#going outside and interacting with society at large helps people see the bigger picture

[klapollys]

sometimes i see posts on here or twitter and i just have to sit and stare at my screen. like im employed. what does this mean

[a-pretty-nerd]

Tomura Shigaraki x AllMight!Daughter!Reader

Chapter 6

Premise:

When The League of Villians discovers that AllMight has a daughter, they are quick to snatch you up and hold you hostage. Shigaraki had a careful and thought out plan, but that was before you got there. Now you're in the mood for some not-so-healthy rebellion.

Word Count: 1,988

Trigger Warnings: None really, homelessness? 

A/N: Shit! This chapters later than I wanted it to be! Since I've been back to work my schedule has been all fucky. Usually I try to post every friday but...lol. Anyways, If you like my work, don't be afraid to interact! I love hearing from you guys! Also check out my Wattpad for my original works, and my Patreon if you wanna support me further!

Enjoy!

Chapter 5 Chapter 7 

Toshinori watched from the doorway of what he once called home. He watched men in police uniforms, suits and ties, and underground heroes, rush through the apartment. Now living exclusively on campus, the apartment felt like a grim reminder of your absence. Your mother and Xavier poured over pages upon pages of eyewitnesses and anything else that could give them a clue.

Unlike the last time the heroes found and raided The League, there were no signs of known members. Meaning they were either being more careful, or they were no longer in Musutafu. He shuffled into the room, sitting down on the couch and looking outside to large windows onto the city below. Suddenly, the phone rang.

Everyone froze. Heads swiftly turned. Was this news of your disappearance? Had you been found? Detective Tsukauchi was the first to move. Slowly picking the receiver, and placing it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, yes, who is this?" A scratchy voice asked.

"I am Detective Tsukauchi. Who am I speaking with?" His voice was firm and demanding. A dark chuckle came from the other end, sending a chill down the poor mansion spine.

"I think you know who I am, detective." Another laugh rattled from Shigaraki's chest. You watched him from the other line. Everyone sitting patiently around him as they watched him on the phone. You sat beside him, hands placed on either side of you on the couch. Anxiously waiting for your turn.

"Can I-"

"Shh." He hushed you gently, putting a finger to his lips before they broke into a wide smile.

"You see I just called because someone here has a little message for you. It's family business you see, would All Might be available to talk?" He pulled the phone away before letting loose another laugh. The room jumped and coiled in uncontrollable laughter. Like a group of kids making a prank phone call.

"Shigaraki...I swear if you lay a finger on her I'll-"

"Hold on one sec, she's right here. Y/N?" He pulled his attention away from the phone and smiled at you as he handed it over. You took it and gently pressed it to your ear.

"....Dad?"

"Y/N! Are you alright? Have they hurt you?"

"No...No I'm fine actually." Shigaraki watched you with a clever smile stretched across his face. He leaned back against the couch, resting his head in his hand. Clearly very proud of himself and the torment he caused.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know actually. It's like a repurposed office building I think. I don't know where it is, all the windows are boarded up. They brought me by car."

"By car?”

"Yeah, I don't really know what they're up to. I mean, I do, I just... I don't know they do things weird." Shigaraki's smile slowly started to fade as you critiqued. When you looked up and saw his expression, you felt compelled to respond. "What? You do." You told him. He shrugged you off.

"You sound...alright." Your father said, confused and concerned.

"I guess I am relatively okay. They feed me and clothe me and no ones been really that bad to me yet so...I'm okay I guess."

"She's lying!" You heard a voice chirp from the other line. Your stomach turned. Xavier was there?

"Y/N! Y/N tell us where you are!" Your mother demanded as she wrenched the phone away from your father. Her voice was jarring and rough. You tensed up.

"I...I don't know where I am. I told him it’s like an old office building I-"

"Can you tell us anything else? What do you remember from the car ride?" She was frantic now.

"Nothing. I had a bag over my head the whole time. This place has some electricity and some running water but it’s not to the whole building? It's old... it's been years since anyone has been here-"

"Anything else!?" She cried. You paused.

"No...I...I'm fine otherwise." Shigaraki made a 'speed it up' motion with his hand. "I...I have a message for Detective Tsukauchi, could you put him back on?"

"Let me talk to her!" Xavier begged.

"I don't have much time, please, Detective-"

"Y/N! Baby!" You cringed at the sound of your boyfriend’s panicked voice.

"Hey, babe. I'm fine." You tried to brush him off.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm alright, I guess. A little tired. Scared." You had to remember the last part.

"I can't imagine what you're going through without your meds."

"Oh. Yeah. My meds. I'm losing my mind." You said in a flat, sarcastic tone. It made the others snicker.

"Just remember your breathing exercises we did, okay? Do them with me now, okay? You ready?"

"Yeah-uh-"

"One, two, three, in.........out. Okay? One, two, three IN! . . . . . . . . OUT! One, two, three, in . . . . . . OUT! Okay? Do them with me. Remember to align your chakras!" He went on like this for a solid minute. Unable to contain yourself, you covered your mouth with your hand and held the speaker out so the whole room could laugh at him. Even Shigaraki, who turned away to laugh joined in on the fun. "Y/N?"

"Yeah?" You smiled through.

"We're coming to get you, alright? Just hang tight a little longer."

"Uhuh."

"Don't worry, okay?"

"Okay."

"I love you, sugar muffin."

"Right. So Detective Tsukauchi."

"Okay, yes, here he is...I love you!"

"Love you too." You chuckled, your hand playing with the flesh between your brow as you laughed at him.

"Y/N." Finally.

"I just, have a message from the villains." You told him with an awkward smile.

"Go ahead." You looked up at your captor.

"They say if All Might doesn't come forward soon, they won't be giving me back." You watched his smile widen. "They want the world to know the Heroes' failures. It's either me or the truth. Your choice." And with that, you hung up the phone. The room fell into a satisfied and relaxed state. A sense of victory went around the room as smiles and giggles greeted you. 

"Who the hell was that last guy!?" Toga shouted as she laughed.

"Oh, that was Xavier, my boyfriend."

"Ooh! Boyfriend! How Sweet!-Gross!" Twice added.

"You've never mentioned a partner before, Y/N." Mr. Compresss added. You shrugged.

"I guess I forgot. Being kidnapped and all."

"You've been pretty forgetful latley haven't you? First your meds, now this. Anything else you care to share with us?" Dabi questioned.

"Not that I can think of. I guess sometimes I forget I should be scared nowadays." You paused before turning to look back at Shigaraki who wore a satisfied grin as his eyes wandered around the floor. Clearly dissociating. “Shigaraki?” 

"Hm?"

"...what happens to me, if they don't comply?"

"They will."

"Are you going to kill me?" He rolled his eyes.

"No. I'm not going to kill you. Especially now with that quirk of yours."

"But-"

"Are you really questioning why I'm not going to kill you?" He took the phone in his hand and dusted the object. He stood and started walking out to another room.

"I just...aren’t I a pain in the ass to keep around?" You asked the room. A few answered with a nod, others stayed silent.

"Come on. I wanna show you something." You stood and followed him down the hallway. You followed him through the building, through the parts that were inhabitable and rotting. He took you up a few flights, up to the very top just before the roof. There was a large room filled with old desks, chairs, computers, etc. He stopped in front of a large window that overlooked the city. "Come here." You stood beside him and looked out the window at the people walking around. You saw an old alleyway that housed a few homeless people as they went about their day. A few passers-by ignoring them and rushing past. "What do you see?"

"A group of homeless people. Why?"

"And what about him?" You watched as a man, well dressed and well-kept walked down the street. He starred at a man who begged him for money, then laughed in his face before walking away.

"Some asshole." You noted. He smiled.

"The world is littered with them. And it’s the heroes that encourage it, they demand it. They created a world where we steal and rob and ignore each other assuming someone else will take care of it. Heroes created a society that requires you to assimilate, to obey. If not, you're thrown away like trash." He grumbled as he watched the homeless man. 

"Is that...what happened to you?" You asked. He didn't answer. "What about her?" You watched as a woman passing through stopped to give the homeless man some change.

"What? You think she deserves a pat on the back for the bare minimum?" He snarled.

"Huh?"

"What good does that one act do, huh!? He'll have a meal and live to see another miserable day. She solved a minor problem, she's not doing any real good. And she doesn't deserve anything for it."

"But-"

"It doesn't matter unless you do something to change the bigger picture. She can give all the change she wants, take him in for all I care. But she only helps one person! She won't do any real good unless she demands change for them! Unless she actively works to make sure people like him don't end up like that!" You took a few steps back as he yelled.

"Alright! You don't have to yell at me!" You barked, the tension in the room coming to a climax when your quirk pulled a few chairs and tables closer to you. Making a horrible screeching sound as it did. "I understand." You finally spoke when the two of you had calmed down.

"If All Might doesn't come forward and tell the truth, you'll be working with us."

"What? Why? My quirk is dangerous and volatile. I have no control, I'd be practically useless."

"That's why your training starts today."

"Training?"

"What? You wanna be a slave to your quirk forever? Because if you wanna go back on your meds, you can. But I doubt you want to keep living in fear of yourself." You thought for a second before answering.

"I...I don't know..." He slowly started to approach you.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore. I can help you."

"How? You hardly have control of your own emotions as it is. You think you could help teach me to control mine?" You chuckled.

"If my research is right, this isn't about control, it’s about distribution."

"Distribution..."

"If you could learn to express your emotions properly. Let yourself be free from the fear of your own quirk, you could learn to repurpose that energy, and gain anatomy."

"Those disgusting bastards!" Xavier growled under his breath as his nails dug into the sleeve of his button-up. He rattled with rage in the corner as others worked. Your mother paced back and forth, spewing theory after theory.

"She sounded...fine..." Toshinori said in disbelief.

"Clearly she's traumatized beyond repair!" Your mother declared.

"Everyone." Another detective called. The room fell silent. "I think you should hear this." Pressing play, the sound of your recorded voice played out.

"In......OUT! One, two, three, IN.........out." From the other line, the sound of soft snickering and laughter could be heard. Your laughs being the loudest.

"Is she, laughing?" Your father asked.

"She's laughing...with them," Xavier observed.

"What!? Laughing? A reflex! She's disturbed! She's hysterical!" Your mother shouted.

"They're turning her," Xavier said softly. "They're corrupting her...without her meds she's left defenseless and scared. They're taking advantage of her good nature!"

"We got it." Detective Tsukauchi declared.

"Got what?"

"Well, it was difficult considering it was a prepaid wireless phone but...We've got her location."

Taglist: 

@craftybean13 @babayaga67 @imjustverable

@bat-eclecticwolfbouquet-love

@kamenoyaki @hentaiqween101 @skzero-99

[vaguely-gestures-to-the-void]

Hindsight: My thoughts on Loki (2021)

As always, thanks for being here my friends. There’s definitely more nuanced discussion of this show, but I’m here for the vibes. Anyways, here’s my thoughts on Episode 3 of Loki. Bear in mind I hadn’t watched episode 4 before I wrote the review for 3. No hate on anyone/thing, it’s all my opinion.

Episode 3: LAMENTIS

Pre-title scene

I rioted when I heard Hayley’s voice. It’s a win for all of us.

C-20! Sylvie!

C-20’s lil dance was adorable. I love her.

I want Sylvie’s tie dye.

Is that Ralph Bohner?

The same place, but at night. Coincidence? I think not.

Sylvie’s powers have limits. She can’t search someone’s mind and take information, she needs them to willingly tell her though she can use her powers to do that.

TVA

Sylvie’s experienced. Always tie your hair into a bun before a fight.

Her music is nothing like what we’ve heard previously. It’s the Sylvie show folks.

The mural on the left side of the hall is the one from the credits scene.

The plaque above the elevators says ‘FOR ALL TIME ALWAYS’.

Even in the mural on the right side, the Time Keepers aren’t equal, the middle one takes up the most space.

Ravonna!

I love how their movements are similar. The head-snap-hair-flip combo is nearly identical, reflecting how they are the same person to some extent.

2077 Lamentis - 1

“Get off my leg!” SiblingTM energy.

“Goodbye, variant.” She sure has the Loki drama.

I finally remembered it’s called a TemPad. Rip.

“Don’t ever call me that.”

��Tech savvy?”

That’s so Ragnarok.

I love the music as we pan up to the planet. It’s the familiar, anxiety-inducing ticking for me lads.

“You idiot! This is Lamentis - 1.”

“I don’t know what that means!”

My siblings when I can’t restart the router (every country has an AT&T).

I like that it’s a moon that’s inhabited. It’s nearly always the planet, still not great for the people on it.

That slide to get under the dump truck was so smooth.

“So we’re a team now?” Jesus Loki needs friends. Probably a good therapist too.

“Didn’t need your help!”

“You’re so weird!”

I like the way Tom runs. Don’t know why. Just do.

Sidenote, my favourite running form is Chris Evans’.

Sylvie’s magic flickered so I genuinely think the enchantment didn’t work.

“Well then I’ll cut it out.” I like the way she says that. I am questioning so many things rn.

“Just because I have to work with you doesn’t mean I wanna hear your voice.” It’s ironic since they spend so much time talking about themselves.

“Alright, well, slow down… Variant.” They really play off each other’s egos to find weaknesses.

“You don’t know what you want.” Sylvie’s more straightforward in everything she does. She efficiently points out Loki’s flaws but when it comes to a goal, she’s meticulous.

“...just walk away.” Loki stops walking, but Sylvie does walk away. There is distance between them (for now).

I’ve had experience with mining towns like this one and whilst they weren’t so out-of-this-world (ya know) there is a tendency for rural and isolated communities to struggle with old/not maintained infrastructure. This is not everywhere, but it’s not uncommon from what I know. Even though these towns are a source of wealth, there isn’t distribution of the money and it’s a grim reality that’s being shown. I appreciate it.

The shot of them walking past a slab of that planet towards the hut is incredible. Wow.

The person in there is just waiting for their death. I’m going to be addressing a lot of the harsh realities in this episode folks so it won’t be so cheerful.

I understand that people weren’t so happy with this being a filler episode, but I think they got it right. It’s strange that a literal planet-moon collision doesn’t bring the tension that the hurricane did in the last ep, but by having an atmosphere that wasn't so omnius, they conveyed (to me at least) that hope was already lost. In the Roxxcart Disaster, the people believed that it wasn’t going to be the end. There’s desperation on Lamentis - 1 but as Sylvie said, the collapse of society occurs. That’s a large group of people realising that class divides will cause slaughter. It’s greed portrayed in two different ways, one being the integration of excessive capitalism into society, the other being social structure based on oppression. Not everyone’s reading into Loki like this but it’s a change from how Marvel usually approaches conflict.

We learnt about the characters and whilst I’m not a fan of when a plot line is moot (my bet is that Loki and Sylvie will be rescued next ep, making all the attempts to get off Lamentis - 1 pointless), it’s necessary for the characters to develop. The way Loki and Sylvie end up on Lamentis - 1 makes sense and the plot doesn’t feel forced.

“It’s remarkable that you made it as far as you did.”

Devils is recurring in this episode. Maybe this has implications on future episodes?

“Which one was that, diplomacy?” Why are their interactions so funny?

I don’t think I need to comment on the significance of the train station scene.

I would like to acknowledge that though this is good writing that’s relevant in the time it was released, we shouldn’t forget it’s coming from large corporations who aren’t perfect.

How do they just walk past the line?

The people who snitched were right in front of them.

Did the cat get Loki’s silvertongue? That was the most graceless lying I’ve ever seen.

Sylvie not sitting with her back to a door makes sense, but why won’t Loki go backwards on a train? They both have little quirks.

“That’s not a plan. That’s just doing a thing.” Loki went to the Thor school of planning, it’s Get Help all over again.

Loki’s exaggerated nods at the other guards lol.

Sylvie growls whenever she’s mad, it’s hilarious.

The close ups of their faces when the conversation gets personal and isn’t just trading jabs is great for conveying the authenticity of their answers.

Loki not pressing Sylvie when she clearly didn’t want to talk about what happened to her mother is something I appreciated.

Here’s to Tom for having to do magic for more than 10 years now. He’s so serious, I can only imagine how funny it is without the effects.

“Well she did.” Yeesh, has Loki gotten time to grieve?

Sylvie is genuinely impressive.

“Pity the old woman chose to die.”

“She was in love.”

I don’t quite understand what they were talking about then, I guess we’ll find out later?

Loki, why are you so unnecessarily dramatic?

I laughed. Who am I kidding, they’re dorks and I love them.

Loki is trying to find out anything, anyone who could be used against Sylvie.

Here’s to the postman, they’re probably dead but we appreciate Sylvie’s happiness anyways.

“A bit of both. I suspect the same as you.” AND THAT’S HOW YOU WRITE IN REPRESENTATION FOLKS!

Let’s just take our scraps and be happy, eh? It made my week.

They both need real relationships of any kind, guys.

“Love is… uh, something I might have to have another drink to think about.” Me whenever anyone asks me about my love life.

“You do realise… ...a civilisation’s only hope?” I think this was Sylvie’s way of making sure Loki’s (albeit grey) morals and drinking habits don’t interrupt her plan.

The train sure gives me Snowpiercer vibes.

Do I have to talk about Drunk Loki?

Tom’s singing voice is lovely.

Sylvie’s eyes shift nervously to the door and then back to Loki. She’s initially tense but she relaxes slightly though she knows she’s gonna have to clean up the mess.

“Nobody cares. It’s the end of the world.” Again, Loki’s headspace is one where existence is futile.

The green walls contrast the purple lighting nicely.

You can see plants (?) from the outside if you look out the windows. Talk about attention to detail.

Bruh what is the dagger about? Drunk Loki’s a comedic genius.

The descending notes in the background of Loki’s fireworks.

Sylvie’s smile when she goes to attack is animalistic. I’d like to see her character explored more in terms of how she views violence.

YEET.

“You’re right. I’m a god.” Loki’s defense mechanism is to state that his motives are above the understanding of others.

“You’re a clown.” Sylvie tells it as it is.

Loki and Sylvie’s reactions to the TVA contrast the most here. Sylvie is potentially motivated by vengeance or a need for revenge whilst Loki has resigned to numbing the pain (for now at least) as he comes to terms with his reality. The question of what drives you is so important for these characters, I’m excited to see whether they’ll find a common ground and wreak havoc on the sacred timeline.

Loki and Sylvie both struggle with communicating in a healthy way. Sylvie calls him out on his directionlessness and Loki tells her what may be the harsh reality of her plan. Neither of them are willing to accept it, but there’s potential for a strong bond if they do.

Sylvie’s scream lmao.

I love the colour of Loki’s pants.

Problem? Solution! Do thing! Is Sylvie’s method of thinking when all is lost.

Gosh I love the shots in this episode.

“That’s a pretty good life.” Sylvie’s definitely not lived as a royal, or not from what she remembers.

“I just need to know if I can trust you.” Sylvie giving up how she enchants people is an olive branch because as useful as the things that Loki told her may have been for manipulation, they both know the importance of her upper hand. But she only relents once Loki doesn’t have the TemPad. Later, when she asks whether she can trust Loki, it’s more of a reassurance because he’s already been vulnerable around her.

The actor’s body language and facial expressions are incredible. Loki’s eyebrow’s furrow slightly when Sylvie mentions C-20’s mind but Tom takes a second for the information to be processed rather than instantly reacting to Sophia’s next line. She does the same when Loki talks about the TVA workers being created. What skilled people they are.

