#idol worship of the king's singers

[your-absent-father]

Beginning of chapter one of False Gods

It was a bigger story than anyone had seen before. It was more, much more than the stories where celebrities get outed as creepy or terrible people, or some asshole A-lister cheats on their girlfriend with an instagram model. It was more than the conspiracy theories where royalty of Hollywood gets away with murder. In this situation they almost got away with four, along with much more. 

False Gods have been on everyone’s lips since the first glimpse of their masks. They were something never seen before, a mix of Gorillaz and other fake bands whose creators were different than those performing the songs, but in their case, no one knew the facts inside the masks, who the performers for the masked figures were.  The whole concept was tailor made for idol worship. False Gods was a masked four-member group, which you could easily project on to, make up any personality to the members or pretend the members were whoever they pleased.  Unfortunately, like in everything based in reality, the facts ruined the ignorance of fantasy.

On the 27th of August 2019, five YouTube-videos were uploaded on The False Gods channel, the place they started in three years before, first with very elaborate teasers, something just a normal indie band could never afford. 

First came a video of a security footage of the dressing room from this year's Grammys, that showed seven people, most of them that would be arrested just mere days later from the video’s publication. The footage started with the Four members of The False Gods, fully decked out on their elaborate outfits they had worn for the Grammys just talking amongst each other. Around them were three other people, all that people have put names on. One of them was Elize Grant, noted on the Harkness agency’s website as the agent of False Gods. Others of the two were also from the Harkness agency, the CFO Valentine Lee, and the elusive CEO Evalyn Harkness who had taken the spot after her father was murdered in the coast of Mexico, which was rumored to be because of some criminal activity Harkness incorporated has always been rumored to be part of, or by the hands of his ex wife, heiress of the biggest Cartel in Mexico. 

The video was without audio, but at certain points of the video, you can clearly see the face of each member of the band without the mask as they start undressing. Jester the drummer, who wore a red and white jester mask with a sleek suit with similar colors, was revealed to be Louis Lee, the most unknown of the members, but is rumored to be Valentine Lee’s brother. The bassist DollFace, whose mask was full marble that covered most of her face, was revealed to be ex-fiancée of now infamous Vince May, who is now serving 12 years for vehicular manslaughter, domestic violence and arson. The group's singer, the elusive Roseblood, whose elegant rose mask had become a popular Halloween staple in recent years, was recognized as the granddaughter of Freddie Jones, also known as the drummer of Hectics, who were thought to become next Rolling Stones before the lead singer's premature passing. The most interesting reveal was the lead guitarist King, who hid himself behind a devil horned mask, who was revealed to be Stefan Harkness, Evalyn Harkness’s thought to be dead little brother. 

[childofchrist1983]

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV

This is the primary message of the Gospel Truth of Christ. It is the basis of our Christian faith. Paul is telling the Corinthians that this is the teaching that they must hold fast to. We have been saved to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What does being saved mean to you? When I read the Gospel books and the letters from the Apostles to the churches, I understand that being saved means that the gates of Heaven have been opened to me; but that I must choose to enter them.

Many doors and gates are open to us each day of our lives. Some of these, we choose to enter and others we walk past, some of them we walk past quickly! If we accept the fact that we are saved by Jesus Christ, it comes with the responsibility to share the Good News and to work with Jesus to bring a message of love and the need for justice to a world that is not always open to it. Christianity is more than a belief system - It is a way of life! We can walk through the doors of prayer, compassion and forgiveness, or we can walk through the doors of envy, discrimination and indifference. It's not enough to claim Jesus Christ as your Savior if you don't let Him lead you to His Truth and salvation and to the gates of the Kingdom.

Jesus is our Savior and He is also our LORD and King and that demands loyalty. Remember the Israelites: Things didn't work out so well when they were unfaithful and worshiped idols. We are not immune from worshiping idols either. We may not build altars to Baal, but some may build shrines to their favorite sports "idol." Others might put actors and actresses, singers or money or even themselves first in their lives over putting God first. Walking through these doors leads us to damnation and away from God and the gates of Heaven, not toward them. We need to believe in and follow Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ and we need to follow the road to the Kingdom of Heaven. God sent His only begotten Son to save us and open the gates to the Kingdom of Heaven to us. May He help us keep our eyes on the prize. The only one that truly matters!

Thank God for His strength and guidance when we are faced with sin. Thank Him for His mercy and grace. Through Bible study and prayer, God reveals His wisdom and guides us to see opportunities to grow closer to Him and grow spiritually. He gives us direction to live our lives according to His Holy Word and will. We must make God top priority everyday! May we be motivated to spread God's Holy Word and Gospel Truth to all the Earth, knowing that it is the only hope of all those lost in their sins. Let us not hold out a false hope for men to be saved without the Gospel, but instead, strive to do our part to get the Gospel out to a lost and dying world.

Leaning on Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ through prayer and His Holy Word and Spirit strengthens us and our knowledge and wisdom about God and His Gospel Truth, exposing these imposters. May God help us to seek and lean on Him daily to gain the strength, wisdom and spiritual discernment needed to expose Satan and his imposters who seek to destroy us and God's ultimate Truth. Everyday, we must remember to share Jesus Christ's Gospel Truth with the world and to thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the grace that He poured out for us on the cross at Calvary. He has freed us from the burdens of sin and from the eternal damnation of Hell. In all we say and do, may all praise, honor and glory always be given to Him and His Kingdom of Heaven.

With renewed minds, hearts and wills, let us serve Him humbly and faithfully out of pure love and grateful rejoicing. May He remind us of His presence and to remain at peace, fully knowing that all will be well because He is always with us. Let us seek Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ today and everyday with all our heart and being, looking for His love, light and will for our lives with each step we take. Let us seek to please Him with our thoughts, words, and deeds and seek to advance His Kingdom of Heaven and His glory with our lives. Let us seek Him from a pure and humble heart, and when we so seek, we believe Him and His promise that we will find. May He help us all to be more sensitive to the teaching ministry of His Holy Word and Spirit, relying on Him and allowing Him to speak to us and guide us every step of our Christian journey.

God gave us the Holy Bible - His living and Holy Word - to let us know of Him and His abiding love and care as well as guide and prepare us for all our lives. May He help us encourage one another as we continue our walk with Him and our duty to Him daily. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for being present for all our new beginnings and all our lives. May He redirect any anxiety we feel as He provides countless opportunities for growth and change. May we humble ourselves before God always, asking Him to forgive our sins and make our hearts and lives anew through His Holy Word and Spirit. May He help us make Him and His Holy Word top priority, so we can grow spiritually and grow in our relationship with Him as we apply it to our daily lives. Thank God that we can focus on Him and everything about Him, for that is what keeps us sane and at peace. May our words and actions always be a reflection of Him and His Holy Word and Spirit and will.

May He help us to always walk in His grace and Holy Spirit, not by our own measure. May He give us the humble humility to know that our freedom and eternal salvation is found only in Him, so that His grace may sustain us, and we may never lose sight of His love and light and mercy. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for calling us to Him and to serve Him. May He equip us to do all that He has called us to do so that as He works through us, He may use us to produce fruit, to reach others, and to encourage all brothers and sisters in Christ. May He work all of these things in us and through us for His Kingdom and His glory. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all His creation, for His miraculous ways and for everything He does and has done for us! Keep the faith and keep moving forward in your walk with Jesus! He loves us and He knows what is best for us. Seek, follow and trust in Him - Always!

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Word and for sending His Holy Spirit so that we might have His grace, not only to awaken us and transform our hearts in our spiritual rebirth and guarantee our eternity with Him, but to also call upon Him whenever we are in need. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all the reminders of His love and mercy and faithfulness within His Holy Word. He is bigger than any challenge or circumstance in our lives. Knowing this within our minds and our hearts, nothing can deter our faith in Him and His Truth. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful LORD, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

[ancestorsofjudah]

1 Kings 16: 21-28. "The Night Club Singer."

Omri means "ecstasy of worship." Ecstatic experiences according to the Tanakh are found in one place for one reason, and that is in the love crevasse after penetration by the stem of the love apple.

But the audience is divided. Let's see what happens next:

Omri King of Israel

21 Then the people of Israel were split into two factions; half supported Tibni son of Ginath for king, and the other half supported Omri. 

22 But Omri’s followers proved stronger than those of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king.

23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. 

24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents[a] of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria, after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill.

25 But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. 

26 He followed completely the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.

27 As for the other events of Omri’s reign, what he did and the things he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 

28 Omri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son succeeded him as king.

Tibni son of Ginath is the competitor for Ecstatic Worship, which we know from the previous section defines and unites the people. So long as they worship with the wine and not the poison, the affairs of a praiseful people should not go awry.

Tibni "the intelligence shield" is how this is done:

The verb בנה (bana) means to build, mostly of stone buildings and thus of houses and thus of families and dynasties: hence the association between this verb and the nouns אבן ('eben), stone, and בן (ben), son.

Noun בניה (binya) means a building in the sense of a structure. Noun מבנה (mibneh) means building in the sense of place of building. Noun תבנית (tabnit) means building in the sense of the act of building: a construction, pattern or image.

Noun תבן (teben) means straw (the stems of grains), which was inserted into clay to enhance the structural integrity of the building. We do the same today with carbon fibers.

The verb גנן (ganan) means to surround, cover or defend. Nouns גן (gan) and גנה (ganna) mean garden. Noun מגן (magen) means shield and verb מגן (magan) means to shield or deliver.

Worship wins. Is this a good thing or not?

The Gematria for v . 23 states: 7114, זאאד‎‎‎‎, zaad, "to perceive the reverence in the voice."

za=

The verb זוע (zua') means to tremble or quake out of reverence (Esther 5:9), aggression (Habakkuk 2:7), or old age (Ecclesiastes 12:3). The verb occurs only these three times in the Bible.

Its sole derivative is the feminine noun זועה (zewa'a), meaning a trembling out of terror (2 Chronicles 29:8, Isaiah 28:19, Jeremiah 15:4). Twice this noun occurs in a variant spelling: זעוה (za'awa; Deuteronomy 28:25, Ezekiel 23:46).

ad=

The verb αδω (ado) means to sing, chant or recite: to sound the voice. It's a contraction of the verb αειδω (aeido), which in the classics could apply to the human voice but also to that of crowing or hooting birds, croaking frogs, the whistling wind and even objects such as a twanging bow string or a ringing rock when struck.

The pedigree of this verb is unclear, although it's generally thought to relate to αυδη (aude), voice or speech, which in turn appears to relate to the Sanskrit noun vada, speech.

These words' similarity to the familiar Latin audio, which ultimately stems from the Proto-Indo-European root "au-", to perceive, appears to be accidental.

Our verb αδω (ado) evidently emphasizes the human voice, and thus the text-part of a song.

Certainly worship without a brain is no good, as is worship without reverence for nature and humanity. The Tanakh regularly discusses how diabolical intelligence is without proper perception of the nature of God that is beneath all that manifests in creation.

Because this text is within the Melachim, a handbook for Jewish Royals, we are told to follow this ideal in the Court. It must be enforced by example and the protocols that govern the church and temple.

The next verse also has Gematria:

24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents[a] of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria, after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill.

Samaria =

The verb שמר (shamar) means to guard or to exercise great care over. Noun שמרה (shomra) means guard. Noun שמר (shimmur) means night watch. Noun אשמורה ('ashmura) or אשמרת ('ashmoret) refers to the night watch as unit of time.

Noun משמר (mishmar) describes the "place or agent" of guarding, which may come down to either a prison or a guard, but it may also describe the keeping on some religious observances or something like that.

Noun משמרת (mishmeret), literally meaning "with the function of watching," used in the sense of a charge or obligation; an official function of guarding. Noun שמרה (shemura) describes an eyelid.

