tone. Just like my name choice suggested it, I wanted my version of Taro to stay ordinary. However, I tried to flesh out the little characterization he originally has to make him stand out in his own way, so that the numerous girls' interest in him would feel a bit less unbelievable.
This is Daiki Tanaka, a 17-years old Japanese boy living with his parents and his little sister. Like many other Japanese high-schoolers, he goes to high school from Monday to Friday, attends classes, studies for his tests, and hopes he will be accepted in a good university. And just like many other teenagers, he is is having interrogations about what he wants to do after graduation, how his classmates view him, and whether he'll find himself a girlfriend. Clearly, he's just an average student. Among the typical students you can find in a school, Daiki is a hard-working one. Pressured both by his parents and himself to get the best opportunities he can to settle his future, he is self-conscious about his academic performances and is always trying to improve his grades. Thus, he preferred to remain clubless and spend his free time alone to focus on his studies. Most of the time, he is seen studying at the school library, or reading a book of classic literature next to the fountain. But behind this ordinary reserved bookworm loner appearance is a kind and cultivated boy with a strong sense of justice and a clear passion for the old texts he's reading, making him actually quite a charming person to spend time with for those who can see past his plain exterior. Ayano, of course, is one of those few people, but little did she know that she won't be the only one interested in her dear senpai.

Gameplay role

According to the wiki:

Gameplay-wise, Taro is more similar to a "moving obstacle" rather than a regular interactive student, as he cannot be interacted with normally.

And you see, to me, that's a big problem. You spend the entire game keeping rivals away from Senpai by killing them, making them uninterested in him, or ruining their reputation, and after all the bad experiences he had with those (rather) normal girls, you expect me to believe that the girl Senpai, the perfectly normal guy at all levels, ends up choosing is the creepy lonely student that he has barely spoken to? Nah, I don't buy it. This is why, in my rewrite, my Senpai would be (most of the time) considered as a regular student that you can actually interact with. That means, first, that Ayano wouldn’t get immediately flustered by him when approaching him. I understand that people, especially teenagers, can act shy, nervous, or a little clumsy when their crush are at sight, but seriously, the depiction of this behaviour in the game is completely ridiculous. So, in my hypothetical game, you will have a small amount of time where you will be able to act normally near Daiki and talk to him before your heart starts beating louder and the screen gradually turns pink. Past this point, things pretty much happen the same as in the official game, since Ayano is emotionally unstable. Naturally, the more you interact with Daiki, the longer you will be able to remain calm in his presence.
Now that Senpai can be interacted with, it’s time to explore the potential of this addition by giving him another feature regular students have: tasks. Even if you can withstand his aura a bit better than in the official game, most of the conversations you’ll have with him won’t be long due to Ayano’s shyness. So, if you want to befriend Daiki, those little errands are the key to increase your affinity with him. For a more immersive narration, Daiki's tasks won't be your usual fetch quests that you can accept or refuse, but small talk where you must pay attention and figure out what to do to by yourself. The tasks will be at first very simple, like bringing him his schoolbag that he forgot in his classroom or gifting him the book he wanted to buy. Then, as he feels more comfortable around you, he will start talking a bit more openly about his life and his preoccupations, naturally leading to more complex tasks with more vague formulations and less obvious solutions, such as helping him become less invisible among his classmates. What would be the point of doing all that, will you ask? Having a higher affinity with Daiki will allow Ayano to make him follow her if you need to tactically move him for one of your eliminations. He will also be more likely to reject the rivals’ love confessions in case you don’t have the time to deal with them yourself. Moreover, narrative-wise, I think having the main character interact with their love interest would be a more realistic and healthier depiction of romance in the story. Well, as “healthy” as a yandere can be. But of course, you could also completely ignore this mechanic and focus on eliminating if you want to.
Finally, I would like to improve the reactions he has regarding students' disappearances. Despite all those things happening near him, he is shocked for a bit and then just kinda... accept it like nothing strange happened? The second most important character of the game, ladies and gentlemen. I get it, Senpai is a loner, he is passive, and he is dense. But at this point, that's not being passive anymore, that's being a wooden plank. So, this is my take: Daiki's sense of justice and passion for literature gave him a natural curiosity for crimes because of its depiction in novels. When facing murder, he will mostly act according to the loner archetype. However, if too many deaths or disappearances near him stay unresolved by the police and his sanity is high enough, he will find the courage to take a more active role and investigate on the crimes himself. Obviously, Daiki won't be able to arrest anyone by himself, but he has the advantage of being directly at the crime place and closer to the people at school than the police. Thus, he could report them additional details that they might have missed, like a student acting stranger than usual, missing tools or places cleaner than usual. This could put you in trouble unless you cover your tracks very well, or just prevent him from investigating. And of course, I would also implement Senpai's sanity meter that has been promised for I don't know how much time (but honestly, are you still hoping for it to be implemented after all that happened?), although slightly reworked. Daiki's sanity would decrease with any person dying. The closer the person is to him, both physically and figuratively, the lower it would drop. The deaths that would affect him the most would thus be those of his sister, his childhood friend, or anyone murdered right in front of him. On the opposite, a random student dying at the other side of the school would barely have any effect. A low sanity would have various effects on Daiki depending on its value and the amount of time he has spent with the other students. Those effects could be taking private lessons due to his grades dropping, joining a certain club to feel safer, or shutting himself in at home in one of the worst scenarios. In any case, this would affect his routine. Just like in the official concept, he would be able to recover sanity with a long enough crimeless period or giving him gifts. Only now would the rivals also be able to use the later method to gain affection, making them act a bit more like romantic rivals. I hope you don't mind actually caring about your senpai's mental health.

Relationships with other characters

The rivals
Obviously, a reworked senpai means reworked dynamics with your main targets. Since detailing everything would be way too long for a single post, I'll just link here my take on the romantic rivals that I decided to keep in my hypothetical game, and here, what I'd do with the discarded ones. Since they are Daiki's closest people, and the most likely to affect his mood in the game, I'll still put here what I have in mind for my version of Osana and Hanako.
His sister
Just like his canon counterpart, Daiki loves his sister very much. A feeling that is reciprocated a bit too much. Unlike her brother who has a balanced lifestyle, the middle-schooler is a very clingy girl who can't imagine being away from him. She has the bad habit of leaving her school during lunchtime just to visit him, which greatly embarrasses Daiki. Even if he appreciates the time they spend together in the end, he knows that this behaviour is unhealthy, and hope that, one day, his sister will find the confidence to become more independent. In my rewrite, the little sister isn't a romantic rival, but someone that I'd call a "big obstacle", as her role is mainly to appear at random (or maybe not, I haven't decided yet) days during lunchtime and potentially mess up your planification for the day. You wouldn't want to kill someone in front of your crush's beloved sister, right?
His childhood friend
Daiki and his sister have known their neighbours' daughter for more than a decade. All three of them used to play together during their childhood. The neighbours' daughter is a brash and impulsive girl, whose personality clashes with Daiki's quieter nature. Despite frequently being at odds and arguing about trivial things, both of them deeply care about each other and would be the first person to help the other if they were having problems. Daiki and his friend didn't have many occasions to see each other since elementary school, until the girl coincidentally transferred to the same high school as him. Even if he is now more serious and reserved than before, deep inside, he is still the same kind boy that she knew. Now that they can once again spend much time together, the girl has come to realize she was in love with her dear friend, but her internal turmoil and her personality make it difficult for her to act sincere and confess her feelings. She stays otherwise pretty similar to Osana, except for the greater consequences when dealing with her by using lethal eliminations, and maybe the fact that she won't be the first rival to appear.
Budo (or whatever name I'll end up giving him)
Yes, you read it right. That guy that overshadows Senpai among the fans is one of his friends in my rewrite. Because even the most introverted individuals are able to develop relationships with people that aren't potential romantic interests. The leader of the martial arts club is an outgoing action-oriented boy who is pretty popular at school. Unlike Daiki, Budo always knew in his heart that his place would be in a dojo, and thus doesn't have much interest in academics. But despite having such different backgrounds and personalities, both boys share the same sense of justice and admiration toward heroes. When he's not attending classes, studying or reading, Daiki hangs out with Budo, and is sometimes invited to watch the martial arts club members practicing. If too many dangerous events happen around Daiki, Budo, as an aspiring hero and good friend, will propose to escort him at certain periods, becoming basically a part-time bodyguard.
Ayano
Nothing much to say here. Daiki unknowingly reminded Ayano, who has locked her heart for years, how great it is to have feelings when they first met, and now she wants to make sure nothing stands between them. How she will reach her ends is your decision. If she decides to spend time with him and do his tasks, he will think of her as a peculiar, but well-intentioned girl. Just like in canon, Daiki is oblivious to Ayano's feelings, but it's more due to the fact that they barely know each other.

Trivia

• Regarding his career choice, Daiki is hesitating between becoming an author, a lawyer or a criminologist.
• Like Taro, he also likes nature and gardening, but to a lesser extend.
• Sometimes, instead of a book of classic literature, you can see him reading the latest crime novel at the fountain. With a pen and a writing pad, because he's just that invested.
• Since he is friend with Budo, he sometimes feels too plain and boring compared to him regarding romance. If you use matchmaking to eliminate a rival, his self-consciousness will grow a bit stronger.
• He has never bought a panty shot from Info-chan, but honestly, do you really find this surprising, or even relevant? He has never even contacted Info-chan.
• I had quite the choice among popular Japanese boy names. Daiki could've been named "Yamato", "Daisuke", "Hiroto", "Yuto", "Yuu", or even "Satoshi" instead.
• In the official game, if Ayano commits a crime in his sight while wearing a mask, Taro will rip the mask off her face with no regard for his safety or his character consistency. I would like to get rid of this behaviour for Daiki, except for one specific circumstance.

​
And that was my full-fledged take on Taro. When you have an ordinary person as a character in the middle of very colourful ones, the key to make the public care about him is to give them tangible preoccupations that, even if they aren't always relatable, make this character at least feel like a real person with human struggles and dreams, and not just a barebone plot device. And that might seems obvious, but if you have to write a love interest, make sure you actually show your public what your main character likes about him. That's even more important in the case where many people are attracted to this character. I tried to take those two things into account when rewriting Taro, and I know it's far from perfect, so don't hesitate to tell me what I should improve. In any case, if you made it to the end, thank you for taking the time to read this long post. I hope I'll find the motivation to do the same with other characters.

