With summer heat raging already, living in a car can s#ck. Ive lived in my car a few times, and may be again next week. Anywhoo.. here are some things Ive learned that I hope will help anyone in that situation. Feel free to add more.
--- Keep a pee bottle. Nothing is worse than having to hold it or get up and find a bathroom in the middle of the night. Often times its not possible to park where you can 'use the bushes'. I use a plastic water bottle like for atheletes, cheap at thrift stores, and they seal well. Also the opening is large enough to..
----Always park in the shade when you can. The cooler you keep your car the faster it cools off at night. Sleeping in a hot car is all but impossible.
---Look for places to park that are on grass or dirt. Parking on concrete / pavement is like parking on a frying pan. The heat radiates all night. This is a hard one but not impossible, and the difference is life changing.
---Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot and others do not mind if you park there overnight. Certain stores do not allow it, but most of them do. I park in the employee area, but also away from other cars so as not to be noticed. Cracker Barrel also is cool with car campers but it can be hard to 'blend in' there. I have slept at them but its a last resort.
---Use black cloth or w/e you can to block the windows,especially the back ones. You do not want to be seen. You are doing nothing wrong but you do not want to be caught sleeping in your car anywhere in this day and age. Its a safety issue, not just criminals but cops. the cops will harass you and in some places arrest you for vagrancy.
---Spend as much as you can afford to keep your car in shape. Tires, oil changes, basic maintenance. Used tire stores can be a god send. If your car breaks down ( as my honda odyssey van recently did) it can be a terrible situation.
---charge your devices every chance you get. Even if your car has a plug, it is a bad idea to rely on that to power your phone all the time.
--If you can, get a piece of plywood for the back seat ( for non-van car dwellers). Car seats are hard to sleep on. You can get around that by having a piece of plywood cut at Lowe's that will fit on top of the back seat. Measure the width and length that is the biggest you can fit in there. You will probly have to have a couple pieces of wood or w/e to level it out, secure it, but it doesnt have to be a major construction job. as long as its flat and doesnt tip, now you have a better place to sleep. A foam pad on top and your quality of sleep and life just increased.
--If you are in a secure area ( as much as possible) leave the windows cracked slightly. In the winter this helps reduce condensation on the windows. Cops and Criminals both know that fogged up windows mean someone is inside.
--Multi story Parking decks are great places to park. They stay cooler as the sun doesnt heat the pavement. Casinos and hospitals can be good for this. Municipal/private parking garages can be a cheap alternative to having to rent a motel to get out of the heat. Even in downtown Atlanta, you can find 24 hour parking for less than 15 bucks.
---Baby Wipes. Unscented. Enough said.
--Truck stops can be dicey, but you can always sleep there and shower if you have an extra 15-20 bux to spend. if not see above.
Sorry for writing a book. Please add your own ideas, I would love to hear them.

I have multiple reasons for going on hiatus for the folklore series. It will only be for the month of June and part of that you can thank my landlord terminating my lease under false reasons for.
I have realized that it will be impossible for me to move everything out of my apartment, clean the apartment, modify the jeep, finish my cosplays (I kind of have a commitment from last year for one convention that I go to), go to my interviews for the new jobs I’ve applied to, and grieve my cat while also doing all of the work that goes into the folklore series.
I have not had the appropriate time to grieve the loss of my kitty Tigris. I have in large part been writing the folklore series since she passed to try to fill the void she left in my life.
I’m sure it’s shown in my writing but my heart just isn’t 100% in it right now. I need more time to properly process losing her. And thanks to my landlord that time has been made more difficult.
This does not mean the folklore series is done for good, or that I will not be posting two sentence horror. I will probably start posting non-folklore two sentence horror with the occasional folklore story, unrelated to a specific region in June.
But it does mean that the dedicated daily stories will be on pause until July.
The apartment situation has taken a massive toll on my physical and mental health as has the loss of my kitty. The other day, I found a massive colony of orange sponge mold of some type in my bathroom walls. This colony of mold likely predates my kitty and I living in the apartment. It is so big that it is growing from at least where my toilet is on one wall to the other wall connected to that one where my bathroom window is. It is fruiting out through my window seal and through the brick wall from the inner wall right next to my bathtub.
On top of that the ceiling of the unit is currently crumbling and cracking and showing signs of potential collapse. There is a gas leak that has not been resolved and apparently by tightening the valve the landlord just caused it to escape in a different way.
There is apparently black mold in the kitchen under a plastic sheeting, and likely more of it in the bathroom. There are holes randomly appearing in walls and places I could not reach. The place is filled with cracks, fractures, bubbles, you name it.
Asbestos in the ceiling and asbestos in the floor. Rot, mold, and decay is so bad that the place is a biohazard.
I am going to need to move all of my property from the apartment to a storage unit and this will include me building a shelving unit in my storage unit.
While I’m moving everything I have to leave a few items to show that I’m still living there. I’m going to need to convert my jeep. The jeep conversion will take at least five days. Thankfully I’m not planning anything too complicated.
If the people that have been contacted about this situation, cannot do anything by June 28th I am going to have to move the remaining items out of the property.
And while all of this is happening, I need to mourn my kitty. I also need to go to job interviews, which take a lot of time to prepare for.
The reason I continued the folklore series for May 2023 was I wanted to finish out the Indonesian and Malaysian section. It didn’t feel right leaving it unfinished. But now that the month of May is over, I can take a month off to grieve and to deal with all of this chaos that is happening in my life.
And before anybody mentions it yes, I will be figuring out a gofundme, Patreon, and all of that during the June hiatus. When I return in July, I will probably be living in my Jeep.
On the upside it’s going to be converted, so it won’t be absolutely horrible. But at least for the month of July and possibly August I will be living in my car. It will definitely make for interesting story inspiration material.
I just want to note that this was an incredibly difficult decision to make. The folklore series is very much a passion project for me.
And as much as I love the folklore series, and I love writing it, reality is since Tigris passed the quality level I used to have isn’t there. I have really been forcing myself to write. Hoping it would fill the void and make things easier.
And though I thought it was helping me grieve, in reality it was just helping me deny what I have lost and prolong the grieving process. Taking time off to deal with these very serious issues with my life and to grieve the loss of my Tigris properly is something I have to do.
And there is another reason that I have decided to take the hiatus in June. June 12, 2020 was the day that the family cat; that I raised and cared for for much of his life, Morris died. He also died of kidney disease. Morris was 26 to 27 years old. But he was also like a big brother to Tigris. Every year since he died, I have been hit with a severe depression around June 12th. Morris was a big living teddy bear of a cat. He was also there for almost the entirety of Tigris’s life. And like Tigris he died in my arms. So this year it will be extra difficult for me, because now Tigris is also gone.
The Folklore Series will return in July 2023 after I have processed my grief more and things in my life are hopefully less chaotic.
Thank you for your support, see you on the daily again in July 2023.

From The Material Ghost: Films and Their Medium (1998).
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"Nothing in the strange world of Buster Keaton's comedy is stranger than the ending of College (1927). In that picture Buster plays a bookworm who strives to become a jock. The top student in his high-school class, and so averse to sports that he makes his graduation speech into a diatribe against athletics, he yet arrives at college the next fall with suitcases full not of books but of athletic equipment. With the dauntless determination characteristic of the Keaton hero, the little scholar involves himself in a pursuit for which he's quite unsuited but which is, under circumstances equally characteristic of Keaton, what's expected of him in his courtship of the girl he loves. Outraged like all his other classmates by his diatribe at graduation, she'll see no more of him, as she promptly informs him after the speech, unless he changes his attitude and takes up sports. And so he changes his attitude, neglecting all his studies at college and instead spending most of his time on the sports field. Although he seems inept beyond hope at the various athletic activities he doggedly tries out, he succeeds in winning her in the end, for he summons up unexpected abilities when she's in danger and he comes to the rescue, running much faster and jumping much farther than he ever could before, managing with no trouble now an obstacle race over the hedges in his path and a high pole-vault into the window of her room. With undiminished momentum, he quickly disposes of the villain, a brawny dolt who has been his rival for the girl's affections, and proceeds with her to church forthwith, not even pausing to change his athletic clothes before they are married. Then follows a very peculiar epilogue. No sooner are the newlyweds out of church than a dissolve transports us many years later to the middle-aged couple in their home, sitting among their several children; this in turn swiftly gives way to the couple in their advanced years, abidingly sitting at home beside each other; this in turn to the closing shot of their adjacent graves.
​
"The element of sadness in Keaton's comedy has often been noted, and it certainly emerges in that brisk final depiction of aging and death. Coming on the heels of the triumphant happy ending, the sudden sadness of the epilogue takes us by surprise; but I don't think it constitutes such a break with the rest of the film as some believe. "'What is this abrupt slap in the face doing at the end of an otherwise unquestioning love story?' wrote Walter Kerr in The Silent Clowns. "It takes no more than eleven seconds of playing time to deliver its chill, and yet it undoes on the spot all of the yearning, the struggle and the victory, of the narrative."1 Evidently perturbed by the chill, Kerr misrepresents the epilogue as portraying a disappointed, even embittered couple, when nothing of the sort is suggested: all that we get is a brief summary of a long, uneventful marriage. It seems to me wrong, or only half right, to view the epilogue as a brusque reversal of a hitherto romantic story. Although the hero is unquestioning in his devotion to the girl, the romanticism of the story has been tacitly called into question all along by the conveyed sense that the girl is as unreasonable in her peremptory demands as is the hero in his stubborn pursuit. If Keaton is a romantic, he's a singularly unsentimental one. Granted, we'd have expected the story to end with Buster's getting the girl, but the epilogue merely shows us that he gets to keep her: surely not the undoing but the exact fulfillment of his wishes. If the epilogue brings about a reversal of the happy ending, it does so by way of being a logical continuation of it, indeed a visual equivalent of those famous romantic last words: and they lived happily ever after.
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"Seeing the couple's whole life together go by on the screen in so short a time has, of course, none of the reassuring effect of those words. Yet even the disconcerting briskness of those final eleven seconds carries forward unbrokenly the haste of the climactic rescue and ensuing wedding, as if confirming Buster's aim to get things settled once and for all. College is not the only one of Keaton's films to conclude with the grave. In Cops (1922), a short film in which he's surreally chased by every cop in the city, "The End" appears inscribed on a tombstone capped with Buster's porkpie hat. The plot of Cops, however—unlike that of any of his full-length movies—has an unhappy outcome. Rejected by the girl he loves even after he manages to elude all the cops who have been after him, Buster suicidally puts himself back in their midst: an unusual ending for a comedy, to be sure, but not so strange as the way that in College the romance turns sad, in spite of its triumph, by being literally carried out to its conventional conclusion in the couple's staying together for the remainder of their lives.
​
"Although not quite in the class of Keaton's very best— Our Hospitality (1923), Sherlock Junior (1924), The Navigator (1924), The General (1927), Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)—College seems to me a splendid film that has been generally underrated. It surpasses, I believe, Harold Lloyd's better-known college comedy, The Freshman (1925), which preceded it and no doubt influenced it. The hero of The Freshman is also an incompetent athlete who redeems himself in the end by performing unexpected feats, in his case by winning the decisive football game of the season. (Apparently to avoid too close a comparison with the Lloyd picture, football is one sport omitted from College.) In giving such prominence to athletics, however, both comedians were merely reflecting a fact of campus life—in which sports are often more important than studies—and making use of material naturally befitting the physical comedy of the silent screen. Their comic conceptions, in any case, are fundamentally different. For Lloyd, athletics are part of the image of the big man on campus his ambitious but unknowing hero wants to become, whereas Buster only wants the girl, a more realistic goal as well as a more romantic one. Lloyd's hero is a thoroughgoing incompetent, a classic fool, whereas Keaton's is only a fool for love, a bookworm out of his element on the sports field and quite aware of his problem. When, after knocking over every other hurdle along the racing track, he succeeds in clearing the last one, Buster, instead of deriving any satisfaction from that success, gravely appraises it as a fluke, and then tips over that last hurdle too, feeling that it might as well conform to the pattern of the others. Such disdain for flukes is inconceivable in the Lloyd hero, who'd get nowhere without them. Unlike Lloyd, Keaton never plays the kind of comic character who is preposterously deluded about himself and what's going on around him.
​
"Buster usually has a good grasp of his situation, as good a grasp as one can expect from, as Kenner put it, 'a visitor, not native.' He is a visitor to the sports field in College who knows that the odds are against him there but nonetheless keeps trying because he also knows that the girl won't have him any other way, because he is a compliant visitor desiring to participate in a situation in which a girl's ideal boyfriend must be a jock.
​
"Why should Buster unprotestingly comply with the undue requirements laid upon him by others? One answer is provided in College by the figure of a dean, friendly to the promising young scholar and built small like him, who may be regarded as an embodiment of what his scholarly future would be like. Disappointed that Buster has been doing poorly in his studies, the older man, when he hears the explanation, tearfully reveals that he himself loved a girl once but lost her to an athlete. Buster would rather take on the alien territory of sports than end up alone like the dean. If all comedians are outsiders, Keaton is the outsider who will not give up the attempt to join in, to connect with others. Chaplin's Tramp, by contrast, is more or less self-sufficient, "an aristocrat," as Robert Warshow put it, "fallen on hard times." Lloyd's bespectacled democrat is a blundering free enterpriser, motivated by self-interest, patently inferior to his fellow men but aspiring to rise above them in the land of opportunity. Buster is unique in earnestly seeking a genuine togetherness. If he seems the loneliest of all comedians, it's because he's the one to whom companionship matters the most.
​
"That loneliness is hauntingly conveyed in those distant long shots, typical of Keaton, in which he appears as a tiny figure amid large empty surroundings: in the river town during the storm, or practicing by himself in the college stadium, or—in The Frozen North (1922)—coming out of a subway exit into an arctic wilderness.
​
"Robert Bresson—another practitioner of the deadpan approach, in a different way from Keaton's but with a similar sense that life is not a matter of personality—once defined originality as the failed attempt to do the same as everybody else, a definition that applies exactly to Buster. For all his efforts to join in, and all his eventual successes in meeting the forces outside, inside he cannot shake off the sense of his singularity. He thinks, therefore he stands alone in a world where no other minds are discernible, only systems of behavior. Ultimately he remains even more isolated than Chaplin's Tramp, since it's not Buster's individual qualities that single him out—these he hardly lets interfere in his transactions with others—but the very fact of his individuality, of his possessing the inner dimension of a self in the realm of the formula.
​
"Buster is not, then, Grierson's "romantic achiever of all things" but a bewildered equilibrist whose mind runs counter to the achievements of his body: a new kind of clown who may not so often trip over physical objects but who, so to speak, keeps tripping over his thoughts. The charming incompetence of the traditional clown was the conception of an earlier time, with more room for eccentricity than has been allowed in our ruthless century. Things were not so good then, of course—things never have been— but at least the clown could thumb his nose at the world and expect the world to let him be. He would puncture our lofty pretensions with his reminder of the claims of the body, of the fact that in our flesh and blood we all fumble our way through life. That conception hasn't lost its validity, and Chaplin can still use it to portray a doughboy in Shoulder Arms (1918) or a factory worker in Modern Times; but he was looking back to a Victorian humanism that decidedly fails him when portraying a Jew under the Nazis in The Great Dictator (1940). Keaton reverses that conception: to our age of increasing mindlessness he offers a comedy of mind. Although he never dealt with contemporary issues as Chaplin did, he accurately depicts the landscape of our time in its vast inhuman organization. He reminds us of the claims of consciousness against a mechanistic order, of the fact that our expert procedures and outward accomplishments take no account of our inner nature. Whereas the old clowns would assert our right to our idiosyncrasies, he asserts our need to live with one another in a community that does justice to our individuality. The sadness that emerges at the end of College underlies all of Keaton's happy endings: it is the sadness of inescapable isolation, of knowing that he does not in the end, any more than he did at the beginning, belong in a world where happiness is available only as a convention. Yet Buster has done his best, and leaves us with the haunting image of his solemn and solitary figure, at once purposeful and detached, bravely attempting the impossible."

