#learn from the 20th century history or repeat it

[inthegardenpraying]

"ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS" -George Orwell/Animal Farm

[stervrucht]

Steve Harrington\Eddie Munson | Rated: M | cw: Blood, Death, Gore | Tags: Alternative Universe: Vampire, Horror, Dom/Sub undertones, Implied Mind Control, Dubious Consent, Vampire!Eddie, Hotelclerk!Steve | AO3

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The Graveyard Shift - Part 2

They are heading northwest from their last gig in Cincinnati. The highrise of the city center quickly makes way for long stretches of road until the city is nothing more than a bunch of lights in the rearview mirror.  

The guys are giddy, strung up from another good show—another good hunt. Eddie is happy to leave Ohio behind; to be returning to his home ground of Indiana. 

True, the state itself isn’t much to look at, but in the darkness of the night, he doesn’t care much for a scenic view. 

When was the last time he laid his eyes on the vast green fields, the rich yellow of dried wheat, or the cerulean sky? Eddie can hardly recall—it has been decades after all.

Compared to the first half of the 20th century, the 80s are a spectacle to behold. The morals are looser, the clothes more revealing, and hunting was never this easy—never this fun. Eddie likes the way he can walk around at night now, bathed in light and color like he’s living once more. 

And the music is something else. 

It’s hard to believe he might have missed out on this—on the leather and the smoke and the loudness of it all. The shrieking of guitars and voices that perfectly captures the chaos of the world; to instill darkness in mortals, not through death, but through music. 

What a splendid age indeed.

Indianapolis shines like a beacon of light in the distance and in this new age, this time of neon lights and secondary colors, it might as well be Eden itself. It shines in darkness much more than it ever did in the light of day.

When they arrive in the city, Gareth drops him off at some gaudy hotel, and it’s their usual spiel. They stay at separate hotels, avoid suspicion, and then once their show is over, they leave again. Ditch the city and trade it for another. 

Rinse and repeat, for centuries to come.

The hotel looks different from the last time Eddie stayed there a decade ago. New owners have tried to put their mark on history. Tearing down the old and replacing it with artificial plastics that seem so prevalent at this time. 

It’s cute, the way they try, but few are ever remembered. Most will disappear into obscurity—just another name on a tombstone until that erodes as well.

Most, but not Eddie. 

Not Corroded Coffin.  

The new marble floors are laid in a checkerboard pattern—polished to such an extent that they reflect anyone who walks on them. It’s a giveaway, but Eddie doesn’t worry about that. Humans are remarkably dim; remarkably easy to fool. 

Not that he minds. Eddie prefers his food a little dim.

Behind the front desk stands a boy. Eddie could smell him from outside—the smell of lifeblood and light. It matches his looks in every way. He has an easygoing charm to him. 

The boy doesn’t notice him as he massages his temples and Eddie feels like a fox stalking a rabbit unaware of its impending doom. 

After so many decades, it’s easy to move without sound—it’s thrilling, the way people jump, the way their eyes go wide as they grow uncomfortable. 

Unconsciously they are aware that something is wrong, but humans have grown out of touch with their instincts. They push the feeling down because in this age, evil can be found in board games, books, and the wrong kind of love. 

Evil comes in human form—it needs no horns or teeth or claws. It comes in clever tongues, greedy hands, and an insatiable hunger for more, m ore, m ore—

When Eddie sees the boy, he thinks goodness may persist in equal measure. It gnaws at him, the familiarity of it, but he can’t allow himself to go there—not again. It’s a specific kind of anguish. A yearning he can’t mute.

He yearns for Steve before he even learns his name. 

And it sounds like a melody, the way his heart rate spikes when Eddie grabs his wrist; his scent a perfect blend of nervous curiosity and excitement, unpolluted by the stench of fear.

Eddie feels his mouth water as his nails dig into his flesh. He pulls back. He has indulged himself too much already. 

Not this one. Not yet.

Around 4 AM, Eddie orders room service, and some kid with freckles shows up at his door. 

Tommy

He smells like trouble—it radiates off him like perfume as his cheeks flush with expensive wine and stuffs his face with the food Eddie provides. 

Call it his last supper. Eddie does have some humanity. 

Eddie watches him with a lazy swirl of untouched wine in his hand. Tommy doesn’t notice he doesn’t drink. Tommy doesn’t notice much of anything. 

Tommy talks. 

He talks a lot and it’s all bullshit. But, fuck, if that isn’t the type of person Eddie enjoys toying with most—cocky and a little rude. They break so beautifully.

The guys have given him shit before, called his tastes fancy. And maybe they are right, just a little, because Eddie has a type. 

Tommy isn’t it, but he’s close enough. 

He’s sure the guys are fine with this one. Someone unreliable, who oversleeps and skips out on work. Someone who won’t be missed—not until it’s too late.

Yes, Tommy will do , Eddie reminds himself as he sinks his teeth into the boy’s neck. Tommy whimpers helplessly, somewhere between pain and pleasure. The initial resistance wears off fast as the venom fills his veins. Eddie feels his heat seep into his body and he moans against his skin; grabs the back of Tommy’s neck to pull him closer.

There’s nothing quite like blood. Nothing quite like the overwhelming pleasure of life on his tongue as Tommy’s pulse grows weaker and his skin pales. 

When Eddie feels Tommy’s heart hitch he knows it’s time to stop. He pushes himself away and creates some distance as he watches. Pupils blown and white-faced, Tommy’s jaw moves helplessly for a minute or so before Eddie sees him fade.

Eddie stands up then. He hates the final spasms—hates the actual dying part, no matter how often he does it. It reminds him of himself, and how he skirted death before he became what he is now.

He moves to his window and stands in front of it. The city is alive with lights, regardless of the hour.

Reflected in the window he sees Tommy’s body give a singular violent jerk.

Death throes.

“It won’t be like last time,” Eddie whispers as he thinks of the boy named Steve.

—

It is morning and Robin is seated at their little breakfast table with a slice of half-eaten toast and a newspaper in front of her. The kitchen smells of bread and coffee and it instantly makes Steve relax. It’s the scent of coming home, especially now that he works night shifts. He makes himself a cup of tea and sits down next to her. 

Robin takes another bite of her toast and looks at him. “Alright, spill it.”

“What?”

“You have something to tell me. I can see it in your face.”

Steve sends her a playful frown before pulling the two backstage passes from his breast pocket and sliding them toward her like they’re business cards.

Robin studies them a moment before looking back at Steve. “Remember when I said they were weirdos? That definitely extends to them backstage.” She pushes the passes back to Steve. “How did you even get this?” 

Steve steals her toast and takes a bite. “Their lead singer—”

Robin snatches her toast back and pulls a face. “Dude, swallow before you talk.”

“Sorry.” Steve swallows heavily, “As I was saying, their lead singer is staying at the hotel. Tommy didn’t show up tonight so I had to pitch in on room service duty. Kinda sucked balls, but hey, I got something good out of it I guess.”

“And you were so good at pushing a cart this guy just happened to give you backstage passes?” Robin gulps her coffee and eyes him over her mug.

“So what if I was?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Okay, fine. He invited me into his room and made me have wine with him. Happy now?”

“Steve, that’s really weird.” She frowns into her mug.

Steve fiddles with the handle of his mug. Robin is eying him intensely and she’s probably right. It’s a little weird, but she’s also overly suspicious. “He was just being nice. It was nearly morning. Maybe he felt guilty about the food.”

“Food? He ordered food at what, 5 AM?”

“Hotel guests are always weird. You don’t know half of it. This actually only classifies as mildly unusual.”

“So, what say you? Will you join me tonight?”

“There’s no talking you out of this, is there?”

“No chance.”

Robin seems to be giving in and Steve feels strangely victorious. “Okay, I’m coming with you tonight, if only because I’m pretty sure this guy has some unbecoming intentions with my sweet Steve.”

Steve laughs and takes a sip of his tea. Robin smiles back at him, tentatively.

“Highly unlikely. I’m not a girl.”

“That means nothing, Steve. Believe me.” Robin flips the newspaper to the next page and they sit in silence for a moment.

It’s a rainy morning and Robin will have to leave for class soon. Steve hates how their schedules contradict each other now. He squeezes her hand affectionately and gives her a reassuring smile.

“It’ll be fun.”

Robin smiles back, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

—

“Are you really wearing that?” Robin asks him that evening.

Steve looks himself down. He’s wearing a polo and jeans. Hardly an offensive outfit. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Oh Steve, they’ll eat you alive,” she says affectionately. “Hold on.” 

Robin leaves the room and Steve moves to one of the mirrors to study himself. His outfit isn’t like Eddie’s on the pamphlet, nor like the people in the record shop, but he can’t see what’s wrong with it. 

“Catch.” Robin throws a black fabric ball at him and Steve turns around, just in time to get hit square in the face. He yanks it off his head and unfolds it. 

“ Heart ? Isn’t it a faux pas to wear shirts of other bands?”

“I didn’t know you spoke French, monsieur Steve. Did you pick that up at that fancy hotel of yours too?” Robin is smiling at him.

Steve rolls his eyes. “It’s the cross-words okay. Now answer the question.”

“It’s fine…ish. Besides, it’s the only thing I have close to your size. It’s better than your polo, believe me.”

Steve sighs. “Fine, I’ll be right back.” 

—

Robin is right, this isn’t his scene. Steve self-consciously tugs at the slightly too-tight shirt. He’s glad she made him change because people are indeed dressed differently here. 

