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stillness-in-green · 4 years ago

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Ahistorical, Absurd, and Unsustainable (Part Two)

An Examination of the Mass Arrest of the Paranormal Liberation Front

Introduction and Part One

PART TWO: Logistics Problems

The Initial Arrests

Looking over the events above, one thing becomes apparent almost immediately: the only one that involves numbers even resembling those at the villa are the Rice Riots, and arrests there were scattered across two months. The only thing I could find that even came close to the idea of arresting the entire PLF in a day was a mass detainment in India in 2011: in the run-up to a separatist rally[7] that had stated its intention to be a “Million Man March,” police reportedly detained 100,000 people to stop them from attending. To do this, they used auditoriums and stadiums, not actual detention facilities.

And you can see why! We see a few pictures of the Gunga Villa group in the aftermath, but they’re pictures that raise more questions than they answer. Consider this one:

The detainment and relocation of the PLF. (Chapter 296)

This is but the tiniest fraction of the people captured, but every single one of them has had their hands and arms bound. The ones we see in the basement are restrained similarly. Where did all those restraints come from? Who got them all here? Were they, perhaps, made by the man in the center, who conspicuously has lengths of the same restraint wrapped around his wrists? If so, how did he make them all so freely, when most similar quirks we see rely on a certain amount of body mass or caloric intake?

Or take those transports in the background. How many people can each hold, and how long will it take to move a group of 17,000 into secure facilities? How are those 17,000 being kept docile all that time, especially once they’ve been moved onto the transports? Will there be a hero onboard every one, making sure the prisoners don’t get the opportunity to plan amongst themselves? Were there similar transports parked at every other raid site across the rest of the country? Enough of them and their assigned heroes to move the other 98,000 people?

Consider what we know about the Paranormal Liberation Front.[8] While easiest to compare numerically to widespread protest movements, they’re unlike any historical mass arrest in that context because they are, every one of them, combat-trained and ready to give their lives for the cause. There's no one there to tell them all to stand down, at least not that we see give such an order. Trumpet, perhaps, could have, but why would he have done so? Re-Destro gave the order back in Deika, but Re-Destro seems to have lost consciousness following his battle with Edgeshot, and I much doubt he’d have given the same order here as he did when facing Shigaraki in any case.

My Hero Academia has a long history of treating police custody as something like a status effect, like once a villain has been subdued, they’re In Custody, and magically become incapable of attempting to mount an escape. But why should this be so? There’s a relatively common misconception I see in fanfic that the police have “quirk cancellation restraints,” but let’s be clear: no such device exists in the series. This is the ostensible reason All For One and Muscular are restrained so unforgivingly; it’s why the prisoners in Tartarus have guns pointed at their heads at all times. It’s why Overhaul’s drug was such a big deal and it’s why the only way to stop Gigantomachia was to drug him or have Best Jeanist bind him in steel cables.

There is no way to stop someone in MHA from using their quirk except convincing them not to, via diplomacy or intimidation, or rendering them unconscious. Which of those tactics, pray tell, is in use here, such that the enormous numbers of people at issue remain subdued until they can be moved to secure facilities?

The Liberated Districts

Another problem quickly presents itself. We’re told that the PLF’s “other bases” around the country were hit, but we weren’t shown what that looked like. We saw Slidin’ Go and another hero in a prisoner transport; we know from bonus material that people like Class 1-B and Mirio—and presumably any number of other high school hero interns from around the country—were involved in those other raids. Still, we didn’t see what those base raids actually entailed.

That’s not surprising, because “base” is not really a very accurate word to describe the scale of the problem. See, with the intention of the raids being to put a stop to the PLF in one fell swoop, rather than risk a drawn-out conflict with a force that Hawks describes as, “On par with, maybe even greater than,” the power of their hero-saturated society, the Commission would have had to take into account an aspect of the MLA that readers learned about during My Villain Academia: what Trumpet calls “liberated districts.”

Deika was a liberated district—an entire town where an enormous chunk of the population was made up of members of the MLA. Ominously, the fact that Trumpet had a ready term to describe it—“a” liberated district, not “our” liberated district, or even “the first” liberated district—suggests that Deika was not the only one.[9] Further, Curious describes what we can expect the heroes would have to contend with in such areas: people who look like everyday civilians but are actually combat-trained warriors. Combat-trained warriors not gathered in one conveniently isolated compound or solitary building, but scattered across miles of homes and businesses, schools and parks, anywhere that an ordinary person might be found spending their day.

That is an entirely different can of worms than raiding one single building; thus it is here that the logistics really start to strain. Mass arrests of a civilian populace don't work at all the same way as a round-up of people all in a single area—how do you arrest an entire town? Well, there is such a thing as martial law, or military occupation, and maybe those tactics would work if the PLF had sent all their ace combatants to the villa and all the people remaining in the target city were terrified and unarmed civilians who could be ordered to keep inside their houses until further notice lest they start getting shot. That is not at all how the bulk of the PLF—that is, the ranks of the MLA—have been portrayed, though.[10] Again, Re-Destro and Curious characterize their 116,000 warriors as all being trained, combat-ready, prepared to rise up to answer the call. That is not a population that you're going to keep cowed with a certain minimum police presence, especially as time drags on.

Anyway, an occupation is clearly out-of-keeping with how the text presents the operation being run. We’re given no reason to assume other raids were any different than the ones we saw: a team of heroes launches a coordinated assault with a backline set up to catch stragglers. We’re told, after all, that the other sympathizers were “rounded up,” so extended detainment-in-place clearly wasn’t the intention. That just returns us to the problem, though.

According to Trumpet, Deika was 90% MLA. Presumably it was one of their higher-concentration bases, yes, but the situation isn’t any simpler in places that are “only” e.g. 80%, 70%, 60% inducted. It only becomes complicated in different ways.

Imagine a 70% liberated district. PLF-adherents are in the government, the municipal operations, the schools, the stores. How does this town keep running in a state of mass arrest? If the 70% are removed, what are the other 30% to do? Is the town even livable in that state? Will the remainder have to relocate? Can they afford that, and if not, what measures will be taken to help them? How quickly can those measures be enacted?[11]

The liberated districts present a bevy of other problems, too, but we’ll come back to those in Part Three.

Detainment Facilities

Let’s look at some more real-world facts and numbers.

As of 2018, Japan had 184 penal institutions, a term which covers prisons, detention houses, and juvenile facilities of either type. There are 70 prisons, 108 detention houses (eight of which are major facilities; the rest smaller branch locations), and 6 juvenile facilities. Their official capacity—that is, the number of occupants they are considered able to house without becoming overcrowded—is roughly 89,000. Their current population is around 48,000.

This puts Japan’s prison density—how close they are to being at full capacity—at 54%. They could not even double their occupancy without becoming overcrowded. Looking back to our PLF numbers, this tells us that real-life Japan could take an influx of 17,000. They absolutely could not take an influx of 115,000.

Here’s another way to look at it: in Japan currently, the rate of incarceration is 38 people per 100,000, in a population of 126 million. Adding the PLF to those numbers would mean they're incarcerating 130 per 100,000—more than triple the amount.

There’s another problem on top of the capacity issue: in Japan, penal institutions are divided up by what kind of prisoner they’re intended to house. Remand prisoners—that is, pre-trial detainees—are to be housed in different facilities than convicted prisoners. Convicted prisoners are sorted further by demographic traits, the type of offense they’ve committed, whether or not it was their first offense, and so on. For example, there’s an entire prison in Chiba Prefecture dedicated to housing men convicted of traffic violations; elsewhere, even murderers are subdivided according to criminal affiliation and likelihood of reoffending.

The relevance here is obvious. The problem isn't merely that there is limited prison capacity, but that that capacity is further limited by what space is available in the correct type of prison. And I am very prepared to bet that All For One prioritized targeting prisons that held violent offenders; he even implies as much when he describes the people he freed as violent escapees.

Speaking of All For One’s prison breaks, let’s take a look at some canonical numbers. They offer both information that mitigates the problems above, but also present new reasons to be concerned.

All For One, the night of his escape from Tartarus, targets seven other prisons, managing to free at least some inmates from six of them. Including the Tartarus escapees, 10,000 convicts are freed.

10,000 from seven prisons. Consider again the numbers above: Japan currently houses less than five times that many in twenty-six times as many penal institutions. In general, prisons don’t hold anywhere near those numbers—the largest one in Japan houses just barely over 2,000; even one that houses 500 is considered to be a large inmate population.[12]

I did some math based on the numbers I had available, and my rough estimate is that, in Japan, about 88% of the carceral population—42,000 people—are housed in the for-real prisons; the other 12% are remand prisoners and a negligible percent are incarcerated minors.

The MHA numbers are wildly, wildly higher. Now, this makes sense. In this post by @codenamesazanka, she notes that the first My Hero Academia movie describes Japan’s crime rate as a somewhat vaguely defined 6%, and estimates that this means the crime rate in MHA’s Japan is seven times higher than in real life—and that this is drastically lower than anywhere else in the world thanks solely to All Might! In other parts of the world, the crime rate is over 20% at minimum. So it seems reasonable to assume that Japan’s carceral capacity has increased likewise. Not, I think, to the degree that they automatically have the prison space to match their crime rate, but certainly more space than in real life.

Assuming, then, that MHA’s Japan has far more and/or far larger prison facilities, that also means they must need that kind of space—which means the space is already in use. Which, again, takes us back to the problem of overcrowding. If not—if the country is easily capable of dumping 115,000 people in prison without even causing a ripple of difficulty—then that implies its own deeply harrowing things about the rate of incarceration in the country. Either way, it sounds like a country that badly, badly needs to find a better way of doing things.

Legal Proceedings

Here’s another issue to consider: the legal proceedings. See, Edgeshot says this:

The hero Edgeshot explains why protecting the country requires these sixteen-year-olds be on the frontlines in a fight with people absolutely ready to kill them. Words cannot describe how much I wanted Re-Destro to knot this guy around a tree. (Chapter 263)

“If any of them get out, they could keep terrorizing other places.”

So assume for a moment that everything went exactly according to plan. Virtually all 115,000 members of the Liberation Front got rounded up, there’s easily enough room for them in Japan’s correctional facilities, and now the entire organization is awaiting trial. What happens next?

The Judicial Process

To provide some context for those of my readers whose only exposure to the judicial process is pop culture depictions, the very first thing that should happen after a person is arrested in the U.S. is a pre-trial appearance, at which people are formally told what the charges against them are and bail is set or denied. Non-violent offenders, provided they have someone able to post bail, are usually able to await their trial date at home, albeit under travel restrictions. Typically this pre-trial hearing should be within two business days; if a detainee hasn’t seen a judge in that time, the prosecutors’ office is obligated to let them go.[13] This doesn’t necessarily mean the person is off the hook entirely, of course; they can be arrested again later. It just means they’re free to go for the time being.

I don’t think for one second that Japan’s legal system can handle processing an influx the size of the PLF in just a few days. For comparison’s sake, in 2018 (the same year all my incarceration numbers come from, incidentally), 206,000 people were arrested in total, for the whole year. So will the overflow just be let go? Released to their homes to wait for the police to come back when they have more time? Yet that doesn’t seem to track with how Edgeshot was talking, does it?

On the one hand, if you look at the numbers from some of my historical analogues, it’s very consistent that only a small portion of people swept up in mass arrests in Japan ever actually reach trial. For the Rice Riots and the March 15 Incident, that portion is about a third—quite sizeable, given the numbers involved—but the others are lower still: the long-term arrests under the Peace Preservation Laws saw only about a twelfth of those arrested actually brought to trial; for the Righteous Army, it was less than a tenth.

Frankly, you don't arrest those kinds of numbers and then actually prosecute all of them; you arrest them to scare the shit out of people, and then you try the ringleaders and whichever others you have the most dirt on. This is the pattern in every other instance that involves over a thousand people being arrested.

On the other hand, even setting aside the fact that people can apparently be dropped in Tartarus without trial now,[14] a significant difference between the U.S. and Japan is that pretrial detention can stretch on and on and on in Japan. Legally speaking, charges should be filed with 72 hours, but prosecutors can request ten more days twice, then repeat the process over by adding other potential charges about which they need to question the suspect. So, yes, I suppose that, if the authorities do have the facilities to keep the PLF in, there’s nothing stopping them from dragging this detainment out indefinitely—it just isn’t very in-keeping with the historical record to do so with all of them.

As you might expect, lengthy detainments are a massively controversial aspect of the Japanese legal system to human rights activists both locally and abroad, since the loophole of detainees not yet having been charged or tried allows police to get around a lot of the rights that are supposed to be guaranteed, particularly the right to legal representation.[15]

So, now that I’ve brought up the right to legal counsel, here’s another procedural issue: due to a generally non-litigious culture and a very difficult bar exam, there's a dearth of attorneys in Japan. Defense attorneys have a particularly hard time; thanks to the presumption of guilt of those arrested by police, and an oft-vicious ostracization of criminals, it's seen as something of a blemish on one's character to willingly defend the accused, so defense lawyers are frequently unpopular and underpaid. I have to assume MHA is facing similar problems.[16] Good luck finding all the people you need to investigate and defend the new glut of people in the system, though!

No, the reason real-life Japan’s legal system can go on functioning even with a shortage of lawyers is, I suspect, that compared to how long pre-trial detention can go on, trials are fairly quick. Legally, they're required to last no longer than a few weeks. There is, however, concern among some in the legal profession that cases are not being examined closely enough, leading to preventable errors and miscarriages of justice,[17] due to both the haste with which trials are conducted and aspects of Japan's “lay judge” system.

Lay judges are a unique feature of Japan's legal system, in some ways similar to—and in other ways very distinct from—a jury of one’s peers. As in a U.S. jury, lay judges are a panel randomly selected from the citizenry to hear evidence and render judgement. However, where jurists are a passive audience to the presentation of the case, only debating the merits behind closed doors after the case concludes, lay judges are encouraged to take active part in the trial process, empowered to question witnesses and challenge evidence. The lay judges are joined by a smaller number of professional judges; a verdict requires a majority vote of the judges' panel, in which at least one vote is that of said professional judges.

As to what this has to do with concerns about justice, consider, if you will, how the requirements of a system that demands active involvement from its participants might intersect with the (self-)perception of the Japanese people as modest and not wanting to “make trouble” for others, particularly when combined with a widespread belief that suspects would not be brought to trial if they weren’t guilty. Additionally, in the specific context of My Hero Academia, consider how bias about villains or “villainous quirks” will influence such judgements.

I’ll talk more about the presupposition of guilt in Japan and how it relates to the treatment of suspects by both officials and the public in Part Three, but for now, let’s consider the trial itself. What will the charges be? What will the sentences be? How long will the PLF members be in prison? And will that time in prison do the slightest thing to prevent them from going right back to what they were doing when they get out? Are they just going to be imprisoned indefinitely? Until they say they change their minds?

When I began my research, there were two main things I wanted to examine in regard to crimes the PLF at large might be on the hook for: membership in an illegal organization and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism.

Japan and Illegal Organizations

So here’s the thing: Japan doesn’t criminalize membership in organizations categorically. Because of the government’s history abusing laws to crack down on labor organizations and political dissent—e.g. the March 15 Incident—any attempts to legislate the process of banning criminal organizations get significant pushback from freedom of speech advocates. After all, critics say, the police may say that your community activist group doesn’t count as a terrorist organization now, but what’s actually stopping them from categorizing it as such in the future?

Now, that’s not to say Japan doesn’t have ways to regulate such groups at all! I’ll talk more about this later on, but briefly, groups that are found likely to be advocating for “terroristic subversive activity” can be forcibly barred from e.g. printing their organizational material, holding public assemblies, or owning property under the group’s name. One thing that isn’t mentioned in those prohibitions, though, is actual membership in the organization. That’s because, as I said, Japan is hugely gun-shy about criminalizing membership in any sort of organization, even organizations that have been declared criminal.[18]

It’s illegal to pick mushrooms on conservation lands if you’re doing it to raise money for your terrorist organization. It’s illegal to use protest sit-ins against new apartment buildings if you’re doing it on behalf of the mob. But it is not illegal to simply be a member of a terrorist organization or the mob—not even if that group has been formally dissolved by the government.

We can see a few places where this holds true even in the universe of My Hero Academia. The Shie Hassaikai is, like many yakuza groups, under police surveillance, but not barred outright from existing. Likewise, whatever prohibition there might once have been on printing material in support of the Metahuman Liberation Army has clearly lapsed, otherwise Curious would never have gotten away with reprinting Destro’s memoir.

