#chapter 27: man's failure as a thinking animal

[theguardianangel-fanfiction]

To let you guys know -- chapter 26 has officially been finished. However, it’s midnight here, and it still needs to be edited. The parts that will become chapter 27 have been taken off, bringing the grand total of words for chapter 26 to about 5000. Chapter 27 is now up to 2100 words, and will probably be around 4000 or 5000, depending on how the scenes go. 

I’m going to try to see if I can’t finish chapter 27 tomorrow, and they’ll hopefully both be released sometime this week. 

Thanks for sticking with me through thick and thin!

[whosscruffylooking]

The Purest Things-Something There

Warnings: Mentions of murder. Canon-typical violence.

Word Count: 2.5k

a/n: i am so beyond sorry that it has taken this long to get another chapter out. this doesn’t follow my post schedule that i had previously given, but hopefully this can be a good place holder till later this week. 

The Purest Things Masterlist

May 2008

Bookend: "It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent." -Madeleine Albright

"There's no way I'm doing that," you rebuttal, "Hotch? Tell them it's a ridiculous idea." He stays silent, but his mouth twitches slightly.

Oh, you son of a-

"Richards is a classic narcissist. The challenge of facing a tough, fearless, and intelligent woman will give him his high. Narcissists are drawn to goal-oriented women, women who are resilient, adaptable, yet decisive. Show him that you are a good listener, but don't praise him."

"Think of him like a wild animal," Spencer adds, "You don't feed zoo animals because they are unpredictable. Remember, narcissists have an extraordinary sense of self, and when you praise his ego, you enable his unstable and feeble mind. He doesn't hear praise; he hears how much better he is than you. If you don't feed the beast, he won't have the stamina to combat your confidence later."

"Once you disarm him, I'll come in and challenge his confidence," Hotch concludes. 

Could you have said that less attractively? That would have been more helpful.

Aaron cheekily smirks as if reading your mind but quickly looks away. You wish you didn't blush so fast-that you had some sense to keep your emotions to yourself. In a second, your cheeks are rosy, and you are convinced that everyone in the room can perceive your feelings as if you wrote them on little notes and passed them around.

You grunt and roll your eyes, "I hate all of you."

Derek snaps his fingers at you, "Lose the jacket."

"All men are pigs," you spit while removing your blazer, leaving you in a fitted tank top and your tight-legged jeans that hug your curves in all of the right places.

Derek wolf whistles at you, and you hurl your jacket at him.  Aaron lets his eyes slide up and down your body, his gaze lasting longer than it should. He swears that as you stride into the interrogation room, your hips swing a bit farther side to side than usual. It is the very action that radiates courage, a mind coupled perfectly with itself and the world around it, concentrated and solemn.

Typically, Hotch would divert the task of adulating a narcissist to Prentiss, but he knows if anyone can take command of someone's attention, it's you. How does he know? Because you captivate him far more often than he cares to admit, defying his very being with every interaction. You are a secret weapon that he wants to keep concealed until you can allow your talents to shine genuinely. Aaron knows that now is your moment. ++++ "What is it that I am being accused of? Fraud? Embezzling?" The sharp-dressed businessman questions; his gaze is straying further below your eyes than you care for.

Pig.

You throw a file down on the medal table, and it slides across, stopping right in front of the man, successfully redirecting his stare somewhere other than your chest.

"Try murder."

His eyes widen, "You're joking. Come on, where are the hidden cameras? I'm ready for you to yell candid camera now! I am Milton Richards, for god's sake!"

"I don't know!" You shrug your shoulders. "Why don't you explain this to me, Mr. Richards. I'm just as confused as you are. What reason could a successful, charming, handsome, wealthy business mogul like yourself possibly have to kill someone?"

"Oh please," Richards scoffs, "This isn't an interrogation. You've already pegged me as guilty."

"I don't agree, but you have the right to feel how you feel."

He purses his lips, leaning as far away from you as physically possible while handcuffed to the table.

"Milton, why did you try to escape a moving vehicle when my team apprehended you?"

"Just felt like it, I guess," he shrugs mockingly.

"So, something just randomly compelled you to flee the custody of a federal agent?"

Richards leers at you. You stand up and walk around the table, leaning down next to him, "I get it. I do. You're a suave, wealthy, and ruthless business tyrant. You have to cover your tracks-do what it takes to survive."

He raises his eyebrow, turning to face you, your faces mere inches from each other. I got you now.

"Trust me. I know probably better than anyone what it takes to maintain a position you fought your entire life for. I'm a woman; I had to claw my way into the F.B.I. Do you think it's easy being surrounded by a team filled with uncontrolled testosterone? Womanhood requires balls; I see you keep your balls in your pants, cool, cool. Mine are on my chest, up top. As you've so duly noticed."

His eyes flicker to the aforementioned area, and you restrain yourself from gagging.

"And you know what, Richards? I use them every day of my life. Because in my line of business, sometimes I have to take the backdoor to get things done. Why do I get the sense that you were the same way before you became Mr. Wolf of Wall Street? How else does a kid who grew up in the projects become a multi-millionaire mogul by 27?"

"We both know what the other is capable of. C'mon, let's show each other a bit of respect here. No games, let's be upfront with each other," you appeal. ++++ Aaron watches as you work the room like it is your stage. You play the part perfectly.  He admires your ability to absorb things and then responded rather than immediately react to douse firey circumstances rather than add to the flames.

Derek finds himself next to Aaron, smugly observing Aaron's visible fascination with you.

"She's fantastic, Hotch," Derek beams with pride. Hotch holds his breath behind pursed lips in an attempt to barricade himself from the feelings of foolish jealousy he feels creeping up.

I know she is. I think I recognize it a little too well.

Aaron knows that Derek will be scrutinizing his reaction to the commendation and refrains from responding.

Of course, Derek reads this lack of a reaction as a response itself. And he finds it strangely amusing. ++++ "Here's what I think happened," you twirl your finger around the manilla file, "I think you were having some money troubles and your top investors caught onto your little games. When you sat down, you volunteered the crimes fraud and embezzlement as reasons you assumed we brought you into custody. You listed them like they are apparent reasons for us to charge you. Those are two areas you are clearly willing to take the fall for and have cause to oblige by."

Opening the file, a photograph is revealed within of a murder victim. Richards shifts uncomfortably in his seat, stifling a cough.

"Do you know this man?"

"N-no," he claims as his eyes flutter from the photo to his hands.

Surprised by his blatant tell, you glance back at the two-way mirror.

Turning back to the suspect with a newfound spark in your eyes, you press harder, "Strike one. Try again."

"Excuse me?"

"The man in the image is Walter Barone, the C.E.O. of Jameson Whitely Associates...your accounting firm. Your company was going bankrupt, Milton. There was nowhere left for you to turn. So, do you want to try that again? This time, answer my questions directly and honestly."

"Walt had a reserve saved for me worth $5 million. Last week when I approached him about dipping into the fund to keep the company afloat, he withheld it. I wouldn't kill him for it, though."

"Well, see, that's the problem here, Milton. When he was found, that little reserve of yours was nowhere to be found. Naturally, you can assume where my mind goes when I try and put two and two together, right?"

"I told you," he says, clearly provoked by your accusation, "I wouldn't...didn't kill him."

"Wasn't it you, in your book, right? Who said, 'It's surprising what a man will do when properly motivated?' I don't know about you, but losing everything you'd ever worked for and having your one saving grace held from you seems like pretty good motivation."

Silence. "Oh, come on, Milton, now is not the time to act so arrogant!"

He slams his fists on the table; you abstain from being startled in an attempt to show him no fear.

Wild animals can smell fear. 

"Arrogant, huh? Why don't you step up and prove me wrong? Prove you're better than me. You despise me for being successful; I despise you for your assumption that you could waltz in here like a tramp and seduce me into giving myself up. What? Too harsh? I'm not sure you and I are even the same species."

Hotch bursts into the room, and you quickly signal for him to stand down. I've got this.

He gives you a prideful wink. I know you do.

Somehow Aaron being in the room gives you that last little push to conclude this grand performance of yours. Slowly, you begin clapping dramatically for his little one-person comedy act. He certainly knows how to play the fool.

"Is that a dare? Challenge accepted. Your entire life, you have suffered from a disease... a fragile ego. You have built these walls of detachment so that you can conveniently solicit status to hide your true, weak self. You lash out because you feel it compensates for your insecurities."  

"The truth is, despite being at the top of the corporate chain, every day you lead the life of a loser. You are willing to destroy people psychically, emotionally, and mentally. And you view that as a cause for celebration. You are the embodiment of a loser and abject failure."

Hotch touches the small of your back; you shiver at the sudden warmth that fills your body in reaction to it. He hands you a piece of paper, one that seals Richards' conviction.

"Milton Richards, you are under arrest for the murder of Walter Barone, Hank Simmons, Frankie Lisbon, and Jillian Ryder."

Hotch motions for you to do the honors.

"By all means, lead the way."

Holding yourself proud and tall, you waltz over to Milton and hoist him out of his chair. Inclining your lips to his ear, you tell him contemptuously, "You lose."   ++++ "Way to go, superstar! You had us all on the edge of our seats," Derek says, wrapping his muscular arms around you. You breathe in his cologne and savor the sensation of being in his arms.

Since the day you met Morgan, you've felt a draw to him. Not in a romantic way, though you proudly admit he is hands-down one of the most gorgeous men to set foot on earth. He gives you the feeling of safety, warmth, and brotherly love. His hugs rejuvenate you after a long day of work, and you see to it that neither of you leaves the office without receiving your signature embraces.

Aaron observes you and Derek's shared embrace from the shelter of his office. Before he can comprehend his movements, his legs carry him to the terrace overlooking the bullpen.

What do you think you're doing, Hotch? Pull yourself together. They’re friends. Just like you and her are.

Dismissing his inner voice of reason, he calls out to you, "Y/L/N. See me in my office."

You grimace at his tone of voice but abide by his request.

Derek chuckles, "Green is not that man's color."

"What?" You turn to him, confused.

"Goodnight, superstar."

"Night, handsome," you blow him a kiss, trying to brush his comment out of your mind.  ++++ "You summoned?"

Aaron's whiskey-colored eyes meet yours. The tempo of your heart quickens like a metronome.

"You did a phenomenal job in there."

"I've learned from the best." You. I've learned from you.

He clears his throat, "Those things you said...a-about the men on this team. Is that how you truly feel?"

Shocked by his willingness to believe such a misleading statement, you gasp and close the distance between the two of you.

You must have some nerve to believe that I would ever view you as anything other than the most upstanding man I've ever met.

"Aaron, what I said in there is further than the truth than I would have liked to have strayed. In fact, it was with you that I finally felt equal as a human being-like someone recognized me for my intellect and self-worth. A woman can't acquire that regardless of how 'equal' this world claims to be."

Aaron finds himself lost in your eyes, absorbing every meaning behind your words.

"It was a freeing feeling having someone I respect so highly show me similar respect."

No. Don't stop talking. Please. Hotch blushes at his inner monologue, incapable of comprehending precisely what kind of influence you hold on him.  

"Anyway," you laugh, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen in your face, "Sorry for my little tangent."

"No," Hotch interjects firmly, "Never apologize for expressing your feelings. I assured you last year that I'll always be available as a sounding board for you. That offer still stands."

Your gaze softens as you study him, his intentions, his mannerisms. He notices your pupils dilate, and it commences a chain reaction within his veins. To him, it's not the fact that you radiate beauty on the outside. Sure, you are physically fit and put in the effort to maintain your appearance. Naturally, that would be why someone like Derek Morgan would have you on his radar.

But, Aaron has gradually grown accustomed to the kindness that you seem to reserve just for him. He sees the differences between how you act around the team versus when you step inside his office or are alone in the car with him, even the way your confidence elevates when he walks into the interrogation room.

These differences aren't unique to just you, though. Aaron notices the same changes in himself when he is around you. Never did he expect to go home from work and lie in bed thinking about the way your eyes strayed on his for a moment too long, or how as he completed paperwork at his desk, he'd replay in his mind a cheesy joke you told the team. He knows how you like your coffee from observing you in the break room one too many times.

One cream, two sugars.

Your laughter warms his body from the inside out. When you talk about your favorite comic book with Prentiss and Morgan, the twinkle in your eye never fails to bring a smile to his face. He knows that you hate getting out of the car when it rains because your perfectly straightened hair that you spent god knows how long on will undoubtedly curl.

His changes were less evident on the outside. But, he knew that deep down, there is something there that wasn't there before.

Tag List:

@chellybear98 @destiny-tsukino @wanniiieeee @sweetiecake180 @vampiracontessa @weexinling @spaghetti-dad187 @hothskies @star-stuff-in-the-cosmos @mac99martin @clairedragonessbaker @cecemariee7302 @halloweenwithreid @megans-txmblr @theoldestguard @purpledragonturtles @chazubagi @frogrrylovebot @agentaaronhotass @obsssedwithjustaboutanything @ssagube @enilledam @yougottalovefandoms @kenzies-mr-j @chazubagi @softhetixx @peachyotps @cat11-2 @prettylittlemoonlight @ravenmoore14 @gubs-boobs @spencerreidsoulmate @totalmess191 @yoshigguk @hopelesslylosttheway @britishspidey @timelesstay @averyhotchner @kyliesalvatore

[innuendostudios]

Here’s How to Radicalize a Normie, a video essay on how the Alt-Right and their fellow travelers recruit. Clocking in at 41 minutes, 6756 words, 633 individual drawings, and 27 sources (including three full books), it is by far the longest and most heavily-researched video in The Alt-Right Playbook. I am very tired.

It took so long to put this behemoth together that my Patreon started to dip. So, maybe a little more than usual, if you want to keep seeing videos like these, please consider backing me on Patreon.

Transcript below the cut.

Say, for the sake of argument, your friend Gabe is starting to worry you.

Gabe’s always been just, you know, a regular guy. Not very political. He likes video games, sci-fi, comics, Star Wars, and anime. White guy shit. The only offbeat thing about him is you suspect there’s like a 20% chance he’s a furry. For all intents and purposes, Gabe is a normie.

But recently Gabe’s been spending a lot of time on some radically conservative forums, and listening to radically conservative podcasts, and picking some radically conservative arguments with you and your friends. You never would have expected this, not from Gabe, and, given the speed it’s happened, it’s worrying to think where it might be headed.

How have the Alt-Right gotten their hooks into your friend?

If you’ve ever known a Gabe, this video is for you. Here’s How to Radicalize a Normie.

Step 1: Identify the Audience

What you need to know before we begin is: around 2013, the Nazis went online.

Hate groups in the US, as tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center, had been growing in number since the noughts, but, between 2012 and 2014, they dropped by almost a quarter. Patriot groups dropped by over a third. However, hate crimes stayed about the same. Radical conservatism was not shrinking, but decentralizing. Still radical, still often violent, but now full of white nationalist nomads unlikely to join a formal organization.

This didn’t make them harmless. What it did was protect their asses from the typical hate group cycle: getting the public’s attention, making allies in conservative media, swelling their numbers, and then eventually disgracing themselves with failures, infighting, and, often enough, members committing horrific acts of violence, which come with social and sometimes legal consequences for all the other members.

So the Alt-Right and their fellow travelers these days don’t so much have members. They have hashtags, followers, viewers, and subscribers. This insulates them from their own audience. If Gabe, as a member of that audience, were to go out and commit a crime on their behalf, there’d be little doubt they had a hand in radicalizing him, but it’d be very hard to claim they told him to do it. On some of these sites, where Gabe spends hours and hours of his day, he’s never created an account or left a comment; the people radicalizing him don’t even know he’s there.

This distributed nature is what makes the Alt-Right, and the movements connected to it, unique. (You may remember a notable proof-of-concept for this strategy.) Doing almost everything online has, as compared with traditional hate movements, dramatically increased their reach and inoculated them from consequence. The trade-off, as we will see, is a lack of control.

And so we come to Gabe.

Gabe exists at the intersection of the kinds of people the Alt-Right is looking for - straight white cis men who feel emasculated by modern society, primarily, though they do make exceptions - and the kinds of people who are vulnerable to recruitment. Gabe fits the first profile in that he got bullied in high school, and often feels he has to hide his nerdy side for fear of getting ridiculed. The Alt-Right also has success with men who can’t get laid or recently got divorced or feel anxious about an influx of non-white people in their community. These things can make one feel like less than the confident white man they’re “supposed” to be. And it’s the closest they will ever come to being minoritized.

Regarding the second profile, it’s important to know that Gabe is not categorically different from you or me. He’s a cishet white dude - his problems are not unique. There isn’t a ton of research into the demography of the Alt-Right, but there may be a higher-than-average chance Gabe has a history of being abused or comes from a broken home. You don’t know if it’s true of Gabe, he’s never said. But most abuse survivors don’t become Nazis. The things that make people like Gabe recruitable tend to be situational: it happens often during periods of transition, as dramatic as the death of a loved or as benign as moving to a new city. Things that make people ask big life questions. Gabe has concerns like economic precarity, not knowing his place in a changing world, stressful working conditions. In other words, Gabe is suffering under late capitalism, same as everyone, and it’s entirely plausible he could have gone down the path to becoming a Leftist.

This is not to make an “economic anxiety” argument: the animating force of the Far Right is and always has been bigotry. But the Alt-Right targets Gabe by treating his “economic anxiety” as one of many things bigotry can be sold as a solution to. It is their aim that, when dissatisfied white men go looking for answers, they find the Alt-Right before they find us.

Step Two: Establish a Community

Were Gabe pledging an old-school hate movement, there would probably be a recruiter to usher him into an existing community. But that’s the kind of formalized interaction modern extremists try to avoid. Online extremism has many points of entry, and everybody’s journey is unique, so rather than be comprehensive we will focus on what are, in my estimation, the two most common pathways: the Far Right creates a community Gabe is likely to stumble into, or infiltrates a community Gabe is already in.

The stumble-upon method has two main branches, one of which is just “Gabe ends up on a chan board,” which we’ve already done a video about. The other is kind of the polar opposite of 4chan’s cult of anonymity: Gabe ends up in the fandom of a Far Right thought leader.

These folks are charismatic media personalities (that’s charismatic according to Gabe’s tastes, not ours; I don’t understand it, either). These personalities may gain traction on any number of platforms, from podcasts to reportage to blogging, though the most effective platform for redpilling is, and yes I am biting the hand that feeds me, YouTube. They may get Gabe’s attention through fairly standard means, like talking about or even generating controversy to get themselves trending, while some of the more committed will employ dubious SEO tactics like clickbait, google bombing, and data voids (just pause for definitions, we don’t have time).

What they tend to have in common, especially the most accessible ones, is that they don’t present themselves as entry points to the radical Right. In fact, many did not set out to be Far Right thought leaders, and may not think of themselves as such (though they are often selling products, of which the Alt-Right are among their biggest purchasers, and it’s not like they’re turning the money away). How they present is the same way anyone presents who wants to be successful on social media: accessible, approachable, authentic. The face-to-face relationship a budding extremist forms with their recruiter or the leader of their hate group’s local chapter are here folded into one parasocial relationship with a complete stranger.

Why this person appeals to Gabe is they’re not selling politics as politics, but conservatism as a kind of lifestyle brand. They rely heavily on criticizing or ridiculing the Left: feminists are oversensitive, Black people unintelligent, queer folks doomed to loneliness, and trans people insane; I dunno if it’s a coincidence that these are all things Gabe thinks about himself in his low moments. By contrast, they don’t sell conservatism as having sounder policies or a more coherent moral framework, but that abandoning progressive principles and embracing conservative ones will make Gabe happier. Remember, Gabe isn’t looking for white nationalism or misogyny, what he wants is the cure to soul-sickness, and these friendly micro-celebs are here to offer a shot of life advice with politics as the chaser. It is extremely important that politics be presented as a set of affects, not a set of beliefs.

The second pathway is infiltration, which is its own beast. Media personalities sometimes become gateways to the Right almost by accident: they do something edgy, a part of their audience reacts positively, and, facing no real consequence, they do it more; this leads to further positive reinforcement from conservative fans, the rest of the audience acclimates, and the cycle repeats, the personality pushing the envelope further and further based on what flies with their increasingly conservative audience. In this way, they become a right-wing figure by both radicalizing and being radicalized by their audience.

