#you can see daniel's impact everywhere :(((((((

[formulaonedirection]

He spent the year working on his accent <3

#daniel ricciardo #lando norris #i'm gonna jump fr fr #FOR REAL #he was so SHY ABOUT IT LAST YEAR #SO SCRUNGLY #AND NOW HE'S LIKE YES LET ME JOIN LET'S GO BABY #YOU READY BOY #how fucking cute is that #the way he's let himself grow so much this year is incredible :((((((( #you can see daniel's impact everywhere :((((((( #cry. #anyway. #*dando #nadia's things

[inchidentally]

Lando's eyes always sparkle when he looks at Oscar and it captures my heart every time. You can see that Lando likes Oscar very much and his eyes don't even hide it. God, their relationship is so intimate that sometimes it's hard to watch without feeling like a third wheel. Oscar, I don't know how you did it, but as a Lando fan, I'm grateful that I get to see this version of Lando every time he's around you.

straight up anon, the shift in Lando when he got a teammate who exists on the same natural wavelength as him has been a thing to behold ??

like, Lando is someone who goes through life looking for romance and he so easily gets a crush on anyone who populates his world with something special or beautiful. that's what has made Oscar such a unique relationship for Lando because Oscar doesn't consider himself or his life at all in the world of romance or fantasy. he considers himself extremely practical, "low frequency" and enjoying the simple things in life. he's not at all a typical heroic figure like Carlos or a big camera-ready personality like Daniel. Lando's interest in Oscar has been a slow but steady curiosity that has grown even without Oscar initiating a joint hobby or going on outings together or playing up a bromance for fans. Lando was definitely a little unmoored by the lack of all of that for a while!

the only two aberrations in Oscar's calm and cool are his pursuit of F1 and his fascination with Lando, which we know to have been intertwined as early as him moving to the UK at 14. there is serious romance in the way they ended up as teammates and major drama of Oscar's determination to get that seat.

but! then there's Lando saying how he sees them as similar to each other back in July 2023! bc Lando had always used self-mockery to interrupt his moments of earnestness and in a lot of ways was always striving to be Just A Guy to fit in with the guys in his life. his creativity would pop out very occasionally but mostly he became known for being naturally funny and able to click with just about anyone by matching their energy and adapting to their humor. he even took great pride in The Lando Effect - which ironically was more about Lando changing to suit Carlos and Daniel, who he has almost separate versions of himself with. he was the baby brother as always, wanting to hang out with his older brothers and wanting to fit in.

and then he gets Oscar as a teammate who seems content to just stay back and watch Lando and observe Lando and learn everything about Lando he doesn't already know. who seems to have no limit when it comes to handling the full range of Lando's personality and never tells - or even jokes - that Lando should change a single thing, even when it directly impacts Oscar. Lando doesn't have to match Oscar's energy and it turns out! they both like it best when Lando doesn't try!

which is when we started seeing lando.jpg reemerge and 7 podiums and a new hunger for even more and higher expectations of himself and a calmer, more authentic - less cartoonish - Lando on camera in challenges and social media. he even said how Oscar taught him by example the importance of "keeping calm and being yourself". of course silly, fun Lando is still there! he's still little brother to Carlos and Daniel and George and Alex! but those are now some of the many facets we've gotten to see in the past 14 months!

the winter break was a revelation because Lando spoke to fans solely through his camera lens and the reflections of the beautiful world he saw as he traveled. no goofing, no pretense, no corporate. his chosen pose for all his photos was partly in fun, partly symbolic of his confidence that he didn't need to sell these photos as selfies for them to blow up all over social media.

and all the while Oscar was quietly on his own down time and training, liking Lando's posts and saying "you went everywhere!" and listening to Lando recount it all.

then Lando came back to work this year and everything about him wore a new sheen of beauty and romance to it, including him having grown more beautiful. he's used his beauty more consciously when modeling and even LN4 and Quadrant took on a more stylized look. his new McLaren contract announcement was an entire aesthetic complete with a short film.

like, obv this whole post is me going off on a whole stupid thing but just. Lando was always meant to live his life in a unique way and he was always meant to see things through romance and art and music. he wasn't supposed to apologize for enjoying racing as a means of attaining perfection one day. and there's Oscar who reflects back to Lando all the quirks and things that make Lando unique that he's memorized over the years, listening to Lando's music in place of the usual silence in his own driver's room, helping Lando navigate unknown food and new lengthy words and knowing when Lando is comfortable to take the lead in public speaking and when Lando needs Oscar to step in and handle it. pushing Lando all the time as a teammate and the whole friction creates the pearl analogy.

idk it's just not as huge a leap as I thought last year to say that Oscar's comfortable, placid life has long had a splash of color in it at last in some part because of Lando and that Lando has become the most authentic and brilliant version of himself at least in some part because Oscar is there to always appreciate it.

like this little moment of Lando giving Oscar a nickname and Oscar finding it the best thing he's ever heard and Lando's half-stunned and delighted smile at being able to do that to Oscar is just all of that distilled:

Oscar's confidence has returned and he's smoothing over the awkward PR duties while Lando is relaxed and confident and the little quips like this just come so naturally. (the way Lando actually wriggles in his chair with delight over Oscar's reaction !!) like, Lando doesn't have to try ! he doesn't have to try to be anyone but himself ! there's someone here at work with him all day and every day who is delighted by him no matter what !

and what's even better is apparently! now that they both understand and exist on that wavelength together, they've returned from winter break circling around each other and looking for each other more than they ever have <3

#inchreplies #landoscar #lola alert #inchidentallyanessay #ahhh feels good to do another one of these #I've tried to do it less so no one thinks I'm like living and dying by landoscar interaction afgljfgsjafgl #for reference

[littlebitsmile]

in flames [C.L.] | Chapter II

Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully you're going to enjoy 2024 and everything what is in store for us (and maybe it's a great start, since you decided to stop by and read this chapter). Thanks for the support and here's to all our dreams and hopes!

story: in flames driver: Charles Leclerc [C.L.] trope: #haterstolovers summary: Always working three times as hard as everyone else, Emma does not intend to blow her chance of driving among the best of the best in her very first season in Formula 1. Concentrating on first and foremost getting ahead of her brother, she does not even notice that there are some people even in her own team who think she does not deserve this spot and would rather see her fail. And one driver in particular seems to have a need of always reminding her of that.

────ʚ C H A P T E R II ɞ────

I feel out of place in my dress, which barely reaches my knees and whose sequins sparkle in the right light. I've been sipping on a glass of champagne for an hour. I feel like I've been transported back to the end-of-season party, which I was only invited to because Max insisted on having me on the list.

Today I have to laugh at the thought. The only person who was and still is reasonably nice is Fernando, and I'm sure that's only because I'm his teammate.

"Everything okay?" asks Max, who stands next to me with what is now his third glass of champagne and puts his right arm around my shoulders.

"Couldn't be better," I murmur. "Do you know if Dad's coming, too?"

I look around the room. Max has been planning this New Year's Eve party since last year, sparing no expense or effort. The bar, which normally operates under the name 'SHADES,' has been transformed into a nightclub for today. Balloons and confetti are flying everywhere; the lights are dimmed, and I can feel the bass of the music more strongly in my chest than I can actually hear it.

"I hope he knows how to stay away today." My brother's announcement doesn't shock me at all. We're off-season, so a little partying shouldn't normally have too much of an impact, but our dad has always been…special.

"Come with me; I'll introduce you to a few people." With that, I take a last sip from my glass, put it down, and then follow my brother, who is walking towards a group of three.

He puts his arm around my shoulders again before toasting the boys and then introducing me: "Guys, this is my sister, Emma. Emma, this is…"

"Oscar, hi! And you're Lando, right? Great racing last season, really! I may have placed bets on you guys once or twice." I shake hands with both of them in turn, eliciting a smile. They're both my age, which is probably why I find it so easy to connect with them.

"It's an honor. But don't worry; we won't spare you next year," Lando whispers and curtsies exaggeratedly. I laugh and feel the tension fall away from me a little.

"Man, I hope there's still room on the podium next to you and Max." Oscar mumbles to himself, jokingly, but he's saying what everyone is expecting. A sensation, a sibling duo that sells well, unique in racing. But I will probably have to disappoint them about claiming a spot on the podium.

"And even if there's still room, Oscar, I'm going to claim it. Daniel, hi." A familiar grin I grew up with while watching TV and attending races when Max participated. I'm a little nervous, but shaking hands warms my heart.

We talk for a while, and I can't help but look at my brother from time to time. How easy it is for him to crack jokes with the others. He used to be the shy one of the two of us, completely focused on racing, and nothing could cloud his thoughts. Until his first world championship title, he had an incredible burden on him; at least that's how I imagined it. We never talked about it. Now he is more relaxed, enjoying his time with his girlfriend and their daughter, almost as if he could get used to the idea of being a father. Almost as if racing no longer occupies 90% of his thoughts. I'm happy for him every day, but I can't help but feel that all eyes are on me now.

I've often wondered whether I shouldn't just get out and do something else. Become a teacher or a photographer. I could still stay in racing, just not actively anymore. But a family of racers doesn't give up, so here we are.

"So, you're the one who took Théo's seat in Formula 1 away from him, even though he won the F2 Championship. Are you proud of that?" a voice behind me calls out. I turn around and look the man who interrupted the group conversation in the eye.

"You must be Charles, right? Nice to meet you." I try to be friendly. If there's one thing I've learned in the last few years, it's that my brother can get away with a lot more than I can. I can't read as many newspaper articles as would be printed in the next four hours claiming that I'm irrational and too emotional for racing. Headlines littered with yet more theories about why I'm going to fail this year, stemming from a conversation I'm having with a half-arsed Monegasque whose ego is bruised because a driver friend of mine didn't get a seat in Formula 1. Surprise surprise, life isn't fair.

"I'm afraid I can't say the same" he replies. His tone is disparaging, and I can't tell if it's the alcohol talking or if he's always like this.

"Charles, bro, pull yourself together. This is Emma, Max's sister.", Daniel tries to intervene, unsuccessfully.

"I know who she is. The second privileged Verstappen who cost a good driver his seat. On pure speculation." He spits the words out in front of us. Lando and Oscar try to look in a direction other than his, while Daniel scratches the back of his head. I know how much the fans love Charles Leclerc; I see tons of edits and videos, just as I know he usually deals with the other drivers in a friendly manner.

"I'm not sure if my gender or my surname is the problem, but I guess we'll have this discussion on the track. Unfortunately, I'll only be able to see your facial expressions through my rear-view mirror."

"Cherie, if you drove the way you talk, you wouldn't need the surname or the gender to ride with us. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. After all, you've never played with the big boys."

"That's right, it's only been men so far. But you don't seem to be one of them. Maybe that's why you've had more accidents than successes this season: because you still drive like a boy." His look gives me a little satisfaction. I'm not usually one for confrontation, but I already hear these sentences from reporters and my father on a regular basis - so I can confidently do without his comments.

"Soooooo…dance floor, anyone?" Oscar interjects. I can't blame him.

Charles and I are having a silent staring contest. I'm still undecided whether he's going to throw himself at me and try to strangle me in the next twenty seconds or whether he's going to take the fight to the track - and if I'm honest, I'm not particularly keen on either situation.

"One vote for Tequila," I say, giving Charles a smug smile and then turning away from the group. I must get to the bar. Now. Before I think too much about what the others think of me and whether they might be right.

I hear Max briefly apologize to the others and follow me. "Don't listen to him; he's had a difficult season this year and…" he starts.

"I know, Max. That's why I'm going for a drink now and forget this conversation." I clear my throat as I massage my right temple. We do not need drama.

