#I probably should see a sleep specialist tho

[imekitty]

I had a nightmare early this morning where it started raining knives. Like it started out with just one knife and then a couple more and then suddenly a downpour of knives just falling from the sky at such speed that they stuck in the ground. And everyone was trying to get inside this building but the people that couldn't get in were just torn to shreds by these raining knives.

And in my dream I was like "wow if I were Danny Phantom I could just turn intangible and not worry about this."

Like here I was having this bad dream and I still had fandom brain.

[krikeymate]

I hold by the idea of Tara and Sam having a off childhood from the jump like the idea that their father would dip completely and not stay in contact with Tara, who as far as we know, is his biological kid, just reeks of “I’ve been searching for a valid way out that wouldn’t make me a complete deadbeat and you just gave me one.” He probably married Christina out of obligation since they were together in high school and fell out of love (if he was ever in) years ago. And I like the idea that Christina was always unstable and Sam was the solid foundation for Tara growing up. Sam leaving knocked Tara off balance and made it easier for someone like Amber to insert herself in Tara’s life (shout out to the tamber crowd tho no shade)

Anon I'm in love with you.

I've mentioned before that I had some really dark thoughts on how their childhood could have been, and I have decided I am going to explore some of them. I've kind of held off on them because they seem to focus more on Tara than Sam, and I don't want people to think I love Tara/Jenna more than Sam/Melissa, because that's just not true, I love them equally. I'm just very cautious of the Sam v Tara attitude that I've seen a lot of. My theories hurt both of them, just in very different ways.

I think you're spot on that Mr Carpenter married Christina out of obligation. Neither of them were in love with each other, they were just having fun, but well shit they're in this situation now. Maybe they were even prom king and queen, jock and cheerleader, a real stereotype. Maybe there was an expectation they would end up together anyway. Christina didn't want a fucking baby at 18 but she really did love Billy and now he's dead.

They make the best of it.

She puts her career aspects on hold, he works in sales and sometimes travels for work. Sam is an easy baby, all things considered. She's a deep sleeper and she rarely cries and it means Christina can continue living her life with barely any interruption. He doesn't care for children, but Sam is his and he can admit she's cute in the recesses of his mind. It works for them, they even settle into the role.

Then one day, Christina learns she's pregnant again.

Despite being relatively content with the life she's found herself in, she's not looking to add to it. She makes the mistake of talking about it with a girl friend over lunch, about how she doesn't want another baby. Sam, who should have been napping, is awake and hears and gets excited. It's all over from there. Her husband finds out and he's weirdly excited about it. He didn't pay attention the first time, content to let Christina do the parenting, but he's ready now. He loves Sam, and he can't wait for the baby.

The enthusiasm doesn't last long.

Tara is a difficult baby.

Born 10 weeks early, it takes a month in the ICU before they can bring her home. Sam nags her to see the baby daily, as if staring at the little thing in the basket sucking on a ventilator is worth wasting her time for. She has problems with her lungs from the get-go. And that's only the start of it. She cries, she doesn't want to feed, she won't sleep. There's constant hospital visits and check-ups with specialists. Her husband decides to go back to work early, escaping across the country, previous sentiments forgotten.

One day she just won't stop crying. She was crying when she left to pick up Sam from school, and she was still crying when she returned. The only thing that stops her from taking a pillow to its face is the sight of her daughter on her tiptoes, reaching through the bars to press chubby fingers to its cheek, cooing at the baby. The thing actually shuts up for once.

Christina offloads most of the parenting onto Sam.

Baby Tara is receptive to Sam because she's gentle and touches her and doesn't yell. Babies are sensitive to emotional cues.

By the time Sam is 10, Christina is gone most of the time, working, or not working, it's hard to tell.

They're both cheating on each other. He gets so mad about the Sam lie because of all the years he wasted stuck with her.

Tara starts pre-school a year late because neither of her parents remembered to enroll her. The school tried to put her in the grade she should be in, but quickly realised that wasn't going to work. Tara was smaller than the other kids, and with her health problems, they decided it was better to downgrade her a year.

Sam does her best to help Tara with school, but she doesn't know about learning disabilities or how to help her.

By the time their father left, Christina did nothing except drop off an envelope of money on the counter monthly and pay the bills. Sam learns to forge her mother's signature to sign off on Tara's medical needs.

[thefemenineurge]

THINGS I DO TO MAKE MYSELF PRETTIER

A better title would be "Things I try to do (...)" but thats not as aestheticly pleasing

Castor oil for eyebrows and lashes: My eyelashes used to be short and straight and my eyebrows were poor amd weak, and I've always tried tonics and stuff from stores that didnt really worked but castor oil has been a life changing. Basically everynight with a brush for eyelashes I put castor oil on my eyelashes and eyebrows and then massaged it in (!!!). The change has been notacible, not only for me but for my friends and family aswell, even when I didnt wore makeup or curled my eyelashes! You can find castor oil in any herbology and pretty cheap! (my bottlw was like 6€ and pretty big and it was a kind of fancy store) and for the brush you can use an old one or buy one on makeup stores.

Fukutsudzi Exercise: It is a postural correction to improve the position of the back and lumbar that gives the illusion of having a smaller waist. According to the specialist, it is not a trick to lose weight, but to gain abs through the redistribution of the fat that accumulates in the abdomen. The routine consists of lying on the floor with something cilindrical and thick (Most people usses a rolled towel, I sometimes do too) on the lower back, just behind the navel, where the lower back meet. You can also do it with a rolled yoga mat or a cylindrical cushion. When you have found a comfortable position, you should stretch your arms and legs as far as possible and place your legs slightly apart and feet inward so that the thumbs touch. As for the arms, you have to stretch them over the head, with the palms of the hand facing the ground. The heels will be about 8 inches apart. To have some visible results you have to do it for 5-10 min everyday for 10 days. This 100% works on me, already in the 2 or 3 day I can see a (faint) line on my abdomen and my waist looks smaller. I love this method and I reccomeded to do it right before gping to sleep, I do it that way becuase I ussually hear a podcast and overall relax while doing it so I go to sleep with a clear mind. I hope I have made myslef clear with this exercise but still in this video you can see some vissual representation: https://youtu.be/teCl27mSrfo

Steam baths for the face: This is basically to open the pores and to sweat away impurities. You have to boil water (like a small saucepan more or less) and after it has broken to boil you pour it into a bowl (wide, a little larger than the size of your face) and put the following herbs depending on your type of skin:

• Dry or sensitive skin. Lavender, chamomile, geranium, rose, jasmine, orange and parsley.

• Normal skin. Lavender, rosemary, orange, mint, chamomile, geranium and rose.

• Skin with acne. Eucalyptus, lemon, cypress and thyme.

• Oily skin. Rosemary, lemon, marjoram, eucalyptus, mint and basil.

(If you have mixed skin use both types of herbs)

Then you place your face just above the steaming bowl and cover your head with a towel to prevent the steam from escaping, it has to look like a tent. So you sweat a lot and it's very good for you. After this, put on a tonic, a mask (such as clay) and a moisturizer. I love it and it helps me a lot, it is not only super effective but it is also very relaxing.

Now lets go for the silly things, okay? Like for exemple, I never never blow dry my hair, not only to avoid hear damage but becuase that way my hair is shinnier and has a nicer shape, (my hair is super straight tho so if you have curly or afro hair you probably know how to handle it jetter than some chick on tumblr). I always put oil on my nails and massaged it in (when you put any kind of crean or oil in your body you ahve to massage it in even in not so obvious oarts such as eyelashes or nails) and Im always sure they have a nice shape. Facial maasages and/or guashas, they work nicely on many people and would probably would work nice on me aswell of I was constant.