Infiltration is deliberate.

The Far Right will reliably target any community that has 1) a large, white, male population, 2) whose niche interests allow them to feel vaguely marginalized, and 3) who are not used to progressive critique of said interests. This isn’t to say progressive critique doesn’t exist, or hasn’t been baked into the property from the beginning, but that it has been, so far, easy for white guys to ignore. As such, progressives within that community probably don’t talk politics much, and women and minorities are perfectly welcome to post, same as anyone, but just, you know, don’t, don’t make identity politics, you know, like, a thing.

Given Gabe’s proclivities, he’s probably already in a number of fan communities where he can geek out and not get teased. And this is where the Far Right will go looking for him

Communities are at their most vulnerable to infiltration at times of political discord. This can happen naturally - say, a new property in the fandom has a Black protagonist - or it can be provoked - say, a bunch of channers join the forum and say provocative things about race to get people arguing - or both. Left to its own devices, the community might sort out its differences and maybe even come out more progressive than they started. But, with the right pressure applied in the right moment, these communities can devolve into arguments about the need to remove a nebulously-defined “politics” from the conversation.

The adage about bros on the internet is “‘political’ means anything I disagree with,” but it’d be more accurate to say, here, “‘political’ means anything on which the community disagrees.” For instance, “Nazis are bad” is an apolitical statement because everyone in the community agrees. It’s common sense, and therefore neutral. But, paradoxically, “Nazis are good” is also apolitical; because “Nazis are bad” is the consensus, “Nazis are good” must be just an edgy joke, and, even if not, the community already believes the opposite, so the statement is harmless. Tolerable. However, “feminism is good” is a political statement, because the community hasn’t reached consensus. It is debatable, and therefore political, and you should stop talking about it. And making political arguments, no matter how rational, is having an agenda, and having an agenda is ruining the community.

(Now, it is curious how the things that provoke the most disagreement tend to be whichever ones make white dudes uncomfortable. One of life’s great, unanswerable mysteries.)

You can gather where this is going: a community that doesn’t tolerate progressivism but does tolerate Nazism is going to start collecting Nazis, Nazis whose goal is to drive a wedge between the community and the Left. Once the Left acknowledges, “Hey, your community’s developing a Nazi problem,” the Nazis - who are, remember, trusted, apolitical members of the community who might just be kidding about all the Nazi shit - say, “Did you hear that, guys?! Those cultural Marxists just called all of us Nazis!” Wedge. Similarly, any community members who say, “but Nazis though” are framed as infiltrators pushing an agenda, even if they’ve been there longer than the Nazis have. They get the wedge, too.

This is how fandoms radicalize. They are built as - yeah, I’ll say it - safe spaces for nerds, weebs, and furries, and are told that the Left is a threat to their safety. Given a choice between leaving a community that has mattered to him for years and simply adjusting to the community’s shifting politics, the assumption is that Gabe will stay. This assumption is right often enough that a lot of fandoms have been colonized.

What is true of both of these methods - Gabe finding the Right or the Right finding him - is that Gabe does not come nor stay for the ideology. He’s here for the community, the sense of belonging, of being with his people, of having his fears validated and his enjoyment shared. The ideology is simply the price of admission.

Step Three: Isolate

There is a vast, interconnected network of Far Right communities out there, and Gabe is, at this point, only on the periphery. In order to keep him in, they need to disrupt his relationships to other communities, and become, more and more, his primary online social space. Having made this space hostile to the Left, they now seek to break his connections to progressives elsewhere in his life.

This is hard to do online. The whole appeal of moving radicalism to the internet is that your away-from-keyboard life doesn’t have to change. You are crypto the moment you log off. Some thought leaders will encourage their audience to cut ties with Family of Origin, or “deFOO,” but, even then, they can’t monitor whether the audience has actually done it the way an in-person movement could. And so alienating Gabe from the Left is less controlled, and, consequently, may be less total. How much Gabe isolates is up to him.

But the vast majority of Far Right media presumes an alienation from the Left. Part of conservative bloggers and YouTubers making the Left look pathetic is doing a lot take-downs and responses. This is a constant repetition of the Left’s arguments for the purpose of mockery, and, for Gabe, it starts to replace any engagement with progressive media directly. He soon knows the Left only through caricature. It also trains him, if he does directly engage, to approach the Left with the same combative stance as his role models. (For reference, see my comment section.) And this is only if he doesn’t partake in one of the many active boycotts of “SJW media.”

In addition to mocking the Left’s arguments, they also, curiously, appropriate them. This is one part sanitization: liberal centrism is more socially acceptable; indeed, many figures on the outer layers think of themselves as moderates, even as they serve as gateways to radicalism. But, also, many of Gabe’s problems could be addressed by progressive leftism, so they sell him racist, sexist versions of it. Yes, there is a problem with workers being underpaid and overextended, but the solution isn’t unions, it’s deporting immigrants; yes, there is a chronic loneliness and anger to being a man in the modern age, but it’s not because of the toxic masculine expectations placed on you by the patriarchy, it’s women being slutty; yes, wealth disparity does mean a tiny percentage of elites have more influence over culture and politics than the rest of us combined, but the problem isn’t capitalism, it’s the Jews. And it’s hard for Gabe to reject these ideas without, in the process, rejecting the progressive ideas they’re copied from; the Right’s “take the red pill” is, to the untrained eye, similar to the Left’s “get woke.” (Or, at least, the bowdlerized version of “get woke” that is no longer specifically about race which came to fashion when white people started saying it, grumble grumble.)

Take the red pill or reject them both; either is a step to the right.

As this rhetoric slips into his day-to-day conversation, even as seemingly harmless “irreverence,” it may strain relationships with people who are not entertained by this shit. Off-color comments about race and gender can certainly be wearying for female and non-white friends, which can lead to a passive distance or an eventual confrontation [“why is everyone but me so sensitive?!”], which only seem to confirm what his reactionary community says about liberal snowflakes. If he says these things on social media, he may get his account suspended, and, if he comes back under an alt, you can bet his new reactionary friends will be the first to reconnect, applaud the behavior that got him banned, and repeat should he get banned again. A few cycles of this and he’s lost touch with everyone else.

Also, his adoption of the insular, meme-laden terminology of this community makes him less and less comprehensible to outsiders.

Over time, sources of information get replaced with community-approved ones: conservative news, conservative YouTube, conservative Wikipedia if he’s really committed. The Algorithm soon takes note and stops recommending media from the Left. He stops watching shows with a “liberal agenda,” which usually means shows starring women and people of color. Now, there is evidence that the human mind responds to fictional characters similarly to real people, and that consuming diverse media can decrease bigotry in ways roughly analogous to having a diverse group of friends, which is one of many reasons we say representation matters. By consuming a homogenous media diet, Gabe stymies his ability to have even parasocial relationships with anyone who isn’t a cishet conservative white dude or one of their approved exceptions.

To the extent that any of this happens, it happens at Gabe’s discretion and at his own chosen pace. It has not been forced on him, only encouraged and rewarded. But the fact that it hasn’t been forced can make him all the more willing to accept it, because it seems safe to consider; even though his life and social circle are changing to accommodate, he does not feel committed. But many Gabes have walked these halls, and, if they close the door behind them, there’s nowhere left to go but down.

Step Four: Raise their Power Level

(...and they say we ruined anime.)

Consider the ecosystem of the Alt-Right as layers of an onion, with Gabe sitting at the edge and ready to traverse towards the center. (No, I’m not just going to reiterate the PewDiePipeline, though, if you haven’t seen it, go do that.)

The outer layer of the onion is extremism at its most plausibly deniable. Without careful scrutiny, the public-facing figureheads could pass as dispassionate, and the websites as merely problematic rather than softly fascist. It is valuable if Gabe believes this as well; that, at this stage, he believe the bigotry is simply trolling, the extremists an insignificant minority, and any report of harassment faked. That he believe where he is is as deep as the rabbit hole goes. And that he continue to believe this at each successive layer.

People in the deepest crevices of the Alt-Right self-report getting redpilled on multiple issues at different times in their journey to the center of the onion. If Gabe’s first red pill is about the SJWs coming for his free speech, he’ll think that’s all anyone in his community believes; there’s no racism here, people are just making a point about their right to use slurs. Then, when he gets redpilled on the white genocide, he’ll laugh at those Alt-Lite cucks who tried to sweep the race realists under the rug, and at himself for having once been one, but acknowledge that those channels and websites are still useful for onboarding people, so he won’t denounce them. At the same time, nobody takes those manosphere betas seriously.

And this process is reiterated with every pill swallowed: gender essentialism, autogynephilia, birtherism, Sandy Hook truth, pizzagate, QAnon if he’s really out there. The heart of the onion is typically the Jewish Question, but these can happen in any order, and in any number. But each layer sells itself as being, finally, the ultimate truth. Each denies the validity of the others; the layers ahead don’t exist, they’re made up my liberals, while the people behind are asleep where you are now awake. That’s why they chose “the red pill” as their metaphor: take it, and everything will be revealed. That’s why it cozies up with conspiracism. But what’s supposed to follow is that this knowledge help Gabe in some way, and it doesn’t. Blaming immigrants doesn’t actually fix the economy, and hating women doesn’t make men less lonely. But, having been alienated from everything outside the onion, once that sinks in, the only recourse on offer is to seek out the next pill.

And pills are easy to find. Those within the network have laissez-faire relationships, even as they, on paper, disavow one another. When they need a source or a guest host, they aren’t going to go to the Left; they’re going to feature each other. The Left is the enemy; their ideas are beneath consideration, and the only reason to engage them is for public humiliation. [Shapiro’s book.] But you can interview “western chauvinists” and that doesn’t mean you’re endorsing them, just, you know, it’s fine to hear ‘em out, nothing should be off-limits in the marketplace of ideas. Besides, Nazis are apolitical.

And because these folks keep showing up in each others’ metadata, regardless of what they say, Google thinks there is definitely a relationship between the guy “just asking questions” and the guy denying the Holocaust. Gabe is softly exposed to many flavors of conservatism just slightly more radical than he is now, and is expected, at the very least, to not question their presence. This is an environment where deradicalizing - listening to the Left - would be sleeping with the enemy, but radicalizing further? You do you, buddy.

Gabe’s emotional journey, however, is somewhat more complex. If you’ve spent any time reading or watching reactionary media you’ve probably noticed it’s really. fucking. repetitive. It’s a few thousand phrasings of the same handful of arguments. Like, there’s only so many jokes about attack helicopters! But these people just crank out content, and most of it’s derivative; the reason to pick one personality over another isn’t because they say something different, but because they say it differently. Gabe just picks the affect it’s delivered in.

Repetition dulls the shock of the most egregious statements, making them appear normal and prepping him for more extreme ideas. Meanwhile, the arguments themselves? They’re not good. (BreadTube will never run out of shit to debunk.) They are repetitive because they’re not good. They’re mantric. A good argument you only need to hear one time; if you can follow it, internalize it, and explain it to someone else, you know you’ve understood it. But a bad argument can’t convince you on its own merits, so it will often rely on affect. This can be the snappy, thought-terminating cliche, or the long, winding diatribe that sounds really sensible while you’re hearing it but when someone asks you for the gist you can only say “go watch these 17 videos and it’ll all make sense.” Both these approaches are largely devoid of content, but, gosh, if they don’t sound sure of themselves.

And that mode can be very persuasive, but it doesn’t stick the way a coherent argument does. It needs to be repeated, the affect replenished, because the words matter less than the delivery. There needs to be a steady stream of confident voices saying “we’ve got this figured out and everyone else is stupid” or Gabe’s gonna notice the flaws. They are not well-hidden.

And the catch-22 of returning to that stream over and over is that these communities are stressful even as they are calming. People afraid they will die virgins go to forums with people who share and validate that fear, and also say, “Yes, you will die a virgin.” People afraid Syrians are coming to kill us all watch videos by people who share and validate that fear, and also say, “Yes, Syrians are coming to kill us all.” Others have already pointed out that rubbing your face in your worst anxieties is a form of digital self-harm, but I need to you understand the toxic recursion of it: Gabe is going to these communities to get upset. Every emotion is converted into anger, because sadness, fear, and despair are paralyzing but anger is motivating; Gabe feels less helpless when he’s pissed off. And so, while he’s topping up on reassuring nonsense, he’s also topping up on stress. And, being cut off from everything outside the network, the only place he knows to go to release that stress is back to the place that gives it to him. It’s a feedback loop, pulling him deeper and deeper on the promise that, at some point, relief will come.

It is a similar dynamic that keeps people in abusive relationships.

When someone in Gabe’s community makes a racist joke, they are presenting Gabe with a choice between the human interaction of laughing with his friends and his societal responsibility not to be a fuckin’ racist. And not laughing seems ridiculous; everybody’s friends here; no one’s getting hurt; this is harmless. And so the irreverent race joke draws a line between the personal and the political, and suggests that one can be safely prioritized over the other. One way to look at radicalization is being asked to stick with that seemingly innocuous decision as the stakes are raised incrementally: first with edgier humor, and then comments that are funny because they’re shocking but you couldn’t really call them jokes, and then “funny” comments that are also sincerely angry, but, in each instance, since he laughed with his bros last time, it stands to reason he should keep favoring the personal over some abstracted notion of “politics.”

This is why the progressive adage “the personal is political” is among the most threatening things you can say in these spaces.

I’m not trying to make a slippery slope argument. Most of us who laughed at edgy jokes when we were teenagers didn’t grow up to be Nazis. It is a slippery slope in the specific context of being in community with people trying to radicalize you. Gabe is a lonely white boy in need of friends, and laughing at a racist joke is personal, while not laughing is political. Staying in a community that has Nazis in it is personal, and leaving is political. The personal is what brings people together and the political drives them apart. (The “only if some of them are bigots” part of that sentence is usually lopped off). There’s this joke on the internet that nerds perceive only two races: white and political. Following that logic, what could be more apolitical than an ethnostate?

They are banking on his willingness to adapt his beliefs to suit an environment that meets a need. That same need can be satisfied by white nationalism. There are few things more seductive to people who doubt their own worth than being told you are valuable simply for being white. And you can sub in male, cis, straight, allosexual, or able-bodied. It just takes priming: by the time Gabe officially embraces bigotry, he’s already been acting like a bigot for months. The red pill is simply the moment he says it out loud.

Change Gabe’s surroundings, and you change Gabe.

Step Five: ???

The final step in a traditional extremist group would be getting a mission. But that is one thing the Alt-Right can’t do. Once you start giving clear directives, you can’t play yourselves off as a bunch of unaffiliated hashtags and think tanks; you are now a formalized movement accountable to its followers, and can be judged and policed as such.

To my mind, Charlottesville was an attempt to become such a movement, taking things offline and getting all the different groups working collectively. And, as so often happens when these people get in the same space - especially with no official leaders or means of control over their members - it backfired. Their true colors came out before they were ready and a counter-protester lost her life.

This would be the point where, historically, an extremist group starts to disintegrate. Their veneer of respectability gone, they’re now hated by the public, the media wants nothing more to do with them, and everyone not in jail turns on each other or goes underground. This is also the point where the liberal establishment says, “My job here is done,” and utterly fails to retake control of the narrative, allowing the next batch of radicals to pick up more or less where the last one left off.

But to an already-decentralized group like the Alt-Right, Charlottesville was bad but eminently survivable. People retreated back to the internet, with its code words and anonymous forums, but that’s where much of the work was already done anyway. The platforms where they organized kept tolerating them, the authorities still didn’t classify them as terrorists, and any disgraced figureheads were replaced with up-and-comers.

The major change in strategy is that it doesn’t seem anyone has tried to formalize the Alt-Right since.

So where does that leave Gabe? He’s gone through this whole process of largely hands-off indoctrination - and I should stress his journey may look like what we’ve outlined or it may look different in places, this video is not comprehensive - but now he’s swallowed every pill he cares to, he blames half a dozen minorities for everything he sees as wrong with the world, and no one will give him anything to do. You’ve got this ad hoc movement frothing young men into a militant fervor and then just leaving them to stew in their own hate. Should we really be surprised at how many commit mass shootings?

This is a machine for producing lone wolves.

Leaving men to take up arms of their own volition is a way of enacting terror while being just outside the popular conception of a terror cell. There are also, of course, more classic militias that will offer Gabe clear directives - they’re recruiting from the same pool. And Gabe may stop short of this step, settling in a middle layer that suits him or finding the inner layers too extreme. But violence is the logical conclusion of an ideology of hate, and, should Gabe take this step, he can approach violence in the same incremental fashion he approached conservatism.

He can start with yelling at people on Twitter, and then maybe collective brigading, DDoS attacks, sharing dox, leaking nudes, calling their phone numbers, texting them pictures of their houses from the sidewalk. These acts of cruelty become games of oneupmanship within his community. All this can start as far back as Step 2, and get more intense the deeper he goes. Some people join explicitly partake in harassment and violence the way Gabe joined to talk about anime.

But this behavior can serve as a kind of buy-in. The Left and the feminists and the LGBTQs and the Muslims and the immigrants are all, within his community, subhuman. You’ve maybe heard the conservative catchphrase “feminism is cancer”; well don’t treat cancer by having a respectful exchange of ideas with it, but by eradicating it down to the last cell. Cruelty against the Left is framed as righteous.

From any other perspective, posting someone’s bank information is something you might feel ashamed of. Which creates a psychological imperative not to consider other perspectives. A thing that keeps people in is staving off the guilt they will reckon with the moment they step out. Gabe is also aware that anything he’s done to the Left could be done to him if he leaves; some communities even keep dox on their members as insurance. And the things he’s been encouraged to do to the Left will likely make him feel that the Left would never take him now; the radical Right is the only home he’s got. Harassment becomes another tool of isolation.

Steadily, options for Gabe are whittled down to being a vigilante or a nihilist. There are periods of elation: moments the Alt-Right feels it’s winning - or, more accurately, the people they hate are losing - are like cocaine. They are authoritarians, after all. But the times in between are mean and angry. They are antisocial, starved of emotional connection, consuming incompatible conspiracies that may at any point run them afoul of one another, devoted to figureheads who cater to but cannot risk leading them, and living under constant threat of being outed to the Left or turned on by the Right for stepping out of line. Gabe took this journey for the sense of community and purpose, and, but for the rare moments everything goes their way, the Alt-Right can’t maintain either. They can only keep promising his day will come, a story he could get from a $5 palm reading.

The feeling there’s nothing left but to kill yourself or someone else is so common it’s a meme.

But there is always a third option: Gabe can leave.

Pre-Conclusion: For Fuck’s Sake Do Not Make Gabe Your Whole-Ass Praxis

Before we continue, I want to state plainly that Gabe went off the deep end because he found a community willing to tell him that, because he is a cishet white man, the world revolves around him. Do not treat him like this is true.

If a fraction of the energy spent having debates with America’s Gabes were spent instead on voter re-enfranchisement, prisoner’s rights, protections for immigrants, statehood for DC and Puerto Rico, and redistricting, Gabe’s opinions, in the societal sense, wouldn’t matter. Reactionary conservatism is a small and largely unpopular ideology that is only so represented in our culture and politics because they’ve learned how to game the system.

And I get it. Those are huge problems that are going to take years to address, where, if you know a Gabe, that’s a conversation you could have today. And, if you think you can get through to him, it is worthwhile to try. This is a fight on many fronts and deradicalization is one of them. But it is only one, so please keep it in perspective. It sends an awful message when we spend more time trying to get bigots back on our side than we do the people they are bigoted against.

Your value as a lefty does not hinge on whether you can change Gabe’s mind.

Conclusion: How Gabe Gets Out

He may just grow out of it. These communities skew young, and some folks hit a point where hanging with edgy teens doesn’t feel cool anymore.

He may become disillusioned after the movement fails to deliver on its promises.

He may become disillusioned if something goes wrong in his life and his community isn’t there for him, if he feels they like his race and his gender but don’t actually care about him.

He may be shocked if he sees the Alt-Right at its worst before being appropriately conditioned. Charlottesville was a step too far for a lot of people.

His community may turn on him for any perceived unorthodoxy, and he may leave out of necessity.

He may be separated by circumstance from the community - a trip with no internet, hospitalization, arrest - and not be able to top up on the rhetoric. This may lead him to question his beliefs.

