#Especially since my caring about the Ms is a very recent development

[harboneger]

Just wrote my grandpa a 1400 word email about the Servais trade. Baseball may not be fun right now but at least it gives me wonderful opportunities to infodump

[shirefantasies]

Am I too late to join in on matchups? If so please just ignore this ask and know that I'm sorry

I'd like a male ship please. I'm an autistic girl with adhd and a couple chronic illnesses like joint pain especially in my hands and dyspraxia so I'm super clumsy. I'm 4' 10" tall with long wavy auburn hair, glasses, pale skin that's covered in freckles and moles and a petite figure. I'm very friendly and bubbly but I can also be kinda asocial and don't actively seek out interaction much. I enjoy writing, drawing (recently I've been getting really into MS Paint art), video games, reading, hiking and researching things that interest me. I'm very intelligent and also witty, I'm actually pretty good at making people laugh! I work as a librarian and am hoping to become a linguist someday too. Thanks!

"Hey sweetie, here's my additions for my matchup description! Thanks so much for taking the time to do all these ships, you're a true saint. I hope these don't conflict with the draft you have set up already

🪆 I’m both very level-headed and very stubborn, and I can also be quite fierce and even argumentative but that’s fairly rare. I just don’t tend to back down easily, and I’m a very resilient person

🪆 I can be a bit of a homebody, especially since I’m disabled, and I get very attached to wherever I happen to be living. I like having a garden whenever possible too, even if it's an indoor one.

🪆 I’m very friendly and sweet, but I also like messing with people a little. This is especially fun because I have unusual interests like botanical poisons or the science of decomposition. I can tend to be pretty morbid without even realizing it. That being said, my friendly side is no facade and I genuinely love taking care of people.

🪆 I especially love cooking for people and trying to recipes for others

🪆 I enjoy working out but am still very skinny. It’s actually funny how my large arms contrast with my Disney Princess-esque waist

🪆 I like to take relationships very very slowly and develop a solid friendship before considering dating someone, so I really don't want someone who takes things too fast. I'm also not a fan of overly flirty people, even if they're completely loyal to me I just get turned off by over the top displays of affection. 

🪆 I have legendary pain tolerance and tend to laugh off injuries more than anything

🪆 I’m addicted to buying new books, particularly on witchcraft and botany

🪆 I know a LOT about different types of spirits and deities, especially as a witch. I could go on and on about spirit lore for hours

Thanks, have a great day!"

Not too late at all! & I was really early on in it so this is fine! I can kind of work to combine them in fact 😁 They just take a long time lmao 😅 hope it’s ok I went LoTR because your man is…

Frodo!

You aren't used to being approached while you work; quite the contrary, in fact, many passersby almost seem to treat you like you don't exist at all when you appear in the peripheries of their vision hunched over your books and scrolls. Which, admittedly, is suitable to you as your work is quite consuming. Quenya translations do not come without focus, after all. So when a voice sounds at your back, your clumsy side emerges as you startle, almost overturning your ink pot before a small, pale hand darts out to catch and right it. “My apologies,” you hear from behind you, “I was just curious what form of Elvish that was.”

Turning around, you see a hobbit, dark-haired and blue-eyed and shyly smiling at you. He is clad in a white shirt and brown pants and something about the navy vest he wears gives him a studious air. You smile. “Quenya, very old. In fact this book,” you motion over the tome you’ve been comparing against the ancient scroll, “is a chronicle of the witches of old. Quick different from anything we see these days.” A mixture of teasing and apprehension crossed the hobbit’s visage. “And what are you doing with a book like that?” “Looking for a way to raise my undead army,” you tease back, leaning forward toward him in your chair. At that, both of you laugh and exchange introductions. His name is Frodo and it would seem his uncle is quite a student of languages as well, teaching Frodo newer, more practical forms of Elvish and studying some Khuzdul himself. In fact, he is only there outside the Shire to have an old book of his uncle’s appraised.

You can’t help the wave of distraction that overtakes you after you offer your own skills, though; adjusting your spectacles and pushing your chair back, you cannot resist asking Frodo about his Shire. He pulls back a chair of his own, taking up a spot at your side with a smile you can only describe as lovestruck. Stubborn as you can be, you give no fight to the derailment of your work as Frodo speaks of rolling green hills, warm hearths and sunny gardens and flowers hung upon fences. You understand his expression completely, a sigh escaping your own lips at his vividly gorgeous words. "We may know little of your witchcraft or translations in the Shire, but it's home. The greatest home I could ask for." He had you at sunny gardens. "I would love to see it," you reply, setting your quill down. "He isn't always fond of guests," Frodo chuckles, folding his arms on the table, "but I think someone with your knowledge and spirit would quite amuse him. Come and visit us. I will have Uncle Bilbo convinced by the time you get there." "Oh, he needs convincing, does he?" "Perhaps you could put a spell of some sort on him."

The older hobbit you quickly learn is Frodo’s uncle Bilbo still looks surprised by your presence at his nephew’s side, but he gets a glitter in his eyes you expect to be quite characteristic once you bring up your meeting with Frodo. You end up talking to Bilbo as much as his nephew at dinner, in fact, sharing many glances with the proudly smiling Frodo as you hear the most amazing tales of dwarf-song and dragon fire and even time spent alongside Lord Elrond himself in the great homely house. Bilbo chuckles at the way your eyes light up, your questions about the magic woven around Rivendell and how different it is from the small spells you’ve attempted. That certainly gets the old hobbit’s eyebrows shooting up! At the end of it, you agree with Frodo’s assessment of the Shire’s warm hearths and have continued invitations to see your friends.

And that is definitely how you see it for quite some time, after all you work with Bilbo as much as you run around the Shire woods with Frodo, dodging his cousins plucking up mushrooms and trading botany facts and tips with Samwise, Bag End’s gardener, while Frodo looks on with the smile you’ve grown to love. Suspicion that he is just teasing you rises one day when he looks at you fondly, half-asking, half making a statement to you. "You really have fallen for the Shire, haven't you?" Of course you have. The hobbits admire your strength, at least for the most part- those that poke at you about big folk disturbing the peace or the Bagginses stirring things up again risk your comebacks, after all, the bite of your wit tearing perfectly back against the bore of their lives and personalities. Every time you swivel from such interactions, there is Frodo and that fond smile that suddenly you aren't so sure how to respond to. You don't know what to do when he takes your hand to show you something or catches you when your feet slip out from under you, hands about your waist. You don't mind, especially given Frodo's knowledge that your hands get achy and cold and somehow his find them right as it sets in, and beside that he was nothing but a gentleman to you. That in and of itself seems to be the sudden source of your hysteria right up to the moment Frodo rises onto his tiptoes and presses his lips ever so gently to yours. He's told you again and again over your compared translation notes, over twisting little charms and flower crowns together, over even blood and bandages and your laughter over the way your dear hobbit frets while you feel next to nothing.

You are lucky in the gift of Frodo as you frequently tell him, as you make known when you take his arm on a hike and share in that fond smile he gives you. Frodo is a gentle soul, affectionate but not so overt in his advance as to deter you. To put it bluntly, Frodo is not a sexual person, so the nature of your relationship as it is and the love you share in your spent time are plenty to satisfy him. Forever you have someone to bring you tea and a kiss to the crown of your auburn head as you pore over documents, someone to bake for and an uncle who laughs heartily at every insistence of yours that he needs to take you to Rivendell to study their wards, throwing in the Lonely Mountain for good measure. Between the three of you, Bag End fills with books in no time, but you certainly cannot complain when some of them are quite ancient indeed, teasing challenges by your favorite hobbits, one of whom sees himself in you and the other who simply sees the beauty in you while you work. Even if sometimes you work a little too hard and he has to help you back into your now-shared hobbit hole to rest your back after a little too long sketching, weeding, and planting in the garden you are beautiful, shining with sweat and dabbed with proof of your connection to the earth. You certainly are the best thing Frodo has brought home on an errand.

Taglist: @lokilover476 @fuckyoumakeart @mossthebogwitch @ibabblealot @kilibaggins @stormchaser819 @pirate-lord-of-narnia @datglutengoblin @letmelickyoureyeballs | Reply/Ask/Message to join 🥰

[assassuub]

In Regards to Fundamentally Ruining Ms. Marvel as a Character

I assume all of this has been said before by people better qualified to speak on these matters, but my anger over the recent... developments with Ms. Marvel has burnt out, leaving me just... sad and so very, very tired.

So these are just my few cents on the matter, before cutting most, if not all, Marvel content from my life.

Even beyond the grossly humiliating manner in which she was killed in a rather mediocre P*ter P*rker comic she shouldn't have been part of in the first place (regardless of how little she was actually present), this "N*w Mutant" she's been replaced with has so many glaring issues.

The Ms. Marvel that I loved, that I've experienced grow over years of character development wouldn't have suddenly reverted to a feckless fangirl, desperate for validation from adults that she doesn't know nor has interacted with. She's more naive than ever, even; the idea that a brown Pakistani-American Muslim girl needs to be lectured about how discrimination works by E*ma Fr*st (a White Blonde Girlboss Supreme, Race Supremacist, and Prior Terrorist) is not only laughable, but downright insidious and disgusting.

The character that I loved would never have discarded her family, friends, and team as easily as this mutant replacement did. Her statement that she didn't expect former-mentor Iron Man or supposedly-current-friend-and-teammate Nova (Sam Alexander) to come to her aid since she's "playing for the other team now" was deeply insulting. Her decision to reveal her identity to the world as an impossible "Inhu-mutant" was a shockingly naive and downright stupid idea that someone who has so zealously guarded her secret identity would never suggest, especially at a time when "anti-mutant hysteria" is at its peak; when it would so immediately bring harm to the people that she loved.

But that is a fundamental problem with the X-M*n and mutants as a whole: there is no room in the Marvel universe for them to exist without pushing them as a ludicrous allegory for discrimination. They can only exist as a mutant; only for the X-M*n's failing culture wars. Ms. Marvel especially struggles to fit into the X-M*n framework of discarding everything personal to push the X-M*n's ideology; where massive swathes of X-M*n simply lack any meaningful ties to the human world, Ms. Marvel has family and friends that accept and love her; family and friends that she wouldn't simply discard to deepthroat X-M*n boot.

Ms. Marvel was one of my favorite characters. I loved seeing her perspective on the world as a Pakistani-American Muslim. I loved her interacting with a wide variety of people, leading her team of individual heroes and friends. I loved that she and her Champions wanted to make the world a better place for all.

But that's a thing of the past now. The new, mutantier Ms. Marvel only cares about the X-M*n; about the X-M*n's stupid, segregationist ethnonation. She has abandoned her family and friends that I enjoyed seeing her interact with to desperately seek the validation of people she's never had a conversation with. Her values that led her to make her own team to fight to make the world a better place for all have been discarded for X-M*n ethnonationalism.

Ms. Marvel's dead. She died ignominiously, begging for validation from P*ter P*rker, only to be replaced by a bootlicking X-M*n prop that has fundamentally ruined everything that I loved about the character.

Also: The potential of an Ironheart story wherein she has a debut as a Magitech Hero was immense and something that I was looking forward to, as well. As you might imagine, I am also enraged that it was thrown away off-panel in favor of having the Iron Man comic be usurped by some witless X-M*n swill, but the ruination of Ms. Marvel is a higher priority.

[benis-chillin]

Sonic Wolf 6 Profiles: Jack the Wolf

Well, this blog's recent glut of pornbot followers are about to get a shock.

So basically, part of the reason I wanted a Tumblr is to have an outlet for fanfic stuff. I just don't think Twitter cares that much, even if I do try to promote it there.

But of course, I needed to let some context and backlog build, so it's only NOW getting fanfic posts.

Nobody will care about these except for me, but I still want to post some behind the scenes and lore stuff about my ongoing Sonic fanfic series: Wolf 6. It's free, and it's for fun, just like all of my fanfics!

So, why are they called Wolf 6? Because I suck at naming things and couldn't think of a better name.

I might do some stuff on the individual stories if I don't feel that the character stuff intertwines with it enough, but some of this stuff(like my Shadow Android storyline I wanna do at some point)needs the full context to build. Now that "Now and Then" is out, though, I think some focus posts on the main three(I've been thinking of dubbing them "Team Wolf," but that sounds kinda uninspired)and their Wolf 6 teammates are finally ready to go, starting with the patriarch of this bizzaro family, Jack the Wolf.

Name: Jack the Wolf

Age: 21

Bio: Jack was a fairly normal wolf before the Eggman War. A master chef and overall positive person, you would never think that he'd be one for war, much less leading a team into fierce battle. However, during Infinite's first strike, he lost the love of his life, Sarah. After that, his entire personality shifted. He became cold and distant, donning a facemask and goggles to hide his emotions on the battlefield, leading the Resistance Unit, Wolf 6, on the toughest jobs. Now retired after the war, he lives with Cyber and Raccoon in the Mystic Ruins. In battle, he uses a Void Wispon, and also wields an energy blade gifted to him by former teammate Edge, which can easily sweep through Badniks for a short period after unsheathing, or can be swung to absorb enemy fire, and send it back to them in a large wave.

Please stifle your laughter at my oh-so edgy OC.

So Jack has an interesting creation history. You see, he was the OC I made when I first played Sonic Forces, which yes, is where I make all of my Sonic OCs. It's cheaper than hiring an artist that I can't afford(and to be clear, they deserve that money I don't have. I just don't have the money).

His look developed naturally as I played the game, with the black and white battle suit, accented with yellow here and there. His face mask and goggles giving him a mysterious visage. The only thing I added when he became an actual character was the cowboy hat to make his look more complete.

But of course, this just begs the question: Why a wolf? And why is he red?

Because the wolf avatars in Forces have the ring attract ability, and red is my favorite color. That's literally the only reason. May have thought subtly of the Gadget OC config, but I don't remember.

Anyway, these pictures actually omit a small detail that's in the stories. This happens a lot with the Forces OCs, so get used to it.

Basically, he has a black utility belt, Batman style, and a sheath on his back for his energy sword. I've used MS Paint to highlight the general shape of these details in red.