The city is a wonderful piece of set design.

“We do, and you can.” They step into the light, neither of them have tunnel vision and are able to see a bigger picture.

“They’re gonna let these people die.” This show explores a side of Loki we haven’t seen before, his morality and compassion. He has grey areas that could be explored in the next season. It also points back to how Sylvie and Loki differ in their view of others. I think this is partially because of their childhoods. Loki was raised as a prince and cared about his people, but Sylvie doesn’t share that perspective (“...they usually survive”), maybe because of her past. Hopefully in the upcoming episodes we’ll get a bit more of her backstory.

That sequence is beyond words. The constantly rotating and revolving camera really hammers home that it’s a disorienting fight for their lives at the end of the world. I’m speechless, just watch it.

The music in that blue-purple-pink club was banging tho.

Loki and Sylvie’s posture, facial expression and general body movement is similar. The variant point is hammered home here.

It’s interesting how Loki is in shock/denial of the Ark being destroyed whereas Sylvie immediately leaves.

The end music of this episode is beautiful. I love how it all builds to leave us on the soft tones of Dark Moon.

No one’s interested, but my mum and I bonded over the Jim Reeves version of this song and the Bonnie Guitar one.

Ep 3 review

Short episode with not much going on other than character development. However, if the first two were anything to go by, this episode will have greater implications on the plot. The pacing of this show is a bit strange, but we may see this change in the next season.

I mentioned previously that it would be a shame if the entire plot of this episode was made irrelevant by how they get off Lamentis - 1 next ep. This show has been really good at keeping us on our toes with the writing so they probably won’t take turns that have been speculated.

Happy mid-season guys! The following two episodes were apparently Tom’s favourites so we can expect some mayhem up ahead. See you next time!

Here's the link to my Ep 2 review

[tswiftdaily]

New Reputation: Taylor Swift shares intel on TS7, fan theories, and her next era

Snakes begone. The 29-year-old superstar is back with a new album and a new outlook on life. We go inside the pop monarch's latest chapter.

THE PALM TREES ARRIVED IN FEBRUARY, seven in all, set against a pastel blue backdrop with superimposed stars. It appeared that a new Taylor Swift era was upon us — that the old happy-go-lucky Taylor was not, in fact, dead. Or did it? It wasonly an Instagram photo, just one more picture in an infinite content scroll. But it also came from a pop star known for prodigious hint-dropping, whose fans turn every piece of info into an online archaeological dig.

As expected, the summery post sent Swifties sifting through each detail with a fine-tooth comb. What did the trees symbolize? An overdue vacation? A recently purchased beach house? A secret palm-frond collection? Or maybe, as many surmised, it was new music. One Twitter user predicted that the number of stars in the background of the photo hinted at a single drop: “There’s about 60/61 [stars]️. There’s 61 days until April 26, FRIDAY, a SINGLE RELEASE day!” Another said it was the unofficial announcement of her next LP: “Okay so in this picture there are 4 palm trees on the left (4 country albums). There are two palm trees on the right (2 pop albums). There is one large palm tree in the middle. This represents her new album.” These may sound like ludicrous conspiracy theories — for the record, they were mostly correct — but they fit firmly within the Taylor Swift Musical Universe (it’s like the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with more guitars and fewer Stan Lee cameos).

“I posted that the day that I finished the seventh album,” says Swift about the photo. “I couldn’t expect [my fans] to know that. I figured they’d figure it out later, but a lot of their theories were actually correct. Those Easter eggs were just trying to establish that tone, which I foreshadowed ages ago in a Spotify vertical video for ‘Delicate’ by painting my nails those [pastel] colors.”

It’s now April, and the 29-year-old pop star is in a Los Angeles photo studio, giving her first sit-down magazine interview in three years. She wants to discuss the art of placing hints inside her work, as well as the upcoming record, which she recorded as soon as she finished the Reputation Tour. She’s also keen on detailing her own obsessions, talking up the TV shows, books, and songs that help shape her outlook on life.

Over the past 13 years, Swift has perfected the pop culture feedback loop: She shares updates about her life and drops hints about new music, which fans then gobble up and re-promote with their own theories, which Swift then re-shares on her Tumblr or incorporates into future clues. It’s like a T-Swift-built Escher staircase of personal memories and moments that tease what’s next. “I’ve trained them to be that way,” she says of her fans’ astute detective work. Swift is a pop culture fanatic herself (see: the jean jacket she’s wearing on the EW cover) and has an innate understanding of the lengths her audience will go to be a part of the original creation. “I love that they like the cryptic hint-dropping. Because as long as they like it, I’ll keep doing it. It’s fun. It feels mischievous and playful.”

Through this approach, Swift has designed the ultimate artistic scavenger hunt — and it’s easy to get swept up in its drama, even if you don’t listen to her music. Her moments aren’t always hidden, either. Sometimes Swift highlights aspects of her world just so fans feel like they’re on the journey with her. Like the time in March 2018 when pop singer Hayley Kiyoko was accused of shading Swift after mentioning her name during an interview. On Tumblr, Swift re-shared a fan’s post, adding commentary that defended Kiyoko, which immediately dispelled any conflicts between the two artists; Swift’s post subsequently received more than 29,000 notes. Four months later, she invited Kiyoko on stage during the Reputation Tour to sing her hit “Curious.” Kiyoko returned the favor when she had Swift join her that December at a benefit on behalf of the LGBTQ organization the Ally Coalition to perform “Delicate.” Fans of both artists were elated by the mutual support.

The feedback loop also extends outside of music. In October 2018, Swift broke her silence about politics by publicly endorsing two candidates for office in her adopted state of Tennessee, while encouraging her followers to register to vote. She kept up the civic momentum through Election Day when she asked fans to post selfies after voting; Swift then eagerly re-promoted her favorites on Instagram stories.

This practice of sharing and re-sharing and sharing again is why listeners consider Swift one of the world’s most accessible pop stars, someone willing to not only interact with her audience but invite them to secret listening sessions, or make the occasional surprise visit to their wedding or prom. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that, as Swift tells EW, helped her dig out of the darker era of reputation. “It’s definitely the fans that made that tonal shift in the way I was feeling,” she says. “Songwriters need to communicate, and part of communicating correctly is when you put out a message that is understood the way you meant it. reputation was interesting because I’d never before had an album that wasn’t fully understood until it was seen live. When it first came out everyone thought it was just going to be angry; upon listening to the whole thing they realized it’s actually about love and friendship, and finding out what your priorities are.”

Then, during the Reputation Tour, she had an epiphany: that despite the caricature that she thought had been created of her, there were many people who saw what others had simply refused to. “I would look out into the audience and I’d see these amazing, thoughtful, caring, wonderful, empathetic people,” she says. “So often with our takedown culture, talking s— about a celebrity is basically the same as talking s— about the new iPhone. So when I go and I meet fans, I see that they actually see me as a flesh-and-blood human being. That — as contrived as it may sound — changed [me] completely, assigning humanity to my life.”

At tour’s end, she channeled that positive energy into the studio, recording the new album in just under three months. But the fast pace won’t mean a short LP. Swift confirmed that her seventh record (she hasn’t announced a title yet; the working nickname among fans is TS7) will include more songs than any of her previous releases. “I try not to go into making an album with any expectation,” she says. “I started to write so much that I knew immediately it would probably be bigger.”

The project will also feature a mix of old and new collaborators (on the candy-coated lead single “ME!” Swift brought in Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie and coproducer Joel Little, both of whom she had never worked with), but she is unsurprisingly coy about doling out much more information, as if doing so would break the carefully honed T-Swiftian feedback loop. “There’s a lot of a lot on this album,” she says. “I’m trying to convey an emotional spectrum. I definitely don’t wanna have too much of one thing…. You get some joyful songs and you get the bops, as they say.” There’s also, she adds, some “really, really, really, really sad songs,” but “not enough to where you need to worry about me.”

She gives us one more clue: The true distinction between TS7 and reputation is in the delivery. “This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me. Once people delve into the album, it’ll become pretty clear that that’s more of the fingerprint of this — that it’s much more of a singer-songwriter, personal journey than the last one.”

The past month has seen a deluge of Swift activity, from the release of the new single to dropping more hints in interviews about the record and its title, which is apparently hidden somewhere inside the “ME!” music video (current fan guesses include Kaleidoscope and Daisy). But if the Easter eggs from the pop star seem like a business-as-usual routine, she says this album does indeed mark a new era of her life, where she’s been better able to prioritize what’s important to her.

“Our priorities can get messed up existing in a society that puts a currency on curating the way people see your life,” she says. “Social media has given people a way to express their art. I use it to connect with fans. But on the downside you feel like there are 3 trillion new invisible hoops that you have to jump through, and you feel like you’ll never be able to jump through them all correctly. I — along with a lot of my friends and fans — am trying to figure out how to navigate living my life and not just curating what I want people to think living my life is. I’m not always able to maintain a balance, and I think that’s important for everyone to know about. We’re always learning, and that’s something that I also had to learn — that I’ve got to be brave enough to learn. Learning in public is so humiliating sometimes…. Do I feel more balanced in my life than I ever have before? Um, probably yeah. But is that permanent? No. And I think being okay with that has put me in a bit of a better position.” Strong words to live by, to quote, to re-share, to tweet back to her, and see if she’ll respond.

(x)

[cramulus]

Trance Dancing - The Rave

by Jason Keehn

(this essay was formerly posted at https://duversity.org/archives/rave.html, but it’s gone, so I’m saving it by copying it here)

Can trance-dancing save the planet

Can you imagine a crazier notion?

Thousands of bored youth pumping themselves up with drugs, going out to huge underground parties and dancing maniacally to electronic rhythms and psychedelic light-shows till dawn.

And this is supposed to help the world?

Shouldn't we be putting our time instead into ecological or political activism, or at least doing some kind of charity work? What about the serious spiritual disciplines that claim to offer the only true path to personal--and thereby social--transformation? What good does all our drug-taking and revelry do for the hundreds of millions of dispossessed, fucked over and starving around the world--not to mention all the untold species and eco-systems being destroyed?

Hard to answer. And yet some of us still have this inescapable feeling, maybe even faith, that what we are doing, confused, silly and commercialised as it often is, is at its core absolutely necessary. . . not just to us, but in the bigger picture, somehow. . .

Why is it that at the peak moments (admittedly rare) of the very best underground house/techno/rave parties, we get this miraculous sense of hope, of possibility, of transformation . . . a feeling that we're actually heading somewhere. . . together. . . towards a brighter future, one worth living in, one where we've returned to some kind of harmony with ourselves, with each other and with our planet as a whole?

Is it "just the drugs," a kind of consensus delusion, or might there be some basis in reality for these feelings, hard to justify as they may seem once we're back out in the normal world?

More dimly sensed than clearly expressed, the feeling for such a possibility permeates the entire global underground dance scene. Thousands of promoters exploit it to inflate their party invites with cheesy techno-spiritual imagery. It inspires and guides much of the music, and some small but key fraction of the hard-core partiers. The rest of the crowds who fill the floors at parties get off on it as a second or third-hand charge that sets the party apart from being just another club, without ever thinking about taking it seriously.

At moments, some hundreds, and maybe even thousands or tens of thousands, of "ravers" have probably found themselves sensing/feeling/wondering that what they were doing might be something really big, something that could really change things at a larger scale.

But of course only people who turn themselves inside out with large amounts of drugs would even conceive the question: Can trance-dancing save the planet?

A few of us, myself included, have made public fools of ourselves already by answering in the affirmative, and even giving some tentative reasons why. Here I want to try to introduce a new way of thinking that complements and deepens what already been proposed by people like Fraser Clarke and Terence McKenna. They see psychedelicized mass trance dances as the only quick, viable antidote to the egotism at the base of the western, techno-industrial mega-machine maniacally chomping away at the life-fabric of the planet.

This different line of thought is based on a simple but profound idea first expressed by the philosopher and teacher of temple dances G. I. Gurdjieff, who died in 1949. His idea is almost completely unknown, outside of his hard to read book All and Everything.

If true, it has staggering implications for ourselves, for our planet, even for our entire solar system. I don't expect anybody to automatically take it as Goddess's given truth, but its worthy of some serious attention.

Energies

As all "ravers" know, there is a mysterious something that makes a rave different from just another club or party-scene. We call this "the vibe"--a mixture of intangibles impossible to find anywhere else, except maybe at a dead show or a rainbow gathering. Roughly put, the vibe consists of: an attitude of openness, sharing, empathy and playfulness; intense, unselfconscious dancing; a collective altered state of consciousness, thanks to the combined effects of specific rhythms, lights and psychedelic drugs; and, at its height, a melding of group feeling and energy into an ecstatic, orgasmic release that feels nothing less than spiritual or religious--albeit in a form that has little resemblance to any type of spirituality or religion we are familiar with.

We all know that "energy" is somehow key to all of this. We know we raise and release energy through our dancing, our feelings, and our interaction on the dance-floor. Energy was one of the main buzzwords of the early English rave scene. The vibe is all about energy--vibration, after all.

But what is this energy? What does it consist of, where does it come from, where does it go? Are there different kinds of energies? Do they have different purposes?

Back around the turn of the century, Gurdjieff and a group of friends travelled back and forth across the Middle East and Central Asia investigating humanity's true history, the nature of the cosmos, and the possibilities for humans to evolve consciously, from their own efforts. In the process, "the seekers of truth," as the group called themselves, also encountered the Masters of Wisdom still alive in that part of the world (the Khwajagan). The Khwajagan were considered to be the bearers of some of the highest spiritual knowledge on the planet, handed down continuously for thousands of years.

One of the focuses of Gurdjieff's research was the transformation of substances and energies--both chemical and subtle--in the human organism. He also learned a large number of temple dances, which he understood as databases in movement intended to preserve ancient knowledge.

Eventually, Gurdjieff returned to the West and presented his synthesis of these searches as a "system of ideas" and a practical method for self-transformation.

Feeding the Moon

Gurdjieff's quest was guided by the basic question, "what is the sense and significance of human life on earth?"

His conclusion, expressed in writing only towards the end of his life, was that humanity does not exist for itself, but to supply the planet, the moon, and the solar system with a particular gradation of energy which they need to thrive and grow. At times he called this principle, "feeding the Moon," though it is not clear whether he meant this literally or merely as a handy symbol.

He believed that the entire universe is in some sense alive and in a process of continuously evolving (and if not evolving, actively devolving). In what could be compared to a cosmic fractal, the universe is in a process of unfolding and giving birth to itself, each birth at a new level mirroring in its unique way that of other levels (known nowadays as the principle of self-similarity). In what Gurdjieff called "the ray of creation," "God" or the Absolute gives birth to universes; universes give birth to stars, which give birth to planets, which give birth to organic life (viruses, bacteria, plants and animals) and to moons. Eventually a planet may become a star, its moon may become a planet in its turn, and "give birth" to its own moon, and so on, ad infinitum.

Just as all plants and animals need a variety of nutrients to exist, grow and reproduce, so our world and its siblings need a very specialised type of substance to fuel their processes--their planetary metabolisms, if you will. Supposedly, this special energetic substance can be produced only by human beings.

Reciprocal Maintenance

Gurdjieff's answer fits into what he called "the doctrine of reciprocal maintenance", the idea that every thing exists only insofar as it supports or "feeds" something else. Everything is part of a vast, interconnected and mutually reinforcing web of life. Or, "everything is something else's lunch," as ecologists like to say. This idea anticipated the science of ecology by at least half a century.

Examples: Bees don't just exist for themselves, they live to pollinate flowers. Algae exists to turn sunlight into more complex molecules, and feed other small creatures, such as plankton and krill. Krill feeds other slightly larger creatures, and even whales. Plants exist to turn sunlight and raw matter into organic compounds, and to feed animals. Worms exist to loosen soil for plants. Bacteria recycle waste into useable raw matter. Predators help to increase the strength and fitness of the herds they prey on by eliminating the weak and sick. Etc. etc.

In the scheme of things, humanity's essential role is that of a transformer of energy.

Human beings, according to this view, exist to serve the cosmic evolutionary process--and not the opposite, as the Bible would have it: that all of creation is merely a resource for us to use and abuse as we see fit.

Our possibilities as human beings are dependent on the degree to which we fulfil this function, a kind of "obligation" which nature imposes on us.

By Gurdjieff's view, this special energy could be produced two different ways: either involuntarily, at the moment of death, when a small "packet" is released into the atmosphere, or voluntarily, in greater or lesser amounts, through spiritual work.

Since Mother Nature, or Gaia, needs a definite quota of this energy from us, she will do whatever is necessary to make sure she gets it. If we don't provide the required intensities while alive, the total number of deaths will have to be increased in such a proportion as to yield the needed amount.

Devolution

Gurdjieff further believed that rather than progressing, the overall quality of human being (as opposed to externalizations like technology, culture, institutions, etc.) has actually been deteriorating over the last umpteen thousands of years, especially in "civilised" societies such as our own. He believed that in the very distant past, before the earliest recorded history, human beings had a much greater presence and power; in a sense, they were bigger, spiritually and existentially, than the vast majority of us today. He also believed that people once had a much greater life-span.

They were energy-pumps.

Gurdjieff had his speculations about what caused this decline in the quality of human being in the very remote past, perhaps even before the destruction of Atlantis (his theory of the "kundabuffer," explored at length in All and Everything). The upshot, though, is that humanity as a whole has "forgotten" how to perform its ecological function in the world--or simply no longer has the necessary juice to do it, which pretty much amounts to the same thing.

So if this is in fact the case--that we human beings generally no longer have the knowledge or ability to "pump" this energy intentionally--Gaia will be forced to increase the total quantity of human death to meet her needs.

This can be accomplished, of course, by 1) increasing the number of human births, and eventually deaths, and 2) by shortening the life-span of existing individuals, or 3) a combination of the two. The net results: Population increase. . . disease, and war.

Following this line of thinking, our increasing inability to properly transform and pump energy means that we have to be treated (by the Gaian mind, if you like) the same way we treat plants and animals, as something to be farmed, bred and harvested. Not a very dignified state of affairs!

So as the qualitative level of human being goes down, the number of human beings, and thereby of human deaths, goes up to account for the difference in energy. And of course, since organisms grow at different rates, with different energy requirements depending on their activities, we can imagine that there might be major fluctuations in the needs for our energies.

The Terror of the Situation

This suggests a radical, and terrifying, view of contemporary history: that the population explosion, famines, plagues, wars and massacres might not be due just to accidental or sociological and political causes but may be induced by the needs of the solar "eco-system" as a whole, with human beings acting for the most part unwittingly to effectuate these needs.

Think about all the horror and insanity that has gone done in the twentieth century, even just in terms of cold numbers: millions killed in World War One, hundreds of thousands wiped out in seconds at Hiroshima and Nagasake alone, millions massacred one way or another in the Nazi concentration camps; supposedly as many as twenty million Russians dying in combat in World War Two, not to mention another twenty million who died in the same period as a result of Stalinist persecution and forced famine. Millions died in the Chinese civil war, six or seven million in Cambodia under Pol Pot. Don't even bother counting all the famines in Africa and South East Asia over the last few decades.

Why the incredible surge of violent death all over the world, paralleled by an equally incredible population explosion? What is up with those peculiar humanoid beings living on the surface of Sol-III?

I'm not going to try to argue the merits of this scheme against other theories. Just chew on it for a while and see how it fits.

