#((but ''if''s/''alternatively''/''bonus'' overrides that.))

[merge-conflict]

🔎 the search for october 🔍

tagged by @luvwich (bare, disgust, feed, plastic, silence) and @ghostoffuturespast (eyes, dive, water, corner, shudder) Switched it up a little this time to alternate because why the hell not. :3 Starting out strong with a little gender lust and what is technically a twofer making the last one a bonus.

bare [thread safe]

“Very good,” [V] murmurs, licking the shell of [Goro's] ear and making him shudder. Seeing his bare chest sparks the same envy she felt the first time she’d seen it– sparks her desire to crawl under his skin and become him the way Johnny became her. Sitting like this, with her body framing his, she can almost believe it’s possible. “Pretend I’m not here.”

eyes [when her edges soften]

She turned to him briefly, teeth flashing in the dim light. “You want me to say it? Fine: You were right, Johnny. This is my kind of fucking place.”

It was. He had enjoyed it on his first visit, but he liked it better watching through her eyes. The thing about V was that under that fresh coat of corpo veneer she was an animal– and one of the only people he knew who instinctively took to it. He knew because he had felt her savoring it when the mood struck her, chasing the exhilarating high without a hint of shame. Plenty of mercs wanted to be bloodthirsty and carefree, but had to dope themselves into it. V was just the opposite.

disgust [the damn things overlap]

V rose to her feet in stages, feeling heavy and threadbare. She turned off the lights and the room was plunged in deep blues, brushed here and there by the red and orange of the heating coils. Goro’s eyes followed her, irises dark, his pupils shining faintly with reflected light. He stood when she drifted closer, tense like he was waiting for something to happen.

“There,” she said, quietly. “Now you know all of my shameful secrets. Be all my sins remember’d.”

The words came easier than she had thought they would. For once she didn’t feel the shiver of self-revulsion or disgust. She was just tired, and a little buzzed, and possessed by the urge to touch him and make sure he was still real.

dive [fleeting fits of reason]

Mostly Johnny sat, and got drunk, and played until he re-opened the raw skin of his fingers, too impatient to slowly build up his calluses. Sometimes he disappeared for hours, out driving around in one of Kerry’s cars, hitting up some dive bar at the edge of town that catered mostly to nomads and anyone too down on their luck to make it entirely in or out of the city.

V had been a ghost for at least two days, and Kerry only knew she was around because the mugs in the kitchen occasionally moved. She was partial to the novelty mug that swirled iridescent colors with temperature changes– it was the only dish he’d ever seen her wash. Whether she was avoiding Johnny or just him he wasn’t sure. The entire villa felt like those last few Samurai roadshows, when everyone knew it was about to explode, but nobody wanted to be the one to light the match.

feed [fleeting fits of reason]

The first notification [Alt] receives that is early in the morning, the strength of Johnny’s adrenaline response overriding several other weighted variables. She sees what he sees, time shifted by several seconds after she frees her attention. There’s not much for her to see, except that the decreased frequency of his dreams have not been accompanied by a decrease in intensity. When he catches his breath he moves to swing his legs out of bed and then stops for no reason she can discern, watching the sleeping forms of V and Kerry. His eyes linger on the rise and fall of their chests, the place where their shoulders touch– she dismisses the feed and returns to working through Smasher’s black box.

water [the damn things overlap]

“Everyone here has one job,” [V] murmured. “Keeping on schedule. Come hell or high water, everything has to be ready.”

“They did not even scan your face.”

“Contractors aren’t in the main database. Decade or so ago Militech got into the HR system off access from a local vendor, whole big shitshow.” It had been before her time in CounterIntel, but the incident had left behind a scar that was not so easily forgotten.

plastic [the damn things overlap]

V stayed only as long as she was able, seeing the room through Goro’s expression as he surveyed the damage. Everything else was a hostile smear of color and texture, threatened by the overwhelming ringing of fading gunshots and adrenaline. She returned up the stairs, past the clinic room and into the small waiting area. It was dark and deserted still, and she sank into one of the cheerfully colored plastic chairs, leaning forward with her elbows propped up on her knees.

corner [the damn things overlap]

“Maybe I just came here to smack you around,” [V] mused, stepping closer, boxing [Hellman] into the corner his cot made with the wall. “Just to make myself feel better about my inevitably painful ending, and one of the assholes responsible.”

He withdrew into himself, and she could see he was deciding whether or not to fight back. “I didn’t make you put that shard in your head. Is that why you are here? Is Silverhand’s influence corrupting you so quickly?”

silence [the damn things overlap]

“Mm. The proper punishment for all traitors.” [Goro] turned his head, breath sending chills up and down her spine. “And such disloyalty must be punished.”

V shivered; her teeth ached. There was a procedure for that sort of thing, clean and professional, no warning and no mess. Plenty of paperwork. But this wasn’t just some exec jumping ship or getting too greedy. No member of the board had so much as hinted at public opposition of Yorinobu’s rise to power. Doubtless all of them had their own private plans, but the silence spoke volumes. On that level, the entire matter could be solved quite easily through a visit to the next physical board meeting, like the one that was sure to confirm Yorinobu as head of the company. And Arasaka knew when to be showy, knew when bloody and brutal was a better lesson than a suddenly vacant chair.

shudder [the damn things overlap]

The space where V should have been was blank. Like static on the tv, bright empty white and black pixels, a low hiss like something being vaporized. Focusing too much on it was making her heart race, her lungs shudder. Her left hand felt like it was caught in a net, and though [Johnny] instinctively tried to move he could only make her fingers twitch.

All at once whatever was under her hand moved, and he managed to peel back her eyelids just enough to see the deep shades of blue that made up her nightvision. It was Takemura, raising his head, V’s fingers still tangled in his hair, which meant this was really not a situation Johnny wanted to be in.

<V, time to wake up!> He might as well have been screaming into the void. <Fuck me, if you die on me here, the first thing I’m going to do is dye your hair black. You listening?>

---

Tagging @corpocyborg, @another-corpo-rat, @corphoe, and anyone who wants to play and hasn't already been tagged :3 with heat, shot, luck, elbow, death

[miraculouscontent]

So, “Mr. Pigeon 72″ aired and, uh...

Guys, we have a new winner for most number of “Didn’t Need Burrow”s, because it hit 11.

“Mr. Pigeon 72″ is represented by dark pink.

Looks like “Sole Crusher” is going to give us our 50th space for sure, it’s just a matter of what prediction is going to get it.