I'll propose why story telling through an anki deck could be more effective than word frequency.
TL;DR: Relevance of word frequency degrades quickly, stories aid learning and stories need words for things characters can touch and interact with. The low frequency of a word like "sword" is less important than its role for story telling.
Intro
I'm using Kaishi 1.5k deck to learn Japanese and it's impressive how they managed to put all the words in the deck together in coherent phrases.
A great effort was made to trim out the noise and stick just to the words on the deck. Well rounded deck, some solid work went into it. After a few sessions I could parse out example phrases that seemed impenetrable just days before.
However I've noticed a lot of the words are outside the realm of concrete. Words like "already" or "not at all", they aren't things like "apple" or "table". You can just close your eyes and imagine the shape and color of an apple, you can't do that with "already".
I suppose that's due to the deck sticking to the 1500 most common words. I think "most common" words are overrated.
The shortcomings of sticking to building a deck from most common words in a language:

• Reason 1 is because a lot of the most common words are also multi-purpose words and so are context dependent or serve functions to add context. A "concrete" word like apple is the grounding to which more abstract words like "already" are anchored to. These "abstract" words need something solid to stick to, which IMO helps committing them to memory.
  
• Reason 2 is because we can't really start creating our own phrases phrases about our lives when all the words we know don't really describe anything in the real world. I think having the tools to start talking and thinking about ourselves is great for self esteem learning a language as well as to help the learner eventually approach graded readers.
  

Graded readers will often start with the most familiar everyday situations common across different countries.

• Lastly, reason 3 is that the way word frequency happens in a language makes it so the 100th most common word isn't much less common than the 50th most common word.

Word frequency in a language happens like this:
Let's say the most common frequent word in a text appears 370 times. The 50th most frequent word is likely to appear 370/50 times (7.4 instances), the 100th will appear 370/100 times (3.7 instances). Since there's no such thing as .4 of a word, let's round it to one word appearing 7 times and another 4 times. Numerically one is nearly double the other, realistically the difference isn't noticeable when you consider the restraints of our memory.
It's even worse when you realize even the most common word is going to be something like less than 7% of the whole text. In English that's "the". So if "the" appears 370 times, the text likely has 5692 words, that's like 5 issues of a comic book. Across five issues you see the 50th most common word appearing 7 times.
In text with tens of thousands of words this difference is meaningless.
The difference degrades even further when we compare 500th to 1000th most frequent word. The 500th most frequent word is likely to be 0.002% of a body a text, the 1000th most frequent will be 0.001%. Sure, one is TWICE as much as the other, but they're both so rare we can't really tell the difference anymore.
This is a weird surprising (but consistent) observation called Zipf's law
An alternative to most common words
Common words are useful, but I guess they aren't as important as their rank in a language. So what to pick then?
Choosing the most common words is definitely the most neutral and objective way to compile words. But the real world is not about neutral and objective situations. The news, entertainment, conversations online, none of that is neutral and objective.
Stories aren't neutral and objective.
One aspect of learning that I've never seen in an Anki deck is story telling.
Stories are a natural mnemonic and help build context which helps learning. Stories can also have emotional aspects to them. Story and emotion are two great enhancers to learning. I say this as someone who's been teaching English as a second language for a decade now.
You can't tell a story without a setting, and a setting demands that we use words for concrete things. Things we touch and interact with, people, professions, places, etc.
A trade-off is in order: abandon some of the most common words, replace them with words to help build a story. The benefit of the trade-off is creating context and emotional impact, which I believe far outweighs learning the most common words.
I think a nice Anki deck could build a story into it, using some of the most common words yes, but also using words that describe a place and real things. The story doesn't need to be told linearly. Bits and pieces here and there that eventually are pieced together by the user and build a cohesive story.
Why not just set the Anki story into some fantasy word, be not afraid to use words that are borderline useless in real life like "sword" or "tiger" as the grounding, and mix up the most common words along the way.
Why not take the story of an already existing movie or TV show and make a deck out of it. Not like a deck with words that appear on Breaking Bad, but a beginners deck that just happens to use Breaking Bad as scaffolding for story telling.
If I were to make an English Anki deck I'd probably use words that are often part of song lyrics or TV dramas. Maybe I'd write in a shoddy crime show of my own into the deck. Maybe I'd use just use The Sopranos.
"This is Tony Soprano", says on card. "Tony has two children", says another.
Either that or go with the setting I suggested earlier, for familiar real life situations common in graded readers.

Why should we care?

Zen and Science are both less popular than Neo-Christian New Age on social media. I think this is do in large part to Ttump's Presidency, which encouraged people across the political spectrum to believe what they felt should be true, rather than reason from facts.
This "feelings over facts" was especially true for people who, 60+ years later, are still getting their information about Zen, China, Buddhism, etc. from the likes of Japanese Buddhists, Alan Watts, and other long ago debunked claims: www.reddit.com//zen/wiki/fraudulent_texts. Nazis. Who the @#$# would believe that Nazi scholarship on Japan would be a basis for understand Zen history over Blue Cliff Record?
Yet a Neo-Christian New Ager is currently sitting at 19 upvotes on our front page, despite admitting in the comments that he had no evidence in support of his claims.

How do Zen and Science contrast with Neo-Christian New Age?

1. Demonstrations in reality as opposed to "I’ll take my mystical experience and realization over decades of poring over books for the truth"
   
   • Science is based on collecting data and replicating others' data collection
   • Zen is a tradition of public interview, with 1,000 years of data collection in the form of historical records, mostly transcripts.
   • Neo-Christian New Age is about mystical experience, not anything from reality that could be written in a book.
2. Zen and Science acknowledge history, Neo-Christian New Age has anti-historical claims
   
   • Zen Masters and science talk about what we agree happened. Neo-Christian New age invents history
3. Zen and Science talk about finding truth in reality. Neo-Christian new age talks about mysticism as the basis for truth
   
   • Foyan, in particular, rejects mysticism in the way Huangbo rejects Buddhism.

Foyan Wrekks Neo-Christian New Age "mysticismers"

Some people immediately declare, “ I have nothing to say at all, and no reason either.” They do not realize this is in fact a rationalization!

• If you can't answer questions, excuses/rationalizations won't save you.

They make a cliche of "your own mind" and then try to use mind to realize mind.

• Without cliches, mysticismers will fall apart. How often they try to sound original, but fail.

There is another type of Zen teacher who tells people not to make logical assessments, that they lose contact the minute they speak, and should recognize the primordial. This kind of “ teacher” has no explanation at all.

• Mysticismers brag about there being "no possible explanation"... that's fine in churcher forums... but not in secular forums.

.

Welcome! ewk comment: Foyan has a ton of these... he's very down to earth, materialistic even. Like Huangbo is anti-Buddhist. Still, if you don't read the book, what will you have to discuss?

I tells ya, so much falls into place here. This comes from Helen Hardacre's book Kurozumikyō and the New Religions of Japan, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1986. First, some background:

The contemporary religious scene in Japan is commonly divided into the "established religions" (kisei shūkyō) and the "new religions" (shinshūkō). These categories are further divided into Buddhist- and Shintō-derived varieties of each as well as into further subcategories.

The titular "Kurozumikyō" is a Shintō new religion founded in 1814 by the Shintō priest Kurozumi Munetada. As of this publication, it had a total membership of 220,000.

Founded by a priest of the "established" Shintō tradition, it is one of the oldest of the so-called new religions and seems to combine aspects of both new and established types. (p. 3)
THE NEW RELIGIONS OF JAPAN
The new religions and their members represent an important and distinctive sector of Japanese society. In spite of the great variety of their doctrines, new religions share a unity of aspiration and world view significantly different from those of secular society and from the so-called established religions. New religions constitute the most vital sector of Japanese religion today and include perhaps 30 percent of the nation's population in their membership. (p. 3)

A source I read recently noted that the Soka Gakkai grew from poaching members of other new religions; it seems this demographic was the most fluid and changeable of Japan's religious demographic. However, at just 30% of the population, even if the Soka Gakkai had managed to claim 100% of these new religions' memberships, it would still have fallen short of Ikeda's self-defined minimum requirement of 1/3 of the population.

Among the doctrines of the new religions there is great variety, since doctrine frequently originates in revelations to a founder. (p. 5)

Here is the Soka Gakkai's version:

• The enlightenment attained by President Toda in prison is the prime point of Soka Buddhism.

Founders tend to be charismatic individuals who attract a following through faith healing rather than through ordination and textual erudition.

The Soka Gakkai version:

• Ikeda: "Every disease can be cured by Gohonzon!"

Also here and here and especially HERE - DEFINITELY with the "faith healing".
As far as the "textual erudition" goes, Toda's post-WWII lectures on the Lotus Sutra were expected to be accepted as the "gold standard" of textual interpretation, and today, SGI members study Ikeda's lectures on texts rather than the texts themselves - see here and here. Who needs any priest??

The new religions tend to recruit their following through evangelistic proselytization and dramatic conversion, at least in the first generation. They promise followers "this-worldly-benefits" in the form of healing, solution of family problems, and material prosperity. In ethics they emphasize family solidarity and qualities of sincerity, frugality, harmony, diligence, and filial piety. Between laity and leaders there is only a vague dividing line, and for the most part, anyone may acquire leadership credentials, including women. Frequently the new religions recognize no sacred centers but those of their own history. (pp. 5-6)

While the Soka Gakkai initially embraced pilgrimages ("tozan") to the Nichiren Shoshu Head Temple Taiseki-ji, their regular activities were centered on Soka Gakkai buildings ("kaikan", or "centers") rather than on Nichiren Shoshu temples. In fact, this was an early source of conflict, as the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood justifiably questioned WHY the Soka Gakkai was putting so much more effort and resources into building NEW Soka Gakkai centers than on building Nichiren Shoshu temples, which would have been the proper function of any religion's legitimate lay organization. Add to that the bad optics of Ikeda's cult's attempted steeplejacking of established Nichiren Shoshu temples, and there was DEFINITELY something rotten in Denmark, so to speak. The Soka Gakkai's focus was trained on IKEDA rather than on the priests of the order they supposedly belonged to as a lay organization. That's some fucked up priorities and it was only a matter of time before that became an open, obvious problem. Of course Ikeda hoped to delay that reckoning until he was in a position to seize the entire Nichiren Shoshu religion for himself. Too bad, so sad, the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood headed him off at the pass and spoiled all his beautiful plots.