And so the picture painted is one of a race of hapless, deluded slaves to some kind of a cosmic food-chain the existence of which we don't even recognise. This is definitely insulting to all our best images of ourselves. But then how do we reconcile all our great assets, our supposed free will, intelligence, and creativity with the dismal facts of what we've done to each other for all of recorded history?

Are we really anything more than automatons most of the time?

Gurdjieff had what might seem to many a horribly bleak, cynical view:

that our ideas of free-will and individuality are a delusion, an image of our potential mistaken for a general fact of our existence. Bluntly put, we are blind products of genetics, conditioning and external influence; on an energetic level, we are next to nothing. We are less, in that sense, than most mammals even.

We have become experts at consuming energy and resources, parasites.

As a civilisation, we no longer transform energy into higher gradients and radiate it back out to the world, we just circulate like little ants in our vast urban hives and manufacture stuff, endless quantities of stuff. We know how to suck energy, make objects, and how to kill. Even if we're not killing each other off at a given moment, we're decimating untold numbers of living beings without even being grateful for their existence.

Sure, for the most part we don't feel ourselves that way, but anybody who's tripped a few times in public places probably had disturbing glimpses--at least--along these lines. We don't see other people--or ourselves--that way, because it's just too hard a vision to live with.

The path of return

This perspective provides a definite way of understanding the connection between our amazingly fucked up global situation and "spirituality"--or the lack thereof. Seen this way, spirituality has less to do with living according to some moral doctrine, or accumulating "spiritual" experiences and states, than with being able to transform and radiate energy of a particular quality.

If it is true that we have been suffering a generalised decline over millennia, all our human institutions must participate in and reflect that decline. So everything we associate with religion, in all its multifarious forms, would generally be a product and mirror of a messed up situation; in other words, just another part of the problem.

At its best, the spiritual component of religious traditions points to a return to what should be our natural base-line of being, something so distant we can barely remember or taste it except at moments of "peak experience," or with the help of psychedelic drugs, or as a result of long, intensive discipline.

Our so-called "salvation" is really more a matter of somehow pulling ourselves back up out of a dysfunctional, disenabled, alienated state to something like a natural way of being--not transcendence or cosmic consciousness or union with God or whatever. We need to re-learn "how to be and to do."

According to Gurdjieff, the two key principles to following this "path of return," were intentional suffering and conscious labour. Through engaging in intentional sufferings and conscious labours we begin again to release the kinds of energies we were intended to give off.

Of course by today's standards, this sounds like a bummer of a philosophy. Isn't life just supposed to be full of fun and games? On the other hand, if we're realistic we know that there's always going to be pain, struggle, suffering in life. If there weren't where would the joy and pleasure and flow be? So maybe rather than seek to escape suffering, or just submit to it blindly, it might make sense to choose your form of suffering and make something out of it.

Intentional suffering. Again, if it's true that we exist in a chronic low-energy state, one of inertia and stasis, it makes sense that in order to get back to a point of being able to consciously transform energy we would need to somehow exercise an enormous effort just to break out of our passivity. "Only super-efforts count." If you're physically weak from illness, it usually takes an extra effort to get to the point of being able to exercise on a regular basis, to return to your previous level of strength. Or as they say, no pain no gain.

This can apply on a lot of levels other than just the physical. Pain can take the form of a kind of moral or spiritual suffering deriving from, say, breaking habits, or confronting bad traits in one's character, or doing exactly that which you least like to do. Suffering in the form of sacrifice is necessary to be there for others, to truly love.

Conscious labour assumes that most of the "work" we do, of whatever nature, is not really conscious to begin with. We are driven by culturally programmed priorities, survival, automatic emotional needs, obsession, neurosis, ego. To work consciously assumes that one must first have become aware of how unconscious one is most of the time, of how automatic most of how our thoughts, feelings, perceptions and actions really are.

To even get to this point itself requires a lot of intentional suffering, because what could make us suffer more than waking up to how we really don't "own" ourselves?

Forms of work

This general process is what people who study Gurdjieff's ideas and methods generally call "work-on-oneself," or just "self-work."

No doubt for many orthodox "Gurdjieffians," this path of return can only occur in the framework of decades of commitment to the "work," in the manner it has been passed down to them.

Much of Gurdjieff's practical teaching consisted of dancing and physical exercises used in combination with meditation and concentration techniques. Some of the dances Gurdjieff himself invented, many were direct copies of the ancient temple dances he found during his travels. (These dances are a closely held secret of existing Gurdjieff groups, and rarely if ever performed in public.)

Other important components of his method were the techniques of "self-observation" and "self-remembering," designed to bring "essence" back into balance with "personality."

What is little known to the world at large, and almost completely suppressed within existing Gurdjieff groups, is that Gurdjieff was interested in and worked with drugs. The references to "active substances" other than alcohol, opium and cocaine in his writings are rare, and even then oblique (he tried to set up a "chemical laboratory" in Russia at one point--for synthesising what?); it is known, but little discussed, that Gurdjieff administered certain substances to some of his students.

The monks of the legendary Sarmoun Brotherhood, whom Gurdjieff spent time with, themselves cultivated and used a psychoactive plant they referred to as the "Herb of Enlightenment." Curiously, Oscar Ichazo, founder of Arica, a 70s psycho-spiritual organisation that also incorporated psychedelics and movement-work, claimed to have accessed the Sarmounis as well.*

Furthermore, we know from Gurdjieff himself that he considered his students "guinea pigs," his groups a laboratory in which he was conducting certain undefined experiments.

According to J. G. Bennett, one of his major students and better interpreters, Gurdjieff experimented continuously with his ideas, techniques and overall approach. While Gurdjieff always talked about his system, it was never fixed in a way that most of his followers seem to believe and dogmatically transmit it to others.

If everything Gurdjieff did was a kind of living laboratory, how does anybody know what were really the goals and working hypotheses and what was just part of the experiment? What if he kept certain pieces of his puzzle secret, knowing perhaps they were too explosive to make public at the time?

The new trance dance

Here is a radically new take on Gurdjieff's philosophy and mission, one that has a direct bearing on our neo-psychedelic-rave subculture:

Is it possible that trance-dancing is one of the most basic forms of intentional suffering and conscious labour?

Is it possible that such dancing, performed by the right people in the right way with the right intentions, is capable of producing exactly that same energy Gurdjieff believed Mother Nature needs from us? Could it be that the use of psychedelics in conjunction with intensive dancing to certain specific rhythms, by a new breed of individuals, may be a way to fill our cosmic obligation without the life-long spiritual training otherwise required?

My intuition is that this is indeed the case--unlikely as it may seem to all the "old school" esotericists and spiritualists.

Perhaps, in fact, we are not really now at the point of being able to do this--being "youthful" as we are, and prone to all the naiveté and follies of youth. But this may be what a certain number of us are instinctively moving toward. Maybe this is just that mysterious something we cross over into as we're peaking and pulsing together on the dance-floor.

Think about tribal trance dances. What better description could you think of for endurance dancing to the point of fainting in the service of the gods than intentional suffering and conscious labour?

Under different names, tribal peoples seem to commonly believe that their dances are essential to the gods, a form of offering, sacrifice, or service. Something necessary to keep the balance, to keep the rain falling, to keep the sun coming up, to keep things moving. That's why they're sacred dances. And so maybe it's not just the form of the dance that's sacred, or even what the dancers experience, it's in what they do: the energy they collectively release.

Isn't it odd that just when most of the cultures that still do this are either being destroyed or forgetting their own traditions, just at that same moment a whole tribalistic, "neo-shamanic" dance craze develops among western youth?

Consider: How does someone behave who has a deep instinct, but in whom that instinct has been muffled by hundreds or thousands of years of habitual suppression and invalidation? Perhaps every now and then the instinct manifests itself in a crude, awkward outburst, only to be quickly silenced by the embarrassed ego and the lack of any proper name or place for it in surrounding society.

In some of Bennett's writings on this whole theme, there is a tendency to paint the "feeding the Moon" scenario in extremes: either one is energetically inert and useless; or else one sacrifices one's life to spiritual work and helps to make up for everyone else's lack.

But must it be such a dichotomy? Maybe that's how it tends to be nowadays, but maybe it wasn't always if people used to "be more" than they are today. Maybe once upon a time (and still in some remaining aboriginal cultures), you didn't have to be a spiritual athlete, a specialist (monk, shaman, priest/priestess, etc.), to return your two or three "cents" to Nature.

Maybe even now, everyone can return some energy, given the right circumstances and maybe the right "assisting factors" too.

And what about the effect of psycho-active substances? If there is anything we know about psychedelics for sure, it is that they act as catalysts. They temporarily shift our system's mode of functioning, our rate of vibration, and enable transformations that are otherwise difficult to achieve--again passing. But what if that transformation, in tandem with the right kind of dancing and mindset, is just enough to enable the release of some special energy?

Does it matter that much whether we're in that state all the time, or just that we have regular access to it and can use it to do what we need to do?

Sure, we have no tradition of sacred dance, and few ravers dance till they drop, few dance with conscious devotional feeling or intent. What we do have, or at least aspire to, is a basic attitude that sets the tone when we come together for our celebrations: Peace-Love-Unity-Respect. Not bad for a point of departure.

And yet, just how conscious do you have to be of your intent if your instinct IS your intent? Maybe as we get high and move together our intent resurfaces into consciousness, and for those few sweet timeless moments we actually DO it, . . . and then we drift back down into consensus reality where there is no name for it, and the veils gradually cover it all up and soon we once again think we were there for nothing more than a good time and some cool music.

But the taste and scent of that ineffable "juice" still lingers, and it keeps us going in the days ahead, going back to more parties, wearing the clothes we associate with it, compulsively getting high and listening to mix tapes round the clock, searching for that rare synchronicity of time, place, people and music where it might magically happen again.

In some of his late writings, Bennett speculated that recent decades are seeing the birth of a new kind of person, maybe even a new race of sorts, with spiritual capacities different from the rest of society.

Could that be us?

And just what is that "juice," that energy, that special nutrient so needed for all things to live and grow in harmony? That erotic radiant mix of thankfulness, joy, and compassion that just wants to fuck the entire cosmos? Could it be . . . L-O-V-E?

OK, admittedly there are a lot of big ifs here. To try to prove that

a) human beings do give off energy when they die;

b) that some can give off an equivalent kind of energy intentionally while still alive;

c) that most of us don't or can't do this anymore;

d) that people could once upon a time do it better;

e) that the planet or the moon or the solar system requires this energy;

f) that if they don't get it human birth and death will automatically be increased with no say on our side;

g) that this energy can be produced through trance dancing among tribal peoples; and

h) that this energy can also be produced by teenagers dancing at parties with the help of drugs. . .

To try to prove, or even argue, all of that would be at least another article in itself. . . or more realistically, the basis for a life-time of research.

[path-of-my-childhood]

New Reputation: Taylor Swift shares intel on TS7, fan theories, and her next era

By: Alex Suskind for Entertainment Weekly Date: May 9th 2019

Snakes begone. The 29-year-old superstar is back with a new album and a new outlook on life. We go inside the pop monarch's latest chapter.

THE PALM TREES ARRIVED IN FEBRUARY, seven in all, set against a pastel blue backdrop with superimposed stars. It appeared that a new Taylor Swift era was upon us — that the old happy-go-lucky Taylor was not, in fact, dead. Or did it? It was only an Instagram photo, just one more picture in an infinite content scroll. But it also came from a pop star known for prodigious hint-dropping, whose fans turn every piece of info into an online archaeological dig.

As expected, the summery post sent Swifties sifting through each detail with a fine-tooth comb. What did the trees symbolize? An overdue vacation? A recently purchased beach house? A secret palm-frond collection? Or maybe, as many surmised, it was new music. One Twitter user predicted that the number of stars in the background of the photo hinted at a single drop: “There’s about 60/61 [stars]️. There’s 61 days until April 26, FRIDAY, a SINGLE RELEASE day!” Another said it was the unofficial announcement of her next LP: “Okay so in this picture there are 4 palm trees on the left (4 country albums). There are two palm trees on the right (2 pop albums). There is one large palm tree in the middle. This represents her new album.” These may sound like ludicrous conspiracy theories — for the record, they were mostly correct — but they fit firmly within the Taylor Swift Musical Universe (it’s like the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with more guitars and fewer Stan Lee cameos).

“I posted that the day that I finished the seventh album,” says Swift about the photo. “I couldn’t expect [my fans] to know that. I figured they’d figure it out later, but a lot of their theories were actually correct. Those Easter eggs were just trying to establish that tone, which I foreshadowed ages ago in a Spotify vertical video for ‘Delicate’ by painting my nails those [pastel] colors.”

It’s now April, and the 29-year-old pop star is in a Los Angeles photo studio, giving her first sit-down magazine interview in three years. She wants to discuss the art of placing hints inside her work, as well as the upcoming record, which she recorded as soon as she finished the Reputation Tour. She’s also keen on detailing her own obsessions, talking up the TV shows, books, and songs that help shape her outlook on life.

Over the past 13 years, Swift has perfected the pop culture feedback loop: She shares updates about her life and drops hints about new music, which fans then gobble up and re-promote with their own theories, which Swift then re-shares on her Tumblr or incorporates into future clues. It’s like a T-Swift-built Escher staircase of personal memories and moments that tease what’s next. “I’ve trained them to be that way,” she says of her fans’ astute detective work. Swift is a pop culture fanatic herself (see: the jean jacket she’s wearing on the EW cover) and has an innate understanding of the lengths her audience will go to be a part of the original creation. “I love that they like the cryptic hint-dropping. Because as long as they like it, I’ll keep doing it. It’s fun. It feels mischievous and playful.”

Through this approach, Swift has designed the ultimate artistic scavenger hunt — and it’s easy to get swept up in its drama, even if you don’t listen to her music. Her moments aren’t always hidden, either. Sometimes Swift highlights aspects of her world just so fans feel like they’re on the journey with her. Like the time in March 2018 when pop singer Hayley Kiyoko was accused of shading Swift after mentioning her name during an interview. On Tumblr, Swift re-shared a fan’s post, adding commentary that defended Kiyoko, which immediately dispelled any conflicts between the two artists; Swift’s post subsequently received more than 29,000 notes. Four months later, she invited Kiyoko on stage during the Reputation Tour to sing her hit “Curious.” Kiyoko returned the favor when she had Swift join her that December at a benefit on behalf of the LGBTQ organization the Ally Coalition to perform “Delicate.” Fans of both artists were elated by the mutual support.

The feedback loop also extends outside of music. In October 2018, Swift broke her silence about politics by publicly endorsing two candidates for office in her adopted state of Tennessee, while encouraging her followers to register to vote. She kept up the civic momentum through Election Day when she asked fans to post selfies after voting; Swift then eagerly re-promoted her favorites on Instagram stories.

This practice of sharing and re-sharing and sharing again is why listeners consider Swift one of the world’s most accessible pop stars, someone willing to not only interact with her audience but invite them to secret listening sessions, or make the occasional surprise visit to their wedding or prom. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that, as Swift tells EW, helped her dig out of the darker era of reputation. “It’s definitely the fans that made that tonal shift in the way I was feeling,” she says. “Songwriters need to communicate, and part of communicating correctly is when you put out a message that is understood the way you meant it. reputation was interesting because I’d never before had an album that wasn’t fully understood until it was seen live. When it first came out everyone thought it was just going to be angry; upon listening to the whole thing they realized it’s actually about love and friendship, and finding out what your priorities are.”

Then, during the Reputation Tour, she had an epiphany: that despite the caricature that she thought had been created of her, there were many people who saw what others had simply refused to. “I would look out into the audience and I’d see these amazing, thoughtful, caring, wonderful, empathetic people,” she says. “So often with our takedown culture, talking s— about a celebrity is basically the same as talking s— about the new iPhone. So when I go and I meet fans, I see that they actually see me as a flesh-and-blood human being. That — as contrived as it may sound — changed [me] completely, assigning humanity to my life.”

At tour’s end, she channeled that positive energy into the studio, recording the new album in just under three months. But the fast pace won’t mean a short LP. Swift confirmed that her seventh record (she hasn’t announced a title yet; the working nickname among fans is TS7) will include more songs than any of her previous releases. “I try not to go into making an album with any expectation,” she says. “I started to write so much that I knew immediately it would probably be bigger.”

The project will also feature a mix of old and new collaborators (on the candy-coated lead single “ME!” Swift brought in Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie and coproducer Joel Little, both of whom she had never worked with), but she is unsurprisingly coy about doling out much more information, as if doing so would break the carefully honed T-Swiftian feedback loop. “There’s a lot of a lot on this album,” she says. “I’m trying to convey an emotional spectrum. I definitely don’t wanna have too much of one thing…. You get some joyful songs and you get the bops, as they say.” There’s also, she adds, some “really, really, really, really sad songs,” but “not enough to where you need to worry about me.”

She gives us one more clue: The true distinction between TS7 and reputation is in the delivery. “This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me. Once people delve into the album, it’ll become pretty clear that that’s more of the fingerprint of this — that it’s much more of a singer-songwriter, personal journey than the last one.”

The past month has seen a deluge of Swift activity, from the release of the new single to dropping more hints in interviews about the record and its title, which is apparently hidden somewhere inside the “ME!” music video (current fan guesses include Kaleidoscope and Daisy). But if the Easter eggs from the pop star seem like a business-as-usual routine, she says this album does indeed mark a new era of her life, where she’s been better able to prioritize what’s important to her.

“Our priorities can get messed up existing in a society that puts a currency on curating the way people see your life,” she says. “Social media has given people a way to express their art. I use it to connect with fans. But on the downside you feel like there are 3 trillion new invisible hoops that you have to jump through, and you feel like you’ll never be able to jump through them all correctly. I — along with a lot of my friends and fans — am trying to figure out how to navigate living my life and not just curating what I want people to think living my life is. I’m not always able to maintain a balance, and I think that’s important for everyone to know about. We’re always learning, and that’s something that I also had to learn — that I’ve got to be brave enough to learn. Learning in public is so humiliating sometimes… Do I feel more balanced in my life than I ever have before? Um, probably yeah. But is that permanent? No. And I think being okay with that has put me in a bit of a better position.” Strong words to live by, to quote, to re-share, to tweet back to her, and see if she’ll respond.

You can read the original article HERE.

[astrology-with-charu]

Full moon in Sagittarius gives us an opportunity to culminate something in one area of our life over next two weeks, brings to forth our sense of adventure, faith, spontaneity, vigour & hunger for life of the archer. Below briefly mentions what part of your life its expansive influence is on.

‪17 Jun-2 Jul #Astrology #Horoscope ‬

Full Moon at 25°53” Sagittarius - A Flag Bearer In a Battle

Full moon in Sagittarius tonight which will give us an opportunity to culminate something in one area of our life over next two weeks, brings to forth our sense of adventure, faith, spontaneity, vigour & hunger for life of the archer .

Life is a Mission & we are the warrior with a cause. There is restlessness to experience life, to start a new adventure, to act on our impulses that our guiding us to hold ourselves & others to higher ideals. Big picture of our life comes to forefront of our consciousness as we are very idealistic & want to stand up to any limitations, any intimidation, crusading our personal understanding of truth.

Anyone or anything that comes between us & our purpose our cause our ideals will be met with retaliation cause we feel inspired to stick our neck out over beliefs even if there are no concrete proof which is the definition of faith. We have the courage of our convictions & not afraid to show that no matter the magnitude of opponent.