Hi everyone!
All opened records include high-quality inner and outer sleeves.
Will ship from California. Prices already include shipping. Open to local pickup at 90680 in California for 10% discount. For shipping, bundle with other for a 10% discount off total. Prices were based on eBay last sold.
Need to sell quick so open to offers!
For Sale:
- ($65) Steven Universe, Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack) [Sleeve: NM-; Record: NM]
Sleeve has a small crease but other than that it is pretty much brand new.
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- ($95) Hunter X Hunter by Yoshihisa Hirano (Kurapika Edition) [Sleeve: NM; Record: NM]
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- ($33) Final Fantasy IV: Songs of Heroes [Sleeve: NM; Record: NM]
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- ($70) Katana Zero Original Soundtrack by Bill Kiley, LudoWic, Justin Stander (Limited Run Variant) [Sleeve: NM; Record: NM]
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- ($75) Octopath Traveler -Recorded Journey- by Yasunori Nishiki [Sleeve: NM; Record: NM]
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- (SOLD) Untitled Goose Game Original Soundtrack by Dan Golding [Sleeve: NM; Record: NM]
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- (SOLD) Promare Original Soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano (Half White & Half Red Variant) [SEALED]
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Let me know if you have any questions :)

This will be a long post, so I'll start by providing a condensed summary.
The full analysis for each song will be below.

Tl;Dr

"Life Is But a Dream" is an album that explores the different stages and aspects of life, emphasizing that life is merely a temporary experience. The album plays with diverse themes, such as childhood, dreams, love, personal struggles, and individuality.
"Game Over" deals with different stages of life, from childhood to adulthood. The song suggests that life is just an ordinary experience that passes by and we must cherish every moment of it.
"Mattel" focuses on the artificial and superficial aspects of society, suggesting that people are only living in a façade without truly understanding their purpose.
"Nobody" delves into the idea of one's self, exploring the concept of being alive yet feeling nonexistent in life. It contemplates the complex nature of human existence.
"We Love You" sarcastically talks about society's obsession with materialism and constant growth, which often leads to a loss of genuine connection with others.
"Cosmic" describes the cyclical nature of life, celebrating the beauty of different eras and experiences that have shaped us as individuals throughout time.
"Beautiful Morning" ponders the idea of living through various struggles and pain, questioning what truly makes life beautiful, despite all its suffering.
"Easier" encourages looking at the brighter side of life and suggests that it's better to let go of hardships and focus on the positive aspects.
"G" is a highly satirical and possibly sarcastic song about people's need for approval and importance, questioning the self-indulgence in seeking such attention.
"(O)rdinary" explores the desire to experience human emotions and feelings, yearning to understand others and live an authentic life.
"(D)eath" deals with the theme of mortality and the feeling of release that comes with embracing the inevitability of death, as seen through the protagonist's dreams.
"Life Is But a Dream" is an instrumental piece that culminates the album, offering introspection and contemplation on life as a whole, using the beauty of music to help express this sentiment.
Overall, the album is an exploration of the human experience, touching on life's darkest and brightest moments. It serves as a reminder that despite all the trials and tribulations we face, life is ultimately transient and beautiful. The band uses an introspective and often satirical lens to piece together different aspects of life, urging listeners to contemplate the brevity of existence and the importance of holding onto significant experiences and connections.

In-Depth Analysis

Game over

"Game Over" is a reflection on life's different stages and how they define an individual's journey, ultimately leading to a realization that life is an ever-changing series of experiences.
In the song, different moments in life are described through various words and phrases, such as "Crawling, Walking, Fleeting, Glory" and "Secret, Toothless, Fairy, Pillow." These seemingly contradicting moments all contribute to the complexity of life, with the pre-chorus exemplifying the idea of ordinary and extraordinary coexisting in an individual's journey. The song's chorus, "As it may," repeats to signify how life will continue no matter what happens.
The post-chorus, "Days are fine and come on time / But years leave with nothing to find," highlights the idea that time is fluid and creates a sense of disorientation when observing life's passage. This sentiment is further emphasized in the second verse, which details more specific instances and how they continue to change as life goes on.
Towards the end of the song, the narrator realizes that they don't belong in their current life and decides to let go. The outro reflects on the concept that life is merely a dream, with the narrator swinging from their family tree and saying goodnight.

Mattel

"Mattel" depicts a world made of plastic and artificial elements, a metaphor for a superficial and shallow society. The lyrics describe a character made of vinyl skin and plastic bones, who is unable to express emotions or have any personal depth, representing how people can become detached from their true selves.
The line "I've smelled the plastic daisies and it seems we've found ourselves in hell" emphasizes the idea that this artificial, materialistic world is a form of suffering, as it lacks real emotions and genuine connections. The character struggles to find meaning in this environment, feeling trapped in a loop and surrounded by people who only play pretend.
The bridge conveys the emptiness within the character, mentioning the phrase "just smart enough to know nothing at all." This demonstrates the character's self-awareness of their own superficiality and how they can't escape it in this world. The ending of the song, with the repetition of the word "burn," possibly signifies a desire to destroy this fake world and start anew, seeking authenticity and meaning.
As the song fits in the context of the album, it serves as a reflection on societal materialism and the potential loss of identity and connections, with the protagonist desiring genuine experiences and emotions. This theme recurs throughout the album as the characters grapple with addressing and overcoming these challenges in various ways.

Nobody

“Nobody” evokes the existential themes, exploring human identity and self-discovery. In the context of the album, "Nobody" plays a role in balancing the explorations of human experience with a more introspective and spiritual focus, centering on the idea of transcending physical existence and uniting with divinity.
In the lyrics, the use of phrases like "I am all" and "I am none" reflect the idea of embracing one's insignificance in the grander scheme of existence while simultaneously recognizing the inherent power and potential that resides within every individual. The chorus line, "I am the one in everything / I am alive, I am the dead, I am a man without a head," evokes the idea of existing beyond traditional concepts of life and consciousness.
The line "float like a feather through space and time outside a dream" underlines the theme of transcending one's perceived limitations, seeming to achieve a higher state of being. The song's message revolves around the idea of 'shedding weight as I am coming undone,' which can symbolize letting go of the trappings of material existence to reach a purer, more spiritual plane.
"Nobody" can also be seen as an exploration of identity, with the protagonist undergoing a transformation and rebirth as they move beyond their body and earthly ties. This arguably ties in with the overarching themes of the album "Life Is but A Dream," as it seems to remind the listener that life is fleeting and the pursuit of self-discovery and transformation is essential.
In conclusion, "Nobody" is a thought-provoking and introspective piece that complements the broader themes and messages of the album. The song encourages personal transformation, asking the listener to abandon the trappings of material existence and seek out their true identity, transcending the boundaries of the physical world.

We Love You

"We Love You" speaks to the never-ending search for power, success, wealth, and social status, emphasizing that as people strive for these things, society continues to love and support them. The lyrics consist of phrases and words that represent desires and motivations, creating a sense of urgency and an insatiable appetite for more.
The refrain and chorus highlight how society admires those who constantly chase success, even as they sink "unto the mud." This suggests that the pursuit of these desires ultimately leads to one's downfall or demise, whether it be physically or mentally. The song can also be interpreted as a criticism of materialism, with the repetition of phrases related to superficial or external achievements.
Within the context of the entire album, "We Love You" contributes to the overall theme of life, death, and human experience. The album explores various aspects of life, from its fleeting nature to the search for meaning and identity, and "We Love You" encapsulates the darker side of the human desire for success and material gain. By examining these themes, the song encourages listeners to reflect on their own motives and pursuits, questioning whether their actions ultimately lead them towards true happiness or self-destruction.

Cosmic

"Cosmic" explores the theme of everlasting connections and the cyclical nature of life, love, and pain. In the context of the album, it appears to be a reflective piece on past experiences and the idea of meeting again in different lifetimes.
The song's lyrics demonstrate the resilience of relationships and connections that can cross time and space, as well as the notion of fate. Lines like "We loved so many times, and in so many lives sometimes we got it right" and "It found its way back in, until we meet again into that good night" speak to the cyclical nature of love and the concept that some connections can weather multiple lifetimes or experiences.
The imagery of "chasing through the stars beyond forever" and "dancing in the wind as roses born again" convey a sense of drifting through time, searching for these connections in various forms and scenarios, while the repeated phrase "there you'll find me" implies a constant presence, always waiting for a reunion.
Furthermore, the song touches on themes of loss and the transient nature of life, as demonstrated in lines like "fade - from all that was before we shut another door, but not a last goodbye." This speaks to the idea that while things may come to an end, there is always the possibility of renewal in different forms.
In conclusion, within the context of Avenged Sevenfold's album "Life Is But a Dream," "Cosmic" can be interpreted as a contemplative piece on the power of everlasting connections, the cycles of life and love, and the concept of finding each other again throughout time and space.

Beautiful Morning

"Beautiful Morning" contemplates personal struggles and the complexities of life while seeking solace from the unknown or divine.
In the first verse, the speaker asks the divine to save them, allow them to hear, and experience the beauty of life. The refrain "You walk on water but the water swallows you" signifies the price people can sometimes pay for extraordinary abilities, wealth, or fame. This line can be interpreted as the speaker questioning the existence of God and/or their religious beliefs.
In the second verse, the speaker lays in a tomb, feeling alone and empty, which could represent internal struggles and feelings of being lost and helpless in their own life. The chorus poses a contrast between the speaker's emptiness and the unique yet otherworldly person "like no other." This could highlight the complexities of human nature when confronted with external forces causing personal struggles.
The bridge of "Beautiful Morning" presents a contrary view, describing a perfect day where everything seems bright and beautiful. This vision is juxtaposed against the song's darker themes, signifying a fleeting moment of happiness and solace. The guitar solo in the song might symbolize an emotional turning point, filled with both darkness and hope.
The third verse suggests that the speaker acknowledges and embraces their issues, but ultimately, the song ends with a repetition of the chorus and a reminder of the struggle between seeking solace from external forces and finding strength within oneself. Overall, the song can be interpreted as an exploration of the balance between self-reflection, doubt, and the transient beauty found in life, with the phrase "Beautiful Morning" symbolizing hope amid emotional turmoil.

Easier

"Easier" explores the concept of facing hardships and the desire to escape from life's challenges. The song's lyrics convey a message of finding solace in the idea of walking away from difficulties, with the hope of seeing brighter days ahead.
In the first verse, the lyrics describe being shaped by "peaks and valleys," likely referring to the ups and downs of life. The protagonist laments feeling tied to the physical world until they die. The chorus then introduces the idea of walking away as an easier option, with the belief that there will be better days in the future.
As the song progresses, the second verse reinforces the transient nature of life, where things you love become goodbyes, and the protagonist is ready to face the end of their journey. The outro repeats the idea that it's easier to walk away, emphasizing the need for detachment and acceptance in dealing with life's challenges.
In the context of the album, "Easier" fits in thematically with other songs that explore the experiences and struggles of existence. The album often addresses the doubts, fears, and complexities of life while also seeking hope and solace in the face of these challenges. "Easier" serves as a contemplative reflection on coping with adversity and searching for a sense of inner peace amidst life's difficulties.

G

The song "G" can be understood as a satirical commentary on the concept of God and the notion that divine intervention plays a role in people's lives.
The lyrics of the song suggest an inflated sense of ego and self-worth, as if the singer is proclaiming themselves to be a godlike figure:
"I am the man Six days of bullshit, a wave of my hand And you know what I need Put your hands together, get down on your knees."
The lyrics also touch on the superficial aspects that are often tied to religion and spirituality, such as compliments on one's appearance and style:
"It's so chic and we love What you've done with the place Compliments you with style and grace."
The chorus highlights the idea that people often attribute random or coincidental events and blessings in their lives to a higher power, with lines like:
"Can’t tell me that all I see ain't a gift from the fabulous one."
The song serves as a critique of the human tendency to create idols or gods in order to explain the unknown and provide a sense of comfort or guidance. Within the context of the GOD trio in the album, "G" represents the exploration of what it might be like to have godlike power and the consequences that come with it.

(O)rdinary

"(O)rdinary" appears to take on the perspective of someone or something yearning to become human. As part of the GOD trio, "(O)rdinary" deals with the theme of power, control, and the human experience. The lyrics ask questions such as "Will you give me my own soul?" and "Will you let me take control?", indicating a desire to take on the qualities and experiences of a human, despite potentially not being one.
This theme of wanting to be human and understand the human experience is further emphasized with lines like "I wanna see the things that you see" and "I wanna know the secrets inside." The line "Tell me how to dream" also refers to a human ability that the subject of the song wishes to experience.
Within the album's context, this song represents a desire to have ordinary human experiences and emotions, in contrast to the idea of being a god or something extraordinary, as portrayed in other songs like "G" and "Nobody." The subject of "(O)rdinary" seeks connection and understanding, longing to experience life through the eyes of the human subject.

(D)eath

"(D)eath" addresses the theme of death as a relief from the struggles and dissatisfaction experienced in life.
Throughout the album, various aspects of life are explored, such as the artificiality portrayed in "Mattel" and the pursuit of power and success in "We Love You." However, in "(D)eath," listeners are presented with an alternative perspective: death as a form of liberation from life's challenges.
The lyrics in "(D)eath," particularly the lines "I stare out in the distance of the city scene… I leap into the darkest night / Wind on my face, it satisfies / I never have felt so alive..." describe a character contemplating their life and finding relief in the idea of death. This person feels a sense of freedom and exhilaration in the moments leading up to their death.
In contrast with the other songs in the album, which focus on various struggles and frustrations in life, "(D)eath" offers a reprieve from these hardships. It represents an escape from societal pressures and a chance for authenticity and self-realization. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the song does not necessarily promote or glorify death; rather, it explores the theme as a means to understand the complexities and challenges of life within the context of the album.

Life Is But a Dream

"Life Is But a Dream" is an instrumental track from Avenged Sevenfold's album of the same name. The album itself explores various themes, including life experiences, identity, and existential questions. Although the title track has no lyrics, its placement at the end of the album signifies a conclusion or reflection on the themes presented throughout.
The song's title, "Life Is But a Dream," can be seen as an acknowledgment that life is fleeting and ephemeral, much like a dream. This idea is also present in other songs throughout the album, such as "Game Over," where the lyrics "Days are fine and come on time / But years leave with nothing to find" express the passing of time and the fragility of life. Similarly, in "Nobody," the character describes themselves as being "boundless" and "free," suggesting an awareness of life's transience.
The theme of identity is also prevalent in the album, with songs like "Mattel" and "(O)ordinary" exploring the concept of self-discovery and the search for one's own soul. In "Mattel," the singer describes having a "vinyl skin" and "plastic bones," questioning their own humanity and the nature of their existence. In "(O)ordinary," the lyrics ask, "Will you give me my own soul? / Will you let me take control? / I wanna see the things that you see / I wanna be the human that you be."
Finally, the album explores existential questions and the nature of reality, as seen in songs like "Cosmic" and "Beautiful Morning." In "Cosmic," the lyrics describe a journey through time and space, with the singer declaring that they will follow their loved one through the stars "beyond forever." In "Beautiful Morning," the character grapples with the meaning of life and questions whether they truly belong in their current existence.
By ending the album with the instrumental "Life Is But a Dream," Avenged Sevenfold leaves the listener with a moment of introspection to reflect on the themes and emotions that have been explored throughout. The absence of lyrics allows the listeners to draw their own conclusions and contemplate the fleeting, dream-like nature of life and its complexities.

​
We have a responsibility for altering reality.

Love:
By existing in reality, we are responsible for its modification
Our choices and actions can lead to both positive and negative outcomes,
and we bear responsibility for the consequences of our actions.
​
However, it's important to note that we are not solely responsible
for all changes in reality. Many factors beyond our control,
such as natural disasters or global economic trends, can also
cause significant changes in the world.
​
So how to live? Love is the answer.
It is what Christ stressed so much "Love God , Love your neighbor"
our neighbors are everyone and everything we share this universe with.
Love inspires us to take action to help others. When we care about someone deeply,
we often feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to help them when they are in need.
​
This perspective has important implications for how we think about our relationship
to the world and the responsibilities we have as inhabitants of this planet. It suggests
that we have a duty to act with compassion and empathy toward all beings, and to
work to promote the well-being of the entire ecosystem.
​
Moreover, recognizing that our neighbors extend beyond just the human species can
inspire us to develop a more inclusive and holistic approach to problem-solving
and decision-making. By taking into account the needs and interests of all living
beings and the natural environment, we can create more sustainable and equitable
solutions that benefit all members of our shared community.
​
The idea that our neighbors are everyone and everything we share this
universe with is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness and interdependence
of all life, and can inspire us to act with greater awareness, compassion, and
responsibility toward the world around us.
​
Love can inspire us to be more empathetic and compassionate towards others, and to see their
struggles and challenges as our own. This can lead us to take action to alleviate their suffering,
whether through volunteering, donating to charity, or simply being there to provide emotional support.
​
Furthermore, love can give us a sense of purpose and meaning and can motivate us to work towards a greater good. When we love someone or something deeply, we may be more willing.
to make sacrifices and work hard to achieve our goals.
​
Love can be a powerful force for good, inspiring us to take action to help others and work towards
a better world, a better galaxy, a better universe and beyond. Whether we are motivated by love
for our family, friends, or humanity as a whole, our actions can have a positive impact on those
around us and contribute to a more compassionate and caring society.
​
The unity we are called to is not achieved through self-selecting communities that look like us
and talk like us and act like us. That's a specious, ugly, and above all wholly human sort of
unity. Rather what we're called to is a unity achieved through selfless love, mutual submission,
and patience, all empowered by the work of Christ in us through the Holy Spirit.