Ah yes, you may have noticed the energy blade. Basically, I felt that purely having him wield his Void Wispon(chosen because Void is my favorite Wisp)was very bland and not Sonic-like, especially since a theme of Jack's character is that he's just a regular dude caught up in all of the weirdness of Sonic canon. He wants to spend a lovely evening with his cyborg girlfriend and adopted feral child, but he needs the power to keep up in a world of super-sonic hedgehogs and egg-themed despots.

Anyway, the energy blade stays fairly short when not energized. It's barely even sharp. However, it lengthens when energized and activated(for short bursts, to keep it from being TOO OP), displaying a rainbow effect similar to one of the pictures below. That effect is because I thought it would look cool in the non-existent art of it in action.

But of course, that's him in battle, how does he look OFF of the battlefield?

He's naked, that's what.

(Btw, don't take that wrist launcher and those shoes as canon. Forces limitations)

(Also, Jack is DEFINITELY a fuzzy slippers guy)

As mentioned before, Jack's just a normal dude with deep-ass war trauma trying to live his life as normally as possible. He doesn't want to wear anything special. Heck, the only reason he started wearing the battlesuit was so he'd always be able to make the sacrifice after what happened with OnePunch in a scene depicted at the beginning of "Those who left us behind." I think this first death is where he started clinging to any sense of normalcy, to the point of not wanting to kick Edge off of the team when it was obvious he needed to be kicked off. But of course, that's just some internal logic, so it may read differently to you.

For those curious, here's what he was wearing in that scene.

And while we're here, here's a reference mock-up I made back in the day of the outfit he was wearing in the third story of "3 Tales of the Chaotix."

Fun fact, in the original draft of that story, Cyber gave his ass a playful smack before winking at him. I toned it down in the final edit, but I figured I'd mention it here so y'all would know that I'm not COMPLETELY asexual.

Anyway, a recent retcon to Jack's civilian form is facial scars and a damaged right eye. I avoided this in the initial version of "Prototypes," since I didn't want to come off as an edgelord, but as a writer, I've grown to accept the fact that I am, in fact, an edgelord, so scars he gets in my signature MS Paint fashion.

Also, I chose to damage his right eye because I'm missing my right eye IRL. I think he can actually see a bit out of his, though. It at least perceives light to some degree.

He also gained a new permanent scar on his right arm and hand from the final battle in "Those who left us behind," btw. I'll try to bring it up in story at some point, but for now that's just lame-ass Tumblr lore.

And so, that's Jack. If you read through this all, and decided it interests you, here are some story links:

The full Wolf 6 collection on A03: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2802334

A Tumblr textpost made to promote Then and Now: https://www.tumblr.com/benis-chillin/698601893325389824/a-regular-run-of-the-mill-ambush

Alright, I'll see you guys next time I decide to upload these for best girl, Cyber the Canary! Take care!

[argyle-s]

Hello,

My name is Molly Bragg. I’m a bi trans gender author who has writing for almost three decades. I’m passionate about creating the kind of content I enjoy, which means stories that center around queer women, I’ve recently completed a original queer genre romance novel and I’m looking for help covering the cost of having it professionally edited.

To give you a preview of what you would be supporting, here’s Chapter 1:

***

Beth watched the buildings pass as the air cab carried her over Los Angeles taking in the changes the last ten years had wrought on the city.  Most of the low-income areas had been bulldozed, and those areas were now filled with alien arcologies.  Massive buildings that stretched kilometers into the sky, each one a city unto itself, and in their shadows, the skyscrapers that had once been incredible achievements of human architecture and engineering.  The buildings which had been hubs of human industry and centers of financial empires were now reduced to little more than playhouses for the backwards primitives who had the misfortune to be born natives of the Galactic Hegemony’s latest colony world. If they’d had another century or two things might have been different.  Humanity had been advancing quickly.  They wouldn’t have been on par with the technology of the Hegemony by any stretch, but they might have been able to dictate better terms.  The Gatekeepers hadn’t cared.  The gate had drifted into a stable orbit in the outer system, and the Gatekeepers had announced that, like it or not, the Sol system was being added to their vast network of space fold gates.  The first ships from the Hegemony had arrived just a month later, and ever since, Earth had been on the road to becoming the galactic equivalent of a banana republic. So far, her job and her savings had let her avoid the worst of what was happening, but unemployment was at a record high as alien automation systems replaced human labor in almost every sector.  The company she worked for had shifted gears from research and development to reverse engineering alien tech and had seen a short windfall in profits, but that was starting to vanish as the inevitable inflation drove prices up and the people they had been selling reverse engineered tech could no longer afford it. Beth wasn’t really that worried for herself.  She’d been poor before, and however much she might hate the idea she could survive being poor again.  What brought her to LA today was Sam.  Sam was getting close to graduation, and she had acceptance letters from every college that could afford postage.  A 4.0 unweighted GPA, high SAT scores, and a couple of impressive summer internships meant that schools were falling all over themselves to offer her full rides.  Ten years ago, that would have all but ensured her a bright future.  These days a PhD from Harvard, Yale, or MIT wasn’t worth the cost of paper to print the degree. People still made noise about human exceptionalism and about taking humanity’s place in the larger galactic community, but Beth had spent a lot of time over the last decade studying the history of colonization on Earth, and it never once ended well for the people being colonized.Regardless of what  happened to the colonized peoples as a whole, there were always individual exceptions...  people who avoided the fate of their brethren.  It was her determination to ensure her daughter’s future that brought her to LA today.   While billionaires had started buying their kids spots in alien schools the moment they were  allowed out of the Sol System, Beth didn’t have that option.  She was well off enough that she and Sam weren’t feeling the effects of the colonization yet, but nowhere near rich enough to buy a ticket off-world for Sam, much less pay for an off-world education.  Instead, she’d spent years looking into other options.  So far, none of her work had paid off, but she hadn’t given up hope.   She was headed to a meeting with a broker who helped place kids into programs that offered grants, scholarships and all expenses paid exchange programs.  She was going to find a way to offer her daughter a better future than most of Earth’s children could look forward to.  No matter what it took. *** “Ms. Murray, it’s so nice to meet you,” the man said as he held out his hand.  Beth took it and gave it a quick shake while trying her best not to let on that he reminded her of a used car salesman.  She needed his help, and it wouldn’t do to offend him. “Nice to meet you too, Mr. Cooper.” “Please, call me Owen,” he said.  “Right this way.” He led her out of the small, brightly decorated waiting room and into a small, neat office.  He gestured to a chair in front of his desk as he walked around behind it and took his seat. “So, I just want to make sure we’re on the same page here Ms. Murray.  You are looking for an opportunity for your daughter to continue her education off-world, is that correct?” “Yes,” Beth said. “Okay.  I just wanted to make sure that we’re both looking for the same outcome.  Now, I’ve gone through Samantha’s records.  Academically, she’s in great shape, and the extra-curriculars are good too.  I’ve been able to find at least twenty different programs that will accept her.” “That’s great,” Beth said, though she didn’t believe it.  She’d heard the exact same thing from more than a dozen other brokers, and she suspected she wasn’t going to hear anything new.  “What are the terms?” “It varies from program to program.  All of them require a period of indenture, but some are as low as eight years.” Beth tried to hide her disappointment.  She wanted to give her daughter a better future, not sell her into virtual slavery for almost a decade. “Owen, I’m looking for a program without any period of indenture.  I know they exist, but you’re the fifteenth broker I’ve talked to and none of them have offered even an application to an indenture free program.” “They do exist, but Ms. Murray, you must understand.  There are a lot of people who want their children to receive an off-world education, and slots which don’t require a period of indentured service are in especially high demand.” “I understand that, but I haven’t gotten high demand, I’ve gotten completely unavailable.  I’d like to know why no one will even consider letting her apply.” Owen looked at her for almost a minute, not saying anything, before he finally leaned back in his chair and let out a weary sigh. “Honestly, Ms. Murray?” “Please.” “Those slots go to the kids of billionaires, presidents, CEO’s, ambassadors, kings and other high level government types.  Each year, a handful will go to some poor kids from the ghetto so that they can parade them around as part of a puff piece about how generous the aliens are, but that’s just window dressing.  The truth is, your daughter is neither rich enough, nor poor enough to ever get one of those slots.” Beth had to bite her tongue to keep from swearing.  She wasn’t surprised at all, but she was angry and frustrated.  She’d half suspected something like that was going on, but hearing it spelled out so clearly was still enough to make her blood boil. “Isn’t there anything, any way that I can get her off-world without selling her into slavery?” “Ms. Murray, Indentured Service is hardly slavery.” “It’s close enough.” Owen stared at her for a moment, and then shook his head. “What?” “It’s nothing.” “It’s something,” she said.  “Please.” He sighed.  “It’s not something I would normally offer to someone of your background.” “What does that mean?” “It means that some aliens have cultural practices that people of Western European descent find unpalatable, while those from other cultures would find those practices perfectly normal.” “I’m not sure I follow.” “Ms. Murray, you are aware that, much to the surprise of every biologist on the planet, there are a number of species with whom humanity shares a degree of reproductive compatibility?” “I am,” she said. “Well, there is a species called the Sionnach.  They’re native to a planet called Talamh in the Grian system, and they bear a rather striking resemblance to humans.  There are differences of course, but the basic morphology is the same.  The reason I bring this up is that about eighty years ago, Talamh suffered an environmental catastrophe that wiped out nearly ninety-five percent of their population in the span of a few weeks.  Because of their reproductive practices prior to the incident, the Sionnach found themselves facing a sort of genetic bottleneck, and they decided that the best way to alleviate this was to seek an outside infusion of genetic material.” “They’re looking for breeding stock,” Beth said. “Yes.” “You can’t be serious.” “And this is why I don’t offer this option to white people,” Owen said.  “Ms. Murray, I’m not suggesting you sell your daughter off as some kind of brood mare.  The Sionnach take selection of their mates very, very seriously.  They gather applications from a number of candidates, and the Sionnach in question reviews them, and selects the ones they like.  Then, their family reviews their choices, and select a candidate.  The candidate is then brought to the house of their prospective spouse, and they spend a period of time together.  Roughly five hours.  During that time they talk, get to know each other, and decide if they want to proceed.  If both parties agree, they enter a five year engagement.  During those five years, the candidate is treated as a member of the house.  They are given a stipend, they’re educated, they’re housed, fed, provided with medical care, and they undergo medical procedures which allow them to survive on Talamh without special equipment.” “What sort of medical procedures?” “Talamh is a high gravity world with a higher-than-normal concentration of heavy metals in the environment.  Your daughter would need procedures to be able to stand up to the local gravity, and to be able to filter out metals she would not normally be able to purge from her system.  She would also undergo a type of gene therapy which would make her more resistant to radiation and give her the ability to see parts of the infrared spectrum and hear sounds normally outside of the range of human hearing.” “That sounds dangerous.” “The Sionnach are one of the founding species of the Hegemony.  Their technology is thousands of years more advanced than ours, and they’ve been doing these procedures since before humans built their first cities.” Beth shook her head.  “An arranged marriage…  I don’t know.” “If I’m honest, it’s a long shot.  You would have to take your daughter for a screening.  She’d have to pass the screening for any sort of genetic issues that would eliminate her, then she would have to be selected by one of the Sionnach.  If that happens, you and your family would have to travel to Talamh at the expense of the Sionnach house that selected her, and your daughter would have to get through the initial interview.  But if she does, she would get the education you want for her.” “And what happens at the end of the five years if she decides she doesn’t want to marry the person who selected her.” “Then she’s free to walk away.  She’d be given a small amount of money, and passage to anywhere within the Hegemony, but she’d be free to do what she wants.” “No indenture?  No repayment of expenses?” Beth asked. “No,” Owen said.  “But again, it’s a long shot, and I take my normal fee just to put you through the application process, whether she gets selected or not.” “How many humans get selected?” Beth asked. “She’d be the first,” Owen said. “What’s your fee?” Beth asked. “Five hundred Hegemony credits.” Beth winced.  Given current exchange rates, that was almost ten thousand dollars. “How quickly would we know?” Beth asked. Owen turned and woke up his computer.  She watched as he pulled up a page and scrolled through before clicking on a link. “There’s only one family looking right now.  Applications are due by the end of next week.  You’d know in a month, tops.” Beth thought about it for a moment.  It was a longshot, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was a good idea, but it was better than an indenture, so she reached for her credit card. *** Sam looked up from her homework at the sound of a light knock on her bedroom door.  The door was wide open, and her mother was standing there looking at her.  Sam couldn’t quite place the expression on her face but given the appointment she had earlier, Sam didn’t have any doubt about what it meant. “No luck, huh?” she asked, trying not to let the relief she felt creep into her voice.  She knew an off-world education would open a lot of doors for her and give her opportunities that she wouldn’t have otherwise, and she really did want to go off-world, travel in space and see other planets someday, but the idea of living on another planet for four or more years was both frightening and overwhelming. “Not much,” her mom said.  “He did have one program you could apply for that doesn’t include an indenture period.  I emailed you the link to the application.  I need you to fill it out today, because I made an appointment for tomorrow for you to go for the physical and psych scan that’s required.” “Tomorrow?  Mom, tomorrow’s Jenny’s birthday party.” “I know, sweetie, and I’m sorry.  I know you were looking forward to the party, but you might have to miss it.  I’ve already got us portal tokens, and tomorrow is the only day we can go before the deadline without you missing school.  I made the appointment for as early as I could, so you should get home in time to go.” Sam wanted to argue, but she already knew it was useless.  She hadn’t missed a day of school since halfway through the eighth grade, and she knew her mom wasn’t going to let her start less than a month before graduation.  She also knew her mom wasn’t going to let her pass up a chance at an off-world scholarship just to go to a birthday party.  Even if the birthday girl was her best friend who she’d been crushing on since Kindergarten.  Of course, her mom didn’t exactly know that last part because she hadn’t told her she liked girls.  She’d considered telling her a few times, but she’d always changed her mind at the last minute, because if her mom knew she liked girls, she might decide that Jenny was a distraction that Sam didn’t need in her life and that wasn’t a battle she wanted to fight. “Fine,” she said, reaching for her laptop.  “I’ll do the application now.” “Thank you.  And Sam, I love you.” “I love you too, mom,” she said. Her mom left and Sam opened up the email link, which took her to a form that asked her for an invite code.  She checked the email and sure enough, there was a code for her.  She copied it and pasted it into the form, and when she did, it took her to the next page, and a lot of the information was prepopulated, including her latest ID card photo, name and age, along with her school transcripts and medical records.  The stuff that was left for her to fill out read more like a dating profile than a college application. The first section was hobbies and interests and activities.  She thought about it for a minute and decided to just be honest instead of going through all the BS she usually did for the college apps.  She put down soccer, swimming, surfing, electronics, robotics, reading, martial arts, camping and motocross.  She attached pictures of herself in her soccer uniform, along with a couple of video clips from some of the team’s games, then she added a few videos of her swim meets, and a couple of pictures and some videos of her surfing.  She pulled up her YouTube folder and attached a few build videos for some of her robotics projects, along with the parts lists, schematics, models for the 3D printed parts, and the source code for the micro-controllers she’d written.  She added a picture of her holding two trophies from a local Karate tournament where she’d placed second in sparring, and third in bo staff, and added a few videos of her matches.  She also added a few pictures from her camping trips and a picture of her sitting on a dirt bike, along with a video Jenny had taken of her running one of the beginner courses, then pulled up her ebook library and dumped the list of all her books, listed her favorite movies and attached all her playlists from her music library. The next section was a little weird.  It asked about what sort of foods she liked, so she gave a list.  Then is asked whether she enjoyed various activities.  Most of them were fairly common things.  Theater, music, art.  A couple she had to check the cultural database link.  She was surprised and excited when she found out that whoever was sponsoring this program apparently considered dragon racing important enough to put on the questionnaire. All in all, she spent about two hours filling out the application, and once she was done, she hit submit, and then pulled out her cell phone and opened up her text messages with Jenny. Sam:  ‘Bad news.  I might miss your party.’ Jenny:  ‘What?!!!’ Sam:  ‘Mom’s dragging me to New York in the morning for a physical and a psych scan for a scholarship.’ Jenny:  ‘She’s still on that off-world college kick?’ Sam:  ‘Yeah.’ Jenny:  ‘Girl, you don’t want to go to college with ET’s’ Sam:  ‘I’ve got to get accepted before I have to worry about it.’ Jenny:  ‘Come by my place when you’re done.  Even if you miss the party, I want to see you.’ Sam:  ‘Will do.  See you tomorrow.’ Jenny;  ‘Night.’ Sam sat down her phone and looked at her homework.  She’d wanted to finish before dinner, but there was no way that was happening now.  She grabbed it anyway and went back to work, trying to get as much done as possible before her mom called her downstairs. 