(for further negative predictions of Season 4/5, toss me an ask starting with “Didn’t Need Burrow” and I’ll add them to the spreadsheet)

Nine close calls/things that look close to happening below:

Marinette will do something unbelievably selfless and self-sacrificing, only to promptly be slammed by the narrative and treated as though her decision was incredibly selfish.

Marinette is literally trying to get Kagami back with Adrien by trying to bring Kagami’s feelings back - even though she obviously still has feels for Adrien reagardless of denial - which is incredibly selfless, but she looks selfish because of her being pushy about it. However, I think this misses the mark juuuust enough to not quite make it.

A character will get increasingly annoyed and be having a bad day, and it's only when Marinette does something that they'll actually lose it and get akumatized (with Marinette most likely being blamed for everything)

Ramier was already having a sucktacular day before Marinette showed up and caused an incident, though the episode semi-ignores Marinette taking blame because everything happens so fast.

Marinette’s feelings towards moving on are invalidated/ignored by one of her “friends” to push for the Love Square

Very, very close, but I’m expecting this to happen later (let’s hope I jinxed it).

The Ladybug reveal to Alya is used for shipping purposes.

It was also used for the charms, though I’ll definitely add this if Alya starts shipping LadyNoir and/or has an episode where she talks about Ladybug and Adrien.

Love Square will be rushed and/or forced after the Lukanette and Adrimi/Adrigami breakups. Both Chat Noir and Marinette will say that they "loved that side of the other from the start" despite dating other people.

We’re close. We’re so damn close.

The show keeps giving reasons why the Love Square shouldn't get together or would not be a healthy relationship; these reasons will conveniently disappear once the ship is canon.

At this point, I feel like it’s just a matter of time.

Most of the characters and plotlines will be sidelined for the Affection Rectangle to the point where nothing in the show matters unless it is the Passion Parallelogram.

If we get more sidelined plots, for sure. They spent like a minute and a half on the charm thing and minutes upon minutes on the Adrienette stuff.

Alya will continue to push the pro-Adrien agenda down Marinette's throat, over any and all protests that she can't have a romantic relationship with ANYONE right now due to her various responsibilities. Alya will give lip-service to the idea that she'll help her with everything else, but in practice, her only real priority is shoving her towards Adrien every chance she gets and continuing her scheming to get them together.

Close. I’m waiting it out.

Adrien and Kagami will be seen together again before Luka and Marinette are, even though Adrien and Kagami left off on a worse note and Marinette is the main character.

I’m waiting for Adrien and Kagami to be on-screen together in a way that’s not forced, like them making up/hanging out.

[happymetalgirl]

Who did it better? (#1)

In the interest of livening up this blog and shaking up the homogeneously review-oriented content, I’m kicking off a casual little series that I thought of a while ago that I think can spark some interesting comparisons. A lot of song titles are shared by multiple artists, especially one-word titles. As is pretty self-explanatory by the title of this series, I’m simply comparing several pairs of songs from different artists that share a title, and decide who did it better, starting with a face-off between old-school and new-school death metal through two titans of the genres:

Sepultura vs. Behemoth: “Amen”

Both these songs come from acclaimed, fan-favorite albums from the heights of both bands’ careers. And while both tracks are solid features of their respective albums, I think the sheer energy and grandiosity that the Behemoth track has edges it out on top over the more standard old-school death metal Sepultura track for me. A more iconic cut from Chaos A.D. might have won Sepultura the prize, but this matchup kind of just presents, through a couple of random samples, the progression and improvement of the genre. The first win goes to Behemoth, on to the next match-up.

Dream Theater vs. Five Finger Death Punch:  “Never Enough”

Both of these bands have their share of detractors, Five Finger Death Punch obviously with the heftier bunch, myself included in that group, and both songs fittingly deal with the unbreakable dissatisfaction of other people. But “Never Enough” lands on opposite ends of the bands’ respective catalogs; for FFDP, it’s one of the of the bonus tracks that caught on from the 2008 re-issue of their 2007 debut album before they became the unbearable pandering act they are today, while for DT, it’s eight albums in on the front-to-back prog metal success, Octavarium. The Dream Theater song finds the band dipping its toes into the electronic alternative rock of Muse with surprising comfort, and even though it’s eclipsed by most of the album it’s on, it still outdoes the passable, but formulaic FFDP bonus cut.

Sevendust vs. Periphery:  “Alpha”

If you exclude the “Juggernaut” portion of the Periphery album, both of these are title tracks, Sevendust’s closing their sixth album. This one, far and away, belongs to Periphery, Juggernaut: Alpha capturing the band at their most meticulous, passionate, and unabashed, and the bold move of the title track’s poppy, yet emotive melody paid off in spades. Sevendust’s alternative metal version of “Alpha”, unfortunately ends the album they titled after it on a drab, formulaic note that pales in comparison to the bombastic Periphery song.

Swans vs. Metallica: “Better Than You”

Alright, now we’re including a band not really considered to be in the metal sphere, Swans, up against one of the greatest of the greats. And while Swans haven’t ever released anything that’s been classified as metal, their contribution to the 80’s “no wave” movement through their incredibly noisy and abrasive early output, particularly their debut album, Filth, and especially by the day’s standards, has had its influence on the metal world. Around the same time, Metallica were making their massive, legendary contributions to heavy metal’s movement away from glam toward the enthralling ferocity of thrash. But neither of these songs come from the bands’ most aggressive eras, but rather their departures from their earlier sounds during the 90’s. The Swans song opens up Michael Gira and company’s full transition into cerebral post-punk on 1991’s White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, and Metallica’s is one of the more upbeat numbers from their 1997 head-scratcher, Reload. Ultimately, the Metallica song serves as a refresher of just how energetic and not-that-bad Metallica was during their more rockin’ moments on Load and Reload, while the Swans track serves as a reminder and representation of how awkward Swans’ transition into their second phase of their career was. While some of their fans swear by it, I’ll take the more abrasive stuff before it or the more sprawling post-rock experimentation that it grew into any day. While it’s definitely not their best song either, I’d rather listen to Metallica’s “Better Than You” 9 times out of 10.