Starve :)

Now there are more obvious things like having a skincare routine and things like that but I feel like those are more obvious and personal and thats more of a journey you have to take by yourself cause it heavily depends on each others skin, but I truly really hope this has helped anyone. If somebody has some trick, something they do that works really nicely on them please share it so we all can have a Hot Girl Spring <3.

Ps: AND DRINK WATER!!!

[prisonhannibal]

It REALLY sounds like you need to see a sleep specialist

I should get a referral but i’ve been lazy bc I probably will have to go to southern norway for that bc we have NOTHING here. I’m gonna talk to my doctor tho

[sandoriyon-p]

headcanons: carlos oliveira + reader with anxiety

notes; ladies and gentlemen, finally. after a few months I finally managed to complete a request. no excuses from me, anon, just apologies. we still have a lockdown tho, right? important; I’ve never suffered from serious anxiety and everything that comes with it. yeah, I know how it’s like to be hella stressed, but that’s all. I did some research for these headcanons, but still, this is not perfect. I’m aware of it. still did my best. also, this can or can not have some serious mistakes. and truth be told, I’m way too tired to re-read this again and again, so, please, try to survive these mistakes.

warning; anxiety 

very important; @enjoyloveandart​ huge ‘thank you’ to you, querida. wouldn’t be able to get through this without your help. <3. 

Before we start with the headcanons, allow me to say this: Carlos knows what fear is. He knows how it’s like to be scared of something or someone. He saw things he cannot even properly describe, something that could never happen in, well, a normal world. He saw things that were everything but normal.

He has his weak moments, when the dread nearly paralyzes his whole body, making it impossible to move properly, even for a millimeter; when his mind becomes dominated by the same fear, making it impossible to think properly.

However - he cannot say he knows how it is when having to deal with anxiety.

Don’t understand me wrong here: Carlos knows and understands that fear and anxiety cannot be truly compared or seen like they are the same thing. He knows basic information, basic facts…

...the thing is: he doesn’t really know how to approach it properly in terms of what to do when someone has anxiety and/or when someone has to go through the symptoms of it.

Indeed, he has a good eye for noticing the first sights that something is wrong. He may know, may have an idea, what is the cause, but… he doesn’t really know what to do.

During your pre-relationship or relationship, you’ll have to either tell him or not tell him about your anxiety. It’s completely up to you what you’ll do:

[tell him]: Carlos will greatly appreciate the fact that you trust him enough to talk, sincerely, about the condition you have. Obviously, he’ll let you talk while listening to every word you’ll have to say. No judging, no interrupting. If you’re going to have some difficulties in, perhaps, expressing yourself or finding the right word, he’ll simply wait. No matter how long it’ll take, no matter if it’ll take a few minutes or a whole hour - he’ll patiently wait for you to finish and, only after that, he’ll start talking/acting. A supportive touch to your shoulder/hand/etc. will probably bring your attention fully to him again. His whole expression will be soft, however, you won’t find pity in that. Your condition doesn’t make him look at you differently, like you’re now weaker in his eyes. He’ll let you know it - he’ll tell you that it doesn’t change the way he looks at you. He’s not going to leave you because of it (hell, like he would be able to do it anyway).

[don’t tell him]: well, to say it simple and, perhaps, a bit too “blunt” - you’ll surprise Carlos. A lot. Remember what I said? That he doesn’t really know what to do? Well… yeah. Indeed, there is a huge chance he’ll notice something is off, that some situations or places make you and your behavior change. He’ll have an idea what can cause that. However, as I said, he won’t really know what to do. Should he straightforwardly approach you about this? Ask you what is wrong? Gently pressure you to give him the answer? Those thoughts will have his mind occupied for a very long time... until your anxiety will let you know it’s there. If you’ll have it “attacking” you in Carlos’ presence - this will be a very difficult time. However! Don’t think he won’t do his best, do everything to help you. He’ll be confused, lost, yes, but he’ll be ready to do everything to have you back to him. Nonetheless - don’t think he’s going to do something without your permission or/and something that may make your state become worse (I’ll describe this properly later, don’t you worry).

[back to the main headcanons] I’m going to repeat myself one more time: Carlos will truly struggle while trying to find the best actions, the best words. One more time: He’ll do his best nevertheless. However! He’ll want to be better in that, to know exactly what to do and what to say. That is why he’ll make very long and deep research. Chances are very high he’ll do that during the night, after he’s sure you’re sleeping peacefully and cannot catch him doing that. (It may or may not make him embarrassed). He’ll go through every book/webpage he can find, every definition, every explanation. Every advice and idea of how to help will be read by him. 

Don’t mind him, he’s just want to… make sure he knows how to help you, how to make you feel better.

Still, it doesn’t mean he’ll be immediately the best in that. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll still struggle while helping you, but, at least, he’ll know what to do and what to avoid. Please, be patient with him and try to understand him too; give him some time to get better in helping you. It would mean a lot for him to know that you understand how difficult it can be for him too.

Alright, but what your sweet boy learned during his research? Well, it turns out that… it wasn’t really necessary. As lost as he was, he still managed to choose the right approach while helping you; during those moments, Carlos didn’t… really think about what he was supposed to do, he just did that. He let his mind, his body work with only one thought, one want: to do everything to help you.

Alright, alright, but how it manifested or will manifest during next time? First of all, there won’t be any bold and sudden actions. During your anxious moment, Carlos will approach you slowly, carefully. All while talking to you, softly, describing what he’s currently doing and what he’ll do next. For example, while walking to you, he’ll say he’s doing that and, after finding himself before you, he’ll inform you he’s going to crunch so he can be on the same eye level. He knows that the touch can bring some relief and support, but, once again, he doesn’t want for it to be bold and surprising. This is why he’ll speak about that too, about his wish to touch you. He’ll do it slowly; slowly putting his hand onto your shoulder or hand - it’ll be enough for you to feel it, but not enough to make you feel worse (well, hopefully). After that, Carlos will carefully watch your reaction to his touch, look for any sights of this being unwanted - if he won’t find any of that, he’ll proceed to next action: getting your attention on him.

It doesn’t matter how long it will take to have your attention. It doesn’t matter, because all that matters is you - you’ll be in his thoughts as he’ll slowly move his hand to your cheek (always observing you carefully, to see if such an action is welcomed or not). Obviously, he’ll still be saying aloud what he’s doing or what he’s about to do.

With his hand finally at its final destination, your head will be gently raised so Carlos’ eyes can find yours. Perhaps, yours will be still unfocused, but, the ability to see you properly will bring a smile onto his lips. Still, he knows this doesn’t end here, so he’ll continue, bringing you out of your moment; slow, but with gentle firmness. Once again, it doesn’t matter how long it will take to have your full attention - he’s here for you, to help you. He’s all yours.

And he’ll let you know that, along with his assurance that this moment will pass soon. That he’s here and he doesn’t even imagine himself leaving you like this.

Banish all the thoughts that are about the possibility of him leaving you due to your condition as they are nothing but lies. He’ll never, EVER, leave you because of that. You’re still perfect in his eyes, you’re still the same person he fell in love with.

Carlos will make his task - his mission - to help you the best he can. He’ll not only be there for you when your anxiety is too much to handle, but also when you simply need someone to talk to or when you need some supportive words. That wouldn’t be all, obviously - Carlos will also try to encourage you to search for help from a qualified specialist. He won’t put pressure on you with that, but he’ll let you know that he’ll be here to make a call for you (if you, for example, would find it too stressful) or drive you to the right place. He won’t leave you alone in this.

All in all, no matter what, Carlos will always let you know, in words or actions, that he is utterly proud of you. That he sees you as the strongest person he has ever met. That he loves you with all his heart and that nothing has the power to change that.