The world view of the Japanese new religions conceives of the individual, society, nature, and the universe as an integrated system vitalized by a single principle. Every level represents the manifestation of that principle on a larger scale. The relationships among the levels, however, are not static. They must be maintained in balance, harmony, and congruence. These qualities are manifested in conditions of happiness, health, social stability, abundant harvests, and regular succession of the seasons (free of such calamities as flood, drought, and major earthquakes). The opposite conditions (unhappiness, illness, social unrest, scarcity of food, and natural disasters) are symptomatic of a lack of harmony or congruence. Everything is interconnected so that a change in one dimension, no matter how small, eventually ripples out and affects other dimensions in a larger context. Religious practice is a striving for continuous integration of self with the body, society, nature, and the universe. This involves careful management of the most basic components: the self, the faculties of mind and emotion, and the personality. (pp. 11-12)

This thinking was the basis for Nichiren's Rissho Ankoku Ron, or "On Establishing the etc. & whatever".
Here is the chart that illustrates this thinking; you can clearly see the basis for "A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind". There is no scientific basis for this kind of delusion; ignorant people just LIKE believing it. "Look how IMPORTANT and INFLUENTIAL I am!! Everything is all about MEEE!!!" The Soka Gakkai has been in existence (in a continuous state) for some 80 years now; if this sort of thing DID happen, we'd see it. We already know Ikeda had such high hopes for his followers, but the truth is that the membership never lived up to Ikeda's expectations. No "world leaders" emerged from Soka Gakkai ranks; they didn't even become rich! That simply isn't something that happens because of "this practice", no matter how much Ikeda misled all the gullibles. Daimoku is obviously NOT "the perfect solution for all problems".

Although the new religions inevitably adopt the system I have just described, they state it in different idioms. They may use Buddhist, Shintō, or colloquial terms for the self, calling it variously the kokoro (heart-mind or heart), konjō (guts), *reikon (spirit), tamashii (soul), and other terms. Similarly, they may name the principle vitalizing all existence by Shintō, Buddhist, or other terms: kami-nature, Buddha-nature, karma, ki, yōki, and so forth. They may predicate the existence of a variety of supernaturals who exist on a different plane than human beings, intervening in human affairs from time to time. These may be kami, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or ancestors. Alien to the system is the notion of a single deity standing outside the whole and manipulating it by means of an unknowable will. The supernaturals of the integrated system are subject to its rhythms and generally conform to its principles. The system is compatible with a variety of cosmological ideas and world pictures, including horizontal and vertical cosmologies seen in Japanese myths and in Buddhism's many-tiered realms of existence. (pp. 12-14)
Because self-cultivation is the primary task of all, textual erudition, esoteric ritual, and the observance of abstinences are rejected or relegated to secondary significance.

Because "Earthly desires ARE enlightenment", right?? And all that other Buddhism stuff, well, that's all obsolete now, "as useless as last year's calendar", right??

The notion of kokoro is a hallmark of Japanese culture, and it is the central pillar of the world view of the new religions. Consider the following proverb, one that could be endorsed by the new religions and is a stock saying in secular society: "Both suffering and happiness depend on how we bear the kokoro." Kokoro is borne or carried in a certain way, good or bad, and according to that we suffer or are happy. We are in control. An ordinary, nonreligious interpretation of this proverb would say that our attitude toward circumstances determines in large part whether we are happy or unhappy, or that an attitude of "positive thinking" can improve our experience of unfavorable situations even if the circumstances are not thereby altered. (p. 19)

You can see Ikeda alluding to this here:

Even a man who has great wealth, social recognition and many awards may still be shadowed by indescribable suffering deep in his heart. On the other hand, an elderly woman who is not fortunate financially, leading a simple life alone, may feel the sun of joy and happiness rising in her heart each day.

An interpretation of the proverb among the new religions is likely to be much stronger, to hold that human beings certainly have the power to be happy, depending solely on the manner in which one bears kokoro. We need only exercise that power by self-cultivation.

And remember - NO COMPLAINING!!

Moreover, the idea that circumstances can be changed by the power of diligently cultivated kokoro is pervasive. It is a question not only of a change of attitude but sometimes of radical material change, such as an improvement in economic situation or a miraculous healing. It is understood that the cultivated kokoro has the power also to change external persons and events, and that nothing is impossible. Exercising the full power fo the kokoro is possible for anyone who practices self-cultivation through the spiritual disciplines of the particular religious group. (pp. 19-20)

Isn't that the whole basis for the idea of "human revolution"? How else could anyone understand "You can chant for whatever you want!"? Don't the Dead-Ikeda-cult SGI culties love to talk about "making the impossible possible"?? Hmm..I wonder why they never do...🤨
Here Ikeda likens the Soka Gakkai practice to the magic lamp of the "Aladdin" story. And it only works for Soka Gakkai members, of course.

We chant to make the impossible possible, we want extraordinary, not ordinary. Let's get those benefits flowing, let's appreciate those challenges that allow us to grow and win and share those victories with others so that they can be inspired and win. Source

While the terminology of the self is basic to understanding Japanese constructions of self, the patterns of action and affect in which these are embedded constitute the functioning of the world view of the new religions. Here I identify four such patterns:

(1) the idea that "other people are mirrors,"

(2) the exchange of gratitude and repayment of favor,
(3) the quest for sincerity, and
(4) the adherence to paths of self-cultivation.
So much for the supposed "novelty" of Dickeata's supposedly eternal "clear mirror guidance", eh? Oh, and EVERYBODY owes Scamsei and the SGI their eternal gratitude, too, and you NEVER EVER get to finish your "human revolution" ("self-cultivation")!

Each of these patterns represents an indispensable element of Japanese culture, and thus their implementation in Japanese religions is not unique. (p. 21)

Nope. The Soka Gakkai is just bog standard for a Japanese New Religion. Nothing unique or special. Just like all the rest.

The idea that other people are mirrors makes the individual totally responsible in all circumstances. Although the burden is heavy, there is also a tacit message that the self can control any situation. Placing blame and responsibility on the individual also denies the idea that "society" can be blamed for one's problems; hence concepts of exploitation and discrimination are ruled out of consideration. On the whole the new religions are uninterested in political action to improve society; to them it is a question of individuals improving themselves individually and collectively through self-cultivation. (p. 23)

Remember, this author ISN'T talking about Soka Gakkai here! This a feature of ALL Japan's new religions!

Since self-cultivation is the primary determiner of all human affairs, notions of fate or divine wrath (karma or bachi, for example) are reinterpreted, ignored, or denied.

Or introduced when necessary to blame a member when the promises of SGI leaders are proven empty and false. It's always the MEMBERSHIP's fault somehow, never that the teachings are wrong or deceptive.

In like manner, because of the primacy of self-cultivation, the concept of pollution cannot be fully credited, and this opens the door to greater participation by women than is the case in the established religions.

In the case of the Soka Gakkai, "greater participation by women" has been implemented as "greater exploitation of women". The women of the Soka Gakkai were expected to deliver daily newspapers for no pay throughout the Soka Gakkai's history; it is only recently that their numbers have declined so catastrophically and they have aged so much that the Soka Gakkai finally had to contract with a delivery service - which of course Soka Gakkai has to PAY now. Newspapers are SO much more profitable when you can find some suckers to deliver them at no cost to YOU!

Thus the new religions stress unquestioning performance of their established disciplines, fully aware that the demand for uncomprehending obedience (at least iat the beginning) will cause the convert frustration. Also involved as a minor theme is the pedagogical principle that "physical action can be perceived as isomorphic with spiritual change." Thus, for example, polishing floors can be assumed to "polish" the self. If one enters through form, eventually the kokoro will follow.

Speaking of exploiting women, who else heard that when women were cleaning the toilets for free at the local SGI center, they were "cleaning their karma"??

The hardship entailed is not to be avoided; no one denies that it is punishing to polish floors by hand, recite sutras, or endure cold water ablutions. Hardship in itself is virtuous and confers compassion and maturity.

Isn't that the essence of SGI's much-vaunted "youth division training"? Basically, it's SGI leaders getting off on forcing young people to do all sorts of scut work and to engage in unpleasant activities just because they can - somebody has to do the grunt work, right? Make THEM do it! Tell them it's "training" when actually it's just training them to allow themselves to be exploited. For a funny example of this attitude, see how this colossal doofus was trying to cajole and coerce his employee into joining SGI before he aged out of the youth division, so he could get him some of that gooooood "youth division training"!!

Meanwhile, now I worry about Chad, who has only a few months left to obtain YMD training, to whom I had to slip September Living Buddhism under his door, since his subscription is on the internet, and I want him to start working on the Introductory Exam material. Yesterday he did not answer or reply when he was supposed to be at work. (He is paid per day of work from his home.) Today when I arrived he was not even there. So I have been chanting for his welfare. He recently reported to me a medical difficulty he has that may be interfering with his efforts, or worse.

That's ONE way to duck an annoying self-important SGI stalker-nag! "Sorry, can't talk - have the plague..."

All the new religions agree that a person's real potential cannot be fulfilled without suffering, and in this they share with secular society the suspicion about someone who has failed that perhaps kurō ga tarinai, "the person hasn't suffered enough." That is, if one had endured sufficient trials before the present ordeal, one could have conquered this hardship. Accordingly it is important to establish how much leaders and founders have suffered in the course of their own self-cultivation. (p. 28)

See More myths about how the young Ikeda suffered so much and was so sickly wah wah

All problems can be traced to insufficient cultivation of self. Thus it is misguided to expect fundamental social change from political ideology. Instead, society can be improved only through collective moral improvement, the doctrine of meliorism. Similarly, attempting to cure disease simply by treating the body alone is useless. Healing can come about only through rededication to ethical values; hence medicine is effective only in a provisional way. Education and secular achievements apart from faith and cultivation of self are houses of cards, castles on sand. Accordingly, media-sponsored presentation of thoroughly secularized views of life are disapproved. (p. 14)

You can see the clearest examples of this thinking in the teachings of Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai from the 1960s, before people understood how immediate and pervasive "political ideology" could effect fundamental social change, as in the US when the anti-race-mixing "anti-miscegenation" interracial marriage legal prohibitions were swept away in the US Supreme Court's 1967 judgment on "Loving v. Virginia". That changed society more fundamentally and pervasively than any religion's doctrines that people's "hearts" must be changed FIRST before anyone could hope to see societal change realized, or in the terms above, "collective moral improvement". No. Remove unjust laws and establish penalties for behaving unjustly, and voilà! Society changes!
See SGI is actively OPPOSED to social justice and thus will NEVER contribute meaningfully to world peace and More on why SGI will never make any significant changes to society.
Back when Japan's medical system was primitive, with limited availability, the new religions advertised "faith healing", as seen above and here. But as medical care improved and, most importantly, became widely accessible, that became people's healing option of choice, so the new religions (and all the rest) had to drop it as a selling point, because nobody was buying it any more. Within the ignorant and indoctrinated ranks of SGI members, we can STILL see claims of "faith healing"; they apparently don't realize this isn't a compelling sales pitch any more. Except that in house, the superstitious, magical-thinking culties still eat it up with a spoon 🙄
But you can see Ikeda here explaining that medicine is unnecessary to treat various ills; there must be a "faith" component or the treatment will inevitably be ineffective. OR that having faith will make even a nonsensical nontreatment effective! Also slamming medicine as harmful and condemning members as somehow "deserving" of terrible illnesses.
And remember when Ikeda told "girls" they didn't need to go to college? That was fun. And how Icky denigrated university graduates??
Let's not forget how the Soka Gakkai has always been anti-union and has never established any charitable services anywhere, not even for the needy within its own struggling membership.