His community may disappear, either tearing itself apart or getting shut down by authorities.

He may have incidental contact with populations he’s supposed to hate, and have trouble reconciling who they are in person with what he’s been told about them. In his community, people bond over shared intolerance, but, suddenly, being tolerant helps him make friends. (This is one reason the Alt-Right has made a battleground of the college campus.)

He may form or revisit relationships outside the network, people who can offer him the connection he’s been looking for. This may reintroduce outside perspectives. More importantly, it rekindles his ability to have healthy relationships at all, something the Alt-Right has estranged him from.

As with recruiters, it seems these “escape hatch” relationships can sometimes be parasocial; coming to respect a public figure who is on the Left, or is critical of the Alt-Right.

Someone he is close to may compel him to choose, “me or the movement.” A lot of young men leave to save a romantic relationship.

Hearing stories from people who’ve already jumped may help; there aren’t a lot of public formers, and some raise suspicions as to their sincerity, but it is getting more common, and may be the closest we get to exit counseling for the Alt-Right.

He may become aware of the ways he’s being manipulated, or have them revealed to him, maybe because he stumbled into BreadTube, I dunno. Knowledge that you are being indoctrinated is no guarantee it won’t work - you are not immune to propaganda - but it can help one resist.

And he may revisit a core belief system that used to guide him, be it religion or social justice or a really wholesome fandom, and be reminded of the identity he used to have.

Moments like these, in isolation or in aggregate, can inspire Gabe to jump. They are also good times for friends to intervene. The reach and the impunity that comes with the internet means it has never been easier to fall into reactionary extremism. It has also never been easier to get out. People who exit skinhead gangs often fear for their lives; for Gabe, there’s a chance getting out is as simple as going to a different website. Much of his community does not know his name or his face and he may not important enough to dox.

What doesn’t get Gabe out - not reliably, not that I have seen - is an argument with a stranger who proves all his facts wrong and his ideology bunk. Facts don’t always work because facts don’t care about his feelings. This was about staying in a community, and holding onto an identity, that mattered to him. It was about belonging, and that is something a rando from the other side of the culture war can’t give him and probably shouldn’t be responsible for.

The theme here is human connection. Before he can do the work of disentangling himself, and facing the guilt of what he’s believed and maybe done, he has to know there’s somewhere for him on the other end of it. That the Right hasn’t ruined him. They’ve told him all of history is groups fighting each other over status, and, without his clan, he’ll be an exile. He needs a better story.

I don’t know that lefty spaces are ideal for this, in no small part because bringing someone who’s a bit of a Nazi but working on it into diverse communities is… questionable. And it probably wouldn’t be good for him, either; having just gotten out of a toxic belief system, he’s going to be deeply skeptical of all ideologies. In a perfect world, people who care about Gabe could build for him - to use a therapy term - a holding space. Someplace private - physical or digital - where Gabe can work out his feelings, where he is both encouraged and expected to be better but is not, in the moment, judged. That comes later. It is delicate and time-consuming work that should not be done in public, but we find these beliefs, built up over the course of months or years, tend to fall away very quickly with a shift of environment. Change Gabe’s surroundings and you change Gabe.

But, instead, a lot of people who jump are functionally deprogramming themselves, which is working for a lot of them, but it’s haphazard, and there are recidivists.

If you don’t personally know a Gabe, or have training as a counselor, you may not be in a position to help him. Possibly there are things you can do to disrupt the recruitment process or prevent infiltration of spaces you’re in - I’m looking into it, but talk to your mods - but, elephant in the room: meaningful change will require reform on the part of platform holders. Tools to disrupt this process already exist and are being used on groups like ISIS, but they’re not being used on the Alt-Right because they try oh so very hard not to get classified as terrorists (and also any functioning anti-radicalization policy would require banning a lot of conservative politicians, so there’s that...).

But what makes our story better than theirs is that the fight for social and economic justice, though it is long, and difficult, and frustrating, when it works, it fulfills the promise the Right can’t keep: it materially make people’s lives better. I am not prone to sentimentality, or to giving these videos happy endings. But one thing we have that the Alt-Right doesn’t is hope.

[thel3tterm]

Our Author is Dead

This is my current novel project. I’ve been working on it for ~5 years, and its been through many painful drafts and revisions.

Current status: about halfway through the final draft. ~23 chapters and counting.

Read it here!  What is it about?

When Rouge’s boyfriend, Michael, goes missing under mysterious circumstances, he leaves behind boxes of incomprehensible research, and a realization that he hadn’t been the meek eccentric they always believed.

Rouge wanders from town to town, trying to piece together what happened and hopefully bring him home.

Along the way, they have to deal with biological monstrosities, an enigmatic being who eats words, a vigilante in a rabbit mask, overpowered teens on the run from a nightmarish organization, and worst of all- a war over who gets to be the protagonist of the story they apparently live in.

The World:

Our Author is Dead takes place in a country known as Doma.

Doma is very similar to our contemporary society. There’s junk food, convenience stores, comic books, air conditioning, interstates… but no electricity. The east is bordered by an ocean, and its western desert ends in an incomprehensible, uncrossable ‘wall’ of abnormality.

Lets Talk Biomancy: All technology is based upon living organic tissue- a field known as Biomancy. The field is completely normalized in their world. It gets them from place to place, lets them communicate long distances, runs the factories, does pretty much everything electricity does for us. In many cases its unnoticeable, running through the walls or inside of gadgets one might not even suspect are alive. The most noteworthy examples though, are full fledged lab created ‘animals’ of sorts. They might be pets, household assistance, or most commonly, vehicles. Zap Heads: Some people actually do study electricity, and believe in the merits of it as an alternative means of engineering. …Of course, we all know that its just a fringe science and that there’s no way to actually use electricity for anything substantial. People who study it call themselves Electricians. Everyone else calls them Zap Heads.

Novus: A subgroup of people in this country are known as Novus. A Novus, for one reason or another, is born with a slight or major split from their own body. Most people are only able to have an influence within themselves. They are only able to think inside their heads and move what’s attached to them. A Novus is able to have an influence outside of themself, which can manifest in a myriad of ways. Some might bend reality around them to their will, some might be able to reach into another person’s head and change things around. -Novus are looked at negatively by most of the country, and are often disparagingly called ‘Wiz’, based on the thought that they’re like witches. -Medical researchers believe that it is some kind of a birth defect, but are unable to determine if the root is environmental or genetic. -They’ve been noted to have a much higher average body temperature, and a weaker immune system. Flexing their 'abnormalities’ seems to require an extreme amount of energy, so they need to eat a lot more than average and struggle to keep a healthy weight. -Religious people believe that it is caused by a moral failure, and that Novus need to have more self discipline to 'correct’ themselves. -Upon discovery, Novus are immediately documented and given a facial tattoo and serial number. -Most Novus wind up being seized and taken to a 'rehabilitation’ center before they reach the age of eighteen. Few will ever actually leave the rehab centers. Only a small number remain free to adulthood. The Bones: One of the oldest and most prestigious families in Doma is known as the Bones. Despite appearing frequently in history textbooks, newspaper and magazine articles, interviews, important dinners, parties, and the like, very little is ACTUALLY known about the Bones. Here are some definite knowns: -They invented Biomancy several hundred years ago. -They are the only family who actually knows how to make a Biom from scratch, and they hold this secret very close. (Factories merely assemble the Bioms, but an outside party is not able to make a working one unless it comes from them.) -All of their children are women. No Bones has ever been a man. -They seem to have an extreme influence over all the goings-on in the country. Politics, Novus control, science, media, you name it, they’re there. Melissa Bones is currently in charge of their family operations, and her daughter Pamela is the up and coming heir. Characters: Rouge: -27 years old -Novus -Non-binary (they/them) -Very thin, brown hair (unless they dye it) usually in a sideshave or shaggily uneven, long face, tan skin, chipped front tooth, average height -Almost always wearing a patched up and shabby blue coat. -Anxious, self loathing, self-described as 'completely ordinary and boring’, sarcastic, artistic, tenacious -Was diagnosed a Novus at age 17 in a freak accident. They had never caused anything to happen before, and have done nothing unusual since. -Was rescued from a rehab center under equally bizarre circumstances by a childhood friend, and is a rare 'adult’ Novus. -Has a taste for the finer things in life, and likes to critique food and visual design -Loves outlandish fashion, but has no money for it -Is looking for someone dear to them who mysteriously went missing Valence: -Is that even her real name? -19 years old -Extremely powerful Novus. Perhaps the most powerful there ever was. -Can bend reality around her, create bursts of light and heat, move objects at a distance, alter the shape and material of things -Stocky and muscular, on the shorter side, round face, tan skin, black hair typically kept short -Prefers masculine clothing -Prone to anger, determined, stubborn, courageous, strong moral compass, black and white mentality, fiercely independent -Both of her parents are well known 'Zap Heads’. Her siblings are well known activists and researchers. While smart, she was more drawn to music, and felt trapped under the expectations placed on her by her family. -Was friends with several vigilantes and rogue freedom fighters who knew her family -Was taken at age 18 after snapping someone’s leg in half, and brought to a secret facility run by the Bones -Broke herself out and has been on the run since -Was in a shitty garage band. Plays bass. Loves comic books and underground music. Tariku: -14 years old -Novus with the ability to 'see’ into people’s inner selves and mess with their heads, plus a few other things I won’t mention here yet. -Dark skin, thick hair, short because he’s still young but will grow to be tall, on the thinner side -Prefers to dress crisply, usually opting for collared shirts -Wears a blindfold most of the time to prevent accidentally spying on people. (Also because he was taught that his ability is a sin, and he can’t turn it off…) -Thoughtful, cautious, strategic, quiet, prone to guilt, shows little emotion but feels things intensely, rarely shares what he’s thinking about, extremely curious but is often too afraid to explore or take risks -Never swears or uses contractions while speaking -Grew up in a facility with several other Novus with similar abilities who were being trained for a specific, mysterious, goal -Knew Pamela Bones -Decided to escape with Valence after an incident he is keeping a secret, for now -Is curious about 'normal’ things people his age do, but is so far underwhelmed by the reality of the outside world Corvid: -??? -This thing seems to show up randomly in Rouge’s room at night. Is it even real?  -It talks in garbled voices patched together  -Wears a raven mask. Who knows what it is or what it wants. Is it even human? Michael:  -A childhood friend of Rouges, then boyfriend -Tall, gangly, dark curly hair, freckles -A bit of a know-it-all, passionate about everything, pleasant and friendly, keeps things to himself, doesn’t like to share uncomfortable details of his life -Difficult family life, a lot left unsaid -Might be involved in really dark and shady things -Got kidnapped and who knows where he is now Proto: -Lives in the woods -Always wears a rabbit mask, even while they’re sleeping, like a weirdo -Supposedly a friend of Michael’s, but Rouge had never heard of them -A friend of Valence’s as well, and worked with her family -Vigilante, destructive Pamela Bones: -20 -Pale skin, freckles, bright red hair kept long, perfectly aligned teeth, green eyes, a bit on the shorter side, fit, curvy figure -She’s everywhere, it seems. An international icon -Sounds bubbly and friendly enough, but there’s something wrong with her voice, and her eyes, and her smile. It seems a bit uncanny, a bit... off somehow Read it here! ________________________ Tag list: @leonajasmin-writeblr @zburatorii

[lee-jinkis-ponytail]

Meet the Players of Haunts & Hellhouds: Park Jin-Hwan

"Jin” - 21 - Party Role: Healer

The other H&H players were surprised when Jin picked the role of Party Animal. He told them it was because it was the only role left that could train in arcana and witchcraft, and the team would need a healer. But Grimm Morreaux knows Jin’s secret...

Read on for H&H stats, current status, backstory, and fears.

SPOILER WARNING: If you have not finished the most recent chapter of Haunts & Hellhounds over on Wattpad, and you wish to avoid spoilers (including whether the character has survived thus far), DO NOT read past this break.

The most recent chapter is: Chapter 7. *New chapters every Friday at 4PM EST!* :)

Haunt & Hellhound Level & Trope: LVL3 Party Animal

EXP: 500

Student Background: Junior, Business Management major with a minor in Literature, Commuter, JV Track & Field Team

Alignment: Neutral

Defense Stat: 15

HP Maximum: 27 Current HP: 27

SP Maximum: 20 Current SP: 18

MP: 30 Current MP: 30 Spell Attack Bonus: +3 Death Saves: -Successes: ( ) ( ) ( ) -Failures: ( ) ( ) ( ) Hit Dice: 2d8 (unarmed) or 2d10 (armed)

Proficiency Bonus: +2

Attributes (* = proficient): (1) Strength: 10 (+0) (2) Dexterity: 8 (-1) (3) Constitution*: 16 (+3) (4) Knowledge: 10 (+0) (5) Serenity: 12 (+1) (6) Charisma*: 13 (+1)

Skills (* = proficient): (1) Acrobatics (Dex)(-1) (2) Alchemy & Chemistry (Kno)(+0) (3) Animal Handling (Cha)(+1) (4) Arcana & Witchcraft* (Ser)(+3) (5) Athletics* (Str)(+4) (6) Crafting (Dex)(-1) (7) Deception* (Cha)(+3) (8) History & Lore (Kno)(+0) (9) Insight (Kno)(+0) (10) Intimidation & Distraction (Cha)(+1)   (11) Investigation (Kno)(+0) (12) Perception (Ser)(+1) (13) Persuasion* (Cha)(+3) (14) Religion & Occultism (Kno)(+0) (15) Sanity (Ser)(+1) (16) Sleight of Hand (Dex)(-1) (17) Stealth (Dex)(-1) (18) Survival (Kno)(+0) (19) Technology (Kno)(+0)

Extra Proficiences: (1) Driving: This character has his driver’s license, marginally increasing chances of escape if the survivors can make it out of the dungeon... (2) Track & Field: This character is on the college Track & Field team. As a distance runner, he is proficient in the Athletics skill, and gains a bonus of +2 Athletics points on top of his proficiency and athletics modifiers. (3) English: This character speaks English. (4) Korean: This character speaks Korean. (5) Business: Thanks to his Business Management background, when haggling with vendors, he can roll 2 persuasion checks at an advantage, and with an additional +2 points on top of his proficiency and persuasion modifiers. Abilities: (1) High Tolerance: The Party Animal has a high tolerance for alcohol... and pain. With his senses dulled, he can roll all constitution saving throws at an advantage. (2) Silver Tongue: This Party Animal is a particularly good liar. He gains +2 to every persuasion check, in addition to his proficiency bonus and his charisma bonus. (3) Basic Healing Spell: Jin can cast this spell on himself or an ally during his turn in battle. Roll a 1d6 to determine how many HP the character will regain. Cost: 5MP *Note: As a Party Animal, this character will ALWAYS roll dexterity saving throws at a disadvantage.*

Inventory: -5 pockets (cell phone, wallet [$0, debit card, student ID], pouch of dice, health potion, mana potion) -Backpack (small pockets: 1 granola bar, 2 sandwiches, 1 flask full of whiskey, 1 mini shot bottle of peppermint vodka, large pocket: mason jar of moonshine) -1-handed weapon: aluminum baseball bat

Appearance: -Brown eyes -Dark brown, short at the sides with long bangs that sweep over right eye -5′9″ -Lanky, tall -No piercings, tattoos, or makeup -Wearing a plain white hoodie, jeans, and Vans

Backstory & Personality: Jin feels lost, and he has for a long time. Living off-campus in his parents’ home, he feels like he’s a step behind his classmates all the time. Joining Track & Field was supposed to help him feel more involved in the college community, but still something feels off about the whole experience. He didn’t choose his major until Sophomore year, and even still he doesn’t feel like it’s the right fit for him. But his working-class family wanted him to study something practical, and he didn’t have the stomach to become a doctor or a dentist. So business it was. He doesn’t know what kind of a business he’d even want to run. And if he were to change his major, well... he doesn’t know what he’s really passionate about. Well, that’s not entirely true. He’s passionate about the Dungeon Crawlers’ Union. He really, truly loves playing tabletop RPGs. There’s a nagging voice in the back of his head that insists he only likes it so much because it gives him the opportunity to invent a personality, which he is otherwise severely lacking in real life. If this Haunts & Hellhounds thing has taught him anything, it’s that the nagging voice is right. Hell, his fellow DCU players don’t really know the first thing about him. He doesn’t talk to them about the Track team, he doesn’t vent to them about his apathy. And none of them even suspect that he’s been showing up drunk for the last month or so. None of them really talk about their personal lives at all. It’s always fantasy, sci-fi, fictional characters. They’re always playing a role. Are they even really friends? The warlock Grimm Morreaux knows Jin’s secret; he saw the flask in his backpack. When it came time to choose roles, the Party Animal seemed like the perfect fit--almost. Jin isn’t really into the party scene, but he’s starting to think he has a problem. He isn’t entirely convinced that his flask wasn’t somehow spiked and this is all just a bad trip. Whatever the case, he’s not very confident about making it out alive.

Favorite Horror Movie: Trick ‘r’ Treat -- “Halloween’s my favorite holiday (of course, because apparently all I’m good at is pretending to be someone I’m not), and Trick ‘r’ Treat is a nice little ode.” Horror Movie He Will absolutely NEVER Watch Because It Is Just Too Spooky: The Shining -- “Man, I hope I never turn out to be as miserable as Johnny.”

[blog-sliverofjade]

Omega Protocol 27: Interrogation

Summary: In the mid-21st century, the elite decided to cement society’s strata into our DNA, creating a genetic caste system. One of the early Omegas is cryogenically frozen and forgotten. Revived nearly two centuries later, she has no idea what she has become and has to navigate a strange new world while surrounded by Alphas, whatever those are.

Leading the military arm of his people in exile on a dangerous planet is no easy feat for Captain Niklaus Reed.  He has to build and secure a settlement against megafauna straight out of the Ice Age before families start arriving on the distant planet.  When an Omega is found in an old research base, things become… complicated.

Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7  Chapter 8  Chapter 9  Chapter 10  Chapter 11  Chapter 12  Chapter 13  Chapter 14  Chapter 15  Chapter 16  Chapter 17Chapter 18  Chapter 19  Chapter 20  Chapter 21  Chapter 22  Chapter 23  Chapter 24  Chapter 25  Chapter 26

Word Count:  1592

Much love to my awesome beta @pandabearer

“Talk to me.”  Emma looked up from where she was idly tracing invisible designs on the ridges of his abdomen.  It was the first time the Alpha had solicited her thoughts on anything.

“About what?”

“What happened last night.”  Pulling away from him, she curled in on herself.  Or rather, she tried to.  Niklaus let her withdraw slightly, but his half-embrace held firm when she would have turned away.  “Nice try.”

“How did you know…?”  That I tried to literally curl up and die?  He merely looked at her.  Right, the thing between them that she’d been studiously trying to ignore.  “I thought that they’d threatened to string you up by your thumbs if you didn’t leave me alone?”

“I think it involved honey, rope, and those giant fire ants.  Or was it the death wasps?”  She giggled at the mental picture, which was no doubt his intent.  “I couldn’t just sit there with my thumb up my ass while you destroyed yourself,” he admitted once the laughter subsided.  “You’re not talking to anyone.  I figure I’m already on your shit list, might as well make you talk.”

“You’re going to interrogate me?  Kinky.”

He didn’t dignify that with a response.

She lay there stiffly.  Bracing his free hand behind his head, he tilted his face, eyes half-lidded, a little more towards the faint light filtering in.  One could have been fooled into thinking he was dozing if they couldn’t see him rubbing small circles against her back.

When she finally did speak, her voice was raspy due to a dry mouth and being quiet for so long, not because of any lump in her throat.  “I didn’t fight.”  The words were barely even a breath.  He waited until it was apparent she wasn’t going to continue.

“What did you do?”  Turning to shelter her with his body, he petted her hair.  This was a softer man than the one she’d first met, yet neither was he treating her with kid gloves like nearly everyone else was.

“I threw Fluffybutt at his face and ran.”  Nik chuckled and she joined him, although hers was partly a choked sob.

“I knew something was wrong when your damn chicken came back squawking her head off.  For that alone, she’s earned a stay of execution.”  For all that she’d threatened to fry the bird at the time, Emma had to agree.

“I should’ve fought back,” she murmured to the scar on his chest that had suddenly become fascinating.