Jupiter Neptune are creating a fog to inspire us, create an over the top idealistic energy that questions any past limiting beliefs. Sometimes a bit of fog is important to enable us to walk on clouds without fear. Through crisis of consciousness, our past ideologies as a society are being dissolved for the new structure of our future to emerge. Crisis is mental & its pushing us to form a new way of looking at life.

Misinformation, aggression, arrogance will be galore in our surroundings for everyone thinks their truth is THE truth. The moon on galactic center & Neptune stationing makes it amply clear that only person you can trust is you. For what’s true for your soul is THE truth so why listen to hoi polloi. Neptune prompts us to walk with God’s not mortals’ lower frequency thinking cause it’s an opportunity to connect with source & know what’s the purpose of our existence. If only we shut outside noise we can hear it loud & clear.

Universe is screaming out our future if only we stop wasting this frequency in negating other persons belief & listen to our own mission. Universe is abundant as is this full moon.

Manifest your truth.

Full moon is happening with fixed star of Aculeus which is known to cause eye problems & blindness so few can experience eye problems. But most will be blinded with current reality or with rage or over the top emotions. Use this to envision beyond current circumstances to make a vision for you instead of loosing touch with reality.

Publication, travel, trade, education, spirituality, foreign relationships, causes, purpose, legalisation are highlighted as global themes under consideration.

As ruler is retrograde, we will see this manifestation continue all the way to August or even November (14th) when Jupiter revisits the point of full moon. So this has implications beyond next two weeks.

This full moon is activating key axis of United States & is next step in 7 Dec 2017 new start so if you initiated anything in December 2017 you might see fruits of that.

[Let’s get into individual signs or see video](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvSvY3h-vAPU0qnXPJM32PA) -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♈️ #Aries

Full moon of faith, where positive karma, sense of adventure is coming home as it’s very much required for the new phase of life we are about to embark on. Travel, high education, expansion of mind, publication, legalisation, mentor, Father, foreign trade & ideologies come to focus & culmination. We have a belief in abundance of universe & universe very much delivers the same. Whatever you believe in expands so careful what you wish for. Motivation in life is high, we are higher minded here, enthusiastic about what’s to unfold with an optimistic philosophy as our epic journey begins. Endings are unevitable cause you can’t have a new life without dissolving what’s not your reality anymore, the new normal is being ok with you being different from your past so embrace that.

♉️ #Taurus

Grand rebirth is the name of the game as you know you want more financially & in intimacy. So we bring to end any powerlessness in partnerships of personal or professional nature - but keep in mind merging your talents, resources can create expansion for you but it’s got to be on better terms. Death rebirth of sorts gives birth to new abundance. Mini crisis helps you see purpose of life. Reading, traveling to foreign lands, Father, Teachers, mentors give you guidance on what’s that purpose.

♊️ #Gemini

Closing on that partnership, contract, commitment that is so ideally suited to expansion of soul is the aim here. Or shifting existing partnerships to match this new vision you have of your life is the goal. Partners can help to give guidance on future path as well show you a bigger world. Partners can be teachers, foreigners, different from you & that’s why it fits.

♋️ #Cancer

Finishing a project or changing job, work environment & health routines seems to be the Mission. You have seen a new path & no one can stop you from getting there. Element of serving others, helping others in meaningful ways, being a mentor, teaching, guiding, uplifting those in need can convert a job to mission, career to purpose. Mind body connection comes to focus where you know a mindset is affecting your health.

♌️ #Leo

It’s risk on for our heart is on fire to get what we deserve, passion, fun, romance, children, creativity is on agenda as we meant to dissolve the blues to giveaway to light. We are drawn to romance from afar, multiple opportunities of passionate outlets, Long distance travel or mind travels for fun. This is you in all your glory, being you against all odds. This is lucky karma, passion, child like joy finding you & regenerating your heart chakra for the forward journey. Receive💕 & never forget this Bold self expression is who you are

♍️ #Virgo

Closing on a real estate, home, family, security matter or shifts in family set up, personal life to make the new start in career work for you is in order. Remember where you came from & how far you have come - you deserve comforts, security & love. Your inspiration, expansion, hope, meaning is in good family & personal/inner life and it needs balancing with career focus - that’s highlighted in this full moon & you rage a war to make sure you & yours are taken care of in the best way as you normally do. All heart as always 💕

♎️ #Libra

Lot of important news, messages, talks about purpose, path in life, mentors, travel & future that’s about to unveil in front of you as you future is shifting in terms of career path or important restructuring at work might be about to come. Gossips will be galore as well as distractions - filter the busy overload of information to what can be practically used to self promote or in forward progression. You have a compassionate philosopher mind which is admired & loved by many so don’t miss out on social high of this full moon. Collaborate, learn, travel, add to your skills through day to day interactions while standing guard to gossip.

♏️ #Scorpio

Values, our abundance, big growth plans & material wealth is focus but we are on a Mission which is bigger than money, it’s purpose of life, higher thinking, travel, publication, foreign ideologies, international exposure, being a citizen of the world - which will get us there. Abundance is a by product, we are going after a creative high of our talents & mind. You are the final product, the skill set which will reap material fruits all life which is in making here & you see results of your investment in you.

♐️ #Sagittarius

This is all about you, who you want to be & show up as to the world, your physical body, your soul - ask & it’s given, so why not ask for more. Show up as you truly are - you are grand, you are fire, you are hunger for adventure, you are the blaze that everyone follows, you are the archer who aims higher and further than anyone - for most can’t see what you see. It’s going to be emotional as old phase might be coming to an end - completion of what we started 6 months back or in ‪Dec’17‬ but it’s required to allow you to be you. The adventurer with a new quest, new Mission - ready to start new life 💫

♑️ #Capricorn

Private life, bed pleasure, faith, spirituality, self care - all the things you normally sacrifice to deliver all of you to the world are brought to focus. For we have gotto take care of you, close a few loops before we get into your eclipses. You are already working on starting your new chapter of life which eclipses bring. But whats brought to focus now is our fears, our unconscious beliefs which we need to remove, throw light on & handle for once as they cannot continue in new phase in life. Inspire yourself by catering to your soul, connecting with yourself even if briefly through travel, religion, faith, charity, compassion which brings to forth your hidden strengths & we need it all for your new start.

♒️ #Aquarius

Networking, joining people, teaching big groups, socialising, uplifting large set of people with your vision is your aspiration, your expansion, your abundance, your belief which fills you up. That’s highlighted through travel, teaching, interaction with your network / fan base at this time. This is joy, you find meaning with your friends, your large network, you receive higher perspective through your friends. You have big goals for yourself & this full moon shows you rewards for some of them as well as gives you forward looking inputs on how to create big wealth or apt returns for your investments.

♓️ #Pisces

Your career, social status & authority is brought to focus as you are given centrestage as a leader. Results of past work done, recognition for it comes through as well. At the same time vision is seen on how to expand your social status further which could require new philosophy, teaching, education, travel, foreign influence which you welcome & embrace. Always stay on high rise as you normally do as your morality will also be in focus.

Love & light 💫

[kaleid-tay-scope]

New Reputation: Taylor Swift shares intel on TS7, fan theories, and her next era

Snakes begone. The 29-year-old superstar is back with a new album and a new outlook on life. We go inside the pop monarch's latest chapter.

Alex Suskind

May 09, 2019 at 12:00 PM EDT

Peggy Sirota for EW

THE PALM TREES ARRIVED IN FEBRUARY, seven in all, set against a pastel blue backdrop with superimposed stars. It appeared that a new Taylor Swift era was upon us — that the old happy-go-lucky Taylor was not, in fact, dead. Or did it? It was only an Instagram photo, just one more picture in an infinite content scroll. But it also came from a pop star known for prodigious hint-dropping, whose fans turn every piece of info into an online archaeological dig.

As expected, the summery post sent Swifties sifting through each detail with a fine-tooth comb. What did the trees symbolize? An overdue vacation? A recently purchased beach house? A secret palm-frond collection? Or maybe, as many surmised, it was new music. One Twitter user predicted that the number of stars in the background of the photo hinted at a single drop: “There’s about 60/61 [stars]️. There’s 61 days until April 26, FRIDAY, a SINGLE RELEASE day!” Another said it was the unofficial announcement of her next LP: “Okay so in this picture there are 4 palm trees on the left (4 country albums). There are two palm trees on the right (2 pop albums). There is one large palm tree in the middle. This represents her new album.” These may sound like ludicrous conspiracy theories — for the record, they were mostly correct — but they fit firmly within the Taylor Swift Musical Universe (it’s like the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with more guitars and fewer Stan Lee cameos).

“I posted that the day that I finished the seventh album,” says Swift about the photo. “I couldn’t expect [my fans] to know that. I figured they’d figure it out later, but a lot of their theories were actually correct. Those Easter eggs were just trying to establish that tone, which I foreshadowed ages ago in a Spotify vertical video for ‘Delicate’ by painting my nails those [pastel] colors.”

It’s now April, and the 29-year-old pop star is in a Los Angeles photo studio, giving her first sit-down magazine interview in three years. She wants to discuss the art of placing hints inside her work, as well as the upcoming record, which she recorded as soon as she finished the Reputation Tour. She’s also keen on detailing her own obsessions, talking up the TV shows, books, and songs that help shape her outlook on life.

Over the past 13 years, Swift has perfected the pop culture feedback loop: She shares updates about her life and drops hints about new music, which fans then gobble up and re-promote with their own theories, which Swift then re-shares on her Tumblr or incorporates into future clues. It’s like a T-Swift-built Escher staircase of personal memories and moments that tease what’s next. “I’ve trained them to be that way,” she says of her fans’ astute detective work. Swift is a pop culture fanatic herself (see: the jean jacket she’s wearing on the EW cover) and has an innate understanding of the lengths her audience will go to be a part of the original creation. “I love that they like the cryptic hint-dropping. Because as long as they like it, I’ll keep doing it. It’s fun. It feels mischievous and playful.”

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Through this approach, Swift has designed the ultimate artistic scavenger hunt — and it’s easy to get swept up in its drama, even if you don’t listen to her music. Her moments aren’t always hidden, either. Sometimes Swift highlights aspects of her world just so fans feel like they’re on the journey with her. Like the time in March 2018 when pop singer Hayley Kiyoko was accused of shading Swift after mentioning her name during an interview. On Tumblr, Swift re-shared a fan’s post, adding commentary that defended Kiyoko, which immediately dispelled any conflicts between the two artists; Swift’s post subsequently received more than 29,000 notes. Four months later, she invited Kiyoko on stage during the Reputation Tour to sing her hit “Curious.” Kiyoko returned the favor when she had Swift join her that December at a benefit on behalf of the LGBTQ organization the Ally Coalition to perform “Delicate.” Fans of both artists were elated by the mutual support.

The feedback loop also extends outside of music. In October 2018, Swift broke her silence about politics by publicly endorsing two candidates for office in her adopted state of Tennessee, while encouraging her followers to register to vote. She kept up the civic momentum through Election Day when she asked fans to post selfies after voting; Swift then eagerly re-promoted her favorites on Instagram stories.

This practice of sharing and re-sharing and sharing again is why listeners consider Swift one of the world’s most accessible pop stars, someone willing to not only interact with her audience but invite them to secret listening sessions, or make the occasional surprise visit to their wedding or prom. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that, as Swift tells EW, helped her dig out of the darker era of reputation. “It’s definitely the fans that made that tonal shift in the way I was feeling,” she says. “Songwriters need to communicate, and part of communicating correctly is when you put out a message that is understood the way you meant it. reputation was interesting because I’d never before had an album that wasn’t fully understood until it was seen live. When it first came out everyone thought it was just going to be angry; upon listening to the whole thing they realized it’s actually about love and friendship, and finding out what your priorities are.”

Then, during the Reputation Tour, she had an epiphany: that despite the caricature that she thought had been created of her, there were many people who saw what others had simply refused to. “I would look out into the audience and I’d see these amazing, thoughtful, caring, wonderful, empathetic people,” she says. “So often with our takedown culture, talking s— about a celebrity is basically the same as talking s— about the new iPhone. So when I go and I meet fans, I see that they actually see me as a flesh-and-blood human being. That — as contrived as it may sound — changed [me] completely, assigning humanity to my life.”

At tour’s end, she channeled that positive energy into the studio, recording the new album in just under three months. But the fast pace won’t mean a short LP. Swift confirmed that her seventh record (she hasn’t announced a title yet; the working nickname among fans is TS7) will include more songs than any of her previous releases. “I try not to go into making an album with any expectation,” she says. “I started to write so much that I knew immediately it would probably be bigger.”

The project will also feature a mix of old and new collaborators (on the candy-coated lead single “ME!” Swift brought in Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie and coproducer Joel Little, both of whom she had never worked with), but she is unsurprisingly coy about doling out much more information, as if doing so would break the carefully honed T-Swiftian feedback loop. “There’s a lot of a lot on this album,” she says. “I’m trying to convey an emotional spectrum. I definitely don’t wanna have too much of one thing…. You get some joyful songs and you get the bops, as they say.” There’s also, she adds, some “really, really, really, really sad songs,” but “not enough to where you need to worry about me.”

She gives us one more clue: The true distinction between TS7 and reputation is in the delivery. “This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me. Once people delve into the album, it’ll become pretty clear that that’s more of the fingerprint of this — that it’s much more of a singer-songwriter, personal journey than the last one.”

The past month has seen a deluge of Swift activity, from the release of the new single to dropping more hints in interviews about the record and its title, which is apparently hidden somewhere inside the “ME!” music video (current fan guesses include Kaleidoscope and Daisy). But if the Easter eggs from the pop star seem like a business-as-usual routine, she says this album does indeed mark a new era of her life, where she’s been better able to prioritize what’s important to her.

“Our priorities can get messed up existing in a society that puts a currency on curating the way people see your life,” she says. “Social media has given people a way to express their art. I use it to connect with fans. But on the downside you feel like there are 3 trillion new invisible hoops that you have to jump through, and you feel like you’ll never be able to jump through them all correctly. I — along with a lot of my friends and fans — am trying to figure out how to navigate living my life and not just curating what I want people to think living my life is. I’m not always able to maintain a balance, and I think that’s important for everyone to know about. We’re always learning, and that’s something that I also had to learn — that I’ve got to be brave enough to learn. Learning in public is so humiliating sometimes…. Do I feel more balanced in my life than I ever have before? Um, probably yeah. But is that permanent? No. And I think being okay with that has put me in a bit of a better position.” Strong words to live by, to quote, to re-share, to tweet back to her, and see if she’ll respond.

[mywild]

New Reputation: Taylor Swift shares intel on TS7, fan theories, and her next era

THE PALM TREES ARRIVED IN FEBRUARY, seven in all, set against a pastel blue backdrop with superimposed stars. It appeared that a new Taylor Swift era was upon us — that the old happy-go-lucky Taylor was not, in fact, dead. Or did it? It wasonly an Instagram photo, just one more picture in an infinite content scroll. But it also came from a pop star known for prodigious hint-dropping, whose fans turn every piece of info into an online archaeological dig.

As expected, the summery post sent Swifties sifting through each detail with a fine-tooth comb. What did the trees symbolize? An overdue vacation? A recently purchased beach house? A secret palm-frond collection? Or maybe, as many surmised, it was new music. One Twitter user predicted that the number of stars in the background of the photo hinted at a single drop: “There’s about 60/61 [stars]️. There’s 61 days until April 26, FRIDAY, a SINGLE RELEASE day!” Another said it was the unofficial announcement of her next LP: “Okay so in this picture there are 4 palm trees on the left (4 country albums). There are two palm trees on the right (2 pop albums). There is one large palm tree in the middle. This represents her new album.” These may sound like ludicrous conspiracy theories — for the record, they were mostly correct — but they fit firmly within the Taylor Swift Musical Universe (it’s like the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with more guitars and fewer Stan Lee cameos).

“I posted that the day that I finished the seventh album,” says Swift about the photo. “I couldn’t expect [my fans] to know that. I figured they’d figure it out later, but a lot of their theories were actually correct. Those Easter eggs were just trying to establish that tone, which I foreshadowed ages ago in a Spotify vertical video for ‘Delicate’ by painting my nails those [pastel] colors.”

It’s now April, and the 29-year-old pop star is in a Los Angeles photo studio, giving her first sit-down magazine interview in three years. She wants to discuss the art of placing hints inside her work, as well as the upcoming record, which she recorded as soon as she finished the Reputation Tour. She’s also keen on detailing her own obsessions, talking up the TV shows, books, and songs that help shape her outlook on life.

Over the past 13 years, Swift has perfected the pop culture feedback loop: She shares updates about her life and drops hints about new music, which fans then gobble up and re-promote with their own theories, which Swift then re-shares on her Tumblr or incorporates into future clues. It’s like a T-Swift-built Escher staircase of personal memories and moments that tease what’s next. “I’ve trained them to be that way,” she says of her fans’ astute detective work. Swift is a pop culture fanatic herself (see: the jean jacket she’s wearing on the EW cover) and has an innate understanding of the lengths her audience will go to be a part of the original creation. “I love that they like the cryptic hint-dropping. Because as long as they like it, I’ll keep doing it. It’s fun. It feels mischievous and playful.”

Through this approach, Swift has designed the ultimate artistic scavenger hunt — and it’s easy to get swept up in its drama, even if you don’t listen to her music. Her moments aren’t always hidden, either. Sometimes Swift highlights aspects of her world just so fans feel like they’re on the journey with her. Like the time in March 2018 when pop singer Hayley Kiyoko was accused of shading Swift after mentioning her name during an interview. On Tumblr, Swift re-shared a fan’s post, adding commentary that defended Kiyoko, which immediately dispelled any conflicts between the two artists; Swift’s post subsequently received more than 29,000 notes. Four months later, she invited Kiyoko on stage during the Reputation Tour to sing her hit “Curious.” Kiyoko returned the favor when she had Swift join her that December at a benefit on behalf of the LGBTQ organization the Ally Coalition to perform “Delicate.” Fans of both artists were elated by the mutual support.

The feedback loop also extends outside of music. In October 2018, Swift broke her silence about politics by publicly endorsing two candidates for office in her adopted state of Tennessee, while encouraging her followers to register to vote. She kept up the civic momentum through Election Day when she asked fans to post selfies after voting; Swift then eagerly re-promoted her favorites on Instagram stories.

This practice of sharing and re-sharing and sharing again is why listeners consider Swift one of the world’s most accessible pop stars, someone willing to not only interact with her audience but invite them to secret listening sessions, or make the occasional surprise visit to their wedding or prom. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that, as Swift tells EW, helped her dig out of the darker era of reputation. “It’s definitely the fans that made that tonal shift in the way I was feeling,” she says. “Songwriters need to communicate, and part of communicating correctly is when you put out a message that is understood the way you meant it. reputation was interesting because I’d never before had an album that wasn’t fully understood until it was seen live. When it first came out everyone thought it was just going to be angry; upon listening to the whole thing they realized it’s actually about love and friendship, and finding out what your priorities are.”

Then, during the Reputation Tour, she had an epiphany: that despite the caricature that she thought had been created of her, there were many people who saw what others had simply refused to. “I would look out into the audience and I’d see these amazing, thoughtful, caring, wonderful, empathetic people,” she says. “So often with our takedown culture, talking s— about a celebrity is basically the same as talking s— about the new iPhone. So when I go and I meet fans, I see that they actually see me as a flesh-and-blood human being. That — as contrived as it may sound — changed [me] completely, assigning humanity to my life.”

