#I mean it's expensive just being in general but obligatory 'support people you like if you are well off' stuff

[nyanbinary-perineum]

Don't forget to send holiday money to your favorite nsft bloggers because it's expensive being this horny 😔

[sambhavami]

Obligatory note: It's been a long time since I read the actual text...and this was originally written for me to hash out some character relationships stuff for my fictional works. :)

Now, welcome to my personal conspiracy-headcanon mashup. To understand Arjun/Bheem's reactions we need to understand Yudi first, right?

During the Dyuta Sabha, the Ps had a lot of things going on. To blame what happened entirely on Yudi's gambling would probably not be fair. As others here have pointed out, they were cornered both physically and politically (especially with Krishna very perfectly, for the Ks, locked in a deadly war).

Many people think (me included, up until a few months back) that Yudi's a weaker character, controlled entirely by Krishna, and that he sort of falls apart when Krishna isn't around. But, that isn't entirely true. Yudhishthir is remarkably smart. His only problem in this regard is that he associates the greatest with Krishna, the record-smashing, powerhouse of a politician, who dwarfs everyone else simply by being in the room.

Hence, the only times we get to see Yudi's strategies playing out independently are during Varnavat, and Dyuta Sabha (Vana Parva shows his standalone intelligence, and Udyoga Parva features his farsightedness).

During Varnavat, when they are leaving...this is a small detail, but Yudhishthir creates a proper ruckus before they leave. He's crying and sobbing, he's falling on everyone's feet- solidly weirding out at least half of the extended family elders...as one writer so eloquently put it: like 'a bride on her bidai'.

Point is, Yudi smells out that something's wrong with this sudden all-expenses-paid trip, even before Vidur gets to him with his hints and stuff. What Yudi is doing here is that he is acting weird (and loud) to the point that even a commoner seeing their chariots from afar would notice something's fishy.

Yudi's style is always to play the long con. And he values the common man. Rather, he knows the value of public support. This is something even Dury values, but his method of securing said support is just to throw money at them mostly.

Yudi always wants to make a more permanent impact in this department.

You remember how in Varnavat, Kunti leaves a nishada mother and her 5 sons to die in the fire? I was thinking, did Yudi not inherit even 1% of that steadfast (cruel?) determination? (I mean Krishna is Kunti's suyogya nephew in this regard!). Yudi sure didn't object to his mother's plan then.

Then, after Draupadi's swayamvar, Yudi is the one to recognize the seeds of discord b/w the brothers, and nips it in the bud by using Kunti's words. Once Krishna is in the picture, we see Yudi kinda sorta let up, he lets Krishna make some executive decisions regarding Indraprastha, and the rajasuya. Obviously, he trusts Krishna fully, and even Krishna gets the time to really recognize Yudi's subtle undercurrent-ish strategies.

So, it's not totally weird that the younglings trust him so much. The dice game might have activated Yudi's gambling issues exacerbated by his somewhat compulsive desire to be polite at all costs, but he wasn't rendered completely senseless.

On IF I saw one member theorizing about how Yudhishthir is phrasing sentences when the guard is sent to Draupadi at first. It's like he's almost sending a message to Draupadi.

Combining the above, with my own little theory here...Yudi realised pretty much immediately that he is walking into a trap, and so walk he did. He had faith that even if his brothers (and wife) were furious with him, they would still not react, and let Yudi play it out first.

The seeds of Kurukshetra were sown generations back. If we want to push it, we can push the origins of this conflict to the very first Deva-Asur war itself!

Even in their generation they had Krishna and Jarasandha, Drupada and Drona, Kauravas and Panchalas, the growing intra-Yadav complications, the Kaurava family matter, and so many other such conflicts. The world was already barrelling towards the mega-war at record speed. With Krishna and Drupada aligning themselves with the Ps, and Duryodhana rapidly filling the vacuum left by Jarasandha, Yudhishthira would also have guess that the war would happen in their lifetime. And in this uber-polarized situation, situated right between Krishna and Duryodhana, Yudhishthira would definitely end up in the middle of all of it.

When Yudi found the war to be inevitable, he gave up trying to really stop it and instead focused on how they could come out of this smelling like roses. In case of war, Yudi was never getting Dury's loyal vassal kingdoms. Obviously! And Krishna had antagonized more that half of the subcontinent while fighting Jarasandha (none of whom would fight on the side of Krishna's friends!), so Yudi wasn't getting them either! Then, the only remaining option was to somehow drag the sort-of neutral kingdoms into this mess.

The neutral kingdoms all had remained neutral for a reason. These people never really got involved in anything. The only thing that would drag them in, would have to be something outrageous. Something, that no conscientious person/kingdom could ignore. Something like a royal woman being assaulted mid-sabha. Something that would hit two birds...force the neutral kingdoms to choose a side, and irrevocably tip the public opinion in the Pandavas' favour.

If Yudi pushed Draupadi into this intentionally, then he was also ensuring that the Kaurava soldiers would fight against, but with a broken heart all that time, just like the elders of the family (and consequently will be about half as effective).

Now obviously, this is just a theory, and I'd be a lot more afraid of Yudi if this were indeed true. However, it is still fun to imagine, and I can't resist that!

But then, when Draupadi asks Yudi directly if what he did was legal or not, he stays silent. See, normally, Yudi LOVES a good debate. If he had genuinely thought he was right (or at least legally in the clear) in doing what he did, he would argue with Draupadi to the end of the world, but he doesn't!

Again, Draupadi is a legal genius herself, there's no doubt about that. So, when Draupadi is asking that question, she isn't actually asking the question. Draupadi is only further appalled when nobody acknowledges that she's right in saying that Yudi had no right to stake her. A law after all, is only a law if the wider society agrees that it is. In Drau's case, no one had the guts (except Vidur and Vikarna) to stand with her and support the law that she cited.

Maybe, Yudi had anticipated this would happen? That the Ks would let their animalistic side win over the logical one, and dig themselves a hole they can't really climb out of? But then again, I would be very scared of the man, then.

Coming to the brothers' loyalty. Obviously, they've (and Draupadi) lived with the intelligent Yudi for a long time. Long enough to know how he plays his game, and even if they don't like his approaches, they know that it will still help them achieve their final goal, which is to obtain and then stay on the throne of Hastinapura (the staying part they can't do without solid public support in the long run).

As for how much they value Draupadi, I think the brothers have proven themselves several times after that. Bheem a little louder, Arjun a little quieter, but they have.

[butshedidnotknow]

I just reblogged a whole bunch of takes on the Fanfiction vs. Published Fiction post on my main, but I’m posting this here because this is my writing account. Suddenly I understand why people say that there’s no reading comprehension on this website. So here it is:

Not all published fiction has literary merit. 

Fanfiction does not, by virtue, of being fanfiction, not have literary merit

The western canon is primarily written by upperclass white men from colonial nations 

That said, “read stuff other than fanfic” isn’t saying to restrict yourself to JUST THE WESTERN CANON. 

There are other countries and culture out there with their own literary history and to ignore that and act like everything that isn’t fanfiction is Western Canon is malicious in a way of denying other nations their own independence and history and literary voice and culture

“Read stuff other than fanfic” also isn’t saying “read a whole bunch of classic literature and nothing else”. 

Western canon is primarily written by upper class white men 

Fanfiction is largely written by queer neurodivergent women, including many women of colour 

(The fanfiction community and fandom does have internal,,,,colonial?? issues, though. There’s internal racism. There’s internal misogyny and lesbophobia. That’s not to say that fandom is terrible and has no value, but it’s also not absolutely saintlike.)

But there are also published neurodivergent queer female authors of colour with incredible and intricate works. People want to talk about supporting marginalized authors, but if you don’t support (I mean like. Financially. Or at the very least acknowledge them.) these authors when they’re being published, then there’s a chance that they’re going to get disregarded on the large scale

That said, fanfiction is also largely financially accessible in a way that a lot of published fiction isn’t; it’s free, it’s portable, it’s internationally available

This is where I throw in my obligatory GO TO THE LIBRARY argument. GO TO YOUR LIBRARY. 

That said, libraries aren’t accessible to everyone. This could be because of language barriers, because of geographic location, transportation, or especially now because of COVID. 

Fanfiction isn’t subjected to the same whims of the capitalist hellscape that published fiction is. That is to say, there aren’t censors, there are a lot of people publishing without being restricted by the pressure of publishing firms and editors. 

Also though, self-publishing and small-press fiction is available and has a lot more of this. 

It’s still more expensive, though (my wallet does hurt from buying indie press books)

To say “read stuff other than fanfiction” isn’t to say “never read fanfiction”. Don’t pull that shit. 

As outlined above, fanfiction and original fiction have their respective merits 

Fanfiction is for a lot of people comfort material. It is for me too. I write fanfiction, I read fanfiction, I love fanfiction. 

As comfort reading, fanfiction is great, and as written fiction, it’s also very great 

But we shouldn’t just restrict ourselves only to our comfort material. Maybe that’s what you need at the time, yes, and that’s understandable. But to stay within only your comfort zone provides no challenge to you intellectually or personally 

You don’t need to challenge yourself all the time by any means. Anyone who says that is dumb. 

But you should still step out of your comfort zone at times. That’s something that we need to do, generally speaking.

Personal value and literary merit are not the same thing. Things can be important to me without having literary merit, and I can hate things but they can still have literary merit. 

So keep reading fanfiction, absolutely!! Keep writing fanfiction!!

But also read things that are not fanfiction. 

I’m not fucking getting started on the “Dante wrote fanfic and that turned into the Divine Comedy” because. 

It’s just not happening here. 

OK?

Not right now. 

I understand. But if that’s your take, then literally every piece of literature since like. I don’t even fucking know when. But every piece of literature is just fanfiction, because nobody’s ever had an original idea.

[cassolotl]

Autistic Christmas

Or, My Complex Feelings About Christmas as a Non-Christian Anticapitalist in Overlapping Atypical Neurotypes.

~

Wednesday 25th December 2019

~

Various things interact in my brain at Christmas.

I’m extremely not Christian. I was raised in a Christian society, had to sing hymns in assemblies in school, had Easter services in a church with my classmates, was given a Bible at a particular academic milestone... and always felt very uncomfortable with all of that Christian stuff. I wasn’t asked if I wanted to join in or if I believed, it was just assumed that I would come around to it. The idea that it might be unethical to raise children in a religion, or just that the child might not benefit from it, never crossed anyone’s mind. The various teachings were sometimes nice but mostly felt to me like inconsistent and untrue stories and attempts to manipulate me, though clearly it was unintentional. I bet Jesus was awesome and I’d probably have liked him if I met him at a bus stop, but I don’t want this whole... religion thing about him.

Anti-capitalist. My first memory of buying clothes as a small child and being given a choice about what was bought for me, I remember rejecting all the choices available and asking for something without brand names or logos on it! I’m just anti-capitalist to my core, I think. And I would estimate that I attribute about 90% of the feeling of Christmas being imposed on me to capitalism, which has a selfish interest in sustaining a social structure of Christmas as a time for consumption, and then embedding that structure in as many people as possible until it feels like a tradition that emotionally sustains itself. So in addition to Christmas not really happening to me internally, I have to deal with Christmas happening to me a lot externally, whether I like it or not, and I usually do not.

My brain is bad with music. I like a lot of music, but I’ve learned slowly over time that if I listen to it I’m just giving my brain things to loop. I am very prone to earworms and find them very uncomfortable. I worked in WH Smith over Christmas one time and could happily never listen to another Christmas song ever again in my life. Sometimes Christmas music comes on and I start to feel inexplicably trapped with a sensation of dread. I recognise that it’s mostly good, pleasant, catchy, upbeat music with good message! I just can’t deal with it on a visceral level sometimes.

My situation growing up was not ideal. Christmas day meant my mum’s partner was home all day and probably drinking. I would have to buy him presents, even. We were told that Christmas is a time for giving to and spending time with people you love, so I didn’t understand why I had to do that with him.

I struggle a lot with things. Folks following me for a long time know that I go through phases of minimalism and decluttering, and because of environmental whatnot I can’t just throw out a perfectly good thing so I frequently sell stuff I don’t want. Christmas presents, especially from my family (we’re not that close), tend to be things I neither need nor want, but I feel guilty about getting rid of them immediately. It doesn’t matter how much I ask for zero presents and fail to buy presents back! I get gifts and I just don’t know what to do with them. Unless I trust that someone knows how to give me gifts, and to be fair that’s quite a lot of people, I generally find it stressful opening gifts in front of people.