“With what?  A chicken and harsh words?”

“There were sticks.”  She wasn’t being defensive, she was pointing out facts.

“He was twice your size and had a spear,” he said in the same flat manner he did when dressing down one of his people for doing something mildly stupid.  It had very rarely been directed at her.  “You did the smart thing.  Chances are he’d have killed you where you stood for challenging him.  Running was your best choice.  He was still faster, but you didn’t just stand there, did you?”

“No.”  God, she’d rather go through chemo again than have this conversation.

“And the head wound didn’t help, did it?”  Worrying at her bottom lip, she shook her head.  “What else do you think you could’ve done?”

“Don’t patronize me!”  Her ire lent her the fortitude to meet his gaze.

“I’m not.”  A low, hard statement.  “I’m trying to break you out of this spin you’re in.”  When she would have ducked her head again to hide her vulnerability, he gripped her chin and stared into her eyes.  “You’re too focused on what you think you should have done when the truth is you chose the course that ensured the greatest chance of survival.”  The steely commander was back, yet there was nothing cool or distant about him now; the fiery intensity that lay just beneath the surface wouldn’t permit that.

“I’m tired of feeling weak.”  She shook her head and her hair fell across her eyes, reminding her that she always suffered from the most horrendous bedhead.  Sitting up, she worked her fingers through her hair in an attempt to get it looking less like a camel had chewed on it in her sleep.  How does it manage to be both greasy and frizzy?  “I’m tired of not having control over anything that happens to me.  They took me from my home- my planet!- and changed me without my knowledge. then to freeze and forget about me.  I’m still not sure how to feel about… my heat.”  She had hated feeling that helpless and out of control.  “Then that happened, and you did this!”  A hand waved at the scar on her neck.  “I don’t even remember the last time I could make a major decision for myself.”  Her voice broke and trailed off.  “I don’t even know if I can trust you.”

Reed felt like someone had cut him off at the knees and allowed a herd of moofalo to run over his body.  His mate didn’t trust him, and he’d given her precious little reason to.  She had scooted away from him to sit with her back against the wall.  Already he missed the warm weight of her against him, leaving him cold, which was a rare sensation for him.

“From what I understand this is permanent.”  There was no divorce for their kind.  “What are my choices?  Do I get any or are you going to keep dictating to me?”  The hunch of her shoulders was a knife to his gut.  “Makes me wonder what the point of living is if this could even be called a life.”  He had taken bullets that hurt less than her speech.

“Don’t you dare give up now.  You’ve survived too much for that.”  It came out roughly, bordering on a growl, but she didn’t flinch.  “Besides, you still have a chance to make me regret claiming you.”

“Spite as motivation to live?”  A wry twist to her mouth.

“If it works.”

“You’re saying you don’t already regret this?”

“Not yet,” he smirked.

“Oh, you are going to regret saying that.”  A small smile bloomed but faded before reaching its fullness.  “What were those things?”

Blowing out a breath, he sat up to sit against the other wall, perpendicular to her.

“Not all of the original test subjects were as successful as you.  The original batch of Alphas and Betas were feral, attacked the research team, and escaped.”  They had also committed unspeakable acts in the process, but she didn’t need to know that when she had already had a glimpse of it.  “Those are their descendants.  We call them ferals or nomads because they cycle through different outposts depending on the season.  Rooster started calling them nad’s, short for Nasty Ass Dickriders.”  The term wasn’t one he’d normally use in front of an Omega, but the crude phrasing startled a chuckle out of her like he’d suspected it would.

“They’re like cavemen, like they devolved?”

“The going theory is that when they were tinkering with the genetic code, they went a little too far back in our evolutionary timeline.  The next team thought to get around the intelligence issue by splicing in animal DNA to get the strength and stamina they were looking for,” he explained.

“Wait, you’re saying they killed the first team and then sent another?”  Her eyebrows climbed towards her hairline.

“It was merely a ‘setback.’”  His lip still curled at the memory of the classified reports he had been privy to as part of his training.  While those back on Earth might not want their kind around, they still wanted to experiment with a colony on an exoplanet, just not with “proper humans.”  That meant certain information had to be shared or else risk inevitable failure.  “The second succeeded, despite another concerted attack from the ferals.  They decided it was safe to return because at that point they could argue that we counted as an extra-terrestrial species and thus exempt from the ban on tinkering with human genetics.”

“That’s a twisted sort of logic that sadly makes sense.”

“No one told you?”  They had agreed to keep the nads’ existence from her to avoid adding to her stress load, no one suspecting that she would wander beyond the protected core, but he’d assumed that someone would have told her after the incident.  Part of him was glad that she had come to him, hoped that she trusted him enough to tell the truth.

“I think Barbie tried, but I really didn’t feel like talking.”  She smoothed a pillow and fussed with its placement.  “Where do we go from here, Nik?”

He knew what he wanted to do, which was keep her close where he could protect her.  What he said was, “What do you want?”

Emma was silent for so long he wasn’t certain she would answer.

“I want to learn to defend myself.”

“We can start this afternoon.”  The response didn’t even require thought, it was automatic.  Like any Alpha, he wanted to be the one to protect his Omega, but he wasn’t arrogant enough to think that she would stay within a protected bubble anymore.  “First, we get some food into you.”

She opened her mouth, most likely to argue, but the rumbling of her stomach interrupted.  “Um, would you mind stepping out so I can get dressed?”  Instead of pointing out that he’d already seen her in her birthday suit, he slipped out into the hallway and tried not to think of her wearing nothing but his mark.

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E11 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 372 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that this is the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 367 Responses

Another week, another episode with high ratings. We’re happy to see overall enjoyment of the anime has stayed steady for several weeks!

best episode of the season thus far; nothing in this show has made me cry so hard since ymir's call of silence moment from season 2. WIT did amazing!

Best episode of this season!!! So happy with the way it turned out, except I wish they didn't play the credits when Carla was speaking at the end cause that took away from it. Also, baby Eren is the cutest thing to exist.

F L O C K! Very nice episode

great episode, really helped close things up with uprising and its setting up the change of gears for RtS

It was one of my favourite by far.

The episode was amazing as hell

THIS EPISODE HAD A SENSE OF FINALITY TO THE ARC. DO YOU THINK WE WILL GET A NEW OP/ED NEXT WEEK, DESPITE THE UPCOMING BREAK? 367 Responses

The majority of voters are confident we’ll be getting the same OP/ED combo one more time to finish off the story arc. It’s about an even split between those who think we will get something new and those who are unsure.

Withdrawal already starting to set in... what will we do without new eps.... and new polls to answer... no more new gifs... pls don't make it another 84 years. I cannot take that again.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SCENES WERE YOUR FAVORITES? 367 Responses

The most beloved moment of the episode was seeing Eren smile after hearing what his mom had to say about him so long ago. Keith and Grisha’s backstory were close runner ups. The orphanage and the new titan guillotine also got plenty of votes!

I loved to see young Grisha, I like everything about his backstory.

The nosebleed... that is all

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING CHARACTER INTERACTIONS WERE YOUR FAVORITES? 368 Responses

Similarly to above, hearing Carla’s words to Eren was the favorite moment of the episode. Sasha trying to stay away from Keith got laughs out of many of us! Eren making Historia blush, Jean’s heckling him over her and Mikasa’s jealousy about them talking together were also highlights for the voters. Keith interacting with Eren’s parents also got high rankings.

Levi being all worried about Eren was something I really needed <3

Jeans salty ass comment towards Eren about Historia is why I love the man

Hanji's way of getting mad at Keith is even better in anime version and her voice is perfect <3

mikasa cockblockerman

I really really wish we had more Grisha x Carla interactions both in the manga and the anime. The little that we have seen from Eren and Mikasa's perspective shows a very affectionate relationship. Still, I really like how well WIT has brought even those few interactions to life.

Hange was absolutely amazing in this episode. I missed that insane excitement of hers! Historia's look upon being confronted by Mikasa was priceless! And Springles' teasing Marlow! Ahhh this was a very sweet episode! Now I'm just looking forward to the next one for major Eruri feels!

WHO'S MORE OBLIVIOUS TO ROMANCE - EREN OR MARLOWE? 362 Responses

It was a close call, but ultimately Eren wins the award of most romantically oblivious character!

HOW BEAUTIFUL DID CARLA LOOK AT THE WEDDING? 367 Responses

While a few voters weren’t impressed, the majority of voters found Carla absolutely stunning at her wedding.

Carla Jeager is the best mom of this show, that's all😞💖

Fuck Isayama and wit for making Carla so beautiful and just killing her off episode/chapter 1 my gay heart can’t take it

I’m sorry but all I thought whenever I saw Carla this episode was ‘Wow, she looks a lot like if Eren was crossdressing’ like the wedding, no that was just Eren crossdressing

Tfw Carla in a wedding dress looks like Eren with too much blush on... Poor woman, if she only knew what she was getting herself into.

It was so wonderful seeing Carla after so long! She looked absolutely stunning.

HOW CUTE WAS BABY EREN? 367 Responses

The majority of voters agree that baby Eren had the most pinchable cheeks, while a few weren’t fans.

Baby Eren is so cuuute!!!! OMFG

Baby Eren wasn't that cute, but him munching on Carla's hair melted even my frozen heart.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT KEITH AFTER HE TOLD HIS STORY? 367 Responses

Over half of voters felt bad for Keith after hearing his backstory. 21% felt he was just pitiful, and 12% related to Hange’s anger and disappointment toward him. Most of the write in comments were very understanding of him:

I felt bad for him when I read the manga chapter but I don’t know why, I thought he was kind of pitiful in the anime. Maybe it’s because the scene where Keith feels guilty and wants to apologize to Carla for what he said to her.

This man deserved happiness

I really didn't like him and his excuses.

i respect him

I felt sorry for him. This guy is a good guy but he has very low self esteem.

I think he's the same as Eren: normal person chosen to be someone special

I have mixed feelings about Keith. On one hand, he endured so much suffering throughout his life. He went outside the walls, something unthinkable for most people, and fought for what he believed in for over two decades. In the end, he had nothing to show for his efforts. On the other hand, he cost so many soldiers their lives because he was completely caught up in his inferiority complex. While I feel sorry for him, I agree with Hange.

A little bit of all the choices I suppose.

I relate to him lol

I realized that Keith is the character I can identify the most with. Somehow he resembles my own sad life.

Not as useless as he says

Well how would YOU feel if some rando from oUtSidE tHe fUcKiNg wALLs stole your girl?

I felt really sorry for poor Shadis. He had a gold heart but saw himself as useless. Maybe he wasn't talented commander and lost love of his life, but he is special and unique on his own way. He should understand what Carla was saying about Eren - "everyone is special" - doesn't matter if they do small or big things.

YOUR REACTION TO CARLA’S WORDS ABOUT EREN BEING SPECIAL? 365 Responses

Nearly 40% of voters found the words very touching, almost 30% believe it was something Eren really needed to hear at that time and 24% are still shedding tears over the commentary. A small few weren’t affected by the scene at all.

Eren is special, even if he doesn't think so (in many past moments and also future things he will do). He is different than others and not because he has the power of titans. His personality is unique, but also very realistic. Isayama has portrayed him really well.

Eren isn't special, and that makes him special

Carla's moving words about Eren were sadly wasted on him. Nobody tell Carla!

It was very heartwarming and full of love. Carla didn't care if Eren was going to be special or not. She just loved him warmly.

Those words resonated with me.

This episode by far was one of the most touching to me because Eren got acknowledged by his mother through Keith and i really feel like he needed to hear that because of how it would affect his morals from then on.

KEITH WANTED TO PROTECT EREN FOR CARLA’S SAKE. WHY DO YOU THINK HE GAVE IN AND LET EREN PURSUE THE SURVEY CORPS? 365 Responses

Over half of voters believe that Keith realized he couldn’t stop anything. 30% believe that he could see Eren was truly one of the “special people” that would bring about change. Smaller groups of people believe he cared about Eren’s autonomy or that he wanted to honor Grisha.

He did his best, but his best was never enough. The story of Keith's life as told by Keith.

I think Grisha's final words to him really hit him at that point. That he was just a bystander, but Eren being Grisha's son was anything but. He was one of the special people.

He saw his determination to keep going even though all odds were against him. Who is Shadis to decide to stop him?

He gave up after seeing Eren's determination

He realized no matter how hard he tries, he can't change anything. When he became commander, he couldn't save Survey Corps members from death, or prevent missions from failing. Just as he was a bystander when his fellow comrades fell victim to titans, he is a bystander as Eren progresses.

He saw in Eren the strong personality, a huge will power and also the fact the Eren may be more special than his father.

I think it’s a mix between fate and that he saw Eren was destined to be special so anymore interfering would result in failure in the end on his part. I think he realized Eren was just that Special of a person.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SCENE OF THE VETS TALKING WITH ZACKLEY AND LEVI BEING ENTRUSTED WITH THE SERUM BEING PUSHED TO THE FOLLOWING EPISODE? 364 Responses

35% of voters agree that as long as the scene is included, that’s all that matters. 27% didn’t even realize the scene was missing and 26% agree that saving it for next episode was a good pacing decision. 10% still prefer the timeline of the manga.

Good decision. This episode was cramped as it is, having to skip the ED just to fit in everything, and having cut out so many dialogue, that if they put that scene in something else would have suffered. I already feel bad that Keith's chapter only got half an episode whereas Kenny got a full episode to himself. I've always liked Keith's story better too.

I can't wait!

Good decision. It wouldn't really fit in with the tone of this episode.

THOUGHTS ON FLOCH’S STYLISH RED ANIME-PROTAG HAIR? 361 Responses

Nearly half of voters were initially thrown off by the change in Floch’s hair color, but are ultimately open to it. 30% are still trying to figure out what is real in life and what isn’t. 14% think WIT committed an atrocity. A very small few think it suits him perfectly.

A surprise, to be sure, but a welcomed one.

I demand more swirls

His hair looks like an eagles nest but go off

Makes him more unique, in order to stand out more, but blonde would look better

As a ginger im offended, but I guess they did it to make him stand out ... and look less like Trump.

I thought he was blonde, but I still like it!

I hate floch and this is STILL the worst thing thats ever happened to me

I couldn’t think this was ever possible BUT Wit has made Floch even more awful... His hair is already one of the WORST thing in the world, now the color too. It makes me to dislike him even more lol. Thank you Wit for this pearl

Why they gotta do this to my man?

I imagined him as blonde so I'm still adjusting to that

It makes him look like the sort of guy who pulls over to show off his modified Honda Civic while blaring dubstep from his super rad sound system. Which is exactly the kind of person I've always pictured him as.

Wit seems to be making a lot of hair color changes that we don't expect this season. I don't hate it though.

HOW DO YOU THINK THAT KEITH, CARLA AND GRISHA WOULD FEEL ABOUT EREN IF THEY COULD SEE THE DIRECTION HE’S GONE IN RECENT MANGA CHAPTERS?

The results came out about as expected. Keith was a mixed bag with the majority of voters believing that he would either be neutral or a bit disappointed in Eren’s current actions. Carla being very upset with Eren’s actions got the most votes out of anything, while a smaller few just think she would be disappointed. Most voters agree that Grisha would be either proud or at least very understanding of Eren’s current choices and actions. Makes us wonder how Carla and Grisha would have co-parented as Eren got older!

Why there isn't a WTF option on the "What would Grisha/Keith/Carla think?"

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PV ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 364 Responses

Overall, voters are looking forward to the scene where Eren, Mikasa and Armin have their talk, but 36% of voters are most looking forward to the detail of Levi listening in on them. 15% are looking forward to Sasha’s reaction to getting to eat meat, and 11% are looking forward to Erwin giving his fellow Survey Corps leaders words of encouragement before the retaking of Wall Maria.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

A very poignant one, considering they hired about a dozen of directors just for this episode.

Floch's hair is a bird's nest. Keith=Snape confirmed. Baby Eren eating Carla's hair is the purest thing to come out of this sad-factory.

Bystander is one of my favorite Manga Chapters of the series and the WIT definitely did justice to it. Thanks, WIT.

Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch Floch

I can't believe Uprising is already over! It hasn't even been twelve episodes yet and I'm excited for Return To Shiganshina but I'm also not ready…

I feel like this episode, particularly Keith's story, recaptured some of the sadness and sense of helplessness from early in Season 1. It was a breath of fresh air.

My god! What an episode, ladies and gents. This episode is by far my favorite (except for Floch's hair color, he should have been blonde, not anime-protag red). Now let's wait for next week's talk about the ocean with the Shignashina trio, shall we?

I feel so split. I want Eren to know he's great and brilliant but the way he's going in the manga scares me so much! Who is he now?!

Episode was great but I wish they would've kept these thoughts by Keith: "Those eyes. It's just like his father wanted. His life is like a blazing fire. And I'm sure that fire will burn him to ashes outside the walls. He'll never know what his mother wanted for him."  Not a big deal at all but I just really liked those lines.

Is it just me or did this episode seem to put a lot of emphasis on Armin in a lot of Floch's scenes? Was it the same in the manga?? Foreshadowing??? I don't even remember.

Not enough Erwin. I need more Erwin.

I'm especially in awe of the animation because oh my god, Eren does resemble Carla most, but you can just see current manga Eren in young Grisha's appearance! I'm not so good at figuring out which features of the face make it so, but I think it's beautiful and lends a lot more authenticity to the fact that Eren resembles both his parents in a way, just like people do in real life!

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 345 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated. See you again on Tuesday!

[alltheselights]

emmaa i think you should post a snippet of your wip because of the wip meme thats going on 🙏🏾🙈 if you want thouuu xx

I have no idea what meme is going around, but since I’m sooooooooo late in posting the actual fic, I’ll post a snippet. This is part of the first chapter of my fic. If you want some context for it, this snippet is from the fic that I describe briefly in the second to last bullet point here.

Also, fair warning - there may be typos in this and it may change somewhat before the final fic is posted.

–



Louis startles awake some time later. For a second, with his headphones on, he can’t figure out why he woke up so suddenly. Then he realizes it’s because the plane is moving unsteadily, jerking somewhat and causing the luggage around them to jostle in its compartments.



Louis yanks his ear buds out of his ears.



“What’s happening?” He asks, and he can hear how scared his voice sounds.



“It’s just turbulence,” Harry says from next to him, and Louis turns toward him. He has a concerned look on his face, the same look that people get when they’re approaching a wounded animal.



Louis can hear a voice over the intercom reassuring the passengers of the plane that they’ve encountered turbulence and requesting that they fasten their seatbelts, and Louis follows the instructions with shaking hands.




“Hey, Louis,” Harry says. “Are you okay?”



Louis digs his nails into the armrest.



“Yeah, yeah, of course,” he says, body tensing with every jerk of the plane.



“Listen,” Harry says, leaning toward Louis, who is trying very hard to look unbothered by the fact that their plane may or may not be seconds from plunging them all into the ocean. “I don’t know if you fly a lot or not, but I fly back and forth between London and New York City quite a bit and I swear this happens all the time. I know it’s scary, but—hey, Louis,” he snaps his fingers, forcing Louis to look at him instead of moving his eyes rapidly around the first class cabin. “It’s going to be okay. I promise you this is just normal turbulence.”



Louis barely hears him. All he knows is that the wine he drank is churning in his stomach ominously and his blood is rushing in his ears and the entire place is shaking. Their plane, thousands and thousands of miles in the air, is jerking around and moving up and down and Louis is fucking terrified.



A particularly hard jerk of the plane causes a woman’s glass of wine to knock over, and something in Louis just fucking snaps. Maybe it’s the alcohol, maybe it’s the stress of his work disaster, or maybe it’s the fact that what was supposed to be a relaxing plane ride back to the UK has forced Louis to deal with a devastatingly attractive man, a bitchy and neglectful nanny, and an impending plane crash. In retrospect, Louis will decide it’s probably a combination of all these factors, but in that moment, all he can focus on is his own panic.



“We’re gonna fucking die,” Louis says, shaking off Harry’s hand, which is gently clutching Louis’ arm in a comforting gesture, and grabbing it in Louis’ own sweaty hand. “This plane is on its way down and we’re going to fucking die. After the absolute shit day I had, this is how it ends for me. It’s like a sick joke.”



Harry squeezes Louis’ hand, looking alarmed.



