#and also ive been diving back into a bunch of my other interests lately on my main!! which has been making me very happy

[duodusk]

when the acoustic ep drops im never going to be the same again

[introvertguide]

Star Wars: The Franchise

Back in the mid 70s around Modesto, California, it is doubtful that George Lucas could have imagined that his idea for a space opera would become the second highest grossing movie franchise of all time. There has been some questionable content, however, since the groundbreaking original, and the returns have not been as great. There were also some one-offs that a lot of the younger fans might not be aware of. For my own sanity and organization, here is a listing of all feature length movies in the franchise:

Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977) -

Definitely the most successful film (heck, one of the most successful films of all time) that made almost a billion dollars at the box office worldwide...in the 80s. Amazing. The story mimics the hero's journey as described by Joseph Campbell, giving it basically the most satisfying story imaginable. Nobody except for friend of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, thought it would be as successful as it was. This kind of popularity meant there was going to be some sequels and, since George Lucas was the man behind the whole thing, only one man was about to get tasked with future success.

Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) -

This was a TV movie that was made to cash in on the massive popularity of the first movie while the second one was in production. It is terrible. I generally try to hold back judgement and point out subjective opinions, but I think I can say that this made-for-TV movie is objectively bad. It is the equivalent of a variety show, a format which was popular at the time, and it was awful. It is widely considered to be one of the worst visual productions of all time. Just to give a hint of its awfulness, the movie follows the adventures of Chewbacca's Wookie family and they only speak in growls with no interpretation or subtitles. Laughably awful.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) -

Arguably the best of the films as far as story and plot, this film was actually directed by Irvin Kershner with a George Lucas story adapted to the screen by Lawrence Kasdan. This film is legitimately fantastic and not just new and fun. It is so well written and directed with the famous reveal between Luke and Darth Vader. It also is incredibly downbeat at the end that perfectly sets up the next film. I personally think this is the best example of fine film in the franchise, although it doesn't have as much big action and no giant space laser. Well worth watching and makes the third film a must see.

Return of the Jedi (1983) -

Well, not as good as the first two, but still pretty darn good. This film introduced the Ewoks and the Endor moon battle. Many fans thought that the introduction of living teddy bears was a mistake that distract from the story. What really made the film, apparently, was the whole sequence at the beginning that takes place at Jabba the Hut's palace and involves Princess Leia in a metal bikini. We also find out that Luke and Leia are twins, so that kiss in the second film suddenly becomes kind of awkward. This becomes kind of a theme from here on out: should we disavow canon or put in throwaway lines and scenes to cover things that were mentioned in previous movies. It plagues the prequels.

The Ewok Adventure (1984) -

I get a lot of garbage about it, but I love these movies because I grew up with them. They are not that great and the copy that I saw over and over had ads from the early 80s throughout. Heavy nostalgia. Also, some of the Ewoks were played by established actors from what is now called Episode VI, Warwick Davis as Wicket and Tony Cox as Widdle. It was a lot of fun, but definitely a higher budgeted TV movie. It did become so successful that it got a theater release as Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. This naming style stuck around for the spin off films that were made in the late 2010s.

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) -

Hot dang, they made a second one with Wilford Brimley! Both of the Ewok films were thought up by George Lucas and sold to ABC. Both films were also given special Emmy awards for special effects. I can't fault either Ewok film as far as visuals since both got the ILM treatment. I have stated that I liked both of these movies more than some of the prequels, and I stand by that.

The Phantom Menace (1999) -

The next three films followed the first three episodes in the Star Wars saga and are now generally known as the prequels. They are also pretty widely hated. One reason for that was the introduction of young Anikan Skywalker (eventual Darth Vader) and his growing attachment to Lord Palpatine (Darth Sidious). The problem with the prequels is that it was a path leading to a result that had been established over 20 years ago in the first film. They also introduced a character named Jar-Jar Binks who was just awful. There was a great pod racing scene and an epic Sith vs. Jedi battle that really were the highlights of the film. The music was also pretty epic, but the film was otherwise not that great. It was completely made under the helm of George Lucas and fans were suddenly starting to wonder if he was the genius they had thought him to be. What I consider to be the best YouTube deep dive movie review of all time, a group called Red Letter Media made a seven part review that explains why the movie was such a problem. You can watch the first part and it will auto load all seven here:

(1) Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review (Part 1 of 7) - YouTube

Attack of the Clones (2002) -

Alright, here is where things really start to go down hill. There is a fine actor by the name of Hayden Christiansen that is just awful in this film. He is given nothing to do for the most part. He is supposed to be this amazing Jedi general, but he spends most of his time walking around speaking in a very monotone voice. He does have some fun piloting scenes, but he is written as such a whiny brat. There are two epic battles (the coliseum and Dooku vs. Yoda) and we get to see a bounty hunter in action. It does seem like a lot of fan service glued together by boring politics and horrifically bad acting.

