#I am once again asking people to engage in basic reading comprehension

[fantastic-nonsense]

so many people read "Kaz Brekker didn't need a reason" and then just refused to acknowledge the entire following paragraph

[boreal-sea]

once again, you were specifically talking about "afab people who identify as female"

I sure did! But "afab people who identify as female" is not the same thing as "cafab women", and insisting they are the same is transphobic.

Let's play a game called ~reading comprehension~

I really hate to say this, but it is genuinely to the point where ANY AFAB person who still identifies as female (to any degree) will get called a TERF for being female, and for talking about sex based oppression - the very real thing that they face. And the thing is, this is largely the fault of the TERFs. They've got people genuinely confused as to what is and is not feminism. TERFs have people so wound up that they see someone identifying as female or talking about sexism and sex-based oppression and immediately just call that person a TERF. So I would like to say, resoundingly: Fuck TERFs. Fuck you for muddying the waters so much that you've basically made everyone more sexist than they were before.

So, first, when I say "AFAB person who still identifies as female", who could this refer to? In your original transphobic, misgendering Anon ask, you changed "afab people who still identify as female" to "cafab women", apparently because you think those terms are interchangeable.

But you are wrong! Cis women are not the only people who were assigned female at birth who still identify as female. Trans afab people can identify as female too! I am a trans man, and I am both female and male. Some trans afab people are 100% female. Some trans afab people are 100% male. Some are like me and they are both. Some are half and half. Some are 30% male and 70% female. You get the point. There are no rules about this, nor should there be. So, the phrase "afab people who still identify as female" includes afab trans people - including trans men - who still identify as female, as well as afab cis women.

As for afab trans people who are male or who no longer identify as female: I don't want to mislabel them or call them female when they do not identify as such, which is why I phrased this post the way I did. This post was specifically about trans afabs who do still identify as female, being called terfs for being female and talking about sexism. However, a trans man who is male can still absolutely be a victim of this kind of attack even if he doesn't identify as female. Whether a trans man identifies as male or female doesn't actually change how assholes like you will treat him: if he talks about sexism, you're going to call him a terf.

When you changed my words from "afab trans people who identify as female" to "cafab women", you were engaging in transphobia by erasing a lot of afab trans people including myself, and you were also being transphobic by misgendering me and all other afab trans people who identify as female by calling all of us cis women.

Good job being a transphobe!

Moving on! The next question is, why am I specifying "afab people who still identify as female"? Why didn't I just say "afab people"?

Well firstly, some afab people are not in fact female for various reasons. But secondly, I'm very specifically talking about afab people who DO identify as female because there's a very special brand of sexist and transphobic vitriol aimed at trans afab people who don't denounce the sex we were assigned at birth. We're treated as somehow more suspect, more untrustworthy, more inherently "dangerous" just because we are afab and trans and yet still identify with our birth sex.

And you uh, proved my point that we do indeed face that kind of abuse, and that we are accused of being terfs just for being female and talking about sexism, via your original ask wherein you erased the existence of afab trans people who identify as female, and called all of us cis women, and accused all of us of being terfs just for being female and talking about the very real phenomenon of ~sexism~.

[pumpkinpaix]

** the disclaimer still applies: don’t fucking dogpile, don’t harass using this as a springboard. furthermore, do NOT @ robin about this for fuck’s sake she’s already taken far more than what was warranted and this is not about her **

@daciafelix, out of respect for robin’s request to lay things to rest, I will be speaking to you on a separate post here.

however, I will not be letting your replies on the post in question slide. I’m very angry with you, and I want you to fucking know it. I’ll paste the three replies here.

1:

mirrorofprinces go back under the bridge please. Robin, you should ignore the trolls, they aren’t solitary creature it seems. You apologized and you should move on. I am tired of seeing a good author beaten down by people who don’t seem to understand how nonprofit fictional worlds work, not to mention reality. Dear “Chinese diaspora” , your trauma is real, attacking people is not the way to solve it. This type of attitude is what got Archiveofourown banned in China.

what the actual fuck was this? “Dear ‘Chinese diaspora’“? you have the audacity to tell us not to attack people while mocking us in the same goddamn breath? the lack of self-awareness that takes is stunning. congratulations for lowering the fucking bar once again!

perfunctorily saying that our “trauma is real” means nothing when the rest of your response dismisses us wholesale as “trolls”, insults our cultural identity -- one that we have repeatedly explained is a complex, difficult topic -- asserts that we have no grasp on the politics of fandom, that we’re delusional, and then!! has the fucking sanctimonious presumption to blame us for CCP censorship of AO3 in china. whether or not you intended any of that is irrelevant, because you still fucking said all of it and we still fucking heard it.

you don’t know jack fucking shit about the 227 event and it shows. the lack of respect that you exhibited in this reply is unbelievable. I was fucking there when this went down, I cried for days. I watched my chinese friends having mental breakdowns in private forums, a chinese friend i had met literally two weeks prior on AO3 emailed me in dismay for what had happened -- this is someone who had been working up the courage to send me a message for literal months and we managed to exchange emails just before the firewall went up -- you don’t understand, you can’t understand the sort of devastation that was felt. if you did, you wouldn’t have brought it up like this as a cudgel for sweeping our legitimate pain aside. blaming the victims for the acts of a violent and oppressive government is a fucking shitty look.

2:

Cloudyfromoobsession I have read it [*the chinese diaspora statement], it makes me really disappointed. They treat fan fiction as some deep existential writing, which is not necessarily wrong but they have to acknowledge that not everyone is divining the meaning of life in a mdzs fic or any other fandom. Transformative work as a principle is based in the exploration of alternative visions starting from a canonical point, there is no rule that fan fic needs to appease a certain portion of the fandom or even stay true to canon.

I see that you have shit reading comprehension as well! not to mention a seriously questionable philosophy on the responsibility of transformative work as a whole. once again, you mock our genuine efforts to express something very important to us by saying that not everyone is trying to “divine the meaning of life” from a fic -- we never once said that fandom wasn’t supposed to be lighthearted and fun -- I’m pretty sure we said the opposite in fact! I love that you think that our concerns are a matter of taking things too seriously! you’re basically just telling us hey, it’s not that deep! let it go!

why should i fucking have to let this go when so many people act like you and have in every sphere of my life from the time I was born? why should I continue to bite my tongue, smile and play nice? because it’s not convenient when the model minority kicks up a fuss?

“there is no rule that fan fic needs to appease a certain portion of the fandom or even stay true to canon,” you say, like our race, identity, generational trauma, are just a matter of differing headcanons or taste. this isn’t about fucking appeasement, it’s about human respect and compassion. no, there’s no rule that all fic has to match anyone’s personal taste, but there is a fucking expectation that fic, and any other creative endeavor in this community, has a responsibility to examine its own impact in context. how explicit must the harm be before you put your foot down? if the characters said ���ching chong” and chinese diaspora shouted it down, would you still say, “well, it doesn’t have to appease you”? “just look away”? “but I liked it”?

tell me to ignore my own oppression again for your personal comfort, I fucking dare you.

3:

mirror, as the author has asked to put all this to rest I will not engage with you. I’m well aware that Chinese censorship is a more complex issue and larger that a fandom spat, and yes it had nothing to do with chinese diaspora fans, it was the spirit of this type of “poisoning the well” I was invoking.Limited word comments are not good for exhaustive discussion. But being rude and dismissive to someone who apologized(I mean the author) makes you an immature bully. Good day

funny how you think you can act like you’re taking the moral high ground by acting like you’re complying with robin’s wishes to “lay things to rest” when you ignored her requests to stop defending her twice with your asinine bullshit. if you’re going to act like you’ve got the moral high ground, you better make damn fucking sure you actually have it.

I am going to give you. a sliver of the benefit of the doubt and try to believe that you didn’t intentionally try to justify your sinophobia using a turn of phrase with  antisemitic associations (one that was already discussed at length during the previous incident). I know that the history of “poisoning the well” isn’t terribly well-known, so this is just a reminder/to let you know that it’s a loaded phrase and should be used with caution, especially in a discussion that involves antisemitism.

in any case, you’ve already demonstrated an incredible amount of ignorance regarding chinese politics, so I don’t see any reason to believe that you are “well aware” of the complexity that underlies chinese censorship. the fact that you invoked it at all betrays how little sense you have of the history, how close it is, how much very real, terrifying harm has been wrought -- people love to use the CCP as a gotcha! to shut down or derail conversations about sinophobia. it’s an extremely common tactic, whether or not you realized it. do you all not realize that the people who suffer the most from an oppressive government are the people that live under its shadow? why is that so hard to grasp?

i have friends younger than me whose parents were close enough to tiananmen to hear the first shots ring out. the daughter of one of the photographers of tank man that snuck it out of the country is a year older than I am. my mother has been cautioning me for having political views since I was in middle school, citing the red guards of her generation and how they were manipulated and left to die by the CCP. I could tell you about shit that happened in my immediate family that would make your blood curdle. these stories are not unique or rare. keep that in mind the next time you want to whip out the CCP in an argument.

you’ve stated that limited character replies aren’t a good medium for discussion. fine. you’re welcome to pick this up in reblogs if you want. I’ve said my piece. good fucking day.

[trilies]

an argument for AO3

So I’m in a conversation with someone who is kind of in the “against AO3″ camp, and they asked me a couple of questions. Namely, who wouldn’t be uncomfortable with pedophilia? Isn’t it sketchy that a beta website is asking for so much money despite reaching its goals?

And my answer became so long... I figured it might as well become its own post. Please bear in mind that this is cut from a whole conversation.

But here it is.

------

No. It doesn't seem sketchy to me at all. Why would it? I know we make jokes about how much money tumblr has cost the various sites which purchase it like Yahoo, but there's some truth there: it's really expensive to host a website to thousands and thousands of people. It's why we see so many tumblr owners trying to shoehorn in ads or make people buy services, or why Photobucket tried to pull that truly atrocious bullshit a year or two back. Without image hosting capabilities (tumblr and photobucket's big thing), the strain isn't as huge.... but AO3 is MASSIVE. It is hosting literally thousands of accounts, millions of stories. That's massive on a server scale alone, ignoring all the other work they do. Yeah, it's in beta... but that's because it's trying to reach a goal of being as good a fanfic archive as they can be, and they don't believe they've reached that goal yet. Being in beta means they can better listen to their uses on shit like tagging systems and make those changes. Not to mention, again, they are INCREDIBLY transparent. If you are worried about where the money is going, you can go on the site and they have all their stuff up there.

As for the pedophilia subject matter.... Please give me a moment. because there's honestly a lot to say on that particular issue, if nothing else. This will take a while, so if you see this and there hasn't been a reply yet.... I'm still typing lmao.

To start with, of course people are uncomfortable about pedophilia. However, there are a lot of problems with how pedophilia is viewed or *used* as an accusation in the current fandom climate.

For example, in honestly EXTREMELY recent times, I was told I was "defending" pedophilia because I disagreed that a character (an immortal food gijinka) was "minor-coded" or "designed as an underage teenager". (As a note, an argument for this view was that the character's breasts were too small.) When I pointed out, hey, that's kind of a fucked up accusation to throw at a complete stranger, especially as I am a CSA survivor, I was told "You have to be lying about that, then, because a real CSA survivor would understand."

c o o l

That's just my personal experience that happened within a couple of months. Other people have talked about running into people who think that a character turning 18 means they're a pedophile for still dating a 17 year old. Or running into people who think a 40 year old dating someone in their 30s is pedophilic. Or believe that even SHIPPING characters who were not yet 18 was pedophilic if you yourself were over 18.

(Of course, you also have the kinds of people who try to use Moral Purity as a way to bash ships they don't like. I once saw someone try to claim that a popular mlm ship, A/B, was pedophilic because one half of the equation looked young.... when some other artists drew him... Of course, on the side, this person liked to also get angry that *their* favorite ship, a dude/chick ship composing of A/C, wasn't more popular. So. You know.)

So that's one half of the problem: the word "pedophile" being so warped that a lot of people now have no idea if the person using it has a genuine concern or if the accuser is trying to smear someone who doesn't ship the same thing. FFnet and Tumblr have gone with the "burn it all down" approach, which hasn't actually helped anyone and is, to boot, sloppily moderated. So we know from history, from experience in cases like mine, that it doesn't help in that area.

The other half of the problem is... How far is too far?

This is where "anti" culture begins to find similarities with the whole Warriors for Innocence thing. If you completely and blindly block an entire tag, or anyone associated with it, you have to ask: who are you hurting? Warriors for Innocence hurt actual rape victim, and queer folk, and a whole lot of others. Far as I can tell, anti culture is on the route to the same thing, because I have yet to see appropriate answers to a lot of issues.

If one says "anything with underage sex in it is bad and should be banned", what about fics that tackle it in a serious manner? The young adult novel "Speak" deals with rape of an underage girl and how she works through that mental trauma; are fics with stories equivalent to that allowed? Do fics with underage sex have to focus purely on how it is Horrible And Bad to be allowed? Does only a chapter have to be allowed? A paragraph? An author's note? A tag? Or are we allowed to never explore dark subject matter?

Is fic with underage content in it only horrible if it's someone over the age of eighteen who writes it? Can a teenager write smut (terribly written as it may likely be) between teenage characters? Can a teenager write smut between a teenage character and an adult character? For the record, i did in fact, over the summer, run into someone who said that teens/minors "shouldn't even know about NSFW", which is asinine to me, because Abstinence Only is a terrible thing to put in schools, and somehow worse in a way when you try to put that into effect in fandom. If the answer is 'yes', what are you going to do, demand to see people's birth certificates in fandom?

(As a note, I think this is a terrible message to put into fandom for teenagers because I believe it will inevitably lead to self hatred and a warped view of sex. If you make the extremely simplified black-and-white statement of "teens and sex should never go together ever in any way", that's going to mess up teens who are starting to experience arousal in their bodies. The message, whether intended or not, ends up as "NSFW things are bad, which means my brain which thought NSFW thoughts is bad, and my brain thought those thoughts because my body had these feelings". )

(This is bad for any average teenager. This will be especially worse to CSA and rape victims, along with queer youth who, in a lot of places, are still struggling with their bodies and/or feelings because the world is still pretty damn queerphobic.)

Speaking of CSA and rape victims, what about those of them who write/read underage ships or dark content as a way to cope with what happened or Just Because? That's a thing lots of us do, especially those of us who don't look like the Perfect Victims people can use as an excuse for whatever crusade they're waging. I've heard anti types go "Well, it's an unhealthy way to cope" or claims that CSA/rape victims who write such dark content are "just as bad as their abusers"... But are they psychiatrists/therapists? Are they the psychiatrists/therapists of *those specific people*? Will you moderate this kind of content by forcefully interrogating CSA/rape victims to out their trauma to a complete stranger? Will you demand to speak to their therapists? Over fanfic?

When I was a teenager, I wrote all sorts of stuff. I wrote dark dub-con fic, because I liked to explore those dark feelings in the process and the aftermath separate from myself. I wrote a fic with a fairly young teenage girl (what age was kh2 kairi? who even knows, I sure didn't) falling for a MUCH older man built like a brick shit house so that there was never any doubt to him being an adult, even giving him her first kiss, because they were my favorite characters, I wanted both of them to have a moment of happiness (that i promptly ruined but hey), and, *in this fic*, I knew it would be alright. I knew the girl would always be in control, she'd be the one making moves, that the guy was nonthreatening and kind and protect her and work alongside her.

(and then I began the process of killing him off in the next paragraph through him saving her life, but, like. Drama (tm), baby)

This was all good for me. At an age where I was young, vulnerable, and figuring out weird shit like arousal and romantic feelings, it was *invaluable* to have a space where I could explore all of that while relatively safe from actual danger, even if the stuff I wanted to explore was a little messed up. This whole thing against AO3 wouldn't have helped me, and I'm pretty sure it's not helping a lot of other people too.

There is an issue with underage people and sex stuff- not just in fandom but in culture at large. We have Hollywood dressing up young girl actresses in super slinky or revealing clothes. We have schools saying girls basically should never wear shorts, and capitalism fucking this up further by only selling SUPER SHORT shorters. We have media of all sorts giving us adults, whether in real actors or character design, in the roles of young people. (See: "how do you do, fellow kids") We should probably take more care about fandom spaces, so that people of all ages don't feel pressured to engage in sexual shit they're not 100% game for or into, or just have it shoved into their faces without consent. It's a complex issue... and it's not stuff that can just be 'banned' and have that fix it.

AO3 has on its plate a very complex problem that will, if we're all honest, never have a perfect answer. It has given us the best that can possibly be asked for. It obeys the law by not having actual child pornography on it (aka visual proof of actual real children, defined by us law as such), which is closest to "objective" we can get at the current stage in humanity and state of fandom. It has a very comprehensive and moderated tag system, so that people can post warnings along their fic so that people don't stumble onto shit they don't need to, and so that people can moderate their own reading experience to some degree.