Lacking justification for a strong differentiation between the religious lives of priests and laity, the tendency to make the laity central is strong and pervasive. (p. 14)

This was a primary issue within the Soka Gakkai that festered until Ikeda brought it to a full boil out of his obsessive desire to BE the object of worship. The Soka Gakkai/Nichiren Shoshu alliance, while expedient for the Soka Gakkai and undeniably profitable for Nichiren Shoshu, was nonetheless an uneasy alliance, given the Soka Gakkai's defining characteristics as a "new religion" and Nichiren Shoshu's "established religion" status. Those two simply don't mix. Especially on this last point, you can see that it is a characteristic of a "new religion" to have the fundamental attitude that "priests are unnecessary". Ikeda simply wanted to USE Nichiren Shoshu for his OWN convenience, in service to HIS plans, instead of directing the Soka Gakkai to function as a legitimate lay organization whose focus was their religion, Nichiren Shoshu. Ikeda made it all about himself and his goal of maximizing his own power and control. Ikeda was never a religious person.

Quick tags and notes: [Not looking to replace anyone. OC x OC only. ] -Current cravings involve an fxf with a big buff oni oc of mine I've recently written!
Pairings: [FxF] [MxM] [NBxM] [NBxF] [NBxNB] [FxM]
Welcome Genres: [Fantasy] [Romance] [Historical] [Modern] [SOL] [Drama] [Horror]
Who I am: I'm JJ! A 25 year old roleplayer of over a decade. I'm nonbinary, have autism, adhd, and I really enjoy writing as a way to explore my creative ideas and socialize with others via common interests. I live in the EST Timezone.
Special interests: My main one that often connects to roleplays I do is japanese history and culture, particularly mythology and religion. I have a similar interest in chinese and other asian mythologies as well as bits and pieces from many cultures.
Other favored rp tropes/plots/subjects: I'm really into plots involving royalty and tend to vibe more with medieval or premodern settings. Opposites attract is one of my favorite tropes.
Writing details/habits: While I don't claim to be the most skilled or amazing writer, I am very passionate about it and do genuinely enjoy writing. I only write in 3rd person but tense can get a little tricky for me so I don't tend to be a stickler for perfect grammar or spelling, so long as I understand what's going on and effort was put in. As much as I'd like to say that length doesn't matter, the more you're capable of writing, the better. This isn't saying that you have to bust out a 5,000 word essay every response or even that I expect a majority of posts to be super long, especially if there isn't much going on to write about. But I can go past the discord character limit 2 or 3 times over in a post before I've written everything I want to get into my reply and I'd like a partner that can go as hard as I do in writing when the situation calls for it.
Schedules and Reply Frequency: I'm a stay at home fiance and that allows me a good bit of freedom when it comes to my schedule, but I also tend to put replying to rps lower on my priority list. Taking care of my family and myself will always come first, plus the adhd and autism can affect my attention span or level of burnout pretty significantly, so while I do my best and do love rping, I like to take my time and welcome ppl to ping me for an update if they want it, as that's what I normally do as well. I might not be around as frequently some days, it really just depends on what comes up and how I'm feeling.
If you're interested: please be 19+ years old and have discord. Please try to incorporate the type of info i shared in your message to me. Accepted pairings, genres, who you are, what your interests are, favorite plots/tropes, writing habits and/or details, reply frequency, and any questions/anything you want from my reply to your welcome message!

Hi! So I wanted a little advice; my application is pretty incomplete but I'm hoping based on my projected stats, someone can tell me whether I should wait another semester to transfer or not. School suggestions are great too! Am I cooked/delusional?
19F. Hooks: LGBT, abuse survivor, father passed away at 17, small business/not for profit owner single mother
Low-income. SAI is -1500 on our FAFSA LOL.
Bad SAT (1380 750 EBRW) Not submitting/not retaking I will never do that to myself again
I expect good essays/LOR's. I adore my professors/am close with them and I'm a strong writer.
College stats:
Current college: low-ranked public university in NC, though I'm actually OOS
College GPA: 4.0 (only one 12-credit semester though; I started spring 2024 after a gap semester due to family and financial issues)
Major: Political science (CAS)
College EC's: Secretary of my school's College Dems, where we've hosted multiple statewide political candidates (including the dem candidate for governor) and regularly partner with our county's Democratic Party as well; participating in theatre club; campus job at university writing center. Possibly: leadership position at College Dems of America; paid acting job over the summer. Little stuff: I write creatively often, probably totaling up to 200k words. I translate stories and song lyrics from a Japanese video game and publish said translations for English-speaking fans.
Extra: my polisci prof personally gave me permission to enroll in his 3000 class and I'm taking a separate 3000 level poli sci class too. I'm starting at Japanese level III next semester as well after having a conversation with the prof due to my experience from high school. I'm taking 9 credits this summer at my local CC.
HS stats:
Homeschooled with 3.96/4.0 UW GPA. Advanced classes like AP's and IB weren't available to me so it's pretty weak.
EC's: Over 200 service hours with my theatre, mostly helping kids with a theatre not for profit; I was a contracted stage manager for a pretty big theater in my area (not the one I volunteered at), calling cues for a children's theatre show that showed to over 20,000 kids over the course of its run; performed in and assisted backstage for musical theatre shows for over 10 years, including many lead roles; performed in "sensory-inclusive" shows meant to make theatre accessible to those on the autism spectrum; I wrote and coded choose-your-own-adventure stories in my free time, which garnered over 20k views; I self-studied Japanese and am fluent up to N3 or so.
Reason for transferring: I can't minor in acting, which is really important to me and theatre is still a huge part of my life; it's very difficult to get involved in the theatre department here if you're a non-major. The department for poli sci isn't great. There is very little focus on academics, student involvement, and extracurriculars. Stuff I'm not mentioning: I need more financial aid and I feel unsafe in the area the school is in. Any time I've gone to the school for mental/physical health, financial or career help, it's been a joke.
Applying to: W&M, UVA, NCSU, UNC, BU, URichmond, URoch, Union College, Trinity College, etc.
Sorry for the yap-fest! Am I cooked? Should I wait for Fall 2025 instead? Thank you in advance for reading, lots of love and luck to you all!

Quick tags and notes: [Not looking to replace anyone. OC x OC only. ]
Pairings: [MxM] [FxF] [NBxM] [NBxF] [NBxNB] [FxM]
Welcome Genres: [Fantasy] [Romance] [Historical] [Modern] [SOL] [Drama] [Horror]
Who I am: I'm JJ! A 25 year old roleplayer of over a decade. I'm nonbinary, have autism, adhd, and I really enjoy writing as a way to explore my creative ideas and socialize with others via common interests. I live in the EST Timezone.
Special interests: My main one that often connects to roleplays I do is japanese history and culture, particularly mythology and religion. I have a similar interest in chinese and other asian mythologies as well as bits and pieces from many cultures.
Other favored rp tropes/plots/subjects: I'm really into plots involving royalty and tend to vibe more with medieval or premodern settings. Opposites attract is one of my favorite tropes.
Writing details/habits: While I don't claim to be the most skilled or amazing writer, I am very passionate about it and do genuinely enjoy writing. I only write in 3rd person but tense can get a little tricky for me so I don't tend to be a stickler for perfect grammar or spelling, so long as I understand what's going on and effort was put in. As much as I'd like to say that length doesn't matter, the more you're capable of writing, the better. This isn't saying that you have to bust out a 5,000 word essay every response or even that I expect a majority of posts to be super long, especially if there isn't much going on to write about. But I can go past the discord character limit 2 or 3 times over in a post before I've written everything I want to get into my reply and I'd like a partner that can go as hard as I do in writing when the situation calls for it.
Schedules and Reply Frequency: I'm a stay at home fiance and that allows me a good bit of freedom when it comes to my schedule, but I also tend to put replying to rps lower on my priority list. Taking care of my family and myself will always come first, plus the adhd and autism can affect my attention span or level of burnout pretty significantly, so while I do my best and do love rping, I like to take my time and welcome ppl to ping me for an update if they want it, as that's what I normally do as well. I might not be around as frequently some days, it really just depends on what comes up and how I'm feeling.
If you're interested: please be 19+ years old and have discord. Please try to incorporate the type of info i shared in your message to me. Accepted pairings, genres, who you are, what your interests are, favorite plots/tropes, writing habits and/or details, reply frequency, and any questions/anything you want from my reply to your welcome message!

Let's go on a journey together. It's 1997. Final Fantasy VII is about to release, and you don't know a thing about it except you saw this picture in some magazine and thought "Wow, what a cutie! I hope she's the love interest!".
On this journey, we are going to track how good you feel about that statement as you play through Final Fantasy VII. You're a person with pretty good media instincts, you've got your memory card clean and ready for a new save, and you slot in Disk 1 of 3 to begin your adventure as Pink Girl #1 Fan.
TL;DR: It's Tifa, but you didn't start out thinking that.