I struggle with waste. I love that people bring living green trees into their homes during a time when the earth is sleeping, but then those trees die. I like that people have found artificial alternatives, but they’re plastic and planned to be obsolete and they are frequently thrown away. Christmas decorations are flimsy and disposable and bad for the environment to manufacture and discard. Many (not all) people buy gifts because they feel like they ought to, and then folks are stuck with stuff that they won’t use or want to keep. I’ll bet a lot of people end up throwing out food because they made too much. If all of these things make people feel happy and good then I’m definitely never going to argue that they’re bad or try to stop people from doing them, but I just... wish that these things could be more sustainable for the same amount of effort and cost.

I don’t deal well with time, and the social consequences of that are painful. I’m learning that this is probably an ADHD thing. In particular, the experience of events that fall on specific dates and times. That includes dentist appointments, anniversaries, weddings... and birthdays, and Christmas. The latter two are particularly difficult for me, because I know that a lot of other people don’t just like them and find them important, they specifically want to involve the people they love, and it comes with a sense of obligatory participation. If I forget someone’s birthday it is often hurtful to them, and the more we love each other the more it will hurt them. If someone can support me to participate then it’s easier, but it is still very difficult.

I am disabled and poor. I have enough money to get by with the occasional high luxury purchase (e.g. use savings to buy new laptop because old one is broken), but buying gifts for people is hella expensive and making gifts for people requires less fatigue and more executive function than I have.

What this means is, when people ask me how I feel about Christmas or what I’m doing at Christmas I generally feel quite uncomfortable. I just tell people that I like to spend Christmas on my own and I won’t be with my family and I like having the day to myself, but if it feels comfortable I will go into more detail and say some of the above, and then I feel like I am being a big grouch who hates Christmas, and I don’t hate Christmas, I just hate that it’s compulsory and I feel uncomfortable when my going against the grain is so visible and can be interpreted to mean that I am a grumpy bastard.

Having said that, there are things that I like about Christmas.

Apocalypse vibe. There are no cars on the road, there are no shops open, everyone is in a warm cosy house with their loved ones opening presents... You can go for a little walk and meet hardly anyone and just walk right down the middle of a road for several minutes without being hit by a car! It’s the only day of the year when I feel peaceful when the sun is up.

No one is going to ask me to do anything. No emails from social workers, no bills, no reminders to make appointments, no PAs coming to help me do life things, no letters to send... and it’s understood that everyone has plans and everyone has a right to do whatever they want because it’s a special day, like everyone having a state-mandated birthday on the same day. Although, if someone needed their cat feeding over Christmas I would totally do it! I like the idea of enabling someone else to have a nicer special time.

Sharing light. It’s the dark time of year, and I like that a lot of faiths have a tradition of bringing light. That makes sense to me. On the solstice I often light a candle in the window at sundown and leave it lit until I go to bed, and that feels good. I usually do it on Christmas eve and Christmas day too, and any other days I’m in the mood.

Feasting. Winter is generally a less productive time of year in terms of food production, so a lot of faiths also include some tasty food, and that makes sense to me too!

So, since Christmas here in the UK is compulsory, my reclaiming of it for myself looks something like this, in approximately this order...

A minimal morning routine. Only the essentials and things that make me feel comfortable.

A little bit of tidying and admin. I always feel better when I do that, but I rarely remember, unless I’m having a day that’s 100% alone and about me. Getting some admin and clutter out of the way feels like an investment and a gift to my future self.

Opening presents. I have a little rainbow tinsel tree, and I put any presents I get around it, and sometime usually a bit before lunch I get a feeling that is a bit like, “oh, yes, I’m ready for presents now.”

Feast. I often manage to prep ingredients the day before, and it usually involves these essential components that I mostly ignore the rest of the year: nut roast, roast potatoes, roast Brussels sprouts, vegetarian pigs in blankets, peas, gravy.

Plants. I guess this is my equivalent to the tree phenomenon. I tend to all my houseplants and outdoor plants, repot anything that needs it, prune anything that needs it. Winter is less green, so I might also get the urge to invest some energy in adding to the overall future green in the world by sowing something. This autumn I successfully rooted and potted up some willow stems, so I feel quite satisfied with my planty achievements.

A candle in the evening at sundown. It’s important to share light in dark times. This often goes with a cosy winding down routine.

Some kind of gentle movie/TV. For a while the Doctor Who Christmas special was perfect, and now I don’t have a TV licence and Doctor Who doesn’t do Christmas specials any more, so maybe something like that but on Netflix?

A lot of my difficulties with Christmas come down to being autistic, with a smattering of ADHD and a troublesome upbringing. If I were with others I would feel drawn to help out with food, open gifts in front of people... and I’d either have to do those things, or explain why I’m not doing those things. Whichever I choose is differently exhausting.

I think in the right (for want of a better word) environment I could probably become a person who would rather be surrounded by loving family than be alone, and I'm open to it, but there are some complex and somewhat painful feelings tangled up in Christmas for me so it's going to take time.

To me, spending Christmas day alone feels very indulgent and luxurious. I can ignore everyone else in the world and initiate only if I completely want to, without judgement.

The Maori word for autism is 'takiwatanga', which translates as '[their] own time and space', and Christmas day is the one day of the year that I can fully and joyfully embody that.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2019 Anime Quick Takes: Astra Lost in Space and Fruits Basket

Astra Lost in Space

This little sci-fi doesn’t exactly rocket into greatness, but it’s a sweet, entertaining show. Set in the future, it follows a group of schoolkids who find themselves stranded in space. As they struggle to find their way back home, they find out they’re connected by many mysteries and begin to unravel a conspiracy.

The space kids are are all fairly likeable dorks who have enjoyable relationships with each other. The main character Kanata is a pretty standard shonen lead, but he’s a likeable variation- his straightfoward dumb goofiness is charming and his devotion to his friendfamily is often adorable. However, the insistence on him always being the big action hero made for a less effective story and came at the expense of a stronger ensemble. There’s a lot  of fuss made about how everyone in the team is important and contributes, and they do all get moments to shine, but at the end of the day it’s always about how great Kanata is. During the climax, there’s some big revelations that majorly concern to the female lead of the series, Aries. Since she was the person most impacted, her response and her feelings should have taken center stage. This was a revelation designed to cause HER turmoil and uncertainty, after all. She has the most interesting potential emotional journey here and seeing her struggle and then assert herself thanks to the support of her friends would really sell the found family theme of the show. But nope, the show can’t let anyone but Kanata get the big climactic moments and speeches, so he responds FOR Aries before she even has a chance to struggle, which is obviously way less powerful. Aries and the rest of the vibrant cast are mostly reduced to standing in the background and occasionally gasping while Kanata gets to do everything, which is a waste.

While it could have been more well-balanced. I do appreciate the show’s cute found family aspect and how the story goes out of its way to say if the people who raised you are shitty, throw them in the trash. The kids journeys are all about finding true acceptance, love and support in each other after being denied it in their own homes, and that rules.

The show is respectful of the characters for the most part- there’s some tame fanservice (like the obligatory few minutes where the girls compare breast sizes while in swimsuits, ugh), but the girls are capable members of the team, get some development and aren’t treated like garbage, so the series hops over that low bar at least. (Though it’s kinda whatever that the guys and girls roles/ambitions just happen to coincide with traditional gender expectations a lot of the time, especially at the end. Not horrible, but it can niggle.)

It’s notable, since it’s a rarity in both anime and media in general, that there’s an intersex character in this series. The show seemed to at least be trying to be sympathetic and supportive toward said character (moreso than a lot of stories), but it’s not really my lane to evaluate whether they tried hard enough or how well they did with the representation. There are potential positives, and potential issues as well, and I’d be interested to hear an intersex person’s take on it.

 I WILL say that this character is easily my favorite member of the cast (btw they do identify as a specific gender and discuss that in detail, I’m just being vague to minimize spoilers). They have a lovable personality and fun relationships with some of the other characters. The way they’re confident and comfortable with who they were but also loved to make silly jokes about it and troll their friends was relatable and endearing to me as a person with a marginalized identity who sometimes does the same. 

So yeah, the series has some cute characters, sweet moments and a decent enough plot. It definitely doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to sci-fi and shonen tropes and some of the twists it throws at you kind of fall apart logically if you think about them for more than ten seconds, but you just want to turn your brain off and enjoy a silly but heartfelt story about a teen space fam, this is a fine choice.

Fruits Basket (episodes 13-25)

Fruits Basket Season 1 continues! It continues in the same vein as earlier episodes, only with characters growing, backstories being revealed and dramatic developments- all of which are good stuff. My faves Arisa and Hana get their backstory episodes early, and of course I adore them. Love my cool, troubled girls and love their friendship with Tohru. There’s still the stuff that might put people off the first half- 90′s anime-esque gender tropes etc, slaptick abuse played for laughs.

The anime did at least tone down the problems with Ritsu’s parts in the manga, removing most of the mean comments regarding crossdressing, which is good. It probably could have done even more in that area but I’ll take what I can get.

While the adaptation did a good there, it also did a bad with a very jarring moment where a character gets launched into the air (YEET) during an important moment in the seasons final episodes. If you watched, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The exaggerated violence is really jarring during what’s supposed to be a more grounded, dramatic moment. It feel almost comical and more at home in a slapstick scene. On top of that, it’s damaging to both the characters involved, making one a lot more dangerously violent and life-threatening than they’re supposed to be, and the other more  questionable in that they shrug it off so easily. The more grounded violent moment in the manga was much more fitting and better executed all around (especially when it comes to use of space and emotional framing), so I have no idea WHY they changed it.

Other than that though, the final episodes of the season are pretty effective. The series remains emotional and entertaining overall, so I look forward to more of that with season 2. My memories about the rest of the story are still very fuzzy, so I’m glad to be rediscovering it.

[smallblueandloud]

thoughts on episode ii

subtitled let’s fix attack of the clones!!: anakin edition

i came out of this movie really not shipping anakin and padme. he is selfish, awkward, and distracting - and she should too busy to consider a romance.

the prequels are trying to tell two stories (anakin’s fall and the fall of the republic) and it barely tries to link them, instead just spending time on the boring, clunky one (anakin) at the expense of the more interesting one (the republic/the clones, represented in this movie by obi-wan), which seems like it’s missing vital conversations.

but this post is about anakin and anakin/padme. so let’s get started.

this movie, at least in terms of anakin’s development, suffers from middle-of-trilogy syndrome. nothing really happens. his mother dies (oh my GOD) and he angsts about it for a while, commits mass murder, and then jumps right back to pursuing his terrible “romance” with padme.

i mean, there are NO lasting effects of his mother’s death. he learns no coping techniques, feels no real emotions about it...

shmi was done dirty in general though. the idea of her marrying the guy that bought her is pretty icky. i’m becoming more and more fond of fialleril’s headcanon that shmi meets beru and adopts her as her daughter. cliegg is nothing but owen’s offscreen father.

i mean, that would’ve been SO MUCH BETTER, even if you keep the whole shmi-dying-solely-to-cause-her-idiot-son-pain. WHICH YOU SHOULD NOT. why spend all of episode i talking about freeing the slaves and then do absolutely nothing about it??

picture shmi, her adoptive daughter beru, and her adoptive daughter’s boyfriend owen (who really isn’t sure how he got involved in this but isn’t complaining) running an underground slave-freeing operation.

not sure how this would tie into the movie, plot-wise or anakin-development-wise, because yeah, you do need to start getting nervous around this kid. (I MEAN, IN MY PLAN FOR THE PHANTOM MENACE, YOU WOULD’VE STARTED THIS IN THE VERY BEGINNING BY USING A SLIGHTLY WORRYINGLY COMPETENT AND BRUTAL 14-YEAR-OLD, NOT THE PREPUBESCENT NONSENSE WE GOT. but regardless.)

i guess you’d need anakin and padme to be hanging at on naboo, in her lake house (god padme’s so freaking bougie), and padme asks how anakin’s mom is.

queue the obligatory “oh, haha, i don’t actually,,,, know??”

padme proposes that since they have no duties and she’s actually bored out of her mind, they should go visit shmi. anakin protests for about two seconds before realizing a) there’s no stopping her, and b) he’d actually kinda like to see his mom.

(padme has some ulterior motives besides wanting anakin to see his goddamn mom again. she wants to buy her freedom, since she’s actually prepared with real funds this time, and she wants to ask her advice on helping out with abolition, since she and sabe had failed miserably when they tried on their own. [this is canon, go read queen’s shadow if you haven’t already because it’s an excellent book.] we love women acknowledging other women’s expertise!! padme has grown a lot and wants to stop being so core world-y.)

so anyways, they go there, meet shmi (who’s already freed herself, thanks so much), and beru and owen. anakin, because he has had no emotional support network since he was nine goddamn years old, is jealous, but does his best to keep it under wraps.

at some point, while anakin and padme are helping out with the freedom trail, and someone (not sure who) gets a little violent with shmi.

anakin... goes ballistic, we’ll say. it gets violent. he gets harsh. it’s an overreaction, but shmi manages to calm him down.