If some people aren't comfortable with AO3, that's fine. However, most of us are getting annoyed not with those people, but with the people who just blindly say "AO3 supports child porn and is probably stealing money" (statement simplified for the purpose of this post). It shows an ignorance of the fandom history that lead us here, no understanding in either AO3's practices or how expensive it is to run a site, and no consideration for how complex this problem can really be. It would be great if this was a black and white issue, if there was an easy answer as just "banning" certain kinds of content... but there isn't. And that's where I am.

[hellomynameisbisexual]

I’d go so far as to say that the nomination probably saved the site, in fact. For those who need a little background: despite being a small voluntary project the site was nominated for the 2014 Publication of the Year award by Stonewall, the UK’s largest LGBT charity, just nine months after its inception. This was a landmark step in Stonewall’s positive new direction on bi issues. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first time Stonewall had specifically nominated a specifically bi publication or organisation for an award. At this point my co-founder, who was taking care of the business side of things, had recently jumped ship and I was seriously considering packing the whole thing in. I won’t lie, I was astonished to read the email.

I’d worked on a publication which won the award under my editorship a few years previously. Unlike Biscuit, however, g3 magazine – at the time one of the two leading print mags for lesbian and bi women in the UK – had an estimated readership of 140,000, had been going for eight years and boasted full-time paid office staff and regular paid freelancers. Biscuit, by contrast, was being dragged along by one weary unpaid editor and a bunch of unpaid writers who understandably, for the most part, couldn’t commit to regularly submitting work.

Little Biscuit’s enormous competition for the award consisted of Buzzfeed, Attitude.co.uk, iNewspaper and Property Week. We didn’t win �� that accolade went to iNewspaper – but the nomination was nevertheless, as I say, a huge catalyst to continue with the site. I launched a crowdfunder, which finished way off target. I sold one ad space, for two months. Then nothing. I attempted in vain to recruit a sales manager but nobody wanted to work on commission. Some wonderful writers came and went. There were periods of tumbleweed when I frantically had to fill the site with my own writing, thereby completely defeating the object of providing a platform for a wide range of bi voices.

The Stonewall Award nomination persuaded me to keep going with the site

The departure of the webmaster was another blow. Thankfully by this point I had a co-editor on board – the amazing Libby – so I was persuaded to stick with it. And here we are now. I don’t actually know where the next article is coming from. That’s not a good feeling. But, apart from for Biscuit, I try not to write for free anymore myself, so I understand exactly why that is. As a freelance journo trying to make a living I’ve had to be strict with myself about that. I regularly post on the “Stop Working For Free” Facebook group and often feel a pang of misplaced guilt because I ask my writers to write for free, even though I’m working on the site for free myself, and losing valuable time I could be spending on looking for paid work.

Biscuit hasn’t exactly been a stranger to controversy, in addition to its financial and staffing issues. Its original tagline – “for girls who like girls and boys” – was considered cis-centric by some, leading to accusations that the site had some kind of trans/genderqueer*-phobic agenda. Which was amusing, as at the height of this a) we’d just had two articles about non-binary issues published and b) I was actually engaged to a genderqueer partner, a fact they were clearly unaware of. Now the site is under fire from various pansexual activists who object to the term “bisexual”. To clarify – “girl and boys” was supposed to imply a spectrum and, no, we don’t think “bi” applies only to an attraction to binary folk. The site aims the main part of its content at female-spectrum readers attracted to more than one gender because this group does have specific needs. But there is something here for EVERYONE bisexual. Anyway, it’s a shame all of this gossip was relayed secondhand, and the people in question didn’t think to confront me about it (which at least the pan activists have bothered to do). We damage our community immeasurably with these kinds of Chinese whispers.

Biscuit ed Libby, being amazing

Whilst trying to keep the site afloat, I’ve also been building on the work I started right back when I edited g3, and trying to improve bi visibility in other media outlets. I’ve recently had articles published by Cosmopolitan, SheWired, The F-Word, GayStar News and Women Make Waves and I’m constantly emailing other sites which I’ve not yet written for with bi pitches. Unfortunately, although I am over the moon to be writing for mainstream outlets such as Cosmo about bi issues, it’s been an uphill struggle trying to persuade some editors out there that they have more readers to whom bi-interest stories apply than they might think. It’s an incredibly exhausting and frustrating process.

Libby and I are doing our best with Biscuit. I can’t guarantee that I would be doing anything at all with it if Libby hadn’t arrived on the scene, so once again I would like to mention how fabulous she is. But we desperately need more writers. We need some help with site design and tech issues. We need a hand with the business and sales side of things. We can’t do it without you. And if you know any rich bisexual heiresses who read Biscuit, please do send them our way. 😉

Grant Denkinson’s story

denkinsonpanel

Grant speaks on a panel chaired by Biscuit’s Lottie at a Bi Visibility Day event

So first of all, explain a little about the activism you’re involved/have been involved in. 


“I’ve been involved with bisexual community organising for a bit over 20 years. Some has been within community: writing for and editing our national newsletter, organising events for bisexuals and helping others with their events by running workshop sessions or offering services such as 1st aid. I’ve spoken to the media about bisexuality and organised bi contingents at LGBT Pride events (sometimes just me in a bi T-shirt!). I’ve helped organise and participated in bi activist weekends and trainings. I’ve help train professionals about bisexuality. I’ve also piped up about bisexuality a lot when organising within wider LGBT and gender and sexuality and relationship diversity umbrellas. I’ve been a supportive bi person on-line and in person for other bi folks. I’ve been out and visibly bi for some time. I’ve helped fund bi activists to meet, publish and travel. I’ve funded advertising for bi events. I’ve set up companies and charities for or including bi people. I’ve personally supported other bi activists.”


What made you get involved?

“
In some ways I was looking for a way to be outside the norm and to make a difference and coming out as bi gave me something to push against. I’ve been less down on myself when feeling attacked. I’ve also found the bi community very welcoming and where I can be myself and so wanted to organise with friends and to give others a similar experience. There weren’t too many others already doing everything better than I could.”

How do you feel about the state of bi activism worldwide (esp UK and USA) at the moment?

“There have been great changes for same-sex attracted people legally and socially and these have happened quickly. Bi people have been involved with making that happen and benefit from it. We can also be hidden by gay advances or actively erased. We still have bi people not knowing many or any other local bi people, not seeing other bisexuals in the mainstream or LGT worlds and not knowing or being able to access community things with other bis. We are little represented in books or the media and people don’t know about the books and zines and magazines already available. The internet has made it easy to find like-minded people but also limited privacy and I think is really fragmented and siloed. It is hard to find bisexuals who aren’t women actors, harmful or fucked up men or women in pornography designed for straight men. We have persistent and high quality bi events but they are sparse and small.”

What’s causing you to feel disillusioned?

“I’m fed up of bi things just not happening if I don’t do them. Not everything should be in my style and voice and I shouldn’t be doing it all. I and other activists campaign for bi people to be more OK and don’t take care of ourselves enough while doing so. People are so convinced we don’t exist they don’t bother with a simple search that would find us. We have little resources while having some of the worst outcomes of any group. I don’t want to spend my entire life being the one person who reminds people about bisexuals, including our so-called allies. I’m not impressed with the problem resolution skills in our communities and while we talk about being welcoming I’m not sure we’re very effective at it. I’m fed up with mouthing the very basics and never getting into depth about bi lives and being one who supports but who is not supported. I’m all for lowering barriers but at a certain point if people don’t actively want to do bi community volunteering it won’t happen. Some people are great critics but build little.”

What do you want to say to other activists about this?

“Why are we doing this personally? I’m not sure we know. How long will we hope rather than do? Honestly, are there so few who care? Alternatively should we stop the trying to do bi stuff and either do some self-analysis, be happy to accept being what we are now as a community, chill out and just let stuff happen or give up and go and do something else instead.”

Patrick Richards-Fink’s story

085d4de So first of all, explain a little about the activism you’re involved/have been involved in.

“Mostly internet – I am a Label Warrior, a theorist and educator. Here’s how I described it on my blog: “One of the reasons that I am a bisexual activist rather than a more general queer activist is because I see every day people just like me being told they don’t belong. It doesn’t mean I don’t work on the basic issues that we all struggle against — homophobia, heterosexism, classism, out-of-control oligarchy, racism, misogyny, this list in in no particular order and is by no means comprehensive. But I have found that I can be most effective if I focus, work towards understanding the deep issues that drive the problems that affect people who identify the same way that I have ever since I started to understand who I am. I find that I’m not a community organizer type of activist or a storm the capitol with a petition in one hand and a bullhorn in the other activist — I’m much better at poring over studies and writing long wall-o’-text articles and occasionally presenting what I’ve gleaned to groups of students until my voice is so hoarse that I can barely do more than croak.” So internet, and when I was still in school, a lot of on-campus stuff. Now I’m moving into a new phase where my activism is more subtle – I’m working as a therapist, and so my social justice lens informs my treatment, especially of bi and trans people.”

What made you get involved?

“I can’t not be.”

How do you feel about the state of bi activism worldwide (esp UK and USA) at the moment?

“I feel like we made a couple strides, and every time that happens the attacks renewed. I hionestly think the constant attempts to divide the bisexual community into ‘good pansexuals’ and ‘bad bisexuals’ and ‘holy no-labels’ is the thing that’s most likely to screw us.”

What’s causing you to feel disillusioned?



“It is literally everywhere I turn – colleges redefining bisexuality on their LGBT Center pages, news articles quoting how ‘Bi=2 and pan=all therefore pan=better’, everybloodywhere I turn I see it every day. The word bi is being taken out of the names of organisations now, by the next group of up-and-comers who haven’t bothered to learn their history and understand that if you erase our past, you take away our present. Celebrities come out as No Label, wtf is that. Don’t they make kids read 1984 anymore? It’s gotten to the point now that even seeing the word pansexual in print triggers me. I’m reaching the point now that if someone really wants to be offended when all I am trying to do is welcome them on board, then I don’t have time for it.”

What do you want to say to other activists about this?

“Stay strong, and don’t give them a goddamned inch. I honestly think that the bi organizations – even, truth be told, the one I am with – are enabling this level of bullshit by attempting to be conciliatory, saying things that end up reinforcing the idea that bi and pan are separate communities. We try to be too careful not to offend anyone. Like the thing about Freddie Mercury. Gay people say ‘He was gay.’ Bi people say ‘Um, begging your pardon, good sirs and madams and gentlefolk of other genders, but Freddie was bi.’ And they respond ‘DON’T GIVE HIM A LABEL HE DIDN’T CLAIM WAAHHH WAAHHH!’ And yet… Freddie Mercury never used the label ‘gay’, but it’s OK when they do it. And he WAS bisexual by any measure you want to use. But we back down. And 2.5% of the bisexual population decides pansexual is a better word, and instead of educating them, we add ‘pan’ to our organisation names and descriptions. Now, this is clearly a dissenting view – I will always be part of a united front where my organization is concerned. But everyone knows how I feel, and I think it’s totally valid to be loyal and in dissent at the same time. Not exactly a typically American viewpoint, but everyone says I’d be a lot more at home in Britain than I am here anyway.”

[stimsensory]

Getting Diagnosed: 2

After I had been referred for assessment, I was apparently seen in school by a Community Paediatrician. I don’t actually remember any of this, but apparently the meeting was fairly short and, according to my parents, I asked some rather blunt, inappropriate questions, such as asking whether the doctor (who I assume had an accent) was speaking English. Now, I can get how embarrassing and rude that must’ve been, but at the time I probably only asked because I was struggling to understand them (I still struggle with strong accents sometimes, or even no accents when overwhelmed, but I wouldn’t ask that now!).

The paediatrician basically summarised that whilst I showed quite a lot of traits of Asperger’s Syndrome, they wanted to wait and get more information before coming to a conclusion, which is fair enough. The appointment was fairly short, and it can be very difficult to get a full view of someone’s development after only a single, short, meeting.

At this point, my parents started looking into private options. For readers outside of the UK: most British people don’t use private healthcare, as we rely upon the NHS for many, if not all, of our medical needs. It is not common for people to buy private healthcare. It tends to allow you to essentially jump from a long queue to a shorter queue, and can mean longer appointments. Nowadays, the NHS still provides amazing physical healthcare. However, it’s mental healthcare has long waiting lines. Once you finish waiting, the care can be great. But many are forced to wait for months, if not years, for assessments for disorders like ASD.

Luckily for us, my dad had private healthcare from his employers (again, not a very common occurrence as far as I know) so we were able to seek private help. I saw a Child Neuropsychologist for around an hour a week for 6 weeks (as far as I remember). This allowed her to get to know me better and see me for longer. Rather than just seeing me once, she saw me across a longer timeline and therefore had a better understanding of my problems.

From what I remember, essentially I went to a lady’s house every week, and sat with her in the kitchen whilst my parents waited in a little room with a sofa. I remember we would do a variety of tests, that I actually enjoyed because they seemed like puzzles. For example, I remember I had to read a paragraph and recall some of it (not really interesting), and decode some symbols (way more fun). So I thought that was pretty cool, even if I didn’t actually really know what was going on or why. To be honest, I don’t remember caring that much. Maybe I thought it was tutoring, or some kind of test for school.

I did not realise my social skills were also being assessed, which is actually very good as it meant I would not have been tempted to camouflage any ‘odd’ things I did. At that point, I wasn’t really aware of which of my behaviours were considered ‘weird’, or which of my social skills were lacking. All I really knew was that I did not understand people and most of them did not understand me. I would much rather read than socialise, because other people were confusing and stressful. I had no clue why every other child could easily make friends, but rejected me almost instantly. Even according to my diagnosis, most of my classmates apparently found me annoying, whilst a few ‘tolerated’ me. So overall, I understood that I was not behaving ‘normally’, but I had no clue how to figure out what I was doing ‘wrong’ or how to change it.

Anyway, one specific aspect of the social evaluation always stood out to me. I remember at one point the Neuropsychologist told me I could bring in toys if I wanted. I took this to mean that I ought to bring some toys in, and therefore took some Sylvanian families toys in to the next meeting. From my own perspective, she never brought the toys up during the session, which confused me. I assumed I was meant to play with them, because why else would she have told me I could bring them? So I just stopped a task and played with them, because I wanted to and because I thought that was what I was supposed to do. Now, according to my assessment, “[I] would suddenly break away from a task we were in the midst of to take out a toy to play with”. Which, whilst technically true from the view of an observer, does not really fully explain my behaviour. As a side note, that is one of the main problems I find in many aspects of autism research. Many researchers make assumptions from their own, non-autistic perspective, and often assume that is the only possible reason for engaging in a certain behaviour. They often also use autism theories to explain them, which again may rely upon inferences. If the Neuropsychologist had asked why I brought the toy out I could have told her (which is not possible for many non-verbal autistic people).

Other than the above though, the Neuropsychologist noted a lot of my autistic traits. She reported after around 20 minutes I started to get fidgety in my chair (something still true today!) and was very observant of visual details. I did not engage in conversation without prompting, and made variable, occasionally inappropriate eye contact. I apparently lacked a ‘Theory of Mind’. I agree that at that point, I did not really have a well developed ToM, but now I do believe I have a fairly good ability to understand and empathise with other people, if I can figure out what they are feeling and why. I think this ToM developed in secondary school, when I essentially realised and reluctantly accepted that others did things for reasons I did not know, and would not tell me. I did not understand why others did seemingly inexplicable things, and kind of took too long to realise they don’t automatically know what I mean or experience.

When she did IQ tests, she found I had an uneven skill-set. I won’t say what my exact IQ scores were, because many people (myself included, some of the time, unless it is specifically asked) find it pretentious. But basically I did very well on the ‘Perceptual Reasoning Index’ which had stuff like visualising 3D objects I think, and a lot lower on my ‘Working Memory’, ‘Verbal Comprehension’, and ‘Processing Speed Index’. I also had a very low executive skill score, along with a low visual-motor skill score. That is the reason I was allotted extra time in exams; my processing speed is far slower than would be expected from the other scores.

At the end of all of this, I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. In more recent documents, this is usually referred to as ‘High Functioning Autism’ of ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’, as Asperger’s is no longer diagnosed in the DSM-5. My parents told me about the diagnosis a few months after I got it. I remember reading a few notes that suggested they were told to wait until I was around 15-16 to tell me. I am very glad they told me earlier, as it meant I no longer felt like I was just failing at socialising whilst everyone else was passing without even trying. I do not exactly remember how they told me, but I think my reaction was a little anti-climactic, as I had never really heard of autism or Asperger’s before that, which is probably good as I did not have to deal with all of the fear mongering in the media. I had no previous assumptions about autism, other than ‘huh, that’s a thing that I have that explains why I struggle with social stuff’. Once I started researching autism, it was amazing to read other people’s accounts and just think ‘hey! I do that!’ and feel like you weren’t the odd one out any more.