"He's really nice, I promise. He just needs a little time to… soften up," Max continues as we stop at the bar. Then he lifts his hand to signal the bartender, mouths "Tequila," and holds up two fingers.

"It's okay, I promise. He's not the first, and he won't be the last to throw his thoughts at me."

Max nods but is still lost in thought. The barman puts the two shot glasses down in front of us, smiles, gives Max a high five, and then turns his attention to the next guests.

My brother pushes a glass toward me and holds the second one up between us. I confirm one last time: "It's okay! Don't worry about it." before I throw my head back, and the tequila burns down my throat. Then I hook Max and drag him onto the dance floor - after all, this is a party.

For the past two hours, I've been trying to behave a little more like a Verstappen, even though 99% of the time I'm distancing myself from the male family members. But apparently, the F1 circus confuses kindness and empathy with weakness, and the last thing I want to be accused of before the season starts is being weak. Oscar, Lando, and Daniel keep me company throughout the evening, and finally, I can talk about topics other than racing.

Daniel tells stories from Australia, the prejudices about the country, how a snake hides in his shoes in winter, and that's why he always wears different ones, so he doesn't scare it away. Lando talks about rainy England, how his coolest Christmas present was a new part for a kart, how much he misses his parents, and why he sees streaming as the perfect way to give something back to his fans beyond Formula 1. Oscar gesticulates wildly as he talks about his sprint win in Qatar before we bring him down from his high for a bit. He then talks about his girlfriend Lily with a lovesick look on his face, then Daniel and Lando make copycat moves to wipe that topic off the table too.

I laugh, but I understand him. It's not easy being a youngster, especially when you're one of the youngest drivers in the paddock.

I drift away from the conversation when it comes to vacation plans for the new year. For the first time, I consciously let my gaze wander around the room, away from the black-clad bar and the chandelier hanging above it and towards the window front directly opposite and the adjoining terrace. The view of the skyline melts my heart. Fireworks light up here and there, accompanied by a muffled bang that you can only hear in here if you concentrate really hard. There are already so many people on the dance floor that I doubt how many of them Max really knows well and which of them he has randomly bumped into and handed an invitation to.

I spot Max in the middle of the hustle and bustle, sipping his gin and tonic carefreely and bobbing awkwardly. He is surrounded by people holding up cell phones, wanting to capture the moment or perhaps just wanting to post that they are celebrating the new year with THE Max Verstappen. I wave to Lando, Oscar, and Daniel, gesturing for them to join Max on the dance floor. Suddenly, there's no fear of the year ahead, no headlines in my mind, no worries about my performance or how well I'll fit into my new team. There is only gratitude and anticipation and no room for negativity.

-

"Three. Two. One. Happy New Year!" shouts the crowd as the countdown echoes through the club. Most of them stand outside on the terrace and watch the fireworks over the skyline. I've stopped counting how many faces have introduced themselves to me; I probably won't be able to remember them in six hours anyway. If they're important, I'll get to know them in a professional setting, I'm sure of it.

"Happy New Year, Emma!" Kevin shouts in my ear. I remember him—the reporter from the last press conference. The only one who wants to see a woman lose her seat in Formula 1 even less than I do, without having had the chance to show what she can do. I hug him, thank him, and, as if it were a secret ritual, we clink glasses.

"Here's to kicking a few doubters' asses next year!" I shout back. I'm sure no one else heard me.

Nevertheless, I look around the room and catch Max winking at me and raising a glass. Somewhere I see Lando hitting on a woman who is obviously not interested in him. Then I spot Oscar typing furiously on his cell phone, presumably to wish his girlfriend a happy new year—at least I hope it doesn't extend to adult texts. Then I see Daniel climbing up onto the bar to fire the confetti cannon in his hand and fire up the crowd.

And somewhere in the middle is Charles, relaxed and relaxed, talking to the people standing next to him and laughing out loud. I wonder what I've done to him, but I don't waste my time any longer.

I've often been asked what I expect from 2024, and finally, I can give an answer: Here's to revenge on the track.

────ʚ [Masterlist] [Chapter I] [Chapter III (in progress)] ɞ────

#f1 #f1 fanfic #formula 1 #charles leclerc #slow burn #f1 imagine #haters to lovers

[suckmyshlock]

OSCAR THOUGHTS

Everything Everywhere All at Once dominated at the Oscars this year, celebrating the ending of awards season with the most accolades a film has ever won with a total of 165 awards.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a little movie with big heart and it's gone big places in a well-deserved way. Made with a relatively low budget of around $20 million and shot hyper-quickly over the course of less than 2 months, with a small cast of characters, very few locations, and all editing and visual effects done in-house - EEAAO was a passion project for writer/directors, the Daniels. Kwan & Scheinert are formerly known for Swiss Army Man, an equally strange movie that made little splash in comparison to the cannonball of EEAAO. Like the Daniels, the casting choices in the film favored actors with unconventional careers. Ke Huy Quan, a beloved child actor who had been out of the film industry for two decades. Jamie Lee Curtis, a scream queen and genre star. And Michelle Yeoh, who is primarily known for 90s martial arts films and experienced a career revival similar to Quan's. The Daniels sought out underrated and unconventional film stars for EEAAO, in a movie built on strange choices, and the finished project, while still unconventional, was rated just right this year.

I'm coming up on my 30s next year, which is a difficult milestone for anyone. It's easy in our world to think that once our 20s are over, we're too late. That if we don't make the right connections, end up in the right place at the right time and fast, then it's best that we give up and surrender to a life of mediocrity, normalcy; that it's time to finally "grow up." Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh, and Jamie Lee Curtis are all performers that I grew up watching. Indiana Jones and The Goonies, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Halloween are all insta-classics that I was shown over and over as a small child, which were never thought of as old movies at the time and now, suddenly, are. When Ke Huy Quan accepted his award and said, "I almost gave up on mine, keep your dreams alive" and Michelle Yeoh said "Never let anyone tell you you're past your prime" these are statements that hit not only me but everyone from my generation and older who has thought about giving up. When Jamie Lee Curtis thanked the fans that have supported her through years of making genre films and said "this is a win for us", she was talking about the impact that genre filmmaking has had on the industry, which is too-little recognized. Is Jamie Lee the first scream queen to win an Oscar? I struggle to think of another.

For the Daniels to be so highly recognized as to receive the awards for best original screenplay as well as best directing for an oddball science fiction film, as a team consisting of a queer artist and an artist of color, shows that the Academy is beginning to move away from long-held beliefs that favor the white-dominated high-drama Oscar brand of filmmaking. 2023 is perhaps the first Academy season to inspire me. It shows that passion and love is what art is all about. That as long as we don't give up, our time can come. When you love what you're making and put your heart into it, your audience will find the work, and they will love it too. And it's never too late for that. That is a big and beautiful sentiment for something as sterilized as the Academy Awards. Like EEAAO, the Oscars this year packaged a lot of real, human emotion into an unexpected place. It meant a lot to me on a personal level to see, and it gives me hope for the future of art and genre filmmaking.

#the oscars #oscars #academy awards #everything everywhere all at once #eeaao #ke huy quan #michelle yeoh #jamie lee curtis #film #film review #movie review

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hey, hope you're having a nice weekend.

A few days ago in a discussion on one of your posts someone (I can't find it anymore and don't remember who it was, bad me) said that drinking from Armand in ep6 might be the power upgrade that makes it so Louis doesn't disintegrate if/when he walks into the sun and that has been rotating in my brain for days now.

On a surface level it would be kinda hilarious if messing with Daniel ended up saving Louis' life. On a more serious level I can absolutely see Armand suggesting he whole thing as a fun prank to play on Daniel while secretly hoping his blood will keep Louis alive in case (with the added bonus of being able to rub it in Lestat's face 😄).

And then there is the thought of if that happens, how it will impact their relationship considering how Louis reacts to being saved and getting a power up from Lestat's blood. Pffff.

Ha, yeah, Louis wasn't too thrilled by it all (for quite a while) after...

I'm sure that Armand was indeed happy that Louis took some of his blood... as the cauterization display in episode 1 has proven Louis is not yet sun-proof... (and that little sip would not make him so imho), BUT it is indeed an interesting aspect to consider that the sip... might have prevented the worst (when it happens).

That would be... sweet, in a way.

But I mean, if they go that way, and Armand helps him, then that couch will be truly interesting in season 3... Louis would then be almost level to him and Lestat, and the tension in the air would be off the charts.

All three of them would then battle guilt-ridden-elation, and it would indeed be very interesting to see each of them deal with it. And in the middle of it all Daniel who is connected to them all (I would bet real money that Daniel might have run into Lestat before, maybe at the concert, as (almost) in the books), and who is trying to drag the truth out of them.

Oh, I hope we get that, can you imagine the interactions, and little jabs, the bitchiness and longing, and the deep, deep feelings on display everywhere between all four of them.

#o0anapher0o #asks #ask nalyra #amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #iwtv 2022 #interview with the vampire #future season speculation

[merv606]

Modern arranged marriage au where Terry's and Daniel's families are forcing them to get married and they only get to meet once before the wedding. It's canon that Daniel warmed up to Terry pretty quickly but what about Terry? Do they get along well? Do they have much to talk about? Do they argue? Does Kreese tease Terry about the age difference

Canon wise Terry liked Daniel

I mean - his reaction to hearing Daniel’s name says it all ✅ big old smile and the special nickname “Danny Boy,” that instantly springs to his mind ✅

The fact is TIG has said the apology was sincere ✅

Terry’s reaction at being rejected ✅

Terry is always smiling and clearly having fun with Daniel - the entire mini mart scene, the country club “I like this attitude on you.” ✅

I mean there are times, I think, Terry forgets himself and his supposed true purpose in KK3 - he is excited for Daniel when he breaks the board and the whole club scene.

Also - this so supported by CK.

“It’s good to see you.” He means this.

“There’s the cobra Kai student I remember”

“I made you powerful.”

Trying to twist their time together to frame it in more of a positive light - to align it with how he sees it, how he remembers it - also while making Daniel take responsibility in way. YOU LIKED IT (because if Daniel did then really, it wasn’t so bad what Terry did) There was always a little cobra Kai in you and the whole I just helped you bring out that which was already there etc etc

Leaving this here because Terry def did put some cobra Kai in Daniel - I wonder if TIG reads the fan fiction 🤔

Also, the fact Terry remembers all this while he was supposed *coked* out of his mind also says something about the impact Daniel made on him - they were both a big part of each other’s lives even if their time was (supposedly brief).

💯 Terry regretted not doing things properly IMHO and what he could have turned Daniel into, but this has nothing to do with your question besides, the fact is that yes, Terry would like Daniel.

Look, even if you had nothing in common / Daniel motormouth, likes to ramble on (bless KK3) Larusso can and would talk about ANYTHING.

He’d find things to talk about, even if they had nothing to do with either of them, so you bet your ass there would be stuff to talk about - constantly. Terry probably struggles to get a word in edgewise.

Silence may be golden but Daniel never really liked gold.

Imagine Daniel wandering around their new home and the running commentary. 😂

Maybe they have karate in common or maybe in this one he sees Terry in the dojo practising and asks (demands) his husband teach him.

The argue but they also make up with bed breaking sex so really that just lends itself to bad behaviour - Terry likes his attitude after all.

Kreese teases Terry about the age difference until he walks in on something he can’t unsee in the dojo, maybe Daniel just babbling as Terry has been having his way with him all day, everywhere and anywhere and Kreese never brings it up again.

And he just pulls out a shot glass when rumors of Terry and Daniel caught fucking in some new place surface or at some fancy charity thing or whatever the fuck Terry does in his spare time (besides Daniel).

He isn’t sure if Terry even fucked Daniel in cobra Kai, but he won’t risk it - he makes Terry pay to have the place sanitized just in case.