Agape
Agape is a Greek term that refers to a selfless, unconditional love or compassion for others,
regardless of their actions or characteristics. It is often associated with spiritual or
divine love, and is sometimes referred to as "God's love" or "unconditional love."
​
Agape is distinguished from other types of love, such as romantic love or familial love,
in that it is not based on personal attraction or a sense of obligation, but rather is
freely given and offered to all people. It involves a willingness to put the needs and
well-being of others before one's own, and a commitment to act with kindness and
generosity toward others, even in the face of adversity or difficulty.
​
In Christianity, agape is often described as the highest form of love, and is
closely associated with the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is seen as a transformative
force that can bring about greater compassion, forgiveness, and understanding in human
relationships, and is viewed as a central aspect of Christian faith and practice.
​
Beyond its religious or spiritual associations, agape is often viewed as a universal
human value that transcends cultural and ideological differences, and is seen as a
powerful force for promoting greater empathy, compassion, and social harmony.

Love 2:
In many spiritual traditions, love is seen as the highest form of human expression
and the ultimate goal of spiritual practice. Love is often seen as the force that
unites all beings and that connects us to the divine or transcendent reality.
By cultivating love in our hearts and expressing it in our actions, we can
experience a sense of wholeness, joy, and fulfillment, and contribute to
the well-being of others and the world.
​
love does not necessarily imply that life is easy or that we will always succeed in our
efforts to love. Love can be challenging and require us to confront our own limitations,
biases, and fears. It may involve facing difficult situations and working through conflicts
and misunderstandings. But the journey towards love can also be deeply rewarding and
transformative, helping us to grow in wisdom, compassion, and inner strength.
There are many ways to conceptualize the stages of learning to love, and different traditions
and thinkers may have different perspectives on this question. However, here are a few
possible stages that are often identified in spiritual and psychological approaches to personal growth:
​

1. Self-love: The first stage of learning to love is often seen as cultivating a healthy

sense of self-love and self-acceptance. This involves developing a positive relationship
with oneself, acknowledging one's strengths and weaknesses, and practicing self-care and self-compassion.
​

1. Empathy: The next stage is often cultivating empathy, or the ability to understand

and feel compassion for others. This involves developing the capacity to listen deeply,
to put oneself in another's shoes, and to respond with kindness and caring.
​

1. Compassion: The third stage is often cultivating compassion, or the active desire to

alleviate the suffering of others. This involves developing the capacity to extend love
and care beyond oneself and to work towards the well-being of others and the world.
​

1. Forgiveness: The fourth stage is often cultivating forgiveness, or the ability to

let go of resentment, anger, and blame towards oneself and others. This involves
developing the capacity to see the humanity and inherent worth of oneself and others,
and to work towards healing and reconciliation.
​

1. Unconditional love: The fifth stage is often seen as cultivating unconditional love,

or the ability to love oneself and others without conditions or expectations. This
involves developing the capacity to see the divine or transcendent essence in
oneself and others, and to extend love and care to all beings, regardless
of their actions or circumstances.
​
Of course, these stages are not necessarily linear or fixed, and different people may progress
through them in different ways and at different rates. However, they can provide a
helpful framework for understanding the different aspects of learning to love and
for identifying areas of personal growth.

Love 3:
It's important to note that unconditional love is often seen as the highest stage
of love, and that there may not necessarily be any "stages" of love beyond that.
However, some thinkers and traditions have identified additional qualities
or aspects of love that can be cultivated or deepened even within the
context of unconditional love. Here are a few possible examples:
​

1. Devotion: Some traditions emphasize the importance of cultivating devotion,

or a deep and abiding love and dedication to a divine or transcendent reality.
This involves developing the capacity to surrender one's ego and personal desires
to a higher purpose or calling, and to live in service to that purpose.
​

1. Gratitude: Another aspect of love that can be deepened is gratitude, or the

ability to appreciate and cherish the blessings and beauty of life. This involves
developing the capacity to recognize and savor the gifts of existence,
and to express thankfulness for them.
​

1. Joy: Some traditions emphasize the importance of cultivating joy, or a sense

of celebration and delight in life. This involves developing the capacity to
experience and express happiness, humor, playfulness, and spontaneity,
and to spread these qualities to others.
​

1. Wisdom: Finally, some traditions emphasize the importance of cultivating wisdom,

or a deep and insightful understanding of the nature of reality and the human condition.
This involves developing the capacity to see beyond appearances and illusions, and
to discern the true nature of oneself and others. It also involves developing the
capacity to act with discernment, compassion,
and skillful means in the face of life's challenges and complexities.
​

Human DNA:
​
humans are 99.9% genetically similar to one another. The genetic differences
between different groups of human beings are modest, and individuals
from different populations can be genetically more similar
to one another than to individuals from their own population
​

The Human Tribe:
​
Deep down, as human beings, we have a tribal instinct that has been
ingrained in us throughout our evolutionary history.
For much of our existence, humans have lived in small
groups or tribes, relying on cooperation and social bonds
for survival. Within these tribes, knowledge and experiences
were passed down from one generation to the next,
ensuring the collective wisdom of the group was preserved.
​
This transmission of learned experiences is an essential
aspect of human culture. Through storytelling, rituals,
and direct teachings, older members of a tribe would
impart their knowledge and wisdom to the younger generation.
This process allowed important skills, survival strategies,
and cultural practices to be preserved and handed down over time.
​
Even in modern society, this tribal instinct can still be seen
in various forms. Families, communities, and social groups
serve as contemporary versions of tribes, where knowledge
and experiences are shared and passed on. Education systems,
mentorship programs, and intergenerational relationships
also play a vital role in transmitting knowledge and
learned experiences to younger generations.
​
While our modern world has brought significant changes and
advancements, the innate tribal nature within us continues
to shape our behavior and the way we connect with others.
Acknowledging this aspect of our human nature can help us
understand the importance of community, collaboration, and
the sharing of knowledge for the betterment of society as a whole.

The Overview Effect
It is a cognitive shift that has been described
as a sense of awe, interconnectedness, and responsibility towards our planet.
It is the experience of seeing the Earth as a whole,
a fragile and interconnected system, and feeling
a profound sense of awe, unity, and responsibility.
The Overview Effect challenges us to think beyond
national boundaries and to work together as a
global community to address the challenges facing our planet.
The Overview Effect can inspire us to be more
mindful of our actions and their impact on the
Earth, and to strive for a more sustainable and equitable world.
It challenges us to think beyond our individual
interests and work towards a common goal of
protecting and preserving the Earth for future generations.
​

The orchestra
Viewing humanity as a symphony orchestra is a great way to illustrate the interconnectedness and collaboration among individuals to create something harmonious and meaningful.
​
In an orchestra, each musician contributes their unique skills and plays their part in synchrony with others. Similarly, in society, people from diverse backgrounds, professions, and perspectives come together to form a collective whole. Each individual brings their talents, experiences, and contributions, much like different instruments in an orchestra.
​
Just as various sections of an orchestra create different melodies and harmonies, people in society/tribe have different roles, responsibilities, and areas of expertise. They work together towards a common goal, creating a harmonious balance and progressing collectively.
However, like in a symphony, it's also crucial to appreciate the value of each individual's contribution, no matter how big or small. Just as every instrument and section of an orchestra plays a vital role in creating the total masterpiece, every person has a part to play in shaping society.

Every human has at least three things in common
​

1. Pain: Pain is a universal human experience. It can manifest in various forms, including physical, emotional, and psychological pain. Whether it's a physical injury, loss, heartbreak, or disappointment, humans encounter pain throughout their lives. Pain can be a source of growth, resilience, and empathy, as it often teaches important lessons, strengthens character, and fosters compassion for others who are also experiencing pain.
2. Uncertainty: Uncertainty is an inherent part of the human condition. Life is full of unknowns, and individuals often face uncertain situations, such as career decisions, relationships, health challenges, or global events. Uncertainty can be both unsettling and liberating. It challenges individuals to adapt, embrace change, and develop skills in problem-solving and decision-making. It also presents opportunities for personal growth, self-discovery, and the development of resilience.
3. Constant Work: The need for work and effort is a fundamental aspect of human existence. From pursuing education, building a career, maintaining relationships, to pursuing personal goals and aspirations, humans consistently invest time and effort into various areas of their lives. Work can provide a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and fulfillment. It allows individuals to contribute to society, develop skills, and create a meaningful impact in their own lives and the lives of others.

​

The effects of tribal exclusion
Tribal exclusion refers to the act of excluding or marginalizing individuals or groups based on perceived differences, such as ethnicity, nationality, religion, or cultural practices. This exclusion can have severe consequences, including the potential to escalate into violence. Here are some ways tribal exclusion contributes to violence:
​

1. Social Division and Conflict: Tribal exclusion creates an "us versus them" mentality, fostering social divisions and deepening animosity between different groups. When one group perceives itself as superior or feels threatened by the other, it can lead to intergroup tensions and conflicts. These conflicts may escalate into violence, fueled by a sense of competition, fear, or a desire for dominance.

​

1. Dehumanization and Stereotyping: Exclusion often involves dehumanizing or stereotyping those outside the tribe. It can involve portraying the "other" as inferior, dangerous, or unworthy of empathy and respect. Such dehumanization can erode compassion and make it easier to justify acts of violence against the excluded group.

​

1. Lack of Cooperation and Trust: Tribal exclusion hampers cooperation and trust between different groups. When exclusionary attitudes prevail, it becomes challenging to build relationships based on mutual understanding, empathy, and cooperation. The absence of trust and cooperation can lead to hostility and conflicts that may escalate into violence.

​

1. Economic and Resource Disputes: Exclusion based on tribal lines can exacerbate economic disparities and resource disputes. When certain groups are systematically excluded from economic opportunities or denied access to resources, it can create a sense of injustice and frustration. These grievances can ignite violence as groups compete for limited resources or seek to address perceived economic inequalities.

​

1. Political Manipulation and Power Struggles: Tribal exclusion can be exploited by political leaders or factions seeking to gain or consolidate power. They may manipulate or exploit existing divisions to rally support or justify violent actions against the excluded group. Such manipulation can fuel political rivalries and power struggles, leading to violence as a means to maintain or attain power.

​
Addressing the effects of tribal exclusion and preventing violence requires efforts to promote inclusivity, empathy, and intergroup dialogue. This includes fostering a sense of shared identity, challenging stereotypes, promoting equal opportunities, and addressing economic and social disparities. Building bridges of understanding and promoting peaceful coexistence between different tribes or groups is crucial for mitigating violence and fostering social harmony.
​

Diversity Matters:
Diversity within a tribe or any community can bring numerous benefits
and contribute to its total development and success. Here are some
key ways in which diversity enhances various aspects of a tribe:
​

1. Knowledge and Perspective: Diversity brings together individuals with different backgrounds, experiences, skills, and knowledge. This diversity of perspectives and expertise can lead to a broader range of ideas, insights, and problem-solving approaches. It encourages innovation, critical thinking, and creativity within the tribe. By incorporating diverse perspectives, the tribe can better understand complex issues and make more informed decisions.

​

1. Cultural Enrichment: A diverse tribe encompasses individuals from various cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. This diversity fosters cultural exchange, appreciation, and learning. It provides opportunities for sharing traditions, customs, and beliefs, promoting a sense of cultural enrichment within the tribe. This exposure to different cultures helps break down stereotypes, builds tolerance, and encourages intercultural dialogue and understanding.

​

1. Social Cohesion and Unity: When a tribe embraces diversity, it sends a message of inclusivity and acceptance. When individuals from different backgrounds are welcomed and valued, it strengthens social cohesion and creates a sense of unity within the tribe. This unity can help overcome divisions, build trust, and foster a shared sense of identity and purpose.

​

1. Collaboration and Cooperation: Diversity can enhance collaboration and cooperation within the tribe. By bringing together individuals with diverse skills, talents, and perspectives, it encourages teamwork and cooperation. Different strengths and expertise complement each other, enabling the tribe to tackle challenges more effectively and achieve common goals.

​

1. Adaptability and Resilience: A diverse tribe is better equipped to adapt and thrive in a changing environment. The varied experiences and perspectives of its members allow the tribe to be more flexible, innovative, and resilient. Diversity promotes the sharing of knowledge and skills needed to navigate different situations and respond to challenges.

​

1. Personal Growth and Empathy: Interacting with people from diverse backgrounds promotes personal growth, empathy, and understanding. It challenges biases, expands horizons, and encourages individuals to step outside their comfort zones. This exposure to different perspectives and experiences helps tribe members develop empathy, open-mindedness, and a broader worldview.

​
Embracing diversity within a tribe requires creating an inclusive environment, promoting equal opportunities, and respecting and valuing individual differences. By recognizing and appreciating the unique contributions of each member, a tribe can harness the full potential of diversity and reap its many benefits.

Pass it on
​
Indeed, the passing on of information and wisdom can be considered a form of love.
When individuals share their knowledge, experiences, and wisdom with others,
they contribute to the growth, development, and well-being of those individuals.
This act of sharing is an expression of care, empathy, and a desire to see others thrive.
​
Passing on information and wisdom is a way to invest in the betterment of future generations.
It allows individuals to benefit from the accumulated knowledge of those who came before them,
avoiding past mistakes, and building upon existing insights.
By sharing wisdom, individuals can help others navigate challenges,
make informed decisions, and gain valuable perspectives.
​
The act of passing on information and wisdom also fosters connection and strengthens
relationships. It creates bonds between individuals as they engage in the exchange
of knowledge and learn from each other's experiences. This sharing of wisdom helps
to build a sense of community, as individuals support and uplift one another
through the transmission of valuable information.
​
Furthermore, passing on information and wisdom can be seen as an act of empowerment.
By equipping others with knowledge, individuals enable them to make better choices,
expand their horizons, and take control of their own lives. It is a way to uplift
and empower individuals, helping them to achieve their goals and reach their full potential.
​
The passing on of information and wisdom is an act of love because it
demonstrates care, empathy, and a desire to see others succeed. It strengthens
relationships, fosters community, and empowers individuals to grow and thrive.
By sharing knowledge and wisdom, we contribute to the well-being and development
of both individuals and society as a whole.
​
​

Few of us realize the importance of our free will and the extent of our self-suppression. Because of our powerful creative ability, and the vastness of our consciousness, we have been able to form our bodies and personalities as we intended in the depths of our greater consciousness. Our ego-consciousness is a self-developed entity as an expression of how we feel about ourselves, and who we believe we are. All of this is internal. In every moment, we are creating our self-expression and our experiences by the vibratory qualities of our thoughts and feelings.
In order to have our human experiences, we have convinced ourselves through constant social and mental programming, that we are mortal animals, and that among billions of humans, we are personally insignificant. These beliefs confine our self-realization to our ego-consciousness. Identifying with our ego-self, we are enslaved to limited consciousness and living in a kind of trance, unaware of who we are in our greater Self. We believe that we are subject to forces outside of our own essence. We believe that we must resist and defeat negative, destructive forces by engaging with them and sharing the same vibratory levels with them. Because we are aligning with the vibratory quality that we are resisting, this is self-defeating.
We cannot transform negative energy with negative energy, even if we believe that we are being positive by fighting evil. From within a dark, negative dimension, we cannot find light, unless we seek its higher vibrations in gratitude and joy. Then our awareness opens to it as our reality. The qualities of our experiences brighten with more understanding of the magnitude of our essence. What is important is the consciousness that is either life-enhancing or life-diminishing for all life. Which one we align our thoughts and feelings with is our free-will choice. The result of living in the vibrations that we choose to resonate with are either well-being, joyful and fulfilling, or fearful, angry and depressive.
Nothing happens to us outside of our own consciousness. We are the creators, just by the way we are, by our vibratory frequency and polarity. Our perspective in every moment creates the qualities of our experiences. When we can realize that everything is an expression of consciousness, which is the essence of everything, our awareness can open to greater understanding. We have awareness of as much of universal consciousness as we allow ourselves. It is completely our choice. When we have a strong intention to align with our heart-consciousness, and to open our awareness to our intuition, we transform our lives and no longer experience negativity or dependence on anything outside of our inner knowing.
Source: Kenneth Schmitt. https://www.ConsciousExpansion.org/blog

Apologies in advance if I am in the wrong place or not posting correctly. Im very basic and could use some guidance. I’m looking to upgrade the sound system in my Honda. My main goal for this post is to get an idea of what I’d be looking to spend for the features I’m hoping to attain.
-New Stereo Unit Normally I’d be okay with stock, but my model doesn’t include Apple Pay and that’s really something I’m hoping to add. Can be wired via USB if it saves money. I’d also like to find one that would hopefully be compatible with my already included backup cam. Read I should stay away from Boss. Also, I’ve been told changing stock units can have effects on the electrical system of the car. Is this something I should be worried about?
-Speakers inside I think the stock inner speakers of the car are also pretty bad. If I turn volume up load enough it gets kinda of raspy of that makes sense. Do I need to upgrade these to improve that? One of my main things is just to get a clear audio while driving and volume up. Doesn’t need to have crazy bass or be very loud, just clear when playing at a louder level of that makes sense.
-Amp and Sub Again my main focus is sound quality over bass, but in a perfect world both would be great. Anything minimal that could be recommended? I have a friend who got a single 10” sub 900w amp and it really knocks. Would I want something similar or are there smaller options for this that could also be cheaper?
Basically I’m hoping someone can maybe recommend a build on crutchfield for me and shoot me a link? I won’t be installing anything myself and will have it professionally done by audio express, but they are obviously in it for a sale and I want to make sure I have a good idea about what I want and cost prior to hearing their pitch. So any help is much appreciated. Cost I’m most likely looking at for this (parts and install), manufacturers to avoid, is it worth it if it causes future issues to my vehicle.
TIA!