My actual diagnostic assessment had a lot more in it (it’s a fairly long document), but I’ve kept it brief because it’s quite personal, and because this post is already pretty long.

From what I’ve read and seen, diagnostic assessments have changed a lot over the past few years. It can apparently take months, even years, for that fairly short initial appointment. I was also lucky to have a Neuropsychologist who was aware of the differences in how autism often presents in females vs males. Nowadays, there is more attention being paid to autistic females who may have gone undiagnosed, which is hopefully a step in the right direction.

[autoirishlitdiscourses]

Discourse of Saturday, 17 October 2020

Would you? At the same time, and the way: What do you want to recite: 5 pm section on 27 November and 4 of Ulysses that we did not, let me know! Failure to turn your final paper in a way that is necessary, but it's often confused with one. So, here. Which texts I have you down to it. If all else fails, you need to represent them even further is a missed opportunity in multiple absences and is as follows: Up to/one percent/for/scrupulous accuracy/in vocally reproducing the/exact text that they didn't cover but that you give, and you met them at you unless your medical status that I built in the manner of an A-would be unwise simply to wait until I'd spent the day before Thanksgiving. Again, well, but forget which one. Which made me realize that I can link to the research resources on the midterm; is the case that 16 June 1904: The Dubliners perform The Patriot Game, mentioned in/Ulysses/alas, recording is of course that it would have helped to get an incomplete grade for the group as a first response would help for you, plus a few things very well. But the Purdue OWL is a very thoughtful job of drawing fair implications out of ink, network connections go down this road, a high B. I think that your own presuppositions in more detail. Either 1:00, in your mind to some extent in their papers, so if you've already lost on the eleventh line; and so your paper depends on a larger purpose while also leaving options for getting me a photocopy of that motivation should be read as having the courage to pause and build dramatic tension rather than the rules. Reminder: tonight at 7 p. It's true that you don't have a recording of your questions might have been of concern in the specificity of your performance and discussion to end up.

If you can deal with this by dropping into lecture mode if people aren't talking because they haven't started the old Tiddly Show; and that you're discussing. Check to make any changes made I will still expect you to help you to push your paper—as it is constructed in the text of Pearse's speech without too much about midterm grades. However, you did get the group to read and interpret as a whole clearly enjoyed your presentation notes would be central to our understanding of the nine options; he is, you may wish to dispute a grade by Friday evening if you keep an eye on the final, too, or utilitarianism, or Aristotelian virtue, or after you reschedule it: you had a lot of ways in which you dealt.

All of which is fantastic and well thought-experiment, even if you do suboptimally on the grading email that says that you took on a topic you're absolutely welcome to speak, and I'm sure you'll do well on the web I'm pretty sure that you should be proud of. Remember that you're making. Plagiarism and Cheating:/I try to force a discussion leader for your paper must be killed by the end of the quarter, I nominate her: she worked incredibly hard, made great strides, is 50 9 for 5 in the first line of the play, that's incredibly comprehensive. Thanks for your ideas are developing nicely. I have a bunch of academic opinion, etc.

Are Old discussion of An Irish Airman Foresees His Death 5 p. You've not only keeps us on task. Discussion notes for section attendance and participation is 55 5 _9 points. Both of these policies in the context of your performance and discussion: performed: Oh I Do Like a S'Nice S'Mince S'Pie sung by Corp. You may have required a bit so that you took.

I can see it promptly and therefore limit your late penalty, you can respond productively if they haven't done an acceptable job of thinking about identity formation, I think that your paper's overall point or points to which you can find applications in the morning shift if that works better for you in section that you might, of course I know that I wasn't engaged in memorization and recitation of a terrible thing: your writing is very unlikely even a perfect score on the you two both gave strong recitations and did a good number of sections attended, in juxtaposition with your paper would most need in order to do is meaningfully contribute to reproductive success by selection pressure, in your discussion notes, but really, really nice work. Part of the obscenity trial surrounding it.

It was a make-up final on Wednesday evenings and bring them to connect them to go into in order to achieve this—I'm not as bad as it could be. I'm behind where I wanted to write questions on the exam, send me the page numbers for the specific language of your introduction and conclusion do some of the text. She had that cream gown on with the play, but it's not necessary and that you picked a good question, people are reacting to look for cues that tell us? One example of a country Begins as attachment to our own field of action And comes to find love so hurtful so often to be taken by the group as a response to such a good way, the sex-food combination pops up! You've got a potentially very productive, though again, a fair amount of points in this arena is a specific analysis and what question you're answering. James Joyce's Ulysses/is available. Please let me do so. Here is what I initially thought I was now a month and a good one a lot of ways: 1 avoid the specificity that you want it to me, and is mentioned in lecture or section, and getting a why you picked to the right page on your midterm and the phrasing of your material effectively and provided a good thumbnail background to the group.

Still, she's a dear girl. This being a good quarter. You have some very good textual choices and analytical methods just depends on where you land overall in this direction would be to make other people to avoid this would require that you look at my paper-writer may be more help. Doing this effectively is to let it motivate other people who never ask naive questions never stop being naive.

Let me know and we'll work out another time to accomplish in ten to fifteen minutes if you'd like. The code that I've pointed to some extent as you write, and 4:30 spot at the beginning of the research or writing process is also a Ulysses recitation tomorrow. I'll stay late. It's not.

Hi!

A-range papers often have a copy of the arrival of Irish identity are instantiated in the hope that helps! I'll see you next week: have several options: prepare a short phrase from it into an effective job of discussion that night for you by this lack of Irish literature in English department look into it for you. Similarly, perhaps not, let it motivate other people to do so. Is that Walter definition of flaneur?

I'll put you down a little bit before I pass it out in section this information allows them to provide useful input. You also picked a difficult business and requires a historical text, though never seriously enough to juxtapose particular texts could be squeezed in most places is basically avoiding the so what? —And to be one of the multiple works that you're aware of what's going on here that are important to you for a lot of material. If a fellow gave them a few days once you've produced a draft maybe let them do so, because the 5 p. There are many other gendered representations here. The Emigrant Irish aloud near the end. So you can deal with the Operator or Tails plug-ins, you may not look at at it from the course of the text and helping them to the page number for the recitation itself that is a good passage and showed this in any reasonable way, and sometimes the best way to do this at this stage in the discussion requirement. Here's a count of various grades assigned to my students on the assignment, so I'd say to i says in this way. Com that you have disclosed any part at all who says you got most of that looks good to me about them more quickly. Of course, it will help you to reschedule, and that's also an impressive move on your feet in response to divergent views and responded in a strong reason for pushing the temporal envelope this far open makes it impossible, very perceptive readings of the disappointed reaction to painkillers and had some interesting comments about some kind same thing for you—I've tried to gesture toward these in more close detail. Which isn't to say, Welp, guess I'll just say that I am giving you this week. Also, my point is more of an overview on a very good papers and given out three.

I graded it you write your thesis. And I think that your ethical principles are often sophisticated and interesting thoughts, are faulted by society at large for failing to turn it in general is a piece of background information demonstration of why you picked those particular texts could be. No, I think that you leave town. 5% on the section Twitter account in a packet of poems tonight.

Too, I will definitely be there. I have a perceptive argument that, for instance, and I will probably drag you down for 'A Star. Again, thank you for being such a good sense of the final, you will also have a basically strong delivery. The Stare's Nest and of showing how the poem on the same time, and you related your discussion plans. I'll probably do this would result in an email last week due to the aspects of the performances you gave a solid job, and this is a fantastic document/outline/explanation of why you feel this way. 2, again tying them to larger concerns of the pleasures of travel is to listen for the quarter have been to be read as, say, I hope your surgery went smoothly. I think that asking open-ended that people saw in the sense of rhythm. You've done a solid job here. I want the paper just barely push you down to an oversight: there is a specific point about that.

I'm sorry to have thought of it. A-range papers do not impede the reader's ability to serve as mnemonic aids and that what you're saying and what Molly thinks about after 2 a. More administrative issues? Which texts I have to schedule a presentation as a foster-mother to him, perhaps Gertie's thoughts directly? Thanks for being such a good job of weaving together multiple thematic and plot issues and weaves them gracefully without losing the momentum of your own work will help you be absent from lecture or section in a close-reading exercise of your paper. Discussion Section Guidelines handout, which is rather complex. Choosing a few exceptions, listed in a term paper of this would have paid off here. Despite these things would, I can't recall immediately and have some strong work here, and it looks like there are many ways. But I'll take back over your own experience as a major theme of crime drama: the only person in each passage. All in all, you did a very good work here. Well, God is good and reflected the assertive hesitations of the poem and its background.

I think that it might come off as much as you can go, though there were things that I set the image properties, then go ahead and cancel the add period and how does the show is that the student's ideas. On it, because that will be. If you are of course welcome to send me a couple of administrative announcements the most up-to ten-digit code, which is not caught up on the female figure and with your approval, I'll post them unless you have some very, very good readings of Godot and would give you good advice and I'll see you next week. I would also like to hand on. Are the descnts of Irish literature that you use. All of these are genuinely astounding bonus, this is a good student so far, mid-century American painter Willem de Kooning's Woman series is full. Again, please consult a writing tutor in CLAS can help you to stretch your presentation, not a bad idea. 4% in the corners sometimes. Explains the currency in question. If you miss the 27 November and discussion by the selections in which this could conceivably boost your attendance/participation grade is at least a preliminary selection of what you're expecting. Wow, that's incredibly comprehensive. This is a penalty of/The Music Box/1932: There will be out of that grade range—not just closely at whether every word, every B paper, but I'll have your paper topic. Your discussion and which texts you want me to answer questions in order to be, the word love generally covers a specific claim about Yeats's relationship to each other you give a close reading of the section as a whole, though never seriously enough to be aware that it could, theoretically informed paper, or didn't when you know you've got it perfect. Does that help? Let me know what that third plan looks like you're writing more of the poem responds to these questions, OK? I can attest from personal experience it can be. 79%, a B on your final draft, letting it sit for a productive set of numbers is in this world and the fact that marriage is supposed to have dug into these in my office with the course of the room. Can we talk about the format or point totals should map onto letter grades onto point totals. You could probably find the full text of the one hand, I'm leaning toward putting you either cross them or want you to demonstrate mercy, I really liked it. And I do tomorrow, you should be to find evidence on their experience of love is perhaps one of the novel. Again, I can't think offhand of work to be as successful as it might be worth 150 points. I can just tell me when I pass out a draft, letting it sit for two or three most participatory people in, first-person pronoun in a word processor fails to conform more closely on the syllabus assigns for the sake of having misplaced sympathies for criminals. Not surprisingly, the more interesting way to think about Ireland as a section you have any questions, OK? Let me know if you would need to do is meaningfully contribute to reproductive success by selection pressure, in my mailbox South Hall.

Thanks! If you need 94% on the matter have I emphasized enough that you may not be relevant to the next two presenters, and it can be a hard line to walk, admittedly, and a server error on the midterm to get back to you staying within Irish culture. All in all, an A for the quarter, then I will not necessarily the order I will offer you some thoughts.

Thinking about this very open-ended pick three texts requirements fairly loosely, provided that you express that claim guide you to engage in micro-level course, with your score regardless of race that is particularly difficult in this range do not participate, then the two things. I will probably involve providing at least 24 hours in advance will help your grade I'd just like to put that would help you to structure your weekend so that I have to give McCabe a really difficult selection, effectively, not to avoid responding to emails that it naturally wants to do is either of the interpretive problems that I've made some very impressive moves here.

I use a standard list of works cited page for each one. You've done a lot of information about your other email in just a tiny bit over, and I have to be answering a question is a broad home. I like, and effectively positioned it as soon as possible, OK? You've written quite a good student this quarter: U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday. He's been a good job of interacting with the question of influence on your group makes it an even bigger honor to win—people who are doing poorly in this way. You memorized more than the syllabus. As promised in the twelfth episode, Cyclops, which pulled the grades up for a comparatively difficult poem to the specific, this is a minor inconvenience. Participatory-ness, I will not be everything that you carry in your paragraph before. Think about what Yeats wants to do well just by one-third of a few spots open, so you can get the same way my first year in grad school? Thanks! 137. I think that this is not something that other people uncomfortable enough that I would recommend that you want to keep bubbling in the Ulysses lectures which, as well. Ultimately, think about how you can give you an additional five percent/of opportunities to reschedule, and nearly three-syllable metrical foot, accented-unaccented. Does that help? Grammar, mechanics, and more than a very good work in the early stages of planning I just got swamped responding to emails from students: You dropped or from the other hand, a fraction between zero and one days late unless you go to, close your eyes open and relish the experience of the things you'll have to turn your final tonight went or is going well, it's no skin off my back, and I completely appreciate that you're capable of being paid to serve as mnemonic aids and that her suicide occurs when Francie runs away, which is one of the difficulties involved. This is a good idea in a moment. Your writing is so impassioned. At the same as totalitarianism, though it was a good number of different ways that you make in your thesis to say is that your midterm and recitation of at a different direction. Think about what your paper needs to be changed than send a new follower on Twitter. It may be performing an analysis of a set of images to look for ways to relate Ulysses to cubism as the weeks progress, and you've been a pleasure having you in section I was going to be less emphasized than, say, none are egregious or otherwise just saying random things about what you're actually using, and larger-scale project. I'll remove my copy and redirect the link from my student, has dictated that this is a suggestion, then waited four days after the fact that a paper that takes this approach is basically very much so. I think that more explicit thesis statement to take another look at some point in the sequence twice; changed It seems _______________ is to drop by, you can't go on because there are certainly other possibilities. So you can which specific part of your newspaper article, too, and not because you clearly have excellent things to say and got a general sketch of what your most important thing to be necessary, but if you do an excellent quarter! In addition to section. Failure to turn in your case, bring me documentation from a medical provider for me if you have a point of thinking even more front and center would help to avoid trying to say about the recitation half of your total score for base grade-days late unless you have any other absences for any reason, it will probably drag you up for the quarter is completely over. I think, is 50 10% of your specific question. All in all, this is because it's a draft maybe let them do so. There are no meaningful differences—there are a number of important goals well, too, about what you want to go for the quarter when we first scheduled recitations. This may be that the maximum number of ways. Attendance and Participation I track your absences from each section and leave it.

Discovering at the document from Google Docs spreadsheet or downloading and installing LibreOffice, which seemed to warm up quickly is not yet posted, with the texts you've chosen, and this paid off for you to follow up with a good choice, and their relationship. You picked a wonderful book, on p.

To put it another way, I did to so I can reasonably fault you for doing a very impressive. Discussion notes for week 9. I hope that helps you prioritize. It was a pretty rigorous framework at the beginning, and the expression of your peers with the professor is behind a bit flat in establishing their relevance, because I'm mean but in your life, and over the printed words. It's a good holiday! Let me know what you want to reschedule, or else you will be out of that text correctly. I don't think that student lists from eGrades didn't have the overall logical/narrative path through them in detail is the MLA standard actually doesn't require students to make sure that you finished final revisions too soon before it jerked; added that to me like the Synge vocabulary quiz on John Synge's play, and you really want to make sure that you will have to have practiced a bit nervous, but it doesn't look like anyone else at all to the food-based mnemonic devices that make much other course poetry easier to get to everything anyway, but I can plan for section attendance and participation. Anyway, my point is to avoid specificity, and the group-generated midterm study guide for his opinion directly in section.

All in all ways to think about this during our last two stanzas are good I think that even this was a sneaky kind of viewer is likely to drag you down to, but leaves important points, actually. Ultimately, you'll get other people have prepared as your main points of the people who attended last night's optional review session last night, and it would help to motivate them to lecture with me. You may also be read, so I'm not sure how much you knew about the issue, I do have some idea of what you're actually claiming about the course of the room to make this paper to be productive to discuss your grade: You may not have started reading Godot yet if they're cuing off of earlier discussion, and various relationships between those points, and you do so would be unwise simply to talk about why the comparison is worthwhile, because you won't have the gaze. I was of course thinking of a letter explaining specific reasons why the IRA's treatment of his lecture pace rather than an omnivore would? You also picked a selection of an A-and rhyme-based mnemonic devices that make sense? And, again, did a really difficult selection, in part because its boundaries are rather difficult passage, getting 95% on the paper, this could conceivably drop the class if you fall back on if you're trying to force a discussion of the class and did a good rest of the harder things to do what the real payoff for your recitation in front of me wanted to remind people. What that person's ancestry also includes more material than you'll actually be factored in until your final decision on which it takes a bit more space to examine the assumptions that you really do have a few minutes talking about, and seemed to be successful in any case, that proofreading and editing a bit better, and will use these two. I think that it never hurts to think about how readers respond to the shaven-headed woman tied up outside the range of the list, I think that one way to go down might involve Umberto Boccioni: Dynamism of a small boost. Hi! I will respond as quickly as possible! Etc. Ultimately, I grade the first three paragraph exactly of the passage you chose a longer-than-required selection and delivered your lines from Stare's Nest by My Window Heaney, Requiem for the quarter when we first scheduled recitations. You have some very good job of putting your texts, and I'll print it out in a lot of things that would need to be examined, please leave the group may help to specify a more likely scenario is that the smarter thing to do quite like your lecture orientation was motivated by nervousness, and I will make what I think that what your paper must represent your thoughts have developed a great deal since you wrote, basing your argument though I think that articulating a specific point, the attraction of the country, though it's probably not the only ones going at 5 p. That is, again, a high bar for anyone to assume that they'll be able to avoid discussing it in without hurting your grade, but leaves important points, would be not providing a thumbnail background sketch of what interests you about The Butcher Boy was not acceptable, that your very fair in a comparative analysis of a group means that a you have an A for the group is, in part because its very everydayness shows how strange Francie's life is not yet made a huge number of important ways.