#ask #I got an ask 🤩 #daniel larusso #cobra kai #terry silver #silverusso #silverrusso #the karate kid

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Repost: On Hate - This Post is too Long for the Subject

Below are two exhibits that I strongly encourage you read completely before reading the rest of my post.

Exhibit A: You might be surprised by the parallels you see in this story from 2011 about a person the boys (especially Yoongi) know personally - this is about a 5 mins read. https://stanfordmag.org/contents/the-persecution-of-daniel-lee

Exhibit B:

Two more things I’ll say before the actual ‘think piece’ is that (1) k-army is not a monolith. Every type of fan we can think of (army, diet solo stan, solo stan, anti, multi, manti, stalker) has its Korean equivalent that is usually just more intense. Please remember this when you see me write ‘k-army’ in scare quotes.

(2) When dealing with people on the internet, the expectation is to show, not tell. It is not enough to say something happened, you must show it happened with pictures or screenshots, and video clips are preferred because those are harder to manipulate by lay people. The only receipts in this post are the exhibits I linked above. I am consciously refusing to share media in this post because the subject is hate. I hope the further down you read the more you’ll understand why I decided to do this.

Le document de réflexion - my most intense reporting experience last year as a case study lol:

In early 2020 up until just after Dynamite was released, a group of friends and myself were spending upwards of 2 hours online every other day, reporting users on major Western SNS platforms and Korean ones. This timeline is important to remember for later. Practically all the users we were reporting were Taehyung antis ‘exposing’ him for his behavior in both his personal dealings with other members and other celebrities, and towards his work. 

A lot of newer armys have by now heard about how Tae was called “Alien” until around 2019, this has been lovingly changed to him having a “4D personality” circa 2018 onwards. Both nicknames were given by Korean ‘fans’ or ‘k-army’, and both are euphemisms. This history is now sanitized because the reality was far more ugly (kudos to Jimin for attempting to reclaim that term in his song: 친구 ). 

The reality is that a sub-set of the fandom found (and finds) Taehyung’s behavior to be beyond odd - the kinder ‘k-armys’ in that sub-set saw him as stupid and left it at that, the others saw him as rude, passive aggressive, inconsiderate, manipulative, and consistently seeking to undermine some other members, and they have the clips to ‘prove’ it. These clips are essentially compilations of every time Tae says or does something brash or unthinking (not always reflected in the subtitles), whether harmless or not, including ‘subtle’ actions that they feel suggest a need for control or dominance, as well as every time the members have less than glowing responses to things he says or does - including clips from interviews, award shows, RUN BTS, radio shows, you name it - they also heavily implied (with supporting video ‘evidence’) that his moodiness towards the members and in interviews was an attention-seeking tactic and that some members spoke over him because they secretly dislike him. There were also instances of him groping or grazing the members intimately and the reactions of certain members to that if they were caught unawares and those reactions did not always seem very positive. These clips had been circulating for years and were everywhere in akgae forums by late 2019 and it was these clips we were working hard to get taken down. There were also clips drawing doubt as to his talent and contribution to the group - they included compilations of him lip syncing, singing off key or straining, ‘lazy’ and off-beat dancing, ‘lazy’ acting (from Hwarang), some clips included someone who looks like Tae smoking or vaping either alone or with someone who looks like Kwon Seonghwan, and this was often tied to his work ethic and the apparent impact on his voice. Then there were the rumors which I won’t go into detail on but they included everything from his parents making undisclosed investments in BHM (this resurfaced after BHM ipo) to sponsors and drug use to relationship drama with staff and a Korean influencer to claims his friends are misogynists therefore it is likely he is as well. Then there was just pure hate: speculation he was suicidal or with ED, pics or clips suggesting he had hair transplant surgery and other procedures done to his face, pics suggesting he photoshopped and used filters excessively, name calling implying sexual crimes, speculation he actually spent time with friends before going to see his grandmother, and that he was using her passing to manipulate the members and the company. Everything I’ve written was either believed and/or spread by ‘k-armys’, and the reality of this campaign is even still worse than this.

The shift in 2020 is that some of us in the fandom felt Tae had become more withdrawn, distanced, and just more sort of ‘out of it’ than he typically is sometimes. We were concerned. The Festa rolling papers the members left for Tae wasn’t also very encouraging. At the same time, my friends noticed this hate being spread to twitter and Weverse in English-speaking spaces, from the niche Korean blogs it was rampant on before. This was something my friends had to educate me on because as I’ve said elsewhere, my interest in BTS usually revolved around the rapline and most of my earlier insight into any of the members was through their interactions with rapline members. A few of my friends are Tae-biased and were following this closely. I knew of the nature of akgae forums for the rapline members and was active reporting there, for the maknae line, I needed some orientation. 

This timeline is also important because in early 2020 there were apparently rumors that Tae was being considered to star or feature in a drama targeted to a Western audience. Whether this was true and/or connected to the anti stuff spreading to English forums, I can’t say, because this shift (late 2019) appears to have happened for Jimin and Jungkook antis as well. By the end of 2020, we learned Tae dealt with some depression or burn-out (which for me at least partly explained how withdrawn he seemed earlier), and the slow-down from the pandemic helped him find himself again. Those ‘k-army’ accounts and clips still exist but most of the really problematic ones are now off twitter, reddit, and youtube. The original clips are still thriving in ‘k-army’ anti spaces. These video clips for Tae are updated with every single content the company or general media puts out, because if you’re looking for bad behavior, you’ll find it even if it means working with preconceived notions and misconstruing reality.

The reason it took close to 8 months to get these accounts offline is because the users kept creating new and multiple accounts each time we got one suspended. It felt like fighting a hydra but I was somewhat used to this after going through the same thing for rapline members (I’ve been actively reporting since 2018) and in late May we had to focus on the hate Yoongi was getting after D-2. My friends and I weren’t doing this alone - they have their friends who have their friends and some of us report regularly. What was different in Tae’s case (and the maknae line in general) compared to the hyung line, was the sheer volume of hate. We did not at any point engage with the antis directly nor with the content. This is important for Part 2.

(mood break)

Le document de réflexion - Part 2: 

There aren’t many cons to being an OT7 army but one annoying con, especially if you report frequently, is seeing the same anti talking points, 7 times over. At first when I noticed this, I thought it was interesting, then I thought it was amusing. Now, I just find it annoying. 

In late 2020 my curiosity about jikook got the better of me, so I started spending time in shipping spaces. It was horrible. It’s true a lot of shippers are solos or diet solos who handpick a partner for their fave and some project heavily through them. It’s also true that wherever you find solos, you’ll find akgaes and/or antis. Just by paying more attention to jikook, I got exposure to their sort of antis. By early 2021 I found some shipping spaces on Tumblr I could tolerate, so I opened an active account. This didn’t give me exposure to more jikook antis (they’re mostly on twitter and youtube and the main offenders I was aware of anyway), but it did let me see just how closely shipping ties into the hate for all seven members. But’s that a topic for a different ‘think piece’ if I ever write one. 

The real point of this section is to explain why I don’t think it’s a good idea to engage with the antis directly or with the content.

On not engaging antis directly:

Hate is not an opinion, it is a judgement call that is believed to be true and it almost always necessitates action. It’s rare to find people who hate in silence lol. People are hated all the time and this is nothing new or alarming. In societies with disproportionate wealth disparities, like Korea and the US, celebrities or people with perceived influence or power are seen as less deserving of sympathy in general, and as a result are easier targets to hate. For k-pop idols, who are already commodified to some degree which always results in them seeming less (not more) human, if they are hated, it is of an even more dehumanizing kind than the sort levied at regular celebrities. K-pop stans have a peculiar sense of entitlement that deserves it’s own study istg.

The thing with hate towards another person is that for most rational people, it requires moral justification. (You look silly if you hate a good person, you look at least decent and get a dopamine high if you hate a bad person - yes, it’s been studied). This justification is easy to provide and more believable if you have intimately dealt with said person but nobody this side of Tumblr has intimately dealt with any BTS member. Very few fans in Korea have that experience too, and even then their experience from fan meets last mere minutes. In fact, all anybody really has to go on, are video clips that capture seconds at most, of interactions that are more/less than ROTM. BTS are not even like regular celebrities or politicians where it’s easy to find verifiable gossip. The reality is that fans have very limited visibility into their real lives. 

For a group like BTS, where people who have directly worked with them have gone on record to speak about each member and how they relate to each other (eg. Jessie, Seo Taiji) you need to make some assumptions but it is easy to arrive at the conclusion that x member is mostly good because of how they all speak about each other. To think that x member is mostly bad you need to make several more assumptions, but this is still a relatively easy conclusion to reach. And this is a very important point. 

I initially thought it was odd that all seven members have similar things said about them in hate forums. It’s one thing if it’s just one or two members, but these antis seem to follow a sort of template for all seven: behavioral issues - rude/disrespect, attention-seeking, violent behavior, tension, drinking/smoking/drugs; sub-par talent - I won’t list these out but it is enough to know there are long ass pages on Hoseok and that should tell you all you need to know about the others; and crimes of some sort. And it never stops at just the members, these antis manage to rope in their families as well. For certain members the hate is a bit peculiar, for Jimin, Namjoon and Yoongi for example, there are a lot of graphic sexual references. It’s not long before you find someone calling either one a sexual deviant, molester, rapist, predator, or creep or someone wishing those members were sexually assaulted in some way. I initially thought there was a farm somewhere churning out these accounts. Then I came across some people who I witnessed turn into antis of certain members, and talking to them last year made me arrive at my current conclusion: 

BTS is comprised of seven very different people who went through some of the most turbulent periods of their lives (late teens / early 20s) under a lot of pressure, in extremely close confines, with cameras in their faces. Even now, they fight, kiss, bicker, disagree, agree, like any other group of friends/co-workers and we see this happen from time to time (one thing they always emphasize is that they respect each other professionally, at the very least). Tangentially related, people often make their impressions within seconds of seeing or meeting someone, and those impressions are hard to shake off - studies show we often make these judgements based on pre-conceived notions of how people should relate to each other. Some people are triggered when they see or hear certain things, and it is my opinion that people who are anti certain members are those who have a fundamental dislike for who they perceive that member to be. 

It sounds like I just wrote a load of circular nonsense in that last sentence but please bear with me.

I’ve already said elsewhere that those who worship some members as perfect gods or hate them as vile snakes are mirrors of the same, and that those sentiments have very little to do with the members themselves, in my opinion. If it were x member who was the problem, I would not have to report lip syncing compilations 7 times over, or behavioral compilations 7 times over. etc etc. These people see things they don’t like, they pick up on cues that they identify negatively with, and run with it. Because BTS are seven very different people, these cues come in seven varieties. And that’s more than enough.

The more you engage with these people, the higher their hackles go up. Haters are already predisposed to certain cues and are then likely to interpret anything x member does through the lens of malice or incompetence: 

When Joon antis were calling him a misogynist and he addressed this directly at the UN interview, saying that in response to that criticism he engaged with a Women and Gender Studies professor to help review his lyrics, his antis then claimed his misogyny must’ve been so terrible he needed expert help or that he was saying that to grandstand.

When Namjoon asks Chris if he’d like him or Tae sing a part and Chris chooses Tae, it can’t be because Joon wants to clarify, it must be because Joon is greedy for lines, doesn’t really like Tae, and wants to center himself in this track with Coldplay.

The company hesitating to add Jimin to the group when they debuted couldn’t have been because he had the shortest training period in BHM’s history (to date). It has to be because Jimin is untalented (those who think they’re doing him a favor qualify that he is the ‘least talented’). You’d have to also ignore what both Taehyung and Yoongi said about Jimin at that time, but yeah, plausible.