***

End Chapter 1

***

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[gaming]

Indie Game Spotlight: Cuphead

Grab a friend and dive into this week’s Indie Game Spotlight with one of Tumblr’s favorites, Cuphead! Cuphead is a run and gun action game with a big focus on boss battles! Playing as brothers (and best pals) Cuphead and Mugman, you travel the colorful Inkwell Isles, taking on massive transforming bosses that often fill the whole screen, and trying to defeat them to collect soul contracts that you need in order to pay back your debt to The Devil. The game, deeply inspired by the Moldenhauer brothers' love of video games from the ‘80s and ‘90s and classic 1930s cartoons, was created using the authentic techniques of the era—2D hand animation on paper, watercolor painting, and orchestral big-band jazz music!

We spoke with Chad Moldenhauer (Studio MDHR Co-Director and Cuphead Art Director) and Jared Moldenhauer (Studio MDHR Co-Director and Cuphead Lead Designer) about the inspiration for the game, working with family, and their upcoming Netflix show! Read on!

How did the experience of playing co-op games together as kids shape Cuphead?

Chad: I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Cuphead wouldn’t exist without the experiences Jared and I had playing co-op games together growing up. When we started talking seriously about making a game together, we immediately gravitated to our memories of playing tough-as-nails run and gun titles with one another or passing the controller back and forth to beat a particularly hard section in our favorite platformers. These memories solidified for us that we wanted to make a game that paid homage to that kind of shared experience. And then, of course, throughout all of the development, we drew on our love of these games for the art and design of Cuphead—they helped shape everything from attack patterns and boss transformations to easter eggs strewn throughout the game. It’s so gratifying to hear from players about the fun they’ve had playing Cuphead with a friend or family member; to have had a small part in the kinds of memories that fuelled the game’s creation.

Fun fact: the reason the more adventurous and headstrong Cuphead is P1, and the younger, more easygoing Mugman is P2, directly relates to the memories Jared and I have playing co-op games together. As with many older brothers during that era of gaming, I always had (and used!) veto power to ensure that I was player 1, while Jared had to accept his “younger brother” fate as player 2! 

How has it been, working with family on the game? Do you have any advice for indie game developers who want to create games with their friends or family?

Chad: It’s hard to give one-size-fits-all advice because everyone’s story is different. In our case, making a game was something we wanted to do from a very early age, and I think the knowledge that we were working on something we both cared deeply about carried us through a lot of the tougher parts of developing the game. It’s especially crucial to make sure you’re going into it with a clear idea of the potential difficulties of working with family or close friends. We love what we do and we feel deeply lucky to be doing it, but sometimes it can be all-consuming. For example, Jared flew in not too long ago to surprise me for my birthday, and somehow work still managed to be a big focus of the trip. It’s definitely the kind of thing that will change the way you think about “family time” and that’s important to know going in!

Since the Nintendo Switch port in April, how has it felt to see the Cuphead community grow?

Jared: We’ve really been blown away by the warm reception and positive feedback for Cuphead from Nintendo Switch players. For Chad and me, the chance to even bring the game to a system made by a company that we grew up so reverent of was really a dream come true. I think we’ve said it before, but we owe so much to early Nintendo classics like Contra on NES and Super Mario World on the SNES.

Watching players connect with the game on a system like the Nintendo Switch, where they can take it on the go and experience it in new ways, has been wonderful. I think the most humbling sentiment of all so far has been hearing some people say that playing Cuphead together has brought back memories of their first gaming experiences with siblings on the NES and SNES. That’s such a full-circle thing to hear, and truly an honor.

Congratulations to the team for getting a Netflix show! How involved is the team in that new project?

Chad: Thank you so much! The idea that Cuphead will now be a cartoon is wild to us, especially since the game is also influenced by the cartoons of the 1930s! We couldn’t have dreamed of anything like this when we started out, and we’re really excited to see the world of the Inkwell Isles through a new lens. We’ve mostly been working with the team at Netflix to help them get a sense of how we see the characters and the world they live in. With that said, veteran showrunners Dave Wasson and Cosmo Segurson are heading the team, and we’re constantly floored by the group they’ve assembled—from storyboard artists to writers to concept designers. We think fans and newcomers alike will be really impressed when they see what the team at Netflix has been creating.

What has been the most interesting thing to come out of creating Cuphead?

Chad: We’ve been so lucky to have the game reach some people we greatly look up to and admire. From getting the opportunity to work with legendary animator James Baxter at E3 in 2018 to collaborating with Todd McFarlane and his team on the creation of our recent Construction Kit toys, we’ve had some very surreal experiences thanks to Cuphead!

With that said, the most humbling thing has been seeing players connect with the game, and realizing how much support there is out there for 2D hand-animated content. Any time we receive fan art, or a note from a player telling us about a special experience they've had with the game, it really solidifies why we do what we do.

Are you itching to know more? Head over to the website to find out where to get the game, as well as its upcoming expansion, The Delicious Last Course, which will include a brand new Isle full of boss challenges, weapons, and charms to earn, as well as a new playable character—Ms. Chalice! It’s due out in 2020 on all platforms on which Cuphead is available. 

[soysaucevictim]

“I started thinking about human nature...”

Summary: Janus thinks Remus started off on entirely the wrong right foot with him. This is how they became best friends since. (Sanders Sides, Gym Rat AU. One-shot. Ao3 link.)

Genres: Slice of Life, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Tragicomedy, Comedy-Drama, I Don’t Know Man

Characters: Janus and Remus centric. Roman supporting.

Relationships: Dukeceit (platonic), Creativitwins (familial), Pre-Roceit (ambiguous)

Warnings: Injuries/blood, Creativitwin angst, implicit queerphobia, implicit ableism, physical abuse, disownment, chronic illness (psoriasis), Enemies to Best Friends, Remus Being Remus, Remus Is a Little Shit, Trans Masc / Nonbinary Remus, Janus Is A Good Friend, Remus Is A Good Friend, 2e Remus (Twice Exceptional), Protective Roman, Roman Is A Good Brother, Roman Isn’t Having a Good Time, Tonal Whiplash (Seriously)

-

Janus knew Remus since they were in high school. On age difference, they easily might’ve just missed each other – 4 years. But Remus did jump a grade in elementary school, demonstrating a precocious knack for SOME arenas of academics.

He was clearly gifted, especially when it came to things of mechanical nature. But he was also just as clearly troubled. It was a crying shame that most people paid more attention to the latter part. Truly.

So they met, when Janus was a junior and Remus a freshman.

Janus was also partway into the school’s 3+3 DPT program, to speed the process up for him to get to be a physical therapist in a few years out of high school. He had his reasons for that, reasons he’d much rather disclose to very few people.

Other than the market demand, to be sure. It wasn’t because he cared about people, and he’d be obstinate about making that point clear.

-

Remus wasted no time to leave an impression on the student body, in the first month of the school year. Though, at the time, no one knew it was him.

Janus was minding his own business in chemistry class when the school’s sprinkler systems went off. But something was… wrong.

It – it smelled like AXE body spray. Janus thought it was mostly water that went through the pipes, but it was unmistakable and overwhelming. He was caught by surprise like everyone else was, but still attempted to play it cool as he shoved his belongings into the desk to try to salvage them from the deluge.

Mr. Sanders yelped, just as confused as everyone else in the room, “What in the name of-!? I-I guess it’s fire drill time. Let’s go, class. Quickly and calmly.”

-

It turned out the entire first floor of the building was set off and only that floor (this campus had two of them).

The entire floor, positively reeked of the stuff for days. No one was was able to figure out what miscreant was responsible for this. Janus would absolutely leisure in the chaos of the student body and staff smelling like they vaped canisters of body spray. But, you see, Janus’s skin took objection to the whole experience, rather quickly.

At the tail end of middle school, Janus developed a few rashes, probably from stress or perhaps as a result of a strep infection. Which he quickly learned from his family doctor to be psoriasis, which was just fantastic. So, the chemical assault aggravated the already flaring up patches on his face and hands. He could give less of a shit about what other students would say about his appearance, but holy hell did it ITCH.

He was determined to figure out who the hell was responsible, to give him a piece of his mind.

-

Things appeared to go without incident for sometime, nearly a month. Not without Janus warily scanning the classrooms and occasionally the rest of the campus for anyone that just set off any alarm bells.

He finally met eyes with him in the cafeteria. Well, he still didn’t know that at the time.

Just this kid who dressed like a hot mess and rather ambiguously gendered lounging in the corner picking their nose and looking like they were about to doze off. It was as if someone threw a punk, an emo, and a dragster in a blender. Hit frappe, topping it all off with toxic green and black coat of paint. They really stood out, yet no one dared to approached them.

Janus did read some big “FUCK OFF” energy from him. Still, he was curious, “Hey.”

This kid’s attention snapped up pretty quick, with an excessive amount of drama to it, “And who might yooou be?”

Janus decided to withhold his name, just in case, “Dee. You?”

The kid shrugged, boldly going the flirtatious route, “Whatever you want me to be.”

“… I’m not interested in that… right now. You new around here?”

“Maaaybe.”

Janus was sure it was a shot in the dark, but he was getting increasingly agitated with his face, “Were you here during the AXE incident recently?”

The kid perked up suspiciously, “Maybe I was. Maaaybe I wasn’t.”

Janus lightly rubbed the patch on his cheek before pinching his nose in exasperation, “Can you not with this evasive bullshit?”

“Oooh... feisty.”

Perhaps his patience was on the thin side, but Janus felt a building urge to slap this fool. He sighed, “Well. Let’s just say – urg-”

The itching was unbearable at this point and he started to furiously rub his offending hand through his gloves. The kid looked almost concerned, “Uh. You okay?”

Janus lied through his teeth, “I’m fine. But whoever was responsible for that body spray shit certainly won’t be…”

The kid started to crack. Torn between seeming to find pleasure in making Janus squirm and a glint of actual concern. This only made Janus more mad, if he was perfectly honest. Janus just snipped out, “I don’t know what your angle is here, but I will figure it out.”

The kid seemed insulted, placing a hand on their chest, “I have no idea what the fuck your problem is, man. You came to me with the 20 Questions!… heh.”

Janus groaned, unsure of where he should take this, his gut telling him he was looking at the perpetrator of his current bout of absolute suffering. He could only muster turning on his heels and give the kid the “I’m watching you” signal.

The kid just cackled uproariously as they parted ways.

-

Yeah, Janus was certain that kid was responsible. He just knew it.

The two of them shared a pre-calculus class and the kid was just… snoring at their desk, by the time it was almost up. Ms. Crofters didn’t appreciate the insubordination, “SANCHEZ.”

Everyone was already starting to file out of the room, since the bell rang. Morning classes were rough for everyone, but this kid looked exhausted, actually. No, Janus was determined not to pity them. Janus simply watched the exchange play out.

“Sanchez” smacked their lips blearily responding with, a simple “… what?”

The teacher sighed and softened, “You really need to take this more seriously, I know you have so much potential, to be a freshman placed in this class. You just need to-”

They grumbled and rolled their eyes, “Whatever.”

The teacher remained seated, decided she was going nowhere and started to grade some papers in the break in between classes. Sanchez took the cue to stand up with their things and leave. Not before Janus was noticed for staring at the whole situation. Sanchez was surprisingly icy, “You got a problem with me, too?”

“Plead the fifth.”

Janus was now intrigued, sensing they might be a lot sharper than they seemed. Hints at them being more capable of pulling off tampering with the sprinkler system in such a noxious fashion.