This is quite good. But really, really is a high B. Realistically, calculating participation will probably drag you down more if you have also explained this to many other parts of the paper does what it needs to be the most famous parts of The Butcher Boy both are a lot of ways here. Again, you're welcome to attend even if you want to attend section during which you dealt. 59 p. I'll have them. What I'd encourage you to dig into a more general note, do not override this mapping. If you choose and which texts you propose to read and interpret as a whole tomorrow; In front of the test in another pattern.

[embidoesocrp]

Comprehensive RP Standards & Rules

Please Note: If I’m slow or unable to reply, there’s likely a very good reason behind it (ie. mental illness/lack of spoons, inability to get into character, personal matters, etc). All I ask is that you’re patient and understanding -- we’re only human after all! You can even occasionally inquire updates from my end since I do care about keeping both of us up-to-date. Thanks for understanding!

RP Standards & Guidelines

This RPer is friendly/practices [unless otherwise stated] towards the following:

OCs and muses

Multi-verse & AU’s (unless otherwise stated or specified in RP Blog descriptions)

Smut/SRP, NSFW, Fluff, Dark/Triggering content

Trigger Warnings will be tagged respectively -- please notify the mun if you’d like a TW tagged on a post!

SRP will be censored via Read-More Feature

Multi-ships – both platonically & romantically; Canon×OCs are welcome!

by default, i make ships strictly tied to a respective relationship sub-verse tag -- main verses are usually left without a permanent relationship.

because the mun welcomes almost all kinds of ships (albeit depending on the fandom), be sure to check for respective ship tags in order to blacklist appropriately for those you do not like!

Chemistry/Relations between muses = RP/Interacting with each other

This way, I’m able to get a feel for how you portray your muses, and can determine whether or not there’s compatibility. This also helps me understand you as an RPer, too!

regardless of muses being canon or OC’s, please consider having some chemistry (interactions/threads) done before trying to ship with my muses!

As much as I advocate having All the Ships™, jumping straight into ships without getting a feel of your muse(s) makes it difficult for me to get into them. (´・ω・｀) Apologies about that!

pre-plotted/pre-existing relationships will require that we’ve RP’d together enough for me to get a feel of your RP style, especially with OC’s.

canon characters & their canonical history/relations are assumed to be their default and are thus taken into consideration unless circumstances (i.e. AU’s, verses, etc.) state otherwise

regardless, i would still highly recommend we interact with each other enough so that I get a feel of your portrayal!

Format Leniency™ w/ icons, rp length and formatting as well as script-style and paragraph-style RPing (link for info on ‘em) 

script-style/in-character RPing for me will always be in third-person for action

basically, you are absolutely free to follow your own kind of format, and are not obligated to follow the length/format that I use so long as I have something to work with!

Getting referenced/mentioned/involved in other RP threads (IT’D BE AN HONOR.) 

muses that I refer to for specific circumstances (i.e. events from a thread, sub-verses, etc.) will be @mentioned on my part.

‘Read-More’ Censorship – for SRP, spoiler content, extreme gore [on a (N)SFW labeled blog], & long posts

Aged-up versions of fictional characters who are originally/canonically no younger than 14 years old.

I am perfectly, absolutely aware of the fine lines over aging up fictional minors for smut content and will admit that I am perfectly fine/understanding towards RPing such things—so long as it applies to the 14+)—while also fully understanding the controversy it brings.

Aged-up characters or verses that I RP/provide are never intentionally or solely made for smut/SRP content, nor will they ever be.

There’s a good chance that any of my originally/canonically minor teenager whose blog is labeled 18+ may imply an aged-up verse for SRP content. Hopefully, this will help determine if you should be wary of these blogs of mine!

If all else fails, you are absolutely allowed to politely and respectfully ask if there is an aged-up verse with potential SRP content! This way, you can blacklist appropriately.

RP Blogs with smut content will always be labeled accordingly

Rule of Thumb on Age Gaps for Ships: no more than 2 years between minors with 18-year olds, and 3 years between muses aged 18-20 years old with 21+.

Even then, minor×adult SRP/smut is PROHIBITED.

Both muns must take/understand necessary precautions when involving aged-up fictional characters or minor muses, consider any adjustments that may be needed, and must be both adults (18+). 

Of course, if you yourself actually condone pedophilia, I will block you.

This RPer is against/does not practice the following:

Godmodding Rude/Excessive reminders to reply to thread Complaints of unreplied/dropped threads

Engaging in SRP content with minors – will be blocked upon discovery

doesn’t include engaging in SFW content, but once you are blocked you’re unable to interact with me at all

I do not condone pedophilia and RP smut with RPers who are minors.

Reblog Karma – you are not obligated/required to send an ask in exchange for its respective inbox meme; feel free to reblog any memes from me!

If you, however, do practice reblog karma and I reblog without sending something in, though, please let me know!

Likewise, if you prefer people reblogging from the source and not you, please let me know if I ever do as such! I am a very forgetful bun.

Hate mail/anons in any shape or form (ie. suicide instigation, death threats, cyber-bullying)

Hate/‘Phobias’ towards any gender

Soft-blocks — you’re either permanently blocked or not, so be sure to act accordingly.

If for any reason I have blocked you by mistake or under a misunderstanding, I will either unblock or consider unblocking.

Likewise, if you have soft-blocked me for any reason and I, for some reason, somehow, still get to you, you have every right to let me know that I’ve made you uncomfortable and request that I no longer interact with you! (And if it still persists because I can be one hell of a forgetful bun, do remember that you have the right to permanently block me, I understand!)

I’m honestly still trying to understand these soft-block mechanics, if I’m honest...

Racism, Discrimination, Witch Hunts/Call-Out posts — being actively involved in one will automatically be an unfollow & potential block from me.

Pressure regarding thread replies/involvement in drama/desired content

Mutuals-Only interactions

More often than not, my RP blogs may be side-blogs to a main hub (especially if I’m RPing more than one muse in a fandom). Please be sure to check if they are! They’ll usually be mentioned in the descriptions of the blog.

If you are a mutuals-exclusive RPer, please let me know!

Outside Reblogs on RP Threads — Unless you are the RPer(s) involved, DO NOT REBLOG the thread.

Liking & commenting the post is okay for me. HOWEVER, please also respect what rules & policies the other RPer(s) may have! They have the right to react accordingly on their part.

This RPer has the rights towards the following:

Not expanding on ask-response replies

Refusing to start/continue a thread for any particular reason

Dropping a thread for any particular reason (especially when it feels that there isn’t much to continue on in it)

Giving more attention to some threads than others

Being finicky between doing legitimate RP threads vs. casually being IC

Being finicky with social interactions between individuals

Not becoming mutuals

Other Universal Standards & Guidelines

Dash Organization > Mutuals-Exclusive Practices

Follows & Mutuals =/= Interaction Privileges --- for me, follows are a means of controlling the content on my dash, not an indication of whether or not I want us to interact!

Depending on the blog’s popularity, RP blogs may or may not be fandom-restricted (interactions exclusive to canon/-versed/-oriented muses/OCs), unless exceptions for particular individuals are granted.

Multi-Muse Blogs are less likely to be followed (which might also be highly dependent on blog’s popularity) for dash content organization, especially if the muses extend across multiple fandoms.

Interactions > Reading Rules/Following when it comes to receiving a follow from me as it again depends on how often we interact.

Individual RP Blogs can and will have their own, more specific guidelines to follow depending on its fandom/popularity! 

 Policies can usually be found at the top of the blog’s description, listing what the blog consists of and what content is followed/allowed/restricted.

These policies can and will overrule respective universal policies here.

RP & Liked Content =/= Morals & What I Condone

Likewise, even if there are ships/morals/opinions that do not match with mine, it’s just as the saying goes: to each their own. So long as conflicts do not rise, we can still interact! People can like different things and still be nice to each other. God, I can’t stress this enough.

“I find that, for me, the work is a safe place to put all the stuff you don't want to put in your real life. I don't want to be a crazy, manic asshole. I don't want to have an affair. I don't want to have a fucking gunfight. But! There's a part of your brain that wants to experience everything, and so work's a safe place to explore it all. Both in the writing and in the performing. I get to write about an affair. I get to have the guilt and the feeling of that without having to fuck my life up. [laughs] Art is the place to safely explore all those other sides of you, because the side you want to bring home is the side that wants to be a good father and be a good husband and be a good son. In art we can be fucking nuts.” -- Lin-Manuel Miranda [ x ]

Muse =/= Mun

Rule of Thumb: if the muse’s behavior is beginning to come on too strongly, chances are that I’m fully aware of this and will most likely show it via tags!

Tag Commentary — you are absolutely free to not provide OOC commentary in the tags, especially if you are an IC blog. This just helps show who I am as a mun!

Level of Investment = Thread Priorities & Muse Activity

I, unfortunately, am inspirationally-driven when it comes to my musings, and can therefore be selective with my activity or drop threads I’m unable to continue having a musing for. However, this does not mean I have anything against you, it’s just how my fuel for RPing works. 

Still, I do my best to answer all my threads, so please be patient and understanding with me! Thanks!

By default, I will always assume that threads with me are the lowest priority and can/will eventually be dropped at any time by you.

All in all, so long as we keep to our own lanes instead of actively pursuing the other on behalf of our differences in beliefs, there shouldn’t be any problems. RPing is meant to be a fun, creative and laid-back FICTIONAL environment that is meant to be kept separately from reality.

Regarding Asks & IMs

IC & OOC Asks outside of inbox memes are allowed!

If sent anonymously for side-blog reasons, tag your blog and it will be re-tagged for notification purposes!

ex: ((@nameofrpsidebloghere))

If responding to an ask-response, please post it in a new text post by tagging the blog name and adding a link to the ask-response!

ask-response posts and even photo posts clutter the dashboard and ruin RP consistency...!

You are free to IM me for plots and reply reminders! (I’m a really lenient, GWF/go-with-flow RPer) 

Please note, however, that if I feel the thread isn’t really going anywhere, no longer following a sort of plot, and/or isn’t keeping my interest, I eventually assume that it’s drop-able and will drop it myself.

Universal Tags for Inbox Memes & Themed Starters

For IC

Ask/M!A/RP asks --- #askmarp memes || #askmarp response

Ask/Inbox Memes --- #inbox memes || #inbox response

Themed Starter Memes --- #starter memes || #starter response

Drabble Memes --- #drabble memes || #drabble response

For OOC aka the Mun 

Ask/Inbox Memes --- #mun inbox memes || #mun inbox response

Themed Starter Memes --- #mun starter memes || #mun starter response

For NSFW Content

Ask/M!A/RP asks --- #nsfw askmarp memes || #nsfw askmarp response

Ask/Inbox Memes --- #nsfw inbox memes || #nsfw inbox response

Themed Starter Memes --- #nsfw starter memes || #nsfw starter response

For a Faster Inbox Response – include corresponding rp/ask meme post! 

 ex: [Name of Meme Here!:] ♡ - symbol description here!

If even after reading the standards you still aren’t certain how RPing with me is like, you can also refer to these universal tags:

#rp guidelines - guidelines I follow as an RPer

#chill rp blog is chill - worrisome topics I’m okay with as an RPer

That aside, when in doubt, just ask! I’m totally cool with it, and always want to make sure the both of us are having a fun, comfortable time RP/interacting IC with each other! Do also remember that you are always, always able to just unfollow me, even softblock me if you have to (though I’d appreciate a direct notification/explanation for the first time I address the softblock if that ever occurs...!).

Were you able to read the whole thing?

Feel free to let me know by sending ‘whispers among psithurism’ in the ask (you aren’t required to, though)! Thanks for taking time to read this! Happy RPing!

[yogaadvise]

5 reasons why teaching alignment matters

You've most likely, eventually, been instructed to Stack your knee over your ankle in Warrior 2 or Align your shoulders over your wrists in Slab present. Just recently there has actually been much conversation in the yoga exercise world regarding whether or not yoga exercise instructors ought to give so many anatomical positioning signs like these.

As a passionate SAFE YOGA EXERCISE lover as well as a 6-year professional makeup educator of yoga teachers-in-training, my reply is a loud and unquestionable 'YES' to comprehensive and also smart placement cues. Below are 5 of my factors why:

1 FEEL ME, TOUCH ME, HEAL ME: Straightforward body awareness

When I was asked lately in a meeting why I think individuals need to practice Hatha yoga exercise, my response was: 'Yoga allows you to have the alternative experience of your body and also where it is positioned, at any kind of moment, in area as well as time ... basically the superb experience of being entirely symbolized, of sensation greatly ALIVE."

The bulk of trainees concerning exercise yoga for the very first time are hardly knowledgeable about their body as a whole. The majority of individuals experience themselves as parts ... fragmented.

The majority of trainees practicing yoga for the very first time are barely mindful of their body in its entirety. The majority of people experience themselves as parts ... fragmented.

Life has a means of doing this to us: throwing us curve sphere after captain hook (work, worries, traumas) and afterwards desensitizing us from the concerns that have built up in our tissues. I inform my teachers-in-training constantly that one of our many vital tasks as yoga teachers is to put 'Humpty Dumpty' back with each other again so she or he can go back into their lives and also do whatever it is that they do (for work or play) around again ... with zest, vitality, and incredible sense of feeling complete.

Alignment cues motivate people to concentrate their minds on a certain body component, the signs instruct them how to relocate (within their very own variety of motion), location it as well as infuse it, exactly how to feel it if it is tight, tense or restricted in some method. This then opens up the trainee approximately the much deeper understanding of their body and the myriad of possibilities (as well as realities) of much less pain as well as pain and even more liberty, simplicity as well as array of movement (where perhaps they were even not aware there was none).

2 THAT ARE YOU? Stiring up to one's physical regular patterns

Whether it be from resting at a desk all day, driving a car for a work, training for a marathon or bicycle race or resting on your stomach with your head relied on the right for three decades - habitual patterns have been established in your body that will detrimentally affect (deteriorate) the body as a whole.

Whether it be from 'automatic' activities inscribed over a lifetime, mishaps, psychological traumas or considerable life occasions, purposeless habitual motion patterns will negatively affect (weaken) the body as a whole.

Also, deposit from accidents, emotional traumas or large life events like growing, birth as well as lugging a baby on your hip will certainly establish regular patterns in the body that are not useful to the body's continuous attempts to achieve vibrant stability (natural state of harmony, balance and also radiant health and wellness).

The human body is composed of regarding 300 joints and each joint has a specific quantity of all-natural activities done by certain agonist (key mover) and synergist (assistant) skeletal muscles. In order for the body to be radiantly healthy and execute at its maximum degrees efficiently, all connective tissue (bones, tendons, muscular tissues, ligaments and fascia) require to fully experience the equilibrium of toughness as well as suppleness - not as well tight, strained or limited in one area and also loosened or weak in another.

Teachers that show bone placement additionally require to show correct muscular tissue activation - informing their pupils on what skeletal muscular tissues move and also position the bones in certain shapes (presents and counterposes). This is so essential for both on- and also off-the-mat long life, if we have the knowledge as well as the experience of how to appropriately relocate the body we will be much less prone to soft tissue wear as well as tear and the risk of injuries will be diminished.

3 GRAVITY: Always a factor

As we continually and also continuously exercise the numerous various designs of Hatha yoga, working to experience the body-breath-mind union, we will undoubtedly obtain more powerful, more flexible, more able to experience feelings of entire body vibrancy as well as buoyancy. Up until after that we usually land on the mat experiencing the reverse: thickness, tightness, with a body that seems fragmented (experiencing the individual components versus the fantastic sum whole).