When it comes to group dynamics, when you hate someone it becomes harder to believe the people you like, can like, much less love, that person. So some antis hate x member(s) but like the others, and so these antis begin to devalue their relationships as well. Any mildly negative glance is given outsized weight and any positive interaction is discounted. Now x member cannot just want to give x member a neck massage, it must be fan service.

When Jimin asks Yoongi if he’d like to share a room and Yoongi declines, it can’t simply be because Yoongi would like some personal space to work on his music which he brought equipment for, as he said. It must be because Yoongi secretly dislikes or hates Jimin, and is enforcing his boundaries because Jimin is a sexual predator, emotional manipulator etc etc.

When k-armys say they spotted Yoongi and Jimin at a cafe quite some distance from the hybe building, and when Hoseok mentions in his Vlive that Jimin and Yoongi often still shoot hoops, those must be one-offs or carefully crafted leads to create a false sense of friendship between yoonmin.

When J-Hope tells Jimin he can’t leave with him to go home because he wants to practice one more time cause he’s performing live, it can’t be just that. No, it must be J-Hope taking a snide dig at Jimin because Jimin never performs live, like he didn’t even perform Filter live, and that cannot be because Jimin had to pre-record the outfit change (so the latter part of the performance was pre-recorded, the rest live), it’s because he is fundamentally untalented or unable to sing and perform.

Pushing back only results in the hater finding more and more reasons to justify their hate, which only results in them further dehumanizing the person they hate. It grows from a dislike at how a certain member communicates, to that member actually being very rude all the time, to that member being violent and brutish, to that member actually being an animal. Before long this hate takes on a life of its own and everything x member does only further confirms why you hate them. You don’t even notice when you start presuming their internal motivations that you have no way of truly knowing at all. 

I’ve already seen edited clips from Coldplay’s raw acoustic performance suggesting JM did a lot of laughing to hide his inabilities and no singing for his parts, when just watching the original clip shows that yes he did in fact laugh at the members but he also sang. For an anti who’s already formed an opinion, that edited clip (on anti accounts) is seen and filed away as just one more confirmation, and often times, by the time they see the original clips it wouldn’t really matter.

The fact is, engaging with an anti will not make them hate less. Nobody changes their opinion on the internet unless they were predisposed to doing so anyway.

Do not at any time point out to an anti that neither you nor the anti actually knows this person they hate so much. Also do not point out they are determining a person’s aptitude and character based on hour-long edited compilations (at most) of 10-year relationships for seven very different people. There is nothing to be gained.

On not engaging the content:

The reason is simple: the content itself is repetitive and engaging with it has the opposite effect to what you intend because all it does is spread hate. *caveat at the end of this post.

People who say a certain member lip syncs are not lying. It’s true BTS members lip sync. *gasp* It is also true they sing and rap live. *gasp again* Please note the difference in the three sentences (italicized for emphasis). Again, BTS members do lip sync or have heavy backtrack playback, this happens sometimes in concerts (which I personally think is understandable), comeback shows, and some performances. They also sing live in many concert and off-concert performances. Like the MMA Dynamite performance when Jimin deliberately did not sing after the bridge to prove they weren’t lip syncing. Yoongi tends to do this a lot as well. Several of their performances this year have been live, a few have been synced or had heavy backing track playback, and this is not true for only one member, but several. The issue is these compilations exist to drive the narrative that x member(s) always lip syncs. It doesn’t take long before seeing a lot of this that you begin to believe it. 

Also, people who say a certain member acts rude are not always lying. It’s true BTS members are rude sometimes, far as I can tell. I mean at least we all watched Burn The Stage though there are more recent examples. They sometimes get on each other’s nerves. Surprise. But again, the story for the antis is that x member(s) is always or mostly disrespectful.

These sort of criticisms work for certain groups, but they don’t for BTS if you’re paying attention to all the members. I was dealing with lip sync compilations for Hoseok, Yoongi and Joon before I noticed the same compilations existed for the Vocal line. Please don’t bother engaging the content because these antis are not interested in seeing x member sing live or else they would have seen those examples already, they are interested in highlighting that only the member they hate is woefully deficient. When you point out that this is not unique to a certain member, the charge is to show proof. The problem is showing this only spreads and creates more hate, because now antis of other members have more material to discredit those members, and the antis of the original member are spurred on find more hate material.

One quick thing to note about many of these clips is that some of them are in fact manipulated. Gashara, the person mentioned in the screenshots above, is a person notorious in akgae spaces who specializes in doing just that. We came across this name several times in reporting ‘k-army’ anti posts. It’s also suspected they work with several people because they set up several youtube and video channels spreading their anti clips of certain members. 

Something that has changed recently on akgae networks is that this hate content also now involves who is doing the hating. Now, certain akgaes (even from other k-pop groups) cosplay as other akgaes and deliberately spread hate (sloppily of course), so the narrative includes that x member akgaes are the repeat offenders. This claim is then spread to wider armys who then make the association of their bias being harmed by fans of another member. I’ve already seen this used by Hobi, JK, and JM antis - the 1st time my friends and I noticed this was after the 3J performance this year. 

This is also the reason armys who say “why does only x member gets this hate” are usually dismissed as diet solos, because it is simply not (always) true. If you think only one member is experiencing something, that only shows you’re in a siloed environment, which indicates you’re spending some time in solo-leaning spaces or focus mostly on your bias. But there are exceptions, I think.

(mood break)

Le document de réflexion - ending thoughts:

Personally, Yoongi is someone I relate a lot to. He is very close friends with Dan (the tablo guy in Exhibit A). Yoongi has talked a lot about people, behavior, and hate. He talks a lot about hate, actually. He seems to deal with a lot of it that comes from domestic quarters, and you really see this if you listen to his music. People are drawn to hate. It sticks out and arouses curiosity. Hate on any platform only inspires more of the same.

I’m stressing the domestic nature of this hate because some people seem to think because Koreans are the people highlighting something, therefore it is more legitimate. The people who started calling Tae an alien were Korean, the people criticizing Hobi, Joon, JM, Suga, JK and Tae for their weight and behaviors are Korean, the people criticizing JK, JM, Tae, and RM for their speech are Korean, the people who start these rumors are Korean. The people who hounded Dan to an absurd degree, are Korean.

Nobody is obligated to like every person they see. One thing I personally try to do with BTS, is give benefit of doubt in how they relate to each other when I see things I find unpleasant because we’re all human. Unrelatedly, when I see people I disagree with, I engage because debate is healthy, and it’s possible I might change my mind about something. The moment I realize these people are antis, I disengage because see all the above.

Originally posted: October 6th, 2021 12:20am

#kpop fandom #fandom behavior #bts army #bts fandom #repost #jimin #park jimin #fandom behaviour #kpop #BTS #Bangtan #yoongi

[otlwoozi]

OTLWOOZI’S TOP 22 KPOP SONGS OF 2022

scientifically backed ranking of every kpop song this year. source: trust me.

[no.22 - 13]

22. moon prism - rocket punch

if wjsn’s bubble gum music and magical girl music had a child, this song is it. rocket punch hasn’t failed me yet, and this song is still them but also MORE you know?!!!!

21. tangerine love (favorite) - nct dream

recipient of the best nct song title. the pre-chorus wind up of “every time, my type”s is so energetic and fun in a way that the other nct units can only dream (haha) of

20. party rock - cravity

let 4th gen men make goofy funky music again!! i dont even stan but this chorus is such a good mood lifter when you need to start the day early. the energy of it reminds me of the designated funk song on every boy group produce season

19. love dive - ive

i’m sorry that this is so low, such is the crutch of being literal soty and played everywhere 24/7. anyway, this is a song without flaw, the art of anti drop is perfected and THEN SOME. would be higher if gaeul sang more :3c

18. cookie - new jeans

i know the lyric’s weird and all and we definitely dont condone lolita-ized concepts! that said. they ate this and not a single cookie crumb was left. they need to let danielle do the sulli talk rapping more, she’s on the verge of a breakthrough

17. raise y_our glass - heo yunjin

would be higher if i listened to it more. this one’s on me though, because i cry like 30 seconds into it. also seeing yunjin’s growth from pd48 to being in that weird middle ground doing vlives w gaeun to being an it girl now… i love her. the production feels much sparser than usual kpop songs, closer to western music, and it’s so intimate

16. basics - twice

changed the game, like actually CHANGED the game for twice bsides. twice has always had amazing bsides, but this one needs to be a single idc jyp make it happen. it’s so fun it’s so filled with attitude and also affection - it actually perfectly captures the feeling of the early stages of dating!!!

15. pop - nayeon

the nayeon brand of being everything kpop is at its heart continues. the song’s fun and playful and showy and a PERFECT solo debut

14. kka kka - cherry bullet

chebul’s entire cherryography (cherry rush & cherry wish) is immaculate. the verses sound like a happy f(x) song, and the chorus is summer time in an audio file, with their 8bit-y brand on top. i urge everyone who’s ever liked a poppy wjsn song to listen NOW

13. aquamarine - lee chaeyeon

she is the modern day BoA. not that BoA isn’t still making great music, but if i was 7 again and listening to this instead of BoA’s sweet impact, i’d still question my sexuality. it’s gentle yearning but in a pop format, and her lilting voice is perfect for it

#it talks #most of these are girls gjkshfksj

[i-want-my-iwtv]

Hi!! I'm new to the fandom (I started reading the books because of the AMC show) and I just finished Queen of the Damned. I've seen a lot of fans say that you should stop there because it gets a lot worse. I saw what people were saying about what's in them and :/ Can you recommend any fanfictions set after the third book so I have something to read in the meantime before the show premiers?

Hello and welcome to the fandom! See, I had a feeling that the AMC show would do this, like any other adaptation, draw new ppl in who find their way to the books!  ✨✨✨ 

It’ll be interesting to see how fic writers write fic set in the AMC verse, whether they’ll choose to pull anything from canon, still, or if they’ll situate fully in the AMC characterizations and plot points.

So yes, there are fans who call books 1-3 “the trilogy," and it's up to you whether you want to continue. I always recommend continuing and reading all of canon if you can, and just skip over scenes or books that don't work for you. I think of canon as a buffet, take something from this hot plate, skip over that weird-looking vegetable dish, have an upside down meal with dessert first, etc.!

It depends what you’re enjoying about the books, really. Which characters you want more of? Bc Anne did write the books in a way that explores their stories individually and as an ensemble.

One of my friends adores Daniel, ships Daniel/Armand, and didn't read Pandora, skipped over it, and kept going into the series after Pandora looking for more of Armand and Daniel. Now, it could give you more insight about Armand to read Pandora, because of her relationship with Marius, which had an impact on Marius' relationship with Armand. But it’s not necessary. 

As far as fanfictions set after the third book... that's tough, bc tbh, ppl don't always say in their description when the fic takes place, I skimmed my works and even I didn’t always do that 😬, but there are also lots of fics set within books 1-3, which you might want to stick to to avoid books 4+ content. 

There are fics set in modern times long after books 1-3, in which you might get the canon references to things happening in any of the books, which it seems like you may be trying to avoid? So I would recommend you read fics that are either books 1-3, or AUs, because AU fics may have spoilers about books 4+, but you won’t understand the references to canon events if you haven't read the books? Idk this is a tough one!

I can shamelessly promote my VC coffeeshop AU fic that I co-wrote with @wicked-felina, Signature Blend, here. I’m 99% sure that the only thing in it that’s a spoiler for books outside 1-3 would be the presence of Mojo the dog, from Tale of the Body Thief (book 4), but he’s a pure cinnamon roll, and you could treat him like he was in canon - just a dog we all love!