[rarestereocats]

undead-potatoes

I hope they can pinpoint something! Tho I hate to be that bitch, you should probably brace yourself for vague non-answers, especially if it's not easily explained. Fatigue is rarely treatable if there's not a (known) cause behind it, so they just lave us to our own devices (and for the love of god, if anyone tells you to exercise FUCKING RUN) 

yeah, i’ve been bracing myself for this ever since i realized it was a valid medical problem and i wasn’t being lazy live everyone else implied. it feels like every time my doctor gets a step closer to figuring it out, my body actively fights against it lmao. she told me if they can’t find a solid cause, she’s gonna try and put me on stimulants to see if that helps because she sees how fucking awful i feel. and that’s the reason why i hate my sleep specialist. dude tried to pin this entire issue on me because i’m overweight, even after i explained that this has been an issue for over a decade.

even at my smallest and healthiest, i was still struggling with chronic fatigue and pain, so i really don’t like him. my doctor’s dealing with him currently so i don’t have to, thankfully.

[emsartwork]

SO! the other season 4 transformations because they wouldn’t fit with believix but it’s probably better this way because they’re ethereal magic and that’s kinda wonky

Sophix, Amorix, and Aterix (its labeled as Thanatix in my magic master post for some reason?? way to space out on your own transformation name brain), the gifts physical appearance, and Nabu and Duman in Aterix because plot reasons.

The three gifts are grown/formed somewhere in the golden kingdom, and can be used every 300 years but its usually up to the members of the golden kingdom(and the ethereals themselves obvi) when to put them out into the world. They’re classified somewhere between a magical item and a magical substance, acting almost like drugs to a persons magical core. Much of what is known about their formation is recorded in the dairy of Jak Anthebanak, an ambitious wizard from Lynphea who, through some extreme experimenting, grew vines into a portal to the Golden Kingdom. He had very little time to study or note down anything there but the glowing stone circles in the back garden of the main castle seemed to be similar shapes to the gifts and he theorized they slowly emerged from the stone or the stones built up enough power until the gifts could be formed. The ethereal who found him thought the little man was a riot and sent him back alive and unharmed, but with his memory wiped and the portal plants destroyed, only the scribbles in Jak’s field journal survived. 

Each gift actually has only enough power to transform 1-2 people, but I drew the girls in all of them because ~*fashion*~. The gifts act as a layer over whatever the affected person is wearing at the time of use(so the girls transform into believix and then use the gift, if they didn’t transform first the gift would just slightly change their normal clothing). The users’ main color changed but their core color/s remain or are added to the outfit.  And each gift has lasting effects on the user so the winx have to choose wisely who should use each gift so sophix: Bloom and Tecna Amorix: Musa and Stella Aterix: Aisha and Flora

Sophix: also known as the gift of wisdom. it seems to govern plant, water, earth, animal, and some weather magic. I mentioned the gifts act like drugs, and the closest comparison for Sophix would be a combo of marijuana and LSD. Sophix slows a person’s magical process down and allows them to see and join with the connected elements of the natural world around them, it also suppresses more volatile emotions. It kind of almost turns them into a plant in a weird way. attack magic isn't super strong but defense is a little better. The lasting side effects are pretty serious, the user will experience increased depersonalization, short term memory loss, nausea when eating or drinking, difficulty moving, muscle weakness, and sometimes respiratory issues(like randomly stopping breathing or the lungs feeling smaller that kind of stuff). Bloom and Tecna are some of the least “Nature” based magic users, so they volunteer to use Sophix as its theorized people who use a lot of magic that contradicts the gift’s powers they’ll have less side effects. This is primarily why Flora and Aisha were immediately banned from using sophix by the rest of the winx lol. Flora is basically already a plant and Aisha is 1/4 merm so they didn’t want to mess with their more complex biology.  

Amorix: Also known as the gift of heart. It governs temperature, fire, ice, crystals/gems, wind, and human emotions. The drug comparison for Amorix is stimulants(cocaine, meth, etc) with a touch of MDMA/PCP.  Amorix hypes a person up and polarizes their body temperature(cold in the middle and hot in the extremities) it also intensifies their emotions and empathy. Attack magic is very strong and defense is p low.  The side effects after are chills, hot flashes, intense and sudden mood swings, tremors, aggression or violent behavior, cardiac trouble, and transference(taking on other’s emotions as their own to an unhealthy degree). The choices for who used these depended on who would have the most issues with cold. Musa is tiny, and Stella relies on a certain about of sunlight(ie warmth). Bloom and Tecna both come from colder planets, and their body temps protect them.  Aisha and Flora could have also used these but for plot purposes I decided they couldn’t. (Roxy is also protected from the cold automatically by Aurora tho at the time nobody understands whats going on with her lol) Bloom’s fight with Nebula is just straight up dragon fire and rage babey no gift needed.

Aterix: also known as the gift of memory or the black gift. Aterix is the least understood of the gifts but it seems to govern colors, dark/light, pain/numbness death or decay, sleep, and memory. The (very loose) drug comparison are opioids(heroine, morphine) and rohypnol/ketamine, unfortunately with out some of the pain relieving effects. Aterix is also the only gift that can technically effect four people, but you have to have the Ater(the gifted, the person actually using the gift) and the Thrane(the person the gifted uses the aterix spell on). Aterix feels a little bit like swimming, the gifted’s motions aren’t actually slower, but everything feels like it’s slowed down. Their vision is improved, seeing colors and shadows in much more detail, their memory is also heightened to an almost photographic level. Unfortunately they can sense any physical pain around them as if it were their own. The gifted’s emotions are also subdued, as they are receiving so much physical and mental stimulus that area of the brain kind of shuts down. Side effects for the gifted are vision issues, insomnia, narcolepsy, muscle cramps, shooting pains, loss of sensation, intense flashbacks to any trauma, memory loss, and sometimes brief comas. Side effects for the Thrane are either they return to death, or they remain resurrected, in constant physical pain and apathy, lost in memories, confused, slowly moving, never sleeping, never eating, and kind of just miserable. 

Timeline changes: So in my version, Flora returns with the Specialists and Duman to Gardenia, she tries to heal him, but his magic is too unstable and the whole fight thing happens, Duman is killed, but he mentioned something about the wizards’ schemes before he died, leading Flora to accept Aterix, and pull him back to life. She compels him to to tell them all what the plan is and then they all rush off to Tir Nan Og. Nabu, as the only practiced male magic user, absorbs all the magic being used to create the vortex, he is unfortunately unable to expel the magic fast enough causing his core to break and Nabu dies. Aisha is understandably distraught, and uses Aterix, trying to get him back. In the commotion the Wizards manage to grab Duman and Flora after they realize they’re connected. and escape to Omega. As things die down Nebula holds her whole rebellion and stuff, and the Winx realize Flora is missing. Aisha is trying to interact with Nabu, and is in denial about his state of suffering so she defaults to anger and joins Nebula in hunting the Wizards down. Meanwhile, the wizards have managed to force Flora to de-transform, leaving Duman in his resurrected state. The winx free Morgana who promises to care for Nabu, and they pursue the fairies and the Wizards to Omega to rescue Flora and talk Aisha down from murder. Flora isn’t considered a threat by the wizards so they just kind of leave her to freeze, but she’s found by the winx and they manage to talk Nebula and Aisha down and the wizards are frozen for eternity(including Duman). Aisha, still in Aterix, returns with a clearer head, and recognizes she can’t leave him in a constant state of suffering, so she removes the Aterix spell from Nabu and returns him to his natural state. 