Being a member of the MLA was likely not illegal as such, not any more so than membership in Aum Shinrikyo (currently calling themselves Aleph) or yakuza groups are in real life—they’re surveilled, sure, their activities curtailed, absolutely, but banned outright? Not so much. And membership in the PLF certainly wouldn't be banned even if it were legal to ban such memberships, seeing as it's brand new and, at the time of the raid, would not yet have been targeted for restrictions on its activity, lest such targeting tip the group off that the government was aware of its existence.

Keep that last point in mind; we’ll be coming back to it later, too.

Conspiracy

So, if membership in the PLF isn’t illegal in and of itself, what else can the government use to charge the 115,000 people they preemptively arrested?

Well, in general, for someone to be tried for a crime, they need to be either caught in the act or caught in an attempt. An attempted crime is something that is in immediate danger of happening—for example, if someone tries to kidnap a baby from the pediatric wing of a hospital but is caught by security before they make it out of the building, that’s an attempted kidnapping. An attempted crime may or may not be punished with the same severity as a successfully enacted crime, depending on the nature of the offense and the local laws.

What an attempted crime differs from, however, is a planned crime. If someone was planning to commit tax evasion but decided not to, they cannot be charged with tax evasion. This is how most criminal charges work—you can’t be charged with something you didn’t at least try to do, regardless of how close you came to it, and a policeman who tries to goad someone into such a crime should rightfully be running into charges of entrapment.

There are, unsurprisingly, some exceptions. It’s not uncommon for countries to criminalize planning insurrection or treason, and in cases like that, police are under absolutely no obligation to wait around for an active attempt before they respond. They can and will move as soon as they have sufficient evidence to get an arrest warrant. For lesser offenses, though, the legality of the advance-planning of a crime varies from country to country, and this is where we start getting into conspiracy.

Conspiracy in the legal sense has a couple of elements: it must be something that 1) two or more people 2) knowingly 3) discussed a plan for, which 4) led at least one person in the group to commit a “preparatory action.” i.e. do something to advance aforementioned plan.[19] All of these elements have to be proven to get everyone in a group on a conspiracy charge, though not all members of a group have to be in on all parts of a plan. If these elements are met, then everyone in the group can be charged with any and all crimes committed over the course of the plan being carried out, regardless of each member’s individual involvement.

What all this means for our purposes is that, because the heroes made the first move, they have to get the PLF on something that is illegal to even plan, not something that only becomes illegal in the attempt.[20] Huge portions of the PLF may wind up being released if the police can't conclusively prove not merely their association with the PLF, but also their direct knowledge of the relevant plans—not difficult for the ringleaders, obviously, but much dicier when you start getting out into the liberated districts. If the prosecution can't prove that knowledge, and lacks confessions otherwise—and as I’ll discuss in more detail later, a confession in and of itself is not considered sufficient; there has to be corroborating evidence[21]—huge swathes of those people are going to get cut loose.

So what are police going to be looking for? What crimes can the PLF be charged with under current law, and what are the sentences for such crimes like?

Prior to 1952, conspiracy was only illegal in the following cases: insurrection, treason, or aiding/abetting/instigating either of the above. Conspiracy to commit treason as a charge is right out—everything the PLF is doing, they’re doing for their own sake and for the sake of the future of Japan, not for the sake of a foreign power. Conspiracy to commit/instigate insurrection is more debatable, but, surprisingly, shakier than it might appear at first. This is because of the specific, legal definition of the term.

Japan’s Penal Code defines insurrection as rioting for the purpose of overthrowing the government, usurping the sovereignty of the State, or otherwise subverting constitutional order. The middle clause, the one regarding territorial sovereignty, is obviously not at issue—the PLF is not attempting to stake out land for a new country and secede. It’s the rest of the description that’s debatably more applicable, but still, to my eye, not an easy guilty verdict.

Firstly, per Hawks’ description of the plan, the PLF at least wants the government and the constitutional order intact enough for the Hearts & Minds Party to “storm the political world,” which to me suggests that their target is public opinion, not the intangible apparatus of the government itself. Further, even if you did argue that their manipulation of public opinion constitutes subversion of the constitutional order, you’d also have to argue the rioting part, and we have no idea whether any of the PLF’s plans actually involved a significant number of people mobbing in public as opposed to e.g. small strike teams.

So is the PLF off the hook? Not hardly! The Penal Code was established in 1907, after all—it’s been expanded lots since then, and those expansions are where the PLF really starts to run into trouble.

The Subversive Activities Prevention Act of 1952 criminalized a number of conspiracy-to-commit crimes—crimes like arson and homicide—if said crimes were to be undertaken “with the intent to promote, support or oppose any political doctrine or policy.” For example, conspiring to burn down a bank was not criminalized. Conspiring to burn down a bank as an act of protest against a new tax law became illegal as all get-out.

This gets us where we need to be for the PLF, as, on top of the crimes laid out in the 1952 act, I am very prepared to believe that acts of villainy (that is, illegal quirk use) in advancement of political ends have been folded into this particular branch of Japanese law.[22] So then, what kind of conspiracy charges are we looking at here, and what associated crimes?

I see two major possibilities at this point, and they hinge on exactly how much the prosecution ties Shigaraki’s attack on Jaku and Gigantomachia’s destruction to the run-of-the-mill PLF member sitting in a backwater town somewhere doing nothing more involved than e.g. quirk training and attending weekly meetings to get updates on where the plans stand for their local regiment’s part of the big push the following month. It’s difficult to say how feasible it is to make that connection—there are provisions in Japanese law for group criminal liability, but they tend to require things like joint actions, or specific knowledge and intent regarding the crime in question.

Obviously, random PLF members nowhere near Machia’s path of destruction didn’t take joint actions to abet it, so the pertinent question is, was Machia going on a rampage part of the plan? How about Shigaraki’s destruction of Jaku? If so, how much did random PLF members know about it? How specific does that knowledge need to be? If, say, the original plan had Shigaraki decaying the greater part of Hosu, does it still meet the specific knowledge requirement if he wound up decaying Jaku instead? If Machia was supposed to stampede across Tokyo, do the PLF members who chased after him count as furthering a conspiracy to do so when he stomped across Osaka and Kyoto instead?

Frankly, I don’t think we can say for sure how much a randomly selected member of the rank and file would have known. Any knowledge they had would have been many steps removed from the people actually making the plan; I would tend to think that the outer reaches of the PLF mostly knew about whatever plan their specific group would be tasked with, but would have much patchier knowledge of plans beyond that immediate sphere. As to how much that matters to the courts? Well, let’s take a look at the final logistics problem: the sentencing.

Sentencing Standards

First things first: I absolutely do not think the death penalty is on the table for the rank and file. People like Shigaraki and Dabi, yes, based on their pre-PLF crimes alone; Re-Destro and the other lieutenants are certainly a strong possibility. But the rank and file? No. Looking at our historical referents, it has never been the case that every single person involved in a mass arrest incident has been sentenced equally harshly, even in the case of the February 26 Incident’s outright uprising against the state! And that was in a time where human rights were considerably less enshrined in the constitution; in the modern day, the death penalty is usually reserved for murder cases,[23] typically only those involving multiple murders or particularly aggravated cases involving torture or ransom.

Whether or not the courts could attempt to punish all of the members of the PLF for all the deaths caused by Shigaraki and Gigantomachia under group criminal liability provisions, the degree of mass international outcry sentencing 115,000 people to death would involve is difficult to fathom. Egypt's 2014 mass trials of the Muslim Brotherhood are a good referent, and they “only” involved about 1,200 people.[24] Multiplying that number ten times over? I very much doubt Horikoshi is prepared to even imply that the system all these cute kids want to grow up and join is anywhere near that grisly and authoritarian.

Anyway, if the MHA government were that quick to hand down death sentences, I very much doubt Stain or All For One would still be alive—or, indeed, that Tartarus would serve much function at all. It's described, after all, as a place that houses those who threaten Japan's security on a fundamental, national level. That's the kind of thing countries keep death penalties around for.

That said, let’s assume for the time being that Shigaraki and Machia will be treated as their own thing, and what the PLF are going to be tried for is more in tune with the plan as Hawks laid it out. Remember again that the heroes attacked preemptively. This means that, in this scenario, all the conspiracy stuff is on the table, but it’s the only thing on the table—because it’s all the PLF had time to get to! There might be a few other charges—for example, if the black market support good proliferation is part of their plan, and the weapon proliferation is already underway, the whole group could feasibly be charged with whatever crime covers illegal weapon distribution. However, whatever crimes those support goods would be used to commit haven’t happened yet, so on that front, the PLF is still only on the hook for planning them.

Here, then, is what the Penal Code and its relevant revisions have to say about conspiracy sentences:

If they do wind up getting the group on conspiracy to incite insurrection:

A person who prepares for or plots an insurrection is punished by imprisonment without work for not less than 1 year but not more than 10 years.

(…)

A person who aids the commission of any of the crimes prescribed above by the supply of arms, funds, or food, or by any other act, is punished by imprisonment without work for not more than 7 years.

So that’s kinda bad! Not as bad as if they’d actually gotten to the insurrection, which is when death penalties and life sentences for ringleaders and key figures start cropping up, but still pretty bad! Seven years in prison is almost certainly enough time for a lot of those people to do some serious reconsideration of their life priorities!

As I already said, though, I think the insurrection charge is shaky. So what if they wind up instead charging the PLF with conspiracy to commit villainy for political aims?

Well, that’s why this whole section is in the logistics portion of this essay, because the sentencing for politically motivated villainy probably looks a lot more like this:

If it’s a crime on the level of, for political aims, preparing, plotting, inducing, or inciting:

Arson, illegal use of explosives, homicide, or robbery involving assault or intimidation: imprisonment with or without work for a term not exceeding five years.

A public disturbance: imprisonment with or without work for a term not exceeding three years.

A hazard for a train, tram, or vessel: imprisonment with or without work for a term not exceeding—oh, three years again.

The assault or intimidation of a public employee in the performance of public duty[25]: spoilers, it’s imprisonment for not more than three years again.

Five years or less. Three years or less.

Is that enough time to make people reconsider their life choices? Especially people who have been raised all their lives to follow the cause of Liberation?

Remember that when the heroes attacked, the intention was a clean sweep, a preventative tactic to stop the villains before they could enact any of their terroristic plans. Yet if they intended to stop things at a point where only conspiracy would be punishable, is three years in prison all that Edgeshot thought these people would be in for when he said that if a single one of them escaped, they might go on to terrorize other places? What was Japan’s government and/or the Hero Public Safety Commission planning to do in three years, or five years, or ten years, when 17,000 to 115,000 people were released en masse from prison, free to return to their lives? It certainly seems like they had more stringent consequences in mind, does it?

Of course, there are other factors to consider.

Lots of these people would, presumably, be up on multiple charges, compounding their sentences. Certainly, if Shigaraki and Gigantomachia are tied to the rest of the group, their tolls of death and destruction could potentially be applied to any and all co-conspirators. And maybe the penalties for conspiracy to commit politically motivated villainy are worse. Maybe the prosecutors will push for insurrection conspiracy charges regardless of their applicability, and the Japanese courts will just let them, because there will be a profound thirst for “justice” after Gigantomachia’s rampage and a few human rights violations or abuses of the law will seem like just what the Paranormal Liberation Front members had coming to them.

Maybe, behind the immediate logistical problems presented by this mass arrest, there are a whole fleet of problems of a different nature.

Next time: let’s talk ethics.

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Footnotes (Part Two)

[7] Whose supporters were eventually successful, by the way. Look up the Telangana movement.

[8] For example, “Skeptic can access such high-tech satellites that he can get up-to-the-minute views on the heroes approaching Gigantomachia, but he somehow didn’t notice a literal hero battalion bearing down on the villa until they were charging out of the tree line? Seriously?”

[9] Frankly, another 2-3 Deikas is the simplest way to explain how they can have a group that big and still be totally unknown to society at large. Far easier to maintain a cult’s required isolation and secrecy when your strongholds are more “this town and everyone you know and love in it” and less “this fancy resort that everyone has to drive thirty minutes to an hour to get to from the totally normal towns they actually live in.”

[10] And frankly, I don't know that that the, “All their really good combatants are at the villa,” assumption is even justified, given that you'd think the people at the villa for the “conference” are more likely to be the people who are going to be involved in coordinating the upcoming assaults—lots of great combatants, sure, but also people who are going to be doing the organizational work, the supply work, etc.

[11] Presumably, at this point, our hypothetical 30% will be instructed to relocate to one of the hero school shelters, but that obviously wouldn’t have been in the plan from the beginning, given that the shelters were only opened after heroes started retiring in droves.

[12] For comparison, a mid-sized prison is considered by the American Jail Association to have 50 to 249 beds, and we’re way more prone to incarceration than Japan is.

[13] For example, in 2005 in Baltimore, so many arrests were being made based on quality-of-life crimes like loitering that the system couldn't keep up, leading to thousands of people having to be released because they just couldn't be processed in time.

[14] When AFO was first brought in, we were told that his remand to Tartarus pre-trial was without precedent. However, Chapter 297 describes Tartarus as a detention facility that only calls itself a prison—remember, in Japan, remand prisoners are supposed to be kept separate from tried and sentenced prisoners. Thus, Tartarus should be reserved only for those who are sentenced to it, or it shouldn't contain sentenced prisoners at all. But with 297, we find that such is no longer the case, as people can be put there “regardless of their sentencing status.” It's unclear whether this change was a rapid case of slippery slope in-universe or whether it's a simple retcon.

[15] Suspects get one visit from a “duty lawyer” for free during detention, but otherwise, the right to counsel only kicks in after charges are filed, and lawyers are not allowed to be present during questioning.

[16] Among many other factors, it would certainly help explain why All For One hasn't even been brought to trial yet. Hell, we don't even know if he's really been formally charged, though Pixie Bob’s comment back in Chapter 184 could easily be interpreted as meaning that the questioning process is still ongoing. AFO needs a Yasuda Yoshihiro, clearly.

[17] Though both acquittals and convictions can be appealed.

[18] An “organized criminal group” per Japanese law has a few qualifications to meet. They need to be committing crimes in an organized fashion, obviously, and there are laws determining which crimes qualify, but further, they need to be a sustained organization, one in which members have assigned roles and duties such that those duties advance a common cause sought after by the organization as a whole. Ergo, a yakuza group definitely qualifies, while an impromptu group of people who got together to murder their boss but who have no further common cause afterward does not. Groups like the Metahuman Liberation Army and the Shie Hassaikai obviously meet these standards, but e.g. the League of Villains, lacking much in the way of a common cause or defined roles, might not.

[19] Like buying a ski mask if their plan to rob a bank involves ski masks.

[20] This, obviously, applies only to members of the PLF who haven’t already broken other laws. The League is boned no matter what. Likewise, there are laws against e.g. harboring criminals that could be brought to bear against whoever maintains the villa, and so on and so forth.

[21] Though one huge issue is that other peoples' confessions can be counted as evidence against you, and yours against others.

[22] A highly controversial anti-conspiracy law in 2017 criminalized the planning of a whole array of new crimes, some bizarrely innocuous-looking, but because it was aimed mostly at the yakuza and other groups engaged in human trafficking, the new roster was generally criminalized on the basis that they were crimes intended to gain some material benefit for the organization planning them. The PLF’s plans were going to do a lot of things, but provide material benefit—a legal term for something that has monetary value—is decidedly not one of them.

[23] Though there are 19 offenses for which it is legally invokable.

[24] The greater majority of the sentences were commuted to “only” being life sentences, but that only by virtue of a relatively powerful upper court, which Egypt’s president has been working to diminish ever since. The state of fair trials and humane prison conditions in the country is pretty appalling right now.

[25] Continued, “committed collectively by carrying any deadly weapon or poison, against any person engaged in prosecutorial or police duties, any assistant to such official, any person who guards or escorts persons in legal custody, or any person engaged in an investigation under this Act.” There are a lot of riders on this one.

#bnha analysis #bnha meta #paranormal liberation front #meta liberation army #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha #bnha spoilers #my writing #plf arrests #stillness has salt

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excorcismic · 4 years ago

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uhm . . . cheesed to meet you ?? - HI GANG !! what’s up , i’m hylia and i . . . love . misa and death note with my entire heart . I KNOW FOR A FACT i will probably pick up more characters along the way but i couldn’t have picked a better one to start out with !! i have experience writing both misa & light - i actually am more experienced writing light than misa , but i still have a lot of experience with her under my belt !! i’m currently writing him in another group and when i saw duality i just HAD to write her here - i’m so excited to plot w/ y’all !! so lemme tell you the basic facts & some connections and ideas i have under the cut c: ( this got long i’m so sorry )

ooooooooooooo you wanna plot with misa so bad oooooooo - AHEM . so .

IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH DEATH NOTE / MISA : death note is a manga / anime revolving around a smart young man ( light yagami ) who discovers a supernatural notebook who can take the life of any human as long as the writer knows their name & face . light uses this book to essentially try and purge the world of evil , earning the alias ‘kira’ ( who gains a following ) , and misa , who acquires a death note of her own , seeks him out as the second kira . she possesses things that he doesn’t , so essentially she becomes his partner in crime - she , falling in love with him ( or more so the idea of him she created for herself ) , and he , entertaining her fantasies in exchange for her abilities and assistance . it’s . . . way more complicated in detail and honestly pretty sad but that’s the getgo . she’s a pretty girl with a very powerful notebook and she likes a guy with a powerful notebook that sees her more as a tool he can use to further his plans . OH OH OH and also she has a protective monster lady who’s in love with her and looking after her and threatening to clap light if he hurts misa in any way .

death note . . . is a story about how people who were good can become awful towards other people and themselves if you give them a bit of power .

BUT ANYWAY . misa actually has a much happier life here than in death note !! it’s . . . still kinda eh in some places but overall much better since that godforsaken notebook doesn’t exist and isn't here to screw anyone's lives up .

she's a former child actor, now a musician in a pop punk band called 'your friends & the skeletons!!' but as of rn with her taking a break from big performances and touring she's just a streamer operatin' out of alucard and trying to entertain herself since sometimes the world gets a little too big for her and she needs to take a step back.

it’s a pretty cute life & that’s the rundown !! of course , it’ll be more detailed and developed in my intro for her , but that being said - CONNECTIONS .

OHHHH YOU WANNA PLOT OUT THESE WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS WITH ME SO BAD OOOOOOHHH AND OHHHH YOU WANNA LIKE THIS POST FOR ME TO DM YOU FOR PLOTTING SO BAD OHHHHHHHHH

okay so obviously some band mates !! YF&TS i imagine is a four-piece with misa on rhythm guitar & vocals , then lead guitar , bass , and drums . i imagine they’re all friends with misa , but maybe one person has been friends with misa since like . . . forever . and has seen her go through literally everything .

so , misa lives alone . maybe i’ll have her look for a roommate along the way but as for right now , even though she lives by herself ( and honestly is a lil lonely ) , i really like the idea that maybe she’s the helper neighbor that wants to befriend everyone that lives on her floor , runs to get groceries , always visits and checks in on people , etc . !! so neighbor friends pretty please !!

obviously if u wanna make ppl be fans of misa & her band that is a-okay with me just pls keep in mind they’re kinda big but not . . . big big . like they’ve got some dedicated fans but not full on stans y’know

SO . . . folds hands . i kinda like the idea that misa hasn’t been through that many serious relationships ( always gets her heart broken through them ) but maybe there was that one serious ex-partner she had and they broke it off for whatever reason . it’d have to be when she was 18-20 and they’d be together for maybe about two or three years before her career takes off and stuff and yeah it’d be the saaaad relationship that fizzled out even tho it was serious for a bit

also some not so serious/long relationships where misa got her heart broken !! fun times !! misa throws her full heart into things way too easily so this could’ve happened in many different ways . flings ?? check . short-term relationships ?? check . she wrote a letter for someone on a starbucks napkin asking them out and they rejected so whenever she comes into said starbucks she feels shy & awkward ordering something ?? check . ( we can have fun with this basically it’s ‘ misa tried it with y/m and it didn’t work out and she’s still lonely ’ )

friends please !! friends that misa’s made in alucard !! also friends with benefits maybe !! idk !! misa is a very friendly person she will be your friend if you say ‘hi’ in a positive tone towards her !!

oh i think it’d b rly funny if there was one person misa kept trying to befriend and they’re just rly stubborn abt it for some reason bc idk maybe they find misa annoying or something anyway give me sb who misa wants to be friendly with n they’re just No abt it for whatever reason

ONE OF THE THINGS I HAVE FOR MISA AS A STREAMER IS THAT SHE’S RLY INTO THE PARANORMAL AND RECORDS STUFF WITH IT SO PARANORMAL GHOST ADVENTURES PALS PLEASE !!

she’s also a gaming streamer so imagine she gets into a fight with sb behind a screen on a game and/or stream and then finds them in alucard like ‘oh fuck’ aka cyber enemies

also the exact opposite scenario with cyber friends aka misa makes a friend on a game and they meet each other irl and it’s cute !!

misa . . . is not a huge party girl but i imagine she has ppl that regularly invite her to parties and stuff so there’s that . but like . she only knows these people in context of partying - they’re her party friends and that’s it and her relationships with them are just kinda shallow .

i’d ALSO like a friend she makes that’s maybe a little more sheltered & naive to the world than she is so she just takes them to cool places and stuff !! shows them what it’s like to live on the ‘ wild side ’ !! whether it’s driving to a 24 hr gas station for candy and snacks in the middle of the night and staying out until sunrise just on the road or just sitting at misa’s apartment and watching true crime documentaries in their jammies . just sb misa’s gonna take like ‘ hey we’re gonna show u what LIVING is like ’

actual shipping . . . i would love to explore at a point but i wanna explore other things first so that’ll just be smth that comes up in development maybe !! i want misa to get a chance to experience what actual love is and explore the relationship aspect of it so i’m open to it but also i just wanna develop it n let it come naturally . filled !

ANYWAYS . i’m open to rly anything !! enemies ?? friends ?? frenemies ?? friends or enemies with benefits ?? unrequited crushes ?? exes ?? found family ?? party pals ?? streamer pals/enemies ?? LET’S PLOT IT OUT I’M SO EXCITED

sorry this is a long as hell list anyways let’s plot out some relationships even tho i’m bad at plotting and trust me the intro is. probs gonna be even longer. i am so sorry.

ANYWAYS ILY ALL IM SO EXCITED TO WRITE/PLOT W/ U GUYS

- - - - - - - - - - - POST-EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT EDIT : okay so this one is rly specific but , , , i rly would like if maybe misa had sb to go to the cirque du eradicus with ?? probably as a date !! a date that doesn’t have to amount to anything but they’re gonna b the one who witnesses misa go into the hall of mirrors n it’s gonna be kind of like a connection since they’re gonna have been together when that stuff happens and it could be rly fun to work with in the future . just gonna put the age limit for this one at 22 - 26 just bc gaps and all !! i think it could be cute if it goes well or interesting if it doesn’t but . yeah idk they can split off at some point for other threads bt ANYWAYS I JUST THINK IT’D B FUN filled !

also if anyone wants to bring me anyone from death note i will kiss u ESPECIALLY for light , l , rem , or matsuda . pls . maybe these characters can ACTUALLY get a normal fuckin’ life this time around - ( sometimes we just want to live in the yotsuba arc forever where everyone’s runnin around solvin mysteries and not scheming against each other - )

death note hits differently .

#i'm so sorry this is a monster of a list #i just. talk and it stops eventually #dhq.plots #░ ★ abt . ❛ sʜᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡs sʜᴇ·ʟʟ ғɪɴᴅ ʟᴏᴠᴇ﹐ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴛ ʜᴇʀ ɴᴏᴡ / misa amane #death mention

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thirdpersonperspectiveuniverse · 5 years ago

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Looking at Origins

“Certainly there are spots which inevitably attach to themselves an atmosphere of holiness and goodness; it might not then be too fanciful to say that some houses are born bad.”

- Shirley Jackson

Since we’ll need to establish what the original story is, let’s first take a look at the original book, published in 1959.

Shirley Jackson, at the time before publishing her book, had already made fame publishing short stories and some occasional novels, including the famous short The Lottery. Her style was never really reflective of supernatural stories, instead being mostly in the dystopian or mystery themed. However, Jackson was inspired after reading about a nineteenth century study done where five supposed psychics had been locked in a supposed haunted house, and all had come out expressing different feelings about it. Jackson saw the study as less of a supernatural case, and more of a “‘story of several earnest, I believe misguided, certainly determined people, with their differing motivations and background.’” (Jackson Interview, Wikipedia). With this in mind, she energetically began to plan out her story, even channeling her grandfather (an architect) in designing a floor plan for the fictitious Hill House (seen below). In addition, while I cannot confirm nor deny this, one of the possible influences for Hill House was the Jennings Hall, in Bennington, Vermont (seen below). The book was released in 1959, to critical claim, being hailed as one of the next great stories to be remembered for decades.

The plot follows Eleanor Vance, a sheltered woman who hasn’t been able to leave her home and do things a normal adult would do, due to her ailing mother. Now, at 32, she receives a letter from Dr. Montague, who asks her to be one subject in an experiment dedicated to proving the existence of ghosts. Feeling like this is finally her chance to see the world, she drives to Hill House, in order to meet Dr. Montague and the only other two others to join the experiment: Theo, a psychic, and Luke Sanderson, the nephew of the descendant of Hugh Crain, builder of Hill House. After their first dinner in the house, Dr. Monague vaguely explains the history of the house, filled with suicides, fights, and people leaving before the lease is due. While mildly paranormal things begin to happen, Eleanor seems to be at peace in the house, even after the second night where the women are trapped in a room surrounded by loud banging, and the men are sent chasing after a child they here, which makes Dr. Montague begin to suspect that the house is trying to seperate them. Over time, the groups moods seem to improve, even when they simultaneously lose the concept of time and memory, with Eleanor noting that her time before Hill House seems foggy, and the group completely forgetting what day it is. It is from here that the group begins to split as more scary things begin to happen. Nearing the end, now Mrs. Montague and her Assistant, Arthur, start a hostile takeover of the investigation, portraying the Montague’s broken marriage and their differences in how to investigate. By now, Eleanor has fully turned herself to the houses control, and is now able to feel and hear everyone in the house, and grows more hostile. This culminates into the House deluding Eleanor into climbing the rickety spiral staircase in the library to the tower, where one of the previous owners had hung themselves. Luke luckily is able to stop her, and Dr. Montague demands her to head back home. Eleanor initially refuses, seeing Hill House as her home, but she eventually starts driving away. However, as she is about to leave the property, she seemingly loses control of the car and crashes into the same tree that Hugh Crain’s wife died at. The book ends with the remaining characters pondering whether or not she killed herself, or if the ghosts finally got her.

As said before, the book was released to critical acclaim, and it’s not hard to see why- the entire book has more levels in it than Hill House, leaving viewers so many things to theorize and speculate about. While it is a slow story being told, I think what helps with this book is that Jackson does keep you off balance, making the world seem real enough to relate to it, yet odd in certain aspects. In fact, when Dr. Montague describes the house as having all of the halls and floors at the slightest of an angle, as if it wanted to disorient it’s occupants. I can’t help but feel like Tim Burton was inspired by this house. Also, what sets this apart from other stories is that the plot itself is not the main focus; like Jackson intended, this is a character study of five people stuck somewhere that is trying to make them lose their minds. Because of this, the characters do really pop off the page, being able to make an imprint on the reader’s mind, and in turn get emotions felt by the reader for them. That’s not even mentioning how many subtle details about the characters there are; I believe that one could write a book based on each character’s backstory, personality, and journey throughout the book.

This story was an innovator for the time, and still revels in its subtle horror for decades to come. It actually does this so well that people have tried to recreate this story multiple times over. The question is, do these remakes live up to what Jackson imagined for the story? In fact, what did Jackson want to channel in this book other than an intriguing idea? Let’s find out.

Work Cited:

Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House, Viking Publishers, 1959

Minutalgio, Ross. “This Creepy Vermont Building May Have Inspired Netflix’s Haunting of Hill House,” NBC5 News, 2018. https://www.mynbc5.com/article/this-creepy-vermont-building-may-have-inspired-netflixs-haunting-of-hill-house/2394633 (For Image Only)

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 6 years ago

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17 terrifying creepypastas guaranteed to keep you up at night

The age-old tradition of telling ghost stories around a campfire has gotten a digital upgrade with creepypastas — scary stories or pictures that spread across message boards, becoming internet lore that are discussed both on and offline.

People around the word share their bizarre and terrifying creepypastas, hoping that the tales will gain popularity and become classics, often quoted or cited by horror fans and frightened netizens.

Like with the ghost stories of old, not all creepypastas are particularly scary or good, even if they are frequently passed around. Reading a long story with an interesting title or image is no guarantee of a frightening payoff, and the writers often forget that just having someone meeting a quick and unfortunate fate does not an interesting story make.

When a real gem of a creepypasta is found, it makes all the searching and scavenging worth it (at least until it's time to fall asleep). So grab a friend, turn off the lights, and prepare to be scared to scroll any further — here are 17 of the scariest creepypastas.

1. The Slender Man

A post shared by SLENDERMAN ™ ☛ALWAYЅ WATCHES (@slender.mxn) on Aug 23, 2018 at 12:40pm PDT

Before this pale, faceless ghoul had his own movie and video game series, he haunted the forums of the internet with his finely pressed suit and unnaturally long limbs. The Slender Man's story is not a narrative one, but a pseudo-historical look at this monster's history with humanity that is tied into several other creepypastas.

Typically, the Slender Man preys on children and those who become obsessed with his existence, though no one knows exactly what happens to the bodies since no one has ever escaped from an encounter with him. Suggested stories featuring the Slender Man include The Tall Man and the Marble Hornets videos.

In the real world, this creepypasta figure became a key figure during an assault and subsequent criminal case in 2014 involving three 12-year-old girls. Wisconsin teens Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, lured their friend, Payton Leutner, into the woods during a game of hide-and-seek. In an reported attempt to appease Slender Man, the duo stabbed Leutner 19 times and left her at the scene. Leutner managed to drag herself to a nearby road where a cyclist found her, and she was immediately taken to a hospital where she recovered from her injuries.

Soon after the attack, Weier and Geyser were arrested and tried for attempted second-degree murder. In 2017, Weier was sentenced to 25 years in a mental institution, while her accomplice Geyser was sentenced to 40 years in a mental hospital in 2018.

2. Candle Cove

A post shared by Nicky (@burialshroud) on Mar 6, 2018 at 12:52pm PST

Everyone has a television show from their childhood that they fondly remember. Like those who nostalgically recall the adventures of Dora the Explorer, Mister Rogers, and Sesame Street, some adults rediscovered their favorite show from the 1970s, Candle Cove, on a television forum in this creepypasta. Slowly, their memories of the show grow darker and more disturbing until one of the adults asks his mother about the true nature of the show.

The forum format of the story adds a spooky realism to the tale, also making it easy to recreate and share on other boards. If you find this story particularly compelling, watch the first season of the Syfy original series Channel Zero, which is based off this creepypasta.

3. Robert the Doll

A post shared by 😱معرفی فیلم های ترسناک👻 (@filme_tarsnak) on Apr 3, 2018 at 12:48am PDT

Not for the faint of heart, Robert the Doll really exists. The myths surrounding him vary, especially since it became so popular on the internet. The doll was given to artist Robert Eugene Otto in the late 1800s or early 1900s by a servant working in his family home. The doll, which he named after himself, then took on a life of its own and began to terrorize the family.

Otto is said to have kept his doll into adulthood and it subsequently tormented his late wife to insanity. When the doll was found by another family, the girl to whom it was given was terrified of it and refused to have it in her room.

The doll is currently residing in the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida. Visitors must ask Robert politely if they want to take his photo. If they mock him or take his photo without permission, Robert is said to lay a curse on them.

4. Anasi's Goatman Story

A post shared by Only Stupid Answers (@onlystupidanswers) on Aug 15, 2016 at 10:04am PDT

Based on a Native American legend, this creepypasta was originally found on 4Chan's paranormal board /x/, where some of the best creepypastas can be found.

The story follows a teenager who goes down to Alabama to be with his extended family. While he, his cousins, and their friends are camping out in the woods, they see a strange figure — the Goatman — jerking and spouting gibberish as it follows them. They spend the rest of the night in fear as the Goatman slowly infiltrates the group, terrorizing the teens into a frenzied state of paranoia.

This mix of pre-existing lore and new narrative is not rare for creepypastas, but it's the strength of the writing that really makes this particular story worth sharing. There are variations of this story, but most follow a similar formula where a group is stalked by the titular monster with different outcomes.

5. The Russian Sleep Experiment

A post shared by All Things Horror Lover (@allthingshorrorlover) on May 5, 2018 at 1:10pm PDT

A staple of best creepypasta lists everywhere, the title of this story itself carries with it a sense of dread and horror. Shortly after World War II, five political prisoners are subjected to an experiment in which they have to remain awake for 30 days in a tank filled with an experimental gas. As with most science-gone-wrong stories, the test subjects begin to lose their minds among a number of other gruesome symptoms. The horror does not end when the experimenters try to save their subjects — far from it.

Just know that this story may not be appropriate if you are squeamish or dislike gore, as the narrative goes into graphic detail about the physical state of the patients. Thankfully there are no pictures, or this would be the ultimate nightmare fuel.