There will also be fics set in the AMC verse, I'm sure of that, so you could wait a bit and read those ;-D

People are welcome to comment/reblog this with their own fics, or other ppl’s fic recs for Anon! I would prefer not to add more recs myself, only because I know I'm interested in fic from anywhere and everywhere in canon, and I don't want to play favorites (other than my one moment of shameless self-promotion) on this response.

#anon #ask #vampire chronicles #interview with the vampire #fanfic #fanfiction #reccomendations please #Signature Blend #will also be accepting praise for Signature Blend as well...😏 #wicked-felina #read the books

[champagnepodiums]

Was just wondering, do you really think that dts will have such a huge impact that it will affect a team's image so much that they have to do damage control? In my experience, judging from myself and my f1 friends, I don't think many of us still really bother with dts. The last 2 seasons or so, I just wait for clips to be posted on sm of key moments or pretty gifs of my fav driver. I don't bother with the whole thing anymore. And with what we do see, I think established f1 fans know that's its dramatized and in the case of mclaren (and actually, most of the talking points) I feel like we all lived it in real time, so there can't really be much more bts drama that could change my feelings with the situation. And with newer fans, I don't think it can have that big of an impact, because they don't have that connection with the team at all, so i just feel like any protrayal in dts of the Daniel thing won't be that big a deal to them. I really feel, from what I see, that dts' relevance has waned and these days there are other routes that are attracting more fans to f1 than dts is doing (compared to a few years ago where it was the main entry point for new fans)

This is obviously my opinion and view and based on my limited knowledge from people I know, would like to know what other people think.

So I think you’re vastly underestimating the power of DTS even still. At least based off of the people I know and the opinions I’ve encountered through this blog, even though the hardcore F1 fans know that DTS is manufactured, people are still looking forward to it because it’s fun to relive it and we do get behind the scenes things.

But also, the media is going to report on and dissect every storyline DTS. So whatever storyline Daniel has this season (and I feel very strongly that there will be a central storyline feat. Daniel), it is going to everywhere so people aren’t even going to have to watch the episodes to know about it.

I think this — McLaren was able to use DTS to change the narrative on their team and garner good PR so I don’t think it’s too big of a leap to think it could garner bad PR. It’s not that DTS will make anybody feel new things but fans will likely feel all of the bad McLaren feelings all at once.

I think you’re VASTLY underestimating how many people still watch DTS and you’re vastly underestimating the power of the show. But I guess that’s just me, maybe I am looking too deep into it (but F1 is a PR driven sport so idk)

ETA: this is such a terrible explanation on my part, i apologize. my grandfather is coming home tomorrow and i’m just impossibly flustered (not that I’m like particularly eloquent any other day). So if I sound impatient or like annoyed, I promise, it’s not you, it’s me 😭😭😭

[selflessanatta]

The Advantages of Meditation as Documented by Leading Scientists, https://selflessanatta.com/the-advantages-of-meditation-as-documented-by-leading-scientists/

New Post has been published on https://selflessanatta.com/the-advantages-of-meditation-as-documented-by-leading-scientists/

The Advantages of Meditation as Documented by Leading Scientists

There is a physical, identifiable process in the brain that separates experienced meditators from those who are not as experienced.

Very experienced meditators report feelings of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when experiencing life as if everything is new and fresh.

They report a lack of disturbing thoughts, and their minds are peaceful, their outlook happy.

In short, very experienced meditators exhibit all the signs everyone, everywhere, is seeking.

And this is backed by modern science.

Daniel Goleman | Big Think

Co author of Altered Traits (named after the 1980 Blockbuster Altered States) with Richard Davidson.

The key takeaway I get from the above video is how they identified a specific brainwave pattern, the gamma wave, that only shows up in very experienced meditators.

Buddhist meditators call this “Beginners Mind,” or Shoshin, which is ironic because no beginner experiences it.

Scientists freely admit they have no idea what this is.

What Daniel Goleman concludes is that advanced meditators do live in a different mind reality than most people.

Call it enlightenment, call it a higher level of consciousness, call it what you will.

There is clearly a mental and emotional state that rises above the ordinary that can only be reached through many, many hours of meditation.

Further confirmation comes from the following video.

Meditation’s Impact on the Brain | Documentary Clip

For more information go to https://www.ajoyfulmind.com/

Anil Seth and the Forefront of Neuroscience

The consensus of modern neuroscience says I’m hallucinating me, and you are hallucinating you.

Do you find that idea unsettling? Watch the video below, multiple times if necessary to absorb its message.

(Anil Seth, I salute you! Everything I understand about neuroscience I owe to you. You are a Giant who’s shoulders I stand on.

The Long version is even better.

How does the collection of cells, neurons, and brain parts generate consciousness?

David Chalmers calls this the Hard Problem of Consciousness.

The fields of neuroscience and philosophy are converging in this area.

Meditators will show them the way.

With practiced meditation, you can see and experience these realizations firsthand.

No need to take anyone else’s word for it.

The Gamma Wave and the Rubicon of 24/7 Meditation

In the first video, Daniel Goleman openly admitted that scientists don’t know what they are looking at and how this sustained gamma wave brain state comes to pass.

Here is my theory.

See Object Meditation: Tibet’s Great Contribution to Buddhism

When practitioners meditate often, particularly when engaged in object meditation, they develop a large number of mental disciplines that they take with them outside of the meditation session.

By far, the most impactful mental discipline I took on was applying opponents and utilizing the Sword of Wisdom.

It’s a fancy way of saying that I learned to cut off negative thoughts before they triggered other negative thoughts that polluted my mind.

When something occurs that triggers an angry response, I immediately call up the many reasons not to become angry, distract my mind from the stimulus, and bring on other opponents like compassion if some person is the trigger.

When I see someone with greater wealth, attainments, fame, or anything else I might desire, if jealousy arises, I immediately remind myself of the benefits of rejoicing for their good fortune.

Whenever something occurs that I consider undesirable, I immediately remind myself it is a result of my past actions, and I stop the downward spiral into victim thinking.

Since events that trigger anger, jealousy, or delusion happen thousands of times per day, these mental disciplines become an extended meditation.

Plus, the rigorous application of opponent forces keeps the mind pure, peaceful, and undisturbed.

Gamma waves are the brain state of an undisturbed mind focused on virtue.

Eckhart Tolle describes the pain body. Heading off a pain-body episode is the point of applying opponents and utilizing the Sword of Wisdom.

Eckhart Tolle’s advice is priceless.

The Sword of Wisdom is actually a group of mental disciplines that are all utilized the same way.

They put out fires when they are a spark before they become a raging inferno.

When these mental disciplines become engrained, practitioners find themselves engaged in mediation all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This greatly accelerates a practitioner’s progress.

The experience of meditation is no longer confined to the formal meditation session.

That’s when meditators cross the Rubicon, develop gamma wave brain states and their mental and emotional makeup is forever changed.

John C. Lilly the first scientist to explore consciousness.

John C. Lilly invented the float tank.

When John C. Lilly invented the float tank, he was a scientist who wanted to explore what would happen if consciousness was completely isolated from outside stimuli.

He set up an experiment, collected data, and reported his results.

He wrote Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer, which is still available for reprint.

He intentionally made the first few chapters nearly academically impenetrable. After that, the book gets very, very interesting.

He was the first scientist to give a good report on the advantages of meditation and how it impacts the mind.

My Personal Scientific Exploration of Meditation

I spent many hours in float tanks practicing meditation in total sensory deprivation.

When I first started, I had no particular agenda other than to see what would happen, similar to John C. Lilly.

What I discovered frightened me.

There is an unfathomable amount of garbage fermenting in the subconscious mind.

Parallel versus Serial processing

Your brain is a powerful parallel processor.

It processes thousands upon thousands of feelings and thoughts simultaneously, all day, and all night when you are not in Delta sleep.

Your consciousness is a serial processor working on top of the parallel one.

Consciousness presents the most important (highly emotionally charged) of these parallel ideas to the perceptual field that “You” identify with.

This presentation is sequential; thus you experience a “stream of consciousness.”

Why is this important?

Because 99% or more of your mental activity is happening behind the scenes, beneath the level of your conscious awareness.

These feelings and thoughts motivate most of your behavior and determine your moods.

Ignore what’s happening in your subconscious mind at your peril.

Weeding the garden of my mind

When I discovered the reality of my own mind, I suddenly became highly motivated to clean it up.

Once I realized I had thousands of poisonous thoughts taking root in my mind, I knew I had to do something.

Fortunately, I had been previously exposed to Lamrim, so I knew of a method for weeding my mental garden.

I devoted several hundred hours to practicing it.

It works.

Lamrim Meditations

Practicing Lamrim Meditations changed my life. It can change yours, too.

The New Meditation Handbook from Tharpa Publications, production of the New Kadampa Tradition:

The New Meditation Handbook is a practical guide to meditation that teaches us how to make ourself and others happy by developing inner peace, and in this way making our lives more meaningful. Without inner peace there is no real happiness at all. Problems, suffering and unhappiness do not exist outside the mind; they are feelings and thus part of our mind. Therefore, it is only by controlling our mind that we can permanently stop our problems and make ourself and others truly happy. The twenty-one Buddhist meditation practices presented in this book are actual methods to control our mind and experience lasting inner peace. This extremely practical guide is an indispensable handbook for those seeking happiness and meaning in their lives.

This one book, more than any other, is responsible for changing my life.

I also own the three-volume set The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, an extended study on Lamrim.

I’m into it.

The books are merely a guide. It’s the practice; it’s doing the meditations that change your heart and your life.

Practice, practice, practice.

Buying the book merely for intellectual knowledge is a waste of time.

Understanding gets you nowhere.

Feelings lead to your destination.

The original Lamrim sequence was prepared by the Buddhist Master Atisha (982–1054). It was later updated by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) and translated by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (1931–2022).

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso– 1931–2022, RIP. You were the bridge between our cultures. I owe you everything. I felt your Love. Thank you.

I request one last Blessing: Please, find me in the Bardo and guide me on my journey. I will navigate by the Power of your Radiant Light.

Meditation Basics

The book starts with a brief overview of what mediation is and why the handbook focuses on virtuous objects.

See Object Meditation: Tibet’s Great Contribution to Buddhism

Vajrayāna Buddhism is prevalent in Tibet, and it’s the form of meditation I practice.

They take object meditation to the extreme.

It’s called object meditation, but I don’t focus my attention on things.

The “object” of meditation is a virtue or, more specifically, the feelings that arise when I think about virtue.

In the meditations, I start with a contemplation, and when the feeling arises, I hold onto that feeling for as long as I can, hours when I have the concentration for it.

If I lose the feeling, I return to the contemplation, generate the feeling again, and then hold it.

I became well-practiced at generating and holding virtuous feelings in my heart.

So will you.

What is Virtue?

The Vajrayāna Buddhists have a simple test for virtue.

A virtuous object causes the meditator to develop a peaceful mind when concentrated on it.

If we concentrate on an object that disturbs our mind, like anger, jealousy, or attachment, then the object is non-virtuous.

The entire point of meditation in the Vajrayāna tradition is to attain peace of mind.

Identifying Virtue doesn’t take complex edifices of reasoning like Stoicism.

Virtue is revealed by a peaceful mind.

More Scientists Discussing Meditation

I don’t agree with 100% of what every scientist says about meditation. Many have only a passing familiarity with the process and don’t actually practice it.

Many who do meditate have not taken it as far as I have, and certainly not as far as monks and nuns who’ve devoted their lives to the practice.

However, these people know science, and what they say about meditation is backed up by data.

Lots of data.

You can’t discount that completely.

Andrew Huberman

Andrew Huberman is one of the most brilliant and insightful scientists working with the Mind today. From his website:

Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the department of neurobiology, and by courtesy, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. He has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning.

Think Big

I am a fan of the Think Big project.

The video below is one of their better ones.