Two Talents of Silver are 2366, בגוו‎‎‎ , "in the ocean". A city on a hill is 1104, אא‎‎אֶפֶסד, "I'm sorry"

If we broaden the equation to the rest of the verse, "A city on a hill that is called..." =3514, ג‎הא‎ד‎, gahad,

ga=all non-human nations

ha=have witnessed

ad=but can advance

SO if we look in the surface of the sea, we can become more like God and become less sorry. But first we must be aware of what lies ahead- so we want to say to God I am sorry when we Audience with him, or do we want to say we made something out nothing and became like Him, incorporate His values and become more like the infinite?

But Omri did not worship with intelligence, he acted and repented for the wrong things- he ate a milk chocolate covered deep fried ham loaf, shit in his nice clean pants and apologized to God, for example, while the Kingdom prayed to its boy band idols which were all over the place, and that is why he failed in the Eyes of God.

=9961, טטו‎א, tatua

ta=hired a harlot

tu=became visually impaired as if peering through smoke

ah=and created a fad

=No political parties.

The City on the Hill that Watches sees through the worship of the wrong things and finds what is insightful, intelligent, brilliant and miraculous in the writing of our ancestors and projects itself forward, as far as possible in the building of a free and prosperous people that are utterly untroubled about a single thing.

To worship, publish the peace and live within it, knowing God was right to tell us to do it, this is verily the cause of the ecstasy of worship. For this to be possible we need a King and Court that are willing to invest in it and stand behind the Agreement mankind made with God so far now in the distant past.

[dracophile]

I saw another discussion that she wasn’t a good Beelzebub because she’s too dog/fox-like and not enough insect for the “lord of the flies”.

But here’s the thing...that’s not what Ba’al is either at his origins. He’s a fuckin man bull thing.

The word Ba'al-zebûb in rabbinical texts is a mockery of the Ba'al religion, which ancient Hebrews considered to be idol worship. Jewish scholars have interpreted the title of "Lord of the Flies" as the Hebrew way of calling Ba'al a pile of excrement, and comparing Ba'al followers to flies.

Ba’al is not an insect demon. Ba'al is a Canaanite-Phoenician god of fertility and weather, specifically rainstorms and was commonly depicted as a a bull-like man or creature. The fly motif came due to the above, where it was an insult to those that still worshiped him.

And in Bayonetta, Baal is depicted as a toad and...opera singer?

And THIS is what he looks like in the Lesser Key of Solomon

(I swear they were smoking something doing that book...)

And many confuse Beelzebub as just another name for Satan/Lucifer/The devil anyway.

Basically, it’s open to interpretation. I think a party girl living in excess, trying to get everyone drunk and gorging on her food while also consuming everything and never being full is a STELLAR interpretation. Half insect, half canine also seems perfectly justifiable for a demon.

Vivzi has also said she based a bunch of the kings of hell on circus acts with Lucifer being the ringmaster, and Bee’s act would be the animal tamer, hence why she loves hellhounds, has hoops all through her house, and is a party animal. I think it’s not a traditional look at Beelzebub, or Ba’al, and that’s great! I think it’s fun to actually use your own imagination to design characters and not restrict yourself so hard to something that’s already been done, while still staying true to the core of story’s basis.

"Queen Bee doesn't look like a properly designed Beelzebub! There's nothing on her design that says Glutony!"

Ok... so we're talking about the sin about over self-indulgence, about seeking satisfaction through something you ingest, waste of food, eat or drink stuff that is bad for your body, waste money on overly expensive food....

I wonder is there is a type of escenario where all that happens at once.... oh yes. PARTIES.

So.....

A party queen. One with hair and tail made of the HONEY SHE MENTIONS DON'T STOP ON HER THEME SONG.

A belly that I bet can digest everything so she's NEVER EVER FULL of food or drinks. Also, works as another big clue.

Offers food and drink non-stop, is always up to get something in her, and has a pool full of what seems to be magical honey that she can turn into sweets.

.....nope. Not a convincing Glutony Queen at all. XD

[indo-europeans]

eve (>kali?) was originally worshipped from ancient times and there was no heaven for humans

heaven not for humans, only for the anthropomorphic, immortal gods who required food and drink as well as alcohol - who would assemble at mountains for meetings; deities personifying nature, then tutelary deities for each town and polytheism (3600 deities); ppl of all classes baring the names of particular deities; underworld of demons with stairway to 7 gateways/levels where everyone went regardless of class or actions; raised altars resembling sacred mountains as well as courtyards with basins and water for cleansing visitors; idols were consecrated through rituals and fed - the images were dressed, burned incensed for, and served banquets twice a day which priests may have taken too; regular sacrificial meals were set out regularly with sacrificed animals in place of humans for the gods’ anger; certain days required ceremonies for certain gods - everyday was sacred for a particular god; holy trees; the universe being surrounded by ocean;  search for immortality and great flood myths; storm god defeating snake/dragon myth; priests to appease the wrath of gods with song and music; female and male singers;  some rulers believed certain deities to be personal protectors and much later, common ppl had personal gods too maintained through prayer and maintaining the statue; public & private rituals for good luck, success and protection from disease and demons; strong fear of demons; incantations and ceremonies also used to cure diseases which were also thought to be caused by demons; images of protecting spirits were also made to place at gates to ward off disaster - or to capture a demon an image was created of it, placed above the head of a sick person and then destroyed; belief that gods already determined the destinies of people which could be ascertained through rituals and observing omens like astrology and interpretations of dreams or “lower class” withcraft; god as lord (belu cf. vel?) and man as servant or sale (ardu) to fear (puluhtu) the gods; sin was punished through sickness or misfortune which meant common reference to unknown sins, or transgressing a gods without realizing it - not concrete sins which could apply to the nation and history as a whole - punishment from gods and how kings were used for deliverance is seen in the ancient literature; marriages were arranged through parents - which became legal when the groom gave a bridal gift to the bride’s father?; premarital sex was prohibited but still common, just surreptitious; worship of inanna/ishtar involved wild, frenzied dancing and bloody ritual celebrations of social and physical abnormality - nothing was prohibited to her -- signifying that one could cross over from the “conscious everyday world into the trance world of spiritual ecstasy”; sangu (cf. sanskrit sanga) - priest-rulers who lived in temple complexes as state administrators responsible of large irrigation processes, accompanied by vocalists and instrumentalists  -- followed by the advent of kings & palaces as we see later, particularly in Post-Vedic South Asia mirror Sumerian city-states

the switch from the centrality goddesses to gods came with Akkadian syncretizing their own (Semitic) gods and making them dominant. 

[rionsanura]

oh, y’all. last night I saw the King’s Singers.

There is never really a good way to explain what this means. Ensemble singing may be the closest thing to spirituality I comprise. It’s definitely a kind of communion to sing with other people, and it can even be communion to watch and listen to other people, who are very good at it, sing together. It’s surprisingly literally visceral, too, gut-borne and not only philosophical or musical. You have to breathe together in basically the same way you do when someone’s life depends on it, feel each other breathing, feel the same thing move you together. When an ensemble is very good, both very careful and very free at the same time, they can make you feel like you are with them even if you’re not singing.

These guys are very good.

Of course that’s not news to me; the group as an institution was founded in 1968 and my mom first saw them a few years before I was born, ensuring I was raised in the knowledge of their whole-group-before-individuals philosophy of singing. It’s not something that gets a lot of play in the vocal world, even in college or graduate music school; most everyone is trained as a soloist. There’s a children’s choral background underneath most advanced singers, though, especially in Britain. That’s where this particular urgent vocal communism comes from, and the technique and chops of the individual singers that make up the group have increased over the decades like pretty much any musical discipline does.

So the myriad of albums I grew up with (as a less-than-three-year-old I literally learned all the Beatles songs that were on the KS Beatles album from that album before I ever heard the originals) may not have the same exact parameters of perfection that some of the newer ones do, but they certainly exemplify the same togetherness that was the whole point in the first place. I drank that down very early on, and internalized it good.

I’m not really that interested in much group participation except in this particular way, with which I am life-alteringly obsessed. So when the ensemble who set off this slowbomb is within a 5-hour drive of where I live, I’m going to see it. Especially if it’s free.

There was some significant turnover in membership since the last time I saw them, and of course it’s unreasonable to be worried about the new kids, because 1) they got picked for a reason and 2) it’s their job, but it’s hard to help it. Luckily, worries were completely murdered and buried. Boy did they work it out. Maybe even more seamlessly integrated than their predecessors. I’ve rhapsodized about the shine of colors through the bands of light before, or the complementary textures, or other sensory analogies that have more or less relevance to the literal experience, but there is no accurate way to describe the kind of satisfaction you get from when the voices lock in and you can’t even tell they come from separate bodies. It’s one instrument, played transcendently by six people, which requires a kind of trained and practiced telepathy and enough physical compatibility that it has its own genre of relationship definition in my psyche.

The new kids have their own gleaming and faceted prisms through which to split, bend or focus the whole, and their telepathy reception is already better than that on a lot of the old recordings. So the fact that a lot of the repertoire was stuff I’ve fixated on and analyzed in minute detail only added to how overwhelmingly good it was, how impressed I was. Impressed: it is to be pressed into by something to make a mark. Yes. It’s a physical process. They were all shaping me.

The fact that they’re all also exemplary human beings adds another layer of magic to the proceedings; you meet them afterwards, and they are the nicest dudes you’ll ever encounter, but they’re clearly just dudes. This unreasonable concord, this aural sacrament, was practiced by six nice boys. For all my canonical ensemble-related introspection tag, it’s impossible to idol-worship them. Meet your heroes. They’re just people. They’re doing what you’re doing, later in the process. You can do it.

[gralunaisland]

I feel I have to clarify a tiny something, for informative purposes. You've said before that Juvia using '-sama' on Gray makes him uncomfortable because it's like referring to a god-- I'm sorry, that's a little inaccurate. It does make him uncomfortable, I'm talking about the 'like a god' thing! Sorry if I come off as rude, it kinda bothered me :( Don't worry, your point still stands I just wanna explain more about 'sama'.

"-sama" is indeed used to address god, ("Kami-sama"). But it depends on the context for the level of superiority you're talking about here. It's kind of like the word 'dear' in English, depending on the context, it can be 'Dear Father god', or it can be a formal 'dear' for letters, or it can be a sweet 'dear' like a loving old aunt. (Of course, that is just an example, I'm not saying sama is equivalent to dear, I'm just saying that similarly, context matters.)

It is definitely a high form of respect, you also use it for your Master/Boss in a formal/more historical setting, eg you're a servant or a worker in a mansion, you refer to the Master of the House as 'Lord'. Lucy is also referred to as '-sama' by her maids in the mansion. It is very respectful, but not something as dramatic as divine/worshipping. Juvia using it is displaying a sort of idolisation. Think of it like this-- someone in Japan who is unhealthily fanatical about their favourite Kpop star/Idol/Singer would refer to them as '-sama'. Doesn't the behaviour of a fanatical Kpop stan, who gathers posters and merch of their idol, kind of resemble Juvia's ridiculously creepy room? Of course, Juvia takes things a step further by stalking Gray, and, everything else I will not mention, but at least in part, that is what her '-sama' usage is based on.

Intense idolation and adoration. Which is still not healthy or good, especially since Gray is very uncomfortable about this. He did not sign up to be one, and Juvia, must like toxic Kpop fans, projects her idea of Gray onto him, restricting his freedom in various ways.

Thank you for trying to clarify things for me! And aww don't worry, my friend, you don’t seem rude at all!

I think you might’ve misunderstood me though. I’m sorry if I wasn't clear enough in that post, but let me clarify myself now.