(padme, on the other hand, is frightened. she takes a step back the next time anakin turns to her. but she manages to hold it down until later.)

the flighty escapee that beru is operating on goes into hysterics. shmi pulls anakin outside and tells him, quietly, that she’s so overjoyed to see him but that she thinks he needs to be getting on his way.

padme, meanwhile, gets pinged on her communication device. obi-wan has contacted them, just like he did in canon.

also, there’s some kind of beru&anakin moment, or maybe a beru&padme moment. just a conversation of some kind, for uber talented gifset-makers to gif and put alongside beru talking to luke so i can be destroyed emotionally.

this serves several purposes.

the movie feels more emotionally coherent. anakin doesn’t jump from awkward flirting to mass murder to making out with his girlfriend.

shmi gets some closure.

we’re introduced to beru, who clearly meets anakin and padme.

we get to see the little people making a difference, which is a huge theme in star wars. this can act as a foil to the hugely ineffective senate.

padme gets the opportunity for some character growth (she’s my wife and all but she’s so bougie).

we get to see anakin be dark, over something.... sorta understandable?? and it doesn’t quite make us think he should be locked up (unlike murder) (except the movie says it’s okay because they’re just sand people and i really don’t like the implications of that). also, we can see the inherent tragedy of someone who needs so much community support being “”chosen”” by the force to go into an order of emotionally private individuals (not that that isn’t a bad thing for someone like obi-wan, but it really isn’t good for anakin).

AND I HAVEN’T EVEN REALLY MENTIONED PADME. i have a wishlist for padme, and it boils down to: at least mention her relationship with sabe, show her being good at politics, let her have character development, don’t make her have to mother anakin, and oh by the way make her two-dimensional enough that her abandoning her ideals to get together with a jedi actually makes sense.

because like! i can believe she likes anakin! he’s an old friend, from a time that seems simpler in hindsight, and he’s in love with her and flirts awkwardly and makes jokes. i mean, the dialogue makes it impossible for anakin to seem remotely attractive, but we’ll leave it at the fact that padme desperately wants something simple and a relationship with anakin, paradoxically, looks like a winner.

but i want to see her like anakin. show, not tell, georgie boy!! all we see in the movie is her giggling at him and her rejecting him, and then her kissing him, and there’s really no falling in love.

because okay. they’re a fundamentally doomed relationship, total opposites who are both startlingly naive wrt their personal lives. so i accept that they’re not really in love - they’re just clinging to ideals of each other. well. at least padme is. she’s smart enough to recognize what she’s doing, but she pushes it down because she is forced to hold too much on her shoulders (BECAUSE THE SENATE DOESN’T WORK) and she needs something that is just for her.

look, i really need sabe in these movies, okay. this is unrelated to my humongous crush on keira knightley. i need padme to have a friend, someone she can express this to, who can look at her doubtfully when she says she’s in love with anakin, because we really need to drive in the idea of this being a tragedy and we can’t see it unless we see how goddamn foolish even padme “good choices” amidala is being.

also like. padme needs friends. and i firmly believe that the “mother” that leia remembers was sabe, who is actively involved in the rebellion during the OT. because like. i have emotions, and most of them come back to luke&leia.

i’m not sure i’d have them get married, but that’s just a matter of taste. and you have to admit the set of final shots - the victory with the clones, baby boba pressing his forehead to his dad’s helmet, the marriage - with the overlaid music is really something. i mean, there you have the myth stuff that george wanted. i vibe with it.

anyways. thank you for coming to my ted talk, part the second.

[fightmeyeats]

Skin Care as Self-Care: The Appropriation of Self Care by the Beauty Industrial Complex

Because we live in a society where our worth is heavily framed in terms of our production/capitalist exploitability as workers, emphasizing the importance of taking care of ourselves is absolutely important and can even be radical. However, “self care” as a framework has increasingly become individualizing and part of the larger neoliberalization of health/wellness in the U.S.. One place where this becomes especially clear is in the way self care has become deeply intertwined with the beauty industrial complex in contemporary practices and ideologies of “skin care”. 

More below the cut. 

Self care, at its root, is not the problem. As Audre Lorde’s famously said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare”. We are frequently made to feel that our only value is in how much we are able to do, how busy we are, how convenient we are; in this context, taking care of ourselves can feel selfish, and reframing the way we value ourselves and our needs becomes particularly important. However, increasingly we can see the ways in which self care serves to make contemporary capitalism (appear) tenable. 

This becomes clear first and foremost through the way self care is positioned as a response to the harm which occurs through late stage capitalism; we only need self care because of neoliberalism/capitalism, and yet by imagining self care as a practice of healing and revaluing the individual over the corporation, self care implicitly naturalizes the system which produces the need for self care. Essentially, self care operates through a neoliberal framework, individualizing care, healing, and wellness, in ways which disrupt or obscure communal networks of care. Through this framework, care not only becomes something which is enacted by and for the individual, but also constructed as the responsibility of the individual--typically in addition to regular obligations.One of the central problems exploiting workers causes corporations (assuming workers do not strike) is the problem of selling products--if no one can afford to purchase items, the system starts to fall apart. Because of this, mobilizing self care to encourage consumption helps support the entire system. “Self care” has increasingly become appropriated and intertwined with consumption; not only has he phrase itself becomes a kind of marketing, used in ads to sell products (for example, targeted instagram ads by a companies with the handle such as “selfcareisforeveryone” offering t-shirts with catchy slogans like “GOING TO THERAPY IS COOL!”), but “self care” as a practice is frequently associated with buying the things you want (#treatyoself) or, more and more often, buying items specifically marketed as being specifically necessary to produce relaxation, namely bath bombs, facemasks, and other skin care products. 

This is not a failure of those who are using self care to survive, but something directly produced by and through neoliberalism/capitalism; the necessity of self care starts to feel like

[image id:Seth Rogan putting duct tape over huge crack in the wall] 

but the central issue isn’t the people using the duct tape, it’s the way the late stage capitalism and neoliberalism intentionally frame band-aid solutions as meaningful responses to the damage capitalism produces--and then sell the band-aids for a profit. 

The connection between specifically skin care related products and broader “self care” discourse is certainly nothing new or surprising; in the last few years skin care has increasingly become a central focus in the marketing of U.S. beauty practices, with the concept of “self care” often being mobilized in these discourses. As Constance Grady argues in her 2018 Vox article “The skin care wars, explained,” contemporary ideas about skin care have not been hijacked by corporations “because skin care in its modern form has always been corporate” (emphasis added). 

While there are many ways in which one might critique this--for example, the way someone’s “natural” face comes to mean a face without makeup, subsequently naturalizing the artificial, expensive, and extensive routines which are required to achieve “clear” “moisturized” “healthy” “glowing” “natural” skin --what I am interested in exploring here is the shift in language from the beauty industry’s heavily “choice feminism” flavored branding of make up to the current branding of skin care. Whereas the branding of make up was (and still is) typically linked to discourses of creativity, freedom, and power (ie “winged eyeliner sharp enough to cut a man”), skin care is dominantly a neoliberal disciplining discourse, centered on the notion of individual responsibility to clean/purify skin through strict regimens of “care”. This is absolutely not to imply that make-up is better than skin care, merely to point to the various ways the beauty industrial complex deploys certain positive associations, often appropriated from or in conversation with the language of various feminisms, in order to increase marketability. 

One of the things which Jia Tolentino points out in her 2017 New Yorker article “The Year That Skin Care Became a Coping Mechanism,” is the way that while beauty standards have remained largely the same, the framing of these ideals shifts as feminism becomes more common in society--for example, rather than emphasizing looking young/anti-aging, there is an increase in the use of words like “radiance.” While her overall argument suggests that anti-aging skin care is an act of resistance because of the way it insists that there will be a future during a moment where the future feels increasingly unstable, the “coping mechanism” actually seems to be a response to agency panic, a way of controlling one’s self as a response to general instability. Again, like self care it imagines that individualized practices resist structural violence, while simultaneously increasing the marketability of misogynists beauty ideals. 

Feminist aesthetics and language are frequently appropriated by corporations to sell products to “conscientious” consumers (obligatory reminder that there’s no ethical consumption under late stage capitalism), or to profit off of the increasing visibility of various feminist activism. Just as we can see with the way the broader category of  “self care” is increasingly mobilized by corporations to sell products, in the last few years we’ve seen “skin care” culture come into vogue as the “positive” new version of make-up culture. The idea here is that skin care allows people to be “natural” and “healthy,” simultaneously justifying the time and expense associated with these updated beauty regimes, while also imaging that a) “healthy” skin is clear/even/looks “perfect” without the need for makeup and b) this skin is attainable by anyone who puts in the effort to achieve it. At best, skin care culture is a kind of capitalist ambivalence: regardless of whether prioritizing skin care is better than prioritizing cosmetic routines, the beauty industry only cares about selling product. As Tolentino argues, “when my skin feels good, I feel happy...at the same time, it’s impossible to ignore that the animating idea of the beauty industry is that women should always be working to look better”. Grady similarly points to this ambivalence, pointing out that “while it’s true that some forms of acne and dry skin are physically painful, the drive for “perfect” poreless skin is primarily an aesthetic one”.

At worst, skin care is insidious and damaging because despite the rhetoric of “care,” skin care is, at its base, a discourse of neoliberal bodily discipline--skin “defects” cannot simply be covered up but must be addressed through intensive routines which center a personal responsibility in fixing them. It is these same logics which produce the idea of a “glow up” (or “glo up”) which frequently compare an “ugly” picture of an individual--typically during their early teens (while they were going through puberty)--next to a “glowed up” version of the individual as a young adult. While these pictures do frequently involve makeup as part of the “glow up”, weight loss and clear skin are often associated with a glow up, and one of the central ideas being conveyed through this practice is that beauty is something “achieved”. 

Ultimately, my point is not to critique those who engage in skin care as self care, but rather the beauty industrial complex itself and the way that corporations intentionally appropriate and mobilize discourses of resistance in order to sell products. We know that physical appearance is associated with inner qualities and value; having “bad” skin often becomes a social signal for poor moral qualities (uncleanliness, laziness, unhappiness, lack of self care, etc); as many have come to realize, “choice feminism” is useless because while we do of course have agency, our choices are in part produced by the contexts we find ourselves in; the problem is not the individual people who engage in extensive skin care regimes, but rather the way that this is produced as a necessary and/or desirable choice. What we need to do is de-corporatize self care, and expand self care into practices of mutual/communal care. What we need is to create a world where self-care is more compatible with community organizing/striking/protesting than it is with the consumption of serums, lotions, face masks, face oils, exfoliators, toners, and eye creams. 

[cravitus426]

Greetenings!

Today we have a headcanon ramble, and also a couple redrawn canon elites from the Alexovich Concepts!

Some time it has been since the last krevrant, and while I still haven’t done big Irken biology headcanon rant, I’ve been playing around with Elite designs as of late! Thus, I figured what better time to ramble about a military force such as them - one that we both know less of and more of than we do of the actual Irken Armada, in fact!

So what, exactly, is an Irken Elite?

Well that’s the funny thing - it seems self explanatory, like how Almighty Tallests are the tallest people and are the almighty rulers, or how Invaders invade,or Frylords lord over fast food establishments. So, by that logic, the Irken Elite are, well, elite.

What exactly is that supposed to mean? The better question would be, ‘What do we know about the Irken Elite?’

Well, we know a few things, and in particular things around the Elite.

1. To join the Irken Elite, you must pass a trial.

In other words, you have to take a test. ‘But krev,’ you say, ‘That’s nothing new!’

You would be right, flesh-creature, but in particular the Irken Elite trials seem to at the very least have a seventy year wait period before it can be retaken as seen in Tak’s episode, aside from being held on a military fortress world.

As a side note, Devastis is in fact a legitimate example of Irken architecture and fortifications that aren’t pink or red or deeply purple in color.

Granted, this is kind of debatable given that Zim fragged over half the planet’s power grid and caused mass chaos, but I doubt that would stall all Elite recruitment for that long - this is either a standard ‘fail, wait, and retry’ period where you can improve your skills akin to real world militaries, or it could in fact be the actual timespan between times that Elites open recruitment.