Mindfulness is about speeding up our mental processes.

During my awakening, I increased my mental processing by 50% to 80%.

It’s a real thing.

See: What I Felt When I Won the Lottery

~~wink~~

Anatta

[dnorthernlight]

Even though you might struggle, understand that others do to. What will be your act of kindness today? Can you give someone a helping hand, lift someone's spirits, call someone just to say hello or give a simple smile as someone walks by? Kind gestures will not only impact others. Giving kindness not only provides happiness to others, doing it for the right reasons will generate a positive emotions in ourselves. Extend yourself. Provide a service by sharing your knowledge. Give of yourself to others. Reap in the gratitude once you have given and received a smile or thank you in return. Being happy has the potential to help with your seizures. Spread kindness everywhere you go. P.S. Want to learn more about some holistic methods of seizure control? Join me for a free Masterclass. In this class, I will share the methods I’ve been practicing and use still to this very day to keep my own seizures away. You will learn some pure and natural practices that allow me and many others to be in control of their seizures. On Thursday March 30th. If you live with epilepsy, this session will touch you directly. Email me to attend at [email protected] The Masterclass will be on Thursday March 30th at 3pm Pacific Standard Time (6pm EST). Send me an email and I will respond to you with a personal invitation to the Masterclass. That’s 3:00pm PST! See you there, Daniel Your Holistic Epilepsy Health Coach https://www.instagram.com/p/CLwEN4TDlaf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[princeofgod-2021]

LIGHT OF LIFE 305

John 1:4

UNITY OF THE BODY 8 – SATAN’S FLAW (PRIDE) 3

Eph 4:2-3 ALWAYS BE HUMBEL AND GENTLE. Be patient with each other, MAKING ALLOWANCE FOR EACH OTHER’S FAULTS because of your love. MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO KEEP YOURSELVES UNITED, BINDING YOURSELVES TOGETHER WITH PEACE. GW

Was the impact of satan’s pride more against God’s honour or more against the Unity of the Body?

Isn’t it simpler to conclude that God hates the proud just because they always take His glory and really nothing to do with the Unity of the body?

Let’s check out King Nebuchadnezzar for some insights, okay?

Dan 4:30-31 The king uttered these words: “IS THIS NOT THE GREAT BABYLON THAT I HAVE BUILT FOR A ROYAL RESIDENCE BY MY OWN MIGHTY STRENGTH AND FOR MY MAJESTIC HONOR?” While these words were still on the king’s lips, a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that YOUR KINGDOM HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM YOU! NET

That judgment on the King shows that he was sentenced because he “took God’s Glory for himself”, right?

But you must see that earlier in the chapter (a year ago (Vs29)), before he proclaimed his “Pride”, this judgement had already been determined and it only took effect at his Proud utterance here.

Dan 4:25,27 that you will be FORCED TO LIVE WITH THE WILD ANIMALS, far away from humans. You will eat grass like a wild animal and live outdoors for seven years, until you learn that GOD MOST HIGH CONTROLS ALL EARTHLY KINGDOMS AND CHOOSES THEIR RULERS… Your Majesty, please be willing to do what I say. Turn from your sins and start living right; have mercy on those who are mistreated. Then all will go well with you for a long time. CEV

Therefore, the Kings proud declaration was not the initiator of his sentence.

What was it please?

Dan 3:1,6 KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR HAD A GOLD STATUE MADE, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and he had it set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon…ANYONE WHO DOES NOT BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP WILL IMMEDIATELY BE THROWN INTO A BLAZING FURNACE." GNB

He made a gigantic statue, and made people worship it.

The image must have been a representation of himself and the reason is not farfetched: he’d recently been told by Daniel that he was a “great” King.

Dan 2:37-38 YOU, O KING, ARE A KING OF KINGS. FOR THE GOD OF HEAVEN HAS GIVEN YOU A KINGDOM, POWER, AND STRENGTH, AND GLORY. And wherever the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens live, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. YOU ARE THIS HEAD OF GOLD. MKJV

You see, in Nebuchadnezzar’s mind, he had come to know that God made him what he is, so he wasn’t contending with God or for God’s position, but rather wanted his own position fully acknowledged and to be worshipped by men, whom he thought were “much lower” than he.

This is just like satan, who knew he couldn’t get God’s place but wanted his own space and worshippers.

Did you get that?

Dan 4:17 This is the DECISION OF THE ALERT AND WATCHFUL ANGELS. So then, LET ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE KNOW THAT THE SUPREME GOD HAS POWER OVER HUMAN KINGDOMS AND THAT HE CAN GIVE THEM TO ANYONE HE CHOOSES—EVEN TO THOSE WHO ARE LEAST IMPORTANT.' GNB

So, the sentence is to teach all humanity, that God may give you position over other men but He is the one yet ruling all, not you.

Also, he will set up leaders who don’t see themselves as “above others”.

1Sa 15:17 Samuel said, “IS IT NOT TRUE THAT WHEN YOU WERE INSIGNIFICANT IN YOUR OWN EYES, YOU BECAME HEAD OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL? THE LORD CHOSE YOU AS KING OVER ISRAEL. NET

Beloved, Nebu’s real sin was making slaves of people, forcing them to worship him and even trying to kill those who didn’t bow to his “madness”.

His real offense was about how he treated people.

Dan 3:18-19 But even if he doesn't, we still won't worship your gods and the gold statue you have set up." NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S FACE TWISTED WITH ANGER AT THE THREE MEN. AND HE ORDERED THE FURNACE TO BE HEATED SEVEN TIMES HOTTER THAN USUAL. CEV

To buttress this point further, let’s look at King Herod too and ask the same question: was he killed, more because he took God’s glory or because he affected people and the Unity of the body?

Act 12:22-23 The people started shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" IMMEDIATELY, AN ANGEL FROM THE LORD KILLED HEROD FOR NOT GIVING GLORY TO GOD. HEROD WAS EATEN BY MAGGOTS, AND HE DIED. GW

Again, this clearly shows that Herod was killed because he didn’t give glory to God, right?

But just like Nebu’s case, you have to look again at what he did wrong, close to the time of his death sentence.

Act 12:1-3 ABOUT THIS TIME King Herod began to persecute some members of the church. HE HAD JAMES, THE BROTHER OF JOHN, PUT TO DEATH BY THE SWORD. WHEN HE SAW THAT THIS PLEASED THE JEWS, HE WENT AHEAD AND HAD PETER ARRESTED. (This happened during the time of the Festival of Unleavened Bread.) GNB

Herod suddenly took on a mission to scatter the Church by killing the “key” personnel of God’s “army”.

His father was the Herod who tried to kill Jesus by killing all 2-year-old males in Judea much earlier back.

Mat 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was very angry; and he sent out, and put to death all the male children in Beth-lehem and in all the parts round about it, from two years old and under, acting on the knowledge which he had got with care from the wise men. BBE

He also died, not long after he did this wicked act to innocent children, just to preserve a fading kingdom.

I have seen from all these, that God merely “orchestrates” the act of “taking His Glory” as reason for dealing with these wicked people.

Their main sins have always been how they treat other people and divide the body with confusion.

Do you think people actually don’t take God’s Glory every day?

Mat 23:6-7 They crave the SEATS OF HIGHEST HONOR at banquets and in their meeting places. And how THEY LOVE TO BE ADMIRED BY MEN WITH THEIR TITLES OF RESPECT, ASPIRING TO BE RECOGNIZED IN PUBLIC AND HAVE OTHERS CALL THEM ‘REVEREND.’ TPT

Too many would have died by now if God reacted to taking His Glory.

It is the wickedness against humanity, behind those proud acts, that commonly initiates God’s sentence against the proud.

May God not find Pride in us, and may we not be guilty of offending the body of Christ, in Jesus name.

Join us on Wednesday for more digging in as we proceed with this enlightening subtopic.

Keep Shinning!

Brother Prince

Monday, January 23, 2022

08055125517; 08023904307

[xtruss]

Eating One Wild Fish Same as Month of Drinking Tainted Water: Study

— By Daniel Lawler | January 17, 2023

Locally caught fish in rivers and lakes could be a major source of exposure to "forever chemicals" PFAS, New Research Has Warned.

Eating one freshwater fish caught in a river or lake in the United States is the equivalent of drinking a month's worth of water contaminated with toxic "forever chemicals", new research said on Tuesday.

The invisible chemicals called PFAS were first developed in the 1940s to resist water and heat, and are now used in items such as non-stick pans, textiles, fire suppression foams and food packaging.

But the indestructibility of PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, means the pollutants have built up over time in the air, soil, lakes, rivers, food, drinking water and even our bodies.

There have been growing calls for stricter regulation for PFAS, which have been linked to a range of serious health issues including liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses and several kinds of cancer.

To find out PFAS contamination in locally caught fish, a team of researchers analyzed more than 500 samples from rivers and lakes across the United States between 2013 and 2015.

The median level of PFAS in the fish was 9,500 nanogrammes per kilogram, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Research.

Nearly three quarters of the detected "forever chemicals" was PFOS, one of the most common and hazardous of the thousands of PFAS.

Eating just one freshwater fish equalled drinking water with PFOS at 48 parts per trillion for a month, the researchers calculated.

Last year the US Environmental Protection Agency lowered the level of PFOS in drinking water it considers safe to 0.02 parts per trillion.

The total PFAS level in the freshwater fish was 278 times higher than what has been found in commercially sold fish, the study said.

Non-stick pans are among the products that use PFAS, which have been linked to a range of serious health issues.

'Greatest Chemical Threat'

David Andrews, a senior scientist at the non-profit Environmental Working Group which led research, told AFP he grew up catching and eating fish.

"I can no longer look at a fish without thinking about PFAS contamination," said Andrews, one of the study's authors.

The findings were "particularly concerning due to the impact on disadvantaged communities that consume fish as a source protein or for social or cultural reasons," he added.

"This research makes me incredibly angry because companies that made and used PFAS contaminated the globe and have not been held responsible."

Patrick Byrne, an environmental pollution researcher at the UK's Liverpool John Moores University not involved in the research, said PFAS are "probably the greatest chemical threat the human race is facing in the 21st century".

"This study is important because it provides the first evidence for widespread transfer of PFAS directly from fish to humans," he told AFP.

Andrews called for much more stringent regulation to bring an end to all non-essential uses of PFAS.

The study comes after Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden submitted a proposal to ban PFAS to the EU's European Chemicals Agency on Friday.

The proposal, "one of the broadest in the EU's history," comes after the five countries found that PFAS were not adequately controlled, and bloc-wide regulation was needed, the agency said in a statement.

PFAS: You Can't Smell, See or Taste These Chemicals, But They Are Everywhere—And They're Highly Toxic To Humans

Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) The per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. Fluoropolymer coatings can be in a variety of products.

— By Patrick Byrne, The Conversation | January 5, 2023

PFAS are persistent and spread through the atmosphere via hydrological processes. Credit: Chatchawal Phumkaew/Shutterstock

Humans perceive risk based largely on what we can see, smell and taste. Those senses serve us well when there are perceptible dangers to our health and the environment.

We can see and smell raw sewage and as such it is widely perceived as a risk to human and environmental health. The increasing concern of scientists about the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in sewage has confirmed its actual risk. The Environment Agency also reports that pollution from sewage discharge is a leading cause of poor river quality in England.

But there are serious chemical threats, called perflouroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), that we cannot perceive because they are colourless and odourless. Now present in our drinking water and natural ecosystems, high level exposure to these toxic chemicals can elicit a range of negative health effects in humans and wildlife. These include an increased risk of certain cancers, kidney disease, cholesterol, reproductive and developmental disruption and a decreased vaccine response.