Breaking Benjamin vs.Three Days Grace:  “Home”

As common as one-word titles are, I feel like these bands are still probably just two of many in the alt-metal world to make songs titled “Home”. The concept of home is just so ripe with potential for angst-y situational reflection or broader societal reflection, impossible for alternative metal bands to avoid. But I went with these two artists because I feel like they are some of the more prominent in the genre, and both songs are under-the-radar debut-album hits among fans. The Wizard of Oz-themed Breaking Benjamin track captures the band at their most creatively creepy and heavy, while the juicily angst-y Three Days Grace track rages at the fractures of a distressed relationship between cohabitants. While the Three Days Grace “Home”, I think, does outshine the album’s other (ironically)-iconic single “I Hate Everything About You” and while Breaking Benjamin’s version doesn’t really eclipse the fan-favorite banger, “Polyamorous”, I still prefer the Breaking Benjamin track for its creativity and emotional dynamic.

Ghost vs. clipping.:  “Body and Blood”

While I am certainly more of a Ghost fan than a clipping. fan, “Body and Blood” pits clipping. at some of their best against Ghost on their sophomore slump. “Body and Blood” is one of the more naturally fun catchy songs on the largely overthought Infestissumam, but the punchy industrial energy of the clipping. dance number is just too much to override. It’s like clipping. putting up their star player against one of Ghost’s reserves, so not much of a surprise with the lopsided contest there.

Avenged Sevenfold vs. Mutoid Man: “Afterlife”

I definitely enjoy both of these artists’ songs, and the albums they appeared on. The more recent Mutoid Man song is the shorter of the two, and unfortunately one of the more hum-drum thrashy stoner metal tracks on the otherwise excellent War Moans, whereas Avenged Sevenfold’s track is a live staple that served as the driving lead single to their polarizingly mainstreamed, but retrospectively heralded self-titled 2007 album ten years before Mutoid Man’s version of the song came out. And as much as its formulaic verses and choruses gave fuel to all the band’s detractors, the single is a fine example of infectious 2000′s alternative metal with lots of extra classic heavy metal melodicism. So I’m going with A7X on this one.

Gojira vs. Red:  “Death of Me”

Two sophomore-album bangers square off over the “Death of Me” title, one of my favorite artists whose unique approach to progressive death metal has earned them the deserved attention they enjoy now versus one of the most underrated bands of 2000′s alternative metal whose version of the song highlights their aptitude with symphonic elements in comparison with their contemporaries as a lead single off their sophomore effort. And this one is tough, because I also find Gojira’s The Link to be an underrated part of their catalog, chocked full of unusual but tasty rhythm that rivals even Meshuggah, and “Death of Me” is one of several highlights from that record. With its energetic string melody and climactic build-up bridge to an emotive vocal melody, I think the Red track takes the cake by just a hair, but both tracks showcase well their respective artists’ quality.

Soulfly vs. Meshuggah:  “Bleed”

I had to end with this one; my bias definitely leaks through on this match-up, but it’s undeniable how iconic and influential Meshuggah’s “Bleed” has been since its release, undoubtedly Meshuggah’s most iconic song whose triplet drumming has been ripped off by an entire genre. For Soulfly, “Bleed” kicked off a new era and commitment to nu metal for Max Cavalera in fiery fashion, and it’s one of Fred Durst’s more tolerable moments, but compared to how much of a movement Meshuggah’s spawned and how instantly recognizable, impressive, and groovy the Meshuggah song is, it’s no contest.

[ruffoverthinksthings]

Jane and carlos ship meme can't remember if I already asked for this

You haven’t.

1.Whois the most affectionate?:

Carlos.

Afterlearning that showing affection and vulnerability isn’t somethingto be avoided at all costs, and more so, not being victimized andtaken advantage of by others that just reinforce his Isle-sourcedbeliefs, he just goes all out on showing his friends, hispseudo-family, and especially Jane as much love and affection as hecan.

2.Bigspoon/Little spoon?:

Theyalternate, depending on who’s having the worse day, the worse panicattack, or in the case that they’ve both suffered equally sucky andterrible days, who Dude or their current pet dog/s decides to snuggleup to.

3.Mostcommon argument?:

Carlos’scientific projects, and what he can or can not work on, at home orin the office.

Aftergetting access to proper education, professional mentorship,communication with his fellow inventor peers, scholarships, researchgrants, and most importantly, a lifetime membership at the HandyDandy Hardware store franchise, sometimes even the laws of physicsaren’t enough to limit Carlos’ trying to make his ideas areality.

As he borrows from Adam Savage, “I reject your reality, and substitute my own!”

4.Favoritenon-sexual activity?:

Discussionof their days, what happened, and what will be happening.

Janeenjoys the way Carlos lights up when discussing his latest project,results, and activities, even if sometimes her incredibly advancedthought process and infallible memory can’t keep up with him, andCarlos enjoys knowing that he’s serving as the sympathetic,attentive ear for whenever Jane needs to unload, and boy, does shehave some plenty interesting stories to tell, even if they are rants.

They’reboth all too used to being ignored, or outright being told to shutup, that their issues and concerns were less important than someoneelse’s—the most common culprits were Cruella, and of course,Audrey.

It’sREALLY nice to have someone who just up and listens, no questionsasked.

5.Whois most likely to carry the other?:

Jane.

Carlosheavily relies on mathematics, physics, and Judo whenever he has todo anything physical. And however frail Jane’s mortal body lookslike, she can easily override the “limiters” and becomesuperhumanly strong.

6.Whatis their favorite feature of their partner’s?:

Janereally enjoys Carlos’ energy and sheer enthusiasm when he gets intosomething he really, really, really enjoys, such as dogs,science projects, or some other sort of achievement like an amazingblock in a friendly, non-professional Tourney game with friends.

Carlosloves Jane’s eyes, the one thing that she doesn’t—can’t,really—de-age or attempt to hide just how old, how experienced, andhow many things she has seen over her immortal existence, good, bad,and everything in between.

7.What’sthe first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings forthe other?:

Youcan watch this whole series in Descendants 2. I really don’tagree with many of the writer’s decisions and how they executed it,but I’m too lazy and tired to think up of an entirely differentseries of them getting together.

8.Nicknames?& if so, how did they originate?:

“Dr.de Vil” after Carlos officially gets his doctorate in MechanicalEngineering, “My Little Mad Scientist” because of all of hiscrazy, zany experiments, and “Fae’s Best Friend” when he onceasked, “If dogs are man’s best friend, what does that make me toyou?”

“BabyJane” as an affectionate, playful nickname, “Doggy Godmother”because of how experienced and skilled she is with taking care ofdogs, and “Blue” when Jane explicitly asked him to make up aspecial nickname that only he could use.