Thus, we reach my first headcanon - the Irken Elite trials are, when there are no horrendous casualties or other shortages of personnel - held every few decades, giving plenty of time for a new generation of soldiers to arise and for the washouts from last gen to brush up and succeed.

So, what else do we know?

2. The Irken Elite are the ranks from which Invaders are often selected.

More from the Tak episode, as well as implications from things such as The Nightmare Begins, wherein Invaders are stated to be, effectively the best. Given how much Tak wanted to be an Elite and how they said that one day they could even become an Invader, it seems like a pretty clear line of progression.

From any walk of life you undergo the Elite trials; should you succeed, you prove that you’re among the best. Should you be the best of the best (or at the very least conveniently the best at sneaking and espionage), you become an Invader.

Now, this isn’t to necessarily say that Invaders are more elite than the Elite, but at the same time given that you are deploying an agent alone into no mere enemy lines, but the heart of their homeworld to effectively conquer it, it probably helps to have been an Irken Elite beforehand.

Regardless, point is, you level up to Elite, then you kind of side-level to Invader.

This brings us to the second real headcanon - the idea that you are not promoted into the Irken Elite, and that in theory anyone from any walk of life - scientist, servant, soldier, or actor - can become an Elite should they succeed in the trials.

Also implied - Invaders may or may not actually be the best of the best, and instead may just be the best suited from the Irken Elite for infiltration.

Anyway, onto the next one! This one may surprise you - or it might not, I dunno. We’re getting into interpretation territory here, which leans more to headcanon.

What do I mean by that? Why do I think this’ll surprise you?

3. The Irken Elite are equipped with personal power armor.

Because, quite bluntly, I think people get Elite gear wrong. I’ve seen their boots treated as big shoes with glowing bits, their pauldrons treated as just plain old cloth gubbins, their little tubed chestpiece forgotten, and their gauntlets in particular treated as spherical boxes worn over the whole forearm with three little holes for their fingers.

It feels as if people aren’t thinking about what these could be, and it does do me an anger because I feel like I’ve figured out the design.

Look at the claws on the first, third, and fifth elites (13, 15, and 17) - note how, aside from being way more well defined and sharp-looking than normal gloved Irken fingers, there is a gauntlet with the fingers missing.

Or, more fittingly, retracted. Those are mechanical fingers, and I’d bet on it! They look nothing like normal Irken fingers, and the Irkens here are too small to have the big spindly fingers of the Tallest despite having similar gauntlets.

Think back to the Hobo 13 episode - remember Zim’s big powerfists and overall power armor, and recall how he absolutely yeeted the instructor!

This technology exists in similar forms used by other alien races as part of training equipment - Irkens would absolutely jump on the opportunity to supercharge metal claws, and if anybody would get them it’d be the Elite.

Canon precedent for power armor that looks very similar aside, it’d explain what those tubes coming from the PAK are - they’re likely power cables, and aside from this giving me an excuse to call the gauntlets something way cooler like powerclaw, the idea that these are mechanical also opens the door up to things like jetboots, minigun hands, and other crazy things!

Plus, I mean, if you want to bring Peridot and Steven Universe into things, well

they’re basically limb enhancers and you have to admit that’s a pretty clear and logical parallel

Anyway, third obligatory formal headcanon - aside from thinking that Elites have power armor, which they probably do - is that Elites are offered some of the best tech around, and have the opportunity to perfectly customize and personalize equipment to their specific liking and skill set.

That aside, we now basically run out of canon information about the Irken Elite!

So, in summary, the Irken Elite are:

1. Selected every few decades through mass testing

1b. Implication that they are the best of the best overall given that testing doesn’t seem inherently restricted to ranks or existing military service; supported by 2.

2. The group from which Invaders are selected

3. Armed with advanced personal armor

Now that that’s out of the way, what of actual denser krev headcanon?

When it comes to the way I think about the Elite, I generally equate them to the Spectres from Mass Effect - specially selected, special equipment, special skills, and special freedoms to do their jobs.

Given the infrequency of recruitment aside from what i can only presume is emergency ‘we’re going through soldiers like free nachos’ measures, as well as how each one is branded and literally called an Irken Elite on top of all the neat toys they get, the point of big gaps in trials is likely both to give time for the best of the best to thin out through attrition, be it death or retirement.

By only recruiting once every half generation or so (outside of emergency ‘going through troops like free nachos’ scenarios), this allows the best of a generation to be evaluated, compared, and contrasted at one time. This ensures that only the best of the best get in, and it also ensures that the ranks don’t bloat through constant recruitment.

Bloating the ranks would likely reduce the allure of the Irken Elite considerably, as Elite usually implies that you are the cream of the crop. Arming an entire army of Elites would also likely be obscenely expensive, not to mention how tedious it would be to track every individual properly - if everyone’s roaming around and selecting their own missions, then you just have roaming warbands and no concentrated campaigns, no Irken Armada to power through the galaxy.

Thus, recruiting in one go and waiting for the numbers to thin out keeps you from having too many expensively well-armed independents running around, as well as ensures that you get the absolute peak of years of training and combat.

As such, an Elite is basically expected to be prepared for any situation and to possess general skills in every category.

For an active Irken Elite, a number of classifications exist indicating things such as your specialty, freedoms, and general qualification level. A squad of lower level Elites, for example, may operate as a more traditional military unit and choose to deploy to campaigns as yet another pawn for generals and admirals to use in their pursuit of total Irken conquest.

A higher level Elite, however, typically an officer, may be trusted enough by the Control Brains to effectively go off and do their own thing, and in some cases successful deep recon, research, and infiltration missions have been conducted by freelancing Elites and their hand-picked crews.

In other words, basic elites can choose their missions but still have to act as part of a squad. Meanwhile, the better of an Elite you are, the more willing the Control Brains are to let you go and do Mass Effect, building a merry band of misfit-loyalists and plundering pirate bases to fuel your need for bigger, better guns.

Just remember to come back when the Control Brains yell at you to, otherwise you’ll get erased from the history books and hunted down for treason!

As far as equipment goes, while there is a general standard template for Elites, usually including powerclaws, powerboots, and some form of chestplate that acts as the core of armor functions, there can be a fair degree of variety.

Overall, what does this mean? Well, it means that Irken Elites are well-armed, well-armored, well-trained, highly skilled, independent and are not in fact just wearing tin cans for gloves!

there’s probably more here but I’m hungry and it’s almost time for lunch

[bnha-kokoro-zine]

Tips for first-timers in Zines

Hello! I hope you don’t mind if I show your question like this @angel-of-darkness-217 ; this is something I would’ve loved to know when I started applying to zines myself, and that I’m sure it will help more people who are thinking of applying to this one.

There are many different types of zines out there; free, for charity, for profit, only for artists, focused on writers, focused on merch (like tarot projects), and with all kinds of contributors working in them. Every zine is unique, so their applications may vary, but there are a few essential things you always need to take into consideration if you want to be a contributor to one of them.

I will divide this answer into the different stages of a zine for a better organization.

Getting interested in a zine

When you first bump into a zine, all zines look like shiny little jewels you want to get your hands on asap. However, a lot of zines sadly fail through in their earliest stages, so you need to take into consideration a couple of things before thinking of applying:

Who’s the mod team? Try to find a list/post with some information about the mods of that project. See if they have prior experience in modding a project like this one. If they have experience, there are more chances that the project will follow through until the end. Be careful, though! Zines with heavily experienced mods can also fail for multiple reasons, and people without experience can also produce a really good product. It all depends on the next points.

Check their FAQ and guidelines. A properly structured FAQ including details of the project shows very well the organization of the team. A good FAQ makes a good project. I’d also advise you to read through the FAQ to make sure you’re really interested in the project.

Is the mod team communicative? Do they answer questions regularly? Are they clear in their answers? Are they polite? Do you think you’ll be comfortable working with them? Have they answered all the questions you’ve left in their ask box? (check if it has been answered before or that you’ve left them enough time, though) If you have answered with “No” to one or several of these questions, I’d rethink my wishes to apply to that project.

Remember, if a project doesn’t follow one or two of these points it doesn’t necessarily mean the project itself is bad. However, this is what you ideally need to find in a project like this.

Applications

Now it comes one of the most nerve-wracking parts of a zine: applications. You really want to get into this project, and you want your application to knock the mods off their feet. Applications may feel daunting, but they’re pretty straight-forward once you get the hang of them!

Follow the guidelines carefully. Mods usually leave some rules for applications, like the number of samples, the maximum word count, the theme, etc. Make sure you follow all these rules, or else you risk your app being disqualified.

Make sure your work is easily accessible. Make sure the mods will have no issues viewing your samples (for example, that the links you’re posting aren’t restricted only to your followers, that the link is still active until the end of the applications period, or that you’re sending the correct link). Mods can’t give you a score if they can’t see your work. 

Answer all the questions as clearly as possible. Make sure to read them all carefully before submitting your app. Don’t worry if you have to take a while to write a proper answer, or if you need to ask the mod team about clarifications for some questions -- Mods will gladly answer any doubt you have. 

Make sure your application fits the theme. Normally, it doesn’t matter much if your samples stray a bit from the theme of a zine, but some zines ask specifically for samples that fit a certain, general theme, like nature, love, fairy tales, etc. For zines like that (and essentially all zines if you want to get more attention from the mods), it is nice to make a bigger effort to find samples that fit the theme. A very important note! To all artists who also apply as a merch artist, please don’t apply with the same samples you used for your artist application. It shows a lack of care and it might hinder the mods’ opinion on you. Including actual designs for merch in your samples and/or portfolio helps a lot.

Offer pitches if they ask for them. Sometimes it’s not obligatory, but well-explained pitches really show how interested you’re in the zine. It will leave a good impression on the mods! Again, don’t worry if you need to take some days to think about them, and get feedback if you need it. Just make sure you submit it before apps close.

Have a good portfolio. Our dear Mod Dev has written this post about what makes a good portfolio. It’s a very interesting read, so I recommend you read it, guys!

Again, if you don’t follow one or two of these rules it won’t affect your application much. Mods are pretty flexible, and they can adapt to most situations without hindering their opinion on the application. However, it will look really good if you do follow them.

And remember the most important rule of them all:

Don’t be discouraged if you get rejected. Sometimes zines get too many applications and have very limited contributors spots. Mods see themselves in a situation where they have to choose between several really good applications and discuss for hours to see who they accept and who they reject. 

Being rejected doesn’t mean you’re bad; sometimes, someone else’s application fits the theme better, they explained themselves better, or they were just very lucky and were chosen over you. So, please, don’t let a rejection email let you down and keep trying! 

Most of the people who have participated in a zine sometime have been rejected heaps of time before. I have been rejected dozens of times before (at this point it’s part of the zine experience*). However, if you keep trying and learn from your mistakes, it’s only a matter of time until you get into one yourself.

You won’t get in if you don’t try.

*And please, remember not to bring someone else down if they have been accepted in the zine you wanted to get in, and never, never say they got accepted because of their popularity. Most mods score blindly or know they can’t be influenced by someone’s popularity, and that someone has already been rejected dozens of times before, just like you.

They have tried just as hard as you, and they were lucky enough to get in, so make sure to congratulate them.

Creation process

You’ve finally gotten into a zine, cool! However, there are still a few things you need to take into consideration while working in a zine.

Follow the zine guidelines. Be it dimensions, standardizations, limited word counts, etc., make sure you follow them. Every contributor has a limited space assigned to them in a zine, so make sure you can stay within those limits and ask for help if you need it.

Be communicative, ask questions and be patient. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to your team -- mods are there to organize the project, and they will gladly answer any question you may have. But remember to be patient; modding a zine is a hard job, and sometimes the team needs to discuss the answer to your question before they can give you an answer. Don’t worry; your answer will come eventually. Feel free to remind them if they haven’t answered you in a while, though; they may have forgotten about it!

Follow check-ins down to a T and in time. Check-ins are there to help you go through your workload seamlessly while letting the mods see what you’re creating. It still shows the mods that you’re still very interested in the zine - they won’t know if they have to find someone else for your position if you don’t answer. Don’t be afraid to ask for an extension if you need it.

If you’re a writer, find a beta. Some zines offer betas for their writers, but some don’t. However, that doesn’t mean your work doesn’t need to be anything less than the best (after all, it gets to be in a zine!). Try to find a beta to spot any mistakes you could’ve missed before submitting the final piece.

If you follow all these points, I’m sure the mod team will love you forever. 