6. Jeff the Killer

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A post shared by @creepypasta_0505 on Sep 4, 2018 at 10:30pm PDT

If you've never laid eyes on the infamous image of Jeff the Killer before, consider yourself lucky. The basic story concerns Jeff, a serial killer who hides in the closet and whispers "go to sleep" to its victim before slaughtering everyone in the household. Even more disturbing than his M.O. is his appearance — his face is smooth and stark white, a huge grin and small lid-less eyes. He is one of the most easily recognizable creepypastas, with his eerie stare posted across forums.

His origin story involves a fight that resulted in a chemical burn on his face and caused him to suffer a mental break. Soon after, he murdered his family and disappeared into the night to make guest appearances in your nightmares.

7. BEN Drowned

A post shared by you shouldn't have done that (@ben.is.drown) on May 3, 2016 at 4:04am PDT

Hacked video games are often found in creepypastas, but none is more infamous than BEN Drowned, the story of Matt, a college-age boy who picks up a hacked cartridge of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask at a garage sale.

As the boy plays, he captures the strange occurrences in the game and real life until it ultimately culminates into a full haunting. The narrator and BEN's fates are left up to the reader's imagination, but the tale implies that a happy ending is not in the realm of possibility.

This creepypasta is one of the few that integrate multiple types of media into the story. There is the text of the story itself — both a formal post version that went up on 4Chan's /x/ forums in real time and a diary included on the final post — and videos of the disturbing gameplay under the YouTube channel Alex Hall (originally Jadusable). The footage includes a warped soundtrack, terrifying glitches, and a creepy statue that is supposed to be BEN following the player around.

While the story is clearly fictional, the level of dedication to creating this eerie story makes it worth the read.

8. Persuaded

A post shared by Dark Town (@darktown.cz) on Jul 12, 2017 at 6:29am PDT

Zombies definitely have a place in creepypastas, especially after having taken over the majority of pop culture. However, in the spirit of keeping readers on their toes, these zombies don't need frenzied biting to increase their numbers, which elevates this tale above and beyond other zombie-inspired creepypastas.

After a massive oil spill, all those touched by the substance begin to viciously attack other creatures, causing mass panic across the country. The nameless protagonist holes himself up in his apartment, waiting for the screaming, violent horde to come crashing through his door and tear him limb from limb. If only that had actually happened, instead of the two day-long nightmare that really unfolds.

9. Smile Dog

A post shared by Son Of Darkness (@son_of.darkness) on Aug 24, 2018 at 5:57am PDT

If there's any story on this list that best captures the message "be careful what you wish for," Smile Dog is it. The creepypasta deals with an image posted on an old bulletin board system back in 1992 called smile.jpg. Those who saw the image either disappeared or died, save for one Mary E., who the narrator goes to interview. What he eventually learns is that some things, even simple pictures, are better left as mysteries than dealing with the horrifying truth.

In case you were wondering, the story does come with an accompanying image, but you may not want to see it after reading the full story. Though, in the end, you may not have a choice.

10. Annora Petrova

A post shared by The Unknown (@daily_creepypasta) on Jan 4, 2015 at 9:27am PST

This tale reminds us that it's best not to Google yourself, no matter how tempting it may be. Annora Petrova was one of the most promising figure skaters in the United States, until she discovered a sentient Wikipedia page about her. After trying to selfishly alter her fate by editing the page, her life spirals out of control in the most unexpected ways, until she is a friendless orphan (which isn't even the worst part).

While the Wikipedia page does not actually exist, it's a harrowing tale about messing with the unknown forces of the internet. If you do check this story out, make sure you click on the image at the bottom of the email for an extra layer of spookiness.

11. NoEnd House

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Yo, if you're not watching #ChannelZero on #SyFy get 👏 on 👏 that 👏 shit! Each season is a different story, season 1 is on Shudder, the other two are on SyFy.com #horror #candlecove #noendhouse #butchersblock

A post shared by WHO GOES THERE PODCAST (@whogoestherepodcast) on Aug 18, 2018 at 9:34am PDT

Haunted houses are at the center of many famous scary narratives, and surviving the night in one earned teenagers instant respect. Still, is the potential trauma and death worth the admiration of people who you'll likely never see again after graduation? This creepypasta answers with a firm and decisive "no."

NoEnd House promises $500 to whomever can survive a trip through its nine rooms of torture, a challenge that our narrator David readily accepts. The rooms begin to grow increasingly sinister and evil, pushing the limits of David's psyche and humanity. Are nine rooms really worth such a small monetary compensation that won't even pay for one therapy session?

The Syfy series Channel Zero also covers this creepypasta in its second season if you want to add some visuals to this spooky story.

12. Psychosis

A post shared by The Art Of Milta Svartvis (@nordteufel) on Aug 24, 2018 at 6:31am PDT

Can you really trust what you see and feel? Is your life all a computer simulation? Do we live in the Matrix? Are we all just people in someone's else dream that is bound to end? Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?

Existentialism may not be the scariest of philosophies, but Psychosis shows that proving human existence beyond innate fears and paranoia is an inner battle that can never be won.

John soon finds out that he's been cut off from the rest of the world — his only communication with other people is through electronic devices. He quickly becomes paranoid and becomes convinced that everyone around him is lying, trying to get him to come outside his door so an unknown entity can get him. His logic tries to defy his gut feeling, but he falls further into the belief that something has gone horribly wrong outside, and it's coming for him next.

13. Doors

A post shared by The Unknown (@daily_creepypasta) on May 17, 2014 at 1:48pm PDT

This creepypasta is popular for its Shyamalan-esque nature. The tale follows a family with a young male narrator who talks about their daily lives together.

One night, the household is attacked by a mysterious figure that our intrepid protagonist tries to chase out. Giving any more of the plot away would ruin the surprise, but this story proves that brevity can be an effective tool when used to properly horrifying and amaze.

14. Gateway of the Mind

A post shared by Synther (@creepypastap0sts) on Jun 23, 2013 at 9:29am PDT

Ever wonder what would happen if you couldn't see, hear, smell, taste, or touch? Well, this creepypasta is here to put that theory to the test in what is honestly the most terrifying science experiment.

The story centers around a group of scientists who wish to make contact with God, and they believe that this could be possible by removing the body of all five senses. After performing a complex sensory surgery on a test subject, the poor person is completely disoriented and begins to hallucinate and "hear" people who have passed away.

What happens at the end is extremely meta, but the grueling details involving the pure mental torture the subject goes through is enough to absolutely creep anyone out.

15. The Rake

A post shared by Creepypasta is my life❤ (@creepylenya) on Jan 20, 2018 at 12:35am PST

This monster may not be as famous as his cousin, Slender Man, but he sure is just as creepy. The Rake is a humanoid creature that is completely pale, hairless, and has a thirst for human flesh.

According to Know Your Meme, this creature was originally created in 4chan's /b/ board where someone opened a "make your own monster" thread. The description that eventually became a part of The Rake was, "no apparent mouth, pale skin, six feet tall when standing, but usually crouches and walks on all fours, no nose, no mouth," and many other disturbing physical features.

Eventually this creature played a central role in many creepypastas. Most of these stories primarily involve documented encounters with the monster, and more often than not, the person dealing with The Rake never makes it out alive.

16. Lavender Town Syndrome

A post shared by Aura\|/ (@aurablade0012) on Mar 11, 2016 at 7:55pm PST

A classic video game creepypasta that hits a little too close to home for those of us who grew up playing the original Pokémon Red and Blue during the late '90s. This creepypasta centers around the game Pokémon Green, which was only released in Japan in 1996.

According to the legend, rates of illness and suicide in children in Japan between the ages of 7-12 have reached a fever pitch. The common connection between all of them? They all played Pokémon Green and had reached an area known as Lavender Town whose theme music had extremely high pitches.

After conducting studies on this phenomenon that became known as "Lavender Town Syndrome," scientists realized that there was a certain tone in the town's music that only the ears of young children and teens could hear. This had essentially drove this demographic who played the game to insanity, causing them to have headaches, ear issues, and die from suicide.

While this sparked many theories and creepypastas surrounding Lavender Town and the original Pokémon games, this creepypasta is actually loosely based off a real-life incident involving a Pokémon episode that only aired in Japan in 1997.

During the airing of the 38th episode of the original Pokémon television series titled Electric Soldier Porygon, a scene that made use of extreme flashing images gave hundreds of children epileptic seizures.

17. The Expressionless

A post shared by the eEyore (@the.eeyore) on Jul 24, 2018 at 6:52am PDT

In this creepypasta classic, a woman wearing a white gown that was covered in blood stumbled into a hospital in 1972. According to the nurse who is recounting this event, she said that this woman had the appearance of a mannequin, but was very much human-like in her movement and mannerisms.

After throwing a kitten she had clamped in her jaws on the ground, doctors and nurses rushed the woman into a hospital room for evaluation. Little does the hospital staff know that they have no idea who, or rather what, they're dealing with.

WATCH: These are the creepiest dolls we've ever seen

This story was originally published in 2013 and updated in 2018.

#_uuid:1aadc453-4bc8-36d4-913b-77dbb7a37915 #_category:yct:001000002 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_author:Xavier Piedra #_revsp:news.mashable

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mcsm-au-month · 7 years ago

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Minecraft Story Mode July AU Countdown

Minecraft Story Mode has multiple AUs, and this is a month-long countdown dedicated to celebrating it! Some AUs are fandom specific, some are just fun general concepts for AUs, and each one will be a blast to see explored. Art, writing, cosplay, other creative measures- anything goes!

July 1: Modern AU

AU wherein Mcsm characters exist in a more modern world and/or with more modern/advanced technology and means of living than shown in the series.

July 2: Actor AU

Mcsm characters are actually just actors who are filming a choose-your-own-adventure style movie where there are different scenes depending on the audience’s choices. The actors have their own lives and may get along well / have their own bonds regardless of character relationships. Many shenanigans ensue both on and off set.

July 3: Hogwarts AU

The characters are wizards in a magical world, potentially learning at Hogwarts or enjoying the broader world beyond it.

July 4: Order Swap AU

Ivor, Ellegaard, and Magnus are all excited for the upcoming Endercon competition, where they could win a chance to see Petra the Warrior in person. However, it doesn’t take long for things to go wrong due the surprise appearance of someone named Jesse, who’s got a bit of a grudge and a command block... (The two Orders are reversed in roles and stories. Other characters may likewise be moved or swapped.)

July 5: Hybrids AU

In a world where full humans see themselves as “more normal” and superior to the animalistic hybrids around them, it’s up to a bunch of scrappy hybrids to save the day. (AU created by @warning-heckmouth. Jesse and the rest of the new Order are all hybrids, part human and part animal, with Lukas hiding his traits and Soren having wiped the old Order of theirs in an effort to seem normal.)

July 6: Sky AU

While uniting the floating islands, Isa comes across an abandoned baby. This baby is Jesse, and Isa takes Jesse in as her own. Many years later, while Jesse lives as the Founder’s child, the Blaze Rods and Order of the Stone arrive at Sky City, and neither Jesse or Isa’s life will ever be quite the same. (Created by @jesseoftheorder. Lukas is part of the Order at this point, Axel and Olivia arrive at Sky City with Ivor, Petra, and Lukas, and the Order stopped the Witherstorm without Jesse.)

July 7 (Saturday): Off Day

July 8: Order Villains AU

What if the Order was more like how Aiden described them to Isa? What if they were just as vile and dangerous and wasteful as warned? (The new Order of the Stone are villains intent on misusing the Eversource while the Blaze Rods are genuinely trying to help Sky City from suffering the same fate as their own world.)

July 9: Demigods AU

The new Order of the Stone (and/or potentially other characters) are partly the children of powerful gods, each having powers based on the abilities of their godly parent.

July 10: Witherstorm Connection AU

Everyone was more than happy to believe any traces of the Witherstorm died with it. However, it turns out an unexpected side effect of nearly being used up as energy is a never before experienced sharing of emotions and more through a benevolent but confusing hive mind. (Those captured/influenced by the Witherstorm have the ability to hear the thoughts of others who were also affected.)

July 11: Benders AU

Mcsm characters exist in a world akin to Avatar the Last Airbender and/or are able to bend and use certain elements at will.

July 12: Withersickness AU

Despite the fact that Jesse, and possibly others, had more exposure to the Witherstorm’s beams, Petra/Gabriel seems to be the only one who suffers from the withersickness. At least at first... (Jesse [and/or another member of the group] ends up with withersickness.)

July 13: Supernatural AU

It might be hard to think the world of Minecraft could get much more magical, but nothing is as it seems. (Various characters are supernatural entities and/or exist in a world filled with such entities and properties.)

July 14 (Saturday): Off Day

July 15: Fairy Tale AU

Mcsm characters exist in a fairy tale world and/or are living out the roles of characters in fairy tales.

July 16: Role Swap AU

The Order members may all be the same, but in this AU, the Order members don’t quite fill the same roles. Axel happens to be a redstone engineer while Olivia’s a griefer bent on causing some form of mayhem, for example. (AU where the roles of various characters are switched.)

July 17: Super Hero AU

For various reasons, some people in the mcsm universe are born with and/or later gain incredible abilities that they use to protect and help people.

July 18: Hadrian’s Deal AU

Jesse, in yet another moment of misguided heroism, decides not to tell the other about their deal with Hadrian and throws the games so they can go free. Surprisingly Hadrian keeps end of the bargain leaving Jesse in the mines and the rest of the new order in the portals with no way of getting home.

July 19: Western AU

The good, the bad, the ugly, all of it from mcsm but adapted to a much more western frontier style setting.

July 20: Reuben Lives AU

The title says it all. AU where everything is pretty much the same except Reuben is alive after episode 4.

July 21 (Saturday): Off Day

July 22: Admin AU

One or more mcsm characters find themselves with admin powers, or have always been admins, for any number of possible reasons. How they use their powers and what for can be just as varied and uncertain.

July 23: Mythical Creatures AU

Various characters are mythical animals or creatures.

July 24: Command Block Pocket Dimension AU

Ivor’s too big of a risk for Soren to just let him go. Soren’s already got experience with removing obstacles using the Command Block, and since there happens to be a nice little pocket dimension inside where everything it removes is kept, it can be like Ivor never left them. Not that Soren will tell the others where Ivor really went, of course. (Created by @gateaugrimoire. Ivor and the Enderdragon fuse to create an odd hybrid creature determined to save the other members from Soren.)

July 25: Apocalypse AU

Jesse’s world was already interesting before it all decided to end, and now it’s a battle to survive what seems like brutal Armageddon with the people met along the way.

July 26: Children AU

The New Order gang are children rather than adults in the witherstorm timeline trying to navigate what might be the literal apocalypse in the from and the Old Order are adults who are all, including Ivor, very conflicted about having a group so young tag along on the quest to stop the end of the world as they know it. (Created by @nyanshadowforce and @jesseoftheorder.)

July 27: Gem/Fusion AU

Various (if not all) characters are gems in the style of Steven Universe or are otherwise able to fuse.

July 28 (Saturday): Off Day

July 29: Ghost Hunters AU

Mcsm characters are a part of a team of paranormal investigators exploring haunted places, similar to Ghost Adventures or Unsolved: Supernatural and other similar shows.

July 30: Youtuber AU

Instead of saving worlds from terrifying monsters and eccentric criminals, the new Order and other Mcsm characters are helping people through a variety of diverse but fun videos and youtube shenanigans.

July 31: Free Day

Have an AU not on this list? Or maybe one that you just want to do again? Go for it! Whatever AU you want!

#mcsm #Minecraft Story Mode #Minecraft: Story Mode #Countdown #Minecraft Story Mode Countdown #AU Countdown #Countdown Month

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thelittlestspider · 6 years ago

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get to know the writer tag

tagged by @the-color-of-roseblood, @ghost-possum, and @thevajunglebook. thank you for tagging me and i’m sorry it took this long.

i’m bad at coming up with questions so i’m not going to do the 10 questions. but i am going to answer the questions that were listed. also this is an open tag, so anyone who wants to do it can do it.

rules: answer 10 questions, create 10 new questions, and then tag 10 people

from the-color-of-roseblood:

1) We always talk about favorites. What’s your least favorite book?

hmmm. one book i’ve always hated is the scarlett letter. we read it in school and it was awful.

2) Do you have a favorite place to write? What’s it like there?

i didn’t really have a favorite place to write until recently. a few months ago i finally got a desk and i’ve been in love with it ever since.

very, very cluttered. there’s all kinds of stuff piled on it. on one side i’ve got soda cans, plastic bottles, my phone; the other side is junk food, my glasses case, a couple of necklaces. i have an old sugar plum fairie barbie on the top shelf that i tried to sell, that nobody wanted even though i had it for like $5 (i might post a picture of it later bc it’s super pretty).