9.Whoworries the most?:

Jane.

Carloshas learned that sometimes, there’s really nothing you can do butface whatever impending unpleasantness is coming your way, and thatall the fretting and hypothesizing in the world is better spentactually doing something, objectively and definitively finding outhow a decision/preparations/experiment will turn out.

Thataside, he’s mortal, worrying takes up a lot of his inherentlylimited energy, and Jane has no such constraints.

10.Whoremembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?:

Jane.Infallible Faerie Memory, baby.

11.Whotops?:

Theyswitch, but Jane takes this role the most.

12.Whoinitiates kisses?:

Carlos.See No. 1.

13.Whoreaches for the other’s hand first?:

Carlos.

14.Whokisses the hardest?:

Jane.Initiation might be difficult and awkward for him, but bridging theinitial gap is kind of like opening the floodgates of affection,love, and messy, slobbery tongue-action.

15.Whowakes up first?:

Jane,by virtue of rarely, if ever actually sleeping, and only for a fewhours if she does.

16.Whowants to stay in bed just a little longer?:

Carlos.All that flurry of activity and thinking in a short span of timeequates to a LOT of forced, necessary downtime, and unlike hissmartphone, you can’t expect him to be completely ready to doa-zillion different functions and programs as soon as you press the“On” button.

17.Whosays I love you first?:

Again,see the Descendants 2 movie.

18.Wholeaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does itusually say?):

Jane.

It’susually reminders of things that miss Carlos’ (admittedlyincredibly haphazard and disorganized) record keeping system, butsometimes she just goes on to say how much she loves him, or cutelittle things their pets have done that he might like to know about.

19.Whotells their family/friends about their relationship first?:

Jane,though it’s really easy to do so when your mother isn’tobjectively fucking crazy.

20.Whatdo their family/friends think of their relationship?:

FairyGodmother is super supportive and loving towards Carlos—sometimes alittle too much, as FG has a tendency to overcompensate with the“maternal support towards the boyfriend” because of lingering,unconscious guilt of never being around for Jane as much as sheshould have been.

Cruellathinks the whole thing is an absolute disgrace, especiallysince Jane can’t really get “anything of actual worth” fromCarlos. “Not that a homely face and run-of-the-mill body like herscan nab anyone worth marrying in the first place!”

21.Whois more likely to start dancing with the other?:

Carlos.Excessive amounts of energy that need to be released, yo.

22.Whocooks more/who is better at cooking?:

Jane.She’s had plenty of free time to fill, and even though Carlos doescook, he using his hands to work with machines and computers, notknives and fresh ingredients.

23.Whocomes up with cheesy pick up lines?:

Carlos.

“Youknow, Jane, when I think about us, I can’t help but feel like I’ma nut.”

“Anut? Why?”

“BecauseI fit so well with you, like you’re a bolt, and we were just madefor each other.”

24.Whowhispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear duringinappropriate times?:

Carlos.Look, Jane is not above and definitely into dirty talk, but Carlos isthe one who always feels the need to “shake things up” when Janewould rather they not be shook.

25.Whoneeds more assurance?:

Jane.

Carlosisn’t the picture of absolute, constant self-confidence, but atleast he can’t completely, objectively remember every single timehe has ever felt like he could not do it, and it turns out thatdespite his best efforts and the confidence of others, he couldn’tdo it after all.

26.Whatwould be their theme song?:

Imay have used this before, and my apologies if I did, and also for mylimited song knoweldge, but “Body Image” by TWRP fits them verywell.

Jane’sphysical appearance remains a sore point for the rest of her life—shewas “beautiful” in high school, but what about college? The realworld as a “twenty-something” in as much as an immortal, agelessfaerie can be a twenty-something? How should she look as she, herfriends, and her lover age and grow older?

Justhow much gray should she have on her hair? Should she start changingher appearance to have more wrinkles, extra, unnecessary padding, alittle more stoop to her posture? Is it even fair to be simulating aweakening, failing body, when everyone knows full well she willeternally be a spry spring chicken blessed with divine strength andagility like a Grecian Avian Demi-God?

Regardlessof what she looks like, though, Carlos will always love her.

27.Whowould sing to their child back to sleep?:

Jane.

Carlosdoesn’t really feel like he’s up to the task, seeing as all his“lullabies” were Cruella screaming at him at the top of hislungs, blaming him for all her problems, and loudly saying to hisface, message clear thanks to her facial expression, body language,and tone, that she regrets ever having him.

28.Whatdo they do when they’re away from each other?:

Carlosdoes science, Tourney, and “Guy Things” with Jay, the specificsof which change over time. In their teens and twenties, it’s goingout to town, getting into trouble, and possibly being arrested. Inhis thirties and forties, it’s meetings with the other dads and“with kids or serious, all-consuming careers” adults for thingslike weekend hunting trips, “bad-back friendly” Tourney teams andgames, and of course, embarrassing group bonding events with theirkids, their nephews and nieces, and/or godchildren, and so on and soforth for however long he lives.

Janegoes on with her numerous jobs and duties as a Fairy Godmother in anage mostly without magic, hanging out with her female friends withwhatever activities are “in” with them at the moment, and tryingto immerse herself in the present culture however well or awkwardlyshe can, if only so the inevitable generational paradigm shift of allof society around her gets less surprising and sudden.

29.oneheadcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart:

Carlosand Jane own a LOT of dogs over the course of their relationship. Asyou would expect, none of these puppers ever live as long as Carlosdoes, and it’s impossible for any of them to be an immortal Faelike Jane. Every decade or so, they lose a furry best friend orthree, bury and/or cremate them, and shelve a scrapbook filled withprinted photos and mementos in a special collection with all theirdogs.

Ithappens constantly. It’s inevitable. They know, and willinglyaccept that fact every time they are gifted a new puppy, or adopt onefrom the shelter.

Butstill, every single time, it hurts.

Andno time does it hurt the most, than the first time Jane has to fillin the very last pages of a scrapbook by herself, decide whereexactly it’s going to go in that giant wall of scrapbooks by herlonesome, figure out all by herself whether or not she’s going togo get a new dog, after she buried both her latest pet and herhusband.

30.oneheadcanon about this OTP that mends it:

Weknow from Mulan there’s definitely an afterlife—or enough of aperson that sticks around, that it’s basically them for all intentsand purposes. And thanks to connections with Lonnie, and the gradualweakening of the Magic Ban to the point where it’s really just aset of regulatory acts not unlike the laws governing ownership anddriving of a car, Jane manages to get an opportunity to see Carlosagain, along with all of their dogs.

