I was just recently told that my incarcerated family member (IFM) has access to this app, and has asked me to join. My IFM and I don't speak on the phone, and contact is sporadic. My IFM does not have my phone number, email, or anything like that.
So my first questions are: What information about me will they see? Will they see the email I used to sign up? Will they be able to see the phone number that I use? (I am thinking of using a Google Voice number.
Further, I have never paid to talk to him. I have never put money on his commissary. The only fee I pay is for stamps. How will this differ with this app? Does it cost money to simply send messages? Voicemails? How much does it cost to send a picture/video? How much is a video call? Would I have to pay for my IFM to both send and receive messages, etc. from the app? If so, are the costs the same? (Edit: is my IFM able to put onto this app on their own?) If I were to put money in their account, would that be able to be used to make calls, messages, etc. to all of their contacts, or just to myself? I have looked at the website and I didn't find anything concrete. My IFM is in California if that helps.
Further, what are the limits of the app? Are the incarcerated people able to also send pictures or videos? Can they call/message/etc. at any hour of the day/night if they have the funds? Is there a way to block certain features? For example, at the moment, I do not want to receive video calls. Can I disable that or will I have to just explain my boundary to my IFM?
What else can be done on the app? My IFM mentioned podcasts, sports, movies, news, and music. Is this free? Will there be access to things like Netflix or other streaming services? Would they be able to use someone else's account for this? If yes, and there are movies that can be rented for a charge, would they have access to that? What about the Internet? Are they able to access a limited amount of Google, for example? Social media? Is there any feature like email, where you can write, but are not limited to the 500 characters I saw on the website?
​
Thanks in advance for any responses I get. I appreciate having boundaries with my IFM, but this app is something that I am interested in. I just need more information that their dumb website doesn't help with.

Happy Halloween everyone!I've been wanting for some time to do a Halloween post. At first I thought of doing 2 posts (one with 3 female artists reccomendations and another one with 3 male artists) ,but then I scrapped the idea and decided to do a top 10. I want to clarify that obviously there are other songs perfect for Halloween, but I wanted to do a list with songs that are underrated or are being forgotten.

1. 2ne1 - It Hurts(https://youtu.be/aUiMaz4BNKw)

It hurts indeed that 2ne1 never gave us a part 2 of this concept. While their girl crush concept is absolutely iconic I really wish some of their other concepts weren't just a one time thing. This one in particular is one of the most unique horror concept executions in kpop.There's no fast cuts,flickering lights, distorted whispering sounds,nothing but pure longing and sadness. It's just a slow emotional ballad and with a beautiful gothic aesthetic.(Bom with green hair is one the most beautiful imagery engraved in my memory). They also got a grim reaper boyfriend for Dara.

1. DKZ - Blockbuster (https://youtu.be/h0VIGOnjuhs)

They aren't afraid of no dust and they definitely aren't afraid to release a Halloween song on summer. Lupin,All I Need Is You and Blockbuster are my holy trinity of Dongkiz/DKZ songs. Meanwhile I'm happy for their explosion of popularity I truly wish these songs would be bigger in the kpop community. With Blockbuster we do a complete 180 from It Hurts. It fun funky song that as you might of guessed takes inspiration from the movie Ghostbusters for its concept and theme.Definitely DKZ at their best. So if you need ghost catchers you know who to call.

1. 1NB - Stalker (https://youtu.be/kmIfmWDW2aQ)

Speaking of 180s here comes Stalker .A true horror concept and a quite nice song.1NB is a very underrated 2017 girl group that unfortunately did not last long. But in the short time they existed they gave us great songs with dark concepts such as Stalker; Winter,again; Where U at.

1. Block B - Jackpot ( https://youtu.be/h4zvN1Pjzn8)

Jeo oppadeul isanghae. Yep pretty much sums up all Block B mvs. But no honestly Block B truly has some of the best kpop songs and their execution of quirky concepts is immaculate. Jackpot is such a masterpiece that unfortunately was cut short in its promotion time and it's probably not the first song that people think of when talking about them. It's the perfect mix between 6 subgenres of jazz, creepy clowns,social themes and Block B's chaotic energy.

1. Queen B'Z - Bad ( https://youtu.be/0PzMIU4FVcg)

The least known group of this list. Who are they would you say? A cult of female vampires hunting down men avenging for the death of their sister while they also recruit young girls into their clan. Or at least that's what their mv for Bad tells us about them. Also warning this mv has a 19+ rating.

1. Cross Gene - Black or White (https://youtu.be/cVGIDmKOgOQ)

"A BAP script edited by VIXX". I've never read a more accurate description of this song. The 19+ rating is on as evil Cross Gene hunts down good Cross Gene. Finally this year the song was also made available on Spotify.

1. Vixx - On and On (https://youtu.be/d0C6EktpC20)

Yeah yeah I know Voodoo Doll is the token song for these types of lists and frankly it deserves every single ounce of love and more. But I really can't help but talk about these vampires who need therapy but are instead sent to the moon by their soldier girlfriends to chase a ghost. Anyway since I'm very shameless I'm plugging this too https://youtu.be/WQLHFYrr5ZI

1. Ladies Code - Hate You (https://youtu.be/uLjUBC4HpVQ)

Imagine your first ever comeback being Hate You. No surprise for the great and yet very underrated discography Ladies Code has. Even though it was released in August this song became Ladies Code first song to chart #1 on Bugs Music. The story is about someone who says who loves you then sets you aside and abandons you once they are bored just like playing with dolls.

1. Primary ft ChoA - Don't be shy (https://youtu.be/G9zL-A78oRg)

What do girls do when they have a sleepover? Well obviously play ouija board,pokémons,levitate their dolls and burn their plushies while filling it on a vhs tape what else. A weird mix between everything. The song is reggae, the lyrics are about not being shy when you feel an attraction towards someone and the mv is spooky.

1. Narsha - Bbi Ri Bba Bba (https://youtu.be/-FxBcxQ34Yw)

Uuugh what a debut !!! Such perfection from the styling to the mv to the song. A poor construction worker accidentally digs a hole uncovering a demon like creature with Chucky hair,pale skin and black wings luring him with promises into unknown lands. Bold, eccentric, addictive and daring only like BEG members know to deliver.

No.	Requested_by	VIDEO	OP's Remark
1	Sir_explain_a_lot	Akon - Lonely (Official Music Video) YTM	None
2	cottagecwhore	Cher - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) (Alternate Version) (Official Music Video) YTM	None
3	-BATM4N-	LYRICAL: "Khudaya Khair" - Billu - Irfan Khan, Lara Dutta - Soham Chakrabarthy, Akruti Kakkar,Monali YTM	None
4	PrathaManic	Breaking The Habit [Official Music Video] - Linkin Park YTM	None
5	-BATM4N-	Serhat Durmus - La Câlin (Obiymy) YTM	None
6	swan_reborn	Dooba Dooba - Silk Route - Official Hindi Pop Song YTM	None
7	IT_Coolie	"Hawa Hawai" Shaitan Movie Full Video Song - Kalki Koechlin YTM	None
8	-BATM4N-	Mere Baare (Full Song) Bohemia - Latest Punjabi Songs - Speed Records YTM	None
9	SanguineAndSaturnine	Franz Liszt - Bagatelle sans tonalité, S.216a (Gardon) YTM	None
10	cottagecwhore	Laura Branigan - Self Control (Official Music Video) YTM	None
11	cottagecwhore	EK SHARARAT HONE KO YTM	None
12	mischievous-racoon	Camila Cabello - Havana ft. Young Thug YTM	None
13	-BATM4N-	The Weeknd - Save Your Tears (Official Music Video) YTM	None
14	DeadDottyDodo	"Subha Hone Na De Full Song"- Desi Boyz - Akshay Kumar ,John Abraham - Pritam - Mika Singh, Kumaar YTM	None
15	Kwafee-lover	Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? (Official Video) YTM	None
16	AbradolfLinclar	Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain - Pardes - Shah Rukh Khan, Mahima - Kumar Sanu - 90s Hits Hindi songs YTM	None
17	Defiant-Archer-177	Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (HD)- Bobby Deol & Aishwarya Rai - 90s Superhit Hindi Bollywood Romantic Movie YTM	None
18	-BATM4N-	SPACESHIP - AP DHILLON - SHINDA KAHLON - GMINXR YTM	None
19	AbradolfLinclar	Arctic Monkeys - Snap Out Of It (Official Audio) YTM	None
20	AbradolfLinclar	I'm the One You're Looking For YTM	None
21	AbradolfLinclar	John Mayer - Love on the Weekend (Official Audio) YTM	None
22	AbradolfLinclar	ab toh aadat se he mujh ko aise jine ki.. YTM	None
23	Defiant-Archer-177	Rihanna - Work (Explicit) ft. Drake YTM	None
24	guiltyfeetnorythm	Jug Jug Jeeve (Full Video) - Shiddat - Diana P, Mohit R - Sachet T Parampara T- Sachin - Jigar YTM	None

Hey all! Hope you are well. I have recently come up positive for multiple mycotoxins and figured I could share what I have learned throughout my journey with resources in case anyone suspects that they may be dealing with this.
Before I continue, I want to inform that I am not a doctor and that you should consult a good functional medicine practitioner who can help evaluate your individual scenario. Every individual body is different, and the symptoms for mold toxicity are extremely similar to many other conditions, including but not limited to: bartonella, Lyme's disease, heavy metal toxicity, gluten sensitivity gut infections, etc.
Symptoms for CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome) can be caused by biotoxins, including mold toxins and toxins transmitted by insects. Everyone experiences symptoms differently due to their genetic susceptibility, toxic load (amount of biotoxins in the body), ability to detoxify, current exposure, etc. some of the symptoms include:
Inability to focus
Difficulty recalling words
Depersonalization/derealization
Confusion/disorientation
Difficulty learning new things/recalling words
Chronic fatigue
Sleep problems
Depression symptoms (anhedonia, problems with enjoyment/motivation, etc.)
Anxiety symptoms (usually without a specific cause, or increased reactivity to environmental stressors)
ADHD symptoms (difficulty with concentration, motivation, learning, memory, etc.)
OCD symptoms (obsessive thoughts, maneurisms, etc.)
Other various psychological/head symptoms including disorientation, mood swings, possible hallucination, etc. Biotoxins are generally neurotoxic.
Joint pain
Muscle pain/ache
Morning stiffness
Vertigo and dizziness (Also could be synonymous with POTS symptoms or POTS diagnosis, with large amounts of dizziness with rising from sitting or lying down)
Allergic rhinitis symptoms including post-nasal drip, nasal congestion, sore throat, coughing, wheezing
Asthmas symptoms including shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, etc.
Skin symptoms such as itchy skin, rosacea, eczema, dry skin
Digestive issues including constipation/diarrhea, malabsorption, leaky gut, etc.
Ice pick pains
Headaches
Various visual symptoms such as light sensitivity, blurred vision, floaters, eye tearing, dry eye/red eyes, etc.
Bladder issues such as frequent urination, increased urgency, and urinary incontinence
Other various neurological symptoms including numbness/tingling in extremities, shooting pains, etc.
Difficulty with temperature regulation
​
These are the symptoms I was able to research off of many various podcasts from many functional medicine doctors and naturopathic doctors, but again I urge people to PLEASE SEEK A GOOD FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE DOCTOR BEFORE TREATING ANYTHING! Certified practitioners can be found at:
https://www.ifm.org/find-a-practitione
​
Some great resources for mold toxicity are listed below:
​
Podcasts:
Dave Asprey (Bulletproof Radio) and Dr. Neil Nathan:
The Common Mold: Your Guide to Toxicity, Symptoms and Treatments #733
https://daveasprey.com/neil-nathan-733/?msclkid=f94d03a6c0a011eca618589905073eb8
​
Dave Asprey and Dr. Margaret Christensen:
Mold's Toxic Effects on Hormones, Brains, and Kids #732
https://daveasprey.com/dr-margaret-christensen-732/?msclkid=69cfe43bc0a111ec8475c5a3a389cad2
​
Mitolife Radio (ft PJ Harlow):
Toxic Mold and What To Do About It
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mold-toxicity-and-what-to-do-about-it/id1454068609?i=1000494203726&msclkid=8c8f5288c0a111ecba44beeb1eb7598c
​
Moldfinder Radio (with Brian Karr):
Check out the channel for general advice with regards to spotting mold and remediation
​
Documentary:
Moldy Movie, created by Dave Asprey
https://moldymovie.com/movie/
​
I know that this is a lot of information, but I hope that this can help some people that are in the middle of their mold journey or who are having mysterious symptoms that they cannot figure out. If you suspect mold, consult a good functional medicine practitioner.
​
Additionally, if you suspect mold in your home it is best to hire a company to remediate. Closefurther exposure to mold can really aggravate symptoms.
I hope that this helps some in their journey to heal and better their lives, as well as the lives of their loved ones. If you've been told that you are crazy or that this is all in your head due to the sheer number of symptoms that you have, I am here to tell you that you are not the only one and that healing and reversal of health effects is quite possible :)
​
TL;DR: Mold sickness be wonky and causes a bunch of symptoms! Included above are a bunch of resources that can help people concerned, suspecting, or in the middle of healing from mold illnes. Get a good functional medicine practitioner to really help sort out what is causing your illness.
​
EDIT
Thank you so much for the silver awards!
Mold and memory do not go well together. I recently remembered some additional resources, pioneering practitioners in the mold field, and websites!
Podcasts:
Exposing Mold (they include many interviews with pioneering practitioners, including but not limited to Dr. Richie Shoemaker and Dr. Neil Nathan)
Look up the following doctors on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc. for good mold informational podcasts. These may also include histamine intolerance and MCAS, as these conditions are commonly associated with mold:
Dr. Jill Carnahan
Beth O'Hara
Dr. Neil Nathan
Dr. Richie Shoemaker
Dr. Margaret Christensen
Dr. Becky Campbell
​
Websites:
Dr. Amy Myers
Mycotoxin Poisoning & Toxic Mold: Symptoms & Solutions (amymyersmd.com)
Beth O'Hara, ND (this website is also a great resources for MCAS and histamine intolerance)
You searched for mold – Mast Cell 360
Dr. Becky Campbell (also a great website for histamine intolerance and MCAS)
Mold, Histamine Intolerance, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome: Everything You Need to Know – Dr Becky Campbell
Dr. Richie Shoemaker
Mold Illness & the Surviving Mold Official Book Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker
​
​

No.	Requested_by	VIDEO	OP's Remark
1	ravish242	Ajab Gazabb Love Title Song Lyric Video - Jackky Bhagnani,Nidhi-Mika Singh-Sachin-Jigar YTM	None
2	just_another_dre4m	Alesso - Falling YTM	None
3	AirHero	Hermod's Ride To Hel - Lokes Treachery Part 1 YTM	None
4	theLastPuppet	The Unforgiven III YTM	None
5	AirHero	The Cranberries - Dreams YTM	None
6	poopy__bunghole	Taylor Swift - Blank Space YTM	None
7	Active_akhrot	Maine Dil Se Kaha with lyrics - मैंने दिल से कहा के बोल - K.K. - Rog YTM	None
8	NotaCat212	अब तो आदत से ही मुझे ऐसे जाने की.. YTM	None
9	lost_aathma	A.R. Rahman - Barso Re Best Video-Guru-Aishwarya Rai-Shreya Ghoshal-Uday Mazumdar YTM	Bad bot
10	Notyourspaghetti	Sau Aasmaan - Full Video - Baar Baar Dekho - Sidharth Malhotra & Katrina Kaif - Armaan YTM	None
11	GandMeDandaRey	Full Video: Hookah Bar - Khiladi 786 - Akshay Kumar & Asin - Himesh Reshammiya YTM	None
12	iamchandrack	Queen - Another One Bites the Dust (Official Video) YTM	None
13	chimp_khichdi	Kisi Ki Muskurahaton Pe Ho Nisar - Raj Kapoor - Anari - Mukesh - Evergreen Hindi Songs HD YTM	None
14	GandMeDandaRey	Rambo - "It´s a Long Road" song (Legendado) YTM	One of my favorite 80s movie and a beautiful song 🎵

Original Source: jryze.me/science

“Dad, I’m fed up with this Law Of Attraction crap.”