(If people are curious which post Anon is referring to, it's this one, the Ichiya and juvia comparison post.)

I already know that the -sama suffix isn't only used when addressing or referring to God. (I hear it a lot in anime used in many contexts). I'd tried to make that clear in my post too.

Here is the quote from my post that you're referring to in your ask: "I know they use that term when speaking to someone of muuuuch higher status than the speaker, like when they're referring to God, they say "kami-sama". Here, I said like when referring to God, as in kami-sama is merely one example of -sama's usage. I think it's a great example to show how much respect accompanies the use of this suffix, but I wasn't equivocating using it with calling someone God.

That's why I also mentioned: ""If you think about it, it's about the equivalent of this person who's unhealthily obsessed with you bowing down to you and calling you "your royal highness" or "your lordship" or "my queen/king"". I think this shows that I didn't equivocate -sama with Godhood. This is what you sort of say in your ask too, that you would "use it for your Master/Boss in a formal/more historical setting", so we're really agreeing here. Anyway, I used these examples because English doesn't really have a perfect equivalent. The closest thing to it in terms of how it's used grammatically is "sir", I guess, because we don't use suffixes like the Japanese language does. However, -sama is much more respectful than just sir or ma'am, which is why I didn’t mention it.

But I am totally with you that juvia uses -sama to express her “intense idolization and adoration”! That was basically my point when I brought it up in my post, especially that all of those feelings are unwanted by Gray, and yet she forces them onto him regardless. I’m glad you agree that what juvia is doing is wrong and that he didn’t sign up for this. I also agree with you completely, that juvia “projects her idea of Gray onto him, restricting his freedom in various ways”! I couldn’t have said it better myself!

I really appreciate you clarifying everything, especially for those who don't know that much about -sama, but I just wanted to make sure you knew what I meant in that post. Thank you again for taking your time to inform everyone!

[anchanted-one]

Children of the Storm, Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Inner Workings

Master Oteg could not help but look around the Temple atrium again. It was a well-built structure, just like the rest of this city. Every inch of the pillars was covered in carvings of deities, their messengers and mounts, and demons. There were several large bells that people rang at the end of their prayer. All of these were hundreds of years old, just like the structure.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43158375/chapters/108510619

An hour prior, the people had filled the compound and watched as hundreds of large lamps were lit and placed on a lamp tower. A young singer, probably Nariel’s age, sang a lovely song as the devotees prayed in absolute silence. Once she finished her song, the final lamp was lit, and all seven of the temple doors were thrown open to show the two-meter-tall idol within, decorated beautifully with rich cloth and colors.

The main temple’s doorway was wide enough for him to see from his vantage point.

Oteg hadn’t needed Sumathi to tell him that this was Rudra, their ancestor and hero deity. According to her, it was a good likeness as it had been carved by his son. And despite the statue having eight arms rather than four, Oteg could believe it; when he saw the idol up close, he saw several imperfections such as moles, age lines, and scars, quite unlike the perfection most cultures bestowed upon their gods.

Whether Rudra had been an actual god, however, Oteg sincerely doubted. While it wasn’t uncommon for creatures like the Bendu to appear in the physical plain and be worshipped as gods, beings like them did not age and die. They did not have twelve children. In fact, Oteg believed that it was something more to be a hero than a deity. Mortal beings were imperfect and weak after all. Riddled with doubt and pain. A mortal who could persevere through unimaginable odds and save their people was worthy of adoration. Perhaps that’s why hero-deities were so common.

Priests chanted hymns as they went about performing rituals whose true meanings were probably lost to time. They decorated idols with flowers, leaves, seashells, jewelry and ivory, they lit incense sticks, and offered fruits to the deities in the shrine.

It was so rare these days to see life in a society like this, these days.

He saw Tarsten enter the complex and clasped his palms and bowed at the statue in the same fashion as the Raudra did. Then he looked around, and his eyes fell on Oteg. He left his footwear at the door—again in respect to Raudra custom—and walked up to the small Jedi Master, B8 at his tail.

“I see you’ve started to go native, Corporal!”

The man laughed. “I try to follow house rules whenever they’re not bad.”

“I take it your research trip has borne some fruit?”

“A little,” Tarsten sat down beside him. “Like you said earlier, we’ve only known ‘em a few hours, and this isn’t an unsophisticated culture. And I’ve only had like forty minutes!”

The old Jedi Master chuckled. “Whatever little you have learned, I am eager to hear!”

“Well to start with, their gods. They have either seventeen million gods, or seventeen varieties. Bait discovered the possible mistranslation right before we entered the temple.”

“I think it’s the latter, sir,” the droid said. “But remember that there are cultures out there who have gods assigned to every rock, mountain, tree and bend in a river. But even for them, seventeen million seems a lot.”

“Indeed. As you can guess, Rudra is one of their chief deities. His edicts govern their everyday life. The first one: ‘All of my children are born free, and no king, god, or demon may take that away.’”

“Very noble,” Oteg nodded.

“Yes. The Raudra are big on that edict. Any time we bring up slavery on other worlds, it enrages them. But at the end of the day, those slaves aren’t Raudra, so those slavers are ‘merely’… evil rather than sacrilegious.”

“‘Our way is not their way’.”

“Indeed. That’s their third edict, by the way. ‘The goat is not the tiger. It is foolish for one to expect the other to live as they do’. Apparently, there was another race on this world called the ‘Iakshas’. They were similar to the Raudra in many ways, but different. The Raudra fought them many times in their ancient history and hated them; but they freed the Raudra as their namesake fought the great serpent. They also provided a distraction as his children armed themselves. Many died. In fact, they died out not long after, having lost many of their women to the serpent. I believe this was why they helped Rudra in the first place. It was when they fought alongside them that Rudra and his people realized that their blood ran the same colors, their love for their families was no less. That was why Rudra made sure to include tolerance as part of his creed.”

“So that was the third edict?”

“Yes. The second edict is ‘the society is a giant—organism for want of a better word—and the Raudra are only as strong as our society. If any aspect of their society is weak, the organism cannot survive strife.’ And by that he meant that warriors, priests, producers, servants, philosophers, rulers, artisans, merchants, laborers and builders. Each group is important. None more so than any other.”

“It seems like the Raudra have come close to a utopia!”

“I don’t know about that, Master Jedi,” Tarsten disagreed. “That second edict… well, those classes I mentioned? They’re not hereditary by law, but they are by tradition. Especially in their cities. A child born to a priest will almost always be a priest themselves. They can technically become an artisan if they wish, but finding a teacher is difficult. Most parents only pass on secrets to their families. And even though they are all supposed to be equal, in reality…”

“Some degree of inequality has crept into place, I assume?”

“Right. The servants probably have it the worst. They cannot say no to any order. At least, those related to their duties. If a child asks one to clean up their room, they can’t say no. Even if they have other things to do. And often, people refuse to perform different duties—even if it’s critical—unless there is absolutely no other choice. On the plus side, no one will ever hurt anyone who isn’t a warrior or noble in battle. If two clans are fighting—and it isn’t unheard of—the warriors will ignore any servants who happen to be on the battlefield. In the same way, the other classes are off-limits too. And more about the inequality; the nobility and priests look down on the other classes. And the philosophers too, to a lesser degree. Which is interesting, because to be fully considered a noble or a philosopher, they have to live among each of the other classes for a year each. Live as them. They’re taught how by their elders, of course. You’d think that would breed some sympathy, but apparently not. It’s just so that they can optimize them. There’s some darkness under there. It’s a society whose rulers might one day become openly oppressive.”

“That’s a terrible shame.”

“There’s something else I thought you should know. Most of the Raudra can feel the ‘Gift’ to a small extent. I doubt they could ever be Jedi. But it’s there. And Rudra…” Tarsten hesitated, looked around covertly before Oteg chuckled.

“They cannot understand you, Soldier.”

“Like I said, they can use the Force. I’ve seen people do weird things before. Anyway. Rudra struck down his enemy, the great serpent, with a tower of lightning.”

“The same as the Devarath priest.”

“I believe the priest’s name was Aparajitha. Anyway. I heard the details of Rudra’s fight in greater detail. His wife fell dead before his eyes, protecting him from a blow. And he howled in pain and rage. He fired Lightning from his outstretched fingertips as the thunderclouds gathered above him. He then fired off a lightning bolt from the sky, what was what penetrated the serpent’s hide, killing him at once. There is no doubt in my mind. He embraced the Dark Side. Even for a moment. He never again showed that kind of inclination in his life, promoting peace and cooperation. But his claim to fame came from using the Dark Side.”

Oteg thought that over before nodding carefully. “And they worship him for it.”

“Like I said, he only used it that once.”

“Perhaps, but the Raudra were lucky. Too often, that single contact is the undoing of a Jedi. It is for this reason why we discourage attachments.”

“Still… he wasn’t one of them. I suppose that is heroic in its own way.”

Oteg had to agree.

“There was a fourth edict, by the way. ‘Never forget your soul. Even if grief or anger or pain make it feel slippery in your hands, always hold to yourself. Never forget your pride and honor as my children. Never let the storm within take you’. Almost a warning against the Dark Side’s allure, I think.”

“So… freedom, unity—and dignity, tolerance, and self-control,” Oteg summarized. He thought for several moments. “They are a good people,” he realized. “But on the edge. It would take a small push to get them to Fall.”

“Not happened once in over a thousand years. Not once. And there has been cause in all those times. Rudra and Aparajitha weren’t the only ones to summon Lightning. But it was always for the same reason. Protecting everyone else. Those stone tablets you see at the feet of their lord? All names. All theirs. They are considered aspects of their Father for their sacrifice. Aparajitha’s name will be added there at the next full moon. He will be the eleventh to receive that honor. It seems that they who are chosen by Rudra to defend his children… well, their third eye turns white.”

“So in summary, there is little for us to fear?”

“Yes, sir. It seems Sumathi has decided that we’re to be afforded the same rank as high nobility. Even us grunts. And like you said, no one has challenged her action.”

“I take it she’s a noble?”

“Yes, Master Jedi. But Clan nobles and priests do not have the same holier-than-thou attitude as the city nobles, which is why they are more loved than the high ones.”

“Interesting, this all is.”

“One last thing. I’ve heard who your Council is going to be. The Head Priestess of the temple, Meghna. Indran, the highest-ranking noble in the city, the son of the former king—apparently the title isn’t hereditary, but they didn’t have time to do it right. And five top advisors, all philosophers. Sumathi will be there, and Sukanya will be watching over Vajra. She is to serve as his guardian, in case…”

“In case we try to take him by force.”

“Exactly. And… because of an interesting turn of events, every Raudra in the city will fight to the death to defend him, if they think it comes to that.”

“Why? What turn of events?”

“His third eye has turned white.”

Sumathi jogged in their direction, a small smile on her face. She said something, and B8 translated. “It is almost time. We need to summon anyone who is attending.”

“Tarsten?”

Tarsten began talking into his comm.

*

[postoastblog]

15 Unknown Facts About Lord Hanuman, The Symbol Of Strength And Energy

Lord Hanuman is one of the most worshiped deities in the Hindu religion. The Lord is celebrated for his courage, strength, and the divinity of his protection. His legendary tales are well documented in Ramayana and were one of the central roles in this mythology. A loyal disciple of Shree Ram, Our Bajrangbali was a naughty one as a child and was blessed by the Gods to possess supreme powers. Our knowledge of Hanuman comes from most of the retellings of Ramayana or modern TV series but His godliness is mentioned in other texts including Puranas, Jain texts, the Mahabharata, and so on.

A presence so extraordinary has a life that is much more astonishing, and so we bring you some lesser-known interesting facts from the life of Lord Hanuman.