Janehugs and kisses the ghostly, kind-of-cold Carlos in the middle of asea of dogs, before they both lie down and drown in all theslobbering, yipping, yapping, barking, licking, and tail-wagging,struggling to keep up with all the lapdogs who refuse to share withall the other lapdogs, the dogs that really did not like making newfriends, the ones that were just too eager to be friendly withabsolutely everyone they encountered--

--Alltheir dogs, of all temperaments, breeds, backgrounds, and what haveyou, Jane remembering all of them in infallible, exact detail,holding them in her arms once more, feeling their love and affectioneven if her hand goes right through them, and there’s no warmth, nofluffiness when she tries to pet them, just a muggy, slightlyunpleasant coldness.

Thereunion lasts for hours, the magicians, voodoo practitioners, andspirit callers officiating it having to clock overtime because theyhave just that many dogs, and Jane and Carlos want personal time witheach of their pets, however long each canine wants to be with boththeir owners once again.

Buteventually, even the most attention and affection hungry pup hastheir fill, even the dogs that want play time to stretch for on andon find themselves bowing out, and Jane feels that fatigue settingin, the kind that shouldn’t technically exist, but the power oftrying to imitate being normal and human can bring.

Janeand Carlos stand up, hug and kiss one last time, before Jane moves tothe side with the exhausted or just replaced summoners, Carlos andtheir dogs move to the other side. Hands waving, mouths open inpants, tails wagging, they say their goodbyes, before the latterdisappear, and all is quiet once more.

Janegoes home, and spends quite a long time alone immediately after, andtaking something of a semi-vacation from all her work and duties forthe time after that.

Butsome day, she plans on getting herself a new puppy, changing herphysical appearance once more to a woman definitely old enough to besomeone’s mom but not quite someone’s grandmother, putting out adating ad as she tries to get back in the “market.”

Shedoesn’t know exactly what she’s looking for, but she does knowthat they must love dogs.

Interestedin financially supporting my writing habit? Consider donating to myPatreon!

[rtf393q-latina]

Journal 5

This week I played Mystic Messenger, a Korean mobile visual novel game, released in 2016. I gather that a more literal translation of the Korean title might be “mysterious messenger,” which make sense because the premise of the game is that you download an app, which you don’t know much about, but which jumpstarts this narrative journey full of its own mysteries. Thus far, there have been no mystic elements to the story; photos the characters send have an urban contemporary feel, with recognizable markers of the everyday like public transit, ear buds, or ketchup bottles. Gameplay consists of selecting responses as you participate in the app’s chatrooms, get messages, emails, and phone calls from the characters in the game world, synchronized to your time zone, as if it were happening in real time. The most extensively used element is the chatroom, and a note on its aesthetic because it’s exceptional: in addition to drab bubble text, characters might send an animated emote, chibi image of themselves; they can briefly shake the screen with an angry face that blips in and out as an overlay of the chatroom; they also sometimes send their text in a bubble shaped expressively as a cat or a fluffy cloud, as if written on a cute stationary sticky note; finally, they will also send photos. In addition to the phone calls (recorded in Korean, but with English text to translate on screen), these emotive speech acts go a long way in both making the characters come to life and just in general making it fun and engaging to follow along. In the previous visual novel I played, clicking through text as it endlessly populated at the bottom of my screen in a uniform font would get tedious.

Interesting visualizations in the chatroom. (source)

The narrative and gameplay has three levels. The first, most openly marketed level, is the romantic simulation: there are 6 characters and you can play through to gain the love of one of them. The second level is that you and the 6 romanceable characters are part of an organization that is organizing a big charity party; to get a good ending, you must convince at least 10 guests, whose contact info you collect over time from the romanceable characters, to attend through choosing the right three replies to the potential guests’ emails. The third level is that you are slowly figuring out what happened: the person who had your organizing job before has died or at least disappeared under mysterious circumstances and the way you join the organization is also rather mysterious. So, on the third level, I assume you solve these mysteries. Before I realized the game would not save in the middle of the introductory segment, I ended up accidentally restarting the game 3 times. To keep from being bored, I really tested the different choice routes and got a bad ending right off the bat, thereby discovering that the person who adds me to the charity organization is a malicious-seeming hacker (and if I refuse to follow his instructions he threatens to end me or enslave me and the game ends—very dramatic—I expect more of this as this level of the story unfolds).

Main game screen, demonstrating the different mechanics. (source)

A word on the monetization. 3 romance routes are available from the get go; 2 you need to pay 80 hourglasses for; and for the last one you have to pay 300 hourglasses (there are also some additional dlc-s and one more romance route since the release, which all have an hourglass cost as far as I can tell, in the ~100 range). A guide I read claimed that by playing through each romance route in order, you win enough hourglasses to play the next tiers. This seems reasonable: you can pay money to play exactly the romance route you want right away, or you can invest your time to eventually get there. The other major application of the game’s hourglass currency is that you can pay 30 to unlock all of the chatrooms for one day; therefore, you are able to override the game’s scheduled gameplay and play them all at once or go back to ones you missed because you were not available to play when they opened up. Unlike the other visual novel I played, here money feels like a luxury rather than a necessity; I may be missing the 1am and 3am chatrooms, but I get a brief overview of the main points the characters discussed without me (I just miss sending replies and winning photos and their favor from giving the correct replies). Furthermore, every few hours I earn a randomized bonus and I’m slowly but steadily gaining hourglasses, making me feel like eventually I’ll be able to unlock things while still being free to play. Overall, the monetization feels less predatory as compared to the other visual novels I’ve played so far.

Main monetizated interactions. (source 1, source 2)

Initially, Mystic Messenger does not seem like the best game to discuss with this week’s readings. Rehak argues that “our extension through various media is predicated on the body as root metaphor” and “the body becomes an inescapable aspect of fantasized experience” (21). And in fact, the readings have to do with identifying with an on-screen body. In Mystic Messenger I do not have a game body because the game is in first person perspective. I can however pick a little picture to represent me in the app, much like in regular messenger and email apps. I will elaborate on this aspect in more depth.