Preorders/Shipping

All the final pieces have been submitted and the zine has been assembled, so now preorders start. You obviously want this project you’ve worked so hard on to succeed, and you can actually help to make that happen if you follow these little tips:

Reblog the Preorders open post in all your social media. And if you have social media where the mods don’t have accounts for, post the link yourself! You want to attract as many buyers as possible, and that will only happen if we spread the word.

Make sure you post a preview of your work if the mods ask you to. Previews help hesitant people to finally decide to buy a zine. If you like the concept of a zine but you don’t know if you really want to pay $X for it (remember, zines are usually quite expensive), some cute art and snippets can convince even the most stubborn of buyers!

Ask for updates. See how things are doing and help promote preorders and events like giveaways if necessary. You can also ask for photographic proof when the physical zines get to the mods in charge of shipping; who doesn’t love to see shiny, beautiful products all of you have worked so hard for?

Sometimes, zines don’t make enough money to provide their contributors with a free copy of the zine. It’s really sad, but it happens. And if you’re sad, believe me when I say that the mods are absolutely devastated; they’ve made their biggest effort to lower the expenses as much as possible, but math sometimes just laughs at them in return. If it comes to this, be supportive and, if you want a copy of the zine, try to find alternatives; see if you can buy the zine at production cost, or if you can pitch in with the shipping/fees expenses.

And that’s about it! If you follow these points, I’m sure your experience in the zine scene will be very enjoyable! If you have any questions about them, feel free to ask. Our ask box is always open :D

Lots of love,

Mod Lie

[owicpub]

Art of Shallow Neighboring

The Art of Neighboring went through the large churches in my town, and I immediately saw the book and the plan as a problem. Rather than get mad, I wrote a parody instead. You can grab The Art of Shallow Neighboring most places you find books online.

[More Links and Details About this Book]

While most of the book is a parody of the original, I wanted to include part of the Apology section responding to what was wrong with The Art of Neighboring.

Twisted Scripture

All the points above are merely side notes to me. The true test to any book, sermon, or teaching is how well the author wields the Sword of the Spirit. A callous handling of the Bible or twisting passages to fit a narrative are warning signs. Scripture should be handled honestly and interpreted with integrity. The Bible does not mean whatever we want it to mean as some teachers have suggested. To that end, The Art of Neighboring generally wields Bible with same grace a five year old handles a firearm. Several passages are misquoted or quoted out of context. While each chapter seems to have an obligatory single verse or section of the Bible, often times the authors chose scriptures that did not make sense. In many places their point could be perfectly validated using different passages in context. In other places, they are clearly stretching or making arguments from the Bible that not only are absent from the text, but lacking any Biblical support. Taken together, I believe this book is a dangerous read and the misquotations of the Bible do not justify the end-game of being a better neighbor. This section will only focus on correcting scriptures the authors have mis-quoted. First I will address the author’s attempts at redefining the Great Commandment, then we will look at the other misquotations in order of appearance in the book.

What is the Great Commandment?

The authors of this book do an evil deed while attempting to redefine what they call throughout their book The Great Commandment. Some scriptural shenanigans are employed to make the point stick, then they repeat their desired end over and over like a bad commercial attempting to break down our senses. This is critical, so we will take the time to delineate the matter, for which we need to look at all three passages in the synoptic Gospels:

Matthew 22:37-39 - Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Mark 12:29-31 - “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Luke 10:27 - He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

What we see here in the first two passages (Matthew and Mark), Jesus is speaking, answering a teacher of the law. In these, he differentiates the Greatest Commandment (which is quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5). The third passage in Luke, it is the teacher of the law saying that these two are together. Why the difference? It has to do with the focus of the passage. In Matthew and Mark, the authors were answering the question from the mouth of Jesus and then moving onto other topics. But in Luke, the emphasis was to turn the statement back around on the teacher of the law. In this instance, Jesus asks him what the law says, and so we get the teacher’s answer in verse 27. Jesus then challenges the teacher of the law in verse 28 saying to “go and live likewise”. But in verse 29, the teacher asks the one question this first chapter of The Art of Neighboring should be asking, but does not: Who is my neighbor?

I will note the authors never quote directly from Matthew or Mark, but only from Luke. The challenge is, however, the book does absolutely nothing to direct the reader to the first and greatest commandment according to Jesus: to love the Lord your God. In every context from the first mention of The Great Commandment to the last, the heart and God-centered focus of the verse is totally ignored, and the authors focus exclusively on loving our literal neighbor, usurping the love for the neighbor over the love for God, thus effectively placing the relationship with the neighbor as an idol over God!

The Great Commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength. While loving your neighbor is certainly important, it has become the primary focus in this book and the authors fail to quote from the passages to clarify that point and only focus on the passage in Luke to make it sound as if Jesus brings these two together when in reality, He does not. The Luke passage is differentiated so Jesus could expand on the very question the authors fail to properly address from the start.

Who Is My Neighbor?

In the second chapter, the authors finally tackle the question, “who is my neighbor”. This is funny because for all the differences among churches, including Catholic and Protestant brands, this is one of the only parables that has never been disputed. But these authors completely ignore what has been known about this verse through the centuries and instead come to a conclusion not found in scripture, that they actually have to use outside logic to justify!

The book does correctly assert the teacher of the law is certainly looking for a loophole to justify not loving his neighbor as himself, but Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan to close every conceivable loophole to not love others.

Luke 10:30-37 - In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

The message of the parable is simply this: Loving your neighbor as yourself means to love people you encounter wherever they happen to be when you encounter them. This is not just the guy in the house next door, but anyone in need whom you encounter as you live your life, wherever you happen to be.

This teaching has been clearly understood in every different undertaking I have read to understand the parables. The authors conclude the section without much comment on the parable itself and then launch into a new section specifically titled, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ Once the section starts they talk about neighboring beginning with flexibility and compassion, certainly both traits of the Samaritan in the parable. But we get this snippet which starts to break down Jesus’s own definition of a neighbor:

“As we read this parable two thousand years later, it’s tempting to turn the story of the good Samaritan into a metaphor...If we say, ‘Everyone is my neighbor,’ it can become as excuse for avoiding the implications of following the Great Commandment. Our ‘neighbors’ become defined in the broadest of terms. They’re the people across town, the people who are helped by the organizations that receive donations, the people whom the government helps. We don’t have to feel guilty, we tell ourselves. After all, we can’t be expected to really love everybody, can we?[1]”

The authors here have set up a straw man argument. Jesus never said our neighbor is everyone, or the people across town, or the people in the world helped by world missions. Jesus defined a neighbor specifically as the person whom we encounter when we live our life cognizant of our surroundings. To contrast this, however, the authors want to ignore the part about ‘where we are’ and convert that to ‘where we live’. The teacher of the law wanted a loophole which Jesus closed, but the authors of The Art of Neighboring give us a gaping loophole: those people whom do not live on our block are excluded from being neighbors.

The text continues:

“Today as we read this parable, we go straight for loving the neighbor on the side of the road. Thus we make a metaphor of the neighbors–a metaphor that doesn’t include the person who lives next door to us. If we don’t take Jesus’s command literally, then we turn the Great Commandment into nothing more than a metaphor. We have a metaphoric love for our metaphoric neighbors, and our communities are changed–but only metaphorically...so in addition to thinking of our neighbor metaphorically, as did the good Samaritan, we need to apply Jesus’s teaching to our literal neighbors.[2]”

This be be fine and inclusive of the literal neighbor until we find this quote later in the chapter:

“Jesus says your enemy should be your neighbor. He says you should go out of your way to be the neighbor of someone who comes from a place or history of open hostility toward you or your way of life...we would define this kind of love as advanced or graduate-level love. The reality is that most of us aren’t at the graduate level; we need to start with the basics. [italics theirs] We need to go back to kindergarten and think about our literal next door neighbors before we attempt to love everyone else on the face of the planet.[3]”

So that is how the authors took the least debated parable of all time and completely changed the definition from meeting the needs of the people presently surrounding us to loving only those people in the neighborhood. And to be sure, I have left out a lot of meat of the book, they go into way more detail than I covered here in creating the loophole the teacher of the law so desperately wanted.

What Happened in Numbers 13?

The fourth chapter is about overcoming fear of getting to know the neighbors, but the scripture they choose to use for this section is completely twisted around. We need to start in Numbers 13. Moses sends twelve spies into the land of Canaan to determine how to best take the land, but the spies come back with this report in Numbers 13:27-29:

They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

The spies convince the Israelites not to enter the land so they end up wandering around the desert for forty years. The authors pick up with this statement:

“A telling statement came from Rehab, a woman who lived in the land. She explained how, years earlier, things were the opposite of what the Israelites thought were true. Joshua and Caleb had been right all along. When the spies had entered the land forty years earlier, everyone in the land was afraid of them.[4]”

Right after this statement the authors quote Joshua 2:9-11:

“I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

The authors continue immediately after this quote:

“The Israelites’ perception had been wrong all along. They had always feared their neighbors, perceiving them as giants. But in truth their neighbors feared the Israelites because of their God.[5]”

The Art of Neighboring is trying to use this part of Scripture in conjunction with the previous paraphrase to say that, according to Rehab, the people of Canaan were always afraid of the Israelites. This might pass the gaze of a Biblically uninformed audience, but I see multiple problems:

There is no evidence Rehab was talking about fear of the Israelites prior to meeting the two spies Joshua sent, in fact, it is more likely she is talking about the present situation, not the past, because it was known the Israelite army was camped directly across the Jordon.

There is no evidence the spies were seen or the people knew they were there or why (i.e. the objective of a spy is to be secret about his mission).

The defeat of Sihon and Og happened AFTER the twelve spies returned. Rehab would not have been afraid of the Israelites for the defeat of Sihon and Og while the twelve spies looked at the land (Og and Sihon were in Numbers 21 and much later in Chronological history).

The spies sent by Moses came from Northern Paran (Numbers 13:26) but the ones from Joshua came from Shittim (Joshua 2:1), over 100 miles away in a completely different direction.

The authors want to convey that the people all gathered outside Jericho twice while the story was used to show how fear prevented the people from interacting with their neighbors...in this case, to kill them, not to have a fish fry. Nevertheless, the point of this discussion is “when we are following God into our neighborhoods, we have nothing to fear. And often it’s our neighbors that need to be rescued from their fear.[6]”

The callous treatment of the scriptures in twisting this situation leads me to believe that either these pastors are totally ignorant of the Bible, or they are ignoring it to make their point. I do not know which is worse at this juncture.

Give to Get

Some online reviewers of The Art of Neighboring hated the message in chapter six which seemed to get pretty close to a health and wealth gospel at times. I can say I do not see that specific teaching in this book, but I can understand how some may arrive at that conclusion. The authors say, “God uses the small things that we bring him and multiplies them into a miracle in someone else’s life.[7]”

The only passage of scripture in this chapter is John 6:1-13 when a small boy gives his fish and loaves to Jesus who then performs a miracle. The most important section is verses 8-13:

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

This section of scripture is one of the most famous miracles Jesus performed, but the authors turn this into a lesson on what can happen in our lives if we give:

“When you give what you have, Jesus will give you more to give. Even if what you have isn’t enough to solve the whole problem, just do what you can in the moment-give it anyway. Trust that God will fill you up with enough to supply the need that’s right in front of you, and assume he will do it again for the next need as well. If you don’t give, you don’t get a chance to see God do a miracle.[8]”

This sets a dangerous precedent all too often observed in the health and wealth community, so it merits discussion. First, we do need to give, and we need to give sacrificially, but if we give beyond our ability we can move into the field of putting God to the test, and that is also something we are commanded not to do. Secondly, if we are putting God to the test by giving away all our resources we also fail at another task: being a good steward. We should first see that our our needs are met; only after we should start to give sacrificially. That means we are not giving beyond our ability to place us in debt or miss payments, but we are giving enough to crimp our extra lifestyle. Such balance is completely missing from this section of the book.

Being Kind to Mary’s Psyche

In the chapter on receiving, the authors dropped several balls to reference scriptures that are actually about receiving, but they focus on a section of scripture they mention and summarize, but curiously they do not even give us the verses. The section is Luke 7:36-50:

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

You can see this powerful exchange is about forgiveness and how this woman was radically praising Jesus for the vast forgiveness extended to her, for Simon was right, this woman was a wretched and vile sinner before her own encounter with Jesus Christ. Rather than understanding the purpose of this exchange, The Art of Neighboring says this:

“She poured the perfume on Jesus in the middle of the party, perhaps making her and Jesus feeling very vulnerable and even in danger, since there were important religious men in attendance. If Jesus had rejected her offering, it would have crushed her. But he didn’t. He actually went so far as to defend her...I doubt that Jesus was in great need of a foot washing and a special perfume treatment...he received it willingly because he knew that his willingness to receive this gift meant everything to her. It meant she could have dignity in her worship and that her gift counted...Jesus chose to make himself vulnerable. The one who came to give everything for us was also willing to receive from us.[9]”

This is truly twisting another very clear parable and passage into something that fits the narrative of the chapter. This is not a feel-good moment for this woman, and Jesus was not exactly taking the gift like we take the pie from the gross neighbor to toss away once our door is closed. To add further discussion, Jesus was not making himself vulnerable. To the contrary, he used this moment to correct the self-righteous indignation of the of the pharisees dining with Him.