If your wondering why Daphne could be revived but Musa’s mother and Nabu can’t be, it depends on where the spirit is. Daphne was still barely alive when Faragonda transferred/tied her spirit to the Sirenix source. Daphne’s original physical body “died” when her spirit left it, but her spirit was still in this realm. Bloom’s Sirenix wish created a new body based on Daphne’s perception of herself and tied Daphne’s spirit to that in season 5. Musa’s mother’s spirit has long left this realm, and Musa wishing her back would not only be wrong according to the natural world, but its basically magically impossible. Musa would end up with a cheap, mutated, imitation of her mother, lacking memories, personality, and any real “humanity”. Nabu’s spirit left his body. Aterix has power over memory, so it brings back the person’s brain and they can appear to really be back fully, but its painful, unstable, and feels wrong, to both Ater and Thrane since the person isn’t really back. Sorry if this is confusing lol.

[peremadeleine]

The Empathetic Dog Thief, Episode 1

Alternative titles: “Will: Deer Hunter and Dog Dad,” “Crimes Against Costuming,” “What Year Is It: A Crime Drama”

Armed with a gin & tonic and one sleepy cat, I finally gave the NBC show another shot.

I didn’t know Will had a superpower. Cool...?

How come he’s play-acting the murderer, though? Just because he can think like a killer doesn’t mean he needs to be reenacting it himself. That’s just confusing for the audience?? The way they did it in the Red Dragon movie was still effective without coming off as “aw, Will’s playing serial killer”

“This is my design” what

Plaid shirt and striped tie, truly a costuming sin. I didn’t love Will’s “modern wild west” costume vibes in Red Dragon, but it was better than this.

Don’t pretend that Jack and Will don’t know each other. Hate that.

Do look forward to hearing how many different ways people can pronounce “Graham” though.

Oh boy, why does Crawford push Will’s glasses up on his face while murmuring “hey” softly like a lover?? They’re strangers. That was mighty uncomfortable.

is he just assuming Will is on the spectrum? Right after they met???

and then Will confirms, but wait, he just has an “active imagination”?

STAY IN YOUR LANE

at least in canon Crawford doesn’t take advantage of people on the gd spectrum, and he spins it as being for the good of the victims. jfc.

“based on the characters by Thomas Harris”

Of course all the victims in the first episode are going to be women

“it’s not about all of these girls, it’s about one of them”--seven minutes in and they’re already ripping off Silence.

“he’s like Willy Wonka. every girl he takes is a candy bar.” no. nO.

“I mean, I would. Wouldn’t you?” no Will, Crawford’s a douchebag, not a murderous psychopath.

8 minutes in, me: WHERE’S THE TITLE CHARACTER THIS IS B O R I N G

“Why is it now a crime scene?” Because Will says so and he’s his own forensic team, apparently. Next question.

Also apparently he only owns red plaid-print shirts. Huh.

Lol Will has empathy for everyone but a grieving father confronted with his daughter’s dead body???

I don’t like the way Crawford is speaking to Will one bit. It’s supposed to be sensitive, but it comes off as condescending and mollycoddling. Ew. That is SO not Jack Crawford.

"You wrote the standard monograph on time of death by insect activity"?!?

so Will IS his own forensic team. Weird flex, but okay.

Antler velvet. Christ, HERE WE GO.

“You not real FBI?” Rip-off of Silence #2!

“You unstable?” Stop coming at Will, Jesus!

Will is a serial dognapper. SIX DOGS. Maybe, maybe, people in this neighborhood are missing their gd dogs, you monster.

none of them are even UGLY dogs

Will’s also drinking tho. One point for Gryffindor.

Oh, another plaid shirt. At least this one’s got a nice pattern. And isn’t red.

The bathroom is painted red, tho. What is it with Fuller and red walls?

Hugh Dancy’s American accent slips when he tries to like...emote. Yikes.

Strangulation is neither quick nor merciful.

A forensic specialist who wears her long-ass dark hair loose down her back and shoulders in the lab should be FIRED.

Implied “we covet what we see every day” scene: Silence Rip-Off #3

nineteen minutes in, me: W H E R E  I S  H A N N I B A L this is false marketing

Okay, I actually kind of like the “okay, I can cover him 80%” scene. Crawford’s real good at fucking up people’s lives in order to save lives.

twenty-one minutes in, me: HANNIBAL’S HERE THANK CHRIST

will probably regret this thought later

it’s okay, Hans. I, too, hate the career choices that have led me to this point.

the fact that he has tissues by HIS chair in his office is fuckin’ hilarious, what a douche, I love him

same, tho

The costumes and sets and cars are all screaming 70s/80s. But smartphones!

I’m watching this pretty late so my volume is a bit low and I cannot understand 70% of Hannibal’s dialogue, uh oh

Hannibal is supposed to be short so I don’t think this little “oh Crawford confused the short weepy patient with Hannibal” bit is that cute...I’ve always felt like Mads was poorly cast for that reason, among others. Oh well.

I take it all back:

HIS FACE

“No secretary?” “She was predisposed to romantic whims.” Not sure whether I like this line because Hannibal’s the one acting on whimsy or if it makes me cringe because of the way they’re dismissing Hannibal’s former secretary. Hmm.

“Are these yours, doctor?” a) Duh and b) Silence Rip-Off #4

Why the fuck does Crawford think he can just examine Hannibal’s papers? Like?????????

no wonder he hates your rude ass, Jack

HANNIBAL WHY IS WOUND MAN LYING ON YOUR DESK YOU PRECIOUS IDIOT

“Very interesting, even for a layman” Wow, unexpected Red Dragon rip-off (by the Red Dragon adaptation) #1

this whole scene is made of cringe HELP

why is Hannibal dressed in his Easter Sunday suit

Tattlecrimes.com. I’M SPEECHLESS at the stupidity of that.

tabloids are, in fact, still a thing in the Year of Our Lord 2013

No way is Hannibal fucking Lecter going to drink the swill that probably is Jack Crawford’s coffee, as if.

“Not fond of eye contact, are you?” Yes, Hannibal is the only character who should be canonically coming at anyone like this. (But also poor Will.)

But Will, at least look in his direction while he’s talking to you? I also don’t love eye contact...it’s rude not to even look at a person, though.

Hannibal finally used a contraction! He’s human after all. (This is a common Fanfic-Writing-of-Hannibal problem. I used to have it, too. You think to emulate him you have to write lofty, staid dialogue. But we’re talking about Hannibal the Punmaster General here.)

“This cannibal you have him getting to know” I’m sorry, who said anything about cannibals???

Stop incriminating yourself Hannibal honestly

Wait, is the implication that the victim whose lungs were taken is Hannibal’s? I hope not, because what would he be doing in Minnesota, and since when did Hannibal cut people up alive (Krendler notwithstanding--he’s a special case), especially women????? He’s a Monster(TM), but not a fucking sadist.

Will’s wardrobe also contains gingham!

no really, when did they determine that the serial killer was a cannibal?? did I sleep through that part?

“have Dr. Lecter draw up a psychological profile” bitch, please. Dr. Lecter doesn’t work for Crawford.

I don’t like hearing/watching people eat, especially in quiet moments. That’s going to become a problem in this show, isn’t it?

Will’s dream dear is fucking awful CGI. Wow.

That brown blazer--Hannibal would never.

EVERYTHING about Hannibal that should be black--his clothes and his hair--is brown here. It’s...weird.

to quote @random-emerald-thoughts​, “my homocidal boy aint about that tawny bullshit”

Hannibal Lecter: food snob--that’s canon. 

Don’t like this dialogue, though. And Hannibal bringing anyone he just met food in glorified Tupperware rings very false.

“Uncle Jack” what the fuck

Wow, Fuller jumped directly into the teacup thing right from the start. Yikes. He clearly didn’t understand it. (Clarice isn’t the teacup, bro. The teacup represents time, and disorder, and will it ever be reversed?)

Lots of weird metaphors in this episode overall, though none as bad as the Willy Wonka thing.

Why is Hannibal in Minnesota? Is he a crime-scene investigator now? Is he on the FBI payroll? Doesn’t he have patients with appointments to keep? Social obligations? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

He’s not a priss or a germaphobe. DISLIKE.