Steve hasn’t attended many music events. Music has always been in the background, not something he consciously paid attention to.

Corroded Coffin hits differently.

It’s the darkness and heat of the small concert hall. People are dressed in black and leather, drenched in defiance and sweat. But the ambiance is magnetic and it lures Steve in. It makes him believe he can become one with this collection of misfits as the drums pound in his head with Robin at his side. Guitars cut through him and Eddie Munson’s voice stitches him back together.

Robin sticks to his side, hands on his arm. She’s wary and Steve doesn’t understand how she’s not taken by this, by the music that sounds so much like love feels.

Robin eyes him suspiciously. Her eyebrows are knit together as she holds his face and scans his eyes. “Did you slip in some alcohol while I wasn’t looking?”

Steve swats her hands away. “Of course not. Where would I even get that?” 

Steve isn’t drunk. He can’t be, but the atmosphere feels charged with it. “Just relax Rob, have fun,”

The music is loud and talking is hard. Bodies are squeezed against them from all sides as they make their way back into the crowd. 

When Eddie announces their last song his eyes briefly meet Steve’s in the darkness of the crowd. And surely Eddie can’t see him, not really—it’s too dark and the stage lights are too bright. But when he hits his guitar and runs his lips against the metal grid of his microphone, Steve thinks he looks like a god come to life. 

Steve is mesmerized by it. Can tear his eyes away from the way Eddie’s mouth moves over the microphone like a lover would. Steve hardly hears the music at this point. The world is faded at the edges and it feels like nothing exists except for Eddie and himself.

Eddie looks at him, and this time Steve is sure he sees him. Eddie’s eyes hold his, lips moving over the microphone as he sings his final note.

The crowd erupts in cheers and the spell is broken.

When the band moves off the podium, chaotic mumbling rises and fills the concert hall. The lights come back on and suddenly all intimacy seems gone.

Rob squeezes his arm, her eyes shooting towards the exit in signal for Steve. She pulls him along, making her way through the mass of bodies around him until she comes to a halt, so suddenly Steve almost crashes into her.

In front of her stands a bulky man dressed in a suit. 

“If you’ll follow me,” he says. He doesn’t wait for an answer, but briefly turns his back, walking towards the stage rather than the exit. 

Robin shoots Steve a wary look, but he ignores it, grabbing her by the wrist to pull her with him. She resists for a second before giving in.

The man leads them through the crowd to a door near the stage. He holds it open for them and beckons them to go through. The man steps past them until they arrive at another door. He holds it open again and when Steve walks through he is greeted by several other people lounging around. 

They’re all girls. 

Pretty girls with dark clothes and drinks in their hands—champagne flutes and elegant wine glasses. Some seem a little buzzed; somewhere between the softness of alcohol-induced relaxation and nervous anticipation.

The door falls shut behind them and the girls look up at the sound. They greet them, some with a soft ‘hi’, others with a wave. Some of them ignore them altogether.

Steve doesn’t really care. He isn’t there for them. The girls don’t seem to care either—mostly focusing on themselves or the friends they brought.

“Let's get out of here Steve,” Robin whispers in his ear. She’s glued to his side, antsy to get away, and Steve has to admit the situation feels strange. Now he’s not engulfed by the crowd the high is starting to wear off, and the atmosphere unsettles him a little.

The room is pretty barebones and all the girls are wearing VIP tags around their necks, just like them. 

“Let's just get one drink, then we’ll go.” Steve offers. He makes his way over to a table with various drinks—mostly alcohol. Steve decides to be responsible and grabs a soda for Robin and himself. Robin seems nervous enough as is, she doesn’t need Steve’s drunk ass on top of everything.

A little while later the man who led them earlier is back and asks them to follow him once again. Muffled music sounds throughout the hall until a door opens and suddenly music is blasting. 

The room is dark with a few lights scattered around casting warm light and dark shadows. The room is hazy with smoke, walls lined with brick, and Persian rugs scattered on the hardwood floor. It must be one of the rooms for performers to relax before and after the show, Steve realizes. 

Loud cheering erupts as one of the band members downs a glass of red liquid in one go. Some of it runs past his stubbled chin and he wipes at it with his sleeve.

The large man clears his throat and the band members look up towards the door opening. 

“Come in, come in!” A guy with blond curly hair motions. They disperse and the members seem to gravitate towards their respective guests.

“Steve!”

Eddie walks towards him with open arms and Steve feels that familiar pull again. It tugs at his mind and swirls in his gut with a sense of unfounded longing.

Before Steve can react, Eddie has him engulfed in a tight hug and Steve can feel the buttons of his denim vest dig into his chest and the skin of his cold bare arms stick to his own sweat-slick skin.

“And you must be his friend.” Eddie releases him and turns to Robin. He doesn’t hug her.  Instead, he takes her hand with a cordial bow and introduces himself as ‘Edward Munson, but call me Eddie’.

The tension in Robin’s posture seems to relax a little then. “Robin,” she says.

Eddie’s attention turns back to Steve and he eyes him up and down.

“Dig the shirt,” he says, clicking his tongue. Steve looks down at the tight fabric stretched over his chest and pats at it self-consciously.

“What did you think of the show?” Eddie looks at Robin, then at Steve.

“It—it was great. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Steve says. Next to him, he sees Robin’s eyebrow move ever so slightly. It’s a tell, but Eddie won’t know that. Robin thinks Steve’s full of shit. Is probably judging his life choices at this very second. That’s fair. Maybe Robin is just having a bad day. 

“Great show,” Robin echoes, but there is little passion behind her words. She looks at her watch, and honestly, Steve thinks it’s a little rude with Eddie right in front of them, but Eddie doesn’t seem to notice. His eyes are glued to Steve. A handsome little smile growing on his face as he throws an arm around his shoulder.

“Say, we’re heading to a club after this. Afterparty kinda deal. Care to join us?”

Steve opens his mouth to answer, but Robin beats him to it.

“We have class tomorrow morning.”

We. Now that was a lie. Robin really wants to get him out of here.

“I don’t,” Steve corrects her, “An after-party sounds fun. Can’t sleep anyway—night shifts you know.” Steve shrugs.

Robin shoots him a desperate look. “Can I steal him for a moment?” She asks Eddie. He nods and releases his grip on Steve’s shoulder.

Robin leads him to one of the corners of the room. The music is loud, and the other band members are chattering with the girls. One of them has a girl on his lap as they engage in a very intimate conversation.

Once they’re out of earshot, Steve focuses his attention on Robin. “What the hell, Rob!”

“Steve, something about this is off. I swear.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Steve says, but it doesn’t sound convincing. Robin quirks a skeptical eyebrow as she folds her arms over her chest.

The thing is, Steve doesn’t really care. This is the most fun he’s had in a good while. Life has been boring these past few months. He is just finding his footing again after Nancy dumped him. He doesn’t understand why Robin can’t let him have this.

“Steve, I mean it. I’m going home. I really do have class in the morning. If you know what’s good for you, you will come as well.”

“I’m staying, Rob. I can take care of myself.” He crosses his arms over his chest and stares her down.

Finally, Robin relents. She sighs, pulls the VIP badge from her neck, and shoves it in his hand. 

“If you’re about to do something stupid, look at my name and maybe—don’t do that thing,” she says. She gives his arm an affectionate squeeze and makes her way to the door, looking back once with furrowed brows before closing it behind her.

Steve stares after her. His excitement tainted with a strange guilt as he stands there alone.

“You alright there?”

Steve turns around and sees Eddie looking at him with worried eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My friend—” he looks at the door again and frowns, “she had to leave.”

“That’s too bad, man. Listen, we’re about to head out, yeah. I got us a taxi, we’re sharing with Gareth and his harem.” Eddie points a thumb over his shoulder towards the guy with curly blond hair. He’s surrounded by three girls.

Steve shoots him a smile, and when he stares into Eddie’s impossibly dark eyes, he feels all guilt wash off him and that strange sense of longing and anticipation return.

The taxi is a tight squeeze. One of the girls takes the passenger seat, which leaves Eddie, Gareth, and two additional girls in the backseat.

A blonde girl decides to share a seat with her friend by sitting on her lap and Gareth squeezes himself into the middle seat next to the girls. That only leaves one window seat.

“Not a bad idea,” Eddie says, staring at the girls, “you can sit on my lap,” he offers, sending him a little smile. Steve laughs sheepishly until he realizes Eddie meant what he said.

“Won’t you be uncomfortable? Maybe we should get another taxi—”

“It’s only ten minutes. It will be fine,” Eddie waves his hands. 

Steve relents and settles himself into Eddie’s lap. They’re both guys, it isn’t weird at all. He was on the basketball team in high school. He knows guys can be close without it having to mean something. Maybe if he were a girl, he would be worried.

Somewhere in the back of his head, he hears their morning conversation echo. 

‘That means nothing, Steve. Believe me.’

He shakes her off, even when he feels her VIP pass poke into his thigh from the pocket of his jeans.

The car ceiling is low, and he has to bend his neck a little with the added height of Eddie’s thighs beneath him. There’s no shifting or moving about. He sits planted firmly, full weight on Eddie’s lap. They can’t wear a seatbelt like this, which annoys him somewhat. It thrills him too, the edge of danger, however small.

Everything about tonight is strange and exciting.

The car ride is short indeed. He feels Eddie’s bones dig into the back of his legs, and Eddie holds him, arms wrapped around his waist, but it’s only to steady him. Steve tries not to move too much. He doesn’t want to make it more uncomfortable for Eddie than it has to be. It’s a tight squeeze as is, with all five of them on the backseat, and it doesn’t help that Gareth keeps messing with the girls on his side. His elbows poke into Steve’s side now and then, and it makes him shift in Eddie’s lap.