At tour’s end, she channeled that positive energy into the studio, recording the new album in just under three months. But the fast pace won’t mean a short LP. Swift confirmed that her seventh record (she hasn’t announced a title yet; the working nickname among fans is TS7) will include more songs than any of her previous releases. “I try not to go into making an album with any expectation,” she says. “I started to write so much that I knew immediately it would probably be bigger.”

The project will also feature a mix of old and new collaborators (on the candy-coated lead single “ME!” Swift brought in Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie and coproducer Joel Little, both of whom she had never worked with), but she is unsurprisingly coy about doling out much more information, as if doing so would break the carefully honed T-Swiftian feedback loop. “There’s a lot of a lot on this album,” she says. “I’m trying to convey an emotional spectrum. I definitely don’t wanna have too much of one thing…. You get some joyful songs and you get the bops, as they say.” There’s also, she adds, some “really, really, really, really sad songs,” but “not enough to where you need to worry about me.”

She gives us one more clue: The true distinction between TS7 and reputation is in the delivery. “This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me. Once people delve into the album, it’ll become pretty clear that that’s more of the fingerprint of this — that it’s much more of a singer-songwriter, personal journey than the last one.”

The past month has seen a deluge of Swift activity, from the release of the new single to dropping more hints in interviews about the record and its title, which is apparently hidden somewhere inside the “ME!” music video (current fan guesses include Kaleidoscope and Daisy). But if the Easter eggs from the pop star seem like a business-as-usual routine, she says this album does indeed mark a new era of her life, where she’s been better able to prioritize what’s important to her.

“Our priorities can get messed up existing in a society that puts a currency on curating the way people see your life,” she says. “Social media has given people a way to express their art. I use it to connect with fans. But on the downside you feel like there are 3 trillion new invisible hoops that you have to jump through, and you feel like you’ll never be able to jump through them all correctly. I — along with a lot of my friends and fans — am trying to figure out how to navigate living my life and not just curating what I want people to think living my life is. I’m not always able to maintain a balance, and I think that’s important for everyone to know about. We’re always learning, and that’s something that I also had to learn — that I’ve got to be brave enough to learn. Learning in public is so humiliating sometimes…. Do I feel more balanced in my life than I ever have before? Um, probably yeah. But is that permanent? No. And I think being okay with that has put me in a bit of a better position.” Strong words to live by, to quote, to re-share, to tweet back to her, and see if she’ll respond.

-Taylor Swift for Entertainment Weekly (x)

[makistar2018]

Peggy Sirota for EW

New Reputation: Taylor Swift shares intel on TS7, fan theories, and her next era

Snakes begone. The 29-year-old superstar is back with a new album and a new outlook on life. We go inside the pop monarch's latest chapter.

By Alex Suskind May 09, 2019

THE PALM TREES ARRIVED IN FEBRUARY, seven in all, set against a pastel blue backdrop with superimposed stars. It appeared that a new Taylor Swift era was upon us — that the old happy-go-lucky Taylor was not, in fact, dead. Or did it? It wasonly an Instagram photo, just one more picture in an infinite content scroll. But it also came from a pop star known for prodigious hint-dropping, whose fans turn every piece of info into an online archaeological dig.

As expected, the summery post sent Swifties sifting through each detail with a fine-tooth comb. What did the trees symbolize? An overdue vacation? A recently purchased beach house? A secret palm-frond collection? Or maybe, as many surmised, it was new music. One Twitter user predicted that the number of stars in the background of the photo hinted at a single drop: “There’s about 60/61 [stars]️. There’s 61 days until April 26, FRIDAY, a SINGLE RELEASE day!” Another said it was the unofficial announcement of her next LP: “Okay so in this picture there are 4 palm trees on the left (4 country albums). There are two palm trees on the right (2 pop albums). There is one large palm tree in the middle. This represents her new album.” These may sound like ludicrous conspiracy theories — for the record, they were mostly correct — but they fit firmly within the Taylor Swift Musical Universe (it’s like the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with more guitars and fewer Stan Lee cameos).

“I posted that the day that I finished the seventh album,” says Swift about the photo. “I couldn’t expect [my fans] to know that. I figured they’d figure it out later, but a lot of their theories were actually correct. Those Easter eggs were just trying to establish that tone, which I foreshadowed ages ago in a Spotify vertical video for ‘Delicate’ by painting my nails those [pastel] colors.”

It’s now April, and the 29-year-old pop star is in a Los Angeles photo studio, giving her first sit-down magazine interview in three years. She wants to discuss the art of placing hints inside her work, as well as the upcoming record, which she recorded as soon as she finished the Reputation Tour. She’s also keen on detailing her own obsessions, talking up the TV shows, books, and songs that help shape her outlook on life.

Over the past 13 years, Swift has perfected the pop culture feedback loop: She shares updates about her life and drops hints about new music, which fans then gobble up and re-promote with their own theories, which Swift then re-shares on her Tumblr or incorporates into future clues. It’s like a T-Swift-built Escher staircase of personal memories and moments that tease what’s next. “I’ve trained them to be that way,” she says of her fans’ astute detective work. Swift is a pop culture fanatic herself (see: the jean jacket she’s wearing on the EW cover) and has an innate understanding of the lengths her audience will go to be a part of the original creation. “I love that they like the cryptic hint-dropping. Because as long as they like it, I’ll keep doing it. It’s fun. It feels mischievous and playful.”

Through this approach, Swift has designed the ultimate artistic scavenger hunt — and it’s easy to get swept up in its drama, even if you don’t listen to her music. Her moments aren’t always hidden, either. Sometimes Swift highlights aspects of her world just so fans feel like they’re on the journey with her. Like the time in March 2018 when pop singer Hayley Kiyoko was accused of shading Swift after mentioning her name during an interview. On Tumblr, Swift re-shared a fan’s post, adding commentary that defended Kiyoko, which immediately dispelled any conflicts between the two artists; Swift’s post subsequently received more than 29,000 notes. Four months later, she invited Kiyoko on stage during the Reputation Tour to sing her hit “Curious.” Kiyoko returned the favor when she had Swift join her that December at a benefit on behalf of the LGBTQ organization the Ally Coalition to perform “Delicate.” Fans of both artists were elated by the mutual support.

The feedback loop also extends outside of music. In October 2018, Swift broke her silence about politics by publicly endorsing two candidates for office in her adopted state of Tennessee, while encouraging her followers to register to vote. She kept up the civic momentum through Election Day when she asked fans to post selfies after voting; Swift then eagerly re-promoted her favorites on Instagram stories.

This practice of sharing and re-sharing and sharing again is why listeners consider Swift one of the world’s most accessible pop stars, someone willing to not only interact with her audience but invite them to secret listening sessions, or make the occasional surprise visit to their wedding or prom. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that, as Swift tells EW, helped her dig out of the darker era of reputation. “It’s definitely the fans that made that tonal shift in the way I was feeling,” she says. “Songwriters need to communicate, and part of communicating correctly is when you put out a message that is understood the way you meant it. reputation was interesting because I’d never before had an album that wasn’t fully understood until it was seen live. When it first came out everyone thought it was just going to be angry; upon listening to the whole thing they realized it’s actually about love and friendship, and finding out what your priorities are.”

Then, during the Reputation Tour, she had an epiphany: that despite the caricature that she thought had been created of her, there were many people who saw what others had simply refused to. “I would look out into the audience and I’d see these amazing, thoughtful, caring, wonderful, empathetic people,” she says. “So often with our takedown culture, talking s— about a celebrity is basically the same as talking s— about the new iPhone. So when I go and I meet fans, I see that they actually see me as a flesh-and-blood human being. That — as contrived as it may sound — changed [me] completely, assigning humanity to my life.”

At tour’s end, she channeled that positive energy into the studio, recording the new album in just under three months. But the fast pace won’t mean a short LP. Swift confirmed that her seventh record (she hasn’t announced a title yet; the working nickname among fans is TS7) will include more songs than any of her previous releases. “I try not to go into making an album with any expectation,” she says. “I started to write so much that I knew immediately it would probably be bigger.”

The project will also feature a mix of old and new collaborators (on the candy-coated lead single “ME!” Swift brought in Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie and coproducer Joel Little, both of whom she had never worked with), but she is unsurprisingly coy about doling out much more information, as if doing so would break the carefully honed T-Swiftian feedback loop. “There’s a lot of a lot on this album,” she says. “I’m trying to convey an emotional spectrum. I definitely don’t wanna have too much of one thing…. You get some joyful songs and you get the bops, as they say.” There’s also, she adds, some “really, really, really, really sad songs,” but “not enough to where you need to worry about me.”

She gives us one more clue: The true distinction between TS7 and reputation is in the delivery. “This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me. Once people delve into the album, it’ll become pretty clear that that’s more of the fingerprint of this — that it’s much more of a singer-songwriter, personal journey than the last one.”

The past month has seen a deluge of Swift activity, from the release of the new single to dropping more hints in interviews about the record and its title, which is apparently hidden somewhere inside the “ME!” music video (current fan guesses include Kaleidoscope and Daisy). But if the Easter eggs from the pop star seem like a business-as-usual routine, she says this album does indeed mark a new era of her life, where she’s been better able to prioritize what’s important to her.

“Our priorities can get messed up existing in a society that puts a currency on curating the way people see your life,” she says. “Social media has given people a way to express their art. I use it to connect with fans. But on the downside you feel like there are 3 trillion new invisible hoops that you have to jump through, and you feel like you’ll never be able to jump through them all correctly. I — along with a lot of my friends and fans — am trying to figure out how to navigate living my life and not just curating what I want people to think living my life is. I’m not always able to maintain a balance, and I think that’s important for everyone to know about. We’re always learning, and that’s something that I also had to learn — that I’ve got to be brave enough to learn. Learning in public is so humiliating sometimes…. Do I feel more balanced in my life than I ever have before? Um, probably yeah. But is that permanent? No. And I think being okay with that has put me in a bit of a better position.” Strong words to live by, to quote, to re-share, to tweet back to her, and see if she’ll respond.

Entertainment Weekly

[corishadowfang]

WIP Prep Tag Game

Tagged by @siarven--thanks for the tag!

Rules: Answer the questions, then tag as many people as there are questions (or as many as you can).

I debated back and forth about which WIP I’d do, but since I’m going to be entering the rewriting/editing phase soon, I thought I’d do it for On my Heart!

FIRST LOOK

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

A boy named Aiden is temporarily turned into a dragon by his Familiar, Kiru, in order to save his life--something that’s both incredibly illegal and incredibly dangerous.  Now on the run, he enlists the help of a former police officer and a hermit with an unusual amount of knowledge about dragons to help prove he’s not the monster everyone thinks he is.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

I’ve planned the story so that it’ll fit into a single book!  Right now it’s approximately 250 pages, but after rewrites I think it’s going to be closer to 400 pages.  (I ended up rushing through a lot of things to finish this draft, so...lots of additions are needed.)

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

It’s very...blue.  This is probably because Kiru’s--and by extension, Aiden’s--primary color theme is blue.  Most of the time when I imagine scenery there’s a mix of monochrome and blue-tinted colors with a couple muted colors thrown in.

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

The two most notable are the Fate series and Brave Story.  Fate was actually one of the things that initially inspired the story (more accurately, it was a question that came up while I was playing Fate/Stay Night), and Brave Story has a nice mix of fantastical grounded by more relatable problems that I’d really like to emulate.

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel

They’re not neatly organized or anything, but there they are.

MAIN CHARACTER

6. Who is your protagonist?

The primary character the story follows is Aiden Cooley.  He’s a sarcastic, adorkable child who really isn’t cut out for the nonsense he’s being put through.

7. Who is their closest ally?

Technically speaking, that would be these three:

Kiru, Aiden’s Familiar, who is something of a trouble-maker but cares deeply for Aiden

Gertrude, a very morally gray woman who would probably be really helpful if anyone could figure out what her motives are

And Jackie, an amputee who helps Aiden out of a combination of pity and worry that turning him in could actually cause bigger problems than helping him out.

8. Who is their enemy?

I joke that it’s himself, but that’s actually not entirely wrong.  One of the biggest problems for Aiden is that he tends to sabotage himself, whether by accident or on purpose.

As far as outside problems go, though, the most immediate ‘enemy’ would be the police.  They’re not really ‘bad guys,’ but they’re the major antagonists considering the position Aiden’s been put in.  The wider-scope antagonist would probably be society at large, though it takes a while for this to dawn on Aiden.

9. What do they want more than anything?

He’d really, really like to just go back home and, you know…not be arrested.  (He had other worries before the story’s start, and they get to be addressed throughout the course of the story, but this has quickly become his immediate concern.)

10. Why can’t they have it?

To give a really brief explanation about how some of the workings of the world: Familiars a readily-available for purchase, and, while all of them have the ability to turn their owners into dragons (should the owners so choose), the act has been outlawed both due to the fact that this would normally kill a user, and because dragons running rampant in the streets would generally cause a lot of panic. Aiden not only transforms into a dragon (albeit against his will), but is completely unharmed by the transformation. Basically, this means that even if he somehow manages to not be arrested, nothing’s going to be the same for him ever again.

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

He tends to have very low self-esteem.  To explain a little, he talks to his Familiar a lot because Kiru has higher artificial intelligence than most Familiars.  However, most kids outgrow this habit by, like…ten, and since Kiru can’t actually talk to anyone but Aiden, the rest of his peers all think he’s pretty weird. This has kind of seeped into his psyche over the years, to the point where he agrees and assumes that no one would actually be interested in being around him and Kiru.  He’s mostly convinced himself that he might be able to live a quiet, uneventful life where no one has to be disturbed by his ‘oddities,’ even though he wouldn’t be entirely happy doing so.

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

OH GOSH.  Okay, so, this picture is pretty old, but here’s a rough idea of what Aiden looks like:

PLOT POINTS

13. What is the internal conflict?

I’ve obviously already explained some of it for Aiden; there’s a lot about him learning how to move forward after an event that has drastically changed his life and how to find a ‘new normal,’ and also kind of learning to accept himself.  

For Kiru, a lot of the conflict relates to his own sense of self.  How much of him was created by Aiden as coping mechanism, and how much is himself?  What kind of role does he really play in a world ruled by humans?

For Gertrude, a lot has to do with her own past failings…though I won’t say too much on that.

Jackie’s arc actually parallels and ties with Aiden’s.  They complement each other, since Jackie has already started to learn how to find a ‘new normal’ after a life-changing event (the loss of her leg), and slowly helps Aiden come to terms with the situation through her own experiences.  On a more personal note, her views on Familiars and the people who use them are challenged constantly through working with someone who’s so close to them.

14. What is the external conflict?

The biggest conflict revolves around both evading the police and figuring out a way to get Aiden out of a situation where there are no real easy answers.  On a less important note, trying to understand why Aiden wasn’t affected by his transformation is a constant current in the background, and factors into some key areas of the story.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?  

The only remaining support system he has turning their backs on him would probably be pretty bad.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

That’s spoilers.

17. Do you know how it ends?

That’s…actually a good question.  I’ve finished the draft, so I know how that ends, and originally that was the ending I’d always envisioned for the story. However, I know this draft’s going to need a lot of edits and rewriting, so there’s a very strong possibility that a new ending will appear that works better.  So, we’ll see if it stays the same or not!

BITS AND BOBS

18. What is the theme?  

A pretty major over-arching theme is what you do when you’re in a situation where there are no good answers—where there is no clear-cut right and wrong, and you just have to try your best to pick the right option.  This isn’t just present with the main characters, either; the police officers—especially Chief Harris, who hates this whole situation—and Aiden’s parents have plenty of their own struggles trying to figure out the right thing to do.

A smaller theme, though, is the subject of humanity—what makes us human, and, to use a trope name, “What measure is a non-human?”

19. What is a recurring symbol?  

…Dragons, I guess?  Or water, maybe, because it plays such a heavy metaphorical role in the story.

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

On a large scale, it’s set in an alternate version of Earth where dragons and humans once coincided. The two races ended up fighting, and humans eventually drove dragons to extinction.  A couple decades later, humans decided to try and make the power of dragons their own.  This eventually led to them creating Familiars, which would bestow the power of dragons on humans (with the idea that they’d be less likely to turn on their own kind).  Unfortunately, the dragon transformation was pretty fault due to the fact that it forces a person’s body to change and grow in unnatural ways.  Familiars are still used in every-day life, though—and they’ve been given extra abilities to compensate for the fact that they can’t really be used for their original purpose.

On a smaller scale, the story takes place in the city of Provenance, aka “The Birthplace of Familiars.” It’s a medium-sized city that sits along the bank of a river and used to be the fishing village of White Water. Since the creation of Familiars and Familiar Co. (the primary Familiar manufacturing company), it’s started relying more and more on tourism and Familiar-based exports.  Provenance is kind of this weird mix of historical, tourist trap, and modern city with a lot of weird legends and out-of-the-way places.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already? 

Originally there were several scenes I had in mind, but as for this upcoming draft…I actually don’t? I might once I get through with editing, but right now there’s nothing major.

22. What excited you about this story?  

So you can probably guess from the theme question, but I really like exploring difficult topics and morally-ambiguous situations in fiction.  A lot of times it’s how I personally work out solutions to those problems (at least on a personal level), and exploring those themes can actually be pretty fun!

But I also really love the characters and their interactions.  They’re basically one big messed up family and I love them.

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!  

Honestly, it’s nothing very exciting.  I usually pick out a song to listen to on repeat—most of the time it has some relation to the story, but other times it’s just one that I like a lot.  Then I’ll set it going and start writing.  I usually have a goal in mind.  So, for example, “Get to the end of this part,” “finish this chapter,” or “write this many pages.”  Basically this just makes sure that I actually make a decent amount of progress on it.  And that’s…basically it?  Sometimes to get myself inspired I’ll read world-building or analysis posts, but that’s not every time; it just kind of depends on my mood.

This was a lot of fun!  Now to tag people...

I’ll tag @paladin-andric, @touchingmadness, @moonbow-ink, @diwrites, @sleepy-and-anxious, @fatal-blow, @focusdumbass, @thatsmybluefondue, @junglefae, @feathersandfortunes, @roselinproductions, @forlornraven, @aureliobooks, @maple-writes, @jess---writes, @aleshirewrites, @ad-drew, @nepeinthe, @novelier, @spacebrick3, @infinitelyblankpage, @insertpenname-here, @theta-lee, and anyone else who wants to do this!  (No pressure if you don’t, of course; this one’s pretty long.)

[musingcompany]

Underneath the cut you’ll find #52 archetypes from A-Z!! If you don’t know what an archetype is, you can read about it here and under the cut.

Why use archetypes as a character building tool?

Knowing the archetype may assist you in fleshing out your character and in building a complete world.

Many writers shy away from using “character types”. They fear they will be writing a stock character – one that lacks originality, depth and complexity. My argument is that there is a lot to be learned about from studying archetypes and that you can make your archetype original by placing him/her in an unexpected role.

Every story has a hero. A hero is an archetype. Is every hero in every story unoriginal? Hell no. 

Q: Why should I use archetypes?