“I really don’t think ⎯”



Louis cuts Harry off, not listening.



“Listen mate, I’m not ready to die. I’m not ready. I haven’t even had the chance to make my mum proud yet. My childhood friend, fucking Stan, that arsehole, goes over to my mum’s house all the time to have tea and he tells her all about the amazing things he’s doing with his career, and here I am, a fucking failure who lies to my mum to make my job sound more important than it is. I’m a goddamn marketing assistant, I mean ⎯ what the hell?”



“You’re not a failure,” Harry says kindly, his voice low like he’s trying to talk someone off the ledge without making a scene. What’s even the point in talking Louis off the ledge, at this point? Every bump of the plane makes it clear that Louis’ death is imminent. What’s the point of anything anymore?



“Oi, you don’t have any fucking clue, mate. Want to know how my morning went?”



Louis continues before Harry has the chance to respond, squeezing Harry’s hand more firmly.



And then it just all pours out.



All of it.



Not just the events that transpired that morning, either. Oh no, Louis isn’t able to stop the word vomit (better than wine vomit, but not by much) after telling Harry, who he hadn’t known before he stepped into first class and allowed his eyes to fall on this fine specimen in a pristine black suit, just sitting there like a fucking wet dream, about the humiliating experience of spilling orange juice on the suit of a random businessman and ruining an important business deal for his company.

Instead, he keeps going.



“It’s probably better that I die now because once my boyfriend hears what happened at work, he’ll probably break up with me. Which might be a good thing, actually, because he keeps begging me to move in with him and I really don’t want to. He’s always such an arse when important people are around at work and it makes me feel like shit. He just comes around to make me look like an idiot and then three seconds later he’s like, hey, Louis, I need your help with some paperwork, which actually means…”



And going.



“…Sometimes Liam asks me to go to the bar with the guys after work, but I’m too tired, so I tell him that I’m headed to the gym, and then I really go home and put my joggers on and watch shit telly for hours with Zayn. So now Liam thinks I’m some kind of gym freak, when actually…”



And going.



“…I shouldn’t have gotten the tattoo, but to be fair, they shouldn’t have given it to me when I was that wasted. Isn’t that against the law? So now I have to get fucked with the lights off and refuse shower sex because shower sex in the dark is dangerous and would probably end in a concussion, so…”



And going.



“…It’s just embarrassing, a 27 year old man who can’t cook, so I tell everyone that I’m…”



And going.



“…Lottie bought me these fucking panties as a joke, right, and I was never going to wear them. Then one day I’ve got a huge meeting, right, my first at the company, and I haven’t done laundry in like three weeks because I hate doing laundry, so I just say, well, fuck it, and put them on. The meeting went so well and I’m not usually superstitious, but I won’t tempt fate either, so now whenever I have an important meeting, I wear panties. I forgot them when I flew to New York, so that explains why…”



And going.



“…When I realized what Cleo had done to the sheets, I cried. I’m man enough to admit it…”



And going.



“…I went into his office to feed the goldfish and he’s just floating there upside down, the poor fucker, and Niall had put his faith in me so I couldn’t tell him. I ended up heading to this pet shop and I found one that looked similar and just…”



And going.



“…I’m not a huge fan of beer, I prefer fruitier drinks, but I feel like a twat at a bar ordering that, so I…”



Louis doesn’t know what’s come over him, but by the time he stops talking, his mouth is dry, his lips are chapped, and he’s told this man every single secret he’s ever had in his life.



He’s panting, finally having run out of words entirely, and that’s when he takes a second to glance down at his hand, still clutching Harry’s so tightly that the poor man’s knuckles are white. Harry is staring at him, mouth open and eyes wide, and then Louis begins to tune into the rest of his surroundings.



The plane isn’t moving. The plane isn’t fucking moving.



“We landed,” Louis says, somehow finding his voice again as the realization washes over him like a cold rain. His throat feels dry and scratchy from overuse.



“Yes, we did,” Harry says calmly. His eyes are smiling.



“We didn’t die,” Louis says, ignoring the fact that most of the people in first class are already grabbing their carry-on luggage and filing out of the plane.



“No, we didn’t,” Harry confirms. Now his mouth is smiling.

“I’m—” Louis begins, and then cuts himself off. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what just happened. I know I can talk, I mean, my mum and Zayn and Brad and everyone I know, actually, they tell me all the time, but that was a lot. You should’ve stopped me.”


Louis then realizes that he and Harry are still holding hands, and he drops Harry’s hand like it’s scalding.


“You didn’t really pause long enough for me to step in, truthfully,” Harry says, and Louis watches as he stretches and wiggles his fingers, probably testing whether they still function after Louis gripped them hard enough to cut off the circulation for god only knows how long. “But I didn’t want to anyway. It seemed like you needed to let that out, and I didn’t mind. Please don’t worry about it.”



“Don’t worry about it,” Louis repeats in disbelief. “I just told you every single one of my deepest darkest secrets and you hadn’t even met me before we got on this plane.”



“It happens?” Harry says as he unbuckles his seatbelt, shrugging. He then gives Louis the dorkiest smile Louis’ ever seen on such a beautiful person.



“It really doesn’t,” Louis, says, groaning and unfastening his own seatbelt.



“Well, it happened this time,” Harry amends, finally getting to his feet and reaching his hand out to help Louis up in a very unnecessary gesture. Louis accepts the hand anyway.



Louis has a slight headache throbbing at his temples, a consequence of the wine, probably, and he’s too overwhelmed to deal with an attractive human that just listened to him rant for hours when he should’ve slapped Louis across the face and told him to shut the fuck up.



Louis grabs his backpack from where it’s been sitting at his feet this entire time and takes one more look at Harry, who is currently cracking his back with an expression of mild discomfort.



“Uh, thanks for dealing with all this,” Louis says quickly, gesturing to himself to make it clear what “all this” refers to. Harry, who’s now stopped cracking his back, pauses and opens his mouth, likely intent on saying Louis’ words aren’t necessary and he was happy to deal with Louis treating him like a diary for the past several hours because this guy is some kind of fucking saint.



As the reality of what Louis confessed to this poor man sets in, he can feel the humiliation spreading. He takes one last appreciative look at Harry, trying to memorize everything about him to file away in the back of Louis’ brain, which is where he plans on shoving this memory as soon as possible.


“Anyway, bye!” Louis adds before Harry has the chance to say anything else.


And with that, Louis turns on his heels and half walks, half runs out of the cabin, barely even hesitating for long enough to thank the pilot and members of the cabin crew he passes on his way out.



Since Louis didn’t check a bag, he’s able to keep up his brisk pace while he passes through Heathrow. In fact, he doesn’t stop until he hails a taxi outside the airport and is sitting safely inside, giving the driver the address for his building and trying to ignore the scratchy feeling in his throat.



In another universe, one where Louis and Brad weren’t together and one where some things actually go right for Louis, he would’ve loved to have flirted with Harry on the plane, maybe even gotten his number by the end of the flight. In this universe, however, Louis has faced one disaster after another in a single day and spent the past few hours completely humiliating himself in front of a man who would probably rather watch paint dry than ever hear another word out of Louis’ mouth.



Things didn’t work out for Louis today, but it’ll be fine. Come Monday, he’ll work things out at Kiwi Corporation and figure out a way to save his job.



And as for the word vomit thing on the plane, well. It was an embarrassing experience and Louis will have to try very hard to block it out of his memory, but it’s not like Louis will ever see Harry again.



Why would he?

[cruciformity]

Differing narratives on the status of women in the Old Testament

In light of last Sunday's sermon, I had been thinking more about the status of women in Biblical times and I was fascinated to discover some simple, clear examples of how that status varies in the Old Testament. The two themes I focus on are Creation and the Ten Commandments. First let's look at how woman is created in Genesis 1 and 2.

"18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them;...22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.”" (Genesis 2:18-19,22-23)

Genesis 2 contains the familiar story in which God brings every animal to Adam, not just for him to give a name, but also for him to decide if the animal would make a suitable helper. Following the failure to find an appropriate partner, Eve is formed from Adam's rib and Adam names her too. The hierarchy is clear, man came first, then woman, with man getting to name all the animals and even woman herself.

"27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”" (Genesis 1:27-28)

What is immediately obvious in Genesis 1 is that man and woman are created together and they are both given dominion over the living creatures of the earth. There is no hint in Genesis 1 that the woman is under the authority of the man. For there to be such a contrast in the first two chapters of the Bible is remarkable to me. However, as the Old Testament progresses, there is greater, but far from total homogeneity about the status of women.

"17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:22)

In the Exodus version of this Commandment, the wife of the neighbour is listed after the house and just before the slaves and animals.

"21 Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Deuteronomy 5:21)

The Commandment recorded in Deuteronomy has a different structure. The wife is in a separate sentence before another one that considers house, field, slaves and animals. It is easier to argue with this version that the woman is not or at least less a piece of property, a topic I touched on in this post entitled Whose property is a woman in heaven? (Luke 20:27-38).

A shocking thought occurred to me that perhaps the Fall is reflected in those differences between Genesis 1 and 2. The first chapter is reflective of how things were and are meant to be with men and women having complete equality, but swiftly society in its brokenness moves away from that model. As time goes on in the Biblical narrative, there is a to and fro, but with a trend towards a gradual return to that ideal.

[chamomilehoneytea]

I recently read through Kimi Ni Todoke and I'm embarrassingly invested in Ayapin, and now I'm so impatient waiting for more! I was wondering since it seems like you have good taste and read a lot of stuff, is there anything you can recommend that might tide me over until more KNT comes out? Are there any manga you know of with pairings that are kinda similar? I'm seriously in love with their dynamic but I'm embarrassed to ask other friends, romantic stuff is kind of a guilty pleasure for me...

Hi @mobstersought! Thank you for your message, and welcome to the ayapin life! It’s a majestic existence, full of waiting, swooning, daydreaming about big hands and hoping! :)

But mostly waiting lol - I feel your pain!

While nothing I’ve read quite fills the huge ayapin shaped hole in my heart, there are a few series that help tide me over during the long waits. Ayane and Pin have a very special dynamic that I haven’t seen anywhere else, but I’ll try to recommend some series that are kind of similar. This is a pretty long answer, so let’s continue under the cut…

1) Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii by Fujita

This is a great romantic comedy series about an otaku couple: a mid-20s gamer and a fujoshi artist who work at the same company. Their relationship is really fun and cute, but I think you might enjoy the “side” couple even more. Tarou Kabakura and Hanako Koyanagi are both in their late 20s and are also otaku, but they have a playful love / hate dynamic (see the hate side above). They give each other a hard time, but at the end of the day they’re really in love with each other. 

The series is a fairly realistic portrayal of otaku relationships (more or less haha), and there’s a great balance between the comedy and romance. It’s hilarious and really sweet!

Bonus: there’s an anime adaptation coming out in Spring 2018, and Miyuki Sawashiro (who plays Ayane in the anime version of Kimi ni Todoke) is going to play Hanako Koyanagi! 

2) Takane to Hana by Yuki Shiwasu

This series has an old-school shoujo set-up, plus a ton of amazing sass. The story begins with high schooler Hana Nonomura attending a marriage interview in her older sister’s stead. Her partner is the 26 year-old scion of a huge and successful company, Takane Saibara. Their personalities clash and the matchmaking meeting is a failure…until an “interested” Takane shows up at Hana’s school!

Takane to Hana is also a really funny series - Takane and Hana come from very different backgrounds and have very different ideas about the world, but they’re both incredibly proud and stubborn. Takane tries to provoke and impress Hana with absurdly lavish gifts, but she’s always ready to knock him down a peg.

It also has plenty of heart-pounding moments! The teasing dynamic between the characters means there’s a lot of tension and they’re slow to recognize their feelings. 

3) Shiota-sensei to Amai-chan by Kumiko Nakatoka

I recommend this manga about a student-teacher relationship because of the way it’s handled. The two main characters, Shiota-sensei and Yayoi Amai are already in a secret relationship before the start of the manga, so we don’t see a lot of drama and pining. The series is also pretty funny, and focuses on cute little episodes in their daily lives. Their dynamic isn’t like Ayane and Pin’s, but they do enjoy messing with each other. 

I will warn you though - the scanlation only covers 7 of the 27 chapters in the manga and it hasn’t been updated since 2016. I ordered and read the Japanese volumes to finish the available story (it’s still ongoing). The art is really retro and fun, and the story is also great, so I’d still recommend checking it out!

4) Dengeki Daisy by Kyousuke Motomi

Dengeki Daisy is sort of a modern day Daddy Long Legs story. Teru Kurebayashi is a high school student who lost her beloved older brother a few years ago; before he died, he gave her a cell phone so that she could communicate with his good friend, “Daisy”. She doesn’t know Daisy’s identity, but she exchanges emails with them and receives moral support and encouragement from this mysterious surrogate brother. One day, after accidentally breaking a window at school, she’s suddenly forced to work under the school’s 24 year-old janitor, Tasuku Kurosaki…who may or may not be her precious “Daisy”…

Teru’s personality is a bit more like Chizu’s from Kimi ni Todoke, but again, she and Kurosaki have a great teasing relationship. They’re also similar to ayapin in the sense that Kurosaki watches over Teru and provides her with gentle words of encouragement through his role as “Daisy”. This dual relationship causes a lot of tension as he starts to fall in love with her, and it becomes increasingly difficult to hide his secret. 

It’s a pretty touching story that explores guilt and forgiveness, in addition to the romance. There are a ton of heart-pounding scenes, but there’s more to it than that, which is what I think makes it especially great. It’s also the only series I’ve recommended that’s complete, so you’ll be able to read it from beginning to end without having to wait (I think we’re already doing enough of that as ayapin fans, right?? Lol).

I also wanted to recommend another series that I’m in love with, but that isn’t anything like Kimi ni Todoke. 

Koi wa Ameagari no You ni by Jun Mayuzuki

This is right up there with Kimi ni Todoke in terms of favorites for me. I will warn you that the subject matter is pretty problematic - however, I enjoy the complexity of the story and I think it’s beautifully done. The story centers around Akira Tachibana, a 17 year-old girl who was the ace of her high school’s track and field club, until an injury to her Achilles tendon during a practice meet left her unable to run. One day, alone and depressed, she seeks shelter from the rain in a family restaurant - while waiting for the rain to stop, the 45 year-old manager brings her a free cup of coffee and cheers her up with a magic trick. Touched by his kindness, Akira gets a job at the family restaurant to be close to him…

I can’t recommend this enough. The two main characters help and heal each other, and their relationship is really sweet, complicated, and well-done. Even when he knows how she feels, he tries very hard to discourage her and maintain boundaries, so it’s not a story about an older man taking advantage of a teenage girl. If you like unconventional friendships / romances, forbidden love, and difficult situations, this is definitely a must! The author has a very unique art style and approaches her story almost as a work of literature - it’s probably one of the best romance manga series I’ve read. Though it can be very serious, there are plenty of light comedic moments too, and all of the characters are really interesting - the series focuses on more than just the potential romance between the main characters. It’s also getting an anime adaptation in January, so that’s really exciting!

Sorry for the super long answer, but I hope these recommendations help tide you over as you wait for more ayapin!! :) 

[theguardianangel-fanfiction]

Me at 4000 words: Yeah, I need maybe like 2000 words tops. That should get everything wrapped up for this chapter. 

Me, at the moment, having just passed 6000 words: They haven’t even had dinner yet wtf

[superjournalslibrary-blog]

The Curses That Follow Non-Tithers

Not paying tithes activates several different curses. Many people think that not tithing only sets in motion the “curse of Malachi”. But not tithing sets in motion much more than the curse of Malachi. It sets in motion several other curses which have devastating effects and that is what this chapter is all about.

What is a curse anyway? A curse can be defined in many ways. These twelve definitions of a curse will help you to understand what it means to be under a curse. I cannot imagine what it means to be under multiple curses.

The Twelve Definitions of a Curse

1. A cursed person is someone who will experience persistent frustration.

2. A cursed person is someone who is behind and below in everything.

3. A cursed person is someone on whom a specific evil has been invoked.

4. A cursed person is someone who is plagued with mysterious freak incidents.

5. A cursed person is someone who is a persistent failure.

6. A cursed person is someone who is persistently rejected and set aside.

7. A cursed person is someone who is never chosen.

8. A cursed person is someone who is unable to redirect his life in a positive direction.

9. A cursed person is someone who is bereft of critically important information.

10. A cursed person is someone who is constantly assigned to the bad option.

11. A cursed person is someone who only encounters bad people.

12. A cursed person is someone who is always last and ends as the loser no matter how he starts.

EIGHT CURSES THAT FOLLOW NON-TITHERS

1. People who do not pay tithes are cursed with the curses of Malachi the prophet.

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

Malachi 3:8-9

One of the specific curses in the Bible is Malachi’s curse for not tithing. This curse involves the release of the devourer, the destroyer and the failed harvest into your life. The devourer, the destroyer and the failed harvest are discussed in the previous chapter.

2. People who do not pay tithes are cursed with the curse that comes on thieves.

The Bible shows us two interesting curses that relate to people who steal. One is a general curse that God has declared on thieves in general and the other is a specific curse for stealing from God Himself.

Did you know that there is no need to curse someone who steals from you because there is a general curse on anyone who steals? A thief is already an accursed person! The curse that will follow every thief was declared by the prophet Zechariah.

In this curse, the Lord declares that He will enter the house of the thief and consume everything including the timber and the stones. After this curse comes to pass, the thief will be left with nothing, not even a place to live! The thief may steal millions but this curse will turn the millions into “smoke”. The thief will not be able to use the things he has stolen and he will never truly enjoy them. Imagine what this kind of curse would do to a non-tither. He will never benefit from all the tithes he stole from God.

Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

Zechariah 5:3-4

3. People who do not pay tithes are cursed with the curse that comes on those who dare to steal from God.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Proverbs 15:3

It is bad enough to steal but do you really want to steal from God? God has declared in His Word that not tithing is stealing from Him. God sees the non-tither as a thief. All the curses that are due thieves are therefore determined on non-tithers.

But a further debilitating curse is determined on non-tithers for stealing from God Himself. “Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:8-9).

You may get away with throwing your shoes at your dog or even your spouse. But throwing your shoes at the American president could get you into jail! You may steal from a mere man and get away with it. But you will not get away with stealing from God. Stealing from God will get you into big trouble. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, beholding the good and the evil. He sees every penny you take away from His house. You cannot escape when you steal from God. Stealing from God is a very bad idea and I would advise you not to do anything like that. Pay your tithes so that you do not become a doubly accursed thief!

4. People who do not pay tithes are cursed with the curses that come upon all who break the law.

Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deuteronomy 27:26

The curses on those who break the law are outlined in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. The curses on people who break the Law therefore affect those who do not pay tithes.