The game offers 5 pictures to represent you, or you can upload your own. 4 of the pictures match visually in design with the romanceable characters, and the last is more stylistically exaggerated: an anthropomorphized unicorn with a giant head and enormous eyes. The other 4 only differ in hair color and hair style; 3 have luminescent pale skin and 1 has vaguely tan skin. Overall, I think these 4 pictures are conventionally attractive—light skin, young, thin. As Shaw notes, we can understand some of the creators’ intentions through analyzing the available images. Much like in Martey and Consalvo’s analysis of Second Life, light skin is normalized though these avatar choices. In picking these beautiful characters, players would be gravitating toward beauty like the Second Life players. The game does offer some counter choices, with the tanned character, the comical unicorn, and the choose your own options. I wonder if these singular alternatives only work to emphasize how they stray from the norm and highlight the normality of the 3 light skinned characters.

In order of the game, the first 4 avatars. (source)

To understand why people choose the avatars they do and whether they identify with them, Shaw argues we must use ethnographic methods, so I will try to breakdown my own choices and compare them to the relationships between players and avatars of Mystic Messenger found online. I was not concerned with the questions Martey and Consalvo tackle because I did not expect my choice in this single-player game to affect me functionally or socially. The unicorn suggested that the characters would not take the avatar as a representation of me, which set aside questions of social narrative and whether I would want to embrace or resist the group dynamics of the characters. These questions would not be influenced by my dress.

The unicorn avatar. (source)

I first lingered over the unicorn and considered the chose your option (until I remembered I blocked the app from accessing my photos and cameras; I tend to deny permissions unless I know how the app is explicitly using these things). The reason I moved away from more conventional characters I think has to do with my relationship to femininity. My preferred expression of female-ness tends toward the androgynous end of things and I mostly dislike overt markers of femininity, like pink, flowers, makeup, nail polish, jewelry, skirts, and long hair. Interestingly, I do not find the counter of these things any less feminine because I have a pretty firmly feminine self-conception, I just find things like big baggy pants and short hair have a much more interesting potential for femininity to explore for me personally. Given my relationship to femininity, I often find like Shaw notes that “texts meant to hail us as audience members can if fact distance us from them" (77). Mystic Messenger is in the otome genre of games targeted to women and the avatars reflect conventional femininity. This whole genre of games has initially alienated me because I do not get much from conventional femininity and I would have kept on not playing them were I not interested in why people like them for this class.

In the end I skipped over the unicorn because its long flowing hair and long eyelashes were too feminine for me. I briefly considered the darker skinned character with the shaggy hair because I felt her skin color and less polished hair style suited me better, but I felt reluctant to claim the darkest available skin color. In the end I landed on the blonde with short hair because her hair style looked like mine. Crucially, what I was so obsessed with was not that the character represents my body, but that the character represents my values related to femininity. The blonde was an imperfect choice for my goals, but I treated her from then on as just a picture because one needed to be there to represent me. I did not identify with her or imagine her as a character in the game; she might as well have been a bunny rabbit, in the words of Shaw’s test subjects. But, though the on-screen “body” did not matter to me, much like Shaw concludes about her subjects, the not mattering was a result of not having something that might matter. If there were a character design that I found genuinely cool, would I have identified with her and would it have improved the gameplay? I don’t think my avatar being a placeholder for me makes the game less enjoyable, and that much is supported in Shaw’s findings as well; nevertheless, finding a cool female character, something I feel passionate about because so many representations have been inadequate for me, would have been really special. 

Example of a player-uploaded image as an avatar. Could certainly be the actual player, but interestingly, looks like perhaps it is a Kpop star to me. Is this an idealized self? (source)

Screen grabs of Mystic Messenger online reveal that some people definitely put up a photo of themselves into the game. Ultimately I decided I do not like this because then you don’t match the aesthetic of the game and it doesn’t feel like you are a part of the game world. Although I could’ve put up an image that did represent all the things I wanted it to, it would’ve broken unity with the game for me.

I’ve also encountered fanart of the romanceable characters with a specific avatar from the initial 5 options, suggesting to me that some players do get attached to a specific image as a character and/or as a self-representation. I searched online if there was an “What your Mystic Messenger avatar says about you” article, and I did not find one, but I can see the choice being something that unites people in a common understanding/vision about the game. People like to choose identifiers, from clothing to objects and avatars. They like taking personality quizzes.

Fanart of Jumin, the game character, his cat Elizabeth III, and “Red MC” the avatar (source)

This brings me to back to a discussion of Rehak. Although he is interested in the difference between a camera-body and a game-body, he does elaborate on how the camera in both movies and games hails the viewer, giving them “a sense of literal presence, and a newly participatory role” (19). Although my physical presence in the game is very limited, the camera-like function of making the game like just another messenger app on my phone, fusing the game world with my real world through the phone interface, having the characters address me constantly, hails me as a participant in the game. Seeing them react to my responses is pleasurable and I can recognize myself as a bodily participant in the game. (They also constantly ask if I’ve eaten, or if I’m sleeping, showing concern for and calling into being my physical existence.) At the same time, the reflection is never perfect and never will be, especially for games like this where your response is a selection out of two or three options. But there’s something fun about that failure to match. The potential of my physical self existing differently is evoked. (There are some overlaps here with Munoz’s disidentification as discussed in the Shaw.) As Rehak describes it, “"players derive pleasure from avatarial instability. On the most basic level, avatars enable players to think through questions of agency and existence, exploring in fantasy form aspects of their own materiality" (21). More succinctly, my non-self in the game allows me to "toy with subjectivity, play with being" (21) in a way that is harder in real life. Moreover, going beyond the acknowledgment from Shaw that players can enjoy roleplaying their avatars rather than identifying with them, Rehak’s statement prompts me to consider the fun of the physical experience of my body as part of the game. Yes, there are many moments that remind me that the game is imaginary and allow me to play with my identity because I can be someone else in the game; however, there are also interesting, fleeting moments that hail me as a material being that are very interesting. For Rehak clearly these moments can happen both in the third person and in the first person. In the third person seeing your avatar die and recognizing it as an extension of the body may have an effect. It’s also interesting though, how the first person can play more directly with that visceral-ity. It’s something I want to explore more later.

As a final tidbit: reminding me of our discussion about the goose, people sure got a big kick out of imagining the unicorn as an animal character in the game world. Perhaps the real work that remains to be done on avatars and identification is what we do with animals (and furrys).