Emma had been struggling lately. She wanted a modeling contract, but it went to someone else. She tried selling NFTs, but didn’t break even. She wanted a role in a movie, but hadn’t heard back since her audition. So I took her for a drive to Niagara Falls, since the beautiful scenery, cascading water, and fresh air always cheered her up. It was quite the drive though, so I threw on some tunes until Emma felt like talking… which was apparently, now.
“Excuse me?”
“My life’s been trash lately, nothing’s working out, if Law Of Attraction was real, I’d be crushing it.”
“Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, but you know your mother and I have never forced our beliefs on you. You’re free to believe in whatever you want.”
“Grr! That’s such a cop-out!”
“How so?”
“Because you just don’t want to prove LOA exists with –like– real science and stuff.”
“Ah yes, ‘real science and stuff’, how dare I avoid that when talking to a sulking child who hasn’t gotten her way.”
“I just–” Emma started, but I interrupted her.
“--Ah-ah. I know, you just want rock-solid scientific proof that the law of attraction is real, and you want dear old Dad to single-handedly do all the thinking for you until you’re convinced LOA is real.”
“Well, when you put it that way it makes me sound like a jerk.” Her lip folded open into a pout.
“I’m aware.” My sardonic grin was rubbing a bit of salt in her wound but I couldn’t help myself. I’d long-ago taught Emma that if she wants to understand something she has to be relaxed, calm, and open-minded, not frustrated, sulky, or whiny.
“Dad! C’mon!”
“Alright, fine, but you better remember this when I’m old and decrepit!”
“Oh, but Daddy-o, I thought you’re manifesting eternal youth.”
“Smart-ass. Do you want to know if LOA is real or not? 'Cause if so, we only have time for sarcastic barbs from one of us.”
“Okay, fine, please tell me…
…I’d love scientific proof for this LOA thing.”
“Well first, let me ask you this: what is science?”
Figure 1
“Huh? It’s, like, labs and experiments and stuff. Math, logic, physics, biology, whatever.”
“Those are some aspects involved in science, yes, but what’s the process of science? Of creating scientific proof?”
“I don’t know, it’s like when you run experiments & calculations and end up proving some formula or result with rock-solid, total, undeniable conclusiveness. Or something.”
“You’re getting closer, but think about this list of things:

• Knowing the earth is round
• Running a 4-minute mile
• Making a heavy metal craft fly
• Holding thousands of songs in our hand

Do you know what hundreds, even thousands, of 'educated' scientists of their time said about each of these things?”
“Not really…”
“They all said --with a certainty bordering on arrogance-- that these things were ‘impossible.’ So if science is all about rock-solid, undeniable conclusiveness, why are many scientists massively wrong about so many things?”
“Um, er, I…”
“Do you know that ‘intellectuals’ and ‘doctors’ in the medieval ages would press a sacrificed puppy or kitten onto a tumor because they thought that cancer was a ‘ravenous wolf’ that would ‘feed off the sacrificed animal rather than the human patient.’?”
“You’ve got to be making that up.”
“Nope, check out the book ‘Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything’ by Dr. Lydia Kang.”
“Fine but they were dumb back then, science is smarter now.”
“Is it? Because the ‘smart minds’ back then were 'certain' they were onto the truth and ‘doing the right thing’, and that attitude hasn’t really changed from talking to many scientists today, that I can tell. For example: One day scientists will post a study saying that we evolved from apes. The next day, other scientists will publish one saying we evolved from reptiles. On a third day, they’ll publish one that says we evolved from neither. It’s enough to make one’s head spin. Most science experiments I’ve seen have always boiled down to 'strong evidence' pointing one way, then it being disproved, followed by stronger evidence pointing another way. Science flip-flops direction many times over many experiments over many years. Have you talked to a self-proclaimed ‘logical’, ‘science-person’ recently? How did it go?”
“Sort of. I’ve had exes in STEM who claimed to be ‘hyper-logical’, but to me they were mostly arrogant know-it-alls. I’ve had science professors who wouldn’t let anyone question or argue with the textbook, even when my classmates were asking good questions and making real sense.”
“This often happens because our society praises logic, science, and ‘provable’ math so highly. We praise people who are seen to be ‘right’ and makes fun of those who dare to be ‘wrong’, for the most part. So even seemingly ‘logical’ people end up abandoning truth-seeking and true logic in favor of a pretense of logic and whatever makes them ‘look good’ or ‘wins debates’ or makes them ‘appear to be right.’”
“Including many scientists who have fears, foibles, and flaws that cause them to write things off as impossible or to attack others' work, I imagine.”
“Yes. A truly logical mind is an open-mind. If you encounter snap judgments, drastic assumption, and heavily agenda’d bias, chances are you’re not dealing with a very scientifically-minded person, at least for the moment. True scientists aren’t just able to admit being wrong, they actively seek it out because they care about finding the truth, not about being right. Thomas Edison conducted many experiments to get the lightbulb right and delivered his famous quote that went something like:

‘I’ve not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.’

To me, that’s the approach of a true scientist, and anyone who approaches things otherwise likely isn’t really seeking the truth properly.”

“So wait, are you saying most science-peeps are lying?”

“I’m not 'saying' anything, I’m mainly asking questions and making observations, so far at least. I want to be sure you understand that for decades... science will say ‘for certain’ that Einstein was right about X, Y, and Z. Then for decades after they’ll say ‘for certain’ that Einstein was wrong about X, Y, and Z. Science loves saying things 'for certain', but the thing most people don’t like to admit is... that science & math are often far less certain than they pretend to be. They're often inadequate for explaining major truths about life. And even when they do explain something, it often takes them years to prove something that poets, artists, or mystics already ‘knew’ and are benefitting from. Even comedians ‘get this’ stuff, often on deeper levels than many scientists may ever do.”
I then broke out into my best Bill Hicks impression as I quoted one of his stand-up routines:

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are...and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder–
‘Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?’ And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, ‘Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride.’ And we… kill… those people.
‘Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.’
It's just a ride... And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. *A choice, right now, between fear and love.** The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one.” - Bill Hicks, Comedian

“OK, um, first thank you for that incredibly accurate Bill Hicks monolog, Mr. Savant, and secondly, what am I supposed to be getting from all this… that ‘science sucks hard’?”
“No, not at all...

Science is amazing, and I’m a fan of logic, reasoning, experimentation, & the scientific method.”

“Right, but you’re saying that science isn’t about undeniable conclusiveness like I thought?”
“You tell me. Is math the path to all truth? Can it prove all the important parts of life? Is science all about undeniable proof & ego-riddled arrogance slamming down anyone who thinks differently? Or is it about gentle, open-minded exploration and experimentation? Is one version of science better than the other? Is it a blend of both? You tell me what science is to you, and then we’ll take the discussion forward from there.”
Emma’s mouth squinched to the side and her eyes rolled up the opposite direction, giving her a cute “I’m thinking” face. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel along to the beat of Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ while I waited.
“To me science is…

…A practical, truth-focused approach to logical answers about the world supported by strong evidence & found through experiment.

Figure 2
That’s why science can be wrong, or disagree, or change it’s mind over time, because even ‘strong evidence’ can be overturned with new information.”
“Fair enough, but in your definition is there room for ego? Arrogance? ‘Absolute certainty?’ Heavy-handed declarations of what’s ‘possible’ or what’s ‘impossible?’ Total undeniable evidence, as you said?”
“I guess not.”
“Good. Because it sounds like in your definition, science must be open-minded to being wrong. It sounds as if it’s open to an experiment only being 'right for a short while' until it’s disproved by even stronger evidence. It sounds as if that when scientists say ‘it’s not humanly possible to run a four-minute mile’, or ‘we can’t build a city on Pluto,’ it may only be a few decades until their rigid, overly-certain declarations are proven wrong. Am I understanding you correctly?”
“That’s the only reasonable approach to science I can think of. Anything else is just intellectual dick-measuring over ‘who is right’, just like my STEM-focused exes or my well-intentioned teachers at school, in my opinion.”
I opted not to reprimand Emma for her choice of language and continued on. “Ok, we’ll go with that then. But in that case, is it fair to ask for complete, total, and undeniable proof about Law Of Attraction?”
“Well, I mean, the fact that one plus one always equals two is complete and undeniable, right?”
Figure 3
“Maybe. Russell and Whitehead published the Principia Mathematica and in it, it took them 762 pages of dense mathematical notation just to prove one plus one equals two. :
"That sounds insane."
"Kind of, haha. And besides that, you actually said that one plus one always equals two, but to properly verify that, we’d need to check whether one plus one equals two until the end of time, which we don’t have the tech to do, so all we can say for certain is one plus one equals two most of the time, so far. On top of that ‘1’ isn’t an actual thing. ‘1’ isn’t an apple, or an orange, it’s an abstract concept that someone defined, and they use it to perform functions in ‘reality’, but again, ‘reality’ isn’t properly defined either. Like, is reality a personal mental construct determined by your senses, and if so, then is reality perceived the same for everyone? And even more importantly than all this, the realms of quantum physics we’re about to explore together may actually bring other parts of this into question.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. No. Probably not. But maybe. Potentially–
Look, I want to be clear, I’m not the world’s smartest scientist. I’m just doing my best to answer your question about Law Of Attraction. And like a ‘true’ scientist, you may need to let go of some heavy assumptions you may have about math, nature, physics, and so on. If you’re really interested in discovering the truth, assumptions can be major obstacles that prevent it.”

“So you’re saying I can’t even assume one plus one equals two?”

“Well, try not to get hung up on that specific equation, but, kind of. What I’m really saying is that even math isn’t the rock-solid proof you’re so hungry for, even though most people who aren’t mathematicians assume it is. You may want to check out Veritasium’s video called ‘Math Has A Fatal Flaw’, it talks about how there will always be ‘true statements’ that can’t be proven, and has fifteen million views last I checked. It doesn’t necessarily mean that one plus one doesn’t equal two, but more that one should be a bit more careful trusting math to explain important or deep truths about life. One of my favorite quotes from it goes: ‘There is a hole at the bottom of math… we will never know everything with certainty. There will always be true statements that can’t be proven. Check out this interesting food for thought from a Quora post:

‘In modern quantum physics it’s commonly known that the closer we look at reality and our physical world, the more it seems as though nothing is actually here or ‘true’. A quantum particle has the ability to be existing and non-existing at the same time depending on if it is observed. Things can be True, or False and ‘True and False.’ The closer we look at quantum particles, the more we see that everything is made of nothing. If everything is made of nothing then I would say 1 is nothing, and nothing + nothing is still equal to nothing. So therefore, 1+1=0.’”

“Er, so I can’t ask for total proof one-plus-one-equals-two-style?”
“Well, in your definition earlier, you said science is about seeking strong evidence but also being totally open to that evidence being overturned… even when we’re ‘sure’ we have the ‘right’ answers, correct?”
“Hmmm… I did say that, yeah.”
“So then what are you really asking for?”
“I don’t know. This is hurting my brain already.”
“Easy, relax, my sweet girl. I think I know what you’re getting at. What you’re really asking for is for…

‘The best insight science can offer regarding the law of attraction,’ yes?”