-

Janus confronted them in the hallway, fiddling through their locker, “Don’t lie to me, Sanchez.”

Sanchez rolled their eyes, still playing coy, “Whatever do you mean, Dee?”

“I KNOW you fucking did it.”

“Did what?”

“I don’t know, not the surprise assault on the senses, weeks into the year!?”

“… your rash is looking pretty angry.”

“NAH. YOU THINK SO?!”

Sanchez finally began to placate a little, “Okay, I’m… I’m sorry.”

Janus was taken aback, not expecting the apology so easily, “What was that?”

“Hahaha… a few other kids wound up in the hospital thanks to that stunt I pulled. Asthma and shit like that. Almost got in a little bit of hot water.”

Staff still refused to state who perpetrated the mess, maybe this kid was far more brilliant than Janus could imagine.

“I didn’t take you for the kind of person who would give a damn about that sort of stuff.”

Sanchez simply shrugged in response.

Janus found himself staring into Sanchez’s locker, at random parts of electronics and diagrams haphazardly piled into it. “… what’s in there?”

“I dunno. Projects?”

“How helpfully vague.”

“Look, I just like keeping my hands busy, you know, fuck around and find out.”, Sanchez snorted at their own choice of words.

“Why… why did you put AXE in the system, in the first place?”

Sanchez threw up their arms and just said, “I dunno. One moment, it just started off as a ‘you know what would be fucking hilarious’ thought and the next I was going at the preaction sprinkler valve with a wrench, a bunch of cans of Provoke, and a soldering iron.”

“Aaand no part of you went, ‘why don’t we sleep on it’?”

“SLEEP!? Sleep is for the weak, amigo.”

Janus gave them a withering glare, personally greatly appreciating a good snooze himself, “I guess impulse control really isn’t your forte?”

They were overly chipper, “NOPE.”

For some reason, Janus couldn’t stay mad at this point. There was just something strangely endearing about them.

-

The two of them wound up hanging out together more.

Up until that point, Janus just migrated from friend group to friend group, making himself kind of a chameleon to any ne’er-do-wells who might’ve wanted to get a rise out of him. He was good at not taking shit from people and he was usually left alone for it.

Sanchez eventually told Janus that he wanted to be called Remus. That he was actually a guy… mostly. Sort of. Good enough, as far as Janus was concerned.

Janus returned the favor of trust, telling him his actual name. Still choosing not to explain anything, but glad that Remus didn’t make any potshots about how it sounded. Remus was fast warming up to him.

Mutually, they surprised each other about their own predilections for anarchy, and they really hit things off in that department. Janus just had two stipulations: not being the collateral damage again… and maybe Remus should show a little more concern for his own well-being and safety.

(To this day, Janus wasn’t particular successful about the latter part.)

-

One of the next most notable/notorious stunts perpetrated by Remus, neared the end of his freshman year.

A voice blared into the intercom system, ran through some distortion filters to make it less obvious to most people. Several octaves lower and static-y, “Goood morning, bitches, bastards, and everyone else! Thank you for listening to KRAX radio! I’m your host for today, The Duke of Butts himself. Ready for some garbage?! No?! Well, too bad!”

Janus, was split between cracking up and pretending to be just as alarmed as everyone else.

An obnoxious record scratch was heard through the building before an unholy remix of the likes of “Never Gonna Give You Up”, “All-Star”, and “Gangnam Style” started playing. It was the most beautiful and awful thing Janus had ever heard, it brought a tear to his eyes.

His fellow students eventually broke down laughing – in fact several neighboring classrooms worth were cheering and booing.

The teacher was far less amused, angrily dialing for the school administrators probably to report his disdain. It was in vain, since he was drowned out by the classroom and the broadcast.

Silence on the intercom.

The students went “awww” about it.

The teacher tried again, getting though, “You heard that right!? Yeah. Okay. Make sure to catch whosoever responsible for whatever the hell tomfoolery that was!”

Things seemed to quieted down.

That is until the first lunch period, “Goood afternoon, it’s me again! Bet y’all missed me! Huh!? Anyways, time for another plate full of Shitcago.”

Janus snorted as the scratch sample lead into yet another audible travesty. “Sandstorm”, “Shooting Stars”… and “Peanut Butter Jelly Time”.

There was a lot of gasping in awe at the shear audacity, Janus felt a sense of pride. Remus outdid himself, this time.

By then everyone was wondering when this entertainer would show up again.

A few minutes before school was to be dismissed, there was one final broadcast, “Goood evening, fuckers! Have a parting gift from me, before y’all head off to the shitty places you call home!”

Janus winced at the concerning subtext.

Next, Remus outright said, “Record Scratch!?”, for the segue. And what played next… was just “Chemical Bomb” by the Aquabats. Not quite the same level of aural hell as the previous sets… but that did get the school staff REALLY squirrely.

-

Remus didn’t actually talk much about his home life.

Janus came to learn that he had a brother and that his parents just weren’t in the picture anymore. Beyond that?

Whenever Janus gently prodded that hornet’s nest, Remus deflected constantly. Janus desisted after awhile, growing to respect this quirky kid’s boundaries. But that didn’t stop Janus from speculating that something volatile was brewing, Remus getting more and more agitated.

That didn’t stop the two of them from occasionally orchestrating some more dramatic pranks on the school over the next year. Janus helping him with being more discretionary. Remus also did well to shore up Janus’s own vaguely threatening reputation to the school.

(The fact he was going into the care industry, notwithstanding and completely irrelevant.)

It was a small miracle Remus managed to never get caught for his bigger stunts. But he did get more and more disciplinary action against him as Remus cared less and less about this school.

-

Janus was on track and since graduated with surprisingly little incident. Swearing Remus would see him out with a bang, at this point. Janus went straight to a local college, him coming by a family inheritance was a real boon for him to focus on himself.

But, they still kept in touch. Halfway into Remus’s senior year, Remus started a worrisome text conversation with him.

“Hey, can I stay at your place tonight?”

“Sure? Something happen?”

“Uh. I may’ve fucked up. Badly.”

“Listening.”

“I’d rather talk about it in person.”

“Ok? Need ride?”

“I maaay already be halfway to your place. Also, I’m taking my brother over...”

“Pls don’t tell me you’re txting while you drive. Wait – brother?”

A pause, Janus almost imagined Remus sighing, “… I’ll explain later.”

-

Remus arrived at Janus’s doorstep looking like even more of a mess than usual.

There was a bright red hand print on Remus’s face, and clear evidence that he had been crying heavily. The makeup he usually wore washed down his cheeks. Which felt like a twist of a knife in Janus’s chest, this was the opposite of the unflappable goblin of a friend he grew accustomed to.

Remus only mentioned his brother in passing a few times. Part of the whole “I refuse to talk about my family” thing. But Janus was observant enough to note that there was a ghost of a smile whenever he talked about Roman, more than anyone else.

Janus had missed the chance to really get to see him thanks to their age difference and the fact Roman barely kept up with his age grade (compared to Remus). He wasn’t informed why.

Roman was certainly in worse shape, physically. Remus had him to his side, arm over the shoulder for support. Roman’s nose and mouth dribbled with blood, he had a black eye showing, and the arm that wasn’t around Remus hung limply. Roman was woozy, but noticed he was getting stared at, “You just… going to... let me bleed all over your porch or-?”

Asking why the hell these two weren’t in the hospital was a foregone conclusion, so Janus ushered them in.

-

When they all filed into Janus’s living room. One thing was becoming clear. Roman’s arm was wrenched out of socket and Janus bit his lips, “I’m pretty sure that needs a closed reduction. But, I’ve only really done one of those yet, in my training. That is, if nothing is actually broken.”

Remus’s eyes were blown wide, “Well?”

Janus inhaled sharply through his teeth, “It’s not like this is totally a proper a clinic… I can’t exactly give him much to make putting his arm back in socket… Bearable.”

Roman looked like he couldn’t focus on anything other than all the pain, and stayed quiet.

Janus knew he was being unusually pensive, but now’s not the time to unpack that, “Can I see that arm? Just. Just so I have a better idea of what to do about it?”

Roman simply grunted and nodded.

Janus sidled next to him and looked at the injury and gently prodded the area to get a better physical sense of what was wrong here. He didn’t exactly have imaging to go off of, nor a licensed care team, or really anything. This was… so messed up.

Roman winced a little as Janus touched some bruises and aggravated nerves, but let him continue to attend it. Janus, while looking at it still, gulped and asked them, “Um… care to tell me what the hell happened?”

Roman just looked down, unable to talk. Remus started stammering, “T-tío Esteban. Found out about everything and lost his patience with-”

Janus unfortunately couldn’t fully unpack what Remus meant there, he had a few ideas, but still grimaced. That said, Janus’s memory from training was getting jogged, looking at his brother. “Roman, was it? Let’s check to see how much your arm is working now? Get a better sense of the damage here…”

Janus ran through the actions to test how good his nerves and blood supply were, thankfully Roman was remaining conscious and showing some hopeful signs. Janus then left and did as he said, “I’m going to grab a sling, before we do anything else…”

When he came back, “Care to lie on your belly with your left arm hanging off the couch? I’m – I’m only going to try this once. Because I don’t have shit like lidocaine to give you. If it’s not going to work, I don’t want to-”

The brothers sighed, as if they both knew and dreaded what Janus meant. Roman flopped into position on the couch, without another word. Except for some short gasps of pain, probably brushing bruises Janus couldn’t see and aggravating the offending shoulder.

Remus was uncharacteristically timid, glancing at Roman and then at Janus, “He-he stood up for me. The dumb ass. He-he didn’t need to out himself too and-”

Roman hushed Remus.

Janus nodded as he started manipulating Roman’s shoulder blade in a subtle and gentle fashion. This seemed to surprise Roman, “This… isn’t anything like the movies, huh?”

“Well, there are more… forceful techniques. But I’d rather not resort to that.”

Roman mumbled, “… sorry to burden you.”

Janus just sighed, not wanting to address what was buried in that statement either.

Soon enough, Roman sighed in relief once Janus put his shoulder back in place and put that sling on him. Janus did stress he should still get that looked at, totally uncharacteristically prepared to open his wallet for the costs, if need be.

-

For the longest time, it was a shame that Roman didn’t remember very much of what happened, that night. Maybe it was too much trauma for him to access, maybe Roman just wanted to distance himself from it, but Janus wasn’t going to be that kind of “doctor”. When they later rediscovered each other in the gym, years later, it was like they were simply acquaintances. Which hurt… a little.

But Remus certainly remembered. And reminded him how grateful he was, fairly often.

It equally hurt seeing Remus being so hesitant, “Can you… can you help us… you know? He doesn’t want us back home, after-”

“Not even a question, dear.”

[iamnightduchess]

Hello! I just recently entered the Attack on Titan fandom and I just read all of your fics. I just have to say I’m a huge fan. May i ask for some of your ReiKasa headcanons in the It’s Gotta Be You universe? I really love that fic and I’m so interested if there is any awkwardness between Historia, Eren, Reiner, and Mikasa. Thanks!

Hello Nonnie~ Before anything else, a hearty welcome is in order for your recent endeavor in the AoT/SnK fandom. WELCOME, MY FRIEND! <3 I hope you’ll love the positive side of this fandom. I am very, very honored that you read all my fics, considering they’re a super rarepair! BUT with the recent canon developments, I must say the curiosity is a very welcomed change :)

I had an amazing time writing It’s Gotta Be You, mainly because it’s in Modern AU/HS AU, in which the latter universe was created personally by Mr. Hajime Isayama himself. Thank you so much for sending in an ask for the headcanons, I’m so happy that you enjoy the story. Read on more for your reading pleasure, lovely:

ReiKasa Headcanons

Universe: It’s Gotta Be You (SnK HS AU & Modern AU)

Pt. 2 Available Here

Four days before he departed for Hizuru from Marley, Reiner took a flight again to Paradis for a personal visit to the Jeagers’ household in Shinganshina. Reiner even brought flowers for Mrs. Jeager. Grisha told Reiner about the day he brought Mikasa home from Hizuru after her parents’ passing and how he constantly worries about his foster daughter. Grisha and Carla gave Reiner their blessings, after seeing how genuine and an honest gentleman the young soldier was. Apparently, at Eren and Historia’s wedding, both Dr. Jeager and Mrs. Jeager had already suspected that the handsome blonde-haired young man was the ‘mysterious quarterback boy’ in the picture that a younger Mikasa had kept hidden in her nightstand’s drawer and the reason why Mikasa never dated anyone during and even after completing medical school.

As soon as Reiner’s all settled down in his new deployment in Akita, Hizuru, he and Mikasa began dating immediately. Akita’s a pretty remote area so instead of the usual city courtship style, Reiner would come by to her house during her nights when she’s off duty, make dinner for her and spend the rest of the evening watching DVDs of classic movies that Mrs. Jeager sent. His favorite: The Breakfast Club (lol) and hers: Casablanca. Also, according to Reiner, they technically dated each other in high school but never made it official so this time, he’s in it to win it. (his words)

Reiner’s an amazing cook (the one good skill he inherited from his father) so breakfast in bed is frequent whenever he stays overnight since Mikasa always had to sleep in after long shifts at the Medical Centre. Mr. Midnight still hates him but as soon as Reiner’s married to Mikasa, Reiner became his new best friend.

Reiner & Mikasa would usually sneak some time from their off days - which they coordinate to make sure they coincide with each other - and go on morning jogs or night walks together. Once a month, on an early Sunday morning, Reiner would take Mikasa on a bike ride (Harleys in Hizuru, anyone? xD) towards the other countrysides in Hizuru, experiencing the local delicacies and sometimes just catching the sunset at one of the neighbouring village’s rice field or by the seaside.

It was a beautiful night with starry skies and falling snowdrops when Reiner proposed to Mikasa on top of the hill overlooking Suzukoya no Mori during one of their weekly night walks. The first person they called to share the news of their engagement was Reiner’s mother, Karina. She was over the moon! Reiner’s cousin Gabi screamed through the video call and immediately volunteered herself for the flower girl duties.