Do like the phone call. Just fuckin’ carelessly with people’s lives for the fun of it, that’s our Hannibal.

FBI? Are you FBI, Will?

He shouldn’t have been issued that sidearm if he can’t hold it steady.

One shot would have been plenty. Maybe two. Jfc, the reason Clarice shot Gumb so many times was because he was going to shoot her. Hobbs had a knife, which he dropped, and he was incapacitated by the first/second shot. Silence Rip-Off #5

How the fuck is he still alive and talking?! Will plugged him about eight times!

Call the police, Hannibal, or the ambulance, or take off your jacket and provide first aid to this girl. You’re a doctor!

It really is like he wants to be arrested or something.

And then he gets to ride in the ambulance?? Just Because?

Overall, it was...not very good, imo, poorly paced, very poorly written, with acting that jumped wildly from “very good” to “awful,” sometimes from the same actors. Intense cringe throughout a lot of the script. Ripped off Silence of the Lambs, a superior movie about many of the same characters, way too many times. Will is boring and I don’t care about him, but then I also don’t care about canon Will. And I still think Mads Mikkelsen was poorly cast as Hannibal...the costumes aren’t doing him any favors, either. We’ll see if he can bring me around.

Some moments of genuine humor that I appreciated, though, and some nods to the canon that I grudgingly appreciated, too, including Hannibal being a dick and Jack Crawford fucking up people’s lives.

Hopefully if you made it this far into my observations you got a kick out of them. I probably won’t go into this much detail for every episode, but I do intend to try to watch at least all of Season 1.

Painful as it might be.

[pegasus-ghost]

Guess what?

I got an eyebrow piercing.

Yes.

I went and booked an appointment with a proper piercer this time, then went ahead with the procedure.

The piercer was nice, explained to me every step of the process and all. The pinching part was painful, but the needle piercing through was FUCKING PAINFUL.

Ok. I lied. Not THAT painful but it fucking stings alright.

I don’t understand why piercers don’t use numbing spray for piercing. They just straight up poke that damn needle through the flesh like it’s nothing.

Apparently I was bleeding a lot and it took a while to stop the bleeding, until the piercer asked me “do you eat fruits and vegetables?”

I was like, “Uh… no?”

And then the piercer was like, “No wonder. Lack zinc. That’s why it takes longer for your blood to clot.”

Well, that’s embarrassing.

But it was done and dealt with. I even bought a glass nose stud just in case if I have to do surgery for my sinus. The whole damn thing was expensive as fuck. Hopefully that’s the last time I’m going there.

The only place I feel tempted to pierce next is my helix and lips. But I know that helix is gonna be a pain in the butt because I sleep sideways with my ears folded. And the lips piercing? Well I think that’s gonna be too much attention at work. Besides, it’s gonna be a pain to care for that one too since mouth has more germs and I’m gonna be tempted to lick the piercing hole in my mouth.

On the way back home was HELL. The traffic was fucking bad. And I don’t know why, I felt a numbing headache after the session. My piercing still felt numb with pain. Probably it triggered some sort of headache.

Slept. Woke up the next day. The piercing looked fine and great. No swelling. Just stings a little if I poke it. No puss.

I thought it’s going to heal well. But then I did some googling and found out that apparently eyebrow piercing has a high rejection rate by the body due to it being a surface level piercing, instead of true piercing. I saw a bunch of cases online where their eyebrow piercings gets rejected and migrated off their skin even after 7 months and the entire year of having it on.

Some article even say that eyebrow piercing isn’t a permanent thing. It tends to get rejected even after years, just because the body wants to heal by pushing the foreign object out instead of just forming a hole and growing around it.

Sigh. It’s damn expensive okay. I don’t want this thing to get rejected. I already love the way I look. It’s gonna suck if it gets rejected.

Also FYI, apparently my nose piercing is fully healed. I bought a new clicker type ring because I had to take off my nose ring last week (with the captive bead) due to having to go through CT scan for my sinus.

Speaking of sinus, yea, I went to see a specialist finally for the first time. The doctor confirmed that my nose is bad and I need surgery to fix the damn thing.

The captive bead nose ring was so fucking hard to open. And once it’s open, it’s so fucking hard to close it by hand. I definitely didn’t wanna go through that again. So I bought a clicker type.

Shit, it was super easy to wear, and I finally have the courage to change my nose ring on my own without any problems.

SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A CLICKER.

I went and bought a bunch of new clicker rings online, opal and crystal decoration, colorful ones. Looks so pretty tho. I’m obsessed with it.

Well even if my eyebrow piercing gets rejected, at least I still have my nose ring.

[sapphic-quarian]

Bioware and wlw

(No pics since I’m on mobile..booo) So, we’ve all probably seen Cora Harper at this point. And she is pretty! She worked with asari commandos! She’s a romance option! Yay! But there’s one thing I’m wondering (besides her possible relationship to the Illusive Man). Is she just a romance just for BroRyder, or can SisRyder romance her too? Considering Bioware’s history with characters like her, she probably can’t. Now, going just by appearances and the little we know about her, Cora seems queer. She’s got that whole “shaved side” look that screams “butch” (not trying to say all wlw are butch or all girls that look like that are wlw, Cora’s appearance is just similar to stereotypical perceptions of a lesbian.) She is also connected to the asari, which are a LITERAL RACE OF BISEXUAL WOMEN. But let’s look at wlw in bioware’s past games.

I’m gonna start with Jack, cause I played ME2 recently and feelings about Jack are fresh in my mind. Jack is a badass. The galaxy’s strongest biotic, a master criminal, and also a bisexual woman. “But Kate,” you cry, “Jack was only a romance option for male Shep!” Yes, yes she was. But if you talk to Jack about her criminal past, she mentions a couple she used to “share a bed with.” So Jack has canonically had a relationship with a woman. A poly relationship with her and man, but still. And let’s take a look at Jack’s appearance. Like Cora, she has masculine look to her, with the shaved head and bound breasts. Jack would not be out of place at a gay bar. And yet, she’s still presented as exclusively heterosexual, and rebuffs a female shep’s advances.

And, going back to Bioware’s early days, their very first non-heterosexual romance, is Juhani, from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Juhani is a “romance”, but her feelings towards a female PC are only vaguely referenced in one conversation, as opposed to the fleshed-out romances male and female PCs get with Bastilla and Carth, respectively. Now, this has a simple explanation. This game was co-developed with LucasArts. George Lucas was vehemently against any queer characters in Star Wars, and had his fair share of complaints about Han/Luke fanfics back in the day (they published gay fanfic in magazines! Respect.) So Juhani’s treatment is more the best Bioware could do while still meeting LucasArt’s wishes than intentional portrayal of f/f relationships as meaningless.