Humans cannot see, smell or taste PFAS in our water. Yet they are a serious global threat. The actual risk of PFAS is high, but in my experience as a scientist working on environmental pollution, many people are unaware of them.

What are PFAS?

First developed in the 1940s, PFAS are a large group of more than 4,000 synthetic chemicals. Commonly known as "forever chemicals", their properties make them water and oil repellent and highly resistant to chemical and thermal breakdown.

They are therefore ingredients in various everyday products and as such are all around us. Non-stick frying pans, waterproof rain jackets, flame retardant sofas and carpets, food packaging, makeup and countless other items all contain these chemicals.

But PFAS can persist in the environment for hundreds or thousands of years. Research estimates that it takes more than 1,000 years on average for the chemical concentration of some PFAS to reduce by 50% in soil.

PFAS Exposure

Due to their persistence, PFAS have steadily accumulated in drinking water sources and oceans worldwide. This can happen as contaminated water leaks away from landfills into groundwater. PFAS in household items can also be washed into rivers and oceans through sewage systems.

In 2019, at least one PFAS was detected in 60% of the public groundwater wells and 20% of the private groundwater wells used as drinking water sources in the eastern U.S.. And in England, the Environment Agency analysed 470 freshwater sites between 2014 and 2019 and found PFAS contamination in 97% of them.

The freshwater contaminants then accumulate in plants and animals, where they can be transferred to humans via ingestion.

In the city of Charleston in South Carolina, scientists recorded concentrations of 11 PFAS in six species of fish. Levels of the most abundant chemical recorded in each species—perfluorooctane sulfonate—exceeded wildlife protective guidelines in 83% of whole fish examined. The consumption of wild fish therefore represents a serious health concern for the local population.

Here to Stay

Most people in the world are likely to have been exposed to PFAS. In 2012, more than 97% of Americans were estimated to have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood for example.

But, unlike most other chemical pollutants, PFAS are able to cycle continuously in hydrological processes and spread throughout the atmosphere. Scientists have, for example, recorded concentrations of PFAS in rainwater almost everywhere on Earth. This means that contamination may be largely irreversible.

Distributed by the water cycle, PFAS have been allowed to contaminate remote corners of the planet and negatively impact its wildlife. In Antarctica, accumulations of one type of PFAS—perfluorobutanoic acid—in snow increased more than 200-fold between 1957 and 2015.

Researchers have also found high concentrations of PFAS in Arctic algae. Algae are an important food source for zooplankton, with their contamination feeding upwards through the food chain to fish and shrimp, then seals, and finally to apex predators such as polar bears. A study of East Greenland polar bears revealed that PFAS contamination can disrupt a polar bear's hormone system, which may negatively impact reproduction.

For many people, current PFAS exposure levels are unlikely to be high enough to warrant serious concern. But exposure in some occupations, including firefighting and chemical manufacturing and processing, are likely to be much higher. As will the risk for people whose drinking water or food sources have been contaminated.

Science, and even Hollywood, has warned us of the global chemical threat posed by PFAS. Yet many of us do not perceive them to be a threat.

This may be due to the fact that PFAS are an "invisible" threat and not as obvious as sewage or plastic pollution. But these toxic chemicals have accumulated in many of our water sources and are now interfering with natural ecosystems. Governments, scientists and the media must improve their communication of the risks associated with PFAS.

Scientists Say PFAS Contamination Should Be Presumed at Over 57,000 US Sites

— B y Green Science Policy Institute

Map of presumptive contamination sites identified using presumptive contamination model. Credit: Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2022).

Tens of thousands of locations across the United States may be contaminated by PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), according to a study published today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

According to the research team, PFAS contamination should be presumed at certain industrial facilities, sites related to PFAS-containing waste, and locations where fluorinated firefighting foams have been used. The authors integrated high-quality, publicly available data into a single map of 57,412 locations, with sites in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

"PFAS contamination at these locations is very likely," said Dr. Alissa Cordner, senior author on the paper and co-director of the PFAS Project Lab. "We know that PFAS testing is very sporadic, and there are many data gaps in identifying known sites of PFAS contamination. That's why the 'presumptive contamination' model is a useful tool in the absence of existing high-quality data," Cordner said.

PFAS are a major concern for public health. The chemicals have been measured in countless drinking water systems, in the bodies of humans and wildlife around the globe, and even in rainwater at levels that are higher than the EPA says are safe for human consumption.

"Not only do we all have PFAS in our bodies, but we also know that PFAS affects almost every organ system. It is essential that we understand where PFAS are in our communities so that we can prevent exposures," said Dr. Linda Birnbaum, co-author on the paper and scientist emeritus and former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program.

"While it sounds scary that there are over 57,000 presumptive contamination sites, this is almost certainly a large underestimation," said Dr. Phil Brown, director of Northeastern University's Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute and co-author on the paper. "The scope of PFAS contamination is immense, and communities impacted by this contamination deserve swift regulatory action that stops ongoing and future uses of PFAS while cleaning up already existing contamination," Brown said.

To check their presumptive contamination model against known contamination sites, the authors validated over 500 known contamination sites from the PFAS Project Lab's Contamination Site Tracker against the likely contamination sites they identified. They found that 72% of known contamination sites were either included in the map of presumptive contamination sites or captured by the overall conceptual model, even if those sites couldn't be mapped at the national scale.

"PFAS testing is expensive and resource intensive. We have developed a standardized methodology that can help identify and prioritize locations for monitoring, regulation, and remediation," said Dr. Kimberly Garrett, post-doctoral researcher at Northeastern University and co-author on the paper.

Identifying presumptive contamination sites enables governments, industries, and communities to rapidly and systematically identify potential PFAS exposure sources. "It's past time to 'turn off the tap' with new PFAS use and emissions," said Sharyle Patton, co-author on the study and program director at Commonweal.

[thoughtsofanundergr4d]

Get Out (movie commentary)

Get Out is a horror/thriller film written and directed by Jordan Peele and released in 2017. The movie follows a young African American man named Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) who visits his white girlfriend's family estate. He soon learns that their friendliness is merely a facade to cover up a sinister plan to “get out” of their bodies and take over his. Peele used horror tropes to create a genre-defying story with a powerful social commentary on racism and white privilege. The movie has received widespread critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It has also been credited with sparking a new wave of horror films that explore racism and oppression in the US. Get Out has had a major cultural impact, sparking countless conversations about racism and the insidiousness of white privilege. The film is also credited with popularizing the term “the Sunken Place”, which is now widely used to describe situations or ideologies where people are unable to “escape” oppressive systems. The Sunken Place is a metaphor for complete mental and physical entrapment and is used to represent the protagonist’s psychological journey.

Throughout the movie, the audience is subjected to a variety of subtle and overt forms of oppression. For example, Chris’s girlfriend’s family is overly eager to prove their “open-mindedness” by making comments that emphasize their acceptance of Chris’s race. This is a form of negrophilia, which is the fetishization of Black people that is often used to mask underlying oppressive attitudes. Indeed, we are subjected to an awkward or even oppressive gaze on the main character, to support my argument, I refer you to a scene at the beginning where Chris, his girlfriend, and the girlfriend’s parents are at a table in their garden, drinking tea: we see the mother staring at the young man with eager which makes the young man very uncomfortable and the whole situation weird. Another particular moment in the film that emphasizes my point is the party scene where we are introduced to an elderly woman and her “new” black companion. During that scene, we watch the woman stare intently at the man as he speaks.

Now, let’s talk about symbols of imprisonment. Symbols that are very present in the film. As soon as the protagonist arrives at his girlfriend’s parent's house, it is as if he set foot in prison. Everywhere, in every room he’s in, we can observe straights vertical lines which represent bars like he is in a cage. Even outside, the trees form immense straight lines, the girlfriend also restates this symbol as she wears a sweater with red and white lines on it. The viewer is constantly reminded that Chris is trapped and can’t get out. This sentiment of imprisonment reinforces the theme of oppression.

That is to say, throughout the movie, the protagonist, Chris, is subjected to a series of psychological tests that are meant to break him down and push him further into “the Sunken Place”. We first witness the Sunken Place when Chris is hypnotized and his consciousness shifts to a dark, never-ending abyss. In this state, Chris is completely helpless and unable to move or talk. He is completely under the control of his captors and is unable to free himself from the abyss, but he has full awareness of his surroundings and can observe the events taking place around him. The Sunken Place serves as a powerful metaphor for Chris' sense of powerlessness and fear as he struggles to escape his captors. As the movie progresses, we see Chris's strength as he battles against his captors and finally breaks free from the Sunken Place. The Sunken Place is visually represented by a black void. The basement room, where Chris is being held up, is full of opposition. We also get that feeling of captivity again. In front of him is a stuffed deer, a deer that he and his girlfriend had hit earlier in the film. The animal serves as a metaphor by making Chris “a prey” and being tamed. This imagery is highly symbolic, representing Chris' sense of entrapment and helplessness. It also serves to heighten the horror of the experience, as the audience is left to imagine the terror Chris feels in this seemingly inescapable space. The Sunken Place is a potent symbol in Get Out, and its use in the film speaks to Jordan Peele's ability to craft a powerful and effective horror story. Through this metaphor, Peele successfully conveys the feeling of powerlessness and fear that can come from being trapped and unable to fight back, making the Sunken Place a memorable element of the film.

Next, the camera play, which has an important role as well. The camera focuses on the main character to better support his emotions. When he speaks, there is a focus on him, and what surrounds him is blurred. This allows the viewer to share Chris’ thoughts and feelings. When Chris uses his smartphone to take a picture of the other black guy he encounters at the party, the flash triggers and the camera then focuses on him as he regains consciousness. He tries to warn Chris to “get out”, we see him stepping into the light (light effect) like he is free but only for a short moment.

Another strong contrast featured throughout the movie is the duality between colors, mostly black and white. I’d like to point out a notable moment to highlight my argument is the auction scene for Chris which is a throwback to slavery. All of them are dressed in black. White characters only wear black and white clothes as opposed to the black characters who are the only ones who don’t wear black clothes but wear other colors (blue, grey, beige, etc.). Here, colors could be a way to express the characters’ humanity whereas black and white mean the characters’ emptiness like they are cold and heartless. This brings me to my last point, the dehumanization of Black people.

When the movie starts to take a dark turn, we learn of the “Coagula” experiment. This experiment, enslave Black people to allow White people to possess their bodies. It is explained that they take Black people’s bodies for their “unique” physique, strength, and “coolness”. This experiment pushed to the extreme mirrors our society. As a matter of fact, White people tend to take and appropriate what doesn’t belong to them. The hairstyles and the style of Black people are very fashionable, and some people appropriate it, as a way to seem cooler. Back to a time when the bodies of Black women were mocked and humiliated, to now, where a lot of people seem to crave those same bodies because it’s become popular. As an illustration, we can talk about the Kardashians who have been pointed out a lot because they resorted to plastic surgery to look sexier and have bigger shapes as well as problematic hairstyles (like braids) similar to those of black girls in order to take advantage of it and make money out of it. This has become a trend, and this is cultural appropriation. But this only dehumanizes Black people by reducing them to just a body to be appropriated. I recently watched the film, Vénus noire (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2010), which chronicles the life of Saartjie Baartman, a Khoisan woman who was taken from her home in South Africa to Europe to be exhibited as a “freak show” attraction. Her story is a stark reminder of the extreme dehumanization of Black people throughout history. Saartjie Baartman was subjected to cruel exploitation, as she was stripped of her humanity and reduced to a “curiosity” for the public to gawk at. Her story is a reminder of the long history of racism and oppression of Black people. It is heartbreaking to think that a human being could be treated in such a way. The Vénus Noire serves as a reminder of the systemic racism and discrimination that Black people have endured for centuries.  The dehumanization of Black people can still be seen today, even in subtle ways. We can look to the movie Get Out as an example of this. The family's attempts to control and manipulate the Black people in their lives, as well as their lack of compassion and understanding, speaks to the way Black people are still viewed today. The dehumanization of Black people is an issue that needs to be addressed and rectified. The “Vénus noire” is a vivid reminder of how far we have come and how far we still need to go. It is an important piece of history that serves as a reminder of the struggles that Black people have faced and still face today.