Part 1: Can't Stop Winning

...Things are looking great! It just so happens Pink Girl is the very first character you see in the game. Writers use the order of character introduction to convey the relative importance of the cast. Someone introduced among the first (or among the last) of a main cast often imply they are among the most important. What's more, this is often extended to a concept called First Girl Wins, where the first girl our hero meets is the love interest.
You play through the game, sticking with the default name choice of Cloud, learning a bit about our cold mercenary hero. He's a cool guy, and he's only in this for the money--although you can probably guess he'll be pulled into the emotional stakes before long. While there is one other girl who technically meet Cloud first, you can judge from her design that she's just a sidekick character with little prominence, especially when compared with her leader, Barret's far more unique and interesting look. So she can be rather disregarded as a non-love interest type.
And, just as you hoped, Pink Girl ends up being the first potential love interest Cloud meets! They even get a little Meet Cute, complete with the little awkwardness and surprise these meetings often have. You may be surprised to find there's a bit of a dialogue system when it comes to her, allowing you, as the player, to ignore her. But you're Pink Girl #1 Fan, so of course you choose to talk with her a bit before you go on your way.
But a bit of a curveball: once you make it to the Sector 7 Slums, you meet another girl, Tifa, this time with a unique design. What's worse, she's Cloud's childhood friend. That's worrying--childhood friend romances are pretty common, especially in Japanese media. You're a bit relieved that instead of getting her own unique introduction, she is introduced aside a little girl character as well, and among a group of characters you already know. It seems the game is downplaying her relative importance, highlighted by the fact you have the choice to give the flower you bought from Pink Girl to either her or the little girl... and you'll probably be naturally inclined to give it to the little girl, since giving Tifa the flower is a bit forward and you just inadvertently scared the little girl.
You are given a moment to talk to Tifa alone. This is definitely an important moment in understanding the point of her character--it's here you'd expect the game to establish whether she should be perceived as an actual love interest to Cloud or not. And, you, Pink Girl #1 Fan, are relieved. Cloud is standoffish towards her, eager to leave even without waiting for payment. Tifa tries to appeal to him on the basis of their past relationship, and that doesn't work. Finally Tifa has to remind him about some promise they made--a promise that Cloud notably forgot. All-in-all, the writing seems to be communicating to us "Cloud is very important to Tifa, but Tifa is less important to Cloud". Based on what you've learned about the game so far, the most likely role for Tifa to take is as a love rival, not a love interest herself.
You will go on a mission with her and Barret, but won't spend too much personal time with her there. There was some optional flirtatious lines, but, again, being so forward it feels a bit unnatural to pick them. You've yet to see further sign of Pink Girl, but are finally rewarded for your patience with yet another Meet Cute! That's right, Pink Girl--who you now know is named Aeris--is so important she gets three unique introductions, and two Meet Cutes! The third is, appropriately, the most substantial, set in what is so far the only beautiful place you've seen in the game. When Aeris comes under threat, you might note a pretty significant change in our hero's attitude. Instead of his usual "pay me now!" approach, he implicitly agrees to protect Aeris with no more promise than a single date. Cloud is also much more light-hearted, he jokes, and laughs, and seems to suddenly open up a bit more to Aeris than he did even to his childhood friend Tifa.
So far, it's looking great! Pretty much case closed, right? All signs point to Aeris as the main love interest, Tifa as the love rival. You'll get to spend a whole sequence basically going on a date with Aeris (to save Tifa, but still, that's just the pretext for Aeris time), with multiple NPCs commenting about how couple-y you look. Then, when Aeris is kidnapped, Cloud immediately jumps forward wanting to rescue her! No talking about money at all, he seems to finally be invested in emotional stakes the way you thought he would earlier, and it's all thanks to Aeris! If you had to guess what Tifa's character arc is going to be, it's probably going to be about letting go of Cloud as this idyllic memory of a childhood love, accepting her defeat gracefully and finding happiness elsewhere. Our hero and heroine will reveal the extent of their feelings together, defeat the bad guy, save the Planet and--!
And...?
Uh...

Part 2: Sorry, What?

...did the love interest just... die? That can't be right? It's weirdly final though. She gets stabbed. The villain gloats. The hero mourns. The heroine doesn't even get to say any parting words of love to the hero... and you still have two disks left! Surely there's a way to bring her back, this really can't be happening. Love interests do sometimes die, but usually early in the story, or towards the end, but right in the middle of the story? She's got to come back.
But the heroes seem to be moving on a bit fast. The love interest is dead! The entire mood of the story should shift now towards grim determination... so how come you're snowboarding??? Ok maybe she's going to come back really soon, so they're not bothering to have the characters grieve. You have your chance to confront the villain again, this is the perfect time for the hero to wax poetic about his lost love and remind everyone exactly what he's fighting for... so, hey, what's with this?

But, Tifa...... But you said, 'Long time no see, Cloud' right? Those words will always support me. I am the one you grew up with. I'm Cloud of Nibelheim. No matter how much I lose faith in myself, that is the truth. That's why you shouldn't be so scared. No matter what anyone else says to me, it's your attitude that counts...

...Sorry. Especially you, Tifa. I'm really sorry. You've been so good to me...... I don't know what to say... I never lived up to being 'Cloud'. Tifa...... Maybe one day you'll meet the real 'Cloud'.

Now it's time to be really thrown off base. Cloud and Tifa are placed together by the story to share revelation after revelation, and Cloud suddenly starts talking about the importance of Tifa and her feelings to him...? How is this appropriate for the romance as you understood it? Aeris still isn't back! She doesn't even get mentioned in this scene!
And then, after all those revelations, Cloud disappears and Disk 1 ends...

Part 3: Uh oh.

...and you start playing as Tifa? That mood shift you thought ought to have happened after Aeris' death instead happens now. This is really worrying. The game isn't treating Aeris' death as the emotional axis point for our hero, but rather, the hero's identity crisis. You're playing as Tifa now, and the party is spending more time assuring Tifa about Cloud, being concerned about Tifa's well being, than they spent mourning Aeris. You're spending more time with character work on Tifa here than you even spent on Cloud! When Tifa finds Cloud again, she sticks with him, and the NPCs are all remarking on how devoted and in love she is.
Being the kind of genre it is, this doesn't look great for you, Pink Girl #1 Fan. You already know Tifa has feelings for Cloud, and now the game is going out of its way to highlight how devoted she is, how deeply she cares for him on unprecedented levels in the narrative. Aeris never got anything like this. What exactly is the point here? Sure, Tifa is a love rival, but you don't need to literally play as her to get this point across. Aeris is dead, there's no reason for the player to be asked to start caring about Tifa this much. I mean, you already know that Cloud doesn't care about Tifa as much as she cares about him, he didn't even remember this important promise they made together, and it's not like he has memory iss-- uh oh.
Tifa and Cloud take a dip into the Lifestream together, and all of those narrative tools the writers had been using earlier seem to collapse under the weight of freshly revealed context:

• Aeris being the First Girl? Nope, you get a new flashback depicting Cloud meeting Tifa again right before the beginning of the game and jumpstarting the whole plot. Her voice was what brought him back!
• Cloud not remembering this promise? Nope, literally memory issues, this promise is actually so important to him it's why he left to become a SOLDIER... double jumpstarting the plot! Tifa is twice again the reason this story is happening!
• Cloud not putting as much importance on his relationship with Tifa? Nope, it's the most formative aspect about his life, every personality quirk of his is tied directly to his relationship and feelings with Tifa.
• Cloud leaving Tifa without waiting to be paid? He's under a mental compulsion from Jenova/Sephiroth without knowing it.
• Cloud "opening up" to Aeris but not Tifa? Symptomatic of his false identity--to Tifa he's acting like an aloof mercenary because he can't admit to himself he didn't make it into SOLDIER; and to Aeris, the damsel in distress, he's projecting the heroic persona of Zack Fair, the kind of person he always wanted to be.

Short of abject denial, you know what all of this means. The writers made one of the twists of the game not just that Aeris dies, but that she's not the real love interest; Tifa is. If you choose to go back and play Disk 1 from the beginning, you'll be bombarded by all the double layers present in basically all of Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris' interactions among each other. Continuing to play Disk 2/3 will have NPCs encourage you to treat Tifa well, have basically no mention of Aeris at all, and have a culminating emotional scene between Cloud and Tifa, potentially with sex.
Wait, Aeris' hand is reaching through the Lifestream, they might be reunit--! Oh wait it's Tifa again. Tifa, once again, saves Cloud, with even the fantasy of Aeris' presence being replaced by the reality of Tifa's.
If you're playing the English version, you might latch onto one of the final pieces of dialogue about Cloud saying he's going to meet "her" in the Promised Land--but if you're playing the Japanese version, this isn't as exciting, since there's no "she" pronoun in the sentence. Instead it's our hero and heroine holding eachother while the heroine's theme plays and the hero comforts her about their potentially impending death.
The End. Sorry, Pink Girl #1 Fan, but better luck next time! I hear there's a rema--oh.

Hi Isnork, hoping you're doing great at this moment. This is the first part of this error diary. No edit, no grammar check, and most of this is no judging being who you are. This is a online diary to post here so that once you already a successful someday "inshaAllah" you can check this and for you to know what happened today, a surviving journey.
Today May 13, 2024, your problem still ongoing. At this moment your staying in a house that's really different on how you lived when youre free. Currently your still waiting what will happen on that problem, waiting for miracle to fixit for you able to get back to your life prefer. Also this time you praying every noon, and that is different with you. Even you make lazy when the alarm ring but you didn't forget to pray once a day. You praying for the forgiveness, blessing, and for the new life your asking to Allah.
It's 11:49 pm today and you making this diary because you didn't know what things to do. There's time you want to learn Spanish, Japanese ( cause you planning to Japan after the problem), learning how to start VA, video editing, graphic design, writing story. But all of the skill that mentioned.......... none of this is you learned cause you don;t know if you learned that skill it will be useful after what happening. The only thing you can finish everyday is doing masturbating, making sex toy cause your bored. Even movies cant help you because youre a work alcoholic person then everything is blown for the problem you have. Oh I forgot there is one thing is on the process, your monggo plant. So far its doing good.
Hoping youre doing great now, and still rocking in the life that you prayed. Also I just wanna check if your penis is still good? Because straight 7 months your masturbating. lolllll
Have a great day and still fighting my future version, next time again .