And then we come to the asari! Everyone loves the asari right? It’s a race of sexy blue bisexual women! While I could write a whole other meta on the asari and femininity, right now I’ll focus on their sexuality. Liara T'Soni, in Mass Effect 1, is the only bisexual romance, being available to both genders of Shep. But the femshep version has one big difference. Liara assures Shepard that their relationship is okay, because asari are a monogendered, female-presenting race. She’s basically saying “I’m not REALLY a woman, so it’s totally not gay if we kiss each other.” When i heard that, I went back and romanced Kaidan instead. I did not need to go through this feeling like my sexuality was being invalidated. And Samara in Mass Effect 2 is no better. While both genders of Shepard are rejected when attempting to romance her, Samara serves as a weird cautionary tale-thing to asari. She was the product of a marriage between two asari, and she married another asari who also had two asari parents. Their daughters were asari afflicted with a genetic condition, known as Ardat-Yakshi, that caused them to consume their partner’s nervous systems when they mated. Two of her daughters agreed to basically become prisoners-slash-nuns, but one of them escaped. Samara’s loyalty mission involves you tracking the third daughter down, and killing her. Morinth, the third daughter, is a textbook example of the perception of wlw as predatory. She’s literally a space vampire in a leather catsuit. You find a journal from her latest victim, a girl named Nef, and she describes how Morinth seduced her, implies Morinth convinced her to take drugs, and eventually killed her. Once you find Morinth, you then have to seduce her. Then, her mother kills her, or you recruit her. If you recruit her, she flirts with Shepard and you can eventually sleep with her. Of course, your nervous system melts. The idea of the Ardat-Yakshi only being born through a union of two asari makes no sense from an evolutionary point of view. In their home world, asari are the only sapient species, therefore it makes no sense to have breeding with other species being a safer option. The only way it would make sense is if they evolved alongside another sentient species. Basically, asari are all feminine, and they are discouraged from beginning and given consequences for having a relationship with another asari. The idea that cross-species relationships are healthier kind of gives off the “a child with two moms can’t develop well argument.” Then we move to Kelly Chambers. Kelly is your yeoman in Mass Effect 2. Basically, she tells you when your squadmates want to talk to you and when you have mail. She’s also the closest thing the game has to a same-sex romance. Kelly’s pan, and she’ll take all kinds. She frequently gushes about how attractive the alien members of the crew are, and Shepard can lightly flirt with her throughout the game. At a certain point, you can invite Kelly to Shepard’s cabin for dinner. A brief scene of her dancing for Shepard and cuddling ensues, and that’s it. No achievement, no other conversations, nothing. It doesn’t even conflict with existing romances. You can be romancing someone and still invite Kelly upstairs. Her only function, besides informing you about who you need to talk to and that brief moment, is being dissolved by the Collectors if you don’t come for the crew right after they’re taken. She plays a smaller role in the third game, where you can either get her killed, convince her to change her identity, or convince her to change her identity and start a relationship, which only adds a few conversations and the inability to romance anyone else. Then, there’s Samantha Traynor. Samantha’s a lesbian and the Normandy’s comm specialist in Mass Effect 3. She serves the same purpose as Kelly in Mass Effect 3 (informing you about mail and missions) except she can be romanced only by a female Shepard, and she has a full, fleshed out romance. My only complaint about Traynor is that she should have been introduced earlier. She was a good character and I would have liked to see her in more than one game. Now, we go to Bioware’s other cash cow franchise: Dragon Age. Specifically, Dragon Age Origins. Our female love interest for a female Warden is Leliana, a spy-turned-nun. Admittedly, Leliana is a pretty good character in terms of representation. She’s not predatory or overly violent in terms of our setting. However, there’s her former mentor, Marjolaine. Marjolaine embodies the predatory, manipulative wlw stereotype, as shown when she had a relationship with the sixteen-year-old Leliana. Marjolaine’s age is not stated, but she is older than Leliana by a good amount seeing as she had been married once before meeting Leliana. She groomed Leliana into becoming a bard, which in Dragon Age is a spy who can also double as an assassin. She then betrays Leliana and frames her for treason. Later, when Leliana asks the Warden to check up on Marjolaine, Marjolaine plays the victim, and tries to convince the Warden Leliana is not to be trusted. In Dragon Age II, we have two bisexual female characters, Isabella and Merrill. Both are great characters with facets and unique flaws. Honestly, there’s nothing negative to say about them as bisexual women. In Dragon Age Inquisition, we have a trio of lesbian characters. Sera is an elf who’s part of a vigilante group called the Friends of Red Jenny. While Sera is on your side, if a female elf inquisitor tries to pursue a romance with her, it gets a little difficult. Sera berates the inquisitor for being “too elfy”, and at one point breaks off the relationship if they don’t admit the eleven gods were demons. None of the other romances have something like this, where one choice can ruin the relationship, so why does Sera’s romance get it? There’s also Celene and Briala. Celene is the empress of Orlais, which is Dragon Age’s equivalent to France. There’s no other way of putting this, so I’m just gonna say it. Celene is a racist manipulative bitch. She oppresses the elves of Orlais, hurls racist insults towards her handmaiden and lover, Briala, and actually had Briala’s parents killed to maintain her grip on the throne. So, yeah, not a nice lady. But what’s the happy ending of the segment she and Briala appear? Getting them back together! Briala had left her after she did nothing for her people, the elves, and because she couldn’t take Celene’s abuse anymore. I will give Inquisition this, it’s bisexual women, Harding and Josephine, are better written. And in Dragon Age II and Inquisition, last but not least, there’s Cassandra Pentaghast. She’s only available to a male Inquisitor in Inquisition. However, depending on how far you take it, she actually can gain approval from a female Inquisitor’s flirting. “But Kate,” you say again, “Cassandra probably just think’s the Inquisitor’s joking and rejects you when you go too far!” we see in her romance with a male Inquisitor that’s she’s a romantic at heart. Flowers, candles, poetry and all that mushy stuff. She’s probably rejecting a female Inquisitor if she flirts too much, cause she wants a fairytale romance. Also, have you seen Cassandra? For the same reasons as Jack and Cora, that’s a gay if I ever saw one. So that’s why I don’t have too much hope in Cora being a bi romance. Just related to Bioware’s track record of including wlw. We can still dream tho. (In case someone asks why I didn’t include mlm in this meta too, as they arguably receive worse treatment in Bioware games 1. I am not a man attracted to other men, so I would feel like I was talking over actual mlm, and 2. This is already long enough. This was just supposed to cover Cassandra and Jack but I got carried away.)

[themindfulword]

PSYCHOLOGICAL & SPIRITUAL THERAPY: Constant coughing for 13 years after brain injury

In our bi-weekly Psychological & Spiritual Therapy column, therapist Jack Surguy is offering professional advice to The Mindful Word readers for all those questions and problems you have wanted to discuss with someone qualified and caring. If you would like Jack to assist you in any areas of your life and relationships, fill out this form. He will respond to your questions through this column, normally published every Tuesday.

QUESTION

OK, yes & Now My Question is.:...Just How, How, HoWw in the HeLL am I 'Sposed 2 Ever STOP Coughing, & Yes Again, Just as I've Been Coughing Constantly as HeLL. & Truthfully I've been Coughing ALL Crazy 'N Shit Just Like This, for Over 13 Long AssD G'Damn Years too. OK, OK, Don't ya Know, tho'? As Yes About 14 years Ago, I had Suffered through an ExtremeLy Traumatic Brain Injury, Ps. OBV ONLY After Getting Hit over My G'Damn Head 27 to 33 Times Full-Force with a Ma'F*ckin 'CrowBar'.!! Immediately after that traumatic Instance, I was then Simply StucK in a G'Damn COMA for three and a half months. Immediately after Awakening, I was Confined 2 a WheelChair for the Next six to eight months, while being told by ohh so very many, Many Different Doctors that Yes Sir, I Better get used to this Chair, just As Yes, OBV I'll Be Spending the Rest of my Life in that Chair. But,BoY, Boy Ohh BoYyy They'd Clearly Never Met a Man Like Me...Mr.Bobby James. I'm Quite a very Miraculous Man, I am, I Am. OkOK but Yes so anyways to get back to my Point.....I STILL CanNOT STOP Coughing for the F*ckin Life of Me. So Yes,, now plz, Plz, Please Tell Me SomeOne SomeWhere Out There Has ANY Kind of Idea to TRY 'N HelpMe, I'd just Ohhh So Far, Far, FAR Beyond GREATLY Appreciate it. Yes I Do Mean, AbsoLuteLy ANYTHING you May Think Even COULD POSSIBLY Work for Me too Plzz.?? Thank You, Thank You, Yes Thank You Very, Very Much for Any Help you can Possibly Give Me, I'll Clearly & Yes Far Beyond COMPLETELY LoVe YOU 4 the HeLp.?...ThanX Again too....Ciao, Ciao.. Bobby, 32, Canada

ANSWER

Greetings Bobby, Thank you for writing in with your question. I must say, you do have a way with words! My guess is that you're probably a pretty memorable individual. I'm sorry to hear of the incident that has left you in your current condition. If I understand correctly, you've been coughing for more than 13 years, after suffering from a traumatic brain injury, and you're seeking any type of help that you can find to help stop the coughing. Traumatic brain injury is obviously one of the most complex and perplexing conditions a person can have. The main reason for this is because there's still so much of the brain that we simply don't understand. For example, it was previously thought that once the brain developed, that was it—no further development could occur. It was also an accepted belief that once brain cells "died," the brain was incapable of generating any new brain cells.