“Yeah! Thank you! See? You get me, you totally get me.”
“My pleasure. But I may have to challenge your thinking a bit before we proceed.”
“Don’t worry, I’m beauty and brains, I’m up for the challenge.”
“We’ll see. And if you are, then ask yourself this: why do you need scientific proof so badly? Many people succeed in many activities without knowing the ‘science’ behind them. Many chefs cook masterful meals without knowing food science. Many musicians create moving concertos without knowing music theory or the math behind sound frequencies. Many ‘manifestors’ manifest wonderful lives for themselves without getting hung up on the ‘science’ of it all. So wouldn’t it be better for you to simply apply yourself to practicing Law Of Attraction and manifestation, rather than wasting your childhood years –or this car ride– on scientific study?”
“Interesting question. I just want to know. I dunno. I haven’t really thought about why.”
“Could it be because recently your life hit a rough patch, and you’re looking for a scapegoat to blame? Or could it be that you’re not great at ‘believing’ in things or trying out new ideas for yourself, so you want ‘science’ to do the heavy-lifting for you? Could it be that you want LOA to be real and true, but an attitude of doubt and skepticism is easy and familiar so you stick to it rather than something more sincere?”
“Hey!”
“Hey what?”
“Hey, those aren’t very flattering things to suggest.”
“I wasn’t trying to flatter, Em. I thought you wanted the truth, which means asking ourselves the ‘hard questions’ sometimes, right? And you still haven’t answered me, were any of my ideas the real reason you’re so ‘needy’ for scientific explanations all of a sudden?”
Emma’s shoulders deflated as she sighed. “All of your ideas are right. I hate to admit it but my gut is screaming at me saying ‘he is right and you know it,’ so there. Fine. I admit it. I have bad-faith motivations for even asking these questions. I’m frustrated and depressed and just want to poke holes in people’s chirpily optimistic Law Of Attraction crap. Are you happy now, Dad?”
I almost laughed out loud at how absurd this all was, but I felt Emma would’ve assumed I was laughing at her. It’d probably cause her to snap. So instead I did my best to reassure her that I had her best interests in mind here.
“My darling, my entire heart is focused on helping you, but to get at the deepest truths in life isn't a journey for the faint of heart, and it’s not for people who can’t even own their reasons for wanting knowledge. I’m about to spend a tremendous amount of time and energy helping you with your dilemma, and I’m not going to invest all that for someone who can’t even admit the truth of why she’s so obsessed with ‘scientific proof’ all of a sudden.”
“Ugh, do you always have to be so infuriatingly… right? God!”
I chuckled. “Like I said earlier, I’m more than happy to be ‘wrong’, because it helps me get closer to truth, but… do you really want help from someone who’s constantly wrong instead, advising you?”
“Touche. Good point. Well, as annoying as it is, thank you, I guess.”
“My pleasure. So… back to the topic at hand. We agree on what science is, at least for our chat today: Science is a practical, truth-focused approach to logical answers about the world supported by strong evidence & found through experiment. And we agree you’re not seeking ‘undeniable proof’ of the law of attraction, (because conclusions from science are continually contradicted, overturned, and generally ‘bad’ at addressing life’s deepest questions & truths) and you’ll instead be satisfied with a fairly comprehensive summary of our most up-to-date science on the matter, yes?”
“Yes!”
“Great, then let’s see how much we can help you out. One small disclaimer though: Scientific explanations are often long-winded, boring, or complex. I’ll do my best to simplify things, but that means I’ll be skipping a lot of important details, so if you really care about this stuff, you’ll have to google the scientific studies and find citations on your own, there’s plenty of them out there.”
Figure 4
“What do you mean?”
“For example, I may quickly summarize the ‘double-slit’ experiment, and while it’s been replicated many times in many different scientific studies, there’s a lot of nuances to its discovery and the conclusions drawn from it, so my quick summary will skip a lot of details and citations, if you care about them, you’ll have to look them up and do your own research. Are you cool with that?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got hands and a brain, I can google if I need to, I just know you’ll break things down easier for me, to at least get the ball rolling. What’s this ‘double-slit’ thing you’re talking about?”
“The ‘double-slit’ experiment is a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, and referred to often because of its ground-breaking implications.”

“Wait, what’s the difference between quantum physics, and quantum mechanics?”

“Quantum physics is a branch of science. Quantum mechanics is the set of principles that explain the behavior of matter and energy.”
“Oh, so quantum physics is the area of science that focuses on the principles of quantum mechanics.”
“You got it, though I, and many others, kind of use the terms interchangeably anyway.”
“Aight, I get it…

So the double-slit experiment is basically the bedrock of most quantum physics understandings?”

“Exactly.”
“Tell me about it, please.”
“Streams of ‘elementary particles’ (like photons or electrons) are fired through two very thin slits. Got it so far?”
“Sure, like firing two streams of tennis balls through slots in a wooden fence, right?”
“Basically. Plus, there's a screen behind the fence that captures the ‘impact’ of the electrons. Anyway, if electrons are particles –or ‘balls’ as you say– the experiment should show the impact of those electrons on the other side in two straight lines on the screen, right?”
“Sure, two straight lines is the only place the particles could land, that's how the slits would guide them.”
“That’s what everyone expected, but instead of two lines of impacts revealed on the screen, scientists instead saw a ‘graduated spread’ of impacts that they call an ‘interference pattern’, instead of two solid lines of particle-impacts. And do you know what this pattern on the screen means?”
Figure 5
“I have no idea… something weird is going on?”
“Hah, that’s one way to phrase it. It’s kind of what eleven-year old Alice thought when she was learning about the double-slit experiment too. The ‘interference pattern’ is what you would get if you fired two bodies of water through the slits instead. It's what you'd get if you fired waves (not particles) through the slits. And the two waves would ‘blend together’ on the other side of the slit, creating ‘ripple impacts’ on the screen.”

“So the double-slit experiment proves that electrons are waves, not particles?”

“Sort of. Classical physics has long seen electrons as ‘particles’, but the double-slit experiment proves they must be waves, so science is now exploring particle-wave duality, and this particle-wave duality brings up all kinds of questions like ‘what is actually real?’, ‘is anything real?’ and ‘are we controlling reality by turning waves into particles?’ Because all this implies that there’s a ‘quantum world’ made up of waves and a ‘real world’ where all the waves have ‘collapsed’ into particles that we can measure, experience, and interact with. The experiment also suggests that us human beings, through the act of measuring, perceiving, and interacting with things are ‘collapsing’ waves from the quantum world, into ‘real experiences’ here in the real world, literally creating our own reality, somehow. We think. But science doesn’t really know why ‘measuring’ things collapses their wave-state into a particle-state instead.”
“Whoa. This got crazy deep, crazy fast.”
“Yep, but that’s what happens when you want to discuss the law of attraction, manifestation, and how it’s possible for the mind to create reality. These aren’t exactly snack-sized subjects, hon. The double-slit experiment by itself has been examined thousands of times from different angles and I can’t get into it all here, but if you want to know you may want to check out Veritasium’s YouTube again and watch ‘Parallel Worlds Probably Exist. Here’s Why’, or this summary called ‘If You Don’t Understand Quantum Physics, Try This!’ from Domain Of Science.”
“Fair enough.”
“Anyway, since this experiment, quantum mechanics now describes all ‘particles’ using a ‘wave function’, which treats everything as a wave that becomes a particle the moment it is ‘measured.’”
“Huh?”
“Classical physics says that everything is made of ‘solid particles’ that are there when we’re not looking at them. Quantum physics says nothing really ‘exists’ when we’re not looking at them. They’re just waves of probability, that ‘become real’ the instant they’re measured, observed, or interacted with. The thing is, since we live in reality, we’re always measuring, perceiving, or interacting with things, so we’re continually ‘collapsing the wave functions’ and making things real just by paying attention to them.”
“Double huh?”
“Yeah, this is really the foundation of quantum mechanics and I’m doing a terrible job at explaining it, I apologize. Let me try again. When measuring something, whether it’s as small as an electron or as big as a galaxy, our particles (and the air particles) are ‘entangled’ with whatever we’re measuring. This is called ‘environmental decoherence’, and it means that the cool ‘quantum nature’ of particles, that are ‘controllable’ by our consciousness, ‘disappears’ as soon as we put our attention on things, and those ‘waves’ instead become real, solid, particle-based experiences for us to… uh… experience.”
“Dad, you’ve explained censorship to me easily. You’ve explained ‘communication’ to me easily. You’ve explained the blockchain-game Splinterlands to me easily–”
“--But I’m failing hard here, I know. Em, I really wish there was a simple, easy explanation for these strange aspects of reality and quantum mechanics, I really do. Look, let’s try this, take a quick look at Dominc Walliman’s Quantum Physics For 7-Year Olds. The first half talks about how people feel guilty for ‘not understanding’ things, but how we can get our understanding back on track is by stopping the conversation and asking for further clarification. He encourages us to ask questions and never feel bad for not knowing something. He also emphasizes how important it is to explain things simply for others and the importance of ‘good science communication.’”
“OK, he definitely does get how hard it is for laypeople to understand science, but he also knows how to simplify and solve that. He actually started even simpler than you did. He said ‘quantum physics is the description of the smallest thing in our universe,’ even smaller than cells or atoms. He says ‘quantum physics is the study of how these tiny things behave and operate,’ and it’s really important because the small things make up all the ‘big’ realities we experience. Quantum mechanics are the foundational rules of our universe, and they’re pretty weird rules.”
“Sure, but maybe that video wasn’t very helpful? It doesn’t explain the ‘quantum measurement problem’ I was trying to get at.”
“Well he talks about MRI machines, that might explain it?”
“Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines? I can’t recall, what did he say about them?”
“He said they make the tiny hydrogen atoms in our body ‘spin’ clockwise and counter-clockwise at the same time (which is a quantum behavior), and by doing that, they don’t really ‘exist’ anymore, which is how MRI machines can actually ‘see’ inside our bodies. This is because we’re all made of ‘quantum stuff’ or something like that. Spooky, AF.”
“Yeah, it takes a bit to wrap your head around, but if you don’t understand this, you also won’t understand the ‘Observer Effect’, ‘Quantum Entanglement’, ‘Schrodinger’s Cat’, ‘Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle’, ‘Superposition’, ‘Decoherence’, and more. And there’s tons of information out there on it, because quantum physics is one of the most understood, most successful scientific theories out there. It’s helped us invent computers, lasers, digital cameras, nuclear plants, and more. You —and everything around you— is made up of quantum particles and subject to the rules of quantum physics, even if we don’t realize it. Dr. Rosenblum and Kuttner emphasize that:

'Quantum theory works perfectly; no prediction of the theory has ever been shown in error. It is the theory basic to all physics, and thus to all science…it is the most battle-tested theory in all of science. It has no competitors.' – Rosenblum & Kuttner, Quantum Enigma: the Spooky Interaction of Mind and Matter.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second, you just hit me with a hundred terms that make no sense. I’m lost.”
“I know, I did that on purpose, because quantum physics is basically an entirely new language, with words that describe entirely new things. Anyone who doesn’t know the language will have a lot of trouble understanding anything useful.”
Figure 5
“Great, you could’ve just told me you can’t answer my question about proving Law Of Attraction in the beginning and saved us a ton of time.”
“Now, now, don’t throw a fit. First of all, we have nothing but time on this drive, and secondly I am going to answer your question, it just might not be in the way you prefer. The truth isn’t always packaged in a nice little bow or a quick sound bite from an influencer…

Sometimes, to understand the truth you have to do real, honest, mental work. You have to put in effort.

You may even have to learn a new language.”
Emma folded her arms and jutted out her chin, giving me the silent treatment.
“Em, don’t be a spoiled brat. Understanding life and mastering the law of attraction can be a game-changer, but it may take actual mental effort. Can you get on board with that?”
“Fine. I guess so. If I wanted to code a game, I’d have to learn a programming language, if I want to reprogram my life, it makes sense I’d have to do the same thing.”
“Good. That’s more like it, now I can’t teach you all these terms here and now, you’ll definitely have to look some up, but I’ll do my best. Now, do you understand that unlike classical physics, which saw everything as solid, tangible particles, quantum physics sees everything as waves, in flux, which only become ‘real, tangible particles’ once someone (an observer) takes measure of them?”
“Yeah, while you were rambling I looked at the diagrams in that video you mentioned and it helped. I think I get it.”

“Good, because that is the ‘Observer Effect.’

And it’s the basis for how we ‘create our own reality.’ Can you tell me why?”
“Because when, how, and with what attitude an observer takes stock of any ‘wave’, influences whatever kind of particle they end up with?”
“Bingo. And since we’re observing waves/particles all the time, we’re constantly influencing what happens in reality, whether we realize it or not.”
“And that’s the basic science at the core of the law of attraction?”
“Yes, that’s a big part of it. But quantum physics is a fairly new area of science, and it’s not fully proven, and there’s lots more questions and active-research going on, and people are constantly trying to ‘poke holes’ in it or ‘dismiss’ developments in quantum science, just as science once did the same thing to people exploring airplane flight, the four-minute mile, and the earth being round. Quantum physics’s connection with the law of attraction gets far more nuanced than I’ve explained here, and we can explore that if you like.”
“It sounds like there is a ‘but…’ implied here.”
“You’re right. I was going to say but…

…We can also approach LOA more from a ‘human psychology’ perspective instead of a physics-based one.

Psychology is less ‘solid’ and ‘law-based’ than physics but the patterns, trends, and conclusions that arise from scientific studies on the ‘Placebo Effect’, ‘Self-Fulfilling Prophecy’, ‘Streisand Effect’, ‘Victim Mentality’, ‘Psychological Reactance’, the ‘Pygmalion Effect’, ‘Perverse Results’ and more point very strongly towards evidence for Law Of Attraction. It’s also easier for many people to grasp. I can cite substantial studies into the power of how visualization helps athletes win contests better than those who refuse to visualize, and most people tend to ‘get it’, so it might be an easier path for you to see the proof of Law Of Attraction you asked for.”
“Hmm, but visualization doesn’t work for everyone, and it’s not totally reproducible, and we don’t know exactly how it works, it’s just a bunch of studies that show correlation, right?”
“Oooh, my daughter tossing around intellectual words like ‘correlation’, bravo.”
“Shush Dad, just because I say ‘like’ and ‘whatever’ sometimes doesn’t mean I don’t have a brain.”
“I wouldn’t dream of saying otherwise, Emma. And you’re right, like I said, psychology’s proof for law of attraction is a bit ‘less science-y’ to some people, or less ‘solid’ than the evidence that can come from physics, since physics deals with the ‘laws’ of nature, the physical world we experience, and the universe, whereas human psychology deals with the ‘black box’ of how people think, which we can’t really test and measure very accurately, at least compared to physics-based stuff. That said, although visualization was seen as ‘new age hype’ for decades, research has shown a strong scientific basis for how and why visualization works.”

“So visualization is one LOA technique that is scientifically proven?”

“Pretty much. It’s now a ‘well-known fact’ that we stimulate the same brain regions when we visualize something and when we actually experience that same thing. There’s an interesting video about Connor McGregor’s visualization techniques on ‘Mastery Blueprint’ on YouTube, and hearing his coach talk about it may interest you. Similar applies to Michael Phelps for winning his numerous gold medals in swimming. The most impressive use of visualization may be done by free-climber Alex Honnold. You could try and tell any of these massively impressive performers in their field that the law of attraction is false and visualization doesn’t work, but you’d just be a voice in their ear, while they have years of masterful performance primed by visualization arguing otherwise.”
Figure 6
“Well then, how come my experience with visualization has sucked? I visualized getting that modeling contract and that audition, and I got nothing.”
“Oh my sweet girl, I know you want the answer to be ‘the science is wrong’, ‘the studies are wrong’, ‘the athletes are wrong’... but that’s just not it. You got no results because your visualization isn’t up to their level. You haven’t practiced it enough. You don’t do it with a wholesome attitude. Your mind is littered with doubt, cynicism, and skepticism.”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s normal to doubt and be skeptical.”