For breaking the Law, there are fifteen curses upon children and material prosperity, thirty curses of sickness, crop failure, war, captivity, business failure and poverty; and twenty-six new and repeated curses of defeat, captivity, sickness, persecution and insanity. You must watch out for this long list of curses when you do not pay tithes (Deuteronomy 28).

a) Fifteen curses upon children and material prosperity you must watch out for when you do not pay tithes:

1. You will be cursed in the city (v 16)

2. You will be cursed in the field (v 16)

3 Your baskets and storehouses will be cursed (v 17)

4. Your children will be cursed (v 18)

5. Your crops will be cursed (v 18)

6. Your herds will not increase (v 18)

7. Your flocks will not increase (v 18)

8. You will be cursed when you come in (v 19)

9. You will be cursed when you go out (v 19)

10. Jehovah will send cursings upon you (v 20)

11. He will send vexation (v 20)

12. He will send rebukes (v 20)

13. You will fail in all you do (v 20)

14. You will be destroyed eventually (v 20)

15. You will quickly perish (v 20)

b) Thirty more curses of sickness, crop failure, war, captivity; business failure and poverty you must watch out for when you do not pay tithes:

1. Pestilence cleaving to you (v 21-22)

2. Death consumed off the land (v 21-22)

3. Consumption (v 22; Lev. 26:16)

4. Fever (v 22; Lev. 26:16)

5. Inflammation (v 22)

6. Extreme burning (v 22)

7. Sword (v 22; Lev. 26:17, 25, 42)

8. Blasting (v 22; Lev. 26:19)

9. Mildew (v 22)

10. Heaven as brass (v 23; Lev. 26:19)

11. Earth as iron (v 23; Lev. 26:20)

12. Drought, dust - no rain (v 24)

13. Destruction because of long drought (v 24)

14. Smitten before enemies (v 25; Lev. 26:17-39)

15. Going out one way, fleeting seven ways (v 25)

16. Removed into all kingdoms of earth (v 25)

17. Bodies eaten by fowls and beasts (v 26)

18. No help in driving them off (v 26)

19. Botch of Egypt (v 27)

20. Emerods (v 27)

21. Scab (v 27)

22. Itch (v 27)

23. No healing (v 27)

24. Madness (v 28)

25. Blindness (v 28)

26. Astonishment of heart (v 28)

27. Groping at noonday (v 29)

28. No prosperity (v 29)

29. Oppressed and spoiled forever (v 29)

30. No man will save you (v 29)

c) Twenty-six new and repeated curses of defeat, captivity, sickness, persecution and insanity that you must watch out for when you do not pay tithes

1. Betroth a wife and an enemy shall capture and ravish her (v 30)

2. Build a house and an enemy shall take it for his own (v 30)

3. Plant a vineyard and an enemy shall take it (v 30)

4. Your stock will be slain and eaten before your eyes (v 31)

5. Your work animals shall be taken (v 31)

6. They shall not be restored to you (v 31)

7. Your sheep will be taken away by enemies (v 31)

8. You will have no man to deliver you (v 31)

9. Your sons and daughters shall be given to other people as slaves (v 32)

10. You will long for deliverance for them which will never come (v 32)

11. You will be powerless to help them (v 32)

12. Enemies will eat your crops (v 33)

13. They shall enjoy the labour of your hands (v 33)

14. You will be oppressed and crushed always (v 33)

15. You will be mad when you see your own helplessness (v 34)

16. You will be smitten with a sore botch (boils and ulcers) that cannot be healed (v 35)

17. You and your king will suffer captivity to a foreign nation (v 36)

18. There you will serve idols (v 36)

19. You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations (v 37)

20. Your crops will be destroyed by locusts (v 38,43)

21. Your vineyards will be eaten by worms (v 39)

22. You will lose your olive crops (v 40)

23. You will not enjoy your sons and daughters because they will become slaves to foreign nations (v 41)

24. The strangers that are among you will be exalted and you will be humbled (v 43)

25. You will borrow from strangers (v 44)

26. They shall be the head and you shall be the tail (v 44)

Indeed, the breaking of the Law is a frightening prospect. Tithing is therefore important for anyone who does not want to experience these wide-ranging curses. As you can see, not paying tithes brings upon you much more than the curse of Malachi.

5. People who do not pay tithes are cursed with the curse that comes on those who repay God’s goodness to them with evil.

How did you come by the health you have? How did you come by the strength that you have? How did you come by the job you have? How did you come by the intelligence and opportunities that you have? What hast thou that thou didst not receive? If you did receive all these things from God how come you do not return to Him and honour Him with the first fruits of your substance?

Throughout the Bible, curses are spoken over ungrateful people who return evil for good. Perhaps, the most severe and frightening of these is found in the hundred and ninth Psalm. In this Psalm, you discover twenty-seven different curses that follow the ingratitude of those who reward good with evil and love with accusations and suspicion. You learn about the future of those who repay good with evil:

“O God of my praise, do not be silent! For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause. In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer. Thus they have repaid me evil for good and hatred for my love.

Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, and let his prayer become sin.

Let his days be few; Let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend loving-kindness to him, nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; in a following generation let their name be blotted out” (Psalm 109:1-13, NASB).

But why would such things apply to someone who does not pay tithes? The answer is simple. God has been good to you. He has blessed you and provided for you. The tithe is an act of worship, an act of remembrance and an act of thanksgiving! Failing to give your tithes is the same as not saying “thank you”. Failing to pay your tithes is the same as not remembering and not worshipping God! Not tithing is a manifestation of nonchalance and ingratitude! If you do not tithe, you fall into the category of ungrateful people. You must therefore expect all the twenty-seven curses of Psalm 109 to be your portion from now on. Read the following twenty-seven curses that apply to people who are ungrateful and repay evil for good. They equally apply to people who do not pay tithes nor say “thank you” to God for His blessing.

Twenty-Seven Curses on Ungrateful People

1. Set a wicked man over him (v 6)

2. Let Satan stand at his right hand (v 6)

3. Let him be condemned (v 7)

4. Let his prayer become sin (v 7)

5. Let his days be few (v 8)

6. Let another take his office (v 8)

7. Let his children be fatherless (v 9)

8. Let his wife be a widow (v 9)

9. Let his children be vagabonds continually (v 10)

10. Let his children beg (v 10)

11. Let them seek their breads in desolate places (v 10)

12. Let the extortioner catch all that he has (v 11)

13. Let strangers spoil his labour (v 11)

14. Let none extend him mercy (v 12)

15. Let none favour his children (v 12)

16. Let his posterity be cut off (v 13)

17. Let their name be blotted out (v 13)

18. Let iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord (v 14)

19. Let not the sin of his mother be blotted out (v 14)

20. Let them be before the Lord continually (v 15)

21. Let the memory of them be cut off from the earth (v 15)

22. Let cursing come to him (v 17)

23. Let blessing be far from him (v 17)

24. Let cursing come unto him like water (v 18)

25. Let curses enter him like oil into his bones (v 18)

26. Let curses cling to him like a garment (v 19)

27. Let curses cling to him like a girdle (v 19).

6. People who do not pay tithes are cursed with the curse of closed heavens. The heavens over them are become brass.

And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

Deuteronomy 28:23

A very significant curse that follows non-tithers is that of a “closed heaven”.

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).

A specific difficulty that comes upon non-tithers is that the heavens above them are turned into brass. The heavens are usually made of the wind, the clouds and welcoming showers of blessings. Unfortunately, there are no such blessings coming out of a heaven made of brass. The sister curse to the “brass heavens” is that the earth will be made out of iron. “And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron”

(Deuteronomy 28:23).

Things are difficult as they are anyway. The earth is already cursed because of the sin of Adam. A heaven of brass and an earth of iron will only combine to make sowing and reaping even more difficult. The seeds cannot enter the iron ground below and there will be no rain from the brass heaven above. The curse of the brass heavens and the iron earth is therefore the curse of having an acute shut down of all business and money-earning activities in your life.

Dear friend, why would you want to bring upon yourself such difficulties? It is time to pay tithes and honour the Lord with your substance. Do you want God to take away your ability to earn money? Certainly not!

7. People who do not pay tithes are cursed with the curse of those who forget God.

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all THE NATIONS THAT FORGET GOD.

Psalm 9:17

A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THE LORD THEIR GOD.

Jeremiah 3:19-21

There is a curse on all who forget God. According to Jeremiah, you must expect weeping and supplication because you have forgotten the Lord your God. When you do not pay tithes, you demonstrate that you have forgotten that it is God who has given you all that you have. This forgetfulness may be very costly. When you do not pay tithes at the end of every month, you demonstrate on a monthly basis that you do not remember or acknowledge God in your life.

Recently, there was a presidential election in one of the richest nations in the world. The presidential candidate was an outsider and from a minority group in that nation. It was a historic victory which stirred up emotions around the world. I watched with keen interest as the impossible became possible. However, I was greatly disappointed when this new “underdog president” gave his victory speech and did not acknowledge God. I was expecting him to thank God for helping him to achieve his election victory. Instead, he thanked his campaign manager, his wife, his vice-president, the team that worked with him, and even his little children. He even remembered to mention to his children that he would reward them with a new pet.

At the beginning of the speech, I thought that he had forgotten to mention God because of the euphoria of the moment. I thought he would thank God at the end of his speech but I was wrong! The “thank you” to God never came! He never thanked God or even acknowledged that God had played any role in him becoming the president.

I thought it would be even more obvious that he needed to thank God since his victory was won against the odds. His wife seemed to know that they were an unlikely couple to become President and First Lady. In a speech at a post-election event she said, “There is nothing in my background that should make me stand before you at this time.”

I honestly thought this president’s failure to thank God was a very bad sign and perhaps even a bad omen. Notice what Isaiah said, “I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and FORGETTEST THE LORD THY MAKER, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth…” (Isaiah 51:12-13).

Dear friend, it is time to remember the God-factor in everything you do. It is time to pay your tithes and say, “I remember God. Every time you pay tithes you say, “All that I am and all that I have comes from God.”

8. People who do not pay tithes are cursed with the curse that comes upon idol worshippers who would put money before their service to God.

Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

Deuteronomy 27:15

Worshipping idols is the number one sin that brought the wrath of God on the children of Israel. All through the Bible, we are warned against worshipping idols.

The Rat god

What if I pointed to one of my associate pastors and said, “This is you: Rev. Jack Toronto. I am writing your name under the rat in this picture and I will put it in my office. Anyone who comes into my office will see this ugly rat and ask, “Who is this rat? Why do you call this rat Rev. Jack Toronto? Is Rev. Jack Toronto not one of the senior pastors in this church? Is Rev. Jack Toronto a rat?”

Do you think Rev. Jack Toronto will be happy with that picture? I do not think so. That picture would be an insult because Rev. Jack Toronto is not a rat. He is far greater than a rat. He is far more intelligent than a rat. He is far more handsome than a rat.

God is far greater than a piece of wood or stone. God is far greater than a snake, an eagle or an antelope. Yet, men make images of these creatures and call them God. How could you make an image of an animal and call it God? You can imagine why the wrath of God comes upon idol worshipers.

People who do not pay tithes are equally guilty of worshiping idols. They have made money their god. They obey money! They sacrifice their lives for it! They get up early in the morning for it! They travel long distances for it! They even kill other human beings for it! They have sex with anybody for it! In fact, the modern “money idol” has a stronger control on people than traditional idols of eagles, crabs or lions.

The exhortation from the apostle John was not out of context. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 John 5:21). Paying tithes is one of the best ways to keep yourself from idols. The one you pay ten percent of your income to is your God!

by Dag Heward-Mills

[marcusssanderson]

70 Graduation Quotes On Success, Dreams and Your Future

Our latest collection of motivational graduation quotes on Everyday Power Blog.

As the school year comes to an end many students and graduates face a time of reflection, celebration, and even confusion.

“What’s next?”

“What should I do?”

“Where do I go from here?”

We hope these 30 motivational graduation quotes will help you become more confident about your dreams and goals, at such an important time in your life!

Graduation Quotes about the next chapter in your life

1.) “Success doesn’t rush. The greatest reward is the journey!” – Jeff Moore

2.) “Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” – Napoleon Hill

3.) “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” –Nora Roberts

4.) “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” –C.S. Lewis

5.) “Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” –Steve Jobs

6.) “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” –H. Jackson Brown Jr.

7.) “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown

8.) “Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan.” – Larry Winget

9.) “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Gandhi

  10.) “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln

Graduation quotes to make you wiser

11.) “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” -Will Rogers

12.) “All our dreams can come true… if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

13.) “We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” – JK Rowling

  14.) “My favorite animal is the turtle. The reason is that in order for the turtle to move, it has to stick its neck out. There are going to be times in your life when you’re going to have to stick your neck out. There will be challenges and instead of hiding in a shell, you have to go out and meet them.” –Ruth Westheimer

15.) “Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do.” – Ella Fitzgerald

16.) “Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.”–John Maxwell

17.) “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.”–George Washington Carver

18.) “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”–Albert Schweitzer

19.) “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

20.) “Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vintage point.” – Harold B Melchart

Graduation quotes to inspire success

21.) “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” – Mahatma Gandhi

22.) “Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.” – Muhammad Ali

23.) “There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs.” – Unknown

24.) Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. –Robert Louis Stevenson

25.) If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. – Henry David Thoreau

26.) Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. – Omar Khayyam

27.) So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable. – Christopher Reeve

28.) “Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life.” —Frederick W. Robertson

29.) “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” —Martin Luther King Jr.

30.) “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Graduation quotes to inspire you as you enter the real world

31.) “Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential.” – Kerry Washington

32.) “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”– Henry David Thoreau

33.) “You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once, but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own.”– Michelle Obama

34.) “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”– Nelson Mandela

35.) “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”– Milton Berle

36.) “The highest result of education is tolerance.” —Helen Keller

37.) “Every person you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them.” —H Jackson Brown Jr.

38.) “Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.” – Barack Obama

39.) “Not only can you not plan the impact you’re going to have, you often won’t recognize it when you’re having it.” – Dick Costolo

40.) “It doesn’t matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping.”- Jerry Zucker

Graduation quotes to inspire hope for the future

41.) “Sucess is like a mountain that keeps growing ahead of you as you hike it… Err in the direction of kindness.” – GEORGE SAUNDERS

42.) “As you start your journey, the first thing you should do is throw away that store-bought map and begin to draw your own.”— Michael Dell

43.) “Kid, you’ll move mountains. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting so get on your way!”— Dr. Seuss

44.) “Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning.”— Senator Orrin Hatch

45.) “This is your time and it feels normal to you but really there is no normal. There’s only change, and resistance to it and then more change.” – MERYL STREEP

46.) “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing.” – Pele

47.) “Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know it when you find it.” —Steve Jobs

48.) “Don’t make excuses, don’t blame the past. The rest of your life can be the best of your life!” – Joel Osteen

49.) “The world rewards those who take responsibility for their own success.” – Curt Gerrish

50.) “Share your sparkle wherever you are.” – Dodinsky

Graduation quotes to inspire and teach

51.) “Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive: easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.” —Henry Peter Brougham

52.) “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” —Dr. Seuss

53.) “Knowledge is not power. The implementation of knowledge is power.” —Larry Winget

54.) “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”– Albert Einstein

55.) “There are no regrets in life. Just lessons.” —Jennifer Aniston

56.) “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”– E.E. Cummings

57.) “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” —Thomas Edison

58.) “What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson

59.) “Sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do.”- Oprah Winfrey

60.) “Don’t ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first.” – Anna Quindlen

Other inspirational graduation quotes to read

61.) “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” —Malcolm X

62.) “You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”– Jim Carrey

63.) “Take pride in how far you’ve come. Have faith in how far you can go. But don’t forget to enjoy the journey.” —Michael Josephson

64.) “Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world right in the eye.”– Helen Keller

65.) “When you leave here, don’t forget why you came.” —Adlai E. Stevenson

66.) “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” —Dr. Seuss

67.) “Live all of your life. Understand it, see it, appreciate it. And have fun.” – Joss Whedon

68.) “Be bold, be courageous, be your best.” – Gabrielle Giffords

69.) “You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t. You get to decide what to worship.” – David Foster Wallace

70.) “Not only can you not plan the impact you’re going to have, you often won’t recognize it when you’re having it.” – Dick Costolo

Which graduation quotes were your favorite?

Graduation is such an important time in life. Whether you’re finishing up elementary, middle, high school, or college, graduation is an important milestone in your learning journey.

Hopefully, these quotes have given you the courage to believe and fight for your dreams and goals.

Did you enjoy these graduation quotes? Which of the quotes was your favorite? We would love to hear all about it in the comment section below. Also, don’t forget to share with your friends and followers.

The post 70 Graduation Quotes On Success, Dreams and Your Future appeared first on Everyday Power Blog.

[davidcdelreal]

A Surprising List of Successful People Who Filed for Bankruptcy – And Made It Back

A good friend once told me sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward.

That’s exactly what some famous, successful people did when they filed for bankruptcy. And most made it back to solvency.

Some even went well beyond their previous levels of wealth and fame after filing for bankruptcy.

In fact, for most it ended up being little more than a bump in the road of an otherwise successful life.

The point of this post isn’t to recommend bankruptcy. But it is to show experiencing financial disaster isn’t terminal! We all need to know this.

Rags-to-Riches-Back-to-Rags-Then-Back-to-Riches (Say That 10x Fast)

That’s the theme I found in researching these nine successful people who surprisingly filed for bankruptcy. Each came from humble beginnings. In fact, most grew up dirt poor and often in dysfunctional family backgrounds.

Three – Walt Disney, Cyndi Lauper and maybe Willie Nelson – marginally qualified as coming from middle-class backgrounds. Or maybe working poor was closer to the truth.

I think there’s a message in that. Coming from nothing may have been the “secret quality” that enabled each to bounce back from crushing financial troubles, and rise up like a phoenix.

Each came from nothing, or something close to it, took a chance – and failed – but got back up and tried again.

That’s the lesson in the lives of these successful people. It may not even be an exaggeration to say their recovery from bankruptcy was found in the poverty of their youth.

See if you can find any other encouraging patterns in the lives of the people on this list. We’ll discuss a few at the very end of this post.

Abraham Lincoln

Surprised? I was. Abraham Lincoln is widely considered to be the greatest of American presidents – right up there with George Washington.

He managed to hold the country together during the Civil War, which was the single greatest challenge to the nation’s unity in its history. Uniting the country against foreign enemies can be a tall order. Overseeing a conflict of American-versus-American is a crisis with a dimension all its own. Lincoln succeeded.

But Abraham Lincoln wasn’t always president or even a politician.

Early in his life, he was a storekeeper. It was 1833, Lincoln was in his 20s, and he and a partner opened a general store in new Salem, Illinois. It didn’t go well for the man who wrote and delivered the Gettysburg Address.

Lincoln and his partner purchased inventory from other stores on credit. But the business didn’t do well, and debts mounted. Lincoln sold his stake in the store, but his business partner later died. Lincoln then became liable for $1,000 in obligations, worth about $28,000 today.

There’s a little bit of a glitch in this story. Modern bankruptcy didn’t exist in the 1830s, not the way it does today. Instead of filing for bankruptcy, then moving on with his life, Lincoln was required to repay his creditors over 17 years.

It was actually from the ashes of that business failure that Lincoln began his political career, launching his campaign for the Illinois General Assembly. His bid failed, but he became a lawyer shortly after. And on his second run for office, he then served for successive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives. In 1846 he was elected to the US House of Representatives.

In 1860, he was elected the 16th president of the US – one of the most beloved in history.

Dave Ramsey

Let’s fast-forward, oh – about 150 years – right up to our own time.

If you spend much time on financial blogs, including Good Financial Cents, you’ve probably heard of Dave Ramsey. He’s one of the most famous and widely read personal financial advisors of all time.

But his rise to that level was hardly a straight line to pay dirt.

Dave came out of the starting gate like a championship horse. By the age of 26, he built a portfolio of rental real estate worth over $4 million through his brokerage firm, Ramsey Investments, Inc. He had become a superstar in the real estate market of his home state of Tennessee at a very tender age.

But success didn’t last. His real estate holdings were heavily leveraged, and creditors began calling in his debts. This forced him to file for bankruptcy.

Much like Abraham Lincoln, as Ramsey emerged from bankruptcy, he began to move in a different direction. Rather than trying to resurrect his real estate empire, he instead began providing financial counseling for couples at his local church.

At the same time, he began attending workshops and seminars on consumer financial problems. From those seminars and from the teachings of other personal finance counselors – as well as from his own experience – he put together a set of lessons and materials.

On request from many of his clients, he wrote his first book, Financial Peace, in 1992.

That was just the beginning of Dave Ramsey’s post-bankruptcy life. Shortly after, he co-hosted a local financial radio program that eventually grew into The Dave Ramsey Show.

That radio program airs on 550 stations and reaches an estimated 8.5 million listeners.

And Dave Ramsey’s current net worth? How about $55 million!

MC Hammer

MC Hammer rose to fame on the song U Can’t Touch This, in 1990. The song wasn’t even fully original. It was largely a remake of Super Freak, released by Rick James in 1981. (For the record, Rick James also participated in the creation of U Can’t Touch This.)

The song wasn’t just popular from an entertainment standpoint alone. It’s been an ongoing commercial success, playing in movies, TV shows, commercials and elsewhere as background music. 27 years after its release, it’s one of the most recognizable songs ever.

Like so many successful celebrities, MC Hammer grew up poor.

But he developed an entrepreneurial streak in childhood. Living near the Oakland Coliseum, home to the Oakland A’s, he made money selling stray baseballs and dancing to a beatboxer. As a teenager, he worked as a bat boy for the A’s. It was there Reggie Jackson gave him the name “Hammer”, because of his resemblance to Hank Aaron.