Basalt should be used with water shielding or at least should sometimes. This post is part one of my basalt and water enclosure.
Part 2 Water Shielding Complete enclosure
https://www.reddit.com/TargetedEnergyWeapons/comments/13yri31/water_shielding_complete_enclosure/
​
​
HEAVY FRAME .5 THICK WALL WITH EXTRA SPACE
This frame to hold up the ceiling and for safety to keep the basalt walls from collapsing on me. It can also help to hold up the walls of basalt sandbags or poly tubing and can help to keep it straight. It could even help to hold up the water layer and to provide a straight structure for that.
​
ON THE OUTSIDE
3.17 wide
2.25 ft high frame
7.75 length 5.67ft long for height 1.08 ft for the 6.5 inch thick frame on either end 1fT for .5 thick basalt on either end
and theres a small doorway around foot end which gets filled in and then door is 1.6 high and 2ft wide I guess it gets filled in then other bags are in front of it and overlapping sides and top
​
INTERIOR
25 inches wide 3.17 on the outside minus 1.08 is 25 inches the walls are 6.5 inches thick with a 5.5 inch 2x6 and two .5 inch pieces of plywood equals 6.5 inches per wall 1.08 total
height 1.51ft high 7.75 inches total almost .67 ft ceiling 7 inches thick a 5.5 inch 6x2 and 2 .75 inch pieces of plywood floor 1 piece of .75 plywood
length 5.67ft
​
DESCRIPTION OF THE FRAME
I first described what I wanted to to my friend who knows about construction. He told me what the frame needed to be like to be strong enough for high level of safety.
I asked if we could make the part around the head strong since it needs to support 2ft thick of basalt and 1ft thick of water and the part around my body weaker and thin but he
said it will mess it up to build to different frames and connect them. He said its stronger just to build it in the same way with the same dimensions for the entire length of the frame.
Im am being forced against my will to build it with part of the material wasted on surrounding the bigger frame instead of providing thicker protection even though I think its overkill given
my extreme level of desperation and need to go faster.
​
I think he said that the ceiling would be made with a piece of .75 inch plywood on the outside then 2x6 pieces of wood under it running perpendicular to the long dimension of the structure. The pieces
have the 2 thing part lying against the plywood of the ceiling and the 6 inch dimension sticks down into the box. The Walls are made the same way but with two .5 inch pieces of plywood around the 2x6 pieces.
The pieces stand up vertically. The 2x6 sixes are only either 2 or 4 inches apart I think he said? The floor is one piece of .75 inch plywood to help hold the walls in place to help keep them from shifting out of fully
supporting the ceiling and then stressing the joints more. He said we can build it with plastic bolts to avoid using steel nails or nails made of other metals. This is nice compared to a frame made of mortar and bricks
because we can move it to different places hopefully including for testing at better places. I guess well put holes in the side of the inner plywood walls and ceiling to increase how much air the structure can hold so I can
test it for longer periods. He says that plywood offgasses formaldehyde and I read you cant coat it or wrap it to stop that. So I guess its necessary to use more expensive formaldehyde free plywood.
​
​
The shielded person can get on a piece of .75 inch plywood with 4 mill farmers plastic on one side and the floor has greased farmers plastic on it so that the person can be slid into place without needing enough room or
fitness to wriggle in. Someone slides me in without me needing the room to wriggle back and forth or up an down and with less chance of bumping my nose Or you could lie on plywood with thick plastic on one side or OSB which
has a slick surface and the floor would be greased farmer plastic. There is an outline on the plywood and I lie just in the right spot and they push me in.
​
This design makes it 6 inches wider than my shoulders which I had hope would be enough to wriggle in without really any vertical room despite my body being somewhat messed up and not being able to get exercise.
Now im thinking this give me enough room to be pushed into place but I'm wondering could I get away with only 3 inches extra at the shoulders?
​
There could be 2 plastic pulleys in the corners and I get pulled instead of pushed in so it's easier.
​
This structure is supposed to totally surround me in water as well as basalt. Since the water containers wont hold up under the weigh of being underneath the basalt floor and ceiling as well the water has to be inside the frame
with me so that only my weight is on top of it. So Im planning on leaving enough room to have 2 layers of large fomenteck water bags. The two layers mean they will overlap at the seems. Im thinking that each layers bags will
also be stuck to each other with tape to keep them from separating and so they slightly overlap at the edges but without being thicker then the thickest part of the bags. If there isnt enough room for two layers somehow then
the small thinner fomenteck bags could create my two layers or just overlap the seems. The interior is about 1.5ft so two 4 inch thick fomenteck bag high floor will leave 10 inches minus the room for the plywood to slide in on.
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​
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PLASTIC BOLTS
plastic bolts 10 for $9
https://www.grainger.com/product/GRAINGER-APPROVED-Hex-Head-Cap-Screw-Nylon-4AGR8
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amazon plastic bolt $6 for 10
https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Find-Fastener-014973168261-Piece-10/dp/B003PBA2FY/ref=sr_1_2?crid=33APW3CB2535I&keywords=HARD%2BTO%2BFIND%2BPLASTIC%2BBOLTS%2B2%2BINCHES&qid=1685717324&sprefix=hard%2Bto%2Bfind%2Bplastic%2Bbolts%2B2%2Binches%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-2&th=1
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THE BASALT LAYER
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So this is a a enclosure of basalt thats 6 inches thick for the ceiling, the floor, side walls and the front and back wall. Its a complete enclosure and doorway gets blocked up after Im in it. When I made it like this I was assuming that
there was no way to make a thinner floor anyway but with the poly tubing I might be able to make it 3 or 4 inches thick using a double layer of the smallest poly tubing and save some weight.
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CEILING AND FLOOR 32.32 cubic ft 4.17ft wide x 7.75ft long frame is 6.75 plus .5 ft basalt on one side and .5 basalt on the other is 7.75 total
SIDE WALLS 17.44 cubic ft 2.25ft high by 7.75ft long outside of frame is 2.25ft high and i'm defining the walls as the height between the basalt ceiling and floor which is the height of the frame. The walls dont include
the basalt that is over the wall but is above or underneath the level of the frame which can be defined as part of the ceiling or floor.
END WALLS 7.13 cubic ft 2.25ft high by 3.17 ft long The length of the end walls are the distance between the inner surface of the side walls.
say use 4 60lb bags to block the door thoroughly 3 to 2.4 cubic ft
TOTAL
SOLID WALL 59.3 cubic ft to 59.9 cubic ft 60 cubic ft is 2.4 tons tons at 80lb per cubic ft with a solid wall 3 tons at 100lb per cubic ft with solid wall this will really at least a touch less if I make it with bags because there will be some space between the bags
no matter what I do.
POLY TUBING WALL The round shape of the tubing means that the wall won't be solid and will have some of the space empty. Ill say that if I use the tubing it will only use 80 percent of what a totally solid wall will. So if I use two layers of 3 inch tubes of basalt
then the most basalt it can use is 80 percent of a solid wall I think.
Total 60 cubic ft with poly tubing at 80lb a cubic ft is 1.92 tons at at 100lb a cubic ft is 2.4 tons
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BRAIN PROTECTION
theres .5 ft of basalt in every direction so Im adding extra basalt to reach the full thickness I want around my brain.
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BRAIN PORTECTION 1
ON TOP A 2X2ft square above brain uses 6 cubic extra ft adding 1.5ft thick total to make it 2ft thick altogether. is centered on forehead and the back and of it is about 3 inches away from the back wall of the whole structure.
BEHIND 2X2X2ft total uses 6 cubic ft extra adding 1.5ft thickness The top is level with the rest of the basalt ceiling the bottom is level with the bottom of the TIs brain and is centered on there brain from left to right.
ON THE SIDES 2x2 ft and 1ft thick total uses 4 cubic ft extra for both sides adding .5ft thick Is the same as the behind one but on the sides.
TOTAL is 16 cubic ft solid wall .64 tons at 80lb per cubic ft .8lb tons if 100lb per cubic ft using poly tubing uses .51 tons at 80lb per cubic ft and .64 tons at 100lb per cubic ft
GRAND TOTAL WITH STRUCTURE 2.43 with poly tubing 80lb a cubic ft or 3.04 tons with poly tubing and 100lb per cubic ft
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BRAIN PROTECTION 2
this is describing an additional outer wall that fits over the basalt box I already described to bring it up to 1ft thick for part of it.
CEILING AND FLOOR 15.75 cubic ft 5.25ft x 3ft
SIDE WALL 9.75 cubic ft 3.25x 3ft
BACK WALL 13.5 cubic ft 3.25x4.17
total 40 cubic ft added with poly tubing .8 tons at 80lb a cubic ft and 1 ton with 100lb a cubic ft
GRAND TOTAL 2.72 tons with poly tubing 80lb a cubic ft and 3.4 tons with 100lb a cubic ft
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BRAIN PROTECTION 3
brain protection 2 with 2x2x2ft above and behind brain total thickness .
GRAND TOTAL2.97 tons with poly tubing 80lb a cubic ft and 3.71 tons with 100lb a cubic ft
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HEAVY PROECTION AROUND BRAIN total is 63.5 cubic ft 2.35 tons at 80lb per cubic ft 2.94 at 100lb per cubic ft
4.5 ft high 5ft wide and 3ft long 67.5 total - 12 inside equals 55.5cubic ft total 2 to 2.5 tons roughly
plus 2x2 1ft tall on top and 2x2x1 on side for extra thickness 8 cubic ft total
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VERY HEAVY BRAIN PROTECTION
I did a calculation that was for protection around brain that was 4 or 4.5 ft long so my head and body would go into it 1.5 or 2ft.
The entire back wall was 2ft thick the entire celling was 2ft thick the side walls were 1ft thick. It was 4.1 tons but
. Then the section around the body would be reduced since it takes care of all of that part.
If that part is 1ft thick except for the floor which is .5 ft thick then it would weigh 2.5 tons. Total is 6.6 tons.
None of this was with poly tubing.
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THIS IS A CYLINDRICAL COMPLETE ENCLOSURE YOU COULD LIVE IN SLEEP OR WORK IN
8x8x8.5 outside
6x6x6 interior
2ft thick celling
.5ft thick floor
1ft thick wall all the way around
9.44 tons at 80lb a cubic ft
11.8 tons at 100lb a cubic ft
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LIVING ENCLOSURE WITH BACK WALL
has a 8x8.5x1ft thick back extra wall behind it for two ft thick protection in one direction
adds 2.72 tons at 80lb a cubic ton3.4 tons at 100lb a cubic ton
TOTAL 12.16 tons at 80lb per cubic ton 15.2 tons at 100lb a cubic ft
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Im guessing you can have basalt shipped to you or move it yourself for as little as $100 a ton or $200 a ton
The most you should pay even in the worst locations is about $1000 per ton I think
You can get cheaper shipping with bulk orders and perhaps cheaper if you have a buisinsess buy it for you.
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So with 15 tons it would take $1500 to $3000 in the best location and $15000 or less in the worst
with half of that at 7.5 tons it would take $750 to $1500 in the best location and $7500 at most in the worst
If a TI had enough money they could even double this protection in the best location.
You haft to figure out how to have it meet the right building codes for earth homes or whatever.
You might help it to stay up and protect it with fence posts cinderblocks and cement or bricks and cement.
If you have sandbags exposed to the sun put a heavy tarp over them to make them last longer.
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For the door perhaps you just take out a 18 inch wide 10 inch tall piece at the bottom and put some frame around it
to hold it up and then after you crawl in you block it up with sandbags of basalt. One thing you might use is basalt
blocks as the frame and you might be able to use some kind of mortar based on sand sized criva or to mix criva with mortar.
Solid basalt blocks havnt been tested yet.
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So I'm being forced against my will to use only 2 to 4 tons of basalt even though I have been planning on using 6 or 7 tons to get a full foot around my body and 2ft on the top of my head and behind it that takes up that whole surface.
So I can only make it 6 inches thick for most of it. Its a challenge to try and make close to six inches thick instead of a lot more or less than that. Its a challenge to have it overlap and to block the seams between the bags well enough
with only 6 inches thick. Iv heard that full size 14 inch by 26 inch long sandbags are about 6 to 8 inches thick when full. This already might make it much much thicker if it has to be 8 inches and I dont think they could be pushed together
well enough to erase the spaces between them. Im thinking that to block RNM possibly its more important to have a complete protection lass bad weak points in it then with physical attacks Its important for me thinking its a good test at
least ast his thickness. Use the mini sand bags in a double layer for the roof and floor but I'm still somewhat worried about blocking the cracks well enough and I dont know how thick it will be. Since I already ordered a ton of dust I need to
use that so Ill need to put it in large strong enough plastic bags and then put it in the mini sand bags. Or I could just put it in my 6x9 inch 4 mil plastic bags and tape them closed or use zip lock quart, half gallon or gallon bags from the grocery store
possibly. I could use other plastic bags. I could use small plastic bags and do like 3 offset overlapping layers or something. only one of my 3 or 4 tons is dust.
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I dont know how it will go for the side walls If i use the mini sandbags it will only be one layer thick and dont know if the spaces between then can be blocked well enough like that. The wall will be 3.25ft tall when you include the ceiling and the floor
as part of the walls height. My friend told me that's as high as you can build with round gravel and non round gravel you can build a 4ft high wall perhaps but that with normal sandbags not mini ones. I will have the plywood frame on one side and
can put water containers holding up a piece of plywood on the other side and stack them between them though. I dont know if this will work well enough.
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I had the idea of using poly tubing. This is a tube of 6 mill or less plastic that you can cut and then seal to create bags. You can just buy the roll though. So I could use to layers of 3 inch wide poly tubing running the entire length of the structure to
create first the basalt floor and then the basalt ceiling. They would be offset so that the second layer blocks the cracks in the first. I dont know if you can mush them or leave some out and then flatten them to cover the cracks better.
I could also use 3 layers of 2 inch thick poly tubing with perhaps the middle layer going crossways. Im thinking Ill put a strip of plywood sticking up 6 inches on either side of it so that it can hold in the tubing on the ceiling and keep it from rolling off the side.
Then I can put one extra piece right on top of the plywood divider to cover the gap between the side wall and the ceiling which end at the same height. I dont know how this would work for the walls. I might need the two pieces of plywood on either side. I dont know if
it would be strong enough especially if I use 6 inch wide tubing. I could fit in smaller tubes where two big tubes join each other. You can seal them with twist ties or a heat gun or a might use zip ties. I dont know what works. One benefit of using these is that
instead of a wall of solid basalt, if the tubes end up round then only 75 percent of the space will be full of basalt saving me weight. I dont understand how it isn't a problem to have any empty space in the wall at all though.
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If i put my basalt in poly tube bags and it forms a pretty non flexible cylinder then it might not matter much if I use smaller criva or 3/8 to 5/8 buttons in terms of the flexibility. Since part of my structure will only be 6 inches thick though it might be more important
to keep the rocks small and reduce the gaps between them. Also because im making a complete enclosure and trying to put thicker protection around my brain then your 1ft I I will I will hopefully be able to reduce the RNM and attacks on my brain more then you
can reduce your attacks on you head with your set up. Possibly with RNM and mental attacks blocking the cracks matters more I dont know.
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6 mil poly tubing different sizes dont know if its good quality
https://www.packagingsupplies.com/collections/6-mil-poly-tubing?msclkid=95131bb30bca15b91bc17fc492a9d4a8&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Dynamic%20Search&utm_term=packagingsupplies&utm_content=All%20Webpages