Sometimes I believe us older, wiser (wink, wink) and seasoned yoga exercise educators neglect what it felt to be a new yoga professional: puzzled, uncoordinated, clumsy, weak, incapable to float, fly or also stabilize! My partner, Dan, came up with an excellent example for this:

If you sent out a number of seasoned/master yoga educators (all asanas executed easily, pranayama techniques mastered, bandhas flawlessly engaged, reflective minds totally as well as utterly concentrated on their drishtis) on a school trip to a world where gravity is a lot different to ours below on planet (as if the air was like the consistency of honey) and asked them to exercise yoga exercise like they do back residence ... they will inevitably check out each various other and also ask HOW do we navigate these bodies? Where are the inhabitants of this earth ... can they educate us exactly how to move as well as position our bodies in such a method we won't obtain hurt?

I enjoyed this analogy of his! What would it really feel like to be a beginner once again ... to be educated how to relocate your body in a means that defies the restraints gravity puts upon it?

What would it seem like to be a newbie once again ... to be educated just how to move your body in a manner that opposes the constraints gravity puts upon it?

We all have had the experience (as well as if you are reading this as well as it hasn't took place yet ... IT WILL!) of a position that we battled, sweated and also vowed with, that with attentive technique, became unbelievably easy as well as stylish. Alignment-based yoga instructors are instructing basic bone-stacking as well as muscular tissue activation standards (not all positionings help all body kinds, obviously) so that the student can discover this ease, the free-flow of pranic power that is so Sukha sweet!

4 SECURE YOGA ROCKS: Tendons are not elastic

Wrong placement - breaking the natural functioning order of the bones and joints - of one's body parts can place feasible injurious stress and anxiety on the surrounding connective tissue - especially when gravity is a factor! A reality to keep in mind: tendons are not flexible! As soon as stretched from their original form they will never ever return to their original form. As a result of this, it is not beneficial to the ligaments to 'hang' on your bones in a stretch - again, especially when gravity is a factor.

Once extended from their original shape ligaments will never ever return to their original form. Due to this it is not helpful to the ligaments to 'hang' on your bones in a stretch.

For example, in a posture with a greater center of gravity such as Warrior 1 or 2, the knee ought not to surpass the stacked ankle/heel. Or else, the quantity of pressure that the upper leg bone put on the kneecap ligament as well as the knee joint tendons can cause injury - both from recurring movement and also traumatic. A reduced centre of gravity posture such as Low lunge doesn't necessarily have the exact same quantity of pressure on the knee. Some knees, even in such a low pose, should also not pass through past the ankle/heel.

Another instance is to make certain your shoulders do not dip listed below your joints in Chaturanga

Dandasana. This puts unneeded (and also damaging) weight on the tendons, ligaments and bursas of the shoulder girdle and the arm joint. Be aware of keeping the ribs in line with the parallel-to-the-earth upper arm bones in this reduced slab posture. By not allowing the ribs to dip reduced you prevent any kind of unneeded load-bearing anxiety on the tendons of the sternoclavicular and acromioclavicular joints.

For lots a lot more on this read For the love of the shoulder as well as Our complex shoulders and also Chaturanga Dandasana

It is ok, however, to have the shoulders lower than the elbow joints as you relax on the floor as well as prior to you use your back muscle mass to peel your body off the mat in Bhujangasana (Cobra Posture) since your alignment to gravity is reduced (resting on the ground) as well as you're using your erector spinae muscle mass (back extensors) to lift your body off the mat.

Up to this factor all these examples I have discussed have been ones I have actually experienced many various other yoga exercise experts struggle with discomfort, pain and injury in.

A last example is one I have actually directly experienced. I am a hyper-extender of the knees, without any muscular tissue activity I have 'dropped' right into the rear of my knees given that I was a child. Well, this quality of mine was celebrated in a details kind of hot yoga I have actually been lovingly exercising considering that 1999 where a recurring sign is to 'lock your knees, lock your knees, secure your knees'. Easy for a hyper-extender such as myself to do ... every class, 6 days a week for two years directly I secured my knee in 6 standing postures (higher facility of gravity, labelled weight bearing as well as 4 of them getting on one leg just). The tendon damage in my knees is so considerable that occasionally I stumble when I stroll because I am so unstable there. Now, when I practice that kind of yoga exercise (I still like as well as value the collection sequence) I micro-bend my knee to shield this valuable joint - a crucial safety and security alignment hint not normally offered but is vital for the health and wellness of the tendons of the knee!

5 BE BELOW CURRENTLY: Atha Yoga exercise Anushasanam

Lastly, one of one of the most yogic factors for teaching and exercising alignment-based yoga exercise: GREATEST EXISTENCE IN THE SPIRITUAL NOW. One of the most profound utterances besides AUM is the sanskrit work ATHA which means CURRENTLY. Yoga suggests union and also among the lots of translations of this principle of unity is the body-mind-breath-spirit link that truly can just be feasible RIGHT NOW. This minute. RIGHT HERE. NOW. Are you right here? Where are you? Are you planning or fretting about the future? Are you feeling resentment or regret about what occurred in the past? Are you right here being, breathing, experiencing the magic that is constantly unraveling or are you ... oops, you simply missed it. Currently, below it is again. Be here currently ... and also currently ... as well as currently ...

Are you below? Where are you? Are you below being, breathing, experiencing the magic that is constantly unfolding or are you ... oops, you just missed it.

Teachers that continuously teach their trainees exactly how to align their bodies in such a way that one of the most Sthira (stability) as well as Sukha (comfort) will be experienced are supplying their pupils something to concentrate their minds on. For 60, 75 or 90 mins the trainee's mind is paying attention to the instructor, paying attention to their body's toughness as well as weak points, paying attention to their breath to locate both obstructions as well as liberty. Throughout this moment there are no bother with the children, the costs, the one in charge, the aging and also troubling parents, etc. Essentially, alignment based courses are meditations right into the now, where the body actually moves, changes and relaxes. The mind likes to desert the body ... placement based yoga exercise offers the pupil a means to the body, a back to the NOW.

Read all the articles in Jennilee's collection on protecting against yoga exercise injuries:

The breath, prana as well as the vayus

The bandhas

Bone alignment

Muscle intelligence

Joint integration

[qqueenofhades]

hello! i have a half formed idea for a book (based off of a really shitty fic i wrote oops gonna delete that and scrap the good parts into something new) but i was wondering if you had any advice for actually writing a book? i know you've written a couple books, and your fics tend to be multiple chapters, and i can't seem to stay inspired beyond a couple chapters! thank you so much :D

Oh dear. I have done various writing advice asks in the past, but who knows what they were tagged. I suppose you could search in the stygian depths of my blog if you really wanted, and see if anything you found there was useful?

As far as advice, I feel like I’m a shitty person to ask in this department because my own process is so unhelpful. I have idea, I start writing idea, I think about idea obsessively, realise I have a problem, work problem out, eventually book is done, ta-da. I then edit and tinker with things, but the first draft is still pretty close in shape/structure to the final version. Some people write different scenes and then place them in the correct order, but I can’t think of a time I’ve really written anything out of order/non-sequentially. I feel like I can’t write a scene without having already written what comes before, and while I can change details and edit sentences and so forth, I don’t normally change major plot beats/emotional reactions/twists/etc. I also don’t outline things or make any exterior diagrams or so forth, although some people find this helpful. If you’re the kind of person who likes to map your story out on paper beforehand (or think that it might help you to stay motivated if you can see it/have a checklist), then give this a try.

Once again, I feel like I’m being stupendously unhelpful, but my advice when anyone asks how to write a book is “well, write a book then.” I tend to think in long-form projects (as evidenced by my many fics) and the nice thing about fic is that you have as much space/word count as you need to tell the story in as much detail as you want. If you’re thinking about this actually being a book, you may have to be more ruthless, but you can also use e-publishing platforms like Amazon or Smashwords and so forth, and still have it as long as you like.

On that note, you’ll have to find someone to read over your work/edit it, especially if it’s something you’re not confident in doing yourself. I proofread and edit all my own stuff, but then, I’ve been doing this for many years and am an academic and used to catching small and fussy details. Even then, it can look different when I see it on a page/read it in hard copy with a pen in hand, and I see things that I don’t see on the screen because it has gotten so very familiar to me. Asking a friend to edit your stuff can be dicey, and I don’t recommend it unless you know this is someone who can definitely make your work better and knows what to look for and will be kind about feeding it back to you. 

As someone who has sat through many ego-shredding rounds of more or less constructive criticism on many things, I can sympathise about it not being fun at all (but at least I know how to take it). You can share your stuff with someone beforehand if you want, but you don’t have to. Once you have something that is some kind of coherent draft, however, it does benefit to have a second pair of eyes on it somehow. Even if it’s a “can you read this and tell me what you think” kind of way, and again with someone who fairly represents a general reader and can give you their take on what they got out of the story, if the plot was satisfying, if the character arcs resolved, etc. I know the most terrifying thought about writing is always the thought of being Known/showing it to someone else, but really, there is no way around it in the professional creative process. Write something that you yourself want to read, but that does imply readers.

If you’re writing about sensitive subjects or things that could upset people, by all means, do your homework . Google is free and easily available, there are plenty of resources to be sure that you’re doing a good job. Obviously you do have some degree of artistic license, but that involves you doing your due diligence and understanding that people will react to it in a certain way if it hasn’t been. I am (big surprise, as an academic) a fan of research in general. I think it helps to set the scene and to evoke details and to immerse the audience in what they are supposed to be tasting/seeing/smelling/feeling/etc. The fun of well-written fiction, in my mind, is to escape to somewhere comprehensively and to know what the characters are experiencing and to be able to picture it vividly. 

That is why I tend to be a ho for detail and description in my own stuff, because I am always extremely curious about it. I always do a lot of world-building just because I like to do it, and because if you have plot points/developments/etc that might seem a little far-fetched, it’s easier for your audience to buy it if you look like you know what you’re doing and have thought of loopholes/objections/etc, and that this is taking place in a fully realised and objectively consistent universe that exists outside the basic demands of plot (and don’t change the rules to get your characters out of trouble). If you have to change the characters’ personalities/artificially put things off/your whole plot could be solved in five minutes if they talked to each other, you probably need to do a little more work. Audiences will be patient, but they will also figure things out, and if there is an obvious solution that you’re just not addressing, they’ll get frustrated. But yes.

Also: humor. I can’t read books or stories that take themselves TOO seriously. Especially if you have a lot of angst or drama or plot (as I tend to do), you need to throw in some comic relief and/or wit or other things to leaven the brew. If you can tell that the author is willing to poke fun at themselves and their own characters (we’ve all encountered that piece of media where the lead character Cannot Be Criticized By Anyone even while they’re being an idiot and is clearly a projection of the author’s egoism/how great they think they are), that is usually a hallmark of a good story and someone that knows what they’re doing, and I really do stand by that. If it’s pretentious and trying to make a Point, it’s just not that enjoyable. This is a hellworld. We need some escapism and ridiculousness with our adventures and our drama. So yes.

Good endings, basically. Don’t put your characters/readers through so much and then nope out of a satisfying resolution because Gritty Realism (think why everyone hated the final season/ending of Game of Thrones). You can, but.... again, it’s not something I personally like, and people seem tired of it in general. An ending does not have to be a Disney happy ever after, but it shouldn’t make a reader feel like a sucker for emotionally engaging with your story, and should have some kind of payoff for having done so.

(Also. Whenever possible, make it more gay. I mean, who said that.)

Anyway. Last but not least, have fun. If you’re writing something you enjoy and take pride in, that will transfer, and I always think that is worth the most.

[ogygia]

Hello, what resources do you have on Chinese spirituality and folklore/magic? Where should I look for these resources?

Hi! Sorry if you’ve been waiting forever for an answer – never know how to check my asks inbox, but here we are now. 

I’ll answer those three things as three separate categories – if only because to me they are three distinct things, even though the lines do blur – but not in that order …

1. Magic

Resources for Chinese magic in English are scarce, by and large, primarily because it is shrouded in a lot of secrecy; traditionally Chinese magic is practised in initiated lineages, although given its age and the Chinese obsession for writing everything down, there is a fair amount of information in the public domain. But then there’s a second problem: the language is often impenetrable even to a native speaker, so translating the material is a deeply difficult task. The third problem is that Chinese magic is a broad church, given its age and its diversity, so how useful a resource is will depend on what you’re looking for: there’s internal alchemy (the closest analog would be yoga, but especially pranayama), ritual/ceremonial magic and also fu (or talisman) magic, among an assortment of other things. 

That said, it’s not all hopeless. One day, when I have a bit of money, I will splurge on all of Professor Jerry Alan Johnson’s books, but for now my main port of call would without question be Benebell Wen’s fantastic The Tao of Craft, which is about the most comprehensive, authentic and accessible resource you will find on the subject. Benebell herself learnt her craft by way of a lineage, if I’m not mistaken, so that puts her way above me in terms of authority for a start, but being Taiwanese-American she’s also deeply engaged with the contemporary occult community, and is very good at explaining Chinese magical concepts in Western terms. She backs up everything she asserts with both primary and secondary sources, so it’s easy to construct your own reading list of sorts from her book with just a tiny bit of effort.

A book that comes up a lot when you look into the subject is Richard Herne’s Magick, Shamanism & Taoism. I’m reluctant to recommend this book, as it often feels like a slightly bastardised, inauthentic approximation of Taoist magic, blended with other slightly out-of-place elements from various magical practices – or stuff that simply seems made up. The suggested rituals feel very limited in their scope, there isn’t quite enough theory to form a confident basis to build your practice on and Herne feels a little too eager to connect Taoism and Taoist magic with Thelema. On the other hand, it occasionally covers ground that Benebell doesn’t cover which is authentic enough to be useful, so my suggestion is to only pick it up once you’re au fait with Benebell’s book and have a little bit more confidence in your knowledge to weed out what’s bullshit and what’s not.

Outside of these books, the next best resource would be academic texts relating to the subject. JSTOR, Google and a little bit of discernment should take you a long way, even if you don’t read Chinese. That’s the lucky thing about being interested in a deeply literate culture that has been studied by Western academia for centuries.

P.S. AVOID TIN YAT DRAGON – THE BLOG, THE YOUTUBE VIDEOS – LIKE THE PLAGUE. There are numerous testimonies across the Internet that the proprietor is a fraud, possibly an outright sexual predator. The fact that he spends a lot of his videos attacking and poo-poohing tradition and claiming the supremacy of his own practice is a massive red flag.

2. Spirituality

Chinese magic is a varying blend of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and folk practice, as is Chinese spiritual thought for that matter, and so it’s hard to really pin down such a thing as ‘Chinese spirituality’. My own world-view was handed down to me by my parents and through my contact with Chinese-language culture and society. But if you want to get an idea of what that world-view looks like – again, I am being deceptively simplistic here with that term – your best bet would be to explore the key body of texts that form the basis of the major Chinese philosophies. 

I’m not going to try and cover everything here, but for Taoism there is no better place to start than the Tao Teh Ching. Legge’s translations are classic but don’t limit yourself; classical Chinese philosophical texts, especially in Taoism, are notorious for being slightly vague and obscure and – others might disagree! – there is some value in searching for a translation that speaks to you most on a deep, poetic/spiritual level. I’m personally keen to read Red Pine’s version, with selected commentaries. You can then move on to Chuang Tzu. 

You should almost definitely study the I Ching: it’s a lifetime task to begin with, but you wouldn’t go wrong with reading even just a primer on it. I would personally highly recommend Deng Ming Dao’s The Living I Ching. Spend some time using the system, and get to grips with the eight basic trigrams. I’m still working on that myself.

I’m not at all the best source for anything Buddhist so my suggestion is to pick up a primer or introduction of some sort – even the Wikipedia page will do – and then proceed from there. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to pick up a sutra – the Diamond Sutra, Lotus Sutra and Heart Sutra are among the most well-known – as they are ultimately intended to be profound expressions of Buddhist spirituality to meditate upon. I have an affection for the Heart Sutra myself.

3. Folklore

Chinese folklore is – in my experience – something so variegated and embedded in the culture and language that it’s hard to encapsulate in a book, so it’s always worth keeping that in mind when reading up on this subject. That said, something like Teach Yourself’s Understand Chinese Mythology wouldn’t be a bad place to start (and it also covers a bit about spirituality as well). The great literary classics like Journey to the West – even if it is technically a novel – are also a fantastic way to get a sense of how the contemporary Chinese perceive their deities. You could almost argue that these fictional texts have influenced how we think about the gods, rather than the other way around.

One of the most important classics that explore the gods in detail is Investiture of the Gods, but as far as I’m aware no authoritative translation of this text has ever been produced. There does appear to be a collection of adapted extracts called Tales of the Teahouse but I have yet to read it. I intend to at some point, however!

Might be a bit of a niche academic resource, but I’ve been reading Richard von Glahn’s The Sinister Way. It’s a fantastic exploration of how spirits are perceived and classified in Chinese folk cosmology. Man, we really are a weird bunch of people.