1. Pawanputra Hanuman was an incarnation of Lord Shiva

There are various versions of the story and various dialogues but the birth of Hanuman was enabled by a curse on a celestial angle (Apsara), a boon from Lord Shiva, and the God of wind, Vayu. The son of Kesari and Anjana, Hanuman is known as Pawanputra (Son of Wind). The deed was fulfilled by Vayu but the course of nature had set for Shiva to be a loyal companion to Rama during his rule. Thus, Hanuman was born.

2. Hanuman was not Lord’s birth name

The name was coined to describe the disfigurement of the Lord’s jaw after he was struck by Indra’s thunderbolt. As a child named Maruti, the Lord miss took Sun to be a ripe fruit in his hunger and went with all his vigor to grab it. This angered Indra who stuck the child with a Lighting bolt. This left the child with an injured cheek and jaw.

Hanuman is derived from the word Hanumat of Sanskrit. Hanumat is the joining of a word and a suffix. Hanu or Hanoo means Jaw and Mat becomes the suffix. So, Hanuman means one who has swollen or disfigured jaw.

3. Lord Hanuman had five bothers

Brahmanda Purana verses 223 – 227 states that Anjana and Kesari had in total five sons of which Hanuman was the eldest. The names of Lord Hanuman’s siblings in order of their birth are Matiman, Srutiman, Ketuman, and Dhritman.

In the Mahabharata period, Pandu and Kunti's son Bhima have also been called the brother of Hanuman Ji.

4. The color Red/ Orange of the Lord’s idol

Once Lord Hanuman observed Sita adorning vermilion on her forehead and asked why is this part of her daily rituals. For which Sita explained that Sindoor (vermilion) is a representative of Shree Ram’s long life, love, and respect for her husband. The adherent devotion towards Shree Ram propelled Lord Hanuman to cover his body completely with Sindoor. Impressed with the deed of Hanuman Lord Rama granted a boon that those who will worship Hanuman with sindoor in the future would see all their difficulties go away. And this is why temples represent Lord Hanuman’s Idol in Vermilion color.

5. The Brahmachari Lord had a son Makardhwaja

Lord Hanuman was a Brahmachari (celibate) and yet he fathered a son named Makardhwaja. It is said that after burning Lanka with his fire-lit tail he dipped his tail in the sea to cool off. There the sweat from his body was ingested by a fish and Makardhwaja was conceived.

6. Lord Hanuman’s presence in the Kurukshetra war

Lord Hanuman was present in form of his featured flag on the chariot of Arjuna as he led into the battlefield of Kurukshetra. This was done as a reverence to Lord Krishna who is one among the Dasha Avtaar of God Vishnu, same as Shree Ram. Lord Hanuman’s presence granted the chariot and its inmates with protection and as soon as the battle was won, and Hanuman regained its original form, the empty chariot reduced to ashes.

7. Lord Hanuman first hand heard the preaching’s of Bhagavad Gita

As the Lord was harboring on top of Arjuna’s chariot in form of the flag, it is believed that he was among the only four who first hand heard Bhagavad Gita preached by Lord Krishna. The other three being Arjuna, Sanjaya and Barbarik.

8. Lord Hanuma’s scripture of Ramayana

It is said that Lord Hanuman too documented his version of Ramayana on the walls of the cave he resided in. And his version of the story was much more splendid and glorious than that of Valmiki’s. As Lord Hanuman scripted it just to relive the events and remember his Shree Ram, he discarded his version to aid Valmiki’s poem of Ramayana.

9. Panchamukhi Hanuman

It is said that Lord Hanuman took the form of Panchamukhi (The Five-Headed) to kill the demon king of Patala (netherworld) who had kidnapped Rama and Lakshmana. On the mission of rescuing them, Hanuman learned that to kill Ahiravana you need to extinguish five candles, in which the demon king’s soul resides, at the same time. So, Lord Hanuman morphed into Five heads(go through the above-inserted image):

• In center was Hanuman. • In south Narasimha, a lion’s visage • In west Ahiravana, an eagle’s head (Garuda) • In north Varaha, head of a boar. • Facing the sky was the Hayagriva, head of a horse.

10. Lord Hanuman has 108 names in Sanskrit

The Ashtottara Shatanamavali (collective names) of Lord Hanuman has 108 names in Sanskrit, including Anjaneya, Hanumanta, Mahavira, and so on.

11. Lord Hanuman is immortal

In Hindu texts, there is mention of eight Chiranjivis (immortal beings) and Lord Hanuman is one of them. It is said that he will walk this earth chanting Shree Ram’s name and stories until the end of Kaliyuga.

There are some notable religious reformers who believe to have seen Lord Hanuman in their lifetime, including Madhvacharya (13th century CE), Tulsidas (16th century), Samarth Ramdas (17th century), Raghavendra Swami (17th century), and Swami Ramdas (20th century).

12. Lord Hanuman is viewed as a protector

Lord Hanuman was blessed by Goddess Kali to be at her dwara-paal or gate-keeper as a protector and guard. And Lord Shani blessed Lord Hanuman with a boon that any who worships Lord Hanuman would see the end of their troubles. And these two reasons stem from the belief of invoking Lord Hanuman would help fight against any sorcery.

13. Lord Hanuman the scholar

Lord Hanuman is revered for his strength and power but it’s very few know that Lord Hanuman was an erudite scholar. He received his education from the Lord Surya (Sun God). He was well versed in all the Hindu texts including Vedas, Tantra, and so on. Tantriks believe Lord Hanuman was mighty accomplished in this field as the Lord had had supremacy in eight occult powers, those being:

• Anima – The power to reduce one’s size. • Mahima – Aptitude to increase one’s size. • Laghima – The prowess to become weightless. • Garima – Ability to increase weight. • Prapti – The gift to travel anywhere and obtain anything. • Parakamya – Mastery over willpower. • Vastiva – Mastery over all creatures. • Isitva – Godliness of being able to create and destroy.

14. The Surya Namaskara (salutation to the sun), was devised by Hanuman

It is hardly unbelievable with the agility and strength Lord Hanuman poses to acknowledge the fact that the Lord was a Yogi. He was the inventor of Surya Namaskar (sun salutation) which was a way of greeting his teacher, Surya Devta. And the Lord was the first to teach Pranayama to mankind.

15. Lord Hanuman a master Singer

In the Narada Purana, Lord Hanuman is described as a master vocalist. It was a boon given to him by Narad Muni.

[singeratlarge]

FRIDAY FLASHBACK “Over Under Sideways Down” 55 years ago today there was an earth-shaking 45rpm shout-out, a greeting in 786 languages: "Hey!" It had the power to soldier dry bones and shatter despair in the rats alley of the poet’s heart. "Hey!" is battle cry, alarm, seduction, and party yell, heard in sports arenas, bazaars, bedrooms, street corners, and houses of worship. It’s the "Hey!" in “Over Under Sideways Down” by The Yardbirds.

"(Hey) Over under sideways down,

"(Hey) Backwards forwards square and round.

"When will it end? When will it end?"

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."—Solomon, Book of Ecclesiastes.

The American version of the 60s was about busting away from The Establishment, inflamed by assassinations and racism. Conversely, the English version sought after a New Establishment, run by resilient entrepreneurs, able to absorb and transform culture into a thrilling invention of celebrity, crime, cuisine, fashion, film, fine art, media, satire, scandal, sexuality, and spirituality. "’Over Under Sideways Down’ was very much about the mood of the day," said Yardbirds co-founder/drummer Jim McCarty. The first verse is Keith Relf’s mudwrestling in self-judgement amidst the clamor of “Swinging London”:

"Hey! Cars and girls are easy come by in this day and age,

"Laughing, joking, drinking, smoking, till I've spent my wage.

"When I was young, people spoke of immorality,

"All the things they said were wrong are what I want to be"

In his day, Relf voiced some fearlessly profound lyrics, touching on prejudice ((“Mister You’re a Better Man Than I”), the sin nature of man (“Ever Since the World Began”), and the search for wisdom (“Shapes of Things”). Relf was photogenic but attempts to market him as a teen idol didn’t fly. Instead, a mystique grew around him, perhaps caused by his scarcity of face time in the pages of 16 and Teen Beat.

"I find comments 'bout my looks irrelativity,

"Think I'll go and have some fun, ‘cos it's all for free. I’m not searching for a reason to enjoy myself

Seems it’s better than to argue with somebody else”

Guitar-titans Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page had career-launches in The Yardbirds. The band came with Relf and the sturdy rhythm section of drummer McCarty, bassist/guitarist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell-Smith, and band members later laid hands on the careers of Cream, Led Zeppelin, Manfred Mann, Renaissance, Cat Stevens, and others.

“Over Under Sideways Down” came about after the band was in a van on a drive after a gig. The radio was set to a 1950s rock’n’roll program. Bill Haley & the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” came on, with the walking bass line that informed “OUSD.” McCarty said they all cried, "Wow, if we could only write a song that good." The song has become a theme for art exhibits, and a median in a 2005 college course on philosophy. One student wrote, "Culture, or the arts, often beats out science to a ‘qualitative’ explanation over a strictly formalized explanation (though it may be said that artists themselves haven't a clue as to what the meaning is)."

At 2:21 in the original recording, the "Heys!" get longer, like a Valhallan prayer reverberating long past the fade out, or like an echo of King David’s 39th Psalm. Like Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley, Relf died "too young," but beyond their mortal coils, musicians of this caliber keep transmitting the art of what is possible.

"I thought Beck's signature riff on ‘OUSD was an electric violin! I had never heard an electric sound like that," said guitarist/singer-songwriter Michael Roe of the seminal California band, The 77s. Their muscular remake heightens the metaphysical rustle of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UuxEuSA5Lo

#yardbirds #overundersidewaysdown #jeffbeck #jimmypage #keithrelf #jimmccarty #ledzeppelin #mikeroe #michaelroe #the77s #johnnyjblair

[your-brilliant-lady-m]

South Korean music industry at a glance: an outsider perspective

I watched one particular AMV last week. The song used for the video was “I’m afraid” by Korean rock band DAY6. I was pleasantly surprised as someone who values lyrics in song first and foremost. The music itself was great. I’ll listen to their songs again. It’s a nice fit for my music taste. Naturally, YouTube’s algorithm decided that I’m a fan of everything Korean after 1 video and started spamming my recommendations with k-pop songs, documentaries and everything in-between. 

I watched a couple of videos, listened to some songs and discovered fascinating patterns. So, I went down to the comment section. And it was rather interesting experience, should I say? The concept of entertainment industry in South Korea simply begged to be explored more after this. I dug deeper and visited Tumblr k-pop tags and briefly glanced upon Instagram and Twitter. And, oh...

I am a big picture person and I enjoy both studying and creating systems. This one was particularly fun to explore. I discovered a lot of new things for myself. Perhaps, you can discover something new for yourself too or take a step back and look at this from a new angle. 

Disclaimer: it’s impossible not to offend someone on Tumblr, so keep that in mind. That being said, I do NOT intend to insult of offend anyone. It’s just a little research done for fun, because I love research with a purpose. This post is NOT A HATE post. No hate intended for fans, artists or other people involved. It’s meant to be a discussion, nothing more and nothing less. If it sounds like hate, it’s just my sarcastic sense of humour.

Content Warning: I mention suicide, death, depression, rape in a couple of sentences. There’s nothing major or graphic, but it’s there. 

In this long post I decided to share with you my opinion, a so-called outsider perspective, on the world of music entertainment industry in South Korea and people involved in it on different levels. I use the word “outsider” mainly because, that’s exactly what I am in this case, as someone who is in no way involved in k-pop community. I can’t name you a single band or their members. I don’t know any solo artist and can’t neither sing nor name you any song. 

And to be completely honest, I don’t think I will set my foot into k-pop fan-circles ever again after everything I saw. 