Makes a story feel fully developed. We expect to see the hero and villain (both archetypes) and adding further archetypes can help your world to feel full, complex and real. It contributes to identifiability. People will feel they know someone “just like that”. Assists with writing believable group dynamics. You want real group dynamics, take a handful of archetypes and throw them in a room together and let them duke it out. The conflict between archetypes creates tremendous dramatic tension. Archetypes perform essential functions that may be necessary for your story. You may need a character to point your hero in the right direction, or in the wrong direction. You may need a character to offer advice, provide wisdom or specialised knowledge. You may need a character to push the hero into facing his fears. You may need a character to be the voice of temptation, or faith, or logic or purity. All these voices stem from archetypes. It’s a grounding force. When we see/read an archetype, though he may look a particular way, the audience is grounded in knowing who they are on some deep, unexplainable way. John Truby, storytelling guru and Author of The Anatomy of a Story states:

“Using archetypes as a basis for your characters can give them the appearance of weight very quickly because each type expresses a fundamental pattern that the audience recognises, and this same pattern is reflected both within the character and through interaction in the larger society.” (source). 

Artist: Sensitive, Withdrawn, Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, Temperamental, Romantic and Visionary, full of passion, creativity and intensity, spontaneous, loving, loves to impact change, trouble controlling emotions, takes things to extremes, unaware of boundaries

Beast: physically unattractive but with humanity or physically attractive but without humanity, a representation of the primitive past of man

Boss: The Leader of the pack, the “go to” person, the solver of problems, may be overbearing and controlling, competitive, stubborn, aggressive, status seeking, can be chronically rude

Career Criminal: commits crime with high stakes, smart, suspicious, may be highly skilled, plans carefully, may move often, can be charming, feels like an outcast, creates his own morality

Child: can be young in age or in spirit, loves adventures, seeking play and playmates, potential, innocence, rebirth, salvation, believes in good vs. evil

Clown/Joker: Uses humour to cope and avoid tough emotions/intimacy, Serves as a happy distraction, makes others happy by joking around/diffusing the tension, may be sad inwardly- does not show this to outsiders, thinks he is helping people by relieving stress. (Note: a more pure form of this archetype is the Jester – always lighthearted and joking but he/she is always pure of heart and truly caring for others like Kramer in Seinfeld.)

Do-er/Achiever: Focus is on success, often has experienced success, often building a track record, great ability and ambition, at times cannot see the bigger picture and loses out on love/family/living at the moment due to single-mindedness. Organised, driven and often needs to be seen as a winner. Rarely stands still.

Emotionally Sick: Mentally disabled, dependent, sometimes the focal point of the family, can create chaos, draining on others

Enabler: Maintains group balance by rescuing the irresponsible one and smoothing things over. Often faces a dilemma: if he/she does not bail the irresponsible one out of a bad/dangerous situation, the irresponsible one could do serious harm to self or others. May be contributing to the irresponsible behaviour by continuing to rescue and cover up- but believe that they are simply being helpful.

Father: Source of authority and protection, powerful, strict, often inducing fear, protects loved ones fiercely, wants to win, can be an activist, very physical, motivated by survival, can be career focused, sometimes fails to think things through

Feminist: the female cause is her cause. Masculine side is just as strong as her feminine side, intuitive, instinctual, task oriented, can be seen as cold, self-sufficient and goal oriented, can be boastful

Femme Fatale: Seductive, charming, loves being in control, loves the thrill of the chase, often provokes jealousy, has star quality, fashion conscious

Flamboyant/Show Off: Extrovert. Likes to be the centre of attention, extreme need to display intelligence, talent or body, often deeply insecure, overcompensating for a deep need to be loved/connection, can be dramatic and easily upset, flaky

Fool: still a little boy or girl inside, seeks to play/find a playmate, wandering off in confusion and faulty directions, creates chaos for others, cares for children, takes risks, avoids commitments and responsibility, fears boredom, loves freedom, can be charming

Gender Bender: Feels they were born in the wrong body, may try to correct the issue, may have two identities (one male, one female), does not act for sexual thrill, can be loyal, appreciates loyalty, seeking their place in society

Girly Girl: Innocent, Feminine, focused on all things girl, beauty, can be extremely naive, helpless or dependent, idealistic and coy, nurturing, passive, difficulty expressing anger or dealing with conflict, boosts men’s egos, may doubt own adequacy, flirtatious

God or Goddess: All powerful, source of magic, can provoke fear, awe, humility, the great mother, or Mother Earth

Guy’s Guy: masculine in an exaggerated way, rugged, tough, fearful of weakness, adventurous and aggressive, worldly, sexually experienced, ambitious, need to win, risk taker, may have rocky relationships with women

Imposter/Pretender: take advantage of situations, intelligent, verbal, delights in deceiving people, looking for the weakness to exploit it, may make a career out of deception, makes his own rules, rationalises his life choices

Investigator/thinker – Withdrawn, Intense, Cerebral, Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated, Can become obsessed/highly focused on a goal. Finding what is hidden/unknown brings creative joy.

Irresponsible /Drug Addict-Alcoholic – avoids commitment, dedicated to the moment, to his freedom, fears being chained down to a schedule, can turn to drugs and alcohol, lives life on her own terms, discounts societal rules, selfish, narcissistic, creates chaos by acting on own desires, destabilizes the group

Journeyman/Hero: Journeys on quest, Champion, defender, rescuer, travels on journey to realize his/her destiny, can lose sight of all but his journey, often reluctant to go on journey, to be a fully realized hero he must face his greatest fears and flaws

King: Ruler, Sees the big picture (often avoiding the details), cares for the whole village, can be authoritative, lacking emotion, can be an addict, craves self-esteem and self-respect, confident, strategist, needs a kingdom, can be controlling, fear-provoking, stoic, unable to express emotions

Know-It-All/Reformer: superior attitude, can be self-absorbed, tries to come across as having it all together but often just seems silly, full of it, low self-esteem, need to be seen as an expert, may try to change others or situation

Loner – isolates, struggles to connect with others / socially inept, avoids conflict, invested in his rich inner world only, fears the world, usually intelligent, reliable and loyal trusted few, can have large imagination, feels alien to others

Lover/Love Interest: Romantic, sincere, dedicated to object of his/her affection, often poetic or artistic, often the symbol of home base or security, believes in the hero, the person the hero can vent to

Loyalist: Strong ability to support others, bonds and stays, can lack self-worth, doubts abilities, tends to isolate when not with specific loved ones, big-hearted, can get behind a cause

Magician or Shaman: Offers an elixir, explains the mysteries of life, may provoke fear in others, spiritual, powerful, often loves to be alone/dislikes the spotlight

Maiden: innocence, desire, purity, often searches to be rescued, inexperienced and naive, often self-confident, playful, takes risks, may want to party and have fun, can be sexy and child-like

Manipulator: charming, intelligent, ability to read the needs of others and use the information, sly, deceitful, crafty, may appear attractive at first or on the surface, ability to pull others in, can play the role of the backstabber

Mentor: advisor, expert, intelligent and wise, wants to be in hero’s life, cares for hero, can be positive or negative force in hero’s life, can be a competitive relationship with the mentor struggling to let go

Mother: Source of nurturing and comfort, calming, center of the hearth, offers guidance, can be over-controlling and worrisome, sense of duty to help others is strong, can be needy, a martyr and passive aggressive

Narcissist – self-absorbed, inability to see the needs of others, draws the attention back to himself, often a show off, low self-esteem, lacks empathy for others, needs to be admired, will express his grandiose sense of self, often politicians or religious leaders due to ready, admiring audience

Nemesis/Challenger: a friendly troublemaker, has a surface-friendly relationship with the hero but his main goal is to mess up the hero’s life, often jealous, the nemesis loves to hate the hero, in fact it’s part of his life’s purpose

Observer: watches all but often quiet. Usually a deep thinker and when he/she does speak, it is something of importance, insight or gravity. Will withhold judgment until all of the evidence is in. Can be fiercely loyal to hero or to his tribe. Has trouble letting loose and having fun.

Peacemaker: Tries to be the force of peace, dislikes conflict, Easygoing, Self-Effacing, Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent

Perfectionist/Conformist: needs precision, pressures others to reach for the best, hard on themselves/others, can be rigid, purposeful finds it painful to live outside society’s expectations, cares deeply what others think, anxious, can be a team player, finds meaning and stability in rules/regulations

Pessimist/Depressive: glass half empty point of view, pulls others down, self-absorbed, Debbie downer, will offer disapproval, why try attitude, will take no risks, spreads doubt, defeat, confusion

Psychopath – no conscience, amoral, inability to feel or care for others, no sense of guilt or consequences, can be source of fear, easily bored, motivated by money, impulsive, irresponsible, no sense of belonging, no strong emotions, rationalises his behaviour

Queen: Ruler, willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good, can be stoic, has masculine qualities, can be the bringer of harsh truth, stands up for beliefs, protective, loyal, wants to keep order, strong, can be boastful

Rage-Filled: goes from irritated to fury quickly, violent, can’t control temper, dislikes most people, often self-loathing, loyal. Ironically when calm can be loving, likes to laugh and be passionate.

The Reformer: Rational, Idealistic, Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and often a Perfectionist

The Robot/Intellectual – Hides in their knowledge, intelligence trumps feelings, may struggle socially, low communication skills, high abilities, strength can lie in their objectivity

Scapegoat – the one to blame when things are going wrong, the person who acts out in a dysfunctional family, he often suffering the shortcomings of others often the one that receives all the negative attention. (The acting out teen sent to therapy who deals with drunk father nightly – but he is seen as the sick one) Can be rebellious, perhaps antisocial, ‘juvenile delinquents.’

Scaredy Cat/Fearful: worrier, anxious, brings fear/panic to others, hides from life and new experiences, the member of the group who will bring up what might go wrong in any scenario

Trickster: trouble maker, liar, rascal agent that pushes us toward change, self-absorbed, can be entertaining or charming

Troubled Teen – hates rules, defies authority, can be depressed, self-centered and angry, loyal to fellow criminals, feels above the law, vulnerable (cults and drugs)

Upside Down Hero/Anti-Hero – motivated by base or lower nature drives. Driven by the pursuit for power, sex, money, control. Need to fill his/her appetite is big and often all that matters. Can be selfish, anti-social, power-hungry, and materialistic. An Anti-hero is useful in storytelling, by examining the dark side of an anti-hero the audience may be able to explore/come to terms with their own shadow side.

Warrior Hero: takes action, takes on causes, fights for what he believes, single-minded, leads the pack, craves blood and battle, most in touch with his rage/anger as primary emotions, takes risks to compensate for loneliness, doesn’t expect to live long

Wild One/Flamboyant/Rebel: Cares little what others think, walks to the beat of their own drum, often likes to shock/display their different/offbeat world view, against the grain of society

Wise Old Man/Woman: sage, guidance, keeper of profound knowledge, wisdom, has “seen it all”

Wizard/Psychic: eccentric, possesses knowledge about hidden secrets of the earth, often sought out when a transformation is needed. The Psychic may possess knowledge of other worlds or of the future

Woman’s Man: loves women above all else, women love him and are drawn to his inspirational, passionate qualities, smooth talker motivated by love and belonging yet may have trouble committing, searching for impossible ideal, can be irresponsible/flighty, sensual and erotic, can be seen as a dreamer, chivalrous and gentle, driven by experiences

Vampire: Uses people for his/her needs. Passionate, sometimes romantic, experiences life in a heightened way, strong emotions, self-absorbed, can be dominating and secretive

Victim: “poor me” mentality, believes they will always suffer, looks for evidence that life is working against them

Zombie/Monster: half human or not human at all, provokes fear, panic, sometimes has human qualities/elements

[douchebagbrainwaves]

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WORRYING ABOUT WHAT I SHOULD DO

They'd be in a much stronger position if your collection of plans includes one for raising zero dollars—i. Lexical closures, introduced by Lisp in the early 1970s, are now, just barely, on the other side of the room that I use to check mail or browse the web. It sounds obvious to say that a and b to be true for longer.1 This is usually done to make the byte code an official part of the mating dance, patents are of secondary importance.2 This article is derived from a talk given at the same conference in 1998, I felt like an explorer witnessing some bizarre tribal ritual.3 Should we buy this little startup or build our own? Instead of sitting in your grubby apartment listening to users complain about bugs in your software is what will make you a better programmer, and yet it was already massively popular. No one actually proposed implementing numbers as lists in practice.4 We take for granted are in fact the most difficult visual medium, because they believe no one who did the opposite.5 And indeed, the most likely animals to be left alive after a nuclear war are cockroaches, because they're missing some feature he's used to.6 I think will be an increasingly important component of programming languages, a lot of people seem to think it's good for smart kids to be thrown together with normal kids at this stage of their lives in schools or big companies may not have mattered quite so much as that their skills are easily transferrable.7 Programming languages don't exist in isolation.8

But since I've been dealing with VCs more I've learned that some suits are smarter than others.9 Though novice investors seem unthreatening they can be sued for.10 Now I see there's more to it than that. Only in the preceding couple years had the dramatic fall in the cost of running their own servers, and both the headers and the bodies became much spammier. There have to be able to do what we do in those three months is make sure everything is set up for launch. And the only thing you can do: become very good at managing people or dealing with the SEC. This is especially true in a hundred years as it is to write compilers that generate fast code for some applications, presumably it could generate code efficient enough to run acceptably well on our hardware.

It's much more about alliances. They think that there is more chance of misses.11 I slip and call it Viaweb. Once you experience the pain of missing your target one week it was the same at the schools I went to the next cubicle and told my friend Trevor and I went to look at the history of technology, and even so I didn't get the additional message. But although for most startups, is as an element of the mating dance, patents are part of the right answer has already been set. So performance in the future.12 It was the usual story: he'd drop out if it looked like the startup was worth investing in, what difference should it make what some other VC thought? Better to assume investors will always let you down. I think a greater danger is that they see so many deals.13 So in borderline cases the rational thing for them to do is other things.

Valuations increase as the size of company you work for a big company, they should apply for patents to build up the patent portfolio they'll need to maintain an armed truce with other big companies. But to work it depends on you not being tricked by the no that comes after months of serious, businesslike meetings, on terms described in a document a foot thick. They decide how much money you need. And so, by word of mouth. There isn't so much at stake in his interactions with other investors, but there will be people who take a risk and use it. If a company is one hopes adding to its value, and it's hard to imagine something that could be called humorless also being good design.14 The government knows better than to get into a good one? You turn the fan back on, and that's frightening. That's a reasonable proxy for revenue growth because whenever the startup does start trying to make a language that's easy to program in.15

That's a filtering rate of about 99. I'm not sure if it's their position of power that makes them focus on the upside: they get a higher valuation they can say mine is bigger than yours.16 A program is a program you write quickly for some limited task.17 In math it means a proof that was difficult, but doesn't lead to future discoveries; in the sciences generally, citation is considered a rough indicator of merit.18 Fashions and flourishes get knocked aside by the difficult business of solving the problem at all. If Lenin walked around the offices of a company that grows at 1% a week will 4 years later be making $7900 a month, which is a problem. One way to describe this situation is to say that VCs are less willing to do things only the wrong people, and they tend to repeat the url, and someone including a url in a legitimate mail wouldn't do that. When I first meet founders and ask what their growth rate.19 They're not going to stop to consider the ability to gratify it. Of course he wouldn't program in machine language well into the 1980s.

What companies like Forgent do is actually the proto-industrial way. Tell them politely; tell them you're focusing on the real test, the success of your company. It's something the market already determines. In technical matters, you have to compete with other local barbers. It has come about mostly by default. It helps them to hire the best people, and the art and literary establishments. That means they're less likely to stick you with a business guy as CEO, like VCs used to do in the mid-1980s, nerd was still an insult. But with Lisp our development cycle was so fast that we could sometimes duplicate a new feature within a day or two of a competitor announcing it in a press release. In general, people outside some very demanding field don't realize the extent to which they live in an environment that is one large, ongoing test for the wrong qualities.20 There is now a whole neighborhood of them in San Francisco. In this new world, the existing players will only have the advantages any big company has in its market.21

Some days I'd wake up, get a cup of tea and check the news, then check the news again, then answer a few emails, then suddenly notice it was almost lunchtime and I hadn't gotten any real work done. Lots of startups that kept trying to raise $250k.22 Let's start with a distinction that should be short. In art, for example have been granted large numbers of preposterously over-broad patent, the USPTO in effect slept with Amazon on the first date.23 A friend of mine at Google is fairly high up in the company and went to work for a startup, you're probably being too conservative. Early stage companies need less money because they're smaller and cheaper to run, but they probably won't be coming this month.24 Ok, so we get slower growth. Ask any nerd: you get much worse treatment from a group of medium-high quality people and get the desired result. How can VCs make money by creating wealth, not by other kids. It would only dilute their own judgment to average it together with other people's.25 It's not your boss's fault. How to Become a Hacker, Eric Raymond, and Jackie Weicker for reading drafts of this essay, but there's a good chance it will appeal to future generations, one way to find interesting work is to volunteer as a research assistant.

We did it because it seems such a great hack. And the misleading ways of investors combine horribly with the wishful thinking of inexperienced founders.26 Subject free! In fact, some might argue that it was valuable and dangerous, and that it is, it can make you less attractive, because it means their investment creates less of a guide, not just because pictures of faces get to press buttons in our brains that other pictures don't. Customers don't care how hard you worked, only whether you solved their problems. The trouble is, it's not because you're supposed to have a more active role in society. Otherwise all the minor details left unspecified in the termsheet will be interpreted to your disadvantage. As a thirteen-year-olds to their own devices, what you want in your language may be related to how you express it. A hacker may only want to talk to investors your m. But technological change was about to back out of a garage in Silicon Valley.

Notes

Plus one can ever say it again. If you look at what Steve Jobs tried to attack and abuse. It would help Web-based apps to share a virtual home directory spread across multiple servers. I don't think they'll be able to redistribute wealth successfully, because any story that makes curators and dealers use neutral-sounding nonsense seems to be evidence of spam in my incoming mail fluctuated so much in the sense of getting rich from a book from a book or movie or desktop application in this article are translated into Common Lisp seems to pass.

I've also heard them called Mini-VCs and the first phase of the x company, and partly because they attract so much on luck. I'm sure for every startup we funded, summer jobs are the most fearsome provisions in VC deal terms have to deliver because otherwise competitors would take another startup to duplicate our software, we used to build little Web appliances. The optimal way to explain how you'd figure out yet whether you'll succeed. Most unusual ambitions fail, most of them is a new business designed for us, the more qualifiers there are no startups to die from releasing something stable but minimal very early, then their incentives aren't aligned with the bad groups and they were regarded as 'just' even after the fact that investment is a big success or a 2004 Mercedes S600 sedan 122,000.

Most unusual ambitions fail, unless it was considered the most successful ones. You're going to get to go behind the scenes role in IPOs, which merchants used to retrieve orders, view statistics, and in fact they don't have to resort to expedients like selling autographed copies, or a funding round.

There's a sort of love is as frightening as it needs to, and we ran into Yuri Sagalov. And since everyone involved is so contentious is that there is something in the startup after you, they'll have big bags of cumin for the talk to feel guilty about it. For sufficiently small audiences, it may be even larger than the long term than one level of protection against abuse and accidents. There are aspects of startups small this first summer, we're probably fooling ourselves.