“We’re almost there,” Eddie breathes against his neck. Steve feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. His will is soft and pliant and he feels like he’s drunk again. He wonders how Eddie’s doing that; wonders why Eddie even invited him along when he could be surrounded by a cohort of girls as well, although he loses that train of thought quickly.

Steve stumbles out of the taxi once they arrive, and Eddie steadies him when he steps out behind him. There’s a large line in front of the building—so long that it cuts around the corner— and Steve can only imagine how long it will go on from there.

The red neon sign spells out ‘Candlelight’ and it casts a warm hue on the concrete sidewalk. It makes Eddie’s hair look a deep auburn and fire-red reflect in his black eyes.

Steve hasn’t been to many nightclubs in Indianapolis. Before, when he was dating Nancy, there was little reason to, and now that he has his job at the hotel, his nights are often otherwise preoccupied. Robin indulged him once after he and Nance broke up, but after getting hit on by several guys, she quickly decided she never wanted to do it again. 

Not that it matters. Steve liked spending whatever free night he had watching movies with Robin just fine. And he would like to meet his next girlfriend organically anyway, not in nightclubs through beer goggles or whatever.

Their entourage is moving towards the double doors of the nightclub and Eddie lays a heavy hand on his lower back. He feels his fingers grace his skin where his shirt rides up; feels Eddie’s sharp nails rest on his skin like talons. It sends a shiver down his spine. 

Once one of the other guys talked to the bouncer, they’re allowed in, and Steve is a little starstruck by the way they get to skip the line. 

As they walk through the double doors, Steve is engulfed by light and moving bodies to music that thumps so loudly he can feel it in his bones.

A strange night indeed, he thinks as Eddie guides him in.

---

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[wszczebrzyszynie]

What insipired you to create your space mining au? (anime literature cinema etc?) Dziękuję!!! (Wanted to ask in polish but im currently only learning it and cant talk rrly well bruh )

hmm. short answer is: trigun, cowboy bebop, gundam: the witch from mercury, naoki urasawas monster, serial experiments lain and memories: magnetic rose. Movie operation hyacinth in a way too. All of that mixed with actual polish 20th century history. space mining in my head is like an obscure 90s anime

long answer is long so its under the cut. no i powodzenia z polskim :)

the world of space mining is something thats been on the back of my mind for a while, as im pretty sure ive mentioned at some point before, which is why its a bit... different than my other fandom related things and more like an oc story? all of my art is self indulgent by default, but for space mining it very much is the "original story" kind of indulgent. so for the "original", non-au space mining that started it all, my main inspirations were cowboy bebop, old polish pop and disco (especially dysk dżokej; its a song i imagined to be playing in a mining mech radio on repeat. not entirely sure why but thats the energy) and, hm, the state of mining in polish peoples republic, i suppose. Because by default all my stories are polish. and all of that carried over as a base for the alternative universe, which is why i even bother to mention it

now space mining as an au was very much trigun inspired. specifically stampede because it was my first experience with trigun ever. like i said, former things carried over, i just added certain minecraft elements (sculk mostly) and hermitcraft/life series elements. A few video game elements (mostly subnautica). Space mining Zed is very obviously inspired by hermit archives Zed, but only from fanarts, because ive never actually read the thing ... hmm. these are all the specific inspirations i can name, i think? the rest goes into the unwell territory, but im pretty sure ive mentioned these before already, too? Space mining is made to feel polish becuase it was created as such in the first place. A lot of my inspiration for the au comes from history, not as much in the, hm, present sense? Despite it being an alternative history kind of story, i try to mention the actual history part as little as possible. Its a lot of explaining that doesnt really matter in the plot itself. What i mean here is, a lot of the historical events between 1944-1991 do happen, even if changed by the whole asteroid/space mining thing, and very much infulence the entire worldbuilding ive created, but arent brough up much, as the majority of the characters are living in a deep space equivalent of post-iron curtain eastern europe, just a bit worse. i hope its obvious why i dont usually mention that part outloud, even if its pretty clear if you know what to look for. luckily for me i dont know what cringe is

[girlactionfigure]

Our Repeated Strategic Failures, or How We Never Learn from Experience

1. Failure to understand and respect our enemies.

Since before the founding of the State of Israel, Palestinian Arab leaders have been saying that the land between the river and the sea is Arab land, land in which non-Arab (and usually non-Muslim) sovereignty is intolerable. They opposed Jewish immigration from the turn of the 20th century because they correctly saw, even when many Jews did not, that sovereignty was the eventual outcome of Zionism. Leaders from Amin al-Husseini through Yasir Arafat to Mahmoud Abbas made countless statements to this effect, and repeatedly rejected offers of Palestinian statehood because they required the acceptance of a Jewish state as well. Jews and others with a Western outlook were repeatedly surprised when this happened, unable to grasp that the Arab objectives were not a mirror image of those of the Jews, who wanted a peaceful sovereign state and were prepared to compromise on land in order to get or keep it. For both secular and religious Palestinian movements like Fatah and Hamas respectively (although at the grass roots no Palestinian Arab movement is truly secular), the presence of a Jewish entity on what they believe is Arab/Muslim land is a painful violation of honor and doctrine. Over the years their belief in the absolute rightness of their position, their shame of having been victimized by the Jews, and their steadfastness in working toward their goal has only increased.

How many times have we heard that “what they want is to improve their lives and the prospects of their children?” That if only they could see a “horizon” of self-determination and prosperity, they would end their hostility to the Jewish state? Nothing could be more wrong – or more contemptuous of them. We are asking them, in other words, to abandon what they believe is their birthright to the land, to give up their honor (to Jews!), and to violate the principles of their religion, in return for scraps from our table. They would sooner die (and they do, often taking some of us with them).

Perhaps we are misled by the amount of corruption that exists in the political structures of peoples whose loyalties are primarily tribal, and think that the Arabs are weak and can be bought. Perhaps this is the source of the conceptzia that stupidly tried to buy quiet from Hamas with suitcases of dollars from Qatar, or thought that the billions of dollars siphoned off by Yasir Arafat would somehow make a peace partner out of him. Arafat took aid money to pay terrorists and fill his Swiss bank accounts, while Hamas leaders dug attack tunnels and built themselves mansions. But despite their corruption, neither neglected their main goal.

This strategic error has been repeated over and over, and has been responsible for two of Israel’s most painful failures: the Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada that followed, and the 7 October pogrom.

Give the Arabs the respect they deserve. Listen to what they say, and believe them when they say they are our enemies. They aren’t for sale.

2. Failure to Punish Those Who Hurt Us

We live in the Middle East. In the Middle East, when someone murders one of your people, you kill him. When someone invades your land, you take his land and you don’t give it back. Maybe you don’t agree with these principles and think that murderers can be rehabilitated, or that you can settle disputes over land legally or diplomatically; but the Middle East doesn’t care what you think. If you don’t protect your honor when you are victimized, it is a demonstration of weakness, and will be exploited. Recently the Iranian regime launched over 300 weapons including some 120 ballistic missiles at Israel, the largest attack of its kind in military history. The amount of death and destruction that it could have caused was enormous; only luck, the skill of our pilots, $1.35 billion in defensive weapons, and the help of the US (that we will pay for in loss of sovereignty) saved us. We responded by destroying a radar installation, to “send a message” that we could have attacked the nuclear installation it was protecting. Are we joking? They tried to kill us and instead of “rising up to kill them” as the sages of the Talmud recommend (Sanhedrin 72a-b), we send a message that we could have hurt them? That is not a Middle Eastern response, and it will be interpreted to mean that we are too weak or constrained (by the US) to strike back. This will encourage Iran to hit us again.

3. Failure to Maintain Deterrence

Israel’s response to rocket attacks and terrorism has tended to concentrate on parrying the enemy’s strikes rather than retaliating disproportionately (in the Middle East, the “disproportionately” part is important). While a purely defensive strategy (e.g., Iron Dome) results in less disruption to the home front, the enemy is not deterred from trying again and applying lessons learned from previous rounds of fighting. Psychologically, it normalizes the act of trying to kill Jews. A powerful retaliatory strike, on the other hand, makes the enemy pay a high cost for its aggression and deters future attacks. And it transmits the message that Jewish blood isn’t cheap.

4. Failure to Maintain Independence and Sovereignty

A small country can only control its own destiny by staying independent of any one great power or camp of powers. Such a country must maintain relations with all sides in the great power conflicts and play one side off the other. Israel successfully did this for a time, but by the 1980s, she was entirely dependent on the US, both diplomatically and as a source of military hardware. A key point of inflection was in 1987, when the project to build the Lavie fighter aircraft was cancelled. Today, although Israel’s economy is strong enough that she could pay for her own defense needs without American military aid, her procurement has been skewed for many years to extremely expensive American systems that may not be best suited for her needs (e.g., the F-35). It should have been obvious decades ago, and even more so with the election of Barack Obama in 2016, that American interests may diverge significantly from those of Israel, and that Israel should not put all her eggs in America’s basket. But our government and military took the easy way out, and allowed the addiction to US military aid to grow. Today we have the American Secretary of State sitting in on war cabinet meetings, and fine-tuning our military tactics – and very possibly preventing us from defeating Hamas and removing it from power.