Think of this as “In this essay I will...” meme, except there’s an actual essay.

As far as I know, in South Korea “k-pop” refers to all music produced in SK, including solo artists, various bands, singers-songwriters. It doesn’t even have to be pop music. Koreans include in this definition all genres of music. However, around the world “k-pop” means primarily music made by idol groups and bands marketed for children, teenagers and younger people. In this post I use the latter definition, because that’s how most people understand “k-pop” in other countries. Therefore, my statements, opinions and conclusions here would concern only idol music. 

The music industry in South Korea is heavily influenced by culture and traditions of the country, just like all things are. And there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, different backgrounds are what makes people so interesting and unique. However, when combined with consumer mindset, desire to generate profit at any cost and fast-paced nature of modern life these neutral cultural elements could produce something concerning, and it can lead to disastrous consequences. 

1. Idol

These people are called artists, musicians, singers, bands, groups, performers. In South Korea and in Japan, however, people call them Idols or Stars. I’ve also seen Muses, Princes and Queens. Interesting, isn’t it? The terminology used to describe these musicians in South Korea is one of the key elements in this whole entertainment system. You’ll see why.

But who or what is an idol exactly? Let’s take a basic definition from Wikipedia.

“In the practice of religion, a cult image or devotional image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, person, spirit or daemon ... that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rome, and modern Hinduism, cult images in a temple may undergo a daily routine of being washed, dressed, and having food left for them. Processions outside the temple on special feast days are often a feature. Religious images cover a wider range of all types of images made with a religious purpose, subject, or connection. In many contexts "cult image" specifically means the most important image in a temple, kept in an inner space, as opposed to what may be many other images decorating the temple.

The term idol is often synonymous with worship cult image. In cultures where idolatry is not viewed negatively, the word idol is not generally seen as pejorative, such as in Indian English.”

Cambridge Dictionary defines idol as follows:

And here’s the definition from Oxford Dictionary: 

This is a centrepiece of this tapestry. Surely, you have noticed by now what these definitions have in common. 

Idol = a cult image of a god, a deity 

By calling these musicians “idols” industry makes society and audience treat them in certain way, namely as gods. What characteristics do gods possess? They are beautiful, talented, funny, confident and graceful, blessed by eternal youth of immortality. Gods have no flaws, they do not bleed, they are above human concerns. They are an embodiment of perfection. They are stars, you could not reach. 

But real people are not like that. They can be sad and angry, insecure. People don’t have perfectly symmetrical faces. They can’t dance in sync without preparation. They can’t sing like angels at any given moment throughout the day.

What happens when idols accidentally reveal their humanity? What happens when people see, that they make mistakes and do stupid things, that they need to train hard to appear graceful on stage? 

I will tell you. And it’s not pretty. But, first, let’s look at other elements of this system. 

2. Y/N and Self-insert fantasy

Aside from the music, K-pop sells the self-insert fantasy to the audience. It’s carefully arranged to appear real, where the cracks are masked and every word is scripted. The reality is so vivid that one doesn’t even have to use imagination all that much, because all scenarios and decorations already exist. Countless interviews for TV and magazines, fan meetings, talk shows, reality shows made sure people are privy to all juicy details of personal lives and opinions of musicians. And also one word - merchandise. Some of that merch made me question my life choices. Some of it is, ah, creepy or has weird vibes. All of this provides plenty of material for people to work with. Fans can effortlessly imagine themselves beside their idols or even in their place. 

In a highly competitive society, where people throw themselves into studying and work since young age, forming deep and lasting connections with others is very hard, sometimes impossible. As a result, people long to have a group of close friends with similar interests, a loving partner who would cherish them endlessly. People want to be rewarded for their backbreaking efforts to succeed by the carefree life of fame and music, everlasting friendships and love. And in a way you can’t really blame them for his. 

Does this dream life sound familiar? We are looking at K-pop bands here. It doesn’t really matter if their members don’t always get along or that they can live in debt, that fame is fickle and adoring fans can tear your self-confidence to shreds. Audience wants the glamour of fantasy and the industry is more than happy to cater to these desires. 

Perhaps, knowing that even for idols this fantasy is sometimes unattainable makes the whole set up feel just a little cruel. 

3. Fans, stans and fandom culture

We’ve already established earlier that idols are gods in the eyes of people and listed traits they must possess. So, what else do gods need to exist? Worshippers. Because a cult is worth nothing without its followers. Gods need a group of people to worship them and spread their beliefs. The role of worshippers is performed by a fans in this case. 

Apparently, there is a running joke that girl groups need to win a general public popularity and boy bands need a big passionate fandom. It seems to be true according to my observations. 

In k-pop fandom people use the word “stan” to state that they like or support particular group. Now, I am sure everyone here knows that in other fandoms, dedicated to movies, shows, books and games there’s an important distinction between being a “fan” and a “stan”. What is it? 

A fan is someone who likes a ship or character, creates and/or consumes fandom content, supports certain ideas, discusses things they enjoyed and disliked, criticises canon. Stans, however, are a different breed. They engage in all typical fandom activities, but their support and enjoyment becomes obsession. Stans believe their favourite characters and ships are immune to criticism, that they are superior no matter what others say. Stans start shipping wars, send anon hate, death threats over fictional characters and hurt real people. Stans are considered toxic fans. And majority of normal civilised people don’t like them and try their best to let stans hang out in their echo chamber by themselves. 

In other fandoms and communities, to be a fan means to love, support and enjoy something, while to stan means to obsess over and hyperfixate on these same things. Words “I stan” rarely mean “I support” for most people, and if they do mean that, it’s only used in a joking manner (”We stan procrastination legend!”, “I stan our miscommunication kings”).

Everywhere else “stan” has only negative connotations, except in k-pop. But what has changed? What’s the difference? Why do international fans scoff at “shipper stans” and then turn around calling themselves “stans of X k-pop group” at the same time? Does it make you wonder? 

And this is another core theme of k-pop, in my opinion. In fandom where stan = obsession = support, you can see interesting patterns. 

Fandom loves their flawless gods. But watching them from afar is not enough for some people, because unlike deities in different religions, these gods live among us. People are very much aware of that. Industry has created a cult and laid the groundwork for worshippers to express their adoration in every way including personal contact. And who wouldn’t want to meet their god? Who wouldn’t want to know more about them or tell them how much you love them? In talk shows and fan meetings there is only so much one can do after all.

People desire to know more, to have more so much that their obsession transforms into concerning stalker tendencies. These crazy individuals follow idols, stalk them on social media, in hotels, research flight numbers, bribe security. Musicians were attacked and poisoned. I strongly suspect there were cases of rape that no one knows about. There is even a special term for these fans - “sasaeng”. 

Is there a definition for stalkers of actors or musicians in western world? No, I’m pretty sure there isn’t. They are just called “invasive/obsessive fans” or “stalkers”.

Also, there are sasaeng memes. Yeah, you heard that right. I enjoy some classy dark humour as much as the next person, but there is a fine line between normal and questionable. 

Back to the topic of stalkers. Do you realise how disturbing that is? Such behaviour is so common that there is a term for it. You create a fandom-cult, encourage people to worship k-pop idols as gods and then act surprised when members of said cult become fanatics and their adoration becomes obsession.

And it’s so easy to step on this slippery road. The system makes it ridiculously easy. Lines begin to blur. How much is too much? Where do you draw the line? 

While sasaeng fans engage in extreme real-life obsession, people online aren’t that far off, to be honest. I’ve seen it all: imagines, headcanons, fanfiction, real-person shipping, reactions. Real person shipping is a controversial topic. Some people support it, others don’t. I suppose I’m among those who don’t get it. I’m not exactly against it, but I find it strange. Mainly because it’s based on assumptions made by fans about personalities and behaviour of real people. 

Assumptions. Dear me! K-pop fandom has this thing with video compilations. I’ve never seen this phenomenon being so widespread in any other community or fandom. Basically people edit together a collection of short clips from talk-shows, interviews, Instagram stories, some YouTube videos, etc and then proceed to analyse every gesture, word, facial expression of idols and provide both audio and on-screen commentary. These videos and many other forms of similar analysis allow people to imagine what kind of personalities idols have, what kind of life do they live. It’s the source material for fanfiction, imagines and headcanons. 

But it’s not real. It’ll never be real. It’s an illusion, an image, a stage persona. They fall in love with a face and made up personality. And I think that when people create this content they can forget this. Fans can develop certain emotional dependence and unhealthy attitudes in the long run. In some YouTube comments even supportive and encouraging words sound whiny and obsessive. And semantics of being a “stan” of certain group or individual doesn’t help. 

4. Industry, companies and liars 

At last we arrive at the most important aspect of music entertainment industry - its creators.

Have you seen “The Road to El Dorado”? It’s one of my all time favourites. It has iconic characters, adult jokes that I didn’t get as a child and iconic soundtrack. I’ll quote “It’s Tough To Be A God” a lot here. 

In South Korea music industry is a factory, the production line to be exact. This kind of set up affects everything in the grand scheme of things. Companies and agencies play the role of training centres and record labels. And there are so many of them that a whole new scamming system developed based around fake idol agencies. It implies that there are people who fall for offers of these agencies and continue to do so. I suspect that victims must pay a fortune upfront before they realise their mistake. Are there any kind of legal protection against such scams? How can people verify the authenticity? Because a well masked scam can exist for a long time before someone discovers it and calls them out on their nonsense. 

As far as I understand legal companies work like this. After high school, which is often focused on performing arts (and private schools can get away with using talents of students for personal gain, which is totally not surprising), young people can audition for an agency and become an idol in training or idol-trainee. And passing audition is hard. But good recommendations can help, connections too. 

During training you don’t get paid. Only a few companies pay aspiring musicians. People can spend years in training and don’t debut. But rent, necessities, clothing and food (not that you need much of it, but more on that later) cost a lot. Where do you get the money to live then? Support from parents, one or two part time jobs at most and bank loans. Surprise! We found an unexpected (just kidding, it’s very obvious) party, who reaps benefits from the system. 

You need skill to be an idol. Natural talent helps too. The more skills you have, the cheaper and faster your training is. To level up your game you attend classes every month offered by your agency, which are not cheap (dance classes range from 400$ to 1000$ per month, sometimes more). There are four main categories in evaluation process: vocals, rapping, dancing and visuals. Idols are multitaskers, to have a chance on stage one must be perfect at everything. And people are ready to invest thousands of dollars into their kids training so that they could have a chance in entertainment industry. South Korea thrives on revenue k-pop industry generates every day.

Let’s pause here for a second and think about what kind of people come to these agencies. The answer is easy. People who have a dream, a desire, a real goal. You don’t wake up one day and decide to become a k-pop idol. Sometimes people get invited by agencies (after prior acting, modelling career or any other form of exposure). These people are usually very young. Some start straight after high school, some after university, but 25 years old is considered a late start. Compare that to western musicians who start singing at any age and still become famous. 

But why this age limit? Because idols are eternally young. So that in public eye musicians are remembered as 20 year old gods. People would listen to their music and imagine a young attractive face. Career in k-pop is short, it lasts 5-7 years, rarely longer than that. It’s even less than modelling or acting can offer. And professional sportsmen retire in their late 30′s. Some play longer, but usually, that’s it.

If you live in Los Angeles and say that you want to be an actor or performer, no one would bat an eye. It’s like saying that you want to be an engineer or accountant. Similarly, in South Korea becoming an k-pop musician is a real career. Because part of the self insert fantasy that the industry sells is the idea that anyone can be an idol. It’s easy after all. Anyone can pass auditions and become a trainee. A trainee with no guarantee of debut. But one should never underestimate the power of idol-dream. After all, idea is the most resilient parasite.   