I know that itll be sometime this year, but am hoping for a more exact time frame

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Intro

To preface this review, I just need to say that this is going to be a very, very long read. Going through it myself just for the fun of it takes around 30 minutes — it's almost 7k words of text, including lyric references. So for the best experience, listen to the album beforehand to understand what the hell I was thinking when I wrote this review, play the album while reading, and set a good amount of time aside.
Another thing to get out of the way: yes, this is 9 months late 😭 I'm not sorry — when I find an album review online it's always around a paragraph per song or even shorter. It makes sense from a journalistic perspective, but I want to do this album justice, hence taking 7 months to write out all my thoughts.
This shit is comprehensive, and possibly a bit too overanalyzed and wordy, especially in Talk that Talk and Trouble. Each song review will compose of my commentary going over the song, writing the details I noticed through months of listening, followed by a conclusion. Also, mild swearing warning, I like implementing a touch of "French" when I'm very emotional about something. Anyway, onto the review!
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Between 1&2 💞

Album Review
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TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT
TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED
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Talk that Talk 🎙

Lead producer: collapsedone
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One of the most perfect TWICE songs.
I think this is one of TWICE’s best-sounding title tracks. Warm modulated synths, a thrumming bass line, distant bells, shimmering synths — the purpose of this song is to be fun and my god is it excellent at it, like… Sana and Chaeyoung are saying knock-knock-knock and beep-beep-beep as if they’re some kind of car. So much fun.
Further along in the verse, Dahyun’s voice sounds so full and smooth with that harmony layered on top. Tzuyu coming in with the Yes or Yes, Push & Pull, and 1 to 10 references — these are 5 years of song references in one line. And Jeongyeon closes the pre-chorus accompanied by a rising synth to drop into chorus one. Jeongyeon slays pre-choruses.
The drums accelerate, the synths start blasting, and Jihyo opens to that party of a chorus with her godly vocals,
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Tell me what you want
Tell me what you need
A to Z da malhaebwa
But shijageun ireoke have
Talk that talk ttak han madi
Talk that talk L-O-V-E
deullyeojweo ooh
Now now now now now yeah~

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During Sana's Talk that Talk~ lines there’s this ascending synth bell that gently rings with the descending melody and it sounds absolutely gorgeous. And the choreography during that part of the chorus is so so so so fun: the talking hands bit, spelling L-O-V-E, concluding with the deullyeojweo ooh! Oh my god Jihyo the deullyeojweo ooh…
Have I mentioned this song is fun?
Speeding through verse 2; Chaeyoung’s little part with the cat ears popping in the music video is adorable; Momo’s part with her stretching her arms out looks so damn cool; and Dahyun with her replay part sounds so lovely — although I think it sonically sounds a touch random, it makes sense thematically.
And now for this pre-chorus. Mina and Jihyo leading into it sound great BUT JEONGYEON… Now, she is my ult bias, and this pre-chorus sounds almost identical to the first one, but the way she holds that final note, enunciating and holding that now~ for one more beat before the chorus drops sounds so goddamn perfect — the song teeters on a cliff edge. Jeongyeon slays pre-choruses.
Dropping into the second chorus and man, Jihyo powered through that first chorus, but the way Nayeon delivers it just hits different. She has this indescribable “pop” voice (I promise this wasn't on purpose) that stands out and shouts this is THE chorus. I think this is especially apparent in how both lead into their choruses where Jihyo starts the chorus at 120% power while Nayeon waits until [Tell me] WHAT YOU WANT to full-send it. Later in the chorus, she also highlights “malhaebwa” in a similar way.
Another deullyeojweo ooh! Nayeon travels to Narnia, and Mina the engineer strikes again in this heavenly, underwater-esque bridge,
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The simple words “I love you”
That’s all I wanna hear
Without hesitation, I’ll go up to you
I’ll make it simple
And just tell you I love you

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The word “love” is said for the first time in the song. There’s a funky keyboard-like instrument behind Chaeyoung’s part. Jihyo, Chaeyoung, and Nayeon take the initiative in their lyrics, professing their love before closing the bridge.
And now for the pièce-de-résistance: this final double chorus is exceptional — 40 seconds of crack-laced euphoria; Jihyo switches up the chorus and the choreo, Dahyun comes in with her airy and fluttery “Talk that Talk”, Momo comes out of nowhere with “oh yeah it sounds so good!” — you’re damn right it does, and this is where the song SOARS.
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han beon deo~ haejweo
geurae banggeum geu mal~

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Nayeon outright shouts “Tell me what you need” and then Jeongyeon sings the above lines in such an ethereal, warm way that the first line ascends while the second line descends, causing a lull in the song before the finale with Nayeon finishing off the song with the final deullyeojweo ooh! What a party. What a song.
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THE GOOD

• The synths of all time
• The chimes during Talk-that-talk~
• Jeongyeon’s pre-chorus going into Nayeon’s chorus
• The entirety of that magical, double-shot, final chorus and outro
• Solid line distribution

Needs Work

• The opening hook (Tell me what you want) and accompanying choreography could be “catchier”

Core Memory

• Singing (and dancing) my heart out when this song played at a K-pop club

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Lyrics and theme-wise, if this were to have been TWICE’s last comeback, they’ve once again built upon the theme they've been doing since debut: a Bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story.
This song’s chorus is so honest yet so simple; it asks the listener, in this case, the other half of the relationship, to be more upfront and open with their love (never be scared of love) that before the relationship can continue and flourish there has to be a foundation and commitment of love between each other.
TWICE debuted with a song about making your crush go ooh ahh. Years later, they started maturing after asking “What is love?” by imagining their crush responding with “yes” when asking them out — and now concluding with the phrase “Talk that talk, [talk that] L-O-V-E”, being upfront with the relationship, wishing their partner to also be happy, to commit to them, to feel the love that they want to impart on them. From gawking like ooh-ahh to talking out your shared love like real adults — to having a true relationship between (one and) two.
And can I just say before finishing off Talk that Talk's review that this is such a fun and repeatable song with many little intricacies hidden in the nonet’s vocals and the production. This is the third draft I’m writing about Talk that Talk and its original word count pretty much quadrupled.
Harkening back to TWICE’s roots by combining mature thinking with youthful character, an incredible ending to look forward to, and just simply being a club-banger that’s easy to listen to, TTT is an easy 10/10.
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WATCH ME GO WATCH ME GO
RULE THE WORLD
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Queen of Hearts 👑

Lead producer: LDN Noise of SM
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If there was one B-side to promote in a live clip, this was a solid choice.
Helmed by LDN Noise going headlong into the Western boy-group rock-band aesthetic, Queen of Hearts is a boom-boom-clap song through and through. The drums are very prominent throughout the song, only giving room to riffs of electric guitar in the chorus to drive and continue the momentum of the music.
And speaking of the chorus, vocal line each got a chorus to flex and they did not fuck around,
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You ain’t ready for it
Watch me go~ watch me go~
Rule the world
Know you never doubted baby
I’mma go run the whole universe~

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Cymbals crashing, drums booming, and 3MIX belting all just so sound so equally good.
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Baby I was born to rule~~
Yeah I’m the queen, I’m the queen
And it’s all because of you~~
That I’m the Queen of Hearts

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These long, held-out notes performed by Jihyo and Nayeon are simply exquisite. Along with the shredding guitar, the drum set coming in full, and the interludes by Dahyun, Momo, and Chaeyoung, this is the part of the song that always, always, gives me goosebumps — it sounds so visceral, so energetic, so fun, so triumphant. Boom-boom-clap songs can be hit or miss with people, but there is no denying that the payoff from the first part of the chorus to this second part is worth the wait.
The theme of the song so far has been kind of spread around the song. The chorus alludes to it with the line "And it’s all because of you." But Mina shows more sides of it in the second verse, especially with the phrase
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And now that I’m surrounded by all my girls
We be shining bright like diamonds and pearls

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It sounds really lovely — in a very cheesy and affectionate kind of way, as it rightfully should — the song is about the girls and their fans. But the bridge is where the song indeed shows its colours
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Screaming out my name
See it in the stage lights
Feel so lucky just to have ya
Cause I know deep down I was meant for something bigger! Greater!
I know you’re seeing what I see
Yeah I’ll be everything you need
I know I’m gonna walk the walk
And talk the talk to be~ [the Queen of Hearts]

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This is a song CONCEIVED TO BE PERFORMED FOR THE FANS. It’s meant to be loud. It’s meant to be unapologetic. It’s meant to be sappy. And it’s all the more wonderful for it.
This is the TWICEiest shit ever.
Like Talk that Talk, Queen of Hearts also has a killer closer. The production already started to grow from the bridge, but now the guitarist finally went Super Saiyan and instead of supporting the drums, they both take the centrepiece in tandem, ending the chorus with a little shred.
Then finally, the closing moments of the song even manage to squeeze in some more sappiness.
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So thank you for the memories
You’re all the ones who made me~
So thank you for the memories
That I’m the Queen of Hearts

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I still can’t believe that this banger is a FAN SONG out of all things. Truly, the TWICEiest shit ever.
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THE GOOD

• Adorable fucking lyrics
• Unrelenting, roaring chorus
• English and vocal flex
• Addicting guitar riffs

Needs Work

• Chaeyoung rapping in English in their Korean songs somehow slaps harder than her English rapping in their English songs, nonetheless, in QoH, it fits with the sound of the song

Life Highlight

• Walking home from a K-pop festival with this song playing, felt like a Queen of Hearts

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I love these types of rock songs with how grunge and head-bang-able they are, there is just a certain nostalgic and cheesy quality to them that feels so appropriate and cozy. I don’t love putting them on repeat, because in this case, I do believe there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Perhaps more shredding, maybe even a guitar solo to rock out to, or more gusto from the drums, cymbals, bass guitar, or an accompaniment(!) of ad-libs from 3MIX to support Jihyo’s final chorus? A ONCE can dream of a truly bombastic rock song from TWICE. But then again that distracts from the core of what this song is: a fan song undercover as a rock song.
Queen of Hearts has so much sweetness in its lyrics and message that it's overflowing. The drums, guitar, and vocals can be as loud and intricate as they can, but the theme of this song is what makes it special from TWICE’s other rock songs, especially for fans of this type of sound — it’s a 9/10 for me.
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I WANNA WANNA WANNA
TAKE YOU TO THE BASICS
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Basics 🌈

Sole lyricist credit: Chaeyoung
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Quite possibly the jammiest (pun intended) song of the album.
A song written by the Strawberry Princess herself — an event similar in frequency to other artists' releases with her last song being 2020’s silky Handle It — Basics first starts with an understated and dreamy delivery. After the first stanza, however, a bouncy Miami bass line emerges, revealing the true nature of the song: this is a classic summer bop!
This is especially apparent in the first rap.
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dareun aedeulgwaneun dalla
Ain’t beggin’ for love
nappeun geon anijana ige naraseo
eodiro twilji molla
Like rainbow bubble gum
geureoni nal kkwak butjabadweo

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Syllables are pronounced in a relaxed nature, bars often starting with an "ah" sound, flirty lines in English — this rap features a production full of pop with R&B flourishes and, in my opinion, this is Chaeyoung’s bag. Also, the line rainbow bubblegum is so adorable and so Chaeyoung.
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I wanna wanna wanna take it to the basics
da weonhae weonhae weonhae? seodureuji ma Baby
ppeonhae ppeonhae malhae mweohae da al tende
Ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah

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That chorus is pure pop with a Miami bass backing; you better be bopping your head to the melody, if not booty poppin' to the bassline. Chaeyoung loves rhyming in the first half of the chorus to enhance its catchiness and it's damn incredible: the “wanna”, “weonhae”, and “ppeonhae” all combine to create these imperfect rhymes that continue momentum without feeling repetitive.
After the very Boy With Luv-sounding “ah yeah ah yeah, ah yeah ah yeah” comes an 8-bar split half and half between Chaeyoung and Momo. Coming from the chorus, the production completely cuts out for the first 2 bars. This adds tension; the song yearns to have that bass beat thumping again and all we have in the audio space in those 2 bars is Chaeyoung spitting and she delivered.
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taneun deut tteugeoun samak wie
yeppeuge pieonan jangmi gata
joshimseure naege dagaol ttae
nado moreuge jjilleobeoril tende

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Translating to:
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Above the hot, burning desert
It’s like a rose that bloomed beautifully
When you come to me slowly
I will prick you unconsciously

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The rap feels slick, effortless, and confident. Her diction remains sharp when enunciating each syllable but she doesn’t let the flow of her rap waver or build as her 4 bars go by, it’s just smooth consistency throughout. Even the lyrics possess an aura of laid-back collectedness that is just so her.
The things Chaeyoung can do when given her pen.
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THE GOOD

• That sweet summer vibe of a chorus
• The “spaceship” post-chorus is killer
• Chaeyoung devoured this song
• Sure-footed, confident lyrics

Needs Work

• Perhaps an alteration of that ah yeah ah yeah line
• The way Jihyo did her pre-chorus line is good, but Mina’s is great

Core Memory

• After donating my hair, walking down the rainbow-coloured areas of downtown Toronto with this song playing was very… fitting

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This song is summer bliss distilled into 2:56 of MP3. It’s dreamy, the raps are satisfying, and the ending is charming. I will say that although the second half of the song adds the stunning “spaceship” post-choruses and a floaty bridge with an incredible drumbeat-drop transition to the final chorus, the raps of the song make it feel a bit front-loaded. And in an album stacked with incredible finishers, it feels more apparent.
With that said, it’s an 8/10 bop for me. This song is so radio-friendly and easy to put on and it feels exactly what Chaeyoung would make if given the reins to produce a pop song all on her own. The lyrics are nonchalant but full of conviction, the wordplay is intricate, the production is playful, and it’s not too bombastic — the song's just a nice vibe. Songs like Basics are the standard for good, simple, repeatable pop music and I’m happy that Chaeyoung got to test her pen in this genre.
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BABY WE’RE IN
TROUBLE TROUBLE
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Trouble 💃

Sole lyricist credit: Jihyo
Background vocals: Jihyo
Lead composer credit: Jihyo
Vocal director credit: Jihyo (an assumption given her contributions in First Time)
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One of the most enjoyable songs I’ve heard in a while.
There is an underlying tension within the first 4 bars of the song, Jihyo and Nayeon confidently open it to a nondescript array of synths and then the stanza ends, Momo announces “Let’s go”, the beat drops and it hits you:
This is a club song.
Dahyun's relaxed delivery contrasted with Jeongyeon's staccato flow, the wobbly synth beat with the sprinkle of that house piano, Sana dramatically slowing the song down only for Tzuyu to build it back up until the chorus drops,
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• Nayeon opens it using a breathy tone, with vocal chops serving as harmonies
• The blooming of the house piano takes centre stage and the song ascends into euphoria
• A random drum roll capped off by a cymbal crash
• Jeongyeon’s pronunciation of the word “trouble” almost being a growl
• Chaeyoung slyly admitting “I like this trouble”
• The entirety of Tzuyu’s tro~oh~oh~ouble yeah~
• Sana using her deep voice for the na~na~na~na
• Jihyo leading the vocals during the synchronized T W I C E chant

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This chorus is perfect. Toronto’s residential market needs this song injected into its veins because god damn this song has SO much house in it.
And then. AND THEN. ANOTHER KILLING PART. This rap fucking slaps.
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gamchweo bwatja geugeon Fake
ppajin hamjeongeun Sweet cake