The Consequences

All these failures work together to create disastrous situations for the state. The present situation in Gaza is a direct result of several strategic failures. The failure to understand that Hamas’ top priority was always going to be trying to destroy Israel and kill Jews, and that its leadership could not be sidetracked into providing for the welfare of its population or developing a real economy, led to the policy of allowing large amounts of cash from Qatar to reach the Hamas leadership. But rather than using the money to build civilian infrastructure, it plowed it into rockets and tunnels (after skimming a portion for the personal enrichment of its leaders). The conceptzia contributed to the IDF’s inattention and intelligence failures that allowed 7 October to happen.

Lack of punishment did damage on both an individual and organizational level. The fact that the death penalty (or even permanent imprisonment) for terrorist murderers wasn’t applied led to the release of Yahya Sinwar himself, the architect of 7 October, as part of an exchange of 1026 Palestinian prisoners for one kidnapped Israeli. Sinwar was serving four life sentences for murder. Hamas prisoners developed an autonomy within the Israeli prison system. In a particularly embarrassing affair, some prisoners arranged for attractive female soldiers to be assigned to their areas, exposing them to sexual harassment. Since the Palestinian Authority paid salaries to the families of all prisoners, prison was more like an extended work assignment than a punishment to be feared.

Over the past decade, there have been several limited wars or “operations” in Gaza in response to rocket attacks. In many cases, empty buildings have been hit, sometimes along with a few targeted killings, in order to “mow the grass” for a few years. The government could justify this weak response to attacks that could have been deadly, because most Hamas missiles were intercepted by Iron Dome. But our passive defense did not deter Hamas from trying again, as soon as they were able to do so, often with improved rockets and terror strategies. The 7 October attack was the result of the application of lessons learned from previous rounds.

After 7 October, the government realized that our strategy had to change, and that only a true victory over Hamas would prevent future disasters. But since the beginning of the war, we’ve seen increasingly intrusive interference and micromanagement by the Biden administration, which apparently does not want to see a complete Israeli victory. Because of our absolute dependence on the US for military supplies and protection from Security Council-imposed sanctions, Israel’s freedom of action has been severely limited. Failure to remove Hamas from power will be a victory for Hamas in the war that they started on 7 October.

A similar analysis can be applied to our conflicts with Hezbollah, and of course with Iran. After the war there will be elections, and most Israelis believe that wholesale change is needed. It is to be hoped that the new leadership will learn from our failures and reverse these disastrous policies.

[azspot]

The cultural record of the 20th century is different from all other periods of human history by the presence of audiovisual recordings. Prior to 1877, there was no way to record the sound of a nursery rhyme being read at bedtime, a musical or theatrical performance, or the world around us. During the ensuing 147 years, formats came and went as technology and preferences changed. Yet for nearly half that time, 78rpm discs were the way we learned about each other and entertained the world. It was a time when the world became a much smaller place. The invention of the automobile and the airplane, the expansion of the railroads, the telephone and radio, to the dawn of the space age, 78s were there. Through 78s, we could hear traditional music from Hawaii long before it was a state. American popular music – jazz, fox trot, big bands, even the Beatles – spread out across the globe, well ahead of Hollywood, and long before television. A thousand people might attend a concert, a theater performance, a speech, or a dramatic reading by Charles Dickens. With the 78, it became possible for those experiences to be shared and repeated, and spread far and wide, not once and done.

Vanishing Culture: On 78s

[socialjusticeinamerica]

There are hundreds of millions of southern European white people with an olive (tan) complexion. It’s what happens when white folk live in warm sunny climates. Same is true in South America where tens of millions more of white/white identifying people have been living for generations. Being Hispanic or having a Spanish name doesn’t mean you automatically aren’t white or capable of being a racist.

Fascism held sway in Spain and to a lesser extent next door in Portugal for a good part of the 20th century. Fascism, usually hand in hand with racism, also has a history in South and Central America. Even if someone doesn’t identify as white doesn’t mean they can’t be racist, or xenophobic, etc. Bigotry exists outside the box that young Americans want to fit it in. Only a small percentage of Europeans are pale, blonde/red, and blue-eyed. The overwhelming majority have dark hair and brown eyes, and many more are olive. This simplistic bullshit that someone can’t be a white supremacist because they have an ethnic sounding name is ridiculous MAGA talking points that’s being bought into by Dems. Republikkkan talking points have become so pervasive and so persistent that a majority of progressives buy into them without question or even being aware of it. We’re wasting time debating the perceived identity of a killer that was radicalized for the sole purpose of murdering and intimidating us.

In point of fact the press using the term white supremacist to describe the Allen, Texas shooter is in itself fallacious. He was a staunch xenophobe (and repeated “Great Replacement Theory” tropes learned from Tucker Carlson) and billions world wide don’t like immigrants, it isn’t limited to Caucasian Americans. I’ve said this before, Republikkkans can not generate enough angry white guys so they have been recruiting heavily among “Hispanics” to bolster their numbers. 1/3 of of Hispanics are registered Republikkkans. They have also been recruiting from other groups with much less success. Stop putting people from South America into boxes, that methodical behavior is an Anglo-Saxon characteristic that was transplanted here. Decades of radicalization are bearing fruit for the far-right while we quibble over whether or not the Republikkkans are actually attacking us.

People from South America identify by national origin just like everyone else. They’re Colombians, Peruvians, etc. Terms like Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, etc are inventions of American immigration officials trying to fit people into boxes. Why are we (our media) so obsessed with this when Republikkkans are launching their decades long planned assault on our basic human rights.

MAGAts, white supremacists, Nazis, xenophobe, Aryan Brotherhood, Atom-Waffen, III%’ers, etc can and do find kindred spirits beyond national origin and outdated stereo-types based on appearances. Our enemies are evolving and branching out. We must be aware of their present and historical attempts to spin what they want us to believe. Further you need to know historical context. American racist groups admire fascist dictatorships from South and Central America and wish to emulate them, hence the “Right Wing Death Squad” logos. They admire and learn terrorist tactics from radical Islamic groups as well. Look at WWII, you’d think the “Aryan” German Nazis would have had a problem with the Asian Japanese. Just the opposite, both the Japanese and Germans at the time felt they were racially superior to their respective neighbors and bonded over being kindred spirits. It wasn’t a political expediency. They were too far apart to support each other or have any meaningful trade. They were fascist states that both wanted to impose their own unique fascism in there own sphere. We can’t let history repeat itself either here or abroad.

Not enough people in our society are taking the threat of Republikkkan fascists seriously. If you’re taking the time to read this rant then you were already in the know but the general public, both our side and theirs are not. This threat goes beyond the identity politics so en vogue with young people, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s part of a much bigger war against us all. Republikkkans don’t even realize they’ve been co-opted by Nazi’s and the few that do don’t care.

I’ll keep repeating this ad nauseum but the racists, homophobes, militias, evangelicals, xenophobes, Republikkkan politicians, and even the fascists are all foot soldiers duped into waging war against the rest of us by the billionaire oligarchs and their corporations. It always comes back to money. Yes they share most of the same beliefs and each thinks they are manipulating the others. But the only ones with the power (dollars) to bring this shit storm together in a cohesive fashion are the oligarchs. The Rupert Murdochs, Elon Musks, Koch, Walton, etc are coordinating and funding everything for power and profit. Meanwhile we are fighting a Hydra of Nazis, Confederates, Klansmen, evangelists, and armed militias.

In 2020 we took to the streets to protest the George Floyd execution but that quickly morphed into a widespread national protest of Trump. We can’t only begin massive protests when one of our African-American allies is killed unjustly. We should be doing this for every major issue of the day; abortion rights, disenfranchisement of black voters, gun control, trans-persecution, preservation of Medicare/Social Security, migrant rights, union rights, and all basic human rights that the corporate/Christo/fascist/Republikkkans are taking away from us. They are no longer content to persecute people of color and are coming for us all, at once.

This isn’t an intellectual exercise anymore, we have become a de facto fascist state under the yoke of an oppressive and hostile Republikkkan Party. They aren’t even pretending to disguise it anymore. Their leaders and political spokesmen are openly telling us they are going to strip our rights and begin sending us to death camps. They’re past the concentration camps already and we barely even protested those on the border. Between their control of the state legislatures and the Supreme Court they are doing as they please and will begin overturning election results in 2024. A few more takeovers of state legislatures and they will hold a Constitutional Convention to write a MAGA/Republikkkan Constitution.

Now is the time to fight. Resisting didn’t work and a tidal wave of GQP laws and SCOTUS decisions prove that every day. You can not take the high road with Nazis or anyone who is literally trying to kill you.

Rant concluded. Please bear in mind this is food for thought and not an incitement to violence. Remember John Lewis and his “good trouble.” Also try to refrain from violent comments about Republikkkans in comments, notes, and reblogs. We certainly don’t want any of us to be de-platformed by admins.

✌️

[transboysokka]

As someone who grew up in an evangelical community where LGBT people and history were invisible and nonexistent, I’m constantly pushing myself to make up for lost time and learn more about my own history. I’m constantly surprised when I think I know everything, there’s more to learn. So it’s a real goal of mine this pride month to dive into 20th century American LGBT history.