Day guide
Welcome to Day 41 of WiyHat?. Today's topic is "Hieda no Akyuu", the "Memory of Gensokyo".
She is a Printworks character introduced in Perfect Memento in Strict sense. Her ability is apt given the title of her doujin, because it is to never forget things she sees at least once. More pertinently, she is a "Child of Miare", destined to reincarnate every 120 to 180 years, while also living a short life (30~ years).
Well, I say destiny, but it's a bit more complex than that: essentially, as Akyuu is inspired by the historical "Child of Are", essentially every "incarnation" of hers inherits all preceding memories of her last lives. However, they've seldom lived long, and once dead, they have to work for the Yama in the afterlife to "earn" their next reincarnation.
And...there's a bit of a Japanese-only pun with Akyuu's name: one reason we know she's the 9th reincarnation is because Akyuu literally reads as "9th" when read numerically from the second character (based on the presumption that we read Hieda no Are's re as "rei" or zero). So, 9th of Hieda would be a (overly) literal translation/pronunciation of her name, in a sense. ^{Also, yes, another 9 joke. Thank you, very cool, ZUN.}
Anyway, Akyuu's main contribution to the lore in her original appearance was the "Gensokyo Chronicle", which had facts about everything related to Gensokyo. The reason she has it? Well, because she remember everything, of course!
Interestingly, her appearances are strictly limited to Printworks so far, as she was one of the few characters to somehow not get a cameo in Hopeless Masquerade, or any other game. That being said, she's in quite a few major appearances in the printworks anyway, so she doesn't feel like a very small part of the lore like, say, some stage 1/2 bosses.
Her main appearances have been the following:

• Memorizable Gensokyo (^{Main Character})
• Perfect Memento in Strict Sense (^{Main Character})
• Symposium of Post-mysticism (^Author)
• Forbidden Scrollery (^{Secondary character})

Also, she cameo'd in the following:

• Curiosities of Lotus Asia (^{Chapter 20})
• Silent Sinner in Blue (^{Prologue & Chapter 9})
• Oriental Sacred Place (^{Chapter 5})
• Wild and Horned Hermit (^{Chapter 20 & 25})
• Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia (^{Advertisement})