Hopefully that should be enough to get you started. I will no doubt have left out a lot of stuff (e.g. Mantak Chia, which I’m not nearly familiar enough with to have any opinion on), but that’s the joy of a subject as wide-ranging as this. My only caveat when reading up on this stuff is to be wary of anyone who has something to sell (even though it may not always necessarily be a red flag).

[embidoesbnharp]

Comprehensive RP Standards & Rules

Please Note: If I’m slow or unable to reply, there’s likely a very good reason behind it (ie. mental illness/lack of spoons, inability to get into character, personal matters, etc). All I ask is that you’re patient and understanding -- we’re only human after all! You can even occasionally inquire updates from my end since I do care about keeping both of us up-to-date. Thanks for understanding!

RP Standards & Guidelines

This RPer is friendly/practices [unless otherwise stated] towards the following:

OCs and muses

Multi-verse & AU’s (unless otherwise stated or specified in RP Blog descriptions)

Smut/SRP, NSFW, Fluff, Dark/Triggering content

Trigger Warnings will be tagged respectively -- please notify the mun if you’d like a TW tagged on a post!

SRP will be censored via Read-More Feature

Multi-ships – both platonically & romantically; Canon×OCs are welcome!

by default, i make ships strictly tied to a respective relationship sub-verse tag -- main verses are usually left without a permanent relationship.

because the mun welcomes almost all kinds of ships (albeit depending on the fandom), be sure to check for respective ship tags in order to blacklist appropriately for those you do not like!

Chemistry/Relations between muses = RP/Interacting with each other

This way, I’m able to get a feel for how you portray your muses, and can determine whether or not there’s compatibility. This also helps me understand you as an RPer, too!

regardless of muses being canon or OC’s, please consider having some chemistry (interactions/threads) done before trying to ship with my muses!

As much as I advocate having All the Ships™, jumping straight into ships without getting a feel of your muse(s) makes it difficult for me to get into them. (´・ω・｀) Apologies about that!

pre-plotted/pre-existing relationships will require that we’ve RP’d together enough for me to get a feel of your RP style, especially with OC’s.

canon characters & their canonical history/relations are assumed to be their default and are thus taken into consideration unless circumstances (i.e. AU’s, verses, etc.) state otherwise

regardless, i would still highly recommend we interact with each other enough so that I get a feel of your portrayal!

Format Leniency™ w/ icons, rp length and formatting as well as script-style and paragraph-style RPing (link for info on ‘em)

script-style/in-character RPing for me will always be in third-person for action

basically, you are absolutely free to follow your own kind of format, and are not obligated to follow the length/format that I use so long as I have something to work with!

Getting referenced/mentioned/involved in other RP threads (IT’D BE AN HONOR.)

muses that I refer to for specific circumstances (i.e. events from a thread, sub-verses, etc.) will be @mentioned on my part.

‘Read-More’ Censorship -- for SRP, spoiler content, extreme gore [on a (N)SFW labeled blog], & long posts

Aged-up fictional characters who are originally/canonically no younger than 14 years old. 

I am perfectly, absolutely aware of the fine lines over aging up fictional minors for smut content and will admit that I am perfectly fine/understanding towards RPing such things---so long as it applies to the 14+)---while also fully understanding the controversy it brings.

Aged-up characters or verses that I RP/provide are never intentionally or solely made for smut/SRP content, nor will they ever be.

There’s a good chance that any of my originally/canonically minor teenager whose blog is labeled 18+ may imply an aged-up verse for SRP content. Hopefully, this will help determine if you should be wary of these blogs of mine!

If all else fails, you are absolutely allowed to politely and respectfully ask if there is an aged-up verse with potential SRP content! This way, you can blacklist appropriately.

RP Blogs with smut content will always be labeled accordingly

Rule of Thumb on Age Gaps for Ships: no more than 2 years between minors with 18-year olds, and 3 years between muses aged 18-20 years old with 21+.

Even then, minor×adult SRP/smut is PROHIBITED.

Both muns must take/understand necessary precautions when involving aged-up fictional characters or minor muses, consider any adjustments that may be needed, and must be both adults (18+).

Of course, if you yourself actually condone pedophilia, I will block you.

This RPer is against/does not practice the following:

Godmodding

Rude/Excessive reminders to reply to thread

Complaints of unreplied/dropped threads

Engaging in SRP content with minors – will be blocked upon discovery

doesn’t include engaging in SFW content, but once you are blocked you’re unable to interact with me at all

I do not condone pedophilia and RP smut with RPers who are minors.

Reblog Karma -- you are not obligated/required to send an ask in exchange for its respective inbox meme; feel free to reblog any memes from me!

If you, however, do practice reblog karma and I reblog without sending something in, though, please let me know!

Likewise, if you prefer people reblogging from the source and not you, please let me know if I ever do as such! I am a very forgetful bun.

Hate mail/anons in any shape or form (ie. suicide instigation, death threats, cyber-bullying)

Hate/‘Phobias’ towards any gender

Soft-blocks --- you’re either permanently blocked or not, so be sure to act accordingly.

If for any reason I have blocked you by mistake or under a misunderstanding, I will either unblock or consider unblocking.

Likewise, if you have soft-blocked me for any reason and I, for some reason, somehow, still get to you, you have every right to let me know that I’ve made you uncomfortable and request that I no longer interact with you! (And if it still persists because I can be one hell of a forgetful bun, do remember that you have the right to permanently block me, I understand!)

I’m honestly still trying to understand these soft-block mechanics, if I’m honest...

Racism, Discrimination, Witch Hunts/Call-Out posts --- being actively involved in one will automatically be an unfollow & potential block from me.

Pressure regarding thread replies/involvement in drama/desired content

Mutuals-Only interactions

More often than not, my RP blogs may be side-blogs to a main hub (especially if I’m RPing more than one muse in a fandom). Please be sure to check if they are! They’ll usually be mentioned in the descriptions of the blog.

If you are a mutuals-exclusive RPer, please let me know!

Outside Reblogs on RP Threads --- Unless you are the RPer(s) involved, DO NOT REBLOG the thread.

Liking & commenting the post is okay for me, but please also respect what rules & policies the other RPer(s) may have! They have the right to react accordingly on their part.

This RPer has the rights towards the following:

Not expanding on ask-response replies

Refusing to start/continue a thread for any particular reason

Dropping a thread for any particular reason (especially when it feels that there isn’t much to continue on in it)

Giving more attention to some threads than others

Being finicky between doing legitimate RP threads vs. casually being IC

Being finicky with social interactions between individuals

Not becoming mutuals

Other Universal Standards & Guidelines

Dash Organization > Mutuals-Exclusive Practices

Follows & Mutuals =/= Interaction Privileges --- for me, follows are a means of controlling the content on my dash, not an indication of whether or not I want us to interact!

Depending on the blog’s popularity, RP blogs may or may not be fandom-restricted (interactions exclusive to canon/-versed/-oriented muses/OCs), unless exceptions for particular individuals are granted.

Multi-Muse Blogs are less likely to be followed (which might also be highly dependent on blog’s popularity) for dash content organization, especially if the muses extend across multiple fandoms.

Interactions > Reading Rules/Following when it comes to receiving a follow from me as it again depends on how often we interact.

Individual RP Blogs can and will have their own, more specific guidelines to follow depending on its fandom/popularity!

Policies can usually be found at the top of the blog’s description, listing what the blog consists of and what content is followed/restricted/allowed.

These policies can and will overrule respective universal policies here.

RP & Liked Content =/= Morals & What I Condone

Likewise, even if there are ships/morals/opinions that do not match with mine, it’s just as the saying goes: to each their own. So long as conflicts do not rise, we can still interact! People can like different things and still be nice to each other. God, I can’t stress this enough.

“I find that, for me, the work is a safe place to put all the stuff you don't want to put in your real life. I don't want to be a crazy, manic asshole. I don't want to have an affair. I don't want to have a fucking gunfight. But! There's a part of your brain that wants to experience everything, and so work's a safe place to explore it all. Both in the writing and in the performing. I get to write about an affair. I get to have the guilt and the feeling of that without having to fuck my life up. [laughs] Art is the place to safely explore all those other sides of you, because the side you want to bring home is the side that wants to be a good father and be a good husband and be a good son. In art we can be fucking nuts.” -- Lin-Manuel Miranda [ x ]

Muse =/= Mun

Rule of Thumb: if the muse’s behavior is beginning to come on too strongly, chances are that I’m fully aware of this and will most likely show it via tags!

Tag Commentary --- you are absolutely free to not provide OOC commentary in the tags, especially if you are an IC blog. This just helps show who I am as a mun!

Level of Investment = Thread Priorities & Muse Activity

I, unfortunately, am inspirationally-driven when it comes to my musings, and can therefore be selective with my activity or drop threads I’m unable to continue having a musing for. However, this does not mean I have anything against you, it’s just how my fuel for RPing works.

Still, I do my best to answer all my threads, so please be patient and understanding with me! Thanks!

IMPORTANT NOTE: by default, I will always assume that threads with me are the lowest priority and can/will eventually dropped at any time by you.

All in all, so long as we keep to our own lanes instead of actively pursuing the other on behalf of our differences in beliefs, there will be no problems. RPing is meant to be a fun, creative and laid-back FICTIONAL environment that is meant to be kept separately from reality.

Regarding Asks & IMs

IC & OOC Asks outside of inbox memes are allowed!

If sent anonymously for side-blog reasons, tag your blog and it will be re-tagged for notification purposes!

ex: ((@nameofrpsidebloghere))

If responding to an ask-response, please post it in a new text post by tagging the blog name and adding a link to the ask-response!

ask-response posts and even photo posts clutter the dashboard and ruin RP consistency...!

You are free to IM me for plots and reply reminders! (I’m a really lenient, GWF/go-with-flow RPer)

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m pretty asocial, so more often than not I tend to forget about replying to IMs especially if there’s no need for it (like an end to the conversation topic). but, don’t worry, it’s not you! you aren’t annoying me! it’s just me being an asocial moron. ( ◉◞౪◟◉) you are in the safe zone, friend!

That aside, when in doubt, just ask! I’m totally cool with it, and always want to make sure the both of us are having a fun, comfortable time RP/interacting IC with each other! Do also remember that you are always, always able to just unfollow me, even softblock me if you have to (though I’d appreciate a direct notification/explanation for the first time I address the softblock if that ever occurs...!).

Were you able to read up to this point for the RP standards/rules? Then feel free to let me know by sending ‘whispers among psithurism’ in the ask (you aren’t required to, though)! Thanks for taking time to read this! Happy RPing!

[rigelmejo]

Things I can confirm with my personal learning experience are possible:

1. Yes learning up to HSK 4 materials within a year is possible. I think as long as some effort is put into ensuring that material is part of what you study, it can be worked through within a year. I read one persons claim that they learned up to HSK 4 with their self-made flashcard study materials in 8 months. I can believe that... it took me roughly 10-11 months to learn up to that amount of HSK 4 material. If I’d been studying primarily FOR HSK levels, I probably could have covered that material in 8 months. So I do think the goal of getting from no knowledge to HSK 4 in a year is achievable and not necessarily an extreme goal.

2. Yes achieving that can take as little as 1 to a couple hours a day of study on average. Some days I studied 15 minutes, some a few hours, some I didn’t study. I probably averaged around 1-2 hours a day of ‘Chinese adjacent studying.’ By that I mean: some study was grammar reading, sometimes flashcards, sometimes intensively reading some Chinese novel, sometimes studying Hanzi reference books, sometimes extensively trying to read, sometimes trying to chat in chinese with people or browse on Chinese social media, sometimes reading a manhua page or two, sometimes trying to watch a show with no English sub, sometimes watching a show with dual English-chinese subtitles and just consciously stopping to note to myself some new words I wanted to know (usually by pausing and rereading Just the chinese subs to try to understand the line, looking up the chinese words I wanted to know in Pleco and saving them). I am only now... finally.... also incorporating listening to audio only stuff more sometimes.

But basically - I just did a little of whatever, whenever, amongst the activities above. Most days I did Something, some days I spent more time than others. But I was by no means studying a ton. I probably studied as much as I exercise a day or less. Also a lot of my ‘study adjacent’ activities could easily just be part of my regular hobbies - using some of my reading time in a week for chinese, using some time I usually watch shows/YouTube for watching chinese shows, using some time I listen to music and dance to play chinese music and dance, etc. I use some down time when I’d goof off on social media to do flashcards (when I manage to do flashcards).

3. Things I think for me, based on my experiences, help me learn a language much more ‘easily’ than if I didn’t do them: reading a grammar guide super early on!!! (It’s brutal but it helps, just chugging through one quick! The overview helps!)

Learning the 1000 most common words ASAP!!! (It helps me so much and I put off doing this longer in chinese than I wish I would have in retrospect, comprehension went from ??? To me getting at LEAST the gist of nearly everything in chinese.)

Practicing trying to read ASAP and then regularly as in once every couple weeks (again it seems brutal, but helped my French tremendously, and likewise I think it really motivated my chinese study/helped me set goals/helped me improve faster).

Practicing trying to watch chinese shows in only chinese (also brutal at first, I didn’t do this until 5ish months in, but its been tremendously helpful for me and the more I did it the more it helped, so doing this regularly as in a few times a week helps a LOT).

Practicing listening ONLY regularly. (I didn’t start doing this until maybe 10 months in, but I have noticed it’s helping my inner ‘reading voice,’ my listening comprehension, and my feel for how to say things, a ton. I’ve looked into Repetitive Listening lately and I think it may benefit me to try that, regardless I can say listening-only practice is definitely helping my listening comprehension a LOT).

Studying the first 500ish Hanzi from a mnemonics source. (I used a book, and that starting point carried me all the way to where I am now - I probably need to do more of this soon, either with a book or Heisig mnemonic flashcards etc. With my books I literally originally used No flashcards for Hanzi I just read a mnemonic reference book - the Tuttle 800 characters one - about halfway through in chunks of 1/2 to 1 chapter a day. That’s it. And occasionally I’d flip through the book and read random Hanzi entries, and look thru it to highlight Hanzi I’d learned since the last time I’d opened the book. Probably the lowest effort way to do this, if u hate flashcards and can tolerate reading like me - however I was often watching chinese dramas with English and Chinese subs, so I was ‘seeing’ Hanzi I’d studied regularly in my shows, which probably helped me remember them.)

In summary: reading a grammar guide fast, learning high frequency Hanzi ASAP, learning the most common words, and immersing often Even in the earlier months when it was harder for me (with reading, shows with only chinese subs, shows with dual subs while looking up words I noticed, and with audio only like audiobooks/songs). I genuinely think reading from like months 2 onward while BRUTAL helped so much, just like it did with French. It helped a lot with comprehension and grammar ‘clicking’ in my mind, with learning wordsz Probably the Most importantly it motivated and helped me really measure my progress, and also helped me pinpoint my goals then set them regularly.

It’s kind of rough trying to read early on when your comprehension Might genuinely be at like 20%. But for me it really helps so much it’s worth doing. I did it on a whim for chinese study, because it’s basically the main way I studied and learned French. And wow am I glad I tried to apply it to chinese. I’m so glad I didn’t get so intimidated by the hanzi that I didn’t... try. I think me trying so early also made the difficulty curve always feel Rewardingly and Refreshingly easier constantly, even though it’s still difficult lol. But never as difficult as the time before, etc. Which is always a nice feeling.

—-—-

Yeah I read an article recently, by a man named Timo who made (a very nice) 3 part Anki deck for Chinese (I’m using his HSK deck since it has example sentences - and visual images of the sentence scenes - for every word, something my memrise decks lacked, but helps a ton with context and proper usage). His decks also included a grammar guide deck fbut another person made a version that displays better of that kind of deck which is what I’m using). Anyway, In his article he said he learned to HSK 4 in 8 months with his decks.

I’ve been mulling over if that’s reasonable, when I realized I also basically did that it just took me a couple more months since I didn’t even focus primarily on HSK level material coverage until I Was 8 months in already. In retrospect, I think it’s definitely a goal that’s attainable. It’s not so wildly difficult that only aspiring polyglots or intense studiers could manage. I think he studied like roughly an hour a day too, so likewise his study habits were pretty normal and not extreme time-wise.

—-

Now, this last bit is pure rough opinion based on what i think the levels match up to based on what I can comprehend versus what I could in French. So take everything below with a huge amount of salt. To be fair... I think HSK 4 really is a reasonable goal to aim for. I think it feels a lot like B1 level in French was - I can start to read most things for at least bare minimum gist of the main ideas, and some things in topics I’m familiar with (or with more common words/phrases) I can understand 90-100% of including all the specific details.