A couple things that have taught me a lot:

1. This 6-part docuseries called Pride from a few years ago. I think it’s on Hulu or something in the US? (Disney+ here but not a Disney thing thank god)

2. Fellow Travelers- I didn’t realize HOW brutally accurate some of that stuff was until doing further research

Some more things I’ve learned:

1. A LOT of queer people I know actually know so little about queer history. It makes sense because so many of our elders were taken from us, but it’s actually very sad

2. I knew about Stonewall and a lot about the AIDs epidemic but I thought that was kind of it?? nahhhh I can’t believe how many of us don’t even know about huge things like the Lavender Scare

3. I get this strange feeling I’ve never felt before watching all this historical footage of the good and the bad. The protests and direct actions, the quiet moments people spend together, the police raids, the young people my age suffering from an illness the government never cared about… this wild feeling of kinship, knowing That Would Have Been Me, the acknowledgement of the privilege and luck I have being alive when I am.

4. There’s a lot of mixed feelings I have about the relative invisibility of trans men in all of this. There’s definitely a privilege to it in a way, but I also feel this… gap

5. History always repeats itself and it’s doing it again. To know where we’re going, we have to know where we’ve been. We gotta educate ourselves.

[rpmemesbyarat]

Reality is unrealistic in some fictional universes. But you know what’s more unrealistic? Someone in that universe pointing out how “unrealistic” it is, when in fact, in the context of the world they exist in, it IS realistic.

Let me explain. Let’s say it rained jelly today in our world. We would react as if this was a bizarre and phenomenal event, and many people would comment on how impossible that was, even as it was happening. This makes sense, because it’s never happened before and all the natural laws of our world say it’s impossible. But let’s say Susie exists in a world where jelly rain is a regular thing, and always has been, and she’s always lived there. Maybe no one knows why it rains jelly, but they’re still very used to it. If Susie started talking about how “impossible” and “unrealistic” it is for it to rain jelly, that’s weird, isn’t it? Why does she think that, when it’s the norm for her reality, and always has been? What reason does she have to find a normal natural occurrence to be “unrealistic”? In this world, the jelly rain isn’t unrealistic, Susie deciding it’s weird without any reason is unrealistic. 

To use another example, I used to write a Marvel comics canon character who wore a cape and a ton of people would quote Edna Mode at him and talk about how dangerous and impractical capes were. And since this character was an arrogant jer, I enjoyed him being ragged on so I went with it but in the back of my mind something always bugged me about that and I thought it was just that they were being unoriginal and directly quoting The Incredibles and probably would never have thought of this on their own (or wouldn’t be so witty about it if they did; I’m sorry, I HATE when people think they can write “wittiness” by just using witty QUOTES from other sources)

But no, it’s something else too.

Capes actually are a documented hazard in the world of The Incredibles. They have caused repeated injury and death to supers. This is not the case in Marvel, where they are a super standard costume staple for heroes and villains both, and very seldom if ever have been shown to cause harm. Is that realistic? No, that’s what The Incredibles is deconstructing, that a lot of things in comics that look cool would be wildly impractical. But the Marvel universe, being one of the foundational source materials being critized, does not run on this realism. No one gets sucked into jet engines by their capes in this world because, well, they just don’t.  So when characters suddenly start talking about how unsafe the capes are, not only does it often feel like a rip off (because they ALWAYS quoted Edna, always, even if it was presented as their own thought) it also....actually is wrong. Like objectively incorrect in this universe. No one would be going “omg ur so clever and logical!” to someone who said that in Marvel, they’d be going “wtf are you talking about, that doesn’t happen” because it doesn’t. It’s the same issue I have with every other Rebellious Princess or Feisty Heroine in fantasy novels who were brought up in very patriarchal societies, yet have 20th century views on sexism, equality, and women’s rights, and are SHOCKED and OUTRAGED at the very IDEA they would be put an arranged marriage…you know, something they should have grown up with knowing as the norm. I’m not saying every woman or oppressed group in history would just always be happy with their lot, and rebellion has always existed, as has free-thinking. I’m not saying every heroine has to say “you know what, everyone is right, swords AREN’T for girls and I want to marry whoever my family says and have ten babies and not read!” or it’s unrealistic. I’m just saying it’s really odd to me how so many of them just seem to automatically have views that are progressive not only for the time, but in line perfectly with modern feminism talking points, and have no explanation of how they learned or came to these concepts, not even a little. Like, that’s weird, right? I can be a feminist myself and still find that weird. Did she have strong female role models who showed her that women can do more than society says? Did she read about them instead, or have access to writings about women’s rights, or notice that in her studies in history, women were shown to have greater rights in time periods before hers (progress is not always linear!) and that, when given more freedom, tended to accomplish more? Did she encounter women from a different society and realize other ways existed? Did she break one “rule” about what girls “can’t” and start to wonder about the validity of the others after? Just gimme something here! Because I really dislike the idea that “oh well people will just automatically know what they’re taught is wrong if they’re smart/good” because that (1) is not true and (2) reeks of purity culture. Basically, characters who live in a fictional world, and always have, should act like they are accustomed to the “rules” of that world, not like they just dropped out of our world. If the “norms” for their world are something WE find bizarre, they shouldn’t. Because that’s normal to them. Now, you could be writing a deconstruction in which the point is to break down that the tropes in whatever genre—fairytales, superheroes, romance, whatever—are unrealistic, or would be a lot less nice than their typical stories portray if actually played out in a realistic way. Valid! But there’s more to a good deconstruction than just having the protagonist walk around saying things are unrealistic/stupid/evil/etc, but that turned into a whole other rant I’m working on!

[manuscripts-dontburn]

Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines, and the Health of Nations

Author: Simon Schama

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is a difficult one to rate. On one hand, the research and language are top-notch, and the story Simon Schama had chosen to tell is extremely interesting. At the same time the book, from its title and synopsis, promises something other (a more or less comprehensive look at pandemics in history and the development of vaccination) than what is eventually given. Instead, the author focuses on several little-known personalities from the medical fields of the 19th/ early 20th century, who saved an incomprehensible number of lives through their discoveries and application of science - yet the world did not thank them. Schama has a talent for telling stories, but more often than not he elaborately explains what could be a footnote, which can be irritating at times. Simply put, there is a great deal to learn from this book, but it is not necessarily the exact lesson that you wanted.

The Marriage Portrait

Author: Maggie O'Farrell

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★★★★

A stunning book that truly feels like a series of paintings. The author, just like she had done it with Hamnet, is capable of creating an extremely sensory experience of capturing a moment in time: it is not just visual but evokes the feelings of touch, smell, and sound. Entrapped in the mind of a young girl, the reader cannot help but follow her at every step with feelings of profound sympathy and worry. Exquisite.

Olga Romanov: Russia's Last Grand Duchess

Author: Patricia Phenix

First published: 1999

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is one of those books that are rather simplistic in their approach to the subject matter and thus quite easily and quickly readable. It does provide the basics on Olga Alexandrovna and even provides some little-known anecdotes from her life (that I have not yet read anywhere else), but given casual errors and mistakes scattered throughout the text I was a little apprehensive about their validity. Where the book really gives you something new and interesting are the last few chapters, which deal with Olga´s later life and especially behaviour of her sons and other family members. Those parts truly made me sad.

One For My Enemy

Author: Olivie Blake

First published: 2003

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Once upon a time, for whatever reason (probably because their names sounded cool - and that was also why they were repeated multiple times on every single page), Baba Yaga with her daughters and Koschei the Deathless with his sons ran a drug market in New York. There was some serious hanky-panky between the kids, who would just not stay dead so there is no point in being emotionally invested throughout. And they all talked way too much and it all became extremely, extremely boring. No, seriously, why were these "Russian" people in the US in the first place?

The Little Book of Saints

Author: Various

First published: 2009

Rating: ★★★★★

A lovely collection of vintage pictures of various saints accompanied by short and concise hagiographies. For a non-Catholics a good basic resource on the "saints" part of the Catholic history and a visual study of what our ancestors found appealing to look at. For Catholics, a nice "keep by the bed" or a "Christmas stocking filler" book. For me personally also a souvenir from the Melrose Abbey in Scottland.

The Moonstone

Author: Wilkie Collins

First published: 1868

Rating: ★★★★☆

Probably one of the first (if not the first) "Who Done It" books that I must admit hold up. I very much enjoyed the format, found genuinely amusing places, and did not unravel the mystery myself. that said one should be patient while reading, because the tempo is anything but swift - which I did not mind, since I found being in various heads and meeting the characters intimately, but might grate on the nerves of other readers looking for a thrill instead of a slow unraveling of a secret.

Royal Education: Past, Present and Future

Author: Peter Gordon, Denis Lawton

First published: 1999

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The book introduces the basics about how the English monarchs from the Tudor era to Princes William and Harry were educated, however very little is drawn out as a conclusion of that education. Not bad if you are solely interested in the subject, but if you want to learn more about the monarchs themselves, pick up a biography or two.

Atalanta

Author: Jennifer Saint

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★★★☆

Of the three books by Jennifer Saint, I think I enjoyed this one the most so far. her books are "telling" rather than "re-tellings" of classical Greek myths and Lord knows the Quest of the Golden Fleece had always struck me as an over-long sausage fest (with sausages being mostly rotten), so to see it from the point of view of Atalanta, the only Greek female hero who was allowed to actually hero, was refreshing. On one hand one could decry the fact that Saint sticks to the original story a little too much, not taking the chance to twist the turns and change much more. On the other hand, the same thing could be seen as a positive, and since I found the book very readable and Atalanta´s inner search for herself the main backbone of it all, I can declare myself a satisfied reader.

Cuckoo Song

Author: Frances Hardinge

First published: 2014

Rating: ★★★★☆

I was enticed by the beginning and very curious about how it would all come about, the creepy vibes were present and yet again one is just surprised at how many ideas are born in Frances Hardinge´s head. Unfortunately, I felt the book was a bit too long and the last few chapters made me impatient for the ending.