“My friends started training in kindergarten. They have wanted to become idols since young”

“A lot of young kids get interested in Korean music” 

A 6-year old child sees the performance of k-pop group for the first time on TV. Let’s say it’s a girl. She is enraptured and decides that she will be like that too someday. She grows up, while being part of the fandom, just like all idols are in one way or another and whose fan-obsession transforms into desire to succeed. Her parents spend time and money to find her tutors, to fund dancing and singing classes. Perhaps in high school this girl decides to fix the shape of her eyes and make nose straighter. She trains hard and passes the auditions in her dream agency. And during training this girl faces the reality of behind the scenes life in music industry.

“Why are you crying? I’m not even pushing you”

“How many times have I told you? The rest are doing it perfectly”

“She is dancing like an elementary school student“

“I watched your performance as a spectator who bought a ticket to your concert. I want a refund“

“You make my ears hurt. I don’t want to listen at all”

“Listening to you was tiring”

“I’ll kick you out instead. You won’t debut”

“I thought I was going to die. That’s how determined I was” 

While I do understand that keeping a high quality standards in media industry is important, there are more productive and healthy ways to motivate someone to improve and be more passionate, you know? Constantly insulting people with sadistic glee and putting them down at every opportunity or calling them ugly to their face doesn’t do much. 

Do you think that children know about this? Do they know about soulless teachers and belittling managers? Do they know about friends who are really your competition, so you shouldn’t get attached? Do they know about living in debt? Do they know any of this? No, I don’t think they do. 

Children dream about the stage, about the sea of lights and crowds who chant your names. They want adoring fans and photoshoots. They want to appear on TV and magazine covers. Teenagers want the thrill of performance, they want to share their music and dancing with others. 

“I don’t know how many times I cried alone”

The truth is cruel. But they won’t give up easily even if it means sleeping 4-5 hours and consuming no more than 500 calories per day. Because giving up means that your whole life was a lie. One can’t afford not to be good enough. Giving up means admitting that all efforts and money your family invested into your dream were in vain. It means losing face before your family and friends - a fate worse than death. Imagine living this idol dream and building your whole future around it and then being told that you’ll never debut because of the circumstances outside of your control or something minor, like face shape or 1 kg of weight that your body refuses to lose. It can break you. Especially if you are like 18 or something. 

5. “And who am I to bridle if I'm forced to be an idol If they say that I'm a God, that's what I am”

“I don’t think there’s anything a tough as being a trainee in Korea”

Once you are a trainee at the agency your personal life does not belong to you anymore. You can’t go out without permission of the agency. You phone is taken away. Your diet and weight are monitored. Bad habits are not allowed (no smoking, drinking or drugs). Oh! I think I found the good thing in the system! Unfortunately, it won’t last. Trainees can’t date or meet with family without permission of agency. Dating is very taboo. Even established idols can’t openly date. 

Why is that? Because gods can’t belong to anyone. Their lives are property of the fandom. Because openly dating idols destroy the self-insert fantasy. There was a former idol girl who dated another musician. She was called a whore by her fans, her loving and adoring stans. You might know who I am talking about. Would you call an American actor or singer a prostitute for dating someone?

Trainees sign the contract. And how can a young person straight out of school or university know much about what makes a good contract in entertainment industry or what makes a good contract in general? Even if you do understand the terms fully you would still sign it because if you have come so far, you can’t let your dream slip this easily. There isn’t a choice. Not really. If you want to debut, you will agree to anything.

What about life after debut? You have to pay off your loans. And company takes 60-70% of your group’s earnings. Artists themselves get 30-40% and split it between themselves. K-pop groups have from 5 to 10 members or more than that. Each person gets less than 6%. Idols are not filthy rich. They are not. These earnings are practically nothing compared to the work you have put into this. 

Idols are musicians, who often don’t even write their own songs, music or create choreography. But if public doesn’t like the song and musical number the company created, they blame idols for the failure. Such an amazing logic we see right here. But people say that sharing music is the best part of idol life. But whose music? 

Models on catwalk are not there to demonstrate their physical beauty, they are blank canvas for works of clothing designers. Same with k-pop musicians. They act like puppets in a way, whose faces and voices are used to show audience someone’s music and songs. Some groups do write their own music and lyrics and it’s nice to know that. But those, who don’t are rather unfortunate. It’s a nice tool of psychological control and pressure for an agency. They can hold it over group and use the following rhetoric: “We gave you everything! Why can’t you follow the simple instructions” or “Where would you be without us? It’s not even your music!”

I called k-pop industry a factory. That’s true. Dozens of people become trainees every year. These talented young people are fully prepared to do anything to achieve their goal. They are ready to practice until they collapse, starve themselves and pour themselves into every song. Companies know that. Tell me why would they value their idols as individuals, as people, as human beings if they always have a replacement? Why bother with mental health of their artists if next year they could have a fresh set of people, who are younger and prettier? Why try to improve relationships inside groups if you could fire any member and replace them within a month or two?

In western countries famous bands have different stories. Some were friends since high school, who played in bars and during festivals and then they were noticed by some representative of label company, who offered them a contract. Some groups were formed by like-minded people who bonded and decided to share their music with the world. There are many stories, but ultimately the have one thing in common. Bands in the West often form themselves. These people had time to bond, connect, discover each other, solve some disagreements and learn to work around their differences. 

K-pop groups are formed by their agencies. They are their property in a way. Company selects the best and puts together these total strangers, appoints the leader with marketable face and personality and then expects them to work together like a well-oiled machine. No one has time to bond during training, because other people are you competition, not friends. And then you must learn to work as a team and be best friends on camera for the audience to support the self-insert fantasy. It’s no wonder that k-pop groups don’t get along sometimes. And every member knows that they are replaceable. It doesn’t help in forming connections. Groups can’t just terminate contract and go to work with another agency. I heard it happens sometimes, but it’s not a done thing. Unlike in other countries where bands just sign the deal with a different label and release their music under their name if they don’t like the old conditions. 

“It's tough to be a God But if you get the people's nod Count your blessings, keep them sweet, that's our advice Be a symbol of perfection Be a legend, be a cult Take their praise, take a collection As the multitudes exalt Don a supernatural habit We'd be crazy not to grab it So sign up two new Gods for paradise”

But is it really a paradise?

Idols are expected to act cute, to match personalities created for them by fans or media. They have to act according to the concept of their group. They have to be a symbol of perfection: skinny, single and with a face perfected by surgery. They are allowed to mess up, but only in a cute way. They can break down and cry, but only if it’s “aesthetic”.

Weight issues are a separate topic. Sometimes I wonder whether managers in companies understand how weight loss or human body in general works. To be honest, I think that scales in agencies are rigged. And only managers know that. I know it can be done from personal experience. Some beach resorts tweak their scales and make them show 4-6 kg less than actual weight, so people wouldn’t get upset if they gain some. There is no way a girl as tall as I am (173 cm) could weigh like 47-50 kg and be able to perform complex choreography on stage and sing without being out of breath, visit the gym on a regular basis and generally function as a normal human without fainting every other day.

“I developed a lot of eating disorders”

“I think I consumed about 300 calories today“

“Someone, please, trim the fat off her arms”

If you grow up thinking of idols as gods and then, when you become one of them you think that you must act as one too. But being an easily replaceable god is a heavy burden. The industry, companies and audience want you to be perfect, to always be on your best behaviour. And the thought of not being good enough or divine enough terrifies you, because stans have no mercy (black ocean concept is the most stupid thing ever by the way). This kind of pressure can destroy even the most resilient. And it does. 

Almost everyone knows that situation with mental health in South Korea is not the best to put it lightly. In many ways it’s a cultural thing. But in k-pop mental health issues are treated with even less care. Gods are not supposed to be depressed or suicidal. They are not supposed to have fears or insecurities, can’t be upset or angry. They try hard to be this deity, this image. So, even when they realise they need professional help or even a friend to talk to, they either won’t seek said help or reach out only to be met with silence. Some agencies disapprove or forbid therapy altogether. 

Sometimes fandom becomes self-aware.

“Don’t forget that idols are people too!”

“Your favourite idols are running out of breath just to keep you entertained“

“They are humans, who have feelings!”

Oh, but here’s the thing, my friend. The industry doesn’t want you to think of them as people. Companies and media repeatedly reinforce the idea that they are not people, they are your idols. And strangely enough, the audience supports this idea. People continue to call them idols, developing worshiping tendencies in the process, imitate them, scrutinise their flaws and triumphs. Because, you know, only “real and ordinary humans” can have flaws, not “idols”.

So people who say “they are human too” and people who say “wow, this concert was amazing, but vocals in the beginning were so off-key, I simply can’t” are one and the same.

This thought process would have been funny if it wasn’t so disappointing. But that’s just my observation.

And here’s another thing about sexualisation. I said before how appearances are everything, marketable face and body could drastically improve your chances to succeed. Companies know about this too and concepts and aesthetics of groups are designed accordingly. Girls are dressed in skimpy outfits, their dances are unnecessary suggestive, they wear heavy make up and try to have “mature” vibes. Boys don’t avoid such objectification either: suits, tight pants and dress shirts along with make up and hairstyle to give audience a promise of the things to come. Grown adults are not supposed to lust after 15-17 year olds. You can’t just create a sexy stage persona for teenagers. Do you remember my earlier words about creepy merch? Yeah. All of it neatly plays into the self-insert fantasy and encourages obsessive behaviour. 

This happens in western countries too. In some way that’s understandable. Beautiful and sexy image with a hint of innocence attracts more people and sells, because it caters to one of the base human instincts. But some things make your skin crawl. 

Sponsorships are another topic. Some k-pop bands seek out sponsors to provide financial aid and cover expenses, when earnings are not enough. Sometimes these sponsorships are fine, perfectly civil. But sometimes it’s a prostitution. Girl groups receive money and provide sexual favours to their patrons. It’s a way for the group to gain financial support and even find new opportunities in the industry. Companies can encourage such deals. Let that sink in for a moment. 

6. “Any advice to those who want to become a k-pop idol?”

A lot of former idols and trainees have similar responses to this question. 

“I don’t want to discourage anyone, but think twice”

“You only see the glamorous side, but don’t see all the hard work that goes into it”

“It’s not what you think”

“They think ‘Since I am good looking and can sing and dance really well, maybe I should become an idol?’, but there is much more to it“

“They think it’s something that is easy and will keep their family set for life financially”

And this implies that most people don’t know what kind of lifestyle k-pop stars truly have, despite the amount of information available online about “behind the scenes” proceedings.

7. Moving on

I am a practical person and every decision I make is subjected to scrutiny. And after seeing everything I can't help but wonder whether idols believe it's truly worth it. What keeps the industry alive is the idol-dream, the wilful ignorance of its reality and youthful idealism, the beautiful naïve belief that it'll get better, even if it never does in the end.

Sure no one would ever admit it out loud, because it's one of those things you never say on camera, no matter how sincere you have to be. It's the matter of professionalism after all, and idols have it spades. And also, because admitting this would equal admitting that you spent your best years doing something you both loved and hated, admitting that this was a mistake.

When you grow up in a society where appearances matter the most, where saving face and being polite is more important than staying true to yourself, where individuality is tolerated only to a certain point, it takes a lot of courage to admit that you need a break. I greatly respect those who decided that idol lifestyle is not for them and moved on.

8. Conclusion

To sum up, I hope you enjoyed my small research and this perspective, since you have read it all the way to the end.  

You have noticed that entertainment industry is an intricate system and its every component makes sure nothing changes. Companies have power over idols and audience, fandom has power over idols and their careers, and musicians themselves have fame and their music, but not always the promised fortune or happiness. 