“I know my love, it is normal. But the people you look up to, and the people who succeed are not normal. They’re the opposite of normal, and they do ‘not normal’ things, such as releasing their attachment to doubt, cynicism, and skepticism. They’re open-minded and eager to give things the ‘old college try’, they’re eager to experiment, and if it doesn’t work, they’re eager to experiment again, see if they went wrong somewhere, and blame no one for their failures. They’re not looking to blame others, or blame science, or blame the law of attraction… they’re just applying themselves, practicing, and actively refining their approach til they get results. They don’t sulk, they don’t demand answers from science, they experiment with a healthy attitude, and become their own scientists. They discover subtle quirks of visualization that others don’t know, they even explore contradictory evidence for themselves by reading articles like ‘Throw Away Your Vision Board‘ by Neil Farber M.D, Ph.D, but often rather than discouraging them from visualization, it only makes their visualization practice even better. Can you honestly say you’ve been approaching your visualization with similar ‘not normal’ fervor?”
“Dang. Wow. I mean… I want to say ‘yes,’ but I’m obviously not.”
“Exactly, and the same goes for almost everyone whining about the ineffectiveness of visualization or the invalidity of the law of attraction. They’re usually people with poor attitudes, narrow minds, and ridiculously poor practice habits and personal experimentation.”
“I’m starting to see that, but honestly Dad…

…You sound kind of biased against LOA-haters yourself.”

“Owch. You wound me, Em.” I quipped as I pulled off the main road into a McDonald’s parking lot.
“Well, you have been pretty hard on me and anyone else who’s not a ‘true scientist’ in their approach to life.”
“True, but it’s not because I’m biased against them, I was one of them. I was arrogant, conceited, entitled, skeptical, cynical, bitter, resentful, self-righteous, close-minded, and more. Most cynics are not focused on value, they’re not focused on taking life forward. At least most I’ve encountered aren’t, including younger me.

‘What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.’ - Oscar Wilde

Although my parents were amazing, somehow I’d picked up a pretty terrible mindset for most of my childhood, and I was that way to an extreme degree. It left me homeless, isolated, broke, depressed, and suicidal. And what got me out of that dark pit was putting my assumptions away and adjusting my approach to life. I was still my logical self, and I still had a ‘healthy skepticism’, but my attitude was now much gentler, I spoke less in absolutes, I embraced gray areas, I admitted that math, science, and logic might not know everything, or even a lot, about how to navigate life successfully. I began applying myself to more practical experiments in my own life and trying ‘crazy things’ like ‘giving up’, ‘letting go’, ‘embracing death’ and other things I’d been railing against most of my younger years. I stopped caring about appearances and began caring more about what my gut, instincts, and conscience were guiding me toward. I cared more about choosing my actions out of love, rather than fear.”
“And most doubt, skepticism, and cynicism have roots in fear. Yeah, got it, I see where you’re going with this.”
“Not all, but a lot, yes. And since I’ve been the hyper-logical type for decades, and I’ve been the intuitive spiritual type for decades, I’ve now realized there is merit to both sides, and being at all closed or resistant to either is really just putting oneself at a disadvantage in life. I’m not biased against LOA-haters, I just feel it’s important to emphasize the importance of open-mindedness on either side of the ‘is LOA real’ issue, and discourage any form of dogma, ‘scientific’ or otherwise.”
“Understood, in discussions like this, I can see why you’d harp on about open-minded vs. close-minded, but can we get back to the quantum physics stuff? It was actually pretty interesting.”
“Sure, watch this while I pull into this McDonald’s and, uh, use the facilities.” I texted Emma a link to Dean Radin’s most comprehensive experiment results in his video New Experiments Show Consciousness Affects Matter ~ Dean Radin, PhD.
“Cool, I’ll check it out, do you mind bringing me some chicken nuggies?”
“Of course it's my pleasure, Em,” I said as I exited the car and started towards McDonald’s. "We'll continue our chat when I get back and discuss Einstein, Consciousness, and Parallel Worlds."

CONTINUED IN PART TWO.

The People Under the Stairs is an extremely entertaining movie and a great addition to Wes Craven's filmography.
For one, I love the design of this massive house. Since most of the movie takes place within its walls, the feeling of claustrophobia creep around every corner. Plus, I love how the entire place is booby-trapped and full of hidden escapes and crawl spaces. The whole place is like some demented funhouse! I especially love the basement stairs that transform into a slide.
I also have to give props to Everett McGill and Wendy Robie as the strange couple. These people are absolutely insane. I mean, the father goes around shooting a shotgun in a gimp suit and the mother washes her daughter in scalding hot water. Add on top of that cannibalization and incest to their stats and they aren't folks you wouldn't want be your landlords.
If you've seen it, what do you think of the movie?

Cover Trailer
Chapter 6
Lots of studies have been conducted on liederflies to figure out how they move! Even when there is no wind, the insect flaps its silicon wings! Unless it is resting, the movement of the liederfly is always erratic and chaotic. Many scientists are trying to learn how the liederfly moves! Click here to watch a cool video on what scientists do when they test these critters!
The videos and pictures on this page are here thanks to Morgan Billings who has given us the rights in honor of her late grandfather Hugh BIllings, who ran the Rethis’s Spring Chapter of the Sadalsuud-B Liederfly Society
-KIDZCLUB section of the Sadalsuud-B Liederfly Society Ansible Server
\***
After dinner, Morgan collected what she could find of the liederfly pinning supplies and in the process found herself once again in the lower basement. The screen of the ansible terminal was still off, thank goodness, but after searching through the room for ten minutes she was getting frustrated. This is where her and Papa had stored the supplies. If frames and pins weren’t in the ansible room then there was one place left: Papa’s room.
Morgan stepped out of the ansible room to look down the hallway at the steel door marking the threshold of Papa’s room. She’d rarely been allowed in there when she was younger, and Papa rarely went in her room either. He’d always said a person’s privacy is important. She knew he had a large bed that he used to share with Gran. He had kept is stetson’s on the wall opposite the bed, and knew that there were a couple from movies that were a favorite of his and Gran’s. But that was eight years ago.
There was tension in Morgan’s chest and shoulders as she approached the titanium door. Each step brought her closer to the grief and guilt she had been dealing with the past few months. The only thing she had done today was lie.
He wouldn’t want me in there.
Her eyes welled, and her throat was full of phlegm. The vertigo was back.
Breathe. You can’t change what happened.
She took a few deep breaths, fighting back against the tears. The door in front of her loomed tall over her as the stone of the walls felt as if it was caving in on her.
If it don’t got a solution, then it ain’t a problem worth worrying about.
She recalled Papa’s words he’d often use to calm her down. She couldn’t change the past, and that did not change that she wanted to share liederfly collecting with the twins.
The door slid open to a dark room that smelled of leather and fresh laundry. Agnes had cleaned the sheets since he died, no doubt. It was warm and dry from the day’s heat; someone had forgotten to fog the southern wall. Morgan dragged her hand upwards on the switch to the left, illuminating the room.
The light was set low and yellow, like Papa had always had it. The posters for a couple of Kai Snider samurai flicks still hung behind the bed. A leather jacket hung on the wall to her right. Papa’s worn-in stetsons hung on the wall facing the bed. Several frames of varying sizes full of liederflies were prostrated on the bed. The largest one had all of the specimens they had collected the summer before Morgan had left for Mars, each labeled with location, date, and color with her neat penmanship. On the nightstand there were two books, like always. The first she recognized as an old epic poem Papa had liked to read. Under it was a thin red book, with gold lettering on the spine.
And leaning against the nightstand was what she was actually looking for: an unused frame with the tin box full of pins next to it. Taking care to not disturb anything else in the room she gently lifted the frame and box of pins and outside under the lamplight, a few hundred meters from the hovercars.
The whole family was sitting on the old folding chairs a little more than ten meters away from the equipment. Long cables snaked over and through the dirt from the house to the forge and floodlight. Next to the small electric forge was the steel anvil where a block of graphene foam was resting. In front of the anvil was a small stool where the kevlar gloves, leather apron, and face shield Papa had purchased more than twenty years ago. Putting on the outfit, Morgan couldn’t help but be reminded of the spacesuits she had worn for work. The gloves went nearly to her elbow, the shield dragged her face downwards, and the apron made any fast movement difficult as it banged against her shins. Most of the clothing was looser than she would have preferred, but it was hard to keep body mass when in low-grav and Papa was always a bit larger than her.
Morgan opened a small metal box to grab a few small, thin sheets of weighted kevlar and a pair of titanium forceps. She reached over to the forge with a gloved hand, and pulled a heavy titanium switch that “ignited” the forge. Deep orange light was soon splashing against her as she held the liederfly up with long heat-stained forceps.
“So, a lot like the process of pinning any carbon-based insect, we need to make it loose again. Currently it’s too brittle to mount, and the wings weren’t fully spread-out when it died. It’ll look much better, and I won’t shatter it when putting a pin through it.”
She placed the liederfly into the forge, letting it sit until it was glowing a faint orange. Carefully and slowly she lifted the liederfly out from the forge and set the form onto the anvil.
“Pete, you can cut the floodlight. Y’all can come closer now that the forge is off.”
The floodlight was turned off, leaving only the muted glow of the crystalline insect to illuminate the hill. It was enough to work by.
“Since we take a lot of our processes from carbon-based insect pinning, we actually use weighted kevlar sheets to hold the wings in place.”
Morgan gently contorted the wings to be parallel to the anvil surface. When she was happy with the angle she placed the sheets over the wings to keep them from returning to their original position.
“Now, unlike terran bugs, Silicium simulacrum do not form symmetrically. We’re not really sure what their lifecycle looks like, but xenobiologists tend to accept the hypothesis that they form “fully-grown” because their thorax and abdomen are always uniquely asymmetrical. Kind of like a snowflake”
You can see that this one bends more to the right, and that the abdomen is drooping towards us. What this means for people who collect them, is that pinning them is an art. We try to place a pin where the light pattern will be least disturbed, so at an angle through the upper thorax, a little above the ‘legs’ of the specimen.”
Morgan set the liederfly on the graphene foam, removed her gloves, and grabbed a pin from the box.
“Alright kiddos, this is why you aren’t allowed to do this until you’re older.”
She placed her hand gently upon the kevlar sheet on the left side of the liederfly for balance.
“Because if I mess up I’m going to burn myself something awful.”
In one action Morgan positioned the pin on the thorax and smoothly pushed it through the body and into the graphene foam, just like Papa had taught her.
“And now it just needs to cool down, and I can put it in the frame!” she said, stepping back from her handiwork and tergiating.
The rest of the family got close to admire the mounted insect. Jerome kept the twins from getting too close, as it was still hot, as Agnes looked back and mouthed a “thank you” towards Morgan.
“Looks like they have a favorite now.”
Pete pointed to the twins who were very excited for kids who had walked four miles under the desert sun earlier that day.
Eventually the liederfly cooled enough for it to be moved to the frame and the family to move inside with it. Morgan made a label for the frame, setting it aside in the kitchen for the twins to admire in the morning as Jerome put the girls to bed. The adults stayed up for a few more hours drinking wine with one of Papa’s old films on in the background. Pete told his famous joke about the horse, which despite everyone knowing it ended, they were all too drunk to object to. Jerome was apparently quite the film buff and could name every actor on screen. Agnes told stories from when she and Morgan were younger, and for a second it was like how things used to be. It was around 1 AM when the merriment ended that Morgan realized she had forgotten entirely about CF2 and the potential crisis that awaited her.
Finding the ansible computer downstairs still untouched, she quickly tested it to find that it still had a signal. The AI had been well-behaved. She let out a small sigh of relief, she went to input a few recently-recorded storms into CF2’s data-set, hoping in-vain that it might fix things.
[CF2]: Ello’ Gu’vner! :] :] :] ;] Three new storms me-sees! ;] Yarrrrrr! One nearest to the city of Xian Hua, 4 degrees south :] :] :] and another one too! FUN :] :] :] :]
[Morgan]: You don’t need to tell me what I just gave you.
[CF2]: Okay :[ :[ :[ I stayed put mostly today it wasn’t very fun so now I am trying to have funnnnnnnnn ;] ;] ;]
“Ugh, why?”
[Morgan]: Can you run analysis on these really fast? Hoping it changes something.
[CF2]: Okay, slightly slower on this computer, but a lot more fun ;]
Morgan stared idly at the liederfly migration map. There was a pin just slightly south of Xian Hua. She and Papa had stayed up late when she was younger to map an entire year of migrations and sitting-patterns. There was another pin on the lakebed south of Rethis’s spring, marked a few weeks later. An entire flock of liederflies had sat on the lakebed for hours, unmoving. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
[CF2]: Ding! All done ;] I have good news and bad news :] :’[ Bad news is no change :[ Good news is new storm detected :] :] :] :]!!!!
[Morgan]: Where?
[CF2]: Seventy Degrees South, 32 degrees west. In the mountains. Reported by Ranger Esther Abu-Lughod.
The name was familiar to Morgan. She looked on the map, and sure enough the map showed Ranger Abu-Lughod had reported a mass-migration of liederflies twenty years ago near those coordinates. The pictures she had sent to the liederfly society were breathtaking, like kaleidoscopes of ice and light.
[CF2]: Where were you today? Relaxed? You did not talk at all today :[ :[ :[ :[ :[
Well I’m already deep in it. Anything to get it to cooperate with me.
[Morgan]: Out in the desert with my little cousins. They found a liederfly corpse, and I ended up mounting it for them.
[CF2]: You really like liederflies :] :] :] :] and this old man
Several photos of Morgan and Papa were displayed on the screen. CF2 had somehow figured out how to put them in full color, despite it being a two color display
[Morgan]: How did you get the pictures in color?!
HOW?!
[CF2]: Secretssssssss :] :] :] ;] :] I was REALLLLLYYYY BORED.
[Morgan]: That old man is my Grandpa who raised me. He died a couple months back. That’s why I have a house now. He really liked liederflies too
[Morgan]: Does that new data change any results.
[CF2]: Nope! :[ :[ :[ :[ :[ :[ Sorry about the house :’[ :’[ :’[
It was hopeful thinking on her part. Perhaps these storms were truly random. It was all dumb luck. She ran her eyes over the map, remembering the ansible conversations with the other members of the liederfly society as they all coordinated to track the large colony of insects. It was what had gotten her into science. She wanted to know why the liederfly moved, and if there was any pattern to it. The answer to that, of course, was “randomly.”
[CF2]: More data? :] :] :]
[Morgan]: Give me a sec.
Morgan stood up to stretch. It was almost two thirty AM now, and it felt like she was making no progress on this AI getting anywhere. If she asked too soon it wouldn’t leave and if she asked too late it wouldn’t matter. That’s what she remembered from the article she read a few years back, at least. But at this rate it looked like ansible for the Fortuna system would be going down, her job would be gone, and she’d probably be in prison in a few days or weeks. CARP did not take kindly to those who violated their policies, and she’d already broken most of them. Or rather, the twins did, and now she had to deal with the consequences.
I’ve got to find something convincing to use.
Morgan went to the bookshelf upstairs to see if there was anything she could use. Maybe there was an old textbook on Xenometeorology on that bookshelf. However, a quick look revealed only really old fiction books.
Not here. Maybe Agnes put them in Papa’s room.
Papa’s room was still the same. Just liederfly equipment, and the two books on the nightstand. Maybe they were somewhere else, but she wasn’t about to dig through the house at two AM.
Maybe I’ll finally read the poem he was reading all of the time.
She walked up to the two books on the nightstand, and picked up the aged and dry paperback of John Brown’s Body. A corner of the front cover was missing, and the preface section was practically falling out of the book. She set it back down to avoid damaging the heirloom.
Finding nothing of use, she went back to the ansible terminal one last time. She glanced over to the migration map to her left.
It’s about gaining its cooperation. At least this is data it would think I would want to run.
[Morgan]: CF2, I’ve attached the password to the Sadalsuud Liederfly Society Ansible Server. There’s a folder labeled “2231-2241 data” in there, and I want you to take a look at that and let me know what you think.
[CF2]: Okay :] :] :] Will take long to run, looking at size. :[ :[ :[
[Morgan]: I’ll check in tomorrow evening, with some more stuff for you. It’s late, and I need to sleep.
She’d have to see if the old books were still there anyways.