Person of Peace

Another great fabrication to fit the narrative comes in chapter 10 on focusing. While the authors start out well quoting some scripture in proper context, we get to this point:

“Jesus instructed them to find a certain type of person in every city they entered-a person of peace (Luke 10:5-6)...The term person of peace [italics theirs] refers to someone hospitable to becoming a friend...This allowed the disciples an opportunity to form deep friendships with those who were gifted at relationships themselves. Not only did they connect with the host of each house, but undoubtedly they were also introduced to the host’s entire network of friends. If a person of peace was someone skilled at being hospitable, then logically they were people who would have very large networks. By directing his disciples to look for the person of peace, Jesus directed them toward those in each city who were the best neighbors.[10]”

That is a total misinterpretation of person of peace. This person is one whom God had sovereignly ordained to receive the message of the Gospel. This is why in the armor of God section in Ephesians, the gospel is specially called the Gospel of Peace (Ephesians 6:15). The person Jesus sends out the disciples to find are people who are prepared and ready to receive the gospel. Of course, The Art of Neighboring is not fundamentally about Jesus or even Christian living. It’s primary focus is on becoming a friend to the neighborhood, so this passage had to be castrated of it’s true meaning, which is about discipleship; a lost art in the Western church. We want to get people to emotionally respond to a fire and brimstone message so they say a little prayer and then we celebrate the numbers of people who raised their hands, but then we never teach them about the Bible or their new faith. In short, they have never counted the cost of being a Christian, which Jesus commands us to do in Luke 14:25-35.

Conclusion

As the authors observed above, we are a church of immature believers, but we ought to be teachers to borrow from Hebrews. The Western Culture is actually free to own and read our Bibles. This is something most of the ‘Christian’ world had not experienced until only a few centuries ago, and even today many societies outright ban the ownership or study of the Bible. We in the Western cultures have access to Bibles but choose to not read them. We have access to tools, but we do not apply them, and the saddest fact of all is this book was not brought to my attention by the crazy ‘over-religious’ nut job, nor did I hear about it on CBN, nor spot it in a bookstore, but it was taught from, promoted, and recommended by what are considered the top churches in my town. The churches gathered together to use this book, which so horribly twisted the Bible they all profess in their doctrinal statements to hold so dear. This blew a serious hit to the confidence I placed in the churches in my local town and I pray this present parody and apologetic might rattle them out of their stupor.

While I can assert being a good neighbor to everyone we encounter (whether they are literal neighbors or strangers on the street) is a great endeavor, I care not about how great and wonderful the house is. When I go to buy a house, I examine the foundation first. If the foundation is shifty, the whole structure is in peril. Rather to explain that point further, I will let Jesus give us the final words of this book:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

-Matthew 7:24-27

[1]The Art of Neighboring, 34

[2]Ibid, 35

[3]Ibid, 39

[4]Ibid, 65

[5]Ibid, 66

[6]Ibid, 66

[7]Ibid, 87

[8]Ibid, 89

[9]Ibid, 127

[10]Ibid, 147

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[theonyxpath]

Here’s our Onyx Path gang, minus yours truly as I took the pic, at Mader’s, the enduring German cuisine restaurant in Milwaukee, where we had our Onyx Path Summit dinner after seven hours of Summitting. So if our heroes look a bit beat, well, seven hours of meeting after most of us flew in that morning, and then some imported beer, will start to tell.

Beat, but happy.

Matthew sits in Mader’s Big Giant Chair for the first time!

Even though, right now, we’re all a bit beat and cranky and some of us are sick since we went from the Summit to the con to flying home. Our Monday Meeting was a bit disjointed accordingly, so I’m just going to give ya’ll a run through of the highlights of the Summit and the MidWinter Convention that followed.

Wednesday was the Onyx Path Summit, and we started off with a person by person review of last year. Where did they see Onyx Path? Sometimes that was TTRPG industry-oriented, sometimes creatively, sometimes where we are in the eyes of our fan community.

My piece of that was to let our folks know, as best as we can tell before all the numbers are crunched for taxes in April, where the company stands financially. In general, I can share here that we are doing well, much better than last year, and we remain in the black every year since we started.

Which means we made a “profit” although our accountants might phrase it differently. Each year we decide where to use that profit, and we’re really careful because we’re not talking millions here. The year we had the booth backdrop and signs made, those were the expenses our profits covered.

This year, we’re going to put it towards staff raises, crew bonuses, and raising our freelancer pay scales again.

Eddy Webb prepares to surprise his TC: Aberrant demo players with a startling plot development.

Then, we were run through a team analysis exercise that Matthew pulled from his past experience as a corporate trainer. Like many of these sorts of things, we wound up divided into some amount of four types of employees.

Matthew’s title for this was “Know Your Role!”, obligatory wrestling reference, and it was a useful way to take a look at how we relate to each other and a nice break from the nitty-gritty of running Onyx.

But back we went anyway, and the rest of our day was determining where we are aiming in 2019. Internally, we intend to continue the refining of our processes, with the extra challenge of adapting to getting more books into retail stores via our friends at Studio2 and IPR.

Many of our projects that have been running very late took gigantic leaps forward in 2018, while we delivered early, sometimes months early, on our newer Kickstarter projects. We want and expect that to continue through 2019.

Elements of the Trinity Continuum: Aberrant playtest.

Externally, we are aiming towards Visibility. Again, something we already started with the Onyx Pathcast, getting projects into stores and other venues, and supporting the many Actual Play and other online media projects highlighting our stuff in 2018.

For 2019, we are looking for more ways to spread the word about our game lines, our worlds, and certainly we have started with a bang with Matthew’s addition of The Gentleman Gamer to our social media. Expect to see much more as the year progresses.

Much in the way of both strategies and tactics were discussed, and many excellent ideas have been logged for use this year. But the amazing and gratifying thing was how while our ideas were really all over the place, their intent was consistently on the same target.

From a group with such a wide range of experience, this was a joy to hear.

Dixie about to make a point during the Onyx Q&A

Thursday, Dixie, Eddy, Matthew, and I, recorded the Onyx Pathcast for the next day. “Live” from MidWinter, as it were. You can find it here, on PodBean as always, or at your favorite podcast venue: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/e/episode-34-liveish-from-midwinter/

We wanted to chat about the con, of course, but also to use the venue to announce the projects we were going to announce at the Onyx Path Q&A Thursday afternoon. We wanted our community to know what we announced there, but a day later so that the info went out but the folks who took the time to sign up for the Q&A heard it first.

First, we have a project we have added a lot of blood to in our various notes to each other: V5 (blood) Cults of (blood for) the Blood Gods (of blood)! V5 Cults of the Blood Gods.Yes, we follow up V5 Chicago By Night with a book detailing the Hecate including Clan Giovanni, the various religions that have sprung out of vampire culture like the Church of Caine, and much more!

Next, although some people may have already been aware, we still wanted to include announcing that Scion: Demigod is currently being written, as a lot of people assumed that it was coming and we want to be sure everybody knows it’s on the project progress list now.

Scion: Demigod will not only provide more Pantheons and the expected continuing advancement of characters through the Demigod range of abilities, but it will also provide new rules that enhance and focus on the changes that are occurring to a character as a Demigod.

Since Scion: Demigod continues what we could call the core Scion game experience, we also announced two projects that expand on just what Scion can be.

I’ve been talking about Scion’s potential in these blogs and elsewhere pretty much from the point that we announced we were doing a new edition, and what I’ve been describing as a solid core Scion game experience are the four core Scion books, Origin through God, and the supplements directly linked to them.

Then, there’s the projects that add and expand the options and the range of what it is to play Scion. These are projects that investigate different ways to engage with the game.

Mighty Matt McElroy ponders a deep Q&A question deeply.

First, there’s what we’re currently calling Scion: Dragon, which adds another “faction” to the ongoing struggle between the Titans and the Gods. They represent the seemingly ever-present myths in so many cultures of serpents and snake people, wyrms and dragons, and the idea that all of these creatures and possibly even those who are counted in various Pantheons, have their own secret agendas.

Scion: Dragon is being developed by the talented and dangerous Danielle Lauzon.

Bear in mind with both of these new Scion books that we have not even started the actual writing of the text for them yet, so anything I share here is pretty darn general and may be tweaked completely before that writing is finished.

Mike Hollywood gets the good dogs and excellent cats playing Pugmire together!

Second, we have what we’re currently calling Scion: Masks of the Mythos, which takes the Eldritch beings of the Cthulhu Mythos and tackles how to deal with them, and the baggage they bring, as a Scion game.

Harlem Unbound creator Chris Spivey is our developer for Scion: Masks of the Mythos, and we’re really looking forward to his take on such aspects as Mythos Cults and Lovecraft Country

We’ll certainly be talking more about all of these projects as things continue to develop with them!

Thursday was also the day MidWinter was running an industry professionals track and Eddy had his Developers’ Bootcamp to run, while the rest of us sat in on games, set up the booth, or had sit-downs with folk. I hear it went well, and that led to our Onyx Path Q&A later that afternoon.

Eddy’s Developer Bootcamp project flowchart

For years, we did this as a standard panel in a room full of chairs sort of thing, but lately we’ve adopted a smaller venue fitting maybe a dozen to twenty people and we have snacks and drinks in a wood paneled conference room.

Which we find lends itself to more open discussion and actual conversations. This year was no different, although we still have some rough edges to smooth down with such things as who talks when, the folks there certainly got a taste of the creative jabbering we can do when we’re all together.

A LOT of questions were answered, I hope satisfactorily, and calling it a live-action AMA would not be too far off-base.

Our Onyx Path Q&A session in the dramatic Founder’s Room.

This pretty much takes us into the full con experience days, where we had a ton of gaming sessions thanks to the Wrecking Crew led by Scott Vigil, plus individual game demos run by our creators – from Pugmire and Mau, to They Came From Beneath the Sea!, V5 Chicago By Night, and a very special playtest demo for Trinity Continuum: Aberrant.

There was also the premiere of a playtest of a Scion LARP written and created by Dystopia Rising creator Michael Pucci that gave us lots of ideas for how to bring that Scion thing to live-action.

And so, as we Onyx Path folk left Milwaukee in stages through the weekend, we bid a fond farewell to another successful MidWinter convention, and a fantastic and energizing Onyx Path Summit. Seems like we all left ready to work on:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

They Came From Beneath the Sea! (TCFBtS!) has a little more than a week to go and we’ve passed through the first couple of Stretch Goals including getting Larry Blamire to illustrate a horizontal scene usable on a screen, two entries for a book of additional soggy Threats, a T-Shirt, two added Adventure Scenarios, and we are rising up on the next goal!

TCFBtS! has some very different additions to the Storypath mechanics we’ll be explaining during the KS that take an excellent 50’s action and investigation genre game and turn it to 11! You can see the actual play here:

Check out the teaser:https://youtu.be/kxLydk4t76s

Hope to see you there back in the 50’s, fighting watery menaces and cracking wise!

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Illustration by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast is a breakdown of our terrific triad’s experiences during the Mid Winter Convention. The panels, the demo games, etc.!

http://bit.ly/2QLulAJ

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

On our channel Matthew Dawkins is recapping his campaign of Scion that he’s named “Tokyo Noir”. It sounds like a lot of grisly fun and mixes the children of Bishamon, Kissh?ten, and Loki in a murder mystery. Matthew is involving viewers in deciding the direction of the game, so get in early with your suggestions! https://youtu.be/cKpHy3W4Z-E

YouTuber Stuart Armstrong has put together an interesting video on crossing over They Came from Beneath the Sea! with the World of Darkness! Check it out and give his channel a subscription: https://youtu.be/2wBFny9mSng

One of our forumites, Cinder, has started a written recap of their campaign of They Came from Beneath the Sea! It’s in its early stages right now, but you can subscribe to the thread for updates: http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/cavaliers-of-mars-and-pugmire/1278691-explorers-of-the-fathoms-tcfbts-actual-play

The Story Told RPG Podcast interviewed Matthew Dawkins regarding They Came from Beneath the Sea! and his fun, informative interview can be found here for all interested listeners: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/bonus-episode-4-they-came-from-beneath-the-sea-with-matthew-dawkins

The Twin Cities by Night Crew have a Scion 2nd Edition three part series that will be released this week.