It’s important to understand the big picture to draw your own conclusions and encourage positive and heathy attitudes in fandoms. Being open minded and allowing people to make mistakes and live their lives the way they want to is a part of being a decent person. People don’t owe anything to others. Art is about sharing your thoughts and feelings, promoting ideas and spreading beauty. It’s not always about money. And I think that this is what k-pop lacks as an industry. It turned dreams and human need for self-expression into business. Here everything is turned into a product. Everything idols touch can be sold, sometimes literally. Industry created problems, which can’t be solved anymore, because doing so would topple the system. And I find it tragic. Trapped in an endless chase after perfection creators of k-pop forgot that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. 

If you take a look at comment sections and posts on different platforms, what will you see? What kind of things resonate with audience? What makes people laugh and cry? When people start to appreciate the substance?

“Everyone needs to hear this song in their darkest moments”

“Thank you for your music!”

“They always deliver! These guys can’t make a bad song!”

“It inspired me to write again!”

“Their songs brought me and my sister together once again”

“This is what happens when you let groups write their own music - they make incredible things”

“They really are legends of k-pop! I love that they are not afraid to show their inner strength”

“Stay strong! You rock!”

I believe that the answer is quite simple: when it’s real, sincere. It’s all about the message you choose to send to your audience, because only superficial things cause obsession. When you say that the sparkly façade is all that matters, then that’s the only thing people will ever care about. Your audience will never give a damn about the meaning behind dancing, music or lyrics, if you tell them that performance is more important. No one would praise WHAT k-pop idols sing, instead they would prefer wasting breath to criticize HOW they sing or look or move. 

I dare the k-pop industry to prove people that it’s not just about looks or perfection, or laser shows, or being a branding machine. Prove to your fans that k-pop artists are also passionate people with big dreams and talent, who love every moment of their job, who live and inspire, who are human just like us and whose humanity is real!

Do it, you cowards!

And now, I’m finished. I can hear the raging crowd of k-pop fandom in the distance, which means it’s time to hide. See you some other time! 

[biduut]

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 Holi is one of the major festivals of Hindus. It is celebrated in South Asian countries, especially in India and Nepal. Holi is the festival of colors. The festival is celebrated for two to three days.Holi is celebrated in the spring season. Hindus believe that spring is full of colors so they throw colored water on each other. Holi is based on a legend about King Hiranyakaship. `Hiranyakashyap had a son, Prahlad. Prahlad was the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap wanted to kill his son, so he called his sister, Holika. She had a magic robe. This robe had the power to save the wearer from burning in fire. Hiranyakashyap ordered his sister to sit on a burning fire along with Prahlad. He thought that his sister would not be harmed by the fire because of the magic robe and Prahlad would be burnt to death. But the result was the opposite to what the evil demon king planned. Thus Prahlad came out of the burning fire safely and Holika was burnt to death. It is celebrated with colors to mark the victory of virtue and goodness over evil. The festival is celebrated for five days. The 5th day, Rang Panchami, marks the closing day of the Holi festival. People are seen with different varieties of colors on Holi. They put colors on each other, sing, dance. They worship Lord Krishna and put colors on his idol. Families gather together and party the whole day. They distribute sweets and enjoy to the fullest.

[childofchrist1983]

God alone is holy, awesome, and able to do wonders. Yet, we tend to idolize others. While we might not worship gods like those in the Old Testament, we still idolize those who are unworthy of our attention. For instance, have you ever worshipped a celebrity, a singer, a leader, or even a friend? Idolatry on any level is a dangerous sin. One Jesus Himself warns us about, even declaring it to Satan! (Exodus 20:3, Matthew 4:10)

The only one deserving of our worship is God! He is holy - without sin and perfect in every way. He is fearful and awesome – He parted the Red Sea and sent the plagues. He works wonders – He created the Heavens and the Earth and all things and performed countless miracles, even to this day.

May the LORD our God help us to remember that He is always there ready to give us all that we need to come to Him and spread His Gospel message of Truth and salvation to others. May we never forget to thank Him for this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a wonderful Lord, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in the Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

Dear Father God Almighty, Lord Jesus, forgive me for worshipping other gods or idolizing those who are not You. You alone are worthy of worship! You alone are worthy of all praise and honor and glory!

I know that no one on earth compares to You. When I am falling into idol worship, may I be reminded of Your might and holiness. Fill me with fear and wonder when I seek Your face. Draw me into Your Holy Word where I can read about Your awe-inspiring nature. You are sovereign and in control. Guide me with the love that You have for me. Help me to do Your will in all things. Help us to all be one in You daily. Help us so we may us remember all You've done and still do for us and take joy in the blessings and life You have given us. May we seek You and Your Holy Word as well as the peace and all the fruits of the Holy Spirit today and everyday. Help us to walk in a way that is worthy of this calling You have guided us to. Help us to live this new life walking in Your ways and will and giving You praise for making it possible. Help us to value the true and eternal riches more highly than the passing and deceitful riches of Earth. Help me to walk in Your Holy Spirit, to seek You and Your will. Help our thoughts to turn to You in the little pauses and intermediate moments of this day and everyday. Help us live each day to glorify You so that when You return, we are ready. I cannot wait for Your return! Come soon, Lord Jesus!

May we worship You all our days, O Lord. May our lives show the world Your light and Truth and that You are a loving God and Heavenly Father who delights in showing love and mercy. May we all be humbly and faithfully honored and excited to worship, glorify and serve You daily and to do Your will. You have been so good to us, far more than we as wretched sinners deserve. You are so good! So wonderful! Forever and always!

Thank you, O Lord, for all Your creation and Your miraculous ways. Thank you for seeing us as worth the sacrifice. Thank you for sustaining us, loving us and defining us according to Your will and love for us. Thank you for making sure we are taken care of. Thank you for being the best friend we could ever have! Thank you for Your endless mercy and love that has saved us. Thank you for always protecting us and providing for us and for Your Spirit to help us when we are in need. Thank you for giving us a chance to be saved from our sin and spend eternity with You. Thank you for adopting us as part of Your family in Heaven and making us one of Your own. Thank you for being our present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). Thank you for always being near and for loving us. Thank you for giving us a reason to love others and so many more reasons to love, praise, serve and follow You. Thank you for Your selfless and sinless sacrifice. Thank you for Your guidance and protection. Thank you for Your Truth and light. Thank you for Your wisdom and strength and grace. Thank you for giving life to the world and to us. You give and take away – And we thank you for it. Thank you for everything! Your will be done! Blessed be Your mighty name! To You and Your Kingdom be the glory forevermore! In Your name I humbly pray, Amen and amen

[bangwoolofbangtan]

How BTS and Its ARMY Could Change the Music Industry

By Rebecca Davis

It was just a year ago that BTS’ Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour was selling out stadiums all over the world. Each night of the 20-date trek, which grossed $116 million, a total of nearly a million ticket buyers around the planet witnessed a thumping opening liturgy at the top of the K-pop band’s set in the form of the song “Dionysus.”

As flames shot up from the stage, seven figures emerged in supplicant white amid Greek columns and a long altar. Rapper RM (full name: Kim Nam-joon) led the way, twirling the staff of the titular mythical deity, as group mates Jin (Kim Seok-jin), SUGA (Min Yoon-gi), j-hope (Jung Ho-seok), Jimin (Park Ji-min), V (Kim Tae-hyung) and Jung Kook (Jeon Jung-kook) flanked him in a display of choreographed precision. The crowd, reaching peak pandemonium in a night full of deafening screams, made willing maenads and satyrs, transported by the band’s presence. An anthem about rebirth and self-discovery through the ecstatic collective experience of music was received as intended — as if from the gods.

Idol worship is by no means a new concept in pop music — remember John Lennon’s provocative statement in 1966 that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”? — but there’s something about BTS that turns fandom up to 11. The global brigade of BTS acolytes is collectively known by the acronym ARMY, short for Adorable Representative MC for Youth, a moniker chosen by Big Hit Entertainment, the company that launched the band. ARMY comprises the lion’s share of a Twitter audience that’s 29.2 million followers strong, more than triple that of any other K-pop group, and growing daily. BTS’ Instagram presence of 30.6 million followers (also rising rapidly), is trailed closely only by YG Entertainment’s Blackpink, at 29.3 million.

“It is because ARMY exists that we exist,” Jin says.

To understand the scope of BTS Inc.: An influential 2018 study by the Hyundai Research Institute estimated that the ripple effects from the boy band’s ecosystem contribute roughly $4.9 billion annually to South Korea’s GDP, on track to generate more value over 10 years than the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The study gauged that in 2017, one in 13 visitors to the country came for BTS-related pilgrimages. That ratio may soon be growing. Spotify has reported a 300% spike in new listeners to the group since the Aug. 21 release of “Dynamite,” BTS’ first all-English single.

The BTS boom has also driven Big Hit to launch an IPO in October projected to raise some $811 million. (Each BTS member will be awarded shares worth approximately $8 million.) Of Big Hit’s revenue in 2019, 97.4% was generated by BTS, including $130 million worth of T-shirts, cosmetics, dolls and other merchandise.

The numbers are no accident. The South Korean government began investing strategically in the arts and the digital economy to help steer the country out of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. On the heels of “Parasite” sweeping the Oscars, the worldwide success of BTS may be another sign to the West that Seoul might be the center of a new force in creative production.

Big Hit, and the K-pop music bus­iness in general, have proved just how much a band, and a company, can prosper through a direct-to-consumer relationship, driven by digital platforms and dedicated apps with lots of behind-the-scenes content that keeps fans emotionally involved. It’s engagement on a scale that no Western artist has ever achieved, despite decades of radio promotion and the best retail strategy.

For the global music industry, the band’s success has meant a serious rethink of how a record company — in BTS’ case, Sony Music’s Columbia Records, which distributes the group’s music in the U.S. (though the band is not signed to the label) — builds and maintains a fan base. You could almost look at it as a collaborative arrangement: As music is being made in real time, decision-makers and strategists at Big Hit and Columbia are taking in and processing the comments and views of ARMY and pivoting accordingly.

“It creates a self-sustaining engine that, eventually, becomes hits perpetuating more hits,” says Neil Jacobson, a former president of Geffen Records who runs Hallwood, a talent agency for producers and songwriters. “A label wants that fan connection happening all the time so that they can consistently release and promote music. But in the past, there had always been intermediaries that labels had to talk to in order to manifest exposure. Now, there is a mechanism for an artist to speak directly to their fans. That didn’t exist before, and it has turbocharged the process.”

It’s all led to this “Dynamite” mo­ment: The single has sold nearly 700,000 adjusted song units since its release — good for a gold record certification by the RIAA. The song is quickly becoming the band’s biggest radio hit to date (without a featured artist, it’s worth noting), and represents a significant breakout beyond its core audience. After that, will Grammys follow?

“They check all the boxes,” says Jenna Andrews, the vocal producer on “Dynamite” who also serves as an executive at Sony’s Records label. “I’ve never seen anything like BTS in terms of singing and dancing. This is just an indication of what’s yet to come. They’re going to take over the world.”

Kathryn Lofton, Yale University professor of religious and American studies and author of the book “Consuming Religion,” says that the bond BTS has with its ARMY is different from the typical singer-fan connection because “BTS’ driving commitment is to their relationship to the fan group, to the manufacturing of their communal joy for you to participate in.” It’s why she views BTS as “a religious project; they are seeking to make a togetherness that you can’t stop wanting to be a part of.”

Lofton also makes a point of distinguishing ARMY from the groupies associated with Beatlemania. Sure, BTS fans know the hagiography and backstory of each member, but everything about the band’s output prioritizes the collective over the individual.

The band itself has certainly leaned into the comparison with the Fab Four. For instance, it re-created the iconic moment of the Beatles’ 1964 debut at the Ed Sullivan Theater last May on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” — in a black-and-white segment that showed the K-pop band performing as mop tops in tailored suits.