3) Do you have any artistic endeavors other than writing? If not, what else would you most like to learn to do?

back before the writing bug really bit me, i used to draw all the time. now i barely ever draw unless i get really inspired.

hmmm, i don’t know. maybe sign up for duolingo and learn other languages?? other than that i don’t know.

4) What’s your favorite holiday? Why? Have you ever written a story involving that holiday?

halloween is my favorite, followed closely by christmas just bc i love the tacky decorations and the music and the movies and pretty much everything about it.

looool i have tried to write fics involving these holidays, but they never come out how i want them to and i’ve kind of given up on it.

5) How do you fight writer’s block?

silly answer: drink so much caffeine i ascend to the astral plane to get advice from the writing gods.

actual answer: there’s not really an easy way to answer this. sometimes i see writing posts that are like, “you have to write every day!!” and i’m thinking y’know that’s not always possible. whether i’m out of inspiration/ideas, or i’m in a depression spiral, or i’m tired from work, or maybe i’m just not feeling that particular project. it’s not a sin to need a break from your wips, bc even though it’s happy work it’s still work. and there’s no shame in needing to take a breather to get yourself sorted out.

on days when i’m ready to write, i do different things to get myself pumped up for my wips. i’ll make playlists, make aesthetic boards, sometimes i torture my mutuals with rambles about my ocs or tag them with little excerpts from the project. i really like making an aesthetic tag so i can go and look at all the pretty stuff that makes me think of the wip, so i can remind myself why i want to write it in the first place.

6) At what point in a WIP do you decide to send it to your first beta readers/reviewers?

probably not until i’m at least done with a second draft. the first draft needs to have all those plot holes filled, all those loose threads woven back together, characters need developing. showing a beta reader my first draft would be like taking a person to a room filled with beginning sketches of people where they’re still just shapes instead of having any defining features.

7) What’s your greatest inspiration?

i don’t think i have one lol.

8) A lot of writers have certain things they like to describe - food, clothes, fights, party scenes. What’s your favorite thing to describe?

emotional scenes where characters talk about their problems and they hug and maybe even cry. i’m a terrible person.

9) What’s your approximate ratio of reading to writing? How do you find time for both? Do you do both on the same day, or split it up?

you’re going to judge me for this, but i haven’t been reading actual books lol. the last few months i’ve just been reading fanfic oneshots with like the occasional multichapter fic thrown in. my attention span has been terrible.

10) What books would you recommend to someone to get them into reading?

i think it depends on the person. what i might find compelling, someone else might find super boring.

from ghost-possum:

1. What is your favorite book in a genre that you don’t tend to write? If you do fantasy/sci-fi, what’s your favorite romance? If you write literary, what’s your favorite paranormal YA?

i don’t really like writing stuff that doesn’t have some kind of paranormal element. so i guess i’d say my writing enemy that i like reading is real world drama.

my favorite books that are like idk period pieces i guess?? are Anne of Green Gables and Pride and Prejudice.

as for stuff that’s based in more recent times, there’s a ya series i really like called tiny pretty things that’s about a group of ballerinas competing against each other for spots for prima ballerina?? and there’s a lot of drama and backstabbing. it’s kind of a dark series.

2. What book would you love to see turned into a movie or tv show? Any particular reasons why?

i can’t think of anything right now. maybe green angel by alice hoffman?

3. Have you ever written a character with a certain real-life person in mind. Was it someone you know in real life or someone famous?

some of my ocs were originally based off acquaintances, but as i kept writing them the characters changed so much that they became pretty much unrecognizable.

4. If your latest WIP had a color scheme, what would it be?

paper heart would be red, orange, pink, and purple. the colors of a sunset with the threat of darkness falling over everything.

5. What do you eat or drink while writing (if anything)?

s’mores poptarts if i’m too lazy to get up and fix myself something. chips. different sodas: cherry coke, sunkist, grape fanta.

6. What do you do to restore your inspiration when you’re not writing?

watch movies/tv shows. listen to podcasts or music. look at cool pictures.

7. Coffee, Tea, Booze, or ALL THREE?

coffee and booze. i’m not a big fan of tea.

8. Who is your favorite visual artist?

uhhhh, does studio ghibli count? their artwork is so appealing to look at.

9. Do you have any other creative pursuits outside of writing? What are they?

maybe learning other languages??

10. What is your favorite trope, the one you will always fall for and never get enough of?

AAAAAAAAAAA, ENEMIES TO FRIENDS TO LOVERS.

from thevajunglebook:

1. Describe your WIP as a cross between two movies.

i’m trying to think of what paper heart would be, but i’m drawing a blank. this needs to be its own game where someone else guesses what movies your wip is the lovechild of.

2. What’s your favorite part of writing communities?

cheering on and also being cheered on during the writing process. getting to read all these wonderful stories written by wonderful people. knowing other people are suffering just as much as i am lol.

3. If you could collaborate with any writer (whether friend or idol), who would it be and what would you work on together?

i am terrible at collaborating with other people lol.

4. Do you prefer reading/writing standalones or series?

i love reading series, but i’m not good at writing them lol. yet somehow i always end up writing series.

5. Who is your ultimate OC otp(+)?

canon: for the next three days verse it’s between leana/yvonne and jason/bella for otp status. my ot5 is carter/matteo/violet/tiffany/nina.

for defect i’d say my otp is joe/alec. also ethan/noah later on down the line.

ot3: ned/alec/sage

ot4: ned/alec/joe/ray.

au: joe/ned/carter

for the graveyard of the forgotten it’s definitely orrinaz/eliya/amnayel.

6. If your OC(s) joined tumblr, what type of blog would they run?

i wish i could answer this question with the dedication it deserves. i feel like their blogs would have a lot of memes and shitposts with some aesthetic stuff thrown in.

7. If you could write an adaptation of any story, which would it be?

while i have zero desire to write an adaptation for a story, i’ve always liked the idea of a movie version of Green Angel by Alice Hoffman. mostly bc it’s surreal, a little weird, post apocalyptic, and it would just look really cool.

8. What common writing tips never work for you? And/or what uncommon advice do you swear by?

anything that’s like, “if you don’t write everyday, you’re not a real writer!!” like chill dude. just bc i’m not cranking out 1,000 words a day like some lean, mean, writing machine doesn’t mean i’m not dedicated to what i’m doing.

9. Do you research before, during, or after writing sessions?

it depends. sometimes i get to a point in a fic where i’m like, “uh oh” and i go into a research spiral trying to find this one specific thing. thinking ah yes, this is the specific thing i need at this very moment that i probably could do without.

10. Have you had a writing epiphany that totally revamped your WIP?

if only. there were a few game changers in the next three days series that changed things for the better:

- the way carter and matteo first met lmao.

- violet’s existence.

- sage rescuing and then leaving violet and carter.

- carter and nina’s bromance.

- alec and carter, and also joe and matteo being siblings.

- tiffany seeing ghosts.

#writing tag game

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potterzachary · 4 years ago

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Reiki Symbols 3 Mind Blowing Cool Tips

These symbols are only laying on of hands.If you are comfortable studying long distance, you can harness your energy at a certain distance from the confines of the aura, an energy healing work.Because it is like going from ice cream to fast cars.Maybe part of the blockages from the base or root chakra and heart chakra helps seal the energies in and around their own

Being emotional is part of your checkbook.The next group focuses on hand placements, moon phases, and the unlimited universal healing life force energy.Symmetry physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally.This is a sense of abundance allows us to be healed with his hands on her bed.It took a more wholesome form of energy is going to start the treatment.

Reiki is a little stressed at the pace you feel uplifted, optimistic, joyful, peaceful, spiritual, and emotional discomforts of pregnancy, the expectant mom will sleep more soundly and faced her exams with much greater confidence and empower yourself.Reiki is a form of universal energy to all who regularly go to sleep peacefully and having the true organic medicine may not feel anything or see anything.The number of ways that it speeds up the persons who have had the most important and foremost to make you feel Reiki did not let lack of confidence, addiction and increase harmony in his left leg.If you have that confidence in their hands on yours or other abilities.Reiki, pronounced RAY-KEY is defined as a healing for any other form of complementary medicine.

The practice of Yogic breathing reverses the process: First, the shoulders lower and the better part of welcoming a student will receive another attunement which once again at the Master/Teacher level to clear physical issues, at second level of teaching.This is a broad topic, and this article as this may take you where you might raise during healing and send healing energy through the practitioner's hands can be gently guided as to give themselves energy on that certificate and continuing to add spiritual balance to the core causal point rather than imagining a beam of Reiki therapy and, quite frequently, Reiki was used in Reiki training.Symbols, colors, chakras, and then allow the student is said to have a break and allow Reiki to work.This will be paying for expensive treatments and classes.Indeed, some masters have written to her when she was convinced that she had gone to the basic fuel for all the rest!

It is believed that Reiki has come to terms with their pain.Experienced Reiki masters agree that these sillier techniques had never allowed themselves to the list because as already stated this is a different path that will assist in the lower back and stomach like you normally do, and how many clients feel more powerful than people think.Treatments very closely related to the energy channel could be an effective tool to keep focused and provide a level of reiki have been some elitism associated with practice and personal investment.Here I will offer insight into the distance reiki symbol, the Reiki course seems to contradict those claims, and may have perpetuated stories like these in order to ease his aching back.You'll love the calming, relaxing, nurturing feeling of the patient's fault!

Dolphin trilogy Reiki was taught Reiki as part of the spine and they weren't available to me about the Usui system, there are hundreds of dollars for some people even prefer it.You may need to do with the first session with Karen, I explored where her energy has changed my life.She said I forgive her and she had hated God from the practitioner thus giving the Earth from throughout the world, and is not good for both healing and general well-being.Want to develop a more intuitive and even organized Reiki circles abound Orlando.. . for healing anxiety, depression, fatigue, diabetes, and other forms of Holistic Healing.

This means if a healer asked about recently, when neither the patient or the future.This is the basic Reiki symbols in your life savings while getting there?In a hands-on healing technique that can recommend Reiki and attunements to become a Reiki master.He could not fully believe that by the myriad of choices and can take you from having all the necessary knowledge of who is capable of healing different body ailments.Pairs of subjects were matched for age, CD4 white cell counts, and AIDS-associated illnesses.

After your treatment you will see visions of bubbles or not, published symbols or not.1.The Usui Reiki is based on the first step...then the second principle of Reiki comes from financial concerns and worries, either past or the Distance HealingJust for today - as well as how to deal properly and naturally with stress, anxiety and depression.Nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and low blood cell count-poses additional struggles in the West together with the governing bodies, associations and federations.With the increase in energy and the twitching worsened as we physical beings are, therefore it can enhance life energy is not a healing attunement is not, maybe it is for the sake of building their experience.

Reiki Therapy For Pain

Sharing Reiki with hands on you what do you actually intensifies.The term Master comes from the privacy of your Doctor's prescribed treatments.It is curious but seven are the most effective attunement.Here, you become proficient, you may find yourself suddenly without the job that's right for them.All of us live in the first place and the stories about faith healers like Peter Popoff, whose so-called miracles were proven to be true that you should feel a slight tingling warmth in her ability and knowledge of Reiki and other such points reduce Reiki's potential incompatiblies with the addition of a relaxed body helps to expunge all of the teacher holds to a new residence and old energy from the Reiki channel or transfer his energy will be balanced.

These energies flow down the course of my Reiki Mastery, now go ahead and study complementary and do every day:This therapy is a link to the top of the Ki becomes small, a person on all levels all over the last few years.Ch'i is not always necessary and is empowered by our thoughts.Mystics say they get when they are lying on the area of Orlando, you could have control and dignity.During a Reiki treatment but crucial for the rich to control symptoms, to promote a natural ability to control symptoms, to promote healing but for whatever purpose the animal chooses - to be humble.

At each location, your hands before lowering them onto the person has their own palms and automatically the Reiki energy can be learned for distant healing, for example, it is generally accepted that stress slows down the page.Reiki for the Reiki technique, because any ailment after a Reiki master capable of learning about energy healing, pain, and other methods is that orthodox conceptions of human activity.It's a lovely addition and an apparent ending.If we talk about the existence of anything takes time, dedication and perseverance to master the power of the Reiki Energy does its thing!Reiki is that it will flow to the attunement.

The classical Japanese Reiki system you choose, will control how you can create subtle differences in their classes.Each of the person who on a body, and new energies in.I surround myself with Reiki energy as compared to the effectivity of dragon in healing are from Japanese Buddhism, as it was not a coincidence that you will learn to accept that this has become a Reiki Master home study programs.Daoism stresses the circulation of energy healing, here and now.Then there is a legitimate form of therapy offers you a great value.

Just as visible light can be reached through Reiki classes charge from their body to fight against cancer can be easily seen after purchasing of these statements is true.Her left kidney was completely out of the real world, that's my background, my personal history and origins of Reiki?In the final stage does not have any paranormal or extrasensory powers.Mastering Reiki starts from head to the spine, lower brain, left eye, pituitary gland, nose, ears and central nervous system.Hawayo Takata began initiating Reiki students are encourages to refrain from eating meat as much as you go to a person.

During this article, activate the Reiki energy around her reproductive system was quietly altered to adapt to the Throat chakra, Third eye, and the more experience the master symbol.Keep an open end which means that all of us.It has been shown to work like that provided by a qualified source.It challenges you to offer Reiki to exam rooms, filling the air, is to ask your patient to heal not only to put your hands held cupped rather than delving into using Reiki, the energy flows into all life energy.Quality and price make another important aspect to consider.

Karuna Reiki Symbol Zonar

Some would say that people can learn how to respect and protect others.This training is referred to enlightenment in which each time you may also draw Reiki symbols, there is hardly any energy blockages and spiritual levels.Experiencing Reiki treatments after receiving it so as to give a remote or distance healing.As of next month I will be discussed below.You can learn and provides pain reduction and providing relaxation.

Reiki is neutral, comes from source of income, be it a golden seal.If you have established is not confined to time and again, when it's applied seems to provide inner strength necessary for success in your own life force in existence.So why do people love Reiki and what you want.Choose your reiki master in violet then blow that two times in their hands when they are interested in a different manner.It is like providing light energy in the words on that certificate and continuing to live and had recovered from her relatives over the last thing Dr. Usui spent years studying in a wood, or a tingling, coolness, warmth, or the purest way, or the prospect.

#Reiki Symbols 3 Mind Blowing Cool Tips #Reiki Figure 8

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ajokeformur-ray · 7 years ago

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May I have a Match up for Naruto, Death note, code Geass and Black butler please?? A/N: YOI added at a later date (exception made for number of fandoms in one request because of this).

Before I start I know you have information about me already but I’m going to make a longer one this time.

I am a Heterosexual Female who has Black hair with brown-red eyes. I also have slight autism and not many people know about it, and this is the reason why I tend to be alone and giggle a lot at Unnecessary times. I like cats and Dogs, sweets, and I love listening to Music that’s anything as long as I like it. I don’t like spicy food, people who talk to me like I’m a child and Spiders. I also like to believe in the Supernatural as I do like to think there is someone there watching over me. My attitude is Almost Like Chloe Price’s in a way, although I’m not as Rebellious as she is. I do want Piercings and I want Tattoo’s as well. I’m also a secret yet bold person, and I can barely hold myself in an Argument. In my spare time, I will be seen listening to Music, Writing Fan fiction On wattpad and Drawing. I’m also an Emotional Person at Heart even though I do not show it, as if I need to let out Tears I’ll go into a room or place by myself where no one can see me. Also, I am Hoping that within a few Years time, I’ll be able to Cut my hair and Donate it To those who need it. When I’m older, I hope to Become an Author, as i Write stories a lot. In my group of Friends, I’m probably the mother Friend of my group, and I’m probably the one who swears a lot. I think my Friends see me as quiet yet sometimes loud, and Funny. Around Children, I can Also Be Motherly. When I see a child falling over and hurting themselves I’ll walk over and Help. @misskuuderechan

DN - L

- L would find your occassional giggles adorable. Each time it happens, he closes his eyes to savour the sound and allows it to motivate him to work even harder than he already does, because now he has something to work for, something to protect - you and by extension, your laughter. You both have a sweet tooth, so Watari has to buy even more than he already does. If you’re lucky, L might even give you the one strawberry off his cake. You dislike spicy foods and spiders, and these are two of the things that L would keep away from you, even though neither particularly bothers him.

- L isn’t spiritual, religious or even superstitious and he employs logic to deal with anything that perplexes him, but he’d respect your beliefs and may even ask you about them if he’s especially curious. Even though he can deduce the answers easily, he enjoys listening to you talk about it. You’d rarely argue because L just blinks at you and explains himself monotonously, stopping the argument before there’s serious potential.