His baseball experience set the stage for his entertainment career. At the peak of that career, he had an estimated net worth of over $33 million.

But as is often the case with celebrities, money management wasn’t his strong suit. He spent too much on luxuries and on supporting family and friends. By 1996, and $13 million in debt, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

But MC Hammer’s money troubles continued to follow him even after bankruptcy. In 2011, the IRS filed a lawsuit for nearly $800,000 in back taxes.

But Hammer handled it all, and has recently been reported to be worth $1.5 million. That’s not close to what he had at his financial peak. But this is the guy who’s shown the ability (and talent) to roll with the punches, and rise to new heights.

Walt Disney

Another famous person from humble beginnings, Walt Disney showed entrepreneurial drive at an early age. But he also filed for bankruptcy, while still barely more than a teenager. And it almost happened a few years later, just before one of his greatest successes.

Born in 1901, Disney formed Laugh-O-Gram Studio in 1920, making animated fairytales. He got a financial backer, and began building a staff of animators. But the financial backer went broke, leaving Disney unable to pay his animators or his debts. The company filed bankruptcy in 1921.

Using a loan from family, he started a new company in 1923.

It was in 1928 that he created Mickey Mouse, causing his career to take off. But when he began to make his first full-length animated movie – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – costs outstripped available financial resources. Production costs reached $1.5 million, three times more than the original budget. The movie almost wasn’t released.

Close to bankruptcy once again, Disney was able to get a bank loan to complete the film and release the movie.

That was the event that set Disney on a roll that would last the rest of his life. The film grossed $6.5 million – more than four times the production budget.

It became the most successful motion picture of 1938, and the most successful sound film made up to that point. It was followed by other Disney classics, including Pinocchio and Fantasia.

When he died in 1966, Walt Disney was estimated to be worth an incredible $5 billion.

How much would that be in today’s dollars? Wow!

Imagine what we wouldn’t have today if Walt Disney gave up and quit after he filed bankruptcy back in the 1920s?

P.T. Barnum

This one is a trip back to the days of Abraham Lincoln, but it has a contemporary link through the movie, The Greatest Showman. The movie is well worth seeing. Phineas Taylor Barnum literally rose up from street poverty (and an orphan to boot), to become quite possibly – as the movie title suggests – the greatest showman ever.

He was the founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus (more recently known as Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus), which lasted from 1871 to 2017.

But like other entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires on the celebrity bankruptcy list, P.T. Barnum’s rise to the top was hardly a straight line.

Born in 1810 (one year after Abraham Lincoln), he started his career as a showman at the age of 25. By 1841 he purchased Scudder’s American Museum in New York City, upgrading the building and adding exhibits. He turned it into one of the most popular show places in the city.

But the building burned down five times, after which Barnum built it into a city of its own. The cost was enormous, and not supported by the revenue it generated. Barnum was forced into bankruptcy.

His recovery came when he began lecturing on “The Art of Money Getting”, which might’ve been his greatest talent. The income he earned on those lectures enabled him to repay his debts.

That set the stage for the venture P.T. Barnum became best known for – the three-ring circus. That came about when he was 64 years old (proof age was never a barrier to success – even way back in 1873!).

Barnum was one of the first circus owners to create a moving circus and believed to be THE first to buy his own train to make it happen.

George Foreman

George Foreman is a former boxer and current entrepreneur. He won the gold medal in the heavyweight division of the 1968 Olympics. Shortly after, he turned professional and won the world heavyweight title in 1973.

He retired from boxing, moved back to his hometown, and became an ordained Christian minister. He started a youth center for troubled children, where they could participate in sports. But the declining income led him to file for bankruptcy in 1983.

The bankruptcy aside, Foreman continued his ministry, as well as the operation of the youth center. He also launched a boxing comeback. In 1994 – at the age of 45 – he regained a portion of the heavyweight championship. To date, he’s the oldest world heavyweight champion in history.

Foreman finally retired from boxing in 1997, at the age of 48. But by the time he did, he had a record 76 wins – including 68 knockouts – against just five losses.

During his second boxing career, he began lending his name to advertise various products on TV. He also reinvented his public personality. Once a menacing boxer, he adopted a friendly personality that was warmly received by the public – and a critical component of his success as an entrepreneur.

Following his active boxing career, he spent 12 years as a ringside analyst for HBO. Along the way, he launched the George Foreman Grill, which sold over 100 million units worldwide. He sold the naming rights to the grill in 1999 for a whopping $138 million.

Incredibly, George Foreman’s current net worth has been estimated at $300 million.

Cyndi Lauper

Much like Walt Disney, Lauper’s bankruptcy came before she had success. She spent several years singing and writing songs for a group called Blue Angel. The group’s first album was launched in 1980, but never caught on with the public. This forced Lauper to file for bankruptcy in 1981.

From there, she worked in restaurants and retail to keep herself afloat. Success came with the 1983 release of her She’s So Unusual album, that included Cyndi Lauper classics, like Money Changes Everything, Time After Time, She Bop, All Through the Night and Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

That’s a virtual career’s worth of big hits!

But that was just the beginning of her run of superstardom. Other albums followed, including True Colors, as well as several industry awards. In 1985, she released The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough, as part of the soundtrack to the movie The Goonies.

Lauper’s dramatic recovery from bankruptcy wasn’t her first “rebirth”. In 1977, she damaged her vocal chords and was told by doctors she would never sing again. Six years later, she released She’s So Unusual, and became a modern music legend.

As the saying goes, it’s hard to hold a good man down. Or in this case, a good woman.

Today, Cyndi Lauper has an estimated net worth of $30 million.

Willie Nelson

One of the most prolific country singers ever, Willie Nelson was born to a struggling family at the height of the Great Depression. His music career was motivated by – if you can believe it – his hatred of picking cotton.

It was a common local occupation in his Arkansas hometown, and one his family participated in. He chose instead to earn money by singing in local dance halls and taverns, beginning at age 13.

After high school, he held a variety of odd jobs, one of which was a disc jockey at a radio station in Texas. It was a major break. He was able to use the equipment at the radio station to launch his first recordings, and begin his professional music career.

It was the beginning of a career that would last decades, enabling him to reach legend status.

Nelson didn’t file for bankruptcy but faced something perhaps much worse. In 1990, the IRS claimed he owed $32 million, and seized his assets. The debt had largely been created by his former manager, who failed to pay taxes for a number of years.

Nelson turned to his music and fame to ultimately settle the debt, which was subsequently reduced to $16 million. He released an album called The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories? All profits went to the IRS. As well, many of his assets were auctioned off.

Ultimately his tax debt was paid by a settlement from his previous accounting firm, whom he claimed had put his money into illegal tax shelters. Nelson was financially in the clear by 1993.

After that, he released several albums and continued to tour.

Today he has an estimated net worth of $15 million.

Elton John

One of the most successful artists of all time, Elton John sold more than 300 million records. He produced more than 50 Top 40 hits, and seven consecutive number one albums in the US.

His tribute to Princess Diana Candle in the Wind 1997 – originally written as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe – sold over 33 million copies. It was the biggest selling song in history in both the US and Britain. He was even knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Elton John is also one of the longest lasting musical talents in history. He first achieved fame in 1970 with the release of the single Your Song, which reach number seven in the UK, and number eight in the US.

It was an elevator ride up from there. Hit albums were being churned out almost annually, and he reached superstar status with the release of the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973, and Caribou in 1974.

But like so many celebrities, Elton John enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. In 2002, he declared bankruptcy after incurring huge debts on properties he owned all over the world. Wikipedia also confirms he went on a two-year spending spree – around 2000 – in which he spent about 1.5 million British pounds per month (well over $2 million per month).

The episode proved to be only a temporary setback for the music icon. Beginning in 2003, he entered an agreement to perform 75 shows over three years at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

He contributed productions for Walt Disney movies and did concert tours on a regular basis. No doubt royalties from previous songs and performances also provided a steady cash flow.

As of 2018, Elton John’s wealth has been estimated at $450 million.

The Take-aways From Successful People Who Filed for Bankruptcy and Made it Back

What can we learn from the lives of these nine people? Here’s what I came up with:

Poverty early in life wasn’t an obstacle. As I wrote at the very beginning, it may have been poverty early in life that enabled them to survive a financial disaster, then rebuild.

Bankruptcy didn’t stop them. Each not only rebuilt their lives but most went on to greater heights after bankruptcy.

Financial troubles were often caused by mismanagement. What we see in these nine is a pattern of:

Going deep into debt to launch a business venture

Financial mismanagement, including nonpayment of income tax

Trusting in, or providing for, people close in their lives (managers, friends, family, etc.)

Excessive spending

The last three are common causes of bankruptcy. The first happens when you start a business venture. That has to be considered as a possibility for anyone who does – think of it as an occupational hazard.

Most have a strong entrepreneurial drive. They fail at one business venture, but get back up and try another. With the exception of Abraham Lincoln, each was or is an entrepreneur at heart. Business failure comes with the territory. It didn’t scare them away, and it shouldn’t scare us either.

They’re all risktakers. I think it’s safe to say each of these individuals ended up in bankruptcy because they were taking chances. Failure is always a possibility when you do.

Bankruptcy isn’t life ending. In each of the nine cases, financial failure wasn’t the end of the road. Each got back up, made another charge, and hit pay dirt. Most of them even had their best days after filing for bankruptcy.

I think that’s the biggest lesson of all – failure is only the end if we let it be.

And we don’t have to.

The post A Surprising List of Successful People Who Filed for Bankruptcy – <em>And Made It Back</em> appeared first on Good Financial Cents.

from All About Insurance https://www.goodfinancialcents.com/successful-people-who-filed-bankruptcy/

[mcmgblogs-blog]

Sexual energies: Reasons why Fornication, Adultery, masturbation and homosexuality must be avoided

I was told by my Biology teacher that sex is the insertion of a stiff penis into a lubricated vagina, but that's actually a baser way to look at the greatest energy and life driving force known to man. Many people have for long looked at this energy as just the blood that rushes into their penises to make them erect,  or as that tingly emotions that make women wet, but again, that's a lesser way to look at this exceptional energy. I will like to define sexual energy as the driving force towards all achievements, failures, sadness and happiness! Within us, lies a potential of raw sexual energy which for most of us goes untapped. This energy is not only the source of life and human beings, it's an integral part of our spirituality, vitality, creativity, sense of well-being and a means to attract and manifest anything we desire.

Unfortunately, a lot of people spend a life time wasting their sexual energies, giving it for free to exploitative demons (Incubus and succubus) through fornication, adultery, masturbation and other sexual perverseness like homo-sexuality. It's worthy to note that God extracted all life generating element on earth and created Adam and Eve. This energy he extracted from the earth was converted into the sexual energies that lies within us. This explains why the devil in its attempts could only create humanoids like: robots and sex dolls from the sexual essence harvested from male and female who indulges in vile affections. Let me go a little deeper! On the 25th of December 2005, I lost my virginity. Shortly after, I realised I had become a different person; a wilder person all together! That same evening, I went to the club, picked up another girl and took her home. A lot had changed! What really happened? The answer is shockingly simple: I had become one with the girl I first had sex with; absorbing the energies and spirits within her. The female sexual energy is magnetic and receiving in nature while the male energy is electric and sending (radiant)! When a man and a woman meets sexually, an electromagnetic field is created! From the above explanation, we can understand that the sexual centers on a male and a female have two polarities,  when these two polarities merge sexually in the right way, a sense of wholeness is felt. In this light, they are no longer two, but one flesh as they truly experience what I term "spiritual marriage" To understand this spiritual oneness or marriage better, it's imperative for us to visit the book of Genesis Chapter 1, verse 26-28 in the bible! 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. In verse 27, it's clearly stated that God created male and female in his image, but what really happened that only Adam was found in the garden naming the animals, plants among other things? It was in a subsequent chapter that God caused Adam to fall into deep sleep and a rib was removed from him to form the physical Eve. 21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Adam experienced completeness before God removed eve out of him! He was a perfect embodiment of both the radiant and the magnetic energies, but because God had instructed man to Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth--he had to remove the magnetic energy from Adam to give form to the woman he had already created in the spiritual realm. Little wonder why after Adam woke up from sleep, he could immediately sense a greater part of himself in Eve and called her the bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh. The only way to feel such level of oneness and completeness Adam felt is by uniting the Magnetic feminine energy with the Electric(radiant) masculine energy--and it can only happen through sexual intercourse! True marriage is not the vows a man and a woman take in front of a congregation or the marriage certificate they sign at the civil registry or the traditional rites performed. Marriage only takes place when two fleshes become one.  Permit me to shade some light on this from the Book of Genesis Chapter 24:66-67 66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. 67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Abraham's servant went to get a wife for Isaac, he did many things among which the traditional rites were performed, but despite everything he did, Rebekah could only become Isaac's wife after he took her into his mother's tent. What do you really think happened in the tent? Now that we know that sex is not only about the baser pleasures, let's examine reasons why Fornication, Adultery, Masturbation and homosexuality must be avoided:

Fornication: 

We can begin to understand why fornication of a sin against ones own body and essence! Majority of the times we fornicate, it's done wrongly and most times with people we do not even know, love or trust. We become one with them by merging our energies and in the process absorbing their energies into our lives. From my personal experiences, there are girls I fornicated with and everything good thing I was expecting disappeared and there are others that I absorbed the positive energies in them and things worked out for the good. Understand the mystery behind sex and whenever you meet a potential partner, love them, pray together and rid yourselves off every negative energies; perform the societal marital rites and then you can truly become one flesh in balance and harmony.

Adultery:

With fornication, we sin against God and our bodies! With Adultery, we sin against, God, our bodies and our genealogy. Many people talk about STDs, but limitedly to sexually transmitted diseases , but did you know there are also sexually transmitted demons? Did you know there are sexually transmitted curses? Did you know there are sexually transmitted vices? The list of sexually transmitted traits is very long! We have already explained that by uniting our radiant energies with the feminine magnetic energies, an electromagnetic field is created--becoming one flesh and spirit, thereby absorbing and giving everything in equal proportions. Through adulteries: curses, demons, etc...are brought into a family genealogy! You give birth to kids and they start stealing and you hear parents say: no member of my family steals, I really wonder where this child comes from. Avoid adultery and your family will be in balance and harmony!

Masturbation:

Masturbation is a  sure  gateway for demonic strongholds to develop. Whenever we masturbate, we feed demons like incubus and succubus with our sexual energies. The earth element God extracted to create humans can't be extracted by demons less they would have created their own humans. They can only harvest such energies from our sexual immorality and perversion like masturbation to create humanoids like robots and sex dolls with artificial intelligence. When a demonic gateway is opened through the act of masturbation and other sexual immorality, the victim becomes a slave to incubus and succubus. Incubus is the male version of the demon people often refers to as a spirit husband and succubus is the female version that deals with men. They are a major cause of anxiety, nightmares, depression and general setbacks in the lives of their captives. Nothing sets a person free more than the truth!  John 8:32 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The truth is: Masturbation opens a portal for demons to come in and exploit your life essence, cause setbacks in your life and ensure you never amount to anything good. As you know the truth today, I pray it sets you free as you make that firm decision to stop the devilish practice of masturbation and start channeling your sexual energies to serve other purposes till you're ready to commit to a partner for life.

Homosexuality:

We shall be limited here to men practicing homosexuality and in a subsequent write-up, we shall bring out the vices and spiritual implications of lesbianism in details. Before we go any further, it's imperative to make it clear that there are There 5 sacred sexual  centers in males. These centers are listed below: Prostate Gland (hidden, accessed through rectum) Right Testicle to Right Ureter Left Testicle to Left Ureter Rectum Penis/urethra We have already established that sexual energy is the greatest source of our vital life force. This energy from time immemorial has been harvested by fallen angelic entities to propagate their negative alien agendas (NAA). The above 5 mentioned sexual centers on men are all very important, the sacredness and spirituality of the prostate gland outweighs them all!

Biological Importance of the Prostate Gland:

The most important job of the prostate is to manufacture and secrete some of the alkaline seminal fluids during ejaculation (about 30-35% of the semen ejaculate). Being alkaline, the prostate fluid, which is milky whitish in color, helps the sperm survive in the acidic vaginal environment. So our prostate is therefore considered to be a gland because glands produce something.

Spiritual Importance of the Prostate Gland:

The root word for prostate is the Greek prostates, which literally means one who stands before, or protector, guardian or leader. It is critical to never engage in sexual activity with any violent or dominating person. Do not let them have access to your sacred sexual centers! Let us review all five of the male sexual organs that function as a Portal of Consciousness to other dimensions:

Homosexuality and the Prostate Gland:

  Have you ever for a second ponder why practitioner of occult sciences would pay millions to have anal sex with a desperate dude? In Your search for wealth, fame, breakthrough in your career or to book your place on the spotlight. You may come across certain individuals who shall promise making your dreams come true on the condition that you bend for the dick.   I called the prostate the father of hormones; and that's because it's in the prostate gland that simple testosterone is converted to DHT (dihydrotestosterone). DHT is at least 10 times more powerful than simple testosterone. Prostate gland also produces a milkish white alkaline fluid which ensures the survival of the sperm in the acidic vaginal environment. On a spiritual level, the prostate together with the anus, rectum and some other body parts make up what is known in occult science as the 1st Chakra point or better still root chakra.

In Christianity, it's part of the endocrine system(Jacob's ladder).  Connection between Jacob's Ladder and Jesus Christ:

Genesis 28:10-17

He had a dream in which he saw a stairway(ladder) resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Man had sinned and lost that direct connection with God! Through the Abrahamic lineage, a messiah was promised that through him, the gap between man and God will be bridged. Jacob's dream foretold the coming of that Messiah that will be the ladder on which Angels will ascend and descend and a connection between man and God. Jesus Christ is Jacob's ladder! In the book of John 1:51, Jesus made the following statement to Nathanael: And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. From the above verse of the bible, Jesus made it clear to Nathanael that just like Jacob, he Nathanael will see Angels ascend and descend into Heaven on him the son of man, so it's crystal clear that Jesus Christ is the ladder! Endocrine system and the Ladder “Each soul enters with a mission.  We all have a mission to perform. ” ~Edgar Cayce Edgar Cayce believes that the endocrine system is a pathway to connecting to God, but that can only happen if they are transformed into Jacob's Ladder(Jesus Christ). An individual must first experiences his burning bush like Moses--which will burn down his/her ego, greed, sexual immorality--accept Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour, then he/she will experience such connection with God(Christ consciousness). A Christ conscious endocrine system makes an individual's body the temple of God; a ladder that bridges the gap between the individual and God! Bible verses supporting the claim of our bodies being God's Temple: 1 Corinthians 12:27 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Romans 12:1-2 12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Homosexuality makes the dick receiver more of a woman as it stops his prostate gland from producing the much needed DHT (dihydrotestosterone) and also makes it impossible for him to build his Jacob's Ladder. Occult science practitioners use their phallus (dick) as a conduit to extract every electric energy in those bending for the dicks, so they the occults become supercharged, leaving those who bend for the dicks very empty and useless spiritually.  Conclusively, every form of sexual immorality and perversion must be avoided so we can present our bodies as pleasing living sacrifices on to the Lord, use our sexual energies to attract goodness, health, wealth into our lives and live fulfilling lives. Thanks for reading, use the comment box below to drop your opinions. Davis E Tabot     Read the full article

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 2/5/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your newscap for Monday, 5th February 2018. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT), or by Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

GAS PRICES TO DROP, DIESEL INCREASES – Consumers will pay less for gasoline products as of midnight tonight, while the price of diesel, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is expected to rise. A statement from the Government Information Service says the retail price of gasoline will fall by six cents from $3.35 per litre to $3.29 per litre. The price of diesel will rise by six cents, from $2.67 to $2.63 per litre. Kerosene will now retail at $1.43 per litre, up from $1.31. Meanwhile, LPG will now cost $173.33 per 100 lb cylinder, up from $170.42 – an increase of $2.91. The price of a 25 lb cylinder will rise by 72 cents to $48.43, while the 22 lb cylinder will cost $42.79, up by 64 cents. The 20 lb cylinder will increase by 59 cents, from $38.31 to $34.90. (BT)