The murder of a Scion of Ra halts the progress of the sun across the sky. In response a group of strangers are unknowingly brought together by their divine heritage to investigate the crime.

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! http://bit.ly/2w0aaEW

And we’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This week, we’re offering PDF and PoD versions of the Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition on DTRPG and the traditionally printed version will be opened up for ordering via stores!

CONVENTIONS

New convention notices coming soon!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Let The Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Redlines

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

C20 Novel: Cup of Dreams (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Development

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Manuscript Approval:

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Scion Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)

Editing:

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development:

C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

Adventures for Curious Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

Indexing:

Scion Origin (Scion Second Edition)

Scion Hero (Scion Second Edition)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Dystopia Rising: Evolution – Bunch of art out for approvals – some corrections being made.

The Realm – Contracted.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff –

Chicago By Night – Rolling on contracting next bits.

C20 Player’s Guide – Getting more art coming in and going to WW for approval.

Aeon Aexpansion – Going over the notes.

They Came From Beneath the Sea! – KS rolling.

EX3 Lunars – Updated KS finals are in.

Signs of Sorcery – One more piece and then over to layout.

In Media Res – Contracted.

Hunter: The Vigil 2 – KS art in progress.

Shunned By the Moon – Got the notes, contacting artists.

Book of Oblivion – Contracting.

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Geist 2e

Proofing

Scion Hero – Indexing.

Scion Origin – Indexing.

M20: Gods and Monsters

Pugmire Roll of Good Dogs and Cats

Trinity Core – Errata closed.

Trinity Aeon – Errata closed.

Ex3 Dragon Blooded – inputting errata.

CtL2e Condition Cards – Sending to WW for approval.

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg)

At Press

Wraith 20th – Preparing to ship to fulfillment shipper.

Wraith 20 Screen – Preparing to ship to fulfillment shipper.

Scion Dice – At Studio2.

Scion Screen – At Studio2.

Changeling: The Lost 2e – PDF and PoD versions on sale at DTRPG, physical books able to be ordered in stores, on Wednesday.

CtL2 Jumpstart – PoD proof ordered.

Fetch Quest – Manufacturing finishing.

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: 

Post Onyx Path Summit: Forward Into 2019!

[superkrispypeanutstudentstu-blog]

Holidays In Australia

Luxurious Australia travel has got to be top-of-the-line methods to see some of the fascinating journey destinations in the world. Some people like the truth that when using bus services, or even Queensland rail journey, they're able to take within the sights throughout their journey. During this time, most of Western Australia isn't as welcoming by way of weather, though you'll always find the Australian individuals very welcoming. Combine that with the welcoming and pleasant locals and you might be set for a once in a life time vacation. The conductor on board gives helpful information about the tourist attractions you might wish to see. You can apply for a spread of visas, together with vacationer visas and dealing vacation visas, but you have to do so earlier than leaving home. The current monetary climate, with many students having to rely on scholar loans, parental support, holiday jobs or private financial savings for his or her monetary fluidity, largely dictates and limits just what might be achieved on this regard and there are a number of ploys and strategies which might be generally used to make the money go further or, to look at it another means, to permit the same money let the coed go additional! When planning your journey to this fabulous continent, make sure you have a look at this Australia Travel Information. Here are some things to look out to your low-cost vacation in Australia. Consequently, substantial adjustments occurred within the demand for international travel products. Most would require you to be staying at pre-booked venues which might not be applicable for the student traveller. A scenic flight tour can fall under journey, cruise and days tours moreover. Australia is the sixth largest nation on the planet and most main airlines fly to its a number of cities. If you are going on a visit where you will not be bringing your pc with you, you could discover a secure place to store it. For instance, when I went to New Zealand, I kept mine with pals who were renting a house in Melbourne. Reductions in numerous fares are available for college students. It is among the best place to get pleasure from some journey actions while in your tour and it's close proximity to the Nice Barrier Reef makes it extra attention-grabbing and beautiful. The perfect half is, you possibly can hop off a bus travelling your manner and keep so long as you like in a single place before hopping on another bus to proceed your journey! You will see local tourist data and free recommendation in most places in Australia. Once you refill an utility kind and pay the required fees, it is best to now be capable of purchase the vacationer visa, as soon as it is permitted. Skydiving could be accomplished in cities like Sydney and Cairns after a 15 minute instructional course on find out how to do it. The charges are someplace around $200. You might also avail of this entry requirement on-line, by logging on to the official Australian Visa on-line website. All these playing cards are available within the US from Council Journey, STA, and Journey CUTS. Australia is quick changing into a force to reckon with within the artwork of wines, and when you join a wine tour, you're going to get to style what the fuss is all about. In main cities renting an residence will be cheaper if there are 3 or four folks sharing or a family. Bear in mind additionally that the new EHIC card (free from /travellers) will present free or discounted health care costs in the EU, however does not cover any repatriation costs. By encouraging active participation in each day routines equivalent to cooking, cleaning, setting camp and packing up, adventure excursions engage travelers in the complete out of doors adventure expertise slightly than simply waiting on passive contributors hand and foot. The excessive value of motels is one reason most travellers find yourself compromising on the quality of lodgings they e book, but this needn't be so. You may simply find an reasonably priced place to remain whether you are travelling alone or with household. To enter Australia Visitors need to have a travel visa. Guests in Australia have to have a travel visa. Sydney offers a dynamic city life and there are a few of the best purchasing centers, restaurants and hangout zones where you possibly can get pleasure from your ideas in a greater manner. Medical insurance coverage covers each, domestic medical and worldwide medical insurances. There might be a long way between dump station factors, which is the place you empty your bathroom and water waste from the campervan rent. There are different mountain ranges the place tour packages are supplied including mountaineering, hiking, bush walking and mountain biking. Travelling June to August in southern Australia may be cold. Some other fascinating holidays that Australians celebrate embrace Melbourne Cup Day, Proclamation Day, Canberra Day, Queensland Day, Geelong Cup Day, Recreation Day, Adelaide Cup Day, Basis Day, and Picnic Day. However it might probably get tough to walk alone within the park without discovering different tourists. Melbourne is not at all to be missed when travelling to Australia. It's one among Australia's most recognized vacationer spots. High on the list of authentic Australian outback journey travel destinations subsequently are Central Australia and the Northern Territory, far north and western Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. Briefly, new patterns in travel decisions have emerged to accommodate a a lot better spectrum of journey pursuits, activities and experiences. Close by is Rainbow Seashore, which is a coastal town that is full of life, miles of colored sands and a totally relaxed atmosphere that's excellent for your memorable Australia vacation. It's normal identify, the Saltwater Crocodile, is also known as the Estuarine Crocodile and 'Saltie'. cheap hotels in malta Everybody desires to travel on a price range, to reduce their expenses whereas maximizing on their experiences. Luxury Australia travel does not should be costly - life-style in Australia comes as a given - it's the way of life in this a part of the world, so add a bit luxury into your Australia travel with some of our recommendations. Earlier than getting a visa, be sure that your present passport is valid for not less than 6 months from the date of your departure, to forestall you from being barred by Immigration officers, in addition to put together your passport requirements prematurely with your local or international carrier when booking for a flight to the Land Down Underneath. More often than not, journey insurance acts as a peace of thoughts...right as much as the time you need it after which it can be an important article in your suitcase. For a more pleasant trip, one might journey by high pace rail or highway. However how about when you can venture right into a spontaneous journey like a campervan adventure where you drive your personal itinerary anyplace and anytime you need. It's often the quickest approach to travel lengthy distances and in today of aggressive pricing strategies, many of the no-frills and budget airways are providing very low-cost flights across mainland Europe. Within the previous days, you would have to make visits bodily to each and every journey agency in your space with a purpose to find good bookings for a fair worth. Regardless of the objective of the go to, it is obligatory to secure a sound visa. There are plenty of native wine growers in the country that offer wine tours and whereas there are excursions that could possibly be accomplished in only a day, there are some that would take weeks to end. Of course you will also discover numerous houseboats in Moama in addition to additional up and down the Murray River in Victoria and South Australia. A full ten yr valid passport is needed with no less than six months of validity after your scheduled return journey from Australia. Nice Ocean Road which is about three hours driving from Melbourne follows the coast and mountains makes your drive value. The superb landscapes, dynamic townships, historic spots, culture, natural sources and many others make Adelaide a sizzling tourist vacation spot in Australia. Australia has an amazing selection of casinos every in a novel setting which can solely be skilled in Australia. Telephone: (+sixty one) (0) 2 6270 6666 This quantity is NOT for passport or visa enquiries. In case you are flexible with holiday dates, think about travelling exterior of peak. The price range and lodging, sadly, take up most of a traveler's funds that they do not get much out of their holidays like sampling local restaurants or going to the native tourist spots. Visas and passports must be utilized for well upfront, so as to keep away from any final minute cancellations and delays. There a spread of houseboats working out of Echuca, starting from the small and easy camper fashion houseboats to the luxurious Echuca 5 star lodging options with characteristic equivalent to ensuites, trendy fully geared up kitchens, laundry facilities, air conditioned and spa baths. Australia is filled with freedom camps, which are both free or low cost tenting and ideal for in travelling in a camper van. For those who resolve to go on a more adventurous holiday comparable to snowboarding, be sure to have winter sports cowl. Catamaran tours take folks out in the sea to observe Humpback whales. However, only a few insurers provide a wide selection of travel insurance policy. The nature loving individuals admire it essentially the most and get their snaps clicked at this lovely reef. Low-cost flights are available, with Virgin Blue providing among the finest domestic costs, plus worldwide flights to New Zealand if that is part of your trip. The main cities of attraction are Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane and so forth. An area insurer will information you best whether to go for home journey insurance coverage or international travel insurance coverage, in consideration together with your unique wants. Tasmania is likely one of the prettiest locations in Australia, and in certain manner it would remind some of you of landscapes of New Zealand. Hole years, pupil electives abroad and cheap summer season holidays in distant locations, have become part of the generally life-enriching experience that is now thought-about synonymous with the student status. Excursions are available for White Water Rafting on Franklin River in South West Tasmania, close to Sydney, Cairns and Western Australia. There are tons of of famous locations to visit in Australia. Travelling in campervans May to September in Australia, is usually one of the best time to travel the northern half of the nation with cooler temperatures and fewer rain than the summer season. On this flattest continent, you'd discover a variety of places of vacationers' interest.

[armorroofing]

Wow! Armor Roofing - Olathe KS New Roof Installations

The article Wow! Armor Roofing - Olathe KS New Roof Installations originally appeared on Armor Roofing Kansas City.

Why is well-maintained roofing pretty important? For most, a house could well be their most substantial future investment. A home is everything required for a family, as this is the accepted property you will likely label home, and your story will end up being told mostly here with your children. It is accordingly significant to make sure that it can be enough for every member of the family group. It is certainly hence necessary that no unanticipated circumstances like water damage and mold from a roofing rupture result in sorrow in your home. So it is necessary that you maintain your roof diligently.

Due to the fact that you reside in Olathe, you should really recognize that the very severe climate presently there could severely degrade your roof if suitable interest is usually not focused on it. If you experience issues with your roofing, is the time to begin repairing it now, especially if you live in Olathe, and are desiring a roofing company in Olathe, you have got to speak with us for an ideal roofing provider you will ever request.

Armor Roofing has been operating in the Olathe area for over 20 years and we position buyers demands first. You should be able to determine this by inspecting a ton enthusiastic opinions written at business reviews websites. We are certified HAAG roof examiners and can support you in working with your insurer to be sure you achieve the essential repayment for the roof work that is performed. We have at the very least a five-year warranty on materials and labor virtually every roofing service we conduct, and your approval is definite.

A minimal maintenance here is able to prevent you from experiencing numerous troubles from a water leak down the road. Get in touch with Armor Roofing at this point to make certain that your roofing materials are ready previous to another weather event affecting the Olathe general vicinity.

Call Us Today!Call Us Today! (816) 331-7663

Lots of people in most cases fail to notice the roof covering in the matter of standard building maintenance. This is a severe miscalculation, above all if you inhabit in a locale like Olathe that may actually have thrashing rainstorms. As long as you have a need to replace a roof covering, then simply just see that the service will likely run you a good portion of the money. The charge probably should not deter you from getting it done. The motivation is clear. You have to deal with the roof structure in a timely manner or you chance having shell out all the more capital to correct serious water induced devastation to the domicile and home furnishings. Your roof covering is able to put up with a limited erosion from rainfall through the years before necessitating to be replaced to re-establish its condition.