The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire

Author: Bart Van Loo

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★★

Fantastic! Bart Van Loo proudly presents the history of his region, which tends to be overlooked for the sake of "greater" countries and personalities, but as he shows, the Burgundy played an extremely vital role in the historical evolution of European geography and politics for centuries. He skillfully manages to guide the reader through the names, battles and years by doing exactly what a good historian should always do: connect the facts to real people, their culture, and their individual personalities.

[warsofasoiaf]

Could you talk more about you criticism of the way history changed in the 60's?

Actually, for the most part, I like the way history changed over the course of the 20th Century. History needed a de-emphasis on Great Man history, removing itself from the idea of creating national mythologies, and any attempt to correct the political use of history is very welcome. I'm a big fan of "warts-and-all" history and so to see the movement dissect the lies, mythmaking, and half-truths of earlier eras is a welcome and necessary one; we'll never learn from history if we don't understand it. In the same vein, publishing new voices in history to bring to light the experiences of others help us form a rich tapestry of the human experience, which sparks not only a greater understanding of our own world history but expands further into art and other culture.

The problem is, this very same movement ended up repeating the same errors when it came to writing new history about the Soviet Union: ideological blindness, partisan rancor, blasé acceptance of brutality (looking at you, Carolyn Eisenberg), and an unwillingness to change even in the face of overwhelming evidence. The Venona decrypts have been available for close to thirty years now, and the overwhelming response from the revisionist school has been to clamp their ears and scream.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[a-bonb]

Why isn't this taught in America's history?

The ancestors of living Indians arrived in North America about 15,000 years ago. As a result, a wide variety of communities, societies and cultures eventually developed on the continent over the millennia.

The population of indigenous peoples in the Americas before Christopher Columbus' voyage in 1492 was estimated at 70 million or more.

Approximately 562 tribes inhabited the contiguous U.S. territory. The ten largest North American Indian tribal nations were: Arikara, Cherokee, Iroquois, Pawnee, Sioux, Apache, Eskimo, Comanche, Choctaw, Cree, Ojibwa, Mohawk, Cheyenne, Navajo, Seminole, Hope, Shoshone, Mohican, Shawnee, Mi'kmaq, Paiute, Wampanoag, Ho-Chunk, Chumash, Haida.

A tribal map of pre-European North America, Central America and the Caribbean by Michael Mcardle-Nakoma (1996) is shown below. It is an important historical document for those of us who have Native American blood running through our veins.

This map gives an Indian-American perspective on the events that occurred in North America, Central America and the Caribbean by showing the tribes in full bloom - the "Glory Day" being pre-contact from across the Baltic Sea, or at least before that contact seriously changed.

Over 400 years, the contact time varied completely from tribe to tribe. For example, the “Glory Days” of the Maya and Aztecs ended long before the interior tribes of other areas, some of whom continued to resist almost into the 20th century.

The indigenous people used to speak almost 4,000 languages, numbering in the tens of millions.

The European conquest of the Americas, which began in 1492, ended with a sharp decline in the Native American population due to epidemics, hostilities, ethnic cleansing, slavery, and the Indian Removal Act of 1830. An estimated 60 million Native Americans were killed by this combination of events.

When the United States was founded, established Native American tribes were viewed as semi-independent nations because they typically lived in communities separate from white immigrants.

Today, American Indians and Alaska Natives make up 9.7 million people, according to the 2020 Census.

The story isn't there to like or dislike. It's there for you to learn from. And if it offends you, all the better. Because then you're less likely to repeat it. It is not your place to delete or destroy.

Warum wird das in Amerikas Geschichte nicht gelehrt?

Die Vorfahren lebender Indianer kamen vor etwa 15.000 Jahren in Nordamerika an. Infolgedessen entwickelte sich auf dem Kontinent über die Jahrtausenden schließlich eine große Vielfalt an Gemeinschaften, Gesellschaften und Kulturen.

Die Bevölkerungszahl der indigenen Völker in Amerika vor der Reise von Christoph Kolumbus 1492 wurde auf 70 Millionen oder mehr geschätzt.

Etwa 562 Stämme bewohnten das angrenzende US-Gebiet. Die zehn größten nordamerikanischen indischen Stammesnationen waren: Arikara, Cherokee, Irokesen, Pawnee, Sioux, Apache, Eskimo, Comanche, Choctaw, Cree, Ojibwa, Mohawk, Cheyenne, Navajo, Seminolen, Hope, Shoshone, Mohican, Shawnee, Mi'kmaq, Paiute, Wampanoag, Ho-Chunk, Chumash, Haida.

Eine Stammeskarte des voreuropäischen Nordamerika, Mittelamerika und der Karibik von Michael Mcardle-Nakoma (1996) ist unten dargestellt. Es ist ein wichtiges historisches Dokument für diejenigen unter uns, denen indianisches Blut durch unsere Adern fließt.

Diese Karte gibt eine indianisch-amerikanische Perspektive auf die Ereignisse, die sich in Nordamerika, Mittelamerika und der Karibik ereigneten, indem sie die Stämme in voller Blüte brachte - die "Glory Day „Es ist Vorkontakt von der anderen Ostsee oder zumindest bevor sich dieser Kontakt ernsthaft verändert.

Über 400 Jahre streckte sich die Kontaktzeit von Stamm zu Stamm ganz anders. So endeten zum Beispiel die „Glory Days“ der Maya und der Azteken sehr lange vor den inneren Stämmen anderer Gebiete, von denen einige noch fast bis ins 20. Jahrhundert Widerstand leisten.

Früher sprachen die Ureinwohner fast 4000 Sprachen, mit zig Millionen.

Die europäische Eroberung Amerikas, die 1492 begann, endete mit einem starken Rückgang der indianischen Bevölkerung durch Epidemien, Feindseligkeiten, ethnische Säuberungen, Sklaverei und den Indian Removal Act von 1830. Schätzungsweise 60 Millionen Ureinwohner wurden durch diese Kombination von Ereignissen getötet.

Als die Vereinigten Staaten gegründet wurden, wurden etablierte Indianerstämme als halbunabhängige Nationen angesehen, da sie normalerweise in Gemeinschaften lebten, die von weißen Immigranten getrennt waren.

Heute machen amerikanische Indianer und Alaska Natives laut der Volkszählung 2020 9,7 Millionen Menschen aus.

Die Geschichte ist nicht da, um zu mögen oder nicht zu mögen. Es ist für dich da, um daraus zu lernen. Und wenn es dich beleidigt, umso besser. Weil du dann weniger Wahrscheinlichkeit hast, es zu wiederholen. Es steht dir nicht zu löschen oder zu zerstören.

[endlingmusings]

[ Illustration of a Schomburgk’s deer stag from “Cassell’s Natural History“ (1896). ]

“Extinct creatures often capture our attention. Every school kid learns the story of the dodo. There have been countless books written about the passenger pigeon, so many that most conservationists can recite the basic details by heart.

However, even in seemingly well-documented cases like the passenger pigeon, the actual evidence remains somewhat sparse. Many of the written accounts of passenger pigeons repeat the same basic information, based on a few firsthand accounts. The narrative gets repeated, and we accept it as fact. But the reality is there is a lot of the passenger pigeon’s story that is missing. We have created a myth to explain our loss.

That’s more than we have for many extinct species. Even a dramatic animal like the Schomburgk’s deer vanishes without a trace. It can seem remarkable today, as we track animals through camera trapping, remote-sensing technologies and citizen science.

Even without technology, European and North American scientists launched expeditions throughout the 19th and early 20th century, often specifically to collect specimens. Yet so many species were so poorly understood. Many vanished without being noticed.

Despite the presence of Schomburgk’s deer in zoos, there is only one photo of a live animal (it was a male on exhibit at the Berlin Zoo). There is only one taxidermy specimen, now at the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution in Paris.

According to Errol Fuller’s heartbreaking book Lost Animals, there are 490 Schomburgk’s deer antlers in museums and private collections worldwide. It’s easy to see why these antlers were collected: they are large and dramatic, with elaborate branching. The largest in existence has 33 points.

The antlers and existing photograph provide information on the male deer, but there is nothing about the females – not even a written description.

It seems we are left with just scraps…an antler here, a photograph there. It is not enough to answer my questions about Schomburgk’s deer. I am left only with my imagination.”

- Excerpt from “What Happened to the Schomburgk’s Deer?” by Matthew L. Miller.

[perfect-vantage]

The Scientific Consensus

Aristotle on animals

Humans have studied animal intelligence for thousands of years. In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle wrote his famous History of Animals, which explored the subject in detail.Aristotle believed that animals possessed a form of basic intelligence. He gave the nest-building abilities of certain birds as an example of “pre-eminent intelligence.”But this intelligence differed from human intelligence in terms of quantity; humans had more, while animals had less. He called this the Scala Naturae, or ‘Ladder of Being’ – a natural hierarchy with humans at the top, and all other species underneath.

Edward Thorndike

At the end of the 19th century, Edward Thorndike became one of the first scientists to study animal intelligence in a laboratory setting. He pioneered a school of thought which later became known as behaviorism.

Thorndike wanted to know if an animal could intelligently learn the solution to a problem. He put a cat in a box, then showed the cat how a lever would open the door. If the cat was intelligent, it would learn from the demonstration.The cat did not learn from the demonstration. It only learned through trial-and-error: it stood on the lever by accident, saw the door open, and exited the box. Thorndike decided this type of learning was random, and not a sign of intelligence.

Operant conditioning

After his experiments on cats, Edward Thorndike established what he called the law of effect: when an animal’s behavior leads to a positive outcome, like the door to a puzzle-box clicking open, they will repeat that behavior in the future.In the early 20th century, Thorndike’s law of effect was built upon by scientists like B.F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov. It developed into the theory of operant conditioning.

This theory argued that animal behavior is constantly shaped by trial-and-error. If a random behavior leads to a reward, the animal will repeat it in the future. If a random behavior leads to a punishment, the animal will avoid it next time.Operant conditioning suggests that animals are simple and machine-like, and not capable of intelligent thought.

Wolfgang Köhler

Operant conditioning was a dominant theory in the 20th century, but it was not the only theory of animal intelligence. It was challenged by a German psychologist, Wolfgang Köhler, who wrote a famous book called The Mentality of Apes.

He observed that, when a chimp was confronted by a novel problem, it would stop, and think, before coming up with a solution. Often, this solution would work first time. For example, they might stack some boxes in order to reach a banana, without trying other behaviors first.Köhler described his chimps as “unwaveringly purposeful,” and argued that they were solving problems through intelligent insight, as opposed to trial-and-error conditioning.

Evolutionary approachThe debate between conditioning and insight is still ongoing, but most modern scientists believe in a compromise. While animals (and humans) can learn through conditioning, they are also capable of intelligent, insightful thought.The next question to ask was whether this rule applied to every animal species. In the 1980s, some scientists believed in a null hypothesis: that every species, apart from humans, had exactly the same intelligence.But in 1987, American psychologist Alan Kamil wrote a pioneering article: A synthetic approach to the study of animal intelligence. He argued that every species had a unique intelligence, just as it had a unique anatomy.It came down to evolutionary pressures. Animals evolved a type of intelligence which best suited their specific needs.

Modern studiesIn the 21st century, studies into animal minds are becoming more and more advanced. Many of these studies focus on the ways that different animals have evolved their own types of intelligence.

Laboratory experiments are often used to study smaller animals. They are placed in mazes, given memory tests, and asked to respond to images. Meanwhile, field studies observe how animals behave in their natural habitats, especially larger species, like whales.Functional MRI scans can be used to study neural activity, but only in certain species. Animals must be trained, or restrained, before entering the scanner. A crocodile brain was successfully scanned in 2018, but only after the animal was sedated, and its mouth taped firmly shut.

Logical Intelligence

Can animals solve problems?

For more than a century, psychologists have studied logical intelligence in other species. Edward Thorndike was one of the first, with his experiments to see whether cats could escape from a simple puzzle-box.

A cat in a box

Escaping from a box is an example of logical problem-solving: overcoming an obstacle in order to achieve a goal. Modern researchers use similar tests, as well as observing animals solving problems in the wild.Logical intelligence is often linked to tool use. As recently as the 1960s, people thought that tools were only used by humans, but this is not the case. Crows make hooks out of twigs, octopuses carry armor, and even crocodiles have been seen setting traps for unsuspecting birds.

Tool use in mammals

Primates are adept at using tools to solve problems. Chimps use sticks to fish for insects, and make pointed spears to hunt for small animals. Gorillas use logs to test the depth of a river before trying to walk across.Primates are not the only mammalian tool-users. Dolphins in Australia put sponges on their noses to protect their faces while foraging for food. Mothers teach this skill to calves, making sure the knowledge passes through generations.This is an example of cultural learning. At some point in the past, a dolphin learned to use a sponge, then shared the knowledge with the rest of the group. It has only ever been observed in one pod, which suggests these dolphins want to keep the knowledge to themselves.Tool use has also been observed in other mammals, including bears, honey badgers, pigs and otters.

Tool use in birds

Alongside mammals, the animal kingdom’s most prolific tool-users are birds. The New Caledonian crow is a striking example, which outperforms chimps in most logical tests.These birds craft tools out of leaves and sticks, carefully fashioning them into useful shapes. They invent new tools to combat novel problems, like a hook-shaped tool to reach an insect nest hidden down an awkward bend.In laboratory tests, crows have also demonstrated meta-tool use: using one tool, to obtain a second tool, which then helps them to reach some food. Problem solving using two different tools in two different steps suggests a high capacity for logical reasoning, which few other species are capable of.Tool use has also been observed in other birds, including parrots, herons, finches and Egyptian vultures.

Fish and cephalopods

In recent years, the logical intelligence of octopuses has gained a lot of attention. Wild individuals have been seen collecting coconut shells, and wielding them like shields, or pieces of armor.An octopus hiding in a shellAt an aquarium in Germany, Otto the octopus learned to throw stones at the sides of his tank, in an effort to break the glass. He also sprayed water to short-circuit a lamp, probably because he did not like the glare.Some species of fish can also use tools, like the wrasses who use rocks to open clams. Stingrays adjust the shape of their bodies to redirect currents, using the flow of water to extract hard-to-reach pieces of food.

Insects and reptiles

Tool use has rarely been observed in reptiles, which do not excel when it comes to logical intelligence. But in 2007, one notable exception was observed in India.A crocodile will hold a pile of twigs at the end of its nose, then lie motionless beneath the water. When a bird tries to collect the sticks, the crocodile attacks. The crocodiles only use this technique during nesting season, when birds are on the lookout for sticks.Tool use is common in insects. Ants use stones to block the tunnels of rival colonies, while bumblebees in a laboratory test learned to roll a ball to a specific location in order to receive a treat.

Instinct vs. insight

Some scientists argue that tool use in other species is not a true indication of logical intelligence. The debate comes down to two interpretations: instinct versus insight.Instinctive tool use is an automatic behavior that a species evolves over millions of years. Crocodiles, for example, do not actively decide to set a trap for birds. This is an innate behavior, which they perform automatically. It does not involve any creative, logical thought.Insightful tool use is when an animal encounters a brand new problem and comes up with a tool to overcome it. Birds, primates, and octopuses have demonstrated insightful tool use. Their creativity and flexibility is a sign of logical intelligence.

Animal numeracy

Alongside problem solving and tool use, another sign of logical intelligence is the ability to handle numbers.Some shoaling fish can count and compare numbers. When they see two shoals, they will usually join the larger one; there is an evolutionary benefit to comparing the numbers, and joining a stronger group.In captivity, a parrot named Alex was taught to count, and to perform some basic sums. This suggests that his brain was capable of math, although he never would have evolved these skills in the wild.

A subject of debate, in academic circles, is whether or not two individuals within a single species can be born with different levels of intelligence.For example, while Alex the parrot learned basic math, other parrots of the same species have shown no signs of learning. Some chimps use sticks to fish for termites, while others never learn this skill, even with extensive training.

Do animals feel emotions?

The first scientist to study animal emotions in a laboratory setting was Jaak Panksepp, a psychobiologist working in the 1970s. Through experiments with rats, he identified seven emotional states, including rage, fear and play.Panksepp believed that these emotional states were hereditary rather than learned. For example, a rat would show signs of fear when it smelled a cat hair, even if that rat had never encountered a cat before. In other words, these animals were born with a pre-set range of emotions.

When he tickled rats, they emitted high-frequency chirps, at a similar pitch to sounds they made when they were excited by pieces of food. Panksepp concluded that these excitable chirps were animal laughter. The rats enjoyed being tickled, and always came back for more.

When social animals, like crows or elephants, find a dead individual, they often gather around it, and stand there silently, as though they are holding some kind of funeral. It is hard to be sure if grief is involved, but at the very least, these animals appear to hold an understanding of death.In the 1970s, a young chimp named Flint stopped eating and socializing when his mother, Flo, passed away. In the end, he died of starvation. Again, it is hard to know what happened in his brain, but his behavior certainly looked like grief.

[olivedoesmagic]

Olive Brimstone book 2 episode 2

for screen reader:

So i was passing off all day. Hanging out with myself wasting away the entire weekend after meeting some hot shot yakusa ne? This is just how thats talked about in japan. Which in english means: this is how that group talks overseas. Anyways. All realities have an overlap. And I learned my experiments worked, i cant stop reality shifting. Problem with me wanting a pet snake. I am always for long periods of time returned to modern day 2023 BTG (before teh gate0 in the 20th century, in reality 2.5 which is the dominant timeline because its a reality that incorporates all other forms of media. Which means, that popcultlure magick is real in this world but thus theirs the sacredness you call upon the real shit, and then the ficitonal counterpart it pretends to be the fake shit, but that for this stuff all that shit feels so weird its encompulated. Also selife on ai.

Yep. So i visit alternate realities now in my sleep. Sometimes to reality shift you have to be in a meditative state, because in 2.5 all realities collapse into your history on this one, but to fully recall it you must have a history of respwaning. Heres one reality. 1.7AB, i was messing with snakes and a wormhole was in my backyard that zapped me since it appeared in 2 x-y = blank, over phrase? Thus? We as the whole family were teleported to modern day america. Only it looked like england. It really did. Rocco was my father my older teacher and my hair was stark blonde, and i was zapped from multiple realities into one and carried on my wayward my other friends cus teh multiverse was dying. I had one reality where i was my own twin brother who was a hot chick i wanted to bang,.