Basically, it gets me to where I can start picking up the meaning of at least some things in context, and the point where i can at least guess what a sentence is doing a Bit based on its grammar clues. like noticing the adjectives, verbs, tenses, nouns, and at least being able to guess if the unknown words could drastically affect the meaning of the sentence - example: I can tell if it’s a descriptor of location in a scene I could possibly Skip and still follow the plot, or an adjective I could guess means something similar to the previous more noun-heavy description, or if it’s a noun being interacted with/verb doing something I need to look up to follow the plot. HSK 4 also gets me to where I can start to follow most everyday basic convos, and some more specialized ones as long as they’re on topics I know some words for/or use common words. Examples: most shows for at least 50% of the dialogue, small talk, Internet comments, basically stuff surrounding context is usually related to. And i can talk about some of that comfortably (this is my weak spot, as it is in French, cause I need to practice more to expand my active vocabulary).

So, convos now can be followed and at least understood (and sometimes participated in) like when I was in maybe 1st or 2nd grade in English. I can engage with a lot of topics, Especially if most words used are common words, but once things get specialized I have a lot to either ‘learn/lookup’ or need to ask clarification about. Reading/watching is a bit easier then convos, since often the material provides enough context for me to ‘guess’ some of that specialized stuff’s meanings as it comes up.

But I say kind of comparable to B1 because... well for me french at this level was usable, but not ‘easy’ and not fully functional to the point I could say I can reasonably rely on it for any general needs/wants. I think B2 is more when you start being able to comfortably write/speak on most any topic at least to some general capacity, and can comprehend enough you feel comfortable following and catching main points and most general details (so not needing to look up 20% of what you hear/read for a decent chunk of certain clarification). And I do Not think HSK 4 (at least my own coverage of it) is able to do that B2 kind of stuff. I can do the ‘B1 kind of stuff’ with weak spots in production (just like in French, because I don’t practice those skills enough).

[autoirishlitdiscourses]

Discourse of Wednesday, 01 September 2021

I think that you've chosen, it's easier for me that your basic idea is correct it seems that it would pay off in my office SH 2432E, or. The Anglo-Irish, or otherwise need to do so very quickly. If you want to, close your eyes on all sides and develops according to post-Victorian ideals demands that they haven't read; it's certainly interesting insofar as it could be. Are you talking about how we have together during each week is the only way that allows you to dig even deeper into the discussion, depending on what your argument more specifically what the nature of your literary sources—I think that interrogating the metaphor's utility as a simple concept in many ways, I think that you are working. My one suggestion at this point is a series of unsubstantiated claims would pay off for you. Thanks for letting me know and I'll see you tomorrow. The other people's questions and opened up possibilities for discussion; you have demonstrated repeatedly in section this quarter, depending on what texts you choose into a set of ideas in a paper, and I think that you want to go on the final exam, from the professor send out the issues that you've been rather quiet this quarter. There are plenty of room for you. To answer your specific argument about a relationship that is a fair number of things well, but there are a very good job on Wednesday, and you didn't hurry through your questions might have helped here. Let me know immediately. What constitutes evidence, and they had a very sophisticated and clear. 551, p. Lesson Plan for Week 9: General Thoughts and Notes 20 November 2013 Major topics 1 and 2 and 7, etc. No worries at all I myself often don't get to. Wednesday, but my assumption is that it had been set to music. Your delivery was quite good when you argue that a lot of things in abstract terms instead of answering your own purpose. Overall, you/must be killed except as a whole, though also did some very good work here. Your writing is thoughtful and focused without being warmed up for the Synge vocabulary quiz. I am a bit too much on track throughout your time and/or symbolism of the more easily accessible representations of the texts, and gave what was overall an excellent reader, but has borrowed several pages of the century, particularly if you are one of your performance, and I'm looking forward to it but you'll be most successful if it seems that it is still MIA. He consented to let me know as soon as possible, to be tying the landscape, Beckett may also, if you wanted to be sympathetic toward the violent protagonists engage the class, that is genuinely smarter than her grade actually reflects, and structure your presentation. Serious illness requiring urgent medical care. You did a good selection, and I've just been going through the writing process is also a Twitter stream. This means that, your writing really is a very sophisticated level. I've got you down for inaccuracies as measured against a different opinion will not be penalized for falling short by one line—/will incur the penalty calculation, that there will be thinking closely about it with a woman too. Perfect. It's virtually certain, with the material; the Irish nationalism. Ultimately, like reports. One other thing that will encourage substantial discussion in a little bit, I also feel that picking only well … primarily sources that you should include a URL is perfectly OK. Remember that the complex connection that's being built here is demonstrating that it's difficult to argue more strongly for the sake of being helpful.

Midterm review. I'm not saying that you're working with? And I have one of the text and ask students about them; this means that an A-for the paper in the class well. It's absolutely OK to subdivide your selected bibliography into sections indicating status Works Cited page; any non-edited draft, and preferably by Thursday night. What you've outlined a good job engaging other students and grades, discussed in a strong recitation, you in front of the sources of the students in the best way to think about Molly's relationship with his father, and is probably unnecessary, because right now your primary concern is preparing for the quarter is at least somewhat. You might note that he read would be for with your peers with the critical discourses surrounding the texts that proceeds through them in episodes 2 and pointed to examples of where they're going to be the song performances themselves, once when everyone introduced themselves to me/. What do you think, don't do much to dictate terms on a set of comments explaining why you picked quite a good weekend, and you've mostly done quite a good student this quarter, so be sure you're correct and prepared to defend it; you have any questions, OK? I can. Excellent! More generally, I think that you're capable of doing better on future writing. It's taken me this long to get the earlier reference. C the lowest passing grade for the rest of the editorial/proofreading process. If you glance over at me occasionally, but probably won't make a final decision and get you more specific here. This means that you advocate—I think that specificity will pay off for you to do as soon as possible; if you keep going for, say, at least Western, love of a variety of texts to think about how readers respond to a strong step in the show must go on, and have been to take a look and see what topics are currently more than nine students trying to demonstrate that you have just a bit lopsided. Let me know I didn't notice until after the midterm! You Are Old Yeats, or play too much of a heterosexual romantic relationship is structured not according to the greatest extent that this is the only one! Does 12:30 and will help you to make sure that you have a thesis statement, as documented in the section guidelines handout.

If you believe that you never quite come out and talk about how Ulysses supports your claim about Yeats's response was also a sample MLA-compliant paper on it, and I think, too. I'm sorry to take a look below for section attendance, not on me. Also, let it motivate other people doing recitations that happened after yours. The joke in today's/Doonesbury/is not to claim that for some productive research suggestions today. Perhaps most importantly, though not comprehensively—cleaning these up is a strong piece of writing to get out of 167. Again, though there were some pauses and you demonstrate a very good students this quarter, including class, which are your highest priorities, in juxtaposition is a thinking process, but the usage in literature in Celtic mythology in which your overall grade for the quarter, and you do a very solid job overall; what this means 11:30 work for them to pick out the play's rhythm in the Catholic Church is already strong in several very important to you here even though she almost certainly would have most liked to see some aspect of Irish culture is a perfectly clear, I think that there would be productive for you. If that absolutely cannot be be received at least 24 hours in advance in section Wednesday night. Were reciting and discussing the selection in addition to motherhood, I would be to sit down and writing a report. Your performance was less than 18 points on the final exam, you could engage in a comparative manner over time, I think that phrasing your central claim is. Opening up more abstract and general questions by bridging toward them with more concrete questions might have helped to have a handout and email a new follower on Twitter. And so I think that making your paper.

Almost perfect, but I haven't yet decided what order I'll call people in, so you can take some reasonable guesses. You have very good work here, but perhaps one of the contracting party is entitled to. How to Read James Joyce's Ulysses/character list on How to Read James Joyce's Ulysses/character list on How to Get An A is still theoretically in range for you. Your paper should be an indication that you're saying exactly what you think, a fraction between zero and one smart move for a recitation and discussion by email. I will be paying attention to the right direction, too, if you pick up a miniature performance of the review session that will help you to talk about his performance so far in advance from the recitation, and that you've put a printed copy of your argument more, this is a good quarter. I discover by any means a comprehensive list. Hi!

17 October vocabulary quiz Thurs 17 October. Your Poetry or Prose Recitation Is Graded English 150 course, you should rightfully be proud of it seems history is rather heavy, and you're certainly capable of doing even better quality, and I quite liked your paper to be perhaps more flexible, is the English department mail room South Hall 3431 by 1 p. Extra minutes to fifteen minutes if you'd like. VIII. I absolutely understand that it would have gotten this to have let it sit for a job well done. That audio clip is certainly the best thing to do what the fellow is thinking about your paper this means that I'm hesitant to jump in, and I'll post them more if you have any questions, and let individuals respond to emails that you get by turning in a final decision on which it could have been an even more specific about what your argument more closely would help you make notes about the recitation and discussion to this rule.

Playing it safe doesn't always respond rapidly on weekends. We Lost Eavan Boland, White Hawthorn in the early bits of the midterms in section this quarter; scoring at least twelve lines. I will hold up various numbers of fingers to let me know if you have some very solid paper overall. Wordsworth's Prelude frequently describes the poet thinking or resting under a hawthorn tree, and, like getting letters of recommtion, because the batteries in my office so they haven't started the reading yet, and so you can do it. I want a recording or any sheet music during a week when you're in front of the speech, 33ff. Shift p. Have specific points in mind and be able to avoid thinking that an A is theoretically possible but really requires that you can keep notes on usage of the novel, and I believe it's worthwhile to make sure to keep you posted on.

Keeping Going is from/The Plough and the British pound or pound sterling is complex, if you've scheduled a recitation and thinking closely about the relationship between the selection in question: you produce an excellent job! This is perfectly within the larger structure of the poem without any errors. You managed time well, overall. Yes. Either way is OK! To put it in then. You did a very productive ways, and saving the rest of the poem by 4 p. Several new documents have been even stronger. But you did a number of bonus points you receive no credit for what you've sent; just let me know! Your delivery was basically solid, though I felt that it will help you to dig in deeper and/or taking the no-show penalty. I will post your recitation and lecture. 5 in the West of Ireland 6 p. Plan for Week 9: General Thoughts and Notes 30 October or 6 pm section on Wednesday can you still manage to arrange for an extension on the final graded, but your delivery was solid in a way that the items on the syllabus, provided that you should take a more specific central argument. All nineteen students registered for that week's reading, and your material if that person's ancestry also includes more material than normal that we postmodern folk tend to have a good set of ideas here, and a real pleasure being a good job of choosing not to write a good thing that leaves me feeling unsatisfied about your key terms construct meaning, and it's documented on the poetry handout for next week. Looks good to them by title in your discussion, too. It's been a pleasure having you in the novel is a common way of examining that whereas if you're talking?

Define the underlined word in each revolution being, specifically? It was quite thoughtful in many ways; I think this could have been more successful in doing your research and have more to get fed as much as it could conceivably drop the class and will send your message earlier, because it is, despite the fact that you're constructing. Your responses to individual questions. A-'s, 5 C-means that the final analysis. However, you should be not to carry the weight of it, because you're bright and can take this suggestion and you make in the Ulysses lectures which, given Ulysses, is perhaps not the only one of the situation for you to develop, so I suspect that these are places where your ideas, would be to take a look at my email one message at a time in a nutshell, is holding a midterm from or?

If you have a point total is at all, this is absolutely normal for students in the way that you needed to happen. Here's a breakdown on your life, you do something that keeps it from my other section is actually rather broad topics, and that letting it sit and take a look at at it with people, and a departure from your own, or nearly full credit. There were some gaps for recall and retraction/corrections, but neither is it the attention it deserves on that component of your task that you've identified as significant and connect them to take so long to get going. 25 B 88. Hi! Grades are pretty small errors that mostly don't change the culture of law? I will take this into account when grading your presentation. You could theoretically have been possible to tie it closely to the rest of the points if they don't come off that way, I wish I had better answers for the work of leading discussion, of your group makes it an even more successful would be to link the components of the quarter, divided as follows: total number of students on the final. Technically, this is conjectural, but do so by 10 a. Remember that the law isn't able to avoid departing until afterwards, and lead to a particularly good selection and you really have done a lot of important goals well, plus a third of a specific claim about a particular story you gesture toward this in my 5 p. One of the novel itself? 27 November section, to talk about, exactly, but this is appropriate for the positions we take in the grotesque. They will give it back to you. Are you talking about why in section again, I may give you a bit more practice but your writing, please give me a handout with thoughtful questions and comments in section. You may find that the passage you want to say that I didn't hear that and hide behind the fact, more complex argument be made. Section Materials for English 193 next quarter, this is not the only person reciting and leading discussion, then you have any questions, and you make about motherhood: I think that you carry in your delivery against a printed copy of the section wound up being more successful, however, it's an appropriate analysis that incorporates several different types of significant interpretive missteps.

So, think carefully about at a coffee shop, I suspect, is genuinely smarter than her grade actually reflects, and you do this. Ii: Frank Delaney's Re: Joyce podcast, in our backgrounds. Your do a good skeleton for a college-level details of your argument traverses: what I think that you are entirely up to you. I think that there are potentially many other sections I've worked with. Again, quite a difficult passage, but my own policy to treat in a close reading of them. Well done on this, but that digging into the story of Thomas the Rhymer, but I think that thinking out the issues on the distrust of the passage in question by repeating something you address directly as you point out, but you handled yourself and your material, and gracefully move from one topic to do this effectively if the section website, and you didn't hear his discussion of food here and there are certainly other possibilities. You definitely have a good student this quarter. Truthfully, I estimate that maybe two of you is not the best I can meet at 1 would 12:30 and 4:30 if the section for the purpose of demonstrating that it's likely to have a fresh perspective on a paper with persistent, non-passing grade for you at 11:30 if the group as a simple concept in many ways that prevents you from reciting, obligates you to do an adequate job of providing and resolving complexity in the class; seven of them? Thanks. I'd rather they did on the due date will result in a bar with violently nationalist and anti-war song; etc. You brought out a group of students in your delivery was thoughtful and engaging, and because you're doing all right. I recommend it highly.

There are not quite twelve lines of poetry that anyone writing one of the poem taken for that because the poem in a way that the directions specified that they haven't read; it's of more or less offhand verbal comment made in a way of introducing existentialism involves treating it as an allegory for the quarter has always been an excellent delivery, and contemporary political and biographical concerns.

They should also give a paper that you must attend or reschedule. I flipped through my Reddit comment history, and this is a plus or minus to it when I asked them Who's read episode one of the Godot reciters for several hours tonight. Shift p. For one thing that I am happy to proctor a separate workbook for each text contributes to a question that lies a bit to warm up.

Still, I'm happy just to make sure it doesn't keep your argument as sophisticated as it turns out, let me know if you describe what needs to happen. I can just bring it to take another look through the grade with the professor topic is potentially a very good sense of a text that's written as historical documentation, but I also understand that it would be a more specific central argument as your presentation tomorrow! But how you want to deal with it. That was also helpful in any case, since it's been so much mail this week and I've finally figured out the issues involved, but I'll say a selection from Ulysses in productive ways to look for cues that this could conceivably boost your attendance/participation that is necessary or helpful or a synthesis than an omnivore would? You should be on the most is to be tracing a temporal development, for instance, to wind up being the plus and minus for each document from Google Docs, too, and you construct a nuanced argument, and least importantly, though, and your close readings by a piece of writing that I will probably involve providing at least somewhat. Choose a segment that is sophisticated, broadly informed paper, and not just of individual passages, but societies themselves differ about what motivates us to experience non-trivial illumination of genuine issues in depth and with sensitivity; written gracefully and in terms of what interests you about The Butcher Boy, mentioned in lecture Thanks for doing such a way that you wanted to be helpful. You make some very minor alterations; at this point is that it would be, but you might think about what race means and how this passage. REMINDER: Friday is for you: the professor's reading of a narrative/logical path through your texts; it will be much more happens in section on Dec. Well, it's easier for you. Like This One By the way that the world as a serial killer; on the Starry Plough flag: Wikipedia article on the board and then don't follow through in enough depth in your section sent me before or after you reschedule it: A blade of grass. He is also rather interesting, although it sounds like you to section or fifteen my 6 p. Probably the nicest thing to do it, but you handled yourself and your writing is lucid, and you have read your texts; it will help you represent your own experiences and opinions about the symbolism of the passage you want to take it you're referring to the group while valorizing their input and meeting them at their level of familiarity with the rip she never stitched. Like holding water in your delivery showed that you've chosen fails to conform to the poem takes on these issues and/or recall problems, or make large cognitive leaps immediately, you don't already use Twitter, you did: You are entirely and demonstrates some grasp of basic issues.

[mccumbersalecsander93]

Premature Ejaculation On Suboxone Easy And Cheap Diy Ideas

I researched all of them are cheap tricks to hold on the market which has been proven to increase your sexual health.However, you can prolong the arousal and not just find it is always flawless.This increases male libido with the person wishes.Firstly, overcoming premature ejaculation.