Thankfully, these incidents are generally manageable for lots of people for a pair of very good reasons. do not call for a 100 percent replacement. On the contrary, most roof problems might be conducted by means of an easier to execute patch. A residential home insurance protection will usually reimburse for the financial impact of a roof covering repair service or re-roof if they oversee the task and check it was basically finished effectively. Mainly because you will desire to make sure that they say yes to the job swiftly, it is critical to retain a correct local roofing company that will take care of the project by the due date and with outstanding craftsmanship.

Precisely Which Sorts Of Roof Damage Can i Look To Identify?

Right here are more than a few features to check out:

So Why Might Anybody Choose For A Replacement?

Have roofing tiles split or dropped down from the residential home? Substituting the tiles is unquestionable to the agent. A whole re-roof might be necessary provided way too many tiles appear to be messed up.

Have you seen a lot of aging underlayment? A covering beneath the roof structure is called underlayment. A warping underlayment layer may possibly suggest the rooftop is in need of a whole new roof. You absolutely need to pull out and replace the underlayment layer and change the roof materials used above it as fast as possible.

Do you detect any kind of decayed steel around your house's metal made the roof? You genuinely will need to speak to a licensed roofing expert to look over the metal to take a look at how horrific the wear and tear is. Be careful not to wait for a little to get rid of the deterioration.

A servicing or roof replacement can become proper if you replied yes to nearly any of the previously mentioned queries. Even while you may very well be lured to work on the refurbishment on your own, the greatest use of your schedule would certainly be put into flipping the activity over to a roof structure repair professional. Remember that there's certainly no requirement to attempt to inspect the asphalt shingles on your own time to see identify damage. Lots of skilled roofers will present you examinations free of charge, subsequently, you will not want to try to go up over a house to scour for wear and tear.

Dial (816) 331-7663 for your pro bono roofing material inspection. There is certainly nothing to run the risk of!

Call Us Today!Call Us Today! (816) 331-7663

Ring us at Roofs Are Us as soon as possible by going to the "Call us" button beneath this sentence. The instant you have the professional's professional services, ask him or her to study if he will be needing to achieve a full new roof installation or just simply a little patch piece of work is probably acceptable. A full replacement will without exception be a possibility, specifically, if you would prefer to continue on and upgrade the rooftop to any lifetime roof material if you want to maximize your home's resell price and so postponing forthcoming renovation. If it turns out the trouble is extreme enough it would certainly even be obligatory.

Then Why Should I Choose A Full New Roof Installation?

Getting an altogether swapped out rooftop comes armed with some self-explanatory good aspects. You are able to relax smoothly for the next 30 years simply because the rooftop really should put up with just about anything the Olathe weather tosses at it barring utter catastrophe. Whenever you buy an advanced lifetime roofing model type, perhaps it is a bunch of decades! Once the problems just is not that really serious, and you do not have to acquire the comfort that goes with a complete replacement, well then a significantly less problematic refurbishing is usually plausible.

One of the commonest good reasons for installing a fresh roof is undoubted that you are planning on placing the family house up for sale within the next handful of years. As the earliest impressions will be extremely important, a comely roof covering consisting of the most durable roofing materials may easily appreciably raise how property customers view your building before even looking around the decorative interiors.

Justifications To Steer Clear From A Roof Change in Olathe

Undoubtedly, a newer roof covering mount is going to be a more cumbersome and difficult thing than a super-easy remedy. Then again if or when you retain a licensed roofing expert that has a considerable staff at one's disposal, the work can even be conducted quite in the near future. A full newer roof structure would certainly by and large be priced around 4,000 and 11,000 dollars depending on just how large a home is and what source of materials the roofing contractor is using on it. A huge home or fine style could possibly be very much higher priced even while minor residences would come down below this scale. As already mentioned, the expense can be most commonly taken care of by your insurance underwriter, but only in cases where the piece of work can be agreed on upfront and finished in the right manner. One particular motivation why our valued clientele value our services is that we strive to be sure to make it possible for you obtain your paid off case.

Armor Roofing are going to serve you in cases where you feel that the roofing could actually be broke. Verify many different magnificent summaries online in the event that you truly want to identify the things that the vast majority of our consumers thought of our dedication to top notch service. Visit Armor Roofing without delay!

Call Us Today!Call Us Today! (816) 331-7663

Armor Roofing LLC - Kansas City 6600 NW Tower Dr #104 Kansas City, MO 64151 (816) 935-9312 http://kansascity.roofsareus.com

The post Wow! Armor Roofing - Olathe KS New Roof Installations appeared first on Armor Roofing Kansas City.

[universeinform-blog]

There’s a new Family Guy mobile game coming

New Post has been published on https://universeinform.com/2017/03/24/theres-a-new-family-guy-mobile-game-coming/

There’s a new Family Guy mobile game coming

A brand new Family Man mobile game became announced nowadays, and within the words of the Seth MacFarlane-created patriarch Peter Griffin, it’s freakin’ candy.

Jam City co-founder and CEO Josh Yguado said the studio chose to make a 2nd Own family Man recreation, as it should be titled Own family Man: Every other Freakin’ mobile recreation, due to the fact the hit Fox show become an “iconoclastic and true voice” in an increasingly staler popular culture landscape.

We are operating with the writers and animators from the display, making this a hundred percentage true Own family Guy product,” he stated. Philadelphia 76ers Start Tough Stretch Towards Bulls The Philadelphia 76ers Begin a Tough stretch in their timetable off on Monday night time In opposition to the Chicago Bulls at domestic inside the Wells Fargo Center. After the Bulls, they face the Tor…

Brand new from FanSided

And it’s clear this sport is inside the real Own family Guy vein: Peter has been kicked out of The Clam — the iconic bar within the show wherein he frequently hangs out with Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe — and it’s miles your activity, because the participant, to assist him on his pass-u . S . A . adventure on his booze truck.

It’s now not something you’ve ever visible before in terms of a storyline, but there are some jogging gags. In terms of them sooner or later intersecting with the tale line, we don’t have anything else to announce … yet,” teased Yguado.

As one of the leading carriers of mobile content material, Jam Town — which became created in 2010 by means of MySpace co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Aber Whitcomb — is the writer of such games as Cookie Jam, Panda Pop, and Genies & Gemstones. Yguado himself is a former twentieth Century Fox executive, and he advised us that the business enterprise plans to paintings with other movie franchises in the future to increase apps. As an example, it’ll be freeing a Peanuts-themed app later this yr, making it the fourth recreation they’ve created together with Fox Interactive.

How to Kick Family Bullies Out of Your Life

Here, we are going to look at putting in boundaries in an own family wherein one or greater members are bullies, which include a mom, father, brother, sister, relative, etc.

In case you’ve had sufficient, then it is time to write down a letter in which you put company obstacles and leave. I will get to that later.

If you choose to live, then you need to take another method. Here’s an instance of what I suggest (assuming you’re a grownup and not live with the family):

No matter how tough it is probably, you ought to stop taking walks on eggshells across the bully.

You need to set some firm boundaries around conduct, in which you would possibly say something like this: “For years we have been getting collectively, and invariably there may be a combat due to the fact X does not like what I say.”

I’ve had enough. After I come Here, I assume to be dealt with admiring and I’m able to now not put up with any extra abuse. If X tiers a fight I am going to depart, right away.

I will go back whilst X has calmed down. If X erupts once more, I’m leaving, and I am not coming returned.”

At that point you need to determine whether to return lower back in an afternoon or-or, if the abuse is excessive, to quit the relationship.

It is crucial to understand that the bully will nearly without a doubt violate your limitations. He/she may threaten you, use a different circle of relatives members as allies against you and try and pressure you to capitulate. Whatever you do, do not provide in. If you do, the abuse will hold.

It’s essential to comply with thru with results (inclusive of getting up and leaving) if the bully violates your barriers.

Over the years, the connection might improve, or it might become worse further, at which factor you will want to reconsider the state of affairs and determine to preserve attempting or to say “I have had sufficient,” and quit the relationship once and for all.

Alternatives

One choice is to create a boundary where you meet the family participants you want on the neutral floor, together with a coffee keep or eating place, that is every other way to remedy the problem.

An opportunity is meeting everybody at a restaurant. If the bully will become abusive, you can visit management and get them to pressure the bully to leave.

The key to fixing this hassle is company barriers and now not permitting the bully to escape with their behavior.

Severing the binds with circle of relatives Bullies

Here’s any other template script you can use.

I’m penning this letter to will let you understand that I’ve determined to go away this family.

I can no longer tolerate the manner I have been handled, and I refuse to position up with any more abuse in any shape.

After spending time writing approximately the abuse, the concept came to thoughts, “Why am I nonetheless speak to those people?”

The apparent answer is due to the fact you’re own family, however, if I dispose of the label of “circle of relatives” and just look at the behaviors by myself, I would have ended the connection decades ago. I might by no means have allowed any “buddy” to deal with me the way which you do. I’ve allowed the “circle of relatives” label and the consequences of that to blind me to the fact. not anymore.

When I take into account how tons I’ve suffered, I recognize I’m lengthy overdue to get out. Whenever we connect there may be constantly the hazard of violence and, worse, ongoing manipulation.

The Role of Mobile Libraries in Supporting Education

Introduction

A Cellular library refers to a suitably ready and reinforced car or bus that visits colleges in step with a regular agenda, with a resources collection that can be borrowed with the aid of inexperienced persons and instructors. It could also be used to refresh a school’s aid collection by means of issuing of block loans. This model of the library is operated from a significant library/depot of assets, including regional or district schooling useful resource middle. The Mobile library carrier changed into initiated mainly to alleviate the demands for library service at the main libraries through attaining out to the overall populace with the only intention of imparting accurate and cutting-edge statistics to meet the desires in rural colleges.

Butdisuwan (2000), described Cell library as a library that serves groups and places which might be remote from a nearby library. They’re often run from Monday to Friday and once in a while on Saturdays.

Knight (2006), described Cellular Library as a big vehicle to be used as a library. It’s miles designed to keep books on cabinets so that the books can easily be accessed by using readers when the automobile is parked. The automobile used generally has enough area for human beings to study the ebook internal of it. They’re often used to offer library service to villages and town suburbs which have no library buildings. They can also serve agencies of these who have difficulty gaining access to library offerings.

Niemand (2004), described Mobile library as a library housed in a large van that provides a stay service to the ones unable to attend their nearest nearby library.

Necessities for the Operation of a Cellular Library

Some of the Requirements needed for the operation of such services are highlighted accordingly:

• A teacher-Librarian to manage the overall carrier;

• Library assistant and a driving force;

• Investment for fuel, preservation and licensing;

• Non-obligatory on-line records and stream services, related to figure schooling library control machine, via a laptop and scanner;

• A carrier stage settlement with colleges concerned that absolutely articulates the role and obligations of the colleges and the companies of the provider;

• A schedule of regular visits, primarily based on faculty phrases;

• Devoted finances for series improvement and walking expenses;

• Ongoing education for teachers who have access to the collection; and a

• Monitoring and reporting mechanism (Knight, 2006).

The role of Cellular Libraries in supporting education

Game Testing Procedure

The sector of e-leisure is constantly developing and becoming more and more famous. One of the manners of this industry is games. Probably, in recent times the sports industry is extra in-call for than ever. Some of the game development companies have become actual giants of the IT marketplace. There even are the global recreation competitions where the prize money is rather huge.

However, all in order to no longer be possible without a high pleasant of the software program products. At each level of the improvement manner, the test group plays a distinctive sort of checking a good way to make sure the right functioning. But there are numerous variations between testing software and games. In quick, all kinds of the sport trying out are performed consistent with the black container approach.

Steps of sport testing

Test making plans and designing. Earlier than proceeding to the real trying out, the specialists ought to evaluate and analyze the scope of checking, machine capacities, product peculiarities, and so forth.; have the whole thing documented. Check cases writing. The checking group must offer the entire take a look at coverage by way of creating test suites and situations. take a look at a run. every designed check case is run so that you can hit upon feasible insects and mismatches to the available specs. insects reporting. If a problem is located, then the expert opens it in a trojan horse-tracker, add its description, steps to reproduce and offer screenshots or video files if vital. Fixing of troubles and retesting. The development crew gets rid of the detected insects and the take a look at crew makes sure that the troubles are definitely constant without any side results. It’s miles a cyclic system because the builders create new builds that may incorporate new bugs. The execution technique of sport trying out has a dependent manner.