(Source 1 2 3)

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Al and Linda Lerner on Movies and Shakers: Jumanji: The Next Level

Game On! again for the Jumanji crew. Writer/Director Jake Kasdan uses the same body-switching gimmick from the original. That might feel stale were it not for the charm Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart infuse in their characters.  Kasdan also made the decision that more is better so he also adds Danny DeVito, Danny Glover and Awkwafina to the mix. Devito, as Spencer’s (Alex Wolff) crusty Grandpa Eddie is at first a bit troublesome. He plays “old” as incompetent and angry until the final act when he redeems his portrayal with warm sentiment, emotion and pathos that elevates the project beyond a sequel money grab. 

Kasdan is back after the surprising success of 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle that took in over $960 million despite the competition from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Is this déjà vu?

It takes very little time to get into this thin plot. We’re back in Jumanji in a matter of minutes, despite the fact that the characters were on the verge of death and the video game itself was irreparably destroyed in Welcome to the Jungle. Probably a smart move for Kasdan since trying to explain any of this would slow the pace and just confuse the issue even more.

  Fun is the overriding theme of this trip back to Jumanji. This time the gang leaves the jungle and ventures into the desert and then to snow-capped peaks. The novel twist here is that there are multiple body-switches throughout the script giving each actor the opportunity to explore more character-types. Jack Black, for instance, spends a good deal of time as the game piece for Fridge (Ser’Darius Bain) meaning he has to play a black teenager and get the laughs while being careful to not step over into racial stereotyping. Black is so talented, he’s actually able to pull it off.

Awkwafina seems to have a blast inhabiting Eddie’s character in her body. Her playful recreation of Eddie’s New Hampshire accent is an added bonus. The bad guys, led by Game of Thrones’ Rory McCann, aren’t even that bad despite being named Jurgen the Brutal. He still looks as menacing as he did as “The Hound.”

Dwayne Johnson also gets to impersonate Danny Devito’s Grandpa Eddie and he revels in poking good natured fun at the iconic Hollywood veteran. It’s a good thing that the actors are having a good time or else this 123 minute exercise in a bloated script might have become intolerable.

CGI rules the day for all the action sequences that look very much like retreads of the first movie.  Scary animal encounters are also back. Ostrichs and mandrills are anything but cuddly, but they will neither leave you with nightmares, nor much to remember. Being chased by the rabid monkeys on a network of moving planked bridges ala Indiana Jones makes for some visually interesting, heavy duty action scenes.

Kasdan also chooses to rework a lot of the jokes from the original which just feels lazy even as the audience chuckles. How many cake references does one movie need? Where the first movie made the attempt to weave in the video game experience into the narrative, The Next Level dismisses gamers completely. Gaming is a different world now. 

Despite the negatives, there is still much here to entertain an audience. Especially in the gung-ho performances by Jack Black, Awkwafina and Danny DeVito. This film is simply an excuse to shut out whatever is going on in the world and escape to an alternate plane.

There is a mid-credits tease that certainly points to a third installment of the franchise. By the looks of it, there is going to be a distinctly different approach to the formula. Can’t say we’re waiting breathlessly for another Jumanji, but this one is entertaining enough, especially with an expanded star-studded cast playing multiple characters working their charms.

 Sony Pictures              2 hours 3 minutes             PG-13

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[shoesggdb-blog]

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List of changes: - The game now detects more than 4 controllers for real, no joke. - Car stats are now displayed correctly in the Garage, Tuning menu. - Imperial units are now displayed correctly in the Garage, Upgrades menu. - Track length and/or area is now displayed correctly when using imperial units. - Bandit parts given as rewards now use the correct car name. - RoadSlayer now correctly starts as a Class B car as designed. - Hotshot is now correctly categorized as a Fullsize car. - Boomer and Boomer RS Roll Cage 4 is now correctly named Roof Bar. - A number of cars no longer have duplicate None or Stock parts. - Gremlin no longer has the back exhaust installed after installing the side pipe. - Bandit armor upgrades now have correct weight. - Lap count (and elimination interval) is now displayed correctly in the Pre-Race screen. - Tarmac 2 event in Career series Getting Smashed no longer has 12 laps, but three. - Supervan Smash-Up bonus target requirement is now 500 instead of 800 damage. - Last vehicles on the starting grid no longer occasionally spawn in an incorrect location. - Checkpoints can no longer be skipped when on alternative route. - Harvester no longer gets stuck under the bridges in Motor City. - For clarity, similar controllers are now numbered in the Settings, Advanced. - Various fixes and improvements of environment art. - Various minor user-interface improvements. - MP: The server or the client no longer crashes occasionally when a client (or a bot) quits. - MP: It's now displayed in the server browser whether special vehicles are allowed or disallowed on the server. - MP: Custom (mod) vehicles now work correctly in multiplayer. - MP: Vehicle and vehicle class restrictions now work correctly for custom vehicles. - MP: Server frequency is now correctly shown in the dedicated server console. - MP: It's now possible to override server settings from the command line with the "-server_set" switch, using for example "Wreckfest.exe -s server_config=server_config.cfg -server_set server_name=myserver max_players=12 password=secret" to launch the server. Be aware that spaces are not supported so make sure not use them for example in the server name. - MP: It's now possible to specify SteamIDs of users that will be automatically granted admin privileges in the server config. - MP: A separate, smaller (less than 3GB) server build is now available in a public "Server" branch. It will also soon appear in the Tool library and can be downloaded anonymously.

[thomaswojcikcom]

Anti Aging Exercise Program

This post is going to focus on a few workout templates to try out and tweak if you are over 40.

Exercising each and every day…

…without becoming exhausted in the process.

(Here are the links to part 1 and part 2 of this article.)

The body begins to “default into decay” at some point in your 40’s or 50’s. Daily exercise is the signal your body needs to override the default aging process.

I discuss this in detail in part 2 of this series.

Does daily exercise sounds tough or exhausting?

Well…the workout templates I’m going to lay out are geared towards increasing energy NOT depleting it.

I’ve found that doing something 7 days per week is, in some ways, easier than trying to do it 4-5 days per week.

Daily repetition is the way to create a habit.

…and habits are the way to do things on autopilot (little effort). 

So let’s get right into the workouts.

#1: The Clarence Bass “Lift Once Per Week” HIT Template

This is a workout outlined based around the way Clarence Bass has trained the past 10+ years. This guy has stayed ultra-lean (5-6%) and muscular since 1980.

He is currently in his late 70’s and still super-lean and healthy.

This workout is a modified version of HIT…the one-set-to-failure approach that Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones made popular in the 60’s-90’s.