They only share the news of their engagement to her foster family two weeks later during that year’s Christmas dinner with the Jeagers. Everyone present was surprised but in a good way absolutely, especially Eren and Historia! Historia loves Mikasa so much that she offered to help with Reiner and Mikasa’s wedding preparations, while Eren was already pre-booking a romantic cruise package for the couple’s honeymoon while they were still at the dinner table!

Historia and Reiner broke up way back in high school, not too long before Reiner and Mikasa grew close to each other after Ms. Rico arranged them to be lab partners in her Physics class. So there wasn’t much awkwardness as they all grew into adulthood. If anything, Historia makes it a point to bully Reiner as the ‘bigger’ sister-in-law of the family at every opportunity available :)

The awkward moment only happened when Levi and Petra invited the newly-engaged couple to their home in Trost for a New Year’s eve dinner. Reiner couldn’t look at their former Discipline teacher in the eyes but Uncle Kenny made it a point to give a toast to welcome Reiner into their family in advance. Levi though, was being dead serious when he said he’ll break Reiner’s neck if he so much hurt Mikasa’s feelings or break her heart.

Eren was the one who got super drunk during Reiner’s stag party. Reiner and Zeke ended up having to carry Eren’s drunken ass back to the hotel on the eve of Reiner & Mikasa's wedding. They had a destination wedding at one of the hill resorts in the Azumabito family’s estate in both traditional Hizuru customs and modern vow exchanging ceremony. Sasha was the maid of honor and Bertolt was the best man. Kiyomi Azumabito, first cousins with Mikasa’s late mother, hosted the wedding venue and arrangements. Grisha gave Mikasa away and Eren gave the wedding toast, because the best man panicked and passed out because he was so nervous. Reiner & Mikasa’s first dance was to the tune of Russell Dickerson’s Yours.

When Historia gave birth to her and Eren’s daughter, Helena, 4 months after Reiner & Mikasa’s wedding, she was the one who asked Reiner to “hurry up and give Helena a cousin already!” while nudging at her sister-in-law who helped deliver her baby. The couple just laughed it off, saying that they were in no rush.

Turns out they’ve been expecting for six weeks at that point in time and decided to wait until Mikasa’s past her first trimester to break the news to their families. But when Reiner had to take a week long sick leave due to a suspicious ‘food poisoning’ from Karina’s cooking, Karina deduced two and two together.

Apparently, Reiner had Couvade Syndrome, for the whole 30 weeks of pregnancy. Poor guy but he soldiered through like a champion. When their twins, Rémy and Miraé, were born 32 weeks later, every single pain and discomfort was worth it. Well, nothing can be compared to Mikasa’s 10 hour labor though.

Eren, Historia and Zeke helped Reiner and Mikasa prepare the twins’ nursery and managed to get everything ready in time before the babies come home. All the Jeagers, Ackermans, Brauns and Azumabito family members threw a surprise welcoming party for the new parents and babies. Helena had not one but two new cousins at the same time. While Armin and Annie are the twins’ godparents.

I had fun writing this headcanon & I hope you’ll enjoy it too! Thank you so much for sending in the ask, sweet Nonnie. Take care & stay safe! Please do keep a lookout for more headcanons soon <3

xoxo,

Q @ NightDuchess, 

[totaldramafan-lauri]

So.....I wasn’t originally gonna share this, but eh.......

On top of Eurovision, I’ve also been really into Friday Night Funkin’ recently thanks to a friend of mine introducing me to it.....and its plethora of popular mods. In particular, there was one mod that caught my attention....a-and....well.....h-hasn’t let it go yet......Mainly there’s this one really cool character that’s been on my mind a lot, so.....

S-so, I uh.....made an OC. A-and....I wrote a profile for her yesterday....

I-I guess I’ll share this, cuz I feel like there.....might be a possibility that I’ll do something with her in the future? Cuz I do have some story ideas.....I-it’s just a matter of finding the confidence to get back into writing.....I-I dunno if it’ll happen, but it might.

I-it’s kinda....embarrassing, tho....I-it’s been a while since I’ve made an OC purely to be a....well, simp, but here we are.....>//////>

(Also, the picture below is NOT drawn by me. I’m not an artist. It was drawn by the same friend.)

Name: Lina (she doesn't remember her last name...or her original first name for that matter) Height: 5'2" Quotes: "I-I'm sorry!" "Ms. Sarvente would know what to do...." "I hope I don't forget what happened today..." "D-don't look, please..." "W-were you listening? O-oh gosh- uh-" Age: In the 20s range Eye Color: White (in another art style, her eyes would be purple) Hair: Black, waist-length, pretty thick, and usually pretty messy due to her not having the energy to brush it all (she usually makes some kind of effort before going to the church, but it's not a lot) Build(Body Type/Shape/Any Scars Or Markings): Pretty thin. Not stick thin, though, as she does have curves and a pretty decent chest size (that she hides under her sweatshirt most of the time), but she's still pretty thin. She doesn't eat as much as she should. Normal Outfit(The clothes they most commonly wear): A baggy baby blue sweatshirt with a simple sleeveless pink dress underneath, and a matching pink scarf. Knee-high white socks and baby blue slip-on shoes. When it's really warm out, or when she's lounging at home, she'll take off the sweatshirt and scarf and just wear her dress, but most of the time she likes being covered. It makes her feel safe. General Personality: Lina is a very timid, shy woman who is scared of opening up and spilling her feelings out to people, not wanting to be a burden. She has really bad social anxiety, but attempts to be kind and polite to people, even with her lack of experience in social situations. She's always carrying a notebook with her, writing in it frequently. Most of the time, she's very quiet, but when she gets riled up or excited about something, she can talk more than you think. However, she has a tendency to stutter and stumble over her words a lot, especially when anxious or flustered. Her anxiety is bad enough that she hates asking people for things and is scared to draw too much attention to herself (due to awkward experiences with her roommate). She looks up to Sarvente and wishes she could be like her, and loves helping her whenever she can, liking the feeling of being useful (and, although she'll never admit it, to catch glimpses of Ruv). In her writing, she shows a more poetic, hopeless romantic side to her that she's too embarrassed to share, spilling it out into the lyrics she writes. She also uses her writing to vent the feelings she's too terrified to share with the world - her infatuation with Ruv, her feelings of jealousy towards Sarvente, her want and desire to become someone she can never be. She hates her feelings, and she's scared of her feelings.... Other random facts: -Lina is so bothered by her unknown past that she's absolutely terrified of forgetting things. This is the reason why she kept carrying around notebooks. She's been doing this for so long that if she's ever separated from her current notebook, she'll have an anxiety attack. -She's currently unemployed, but is able to continue living with her roommate as long as she takes care of the house. She's flat broke most of the time, only being leant money for her writing, so she doesn't have a phone. She only eats when her roommate does, but on the rare occasion she has extra money, she'll treat herself. -Like all FNF characters, Lina is musically talented - she writes songs (although she hasn't shared them), and she can sing decently well. She's scared of singing in front of others, but does it to herself all the time. However, she has very little experience with RAPPING specifically, making her a pretty easy opponent. -Her favorite colors are pastels, especially blues and pinks. -Besides going to the church on Sunday, she doesn't have much of a schedule, mainly just being alone in the house on most days. -She has a MAJOR weakness for cats. If she sees a cat, she'll immediately go to watch or pet it. Cats are the easiest way to make her smile. -She's normally pretty clumsy, and not physically strong at ALL. She can handle housework just fine, but not heavy lifting. She also can't cook at ALL. Please help her, the woman's a mess -Despite attending church, she's mostly agnostic. She mainly goes just to hang in the back of a side isle and watch Sarvente and Ruv. -Lina doesn't know that Sarvente is a demon, seeing her as a normal nun like the rest of the public. She's also unaware that Ruv is a criminal. -While she's talked with Sarv, she's never spoken directly to Ruv, being too nervous to. He's looked at her a few times, and that's been enough to send her into a frenzy. Likes: Music, writing, feeling useful, inspiration, being at the church, seeing Ruv, when people are nice to her, cats, pastel colors, sunny days, the rare times she's proud of something she wrote, pizza (she associates it with her roommate being nice to her, so it's her favorite food) Dislikes: Forgetting things, being put on the spot, loud noises (like thunder), large crowds, asking for things, being seen crying, when people ask to see her writing, whenever she feels jealous of Sarvente, embarrassing herself in front of Ruv, her body Powers/Skills: No powers. She's a normal human. Skills, however....she can write poetry and music, she can sing, and she's a pretty smart thinker when she's not stressed. Weapons: None Backstory: Lina was found at the site of a horrible accident by the person who would become her roommate, who felt sorry for her and took her in. She had no memory of her life before the accident, being left a scared woman with no past...a blank slate.

At first, she was a wreck, understandably. She tried desperately to remember her past, but nothing worked. Even as she settled into her new life, the fact that she couldn't remember who she was ate away at her day in and day out. Feeling sorry for her, her roommate gave her a notebook to make notes in. Lina found that that helped a lot, and discovered how much she loved writing.

Over time, her roommate started becoming apathetic toward the little "freeloader", and a deal was made so that she could continue living with them until she could somehow get a job: she was to clean and watch the tiny house while they were away at work. She didn't mind this deal since it made her feel less guilty. During her free time, Lina also discovered her love of music, and began singing to herself while alone.

She eventually accepted the fact that she may never remember her past, but at least she can try her hardest to make sure she never forgets again. She began carrying a notebook with her wherever she went, and continues to store all her old notebooks in her room. She never throws any page away.

She records everything: her thoughts, her plans, everything noteworthy that happens to her, and every lyric she thinks of. She finds it relaxing to spill her heart onto the pages, so no one will ever hear her say them....this is especially true after she meets THEM. After meeting Sarvente one day, Lina is invited to join a church. She's unsure at first, but decides to go. And that's where it all began....she met Ruv (well...more like she saw him talking to Sarv), and immediately took to him. Tall, stoic, intimidating...and yet, Lina could see a softness in him whenever he was with Sarvente. She wished she could meet someone like that....someone strong, who could protect her and keep her safe...

And over time, she realized that she couldn't get him off her mind. As if...she was fixated on him. She found herself writing about him a lot. And then she realized that she was very rapidly developing a crush on the man. Being unable to remember what a crush feels like, it was a lot to adjust to at once, but she found herself really liking the feeling....that is, until she realized that she could never hope to achieve the same closeness to him that Sarvente has. She wished she was like Sarvente....

...She realized that she had become jealous of someone who had only ever been kind to her. And she hated it. So, Lina hid her feelings away once again.

Currently, Lina visits the church every week. She's always the first to arrive, and the last to leave. Even when people come and go, she always sits in the back of one of the side isles, writing away in her notebook. She simply likes the feeling of being in the church. The safe atmosphere, Sarvente's kindness, and the possibility of seeing HIM. Sarvente has noticed how long Lina stays for, and sometimes asks her for volunteer work, which she's happy to provide. However, although Sarvente is happy to have a regular visitor, she also doesn't take Lina very seriously, talking to her as if she was a child due to her appearance (if she HAS caught on to Lina's crush on Ruv, she hasn't said anything because of this). "Oh, little Lina, you're so cute!" Lina doesn't mind the headpats and squeals, but has a hard time believing that she's "cute" in any way. Lina looks up to Sarvente, treating her with a lot of respect, calling her "Ms. Sarvente". Sarvente calls Lina "little Lina". Lina likes helping out, but...she also often feels insecure and inadequate due to constantly comparing herself to Sarvente.

One day, after the church closes and Lina is on her way out the door, she runs into someone who Sarvente had a recent tussle with...a guy with blue hair.

(There she is, the tiny pastel nerd.....seriouslyIlovethispiceeeeeeeeebigthankstomyfriendfordesigningheroutfit)

[theritualofourexistence]

[hyper]tension

There are so many things I could be writing about right now. 

I’ve chosen to stick with one of the things I know best for this post.

Did you guess “body image issues and the problem of narrowly defining the concept of health?” 

If so: a cookie for you! 

A handful of pictures popped up in my Timehop from 12 whole years ago that gave me pause the other day.

Sometimes when I see older pictures of myself I am overwhelmed by how different I look now... in a bad way. I see myself in those pictures as thin and beautiful and I see myself now as a sausage monster stuffed into bike shorts. 

The more I sit with and work on my body image issues, the more I have noticed healthier thinking habits developing. Let me be clear, this has been an incredibly slow process. But seeing those changes is something I am really encouraged by... and it makes the every day body image fight have some measurable value. 

I can say with confidence that, at 200 pounds, my body image is currently the best it has ever been.

That has nothing to do with the specific number on the scale and everything to do with working really hard over a lot of years to understand that neither “beauty” or “health” are inherently defined as “thin.” A fundamental pillar of that understanding is that you cannot separate mental health from the concept of general health. 

Mainstream culture does this. 

Mainstream culture wants you to believe that it’s your weight or your BMI that determines whether or not you are healthy.

That is bullshit. 

Here are the pictures of me from 12 years ago. We were moving my high school boyfriend into his freshman dorm for his first year of college. I don’t think any of the people in these photos will mind me sharing them in the context of this blog post. 

I am *THIN* in these pictures.

I am 17.

Apart from a very clear warning sign that I was already developing horrible posture, I noticed a couple of things right away about these pictures when I was looking at them the other day.

My shirt is a size small or extra small. 

I am holding my arm across my stomach in the fourth picture because I do not think I am *thin enough* to be wearing that shirt. 

I may have been a thin 17-year-old. But I was not healthy.

I was physically fit.

I played soccer for three out of four seasons of the year.

But I was not healthy.

I know I wasn’t healthy because I was about to embark on my senior year of high school during which I would, at times, only allow myself one and a half meals per day. Sometimes that one meal would be pasta. Other times that one meal would be a bag of dark chocolate peanut M&Ms and a Mountain Dew. Other times it would be a gallon of strawberries. Other times it would be a family pack of Twizzlers.

My body in those pictures might look healthy. 

But appearance is not an appropriate indicator of health. 

The two times in my adult life that I have been the thinnest have also been the times in my life where I have struggled the most with body image and disordered eating. 

After I escaped the abusive relationship of my freshman year of college, I gained around 20 pounds.

The following summer, I exercised for an hour every day and ate only pickles and Greek yogurt (separately, of course, don’t be gross). 