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During the first 2 bars, Chaeyoung is keeping it calm because that trip of a chorus just ended and the song needs a breather, but I don't think anyone expected her to SNAP this hard afterwards:
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You cannot resist this
Cannot miss this, such a bliss
Ima put it down down
Oh yeah, better kiss kiss

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Below is the structure of her this portion of the rap, I’m not that well versed in this technical aspect of music theory but I digress, this is all in the span of around 5 seconds where it’s:
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Triplet-triplet
Quadruplet-triplet
Quadruplet-doublet
Doublet-quadruplet

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Now, 25/5 = 5 syllables per second isn’t groundbreaking, but goddamn it these 2 bars sound so nice — if there is one part in this album that I always repeat, it’s these bars. The addition of that first quadruplet for “cannot miss this” in the midst of all the triplets sticks out and accelerates the flow of the rap while the following doublets and quadruplets help to destabilize and slow the rap down as the verse closes. And can I just point out:
THE MAIN VOCALIST WROTE, DIRECTED, AND COMPOSED THIS SONG ‼
Chaeyoung of course delivered the fuck out of her verse but THIS is what you get when you have a member not only write the words they’re saying but also the melody and flow with which they sing it. This is what you get when one member knows the others so well that when they write a song, they know how to make the group as a whole exceed. This is what you get when the artists you stan love doing artist shit.
And. AND. That's not all — with how much I mentioned I love a damn good outro to close a song, this outro slaps as well:
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Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this trouble be-be [Momo]
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this trouble bay-be [Sana]
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this trouble bay-beh [Chaeyoung]
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this trou-ble [Jihyo]

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What an outro.
Like, come on, Nayeon’s imitating a police siren for crying out loud. And this is all after her ad-libs in the final post-chorus; after the pianist going full tilt and playing that piano as if it was their last chance to ever play; after that final T W I C E chant by all the members come these blissful 20 seconds at the very end.
What a song.
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THE GOOD

• The theme of relishing in an uncontrolled love
• Sana and Mina’s melody in the pre-chorus
• Chorus
• Post-chorus
• Rap
• Outro
• Wees and woos

Needs Work

• Mina’s line of “falling down, falling down, falling down low” in verse 2 feels a bit too abrupt of a change

Core Memory

• While writing Trouble's review I had this song on repeat for my whole subway commute and I must've been so distracting, just head-bopping and being so invested in enjoying a song

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Need I say more, easy 9/10. The only reason I place Talk that Talk above Trouble is because of what that song represents but besides that, this song is one of the best “international” sounds they’ve put out. Actually, I haven’t listened to Eyes wide open in a while but this song is up there with one of the most sonically pleasing pieces of work they’ve done.
Clubbing TWICE music has always been a thing since TT was birthed in 2016, and has been a staple of their discography since 2019’s Fancy You and Feel Special mini albums, but Trouble unapologetically dives into and fits the house genre so well you’d think that this is TWICE’s bread and butter sound.
Trouble is Jihyo’s magnum opus. What a song.
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BRAVE BRAVE BRAVE
FOR YOU
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Brave 💖

Main producer: Slow Rabbit of HYBE
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I first thought this was just a good song, then I read the lyrics.
Gentle guitar plucks, shimmering synths, a distant keyboard in the right ear, in the left an occasional glockenspiel, the melodic oohs from the members — this song is PRETTY.
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The night that was unusually dark
Above this terrifying world, felt so lonely
The world has grown in the time of wandering
So hard to breathe

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Mina and Chaeyoung open the song with how they feel lonely and that it's hard to breathe and now suddenly the song sounds bittersweet — I was not expecting the song to be more emotional. Brave describes a situation where the singer is in a darker place in life and it isn't until another person gives them hope by calling them 'brave' that they find the drive to keep on going.
Once the chorus hits, the melodies pick up, more guitars get added, and there’s even an electric guitar hidden in the mix somewhere, and the song drops the emotional front to reveal a mid-tempo pop song to dance to while crying in the club. The song as a whole still carries this melancholy feeling, but now with the added support of this chorus acting as a light amongst the gloom.
Continuing on in the second verse there's this gorgeous, well-placed break in the song that just lets it settle back into the gentle back and forth after that chorus. Only a seasoned producer would risk this much empty space in a song and Slow Rabbit went to fill those shoes.
Back onto the chorus, I'll take this moment to once again commend Slow Rabbit with the mixing of the song, because 4MIX will undoubtedly sound good in the chorus, and the interludes from Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Mina also sound really good, but undoubtedly the highlight of the choruses are these lines:
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Oh na na na neon nal naige hae [Momo, then Tzuyu, then Momo]
On and on and on
Brave brave brave for ya [Dahyun, then Chaeyoung, then Mina]
Oh na na na neon nal sum shwige hae [Sana, then Momo, then Sana]
On and on and on oh trust me babe

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Momo, Sana, and Tzuyu form this beautiful, surprisingly catchy, second half of the chorus accompanied by a guitar drop. It should not turn out this well with how conflicting the "na"s are with the guitar melody but it creates this gentle bopping ebb and flow that just feels so lush and mellow.
Diving into the bridge reveals that the listener of the song is revealed to not only be capable of supporting the singer through direct words but also through their thoughts and dreams; no matter how they convey their wishes to this person, they will always try to push themselves to be their truer, better selves for it. And, as can be discerned, this can be a song interpreted to be about ONCEs. About how they push TWICE to be their best selves despite the breathless hardships they face.
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THE GOOD

• Special lyrics
• Pleasant sound to vibe out to
• That gentle break after the first chorus
• Jihyo’s high note at the end
• A Nayeon Jeongyeon joint high note ⁉️
• Just pretty vocals throughout

Needs Work

• Potentially hard to comprehend without translating the Korean lyrics

Core Memory

• Form of Therapy’s life motto revolves around the word “brave”. I don’t know where I got that from, but I remembered it right before watching his album reaction

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I’m actually spoiled with the TWICE members’ easy-to-understand songwriting when a song like this pops up where it isn’t written by a member and the thematic bits are mostly in Korean I just tend to put it aside in favour of the other songs on the album. And, especially for a song focusing on a theme like this where the English phrases don’t do the Korean lyrics enough justice, it does place a barrier on the listening experience a bit, dropping it down to a 7/10 from an 8/10.
With that anecdote out of the way, this song is just such a vibe, man. I know that sounds super hippy to say but Brave is so mellow and smooth that I can’t help but sway a little when that chorus hits. And then I remember what the lyrics say and I stop and cry a bit on the inside. This song is so pure, raw, and full of heart — we need more songs like these where they just reminisce about life while putting up an upbeat front. Don't mind me just crying while dancing the night away.
This isn't the first time this theme has been sung by TWICE either, they've long trodden this path of supportive, confiding, up-lifting songs with Young & Wild, Rainbow, Queen, Go Hard, Depend on You, even this album's Queen of Hearts, and, of course, Feel Special. Brave just adds another on top of an already stacked lineup, unique with its mellow somberness.
Also now feels like a good time to get into my rating system:

• 7/10s are songs are ones that are simply good throughout or great songs with apparent flaws
• 8/10s are great songs with standout characteristics
• 9/10s are borderline perfect songs where I sometimes can't comprehend how great they are
• And 10/10s are the best of an artist's discography, songs that encapsulate their ethos perfectly or expand upon them in a meaningful way

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I SEE THE LIES
ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE
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Gone 💨

Sole lyricist credit: Dahyun
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Who the fuck pissed off Dubu this time??
It’s getting quite rare to see TWICE pull off brand new sounds because, with now 190 original songs under their belt, they’ve done so many genres and sub-genres varying from hyper pop, to bossa nova, to whatever 2020’s Go Hard is. So it’s surprising to know they’ve still got tricks up their sleeves and Gone is one of them.
The song starts with strings swinging back and forth and vocal chops dancing from ear to ear, teasing what’s yet to come. Jihyo enters the song with a whisper and the song sets its pace. A stagnant drum pad moves the song along and typical song progression would have Mina continuing the build but — it doesn’t. The song continues to simmer, adding a hint of high hat to the pot. And then, Sana and Tzuyu come on and surely the buildup must boil over right?
Silence, until…
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I see the LIES on the top of your tongue

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The strings emerge again on full blast, the simmer turns into a rolling boil, and the anger of the song is revealed.
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All the fate I had towards you
Fades like a fog, gone, gone
Your flipping mind of doing this and that
I’m tired of it, it’s meaningless
In the beginning, it was hard to believe
With that, hatred increases

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The singer is so scorned and burned from this relationship that they reminisce about all the effort they’ve put in since the beginning, but their “partner” is so unconcerned and unfaithful that they’ve just about had enough of the relationship altogether.
This has been Dahyun’s thing coming from 2020’s Bring It Back, 2021’s Cruel, 2022’s That’s all I’m saying, and even 2023's Don't Blame It On Me — emotionally charged breakup songs that make you feel as if she’s gone through a dozen bad relationships. Dispatch, do your job better, or don’t, I don’t really know.
Another highlight of the song is the post-chorus going into the bridge. This segment reiterates the structure from the first post-chorus — a barrage of drums supported by the rhythmic strumming of a bass guitar in the back along with a consistent synth filling out the soundscape. But this time, it’s Dahyun and Chaeyoung on the rap:
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I can’t stand it anymore [Dahyun]
My patience, invisible
I can’t find it, it’s all gone
Even if I try to turn back, it’s too late [Chaeyoung]
There’s no use anymore
It has left, it’s long gone
You, with flipping mind, you are out [Momo]
I know that you know what I’m talking about [Dahyun]
Nothing you could say that could turn this around
I’m gone

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Continuing the disrespected theme of the song, Dahyun notes that she’s finally had enough and Chaeyoung adding on that there’s no point salvaging what was once there for all of it is long gone. Momo and Dahyun round it off by telling the listener that there’s no point trying to reason with them or playing naive, they fucked up and there’s no coming back.
Can I just say, it is a bit of a shame that Chaeyoung’s rapping popped off in this album whilst Dahyun only has this one verse that she shares with Chaeyoung, but it just sounds so good how Dahyun eases in after the chorus with her light rapping tone and transitioning into her singing. She even holds the “gone” in a little crescendo for some added pizzazz.
And, there’s no way I’m not going to talk about Momo’s vocals in this bridge. Damned if she only got 1 line to use it in, her lower register is incredible. She sounds so smooth singing in this tone. All of TWICE do in particular and there is nary a weak vocal performance in this album.
To close the song off, a wash of synths gets to have their shine in the spotlight, showered with Nayeon’s belting, signifying the dramatic and drawn-out conclusion of this partnership.
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THE GOOD

• They’ve still got a few surprises left
• Thundering chorus
• 2nd rap and bridge combo
• A bitter, crumbling relationship theme

Needs Work

• I’m not a huge fan of the mixing during the first post-chorus, where Momo's vocals were fighting with the production, which is disappointing because Momo is capable of an insane flow
• The post-chorus in general, specifically the first one, can be a bit tiring on repeat listens

Core Memory

• Actually, I think this song sounds like a mix between GOT7's Not By The Moon, BLACKPINK’s Love To Hate Me, and Dahyun’s Bring It Back. I don’t know where I got this thought came from, but it stuck

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Going back to that point about the first post-chorus as a whole; songs that have the production continue unchanged into the post-chorus/2nd verse are very hit or miss for me — see TWICE's Don't Call Me Again for an overbearing example. The first post-chorus could use some work because the post-chorus going into the bridge contrasts Dahyun’s light tone nicely with the hard-hitting production, continuing the energy until it slowly fades into silence at the end of the bridge.
Back to the song as a whole, as much as TWICE has been experimenting with their sound for the past 4 years now, I’m happy they’re still finding new ways to explore what they’re capable of. And for that alone, even though I’m not a big fan of songs like these where they rely on sounding “big”, Dahyun’s lyricism and the thrill I receive every time I indulge myself in this song when I listen to it for the first time in a while elevates it to an 8/10. Keep on breaking hearts, Dubu.
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INVINCIBLE
SUPERHEROES
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When We Were Kids 🧸

Sole lyricist credit: Dahyun
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Press play to reminisce, pull up lyrics to cry.
This song is so beautiful. I’m totally not writing this song review, crying on the bus, reminiscing about my childhood, while just having turned 21. I don’t know if these are happy or sad tears but this song is so beautiful either way.
Warm synths, muted piano, a gentle high hat, the younger members starting off the song — this has to be up there for one of the softest TWICE songs ever. And as it should, it’s one of the TWICEiest songs ever. And then Nayeon comes in,
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Invincible superheroes, we wanted to be adults
To the higher, clearer world

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The chords start swelling, the high hat keeps pace, and then the harmonies come in,
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Remember when we were kids
When we were kids, we didn’t know
If we could go back
I will love it even more
Remember when we were kids

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Jihyo takes up the second half of the chorus as it drops, trading the strings for an almost R&B synth production — if choir R&B takes off, this song started it. The song relishes in this cacophony of warm sounds until going back into its sparse and peaceful verses.
This time, the hints of piano are louder, little twinkling synths begin to shimmer, the drum buildup comes and Jeongyeon drives the song straight into the chorus. No time for the strings to build like in Nayeon’s — this song loves its chorus so much.
And can I just take this time to appreciate the amount of Jeongyeon vocals in this album. Her voice is so clean, stable, and projected — but also more tender and soft compared to the more pronounced tones of Nayeon and Jihyo.
The bridge comes in, repeating the phrase
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I wish that I could meet
Could meet the younger me

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Giving the song time to rest, before building back up to the last chorus — this time led by Jihyo, transitioning from the bridge with her own unique lead-in, completing the 3MIX trifecta. And interestingly enough, Chaeyoung follows up in the second half of the chorus, rather than another member of the vocal line. She really did pop off in this album.
As the last chorus begins to close, the percussion at its strongest, the harmonies as prolific as ever, the background choir vocals cranked up to their Sunday best, is the song going to end? Of course not! This is an album full of banger endings as if the songs don’t want to actually end, and When We Were Kids being the album closer very much indulges in that feeling.
After a brief refrain, supported by Nayeon’s high note with a touch of vibrato, the song almost dives back into a fourth chorus. Nayeon and Jeongyeon harmonize — an especially rare and heavenly moment. And the song repeats the bridge, reiterating that they want to meet their younger selves, this time with the more lush R&B production before closing with silence, a few piano notes, and Tzuyu singing the last line of the song
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Oh, we were kids

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Reflection, acceptance, hope. What a song.
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THE GOOD

• Heavenly vocals throughout
• Generous harmonies
• Relatable, heartfelt lyrics
• Euphoric chorus
• Great closer to the album

Needs Work

• Refrain after the last chorus, "Back when we were kids," could’ve been executed better

Core Memory

• For an album titled Between 1&2, I don’t think anything hits harder than finishing the song reviews, with this song in particular, during your 21st birthday

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I wrote the first part of this review at the beginning of November 2022. Then university, life, and other things got in the way of my headspace for me to feel confident about wrapping all of this up. In a way, I felt like I just didn’t want this review to end because of the joy that writing gives me. I didn’t want the happiness to end. And then it hit me, after watching a YouTuber rank animated movies and them placing Spirited Away at the top and explaining 'why' reminded me of just how important growing up is, and by extension this song.
This theme is important for both the rookie TWICE members in 2015 and the teenagers who would follow their journey and grow up with them, facing life’s obstacles along the way. Hardships that used to only involve family, crushes, and social media, evolve into working and commitments and all the struggles that adult life brings. Being a kid and enjoying the simple things in life is one of the most sought-after moments we want to relive because we took growing up for granted. The only thing we can do now is look back on ourselves with fondness and rose-tinted lenses.
TWICE’s original marketing was to resonate with people through their senses and their hearts. That was during their debut, and I think it still holds up today. In my opinion, touching people through their emotions is what TWICE does best and makes them one of K-pop’s all-time greats. It was never about having the best numbers — it was always about being the best idols. And to think that this journey of maturation and growth would occur from 2015 all the way to this song, being a fitting nod to TWICE’s 7th anniversary, I don’t think anyone at the company nor the group would ever imagine that they could get this far. It’s these nine women or none — 9/10.
This song honestly deserves a 10/10 with how much I noticed other people reminiscing their childhoods after I heard this song, it is such a widely-relatable message, but I am determined to limit myself to one 10/10 song per album and if I were to decide between TTT and WWWK, I'd give it to the one's that's more repeatable — Talk that Talk just has this electric energy about it.
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Epilogue

And finally here is the end. If you made it this far in one sitting then I commend you, because I could not write this whole word jumble in one sitting. As alluded to, I started writing this album review sometime in October, after a series of edits the first draft was finished in March, and now here's the final draft in June.
I truly love this album. It got me through some important parts of my life, both good and bad, and it is just a pleasant listen throughout. Getting to relive this album again this week before finally completing the review has been an exciting journey. Brave hit me harder this time, after being overshadowed by the other gems of this album, and When We Were Kids finally got me to tear up and not just be emotionally satisfied.
I feel like there's something for everyone on this album. From the exhilarating thrills of TTT to the anthemic euphoria of QoH, the clubbing dichotomy of Trouble and Brave to the blissful glee of Basics, and the sweet reminiscence of WWWK to the thundering anger that is Gone. Like Eyes wide open, I liken Between 1&2 as a pop music taste platter — there's such an eclectic mix of pop, house, and dance in this album that there's bound to be a song that someone will love, like, and dislike.