But while John, Paul, George and Ringo had spotlight moments of their own, both within and outside the band — songs they wrote individually, causes they took up personally — with BTS, it’s all for one all the time. Unlike many other groups, the members share single, collective Twitter and Instagram accounts, and release even solo material through their shared channel. Accomplishments are never spoken of as belonging to any one group member but rather as the work of the team (and, of course, ARMY). In their videos, they often begin in solo shots but end up together.

This all strays from the typical tropes of Western boy bands including New Edition and ’N Sync, which have all proffered “star” frontmen. The thinking for decades had been that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

But BTS’ selfless approach didn’t happen randomly: The group was envisioned as a collective to heal the alienation that ails us in the digital age. Its name — “BTS” stands for Beyond the Scene — is an invitation to fans to join them offstage via almost daily video content featuring moments in their intimate if immaculately curated private lives on YouTube, Twitter and Big Hit app Weverse.

In 2011, Big Hit’s revenues from its then-main acts, Lim Jeong-hee and boy band 2AM, were plummeting. As the shadow of bankruptcy loomed, Bang Si-hyuk, now chairman, and Lenzo Yoon, global CEO, felt the company needed a total revamp. They stopped all normal work for months and called on employees to perform market research instead, seeking a new vision and formula.

Bang describes the conclusion they reached in a recent Harvard Business School case study of the firm written by Anita Elberse and Lizzy Woodham: “You would think that with the development of digital technology, people can come together more easily, but we found that it is actually more likely that people will feel more isolated. And so we need to find a way to help them, inspire them and heal them.”

Reflecting on the choice to develop a group that satiated this need, Yoon says in the study: “I think back then in 2011, with the conclusions we drew, we found the wild ginseng, as we say in Korea.”

On “Dynamite,” Big Hit worked with Columbia to further cultivate that ginseng. Pitched by Jacobson to label chairman Ron Perry, who guided and essentially A&R’d the song, worked to radio by Columbia executive VP and head of promotion Peter Gray (who has broken hits for Dua Lipa, Kelly Clarkson and Kings of Leon), and all overseen and informed by the years of management savvy of Big Hit, it’s the kind of artist development that was a music business calling card and that has lost its place in the fast-paced world of digital releases.

Radio exposure is not considered as impactful in Korea as it is in the U.S., notes RM, and so BTS — “maybe naively” — didn’t hit the ground in the U.S. thinking, ‘What can boost our airplay?’” the last time around. Still, RM notes that the band has “100% trust” in Columbia, Big Hit and the greater BTS community. “ARMY and the label are all trying their best,” he says, recounting how in the band’s early days, fans would send bouquets to radio DJs to get their songs on the air.

“Our goal is to try to show ourselves, expose ourselves to ARMY as much as possible,” adds Jin. “There are a lot of platforms now.”

In some ways, BTS’ ARMY has grown into its own force and brought the group along for the ride. In the world of K-pop, the expectation is that entertainers stay far away from politics, but as the genre has grown more global, it has begun to reach a transnational cohort to whom matters of social justice are top of mind.

When Variety broke the news on June 6 that BTS and Big Hit had donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter, BTS fans quickly flocked to #Match­AMillion through a link sent out by the fan charity Twitter account @OneInAnARMY. They hit the financial target in just 25 hours.

Erika Overton, a 40-year-old Georgia resident and one of the co-founders of the account, says of the experience: “It was one of the craziest nights I’ve ever seen. I was on Twitter all night. We were refreshing the page every couple of minutes, going, ‘Oh, my God …’” Witnessing ARMY’s U.S. battalion bring the message of Black Lives Matter to fans in other parts of the world who were unfamiliar with the movement was a “big educational moment that was really, really beautiful to see,” says Overton, who is African American.

What Overton saw was facilitated by networks of fan translators who also turn Big Hit’s Korean content into dozens of languages. Other ARMY groups provide counseling or tutoring services, invent themed recipes or write informational threads on everything from the history of the music industry and how charts work to Jungian philosophy, which deeply informs the BTS albums.

Some fan accounts have even become registered nonprofits, with dozens of administrators spread around the world putting in nearly full-time work on top of their day jobs.

In addition to Black Lives Matter, BTS this year donated $1 million to Crew Nation, a Live Nation campaign to support live entertainment personnel impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. And it has continued its campaign with UNICEF to end child violence. But the band members are reticent to take on the role of global activists. “I don’t consider ourselves as political,” says Suga. “We aren’t trying to send out some grandiose message. We would never see ARMY as a conduit for our voice or our opinion. ARMY speaks their own initiatives, and we always respect their opinions, as we respect any other person’s.”

RM, on the other hand, keeps the door open for a kind of apolitical politics based more on actions than words: “We are not political figures, but as they say, everything is political eventually. Even a pebble can be political.”

The scale of its influence is not something that the group takes lightly. “Our [‘Dynamite’] video has seen 80 million, almost 90 million views in just a day. In a way, that’s very weighty — and almost frightening,” RM told Variety the day after its debut, explaining that the balancing act is often one of how to juggle the burdens of being both role models and artists.

Some Korean scholars feel that BTS’ statement in support of BLM shows how ARMY is actually out ahead of Big Hit, spontaneously enacting its own initiatives to which the company must then respond. “Big Hit thinks they can create a company-dominated [approach to] fandom, but fans are agents doing only what they want, not what they don’t want,” says ethnomusicologist Kim Jungwon of Yonsei University in Seoul. For Kim, the fluidity of ARMY’s unplanned, collective responses “is the possible answer to BTS’ success.”

Candace Epps-Robertson, an ARMY member and assistant professor of rhetoric at the University of North Carolina, says the affirmational content of the group’s lyrics and videos may sound simple, but lay the groundwork for millions of fans to learn to engage critically with each other and develop a transcultural sense of global citizenship. “The message of ‘you, yourself, are enough, and you should love who you are and start with that — I think people miss how radical that can actually be,” she says. “We can’t overlook the power of that as an invitation to people to be part of this community.”

The Grammys, where BTS is eligible for record of the year, among other categories (nomination ballots for the 2021 awards, slated to air Jan. 31, went out on Sept. 28), provide a chance for the group to gain industry recognition as a mainstream contender, not just a K-pop act.

Asked why the Grammys matter so much to them, Suga seems to bristle a bit at the question. “I grew up watching American award shows, so obviously we all know and I know the importance of the Grammys,” he says. “It’s a dream anyone working in music has.”

RM says having the goal of a Grammy, an industry-voted award, “motivates us to work harder. As Suga said, if you are in music, the Grammy Awards are something that you cannot help but to look toward and set as an eventual goal.”

BTS’ global influence will soon collide with national duty, and a Grammy Award or three could help maintain its momentum. The band members all have to participate in Korea’s mandatory military service by the age of 28 — and four of them are within two years of that threshold. “Big Hit really wants to target the Grammys before [the members] go into the army,” says an industry source privy to the company’s marketing plans, adding that, from Big Hit’s perspective, it would be best for business if the boys all perform their service at the same time.

The group renewed its contract with Big Hit in 2018, which commits the members to another seven years with the firm, but the army service issue could knock off two years within that time span. A company statement ahead of Big Hit’s IPO shows that Jin, the oldest group member (he’ll be 28 in December), must conscript by 2022 even if he gets an extension of the draft deadline. The statement discloses that plans to prerecord content to be released over the course of any army tenure are being discussed.

South Korea officially changed its rules in July to allow draftees access to once-banned cellphones on weeknights and weekends, meaning BTS could theoretically continue some interaction with fans. However, the taking of photos, video or audio recordings remains prohibited. (Historically, most Korean celebs have fallen silent during their service.)

Soldiering aside, with the push from Big Hit’s IPO, multiple TV appearances — including an ongoing weeklong takeover of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” — the chart success of “Dynamite” and growing Grammy buzz, BTS is poised to make some serious noise this fall, which is saying a lot for a group known to shake the decibel scale with a wave or a wink. But perhaps the most significant measure of its ascent is underscored by the frequent speculation of the band’s place in a new moment for the music industry.

“What would it mean not just to include the sound of Korea in the annals of world music, but to actually propose that the South Korean sound is the next chapter?” posits Yale’s Lofton. “What if BTS are actually the next Beatles?”

©variety.com

[madamlaydebug]

The israelites constructed and began worshiping a golden calf which was a personified deity of a Black Woman upon further inspection it is obvious that this golden-calf is in fact the Kemetic cow Goddess Hetheru. After spending so many years in kemet and observing the complex practices, culture and spiritual system of the egyptians (a system thousands of years in the making, with roots from the nubian people of kush — the egyptians were children and a colony of the kushites. It would be thought that moses would understand that the kemetans were not idol worshipers and that the image of the cow Goddess only symbolically represents the nourishing and life giving energy of a Black Woman the same energy which is an aspect of the all-encompassing transcendental God neberdjer. So the israelites were in fact emulating a kemetian practice, the practice of devotional veneration to both the Black woman, and to God! Het-Heru, Het-heret (Het-heret, Het-Heru; G/R Hathor) - "House of Heru" Another Name known from predynastic times, Hethert represents the feminine principle, as reflected in several of Her symbols. The cow, the mirror, and the ritual rattle or sistrum. Hethert is patroness of Black Women, and professions given to Her priesthood include dancers, singers, actors and acrobats even up to Greek times the arts were under Hethert's dominion. Hethert's temples, especially that at Ta-Netjer (Arabic Dendera) were centers for both healing with a hospital/sanatorium on-site and midwifery. Priests in the temple of Ta-Netjer conducted oracles with Hethert in trance rituals held in crypts underneath the sanctuary, and any person could sleep on the temple roof and hope for a dream, which could be interpreted the next morning by the priests. Even today, one can see graffiti and game boards left behind by those pilgrims, carved into the stones of Ta-Netjer's roof. Hethert's association with both cows and the sistrum probably results from Her assimilation of the Predynastic Netjer Bat; sistrum capitals atop the pillars throughout Kemetic temples show Hethert's full face with cow's ears atop a naos style sistrum. Hethert was closely associated with Heru-Behdety at Edfu, perhaps influencing the fact that She was a patroness of Kemet's queens as Heru is to the king, so Hethert is to the queen. Some queens are referred to by Hethert's titles of "Mistress of Heaven" and "Lady of Gold." Nefertary's spectacular temple at Abu Simbel in Nubia depicts the Great Royal Wife as Hethert in many places; and her husband Ramses II is depicted in its sanctuary, suckling from the udder of Hethert as a divine cow.

[rionsanura]

some upsetting agility

So there is a famous late-Renaissance a cappella piece called Reveci venir du printemps (spelling varies depending on how archaic you’re trying to remain) by Claude Le Jeune which is about the return of spring and the amorous season, and it’s both realllly popular and notoriously hard, but everybody thinks they can do it and they are often wrong. It’s really squiggly but in an incidental and pleasing way before everything got totally Baroque but it’s hard in the same way as Baroque squiggles, and it’s usually sung really heavily because the chorus is super catchy and once you get there you know what’s going on so you tend to emphasize it really hard. For example, here’s a p good university choir doing it relatively well but notice they have instrumental help (though that’s fairly period-accurate, it’s not cheating, but also it kind of is): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY9xNDMmRuA

And here is a fairly successful commercial recording at like half that tempo, that works because they do it super legato, and I don’t dislike it and I am always in favor of legato Renaissance, but also it is Really Slow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jyKaKFNT-I

But I have been listening to the King’s Singers album that came out last month  that’s like a compilation of all their most popular rep with the current lineup, and they do the MOST IMPRESSIVELY CASUAL AND LIGHTFOOTED VERSION OF IT I’VE EVER HEARD OMFG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqvkDNoG6PU