I lost 30 pounds.

That was also not healthy.

Fast forward a handful of years to 2015. 

I start an anti-depressant. 

Over the course of the next two years I gain around 50 pounds.

Today, in the spirit of full disclosure (and because the numbers don’t mean shit), my weight fluctuates between 190 and 200. 

I am obese.

A mathematical algorithm used to determine BMI has labeled me “obese.” 

My clothing sizes vary day to day thanks to IBS-related bloating but I’m somewhere around a 14-16. 

Do you know the cut-off for plus sizes? 

It’s 14. 

So, I am an obese, plus-sized woman.

The numbers aren’t very polite, are they?

Within the last two years I was diagnosed with severe iron-deficiency anemia.

I committed to correcting that with a number of lifestyle changes including taking supplements and adding iron-heavy foods to my diet. I took Vitamin C to boost my absorption. On days I took the supplement I had no coffee, no tea, no dairy, and no acid-reducer meds. In 6 very committed months, I resolved my iron issues, for the most part. We have since learned that the daily stomach medicine I take may be affecting my iron absorption so, although I am no longer taking supplements, I am taking a daily vitamin to help maintain a healthy level of iron. 

That story is about health.

I had a health issue and I developed a strategy to resolve the issue, being sure to consider my mental health as well. 

I have worked really, really hard to consider my HEALTH instead of my WEIGHT.

This obese, plus-sized woman exercises for around an hour every day. She does not drink alcohol or soda. She is aware of what she eats and is careful to eat when she’s hungry and stop when she’s full. 

One of the ways I know my thinking is healthier is that when I look at bathing suits on Target’s website, I have started to consider their plus-sized models “normal.” 

The average size of an American woman based on the most recent data is between sizes 18 and 20. 

I spent over twenty years unable to see an average-sized woman as beautiful.

Even though the clothing industry has labeled me “plus-sized,” if anything, I am “slightly less than average-sized.” 

In this post, I’m sure my thinking seems sort of piece-meal and disconnected.

In my head, thin-ness and health and body image and eating and exercise and cultural interpretations of beauty are all smashed into one big Frankenstein’s creation. 

For a long, long time I did not consider plus-sized or average-sized women to be beautiful solely because they were not thin.

When I was thin (and not healthy), I know that I considered people of that size, the average size, to be unhealthy.

I am at a point in my life where my habits are the healthiest they have been and my mental health regarding my body image is also the healthiest it has been.

And I weigh 200 pounds. 

You cannot look at a person and have any idea how healthy they are. 

You cannot look at a BMI or a number on a scale and judge a person’s health accordingly. 

I have worked with people who are suicidal who are thin and people who are suicidal who are not thin.

Health cannot be separated from mental health.

Can you be too thin? Absolutely. Your body needs a certain amount of fat and muscle to function properly. Can you be too big? Absolutely. Risks for all kinds of delightfully chronic and fatal conditions increase with weight gain.

Can you be big and be healthy? Yes. 

I know because I am those things.

If you exercise, if you are aware of what you eat and are careful to not over-eat, if you get the vitamins you need, if you prioritize balancing mental health and physical health, if you get enough sleep, “healthy” is within reach for everyone. 

If I ever write a book, it will be about balancing mental health and physical health. Because for basically my entire adult life, I’ve focused on one or the other and that does not work. I promise that if I do write a book, it’ll be better organized than this zig-zaggy blog post.

We have to push back against the cultural tendency to keep mental health separate from our definitions of general health. 

We have to push back against the cultural tendency to define health by how a person looks.

You are not “healthy” if you are not physically healthy.

But you are also not “healthy” if you are not mentally healthy.

And sometimes, especially if you have a tendency toward body dysmorphia or disordered eating, the healthiest option is not to focus on weight loss or buy into a fad diet plan. 

I am not trying to lose weight.

I am trying to be healthy.

And, you could argue, I’m not trying to lose weight BECAUSE I am trying to be healthy.

Trying to lose weight feeds mental illness for me. And that is not healthy.

This blog post is brought to you by a lot of years of working really hard to understand myself. My specific approach to managing my health may not work for you, but I challenge anyone reading this to take a moment and think about whether or not you are giving balanced consideration to physical and mental health. Because, even if our specific situations are different, balancing mental and physical health is the only path to being healthy. For me, for you, for everyone.

This blog post is also brought to you by a new health hurdle that has been laid in my lap over the past few weeks.

I have high blood pressure.

Chronic hypertension runs in my family, so I have a predisposition for high blood pressure. I have not been aware of having it at all in the past but thanks to my mom’s new blood pressure machine, I am aware of it now. 

Learning that I have high blood pressure instigated a bit of a breakdown. 

For a lot of the reasons I have already mentioned.

I’m working really hard to be healthy by balancing my mental and physical health. So why, if both those things are headed in the right direction, does my body not seem to agree?

Well, genetics will do that.

In the name of health, I scheduled an appointment with my doctor. We talked about the typical “lifestyle changes” that would be recommended for someone my age with high blood pressure.

I am already doing all of them. 

There are things I cannot control, however, that are affecting my mental health right now. I am carrying a lot of stress about the upcoming election. I am carrying a lot of stress about Black people being disproportionately arrested, charged, jailed, and killed by police as part of a system of oppression that I would very much like to have a part in dismantling. I am carrying a lot of stress about the pandemic that has killed 170,000 Americans. I have spent 7-8 years learning how to manage my stress. Those tools were not intended to work in situations like this.

So, my doctor and I made a plan to monitor my blood pressure, to try do more meditation and progressive relaxation, to eliminate processed snacks from my everyday diet (on occasion is still allowed), and to start doing some basic weight exercises with my cardio. 

Blood pressure is a really good example of why a healthy approach requires balancing mental and physical health. 

I’ve checked the physical health boxes for blood pressure management. 

And things beyond my control are preventing me from checking the mental health boxes for blood pressure management.

And also, genetics.

With the help of my doctor, I’ve developed a plan that considers both my physical and mental health and only time will tell if that has an impact on my blood pressure. For what it’s worth, my doctor is optimistic. Part of the reason my doctor is optimistic is because I am healthy.

To clarify, being healthy does not mean that my IBS has gone away, it just means I am treating my IBS with diet and medicine. 

Being healthy does not mean my anxiety has gone away, it just means I am in control of my anxiety.

I would not be healthy if I was unable to manage my IBS. 

But I would also not be healthy if I was unable to manage my anxiety. 

I would not be healthy if I had not figured out the value of balancing physical and mental health. 

Just like I found a way to overcome my iron-deficiency anemia, I will find a way to overcome my high blood pressure. It may require new medication and lifestyle changes, but by giving adequate consideration to both my physical and mental health, I have no doubt that I will eventually find a healthy solution to push myself over this hurdle as well.

Gonna wrap this up with a poor quality mirror-selfie I took this morning when I tried on a new bathing suit. This is a (headless) picture of a 200-pound, obese, plus-sized, healthy person.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Designation

Hey, Sonia?

Oh. Makoto? Hello there. What brings you here?

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about recent...developments...around the Future Foundation.

More people from other universes have appeared and we’ve tried to help them get back up on their feet. And they’ve decided to join the Future Foundation, like the others.

I’ve decided that one of them will be under your care from now on.

Oh! Truly? Who?

...

Nice to meet you.

Y-Yeah...s-same here...

You’re being...strangely polite...

Well, I know my fucking place, don’t I? She’s like royalty or some shit, right?

What’s going on here Ms Sonia?

Oh! Kazuichi! Gundham! You’re here...

I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of our branch.

W-Well...I guess I’ll say my name. I’m the one, the only, ultimate inventor herself, Miu Iruma!

And what’re you supposed to be? An edge lord and a virgin grease-monkey?

We’ve literally just met you and you’ve already insulted us.

Look, even low-level insults hurt you know?

Yeah, she’ll be right at home here...

I am Kirumi Tojo. A humble maid. Please let me know if you require my services.

While she hasn’t yet been assigned to a branch, Kirumi has proven herself to be a capable and worthy asset to the foundation. I ask that you treat her with respect.

I would not have it any other way.

Nice to meet you Ms Maid. I hope we get along.

As do I.

Go on and introduce yourself.

I’m Tenko Chabashira. Hiyah! The Ultimate Aikido Master!

Somehow I knew you’d end up joining us. I’m so glad to have you.

I’m glad to be working with you, especially after you took such good care of me.

Nice to meet you Tenko. I’m Nekomaru Nidai. Let me know if you need any assistance with a training regime.

You may be a degenerate male...but I’ll think about it.

...(I’m glad she’s fitting in fine...)

*DING DONG*

Yes?

...

K-KAITO!

Sup bro?

D-Don’t “sup bro” me! Do you know how worried I was!?

I...I-I...

Look, I’m sorry, ok? I didn’t mean to worry you...

So um...are we cool?

...

Give me a hug and then sure.

Fine by me!

...

By the way, Maki Roll and I are a thing now. Just so you know...

There are so many better times to tell him that than now!

I agree, but it’s about time...

*Later that night*

Just so you know, in commemoration of getting back together again, I expect the necessary amount of push ups to be at least 100. More if you feel like it.

And no slacking off.

Sheesh, I get it!

Greetings!

Oh, Tenko...there you are.

Wait...Shuichi? Aren’t you supposed to be under House Arrest? What are you doing here?

Byakuya let me out for an hour and a bit, for a training session.

I see...well uh...

This is...a little embarrassing but since this is the first chance I’ve had to actually talk normally to everyone I uh...I was wondering...c-c-could...

Could Tenko and I join you in training?

Himiko? You too?

Nyeh. Why not?

Ok then! Let’s get started!

W-Wait a sec, we didn’t even say yes yet!

Oh, well, I’m going to assume that’s your answer.

I mean, I don’t mind, but jeez, gimme a second...

Do you perhaps have room for one more?

Kirumi? Wh-YOU want to join too?

I need to blow off some steam. A lot of things have left be very stressed out today. More than I’ve ever felt in a while now.

Hey. Make that another two!

Greetings.

What the-!?

K-Keebo? Is that you!?

No. I am not Keebo.

*Miu takes a moment to introduce everyone to Mii-Yu.

She’s gonna be with us here from now. She’s pretty cool.

Betting money that Tenko fawned over her adorableness when they first met.

...

J-Just so you know, I ain’t doing this because I want to talk with you slugs! I just...need to burn my dread and shit! I-It was her idea!

No, it wasn’t. I just liked the sound of it.

I suppose the more the merrier. 

*Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, Kirumi, Miu, Himiko, Tenko and Mii-Yu continued training through the rest of the night. Himiko and Miu collapsed pretty early on, but Kaito was able to keep his promise and achieved his 100 pushups. They spent the rest of the night training and talking to one another, reigniting the fires of friendship that the killing game had taken from them.

[a-room-of-my-own]

quillette[.]2019/11/04/meet-the-gay-activists-whove-had-enough-of-britains-ultra-woke-homophobes/ 🙌

Are gay people allowed to meet and organise in defense of their interests? A hard yes, you might have thought. But some apparently disagree.

Witness the response to the London-based LGB Alliance, a newly created British group that asserts “the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people to define themselves as same-sex-attracted.” The group’s creation has sparked vitriol, not from the traditionalist Christians or social conservatives who might have opposed such groups in the 1980s or 1990s, but from the self-described progressive left.

Readers who aren’t steeped in the most fashionable iteration of identity politics might now be scratching their heads. Unless you’re taking cues from Leviticus, what could possibly be wrong with saying it’s okay to be gay?

The answer is that, in acknowledging the reality of same-sex attraction, you are indirectly acknowledging the reality and importance of biological sex as a driver of attraction. You are also indirectly acknowledging that members of the opposite sex are not members of your dating pool—even if they tell you that they share your gender identity. Which means you have effectively pled guilty to that grave modern thoughtcrime, transphobia.

If you are not on Twitter, have not set foot on a college campus in the last few years, and don’t read woke web sites such as Teen Vogue, where this sort of thing is taken very seriously, you may imagine that I am engaged in some kind of Swiftian send-up of identity politics gone amok. After all, just about every single person reading this knows quite well how sexual attraction works. But I am quite serious: Activist groups that brand themselves as mainstream representatives of the LGBT community not only preach the idea that true attraction is based on gender, they also have sought to de-platform and mob anyone within their ranks who points out that this idea is completely divorced from the way the human brain actually works. In this make-believe world, to be gay—in the way gay people actually experience being gay—is to be a transphobe.

This is not an entirely new development. As gay-rights groups pivoted to become “trans-inclusive” in recent years, this de facto homophobia has emerged in plain sight. Rather than simply combat violence, bullying and discrimination against trans people, and press for better health care and representation for them—all noble and important goals—those groups have taken on an ideological mission. One might even call it quasi-spiritual: They have replaced biological sex with gender identity—an indefinable internal essence that one demonstrates outwardly by adherence to masculine or feminine stereotypes—throughout their literature and activism.

Stonewall UK, for example, was set up in 1989 to fight Section 28 of the Local Government Act of 1988, which banned schools from “promoting homosexuality” and “pretended” (i.e., gay) “family relationships.” But that same group now defines gay and lesbian people as those who are “attracted to the same gender” (my emphasis), and that evidence of transphobia shall be taken to include “the denial/refusal to accept someone else’s gender identity.” The logical consequence of these distorted definitions is to define same-sex-attraction as bigotry. In 1988, it was conservative homophobes in government claiming that homosexuality was a dangerous, counterfeit identity. Now the homophobes are the progressives running organizations that claim to champion the interests of lesbians and gay men.

Of course, doctrinaire trans-rights activists might attack straights with equal vigour—since straight men and straight women are just as focused on the reality of biological sex as gay men and lesbians. But all bullies seek out the weak and vulnerable, which is why they now rail against the LGB Alliance with more fury than they direct at society as a whole. That’s why the LGB Alliance’s launch meeting was an invitation-only affair, held at a secret location—the sort of security precaution that one might implement when moderate Muslims break away jihadists. “This is an historic moment for the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual movement,” tweeted Allison Bailey, the criminal-defence barrister who chaired the event. “LGB Alliance launched in London tonight, and we mean business. Spread the word, gender extremism is about to meet its match.”