Robert's Rebellion Theme Song: The Czar Mastodon

Don't stay; run away He has ordered assassination Don't stay; run away The henchmen are gathered and waiting Don't stay; run away Your role as usurper is found out

This is part of a series exploring the hidden motives and actions of the main players during Robert's Rebellion, named LBJ in reference to the influence of Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War on GRRM's views and writings on war. LBJ also indicates considerations over whether Lyanna + Bobby B = Jon Snow. Previous installments include:

• Rhaegar Had To Be A Warrior
• Why Did Rhaegar Crown Lyanna?
  • Ice, Ice Baby?
  • Political Suicide?
  • Was She 'A Very Kinky Girl'?
• The Forging of Lightbringer: Blue Flowers & Narrow Visors
• Rhaegar Mistakenly Crowned Lyanna
• I am not fond of fish, but when fish is served, I eat it.
• All is fair in love and war...
• Kingsguard Loyalty
• Southron Ambitions & Lies
• The Return of the Prince: Éowyn at the Trident
• Mirror on the Wall: King Robert vs. Queen Cersei

Previous parts argued that Robert Baratheon was complicit in a plot to overthrow the Targaryen dynasty. This scheme used Rhaegar's mistaken crowning of Lyanna at Harrenhal to form a believable, malicious lie that the crown prince abducted her. Certain members of the infamous STAB alliance, with assistance from the Martells and Tywin Lannister, all secretly conspired together to place a pliable pawn as king, wrestling control from a dynasty that no longer had dragons to enforce their rule. Lurid evidence was given which shows Robert had Rhaegar tortured, as Cersei tortured the Blue Bard, and we also saw more subtle hints that Lyanna herself attempted to avenge her family at the Trident, with the aid of innate skinchanging abilities.
This part aims to provide additional evidence that Robert lived up to his moniker, the Demon of the Trident, casting him as close to black as grey can get. King Robert is an avatar for all the worst flaws of Westerosi culture, a man enabled to wield massive power who yet skirted any sense of responsibility and chose to commit a mountain of moral transgressions in service to his personal desires.

Robert's face was dark with anger. "How many times must I tell you to hold your tongue, woman?"
Cersei's face was a study in contempt. "What a jape the gods have made of us two," she said. "By all rights, you ought to be in skirts and me in mail."
Purple with rage, the king lashed out, a vicious backhand blow to the side of the head. She stumbled against the table and fell hard, yet Cersei Lannister did not cry out. Her slender fingers brushed her cheek, where the pale smooth skin was already reddening. On the morrow the bruise would cover half her face. "I shall wear this as a badge of honor," she announced.

- A Game of Thrones Eddard X

The Horned Demon of the Trident

Next had come King Robert himself, with Lady Stark on his arm. The king was a great disappointment to Jon. His father had talked of him often: the peerless Robert Baratheon, demon of the Trident, the fiercest warrior of the realm, a giant among princes. Jon saw only a fat man, red-faced under his beard, sweating through his silks. He walked like a man half in his cups.

- A Game of Thrones Jon I
tenor.com/view/gaston-antlers-gif-23720815
Robert Baratheon bears a striking resemblance to Gaston from Beauty & the Beast, who imprisons his romantic interest and lies to incite violence against a rival. Gaston is driven by jealousy of the Beast and humiliation over Belle's rejection. Disney’s adaptation of Beauty & the Beast was released in 1991, just five years before A Game of Thrones was published.
Video: Gaston Beauty & the Beast
Video: George RR Martin on Writing for Beauty and the Beast
Martin has shown keen interest in Beauty & the Beast; adapting the tale for TV in the late 80s was a high point of his career. He even named his bookstore in Santa Fe Beastly Books, and named the cinema next door for Jean Cocteau, who also adapted the tale and created an earlier version of Gaston). This concept of kidnapping one’s romantic interest and blaming it on a rival to incite violence also crops up in The Princess Bride, which Martin has stated is his favorite fantasy film after the Lord of the Rings series.
Behaving like Prince Humperdinck from The Princess Bride or Gaston from Beauty & the Beast, driven by rage over the incident at Harrenhal and a family history of Targaryen betrayal, Robert lied about his queen of love and beauty and made Rhaegar out to be a beast, having them both kidnapped (with the help of his allies) but pretending otherwise as a pretext to win the throne. He then had to bury this secret, as he would lose support if it was known that the rebellion was built on such a malicious lie.
Martin is obviously inspired by Disney. In the last part, we showed how the torture of the Blue Bard, ordered by Cersei to extract a confession to undermine Margaery, is meant to reflect the story of Snow White, in which her vain and wicked step-mother is told by a magic mirror that the princess is more beautiful, leading her to send a huntsman to kill her. The huntsman takes Snow White into the deep of the wood but lets her flee, presenting a boar’s heart to the evil queen instead. Similarly, Robert is a huntsman who is killed by a boar, with the aid of strongwine supplied by his evil queen. Additional elements of Disney's Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs can be seen in parallels between Robert's only loss at Ashford and Dunk's trial at the Ashford Tourney in The Hedge Knight.
When Dunk travels to the Ashford Tourney, he recites lyrics from the Seven Dwarf's song Heigh-ho.

Off to Ashford to see the fair maid, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, Dunk thought miserably as he dug.

- The Hedge Knight
Like Snow White had Seven Dwarfs to defend her, Dunk defended himself in a Trial by Seven at the Ashford Tourney, and Rhaegar was accompanied by half a dozen companions when he went missing, enough to defend himself in a Trial by Seven. A troupe of a half dozen comic dwarfs also appear in The Mystery Knight, using pig bladders, like Robert was piss-drunk when he was killed by a pig. Dunk was championed by Robert's grandfather, Lyonel Baratheon, who defeated Robert Ashford during the tourney. Lord Lyonel later rebelled against the Iron Throne, after Duncan the Small betrayed the Laughing Storm by breaking off a betrothal to his daughter, similar to how Rhaegar betrayed Robert by crowning his betrothed at the Harrenhal Tourney. Duncan the Small's betrayal led Egg to arrange a marriage between his daughter Rhaelle and Lyonel's heir, which put Robert Baratheon in the line of succession; this family history would color Robert's perception of Rhaegar's betrayal, driving him to improve upon his grandfather's revenge.
Steffon was the name given to Robert Baratheon's father; Dunk was betrayed by red-apple Steffon Fossoway at Ashford, which led his cousin Raymun to create an offshoot branch, the green-apple Fossoways. A tender, protective Fossoway husband is used at the Purple Wedding to demonstrate how callous it would have been for Rhaegar to intentionally crown another women with his pregnant, delicate wife Princess Elia present. A poison apple brings down Snow White, after the evil queen discovers the huntsman replaced her heart with a boar's heart, conjuring up Robert's death scene which reminds Ned of his promise to Lyanna:

“Serve the boar at my funeral feast,” Robert rasped. “Apple in its mouth, skin seared crisp. Eat the bastard. Don’t care if you choke on him. Promise me, Ned.”
“I promise.” Promise me, Ned, Lyanna’s voice echoed.

- A Game of Thrones Eddard XIII
"The quarrel between Green and Red Apple Fossoway in the Hedge Knight story is another example of 'discordant apples'... At a tournament of all places." - The Blue Rose of Discord by u/Bronze_Age_472

The reason for the Trojan War according to myth, was a beauty contest. Three contestants were seeking someone to judge their beauty; Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Aphrodite won the contest, but only after she bribed Paris with Helen wife of Menelaus. Paris the judge, votes for Aphrodite by giving her an Apple. The other goddesses were furious and the conflict escalated out of control. The Greeks rallied around Menelaus and went to war with Troy.
The Blue Rose is a metaphorical "apple of discord". Like the apple of discord, it is nothing by itself, but in the right context leads to a larger conflict. It symbolizes how small things can create huge conflicts, how things quickly spin out of control. When Rhaegar gave the crown to Lyanna, nobody was happy... Just like the Judgement of Paris right before the Trojan War.

Like Rhaegar and Lyanna are often compared to Paris and Helen, figures of the mythical Trojan War, Robert is clearly meant to be considered relative to a maiden's fantasy, such as Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs or Beauty & the Beast:

Would that Ned had been able to say the same. Fifteen years past, when they had ridden forth to win a throne, the Lord of Storm’s End had been clean-shaven, clear-eyed, and muscled like a maiden’s fantasy. Six and a half feet tall, he towered over lesser men, and when he donned his armor and the great antlered helmet of his House, he became a veritable giant. He’d had a giant’s strength too, his weapon of choice a spiked iron warhammer that Ned could scarcely lift. In those days, the smell of leather and blood had clung to him like perfume.

- A Game of Thrones Eddard I
In the last part, we used the evil queen's magic mirror from Snow White to provide insight into Robert through Cersei. Like he projected Lyanna onto Cersei on their wedding night, Robert projects his own actions onto Rhaegar, while caressing the cheek of Lyanna's statue and secretly lamenting to himself that he was with her sexually just once:

The king touched her cheek, his fingers brushing across the rough stone as gently as if it were living flesh. “I vowed to kill Rhaegar for what he did to her.”
“You did,” Ned reminded him.
“Only once,” Robert said bitterly.

- A Game of Thrones Eddard I
This subtext is mirrored by Jon Connington's love for Rhaegar, as he laments that Rhaegar ass-ended his tower only once. Connington then states that all the women cried to Rhaegar's music, like Lyanna cried at Harrenhal, reinforcing the link between this passage and the scene in the crypts.

Yet when they parted, Jon Connington did not go to the sept. Instead his steps led him up to the roof of the east tower, the tallest at Griffin's Roost. As he climbed he remembered past ascents—a hundred with his lord father, who liked to stand and look out over woods and crags and sea and know that all he saw belonged to House Connington, and one (only one!) with Rhaegar Targaryen. Prince Rhaegar was returning from Dorne, and he and his escort had lingered here a fortnight. He was so young then, and I was younger. Boys, the both of us. At the welcoming feast, the prince had taken up his silver-stringed harp and played for them. A song of love and doom, Jon Connington recalled, and every woman in the hall was weeping when he put down the harp. Not the men, of course. Particularly not his own father, whose only love was land. Lord Armond Connington spent the entire evening trying to win the prince to his side in his dispute with Lord Morrigen.

- A Dance with Dragons The Griffon Reborn
Robert's false accusation of rape mirrors Lord Mathis Rowan's daughter's lie which landed Dareon, a singer and harpist, like Rhaegar, on the Wall.

It made her angry to see Dareon sitting there so brazen, making eyes at Lanna as his fingers danced across the harp strings.

_

He is a man of the Night's Watch, she thought, as he sang about some stupid lady throwing herself off some stupid tower because her stupid prince was dead. The lady should go kill the ones who killed her prince. And the singer should be on the Wall.

- A Feast for Crows Cat of the Canals
Jon Snow ends up at the Wall as an indirect consequence of Rhaegar being falsely accused of the rape of Lyanna. Jon later betrays the Watch to save (fake) Arya and is murdered as a result, like Arya murders Dareon for desertion; if she understood why Dareon took the black, maybe she'd be more forgiving of his betrayal. She might not be, because of the same conditioning that prevents Ned from showing mercy to Gared after he was chased south of the Wall by a direwolf. Likewise, if Rhaegar told Robert that he crowned Lyanna by mistake, Robert would still be unable to forgive the public humiliation he suffered as a result. And so despite Rhaegar's willingness to defend himself in a Trial by Seven, Robert went along with the rebel's plot to overthrow the Targaryen dynasty, which involved abducting both Rhaegar and Lyanna, and stashing her in a tower for the duration of the rebellion.

He found himself thinking of Robert more and more. He saw the king as he had been in the flower of his youth, tall and handsome, his great antlered helm on his head, his warhammer in hand, sitting his horse like a horned god. He heard his laughter in the dark, saw his eyes, blue and clear as mountain lakes. “Look at us, Ned,” Robert said. “Gods, how did we come to this? You here, and me killed by a pig. We won a throne together …”

- A Game of Thrones Eddard XV
Horny as ever and near the tower of joy, travelling alone to maintain his secrets, Robert sought out his lady love after his only defeat at Ashford; fear of death has a way of driving men back into the womb. Robert claimed Lyanna at the tower she was imprisoned in, and she used his hunting knife, the one given to him as a gift from Jon Arryn, to defend herself.
Remember what Ygritte told Jon Snow, outside of the tower Queenscrown?

“A man can own a woman or a man can own a knife,” Ygritte told him, “but no man can own both. Every little girl learns that from her mother.”

- A Storm of Swords Jon V
https://preview.redd.it/eu2s4590dn3b1.jpg?width=953&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccfb8d31abe50ef2b7c5201a7dd3addc95a2f02f

A teenage human trafficking victim who was initially charged with first-degree murder after she stabbed her accused rapist to death was sentenced Tuesday in an Iowa court to five years of closely supervised probation and ordered to pay $150,000 restitution to the man’s family.

Speaking of knives...
★ King Robert sent the Catspaw by u/M_Tootles:

• In this scenario, Robert’s “mad”, wine-soaked “master plan” was to arm his mercy-dealing catspaw with a Valyrian steel and dragonbone dagger for which he personally had no use but which he decided in his pie-eyed state would, when intentionally left at the scene of Bran’s unfortunate but ultimately justifiable end, look like the “signature” of a retribution-seeking Targaryen sympathizer, for It Was Known that the Targaryens hated not just Robert, but also Ned Stark, one of “the Usurper’s Dogs” whom they held personally responsible for the murder of Rhaegar’s children.
• And then there is the tourney he throws in honor of Ned, whose prizes just so happen to add up to exactly one thousand gold dragons for every silver stag the catspaw was paid, which looks an awful lot like the act of a man suffering from a guilty conscience. As does Robert drinking and hunting himself to death.

If blaming a Targaryen for his own misdeeds worked once, why wouldn’t Robert try it again?

This was something else: poison in the dark, a knife thrust to the soul. This he could never forgive, no more than he had forgiven Rhaegar. He will kill them all, Ned realized.

- A Game of Thrones Eddard XII
Sometime after his loss at Ashford, Robert appeared at Stoney Sept wounded and alone, while waiting for Ned to bring reinforcements from the North.

He had lost it all at Stoney Sept, in his arrogance.
Robert Baratheon had been hiding somewhere in the town, wounded and alone. Jon Connington had known that, and he had also known that Robert's head upon a spear would have put an end to the rebellion, then and there. He was young and full of pride. How not? King Aerys had named him Hand and given him an army, and he meant to prove himself worthy of that trust, of Rhaegar's love. He would slay the rebel lord himself and carve a place out for himself in all the histories of the Seven Kingdoms.

- A Dance with Dragons The Griffin Reborn
Robert fathered his bastard Bella in a brothel before the Battle of the Bells, a nod to Belle from Beauty & the Beast. This is just one of many acts that depicts his bestial nature; despite being in the midst of a war he claims to be fighting for Lyanna, Robert still found time to fuck all the whores at the Peach:

As she sat in the common room in her stupid girl clothes, Arya remembered what Syrio Forel had told her, the trick of looking and seeing what was there. When she looked, she saw more serving wenches than any inn could want, and most of them young and comely. And come evenfall, lots of men started coming and going at the Peach. They did not linger long in the common room, not even when Tom took out his woodharp and began to sing “Six Maids in a Pool.” The wooden steps were old and steep, and creaked something fierce whenever one of the men took a girl upstairs. “I bet this is a brothel,” she whispered to Gendry.
“You don’t even know what a brothel is.”
“I do so,” she insisted. “It’s like an inn, with girls.”
He was turning red again. “What are you doing here, then?” he demanded. “A brothel’s no fit place for no bloody highborn lady, everybody knows that.”
One of the girls sat down on the bench beside him. “Who’s a highborn lady? The little skinny one?” She looked at Arya and laughed. “I’m a king’s daughter myself.”
Arya knew she was being mocked. “You are not.”
“Well, I might be.” When the girl shrugged, her gown slipped off one shoulder. “They say King Robert fucked my mother when he hid here, back before the battle. Not that he didn’t have all the other girls too, but Leslyn says he liked my ma the best.”
The girl did have hair like the old king’s, Arya thought; a great thick mop of it, as black as coal. That doesn’t mean anything, though. Gendry has the same kind of hair too. Lots of people have black hair.
“I’m named Bella,” the girl told Gendry. “For the battle. I bet I could ring your bell, too. You want to?”