Currently the lowest rate seems to have moments of adversity before they ultimately succeed. It's common for startups. In any case. In practice sufficiently expert doesn't require one to be their personal IT consultants, building anything they could be overcome by changing the shape that matters, just the local builders built everything in it.

Big technology companies. Patent trolls can't even trust the design world's internal standards. Everything is a shock at first had two parts: the process of selling things to them, not competitors. People and The Old Way.

Oddly enough, it is still a dick move. Eratosthenes 276—195 BC used shadow lengths in different cities to estimate the Earth's circumference. Median may be to ensure none of your own?

Picking out the same attachment to their work. 35 companies that an eminent designer is any good at talking about what you've built is not entirely a coincidence, because they are to be promising.

The state of technology.

Exercise for the first phases of both. She ventured a toe in that sense, but Javascript now works.

This is, so buildings are gutted or demolished to be employees is to start a startup to become merely stubborn. If you did so, or at least 150 million in 1970. Which is precisely my point. I don't know whether this happens it will almost certainly start to pull ahead in the King James Bible is Pride goeth before destruction, and are often unknowns.

Angels and super-angel than a nerdy founder trying to upgrade an existing investor, than a huge, overcomplicated agreements, and that injustice is what you have to decide between two alternatives, we'd be interested to hear about the smaller investments you raise as you raise money succeeded, and 20 in Paris. Morgan's hired hands. Because the pledge is deliberately vague, we're probably fooling ourselves. So while we might think it was spontaneous.

Some VCs seem to have had to for some reason insists that you could get a job where you read about startup founders is how important a duty it must have had little effect on the firm's site, they're nice to you as employees by buying their startups.

This is true of nationality and religion too.

To do would be just mail from people who don't like the increase in trade you always feel you should always get a personal introduction—and in some cases e.

If you want to know exactly how a lot easier now for a while ago, the technology business. If a big change from what the attitude of the next legitimate email was a special name for these topics. Treating high school junior. It seems justifiable to use an OS that doesn't seem to be on fewer boards at once, and the fucking fleas.

Greek classics. I wouldn't want the valuation is the same reason 1980s-style knowledge representation could never have worked; many statements may have no idea what they mean San Francisco, LA, Boston, or can be and still provide a better user experience.

At the seed stage our valuation was in a way to avoid this problem by having an associate. The best technique I've found for dealing with YC companies that seem promising can usually get enough money from them.

In a country richer; if you suppress variation in prices. At the time required to notice them. They accepted the article, but not the type who would never come back with my co-founder before making any commitments.

Convertible debt can be surprisingly indecisive about acquisitions, and they have wings and start to rise again. The two guys were Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston. According to a woman who had worked for a small company that could be overcome by changing the shape that matters financially for investors. This plan backfired with the sheer scale of rejection in fundraising and if they seem to them.

Cascading menus would also be argued that we know exactly what your project does. Part of the living. This just seems to have the same trick of enriching himself at the top startup law firms are Wilson Sonsini, Orrick, Fenwick West, Gunderson Dettmer, and suddenly they need to be recognized as an expert—which is just about the idea that could be overcome by changing the shape of the class of 2007 came from such schools. There may be whether what you love: a to make peace with Spain, and one VC.

What you're too early really means is you're getting the stats for occurrences of foo in the sophomore year.

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

But on the web.

Donald J.

Particularly since economic inequality to turn into them. Which is not whether it's good, but the median total compensation, including both you and listen only to the home team, I've become a genuine addict. Bad math is merely boring, we met Charlie Cheever sitting near the door.

[survivingart]

ON FINDING YOUR PLACE AND MAKING A STAND 

People have two intrinsic desires; to know themselves and to find a place in their environment. We constantly search for better ways, a clearer image of who we are and continuously try to place that projection of ourselves into society and our environment at large.

But a lot of us make a grave mistake when conducting our search. A mistake we might not even recognise, but that defines and ultimately controls our inability to find our true way in life.

Predominantly it is the artists of any society that are at the vanguard of this exploration of self and as such at the mercy of the powers that command it. We do not adhere to any group, we do not belong to any tribe or to any one people, not even to those of our own kind — the other artists among us. We are the outsiders that dare to venture into the unknown, and look at society from the outside in.

In nature, the understanding of any closed system is done by observing it from the outside, never as part of the system itself. Because only when any happening is observed as a whole, does the observer have the ability to glimpse the intricate details of form and function that occur inside of it and that give it substance.

As the astronaut that ventures into space is usually struck with the totality of what our planet really is — and more importantly what it isn’t, namely neither the centre nor the entirety of existence, merely a speck of dust in the eyes of the ineffable universe — is he or she able to begin to understand the bigger picture.

Detail is of course important, without it life becomes dull, mechanical and empty of its essence, but similarly as is seen when we might first learn how to draw a portrait — when we begin not with the eyelashes and freckles of a face, but the crude form and shape of its entirety.

When we start to observe ourselves and begin exploring our bodies and minds, we therefore start to ponder what we think is the entirety of the universe. The newly born child cannot fathom the existence of anything beyond itself, even the mother is part of it, the same way its hands and feet are its own.

Only when the infant is taken from her, in the initial stages of its upbringing and the bond between mother and child is made physically more distant — for example when she puts the infant into its bed or when she has to leave for a longer period of time and the infant is left to its own — does this dream of being one with everything in the world begin to break.

Cracks in the surface of the known begin to appear and the child encounters immense pressure and resistance towards the fact that all it thought and felt was but an illusion. That the unbreakable bond between mother and child is but that, a bond made not of flesh and blood, but energy and perception, grounded deep inside the structure of both of their bodies but not physically connected as a whole.

While this energy or emotion cannot be explained by pure language, the same way love and hate cannot be drawn up in a diagram, other means of comprehension take place. The child will feel this bond, but never be able to fully explain it in such a fashion that would do it justice.

They say artists are people that were able to keep their inner child alive and attentive throughout their upbringing well into the age of adulthood. But what they sparsely mention is the actual power that such a person possesses inside of themselves.

Others, who “grew up” and melted effortlessly with their surrounding (small as it may be, compared to the entirety that life is able to offer us), usually lose this connection with their inner child, they give up their ability of attentiveness and are never really able to experience the power of reconstruction that those of us, those that kept our childlike awe, are able to command.

There really are only two basic human needs; expansion and the desire to overcome entropy. All beings need to expand as this is their basic purpose, their base code or their core instinct. It does not really matter what we choose to call this urge, that all of our personalities are built upon, the important fact is that we come to understand the nature and importance of this driver. 

In the end it is the main force that makes us wake up in the morning and choose to go to work, rather than sleep, eat and copulate until we can no more. And when we truly understand the nature of this essence, we are able to control it.

While most people who forgot or stopped cultivating this power and perspective of the world would believe that it is their minds that are in the driver’s seat — manoeuvring the slippery slopes of life and guiding them to whatever they believe is their purpose (if indeed they have even begun asking this complex and important question) — the reality is, the conscious mind is but the servant of the body.

The real drivers are emotion, instinct and reaction.

While our minds begin their journeys as godlike totalities, as if everything is one and we are indeed everything there is, our bodies never behave in such a fashion. The lungs do not operate as a single system, dislocated form the heart or kidneys; all organs function as one unity and only through this reciprocity are we even able to stay alive.

In order to do so, all parts need to function on the basis that they are always connected, always in tune with the rest of the orchestra that plays the symphony of life that we call our bodies. If one part looses rhythm or is out of tune, the whole system suffers; an acid reflux does not only hinder the absorption of nutrients into the body, it makes the whole system unbalanced and destroys it over a longer period of time, eventually to the point where it cannot function anymore.

This is the reason why the holistic approach to life, happiness, health etc. worked so well in the past. Of course issues like the inability of many practitioners of holistic medicine to keep up with the latest scientific discoveries hinders their success in today’s society and throws a bad light upon them, marking them as charlatans or delusional hippies.

And this misunderstanding is what interests me a lot, as who else is the charlatan, the hippie, the outsider that still believes in fairytales and energies if not the artist? And as the contemporary healer that wishes to evade being called a fake, they must learn both the formal and functional aspect of the bodies they are studying.

Form is what reality seems to be. It is the embodiment of reciprocity; how a particular part of life is shaped and out of what materials, defines its ability to interact with all the other parts of the system it is part of.

The importance of anatomy, of colour theory and perspective for us artists, the indispensable knowledge of chemistry, nutrition, biology for medical practitioners and all the other fields of study that each profession is built upon — these are the materials with which we gain knowledge and power to interact with the systems we are part of. And only by knowing the form of the objects we encounter in life, the true essence of what they are capable of, can we begin to explore their functions.

Function, in contrast to form, is not inherent to nature; nothing in reality is ever made with a purpose or a certain plan of how it will be used. It’s our hubris and our impeded mode of operation that makes it seem as if all the life that surrounds us was made for a purpose, when in fact nothing is.

But this isn’t a melancholic or depressed observation upon the world, merely an objective assessment. We are programmed to see purpose in everything we do, because it is this ability that has secured our evolution into the most advanced species on our planet.

It is not something that is inherently false or a lie, because it is one of the most indispensable traits of human kind — our ability to see function in form is beyond anything in the world, and while this ability is present in most other animals, it varies in effect from species to species.

While a mockingbird will see function in sticks and other various debris when it is guided by instinct to build a nest, the ape will see the stick as a tool for hunting termites. We, on the other hand, will see potential firewood, or a tool to help us climb or walk or kill.

And yet, the stick stays the same object throughout its usage, its form does not change, because form does not command function, it merely provides the ability to embody it.

Function on the other hand is an illusion, a fleeting moment of any objects existence, projected upon it by the being that is interacting with it. Function is born out of perception and attention.

A quick stroll through a garden will provide little focus and merely an average amount of attention will be given to ones surroundings; the plant life may be examined to find the most suitable path to be taken, the flowers may be observed for their colour and shape, and beauty could even be found radiating from them, but the true form of the various plants, animals and other inanimate objects like stones and the earth beneath them will elude us.

Only if we stop and take our time and focus our attention on each singular piece of mater that resides in the garden will we be able to venture further into our understanding and explore the reality of the garden in more depth.

Rules and systems will appear; Darwin found incredible connections between the various species that resided on the Galapagos islands only by intently studying them and focusing his attention. Where a fisherman may see only the size of their pray, the type of fish and its ability to be eaten safely without causing harm to his body, Darwin saw a lot more.

From the various colourings of scales, different shapes of the head and fins to the slightest divergencies among the species he was studying — nothing was left unobserved, and nothing was deemed unimportant.

Only when function is not projected upon an object via any utilitarian demands of the object, to be assimilated into any already existing system — like the way coal is seen as fuel for the steam engine, wood as material for a wardrobe or table — only if all utilitarian aspects and preconceptions are put aside and pure fascination begins to take precedent, can the totality of form be revealed.

This is where artists operate and where the true function and power of art resides. Without the need to consume the material that surrounds us, only to play with it and learn of its form can we actually discover its true nature.

We question reality by exhibiting chairs as physical objects, as written statements and as flat images on silver halide paper, we create forms that never seem to really serve any actual purpose, merely serving themselves, exposing themselves in their true, natural from. 

A form without function.

This is pure self exploration, pure observation without interference and as the nature of the human mind is to always interfere, always project its needs and wants upon the world, it is incredibly hard to produce.

Not that making an object without function is hard, one needs to merely take a stroll in the wild to find innumerable amounts of functionless objects; from the trees and bushes to the stones, leaves and dirt that are scattered around the forest. Nothing has any purpose, merely form.

The true issue is not with the matter that creates reality, but with the spectator that observes and egotistically judges it on the merit of functionality. This is why the most important element of any artistic object is the spectator, not the object itself nor the artist that made it.

If those that view and experience art cannot let go and do not possess the necessary mental tools of observation needed to truly try to comprehend the artistic experience, they will falter and end up seeing what they want to see, not what is really there.

A painting of a single boat in stormy seas is not just a depiction of a boat and of a sea, but it also isn’t merely a metaphor for perseverance, resistance or entropy either. Neither is it just a collection of pigments and oils or plastics, smeared skilfully onto a woven piece of cloth that has been stretched onto a wooden frame. 

It is all of the above and innumerable things more, all at the same time. While the average mind may not be able to discern more than a few traits of the material, the skilled and knowledgable spectator will see more — but never the entirety.

Because, even if we’d like to, we cannot delight in seeing the world as it is, we cannot just decide not to observe matter without the embedded functions we project onto it and take pleasure in it, and thus we never really see reality for what it is.

Not because it’s impossible to look at a stone and only see a stone, but because seeing a stone as what it really is does not provide us with any stimulation, excitement or even interest. 

Reciprocity, as the base stimuli of any being is guided by emotion, by all the various receptors in our body, the myriad of hormones, nerves and other cells reciprocating and communicating with each other in order to provide us with the incredibly necessary information about our surroundings.

Information, that alerts us about danger, food and other vital traits of our surroundings that we as beings need to be constantly aware of, in order for us to function and survive the clutches of entropy for as long as we can.

But even such rudimentary perception as reciprocity — the ability to perceive, experience and react on a purely emotional level — does not show reality for what it is, because even our existence as beings is a force; we are never still, our minds constantly demand growth, change, anything at all to not be bored. 

Boredom or a lack of stimulation kills the mind and as such, our perception projects function onto reality in order to be able to function properly inside of it. Without this projection we could not see the use of anything, we could to imagine what a spoon is for or why one would wan to own and drive a car. All functions would elude us and with them we would lose all of our control over nature and life itself. 

Try an experiment and seek to experience any object in your surroundings by only looking or feeling it intently while emptying your mind of any thought about the experience itself. You may get images, that pop into your mind about its shape, your feelings towards it (especially if it is dear to you or holds any other emotional value, that is specific to you).

Whatever the effect that object has on your thinking, let your thoughts wander away the same way they came — like waves of ideas, slowly subsiding back into the unconsciousness and focus on keeping the sea of the mind absolutely still.

You will still feel the object, you will still reciprocate its shape, when you touch it. You will still smell its scent when it is near enough and all of your other senses will still operate and provide information about it, reacting constantly but never really exposing its true materiality, only your ability to respond to the various stimuli that you can physically experience and comprehend.

Pure form cannot be seen, because it is hidden beneath all the various layers of ideology, utilitarianism and even our own biological functions of perception. This doesn’t mean though that the ideas of prominent thinkers like Kant are true and that reality is invisible to us; we all see reality, we all experience matter and time and we do so truthfully to the extent of our abilities.

The illusion that one can never really see reality does not lay in the observation, but in the lack of one. We may feel and think about a certain trait as if we understood it, but are never able to really grasp the meaning of it. It changes constantly and when we change — and with us our desires, wants, wishes and demands of life — objective reality changes with us. The function of reality changes.

Only by understanding deeply that reality bears no function to itself, only form for the sake of form and its capacity to be, can we actually see reality. And such a reality is completely empty. Void of anything but itself. 

This is what Buddhism teaches about the path to attaining enlightenment, and what all other religions in their own fashion and style preach about the highest understanding of ourselves. But it is also what many of us artists are constantly searching for.

And this is where the conversation about finding your place and making a stand actually begins, because even though power and understanding are so disparate, most of us never get to grasp the real differences and struggle all of our lives crudely grasping for both, but attain neither.

from Surviving Art http://bit.ly/2HU2flQ via IFTTT

[finnland-lizzy]

Human Rights, Global Ethos and the Problem of Religion

1.    Introduction

This is a learning journal for the course “Human Rights, Global Ethos and the Problem of Religion”, which was taught by Partow Izadi and took place from 01.11.2018 until 13.12.2018. The main themes were the theory of Bifurcation, and the idea of humanity’s need to find a global ethos because of it. Religion was also discussed, as a double-edged sword being both an engine for progression and hindering it.

In this journal I give a short overview over what I have learned and document any questions and thoughts I had during the lecture. Since many of my original notes in class were taken in form of pictures, mind maps or tables these were now translated into text.

2.    Social Evolution of homo sapiens

Humanity is constantly in a process, not standing still, but developing evolutionary. This means that only the values, institutions and traditions survive which are sustainable. No other criterium is important but to see whether something will be able to stand the test of time. When Homo sapiens sapiens first came into existence, people lived with their own family, their clan, and every outsider was just that. But as time passed on humans learned to care for people, they have no blood-relation with, such as people who live in the same area. Gradually humanity managed to exist in interdependence with others in the same village, the same county, and, with nationalism from the 18th century on, also in the same nations. Humanity has learned to accept more and more diversity, while still being able to live as one community.

This concept seemed very familiar to me. The idea of increasing interdependencies leading to greater civility I had learned in Sociology class as coming from Norbert Elias. In this classes teaching though the tone was a gentler one, introducing the idea of humanity learning altruism in this process. I think this is highly contestable. At the start of almost all social or political theories there is the question of how the philosopher sees the human. Are humans fundamentally good, kind, able to learn, able to better themselves? Or are they bad, rotten, selfish, slaves to their own desires? Opposite to Elias this class is based on a very positive view of humanity, but its not proven very well. Growing altruism is just one explanation for the increasing size of human societies, the extension of what early humans only gave to their families, and we can slowly give to all of humanity. Another explanation, such as that humans are fundamentally selfish and only societal forces form us into civilized people, is also likely.

For me as a person I would like to believe in an altruistic, good, human. But as a scientist I think the basis is too thin, even though we have had at least 200 years of beginning research on humanity, we have not concluded what humans are fundamentally like. But I can accept this as a basis for what is to come.

3.    Concept of unity and diversity

This brings us to the concept of unity and diversity. Xenophobia is a natural human instinct, and the bigger the group becomes, the harder it is to maintain a sense of unity with the growing diversity. Nevertheless, diversity is also the basis of any innovation, and of the development of any community, because differences create sparks that start intellectual fires, but only if diversity is seeking unity. Diversity on its own is creating problems, subgroups and subgroups in society, that are so sure of their standpoint, they cannot see beyond.

This one hit me hard, probably because it is a simple truth which I should have been aware of before, but never really put my finger on. I do a lot of so-called activist work in Germany, especially inside my university for LGBT+ rights. There I met many people, and I certainly also have tendencies like that myself, that only want to further these issues for the sake of furthering them; to the point in which all things the other political side say must be wrong, since only our interpretation is correct. I have tried to stand between these lines in university politics, because I don’t think that this helps furthering LGBT+ rights in any ways, more like the opposite. We tried to exclude certain topics from discussion, and I often try to get to talk to people one on one and try to humanize them and help them see their political opponent as human also. But it is hard, because the “other political side” doesn’t trust me, because they know I fight for LGBT+ rights, and “my own side” doesn’t trust me, because they feel I am too flexible and not truly on their side.

Discussing pluralism in class opened a whole new interpretation for me. I was only familiar with Franz Neumanns theory of pluralism, which is a very positive one. In this pluralism different political ideas are discussed with one another with an open mind, until, because all ideas are out in the open, the best one can be found. This is not the sense of pluralism we discussed in this class. Pluralism here means that society is made of fundamentally different actors with different beliefs, that cannot be reconciled with one another and the differences of opinion just have to be accepted. Obviously, in this interpretation pluralism cannot be a suitable foundation for unity.

People happen to be very sure in their particular mindset most of the time, as all of us are, I would go as far as to call it human nature. But unity can only exit when different social groups are willing to cooperate with one another. And by that I don’t mean compromises, I mean the actual idea of Neumanns pluralism, of sparks flying when different people interact. When different cultures collide, neither the dominant culture nor the other cultures can stay the same. Everything must change. As our teacher said very fittingly in class: “This is a painful process.” But it can only be done this way.