Based on the reaction from defenders of the new gender orthodoxy, you would have thought Bailey were a Cossack leader announcing a pogrom. “This is frightening and nasty. There is no LGB without the T,” tweeted Owen Jones, who is perhaps Britain’s best-known gay journalist. (This is not new behaviour for Jones, who often starts pile-ons against anyone he regards as transphobic—especially women.) Anthony Watson, an advisor to the opposition Labour Party, said he was “horrified and disgusted,” and described the Alliance as a “#hategroup.” Linda Riley, the editor of Diva, a lesbian magazine that proclaims itself “trans-inclusive,” adapted Martin Niemöller’s famous 1946 confession, First They Came, Tweeting, “First they came for the T…”—thereby suggesting that refusing to prioritize the artifice of gender ideology over inborn sexual orientation is the first step toward some kind of real or metaphorical Holocaust.

Trans activists also used a despicable tactic that now has become a common feature of these cultish campaigns: attempting to beggar those they disagree with. Gendered Intelligence, a non-profit group that works exclusively with trans people (and apparently sees no irony in attacking an organisation focused exclusively on the rest of the LGBT grouping), urged followers to write to Bailey’s law chambers in London, “expressing your concern with the barrister in question and with the new group.” This same mob also sent equally spurious complaints to JustGiving, which hosted the Alliance’s fundraising page. The company panicked and temporarily suspended the Alliance’s account.

The original mover behind the Alliance was Kate Harris, a lesbian and veteran civil-rights campaigner, who a decade ago was a Stonewall fundraiser. She had become increasingly enraged by the harassment of lesbian women that was tolerated, even encouraged, by such groups. Harris and Beverley Jackson, another veteran campaigner, had been writing to Stonewall executives for months, seeking a discussion about the malign impact of gender-identity extremism. They asked Stonewall’s chief executive at the time, Ruth Hunt, whether she was worried about the enormous increase in the number of teenage girls attending GIDS, Britain’s gender-identity clinic for under-18s, and what she would say to the growing number of “de-transitioners”—people who abandon their trans identity and return to an identity corresponding to their biological sex. Many of these girls (as most of them are) describe themselves, with hindsight, as having been motivated by internalised homophobia.

“What upsets me most is that this is all based on the legitimacy we created,” Harris told me. It was this anger that inspired her to gather a group of notables, some of whom had been involved in Stonewall during its early days, to draft an open letter to the group’s current management and board for publication in the Times of London on October 4, 2018. The signatories included Simon Fanshawe, one of Stonewall’s founders, novelist Philip Hensher, actor James Dreyfus, feminist campaigner Julie Bindel, and several trans people who regard Stonewall’s divisive approach as likely to harm the interests of the trans community in the long run.

“We urge Stonewall to acknowledge that there are a range of valid viewpoints around sex, gender and transgender politics, and to acknowledge specifically that a conflict exists between transgenderism and sex-based women’s rights,” the authors wrote. “We call on Stonewall to commit to fostering an atmosphere of respectful debate.”

In response, Ms. Hunt pretended that the letter writers were inventing some kind of non-existent tension. “The petition also asks us to acknowledge that there is a conflict between trans rights and ‘sex based women’s rights,’” she wrote. “We do not and will not acknowledge this. Doing so would imply that we do not believe that trans people deserve the same rights as others.”

A year after this fruitless exchange, it had become clear no change of direction was forthcoming. Ms. Hunt had stepped down, and Stonewall was looking for a new CEO. One potential candidate who was approached by a recruiter disclosed that exploratory questions about whether it might be possible to soften the organisation’s dogmatic position on gender were dismissed out of hand. Many of the signatories of the 2018 open letter decided it was time for a decisive break from an organization that, while pretending to represent L, G,B and T alike, had come to prioritize the most extreme T faction.

Despite all the harassment to which LGB Alliance already has been subject, the group still got off to a flying start. Its JustGiving page has been reinstated, and is on course to hit a £25,000 initial target. The attacks on Bailey sparked widespread outrage and sympathy. Gendered Intelligence deleted its outrageous tweet about her. (Such a personal and highly politicized attack is unlikely to have gone down well with the Charities Commission, which regulates non-profits). Even fans of Owen Jones think a witch hunt against Bailey—a black lesbian from a working-class background—was a low blow. Several publications have written about the LGB Alliance, painting it as everything from a saviour of left-wing politics from its own worst elements, to a front for U.S. evangelicals seeking to export America’s culture wars. The articles in praise were pleasant to read; those lambasting the group neatly underscored the urgency of its mandate. All in all, the Alliance can be said to have arrived. So what next?

Like many of us, Bailey saw parallels with the actions of an abusive spouse. “Just think about what this means LGB,” she Tweeted. “The T has said that this is a marriage that we cannot leave, even if the T becomes abusive. If we try to leave, we will be threatened. If we do manage to leave, we will be starved of cash.”

On its agenda will be protecting women’s sex-based rights—including the right to have certain services offered in spaces free of male bodies. The group will also be campaigning against legislative changes that would compromise female safety.

Stonewall and other trans groups frequently misrepresent Britain’s Equality Act of 2010, which states clearly that single-sex spaces and facilities are perfectly lawful provided they are a “proportionate means to a legitimate aim.” They insist, falsely, that separately stipulated protections against discrimination and harassment for trans-identified people ensure that they can access all spaces intended for the opposite sex. Under such false guidance, Girlguiding UK and Sport England have gone “trans-inclusive,” a euphemism used to describe policies that enable males and females to “self-identify” into spaces intended for the opposite sex. Anyone with even the faintest grasp of biological reality will see immediately why such policies impact most heavily on girls and women.

The Alliance also will lobby for a change of tack at GIDS, Britain’s gender-identity clinic for under-18s, which is under fire for being too quick to affirm children’s claims of a cross-gender identity. It will disseminate unbiased information on the risks of transition and the evidence that gender confusion in children usually resolves itself during puberty, so that young people and their parents have an alternative to a gender-identity narrative based wholly on mechanical affirmation of a child’s claims. It will also seek to give a voice to detransitioners, whom trans activists often accuse of never having been trans in the first place (a claim that completely contradicts these same activists’ insistence on a policy of unfettered self-identification, which equates thinking you are trans with being trans).

If the Alliance flourishes, it could help forge a new consensus on trans rights, one that doesn’t rely on a denial of the reality of biological sex or sexual orientation. And who knows? If sanity prevails, the LGB and T communities may one day find rapprochement.

Helen Joyce is finance editor for The Economist.

[natashatheknitter]

The Health Benefits of Knitting

About 15 years ago, I was invited to join a knitting group. My reluctant response — “When would I do that?” — was rejoined with “Monday afternoons at 4,” at a friend’s home not three minutes’ walk from my own. I agreed to give it a try.

My mother had taught me to knit at 15, and I knitted in class throughout college and for a few years thereafter. Then decades passed without my touching a knitting needle. But within two Mondays in the group, I was hooked, not only on knitting but also on crocheting, and I was on my way to becoming a highly productive crafter.

I’ve made countless afghans, baby blankets, sweaters, vests, shawls, scarves, hats, mittens, caps for newborns and two bedspreads. I take a yarn project with me everywhere, especially when I have to sit still and listen. As I’d discovered in college, when my hands are busy, my mind stays focused on the here and now.

It seems, too, that I’m part of a national resurgence of interest in needle and other handicrafts, and not just among old grannies like me. The Craft Yarn Council reports that a third of women ages 25 to 35 now knit or crochet. Even men and schoolchildren are swelling the ranks, among them my friend’s three grandsons, ages 6, 7 and 9.

Last April, the council created a “Stitch Away Stress” campaign in honor of National Stress Awareness Month. Dr. Herbert Benson, a pioneer in mind/body medicine and author of “The Relaxation Response,” says that the repetitive action of needlework can induce a relaxed state like that associated with meditation and yoga. Once you get beyond the initial learning curve, knitting and crocheting can lower heart rate and blood pressure and reduce harmful blood levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

But unlike meditation, craft activities result in tangible and often useful products that can enhance self-esteem. I keep photos of my singular accomplishments on my cellphone to boost my spirits when needed.

Since the 1990s, the council has surveyed hundreds of thousands of knitters and crocheters, who routinely list stress relief and creative fulfillment as the activities’ main benefits. Among them is the father of a prematurely born daughter who reported that during the baby’s five weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, “learning how to knit preemie hats gave me a sense of purpose during a time that I felt very helpless. It’s a hobby that I’ve stuck with, and it continues to help me cope with stress at work, provide a sense of order in hectic days, and allows my brain time to solve problems.”

A recent email from the yarn company Red Heart titled “Health Benefits of Crocheting and Knitting” prompted me to explore what else might be known about the health value of activities like knitting. My research revealed that the rewards go well beyond replacing stress and anxiety with the satisfaction of creation.

For example, Karen Zila Hayes, a life coach in Toronto, conducts knitting therapy programs, including Knit to Quit to help smokers give up the habit, and Knit to Heal for people coping with health crises, like a cancer diagnosis or serious illness of a family member. Schools and prisons with craft programs report that they have a calming effect and enhance social skills. And having to follow instructions on complex craft projects can improve children’s math skills.

Some people find that craftwork helps them control their weight. Just as it is challenging to smoke while knitting, when hands are holding needles and hooks, there’s less snacking and mindless eating out of boredom.

I’ve found that my handiwork with yarn has helped my arthritic fingers remain more dexterous as I age. A woman encouraged to try knitting and crocheting after developing an autoimmune disease that caused a lot of hand pain reported on the Craft Yarn Council site that her hands are now less stiff and painful.

A 2009 University of British Columbia study of 38 women with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa who were taught to knit found that learning the craft led to significant improvements. Seventy-four percent of the women said the activity lessened their fears and kept them from ruminating about their problem.

Betsan Corkhill, a wellness coach in Bath, England, and author of the book “Knit for Health & Wellness,” established a website, Stitchlinks, to explore the value of what she calls therapeutic knitting. Among her respondents, 54 percent of those who were clinically depressed said that knitting made them feel happy or very happy. In a study of 60 self-selected people with chronic pain, Ms. Corkhill and colleagues reported that knitting enabled them to redirect their focus, reducing their awareness of pain. She suggested that the brain can process just so much at once, and that activities like knitting and crocheting make it harder for the brain to register pain signals. More of Stitchlinks findings are available at their website.

Perhaps most exciting is research that suggests that crafts like knitting and crocheting may help to stave off a decline in brain function with age. In a 2011 study, researchers led by Dr. Yonas E. Geda, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., interviewed a random sample of 1,321 people ages 70 to 89, most of whom were cognitively normal, about the cognitive activities they engaged in late in life. The study, published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences, found that those who engaged in crafts like knitting and crocheting had a diminished chance of developing mild cognitive impairment and memory loss.

Although it is possible that only people who are cognitively healthy would pursue such activities, those who read newspapers or magazines or played music did not show similar benefits. The researchers speculate that craft activities promote the development of neural pathways in the brain that help to maintain cognitive health.

In support of that suggestion, a 2014 study by Denise C. Park of the University of Texas at Dallas and colleagues demonstrated that learning to quilt or do digital photography enhanced memory function in older adults. Those who engaged in activities that were not intellectually challenging, either in a social group or alone, did not show such improvements.

Given that sustained social contacts have been shown to support health and longevity, those wishing to maximize the health value of crafts might consider joining a group of like-minded folks. I for one try not to miss a single weekly meeting of my knitting group. Font: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/25/the-health-benefits-of-knitting/

[otome-asylum]

Kings of Paradise - Shun Randoh MS Review (Season 1)

I’ve finally gotten around to playing Kings of Paradise after several months of just...sitting on stories. Having the monthly access pass for Love 365 is great, because I kind of just collect stories to play on a rainy day since my typical way of playing is to binge for a week and then not play again for months. BUT, I have to say that this is one of my new favorite titles. It’s sensual, definitely romantic, and I love that the MC finally decides to have some courage when it comes to her horrible ex. I’ve yet to play anyone in this title but Shun, but I’ve had Taki and Kiyohito purchased for forever, and I had to write this review!

Let’s see, I’d give this story a solid 8/10. Shun’s route was simultaneously heartbreaking and wonderful. Not as heartbreaking as some other Voltage games/routes, but it had my chest aching at a few points. In the beginning, I thought Shun was great. After MC catches her husband cheating on her, and declaring then and there that they’re getting a divorce (way to go!), Shun is supportive kind of how one of your girlfriends might be, in a “Hell yeah! Dump that schlub!” sort of way. This is in the prologue, so of course the other guys are, as well, but I really appreciated Shun’s easy smile and supportive words. (Yosuke’s, too, but that’s for another time.) Fast forward to after MC’s divorce and moving out, she’s looking for a job, and who should call her for an interview except the men from Pandora? They want her to be their housekeeper, and while they probably don’t need her specifically for the job, they’re definitely all very kind. Especially after they witnessed her getting divorced at a party they all attended. 

Fast forward again to after the character selection, and this is where I rethought my purchase of Shun. I am someone who definitely has a type when playing any sort of otome game, and generally speaking, Shun isn’t my type personality-wise at all. I don’t really go for the merciless flirt all the time, (though maybe that’s a lie because I’ve played--and loved--Baba from Kissed By the Baddest Bidder, Saeki from My Forged Wedding, and Nomura from Metro PD: Close to You....), but as of late, they’re not my go-to. In fact, this point was driven home for me when Shun kind of gets ahead of himself in the first chapter. It was a little much for me to have him come on that strong, even though it’s because he’s a bit of a womanizer, that quickly after quite literally just telling her what her job will entail while she lives with him.

The fastest way to heal from a gut-wrenching divorce and betrayal, apparently, is to drown your sorrows in a random man’s pleasures. Now, I’m not shading anyone who copes this way, you do you, boo-boo, but it’s not my cup of tea. And the MC evidently feels the same, considering she does refuse his advances, albeit with much internal struggle because her husband neglected her for a year plus. This is about where the flirting stops bothering me, too. This was within hours of being hired, so I wasn’t thrilled, but the rest of it was great. I like build-up to my romance, personally. Once hired, Shun tells MC that her duties will essentially be cleaning, etc. around his penthouse and cooking, and “some other things,” which he adds after she agrees to the position. (It’s not a bad deal for $6000/month.)