The best part about sliders is technically the math on the board is correct you could make a reality hopping compas that way, but it would be so dangerous that you woudn’t find oyur way home for 6 whole years, but the technology would all stay in one universe. COLD WORLD. Reality shifters and sliders if they had a gendre would be camp and truecrime. Its so weird. You know this by charintg style through patterns over teh years, and applying those histories of those patterns which are things that repeat again and again, over the same billboard. So lots of dots over not dots, stripes together, frillys over time. And everything has patterns since patterns are numbered, everything has numbers. Tihs reality shift taught me math.

[image shows a dark haried korean like but whiet and pale almost labino with dark features and rosebuds lips, chizled face, with awavy black hair and a pointed chin in warm lighitng on the cheeks of rose like nature and then an illstration next to the ai photo of him in a red female hooded cloak with a frilly fuzzy pattern]

f you reality shift always have someone elses youtube videos saved and know how to book bind. One day you’ll do it for real and you never know when they will be a world iwthout books.

[the pattenrs are layers of 3 or 4 like fingers on a hand. In different artsitic shapes, such as cubes, diagnals, and circles and smeers and blocks. over and over again one in black and white repeated pictures again and again and one in colors thats just squares with diffrent feelings like that of the colors. making layers of it. to test out patterns if your blind hold something shaped the same or trace teh lines on your hand again and again.]

Im not translate the title look up bookworm anime cus it honours that exact princess.

QUICK SOMEONE TRANSLATE THIS NOVEL INTO SPAIN-’S SPANISH.

Patterns.

"image portrays more phychodelic pattners with more abstract shpaes and fungus/mushroom like shapes, in rainbows with a book of a blue haired middle eastern girl light skinned like a doll holding a giant red book in her 3 year old lap. with soups and breads surounding her".

Im not translate the title look up bookworm anime cus it honours that exact princess.

QUICK SOMEONE TRANSLATE THIS NOVEL INTO SPAIN-’S SPANISH.

Patterns.

this last photo just kinda works on most adobe dragonspeak screen readers but not all.

same with this one.

live it from my perspective knowing it was an alternate reality. So i respanwed ended up in another reality for a while and came back to this one. Also guys, its okay to masturbate to me, it helps me with my slut shaming reputation and right now given the sex slaming chart were at the level slut shame or freak in the sheets. Take cults 102 on youtube, you’ll learn about libido. Just know my friend got sugery to look like childhood me which these photos recreate i look white and fat now, and you shoudnt masturbate to her unless you can make it special like here:

Ddlc and here

She is lie this but for her triggers you must approach her for spells by me for the next two years. 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2QVMQbslWM&ab_channel=JadeSleiman thats right moths and watermelons the dolls of dollvinia have moved off tick tock.! BUZZ BUZZ -chloe the queen bea.

Also i want to kidnap paitinings, by training them to be like something the artist is afraid to not finish and then being kind and being like, i’ll prevent that gimme paitning here your moeny. Arrt actually acan be arthouse and ifne by not being finished and sketches are the best example of this.

Examples removed for priavcy.

By artist powderlue based off a commission i did. By the national art institute even tho its “HRRRRHG ARNIME” this is the nicest art in the best style on earth. LIterally. Finite. Proper high end art. If she did coloring books she coild make alot more. But saying this to eym is rude, so im not goign too. I aquire the rights to teh art i love it very much. Its about me and master, and its worth it. Its just him and I who do the work. He pays for my art, then i use it in reality shifting and he reaquries it. Zone is so cool guys. We lie to people and say we’re painting it like the ideas of the thing, but we’re not with zone captor aka the original doctor it really is just like that, with the zeroith doctor. Or im skisooprhenic. ID ont kno i gots coffee. I smeared hennah on my wrist and it smudged to look like a sea turtle my totem. Not spirit animal totem. Totems are aglic, or gaelic and thus cant be approprietated, while spirit animals totally can tho unless your cherokee..

Check this out and 

Amd

Lastly i went back to bed mid entry, and woke up, im exhausted, and had a dream about kim jong un my uncle and being in north korea. Which iw as, and trying to turn round abouts. And evil sea momsters after me to drown me underwater. Why do so many mermaid like things think that that is a game?

-Olive Brimstone

7/31/2023

8:22 AM

[deliverancefromdem]

Cracking the Code: How Monarch Mind Control Is Crafted

Monarch Mind Control is a term that often conjures up images of hidden agendas and mind manipulation. In this article, we'll demystify the concept and delve into how Monarch Mind Control is created, using straightforward language to make it easy to understand.

Unraveling the Mysteries of Monarch Mind Control

Monarch Mind Control is not a figment of the imagination; it's a real phenomenon involving the manipulation of the human mind and behavior. Let's explore how this intricate web of control is crafted.

Key Components

At the core of Monarch Mind Control are several elements and techniques designed to influence an individual's thoughts, emotions, and actions. These techniques include psychological manipulation, hypnosis, and the use of drugs to create a state of altered consciousness. The aim is to exert control over an individual's mind and will. More about the author Deliverance from demons

Historical Foundations

The roots of Monarch Mind Control can be traced back to various experiments and practices that sought to understand and control the human psyche. These experiments began to gain prominence in the mid-20th century when there was an intense interest in exploring the human mind.

Project MK-Ultra

A significant chapter in the Monarch Mind Control story is Project MK-Ultra, a clandestine CIA program that operated from the 1950s to the early 1970s. This project was dedicated to developing techniques for mind control and behavioral manipulation, often involving experiments on unsuspecting subjects using methods such as drug administration, hypnosis, and sensory deprivation.

The Testimonies of Survivors

Over the years, survivors of these experiments have come forward, sharing their experiences and revealing the dark and unethical practices that occurred in the name of scientific research.

The Aftermath

In 1973, Project MK-Ultra was officially exposed, leading to investigations. While many documents were destroyed, some survived, offering a glimpse into the genesis of Monarch Mind Control.

A Path Forward

Cracking the code of Monarch Mind Control unravels a sinister chapter in history. It's important to acknowledge the suffering of those subjected to these experiments and to learn from the past to ensure that such practices are never repeated. While the full extent of Monarch Mind Control remains hidden in secrecy, understanding its construction is a step toward preventing further abuses in the future.

In summary, Monarch Mind Control, with its complex history and hidden practices, is a subject that warrants understanding and awareness. By decoding its creation, we can work toward a world where the manipulation and control of the human mind are consigned to the past, and the rights and dignity of individuals are upheld.

[parkerphillips]

What is lucid dreaming?

A lucid dream is a dream in which the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. This awareness can allow the dreamer to control the dream, or at least to observe it from a detached perspective. Lucid dreams have been reported for centuries, and there are now a number of techniques that people can use to induce them.

History of lucid dreaming

The earliest recorded mention of lucid dreaming is in the Hindu text the Upanishads, which was written around 2000 BC. The Upanishads describe a technique called "dream yoga" that was used to induce lucid dreams.

In the 19th century, the French philosopher René Descartes wrote about his own experiences with lucid dreaming. Descartes believed that lucid dreams could be used to prove the existence of the soul.

In the 20th century, the psychologist Stephen LaBerge began to study lucid dreaming scientifically. LaBerge developed a number of techniques for inducing lucid dreams, and he also developed a way to measure brain activity during lucid dreams.

Benefits of lucid dreaming

There are many potential benefits to lucid dreaming. For example, lucid dreams can be used to explore one's subconscious mind, to learn new skills, or to simply have more fun. Lucid dreams can also be used to treat nightmares and other sleep disorders.

Here are some of the benefits of lucid dreaming:

Personal growth: Lucid dreams can be used to explore your subconscious mind and learn more about yourself. You can use them to confront your fears, work through emotional issues, and develop your creativity.

Problem-solving: Lucid dreams can be used to solve problems in your waking life. You can use them to practice new skills, test out ideas, and come up with creative solutions to problems.

Entertainment: Lucid dreams can be a lot of fun. You can use them to fly, have adventures, and meet interesting people.

Risks of lucid dreaming

There are also some potential risks associated with lucid dreaming. For example, some people have reported feeling anxious or even terrified during lucid dreams. In rare cases, lucid dreams can even lead to sleep paralysis, a condition in which the person is unable to move or speak after waking up.

Here are some of the risks of lucid dreaming:

Anxiety: Some people experience anxiety or even fear during lucid dreams. This is usually due to the fact that they are not used to being aware that they are dreaming.

Sleep paralysis: Sleep paralysis is a condition in which the person is unable to move or speak after waking up. It can be a frightening experience, and it is sometimes associated with lucid dreaming.

Psychological problems: In rare cases, lucid dreaming can lead to psychological problems such as psychosis or dissociation. However, this is very rare and only occurs in people who are already at risk for these conditions.

Techniques for inducing lucid dreams

If you are interested in trying lucid dreaming, there are a number of techniques that you can use. Some of the most common techniques include:

Reality testing: This involves checking throughout the day to see if you are dreaming. You can do this by trying to push your finger through your palm, looking at a clock twice to see if the time changes, or trying to read something twice to see if the words change.

Wake back to bed (WBTB): This involves waking up after 5-6 hours of sleep, staying awake for 20-30 minutes, and then going back to sleep. This increases your chances of having a lucid dream.

Mnemonic induction of lucid dreams (MILD): This involves repeating a mantra to yourself before you go to sleep, such as "I will know I am dreaming."

If you are persistent, you should be able to induce lucid dreams with some practice. However, it is important to remember that lucid dreaming is not a guarantee, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. What works for one person may not work for another.

Conclusion

Lucid dreaming is a fascinating phenomenon with both potential benefits and risks. If you are interested in learning more about lucid dreaming, there are a number of resources available online and in libraries.