ON THE WARPATH – Trouble appears to be brewing at the Customs Department once again. This time it’s over the interview process for the 100 vacant positions in the department as efforts to transition to the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) continue. General secretary of the Unity Workers’ Union (UWU), Caswell Franklyn, is so incensed over the issue that he plans to write Governor General Dame Sandra Mason asking her to investigate the matter. “I am going to write the Governor General to point out that the system is [flawed] and that she needs to investigate. I am writing the Governor General hoping that she would follow the rules and do the right thing,” he told the DAILY NATION yesterday. And if that did not work, Franklyn declared he was willing to “shut the place down”. Franklyn, whose UWU represents 72 of the approximately 200 workers in the department, alleged there was some “handpicking” in the interview process.  (DN)

NUPW WANTS TO SIT WITH BADMC – The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) appears to be heading on a collision course with the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC) over a number of grievances by its members. On Saturday, a number of aggrieved BADMC staffers met at the union’s Dalkeith, St Michael headquarters to vent on matters such as sick leave, working conditions and the disciplinary protocols of the state-owned corporation.  NUPW assistant general secretary Wayne Walrond charged the BADMC was trying to cut the sick leave days, adding there were to be 14 days a year for temporary workers and 21 for those appointed. “While we acknowledge they are trying to make the corporation efficient and are making some efforts to generate revenue which we commend . . . they want to remove that and give them six sick days a year and that’s not the agreement with this union,” he said. Another issue raised was the reported firing of security assistant Dexter Squires last week. Squires told the DAILY NATION that after close to five years at the BADMC, he was axed unceremoniously. He is now seeking legal counsel. The father of three said he was hastily ushered into a meeting on Tuesday and charged with being absent from duty without approval, failure to perform duties assigned, to observe the corporation’s regulations and the falsification of electronic records, according to the dismissal letter. Squires said he had no prior warnings of the infractions. “In almost five years at the BADMC, each time I leave the compound I would call my supervisor, and if I don’t get my supervisor I call my manager to say ‘I don’t feel well or I have to leave to do something important’,” the upset man said. Walrond said the union would be pursuing an unfair dismissal claim. BADMC chief executive officer Shawn Tudor said yesterday while he was aware of the meeting, he had no comment on the matter. “I don’t have any comment to make on what Mr Walrond said in the newspaper. We run the corporation, that’s what we do. Their business is to do things with newspapers; my business is to manage the corporation in the best interest of all the relevant stakeholders,” he added.  (DN)

NOT ONE THREAD OF BLAME – Decades after the collapse of the Caribbean Sea Island Cotton Company (CARSICOT) in Barbados, Sir Warwick Franlin, the Minister of Agriculture at whom many a finger was pointed in connection with the debacle, has spoken out.   “I am glad to give you the facts,” he said when the DAILY NATION quizzed him on the subject during an interview last week. Branding the allegations as “unfortunate and dishonest”, he declared his innocence of any improper involvement with CARSICOT. “I had absolutely nothing out of it. I have never gotten a penny, a loaf of bread, a sweet drink out of that CARSICOT,” he stated emphatically. The company, formed in 1988 as a joint venture between Canadian investor Nitin Amersey and the Barbados Government, became shrouded in controversy that saw Government opting out of the arrangement and the seizure of company assets. Debate about the then Minister of Agriculture’s role has swirled ever since, and the CARSICOT case continues to be mentioned whenever the issue of political scandals is raised. As he sought to clear the air, Sir Warwick first pointed out: “CARSICOT at that time was a public company with the Government owning 40 per cent . . . so it was not anything that I had oversight of.” Giving a background, he said when the Barbados Labour Party administration “lost the election in 1986”, there had been another minister of agriculture in place and “Barbados’ cotton was being sold to a buyer at US$2.40 per pound or something like that”. That purchaser, Sir Warwick claimed, “wanted to pay less” when the Democratic Labour Party administration took office following its success at the polls in 1986. “I said no, I was not going to sell it for that. So this gentleman Amersey came down and offered to establish this company with the Government.” Sir Warwick said the then permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture “took a lead and became chief executive of CARSICOT . . . so it was a private company”. He added he was out of the island; someone else was acting as minister; and only on his return did he learn of “all the confusion” surrounding a shipment of cotton that arrived on the island and “was discovered not to be sea island cotton, but cotton which came in from Belize and was labelled sea island cotton”. The shipment was impounded. “I said this is a matter for the company that is dealing with it and I enquired about it, to discover that this company had intended and had started to do a lot of cultivation of lands in Barbados for cotton. [They] had indicated that they were growing some of it in Belize. “But we had known that the genuine sea island cotton was only grown in Barbados and I think one or two of the islands. so it was not sea island cotton, and it was impounded.” Sir Warwick charged he was the victim of “unkind” reports by the NATION for which his political opponent at the time was writing a weekly column for the newspaper. A host of a call-in radio programme also focused on CARSICOT “every day” he claimed, projecting it as “the biggest scandal in the world”. But he declared: “I had absolutely nothing to do with it.” (DN)

CRUEL ACTS – Acts of cruelty and abandonment of dogs seem to be on the rise, as one animal activist says it’s time to get harsh penalties on the statute books for animal cruelty. In fact, a member of the local chapter of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) says last month saw almost 15 brutal acts of dumping. One such occurred last week when someone threw a medium to large sized pit bull-mixed dog in the garbage skip at Little Arches Hotel on the South Coast. Luckily, the staff at Café Luna discovered the dog, which has now been called Oscar, when they went to place their garbage in the receptacle. They and a visitor fed and watered the severely emaciated and dehydrated dog until RSPCA Chief Inspector Wayne Norville arrived. That dog, now housed at the RSPCA, is expected to make a full recovery. Nothing was wrong with the two-year-old-dog; it had no injuries or illnesses and RSPCA employee Naresh Belgrave could only surmise it was dumped because the owner could no longer feed it. (BT)

SPEAK UP – The privacy and legal rights of all Barbadians, and working class ones in particular, are under attack, says attorney David Comissiong. And he is calling on all citizens who treasure their rights to speak out against what he termed was the injustice Government was seeking to inflict on them through amendments to the Police Act, now before the Senate for debate. Under the proposed legislation, the police may, with the written approval of the Attorney General, impose a curfew in designated areas, and restrict people to their homes during the curfew hours for up to two days, to promote peace and public safety. The police will also be able to stop and search individuals and vehicles without a warrant, as well as search houses without a warrant if they have reasonable suspicion that any offence, no matter how trivial, has been committed or is about to be committed. Comissiong said if these amendments were enacted, those likely to be targeted were people who lived in working class districts like Deacons Farm and Black Rock in St Michael; Haynesville, St James; The Pine, St Michael; and Silver Hill and Gall Hill in Christ Church.  (DN)

BATTERY THEIF GETS 2 YEARS – “I will appeal!” That was the response of many-time convicted man George St Clair Ricardo Beckles when he was handed his latest sentence by the District “A” Magistrates’ Court last Thursday. The 42-year-old, of 3rd Avenue, Goodland, Black Rock, St Michael, was back in court where he changed his plea and admitted he stole a car battery belonging to Michael Stevenson on December 27. He had initially pleaded not guilty, was remanded, then granted bail and then remanded again when he subsequently appeared on another charge last year. On Thursday, he asked the court to consider that he had been on remand for seven months. “I miss a court date and I get a charge and I get seven months on remand. I’m asking that you take that into consideration,” he said. Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant sentenced him to two years in prison for the theft but ordered that the time spent on remand be deducted from the sentence. “I will appeal,” Beckles declared before he was led away. He will return to court on March 1 to answer the 2017 wounding charge. Prosecutor Sergeant Cameron Gibbons said the complainant had parked and secured his vehicle. However, sometime later, he was alerted by a noise outside. When he looked out he saw Beckles, whom he had known for a number of years, leaving with his car battery. Stevenson informed police, who picked up Beckles. The thief confessed to stealing the battery. (DN)

TWO KILLED, DOZENS HURT IN SC TRAIN COLLISION – An Amtrak passenger train collided with a CSX Corp freight train near South Carolina’s state capital on Sunday, killing at least two people on board and injuring at least 70 in the railroad’s third fatal crash in as many months. Amtrak Train 91 was carrying 139 passengers and eight crew members to Miami from New York when it hit the freight train at about 2:35 a.m. local time (0735 GMT) and derailed, injuring at least half its passengers, the railroad said in a statement. “The lead engine was derailed, as well as some passenger cars,” the statement said. The passenger train’s locomotive was lying on its side, and the first car was bent and also derailed, although it remained upright, according to images from the scene in the small city of Cayce, South Carolina. At least four cars of the freight train were crumpled, looking like crushed tin foil, but remained on the tracks. The passenger train was part of Amtrak’ Silver Star Service, and the wreck occurred about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Columbia, the state capital. Local media said some 5,000 gallons of fuel leaked as a result of the collision, but authorities said it was under control and no threat to public safety. “The injuries range from cuts and bruises to severe broken bones,” said Derrec Becker, public information officer for the South Carolina Emergency Management Division. “All the injured have been transported to local hospitals.” U.S. President Donald Trump was getting regular updates on the crash while at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affected by this incident,” said a White House spokeswoman. (BT)

BODIES PULLED FROM SEA OFF MOROCCO – The bodies of 16 people have been pulled from the sea off the coast of Melilla, a small Spanish territory bordering Morocco. Moroccan rescue services recovered the corpses after the crew of a Spanish ship spotted them in the water. A medical official told AFP news agency all the dead were from sub-Saharan Africa, apart from one Moroccan. It is thought they may have been hoping to reach Europe by sailing from Melilla, despite storm warnings. Melilla, which is just 12 sq km (7 square miles), is a major crossing point for undocumented migrants seeking work or asylum in Europe. It is one of only two EU land borders with Africa – the other being a second Spanish enclave, Ceuta. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported the bodies were found floating on Saturday around 6-8 km from Melilla’s coast. A spokeswoman for Melilla’s authorities said earlier that “about 20” bodies had been retrieved. The exact death toll has not yet been confirmed. Spanish rescue services resumed a search on Sunday morning. (BT)

BARBADOS TO PARTICIPATE IN GRENADA INVITATIONAL – Barbados will again be represented when the 2nd Grenada Invitational Track & Field Meet takes place on April 21 at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium. Six Barbadians competed in the inaugural event last year, with Shane Brathwaite (Men’s 110m Hurdles), Janeil Craig (Men’s Javelin Throw) and Jade Bailey (Women’s 100m B) among the winners. This year, Kierre Beckles (Women’s 100m Hurdles), Sada Williams (Women’s 200/400), Ramon Gittens (Men’s 100m), Anthonio Mascoll (Men’s 800m) and Greggmar Swift (Men’s 110m Hurdles) have already been confirmed for the Meet in St George’s. Barbados will also participate in a Southern Caribbean Invitational Relay that will include schools from Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia and Grenada. One Boys school from each of these islands has been invited to compete against the top four schools from Grenada as part of the Grenada Invitational in 2018. Organisers say they have reached out to schools here in Barbados, and Christ Church Foundation, through Seibert Strachan, has accepted the invitation in principle. “We understand that the school will also be attending the Penn Relays, so this event will provide a warm up for the team. “This year we have considered and started with the boys as a trial and we hope to add other elements [to] this initiative in 2019,” Meet organiser Michael Bascombe said in a statement. The Grenada Invitational will also include participants from Cuba, with 15 athletes including their 18-year-old long jumper Maykel Masso. American world 100m champion Justin Gatlin is also confirmed for the Meet. (BT)

RISING STAR MAKES THE MARK – Rowland Kirton-Browne can now book her flight for the CARIFTA Games in Nassau, Bahamas. She threw a magnificent 41.90 metres in the javelin to smash the 37 metres CARIFTA qualifying mark in the Under-17 girls’ division at the Young Olympians Classic at the National Stadium on Saturday. The Rising Stars athlete will be hoping to repeat that performance to possibly bring home a medal in the Easter games set for March 30 to April 2. Though she was unable to meet the requirements in the shot put, which stands at 13 metres, the multi-sport athlete also won that event with an effort of 11.65 metres. Kirton-Browne now joins the list of Under-17 athletes – Shanice Hutson, Dominique Wood, Kyle Gale and Sarah Belle – who have already met the CARIFTA standard. Jaliyah Denny remains among the list of athletes in that age group who have not yet qualified for the upcoming games. Proformers Track Club athlete and three-time fitness champion in the National Sports Council’s Miss Schoolgirl fitness competition, Adeyah Brewster, had enough energy left to beat Denny on the line in the Under-17 Girls’ 100 metres. The Alexandra student clocked 12.75 seconds to finish ahead of Denny’s 12.88 seconds. However, her teammate Anika Blackman defeated her in the Under-17 Girls’ 100 metres hurdles event. Blackman placed second in the 200 metres after she lost that event to Kamile Gaskin-Griffith, also of Proformers, who registered 26.39 seconds. Khalil Roberts of Harrison College ran a slow Under-17 Boys’ 100 metres to win in a time of 12.21 seconds. Pacers Track Club’s Akil Howell will also need to run faster if he wants to meet the 48.90 seconds qualifying time in the 400 metres after crossing the finish line in the boys’ Under-17 event in 51.74 seconds. Howell went on to win the 200 metres in 23.18 seconds. The young, but talented Brieanna Boyce of De Cliff ran away from the pack to win the Under-15 girls’ 400 metres in a time of one minute 2.81 seconds. Boyce, 13, the victrix ludorum at last year’s Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletics Championships (BSSAC), went on to place third in the 200 metres after Danica Gittens’ win in her heat recorded a faster time of 25.91 seconds. Full Flyt Athletic Club’s Samiya Dell, formerly of Sharon Primary, won the Under-13 girls’ 400 metres in 1:05.52, while Krissaria Ballantyne of BC Trac Club clocked 1:07.08. Dell, who will be competing at BSSAC for the first time since she is now at The St Michael School, also won the shot put in her division when her put measured 7.87 metres. St Giles’ twins Tania and Tia Applewhite took the top two places in the Under-11 Girls’ 60-metre dash in 8.80 and 8.81 seconds respectively. However, Tia clocked 14.06 seconds in the 100 metres to finish ahead of her sister who placed second in 14.15 seconds. Young Ratanang Barker is already making strides to compete in the upcoming National Primary School’s Athletic Championships for St Stephen’s after running an impressive 800 metres in the Under-13 Boys’ Division to record 2:39.62 seconds on the clock.  (DN)

KNIGHT OFF TO SWEDEN FOR SECOND STINT – Caribbean junior table tennis champion Tyrese Knight has been rubbing shoulders with elite players in Halmstad, Sweden. The 18-year-old completed his first stint there last December and will leave the island today for his second attachment. He told NATIONSPORT the training was quite challenging and a lot different from training in Barbados but it was geared toward bringing out the best in the athlete. “The training was a little bit difficult at first but it got better as I got accustomed to it. At home I’m not accustomed to twice a day training,” Knight said. “I train with elite players who are in the top 100. It’s a professional environment. For these players, this is their job so you normally wake up, go to training, get lunch, mingle with the players. You get a chance to rest then go to training again and after that session you go to the gym. “The club also has their own trainer too but we do that like twice a week.” Knight, who won gold in the Under-18 division of the Caribbean Cadet and Junior Table Tennis Championships in Guyana last year, said he would be using this second stint as preparation for the upcoming Commonwealth and Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and is also hoping to play in a couple other tournaments while he is away. “I’ll be going back to continue the programme to prepare for the Commonwealth Games and also CAC and also try to go to some other tournaments in Europe and world tour events,” he said. Though he admitted that he did not think he was quite ready for the Commonwealth Games he is still hoping he does well. However, he is planning on focusing on his forearm technique and his mental while there to be able to do well at the CAC Games. “I’m hoping to play the best that I can. I will be focusing on working on my forearm more as well as my mental game,” he said. He added that he was also open to any opportunities that may come his way to play for a club in Sweden. (DN)

BARBADOS FIGHT BUT LOSE TO COLOMBIANS – A courageous second-set performance by Darian King and Haydn Lewis was not enough to prevent Colombia’s world-class doubles players Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian-Cabal from winning 6-2, 7-6 at the National Tennis Center in their Davis Cup Tie. Heading into the match-up, King and veteran Davis Cup doubles partner Lewis were well aware they needed to dig deep in order to get past the class of Farah and Sebastian-Cabal, fresh off the Australia Grand Slam final. But as expected the Colombians won the best of three sets, third game rubber and took a 3-0 lead in the Americas Group l tie. Speaking after the match that lasted a duration of one hour and 35 minutes, King pointed out it was not the opening start he and Lewis were hoping for but they were able to coordinate better in the second set and put pressure on the Colombians. (BT)

NARINE ‘NOT RUSHING BACK’ – West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine says he is still interested in representing the regional team, but does not feel he is ready for a return to international cricket. In clearing the air on why he declined a spot on the West Indies squad for next month’s ICC World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, the Trinidadian said it was due to a lack of cricket at a higher level, against the background that he did not play any One-Day Internationals last year. Cricket West Indies said last month Narine, along with Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell, had been invited to join the the squad but had “indicated that they were unavailable to help us qualify as their priority was playing in the Pakistan Super League”. (BT)

FUND ACCESS CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY – Minister of Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, has pointed to several markets that are in need of financing, as he hailed the success of the Barbados Agency for Micro Enterprise Development. Addressing the agency’s 20th anniversary church service at the Sanctuary Empowerment Centre this morning, Inniss told the congregation there were several traditional and non-traditional sectors that entrepreneurs need financial assistance. “We have found that there are some niche areas in this economy that we really need to be able to give financial assistance to including the cultural industry, the arts and craft sector, the professionals, the doctors, lawyers these are the kind of niche areas that we are very much focused on,” he stated. The Minister noted that the agency, also known as Fund Access, has provided 2200 jobs, assisted 1800 clients and lent $56 billion dollars over the past two decades, and has also increased its loan limit to $150,000. He assured the public of the organisation’s profitability, saying “I do not believe we will be asking tax payers anytime in the foreseeable future to put up money to be able to help Fund Access stay afloat.” “Recently we were able, in the midst of all the economic challenges of this country, to position Fund Access in its own standalone agency, one that can earn its own way through its lending and the interest earned,” Inniss said.  (BT)

LOTS TO DO AT GIRLFRIENDS – Patrons to this year’s Aloha Girlfriends Expo and Arts Festival were taken on a magical two-day Hawaiian fiesta, as the Concorde Experience in Christ Church was transformed over the weekend. The occasion was an opportunity for new exhibitors to make an impact, and the familiar to cement relationships in fashion and design. There were displays from local designers Lucean Layne of Lucy Lu Creations, Jamar Odwin with his Odboih T-shirt collection, Yaisa Peter’s Browzin collection, Kofi Branch with Legende – which included both beach and casual wear, and guest designer Kiran Knight of Kiran K out of Trinidad and Tobago. Visitors also had an opportunity to be part of a zumba experience by the Zumba Bunnies; karaoke; have manicures and pedicures done, and learn the art of blending and applying make-up. New exhibitor, eight-year-old Paiden Clarke, was a big hit with patrons with slime art. “It’s a stress reliever. It’s made from glue, paint and detergent, and works like a therapeutic ball, but instead you can pull it and stretch it anyway you want,” he explained.  Another first-timer was Aesthetic Dental. Representative Dr Carol Belgrave said while Girlfriends Expo was about the glitz and glamour, she was delighted to be a part of the event to educate people that “the smile is the jewel in the crown”. “I think that dentistry being a part of Girlfriends Expo is such an educational tool. Not only would people be seeing glamour stuff and feminine products but also a smile; what they can do to get an exceptional beautiful smile,” she said. Rhea Alleyne, from the Hangover Express, put icing on the cake for patrons with her alcohol-infused desert treats from drinks to jellos. These included jello shots, sangria, mauby and rum, vodka marshmallows and boozy brownies containingfour different alcohols. Over at Lasage, Glenda King displayed jewellery, called Turn It Around; There’s Nothing New Under the Sun, made from recycled material.  “For this line I used soda cans, paper, magazines, newspaper, T-shirt material and cloth, plastic, PET bottles. The response is good. Barbados is still very far behind in terms of recycling and accepting things made from recyclable material, even though we have them. This particular line doesn’t do bad when I do come out, but I find Barbadians are still a bit more laid back when it comes to recycling,” she said. (DN)

That’s all for today folks there are 329 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase