#we need to bring back the sacred rules of the internet i guess!

[mmmthornton]

why is it always when i do not have time to fuck around that my brain decides to youtube comment correcting someones poor understanding of holocaust denial. what disease do I blame this on lol

[hisunshiine]

Escape ✈︎ Chapter 6

✈︎ chapter 6: But I Still Want You Pt. 1       | ✈︎ Escape Series — 18+, Mature  

    ✈︎ genre: angst

    ✈︎ word count: 1898 words

    ✈︎ pairing: Jin x YN

    ✈︎ warnings: personal issues with abandonment, YN is a foster child, healthy attachment issues, crying

    ✈︎ summary: It's time for you to make your decision about the island: stay or go? Some people make the decision harder for you than it should be.

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You can’t believe that you won the GA and were invited to Bangtania Island, not to mention that once you arrived here, you were let in on the secret that this is also a secret getaway location for the guys?! You truly love it here, and feel so accepted and appreciated by everyone, like you have a family and friends again. The life you left behind wasn’t much of a life so to say. You worked a basic job, you had no family, having been a foster child your whole life, and you had no real connection with anybody. When you found BTS and Army, that was the closest you ever felt to having family.

Unfortunately, having the life you’ve had, you begin to feel yourself wanting to isolate again. Nobody has actually done anything to make you feel you need to, but you are afraid of being abandoned. You’ve always had that fear, been afraid that people will leave you, so you put up walls so that people don’t get too close. You also tend to run from anybody that tries and gets too close, unsure of their reasons. You weren’t putting out any signs that you wanted people close, so you thought, so you were wary of anyone who tried to breach the walls you had built. It was safer that way. When people made attempts to get closer than you wanted them to, that was your cue to jump ship. It was better to leave them.

You have dated, but as soon as they try to get too intimate, and not in the sexual way, you run away. Sex, that was easy. Growing up with your circumstances, you weren’t ever taught the same ideals about virginity and sex like people who were from ‘loving’ families appeared to be. No mom and dad trying to convince you that sex was sacred, or meant for just one person for your entire life. You had the normal education, very cut and dry, and scientific. Penis, meet vagina: insert here. And as you got older you learned it could also be penis meet anus, or vagina meet vagina, or mouth meet anus, mouth meet penis, and the oh so wonderful mouth meet vagina.  So being physical with someone wasn’t deemed as intimate as actually letting people into who you were. What your thoughts and feelings were. It was that level of opening up and letting people in that was scary. You knew this from childhood that it’s a lot less painful when you decide to walk away, versus someone walking away from you.

It’s currently your twelfth day here. And now you only have two more days to decide whether you want to stay or head back to your life of unattached isolation. You have truly enjoyed your time here thus far, there really is the feeling of peace and serenity, able to share in the familiar love with everyone of BTS. That’s a safe area for you. Love for BTS can’t hurt you. At the same time, you still feel a sense of solidarity, like you are surrounded by people yet you still feel alone. You decide you are going to hurry to the restaurant to get something to-go before you head back to your temporary living quarters.

On the way there, you remember the first time you saw Jin in person.

“So here is a map of the island, everything is color-coded and in the map key. I think your first agenda should be to unpack and then meet us down at Jin’s restaurant.” Vanessa hands you your map and copies of your NDA and other rules and regulations to be followed on the island.

Once you unpack your belongings, you take a short detour before heading to the restaurant. You are enchanted by the happiness of everyone that is here, enjoying the private island, and the guys. You haven’t really witnessed any arguments or issues, and that brings you solace, but you still keep your guard up.

When you enter the restaurant, Talia notices you and waves you over to their booth, “Hey! Y/N! Over here! We almost ordered without you.” She laughed, then introduced you to Dahlia and Xael.

You all order your food and carry on with small talk, you ask questions about different activities you saw in your guide for the island, and then you see him. Jin came walking out of the kitchen, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel. He was talking to one of the residents that helps him out in the restaurant.

He turned his head and your eyes met, it seemed like an eternity, but it only lasted about 10 seconds. He smiled, you blushed, then he went back into the kitchen.

When your food was ready, Jin made sure to help your waitress bring your food to the table. “Hello ladies,” he said with a gentle smile, blushing when he looks at you. “A new arrival I see. Well I am Seokjin, the Bangtania Island Chef. If you are ever hungry, come to my restaurant, if I’m not here, the you can come to the dorm...I mean, when we have parties, I always cook for that as well. Anyway, enjoy your meals ladies,” he winks at you as he places your plate in front of you.

How could you know that would lead to you eating there everyday, just to steal a glance of him, or have him smile and wink at you. All of the silent and distant flirting, that you feel would never go anywhere, and you want to keep it that way.

You walk into the restaurant and stand at the to-go counter, but it’s pretty quiet. You have been waiting for about 10 minutes, being consumed by your thoughts, until the grumbling in your stomach reminds you that you are waiting to order food. You are surprised that nobody has come to help you, especially since the whole time that you’ve been in Bangtania everyone has been super helpful and attentive. But then you get worried, so you head behind the counter to check the kitchen. Maybe Jin closed early and forgot to lock up, you aren’t sure, you just want to make sure everything is okay.

You open the swinging door to the kitchen, probably with a little too much force in your worried state.

“Whoa, whoa!”

It’s all you hear before the pile of dishes crashes to the floor, causing you to scream.

“Jin-ah I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to frighten you, I was just here to order food to-go, and --”

He cuts you off.

“Frighten me? You were the one who was scared! Hahaha! I was just putting these dishes away and you swung the door into me.”

You feel the tears well up in your eyes, and you try to hold them back but they begin streaming down your face.

“Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to cry. I’m not mad, we have many more dishes to replace these ones. Just please don’t cry.”

He grabs a clean towel from the shelf and begins to softly blot the tears from your cheeks. He has a look on his face of worry, as if your sudden tears were a shock to him. You reckon they were. You drop your head in embarrassment, though he softly grabs your chin with his thumb and forefinger and lifts your head back up. Your eyes meet his brown ones, taking in the way that his eyebrows are furrowed together, his lips softly parted creating his beautiful look of concern directed towards you.

“I told you, I’m not mad, now clean your face and help me pick this up. Then we can sit and have a meal together. I haven’t eaten since breakfast and that is a long time for me, you know?”

You giggle, because you do know. Jin loves to eat.

After you finish salvaging the dishes that did not break and sweeping up the ones that did, Jin says he has something special to make you. You make your way to a booth in the corner of the restaurant furthest from the windows, the most secluded booth in the whole restaurant. When Jin comes out with a tray, he scans the restaurant for you.

“Y/N?” His voice is loud, trying to find you.

“Did she leave? After I made her this delicious food, she runs off?” You hear him mutter under his breath, but not low enough that you don’t hear him.

When he turns to head back to the kitchen, he sees you sitting in the hidden booth, shoulders bounce from giggling so hard.

“You think that’s funny? I make this food and you have me to believe you left? Oh, hahaha…” He laughs with you as he sets the food on the table. He pulls off his apron and joins you at the booth, you both begin eating in silence. After a while he asks, “Y/N, you’ve been here almost two weeks, what do you think so far?”

You shove a dumpling in your mouth, as you are not ready to answer that question. He smiles encouragingly, his bee-stung lips surrounding his perfect smile, and you feel yourself wanting to open up. But you can’t. You only want to show him your best side. I guess that’s something you have in common with them.

“Oh, it’s great! You guys really spoil us here.”

He nods, happy to hear your positive feedback, not realizing it’s shallow. You want to elaborate. The words are on the tip of your tongue to tell him that yes, they spoil you here and you love it, but a part of you is scared to really fall in love with it, to truly believe you’ve found a place you can call home that has a new family that’s perfect for you already waiting. Who gets that lucky in life? Not you. So you tuck away your fears, and keep it surface level with him.

The rest of your night was lovely; it was easy to tuck away the thoughts that had been so prominent before spending time with Jin. He was someone who tried his best to make sure that everyone was comfortable. You had known this about him since prior to meeting him, watching him on RunBTS and Bon Voyage, he had that caring, nurturing way about him that drew you in, and made everything appear better in the aura he cast out. He made it easy, which you knew would make it that much harder.

That night you lay awake long past the last sounds of your housemate have dissipated and watch as the ceiling fan circles and circles. You always thought that it was safe, that loving BTS was safe. Friends over the internet, they didn’t have to know you completely. You could take days off and come back when you wanted, no one really depending on you. No one actually knows your deepest secrets and thoughts. Those were kept safely tucked away, behind lock and key deep within your heart.

You could have sworn that love for BTS couldn’t hurt you. Hindsight is definitely 20/20, as you lay curled on your side, looking out the window at the reflection of the moon on the ocean, tears streaming down onto your pillow, it hurts.

�� all rights reserved © hisunshiine & mrsparkjimin18 2020-2021. please do not repost. translations & modifications are not allowed.

[violetsystems]

#personal

As promised, I am projecting less frustration this morning.  I think maybe just because the rhythm of things in my life.  I read that ritual during the pandemic has been a reliable coping mechanism for many.  I have very small rituals.  I get a bowl of Yukejang from down the street on Sundays.  Same order.  Same price.  I tap it into a spreadsheet somewhere in the cloud and plan around it.  All the way back in September, I chiseled out a budget for myself to figure out how to weather out this situation.  The situation as it is continues to morph and shift towards the edges of chaos.  This is why I try to keep things normal through planning and maybe a little ritual.  I’ve been writing the same three paragraphs here for too many years for me to count.  There are actually people out there who get what I’m saying.  Sometimes people just like to read them.  Other people just like to skim them.  But these rituals kind of keep the element of control over your life in focus.  Some rituals can go a little overboard.  And sometimes some pandemics can go longer than a year.  I try to plan for the future all the same without having much to go on.  I know that a vaccine needs to happen first.  At this point I won’t see that until earliest June.  I’ve been seeing jobs in my salary range but nothing I want to spend the rest of my life doing.  I’ve made enough money by myself this year to worry about paying taxes.  But it isn’t something I really feel is sustainable.  And this is where thoughts start to spiral out of control.  Which is what brings me back to rituals.  I make it through week to week in probably one of the most bullshit situations by looking forward to things.  Broadcasting on Fridays is fun even if nobody watches it live.  I’ve learned that creating content for output is more important than worrying about the results.  For all the intelligent words I write, a lot of the things that come out of my actual mouth on the fly are incredibly stupid and funny to me.  I like that that brings me down to earth somehow.  Because most of the time I’m wondering if I’m even visible to the naked eye.  You can fade away into your own self doubt even if you seem the most confident and together person.  This can happen because the world ceaselessly throws shade.  People don’t want you to succeed because it complicates things.  Doesn’t fit into whatever plan or main questline you haven’t been briefed on.  These days I’ve grown less sensitive to suggestion.  I follow my own path and rules no matter what feelings it evokes.  And yes I feel a sense of dread more often than not.  I feel actual mental pain quite often.  And that pain doesn’t come from inside of me or the result of things I do other than work out or ride my bike.  The pain is the pressure from society to put it all on you.  People out there are just as confused, lost and fearful.  To have some sort of closure or something to blame lifts that temporarily.  It’s not always true.  Paranoia and isolation does that to people.  Even to me.  So I like to focus on the sacred parts of my life that I’ve kept to myself.  And ritual keeps me in a predictable mood.  That you keep going on week to week because you’ve created space that you and you alone value.  

Sometimes other people value it too.  And that gets tricky to manage.  It isn’t really in my best interest to be at odds with society all the time.  I am a loner mostly because I grew up an only child.  But I’ve become a lot less sensitive as a result of whatever crucible of destiny I’ve been forged in.  I think sometimes when you walk the path of ritual, it’s easy to stay in your lane.  For me, for all these years I’ve been doing pretty much the same exact thing in real life often.  Mostly to not cause anyone cognitive dissonance enough to fuck with me.  Society is a nightmare anywhere you are it seems.  Chicago can be batshit insane.  It makes me project that like a mirror sometimes when I’m exhausted.  And the things that keep me going aren’t always there front and center to hold my hand.  I’m tough enough at this point to take it.  But it’s a lot of disappointment to live with.  The ritual of having a salaried job working with people who seemed pretty much like they were your friends was disrupted by all this a year ago.  I got ghosted.  I never really understood why.  Over the months, I blamed myself over and over again.  And then I started to realize people were hopelessly locked within themselves.  They couldn’t communicate anything meaningful so they just decided to let it go entirely.  Or I did.  Communication to me over the years is funny.  Sometimes people say the most to me without saying any words.  If you walk away from a job after twenty years and everyone you work with pretends you never existed that’s a message.  The opposite is true.  If you wake up every morning to cryptic interactions on your phone that probably means something too.  If you write three paragraphs every week for three years on the internet to nobody in particular, it’s true somebody will read it.  Maybe somebody will even have the reading comprehension to enjoy it.  The ritual of it is pretty sacred to me.  I think people know me well enough to realize I err on the side of authenticity.  I don’t like to betray the things that keep me going.  I know how it feels to be betrayed.  It sounds so cold saying that.  But I’m sure we all know it to a certain degree.  Some people get so abandoned that they have no choice but to move forward.  And how you keep yourself moving at a regular pace in these times is anybody’s guess.  Sanctuary is something more than ritual.  It’s a space where you feel safe enough to protect the things that keep you alive.  A safe spot to pursue your life, liberty and happiness despite the world’s encroaching bullshit around you.  After years of pacing the streets here people have varying opinions of me and my rituals.  It’s not the most ideal situation by far.  But if anyone knows anything about maintaining sanctuary in one of the world’s most in your face cities, it is me.  I’ve been to New York enough to know.  Chicago is some sort of nightmare zone mix of both coasts.  It’s also still fairly affordable to live.  It’s also fairly free enough to go about your business with more than a few stares.  People are bored, hungry, and anxious.  People are looking for rituals and ideas for their own.  And sometimes people cross the line of sanctuary and the holy ground gets smaller.  I can’t even take out my trash without a dirty look sometimes.  And I have to manage it just the same.  When I shut the door and mutter to myself about politics and the government or whatever, nobody comes knocking.  Or I’m over it quick enough so nobody does.  Kind of like here.  The good news is spring is here.  I can open up the windows and listen to music alone.  I can continue to work on my search for meaningful employment wherever that may take me.  I honestly think after all this time someone has better ideas on where I belong.  

That somebody has most always had to be me.  I had to take the initiative in this entire situation.  And it’s become something else entirely.  I build rituals around that.  Some outdated rituals I retire.  Kind of like how I was.  I used to travel to New York every couple of months before this all went to shit.  I think I may go back this summer for a few days.  I don’t really have a solid answer for the future in my head.  I’ve had more time to enjoy things.  I spend way more time learning how to block in Tekken and it actually becomes a whole new game.  I could be harassing people in public and on the internet but I’d rather just keep to myself.  I am lonely just like anyone would be in this situation.  But people communicate with me just the same.  And it’s on me to value it enough to interpret whether it’s worth my time.  I keep hearing the president proclaim that July will mark our independence from the virus.  It’s ironic.  I was let go two days before the fourth last year.  Still nursing those wounds as you would expect.  Simply because there’s no closure.  No acknowledgement of anything.  And this is what I’ve had to read into.  I’m on my own in this.  And then again I’m not.  I’ve led myself through an absolute shit show daily.  And I’ve maintained sanctuary enough to keep doing it.  The rituals and sacred things I hold dear are protected by the reputations I uphold.  The moral capital I reserve is the real hard work.  Because often I would like nothing other than to go apeshit in the face of all this misunderstanding and hallucinatory bullshit.  It’s like being a celebrity and a pariah at the same time.  Banging your head against the wall trying to read into everybody’s sudden interest in whatever it is you represent in real time.  I don’t really know what people want from me at all.  And in some ways it doesn’t matter here in America.  This is what I’ve come to realize in some respects about freedom.  It’s complex, messy and not easily managed efficiently.  And yet no other country in the world has this many layers to navigate.  If you hold your ground long enough, nobody dares cross the line.  I mean nobody.  For as funny, sardonic and self deprecating as I can be, people are still ultimately scared shitless of me.  I’ve grown to understand that and work on that as best I can in a bullshit situation.  And through that I’ve found that staying true to the things you love and care about require meditation.  Self awareness and self care are the only weapons to guide you through a process that is meant to break your individual will.  I could blame capitalism.  I could blame the government.  I could unite and tear down the very fabric of society that has kept me invisible and be forgotten all over again.  And then I realize both sides are to blame mostly because nobody is really talking to anyone.  Entire political parties acting like they meet you eye to eye on the street when everyone has their head slung down low at every moment of the day.  And I’m not exactly interested in inviting more people into my life to violate my already questionable boundaries of privacy.  Rituals give us the focus to concentrate on the things that really matter to us.  Maybe they help us define what is sacred to us.  If people respect that the sanctuary grows.  If people challenge, question or hijack the narrative, you write them out of the story.  It’s definitely easier to control the pen when nobody is on your back to tell you how to write your dreams.  I wholeheartedly want that for everybody.  A real sanctuary for people to be themselves.  It’s not easy to manage.  But where ever I end up I know want thing is true.  I will always keep things sacred when it comes to you. <3 Tim

[voicesfromthelight]

How to Effectively Initiate Positive Alliances With Appropriate Spirits Outside of Your Immediate Sphere

Today, I want to write a bit about something very useful I’ve discovered about initiating positive, tangible relationships with spirits who are (at least seemingly) outside of your immediate circle of spirit guides, for purposes of guidance and magical collaboration.

Aside from sometimes collaborating in readings with my clients’ departed loved ones, as a medium who occasionally practices “emergency magic,” up until recently, my spirit guides never let me work with any spirits who weren’t part of the circle of guides assigned to me at birth, or ones sent to me by them for a given purpose, such as helping me predict the future more accurately. This “forbidden list” included saints who are often petitioned in popular forms of practical magic, such as St. Expedite, as well as employing the magic of other practitioners (often working with other spirits) by ordering candles from them, etc. These restrictions existed, and mostly still do, for my own protection, in order to ensure my spiritual and energetic integrity. I know better than to second-guess my guides’ advice.

Luckily, once these restrictions had been established, I came to realize that any magic I had practiced before, without soliciting spiritual helpers, which would involve fairly elaborate manipulations of physical objects as energetic focal points, would pale in comparison in effectiveness to the results I would get from simply going through my channeling preparations, clearly and passionately telling my guides what I needed, and then asking for help.

Sometimes, the results would be dramatic and nearly instantaneous - and if not, my guides would be sure to inform me that results would take a while. Coming to realize just how simple effective magic could be was incredibly liberating!

However, magical work aside, I would sometimes wonder what it would be like to receive guidance or help from a spirit who held a particular cultural or emotional significance for me. Mostly, these were departed artists with whom I felt a kinship.

With the possible exception of murder investigations, etc., the conventional wisdom on evidential mediumship is that you can only successfully interact with a departed person who knew you or your client in life. So, this spring, I decided to do an experiment with an inspiring artist with whom I had a fleeting in-person encounter in life, and about whom I had been thinking about a lot during quarantine: David Bowie. The personal connection may have been tenuous, but it was there.

What I discovered turned out to be an extremely effective way to form new, rich relationships in the spirit world.

One day in May, before it felt safe to get on the subway, after 100 days of  not leaving my home borough, I walked all the way from South Brooklyn to Manhattan. When I reached SoHo, I realized that I was not far from where David Bowie used to live. So, I took a little detour.

As I came up to his house, I focused my mind inward, as I would when asking a question of my spirit guides, and silently addressed him:

“Hi, David! It’s Emily, here. Remember me? I’m the teenage girl who quietly interrupted your lunch back in the summer of 1998, at French Roast on 6th Ave., to thank you for all the inspiration you had given me as a musician and artist. You were so touched, you blushed like a beet! I never forgot about it. I’ve been thinking about you a lot, lately, and could really use some inspiration and guidance from you again. We are kindred spirits! Musician to outsider musician, can you hear me? I’d love it if we could interact, and you would accept to be my guide.”

Within a couple of hours, David sent me a synchronicity in the form of the gif below, posted by my friend right around the time I made the connection. (In these cases, I don’t believe in coincidences. My guides pull off stuff like that all the time, and it isn’t limited to random internet posts.)

A similar process has subsequently helped me form several new, extremely satisfying spiritual connections, including with Frida Kahlo, whose birthday party I posted about earlier, and even a couple of saints I never thought I had a connection to before.

That is how I found out that under the right circumstances, there is some flexibility in my “collaborative restriction,” and it is sanctioned by my personal guides. However, it isn’t arbitrary.

When you wish to form a relationship with a spirit outside your immediate sphere, the key is that there needs to be an affinity, cultural, familial or even personal connection between you and what you know of this spirit. This holds true whether it is a person who was known as a prominent spiritual teacher, an artist who passed away relatively recently, or a saint or spirit whose existence has taken on a more “storied” status. (Religions of the African Diaspora such as Santería, Vodou and Espiritismo - which I have no affiliation with - affirm this in their teachings, as well.)

So, here is my technique for forming new alliances with spirits you’d like to work with.

1. Identify the spirit, and define for yourself why you wish to work with them. Look into the spirit’s history, and the various ways in which people have defined and worked with them before. Do you feel comfortable with all of the connotations of what this spirit stands for?

2. Define the connection between you. What is it that you have in common in your temperament, your likes and dislikes, your interests, your cultural connections, your life experiences, your “life missions,” and your general energy? Why and how does your energy “match” theirs? (This is super important!)

3. If the connection isn’t immediately apparent, is there a work-around? For instance, say you wanted to work with The Virgin of Guadalupe, who is a Catholic patron saint of Mexico, and particularly a protector of indigenous peoples, but you weren’t Mexican, indigenous, or even Catholic. Guadalupe is also known as “Empress of The Americas,” and is an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Mary was Jewish. In my case, I’m Jewish-American. I’m a Jewish daughter. Mary is a Jewish mother. I’m part American, and live in the USA. She’s Empress of The Americas - not just Mexico. That would be an effective approach to initiating the connection.

4. Find a way to focus your energy on forming the connection. This could be through setting up a little altar with a picture, a candle, some water and flowers, or simply meditating in a quiet place or sacred space, especially if that place is directly connected to that spirit.

5. Address the spirit with love, trust, enthusiasm and respect. In your own words, explain the connection between you, and why you wish to work with them. So, for the above example, I might say: “Dear Guadalupe, I would love to work with you and your gentle, motherly energy. You’re a Jewish mother, and I’m a Jewish daughter - that makes me your daughter! People love you in my neighborhood. You rule over the Americas. I know your presence is strong here. Would you help to bring peace and love into my home?”

6. Look for a sign of acceptance. In my case, that will usually come in the form of a synchronicity, a dream, or having them straight-up announce themselves in my channeling sessions. (Often, it will be more than one sign!)

7. Once you receive your sign of acceptance, especially if they happen to grant a request, GIVE THANKS! I love buying flowers for my spirits. It’s also great if you can thank a guide or spirit ally with charity or a good deed that benefits people or causes you know are loved by them. In the above example, I would make sure to buy the flowers for Guadalupe from the ladies in my neighborhood who are immigrants from Central America - and possibly undocumented. I might also make a contribution to charities that help detained immigrants at the border. Sometimes your allies will telepathically let you know what pleases them.

And that’s it! 

You can maintain your ongoing connection to these spirits through practices such as meditation and channeling, and also doing good deeds in their name. If you only wanted to form a short-term alliance, that’s OK, too. Just be sure to thank the spirit properly for their help, and politely say your goodbyes.

As a final note, it isn’t completely clear to me whether the initial lack of connection to spirits such as these is only skin-deep. One might have past-life alliances, or other unknown connections to these spirits from the get-go. Sometimes, if you feel pulled to a particular spirit, but can’t figure out the connection, if you ask your guides, and the connection is genuine, they will explain why!

We all have “inner circle” guides assigned at birth, whom we can most easily connect with, and especially if we work in the spiritual arts such as mediumship, a whole network of “outer band” helpers in our “team,” who may prefer to remain anonymous, but help us coordinate communication with our clients’ loved ones, etc. You won’t always know immediately who is helping you “behind the scenes”!

Explore these concepts for yourself, and see what you think! ...But do choose your allies wisely, and protect yourself by keeping your energy high, joyful, compassionate, optimistic and loving, and by properly opening and closing your communication sessions. Don’t fall for impersonators! Look for tangible signs.

Any questions? Let me know in the comments!

Good luck!

Love,

Emily

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 3

Time for more Brotherhood! When we last left off, we got the backstory on the Elric Brothers, and they were off to investigate rumors of ‘miracles’ by a priest that I don’t think is quite on the up and up, given all the oh-so-subtle “THIS IS A BAD GUY” clues in the last post-credits. But hey, I’ve been wrong before. Let’s get started!

Hmm. Same “Alchemy 101” intro from last episode, should I count the mention of “Equivalent Exchange” here if this shows up each time? I’m happy just spotting it in normal dialogue, but I’ll leave it up to you guys if I should include this mention. Urgh, seeing smiling Mama Elric is still a kick in the gut. Still don’t know some of the characters here, but looking forward to meeting them. Maybe not the Goths so much. We’re at the town! And there’s a [Radio Voice]? Is this the (corrupt) priest? Who… huh, he’s preaching about the “Sun God Leto”. This the primary religion in this setting, or just one guy who’s all “Praise the Sun!” NPC Shopkeeper is asking if the Elrics are street performers in their getups. Gotta admit, Al’s pulling off an impressive loom here, leaning on the counter. “Street performer” wouldn’t be my first guess looking at the giant fanged suit of armor. Ed in his red cloak, however… yeah, gotta side with NPC Shopkeeper here. And really Ed, what did you expect? Why would he ask if you were a carny unless he thought you might be? Oops! Watch your head, Al! Don’t break the poor guy’s radio! Well, that’s smashed. But nothing a little Alchemy can’t fix, right? [Energetic Strings] as Al preps the TC, and a crowd of curious villagers are looking on. And tada, good as new! Smug Ed is proud of- “Amazing, it’s a miracle! You’ve been touched by the Sun God, just like Father Cornello!” No no, it’s alchemy! But to their credit, the villagers come around quickly at the mention of the Elric Brothers, are pleased to meet… *sigh*. Saw that coming a mile away. Wavy-armed Al has to correct his well-meaning friends, point out the “little guy”. Who does not appreciate the running gag. Episode 03: “City of Heresy” So now that that little misunderstanding is out of the way, Ed asks the now-terrified villagers about the voice on the radio. Shopkeep and [Man 1] talk about their leader Father Cornello, who came into town with some pretty big claims, up to bringing the dead back to life. Ed says that’s something he needs to see. And here’s the priest, smiling to a huge crowd of cheering villagers as glowing roses rain from the sky. On of his miracles? And the crowd goes nuts as he catches one of them, and then a bright red glow later it’s a large crystal? Not sure what he just did, but something about that shade of red… just didn’t seem that wholesome to me. Again, trying to reserve judgement, but not getting the best impression of you right now, Father. The Brothers are watching the show, Al says that there’s no doubt it’s alchemy. But somehow he’s ignoring the Law of Equivalent Exchange? EEC: 4 Oh, I see! Normal rules would be that you can’t add mass or change organic matter into inorganic, but here he is catching a rosebud and making a great big crystal statue. And you can’t do that, unless… But that ring on his finger can’t really be a Philosopher’s Stone, could it? That’s like the end-all of this magic system. I could buy one showing up earlyish in this series, but the third episode? Let alone as a tool of a minor villain. Heck, either the Goths or the Government should have already swooped in and taken this, no sane power-block would let such an artifact remain out of their control for long. Anyways, inside the chapel a lady with striking red highlights is praying for “him” to be brought back, when Ed and Al show up. Lady, who captions have named Rose, asks if they are interested in Letoism. So she works for Cornello? Or just a religious villager? But nah, Ed says he’s not really the “religious” type. Given we’ve seen him encounter a demon who claimed to be God, I can understand his position. Rose is sorry to hear that, saying that to know God is to know hope, that through divine grace all things are possible. I’d rather not have religion get pulled into this Watch, but I can- “If you believed… I’m sure Leto would bless you and make you grow taller!” ...wow, ok then. I’m just gonna put away my heartfelt religion discussion, and just sit back and laugh at Al holding Ed back. Come on dude, she’s so sincere she’s got “Sincere” above her head! Don’t hate the messenger! Anyways, back to the topic at hand. How’s about this “bringing the dead back to life” business, does Rose believe in that as well? She does, and in the face of so much optimism Ed just pulls out a ratty notebook and starts reciting… chemical compositions… oh dear. Yeah, Rose has no idea what all this chemistry is about. Ed hunches over, talking about how the chemical composition of the human body has been calculated down to the last microgram, but still no successful human transmutations. And here Rose is saying that they can do with prayer something that modern science can’t do? Rose starts reciting scripture… and Ed holds no punches, explaining any kid could buy those ingredients down at the market for pocket change. “As it turns out humans are pretty cheap.” Hoo boy. This is turning into a proper religion v. science slugfest, isn’t it? And I really, REALLY don’t want to open up that particular can of worms on the Internet, but… Ed’s saying that Alchemists are scientists, they don’t believe in unprovable concepts like creators or gods. And heck, with the progress of science they’ve gotten the power to play gods themselves… Rose takes offense to this sheer arrogance. And Ed… brings up the myth of Icarus? Oooh, topical, isn’t it. About how someone flew too close to the sun and came crashing back down to earth. Al… Ed jumps up and asks if Father Cornello could save an arrogant scientist like him, which Rose jumps upon. *Sigh* Rose isn’t going to have a good time this episode, is she? Higher in the chapel, someone named Cray is talking to Father Cornello, saying a child and a man in a suit of armor wish to see him. Cornello is scowling out the window, says he can’t be bothered right now and to send them away. What’s the trouble, Father? But then he recognizes the Elric name, and- Oooh! Bad Father, you just swore in church! Both men are upset at realizing that the Fullmetal Alchemist (“The man in the armor?” “Dressing the part, it would seem.” Ha!) has come calling? Oh wow you guys are definitely bad, scowling and muttering about your “plans” to ominous string music. It seems Cray is leading the Elrics now, saying that they’re in luck, he can spare a moment of his time. Ed says they won’t take too much, and Cray- gun! Brother Cray has pulled a gun… and is pointing it at Al, while two guys in robes with staves block Ed. Yeah, not too worried about this, although Rose is. Cray claims that they are evil heathens come to discredit the Father, to which Ed agrees to make it quick and instantly takes down the Robes. And Armor Punch to the unfortunate Cray’s face! Father Cornello emerges from the shadows, welcoming them to the hope of their ‘sacred order’ and “apologizing for his disciples’ behavior”. Ed doesn’t buy it for a second, demanding to know how Cornello has been using Alchemy to deceive the villagers. Cornello claims that it’s the work of Leto, creating a statue in his hands as proof of something Alchemy couldn’t do. And Ed agrees, saying he didn’t get how he could just ignore the Law of Equivalent Exchange. EEC: 5 Poor Rose, looking back and forth between the increasingly irate Father Cornello and the angry Edward, who calls out Cornello’s ring as a Philosopher’s Stone. Cornello keeps claiming to be “God’s humble servant”, so Ed says he’ll just have to beat the Truth out of him. Cornello… what. Dude. Dude, NO. That is messed up. Cornello just told Rose to pick up the fallen gun. And then shoot the Fullmetal Alchemist. Thankfully Rose is shocked at that order, says she can’t do that. But Cornello says that his word is that of Leto himself, and finally opens one eye to look down on them. “Shoot him, Rose. It’s God’s will.” Bad Father, very very bad Father! Rose? Rose, honey, please put down the gun. Aw crud, and now Cornello’s bringing up the loss of her fiance, reminding her of a promise; if she had faith, he’d bring him back to life. And with that, she’s pointed the gun at… Al. Ok, that’s ok, we can work with aw damnit Al shut up! You’re the suit of armor, take the name for just a few minutes! And oh my god Ed just shut up shut up stop getting pissed that people keep mistaking your brother for you. “Person about to shoot the Fullmetal Alchemist” is not the time to insist that you’re the Fullmetal Alchemist! And aw crud, Cornello’s shocked that it’s “the short one”. You dun goofed. Ok, back to the gun. Rose is apologizing, saying she has no choice. Ed tries to convince her that Cornello’s been lying, but she’s still believing in the Father’s “miracles”. So Ed tells her to shoot, and- Al! Rose fired blindly and hit Al’s helmet! On the one hand, impressive shot if it had been intentional. On the other hand, what the hell Rose?! Rose rightfully drops the gun in shock and starts screaming, Cornello smugly says that “God Leto is pleased”. And then tells her to pick the gun back up and shoot the other as well. And then the headless suit of armor sits back up and chides Cornello for making her do enough already! Ha! Take that, fake priest! [Exciting Music] starts up as Cornello blathers about Al being an abomination, how the ‘evil’ must be purged… and pulls a switch? Gah, manticore! Manticores are a thing in this setting! Cornello says his chimera should be up to the task. Or not a manticore? In the light it looks like the front half of a lion, and the back half of a rat. Edward calmly summons a spear, further shocking Cornello at the lack of a TC. But… ooh, the chimera just sliced right through the weapon. Seems the claws are sharp enough to “tear through iron”. Maybe Al should step back? Ah, nevermind. Ed’s pants may have been shredded, but the chimera’s claws didn’t do jack against his steel automail leg. And a bite attack likewise failed against his automail arm. And the pieces finally click into place for Cornello… wait, hold on. This seems really familiar for some reason… didn’t we just go through all this two episodes ago? Yeah, we did! This is almost word for word from Ep 1! Failed attack against an automail limb, Al getting his head knocked off, bad guy smugly accusing them of breaking the “No Human Transmutation” rule… you guys were saying this was the first proper episode in the manga, right? How Brotherhood’s first episode was mostly to show off the characters, and they put all the backstory into the second? Not saying this is bad or anything, just figured I should mention it. Poor, poor Rose. You’ve had a rough day, haven’t you? And good grief Cornello shut up, stop blathering about their attempting human transmutation. I don’t know exactly why you’re evil, beyond your earlier attempts to kill these boys for getting too close to your “plans”, but you are not helping your case right now. Yup, there it is, you just insulted their arrogance for trying to bring someone dead back to life. Remind me, what was your promise to Rose? Al plaintively asks for Cornello to hand over the stone before he gets hurt. It goes over about as well as you could expect, Transmuting his cane into a good grief is that a minigun? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are a terrible priest! Ed blocks the shots with Earthbending, boasting about he and God don’t get along very well, as Al swoops up Rose and gets her out of the line of fire. Or not really, because Cornello takes aim at them and starts blasting away, Rose only protected by Al’s bulk. And Ed… ha! Ignores the door and Transmutes a new one to get past the hapless disciples, and the brothers prance off down the hallway as gun-toting Father Cornello runs out and orders them to chase. Brothers are running along, but a couple of disciples have blocked off the end of the hallway, saying that’s far enough. Ed just laughs and goes full Alex Mercer on them. Disciple Group #2 are waiting in the wings… and their boss gets a Armor Boot to the face. Next! Now they’re… up in the clocktower? Al’s doing something to the bell, talking to Rose who is understandably upset. Al says that they aren’t evil. They just wanted to see their mom’s smile again. And guh guh don’t show that Thing again get it away, we already know it failed don’t show us again. Al goes on to talk about how Alchemy’s based on the Law of Equivalent Exchange- EEC: 6 -and how the price of their failed attempt was enormous, costing Ed his left leg and Al his entire body. And then Ed gave up his arm to bind Al to the armor. Now they’re on a mission, Al to restore Ed to his original body, and Ed to do likewise to Al. It won’t be easy, but it’s the path they chose. All they can do is keep moving. And here’s the sticking point, Cornello’s “promise” to Rose. And true to her optimism, she still has hope, going so far as to say that even if the Elrics failed, that doesn’t mean he will. Poor, poor Rose. Back inside, Cornello runs past a room… and then looks back in, finding Ed sitting on a desk. Cornello’s office? Ed seems confident, is he planning something? Wait, what? “Tell me what I need to know and I’ll be on my way... “ Cornello. Cornello, buddy, tell me you aren’t going to fall for that… oh my Sun God, really? You can’t seriously believe after all you’ve done that Ed will just walk away after a few questions. He’s obviously stalling for whatever Al was doing. *Sigh* Fine, whatever. What’s your deal, Cornello? Why waste time with these phony ‘miracles’ when you can ignore Equivalent Exchange? Oh? So you’re attracting disciples with your ‘miracles’, building an army of fanatics? As unimpressed as Ed is, it’s not actually the worst plan. Why do everything yourself when you can convince some schmucks to do it for you? I mean, they won’t last a second against the State Alchemists, but whatever. Although it’s still not answering the question of “why”. Why do you need an army? Why do you want to use the Philosopher’s Stone to “tear the country apart”? Heck, ignoring your stupid offering of a ‘slice’ of the country to Ed (do you really think he’d go for that?), I still want to know how you got a Philosopher’s Stone, and why someone smarter hasn’t beaten you up for it already. Alright, whatever. [evil laughter], glowing white eyes, cast in shadow. Are you done monologuing? Because it’s probably time for Al to come busting down the door or whatever. “Wait, what are you laughing about?” You, dude. You are just cartoonishly evil. You got nothing on Mr. Freeze. See, Ed’s even calling you a novice! Evil Overlord List, Cornello. Read it. Wait, what? “On”? No. YES. YES. On Switch + Microphone = Dawning Realization the Radio Transmitter was turned on, plugged into the Church Bell Transmuted into a Loudspeaker. “There were never any miracles, Rose…” Shut up Al don’t ruin this moment for me! Ok, moment slightly redeemed by the “Are you f*cking kidding me” looks on the disciples’ faces. Here I was thinking Ed was recording it maybe, delaying for Al to show up and knock his teeth out? But transmitting Cornello’s monologue over the entire town? Genius. I am standing up and applauding, I am not even kidding. Oh man, these reaction cuts are gold, NPC Shopkeeper in particular looks pissed. Even the dog is shocked! Ok, ok. Give me a second to breathe… Just give it up, Cornello. You aren’t talking your way out of this one. And stop trying to fight, Ed way outclasses you. And… ouch, your Transmutation on your damaged gun just failed, looks like it melded with your arm? A rebound, like the failed Human Transmutation? Yep, Cornello’s lost it, yelling about being the ‘chosen emissary of the Sun God Leto’. Cut to the chapel, and Hulk-Cornello just smashed through. They’re smashing the place up, Cornello still ranting about being the Fist of God (does he really believe in Leto?), to which Ed Transmutes the great big statue to give him what he asked for. And Cornello’s down, like the half-baked villain he is. Now Ed can grab the… Philosopher’s Stone? It just stopped glowing and fell to the ground before dissolving. I mean, way too early for Ed to get the Quest Item, but still. Ed’s all shocked, saying the Stone is supposed to be the perfect material. So it was fake? But then how did Cornello do all that? Speaking of, the guy is just whining and whimpering now that he apparently can’t Transmute anymore. And Ed just… lets him go, yells at him to get out of there? Dude, arrest him! Guy was brainwashing a village, tried to have you killed, and was working to take over the country (no way he would have succeeded, but still). Don’t just let him get away! But apparently he does, it’s later as the Elric Brothers are talking outside the chapel. Come on, perk up guys. Just because this was a dead end- Rose, what the hell?! Put the gun down! Didn’t you hear him, it was a fake! And whoa, accusing them of keeping it for themselves? To get their bodies back, and bring back- Oh. Huh. Apparently that’s not even a consideration. “People don’t come back from the dead, Rose. Not ever… Not ever…” So, it really is just a quest to get their bodies back? Not to bring back Mama Elric? Rose collapses, crying about how Cornello promised her, that if she was faithful a miracle would occur. Without that hope, what is she supposed to believe in now? She’s begging them, asking what to do… and the Brothers walk right by her. Dudes, not cool. Don’t just leave her like this. “I can’t tell you that. You have to figure it out. Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You’ve got two good legs. So use them. You’re strong enough to make your own path.” ...while I admire the intent behind the message (and is this the show that Monty Oum’s catchphrase of “Keep moving forward” came from?), I can’t help but think that this isn’t he best time. Rose has just had her world destroyed, the source of her faith uprooted, the hope of getting her fiance back shattered. She needs something a little more gentle than “suck it up”. Later that night, seems the entire village has gathered, the [angry mob yelling] for Cornello. Inside the chapel, Cornello is clutching his new metal arm and ranting about the little brat… until another voice interrupts him? Lust? The lady’s complaining that they should have just incited a rebellion, while the fat guy chews on one of the chimera’s legs, then says he’s hungry and asks to eat the old man. Lust tells Gluttony no, she doesn’t want to risk indigestion. Cornello does not appreciate being mocked, says he won't SWEET LETO WHAT THE HELL Um, so Lust apparently has Terminator 2 claws on her glove, just stabbed Cornello through the forehead. Camera pans to an ouroboros-like symbol above her bust? Anyways, Cornello dead. Lust complains about ‘Father’ not being pleased about starting from scratch- Gluttony? Gluttony, no. Gluttony NO. No eating him. Don’t you- Ok, didn’t not need to see that. Well ok! Good episode, some parts seemed a little bit repetitive, drawn from the previous two I guess? But good overall, more establishment of the Elrics and setting stuff up for future episodes. So what’s up next? Riza! Doing paperwork! Seems the Elrics travel to the Eastern Command Center and to report to Colonel Roy Mustang (name is still manly). And there they meet the Sewing Life Alchemist? Oh, so bio-alchemy’s a thing? I guess with the divide between organic and inorganic matter, with all the Earth and Waterbending we’ve seen so far time to see the other side. And will this get us details on that chimera that Cornello made? Oh hey, is that a Cerberus? Looks like a three-headed dog in a cage, captured experiment or what? Episode 04: “An Alchemist’s Anguish” “Some meetings in this life are destined only for heartbreak.”

[love-on-your-wrist]

Analyzing Social Climb (pt.1)

K, so after finally getting back home and having actual WIFI in here, i decided to watch social climb again in its entirety and express some of my thoughts and observations i guess? Anyways lets go

The video starts with a 10-Second long animation of the band´s logo, and directly moves over to the visuals of a fancy-looking house. Over it, there is a bit of text and a headline:

                           “the TELEFOUNDATION presents

                              THOUGHT REFORM

           &THE CORPORATE GUIDE TO SOCIAL RECONDITIONING”

Now, let´s try and analyse this :D

What is Telefoundation?

On the internet, i wasnt able to find any mentions of the word, let alone a definition of the word, so i assumed it was the name of a fictional firm in the iDKHOW universe  But, i was able to find a similar word, “early television foundation” and also a link to something else here: http://www.cftf.org.uk/ if you want to take a look at that. The first one tho, it is a museum “dedicated to the preservation of the technology from the early days of television.“, as directly quoted from their website.

Furthermore, the website says: “Our website's mission is to preserve and make available to the public the history of early television, from the mechanical systems of the 1920s through the introduction of color televsion in the 1950s.“

Aha, so that museum just showcases different TVs from around 1945, how´s that connected to social climb and idkhow? I dont have an idea, but we know that the mv for social climb is a brainwashing propaganda video from 1977, broadcasted over television.

What is Thought Reform?

thought reform is another word for brainwashing used by Robert Jay Lifton, one of the first phsychologists to study both brainwashing and mindcontrol. Lifton was a US-american phsychatrist and author in the 60s. 1970 he was accepted as a teacher at washington school of psychatry. Later, he released his books called “Home from the War: Vietnam Veterans. Neither Victims nor Executioners (1973), and The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide” (1986), of which the publishing years bring us near to the time in which the iDKHOW story takes place.

returning back to ´thought reform´, Lifton offered 8 steps/methods of manipulating minds. I have copied them off http://changingminds.org/techniques/conversion/lifton_thought_reform.htm  for anybody interested:

#1 Milieu control

All communication with outside world is limited, either being strictly filtered or completely cut off. Whether it is a monastery or a behind-closed-doors cult, isolation from the ideas, examples and distractions of the outside world turns the individuals attention to the only remaining form of stimulation, which is the ideology that is being inculcated in them.

This even works at the intrapersonal level, and individuals are discouraged from thinking incorrect thoughts, which may be termed evil, selfish, immoral and so on.

#2 Mystical manipulation

A part of the teaching is that the group has a higher purpose than others outside the group. This may be altruistic, such as saving the world or helping people in need. It may also be selfish, for example that group members will be saved when others outside the group will perish.

All things are then attributed and linked to this higher purpose. Coincidences (which actually may be deliberately engineered) are portrayed as symbolic events. Attention is given to the problems of out-group people and attributed to their not being in the group. Revelations are attributed to spiritual causes.

This association of events is used as evidence that the group truly is special and exclusive.

#3 Confession

Individuals are encouraged to confess past 'sins' (as defined by the group). This creates a tension between the person's actions and their stated belief that the action is bad, particularly if the statement is made publicly. The consistency principle thus leads the person to fully adopt the belief that the sin is bad and to distance themselves from repeating it.

Discussion of inner fears and anxieties, as well as confessing sins is exposing vulnerabilities and requires the person to place trust in the group and hence bond with them. When we bond with others, they become our friends, and we will tend to adopt their beliefs more easily.

This effect may be exaggerated with intense sessions where deep thoughts and feelings are regularly surfaced. This also has the effect of exhausting people, making them more open to suggestion.

#4 Self-sanctification through purity

Individuals are encouraged to constantly push towards an ultimate and unattainable perfection. This may be rewarded with promotion within the group to higher levels, for example by giving them a new status name (acolyte, traveller, master, etc.) or by giving them new authority within the group.

The unattainability of the ultimate perfection is used to induce guilt and show the person to be sinful and hence sustain the requirement for confession and obedience to those higher than them in the groups order of perfection.

Not being perfect may be seen as deserving of punishment, which may be meted out by the higher members of the group or even by the person themselves, who are taught that such atonement and self-flagellation is a valuable method of reaching higher levels of perfection.

#5 Aura of sacred science

The beliefs and regulations of the group are framed as perfect, absolute and non-negotiable. The dogma of the group is presented as scientifically correct or otherwise unquestionable.

Rules and processes are therefore to be followed without question, and any transgression is a sin and hence requires atonement or other forms of punishment, as does consideration of any alternative viewpoints.

#6 Loaded language

New words and language are created to explain the new and profound meanings that have been discovered. Existing words are also hijacked and given new and different meaning.

This is particularly effective due to the way we think a lot though language. The consequence of this is that the person who controls the meaning of words also controls how people think. In this way, black-and-white thinking is embedded in the language, such that wrong-doers are framed as terrible and evil, whilst those who do right (as defined by the group) are perfect and marvellous.

The meaning of words are kept hidden both from the outside world, giving a sense of exclusivity. The meaning of special words may also be revealed in careful illuminatory rituals, where people who are being elevated within the order are given the power of understanding this new language.

#7 Doctrine over person

The importance of the group is elevated over the importance of the individual in all ways. Along with this comes the importance of the the group's ideas and rules over personal beliefs and values.

Past experiences, beliefs and values can all thus be cast as being invalid if they conflict with group rules. In fact this conflict can be used as a reason for confession of sins. Likewise, the beliefs, values and words of those outside the group are equally invalid.

#8 Dispensed existence

There is a very sharp line between the group and the outside world. Insiders are to be saved and elevated, whilst outsiders are doomed to failure and loss (which may be eternal).

Who is an outsider or insider is chosen by the group. Thus, any person within the group may be damned at any time. There are no rights of membership except, perhaps, for the leader.

People who leave the group are singled out as particularly evil, weak, lost or otherwise to be despised or pitied. Rather than being ignored or hidden, they are used as examples of how anyone who leaves will be looked down upon and publicly denigrated.

People thus have a constant fear of being cast out, and consequently work hard to be accepted and not be ejected from the group. Outsiders who try to persuade the person to leave are doubly feared.

Dispensation also goes into all aspects of living within the group. Any and all aspects of existence within the group is subject to scrutiny and control. There is no privacy and, ultimately, no free will.

Most of these methods are intigrated into the social climb music video, showing an elite, almost cult-like group of people most liekly cut off of the rest of the world, etc. i think #3 could also be a reference to the song “modern day cain” by iDKHOW, of which (for example) the pre-chorus is:

“So now you've done a little wrong And you need to be forgiven By the Vicar and the company you keep And then you conjure up a fiction To get the pretty girl to listen“

and also the main chorus that is:

“This is the sin That I will confess to release myself From consequence And everyone can tell“

in which method #3: Confession is mentioned directly. (Oh boi, i think we gettin to the point now, but after 2 hours just straight out researching and writing the first two explanations/theories i kinda dont know how to formulate the next section. i´ll take a short break.)

What is Social Reconditioning?

As i did my research on the internet, the term “social conditioning” seemed to have appeared way more often in results, and doesn´t seem to differ that heavily from social reconditioning, so let me explain it first. Social conditioning is  the definition of training someone to behave in a manner that is generally approved from society and/or peer groups in society. “Manifestations of social conditioning are vast, but they are generally categorized as social patterns and social structures including nationalism, education, employment, entertainment, popular culture, religion, spirituality and family life. The social structure in which an individual finds him or herself influences and can determine their social actions and responses. “ (Wikipedia)

So now that we´ve got that figured out, what would Social Reconditioning mean? I myself would explain it as having to adjust from one specific social pattern/structure to another. an example i provide is a soldier coming back home from the war and having to adjust into the general city-life from the strict life in an army. The “corporate guide to social reconditioning” is most likely to be a book in the iDKHOW universe abouthow to fit into a generally acepted form of society again. But what other social structure, or rather group of people is it, that one has to recover from?

 This is what i think is worth mentioning in this wikipedia article:

“Propaganda.

Edward Bernays, Freud's nephew and the father of propaganda and public relations, used many of his uncle's theories in order to create new methods in marketing. In Propaganda, he published that "If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it".[4] He used the herd theory in order to create public relations, thus conditioning the public to need particular goods from certain manufacturers. In the same publication he stated, "A single factory, potentially capable of supplying a whole continent with its particular product, cannot afford to wait until the public asks for its product; it must maintain constant touch, through advertising and propaganda, with the vast public in order to assure itself the continuous demand which alone will make its costly plant profitable."[4] His theories and applications in social conditioning continue throughout his work. “

In Summary/Conclusion

Social climb is a propaganda/brainwash video

It is from the late 70s (1977 to be exact)

The band iDKHOW is in it, joined by Whiteshadow (the white skull person with the mask), possibly meaning that Bamd has time-traveled into 1977

Social climb is very likely to be referencing Modern Day Cain, and probably MDCs music video

The propagande video might be advertising or warning the public about a cult-like group of elite people

Which are a Illuminati-like organization, if not Illuminati itself

speaking from scenes like the one at 1:19, where the Pattern on the table undoubtedly is a pyramid with an eye in the middle, having the letter i,d,k,h,b,t,f and m in each rectangle in the first row

if i get any more stuff facts about the actual video into this i might as well make a second part out of this

[synthsizedproductions]

Wildcard Wednesday # 5: Locked in Blood Chapter One

Hey, hey, guys, gals, and in between pals! I can't believe we're already at number five in this series. I know it's only been a month, but I'm super proud of myself for continuing forward even with some small setbacks.

This is a side story that I'm working on based on a Tumblr post that I've seen several times. This isn't part of the Synth Universe and will be found in the Side Stories section of the website. A link to the post will be at the bottom.

Hope you enjoy the show!

~Chance

CW: Blood

Chapter One

Vladimir looked through the mint condition cards he'd held sacred for so long. He hadn't kept them for over a century because he thought they would have more value later. He held hundreds of ducats in his hands, but money meant nothing in the face of immortality.

At least, it hadn't meant anything before even Vladimir Dracula fell on hard times in the 21st century. A plague ravaging the world was something he was familiar with, but it hadn't been on this kind of scale in a long time. Walking the night looking for easily convinced blood donors had become near impossible with the curfews and stay at home orders. Social distancing was a plague all its own on Vampire kind.

He spread the cards on the table with the utmost care. These cards were the most precious thing he had from a life long gone. His eyes rose to the ancient sepia toned photograph he had tended to with the same care as the cards. A sad smile crossed his lips as his gaze rested on the pair of men embracing in  the image. He began reaching for the photo, but pulled his hand back when there was a knock on his door.

"One moment." Vladimir dug his facemask from his pocket and looked into the mirror near his door to be sure it was sitting properly. It wasn't like he was going to contract the virus, but appearances needed to kept up.

Vladimir swung the door open and was surprised by not having to look down at the other man. Though he was not as tall as the fanfictions claimed, being almost two meters tall had him actually head and shoulders above most people he met. The second thing that struck him was the familiar brown eyes that met his.

"As much as I do not mind staring at your emerald eyes, are you going to invite me in to look at those cards?" The man's voice was like a ghost from the past.

If Vladimir's heart still beat, it would be pounding. It took him a moment to compose himself. "Yes, my apologies. You just remind me of an old...friend."

Vladimir stepped aside to allow the other man into his rather unassuming apartment. The long legged man strode into the main room and Vladimir could see him immediately start scanning his surroundings. Even this man's movements brought Vladimir back to that fateful day in Japan.

The man turned to face Vladimir again. The plain black mask obscured half of his visitor's face, but Vladimir could see the man's smile in his eyes. "Thank you for inviting me to see the cards. I was pleasantly shocked when you agreed to meet so late. Normally, people suspect foul play when I suggest meeting at midnight."

If Vladimir still breathed, he would be short of breath from the shock of seeing a shadow from his past. He had to compose himself again before he could reply. "Of course. I live a fairly nocturnal life, so this worked perfectly for me."

"Ah, another third shifter. Not enough of us around these days. Who will watch the walls while others sleep, Vladimir?" The man's laugh resonated within Vladimir as though he were a tuning fork.

Vladimir laughed as well to cover the sudden burst of nervousness. "Who, indeed. I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage as I've forgotten your name from our exchanges. All I can recall is your username. Home_Sweet_Holmes. I found it quite clever."

The visitor sat on the edge of the couch. "Thank you. You can just call me Holmes. All my friends do."

"Are we friends?"

Holmes chuckled. "I hope to be once we complete our exchange. So, where are the first run cards you told me about?"

Vladimir led Holmes to the table. "These are my most valuable cards from the collection. I have many more I can show you if you are interested."

Holmes squatted down so he was closer to the cards. He looked them over like a jeweler, his brown eyes flicking about at a near inhuman speed. "May I pick them up?" Vladimir nodded, trying to pretend he wasn't studying Holmes like he was studying the cards. Holmes stood to his full height again and picked the cards up, examining them one by one. Vladimir could hear the young man mumbling about details in the cards, some of which Vladimir hadn't even noticed before.

Holmes replaced all but one of the cards in their original position. He turned the card that remained in his hand over with a curious frown. "I hate to devalue your cards, Vladimir, but this one is not valuable as the others you have presented. What makes this one so special?"

Vladimir took the card from Holmes and stared down at the collector's piece. He laugh and shook his head. "My apologies, Holmes. I forget this card is not as valuable to other collectors. This one was actually given to me by the friend you remind me of."

"Your friend had good taste and a good eye for detail. I am guessing you are unaware of its true value?"

Vlad furrowed his brow and shook his head before placing the card in Holmes' outstretched hand. "No. He didn't tell me anything was special about the card."

Holmes held the card up and  pointed to a mark in the corner. "This marking was only on a small batch of cards as a misprint. There are only fifty of these in the entire world. Beyond that, this is part of that batch which was personalized by the original artist from Nintendo. This is one of ten cards with completely unique borders and backing." Holmes turned the card over and picked up a second card to show Vladimir the differences. "What you have is a unicorn, Vladimir. I could not ask you to part with something this valuable on a monetary and personal level. Your friend probably wanted you to keep this one."

Vladimir took the card back, his fingers brushing Holmes' as they went by. If Vladimir's blood still ran through his veins, his face would be flushed. He pulled the card close to his chest and couldn't help but to glance at the picture of him and Sherlock.

Holmes took immediate notice and squatted down so was level with the picture. "This photograph is ancient. I am impressed by its condition." He tilted his head as he examined the picture. "Is this your great grandfather? The resemblance is striking."

Vladimir nodded with another nervous laugh. "Um, not quite. That's my great granduncle who I was named after."

Holmes picked up the frame with the lightest touch, holding it in both hands as he gave it a closer look. "Was this your uncle's...friend?"

Vladimir shook his head. "You don't have to play heteronormative with me. My uncle was a bisexual man in the late 1800s."

Holmes looked shocked by Vladimir's frank response. "It was very brave of them to get this picture taken. It looks a bit different than most of the pictures I've seen from this era."

Holmes handed the photograph to Vladimir who lightly touched the glass that separated him from the past. "My uncle's partner was brilliant and devised a way to take a picture without the use of silver. A silver allergy runs in my family and even being around the stuff they used back then could cause great discomfort."

Holmes tilted his head and squinted his eyes. "I see. What a curious allergy." The young man turned his attention to the cards again. "I'd like to take some time to consider my offer. Would it be alright if we met at my coffee shop in a few days? If you don't mind bringing some of those other cards, I'll gladly take a few off your hands."

Vladimir put the picture on the table and collected his cards. "I didn't know you owned a coffee shop."

Holmes pulled out a business card from an inner pocket of his jacket and handed it to Vladimir. "Locke and Watts Café. A 24/7 internet café that I and a friend opened a year ago. We are not well known yet, but we are attracting the local college scene. Or, we were before this virus struck."

"Have you thought of doing curbside pickup or deliveries?"

Holmes sighed. "Yes, but neither of us have a car and my bicycle is not suitable for carrying anything except me. I think it belonged to my grandfather and potentially his father before him. It is  something of a 'welcome to adulthood' gift. A busted up bicycle that the recipient is expected to fix with no outside help. I think my father actually made that part up to fuck with me."

"Your father sounds like a prick."

Holmes burst into laughter, doubling over for a moment before gathering himself again. "My apologies, Vladimir. It is just that those are the exact words my grandfather said to me when I told him what my father had said. He told me my father had always been a prick and always would be."

Vladimir laughed as well. "It sounds like your grandfather had good taste and an eye for detail." Vladimir tucked the business card in his shirt pocket. "Give me a call when you want to meet again, Holmes." Vladimir extended his hand but pulled back when he remembered the social distancing rule.

Holmes held up his elbow. "Elbow bump?" Vladimir raised his elbow with a clueless look. Holmes bumped his elbow against Vladimir's elbow. "This is what my friends and I replaced handshakes with. Way less worry about transmission."

Vladimir followed his guest to the door, holding it open for the young man. Holmes gave Vladimir a parting wave before disappearing in the dimly lit hall. Vladimir moved over to his window and watched as Holmes unlocked a familiar bicycle before riding off into the night.

Vladimir laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling long after the sun had risen. All he could think of was the specter of his lost lover that had visited the night before. He turned to look at his cellphone. "Please call soon..."

Queer Bookworm reblog 

[mindless21]

ok Lover has me shook

So yes, in the last couple of hours since the release of Taylor’s seventh, wonderfully written, and fully OWNED album I’ve scattered and listened for my favorite parts of each song and decide to share because it is necessary ok????cool here we go. 

ps. the songs are not in order because I am a mess and it shows LLOOOOOLLL

False God. (13)

religion’s in your lips, even if it’s a false God, we’d still worship. We might get away with it. The altar is my hips.

I know heaven is a thing. I go there when you touch me honey, hell is when I’m fighting with you.

first of all I need an ambulance because when Taylor references anything sexual it does things to me cause OMG YES MAAM. The altar part had me ON THE FLOOR and the heaven and hell made me a new person.

Paper Rings. (8)

I want to drive away with you, I want your complications too, I want your dreary Mondays, wrap your arms around me baby boy

When I got home I tried to stalk you on the internet, now I’ve read all the books beside your bed.

Now I wake up at night and watch you breath.

You’re the one I want; in paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dream (in all my dreams)

this songs makes me SOFT ok ???? the little insights we get about her relationship make feel I don't know lucky?? like I know she is sharing this with the whole world but still?? like how sweet is this ??? like she went from wanting to know everything about him after they met to now knowing all of the books he reads in his spare time. I can't handle this my poor HEARTTTTT

Cornelia Street. (9)

We were a fresh page on the desk, filling in the blanks as we go.As if the streetlights pointed in an arrowhead, leading as home.

And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends. I’d never walk Cornelia street again. That’s thinking of heartbreak time could never mend. 

Barefoot in the kitchen, sacred new beginnings that became my religion, listen.

So barefoot in the kitchen ???? Im sorry but after the master piece that is All Too Well I’ve realized that to Tay Tay kitchens are internet places she shares sweet moments with people she loves and the fact that they're barefoot?? just shows how at home and intimate that moment is. Excuse me while I go cry in the corner thx. 

London Boy. (11)

But something happened, I heard him laughing. I saw the dimples first and then I heard the accent. They say home is where the heart is but thats not where mine lives (but god I love the English)

Like a child when our eyes meet. Darling I fancy you.

So I guess the rumors are true. You know I love a London boy.

first of all. IS THAT HIM AT THE BEGINING ???? cause maam i know understand the accent thing good lord. Second. I know she loves him but the fact that she plainly says it in a song??? im crying and so so happy for her. LASTLY how does one stay calm after taylor swit writes a song about you like that?? like i need to know hoe Joe reacted cause holy shit. ALSO THIS SONG IS SUCH A BOP.

Death by a Thousand Cuts. (10)

Cause the morning comes and you’re not my baby.

But if the story is over why I’m I still writing pages?

My heart, my hips, my body, my love. I’m still trying to find a part of me you didn't touch.

Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand, paper cut stings from my paper thins plans. 

Gave you so much, but it wasn’t enough. But I’ll be alright, It’s juts death by a thousand cuts.

her mind y'all. her lyrics??? even more so. like the way taylor writes just amazes me, the way she puts words together that hurt ?? that make you smile?? and cry?? that woman has a gift and is A gift. also guys. the writing pages part touched my little heart. cause i felt that. 

Afterglow. (15)

Fighting with a true love is boxing with no gloves.

Why’d I have to break what I love so much?

I’m the one who burned this down. But it’s not what I meant. Sorry that I hurt you, I don't wanna do this to you, I don't want to lose this with you. 

It’s so excruciating to see you low, just want to lift you up and never let you go.

Tell me I am all you want, even when I break your heart.

this song broke my heart a little. so much damn vulnerability in these lyrics give me chills. she's so open and i HURTTTT. like he's in pain and she's in pain because of that and now im in pain because of them and once again crying and omg what’s new. nothings new. Im crying over one of taylor’s songs again.

Daylight. (18)

I’ll tell you the truth, but never goodbye.

I wounded the good, but trust the wicked. Clearing the air, I breathed in the smoke.

I can still see it all in my mind. All of you, all of me intertwined. I once believed love would be black and white. But it’s golden

I can still see it all in my head. Back-and-Forth from New York, sneaking in your bed. I once believed that love would be burning red like its golden.

I want to be defined by the things I love not the things I hate. Not the things that I’m afraid of. I’m afraid of the things that haunt me in the middle of the night.

I just think that You Are What You Love.

the fact that this song is what closes the album makes me emo. its such a wonderful conclusion and such and explanation of the last couple of years and the reference to RED??? I was NOT prepared. Also the last line tugged at my heart strings because I believe that with every little fiber of my being.

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince. (7)

American Glory faded before me, Now I’m feeling hopeless.

My team is losing, battered and bruising. I see the high fives between the bad guys.

Boys will be boys then. Where are the wise men? Darling, I’m scared.

Cause I know this is a fight, that some day we’re gonna win.

y'all. I am so so so proud of the fact that Taylor now uses her platform to speak about what she believes is right and wrong. she no longer story quiet. she backs up her people and advocates and that is so so so important in todays world. because people listen, and people watch and sometimes they need that someone to speak up so they can know whats happening out there. and the political message of this song got me. America is a mess, and as a person that lives in one its states im scared. but this song gives me hope. cause eventually we will win. we will see the light. and i can't wait for that day. also the boy will be boys?? shit that got me. screw that excuse.

Soon You’ll get Better. (12)

In doctor’s office lighting I didn't tell you I was scared.

Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too.

And I say to you, ohh soon you’ll get better, ohh you get better soon, cause you have to.

I know delusion when I see in in the mirror.

You make the best of a bad deal, I just pretend it isn't real.

I hate that I make this all about me. But who I’m I supposed to talk to? What I’m I supposed to do? If there is no you.

Im sorry. But as someone that has lost her dad thanks to an illness this made me sob. I don't think I’ve cried this hard since the last time I listen to Ronan. holy damn. I am so glad Andrea is better because the pain of losing a parent beats every hear break. But with every lyric I related a little more, and maybe not the part where she got better but wow. It got me and it broke me na made me a little happy. Taylor this was beautiful. thank you.

It’s Nice to have a Friend. (17)

20 questions, we the the truth.

Something gave you the nerve to touch my hand.

Call my bluff, call you babe. Have my back, yeah, everyday.

this song was so sweet and simple with so much of that child innocence that it  makes me wish I had simple teenage years and not the mess they were looooll, This song is truly so sweet guys, like cotton candy sweet. 

You Need to Calm Down. (14)

Say it in the street thats a knock out, but you say it in a tweet thats a cop out.

But I’ve learned the lesson that stressing and obsessing about somebody else is no fun.

You need to calm down, you're being too loud.

And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate. Because shade never made anybody less gay.

this song is savagery and I LOVE IT. yeah you call people out Taylor, cause holy damn this was great. I took me a minute to get the fast parts but guys i got it downnnn and the song makes me JAMMMM. You go queen Taylor, you’ve won your crown, ily.

Me! (16)

Baby doll, when It comes to a lover I promise that you’ll never find another like me.

I know I tend to make it about me. I know you never get just what you see, but I will never bore you baby. 

And when we had that fight out in the rain, you ran after me and called my name. I never want to see you walk away.

Living in Winter, I am your Summer.

This song gave me such a laugh when it first came out, its freaking awesome (get it ????) but guys did the ran after me and called my name gave me such Mine vibes that I had to go and watch the video after cause damn. I love when lyrics bring me back to old albums, specially when the songs have two completely different tones in the story telling side.

I Forgot that You Existed. (1)

Lived in the shade you were throwing till all of my sunshine was gone.

Your name on my lips. tongue tied. Free rent living in my mind.

I forgot that you existed. And I though that it would kill me but it didn't. 

I forgot that you existed. It isn't love, it isn’t hate its just indifference. 

Sent me  a clear message, taught me some hard lessons. I just forgot what they were.

THIS SONG IS SUCH A MOOD yallllll, like byeee you hurt me? were my friend once??? tried to play me ???? CHAUUUU ADIOOSS like wow this not only a bomb but can easily be an anthem. Also I love shady taylor.

Cruel Summer. (2)

What doesn't kill me, makes me want you more.

And it’s new, the shape of your body, its blue. The feeling I got and it’s ooh.

No rules in a breakable heaven but, ooh. It’s a cruel summer with you.

I’m always waiting for you just to cut to the bone.

And I don't want to keep secrets just to keep you.

And I scream “For what it’s worth” “I love you, ain’t that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?” He looks up grinning like a devil.

A MF BOP OK???? the ohhhs had be screaming and the lyrics had me grinning. Also i need background .... secrets ??? what was he lying about??? and was her first i love you this dramatic ??? who knows, but I am so enthralled. Also its been decided that breakable heaven equals new scared oasis and OMG. Also the color blue has been mentioned so many times in this album anyone know what kind of easter egg that is ??? cause I’m lost.  like is it about Joe’s eyes?? cause honey honestly same. 

Lover. (3)

Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years.

Can we always be this close? forever and ever?

I’ve love you 3 summers now honey, but I want them all.

With every guitar string scar on my hand I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover.

My heart has been borrowed and your has been blue. All’s well that ends well to end up with you.

And you’ll say all of your dirtiest jokes for me, and at every table I’ll save you a seat.

mark my words. the day i get married this will be what i dance to on my first dance. if my spouse doesn't like it we are just gonna have to settle and do it anyway. this song is so timeless and the lyrics so soft, like i feel like i’m in love and so single. like c’mon lets dance around in the kitchen in the refrigerator light to this song because i am in my FEEELSSSSSS. (also y'all the reference to her scars from writing all those heart breaking songs??? i need to hug her.)

The Man. (4)

They’d say I played the field before I found someone to comment to, and that would be okay for me to do. Every conquest I had made made would make me more of a boss to you.

I’s be a fearless leader, I’s be an alpha type.

Wondering if I’s get here quicker If I was man.

I’m so sick of them coming at me again, cause if I was a man I’s be The Man

If I was flashing my dollars I’s be a bitch not a baller. They paint me out to be bad, so it’s okay that I’m mad.

BIG DICK ENERGY TAYLOR. y'all she’s so not wrong, 75% of the shot she has gotten about what she does she would have gotten praises for if she was a dude. i love love love how she is calling sexism out in this song.as much as it is progressive times and what not she is explaining the kind work we live in to those that don’t understand and YESSSS BAD BITCH TAY. WE STAN. (we have for 13 years but ya know who is counting)

The Archer. (5)

I’ve got a hundred thrown out speeches I almost said to you.

I never grew up, it’s getting so old. 

All of my heroes die all alone, help me hold on to you.

Cause all of my enemies started out friends, help me hold on to you. 

Who could ever leave me darling? But who could stay? you could stay.

This song omg.... the music makes me melt first of all, and then the lyrics break me. like she is so clearly explain that she's doing all she can not lose him. explains how her best friends have betrayed her and how the people she had high regard for also hurt her and omg so open and honest my heart bleedddss. The heroes part also makes me feel like she's telling him that she sees him as one of her heroes which is why she asking for help to not lose him (i could be reaching buuttt) and I don't know how to deal with my emotions right now. 

I Think He Knows. (6)

I think he knows that his hands around a cold glass, make me wanna know that body like it’s mine.

want to see what’s under that attitude. I want you, bless my soul.

I think he knows he better lock it down or I won't stick around ‘cause good ones never wait.

He is so obsessed with me, and boy I understand. 

yallllll this songgggg. the innuendo ??? i love ittttttt. also I love the fact that she knows her worth. That she finally understand who she is in a relationship and is able to realize that she is a good one, that if she is not happy she can leave. AND THAT AMKES ME SO PROUD CAUSE TAYLOR YOU ARE SO AMAZING.

And thats the end of it folks. I waited so long for this album... had so many count downs and bless me for living in Hawaii were I go the album on the 22 at 6pm thanks to time differences. 

CONCLUSION: LOVER IS A MASTER PIECE AND EVERY SINGLE SONG IS SO AMAZING AND THERES NOT A SINGLE SONG BEING SKIPPED WHEN LISTENING.

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

Happy May Day everyone! I hope you all are having a fantastic day.

Before I jump into the breakdown of everything I’ve read and watched, I’m going to start with the overall 2019 wrap-up, as I have every month thus far. I think it’s helpful to look at my overall month-to-month progress on my goals for the year.

Reading: I read 19 books this month. I’m still doing really well with my Goodreads reading challenge for the year, but I’ve started to slack on my Year of Big Books personal challenge. I’ve read a couple 500+ page books, but they weren’t ones on my list. I guess they still count, though. And I have big plans for big books as we move into summer, so there’s still plenty of time to feel successful with these reading goals. For the record, my Goodreads goal was 75 books and I’m currently at 69 books read. So I can definitely say that I’m going to be increasing that goal, but probably not for a little while. I’d like to still try and get myself to focus a smidge more on writing.

Blogging: This has been my most successful year of blogging so far, and that’s fantastic, and this month I definitely saw an improvement over last month. Mostly this is because I ended up bringing back my weekend posts in order to keep from falling even farther behind on my review backlist.

Writing: Chalk this one up to a pretty big failure. I think I only wrote maybe 1,000 words this month, which I’m a bit upset about, but spending the first third of the month without internet definitely took its toll on my ability to focus and write.

Conventions: GenCon is close to releasing the event and panel calendar, which means we’ll start figuring out our tickets for the stuff we’d like to do. The past couple GenCons we went to, most of our time was spent wandering the show floor. I’m hoping to go to some writing panels. Oh, and they keep adding guests for Cincinnati Comic Expo, and it is making me even more excited to go–even though Damian and I will spend most of the event working with Colorworld Books.