Pretty good track record of appearances! I'll only cover her appearances in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense and Forbidden Scrollery though.
In the former. Akyuu basically meets Marisa and Reimu for the first time while she was musing about writing an article about a certain Ice Fairy. She shows them the Gensokyo chronicle, Marisa complains about her article being too short, and Reimu muses that there's a lot about Youkai in there. Overall, a rather short story, but Akyuu was quite nostalgic and thoughtful while portrayed in there. (^{Also, she's a cat person}).
Meanwhile, in the latter, a seemingly much older Akyuu (^{she was apparently only 10-11 in PMiSS}) is the first character shown, and then she and the new character Kosuzu are shown to be close friends because of their converging interests in the Youma (^Demon) Books, and later on, Akyuu starts writing mystery novels under the pen name of Agatha Chris Q. (^{which is a reference to Agatha Christie, who wrote "And then there were none", which is where the name "U.N. Owen" came from. Yes, ZUN's references are done in quite a roundabout way, sometimes.}). This factoid gets referenced in WaHH, where Reimu becomes a bit obsessed over the books.
Although it's not particular to any specific works, I'd like to mention that Keine is shown quite a few times right next to Akyuu. This is because she has a close relation to the Hieda family. ^{A pity she never talks, though...}
So, overall, Akyuu's presence in the printworks only truly flourished with Forbidden Scrollery, as Kosuzu's close friend and as a secondary protagonist of the book.
But that's all canon stuff: what about what the fans think?
Well, in last year's poll, she placed 86th, which is an underwhelming placement. This is likely because of Akyuu's lack of presence until FS, and also because she overall was mostly used for "intel" purposes in most fanworks, being someone who merely, well, chronicles information, then shares it. Rarely were plots made centered around her, due to how little of her private life was ever shown.
Of course, once her relation with Kosuzu was introduced into the mix, well, suddenly there was a lot more material to work with...but even then, it's not like there was an explosion of fanworks made for her, either.
Regardless, despite being 86th, Akyuu's position in the poll is mostly stabilized, so she's not going anywhere anytime soon...
Well, unless ZUN decides to pull a fast one on us and have her actually die this year in a quickly-published oneshot, that is.
Anyway, enough rambling! Vote or comment your headcanon about Hieda no Akyuu below!
Hieda no Akyuu is...
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This is the second half of my list for Oklahoma's execution roster. As mentioned in the first part, I broke it in half to comply with reddit's character limitations. For the link to part 1, please click here.
The currently executed 124 offenders, cases 63-124:
63. Robert Knighton (~1960s-2003, lethal injection): In 1973, after being released from a 1968 armed robbery conviction, Knighton went on his first major crime spree. He stabbed and strangled several men and women during many robberies and home invasions. The only victim that was killed, 32 year old Coffier Day, was shot dead while Knighton was arguing with him in his home. Coffier's father, 53 year old Claude, was also injured in the shooting. Knighton's first crime spree ended when he kidnapped a married couple and their 6 year old daughter. They escaped when the wife and mother of the family attacked Knighton with a knife to protect her husband and daughter. The family then notified the police of their abduction. Knighton managed to secure a 30 year manslaughter conviction and a 10 year armed robbery conviction with a plea deal, and was released to a halfway house in 1989. There, he began dating a female addict and befriended a teenage boy. The trio embarked on a nationwide robbery spree together. In Missouri, they shot and killed 59 year old Frank Merrifield and his 40 year old stepson Roy Donahue while robbing their home, and stole guns and money from them. In Oklahoma, the trio fatally shot a couple, 64 year old Virginia and 62 year old Richard Denney, while carjacking them. Their rampage ended when a woman in Texas grow suspicious of them circling a neighborhood. Knighton had a long history of theft convictions dating back to his childhood, and joined the Aryan Brotherhood in prison. Behind bars, he frequently attacked black and Native American inmates out of racial hatred for them.
64. Kenneth Charm (1993-2003, lethal injection): Charm and his teenage cousin lured a family friend, 14 year old Brandy Hill, into their car. They raped Hill and tried strangling her with a towel. When that failed, the cousins bludgeoned her to death with a sledgehammer.
65. Lewis Gilbert II (1994-2003, lethal injection): Gilbert and his teenage accomplice committed at least 4 robbery murders in Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma, but he was executed for the killing of 37 year old Roxanne Ruddell. They ambushed and kidnapped Ruddell while she was fishing alone. She was robbed of $3 and her truck, tied to a tree, and shot to death. The pair also fatally shot Ruth Loader, a 79 year old Ohioan woman, while abducting her from her residence, and gunned down a Missouri couple, 86 year old William and 76 year old Flossie Brewer, in their home. Gilbert was also sentenced to death for the Brewer murders by the state of Missouri, but was incarcerated in Oklahoma State Penitentiary’s death row.
66. Robert Duckett (~1980s-2003, lethal injection): After breaking out of prison, Duckett was picked up hitchhiking by John Howard, a 53 year old store owner. Howard agreed to let Duckett stay with him until he could find a job. The pair soon had a failing out, and Duckett was evicted by his host. He retaliated by tying Howard up with wire and then beating him to death with a fireplace poker. Duckett made off with his car after he switched the license plates, and took several bank bags from his store. He had a long violent criminal history, which included several incidents of assault and robbery. One of the incidents involved the beating of an 83 year old man. Allegedly, Duckett was previously gang-raped by other inmates, and suffered from PTSD from the incident. His attorneys claimed that Howard’s sexual advances trigged those memories, and he was killed as a result of Duckett lashing out at them. However, the prosecution shot the argument down, citing that the murder happened after Duckett was evicted from the apartment.
67. Bryan Toles (1993-2003, lethal injection): Toles and his two accomplices forced themselves into the home of the Franceschi family, and shot and killed the family patriarch, 39 year old Juan, in a struggle. Juan's son, 15 year old Lonnie, was also murdered "execution style" out of fear that he could identify Toles and his accomplices. The only survivor of the attack was Norma, Juan's wife and Lonnie's mother, who escaped by hiding in her older daughter's bedroom.
68. Jackie Willingham (1994-2003, lethal injection): Willingham was a door to door salesman selling perfume in an office building. One women, 62 year old Jayne Van Wey, he tried to solicit rejected him despite his repeated offers. Angered by her "rude behavior", Willingham attacked Van Wey when they had a chance encounter near the building's restroom. He dragged Van Wey out of a stall after following her inside, slammed her head against the bathroom wall several times, and kicked her head. Reportedly, Van Wey choked to death on her own blood.
69. Harold McElmurry III (1999-2003, lethal injection): While under the influence of meth, McElmurry and his wife Vicki broke into a home that a WW2 veteran, 80 year old Robert Pendley, shared with his wife, 75 year old Rosa. Robert and Rosa were both quickly subdued and physically restrained by the couple. McElmurry clubbed Robert to death with a pipe in front of Rosa, who was forced to watch by Vicki. Vicki then held Rosa down as McElmurry stabbed her several times with scissors. After killing the Pendleys, the McElmurrys fled with $70 in cash, a pair of guns, and the victims' car. A few days after the murders, they were captured by border agents while trying to cross into Mexico.
70. Tyrone Darks (~1990s-2004, lethal injection): Darks rammed his ex wife, 26 year old Sherry Goodlow, off the road as she was driving with their 2 year old son. After Goodlow crashed, Darks pulled their son out of the wreckage, shot her to death, and then drove away with him. Just before she succumbed to her injuries, Goodlow managed to call and notify the police about her son’s abduction. The police confronted and arrested Darks at his home, and they found the boy unharmed in their search. Darks and Goodlow’s former marriage was marred with violence, and he was arrested on numerous occasions for assaulting her. On death row, Darks was involved in a scheme to defraud a foundation for 9/11 survivors.
71. Norman Cleary (~1980s-2004, lethal injection): While burglarizing an upper class home with an accomplice, Cleary shot and killed a housekeeper, 44 year old Wanda Neafus, and took her purse and a cane that her employers purchased from the Smithsonian Institution. Cleary had a long criminal history and was previously convicted of beating an 87 year old woman in her home.
72. David Brown (~1983-2004, lethal injection): For several years, Brown violently harassed his ex wife and her family. In one incident, Brown abducted his ex wife and 11 of her customers from a beauty saloon she owned, and held them hostage until he surrendered to police. He was able to leave custody on bond and went into hiding. A few years after the hostage crisis incident, Brown broke into his ex wife's family home and gunned down her father, 47 year old Eldon McGuire.
73. Hung Thanh Le (1992-2004, lethal injection): Le crept into the apartment of another Vietnamese refugee, 34 year old Hai Nguyen, and found him watching TV on the couch. He struck Nguyen from behind with a weightlifting bar, and continued stabbing him with a meat cleaver when he screamed his wife for help. Nguyen's wife phoned the police, and Le fled with the couple's safety deposit box that contained $36,000 and their wedding ring.
74. Robert Bryan (1993-2004, lethal injection): Bryan shot and killed his estranged aunt, 69 year old Mildred, dumped her body on his parents' property, and forged a $1,800 check to himself under her name.
75. Windel Workman (~1980s(?)-2004, lethal injection): Workman beat his girlfriend's daughter, 2 year old Amanda Holman, to death while babysitting her in their home. His ex wives reported that he had a history of child abuse and often violently spanked their children during their marriages.
76. Jimmie Slaughter (1991-2005, lethal injection): Fearing that she was going to tell his wife of their affair, Slaughter stabbed and shot his ex girlfriend, 29 year old Melody Wuertz, and their daughter, 1 year old Jessica. According to court documents, Slaughter mutilated both of their bodies, and he carved an "R" on Melody's stomach. He tried pinning the murders on a black man, but the investigators and the courts dismissed his allegations.
77. George Miller Jr. (1994-2005, lethal injection): During the robbery of a hotel, Miller attacked the auditor, 25 year old Kent Dodd, with a hedge shear and paint cans, and took $122 from the register. Dodd was severely beaten, had muriatic acid shoved down his throat, and was left to die. Just before he died of his injuries, Dodd gave a description of his attacker to the police that matched Miller. A massive amount of circumstantial evidence, such as wearing shoes that resembled the bloodstained footprints next to Dodd's body, a microscopic drop of blood found on his shoes that was tentatively linked to Dodd, his wife's testimony of his unaccounted absence from their home during the murder, and what appeared to be Dodd writing Miller's alias that he knew him by in his own blood, convicted him. Miller’s friends also reported that he was broke and begging them for money a day before the murder, and his wife mentioned him giving her the same amount of money that was stolen from the robbery a day after it happened.
78. Michael Pennington (1991-2005, lethal injection): Pennington shot and killed a clerk, 20 year old Bradley Grooms, while trying to rob a 7-eleven grocery store. He left empty handed when the register failed to open.
79. Kenneth Turrentine (1994-2005, lethal injection): Under the belief that they were stealing money from him for drugs, Turrentine shot and killed his sister, 48 year old Avon Stevenson, and his girlfriend, 39 year old Anita Richardson, during confrontations in their homes. He also gunned down Anita's two children, 22 year old Tina Pennington and 13 year old Martise.
80. Richard Thornburg Jr. (1996-2006, lethal injection): A month after he was shot by an unknown assailant, Thornburg and his accomplices sought revenge by abducting 5 men that he thought was responsible from a trailer. Three of the hostages, 51 year old James Poteet, 39 year old Tery Sheppard, and 24 year old Kieth Smith, were gunned down on the spot, and Thornberg forced the fourth to shoot the fifth with the threat of killing him if he didn’t comply. They then burned down the trailer with the wounded fifth victim still trapped inside, but he managed to escape with his life. Despite being forced to put all the blame on himself in exchange for being spared, the fourth hostage still went forward to the police.
81. John Boltz (1984-2006, lethal injection): To spite his estranged wife following an argument, Boltz attacked her son, 23 year old Doug Kirby, with a knife. Kirby was stabbed a total of 11 times, and he received several fatal wounds to his chest, stomach, and neck.
82. Eric Patton (1994-2006, lethal injection): Patton forced his way into the home of 56 year old Charlene Kauer after she refused his pleading for money. After dragging her around the house as he searched for valuables, Patton stabbed Kauer several times with many different blades objects at hand such as scissors, barbecue forks, and kitchen knifes. Although he confessed to the murder, Patton blamed it on alleged demonic possession and his cocaine addiction.
83. James Malicoat (1997-2006, lethal injection): Malicoat slammed Tessa Leadford, his 13 month old daughter, against a dresser. After she died from the beating, he tucked her into bed, and waited until his daughter's mother returned from work to take her to the hospital. The doctors found that Leadford had been dead for several hours at the time of her arrival, and discovered several injuries such as broken ribs, bite marks, abdominal bleeding, and facial bruising on her body. By his own account, he had abused Leadford on a daily basis. For her role in enabling her boyfriend's treatment of their daughter, Leadford's mother was convicted of first degree murder and given a life sentence.
84. Corey Hamilton (1992-2007, lethal injection): During the robbery of a restaurant, Hamilton shot and killed 4 employees, 26 year old Sandy Lara, 24 year old Stephen Williams, 19 year old Ted Kindley, and 17 year old Joseph Gooch, and made off with $2,000.
85. Jimmy Bland (~1975-2007, lethal injection): Bland shot his boss, 62 year old Doyle Rains, in the head over an argument regarding a borrowed car and dumped the body in a creek. He was previously convicted of killing a soldier, Raymond Prentice (age unknown), and abducting the man's wife and son at the age of 19. Bland served a 20 out of 60 year sentence, and murdered Rains a year after he was released.
86. Frank Welch (~1987-2008, lethal injection): In 1987, Welch attacked 28 year old Jo Cooper, who was 4 months pregnant with her second child, in her home. She was tied up with leather straps, raped and violated with plastic toys, and strangled to death. Cooper’s body was found laying near her infant son by her husband. Another woman, 32 year old Debra Stevens, was also bound, raped, and strangled to death in her home in a near identical fashion a few months later. Although both murders went unsolved for several years, Welch abducted and raped a woman in 1994, and he received a 45 year sentence for it. His DNA samples was collected and filed after his abduction conviction, and linked to both Cooper and Stevens’ murders in a 1997 test.
87. Terry Short (1995-2008, lethal injection): In an attempt to kill his ex girlfriend, Short blew up her apartment complex with a firebomb. She and her family managed to escape, but the blast killed Ken Yamamoto, a 22 year old Japanese exchange student. Yamamoto had no connections to the targeted ex girlfriend's family beyond him having the misfortune of residing in the same apartment.