This is a bare bones outline.

Clarence covers this in greater detail in his books and on his site.

Mon: Whole Body Resistance Training Workout

Tue: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Wed: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Thu: HIIT Followed by 20 Minutes Walking

Fri: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Sat: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Sun: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Exercise Selection: Choose 8-9 exercises that work each muscle group in the body. For instance these 8 exercises would do the trick: Squat, Bench Press, Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Chin Up, Tricep Extension, Barbell Curl, Hanging Leg Raise, and Standing Calf Raise.

Sets and Reps: 2-3 warm-up sets per exercise and just 1 work set. Aim for around 6-10 reps, depending upon goals. Track your workout and try to maintain or improve in reps or weight on a consistent basis.

Only 1 resistance training workout every 7 days?

Clarence Bass took Mike Mentzer’s low volume one-set-to-failure approach and reduced it to the bare minimum.

In fact, if Clarence doesn’t feel 100% recuperated, he will take 9 days in between resistance workouts!

I figured Intermediate-to-Advanced lifters would enjoy this.

A large segment of the people who buy my courses and read my site and newsletter have been training for 15+ years.

The gym can get dull if it feels like the movie Ground Hog’s Day.

This minimal routine could be a fun thing to try out.

In fact…in Nov-Jan this is exactly what I plan on doing.

Bonus: Download my free “Aging and Fitness Gym Workout” + killer fitness tips via email [over 39,000 subscribers]

Then beginning in February…

I will use a routine that is dramatically different (my Visual Impact Frequency Training program).

I like the idea of using a contrasting program to get the body to respond, once a routine gets stale.

Note: Full details of Clarence Bass’s minimal routine are found in his book “Challenge Yourself at Any Age”.

Also…bring tunes that get you pumped up for intense sets.

My preference is early-to-mid 90’s techno.

Trippy techno that they blasted in huge warehouses back in the day, works for me.

Stuff like this gives me serious energy…

Just bring your favorite music to the gym, because it makes a difference!

#2: The Greg O’Gallagher “Minimal RPT” Template

Greg O’Gallagher has a number of popular programs based around gaining size and losing fat with a minimum amount of time working out.

The term “Minimal RPT” describes it well.

RPT stands for Reverse Pyramid Training.

All that means is that you do the heavier low-rep sets, before the lighter high-rep sets.

My recommended tweak for 40+ year olds: Simply add in walking on your off days, and possibly one HIIT cardio workout once per week if you have the energy.

I’ll include his general outline with my added tweaks (walking).

Mon: Workout A – Half the Body Resistance Training

Tue: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Wed: Workout B – Other Half Resistance Training

Thu: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Fri: Workout A – Half the Body Resistance Training

Sat: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Sun: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Exercise Selection: Choose 4-5 exercises for Workout A and 4-5 exercises for Workout B.  The goal will be to work the entire body by the time you go through both workouts.

Example for Workout A: Incline Press, Standing Press, Skull Crusher, Lateral Raise, and Hanging Leg Raise.

Example for Workout B: Weighted Chin Up, Hang Cleans, Barbell Curl, Bulgarian Split Squat, and Standing Calf Raise.

Sets and Reps: After warming up do a set of 5 reps. Rest 2-3 minutes and reduce weight by 10%, then do 7 reps. Rest 2-3 minutes and reduce weight by another 10% and do one last set of 9 reps.

So 3 total work sets per exercise.

Bonus: Download my free “Aging and Fitness Gym Workout” + killer fitness tips via email [over 39,000 subscribers]

This is just a small portion of what Greg teaches.

All of his programs are killer.

Since I mentioned classic techno and shared a video above…

I have to include one of the greatest electronic tracks of all time.

It came out in 1991 and is still amazing to this day.

I just need to talk my gym into turning down the lights, installing a fog machine, and shooting green lasers into the free-weight area!

Okay, back to reality.

#3: Visual Impact “Strength Without Excess Size” Template

Like Greg, I have a number of programs for various goals. 

I’ll share with you one of the setups I recommend when men and women want definition with little to no extra size.

The key here is to lift short of failure in each set.

Training to failure is what breaks down and builds the muscle.

Not training to failure allows you to train each muscle group more often…since less recovery time is required.

Repeated frequent sessions, that don’t break the muscle down, are an ideal way to build definition without excess mass.

Mon: Workout A – Back, Chest, Abs (cardio)

Tue: Workout B – Shoulders, Triceps, and Biceps (cardio)

Wed: Legs and HIIT Cardio (or just HIIT cardio)

Thu: Workout A – Back, Chest, Abs (cardio)

Fri: Workout B – Shoulders, Triceps, and Biceps (cardio)

Sat: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Sun: Walk 45-60 Minutes

Exercise Selection: Two exercises per body part. Simply choose exercises that you feel in the target muscle group.

Example for Workout A: One Arm Dumbbell Row, Lat Pulldown, Barbell Bench Press, Incline Dumbbell Press, Lying Leg Raise, and Planks.

Example for Workout B: Seated Dumbbell Press, Lateral Raise, Alternate Dumbbell Curl, Concentration Curl, Triceps Kickback, and Lying Triceps Extension.

Example for Workout C (optional): Squat and Dumbbell Step Ups. A lot of women in particular have larger legs than they would like. In this case I recommend that they just do legs once per week…or skip entirely until the legs slim down a bit. The HIIT cardio will help maintain leg definition.

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Sets and Reps: 4-5 sets of 5 reps for most exercises. The key is to stop 2-3 reps short of failure for muscle groups you don’t want to add size to. Higher reps can create a “pump” in the muscle, which contributes to growth. Since this particular routine is strength without size, we can avoid that by sticking to lower reps.

Note: Are you a woman who wants to add a ton of muscle? No problem…there are a gazillion programs that can teach you to do that. My women’s program is aimed at helping women get stronger without having to go up a few sizes in jeans.

One last thing…

You can almost always benefit from walking.

Feel worn out?

Walk for 45-60 minutes.

Don’t have time to get to the gym?

Walk for 45-60 minutes.

The reason I wanted to show Clarence Bass’s minimal routine, is to get you to realize that it is fine to skip a workout if you don’t feel recovered.

Just get in some sort of daily exercise and you will be good!

I really do believe that moving more NOT less, is what improves long-term health.

Hopefully these workout templates give you some ideas on how to incorporate daily exercise into your life. 

Sincerely,

-Rusty Moore

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