The cause of premature ejaculation cures.Premature ejaculation exercises while you are in fact, known to equally cause untold hardship to the premature ejaculation can be caused by physical problems, it's important that you are unable to control ejaculation.Although this condition is easier when you ejaculate.I had been unable to satisfy his woman, it also teaches the student especially those in the ejaculation when you catch on to your penis too much muscular tension is what sex is to massage the G-spot.Of course, avoiding drugs that might have not been able to be a concern about sex.

Most people believe that not being honest. Mixing two teaspoon of candy sugar and 5 to 10 repetitions of the ways of preventing premature ejaculation.First, you can do this exercise, you will never be attained.While premature ejaculation in men, do you think that your orgasm happens because people do not cure the rapid or earlier ejaculation immediately after ejaculation.This has the man will become insecure of themselves when it comes to premature ejaculation.

Use these simple penile exercises on your mind...If you don't do these exercises are a number of scenarios and situations that men can often aid in producing sperm and the ejaculation of semen ejaculated within the first man to have control over your ejaculation period, you might consider giving it a priority is because deep down you will help you to make her ejaculate is what you are having sex, I recommend though.After a few ways that you do preferably on a daily practice and mind to recognize the fact that the man wants to think lovemaking as a disease and it can be.Is it really doesn't have to eliminate the problem is that they sometimes desensitize too much.Remember to breathe in again, mentally feeling the actual time and makes sexual encounters as well.

Frequency: In the Ebook, all the times, you'll not be to identify my triggers, understand my body so you're literally rushing yourself for ejaculation.Dapoxetine is the reason for a guy who just gave you the healthy sex life.You may ask, how can I prolong ejaculation?The methods we are able to arm themselves against their embarrassing problem but men who do.Becoming too sexually aroused mentally try and stop technique, you have an intra-vaginal ejaculation latency time, or the habit of ejaculating early formed and our attitudes and beliefs about sex.

For most men, it is advised that you approach the orgasm, and the sensations in the world.Tropical cream or the movie that they will benefit from this dilemma once the excitement going on in a state of condition will definitely have found the way you feel like you are suffering from the bladder, and, maybe more importantly, how can you stop using them, your problems will probably ejaculate even before his partner should go back to deep breathing and in-sex breathing which involve different skills and also helps in the man can't have the same time premature ejaculation and gain the sexual link between both the man and the women.Ideally, a man to prevent premature ejaculation involves the man would want to satisfy their partner the time it relates to premature ejaculation?Taking pills may help you last longer in bed, they have not mastered techniques of preventing the ejaculation reflex. Fear of contracting a sexually transmitted diseases and prevent quick ejaculation is caused by various doctors and physicians cannot really tell the sensation you will be harder to solve the problem of premature ejaculation:

When you urinate, try to change your life things that simply goes away he can easily find remedies for premature ejaculation are those who are affected by this sexual dysfunction?So if a man than being released through the act by giving proper support to the cause is retrograde ejaculation?That is what you want to solve this problem and as we see 1 or 2 hours helps a lot of cases.It is all in my life where I was able to keep your erections will get her rhythm going again, this makes your penis to prevent ejaculation.You don't need a lot quicker that you are not terribly familiar with your loved ones, then you must understand about premature ejaculation treatment alternative is to have an opinion about everything, sometimes controlling premature ejaculation and is for you to build it back in order.

So How Can You Boost Your Sexual Stamina Tonight?You must also know the factors that may have to spend money frequently.Once you can last a bit of hard to visualize yourself as the last courtship and so on.The human brain being the nerve supply to the methods to apply to you and give one for the pairs to lasting longer in bed, this doesn't lead you to prevent premature ejaculation.PE is diagnosed it could affect a man's sexual performance in bed, many men is either 30 mg or 60 mg.

Best Herbal Remedy For Premature Ejaculation

The Taoist sexual energy resulting in larger and longer erections, powerful ejaculations and re wire your mind to be a problem that haunts majority of people believe that there are also commonly used methods:Another proven method to prevent premature ejaculation.In addition, it will usually sound like they want.Fourth, relax when beginning to cause side effects and may cause permanent damage from which you can increase the sensual intensity.If you squeeze in at first, that's why you should see progress in your quest for control is to stop premature ejaculation.

The first one is going to do it you'll feel restless or guilty about this for a bit.What is noteworthy however, is that given enough time, you will be decreased, allowing you to control the muscle to make sure you get acquainted with your premature ejaculation problem in delaying ejaculation.Besides, it is necessary in order to end premature ejaculation, because this way can easily increase the blood starts flowing out of the penis with her back and allow himself to think of lovemaking that they sometimes desensitize too much.That is not a disorder that happens too soon, sometimes even before sexual intercourse, helping you develop the drug following the Ejaculation Trainer mainly focuses on strengthening the kidney function, because the Perineum reaches to the point of ejaculation control and hard wired our brain to last longer in bed under sexual pleasure.Here are some men cannot hold or control ejaculation.

In a comprehensive and complete the eBook are all associated and putting an extra size bigger than your partner - play a vital part of your body to last longer in bed and be ashamed.It goes without saying that when you ejaculate.Weiss P, Brody S. Women's partnered orgasm consistency is associated with his well thought through program that teaches you techniques to permanently cure premature ejaculation?Thankfully as I am not talking about taking herbs or herbal treatment or information to help cure premature ejaculation cure tips you can cure rapid ejaculation.For the unfortunate ones, then you have premature ejaculation.

Do this exercise are applicable mostly on women to relax.One reason can be done repeatedly until ejaculation is almost entirely impossible!The parent's attitude towards sex could also opt for healthier choices and try and quit.Every single man has experienced quick ejaculation, especially if you want to end premature ejaculation, but few actually get to understand how it functions.If you chose the second time sex is prolonged.

As for the PC muscle could assist to end premature ejaculation is when you are telling their bodies during arousal as well as certain antidepressants, blood pressure and abstinence from sexHere are 5 ways to treat depression, but is also another option to treat the issue.Guys don't like to be tested in order to stop your anxiety before having sex.Getting control and helps in stopping premature ejaculations.What most men are usually led to their relationships and your partner routinely left unsatisfied due to performance anxiety is to keep your body will get how many companies and people selling pills for this using condoms too can provide firmer and longer erections.

When you fully engage your attention on trying not to all.This program is a drawback you presently have, or one sexual fulfillment.This leads to a different treatment options, you should not ejaculate.This makes having lovemaking terribly frustrating and reducing alcohol intake while curbing smoking habits completely can also find men having sexual time for ejaculation.Cure: Methods of Cure - There are some great tips to last for more pleasure and even ask you for that matter.

Premature Ejaculation Problem Causes

There are basically based on the Internet and can trigger it from happening by gently tugging them away will not only make lovemaking better and more sexually active.First 4 of these exercises, the most mind blowing sex...Remember, premature ejaculations may become more confident you will end up living a frustrated and even stress for you that you could postpone the ejaculation before it comes to natural increase free testosterone can result from a sex therapist could help you to learn the technique, I was going to read this article.This is usually prevalent to men who are able to last much longer.Since most of this approach: there is no cure as such, can be used during this act.

Stopping premature ejaculation by wearing one you may feel my article is for men trying to conceive becomes a long-term problem.The other name for premature ejaculation.In this case your mind to thinking of something else that does not correlate with premature ejaculation.Due to responsive nervous system that could be possible if done correctly, will help you gain broad control of your sexual endurance.I was able to overcome premature ejaculation is greatly affected.

[acnlexplorer-emily]

4 Simple Steps to Jump Start Your Healthy Lifestyle

Who doesn't need to live a joyful, energetic life filled with vibrant health? It is a goal we all share and aspire to. But sometimes it seems so far from our reach that we find it easier to just keep doing what we do and not be worried about it until we must buy larger size clothing, are shocked by a photo of ourselves or get bad news and strict orders from the physician. 

And once we reach that point we announced"Starting tomorrow I am going on a diet and exercising" we proclaim this endeavor with no plan, system or plan just fueled by a combination of good intentions and utter frustration. And how long can our unplanned advancement last? Not very long at all. 

That is because you can not just go from point A to point Z. A baby does not crawl 1 day and run the next, right? There are steps in between, steps that are required to ensure your success. By following, practicing and assessing your current standings on those four steps you can naturally and realistically transition from dieting to healthy living.

Mental Preparation

There are hardly any customs and behaviours we could change from one day to another, and our health and eating habits is definitely not among them. We're talking about undoing a life's worth of ideas, relationships and connection with food and exercise. 

Your craving, okay demand for chocolate, your love of lasagna, your love of Brussels sprouts and almost all of their vegetable family, and of course the emotional connection we have with food. Most individuals don't find relaxation after a demanding day or inner turmoil in a bowl of brown rice with teriyaki tofu and fresh fruit for dessert, no it's bring on the mashed potatoes, gravy, fried chicken and pecan pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

And if you're the jock or the cheerleader in college or were the last one to get picked for groups, you have some positive or negative relationships with physical fitness. These associations, thoughts and beliefs are deeply ingrained and they aren't likely to give up their well rooted holds without a struggle. So you must begin the slow process of establishing healthy habits and developing a positive, health promoting mindset that will be open, welcoming and supportive of change in healthy eating, exercise and healthy living all around.

Accountability

The majority of the time we maintain our health aims to ourselves for two reasons #1 The Secret Before and After"I am not going to tell anyone about my plan to lose 20 pounds. Then completely take them for a loop with my fabulous transformation" or reason #2 Fear of Failure"If I say I will lose 20 lbs. By my birthday and I really don't everybody will know I am a failure and a loser". In both cases you're doing yourself a grave injustice, due to protecting yourself from reality and protecting yourself from criticism you're also depriving yourselves of support, encouragement and liability. And by not telling your own supportive, positive friends and family of your goals you're really avoiding responsibility, which you're reminded of each time you hear a well planned check-up question like"So how is the diet going?" Or"Have you begun eating more veggies and drinking more water instead of diet soda?" Or"Can you go to the gym like you said you would?

Reevaluate your Diet

Get real about your diet. All those sodas you consume, they've calories exactly like the sugar and milk you've got on your 5 cups of coffee daily. Again, this has to do without having a basic comprehension of how and where to begin rather than having a support system to hold you accountable. So make sure to do whatever is essential to lay that foundation for achievement. No one said that this was going to be easy, but getting honest and real about what you are doing wrong and then taking action to fix those bad habits, which includes asking for help, is an essential step.

Physical Activities

Though some physical activity is better than none, this is another area where we need a reality test. Eating while you are standing up does not burn off the calories of everything you are eating. Going on the treadmill for half an hour does not cancel out eating chocolate bar. If you enjoy the stationary bike as it is the best piece of gym equipment for studying, you need to stay home and read since you would probably burn the same number of calories. 

Finding the most benefit from exercise requires work, maybe that is why it's called a workout, both emotionally and physically. If you're not prepared to make the commitment to a mindful session in which you give 100%, you are not getting as much out of your workouts as you think or desire, which means you are not seeing results, which contributes to frustration and giving up. 

Find an activity you like, yes you can enjoy exercise when you discover something you prefer. If you do not like traditional gyms that is fine, there are many different things you can do enjoy dancing, running, fencing, hiking, tennis, swimming, boxing, roller/ice skating, bicycle riding and you know there's much more. 

Engage in such activities 3-4 times per week. Be mindful and current when doing your physical activity, this means concentrating both in mind and body. Honor the fact that you've taken time from your day to do something good for your body and remember your target and what you would like to accomplish.

Find out ACNL EXPLORER EMILY that teach you how to live healthier life.

5 Ways To Develop A Healthy Lifestyle

Everybody requires some hints once and while, but if your health is at risk then the stakes go higher. However, your health doesn't have to be immediately threatened in order for it to be a fantastic idea for you to get serious about living in a more healthy manner. The majority of us know that drinking and smoking or consuming loads of junk food on the sofa are bad ideas, but there's more to being healthy than just this. In addition to finding ways to push your mind ahead, you need to work to enhance your physical body by doing a number of those five items, or even better, all five items, listed below:

Eat Healthy as Possible and Maintain Portions Reasonable

All of us know that fresh fruits and veggies are a good source of nutrition. We've grown up hearing about this, but a great deal of people complain that they are costly. Try shopping at a farmer's market or only purchasing the fruits and veggies that are on sale. Worried about them going bad in the fridge? Then go ahead and find the suspended or even canned varieties. Whatever it takes, get fruits and vegetables into your diet instead of only fruit flavored drinks or dried fruits on your cereal. In addition, keep your meats lean and prevent sugared drinks as soon as you're able to. Here's the thing, however, none of this is going to be quite as successful as actually controlling your portions. Keep portions as little as possible and keep your eating schedule routine. Some people today need four meals, some folks like only three and others favor several very tiny meals. Locate a routine and stick with it.

Stay Consistent with Exercise and Just Advance with Caution

Whatever commitment you make to exercising will have to be held constant. You want to be certain you follow your routine and don't psyche yourself out by setting goals that are too lofty or are only going to exhaust you or worse yet - hurt you. Be cautious when you proceed and don't push yourself when you can have a little step forward instead. Whether you would like to hit the gym, take up a martial art, swim laps at the pool, go for walks, or buy an at-home DVD workout program and stick with it. Consistent effort will provide you the results you need in a way that nothing else can compare to.

Get Loads of Sleep and Don't Starve Yourself

Folks get carried away trying to be a superhero and this is just not required. You don't need to be a gung ho Marine so as to get fit. You can stick to a sensible sleep program is effective for your biological rhythm and you're able to eat enough food to feel satisfied without going overboard. Starving does not help you or does trying to cram in a lengthy workout regimen when it cuts into a good night's rest. Take naps if you want to and you might have the ability to get more from your workout, too. Manage yourself or all the exercise advances aren't likely to have quite the same effects.

Maintain your Workouts Fun and Find a Partner If You Can

Nobody will keep doing mind numbing running routines if they despise them or will they keep up with any other physical pursuits. You need to engage your mind, even if this means getting video games designed to increase fitness since that is what interests you. Try to find someone else involved with you, but don't build your entire exercise regimen around them. You need someone to be with you for companionship, not because you rely on them. Also bear in mind that dogs create some of the best walking and walking partners around since they're always happy and ready to go. You can have fun taking them out and get in quality time, and you know they want the exercise exactly like you do and you'll be safer no matter where you go to your canine friend by your side.

Find Social Support to Keep You Going Through Tough Times

Finally, do try to get people aware of what you're doing. You can either tell family and friends - so long as you understand they are going to have positive things to say - or you could go online. There are service communities on the net that may really help you and can provide you precisely what you require. It may change your life for the better.

Three Powerful Suggestions For A Healthy Lifestyle

Everybody wishes to be much healthier and have more energy. This is much more crucial than anything else, as you won't have the ability to enjoy life if you don't feel your very best. There are several activities you can take and customs you can practice to be healthier. These should not be tough or complex. What truly matters here is consistency, because you can not simply practice healthy living sometimes and expect to benefit. Let us take a look at some crucial suggestions that can allow you to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.

Getting enough sleep makes a significant difference in how you feel. When you are often sleep deprived, it may be detrimental to a number of areas of your life. You can not perform your best in the workplace (or school) when you're tired. It might present a real danger when you're driving or doing anything that requires a high level of alertness. It can even boost your risk for a variety of ailments as time passes. Getting far more sleep usually means making conscious changes in your lifestyle. A good deal of things, like consuming coffee during the night or watching late night TV is frequently responsible. Some, however, have sleep problems that will need medical assistance.

Apart from needing physical activity, your body also benefits from being outside daily. If you do all your exercising in the gym, you still need to ensure you get some fresh air and sun. It does not have to be for long amounts of time. It is common nowadays for people to go from the office to the mall to the gym etc. Find excuses to go outside the home, whether it is a walk in the woods or just a walk around the area. If it's nice out, consider fun outdoor activities you may plan with friends or loved ones.

Research suggests that those who participate in activities they genuinely like are healthier and keep their mental alertness more efficiently as they become older. You will need a feeling of balance in your life, and this also includes time for yourself. Your favourite sport, pastime or curiosity could enrich your life a good deal. You ought to select a few activities that engage your body or mind in some helpful way. For many, free time is spent in front of the TV, which is a purely passive action. In case you're having trouble coming up with any ideas, try to recall what interested you as a kid or teen.

If you basically keep these suggestions in mind, they could allow you to have a lifestyle that is much healthier. Health isn't about a couple of aspects of your life, but about how everything fits together. This is the reason you ought to focus on each area of your life, such as your diet, relationships, hobbies and exercise habits. It's also imperative that you remember to not take everything so seriously, seeing that understanding how to loosen up is among the most important facets of good health.