Jordan Peele’s Get Out is a horror-thriller that explores the themes of oppression and negrophilia. Through the movie, Peele is able to convey the power dynamics of race in contemporary society and how they can be manipulated to oppress people of color. Get Out also shows how oppression can be used to manipulate people of color. Chris’s girlfriend’s family is revealed to be a group of white supremacists who use mind control to enslave black people. This highlights how power dynamics of race can be used to oppress people of color, even in seemingly harmless situations. Overall, Get Out is an important movie that sheds light on the power dynamics of race in contemporary society. Through the use of subtle and overt forms of oppression, Peele is able to convey how racism can be used to manipulate and control people of color. By highlighting these issues, the movie encourages its viewers to take a stand against racism and oppression.

#GetOut #JordanPeele #Analysis

[the-firebird69]

It's how it goes if you look outside that trash has been there for like almost 2 months most of the rules are damaged to not fixed and you live in crappy houses in the first place the garbage is out there too and you're the wealthiest people on the planet at least you were now we can't stand you you give up your companies your factories everything too been wondering around during the day doing nothing you're boring your idiots says we should make huge entertainment facilities and malls starting to see something screw you people you just go there and you entertain yourself but it's a good idea so we're going to do it

Second part is the storm doesn't look like it's there at all and your stupid map we can see all these clouds in the sky so we kind of hate you cuz you're stupid

It's going to drop any moment now and there's a lot of people watching it and it is shaking and quaking feel like the others were and the others were shaking and quaking about 20 minutes or 10 minutes before it fell. I checked the pressures it's down to five which is what normal soil is more less and that's about a mile in it is very far. And it is going on momentarily.

We took over so many companies it's blinding but they're not managing them and the higher-ups are all bunch of vegetables now and they're not running anything. And they don't really know how to run stuff and yeah last night the comedian took a dump and he's going into a grave today the funeral hasn't occurred yet it's weird they just kind of sit around for a while with that too. And there is a lot of trouble happening and gifted people fight like that Jolene was doing it's just not gifted that saw them doing it and he just blocked it like very easily.

It's a few more things happening here mac daddy is getting frustrated he wants people to go meet and he wants to discuss how to stop this stupid storm and we'd like that to happen too we don't think it's right for someone to start storms and rampage all over the place and ruined tons and tons of structures so he's down there requesting the people show up and he means it it's Mike he wants to be there Daniel he's just not saying it for no reason maybe it's hard for him to get the gumption up to send police to go grab you you know what I mean like free donuts or whatever come on this is War this is stick a freaking knife in your leg and feel the pain. 10 minutes later something that's going to happen then you use psychological stuff and surround people she might have to bust out of there. It's all true and he's sick of the storms too A lot of people out here will support you guys Justin oh he's done here she's okay so now they're saying okay. And we got other things happening too

We did take over another area of business concentration and it's huge it's tractors and tractor supply and farm and farm equipment now I've taken over half of that because we had to but really these people are sitting around saying they won't have to do anything there's a ton of them they're all deteriorating and not doing anything and not going on any ships and it's just that they don't feel they have to do anything so I'm making tractors as a lot of tractors got ruined too because the technology is poor. And our tech is older but it works. The air intake closes when it's not on on the vehicle too it doesn't start unless you're training the thing and the thing doesn't open unless they turn it it's very simple mechanism right now we're writing up orders for us to come in here and assess the situation and to see what's going on is our son says nobody's doing anything they're not even leaving to sit around and farting still and mildly and they have all this crap everywhere and if it gets blowing around it's going to cause damage and fly into windows like mine and he doesn't know what to do about it so we're sitting here and hoping that something happens better than what is happening and he is somewhat impact resistance windows a replacement windows they're not massively shatter resistant but I don't someone tells me there's no plastic in them but they're tempered at least which is better than nothing it can take a hit believe me that it's not too bad in a double layered. And one window is not it has stickers on it okay this class.

The golf is vibrating like madness all over the whole thing and yeah it's news too but not here and they're seeing it's my prerogative like they're going to be mysterious and win by osmosis that's probably still this DC s*** and the comedian's funeral is going to kick off a bunch of things because it is a retarded man hitting one of them publicly which is a No-No, funeral is at 3:00 p.m. and will and Bill can't go Ken's not going either it says for our son to shut it cuz our son's trying to order them up there guys can't make it he said what about as an X-Men superhero and kick off a damn movie so I'll try it it might be me in the background you can bring Camilla and the others and I swear to get there he's a respected person from both sides so you tries to do jobs so Garth is going to wrap us and Ken Bill and will and represent well man this is the punta Gorda gang with me in a PC gang bill is a famous superhero and Loki is too his name is Loki okay fine Preston says I'll send some stuff notes. Daniel says thank you anyway Mike t says some nasty stuff then thank you it's probably the whiskey so yes it is better have someone else fly so he laughs and says okay. Tonight Adrian goes nuts again and the holes might be opening up her son says the holes open up during the day and there's a time that they open up and they open up at night as well and then there's a finale but I think there's another night scene before that when some old fogies are hit a woman is hit and Adrian is they try to kill Adrian and there's the Morrison and the formation of Dr Manhattan is sometimes tonight that's a big deal because it's newsome and we think he dies and people can't tell and he dies a lot and he's a trumpster it's going on tonight and starts at 3:00 that counts for a lot of attitude problems it's one of their heroes.

It's a huge number of people who are trying to get into these apartments next to our son they keep on pushing them and pushing them and pushing them trying to get them out hasn't done anything I would try other stuff right now staying is going after them she needs stuff. Some others are going after them that are big mac daddy Tommy f and the whole cadre of them will and Bill Terry cheesman the same crew Dan the same crew BG bja and there's a few more the people that he has offended deeply and companies that he has given up to the wolves and people that he has bad blood with recent bad blood that he's harmed and is the wanted man for a questioning and connection with the terrorist strike on Massachusetts Connecticut Rhode Island they're not letting him off on the fact that he could have been in The matrix there's so many of the people there with his men and they all found without devices and was real brains so he's in trouble cuz I wanted terrorist and he was shot last night not before.

It's shaking and it's quivering and it's burping air believe it or not and air is formed when the water leaf bleaches out some some spots in it usually belts is out big huge bubbles three four miles across maybe a 100 at a time and that means it's going to sink and it's going the whole length now it looks like a Jacuzzi and a bubble bath just making a froth and stinks and it's actually deadly and it may spray it with something they might. We don't think so and it's the whole length the whole depth so about 500 ships of capsized some are 10 miles long and they are ships that Mac was running and most of them moved and some didn't listen they were run by Court and that hurt bubbles and said what the hell is that so doing all that leeches what's going on at once this was happening it Mike too says yes he says it's not the code I can remember it's like Delta alpha something they got the third time so Corky stays behind with 500 ships some are 5 or 10 miles in the sink can probably raise them if they don't break and you have to wait it's probably intact for a bunch of morons are so I moved them it's interesting. You worry about some I moved him down and it's kind of moving off and it's getting cooler and I keep those little ships out of here and the whole side. That was Mac Daddy and it's helpful and it's working usually this time is really hot here it's going to get cold real quick and it's going to push that thing off.

Several men came by to see our son today no. Nobody did it's usually quiet here and so quiet it's unsettling we have to inquire why nothing's happening here at all and we asked around and nobody said anything and I sent it could be the funeral and that could be what it is because they all look kind of sad and they're going up there with what they call heavy hearts and it is about that and they are upset at BG and our son says well if you want your son back I could probably have to fight for it man cuz his particular reputation. He's now decide to fight and they'll say Justin you were friends and under very extenuating circumstances and unlikely a pair in the first place. There's a ton of people going up there and interested in and then moving out shortly and it's a funeral this might be the song from Elton John funeral for a Friend because there are some elements to the song and it just hit our son with a feeling because of the watchmen and what it signifies and what it means and what happens to DC and New York City.

There's a large number of people here who is trying to get the math a little more that this is how and it shouldn't be hell but it is hell.

They're a huge number of people that will be seeking shelter and one reason is that they are in fear they don't want their house to collapse on them and there's too much debris Mac is tried to order Jeff to do it and he won't he keeps saying let him rot and all this s*** and all of a sudden he says you're going to be up there they're going to be here in your little owl ship or something you want to fly down and capture a friend so we're going to find you and we're going to take your stuff and mac daddy said that earlier and they have their keys and they're going to start doing the work in a minute now into the night if possible and you're going to pick it up all of it and there's tons of trucks no but they know what they have to do and basically they have a weight on area for scrap and they just put something on it blasting they have blasting mats you can use and I thought that's a good idea they might lift up but not have to put a few cables on them they're going ahead and do that

Says you just take a few pylons you worked out and barium and attached to it and traffic signal pylons or something they agree with it

The ground is shaking it's moving it's it's rolling and heaving and is going to drop in a few moments and we see it burping more and it's a huge huge line of burps about three or four hundred miles each and it's random so it's all going to probably go the same time and some huge ones are coming out now five 10 miles across actually never see anything like that huge bubbles makes me wonder what's under there but I know what it is it's just a crevasse and a big huge thing of dirt now it's starting to settle a little it's shrinking slowly like a foot a minute and now I see it dropping in the middle it's going down like 8 ft and now 20 each terrace and now 30 each terrace and now it's going down in the pattern of the terrace to the sides and fast and it's spreading and it's doing it that way which probably will make it not to have a wave at all in any way. It's spreading out and it's going down the terrace all at the same time it's not cascading and a lot of us thought it would something I wouldn't that's a shock. Nevada Ariana said it's going to go like it's going now and it's because of the pressure is it relieves in the middle first and It matters by minutes. And here it goes the whole thing is dropping but it's going all at the same time the whole terrace and we thought it would be staged so the middle would create a wave and it's not going to do that much it's going down it's about 200 mi to the East 200 miles to the west from the Mississippi it makes sense the river must have done some extra capillary action through its pressure and turbidity into the sand and and drain fast into the river too probably and they say yes that's one thing and is down it is a small wave maybe 50 ft and it's going to probably dissipate in a few miles require a lot more than that to create a title wave. They're working around here and it sent the crew down and people are saying it would be nice to get this s*** out of here so it doesn't break all the windows and they're in a panic now and they're moving around and they're asking people to help and pick up trucks and trucks actually going on it and they said they got so many trucks that says all the time has to do is say you can all bring it in so they're telling them to do it and it's going people are doing it. A lot of women are asking their men to do it it's getting done.

So congratulations everybody who worked on this the final section of the Gulf of Mexico is dropped and the cold air is going to come down momentarily I have a gauge when it dropped it's a heat sink you see with the soil the soil doesn't absorb any heat but the water does and all the water that was in the soil is cold but for about 2,500 miles long and an angle that's a huge area in a lot of water and that the rest of the water will be cold at the bottom and it's already cooling and it will chill the water at the top and it will continue to do so due to the depth and it's dark after 1,500 ft no after about 400 so most of it's cold and that cold will wick cold air all around it and it will connect with cold air and it's doing it now I can see it on the scope and yeah there are trucks around here all day working on the lines refitting and putting new transformers and they're doing it like madness really they're going gangbusters for some reason not really sure what it is I think New York DC is going to buy and they know it so strong as you get the equipment out of there and they're doing that now and they say it's cuz the storm.

More later but we're going to publish this

Thor Freya