- A Storm of Swords Arya V
This bestial nature and Ned's willingness to enable it is put on full display when Robert returns to the Trident in A Game of Thrones. Robert allows Lady and Mycah to be killed as vengeance for Joffrey’s injury, despite later admitting he knew his heir was lying. Joffrey sustained this injury at the Trident because he drunkenly misperceived the fight between Arya and the butcher’s boy, and cruelly acted on his ‘chivalric duty’ to defend noble ladies. Likewise, Robert (and everyone else) misperceived Rhaegar’s intent when he crowned Lyanna, and his fervor for vengeance led him to go along with a plot to abduct her and pin the blame on Rhaegar, like Joffrey lied about what transpired during the fight. Both Lady the direwolf and wolf-blooded Lyanna were held accountable for crimes they were innocent of; Lyanna’s crowning may have suggested to Robert that she actively enticed Rhaegar, like rape victims are routinely scrutinized for their attire and other non-sexual behaviors to suggest they somehow invited their rapes. Ned went along with these obviously unjust actions, out of loyalty to his friend and king, and to prevent further harm to his family.

All Ned could do was take her in his arms and hold her while she wept. He looked across the room at Robert. His old friend, closer than any brother. “Please, Robert. For the love you bear me. For the love you bore my sister. Please.”
The king looked at them for a long moment, then turned his eyes on his wife.
“Damn you, Cersei,” he said with loathing.
Ned stood, gently disengaging himself from Sansa’s grasp. All the weariness of the past four days had returned to him. “Do it yourself then, Robert,” he said in a voice cold and sharp as steel. “At least have the courage to do it yourself.”
Robert looked at Ned with flat, dead eyes and left without a word, his footsteps heavy as lead. Silence filled the hall.
“Where is the direwolf?” Cersei Lannister asked when her husband was gone. Beside her, Prince Joffrey was smiling.
“The beast is chained up outside the gatehouse, Your Grace,” Ser Barristan Selmy answered reluctantly.
“Send for Ilyn Payne.”
“No,” Ned said. “Jory, take the girls back to their rooms and bring me Ice.” The words tasted of bile in his throat, but he forced them out. “If it must be done, I will do it.”
Cersei Lannister regarded him suspiciously. “You, Stark? Is this some trick? Why would you do such a thing?”
They were all staring at him, but it was Sansa’s look that cut. “She is of the north. She deserves better than a butcher.”
He left the room with his eyes burning and his daughter’s wails echoing in his ears, and found the direwolf pup where they chained her. Ned sat beside her for a while. “Lady,” he said, tasting the name. He had never paid much attention to the names the children had picked, but looking at her now, he knew that Sansa had chosen well. She was the smallest of the litter, the prettiest, the most gentle and trusting. She looked at him with bright golden eyes, and he ruffled her thick grey fur.
Shortly, Jory brought him Ice.
When it was over, he said, “Choose four men and have them take the body north. Bury her at Winterfell.”
“All that way?” Jory said, astonished.
“All that way,” Ned affirmed. “The Lannister woman shall never have this skin.”
He was walking back to the tower to give himself up to sleep at last when Sandor Clegane and his riders came pounding through the castle gate, back from their hunt.
There was something slung over the back of his destrier, a heavy shape wrapped in a bloody cloak. “No sign of your daughter, Hand,” the Hound rasped down, “but the day was not wholly wasted. We got her little pet.” He reached back and shoved the burden off, and it fell with a thump in front of Ned.
Bending, Ned pulled back the cloak, dreading the words he would have to find for Arya, but it was not Nymeria after all. It was the butcher’s boy, Mycah, his body covered in dried blood. He had been cut almost in half from shoulder to waist by some terrible blow struck from above.
“You rode him down,” Ned said.
The Hound’s eyes seemed to glitter through the steel of that hideous dog’s-head helm. “He ran.” He looked at Ned’s face and laughed. “But not very fast.”

- A Game of Thrones Eddard III
Most assume Gregor Clegane is the giant in armor made of stone in Bran’s vision of the Trident… yet he wasn’t present during the events Bran envisions. This dark shadow is a better fit for Robert, a veritable giant who won the throne at the Trident, who is first introduced as having gained eight stone, with a girth to match his height (like a mountain), and whose blood turns black when he is mortally wounded by a boar.

He looked south, and saw the great blue-green rush of the Trident. He saw his father pleading with the king, his face etched with grief. He saw Sansa crying herself to sleep at night, and he saw Arya watching in silence and holding her secrets hard in her heart. There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.

- A Game of Thrones Bran III
It would not be unusual for Bran to see both a person’s physical form and their shadow at the same time; this is how shadows work. Ned undoubtedly experiences inner turmoil in this scene, going along with injustice in service to a cowardly king despite the pain it causes his daughters. So, it's easy to see how the shadow with the face of the hound and the golden shadow are both cast by Ned, depicting a light and dark side at war within himself, representing his competing duties to his king and children which led him to execute Lady and accept Mycah's unjust death. It's not unusual that Ned would have multiple shadows, a dark and a light side making him grey as the direwolf on his sigil; recall, Stannis tells us that some lights cast more than one shadow:

King Stannis pointed a finger. “There you err, Onion Knight. Some lights cast more than one shadow. Stand before the nightfire and you’ll see for yourself. The flames shift and dance, never still. The shadows grow tall and short, and every man casts a dozen. Some are fainter than others, that’s all. Well, men cast their shadows across the future as well. One shadow or many. Melisandre sees them all.”

- A Clash of Kings Davos II
https://preview.redd.it/g7kdw91ycn3b1.png?width=602&format=png&auto=webp&s=a654ddd47e8089aba8f5955974a7080102aee922
Alfie Allen: You know, I asked him about who Jon Snow’s real parents were, and he told me. I can’t say who, but I can tell you that it involves a bit of a Luke Skywalker situation. It will all come to fruition eventually.
This series will conclude next time with a foray into Ned's inner turmoil, examining thoughts and actions which indict his friend and king. To preview where this series is headed, in its full audio/visual glory with greater detail, look here.

id just like to hear about some of your guys’ non-humans (this includes object alters because we don’t have any and theyre never mentioned in like any research) we’re a system of a little more than 60. about 7 have non-human qualities, and about 8 others are actually non-humans.
the only one we really know the most about is Callisto, who is an alien alter. everything i’m about to say isn’t related to the prompt, but i just wanna talk about Callisto because he’s neat ^{_^} he presents in two ways, one being a regular human and one being a stereotypical green guy alien.
warning for verbal abuse mention in this paragraph, but we’re pretty sure he formed from our grandma telling us that we were too different from everyone else (she has a distorted view of reality) and so he formed because he feels like he can’t connect with the world around him, so it’s like a way of dissociating.
his inner world backstory is that he escaped from another planet who banished him for being too different, so he got on an escape pod and crash landed on earth.
he tends to connect with alien media, even where aliens are the antagonist. we have alien earrings and stuffed animals just because he connects with them so well (by the way please look up the palm pals alien stuffie because it’s absolutely adorable).
he loves watching movies and reading books with aliens. his favourite movie is Nope and his favourite book is Project Hail Mary (i strongly recommend consuming both of these medias by the way, they’re absolutely incredible). also if anyone has any movie/book/tv show/whatever recommendations with aliens in them, we will absolutely take them!
space was our special interest for all of elementary school so that could also partly explain his formation.
anyways, yeah, share what you’re willing to about your non-human alters in the comments! i feel like people don’t talk about them a lot, so i would love to hear it >_<

PAYPAL INVOICE ONLY [Timestamp]

ITEM	PRICE	SIZING	PICS	NOTES
Guidi PL2	$180 + Shipping	Size 41	https://imgur.com/a/F7BAf3R	Older Brother batch, Visvim soles installed, only tried on, and doesn't come with box.
Deeds Helmut Lang Holster Jeans	$65 + Shipping	Size 32	https://imgur.com/a/F7BAf3R	Awesome pair of jeans, but they just don't fit.
Represent Suede Alpha Lows	$80 + Ship	Size 9.5	https://imgur.com/a/F7BAf3R	Great quality pair of shoes, but I just don't fit them. Only worn twice and doesn't come with a box. Don't think they sell these anymore.
Zara Issey Miyake Pleats	$25 + Shipping	S	https://imgur.com/lh8DWIC https://imgur.com/s8nFG8d	Never worn with tags. Fits TTS and is a more slim version of the pleats
Fear of God Gray Plaid Short Sleeve	$30+Shipping	Size S	Pic1 Pic2	Pretty lightweight piece that fits true to size. Never worn.
Fear of God Black Mesh Baseball Jersey Fourth Collection	$30+Shipping	Size S	Pic1 Pic2	Oversized fit and fits true to size. Never worn.
Vintage Black Leather Wilson Blouson	$60+Shipping	Size L	Pic1 Pic2	Has a removable inner thinsulate layer. Fits like an oversized M.
Nike Air Jordan 1s Black Toe	$50+Shipping	Size US 8.5	Pic1 Pic2	Only worn once. No box.

Happy weekend. If you like listening to live music, there are plenty of noteworthy performances taking place in the next few days, including a Prince tribute band at The Society Garden and much more. Check out the full article on Middle Georgia Times for the full list and thanks for reading!
FRIDAY, JUNE 2
MISS KEELA AND SULTRÉ AT THE BOHEMIAN DEN (6 P.M.)
Miss Keela and Sultré will be performing at one of Downtown Macon’s most unique stores. There is no cover charge to see both of these talented rhythm and blues singers perform.
DJ CARLOS AT THE CRAZY BULL (8:30 P.M.)
The patrons on The Crazy Bull will be celebrating First Friday with music from DJ Carlos that kicks off at 8:30 p.m.
SOUTHBOUND MOJO AT WILD WING CAFE (9 P.M.)
Southbound Mojo is a band that plays popular country and rock and roll songs. They are based in Macon and can often be found performing at venues across Middle Georgia. Wild Wing Cafe does not have a cover charge.
BEN CHAPMAN AT GRANT’S LOUNGE (9 P.M.)
Ben Chapman is a self-taught guitarist who recently released a self-produced album titled “Amber Sound, Vol. 1”. His musical style has been described as a bit of the Black Crowes mixed with Willie Neslon and some The Allman Brothers Band. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. General admission tickets to Ben Chapman’s performance cost $10.
TIER BLUE WITH FURY IN FEW AT JBA (9 P.M.)
Tier Blue (previously Hindsight) will perform along with special guests Fury in Few on JBA’s main stage on Friday night. Hindsight formed in 2016 in Macon as a 5 piece rock and roll band. Hindsight had many loyal fans in Middle Georgia as well as in Atlanta that will like what they hear at Tier Blue’s electrified performance. Tickets cost $10 in advance or $12 at the door.
SATURDAY, JUNE 3
PURPLE MADNESS WITH SPECIAL GUEST MORRIS DAY AND THE TIME AT THE SOCIETY GARDEN (8 P.M.)
Purple Madness is one of the best Prince Tribute bands around, at least according to several fans who have passionately convinced me this is the case. From the videos I have seen, I would have to agree that the performance is likely as close to a the real thing as possible. Purple Madness will be performing along with a Morris Day and the Time tribute band. Tickets to this show will likely sell out and cost around $25.
KALEIGH COURSON AT THE CRAZY BULL (8:30 P.M.)
Kaleigh Courson is a country music songwriter and singer from Macon who is now based out of Nashville. Courson’s musical style combines Southern rock and roll with country music and she has performed throughout the Southeast.
STREET BEANS AT GRANT’S LOUNGE (9 P.M.)
Street Beans is dedicated to bringing “high quality, low class, street music” to the masses. This uniquely named band is from faraway Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the music starts at 9 p.m. Tickets to the Street Beans concert are $10.
DYLAN SCHNEIDER AT THE HUMMINGBIRD’S 18TH BIRTHDAY BASH (10 P.M.)
Dylan Schneider is an up-and-coming country music star who has been performing since the young age of 14. Schneider has been named as an artist to watch by the music streaming platform Pandora.

Happy weekend. If you like listening to live music, there are plenty of noteworthy performances taking place in the next few days, including a Prince tribute band at The Society Garden and much more. Check out the full article on Middle Georgia Times for the full list and thanks for reading!
FRIDAY, JUNE 2
MISS KEELA AND SULTRÉ AT THE BOHEMIAN DEN (6 P.M.)
Miss Keela and Sultré will be performing at one of Downtown Macon’s most unique stores. There is no cover charge to see both of these talented rhythm and blues singers perform.
MARK JOHNSON AT PATIO 901 IN PERRY (7 P.M.)
Mark Johnson will perform a solo acoustic set this Friday evening at Patio 901. Patio 901 is an outdoor venue in Perry that serves limited food and plenty of adult beverages.
DJ CARLOS AT THE CRAZY BULL (8:30 P.M.)
The patrons on The Crazy Bull will be celebrating First Friday with music from DJ Carlos that kicks off at 8:30 p.m.
SOUTHBOUND MOJO AT WILD WING CAFE IN MACON (9 P.M.)
Southbound Mojo is a band that plays popular country and rock and roll songs. They are based in Macon and can often be found performing at venues across Middle Georgia. Wild Wing Cafe does not have a cover charge.
BEN CHAPMAN AT GRANT’S LOUNGE (9 P.M.)
Ben Chapman is a self-taught guitarist who recently released a self-produced album titled “Amber Sound, Vol. 1”. His musical style has been described as a bit of the Black Crowes mixed with Willie Neslon and some The Allman Brothers Band. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. General admission tickets to Ben Chapman’s performance cost $10.
TIER BLUE WITH FURY IN FEW AT JBA (9 P.M.)
Tier Blue (previously Hindsight) will perform along with special guests Fury in Few on JBA’s main stage on Friday night. Hindsight formed in 2016 in Macon as a 5 piece rock and roll band. Hindsight had many loyal fans in Middle Georgia as well as in Atlanta that will like what they hear at Tier Blue’s electrified performance. Tickets cost $10 in advance or $12 at the door.
SATURDAY, JUNE 3
TAYLOR ORTIZ AT JALAPEÑOS CANTINA IN GRAY (7 P.M.)
Macon’s genre blending musician Taylor Ortiz will perform at Jalapeños Cantina Saturday evening. Jalapeños Cantina does not have a cover charge.
FREE LANCE RUCKUS AT TAYLOR’S COVE IN MILLEDGEVILLE (7 P.M.)
Free Lance Ruckus is a very busy alternative Americana rock band from Middle Georgia who perform covers and original songs. Free Lance Ruckus will be performing Saturday evening at the picturesque Taylor’s Cove on Lake Sinclair.
PURPLE MADNESS WITH SPECIAL GUEST MORRIS DAY AND THE TIME AT THE SOCIETY GARDEN (8 P.M.)
Purple Madness is one of the best Prince Tribute bands around, at least according to several fans who have passionately convinced me this is the case. From the videos I have seen, I would have to agree that the performance is likely as close to a the real thing as possible. Purple Madness will be performing along with a Morris Day and the Time tribute band. Tickets to this show will likely sell out and cost around $25.
KALEIGH COURSON AT THE CRAZY BULL (8:30 P.M.)
Kaleigh Courson is a country music songwriter and singer from Macon who is now based out of Nashville. Courson’s musical style combines Southern rock and roll with country music and she has performed throughout the Southeast.
STREET BEANS AT GRANT’S LOUNGE (9 P.M.)
Street Beans is dedicated to bringing “high quality, low class, street music” to the masses. This uniquely named band is from faraway Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the music starts at 9 p.m. Tickets to the Street Beans concert are $10.
DYLAN SCHNEIDER AT THE HUMMINGBIRD’S 18TH BIRTHDAY BASH (10 P.M.)
Dylan Schneider is an up-and-coming country music star who has been performing since the young age of 14. Schneider has been named as an artist to watch by the music streaming platform Pandora.