Neuroplasticity

We now know that this isn't the case. Neuroscientists have discovered a process called neuroplasticity, in which "neuro" stands for "neuron." Neurons, as you may know, are the nerve cells in our brains and nervous systems. "Plastic," in this case, stands for "changeable, malleable, modifiable." MedicineNet defines neuroplasticity as, “The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.” There's a really good book about neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge, M.D., called The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science, which can be found online. I highly recommend this book. There's also an excellent documentary on YouTube that you can watch here.

Let's explore some possible ways to treat this

While I don't know the specifics of your case, I believe there are some avenues you should explore in trying to treat your affliction. As stated above, the brain does possess the ability to reorganize itself. Basically, this means that when an area of the brain is injured, another part of the brain may assume responsibility for its activities, allowing the individual to regain some of the lost abilities experienced as a result of injury. The brain’s abilities in doing this are obviously limited. At the same time, its abilities to do this are far greater than previously thought.

Are the coughs nonstop?

I believe one of the most important questions in trying to develop a treatment for you is whether the coughs are nonstop, without any cessation or relief, or if there are any times when you experience some relief from the coughing (even if it’s while you’re asleep). If there are any times when you experience relief, then a very thorough, detailed investigation needs to occur for you to try and identify what circumstances are providing you some relief from the condition. Below, I've outlined what a treatment plan for your symptoms might look like.

Identify brain activity when not coughing

I’ll assume that you're able to experience some relief, however brief it may be, at various times. The goal, then, is to identify how your brain functions during those times of relief, and if that differs from your brain activity when you’re experiencing the cough. This can be done through wearing an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap that records your brain activity and other bodily activities. While wearing this, you'd be able to record the times when you had relief from coughing. If needed, someone else could also record any times during the night that you experienced relief while sleeping. Again, the initial goal is to try and discover if a specific brain pattern can be identified during the times of relief. After wearing the EEG machine and cap for about a week or so, you'd then turn the recorder and your notes in to a physician. The physician would then compare the times of relief to your recorded brain activity during those times, in order to try and identify common brain activity. If certain brain activity could be identified, that information could then be sent to a specialist in biofeedback or neurofeedback. The specialist would examine the brain activities experienced during times of relief and develop a treatment with the aim of getting your brain to continually operate in the manner associated with relief.

See how you're able to affect your brain activity

To accomplish this, you'd be asked to come in for sessions during which you'd be connected to a biofeedback machine that would record and display your brain activity in real time. You'd then be able to visually see how you're able to affect your brain activity while trying to get your brain to operate in the manner that provides relief. This can be a difficult and frustrating experience at first. However, the more you work at it, the easier it'll become to influence your brain activity and achieve the desired pattern that provides relief from coughing. This treatment has been proven successful in helping individuals maintain certain brain functioning patterns that produced relief from various other symptoms. Therefore, I believe this is an approach that could prove very beneficial for you. I think that giving a person the ability to visually see the affect they're having on their brain is a very powerful intervention, and this would be the first approach I'd suggest.

Hypnotism and mindfulness meditation

However, what if you truly don't experience any identifiable times of relief from coughing? If this is the case, I'd then suggest trying to find someone well-versed in interventions such as hypnotism or mindfulness meditation to help you explore any possible altered states that may provide relief. If a helpful intervention can be identified, then the approach above with the EEG recorder would again be my recommendation.

Your drive and determination have helped you overcome a great deal in your life. My hope is that the above information provides you with some direction that'll allow you to continue to push forward and work towards your optimal health. – always abiding – Jack image 1: Cough by Thom Chandler via Flickr  (CC BY-SA 2.0); image 2: teakwood (CC BY-SA) Click to Post

[emsartwork]

Some asks!

1. Thank you! honestly a lot of the reason why ive produced so much for this show is because everybody is really involved and supportive. I’d love to develop my own show but also ayyyyyy ignio strafi my main man hmu whenever you wanna reboot the sparkly babes. @iamanemotionaltimebomb 2. Thank you!!! i love giving characters defining traits, and even though i understand it makes animation harder/more time consuming i think it really adds to the show. 3. i didn’t do anything to them?? i think tumblr was like.... glitching out with some of my posts tho cus i would look for stuff i had saved on my personal blog and not be able to find things i knew should be there so it might be that. I’ll go back in my archive and make sure its tagged appropriately tho  4. personally i think the fairy forms top off power wise at enchatix, and then its just changing uniforms for different jobs. like you wouldn’t wear a lab coat to fight a fire and you wouldn’t wear a fire suit to mix chemicals 5. So if the island is big or has actual seasons(ex. Britain, Japan, fuckin Australia/New Zealand technically) they would just be either Silva or Mare Lynpheans. but i could see small tropical islands having their own subset yeah, @just-kairi

6. Not a bother at all! I’m planning on doing a full villains set as the next thing, im glad people are looking forward to it ^-^ 7. I’m gonna be doing the pixies for sure! I haven’t watched pop pixie at all, but for a while there I thought pixies were all female and elves were a separate all male species lol, i might just do that since the pixies are supposed to reproduce asexually(i heard??). @weirdghostly (i can’t tag u???) 8. yes! when i did believix redesigns i didn’t really think about it but I’m planning on revisiting them and adding sophix/lovix and the alternate wings.  9.  I don’t actually.... I’m already running one webcomic and i’m not much of a writer lol so i haven’t really mushed everything together for my winx ideas. I’ll probably do more short comics for it in the future tho!  10. omfg yes i love those designs when i was gathering references for sirenix it was sooooo hard to to use those because theyre so beautiful. Yeah it would prob have to be a commission just cus i’m swamped with other things rn :/ @hug-all-platelets 11. i mean ya ur right they just never should have killed nabu(is he officially dead or pulling a sleeping beauty on all of us?). As much as I would have loooooooved aisha to remain single because how awesome would that be, it would be a little weird to have her be the one winx member to not be involved romantically, because i mean. there is that stereotype/meme of “strong independent black woman who don’t need no man”(closely related to the “sassy black woman” stereotype) which is Problematic with a capital P, but regardless, nex and roy showed up. i honestly think the love triangle was resolved pretty quickly considering how long rainbow likes to drag relationship drama on? but yeah poly aisha/nex/roy would have also been cool. I think the reason she chose nex is because he “proved” himself, he ultimately had more perseverance and passion than roy, which is something i think aisha would specifically look for. shes strong physically and personality wise, she would want to be with people who can keep up.  12. Both! Riven is the tallest specialist, and musa is the shortest winx. i am....... very partial to height difference....... For their relationship, i think they wouldn’t even start dating until like season 3 era at the earliest.(this is partially why season 4 is so rough for them, its a new relationship) a lot of their issues would stem from their attachment issues and how they respond to insecurity. Riven’s mom left him, just fucking dropped out of his life while he was a young kid, leaving him with (in my universe) an emotionally distant and dismissive father he could never please. So Riven responds by pushing people away before they can reject him, becoming controlling, or dismissing them in anger and pretending not to care about their opinion. Musa’s mother was taken away from her by illness.  I think it happened in musa’s early teens, since it’s clearly still a tender subject in the first season. A parents death is painful no matter the circumstance, but a sickness that slowly steals the person you love away from you must be incredibly painful. As a result, Musa experience a lot of anxiety about the people she loves leaving her(whether by their choice or not), and becomes clingy, emotionally demanding, and sensitive. When Riven pushes her away Musa tries to push her way back to him, when Musa wants Riven to act certain way or do something (even if its irrational and she is at fault) Riven dismisses her needs because it means he can keep himself safe from failure. They have similar problems but the way they respond to it ends up escalating every issue. They do eventually grow and become vulnerable with each other. I think that riven still left at the end of season 6, but they didn’t exactly break up, they both recognized that Riven needed some time away from the specialists to work on his own shit and gain confidence in his own skills, so it turned into a low key long distance thing. (if he hadn’t come back in season 8  they would just decide to break it off but lol he’s back) anyways..... enjoy this essay lol