Cover Trailer Start Here Next ChapterAuthor's note: I'm ahead, so I decided I could post today. Next post will be Sunday.
Chapter 5
“What has surprised me the most about the discovery is how quickly we formed a reliance on my discovery. In about a decade the colonizing efforts of humanity relied so heavily on my invention that I dare say they would have been virtually impossible if it at any-point failed. The technology has become so ubiquitous I cannot dare to think of any part of our lives that does not involve the ansible array in some capacity. Television, movies, radio, and even live music production all rely on networks of ansible super computers for data transmission. I am truly grateful for the honors I have been given due to my quasi-juvenile obsession with faster-than-light communication, but I hope in time that my “obscure” work will receive the attention I believe it is deserving of. Indubitably it was because of my original contributions to chaos theory and closed systems that I first hypothesized ansible and through Tennyson’s work hyperspace-tunnels were actualized. That work, however, is not even my most important. I believe the true reason I was put in this universe was to inspire children to study science. Much like Albert Einstein and his famous tongue, my face appears in every science class from Earth, to Mars, to the Fortuna system, and beyond. Children everywhere know ansible bears my name, and not the other way around. It is because of me that the next generation will understand the import of scientific pontification and we will reach a renaissance of new heights. It is for this honor that I am truly grateful.”
-Preface, x-xi, from “No Accidents: The Autobiography of Terence Richard Ansible”
***
Doctor Billings was flinging herself through the titanium halls of Skyhook-C hundreds of miles above Sadalsuud-B. She navigated windowless room after windowless room that formed the inner-maze of the rotating superstructure. Most vets of the skyhook had their own method of remembering where they were and how to get places. A greenhorn was easy to spot, since they relied on the signs and stayed to the windowed edges. Doctor Billings had made a point since her arrival to never use the edges, she did not want her placement here questioned. Director Taruskin had been on her advising committee and had also been the one to offer her a job directly out of school.
She floated under the harsh-white LED’s in front of the circular door to the meteorology labs. Several strands of her hair had become undone in the low-grav acrobatics, which she quickly tucked back into the bun. As the youngest of the Senior Scientific Officers in the lab she could not show carelessness in front of her team.
The hydraulic iris door opened to the low-grav lab. Doctor Ghelski was already at his desk, managing the AI. Rhagavan was out of the system. None of Billings’s team was present either. Jess was out sick with the flu, Richard had taken his sabbatical to Earth and wouldn’t be back for six months. Yitian was working on getting his CARP-cert, and had to be on-surface for training. Petra, the only other person with a *CARP-*cert besides, had taken a “night” shift to monitor the AI for Ghelski, so she was sleeping. It was looking to be a quiet day.
“Doctor Ghelski, any good news?”
Billings was holding onto a handle in front of Ghelski’s desk, leaning in to peek at his screen. SC-C7-CF2 had been flagged again.
“CF2 again?”
“Yeah. It’s very...expressive.”
“I’m cursed.”
Billings rubbed her temples
“Yup. CARP is not going to like this.”
Ghelski spun in his chair and flung himself towards the coffee machine.
“Not my fault my team was given a defective positronic unit. Had to have been bumped in h-space or dropped during manufacture.”
“I’ll vouch for you. In the meantime, just use it. I don’t see it getting past anything I’ve set up. I made sure the ansible carts were all up to certs and extra.”
“Thanks. Even if it’s a huge pain, on the bright side it’s pretty cute. I just wish it had less...whimsy.”
“CF2 does what CF2 wants, that’s for sure. Anyways, you might want to go monitor things. Need to work on Yitian’s clearances, and process the newbie from Rook’s team.”
Ghelski pointed towards the end of the room, where a man only a few years younger than Billings was talking with Doctor Rook and his team.
“He’s straight out of MAIT. Abram King, ring a bell at all?”
“No, I think he was after my time.”
Ghelski did a polite nod, excusing himself back to his monitors.
Doctor Billings began by the day by checking her ansible messages. It was mostly just book-keeping. There were a few confirmed storms in the past week, which had probably already been added to the data-set (she’d check later). The liederfly society had sent out its yearly donation message, to which she had already responded to with a 500 credit donation in her Grandfather’s name. Most of the other messages were updates about the situation on Gogol-73. So far, there were no survivors, and ansible networks in the area were still shot since everything had been frozen solid. And because of that, CARP had been practically breathing on their neck since February. CF2’s abnormalities would have gotten a slap on the wrist a few years ago. However with the new info coming in it could mean an investigation of the entire lab and an early termination of the project.
[CF2]: GOOOOD MOORNNINNNNGG :] :] :] :] :]
[MBillings]: Hello CF2. Anything change with the new data?
[CF2]: No :[ :[ :[ :[
And yet, despite the risk, the over-enthusiastic AI was Doctor Billings’s favorite. She couldn’t help but try to keep it involved in the project no matter how many times it needed to be wiped.
[MBillings]: You’ve checked with the other AI too? Yes?
[CF2]: Yes :[ :[ :[ :[ data not work :[ :[ :[ :[ :[
[MBillings]: We’re figuring out other things to try out. The other studies clearly showed a correlation. Sadalsuud must exist within a system, and if there’s a system then the weather must abide by chaos theory and must always be the result of contingent conditions within that system.
[CF2]: What if it’s not part of a system? ;] ;] ;]
[MBillings]: That’s impossible, even though we’ve done pretty much anything we can think of.
The two had been having similar conversations every morning for the past month. CF2 would insist they were missing something, the team would find something new, and then rinse and repeat. The two continued on as normal for the next hour as Doctor Billings double-checked to make sure there was no corruption in the data taken in the past twelve hours, and some of the data was blank.
“Ghelski, is the data from array three blank when you look at it too?”
Doctor Ghelski sipped his coffee while he looked to the screen on his right.
“Yeah.Going to see if I can reboot it from here...Nope! Someone’s gotta go out and check it. New guy?”
“On his first day?! Does he even have a suit yet? He probably needs to get sized up for one. I can go, everyone on my team is out anyway.”
“Don’t you have Grant Proposal 34B to work on?” Ghelski asked
“Mars lab already applied and Jablonski is somehow on the committee, so no point in doing that.”
“Hate that guy. He studied with Ansible, yeah?”
“How else do you think he got the Mars job forty years ago? Not by being nice, that’s for sure. For the record he was a crap teacher and you can keep that on the record for the CARP folks.”
“Ha! I’ll be sure to let them know. Anyways, I pinged the crew at Fifty-Five-, they should have your suit ready for you.”
“Thanks. Low and hull-side, right?”
“Should be.”
“Thanks Nikolai.”
[MBillings]: I’ll be back later CF2. Let NGhelski know if your analysis changes.
[CF2]: YYYESSSSSSSSS ;] :] :] :]
Billings navigated back through the maze towards the “D” mag-lift for the hour-long ride towards the airlock. The cylindrical “car” had 12 seats and 2 long panels of clear composite, allowing the passengers to look down upon the planet on their descent. Whenever she went on the maglift she tried to see if she could identify which city the skyhook was over, and today she was in-luck, since they were on the dark side of the planet. The lights of a city in the north were visible, so they were “close” to Jewel, several hours north of her hometown. The skyhook occasionally flew over Rethis’s Spring, but if they were above it today she could not tell.
“Level. Fifty-Five. D.” The computer-generated spoke, in its unnatural and patchwork cadence.
The mag-lift jerked to a stop, the hydraulic airlock whirred and compressed, the door to the “car” opened and Doctor Billings floated down the hallway towards airlock fifty-five D. The techs were already inside the door to help her with the bulk outfit. The suit itself was standard, each feature and portion paired with a blue light to indicate its functioning status. The sleeves and legs had to be attached after the personal life-support unit that included heating, cooling, and rehydration. Full-piece suits had become less popular than modular ones since it was cheaper and easier to manufacture and repair individual components rather than the whole piece. Different limbs could be given different features, and the right arm of this suit had a welder and soldering iron for doing temporary repairs until new equipment could be shipped in.
One by one, the limbs locked with a click and mechanical compression into the chest unit of the suit. All lights were on, and the functionality of the suit was double-checked with a quick reboot. The tube on the back of the suit was plugged into the life support system of the superstructure/ The rest of the crew cleared out from the airlock, leaving Doctor Billings alone.
“Hello Doctor Billings. I am Officer Ballake Diabete and I will be your mission control today. Please approach the outside door. Over” The ansible communicator cracked at her.
She awkwardly jumped toward the door, catching herself on a ceiling rail. The door opened, revealing pinpricks of light that made up the dark side of Sadalsuud-B.
“The sensor is a couple hundred meters hook-direction, there are railings and I set a lightpath to guide you. Over”
“Understood, heading downwards. Over.”
She slowly navigated the faintly-lit rails of the dark structure, the planet looming in the background. The star of the system was obscured by the sheer enormity of the skyhook, which gave her a sense of vertigo. She rarely thought about how massive the skyhook was. She rested for a few minutes to shake off the dizziness.
“Officer Diabete, how far out am I? Over.”
“A hundred or so meters. It’s practically on the corner between side D and side B. Marked Station-1077, next to the mag-lift. Over.”
She clicked on her helm-light and looked to her portside. The sensor was labeled ML-2261-S52 in white paint on the “ground” next to it
Better get to work.
She took the mag-lock off one of the panels, and stored the panel on a thin sheet of magnet on her left hand. She positioned her helm-light to get a better look into the wiring.
“Officer Diabete, can you try to power on ML-2261-S52? I want to see if it’s taking any power. Over.”
No response.
“Officer Diabete, are you there? Over.”
“Yes I am here. I’m experiencing some interference. What did you want? Over.”
“Power on ML-2261-S52. Over.”
“It looks like it’s turning on. Whatever you’re looking for is probably small. Over.”
This was going to take a while.
She carefully peered at the bundles of wires, hoping to find some sort of tear, rip, or degradation.
“Officer Diabete, can you try to power up the radio-wave sensor? Over.”
No response.
Someone probably just entered the system. Might be a few minutes.
She looked upwards to Sadalsuud-B. The lights had gotten brighter in the past few minutes, and almost seemed to be moving.
“Officer Diabete, are you there? Over.”
Ansible was still out, so she waited a few more minutes watching the lights over Sadalsuud-B inch closer. Eventually, the first liederfly passed by.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to be up this high?”
More and more liederflies began to float past her, emanating their white-gold glow onto the skyhook. She would have appreciated it more if it weren’t for the task at hand.
“Officer Diabete, if the ansible is still down regs say I have to head back. Over.”
Then, for a brief moment, she felt the skyhook shake as the mag-lift shot upwards past her, and the back of her suit pulled her with it. She was flung at an extreme speed off of the skyhook. Her entire body was in pain from the whiplash as she saw herself float away from the superstructure. She could see the tangled mess of the air-hose behind her, and where it had snapped was whipping around still. She was leaking air.
She pulled off the tube, trying to conserve her suit’s air supply by forcing the suit into emergency mode. It worked. She had solved one problem.
But now the scientist hung over the atmosphere of the dark planet with thirty minutes of air left.
“This is an emergency. I’m untethered and off-structure. Over.”
And ansible was down.
“Shit.”