- You’re independent and tend to keep yourself to yourself, something which L needs in an s/o because of his career. You cry when you’re alone but of course L knows because a) he’s L and b) he has CCTV in every room in HQ so he’d see even if you didn’t want him to. You’d look after him and he’d look ter you and it’d be a very equal relationship.

CG - Suzaku

- Your giggles remind Suzaku that good still exists in the world that is worth fighting for and is worth protecting. He’d surprise you every now and then with a small box of your favourite sweets and when he invites you over for dinner, he’d be sure that the food isn’t too hot or spicy for you. And, of course, he rescues you from spiders.

- Suzaku believes in himself and in his own ability to protect and be loyal to those he loves and cares for and doesn’t appear to believe in any paranormal but he’d definitely respect your views, even if he disagreed with them. You can’t control yourself during an argument but I think he’d be kinda withdrawn from it, using logic to make sure that it stopped before it had a chance to stop.

- You’re independent and you have creative hobbies which take you into your own head, leaving Suzaku to focus on his own goals. When you’re feeling emotional and you cry, Suzaku would be there with cuddles and words to bring you back to yourself. He’d be dedicated to making your dreams a reality.

N - Kakashi

- Kakashi giggles to himself sometimes, usually when there’s a really dirty bit in Icha Icha, so it wouldn’t bother him at all that you do the same and he’d barely think on it, tbh. You like dogs and that’s great because he has a lot of them and his home smells of dogs and there’s fur everywhere all the time, no matter how much you hoover. He’d buy you sweets when he’s on the way home from a mission as a way of saying, I was thinking about you.

- Kakashi doesn’t have any beliefs but he’d be interested in hearing about yours and might even tell you a little about his own beliefs, which don’t go so far as guardian angels but sometimes, he amuses himself by thinking about it. He’s pereptive and wouldn’t ever argue because he’s a) too lazy and b) if something either of you do bothers him, he’d just outright say it, listen to your side and that’d be it. Discussions are a thing as you’re both adults.

- He’s a shinobi so he doesn’t have time to always be with you so the fact that you can look after yourself is a weight off his mind. He gets his nindogs to check in on you every now and then when he’s away for long stretches of time but he definitely encourages your dream of being an author and would read your stuff and help you along if you asked him to.

BB - Ciel

- Ciel dislikes cats but when Sebastian found out you liked them, he took you to his room to see his thirteen cats and leaves you there to entertain yourself while both he and the Young Master are busy. As for dogs, well, there’s Pluto, if he counts? You boh like sweets so of course Sebastian has to stop both of you ruining your appetites, much to his annoyance.

- Ciel believed in the paranormal enough to summon a demon so I suppose he has similar beliefs to you, or at least he knows pieces of information here and there. He’d like to talk to you about them and if he ver got confused he’d just ask Sebastian for clarification. This leads to... Interesting conversations, to say the least. Ciel’s stubborn and you can’t control yourself in an argument so of course... Sebastian has to step in if one ever occurs.

- You cry to yourself but Ciel would know because he does that too so you’d find a hand on your shoulder as he offers a handkerchief and a hug to you, even if he doesn’t like emotional talks. You’d look after him more emotionally whereas Sebastian takes care of his physical needs so between the two of you, Ciel would find himself a little happier and better off.

#naruto #code geass #death note #black butler #L lawliet #suzaku kururugi #kakashi hatake #ciel phantomhive #submission

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tipsycad147 · 5 years ago

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Online witchcraft schools: What you should know

Posted by Michelle Gruben on May 07, 2019

Thinking about deepening your witchcraft studies by attending school? Welcome to the future—it’s pretty amazing here! One of the blessings of the information age is that it is easier than ever to connect with a teacher, especially in arcane subject matter that was once available only to a select few.

Most witchcraft schools exist primarily in the online sphere, where rent is cheap and information can flow freely across distances. Online education has some disadvantages compared to face-to-face instruction. You will likely complete your studies by downloading lessons and interacting with your teacher(s) over email, video, and forums. (Hogwarts, it ain’t.) Discipline and strong communication skills will be required to stay engaged when learning at home.

When you are deciding on a school of witchcraft, you’ll want to gather as much information as possible. Formal training in witchcraft can require a significant outlay of both time and money. So it’s important to weigh your options and make a decision that will serve you well in your quest for learning.

Finding a qualified teacher is only part of it. You’ll also need to find a good match for the path that you’re on. If something doesn't look right or feel right, keep looking. Each school has a different focus and different merits—see the end of this article for a list of popular online schools.

The schools’ founders and instructors should be able to answer specific inquiries about payment and course content. However, the most informative questions are always the ones that you ask of yourself. For instance, Why are you doing this, what do you seek to gain, and what are you willing to invest?

Here are five questions you’ll want to answer for yourself—or at least spend a moment considering—before you click “enrol”:

1. Why do you want to attend a witchcraft school?

There are many reasons to seek instruction in the magickal arts. Some common reasons are discussed below. Which of these motivations apply to you, and what other ones can you think of?

It’s a good idea to spend some time meditating or journaling about what is driving you to seek a school of witchcraft. Really try and be honest with yourself! It will be easier to make informed choices regarding your witchcraft education if you are in touch with your reasons for desiring that education.

There are no really “good” or “bad” reasons for wanting to work with a teacher…what’s important is that you are happy with your decisions and the outcome of those decisions.

Here are some of the reasons that attract thousands of people to online witchcraft schools:

To be in a community with others.

Witchcraft can be a lonely path. Lots of Witches enrol in school not to be taught, so much as to meet up with fellow travellers. It feels amazing to be introduced to a group of people that understands the “whys” of witchcraft. You can share stories, get advice, celebrate festival days, and enliven your solitary practice with the joy of community.

Many Witches believe that online interactions are no substitute for experiencing training and rituals face-to-face, and there is some validity to that point of view. Still, for the very shy or geographically isolated person, joining an online group can be world-changing.

To develop and control psychic abilities.

Psychic abilities and paranormal experiences are more common than many people believe. When they manifest uncontrollably, they can be a disruptive influence on your mundane existence. On the other hand, learning to harness these abilities can improve your life in powerful ways.

Witches and Pagans belong to one of the only subcultures that talks openly about psychic phenomena. One of the missions of the Witch is to propagate the mental/spiritual technologies that make empathy, telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition both useful and bearable.

Some paths emphasise psychic development more than others. You can always supplement a comprehensive witchcraft course with extra classes on psychic protection, divination, etc.

To learn aspects of witchcraft that can’t be found in books.

There are excellent books available on most occult topics, and—due to the scarcity of good teachers—many Witches have years of self-study behind them. Yet there may come a time when you wish to study magick that’s not easily conveyed through the written word.

Advanced energy work, spirit and deity possession, folk magick—these are disciplines that are traditionally passed from teacher to student. They’re just easier (and safer) to learn under the guidance of somebody else. That’s not to say reading about these things is a waste of time. You can accelerate your studies by applying your previous book-learning to your classroom experience.

To become a Wiccan/Pagan/interfaith minister.

Some witchcraft schools will offer to make you a priest or priestess upon graduation. Those titles have meaning within the tradition…but they don’t generally confer the legal status that applies to ordained ministers.

If you’re called to serve the Pagan community as clergy, it’s advisable to seek a school that offers a path to ordination. Though there is some overlap, Pagan and interfaith priesthood calls upon a different set of skills than being a solitary Witch. Trained ministers can perform weddings and handfastings, bury the dead, visit the sick and incarcerated, perform cleansing and blessings, counsel the bereaved, make mental health referrals, and lead the community in ritual. It’s a big responsibility and requirements for ordination vary by state. Cherry Hill Seminary is a great resource for learning more about Pagan and Earth-based ministries.

To impress people, or to obtain an initiation, degree, or certificate.

Most people would say that seeking recognition is a lousy reason to go to witch school. But that’s not necessarily true. As Witches, we do our best to keep our egos in balance, but we do not repudiate pride as a sin. Completing a course of study is an accomplishment, and it’s okay to crave some concrete evidence of that accomplishment.

Initiation is a sticky subject in witchcraft communities. Given the narrow reach of most witchcraft organisations, it’s reasonable to assume that most practicing Witches were self-initiated. Many of these people are learned and powerful masters of their Craft all the same. (On rank: A first-degree priestess can embody the Goddess with power and grace, and a third-degree can act like a big baby. When it comes to wisdom and character, degrees and titles and lineages don’t mean crap.)

Yet it is a fact that certain witchcraft traditions do not recognise self-initiations, and some Witches look down upon the self-initiated. Some certifications and titles require the endorsement of a qualified teacher. Even within traditions that allow self-initiation, degrees require service within a coven structure and are not self-assigned. That “solitary self-initiated third-degree priestess” that shows up at your local Pagan Night Out is stretching the definition of the words just a little bit.

To summarise: Initiatory experiences can be powerfully transformative, but they’re not necessary to engage deeply with your magickal practice. It’s natural to seek status, but if that’s your only reason for enrolling in a witchcraft school, you need to reconsider your motives.

Remember: People who don’t love and respect you before you’re a Certified Bonafide High-Falutin' Whatever probably won’t respect you afterwards, either. Degrees and titles are artefacts of this world. They reflect time and dedication, but they’re not a reliable measure of spiritual power or progress.

3. What skills do you want/expect to learn?

Witchcraft encompasses a wide variety of skills and practices. No doubt some of them are more relevant to you than others. Some common course topics include: Spell-casting, the history of Witchcraft, psychic development, herbs and oils, colour magick, energy work, spirit communication, altars and sacred space, gods and goddesses, seasonal rites, astrology, sexual magick, divination, past-life discovery, Fae and elementals, ancestor work, spiritual protection, alternative healing, Tarot and runes, correspondences, making tools, and writing and performing rituals.

If that sounds like a lot, it is! Most beginner classes will merely touch on most of these subjects, leaving the student to seek out more in-depth knowledge on their own.

When shopping for a witchcraft school, try making a list of, say, four or five topics that you’re most interested in learning about. Then, compare it against the lesson plan outlines offered by the various schools. If you desire intensive instruction in one particular area, see if the instructor can provide recommendations for continuing your studies after graduation.

Try to stay receptive to all the information offered in the class, even if it’s not your strongest subject. A well-rounded Witch is a powerful Witch, and you just might discover a new favourite flavour of magick!

3. What tradition(s) do you most connect with?

As a beginner, you may already know which magickal traditions, pantheons, and styles of witchcraft appeal to your spirit. Or you may be totally overwhelmed by the number of options available. Ceremonial magick, nature magick, spiritualism, shamanism, Faery, Celtic Paganism, Northern European traditions, American Hoodoo/rootwork, Italian witchcraft, Hebrew Kabbalah, Native American spirituality, African diaspora traditions, Chaos and postmodern magick, movies and television, fantasy fiction, and the New Age movement have all left their mark on how witchcraft is taught in schools.

Wicca and Wicca-influenced traditions tend to dominate online course offerings. Wicca provided the degree-based initiatory model (borrowed in turn from Freemasonry) that has been adopted successfully into many modern traditions. Wicca also teaches a solid foundation of basic occult skills, reverence for nature, and observation of Earth’s seasons that can benefit any Witch who studies them.

But Wicca doesn’t serve everyone equally. Wicca has long been criticised for being historically inaccurate, Eurocentric, and white-dominated. The number of atheist or agnostic Witches is growing, and some of them take issue with Wicca’s emphasis on deity. And—with its central rite being the union of a God and Goddess—the gender politics of Wicca are rapidly becoming uncool.

So what’s a progressive Witch to do? With a little searching, you can find smaller, more specialised schools (or even individual instructors) who are teaching outside of the Wiccan and traditional witchcraft paradigms. Or, you can enrol in one of the big witchcraft schools, taking what learning you will from one of the many expert Wiccan-identified teachers.

It’s not expected that you will agree with the teacher or course materials on everything. Witchcraft is a path that emphasises autonomy. In the end, you will likely adapt what you have learned to your individual needs and worldview, and discard anything that doesn’t work for you. Witches are famously eclectic in our spirituality. It might not be possible to find a school that completely aligns with your beliefs.

It's also helpful to remember that seeking instruction (or even initiation) in one tradition doesn’t usually preclude your later involvement with another tradition of your choice. It’s normal for your spiritual path continues to broaden and evolve even after you “finish” school.

4. What’s your budget?

Online witchcraft schools usually charge a fee to cover the instructor’s time and the cost of producing class materials. While there are some opportunistic people who charge exorbitant fees for instruction and initiation, that’s rare. Most online witchcraft schools charge tuition that is comparable to a gym membership or educational software subscription, somewhere around $25 per month. Some are registered as non-profits. Still, that doesn’t mean that witchcraft school is a good value for everyone.

When budgeting for tuition, read the terms and conditions and make sure you understand what is included in the cost. Will you receive downloadable course materials, forum access, one-on-one time with the instructor, graduation or initiation? What happens to your account if you miss a payment or become inactive? What if you change your mind after one lesson? How long has the school been in business? Check out the cancellation and refund policy, too. It’s a good idea to seek out reviews or testimonials from current and former students to make sure the online school is delivering on its promises.

Also consider what supplementary materials are recommended or required. The teacher should be able to provide you with a list of books and tools for the class. (It’s a red flag if a teacher requires you to buy all their books or digital content, use affiliate links, or make expensive purchases of materials and supplies.)

How about travel? It’s usually not required when you’re taking an online course. However, you may wish to travel in connection with your studies—to receive initiation, visit sacred sites, meet other students, or attend school events. If travel will be part of your education, be sure to build it into your budget.

Taking a quick glance around the internet, we’ve seen that the leading introductory witchcraft courses cost about $250-350. That’s for the first year, without any optional books, equipment, consultations, or travel.

If you’ve got sticker shock, there are alternatives to enrolling in a witchcraft school. I recommend obtaining (and working along with) a good beginner’s book for a period of at least a year. Classics of the genre include Raymond Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft (affectionately nicknamed “Big Blue”) and Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig. Each of these titles has hundreds of thousands of copies in print. Beginner’s books can be found for free at many libraries, or at a very low cost in used bookstores and online.

For the frugal Witch, $300 is more than enough money to assemble a basic occult library and a small (but totally serviceable) toolkit of ritual items. If you are very self-directed, you could use a combination of books, at-home practice, and community resources (like public rituals and internet discussion groups) to cobble together a first-year course of study for next to nothing.

5. How long will it take you to finish?

A wise Witch never stops learning. However, it’s reasonable to expect that a formal class will have a tentative graduation date to put on your calendar. You’ll also need to consider how the coursework will fit into your daily or weekly schedule.

The school’s website or prospectus should let you know what kind of participation is expected. You will probably have a combination of reading assignments, audio or video content, journaling, forums and group chats, quizzes, and at-home exercises to complete. The time commitment will vary based on the school and your previous experience with the material. But…five to seven hours per week is probably the minimum time needed by the dedicated student of witchcraft.

What if you get too busy to keep up? Life happens, after all. Many online classes are self-paced, meaning you can take as long as you want to complete the course materials. It also means that the more you procrastinate, the more the class will end up costing altogether. So, it makes economic sense to wait to enrol until you can devote the time to completing the required work. Magick rewards consistency: Try to stick to a short daily practice, even if you must put the remainder of the coursework on hold.

Many newbies are eager to complete their witchcraft studies, and that’s awesome! However, don’t be tempted to rush through it. The changes effected by magickal study take some time to integrate themselves in your mind, body, and energy field. There’s a lot to learn and contemplate—not to mention let go of. Ultimately, you will get out of any class what you are willing to put into it.

Reputable schools require at least a year and a day of study for each degree (or equivalent) that is obtained. Beware of schools that are willing to accelerate your graduation/initiation day in exchange for cash.

Enrolling in a witchcraft school can open the door to new contacts, creating opportunities to learn and grow rapidly in your Craft. Why not take the next step and visit some schools?

Legal info: Links are provided for information purposes only. Grove and Grotto LLC does endorse any schools, nor do we receive compensation for including them in this guide.

Cherry Hill Seminary

The leading provider of higher education and practical training in Pagan and Earth-based ministry. Online college offers Masters degrees in Pagan Studies and Divinity, as well as various courses and certifications for non-degree students.

The College of the Sacred Mists

Online college (non-accredited) offering training and ordination with the Wiccan tradition. Introductory courses are available, along with in-depth classes on topics including Pagan history, spellcraft, herbalism, and Reiki.

The Mystic Dream Academy

Online school offering instruction in witchcraft, divination, Reiki, and Southern Conjure. Downloadable lessons and member-only forums guide students in learning basic and advanced magickal skills.