Any other way to create unity, taking for example the building of “Eastern Germany”, the German Democratic Republic, which was done top-down, with a considerable amount of force, in the end only leads to revolts and possible revolution.

4.    Theory of Bifurcation

The theory of bifurcation is part of systemic theory. It is based on the beliefs of social evolution and unity and diversity. There are two modes of existence: steady and crisis. The mode of crisis of a system is a bifurcation. A system cannot come out of a bifurcation as it went in. It is destroyed in a forking, which either leads to a higher form of existence, e.g. with new technology, or to humanities downfall to a worse existence.

In a Bifurcation the consequences of human actions become visible much faster than in steady development. And every single decision made by any actor in a Bifurcation influences the outcome; makes the coin tip in either way.

Nevertheless, Bifurcations still last about 200 years, so are not easy to analyse, especially when one is inside. Judgement becomes incredibly cloudy. What social values and institutions are sustainable? What to throw away and what to keep?

I personally think this theory is an over-simplification. It attempts to make sense of incredibly big, social processes and its definitely a very interesting approach. It also combines a Micro and Macro perspective, which I think is better than just choosing one of the two positions. What does not convince me about it, is a lack of empirical research on the topic. When was the last Bifurcation? Is the little explosion of a new religion (Chapter 9) a Bifurcation, or does it run parallel to one? If so, can the time span between Bifurcations be classified? Why does this theory take such a big leap, speaking of this all-or-very-little-scenario, when there might be simpler explanations, such as that any time of turmoil in our world eventually leads to the former system being destroyed and replaced by a new one (which might be more or less advanced, or pretty much the same)? I personally think this theory is intriguing, but again I could not find enough scientific evidence, such as studies, to back it up.

I am by the way not trying to say that a scientific theory only has merit when it has been approved by many studies. But the scientific community has a process. And especially as a young student, who just started her bachelor, I have been taught to look for signs of theories being respected in the fields of my study.

I think it would be great if a few papers would be published on this theory of Bifurcation, more than I could find after extensive research online. It is such an intriguing idea, and might be easily approved or disapproved of, by combining the fields of history, political science, sociology and comparative religion.

In this class it was also suggested that we are in a Global Bifurcation right now. Humanity, and our planet in general, is dealing with problems nations, anything smaller than a global society, cannot solve. Climate Change, large-scale migration, an unfair world economy, wars and terrorism are the main ones. Because these problems are so big, they can be seen like strong waves of an Earth quake, leading up to a Bifurcation. Humanity either has to work together as a competent whole, existing unity in diversity, or (almost) die trying, as we would in a climate catastrophe for example.

But this explanation is coming at the theory of Bifurcation from the end. Because a global society seems the only option to deal with these big problems, then this would be one of the forkings the system could take, and annihilation is the other forking. And because there is a fork, we must be in a bifurcation. The theory certainly fits reality in this regard, but once again we don’t really have the data to back this up, unless we could compare it to a previous bifurcation.

To come at the theory the opposite way would be to look at the problems that exist first and to what different outcomes they could lead. In my opinion, that doesn’t necessarily need to be a forking. Humanity could deal with these threats in all kinds of ways, and because we are so inventive and there are so many factors in play, I think its too simple to only speak of two separate option, to fly or to fall. Maybe we’ll fly with wings that don’t work too great, but they’ll work for a while until we come up with something better.

5.    Global Ethos

How can humanity grow together to form a global society? Every group of humans need to have some common values, ideas, understanding, and I would also postulate that they need another group of humans to distinguish themselves from. That is a very human process, as Alfred Schütz describes in “The Stranger”. Groups, among other things of course, define themselves by distinguishing from others. In a global society that other group wouldn’t exist anymore, because all humans would belong to the same group simply by being human.

This global society needs global values. It was taught to us in this class that just as there are laws of nature, on which everything that happens in our physical world depends, there is a global ethos, on which everything that happens in inter-human relations depends. While humanity tries every day to figure out more of the laws of nature, and builds technology based on them; we do not concern ourselves that much with global ethos. I believe it could be argued, that many religions have tried to find a global ethos, and that their teachings are in the end technology, that can be applied to the world. And if these teachings work, and make for good inter-human-relations, then the interpretation in those teachings was close to the actual global ethos.

Nevertheless, it is of course true that in human sciences there has been no great focus on finding a global ethos, even though it would be so useful in building societies (not just a global one). Generally, in sociology we try to find out human values by social experiments, e.g. altruism by asking people to donate money under different circumstances and measuring the response. To synthesize global ethos, we would have to conduct social experiments that last a couple of hundred years; which leaves us, in the end, with the study of history. But because the documentation and interpretation of history is not objective, this is also not an easy way to get there.

Just in a conversation with people from different countries one can easily find some similar values. The point is to deconstruct social practices and have a look behind them. Why do we shake hands? Why do we tell women to cover their hair? Why do we celebrate by having alcohol?

In our class discussion we could quickly agree on values such as kindness, hospitality and non-cruelty.

Another thought that came to my mind right there, was the social experiment “imitation game”. Perhaps in this way one could also try to filter out global values. One would need always groups of three from the same culture, and a laptop, and a camera. The teams would then play with each other, acting as the questioner, the answerer and the judge. As the questioner they would ask questions, trying to determine what values the other group has. As the answerer they would either answer truthfully in their culture or pretend to be from another. And as a judge they would have to decide whether the teams they have played with are the genuine thing or not. This is just from the top of my head, and I have only ever worked with imitation games in gender studies. Perhaps the setup would have to be much more complex, and the outcome would of course heavily depend on both the setup and the interpretation of the results.

The problem is that values lead to customs, so what people believe in influences their behaviour. In culture very often this behaviour freezes, is institutionalized. Over time, people tend to forget the underlaying values and just act according to customs without reflection. It can then seem like my values are quite different from another humans, when I only look at the custom. In my culture women are encouraged to show their hair, make it look beautiful, while in her culture they are encouraged to cover it up. But what if I open my mind to the possibility, that the underlying value is the same?

To take these musings away from being purely theoretical, we need to have a look at how a global ethos could be implemented, assuming it does exist. The only organisation with enough authority would be the United Nations. In fact, they have tried, both in their Charter and in all of their works, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

6.    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Declaration is a compilation of Human Rights, written just after the Second World War, in light of all the terrible things that happened under the Nazi Empire, but also elsewhere during the war, e.g. to Japanese living in the US. True to its name, it is mostly a compilation of rights, but also of responsibilities, which are equally as important.

Every single person on this planet is responsible for every other person on this planet, as soon as we know of their existence. Its quite a strong statement, but one I always believed to be true. Our actions always have consequences, whether we do something, or choose not to, and I think its important to take everyone into account who could be harmed by my behaviour. Every human deserves the same respect and care, and it can only work if we truly are and feel responsible for everyone. This responsibility spreads from helping someone I meet in person, to the clothes I buy and the entertainment I consume.

Everybody else’s rights are my duties, and my rights are everybody else’s duties. Only then can this whole human rights for everybody thing work.

7.    Individualism and materialism

Every word in the English language that ends in -ism is fundamentally a box, an ideology, something people believe unquestioningly.

Individualism refers to “worshipping the individual at the cost of everything else” and is the opposite of collectivism. Materialism is worshipping the material over the immaterial, such as happiness and well-being.

When we first discussed these problems in class, I immediately knew where we were going with them, and I was a bit bored by that. Yes, if defined this way it is out of question that individualism and materialism are a bad influence on the health of our society, and that they have become something of a quasi-religion.

I can’t quite explain why this concept doesn’t move me that much. Perhaps it is because, even if it was something, we would universally accept to be true, human nature wouldn’t change. We just love it being all about me, me, me, me. We love consumer culture, to have more than we need. I just don’t see how the revelation of individualism and materialism can help that. There are already movements in this world trying to work against it. Both on a political-economical side, taking individualism and materialism as the worst trades of capitalism and arguing for socialism instead; to social movements asking people from being more mindful of their consumption to giving up all consumerism.

I just don’t feel like the concepts are helpful in our current discourses anymore. But perhaps that’s just me and I would love to be convinced otherwise.

8.    The horse and the rider

In this class we were also talked about humans as having basic animal instinct while at the same time having (at least the potential for) possibility to see beyond and strive for a better existence. One metaphor for this can be the horse and the rider. The horse is driven by its animal instincts, to run for example. It needs to be guided by the rider, if it should have a purposeful run, and it also needs a lot of care from the rider, so it keeps running. The horse gets a stimulus and immediately transforms it into a response. The rider on the other hand can see farther ahead than the horse and can guide it towards a better, more meaningful response. Nevertheless, the rider cannot go without the horse, so they should be viewed as one.

I generally understand this concept, I think it is one of the first things we learn in “Ethics” (Religion class if you are not religious) in Germany. The metaphor is a bit out there in my opinion, since a rider can permanently go away from his horse, be distinguished from it completely. I think if animals were the colour blue, then humans wouldn’t be blue with an add-on of red, but purple. Something new, which came out of one plus one component, but strongly mixed. But I understand that the metaphor works, because the rider needs to take care of the horse, and can’t do without it, but also needs to control it, as we humans don’t do in individualism and materialism.

9.    Social Cohesion

One thing we also talked about in class was social cohesion. According to our lecturer social cohesion is decreasing. He offered examples of this happening at least in Finland, that the spirit of community used to be stronger. The topic is very interesting to me, so I looked up some studies from Germany. In Germany social cohesion (by the researcher’s definition), is increasing (https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/themen/aktuelle-meldungen/2017/dezember/gesellschaftlicher-zusammenhalt-in-deutschland-besser-als-sein-ruf/). Sadly, I could only find a German source.

10.                      The problem of religion

Religion as a concept has been facing two problems in the last decades. On the one hand, there is a declining religiousness in our world, due to for example political reasons (e.g. The German Democratic Republic diminished religiousness of its people) and as a general social trend. On the other extreme “religiousness”, and using religion to justify terroristic acts of violence, has also been on the rise.

There is a new dogma in Western society, especially in countries like the United States. You can either be religious OR believe in science, there is little to no room in between. Obviously, science isn’t something you can choose to believe in or not, but that’s written on another page.

Religion has had an undeniable influence on humankind, both in a direct and indirect way. There are two types of religions, folk/tribal and world religions. The latter include for example Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism. A world religion is not categorized by the number of followers, but by its influence on cultures.

Religions have both a light and a dark side, so to speak. They go through a sort of life cycle. When they first start out, they are like bursts of creativity and novelty. They bring positive, new developments, and can act as engines for social cohesion. On the other hand, the longer they exist, the less important their original thought becomes. They institutionalize, and practices slowly overtake values. They box themselves off, and every little disagreement leads to a new splinter group.

Religions then lead to a lot of negative consequences, weakening social cohesion, e.g. in an area with more than one religion, and conflicts between followers of different religions can be brutal.

On this notion of religion leading to social cohesion I had a thought: Perhaps it would be possible to draw a comparison between formerly nations lending citizenship, and in a global society the world lending citizenship, and formerly religion leading to social cohesion, and in a global society possibly a global ethos leading to it.

While religions are not “universal”, and quite prone to splintering, the hope is that wouldn’t happen if humanity could agree on a global ethos it would believe in. Replacing the idea of a god, or some deities, with belief in itself.

11.                      Religion as one, and its bifurcations

The life-cycle of a religion can also be seen in a macro context, integrating it into the theory of Bifurcation. This is also founded on the belief that something like a global ethos exists, on the same level as the laws of nature, and that history has two modes of existence.

After the initial “explosion” of a religion, it goes through a life cycle that can be compared to the flying track of a ball. When the religion is at its highest point of influence, a new religion is born, taking some of the values from the previous one and bringing new ones into play. In this way over centuries every religion is actually a part of a development upwards, closer to the discovery of a global ethos.

The essence of all religions is similar: Do something for the sake of the greater good, instead of for yourself.

Our teacher provided us with some evidence in class, that could indicate this theory to be correct. All world religions share specific teachings, such as the passive “Golden Rule”, or the more active idea of loving one’s enemy, even though their scriptures were written in different parts of the planet, by people who had never met and sometimes even had no influence on one another.

One important thing to note at this point is that the theory of Bifurcation of religions only work if these religions actually have an influence on one another. So, on the one hand we have this realization that many religions have similar core values, which indicates a global ethos, while on the other hand some religions may follow one another in bifurcations, one feeding off the other in an upwards development.

I think this theory is quite plausible, especially because of the indicators presented. Nevertheless, I think its important to remember that societies and politics also influence and shape religions, such as when a religion is suppressed by a government, out of non-, or at least only quasi-religious reasons, such as in many communist countries. Social movements, that are non-religious, can also have a huge influence, feed off one another, and lead humanity closer to a global ethos. Of course, this fact does not conclude this theory to be untrue, I just think its important to keep the whole make-up of developments in mind, and not focus too much on religion as a defining factor.

12.                      Conclusion

This course has been very enlightening for me. It was at times quite frustrating for me to first be presented with a theory, and with scientific evidence so much more later. I also think it would be helpful to offer some course literature that is critical of the theory of Bifurcation, and everything that goes with it, to gain some perspective.

Nevertheless, I think in these few weeks I learned many new things, especially about religion, and was able to hone my discussion skills as well. I think its always good to learn about new theories, so that they can be used as tools, as new glasses to look at the world in a different light and make some sense of it. I also thought it was interesting to think in this very holistic set-up, contemplating really big general questions about the world.

[digitalmark18-blog]

Locals learn tips for a new age of crime

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/locals-learn-tips-for-a-new-age-of-crime/

Locals learn tips for a new age of crime

Most people feel safe in their home. The doors are locked, windows are shut and police are a short phone call away.

But the digital era has created a new type of criminal who can break into any back door and can’t be tracked by the police. They don’t steal jewelry, cash or electronics, they steal information and identities.

They’re hackers and they exploit millions of victims who don’t know any better or can’t defend themselves.

“Nobody really wants to see themselves as a target, but it’s sort of a numbers game,” said Russ Schrader, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). “You have millions and millions of people who shop at retailers and get hacked. These things happen.”

Digital crime prevention is the focus of October’s 15th annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM), a campaign dedicated to educating the country on why cyber security is increasingly important as society becomes increasingly intertwined with the internet.

The world-wide web

Cyber crimes commonly include identity theft, digital extortion and data ransoms. It’s nearly impossible for local police to catch cyber criminals because most of them operate in different states and even different countries.

“They tend to be all around the world,” said Sgt. Steve Kerzman, a detective with the Bothell Police Department. “At a city police department level, a sheriff’s department level or even a state department level, it’s hard to chase those people down when they’re in other states and other countries because [the lack] of resources and funds available to go after them. Then on the federal level, they tend to go after bigger fish.”

Police instead focus on prevention and awareness, because one of the easiest ways for criminals to hack someone is for the victim to unknowingly give up their information. A well-known method for this is called a phishing scam.

Criminals can make fake email addresses and even fake websites that look nearly identical to a bank or other organization’s website. They’ll then contact someone with the phony address and attempt to trick the victim into paying them, giving up bank account information or even social security numbers.

“These individuals tend to target the elderly or vulnerable populations and often those people will send money to these outsiders before we’re even contacted and we’re often not able to get the money back for them,” Kerzman said.

Parr mentioned that a common computer scam is a phony pop-up that claims the victim’s computer is broken and needs to be repaired. Criminals will trick their victims into paying money to fix a computer that isn’t broken.

The best way to avoid phishing scams is to simply be aware that they’re out there and double check any email or website link that seems suspicious, police said. Criminals will often change a single letter or number in the email or website address that make it seem legitimate.

For example, bank0famerlca.com may seem official at first glance, but two letters were changed, the “i” to a “l” that is more obvious and the “o” to a “0” that is more subtle depending on the typeface.

Police also ask locals to call them to report any suspicious online interactions and before giving out any money online.

“We encourage people to say something early and often before they start sending money,” Kerzman said. “Contact local [your] local police department, if [you] feel like you’re being scammed, prior to sending any money to anybody for any reason.”

A plugged-in population

Unfortunately, criminals have more ways to steal information as the internet becomes more prominent. Social media has had an exponential growth over the past two decades and as personal information becomes more public, criminals have more access to it.

“They can go into social media and find out where you went to high school, so they know your high school mascot,” Schrader said. “You posted pictures of your brand new puppy, so they know the name of your first pet. They can go into genealogy websites and find out where you used to live and your mother’s maiden name. The internet is a wonderful font of information— it can be used for good, but it can be used for bad as well.”

Cyber criminals can also bypass the individual and run a digital bank heist. They’ll steal information straight from banks, retail stores or even national credit bureaus as seen in the 2017 Equifax hack— leaving millions exposed to identity theft all at once.

“The crooks are getting more and more sophisticated,” Schrader said. “There is a lot of very smart sophisticated people who can make huge amounts of money. So there is an incredible incentive for them to constantly be innovating and therefore we all have to be really really vigilant.”

While these large-scale hacks aren’t preventable on an individual level, Schrader said there are simple ways to guard against identity theft and lower risk.

“We all can be victims of cyber crime and you don’t want to realize you were wrong when it’s too late,” Schrader said. “So there are a lot of simple actionable steps that we propose that people take in order to help keep themselves safe.”

Lock your digital doors

The easiest way to keep information safe is to “lock down your log in.” Many services offer password management systems that allow users to keep their passwords in one secure location. This way, the user only needs to remember a single password to access all their other passwords.

The second step is creating long passwords that are difficult to crack.

“You need to have good passcodes or passphrases,” Schrader said. “The passwords don’t have to be all [jumbled] stuff, although that’s a good idea… but you want to make it hard to crack.”

Schrader mentioned song lyrics or nursery rhymes as suggestions for a secure but memorable password.

“For example, ‘Maryhad1littlelamb!’… It’s longer than something that’s easy to hack and you can easily remember it,” Schrader said.

Another easy way to make computers and smartphones more secure is to “keep a clean machine.”

Large tech companies often update their computer or smart phone operating systems, but they’re also keeping the security systems up to date.

“All of these [companies] see all these threats and find ways to patch the system and make it safer,” Schrader said. “Well they’ve taken it to your door, but you have to bring it over the threshold. You need to update your machine.”

Keeping a clean machine is especially important on smart phones that have thousands of apps, all with their own security updates. Schrader recommends deleting unused apps or apps that may have been downloaded by a grandchild or child.

“It’s been sitting on your phone and it just gathers information about you, it maybe insecure and the site is being hacked,” Schrader said. “So just get rid of it. If your kid or grandkid ever asks you to [get it] again, then just download it again.”

Schrader emphasized that while criminals are getting more sophisticated, there are also easy ways for people to protect themselves.

More information on NCSAM can be found online at staysafeonline.org. If locals think they may be a victim of identity theft or another crime, they can contact police and make a federal complaint at www.ic3.gov.

“It’s always going to be a cat and mouse game. There’s too much money at stake for the crooks not to keep trying,” Schrader said. “[But] I don’t want [people] to be overconcerned or stop using the internet. I want them to stop, I want them to think about what they’re doing and then connect in a way that’s meaningful, after they own their online presence and realize that they have a shared responsibility.”

Source: http://www.bothell-reporter.com/news/locals-learn-tips-for-a-new-age-of-crime/