[themindfulword]

PSYCHOLOGICAL & SPIRITUAL THERAPY: Constant coughing for 13 years after brain injury

In our bi-weekly Psychological & Spiritual Therapy column, therapist Jack Surguy is offering professional advice to The Mindful Word readers for all those questions and problems you have wanted to discuss with someone qualified and caring. If you would like Jack to assist you in any areas of your life and relationships, fill out this form. He will respond to your questions through this column, normally published every Tuesday.

QUESTION

OK, yes & Now My Question is.:...Just How, How, HoWw in the HeLL am I 'Sposed 2 Ever STOP Coughing, & Yes Again, Just as I've Been Coughing Constantly as HeLL. & Truthfully I've been Coughing ALL Crazy 'N Shit Just Like This, for Over 13 Long AssD G'Damn Years too. OK, OK, Don't ya Know, tho'? As Yes About 14 years Ago, I had Suffered through an ExtremeLy Traumatic Brain Injury, Ps. OBV ONLY After Getting Hit over My G'Damn Head 27 to 33 Times Full-Force with a Ma'F*ckin 'CrowBar'.!! Immediately after that traumatic Instance, I was then Simply StucK in a G'Damn COMA for three and a half months. Immediately after Awakening, I was Confined 2 a WheelChair for the Next six to eight months, while being told by ohh so very many, Many Different Doctors that Yes Sir, I Better get used to this Chair, just As Yes, OBV I'll Be Spending the Rest of my Life in that Chair. But,BoY, Boy Ohh BoYyy They'd Clearly Never Met a Man Like Me...Mr.Bobby James. I'm Quite a very Miraculous Man, I am, I Am. OkOK but Yes so anyways to get back to my Point.....I STILL CanNOT STOP Coughing for the F*ckin Life of Me. So Yes,, now plz, Plz, Please Tell Me SomeOne SomeWhere Out There Has ANY Kind of Idea to TRY 'N HelpMe, I'd just Ohhh So Far, Far, FAR Beyond GREATLY Appreciate it. Yes I Do Mean, AbsoLuteLy ANYTHING you May Think Even COULD POSSIBLY Work for Me too Plzz.?? Thank You, Thank You, Yes Thank You Very, Very Much for Any Help you can Possibly Give Me, I'll Clearly & Yes Far Beyond COMPLETELY LoVe YOU 4 the HeLp.?...ThanX Again too....Ciao, Ciao.. Bobby, 32, Canada

ANSWER

Greetings Bobby, Thank you for writing in with your question. I must say, you do have a way with words! My guess is that you're probably a pretty memorable individual. I'm sorry to hear of the incident that has left you in your current condition. If I understand correctly, you've been coughing for more than 13 years, after suffering from a traumatic brain injury, and you're seeking any type of help that you can find to help stop the coughing. Traumatic brain injury is obviously one of the most complex and perplexing conditions a person can have. The main reason for this is because there's still so much of the brain that we simply don't understand. For example, it was previously thought that once the brain developed, that was it—no further development could occur. It was also an accepted belief that once brain cells "died," the brain was incapable of generating any new brain cells.

Neuroplasticity

We now know that this isn't the case. Neuroscientists have discovered a process called neuroplasticity, in which "neuro" stands for "neuron." Neurons, as you may know, are the nerve cells in our brains and nervous systems. "Plastic," in this case, stands for "changeable, malleable, modifiable." MedicineNet defines neuroplasticity as, “The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.” There's a really good book about neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge, M.D., called The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science, which can be found online. I highly recommend this book. There's also an excellent documentary on YouTube that you can watch here.

Let's explore some possible ways to treat this

While I don't know the specifics of your case, I believe there are some avenues you should explore in trying to treat your affliction. As stated above, the brain does possess the ability to reorganize itself. Basically, this means that when an area of the brain is injured, another part of the brain may assume responsibility for its activities, allowing the individual to regain some of the lost abilities experienced as a result of injury. The brain’s abilities in doing this are obviously limited. At the same time, its abilities to do this are far greater than previously thought.

Are the coughs nonstop?

I believe one of the most important questions in trying to develop a treatment for you is whether the coughs are nonstop, without any cessation or relief, or if there are any times when you experience some relief from the coughing (even if it’s while you’re asleep). If there are any times when you experience relief, then a very thorough, detailed investigation needs to occur for you to try and identify what circumstances are providing you some relief from the condition. Below, I've outlined what a treatment plan for your symptoms might look like.

Identify brain activity when not coughing

I’ll assume that you're able to experience some relief, however brief it may be, at various times. The goal, then, is to identify how your brain functions during those times of relief, and if that differs from your brain activity when you’re experiencing the cough. This can be done through wearing an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap that records your brain activity and other bodily activities. While wearing this, you'd be able to record the times when you had relief from coughing. If needed, someone else could also record any times during the night that you experienced relief while sleeping. Again, the initial goal is to try and discover if a specific brain pattern can be identified during the times of relief. After wearing the EEG machine and cap for about a week or so, you'd then turn the recorder and your notes in to a physician. The physician would then compare the times of relief to your recorded brain activity during those times, in order to try and identify common brain activity. If certain brain activity could be identified, that information could then be sent to a specialist in biofeedback or neurofeedback. The specialist would examine the brain activities experienced during times of relief and develop a treatment with the aim of getting your brain to continually operate in the manner associated with relief.

See how you're able to affect your brain activity

To accomplish this, you'd be asked to come in for sessions during which you'd be connected to a biofeedback machine that would record and display your brain activity in real time. You'd then be able to visually see how you're able to affect your brain activity while trying to get your brain to operate in the manner that provides relief. This can be a difficult and frustrating experience at first. However, the more you work at it, the easier it'll become to influence your brain activity and achieve the desired pattern that provides relief from coughing. This treatment has been proven successful in helping individuals maintain certain brain functioning patterns that produced relief from various other symptoms. Therefore, I believe this is an approach that could prove very beneficial for you. I think that giving a person the ability to visually see the affect they're having on their brain is a very powerful intervention, and this would be the first approach I'd suggest.

Hypnotism and mindfulness meditation

However, what if you truly don't experience any identifiable times of relief from coughing? If this is the case, I'd then suggest trying to find someone well-versed in interventions such as hypnotism or mindfulness meditation to help you explore any possible altered states that may provide relief. If a helpful intervention can be identified, then the approach above with the EEG recorder would again be my recommendation.

Your drive and determination have helped you overcome a great deal in your life. My hope is that the above information provides you with some direction that'll allow you to continue to push forward and work towards your optimal health. – always abiding – Jack image 1: Cough by Thom Chandler via Flickr  (CC BY-SA 2.0); image 2: teakwood (CC BY-SA) Click to Post