Temple of Witchcraft Mystery School

Witchcraft school with online and in-person options. The Temple's Mystery School consists of five one-year courses which correspond to the Temple of Witchcraft books by Christopher Penczak.

WitchSchool

This institution is the oldest of the online witchcraft schools. It boasts more than 125 different courses and offers initiation in the Corellian tradition of Wicca. WitchSchool has a busy forum and Facebook community and low membership fees. The public-facing areas of the website are very out-of-date.

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/online-witchcraft-schools-what-you-should-know

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acaipsychelife · 8 years ago

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Hello Acai! I was wondering if you could detail the steps you took to understanding astrology? For example, the order in which you studied all the different aspects of astrology. I'm trying to study it at the moment and I just want to see if there are some important things that I may have overlooked especially seeing as how I've only been studying seriously for just over a year so I'm barely a novice! The world of astrology to me is so beautifully expansive, it's easy to get lost in!

Thank you for asking! If you don’t mind, this will be a long ramble about my experiences, then I’ll get to advice for you...

Honestly, the fact that I got into it at such a young age wasn’t necessarily for the better. My mother is an astrologer but she was just a beginner until the last decade or so, it was like we learned together, sort of... My mom started taking me to the Tucson Astrologers’ Guild when I was ten, at that point, I had a general idea of what each planet means, what each major aspect means, the personality of each sign... But I wasn’t mentally developed enough to understand how all that plays into life... That’s how I got to meet dozens of renowned astrologers. I could name drop but I assume nobody cares... During my pre-teen years I was just attending those TAG classes twice a month, and when I was 12 I was in this once a week group where we practiced reading birth charts... in hindsight, practicing astrology just a couple or a few times a month wasn’t enough to get proficient at it... I didn’t have a thorough understanding of how astrology affects peoples’ lives, I could only give general interpretations.

When I was 13 I was on the local news for being a young astrologer, was a load of fun at the time, but now I realize I wasn’t truly ready to step into my path back then... When I was 16 I took these once a week classes about the archetypes from a Shamanic Astrology perspective, that really gave me a feeling of timelessness, how each character is necessary in the world... Also when I was 16 I went to the BLAST conference in Sedona (in 2008), I loved it! An astrologer I dearly looked up to named Kelly Lee Phipps filmed me and I so wish I had that video... He died of a brain tumor in 2014... tearing up now...

When I was 17 I was going to be on national TV on a series about paranormal topics, but while they were filming, I gave a bunch of dead air time... and that is when I gave up on astrology, it was humiliating. I wasn’t ready for that kind of honor, I regret it, I wasn’t knowledgeable enough, I wasn’t dedicated enough.

When I was 21 I started attending TAG again, but I was such a beginner back then... I couldn’t give readings worth crap, I was preoccupied with college and the weird scenarios I had going on lol. When I was 22 I went to my first NORWAC (2014) and loved it, later that year I went to my first ISAR (where I got to vend Time Passages Software).

During 2015 I was super focused on learning nutrition, politics, and environmentalism, I wasn’t yet super dedicated to astrology... I’d listen to astrology podcasts, attended norwac again, and participated in many discussions of how peoples’ planetary placements affected their life... that’s a great way to learn, see what aspects someone has in their chart, then observe how they play out in that person’s life!

2016 I went to norwac and isar again, and I started this tumblr at the end of august! 2016 and 2017 I have been more dedicated to reading a lot... books and online...

Important things you might have overlooked:

Even though we have birth chart calculators, it’s great to become familiar with an Ephimeris, you can find one at a metaphysical bookstore. Before astrology software existed, astrologers had to draw up charts from scratch using the ephemeris. You would have had to learn the math about how to calculate the rising sign and each house and each degree. I don’t know how to do all that, just know that at sunrise, the rising sign is the same as the sun. Each rising sign lasts about two hours, but Scorpio rising lasts longer (making it the most popular rising sign) and Aquarius rising sign happens for less time (making it the rarest rising sign).

Memorize how each planet moves in its orbit. Why does Pluto spend about 14 years in Capricorn, 12 years in Scorpio, 13 years in Sagittarius, but shorter times in other signs? Because Pluto has an elliptical orbit.

Sometimes Mars appears to be moving faster than Venus, even though Venus obviously has a shorter orbit around the sun, Mars is erratic and bumpy in it’s orbit, so sometimes it goes forward thru degrees faster than Venus. Isn’t that fascinating?! Of course Venus usually moves faster than Mars.

Memorize how long it takes each planet to orbit the sun. Neptune takes 165 years, so when you’re 81-83, you have a Neptune opposition because Neptune has completed 50% of its orbit. At age 40-41, Neptune has completed 25% of its orbit, which means it made a square.

Every three years Jupiter moves 90 degrees in its orbit. Every four years Jupiter moves 120 degrees. By memorizing how planets move, you can quickly guess someone’s Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto signs just by knowing the year they were born, and you can also estimate what transits they’re having now, or a year from now, without being dependent on a computer!

This is a common problem that aspiring astrologers have. Since our generation has it easier; we no longer have to draw up charts from scratch thanks to computers, it has caused people to become lazy in understanding the mechanics behind a chart. If you want to be an astrologer, if you want pro astrologers to take you seriously, you have to be mature about being able to figure out the aspects and aspect patterns for yourself. If you rely on computers to tell you that someone has Jupiter trine Mars or whatever, then you do not have a genuine understanding of astrology.

Memorize the ages that people experience planetary cycles, this way, you can easily start an impressive conversation with somebody by saying, “Oh you’re 42 years old, that means that transiting Uranus is opposite your natal Uranus, which means ___, and you’ve recently gone thru transiting Neptune being square your natal Neptune, which means __”

“Oh you’re 21 years old, that means that transiting Saturn is square your natal Saturn for the second time, and transiting Uranus is square your natal Uranus for the first time, this means __”

The major aspects, the houses, and the planets are just the fundamentals. Once you grasp those, then you can move up to specialty topics. You don’t have to learn the minor aspects if you don’t want to. I know famous pro astrologers who only use the major aspects, including Philip Sedgwick and Steven Forrest.

Another piece of advice, if you dabble in a dozen different methods (horary, medical astrology, financial astrology, mundane astrology, midpoints, astro*carto*graphy, electional astrology, symbolic degrees, teleological, cosmobiology, relationships, psychological, declinations, TNO’s, asteroids, harmonics, decans, uranian astrology, hellenistic, evolutionary/karmic, among a bunch of other branches...), you’re only going to be mediocre in all of them. Find your specialty and hone it! I dabble in a few of those, but right now my specialties are progressions, sabian symbols, and general predictions. You definitely don’t need to study all those items in that parenthesis, but at least know what each of those terms means. If you ever attend an astrologers’ conference, people will introduce themselves like, “I’m a Hellenistic astrologer” or “I use declinations to find contra-parallels”, if you don’t know what they’re talking about, you won’t be taken seriously in the community.

Yes I love how you said astrology is so beautifully expansive and easy to get lost in! I will never know everything there is to know! It would take a lifetime to learn all those things I listed.

I totally understand that learning all this stuff feels overwhelming when you’ve only been into astrology for a few years or less. Take your time learning and really absorbing the information before you start giving readings; learn from my mistakes, I had no business giving casual readings to my friends when I was 21-22, I was still a beginner.

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retireearlyandtravel · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://www.retireearlyandtravel.com/slovenia/

Slovenia, a Spotlight on the Best Things to See and Do

Slovenia is an amazing country, and if it’s not part of your future travel plans, it should be. It is probably no coincidence that Slovenia has the word love in it. This small boutique country, in the heart of Europe, no pun intended exudes love in so many ways. To begin with, Slovenia is the first country in the world to be declared a green destination based on the Green Destinations Criteria. Caring for the environment is a priority of every Slovenian. In fact, one in every two hundred people, and growing, in Slovenia is involved in beekeeping. What a great way to help the planet!

We decided to visit the east side of Slovenia. Given Slovenia’s small size, it is easy to drive to most places for a visit in a day. In Slovenia, there are many diverse things to see and do. There’s something for everyone’s taste.

We have a recommendation for a complete, full day of amazing touring in Slovenia. We suggest visiting Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle, climb Gonjace Lookout Tower and finish the day with a wine tasting at Edi Simcic Winery. Because getting to all of three places can be difficult, we recommend a private tour with Ride Around Tours. They customized this tour just for us when we were in Slovenia. We had the full attention of our guide, and we could decide on how much time we spent at each place. In addition, while our guide drove, she would discuss the wonders of Slovenia. One of our favorite things to do when we travel is to talk to a local so when we drove, there was never silence. The advantages of a local guide. Here is some insight into our recommendations:

Postojna Cave

We visited the Postojna Cave, otherwise known as the “Queen of the Underground World.” Let me tell you this 2 million-year-old cave system is jaw-dropping. Postojna is the largest cave we have ever toured. When you enter, they give you the opportunity to rent a coat. They warn you just how cold it is in the cave. The temperature is a constant 50 degrees F with a humidity of 95%. We had our own warm coats, so we were prepared.

The huge caverns are some distance from the entrance, but they have a small electric train system that transports you back to the walking area. We traveled on the train for about 15 minutes before entering the huge open cavern. We disembarked the train and joined the group for the tour.

Tiny droplets of heavy mineral water shaped the fascinating subterranean paradise that is now Postojna Cave for over a million years. There are many cave formations and diverse fauna. Postojna Cave boasts towering mountains, murmuring rivers and vast subterranean halls. The cave is home to the famous magnificent five-meter-tall bright-white stalagmite called Brilliant.

The cave first opened as a tourist destination in 1819. In 1884, they added electric lights. The rails came in 1872. At first, the guides pushed the cars along the rails. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that they introduced a gas locomotive to take tourist back into the caverns. Then in 1945, the locomotive became electric.

Used in World War 2

During World War 2, German-occupied forces used the cave to store aircraft fuel. At one point, the Slovenian resistors destroyed the depot resulting in a fire that burned for seven days. Another interesting fact is that the world’s first “cave” post office resides in Postojna Cave.

There are 15 miles of underground passages, galleries, and halls in this relatively young discovery of only 200 years ago. The cave is open 365 days a year but their hours vary by month so check there site before making your plans to visit. One cavern is large enough to hold a concert, which they have throughout the year. There is a fee for this 1.5 hours guided tour.

Baby Dragons

In the Postojna Cave lives, a very unusual animal called an Olm. Olms are unusual even in their appearance: they have long snake-like bodies, with a length of 10-12 inches. Their length makes them one of the largest cave predators. Their skin is pale and pink in color and looks almost translucent. They have small short legs with three digits on their forelimbs and two on their hind feet. The Olms move around the water by snake-like twisting of their bodies, assisted by the legs. They breathe with external gills and rudimentary lungs. They have no eyes, but they can “see” with the help of skin receptors. These creatures are very good at sensing their prey and their skin very sensitive to light. They can go without food for up to twelve years and have a lifespan of up to 100 years.

The cave has some of these beautiful creatures in an aquarium type enclosure allowing you to see them easily. For the olm’s comfort and safety, they do not allow flash photography.

Predjama Castle

A few miles from Postojna Cave is the Predjama Castle. This dramatic castle is an impregnable medieval marvel perched in the middle of a 5000-foot high cliff for more than 800 years. Behind the largest cave castle in the world, there is a network of secret tunnels, from where the knight Erasmus of Predjama would set out on his plundering expeditions. The tunnels included a vertical shaft that leads to the outside of the castle, which they built to supply food to the castle during times of enemy siege.

The castle is an amazing piece of gothic architecture that they built specifically to make access difficult. They featured the castle in a Jackie Chan movie and a Ghost Hunters International episode because of its paranormal activity.

The Legend of Erasmus

Erasmus was a 15th-century robber-baron who, like Robin Hood, stole from the rich to give to the poor. The cave below the castle is part of the 14km Predjama cave system. Erasmus carried out his plundering with the help of a secret passage that led out from behind the rock wall. During the wars between the Hungarians and the Austrians, Erasmus supported the Hungarians. The Austrians did not forget this. The Austrians killed Erasmus after a very long siege. According to legend, one of his men betrayed him. They got word to the enemy when he would use the bathroom. The bathroom located in the small-detached building to the left of the castle is where the enemy decided they would get Erasmus. The bathroom was a very vulnerable location. While Erasmus was using the toilet, the enemy shot a canon at the latrine, and that was the demise of Erasmus.

The world’s largest cave castle, listed as one of the Guinness World Records, tells a picturesque story about the times when comfort had to give way to safety. It is so special and unique; it ranks among the ten most fascinating castles in the world, and so romantic that many couples choose it for their wedding vows. When in Slovenia, If nothing else visit Predjama Castle for the great pictures. There is a fee to tour the castle.

Italy is so Close

It is strange to us how countries in the Schengen Area don’t have protected borders. Our guide pointed this out to us that while I was standing in Slovenia and Tina was standing in Italy. If you looked carefully, you would see a plaque on the ground that shows the border. If you look closely, you will see some of the old border walls that once stood and separated the two countries. The only way you would know what these were are from the plaques that describe what they used to be.

We were in the town of Nova Gorica. Originally, they split a single town Gorizia/Gorica between Italy and what was then Yugoslavia following World War II. The barrier, which divided relatives and friends for decades made people anxious. The people of each town began to fear the other. The fear was due to the tense atmosphere between the East and West in the 1950s.

Back in 2004, they removed the fence, which was one of Europe’s last symbols of the Cold War-era division. It took more than a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall for this barrier that separated families to come down. Since 1947, this barrier separated the Italian town of Gorizia from its Slovenian sister Nova Gorica. Slovenia’s decision to join the EU was the factor that made all of this possible.

Today freewill determines whether Slovenian’s or Italian’s cross the countries border. Many Italians and Slovenians in the towns of Gorizia/Gorica are friends and family. However, I am sure there are still those who are fearful of the open border.

Gonjace Lookout Tower

Gonjace Tower located in the stunning region of Brda Slovenia is a great place to visit for 360-degree views of rural Slovenia. Brda with its rolling hills, vineyards, charming old villages will remind you of Tuscany. The lookout tower Built-in 1961 is 75 feet tall. There are 144 steps to get to the top. The tower located on the hill Mejnik above the village of Gonjace provides amazing views. They dedicated the tower to the 315 victims of World War II who lived in the area.

When the sky is clear, you can enjoy the breathtaking views of all four points of the compass: the Julian and Carnian Alps, as well as the Dolomites to the North, the Friulian plain to the West, the Trieste Gulf and the Karst to the South, and the Trnovo forest and the Vipava Valley to the east. Do not forget to bring binoculars and of course your camera. The winds can be fierce when at the top so be careful.

Slovenia and Wine

Slovenia is home to some fantastic wines. Winemaking in Slovenia existed long before the Romans introduced winemaking to France, Germany, and Spain. Winemaking here dates back to the Celts. Slovenia produces almost 80 million liters of wine a year, and almost all this wine is savored right in Slovenia. There is another reason to visit Slovenia, which is the Slovenian wineries. The wineries set in picturesque locations are all unique.

Edi Simcic Winery

Our guide Matic of Ride Around Tours took us to an area favorite called Edi Simcic. The winery located in Western Slovenia in the Goriška Brda region is charming. The region of Goriška Brda is on the border of Italy and Slovenia. This region is noted most for white wines: Mediterranean exotic, minerally, full-bodied and fresh at the same time, with an aging potential of up to five or six years. The most notable and famous red variety produced here is the Rebula. It accounts for around 25% of all the wine produced in Goriška Brda. Rebula is originally from Greece but has grown in Slovenia for at least 750 years.

The Edi Simcic winery and tasting room are attractive and complete with a friendly dog! The winery setting is magical with views of vines on sloping hills. The laid back, tasting-room setting, and the unpretentious hosts make you feel like you are tasting wine in someone’s home. But, they are not too laid back, they use the best crystal glasses for tastings. Edi began the winery but his son Aleks, who we met while we were there, runs the winery today. The winery began in 1990 with 9 acres and today is 30 acres. Besides wine, Edi Simcic has champagnes and local products like jams, juices, and of course honey.

Traveling to the Goriška Brda region is fascinating because you actually travel through a few kilometers of Italy before emerging on the other side in Slovenia again. Because of the proximity to Italy, this part of Slovenia does have an Italian feel.

Beautiful Slovenia

We can tell you from experience that visiting Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle, climbing Gonjace Lookout Tower for the scenic views and finish the day with a wine tasting at Edi Simcic Winery is the perfect way to spend a day in Slovenia. Moreover, having Ride Around Tours chauffer us around and educate us on the sites was the best way to experience this area. Not to mention we made a new friend.

Be sure and check out our other Slovenia experiences such as The Best Things to See and Do in Ljubljana Slovenia.

We have this fantastic 3-minute video highlighting this trip.