88. Jessie Cummings Jr. (1991-2009, lethal injection): Cummings was a polygamist that had married and lived with two wives. Under his orders, Cummings’ wives shot and killed his estranged half sister, 46 year old Judy Mayo, and kidnapped her daughter, 11 year old Melissa. He bound his niece to his bed with handcuffs to be raped, and stabbed her to death.
89. Darwin Brown (1995-2009, lethal injection): While robbing a grocery store with three accomplices (including Billy Alverson and Michael Wilson), Brown tied up the clerk, 30 year old Richard Yost, with handcuffs, and then bludgeoned him death with a metal baseball bat. The killing was caught by security cameras, and the footage was used by the prosecution to secure the convictions of Brown and his accomplices.
90. Donald Gilson (1995-2009, lethal injection): Gilson routinely physically abused his live in girlfriend's 5 children (who were all between the ages of 8 and 12 years old). The youngest, 8 year old Shane Coffman, was beaten to death with a board for defecating on the living room carpet. He and his girlfriend then hid the body by stuffing it in a freezer. The body was kept inside it for 6 months until it was discovered by a sheriff's deputy investigating the family's abuse allegations. Gilson's girlfriend was spared the death penalty with a plea deal, and given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for her part in her son's abuse and murder.
91. Michael DeLozier (1995-2009, lethal injection): While camping with his friends, DeLozier ambushed another pair of campers, 60 year old Orville Bullard and 54 year old Paul Morgan, and shot them to death. They stole Morgan and Bullard's generator, pick up truck, and other camping gear. To cover up their tracks, DeLozier and his friends set their victims' campsite on fire, and severely burned the bodies.
92. Julius Young (1993-2010, lethal injection): For breaking off their relationship, Young beat his ex girlfriend, 20 year old Joyland Morgan and her 6 year old son Kewan, to death with a baseball bat in their apartment.
93. Donald Wackerly II (1996-2010, lethal injection): Wackerly and his wife ambushed and gunned down Pan Sayakhoummane, a 51 year old Laotian immigrant, while he was fishing in the Arkansas River. After he placed Sayakhoummane's body in the man’s own truck, he pushed into a river, and stole his fishing gear. A few months after the murder, Wackerly’s wife turned him in to the police.
94. John Duty (~1970s-2010, lethal injection): Duty was given a life sentence for abducting, raping, and non fatally shooting a female store clerk during a robbery. While incarcerated, he tricked a fellow inmate, 22 year old Curtis Wise Jr. into allowing himself to be tied up as a part of a hostage ruse, and then strangled him to death with shoelaces. At the time of his murder, Wise was serving a conviction for burglary and contributing to the delinquency of minors. Duty's execution caused some controversy for the use of pentobarbital, a drug more commonly utilized by veterinarians to euthanize pets.
95. Billy Alverson (1995-2011, lethal injection): Alverson assisted the above mentioned Darwin Brown and Micheal Wilson in the beating death of Richard Yost while robbing a convenience store.
96. Jeffrey Matthews (1994-2011, lethal injection): Matthews and his accomplice shot and killed his great uncle, 77 year old Otis Short, while robbing the man's home. In the robbery, they stole Short's truck, his .32 calibre pistol, and $500. The pair also slit the throat of Short's wife, but she survived her injuries.
97. Gary Welch (~1993-2011, lethal injection): During a fight over a drug shipment, Welch and his partner stabbed another dealer, 32 year old Robert Hardcastle, to death with broken glass bottles. He was previously convicted of battery with a deadly weapon, and was off on probation at the time of Hardcastle's murder.
98. Timothy Stemple (1996-2012, lethal injection): Stemple conspired with his girlfriend to murder his wife, 30 year old Trisha, for her life insurance policy. With the help of his girlfriend's 16 year old nephew or cousin [sources vary], Stemple beat Trisha with a baseball bat, and rammed her to death with his truck.
99. Michael Selsor (~1975-2012, lethal injection): Selsor and his accomplice went on a crime spree and robbed several convenience stores. During their robberies, the pair shot and killed two clerks, 55 year old Clayton Chandler and 20 year old Ina Morris, and injured two others in shooting and stabbing attacks.
100. Michael Hooper (~1992-2012, lethal injection): Hooper kidnapped his ex girlfriend, 23 year old Cynthia Jarman, and her children, 5 year old Timothy and 3 year old Tonya, from her boyfriend's residence. He shot all three of them dead, and buried the bodies in a rancher's field. According to court documents, Hooper was hyper-violent towards Cynthia in their year long relationship.
101. Garry Allen (1986-2012, lethal injection): Allen shot and killed his fiancee, 24 year old Lawanna Titsworth, during an argument at a day care she worked at. He fought with the responding officers trying to arrest him in an attempt to provoke a "suicide by cop" outcome. Despite the officers' best efforts to avoid harming him, Allen lost his eye from an accidental discharge. Due to claims of him having schizophrenia, Allen's execution was a source of controversy.
102. George Ochoa (~1993-2012, lethal injection): A Southside Locos gang member, Ochoa and another hoodlum shot and killed a couple, 38 year old Francisco Morales and 35 year old Maria Yanez, while burglarizing their home. The murders were witnessed by the couple's 14 year old and 10 year old children and stepchildren, who then phoned the police after the shooters' departure.
103. Steven Thacker (~1980s-2012, lethal injection): Thacker kidnapped 25 year old Laci Hill during a botched robbery of her home, and took her to a remote cabin to be raped. She was then strangled and stabbed to death. He fled to Missouri, fatally stabbed 24 year old Forrest Boyd while carjacking him, and used his car to hide out in Tennessee. After the stolen car broke down, Thacker called a tow truck to pick him up. When the driver, 52 year old Ray Patterson, found that he was using a stolen credit card, Thacker stabbed him to death as well. As a teenager, Thacker committed several acts of auto thefts and burglaries. He also engaged in inappropriate relationships with underaged girls, and was released from a Florida prison after serving time for a bad check conviction months before his murders.
104. James DeRosa (2000-2013, lethal injection): DeRosa and his accomplice tricked a couple, 73 year old Curtis and 70 year old Gloria Plummer, that he worked for on their ranch, into letting them inside their house. After they stabbed the Plummers and slit their throats, DeRosa and his accomplice stole $73 and drove away with their truck.
105. Brian Davis (2001-2013, lethal injection): Davis went searching for his girlfriend and their daughter when he found them missing from their home, and called his girlfriend's mother, 56 year old Josephine Sanford, about their whereabouts. Sanford dropped by the couple's residence after failing to find her daughter and granddaughter. At her arrival, she was raped, beaten, and stabbed to death by Davis. He then left the body in the house, drove off with Sanford’s van, and injured himself in a car accident. As Davis was high while driving, he was arrested for being under the influence. The detaining officers weren’t aware of the murder until Davis’ girlfriend returned to the home later that night, and called 911 after finding her mother’s corpse.
106. Anthony Banks (~1978-2013, lethal injection): In 1978, while robbing a grocery store, Banks shot and killed a clerk, 22 year old David Fremin. A year later, he abducted Sun Travis, a 24 year old South Korean immigrant, from a parking lot. He then sexually assaulted Travis in his car and shot her in the head. Although he was captured and convicted for Fremin's murder, Travis' killing went unsolved until a 1997 DNA test. Banks was originally sentenced to death for Fremin's murder, but it was lifted in favor of a life sentence. He was condemned for a second time after his conviction for Travis murder.
107. Ronald Lott (~1980s-2013, lethal injection): A sexual predator of elderly women, Lott broke into the homes of 93 year old Zelma Cutler and 83 year old Anna Fowler after cutting off their power. They were tied up with cloth, anally penetrated, beaten, and suffocated to death with pillowcases. The case attracted controversy when another man was erroneously condemned for the murders, and he spent 11 years on death row until a 1997 DNA test linked the murders to Lott. At the time of the discovery, Lott was serving time for two rape convictions.
108. Johnny Black (~1984-2013, lethal injection): Black, two of his brothers, and two other men went looking for a man they feuded with for a fight. While they were crusing on the road, the group encountered a rancher, 54 year old Bill Pogue, and mistook him for their target due to them driving similar vehicles. They forced Poque off the road, pulled him out of his car, and stabbed him a total of 10 times. Pogue's son in law was also dragged out and attacked, but he managed to escape with his life. Black was previously convicted of manslaughter for shooting 49 year old Cecil Martin dead in an argument.
109. Michael Wilson (1995-2014, lethal injection): Wilson was the third participant in the above mentioned beating death of Richard Yost to be executed.
110. Kenneth Hogan (1988-2014, lethal injection): Hogan stabbed 21 year old Lisa Stanley to death while she was babysitting his children. According to autopsy reports, she was stabbed at least 25 times. Stanley had previously accused him of sexual misconduct, and prosecutors believed that she was killed during an argument over the allegations.
111. Clayton Lockett (~1992-2014, lethal injection): Lockett, his cousin, and another accomplice kidnapped 23 year old Bobby Bornt, 18 year old Summer Hair, and Bornt's 9 month son after burglarizing a home. After tying them up with duct tape, they forced their captives to lure a friend, 19 year old Stephanie Neiman, with a phone call. Neiman was also bound and initially survived getting shot multiple times. Out of frustration, Lockett buried her alive, and she succumbed to a combination of suffocation and her injuries. Lockett and his accomplices also gang-raped Hair and beat Bornt, but spared them on the forced condition of their silence. His execution was controversial, as Lockett convulsed for 45 minutes after being injected, and then died from a heart attack. He also had a long criminal history, and was first arrested for burglary as a teenager.
112. Charles Warner (1997-2015, lethal injection): Warner raped his girlfriend's daughter, 11 month old Adriana Waller, and shook her to death. His execution sparked outcry, as the wrong fatal drug was administered by mistake, and Warner complained of "burning pain" as he was being injected. With the botched executions of Lockett and Warner back to back, the state of Oklahoma delayed further executions until 2021.
113. John Grant (~1970s-2021, lethal injection): While serving a 130 year sentence for armed robbery, Grant stabbed a prison cafeteria worker, 58 year old Gay Carter, to death. He had a long criminal history dating back to the ag e of 11, had several previous convictions of theft and armed robbery, and frequently fought with and assaulted other inmates behind bars. Due to reports of "adverse reactions" to the lethal drugs, Grant's execution was scrutinized by a number of national media outlets.
114. Bigler Stouffer II (1985-2021, lethal injection): Stouffer shot and killed his ex girlfriend, 35 year old Linda Reaves, in her boyfriend's home for breaking up with him. Reaves' boyfriend was also seriously injured in the shooting.
115. Donald Grant (2001-2022, lethal injection): During a robbery of a hotel, Grant fatally shot, stabbed, and bludgeoned two employees, 43 year old Felicia Smith and 29 year old Brenda McElyea, and ran off with $1,500. He spent $200 of the stolen on paying for his girlfriend's bail.
116. Gilbert Postelle (~1998-2022, lethal injection): Postelle’s father was badly injured in a motorcycle accident, and they suspected that 57 year old James Anderson, 56 year old Terry Smith, 49 year old Donnie Swindler, and 26 year old Amy Wright were deliberately involved. Out a desire for vengeance, he recruited Postelle, his other son, and another man to kill them. All four victims were fatally gunned down in what was described as a “blitz attack” on their trailer. He was an addict and had several arrests for drug possession and manufacturing dating back to the age of 12.
117. James Coddington (1997-2022, lethal injection): After robbing a grocery store, Coddington went to the home of a friend and co worker, 73 year old Albert Hale, to ask for money. When Hale turned him down, Coddington retaliated by beating him with a claw hammer. Coddington stole $525 and went on to rob 5 more grocery stores. Hale was left alone with his injures for nearly an entire day until he was discovered by his son, and died in the hospital a day later.
118. Benjamin Cole Sr. (2002-2022, lethal injection): Out of anger that her crying interrupted his Nintendo game, Cole beat his daughter from his second wife, 9 month old Brianna, to death. He was previously convicted of abusing his son from a different marriage in California.
119. Richard Fairchild (1996-2023, lethal injection): Fairchild got into a fight with his girlfriend’s 17 year old daughter after making drunken sexual passes at her, and was enraged that she left with a cab driver. He took his anger out on the girl’s younger brother, 3 year old Adam Broomhall, and scalded him with a wall heater. He then repeatedly hit the boy, threw him against a table, and fatally hemorrhaged his head. Bromhall received over 26 blows during the beating.
120. Scott Eizember (2003-2023, lethal injection): Eizember snuck into his ex girlfriend's house to lie in wait for her. However, her roommates, 76 year old A.J. Cantrell and his 70 year old wife Patsy, arrived home earlier then she did. He shot and beat them both to death and then fled the scene.
121. Jemaine Cannon (1995-2023, lethal injection): Cannon was put in prison for assaulting an unidentified woman. He managed to escape and stabbed his girlfriend, 20 year old Sharonda Clark, to death in her apartment.
122. Anthony Sanchez (1996-2023, lethal injection): Sanchez kidnapped 21 year old Jewell Busken from her apartment complex, and then raped and shot her to death. He amassed a following from the anti death penalty movement for claiming that his father was responsible, but such notions were debunked following a 2023 DNA test that concluded Sanchez’s guilt.
123. Phillip Hancock (~1982-2023, lethal injection): In 1982, Hancock shot a drug dealer, 27 year old Charles Warren, dead in a dispute over stolen jewelry and was given a manslaughter conviction for it. He was released after serving a 2 year term. About 17 years later, he shot and killed 58 year old James Lynch III and 37 year old Robert Jett Jr. in a drug house. Despite an eyewitness account describing Lynch and Jett begging for their lives, the case attracted scrutiny when Hancock's attorneys claimed that the shootings were done in self defense.
124. Michael Smith (~2002-2024, lethal injection): A member of the Oak Grove Posse gang, Smith was responsible for two separate fatal shootings on the same day. In one of his murders, he killed Sharath Pulluru, a 24 year old Indian immigrant that worked as a clerk, while robbing a gas station. The other murder occurred when he tried to confront a gang member that he thought was a police informant in his apartment, and gunned down the target’s mother, 40 year old Janet Miller-Moore, when she refused to give away her son’s location. Smith was also given a life sentence for delivering a gun to a shooter that carried out another gang killing.

10 years has suddenly come around and I'd like to make more progress on this.
For some context, I'm in my mid-40's and I work in an entirely English speaking Tech company so I don't use any Japanese at work. I also work long hours and have young kids, wife is Japanese but speaks English.
Has anyone learnt spoken Japanese as a middle aged person with minimal time? Money isn't really an issue so open to any tutor recommendations or any ideas.
This might unleash some ire, but tbh I don't care so much about reading and writing, just speaking.

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안녕하세요!
Since I can't install the Korean IME on my Windows 10 device for some reasons, I was looking for other third party applications to write Korean on my PC.
For example: Instead of the Microsoft Japanese IME I use the Google Japanese Input
Thanks!