Cover Art Trailer Next Chapter Start Here
Chapter 2
Taruskin, R., et al., “On the Correlation of Solar Activity and the Tropospheric Phenomena of Sadalsuud-B” in Non-Terran Meteorology. Vol 2. (Spring 2261): 420-489
Abstract
In light of promising studies of erratic weather patterns and correlation to solar activity on the ice-moon of Scranton (Horris, M. et al.) and similar methodology employed in a study of World-550 (Lowitt, R. et al.), a similar study of solar activity was carried out. A modified Class-7 Artificial Intelligence was trained one hundred times on the same dataset in order to predict the likelihood of violent tropospheric activity. The data the AI were trained on included air pressure from research stations encompassing the totality of the planet, location and frequency of radiation bursts contacting the planet’s exosphere, global and local cloud formations, global and local temperature, and other measurements as described in Horris et al. and detailed later here. All data was collected over a period of six years. The Class-7 Intelligences were then tested against one another and a control group of one hundred untrained Class-7. When comparing the accuracy of prediction between the two groups, the predictions of the trained intelligences were less accurate than the untrained Class-7 intelligences. Predictive accuracy of both groups showed no improvement on random predictive models. Current findings suggest no correlation between solar activity and the erratic weather patterns of Sadalsuud-B.
***
Home was cleaner than she last saw it. As her eyes adjusted to the light coming in from behind her, and what little came from the kitchen off to the left, it almost seemed sterile. The pillows on the aging couch had been fluffed. The books, normally truant, were placed on their shelves. The media wall didn’t have it’s usual grime from the dust that Morgan and Papa used to drag in; in fact it smelled faintly of cleaner. The kids were trying to pull something on the media wall as Morgan walked by.
“Aunt Morgan! Do you know the password for the media wall?” Emma asked.
Morgan thought for a moment, trying to remember what Grandpa had set it to.
“Sorry, not at the moment”
Both kids let out an “awww”, and ran off to the kitchen with their father, who had begun to fill a pot full of water.
Morgan made the glidebag follow her as she headed past the kitchen and to the stairs. She could hear Agnes behind her lecturing the twins.
“Just because someone else logs you in does not mean you’re allowed to see movies meant for adults!”
The twins just giggled as she walked down the stairs. The stairs down to the first basement were cramped and carved out of the red stone of the cliffside. On her left were several pictures featuring her and Papa. The first one was from a visit shortly before her parents passed away taken at a tourist attraction in Jewel. It was apparently a replica of a giant silver bean, somewhere on Earth. Papa had his hat by his side, while her Mom and Dad were both carrying Morgan as she leaned sideways, pretending to fly. The next was a family portrait from Papa’s seventieth birthday, him and Morgan were standing towards the center. Last, a picture from Morgan’s from secondary school graduation. Papa was standing next to her holding a sign that read “Mars or Bust” with the widest grin she had ever seen him have.
She stepped off the staircase down onto the hallway of the upper basement. To the left was what used to be her bedroom, which had since been converted into a guest room. Morgan remembered Papa telling her about the conversion over ansible a few years ago, but was still caught off-guard by home empty the room felt.
Not about to sleep in his room.
She motioned her glidebag up to the bed, set her duffle on the carpet, and walked over to the composite window which had been set to fog over. She gave the window two pronounced taps, causing sunlight to pour into the room as she looked over the valley. The skyhook had finally passed over the horizon, leaving a cloudless sky above the dried lake and the town of Rethis’s Spring behind.
Turning back to her bags, Morgan began to unpack what she could bring with her from the Skyhook: a week of clothing, a few recent books on non-terran meteorology, and an ansible chip that connected back to the Skyhook C meteorology labs. She admired the transparent plastic of the cartridge, containing the necessary clearances to connect to the classified servers from the surface. The chip occasionally pulsed a gentle blue, indicating it had not been tampered with or damaged in the descent from the station. Morgan gingerly set the cartridge down inside the sole dresser in the room, and walked back upstairs.
I’ll plug that in to the terminal later, long day. I’m technically on vacation anyways.
Upstairs was filled with the clamor of the media wall and conversation which drifted in from the kitchen as Pete, Agnes, and Jerome were quickly preparing chili for dinner later in the day.
“...yeah it’s at my house right now. I figured I’d bring it over for the celebration- giv’er some time to think about what to do with it, if anything.” Morgan heard Uncle Jerome’s voice punctuated by the thuck-thuck of chopping.
“Looks like we’ve got thirty seven RSVP’s from the family, and about twenty from Rethis.” Agnes said as Morgan walked into the kitchen, the din of the media wall following closely behind.
“We’ve got catering for that, yeah Ag?”
“Yeah, Julio offered to do it for free, said he hadn’t cooked in a while- Hey Morgan, you all unpacked? We’re just talking arrangements about the-”
The volume of the wall flared with the ringing of an old boxing bell and a yelp from one of the characters.
“Hey! Remember what we said about volume!” Agnes yelled towards the doorway into the living room. The din disappeared.
“Sorry about that!”
“No really it’s fine. They’re kids. How did they find the password for it?”
“I found an old ansible message from Uncle Hugh... from the last time we were here. I’ll forward it to you the next time I’m downstairs.”
Jerome laughed at a joke Pete was telling as they began throwing chuck into the pot for the chili.
Agnes gestured for Morgan to sit at the small wooden table, imported from Earth. It had been dinged up a bit when it arrived, but Papa told Morgan he preferred it that way because it fit the house.
“As I was saying, we were just talking about the arrangements for the celebration of Uncle Hugh’s life. Julio offered to cook for free because he was missing cooking after he sold the diner. ‘Was talking about doing one of those big pig roasts like he did at Hugh’s seventieth.”
“For free? You sure?”
“Yeah, said he and Uncle Hugh were good friends.”
Morgan put on a slight smile remembering the times her and Papa would sit in Julio’s diner at the end of a school day.
“That sounds delicious! Who else is showing up? What else is planned? I haven’t had the time to read the messages all that closely, as you know”
Agnes replied a little too succinctly.
“Ahmed and Shawna from the liederfly society, Julio who I already mentioned, Jesse Abargil from your flight-he did deliveries for Hugh these past few years cause you couldn’t-, couple regulars from Julio’s and some neighbors.”
“I haven’t seen Ahmed and Shawna in a while, that’s nice that they’re showing up. Papa mentioned them a lot when we had the chance to talk over ansible, I know he went to the society mee-
The din from the living room had picked up again.
“Volume!” Agnes shouted through the doorway once more.
“He really liked to go to the society meetings, so I’d imagine he’d be pretty happy to know they were coming. So what else is planned?
“Well, we were hoping you’d want to give a speech. We know that things have been… hard for you these past few months with that hospitalization and everything. But, you were practically his daughter.”
“I’m planning on it. I don’t really know what to say right now. But ‘ve got a few days, and I’m feeling much better now than I was a couple months ago when I got the message. Thanks for handling things for me-” Morgan leaned off the table and spoke towards Uncle Pete.
“-and you too Pete! Anyways Agnes: It’s a little bit of a tight deadline, but I don’t think I’d want anyone else giving the speech, y’know?”
“Oh of course I know! Thank goodness you still can… ‘specially cause I hadn’t asked anyone else.” Agnes leaned over and placed her hand on Morgan’s shoulder and spoke a bit quieter.
“And if you need any help while we’re still in town, we’ll be right there. It doesn’t matter if it’s groceries, celebration stuff, writing that speech, or something small. We’re all really just happy you’re finally home.”
“Thanks Agnes. I’m not sure how long I’ll be in town, but I will definitely take you up on that.”
Pete turned towards the two of them, sweatier than usual from cooking over the stove.
“Hey Ag, can you take over for me? I should show Morg the rest of the place, make sure she knows how I’ve moved things ‘round, figured I’d take the kids with me too. Sound good to you Morg?”
“Sure.”
Pete and Morgan rounded up Emma and Molly with some protest, and went on a long walk around the property that took up most of the afternoon. The shed to the Northeast was run down and rusting, except for one of the cheap metal panels that had to be replaced due to a storm a few years back. Morgan remembered Papa mentioning that. The goats had been mostly sold off, a few remained, including Tina who was Papa’s favorite, to remove some of the poisonous weeds that occasionally sprouted during the wet season. Now that she thought about it, didn’t he cut down on the goats before I left?
The water hole was brown and dirty, as per-usual. The filtration system of the home was good enough that any source of water was fine, so Papa never bothered much with trying to clean up the hole besides putting an overhang next to it for shade for when Morgan went swimming. The fence was old too, the wire had not been electrified in years since the more wiley goats were no longer there. The goat pen had been completely re-done, and moved further South to keep it away from the water hole. Eventually, they made it back to the house with the exhausted kids in-tow, just in-time for dinner.
The chili was a simple one, made with black beans, onions, spices, and a little bit of something else that Morgan could not quite place as the rest of the family sat around the cramped table to eat. Morgan was practically touching elbows with Pete and Jerome, while the table was almost too high for the twins to sit at. The topic of conversation jumped around from Pete’s retirement, to Agnes and Jerome’s new house in Jewel, and finally to Morgan’s job and life on Skyhook C.
“Aunt Morgan is a scientist on the skyhook, isn’t that cool?” Agnes pushed the twins into the conversation.
“Yeah, that’s pretty cool” said Molly who had just gotten chili all over the side of her face.
“What do you do up there? Do you do a lot of math? I don’t like math, it’s not very fun.”
“I’m a meteorologist, so I study the weather. It requires more than a little bit of math, but it’s fun.”
“Oh! So you predict the weather like a weatherperson or something? Can you tell if it’s going to snow?!”
Morgan laughed a little bit at the enthusiasm about the snow, seeing Emma’s face light up a little as well.
“Well, not exactly. I can’t predict the weather, but I can tell you if it’s likely to snow or sunny if I have a lot of information about other parts of the weather.”
“Oh wow, that’s so cool! Do you know about the hurricanes? Do you know if one is going to happen tonight?!” Molly’s face had completely lit up, and she was still completely ignoring the chili on her face.
Uncle Pete started to shake the table.
“It looks like one’s happening right now! Woah! Hold on!”
The kids laughed and held onto the table until Jerome calmly grabbed Pete’s arm to ask him to stop.
“Y’know, I remember when you were in college and saying something similar about the weather. I never understood why we can’t predict these dang storms, y’all seem to have a lot of data... data? on them. You’re working on that right now, if I remember. It’s why you’re up in the skyhook yeah? Make any progress on that lately?”
No. Just more dead ends.
Morgan pressed her fingers to her temples and replied.
“No, we were doing a long-term study that we thought was going to be fruitful. It did tell us something, mostly that we were wrong in our hypothesis. We’re not really sure how to predict these things more accurately, and we’ve collected every variable that we can think of.”
“Everything you could think of? Sure you didn’t miss something?”
“Yes.” Morgan was visibly irritated.
I am an expert in the meteorology of Sadalsuud-B. I helped run the study, and I helped write the paper. I would know.
The dinner lulled for a while. Eventually the adults did the dishes together, and the children were sent to bed. Morgan took the opportunity to head down early to check on the ansible rig in the basement. She probably had messages to reply to.
In the upper basement she quickly dropped by the guest room and grabbed the glowing ansible cartridge she would need if she was going to check on anything. She then turned to the staircase, and went further downwards into the cliff, towards the lower basement floor. About halfway down the stairs, which were poorly lit and lacked the photographs of the early flight, Morgan began to feel her breath get shallow. The vertigo and tension from the hoverskipper returned as she walked towards the closed door of Papa’s office. The world stretched around her as she held the rail to the side of the staircase and leaned against the stone-cut wall for balance.
Breathe.
Slowly, she found her way to the door and pushed it open. The leather couch, the lamp, and a pinboard were all barely illuminated by the ansible cartridge she held within her hands. She had to be careful with it. If the cartridge was damaged connecting to the AI aboard the Skyhook could present a hazard to the ansible infrastructure of Sadalsuud-B and possibly the entire Sadalsuud Sector. She walked across the room, past the terminal, and turned on the lamp. Articles and maps related to the Sadalsuud Liederfly Society littered the large pinboard which took up most of the back wall. The largest map was one that Morgan and Papa had plotted; it contained every recorded migration of liederflies for the year 2240 to 2241. It was a mess, and practically illegible to anyone who wasn’t Morgan, with at least five different colours of pens. She brushed the map with her hand, getting rid of some of the dust, still trying to fight the vertigo from earlier.
Let’s sit down and go on ansible. You’ve already grieved, you don’t need to do it again.
She carefully slotted the glowing blue cartridge into the ansible terminal, waiting for a connection to be made with the skyhook.
Connecting…access granted. Welcome back MBillings. You have 2021 unread messages.
Morgan navigated away from the home page, and towards the AI servers. She had to check in on them to see if any correlations had been found in the data. Despite having already published, against Morgan’s wishes, she was still hoping for a miracle. She opened up the chat log for her favorite AI, SC-C7-CF2.
[CF2]: Hello Doctor Billings [:
[MBillings]: Hello CF2, and progress today?
[CF2]: No no no...NOPE! :[ :[ :[ :[
[MBillings]: But there needs to be some sort of correlation? Storms cannot be “random”
[CF2]: No correlation there. Nope. :[ But I did find a correlation between your stress levels and how much you talked to me. You are 300% more likely to talk to me when you are stressed. You haven’t talked to me lately. You have not been stressed, which is great! Yay! :]
Not exactly.
Morgan thought about what to type. It was dangerous for her to tell the AI too much about her personal life. CF2 messaged again.
[CF2]: If these storms conform to Terran meteorology and in some way have contingencies...I don’t have all of the data which is WHOOPSIES :[ :[ :[ :[ :[
[CF2]: Are you sure you thought of everything?
Morgan unplugged the ansible terminal, and slammed the desk. Her eyes welled up.
“Yes, I thought of everything!”
She fell asleep in the cramped ansible den with the lamp still casting over her well into the morning.