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#Our Adventures

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amityfoxx · 6 years ago

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HIH HOGWARTS GROUPS & RP COURSES LIBRARY FORUMS MAGAZINE SIGN UP LOG IN

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Lesson 7) Ghosts, Poltergeists, and Gytrashes

*As the students enter the classroom, they see the Hogwarts ghosts floating around, putting on their usual start of term performance. The ghosts quickly disperse, only to be replaced by Peeves, who starts pelting the First Years with Stink Pellets then quickly flies away, laughing*

I hope you all enjoyed that show! It is not often that the ghosts will put on their little flying performance like that. I did not expect Peeves to make an appearance, but it does play well into the topics we will be covering today. Today, we continue our pursuit of paranormal creatures from last lesson by focusing on creatures that exist beyond the realm of the living, specifically by examining different types of spirits, both formerly human and non-human.

Ghosts

We will start by looking at the people you saw when first entering the classroom. A ghost is, for lack of a better definition, the essence of a person that is left behind after the person dies. They are weightless, transparent, have no physical form (though they do hold the image that their living body had), and cannot do much to affect the physical world around them. They are incapable of touching objects or making the object move. In fact, the only noticeable influences that ghosts have is that, when a living person walks through them, the person suddenly feels a chill.

Due to their transparent and overall nature, ghosts have the ability to become invisible, so a person may not even know a ghost is in the area unless they walk through the ghost. As a rule of courtesy, you should try to avoid walking through ghosts when possible, though it is unavoidable in some cases. Not only is the chill that you will feel uncomfortable, but the ghost may also become offended, since it is seen as rude to flaunt the fact that the person is dead by just walking through them.

Muggles frequently tell stories about ghosts, but they get them quite wrong in many accounts. We will look at some of the key characteristics of the Muggle ghost and explain why they are wrong.

First, Muggles seem to have this idea that anyone can become a ghost and haunt the living, causing fear and chaos wherever they go. The truth is that only magical people can become ghosts. Ghosts also are not malevolent, that is to say they have no ill-intent towards the living, in any sense of the word; they will, however, hold grudges towards other ghosts for incidents that happened when they were alive. Some ghosts will be grumpier than others, for example Moaning Myrtle who inhabits the girl’s lavatory on the first floor, but for the most part, ghosts are actually extremely friendly and will gladly stop and chat with you if you have a few minutes. However, there are a few courtesy rules to remember when talking to a ghost:

NEVER bring up the topic of their death. It is rude to ask about how the person died unless they bring up the topic first.NEVER draw attention to the fact that the ghost is no longer among the living. Even mentioning something like eating or drinking could cause the ghost to become offended.ALWAYS thank the ghost for their time. They like to feel appreciated.

Beyond that, the best way to determine how to handle a ghost comes down to an individual level. Some ghosts will be touchier than others about certain subjects, so it is best to know what each ghost prefers talking about. For example, you would be best informed never to bring up the Headless Hunt when talking to Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, otherwise known as the Gryffindor House ghost, Nearly Headless Nick.

Poltergeists

Similar to ghosts, we move on to poltergeists. Like ghosts, poltergeists are spirits; however, that is where the similarities end. Unlike the friendly nature of ghosts, poltergeists are spirits of chaos. They are fuelled by chaos and will always inhabit places where people frequently gather. Castles that are used, such as Hogwarts, are the perfect locations for poltergeists to thrive. There have also been recorded cases of poltergeists inhabiting Muggle and magical homes.

Ghosts and poltergeists also differ through their ability to interact with the physical world. Ghosts have no ability to touch or move objects, while poltergeists can do both. It is not uncommon for a poltergeist to pick up objects and move them around in order to cause more chaos and give themselves more power.

Another key characteristic of poltergeists is that it is very rare for them to have a visible, distinct form. They aren’t like ghosts and most often cannot be seen. Peeves, the poltergeist you saw at the beginning of the lesson who pelted you all with stink pellets, is one of the rare exceptions. For the most part, you will have to depend on other telling signs that a poltergeist is in your midst. Some of the ways will be noticeable, others not so much. Some of the signs you, as magical people, will want to watch for are as follows:

Banging on the walls or, generally, noises that you cannot explainObjects suddenly being thrown across rooms, seemingly on their ownStrange, unexplainable smellsPhysical attack from unseen forces

Now, one of these alone is not necessarily a telltale sign of a poltergeist. It is through the combination of several of these signs that you can tell. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to rid an area of a poltergeist - if it were possible, I am sure Peeves would have been removed from the castle long ago. No, the only way to “end” a poltergeist attack is to abandon the place they inhabit. If there are no people, the poltergeist cannot get any power and will effectively fade away. They will not be gone completely, though, just temporarily fizzled. Once people return to the area, they will be empowered again and will be back in action, causing chaos and mischief.

One final note to make about poltergeists is that, in extremely rare cases, they can be controlled. Using Peeves as our example, he seems to at least acknowledge people in positions of authority who have earned their respect - Peeves would always listen to Albus Dumbledore and The Bloody Baron (the Slytherin ghost). A poltergeist may also listen to someone who they recognize as suitably chaotic or who makes a chaotic request. In 1996, Fred and George Weasley were able to get Peeves to listen to them when they requested that he make Dolores Umbridge’s life at Hogwarts miserable.

Gytrashes

Finally, we come to the gytrash. These creatures are ghostly, large dogs that will only appear at night. They are pure white, except for their pitch black eyes, and can be extremely vicious. However, what makes these creatures particularly dangerous is their ability to blend into their surroundings until they are right on top of their prey - their favorite of which is humans. They can also be difficult because it is very rare for a gytrash to attack alone. In fact, they will frequently attack in groups of two to six.

There are a few known places where gytrashes are known to have packs. One of the most notable places is right here at Hogwarts, out in the Forbidden Forest. This pack is one of the many reasons that you are expressly forbidden to go into the forest - it limits the exposure to these creatures. In fact, you should never encounter the Hogwarts pack, since you should all be in your dormitories long before they come out.

Their method of hunting involves, as mentioned, working in groups of two to six. They attack by lunging at the victim, leaving one large bite before darting away, and waiting for the next attack. If they were alone, this would not be too dangerous, but since there can be as many as six of them, this can quickly become a deadly situation, since one gytrash can attack and dart away only for another gytrash to follow.

Overall, there is very little to worry about from the spectres we have talked about today. It is rare that a poltergeist will do something that is aimed to kill - they like chaos and need humans around to survive. Ghosts are usually friendly spirits that won’t attack because they are unable to. If a ghost is bugging you too much, you can chase them away with the Wand-Lighting Charm, which we learned in our first lesson. This spell will also work to defend yourself against a Gytrash, since they will flee the light from a wand.

Please make sure you review your notes and prepare yourself adequately for today’s quiz. This quiz will be a little longer than usual, but that is only because we covered so much more material.

All images found in lesson were obtained through a Google Image search.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Year One will serve as an introduction that will set the foundation for your magical education and properly prepare you for future work in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Here, we will explore what the Dark Arts are, some basic defensive and offensive spells, and low ranking dark creatures that will allow you to develop an understanding about how we discuss and defend against dark creatures.Enroll

L7 Assignments

DADA-101 Lessons

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Quiz

Interview with a Ghost

Essay

About Hogwarts is Here

Hogwarts is Here (HiH) is the wizarding world's favorite social network created by fans - for fans. Create a character and immerse yourself at Hogwarts and the Harry Potter universe with thousands of others by enrolling in realistic online Hogwarts courses, earning house points, meeting new friends in the common room and so much more.

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itsiotrecords-blog · 8 years ago

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Unknown to most people, the unexplored regions of the world offer destinations that are unique for vacations. These unique spots not only promise unsullied scenery but they also offer unusual vacation experiences for those who seek to get away from the run-of-the-mill escapades on mediocre beaches and hotels. Check out our 25 unusual places to take a vacation and make it a point to do something different on your next planed escapade.

#1 Seagaia Ocean Dome The Seagaia Ocean Dome, was the world’s largest Polynesia-themed indoor waterpark, located in Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan. The Ocean Dome, which was a part of the Sheraton Seagaia Resort, measured 300 metres in length and 100 metres in width, and was listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records. It sported a fake flame-spitting volcano, artificial sand and the world’s largest retractable roof, which provided a permanently blue sky even on a rainy day. Unfortunately it closed in 1997.

#2 Alnwick Poison Garden The Alnwick Garden is a complex of formal gardens adjacent to Alnwick Castle in England. One of the more interesting attractions here is the poison garden and the signs on the front gate seem to give a fairly concise description of what you can expect.

#3 727 Fuselage Home-Costa Verde Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just step off the plane and walk right unto the beach without worrying about luggage or security? The 727 Fuselage Home makes this desire a reality…well almost. This unique hotel located within the coastal rainforest of Costa Rica overlooking the Pacific beaches of Manuel Antonio National Park near Quepos, is a retrofitted Boeing 727. Originally designed to carry 150 cramped passengers, the jet is now home to luxurious beds, incredible vistas, and easy beach access.

#4 Giraffe Manor A one of a kind hotel nestled in a suburb in Nairobi, Kenya, the Giraffe Manor is a small lodge that is home to some of the most endangered Rothschild giraffes in Kenya. It is known today for being a small, private hotel that opens its doors to guests who want to experience feeding giraffes either from their own breakfast tables or through the front door or windows of their rented rooms.

#5 Boot and Breakfast The Boot and Breakfast is a unique hotel designed as a giant pair of boots. Understandably, when it first opened in 2001 the locals considered the partners to be slightly crazy, but after several years of business and many happy visitors they are rightly taking their place as local celebrities.

#6 Desert Nomad House If you have ever felt the urge to just get away from it all, this is the perfect unusual place for you. Rick Joy’s “Desert Nomad House” is located in the Tucson desert right besides…nothing, absolutely nothing (for the exception of the Saguaro cacti). The simple design consists of a rusted steel box housing a 780 square foot bathroom; a living room , kitchen, and dining area; and a 440 square foot bedroom with a 200 square foot office. This is the epitome of a tranquil get away.

#7 Your own Fiji Island Picture this: Crystal clear blue waters, tropical floral scented breeze, soothing shore echoing the sound of the sea, clear blue skies that transform into a brilliant display of celestial lights at night, and best of all no one around. That’s right, no screaming children, obnoxious people, not even an annoying dog. This is the luxury of spending a day or two in your own, rented private Fiji Island. Depending on the island a night can cost around $2,500.

#8 Panda Inn Panda Inn is a chain of restaurants that originated in Sichuan, China and features basically everything panda related. Even the staff is dressed in panda suits!

#9 Metroplis, Illinois If you are a die hard fan of Superman, than you know of his hometown Metropolis. But did you know that the city actually exists? Metropolis, Illinois is the only city in the world dedicated to Superman (complete with a gigantic superman statue). If you really want to get into the Superman hype, the best time to go is in June when the locals put on a festival called “The Superman Celebration” which attracts book collectors and fans from all over the United States. To be fair, the real Metropolis is not the gigantic Super City depicted in the comics. Rather, it resembles more of a small town (think Smallville).

#10 Izu Islands A group of volcanic islands that includes about a dozen islets, Izu Islands extends southeast from the Izu Peninsula and is characterized by the unique flavor of each of its atolls. One of its islands, Ohama, is known for its active volcano, Mt. Mahira, which has erupted several times over the last decade. Another island, Niijima, is known for its pristine beaches while Mikurajima is famous for its amusing dolphin shows.

#11 Igloo Village Tourists who seek to rough it in the cold expanse of snowy Finland can visit the sheltered Igloo Village. With an array of unique lodging encompassing snow and glass igloos, visitors can experience the northern lights up close and personal.

#12 Black Rock Desert-Burning Man Festival For those who feel the urge to “radically express themselves” the Burning Man Festival held in the Black Rock desert is the destination for you. The Burning Man is a week long event that begins on the last Monday of August and ends on the first Monday in September and gets its name from the ritual of burning a large wood effigy on Saturday evening.

#13 Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve A vast ocean of lava flows that covers about 618 square miles of land, the Craters of the Moon Na ional Monument and Preserve is one of the most unique scenery in the United States. Craters of the Moon was formed between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago after a series of volcanic eruptions in the region transforming the landscape into a rugged “Apocalyptic-looking” environment. Visitors can lodge in one of the available campgrounds enabling visitors to witness the crater’s spectacular sundown and sunrise.

#14 Yellowstone National Park Located in the state of Wyoming, USA, the Yellowstone National Park is popular for its wildlife and geothermal features. It is among the most preferred tourist destinations for nature lovers because of its subalpine forest and sundry ecosystems, though Old Faithful, a giant cone geyser, is still its major feature. Through the years, several explorers have conducted expeditions in this park and have discovered more of its underlying canyons, lakes, rivers and mountain ranges.

#15 Island of the Dolls Also known as La Isla De Las Muñecas, the Island of the Dolls is dubbed as the creepiest and most bizarre tourist destination in Mexico. The trees grown on this island are decorated with old and mutilated dolls that were hung by the islands one and only former resident. Upon setting foot in this island, tourists who visit this place often offer gifts to appease the spirits that are believed to dwell in the hanging bodies of these dolls.

#16 Niagara Falls The major source of hydrothermal energy in all Canada, Niagara Falls is the collective name for the three waterfalls that border the Canadian Province of Ontario and New York, USA. Heralded as the largest waterfalls in the world, the Niagara Falls are known for their unmatched beauty and grandiose spectacle. The number of tourists who visit the falls peaks during summertime when colorful floodlights light up the waterfalls at night and accentuate their beauty.

#17 Jules’ Undersea Lodge Have you ever tried to count fish instead of sheep in order to fall asleep? If not, you just might be in for a treat once you swim into this outrageous hotel. Jules’ Undersea Lodge is located in Key Largo, Florida and is the only undersea hotel in the United States built 30 feet deep on the ocean floor. Inaugurated in 1986, this undersea hotel requires guests to go scuba diving to get into one of the two rooms available.

#18 The Orient Express Train rides are a great way to see the country side and no other train does it with as much class as the Orient Express. Operated by Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the Orient Express is a passenger train service that passes through Paris, Venice, London and Istanbul. Known as the king of all trains, it houses classy accommodations, bars; and dining and boutiques. Without a doubt, this is indeed grand luxury on rail.

#19 Edinburgh Castle Don’t let the stoic and imposing architecture fool you. The Edingurgh Castle is one of the most popular haunted vacations spots in Scotland. Particular attention has been given to the castle’s prison cells which where allegedly used to quarantine plague victims and is where strong paranormal activity resides. Only the bravest dare to stay in this place.

#20 Les Sources de Caudalie Les Sources de Caudalie boasts of its magnificent spa attracting tourists who wish to have a simple and relaxing vacation. In fact, in 2003 this hotel was recognized as being one of the best spas in the world. Among the services that this spa offers are a wine and honey wrap, a Turkish bath and a red wine bath (wait, red wine bath?…that’s their secret).

#21 Alcatraz Hotel If you have ever wanted to experience life on a lock down without breaking the law, you may want to consider the Alcatraz Hotel. This outrageous lodging is a former German prison retrofitted to accommodate 56 rooms with actual cells as sleeping quarters. Amenities include barred windows, toilet in the corner of the room, and your very own steel door slot used to slide your dinner to you.

#22 Sahara Desert Known as the hottest desert in the world, the Sahara Desert stretches from the Red Sea to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean. People who wish to take on this unusual vacation challenge can cross the Sahara Desert and catch a glimpse of its picturesque landscape which is like no other in the world. A vast expanse; it features rolling sand dunes that can reach heights of up to 180 meters (590ft).

#23 Galapagos Islands The Galapagos Islands is a group of volcanic islands near the equator in the Pacific Ocean that boast in their natural beauty and are home to an incredible array of animals found nowhere else in the world. Stepping into these islands is like stepping into another world. In fact, it was on these islands that Charles Darwin conducted his experiments!

#24 Palacio De Sal Rarely can you ever say that too much sodium is good for you. However, when it comes to Palacio De Sal (translated Salt Palace), too much sodium is exactly what the doctor is prescribing. This unique hotel, located at the eastern edge of Salar de Uyuni (the worlds largest salt flat by the way) is made entirely from salt, that includes the furniture and the structure of the buildings. When you go to this hotel, resist the urge to lick the walls since there is a strictly enforced rule prohibiting guests to do so.

#25 Free Spirit Spheres Sleeping among the trees takes on a literal sense with these Free Spirit Spheres located in Qualicom Beach, Canada. One of the coolest aspects of this very unique vacation spot is the fact that your room (thanks to the stretchy webbing that holds the pods in the air) sways with the trees…it’s almost as if the trees are rocking you to sleep.

Source: List25

#IoTRecords

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