Let’s start off with the books I’ve read over the month of April. As always, if there is a review posted for that read, I will include a link to it as well.

Geekerella by Ashley Poston — 5 stars

The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston — 5 stars

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman — 4 stars

We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett — 4 stars

My Hero Academia, Vol 18 by Kohei Horikoshi — 4 stars

The Girl from the Other Side: Siuil a Run, Vol 6 by Nagabe — 5 stars

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, Vol 2 by Yukiya Murasaki and Naoto Fukuda — 4.5 stars

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, Vol 3 by Yukiya Murasaki and Naoto Fukuda — 4.5 stars

The Wicked + the Divine, Vol 8 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson, and Clayton Cowles — 5 stars

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy — 5 stars

Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell — 5 stars

The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller — 5 stars

No Country for Old Gnomes by Delilah S Dawson and Kevin Hearne — 4 stars

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett — 4.5 stars

Dragon Goes House Hunting, Vol 1 by Kawo Tanuki and Choco Aya — 3.5 stars

Geek Wisdom: The Sacred Teachings of Nerd Culture edited by Stephen H Segal — 4 stars

King of Fools by Amanda Foody — 5 stars

Colorworld (audiobook) by Rachel E Kelly and narrated by Cherami Leigh Kuehn and Todd Haberkorn — 5 stars

Geek Girls Don’t Cry: Real-Life Lessons from Fictional Female Characters by Andrea Towers — 4 stars

Okay, so that means it’s time to move onto what I’ve watched over the month. Beauty & the Beast (5 stars), Shazam! (5 stars), Game of Thrones season 1 (5 stars), Assassin’s Creed (3.5 stars), Brave (5 stars), The Secret World of Arietty (4.5 stars), Knights of Baddassdom (4 stars), Game of Thrones season 2 (5 stars), Game of Thrones season 3 (5 stars), Avengers: Endgame (5 stars), Accepted (4 stars), Stick It (4.5 stars), Avengers (5 stars) The Big Bang Theory season 1 (4.5 stars).

As for our in-progress watches, we are halfway through the fourth season of Game of Thrones, and we are continuing our watch of Critical Role’s second campaign.

Next up is the book haul portion. Okay, now technically three of these books were March buys, but they didn’t arrive in the mail until April, so I’m including them now. Also, yeah, I totally made up for the small hauls the last couple months. Yikes.

Oh, and I had to get OwlCrate again in April, because it was featuring one of my absolute favorite books and I needed the alternate cover in my life. So now I have two awesome signed copies of this book and they look so great together, and I am super happy with it. And I think we’ve figured out where our bills stand with the house, so I can probably say that my OwlCrate subscription is reinstated…but I’m going to play it month by month for right now.

Finally, I guess now I need to talk about my May TBR…which is a pretty darn ambitious stack of books, honestly. I guess I’m just in the mood for some big ole fantasy reads. Of course, May is beginning with the next round of the Manga Madness Readathon, so obviously expect some manga to pop up at the beginning of the month too. But we’re also planning to once again go and visit Damian’s grandparents for a holiday weekend at the end of the month–and they live somewhere with basically zero cell phone reception. What that means for me is basically four days unplugged from the rest of the world, and since I’ve learned that I wake up 3 or 4 hours before everyone else, I have so much awesome reading time. Seriously, I think I read something like five books on the trip last year, so I should definitely be okay to read a couple of big books. It’s exciting.

Yeah, it is a pretty thick stack. I don’t know what I’m thinking. It should be fun though. Obviously I don’t always stick to my TBRs either, but I want to read each of these books for different reasons, so it’s shaping up to be a great month of reading.

How was your April? Any big plans for May? Let me know in the comments, and I will be back soon with more bookish content.

April Wrap-Up and May TBR [& Weekly Wrap-Up (11)] Hey all, Dani here. Happy May Day everyone! I hope you all are having a fantastic day.

[kingoftabor-blog]

Discovering the Finest Items For Modest Guys Made Uncomplicated

dárky Does finding the finest items for guys genuinely make a difference? How essential are the presents we give? Can individuals seem by means of the neatly tied bows and crisp, patterned wrapping paper and see the authentic you and attach a which means to it all? Is it really that essential to your occupation, romance or influence more than some others? Definitely! The art of obtaining the best items for modest males might seem to be a reasonably simple course of action, but when it comes down to it, it is not. Presenting inappropriate items or gifts that may offend can ruin any rising or currently cast partnership. Modern study concludes that purchasing a improper reward for a male can set a romance in jeopardy. This was dependent on the assumption that 'gifts act as markers of interpersonal similarity for equally acquaintances and close partnership partners...' (Dunn et al 2008). In this experiment, men's analysis of undesirable presents discovered that they saw the gift giver as a lot less very similar to them. Subsequently they imagined their future alongside one another with this kind of a person would be substantially shorter. I guess the lesson for all of us is that negative items replicate poorly on our relationship and us as individuals shut to us suppose we know them very well plenty of to locate the ideal gift for each and every event. It also pays to bear in mind that discovering a soul mate or 'kindred spirit' is believed to be central to a successful romantic relationship and fulfillment (ibid. 2008). The place we determine a similarity with a spouse, buddy or colleague, it is human mother nature to associate this with higher partnership gratification. We specially like to believe our associates are comparable to us. So this reveals the possible harm that acquiring a poor present can do due to the fact it damages that sense of similarity when we get a poor reward. Discovering the very best gifts for males regardless of whether modest or not is thus, extremely important in my belief. Do not get rid of heart. Choosing the ideal reward for Christmas or any other situation will need not be an arduous job as we will be wanting at how to find the excellent existing for your dad, husband, son, male mate or colleague, specifically if they are the modest type. The typical epitome of the "modest man" is one whose lifestyle is marked by simplicity and has a humble opinion of himself. To place it a lot more bluntly he is basically a straightforward gentleman with easy tastes - not that it is a terrible matter. It can be almost unattainable to acquire items for this sort of man, as you are constantly next guessing your selections. Will he like it? Will it be ideal? It may occur as a surprise to most gals that men usually have uncomplicated tastes and are sentimental opposite to common belief. While they may prioritise requirement from time to time, they also have an psychological link to particular points and occasions. Coming again to our modest males, these guys are often not very materialistic which typically poses troubles for everyone who attempts finding the perfect gift for them. We can draw some similarities among the essence of present giving and our modest blokes. The artwork of gift offering can be traced back again to historic Roman festivals in which communities gave each and every other basic items such as sacred evergreen branches in the course of celebrations. With time and as all factors do, there were being changes to the sorts of gifts, which then involved gifts of honey and cakes symbolizing prosperity and sweetness envisioned in the coming year. Today, present-providing has turn into major small business in particular at Xmas with the introduction of St Nick, cutthroat advertising by the media and its skill to sensationalize this after modest gesture into a shopping frenzy from early November until Xmas Eve. Ironically, there are nevertheless some cultures in which there is no reward giving madness during Christmas or any other events for that issue! It is normal follow to be thankful to the powers that be for the additional yrs when it arrives to birthdays and a unique meal, mostly hen, rice and comfortable drinks for lunch to mark Xmas. At ideal the younger young children get new outfits to dress in to church. With this history in thoughts, is it any question that some folks desire the basic items in lifestyle? While the gentlemen we are involved about are modest, it definitely does not mean that you can get the exhausted aged socks, jumpers and cologne regimen to mark each and every celebration. With choices only a mouse click on away, we want to place an finish to traditional mundane present ideas. Selection is the spice of lifetime, it may be an previous stating but that need to support us refocus and bring out our perception of creativity even though searching for the greatest presents for gentlemen. As this sort of, reward acquiring must be a approach that requires the innovative expression of our emotions for the receiver, based on the romance of system, which must be a pleasurable practical experience somewhat than be witnessed as a chore or demanding time. Purchasing presents only will get challenging when left right up until the last minute. When you make the final decision to buy a present, you want to keep in mind the event, the recipient's temperament and most importantly, your budget. I are not able to emphasize this plenty of. What are his passions or hobbies? Is he an lively outdoorsy kind of dude? Is he a auto enthusiast or keen on artwork, fishing, golfing or athletics mad? Does he take pleasure in new music or motion pictures? There are also several fantastic present tips for the modest traveler or adventurer. A weekend scheduling in a mountain cabin or passionate getaway are all possibilities that can be explored relying on your spending budget and his interests of system. Choosing exclusive presents that thrill him this sort of as expertise presents could demonstrate worthwhile for you in the prolonged operate. We all know it is simple to get any person enthusiastic about something if you pin it to an existing passion. Special presents, customized presents, top quality seating tickets for his favorite crew, a present certificate to a pretty cafe will signify a whole lot far more and display the receiver that additional assumed has gone into the choice procedure. I have carried out some study for you and have a several good reward offering recommendations. I hope this can help. Usually, buying up a hint from the recipient, an thought in this article or there is all you will need to get the ball rolling. My son is just one of all those people that will inform you as the calendar year progresses the kinds of factors he is into which can make lifetime simpler when birthdays and Christmas arrives alongside. All I need to do is pick out from the several hints dropped albeit knowingly! As a result, listening to hints from a recipient is a fantastic way to gauge passions and it is of wonderful importance in discovering the finest gifts for gentlemen. Obtaining said that, doing your browsing on-line opens many choices all at the touch of a button. Gifts on the internet come in a range of groups to fit all tastes and much better however, searches can slim it down to match your budget ought to you choose to set oneself cost ranges in these occasions the place belt tightening has grow to be the buy of the working day. Inexpensive is the new amazing this year. Begin early and you get lots of time to search for inexpensive thoughtful gifts that match your recipients' style, persona and your price range. Whoever coined the term 'boys and their toys' is absolutely a genius. My husband's very best friend, a renowned physician and modest male I could include has a well-known rule, which rings genuine of most guys if not all. He never ever purchases his young children any toys that he cannot engage in with. Amusing that! As most of us have learnt, males are but children in bigger muscular bodies. As a result, when acquiring them items, even for the modest male, preserve this gem in brain. Every person has a function design. As these, all gentlemen can be classified into the James Bond type who adore all gizmos and his spirit of adventure. This is manifest in gentlemen who really like and receive and or get the job done with every little thing electronic, said medical doctor falls neatly into this class Walker Texas Ranger, John Wayne or GI Joe wannabes who in real lifetime may well be our males in uniform policemen, army personnel or firemen the MacGyver and the Do-it-yourself Mr. Repair It crew who revel in their electric power applications making and creating factors. All men adore toys of some type and are enthusiastic about them.