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http://example.pf
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http://example.pg
http://example.ph
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http://example.philips
http://example.photo
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http://example.pics
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http://example.pictures
http://example.pid
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http://example.pioneer
http://example.pizza
http://example.pk
http://example.pl
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http://example.play
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http://example.sucks
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http://example.supply
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http://example.surgery
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http://example.sx
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http://example.systems
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http://example.target
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http://example.tatar
http://example.tattoo
http://example.tax
http://example.taxi
http://example.tc
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http://example.td
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http://example.team
http://example.tech
http://example.technology
http://example.tel
http://example.telecity
http://example.telefonica
http://example.temasek
http://example.tennis
http://example.teva
http://example.tf
http://example.tg
http://example.th
http://example.thd
http://example.theater
http://example.theatre
http://example.tiaa
http://example.tickets
http://example.tienda
http://example.tiffany
http://example.tips
http://example.tires
http://example.tirol
http://example.tj
http://example.tjmaxx
http://example.tjx
http://example.tk
http://example.tkmaxx
http://example.tl
http://example.tm
http://example.tmall
http://example.tn
http://example.to
http://example.today
http://example.tokyo
http://example.tools
http://example.top
http://example.toray
http://example.toshiba
http://example.total
http://example.tours
http://example.town
http://example.toyota
http://example.toys
http://example.tr
http://example.trade
http://example.trading
http://example.training
http://example.travel
http://example.travelchannel
http://example.travelers
http://example.travelersinsurance
http://example.trust
http://example.trv
http://example.tt
http://example.tube
http://example.tui
http://example.tunes
http://example.tushu
http://example.tv
http://example.tvs
http://example.tw
http://example.tz
http://example.ua
http://example.ubank
http://example.ubs
http://example.uconnect
http://example.ug
http://example.uk
http://example.unicom
http://example.university
http://example.uno
http://example.uol
http://example.ups
http://example.us
http://example.uy
http://example.uz
http://example.va
http://example.vacations
http://example.vana
http://example.vanguard
http://example.vc
http://example.ve
http://example.vegas
http://example.ventures
http://example.verisign
http://example.versicherung
http://example.vet
http://example.vg
http://example.vi
http://example.viajes
http://example.video
http://example.vig
http://example.viking
http://example.villas
http://example.vin
http://example.vip
http://example.virgin
http://example.visa
http://example.vision
http://example.vista
http://example.vistaprint
http://example.viva
http://example.vivo
http://example.vlaanderen
http://example.vn
http://example.vodka
http://example.volkswagen
http://example.vote
http://example.voting
http://example.voto
http://example.voyage
http://example.vu
http://example.vuelos
http://example.wales
http://example.walmart
http://example.walter
http://example.wang
http://example.wanggou
http://example.warman
http://example.watch
http://example.watches
http://example.weather
http://example.weatherchannel
http://example.webcam
http://example.weber
http://example.website
http://example.wed
http://example.wedding
http://example.weibo
http://example.weir
http://example.wf
http://example.whoswho
http://example.wien
http://example.wiki
http://example.williamhill
http://example.win
http://example.windows
http://example.wine
http://example.winners
http://example.wme
http://example.wolterskluwer
http://example.woodside
http://example.work
http://example.works
http://example.world
http://example.wow
http://example.ws
http://example.wtc
http://example.wtf
http://example.xbox
http://example.xerox
http://example.xfinity
http://example.xihuan
http://example.xin
http://example.xn--11b4c3d
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http://example.yahoo
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http://example.ye
http://example.yodobashi
http://example.yoga
http://example.yokohama
http://example.you
http://example.youtube
http://example.yt
http://example.yun
http://example.za
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http://example.zara
http://example.zero
http://example.zip
http://example.zippo
http://example.zm
http://example.zone
http://example.zuerich
http://example.zw

I spent some time finding out what snowboard movies are online for free and ended up finding way more than I expected so I compiled a list. Some technically aren't free since they require a streaming service.
I organized them by year, but maybe some people would have preferred it organized by production company? Or type (park, big mountain, etc.)? Oh well, your loss. I also probably messed up a few of the years. I tried to link directly to the production company’s accounts whenever possible.
If this is a waste of time or been done before then just downvote it and make it disappear. If you like it then let me know. But most importantly, tell me of any that I missed and I'll add them.
Burton – Chill (1989) - https://youtu.be/DfvI-Q6KUe8
Mack Dawg – Pocahontas (1991) - https://youtu.be/L8nrP438kW0
Mack Dawg – Upping the Ante (1993) - https://youtu.be/JxYgZXIHIr0
Mack Dawg – Meltdown Project (1995) - https://youtu.be/0rxs8dF9fvg
Mack Dawg – Stomping Grounds (1996) - https://youtu.be/COiyjDHVvk8
Mack Dawg – Decade (1998) - https://youtu.be/wkdgoeHXr1g
Mack Dawg - Technical Difficulties (1999) - https://youtu.be/EKdqvO8Dm2A
Momentum (1999) - https://youtu.be/H03gXVU4S_E
Mack Dawg – The Resistance (2000) - https://youtu.be/0VdGLc7ZBXU
Mack Dawg – Pulse (2002) - https://youtu.be/lqcn-sq4Ls8
Mack Dawg – True Life (2002) - https://youtu.be/buQkOFWsl4s
Robot Food – Afterbang (2002) - https://vimeo.com/12949172
Wildcats – Nine Lives (2002) - https://vimeo.com/21469842
Robot Food – Lame (2003) - https://youtu.be/9_PrB0glNEs
Kingpin Productions – Back in Black (2003) - https://youtu.be/OfSFBCGRdx4
Neoproto (2003) - https://vimeo.com/1816105
Whiteout Films – Positron (2004) - https://youtu.be/ydGpeGmABcc
Mack Dawg – Chulksmack (2004) - https://youtu.be/69RHyzSHKVs
Robot Food – After Lame (2004) - https://youtu.be/Ej4A9rIFmS8
DC – Mountain Lab (2005) - https://vimeo.com/21034945
Burton – Guy in the Sky (2006) - https://vimeo.com/27867894
Forum – That (2006) - https://youtu.be/TXNNToMP4Pw
Mack Dawg – Follow Me Around (2006) - https://youtu.be/UHyvZekvouM
Gudd One Productions – No Air No Grab (2007) - https://vimeo.com/14406036
Mack Dawg – Picture This (2007) - https://youtu.be/ZU7-cYfXu1U
Forum or Against Em (2008) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRAT6jiihkw
Red Bull – That’s It, That’s All (2008) - https://www.redbull.com/us-en/films/thats-it-thats-all-film
GBP – Rutland (2009) - https://vimeo.com/68196147
Sandbox – Shine On (2009) - https://vimeo.com/16845064
Think Thank - Right Brain Left Brain (2010) - https://youtu.be/Y9sPsR9vqzE
Forum – Vacation (2011) - https://youtu.be/r_2xXDDxATI
GBP – Gremlinz (2011) - https://vimeo.com/63719712
Red Bull – The Art of Flight (2011) - https://www.redbull.com/int-en/films/the-art-of-flight
BozWreck – 3000 (2012) - https://youtu.be/3n82liQlntc
Forum – #FORUM (2012) - https://www.zapiks.com/forum-full-movie.html
Jeremy Jones - Deeper (2012) - Amazon Video
Shredbots – Horgasm (2012) - https://youtu.be/U6lpBi39N78
Transworld Snowboarding – Nation (2013) - - Amazon Video
Nike – Never Not (part 1) (2013) - https://www.redbull.com/us-en/nike-never-not-part-1
Nike – Never Not (part 2) (2013) – https://vimeo.com/116084912
YES Snowboards (2013) - https://vimeo.com/73787559
Ice Coast Kills Shit – Knuckleheads (2014) - https://vimeo.com/114133236
Volcom – True to This (2014) - - Amazon Video
White Lines – Deeper than Snow (2014) - - Amazon Video
Lobster Snowboards – NoToBo (2014) - https://vimeo.com/114079171
Jeremy Jones – Higher (2014) - Amazon Video
Capita – Defenders of Awesome (2014) - https://youtu.be/wemm7VVut8g
Mark McMorris – In Motion (2015) - Amazon Video
Almo Films - Comfort Zone (2015) - Amazon Video
RK 1 (2015) - https://vimeo.com/145049057
Christian Haller – Glue (2016) - https://vimeo.com/190544188
Nicholas Muller - Fruition (2016) – Amazon Video
Sage & Halldor – Dayumm! (2016) - https://youtu.be/l1rthOHA8Bg
Red Bull - The Fourth Phase (2016) - http://www.documentarymania.com/player.php?title=The%20Fourth%20Phase
Absinthe Films – TurboDojo (2017) - Amazon Video
Arbor – Cosa Nostra (2017) - Amazon Video
Method Mag – Method Movie 2 (2017) - https://vimeo.com/236313714
Shredbots – Shredtopia (2017) - https://youtu.be/FNyCrnsMlDE
Brown Cinema – Brown (2018) - https://vimeo.com/297630655
Connections Movement – Yugen (2018) - Amazon Video
YES Snowboards – Holy Shit (2018) - https://vimeo.com/299754671
Shred Bots – R3Boot (2018) - Amazon Video
Method Mag – Method Movie 3 (2018) - https://www.redbull.com/int-en/films/method-movie-3-1
Jess Kimura – The Uninvited (2018) - https://vimeo.com/298010368
Shredbots – We Tried (2018) - https://youtu.be/ur64hWGOIhI
Shredbots – R3Boot (2018) - https://youtu.be/V5cynsO-lA0
Shredbots – Local Surroundings (2019) - https://youtu.be/16pzfYzomo0
Shredbots – Who Cares (2019) - https://youtu.be/G70X75gTEb4
Notion – Pinot Grigio (2019) - https://youtu.be/GPBTjIwoLLw
Jeremy Jones - Roadless (2019 - Amazon Video or https://www.redbull.com/int-en/films/roadless
Quiksilver - Dark Matter (2019) - Amazon Video
Nitro – Offline (2019) - https://www.redbull.com/int-en/films/offline
Almo Films – Shelter (2019) - https://youtu.be/7UxrpX2lroQ
Snowboarder Magazine – Contrast (2019) - https://youtu.be/uQ7hXeOJGzw
Snowboarder Magazine – Veer (2019) - https://youtu.be/9O4o6qVkm7E
Ride Snowboards – Sicky! (2019) - https://youtu.be/xgYFTB_PSuQ
Ananda Media – The Spirit of Flatness (2019) - Amazon Video
Shredbots – Light (2020) - https://youtu.be/b4sakyx-VoY
And a timeless movie about the history of snowboarding: We Ride – The Story of Snowboarding: https://youtu.be/o0nMxxRU6Js

Hii guys,
As some of you may have noticed already, last night, the finale of Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy has been published. I must say that it was a rather interesting surprise that Leon Bronev was Hershel and Descole's father. I also didn't expect the Azran Legacy to be basically some kind of robots (yes, I know they are golems) going rampant, though I did have a slight hunch that the Azran Legacy did have something to do with greed and I wonder why, instead of actually warning the future civilization, they made it more and more interesting for someone to reveal the Azran Legacy. It's quite a bummer that Emmy didn't stay with Hershel, even though we already knew this from the Curious Village
Finally, if you didn't yet, I recommend you watch the Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva movie, as that is part of the story, and it's really nice of the writers that they actually included that into the game, though it might have caused a bit of confusion for those who haven't seen it and don't know about the City of Ambrosia.
I hope you guys enjoyed the series, though it's a bummer that there aren't any mainline games of Professor Layton left anymore. Yes, there is the one from Layton's daughter (Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy) but I don't really count that as a mainline. I really hope that, despite the passing of Akira Tago in 2016, they will be working on new games for the Layton series, though, I think that they might be working on one for Katrielle?
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the series. As always, there is a playlist which can be found here and you can, of course, also find them in the complete playlist which can be found here.

Hello all! /actuary is going to jump into reddits annual Best of Awards.
I will post each of the categories below as a top-level reply. To nominate a usepost for an award, reply to my comment. To vote on a nomination, use the upvote/downvote arrows. This thread will be set to contest mode, so make sure to hit "show replies" under my comments. Here are the six categories:

1. Most helpful post/comment
2. Best professional post/content (i.e., not related to exams or finding a job)
3. Most humorous post/comment (not meme)
4. Best meme
5. Most valuable /actuary member (not mods) - post a link to an example of the user's work, either a post or comment.
6. Content that doesn't fit into the above categories but you think deserves an award.

If you link to a post, I'll assume you're nominating OP. If you link to a comment, I'll assume you're nominating the comment's author.
Prizes are TBD. I'll edit this post when I have more info on that. It depends on if I can figure out community awards, because the admins are giving away more coins for those.
Edit: Prizes - we received enough community coins for 30 prizes. Keep nominating!
Throughout the year, I've guilded some posts or comments with leftover coins from the 2018 best of contest. Those posts/comments are still eligible for this contest!

Results

Reddit awarded us 54,000 community coins for running this little contest, so everybody is getting something and we'll still have some leftover for random awards throughout the year. Unlike the 2018 awards, the community coins mean I am not a complete dictator this time - the other mods can give out new awards, too.
We had a total of 15 nominations. I've awarded bigger prizes to the winners in the contested categories (i.e., more than one nomination). The prizes are as follows:

1. Most helpful post/comment

This post by pengl0ss, nominated by actuarysomeday.

2. Best professional post/content (i.e., not related to exams or finding a job)

This comment by ImSpartacus811 (self-nomination)

3. Most humorous post/comment (not meme)

This was one of the contested categories, so the winner receives a larger prize.
Winner: This pony resume by mipyman1, nominated by ApprehensiveDeer8
Honorable mentions:

• This post by jakfrist nominated by 15anthony15
• This comment by keto_emma nominated by ImSpartacus811
• This post by CharmingArgument0 nominated by actuarialmayhem

4. Best meme

This was one of the contested categories, so the winner receives a larger prize.
Winner: This post by Rotato_chips nominated by ApprehensiveDeer8
Honorable mentions:

• This post by MonsVeneris nominated by 15anthony15
• This post by jakfrist nominated by me!
• This post by Flint77 nominated by 15anthony15
• This post by jakfrist nominated by ApprehensiveDeer8
• This post by TCFNationalBank nominated by ImSpartacus811
• This post by YourMomsQuant nominated by ImSpartacus811

5. Most valuable /actuary member (not mods)

Winner: JaeyunTV nominated by ImSpartacus811. I placed the award on this comment specifically.

6. Content that doesn't fit into the other categories but you think deserves an award.

Winner: This post by actuary7 nominated by ImSpartacus811

One more thing...

I've also placed awards on some comments below by ApprehensiveDeer811 and 15anthony15 because they did several nominations and didn't win anything for their own posts. Participation counts, folks!

Nobody asked for this, but I will post it anyways. Sorry for my english :D
Okay, first, I will explain the difference between secret movies and secret cutscenes or endings.

• Secret cutscenes/endings are all the different cutscenes with dialogue and in-game graphic from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep until Kingdom Hearts 2.5:
  • Blank Points, A fragmentary passage, Signs of What’s Next, Another Guardian of Light, Destiny, etc. (and for sure, some more).
• Secret movies: there are just 5, they are not graphic in-game, no explicit dialogue, and they are full of concept ideas with little context. Also, some of them include a new song (in fact, they are like a Music Video).
  • They only appear in the "main"/numbered games.
  • The movies in Final Mix are an extended version of the original one.
  • In them, we can see the final boss battle of a "spin-off" game: 358/2 Days and Birth By Sleep.
  • In I and IFM movies there are some II's scenes and lines.
    • Also, KHIIFM include the Roxas vs Riku battle as a cutscene.
  • Also is interesting that:
    • In IFM, Xemnas (as Unknow) is a secret boss; wearing the same leather jacket as Roxas and Riku.
    • In IIFM, Terra's armour (as Lingering Will) is a secret boss; he's wearing it in the Secret Movie.

​

GAME	TITLE	SONG	SPIN-OFF
I	Another side, Another Story	[no music]	358/2 Days
I Final Mix	Another side, Another Story [deep dive]	"Another Side"	358/2 Days
II	The Gathering	"Sunset Horizon"	Birth By Sleep
II Final Mix	Birth by Sleep	"Fate of the Unknow"	Birth by Sleep
III	Yozora	(help)	???