Now, the job he dubs as “other,” and the reason he was the one who wanted her (which you find out if you read his POV story), is because he needs her to “train” an actor he’s been working with. He apparently needs to know the “appeal of a divorcee.” MC doesn’t understand what that means, the actor (Kento) doesn’t know what that means, I still don’t even really know what that means, but it’s fine. I honestly just kind of ignored that, focused on her training him, and him developing mad feelings for MC. I don’t love the weird love-triangle thing, but I don’t hate it, either, and it gave the route something else to focus on to give the story more depth. My favorite thing was that MC just did not care about Kento at all, and was in fact kind of put off by his personality--demanding, bossy, kind of fake because he gives off the princely persona to fans and the film crew. Even after MC and Kento’s first encounter, when she’s still not really sure what the hell Shun wants from her, Shun does this thing where he repeatedly just stokes her fire, whispering sensually about her sex appeal and encouraging her to use her charms by telling her what she does to him. I really loved that, despite being someone who gets secondhand embarrassment like nobody’s business.

Honestly, I love his repeated dialogue and thought pattern of wanting to “dye you in his colors.” I think it’s very romantic and very sexy. Ultimately, I loved the entire route. I loved learning about his own heartbreaking past, and I love that he’s so thoroughly enthralled with MC’s reactions and opinions to his movies. You find out that he had a girlfriend for which he made a movie–his first movie, to be exact–and she didn’t understand the raw emotions he put into the movie just for her. They ended the relationship shortly after, but it really messed Shun up, so to see MC sobbing at the very same movie and telling him that it was beautiful and she loved it struck him to the core.

So, do I recommend? Absolutely. It started off a little rocky for me, and there were certain times where I was really annoyed with how Kento was behaving, but it was really great. I love the direction Voltage has been going with their recent games (that are NOT “Love Choice,” ick.) with more mature content. They’re growing with their fan base, it feels like. I loved Shun’s genuine desire for pure love, and his insecurities about seeming “needy” or “clingy,” as his ex mentioned, make him feel real. Real people who have real insecurities and doubts and fears about love and genuine human connection. This game has been out for a little while now, so maybe I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know about Shun Randoh’s route. But, maybe I am, and I really hope that if you decide to read his main story, you feel even half of what I felt for Shun. I also highly recommend taking a look at his POV story. I have a weakness for the POV stories in general, because I really love to see the moment that the guy falls hard for MC. This is a great game and I can’t wait to play some of the other characters. 

**Edit: Upon further thought, I rate Shun’s route 9/10. Just because I love him that much, and I realized that that one little point I took off didn’t bother me that much. 

[wutbju]

Bob Jones University’s “Core Conference” this year is directed at “Gender, Sexuality, and the Church” -- an issue BJU has no business talking about as is proven in Pettit’s sermon on women this week. 

But this takes the cake. This is something no school which receives federal tax dollars and which is regionally accredited should do.

BJU alum and former employee and BJU press author, Sharon Hambrick registered to attend next week’s conference. She registered weeks ago. And today -- the Friday afternoon before the conference -- Neal Cushman, the associate dean of the Seminary, emails Ms. Hambrick:

Dear Sharon,

I am Neal Cushman, associate dean of BJU Seminary and host of the 2019 CoRE Conference. I have noted that you and your husband, Brian, are registered for the conference.

I have tried calling you this afternoon at the phone number on the registration and learned that phone number is no longer in service. Therefore, I am sending this message by email.

On the basis of your antagonism toward Bob Jones University for a number of years on social media and your presence on the board of BJUnity, the Core Conference planning committee is cancelling your reservations and will immediately issue a credit to your credit card. If you wish to appeal this decision, please notify me by return email. Please provide a phone number and I will call you.

Neal Cushman, PhD

So the first listed problem for Sharon is commenting on social media? Ms. Hambrick is a woman with a brain, a JD, and a set of fingers. This is a problem exactly why, Dr. Cushman?

Oh yes, because she’s not being “receptive” to other men at those moments. Got it.

And one other thing too. Since Sharon is on the BJUnity board, she’s too aligned with them. Can’t have that. Oh no, no, no. Tsk tsk. 

If you want to see Ms. Hambrick’s genius, read her response. 

Dear Neal,

Oh dear. 

I had already written to the Conference to explain that since I was recently in Greenville (toured campus with one of my college-aged sons), I would be unable to come to the Conference and that I wanted to switch my reservation to the online platform.  How much better for everyone if I had simply heard back, "Sure, that's fine."

Now, in the blog piece I have been writing for some time, I have to address the issues you raise. That my status as a board member of BJUnity makes me persona non grata at a conference that addresses the very issues at the heart of our disagreements about human growth and development and the intersectionality of that with biblical truth. That my status as someone who has not always agreed with BJU on various Gospel-tangential issues makes me unwelcome at my alma mater when it is directly and specifically speaking to issues about which we may disagree.  

Indeed, that I might be a threat or offense in my long Lularoe skirt while carrying my KJV is mindblowing.  That I might be a threat or offense because these very issues--gender and sexuality--are important to me as a thoughtful Christian woman who has dear friends and family among those ostracized, outed, and shunned by Fundamentalist rhetoric and practice is concerning to me, as it should concern anyone who thinks about these things. 

In any case, whatever your concerns, oh dear.  I must now speculate that information is going to be shared that the Seminary is uncomfortable sharing with anyone who does not agree with it. Or, perhaps information will be shared that will confirm that BJUnity is correct when it warns students to be so very careful when discussing issues of this kind on or near campus. I don't remember BJU ever being secretive about what they believe, nor hesitant to share such with those who might have come to a differing opinion on various matters, especially those only tangentially related to "Let the little children come unto Me and forbid them not."

I am, of course, a little embarrassed that you will think the blog piece I have been working on all day was written in response to this cancellation.

However, time stamps, etc., if there are any suggestions that this is the case. It is not the case. I have been pondering for a long time how I can best reach out to non-gender-conforming Christian kids and LGBT+ Christian kids who find themselves at BJU and have been working on the piece for some hours, having bolstered myself with listening to Mr. Pettit's gender roles sermons of last week.  Too, you have made my writing harder, because now I have to say "Quiet Christian grandma banned from conference for disagreeing and writing about it." 

I find it fascinating that you waited until this late date to contact me. I live in Sacramento. If I had, as I had planned to, made airplane and hotel and car rental reservations, we would be having a different conversation.

Of course your letter to me will be disseminated. Of course you personally will now be named in my piece. Why ever did you not just say, "Sure, you can switch to the online platform. Have a nice day"? You and I both know so many gay Christian people who simply want to live in the peace Jesus offers when He said, "Come unto me ALL ye who are weary and heavy laden . . . "

Very sincerely,

Sharon Hambrick, JD

Attorney at Law

How can any institution of higher learning that receives federal and state funds and SACS sanction behave like this? Please note -- it’s not that Ms. Hambrick is gay that’s the problem because she’s not. 

It’s that she’s an activist, that’s a problem.

This is Bob Jones University.

[paulsen88lorentzen-blog]

AHS Blog

Dr. Jeff W. started writing about his medical school journey before he had even taken the MCAT, and his blog is still going strong more than a decade later.

Often in our lives, the stressors of life just become overwhelming. Following food and fitness blogs can be very motivating—if you follow the right ones. Find it Sometimes all it takes is one post to motivate change within ourselves,” says Heather Mangieri , R.D.N., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The key is to follow blogs that promote positive messages, she says. Overall, their posts should make you feel good about yourself. When health care corruption is discussed in English speaking developed countries, it is almost always in terms of a problem that affects some other places, mainly presumably benighted less developed countries. At best, the corruption in developed countries that gets discussed is at low levels. In the US, frequent examples are the "pill mills" and various cheating of government and private insurance programs by practitioners and patients. Lately these have gotten even more attention as they are decried as a cause of the narcotics (opioids) crisis (e.g., look here ). In contrast, the US government has been less inclined to address the activities of the leaders of the pharmaceutical companies who have pushed legal narcotics (e.g., see this post ). Sarah Wilson - Sarah has a range of sugar free recipe books, a healthy living blog, she shares her journey about anxiety and information on auto-immune disease. We're working hard to make it easy for you to keep your current Marketplace coverage when your health plan comes up for renewal.

It might seem kind of odd to find a How to Start a Healthy Lifestyle Blog” page on Organize Yourself Skinny. Most of you come to my blog to learn about meal prep, meal planning, exercise, and a whole host of other healthy weight loss habits. However, the most common 2 questions I get after How did you lose weight?” is how do I start my own blog?” followed by how do you make money from your blog?”. So instead of sending you all over the internet trying to point you in the right direction I decided to put together a page dedicated to helping my readers start their own blog. Medicine has come pretty far over the centuries, but at SGU we strongly believe medical research is the key to unlocking even better outcomes in the future. Since it can be hard to keep up with the latest studies by watching the news alone, try following these blogs to make sure you never miss a thing. Our first paper looked at how to use cost-effectiveness to allocate resources between regions and across health care services and research. Emma Frew and Katie Breheny look at how decisions are actually made in practice, but this time in a local authority in England. Another change of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act was to move public health responsibilities from the NHS to local authorities. Local authorities are now given a ring-fenced budget to implement cost-effective interventions that best match their needs. How do they make decisions? Thanks to this paper, we're about to find out. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, hearts seem to be everywhere you look this time of year. That's why it is especially fitting that February is American Heart Month, a time to raise awareness of heart disease and how we can help prevent it. It's also the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves to take good care of our hearts year-round. Making healthy eating a priority, and sticking with it, has a big impact on your health. And you can achieve that big impact with small manageable changes. Here are some ideas of gradual changes you can begin to help you reach your goals! Plus a roasted artichoke recipe to enjoy.

Starting today, you can apply for a 2016 health plan, renew your current plan, or pick a new plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Kimberley is a photographer from San Francisco who shares her own creative way of healthy cooking. She is mainly focused on seasonal fruits and vegetables in her tasty food creations. Most people have heard someone refer to food as medicine, but it's not usually very clear what they mean. Dr. Neal Barnard is the exception because, as a physician who specializes in nutrition and preventive medicine, he's able to clearly explain the role food plays in disease prevention. In addition to written stories, Dr. https://edi-nm.com/ms/ Barnard's Blog also uses infographics and other visuals to present information in a concise way. National Nutrition Month has arrived! This year's campaign, "Put Your Best Fork Forward," reminds us that each bite counts. Making small changes in how we eat can make a big difference in our health. Studies show time and time again that being thankful is healthy for your mind and body. This article explains some of the benefits to be gained by being thankful as well as tips on how to incorporate more gratitude into your life.

The US Department of Health & Human Services works to improve public health, and their blog highlights some of the ways it's happening.

Healthy food. Nutritional habits have a huge impact on human health. Food should be balanced, saturate the body with proteins, fats, carbohydrates, be moderately caloric. It is better to cook food for a couple, in the oven, boil, stew, but acute, sour, fried foods should be avoided. Wild Fermented Food. As you consume prebiotics, take fermented food which is a great source of probiotics. Fermented foods include sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, kombucha, pickles, and kombucha. If you recently had or adopted a baby, you may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period This means you can apply and enroll in or change Marketplace health plans outside Open Enrollment. The WATCHMAN Implant is a groundbreaking device that works to prevent clots in patients with Atrial Fibrillation. This alternative to blood thinning medication can greatly improve the quality of life for people who struggle with the common side effects of Warfarin and similar medicines. If you look at these two blogs, you'll see the difference - Ben Does Life is a journal of Ben's experience, while Roni had an idea to motivate and she thus owns a different website. This is why you need to decide on the concept of your blog before you start creating it. Dr Libby Weaver - One of Australasia's leading nutritional biochemists, author and speakers. Dr Libby shares her wealth of knowledge through her inspiring talks, books and blogs, her mission is to educate and inspire people, improving their health and happiness. When we look at people in other cultures who are healthier than we are, we often see that their diets consist of foods naturally found in their regions. So as often as you can, try to include foods that you can recognize as being grown in our part of the country. Local” is often defined as within 150-200 miles of where you are located. What if there were a set of blood tests that could give you a heads-up on potential health issues? Wouldn't it be helpful to have a way to gauge whether your health plan is working for you or not? How about focusing on acquiring health instead of avoiding illness? Progressive health care practitioners are helping clients reach their health potentials with the help of some simple, relatively inexpensive tests to predict who's at risk of unhealthy aging. Sleep hygiene. This method of therapy involves changing basic lifestyle habits that influence sleep, such as smoking or drinking too much caffeine late in the day, drinking too much alcohol, or not getting regular exercise. It also includes tips that help you sleep better, such as ways to wind down an hour or two before bedtime. more information Only a few days remain before the final December 15 deadline to enroll in 2018 Marketplace health insurance. If you miss the deadline, you may have to wait another year to sign up (unless you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period ). This website churns out health news and research reports consistently throughout the day, meaning there's a lot to read. The options to sort headlines by recency or popularity are nice for those who don't know exactly where to start. 3. Eat plants. All plants are cholesterol-free, and most are low in unhealthy saturated fats. In addition, many plant-based protein sources are high in important nutrients such as fiber, which helps keep you full, and potassium, which helps lower blood pressure. Swapping plant-based proteins for meat a few times a week can help improve blood sugar levels, too. It is possible to hit the daily value of 50 grams of protein from an all-plant diet. Here is a sample menu that will get you there. There's a lot of pushback from big industry on that, of course. If we have guidelines and laws helping us to live healthier, big companies aren't going to sell as much fast food, chips, and soda. And for companies hell-bent on making money at the cost of human life, well, that makes them very angry. Sometimes the personal comes through an author's reflections on their own experience with the health care system, and how it helped them see the system differently. Craig Roxborough's search for a long-term care home for his father is perfect example of this.

Including the personal can help your readers engage with what you have to say, by humanizing a policy or system issue that they might not otherwise care about.