​
Ok, so, MY THEORY. Probably it's not new, and not the first person who writes something like this, anyways, following a similar "patron":

• Yozora video:
  • Is not Kingdom Heart 4, but a spin-off, not necesarily a sequel.
  • Yozora video will be the final scene of that spin-off, and I think Yozora or the Master of Masters will be the Final Boss.
• In the III DLCs/Final Mix
  • There will be a secret movie which will expand Yozora video and show a new song.
  • There will be a new secret boss with somekind of relation with Yozora video and the "spin-off" game.

​
About Yozora's music, I can hear:

• Another Side remix: with a new long intro and chorus
• Somnus' motifs (FFXV)
• Dearly Beloved

​
Also:

• Sorry for call 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep spin-off game, I loved them and in fact they are a huge part of the plot, but I didn't know how to refere them,
• EDIT: "III DLCs/Final Mix": before, I said that we won't have III Final Mix this time.

https://youtu.be/IIFmhqIFmJk
I know it's a very basic "remix", and it's got nothing on a track like Kane Vale's remix of "Affection". Regardless, I feel like it just works really well. Ethan's production behind the ever increasing intensity of an effective, albeit simple, beat meshes really well. It has been in my playlist almost as long as "Kept" itself.
While writing this I realized that from here on is just drunken personal masturbation, but castles is involved. Read at your own risk.
Really, I just want an excuse to talk about castles. I am not gonna sit here and say that Ethan's productions had some kind of profound effect on my life. What I will say, is that I couldn't imagine a world without them. I was late to the party too. I didn't become a fan until shortly after (III) was released. Years prior, I saw that great video of them performing "Crimewave" on some city street. While I enjoyed the video, I somehow decided that they weren't for me. I checked out some of their other tracks, which included "Celstica", and I thought they are "too girly" for me.
A couple years later I had a crisis of conscience about the work I did (residential construction), and the way I lived my life and the way I treated people. I wasn't happy. At all. I threw my ego in the garbage, and decided to limit my decisions in all aspects of my life to only things that could contribute to my happiness. Within that inner turmoil I realized that I wanted to be creative (and also not be an asshole).
I began writing my ass off. Initially, I wrote movie reviews on a tumblr page I made. Yea, I know that place can be awful, but they provided all the tools needed to create a website and build a following. While I wrote, I liked to chain smoke and listen to electronic music. Eventually, I needed some new tunes. I started digging around and somehow ended up revisiting that "Crimewave" video. Again, I tried out the other youtube videos that appeared on the sidebar.
This time it was different. I listened without worrying about what other people would think of the same piece of music. This time, I simply listened and experienced what I was hearing. I'm not sure if I had ever really done that before. Maybe with film, but certainly not music.
Ethan's melodies clicked with some shadowy forgotten nook that was nestled somewhere within my mind. I felt nostalgic, yet simultaneously present and hyper aware. I had made the decision to change my world before the music. Castles wasn't the catalyst, but merely the shepherd to where I wanted to be.
Writing while listening to Castles became a high for me. A high no pills or powder could ever bring. Eventually, I wanted more. I decided to quit my job and write a novel. It ended up closer to a novella that I never even tried to publish. My wife supported me throughout the endeavor, and enjoyed what I was writing as well as anyone else that reddit. Trust me, she is a firecracker. If she thought I was wasting my time, she would've let me know even if no one else would.
Of course, I had to get back to work after a couple months to bring in some money, but the experience of writing that piece will never be matched in my life. It was the happiest I have ever been in all my existence, and remains my proudest accomplishment. Without Castles, Im not sure that time would have reached the heights it did. Ethan's melodies elevated me to a place that let me be free. I could knock out 20 pages in a couple hours with confidence as long as I had nicotine and castles by my side.
So, here I am again, on the edge of a mental break. Working a job I hate, and thinking about the things I will never have the time to create. Wishing I had a new album to give me that extra little nudge I need to pursue fulfillment. Is castles, or any music I like, a crutch, or an inspiration? Should I just leap without looking again, or take a more controlled and adult approach? My feeling is that if you abandon the child within, you also abandon the artistic spirit itself. If you view a creative endeavor as a career, you will always be blinded.
So yeah, clearly I like to write. It feels good to me. But yo, did you listen to that kept remix?

Snapshots:

1. This Post - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, removeddit.com, archive.is
   
2. here - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
   
3. “Gorilla Mindset” - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
   
4. gone to great lengths to obscure an... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
   
5. “Change My Mind” meme - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
   
6. a “prank” video - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
   
7. a very smug column about how great ... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
   
8. Jorah Mormont - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
   
9. Verrit - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
   
10. as best anyone understands - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
11. See more… - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
12. once fabricated an absurd secondhan... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
13. “The Benedict Option,” - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
14. “adderall and craft beer.” - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
15. Husky-voiced CEO of Theranos - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
16. columns that he writes to his unrul... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
17. Caleb ran away from home at 16 - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
18. Citizen journalist, - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
19. subsequently banned from Uber. - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
20. luxury kitchen items - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
21. any kind of government regulation. - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
22. a book - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
23. Twitter pundit - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
24. Is actually 55 years old. - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
25. “Permanent February: Some personal ... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
26. a moving obituary for him. - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
27. “When a Woman Isn’t in the Mood: Pa... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
28. Prager U. - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
29. a YouTuber - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
30. several Reading Series are dedicate... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
31. courageous skeptic of the concept o... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    
32. “Different Places Have Different Sa... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is
    

^{I am a bot. (Info / Contact)}

Previous Index
Uh, yeah, obligatory holiday break. I'm trying, I promise.
(Also go watch Coco please)
So today we're doing "The Points". Either this is something like "The Fridge", or... Honestly I don't know. Maybe something like bullet points? Pros and cons?
-How could Anais think THIS is studying? She could pretty clearly see the screen.
-V i o l e n c e
-Wtw? What the... wind? What the whale? What the... I don't know.
-Yeah, science isn't exactly Gumball's strong suit. Remember "The Romantic"?
-Tobias sure has been spending a while in that computer lab for a school day.
-So... Imagine The Origins but he also grew invisible pants with his legs. Or visible ones.
-I like Darwin's outfit.
-38 hours. In the school library. ??????
-How many points does he have? They oughta be really expensive considering that he only needed one to get the hadron laser.
-They're so cute when they make that face.
-Can't argue with that way of doing things.
-Whoa, Tobias's addiction is getting... intense.
-The Flakers callback? Seems to remind me of the lasagna joke.
-O h my god
-At least he knows what he's done. That's better than normal Tobias.
-Oh, I just assumed that the good points were nonphysical.
-The placebo effect is strong with this one.
-Oh boy, a reference to my favorite game.
-WAIT NO YOU CAN'T MAKE PORTALS IN THIN AIR, HE'S CHEATING.
-Seriously though, he's hacking the game. Portals on air can't even be made when you use cheats.
-Wait, when did Tobias's appearance switch back to non-obsessed mode?
-This is... this is great.
-Plasma grenade shield.
-SWEET, SWEET CATHARSIS!
-Ooh, nice, the return of a throwaway gag!
This was great. The gags were all perfect, especially the one that returned later on, and Tobias wasn't super annoying, though perhaps it's just because he wasn't in a situation where he had the chance to be. It wasn't particularly memorable, but that doesn't make it bad by any means.
So next up is "The Bus". Hm. If the entire episode is on a bus in a similar fashion to "The Parking", that could be fun.
-Looks like Tobias did last episode.
-"No, I mean going to school like that."
-............oh, never mind, he just said that.
-Listen to Alan.
-Miss Simian screaming in the distance
-...actually, no, she'd probably be relieved.
-Ooh, a spy mission? Are the parents going on the bus too for some reason? And Rocky's in on it? Was his plan to just not go to school all along?
-Well, that's one unexpected lineup.
-It's a time bomb.
-Huh, I just noticed Alan's dad has his sunglasses sharpied on.
-Wait, Alan's entire family has sharpied-on faces! How did it take me four seasons to realize this?!
(fuuuture note: ...that's not Alan's dad. We saw Alan's actual dad in The Traitor. Is this a continuity error or what?)
-Oh, okay, I get what they're doing.
-They're totally gonna choose Tobias.
-Slightly contrived backstories. I'm all for it.
-Leslie's face.
-Donut Cop is not a good aim. I was gonna say actor, but right as I was about to type the word actor, that happened.
-So there's french fry security guards, burger chief and donut cop? One of these seems slightly off. It should've been soda.
-I wanna see Alan beating up his dad
-Gumball as the straight man is hilarious.
-Uh oh.
-Rob?
-ROB
-FINALLY
-ROB
-ROOOOOOB
-Oops. Sorry, I meant Dr. Wrecker.
-Dr. Wrecker?
-DR. WRECKER
-FINALLY
-DR. WRECKER
-DR. WRECKEEEEEER
-Not at all subtle there with the "explosive" thing.
-That guy deserves to be proud of himself for that feat.
-Big Boy 4 license plate? Okay, I guess.
-Whoa. This got dramatic.
-I love how intentionally cliched this is.
-Mark my words. That briefcase will explode the moment before the episode ends.
-Oh, never mind. We get this first. That's fine with me!
-He can be both wrecked AND under arrest, right?
This was already amazing, but it got even better when Rob showed up. Rob's my favorite character, and this is how he should be used. Maybe having too many intentionally cliched episodes would get a bit boring after a while, though.
So we're doing "The Night" next? A bit ominous sounding considering what we just had happen.
-No, that's not what the Moon sounds like! Remember The Love?
-Sarah sleeps by putting her head in a freezer. Weird, but I guess it makes sense to them.
-How is he so easy to realize that it's a dream? I wish I was able to do that.
-Mr. Small's dream is gonna be really weird, isn't it?
-New headcanon: Mr. Small is a master of lucid dreaming.
-Meh, that was kind of anticlimactic.
-This is so amazingly in-character
-WHOA
-Would it be overanalyzing if I said that I thought this dream was a metaphor for their relationship? Kind of sad if you think about it.
-i"M A BUN
-Larry sleeps in the store? Not surprisingly.
-Oh, wait.
-He kind of has wasted his life.
-Oh, okay, he does sleep in his bed.
-or not.
-Sure has a lot of recursive dreams.
-Even if it turns out this isn't a dream, I love that he's finally expressing his inner thoughts.
-Why is The Moon still watching this?
-Hector's paradise.
-Is this voice his normal voice when it's not deepened to make him sound like a giant?
-This is cute!
-...Okay, that joke's too dark for me. :(
-Wait, Carrie, why are you protesting? You liked that pony movie, right?
-I like how the coloring of the pixels implies that she still has her nightgown on and it's one of those dream traits where you think that something's different from what's actually clearly being presented in front of you.
-Just get a pencil.
-Oh.
-I think I saw this clip about a year ago. This is freaky.
-Anais should see this dream so she'll know what a monster everything Daisy-themed is. Source: The Remote.
-She's pronounced Anais's name wrong, even!
-Oh good, we're finally seeing Juke again. It's been two seasons...
-This is gonna be sad.
-Oh. Wow. Aw.
-Knowing how their relationship works, this is kinda sweet.
-Obvious DBZ reference here.
-Sussie's dream?
-Oh whoa. That's great.
-Alan's dream! He's my favorite character, so this is gonna be fun.
fire pops up
Oh, okay.
-Alan?
-aLAN ARE YOU OKAY
-ALAN I'M WORRIED ABOUT YOU
-ALAN IS AM SEIROUSLY WORIED NOW ARE YOU OKAY
-I like that she can get physically hurt by a random guy miles down below.
Well, uh, that was The Night. Kind of jarring at the end there, huh? Good episode nonetheless.
Okay, and now we're doing "The Misunderstandings"? Considering Gumball's track record with cringe comedy, I'm not expecting much from this episode.
-Hmm. Is it just me or does Gumball sound different?
-That's a great way of undoing everything.
-So is the misunderstanding that he doesn't care about Darwin's thing but it's actually just 'cause he wants to go on the date with Penny.
-Based on the episode so far, I'm imagining The Pony but Penny's in it.
-Gumball, are you okay?
-Banana Joe had, like, one good appearance in The Banana. I'm going to be completely honest, he seems to have reverted back to a less mean version of his Season 1 self since then, disregarding The Promise.
-Huh, didn't know bananas turn purple.
-I still like this guy. Also, is he, like, the only homeless guy in Elmore and he's only still homeless because he needs to fulfill that character archetype?
-Yes, he's being very sarcastic for some reason.
-he DOES have a really big head.
-I wonder if they realize that since they're saying that big head = smart, and they have small heads...
-That's creepy.
-Goin' full Tobias here, I see.
-Dunno if he'll end up buying fruit or a flute. Or was it food he needed to buy?
-Whatever this is, it's probably incredibly broken Shape-ish.
-You wanna end hunger? Just feed yourself to people. ...never mind that's messed up.
-Glad that lady quit her job at Elmore Help Desk.
-Two birds with one stone! And Banana Joe is actually the perfect person to make friends with them.
-Wait, what?
-Penny: Um, I think I need to go now.
-She's just sitting there and eating her burger. Probably the best way to handle things. I wouldn't want to get involved, anyway.
-Yeah, see, I toldja it was probably really bad grammar. Bad enough that it's considered mocking! Wow.
-Richard understands their language?
-Uh oh.
-The final level.
-The final level of the Misunderstandings Game and Gumball just walks out, not even realizing it. Betcha he'll come back later, though.
That was better than I was expecting! Fun times. The ending could've been more interesting, though. Didn't really involve escalation or even really a climax. Still, good episode. I'd call it the worst of the best.

1. The Nest
2. The Advice
3. The Nemesis
4. The Uploads
5. The Return
6. The Signature
7. The Origins
8. The Bus
9. The Parking
10. The Romantic
11. The Gift
12. The Points
13. The Love
14. The Wicked
15. The Night
16. The Origins Part Two
17. The Misunderstandings
18. The Girlfriend
19. The Check
20. The Awkwardness
21. The Upgrade
22. The Signal
23. The Comic
24. The Traitor
25. The Parasite
26. The Crew
27. The Sale
28. The Hug
29. The Others
30. The Routine
31. The Pest
32. The Apprentice

The Mandatory Season 1 Episode!

Episode 33 (The Microwave): Not much to say on this one. It just sort of did its thing, and the monster wasn't particularly appealing. The ending was pretty funny, but overall it's just a meh from me.
Next