Revenge of the Sith (2005) -

This is widely considered the worst of the prequel movies and generally laughable at some points. There is supposed to be an epic lava battle at the end, but it is just a bunch of screaming about a failed bromance. We get to see the end of the characters in the prequel and set up the original movies...that were now almost 30 years old. It was unsatisfying and not even slightly worth the wait. It was at this time that George Lucas said that there would never be a seventh episode that would follow the original trilogy.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) -

There was a very compelling series of Star Wars shorts in 2003 made by Genndy Tartakovsky that did very well. George Lucas saw this and decided that a lot of the most interesting Star Wars events had occurred during the time between the prequels and the original series. Lucasfilm put out an animated movie to test the waters and it was so successful that 7 seasons of great animated adventures were made to show the epic battles that were supposed to take place between the second and third episode. I honestly believe that this was the very best space action of the entire franchise.

The Force Awakens (2015) -

George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise over to Disney and fans got a new movie that was never supposed to happen. Once Disney came on board, the brand became much more prolific. Until the pandemic, there were plans to put out a Star Wars movie every year for a decade. The first was episode seven and was made by J.J. Abrams. It was similar to the first film (episode IV) in so many ways that fans started to think it was just a remake. It even had a lot of the characters from the original trilogy. It was much better received by fans following the prequels and introduced a storyline that was not already spoiled by previous movies. There was a lot of unnecessary fan service for those who loved the original trilogy. This makes since because it involved Lawrence Kasdan, who helped with the screenplay for episode five and six from the original trilogy.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) -

A full big budget release of a Star Wars movie that wasn't one of the episodes was an interesting idea. It was an entire movie to explain a throwaway line from the original 1977 movie. I lot of people died to get some plans for the big weapon in the first film and people wanted to know exactly how that happened. Actually they didn't. But Disney thought it was a good idea and it seemed like it would make a lot of money (it did). It gave the producers a chance to make a movie with new characters and only mentions of the famous story (this was important because the other actors where making the next episode).

The Last Jedi (2017) -

This was an interesting change of pace from the rest of the films because it seemed to drop the idea of the "chosen one" and say that anyone could be a Jedi. It is basically one giant escape story and is closer to Mad Max in space than it is to the other Star Wars films. It was given in full by Disney to Rian Johnson and it shows. This was the first episode film that had nothing in common with any of the production group from the original trilogy. No Kasdan, no Kirschner, no Lucas, all Disney. It was not very well received.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) -

The worst performing of any of the Star Wars live action feature length films, this was the story of Han Solo. That's it. There is not a lot of history about the character and he is so cool, fans needed to have a stand alone movie about his youth. That's a lie, Disney wanted a movie to come out between episode eight and nine. This was the best that the suits could come up with and it definitely made money, but it is lame.

The Rise of Skywalker (2019) -

Well, the movie completely helmed by Rian Johnson was not popular enough so there was a total retcon situation and this film basically picked up where episode seven left off. It was the same team from episode seven (since that film was so much more popular) and they made a final film that wraps up with a bow. Sort of. There was definitely room in the film world for more Star Wars movies to be made (it is owned by Disney) and I really don't believe it is finished as a franchise.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just in case there are people who were nervous that this was the end of the franchise, there is currently a stand alone film called Rogue Squadron that is supposed to come out in 2023. Thank goodness. There was also the popular Mandalorian series on Disney +. But the franchise has been making huge films for almost 45 years now, so maybe it is time to stop. We have the MCU that has made almost twice as much money as the Star Wars universe, so most movie goers have picked their setting that they want to see. Maybe there could be a crossover (I am kidding, please no) and it would be the most watched film of all time.

[riceccakes]

Earth, Wind, and Coffee: Chapter Three Analysis

chapter one analysis | chapter two analysis

back again for another chapter analysis. i think ive been looking forward to this chapter the most, it’s where some big decisions were made!!! this analysis is a long one, i hope that’s all right! i kinda got carried away. so, let’s dive right in, shall we?

some fun stuff before we start!

chapter three was supposed to be the last chapter of the fic

idk if any of you were there when i first started writing this fic, but it was only going to be three chapters with a possible epilogue. however, everything changed when i finished the end of chapter two. (lil atla reference there for ya) (sorry i know that was bad, moving on). like i said in my last analysis, i had an idea of what i wanted to happen (the separation of korrasami) so that they could come back together. it was just a matter of what separates them. so, i’m not sure where i got the panic attack idea but once i did, the rest of the story changed. i realized i couldn’t quite possibly finish the story in one chapter so i split the ideas i had and decided on it being four chapters

now, this being said, maaaaajor changes were made in my story outline. most notably: korrasami was going to be a couple in this chapter

this was originally going to be a full fledged “they meet, they get to know each other, they fall in love, happily every after” but the thing was, i planned on treating their romance as korra’s recovery; that being with asami is what made korra better, that all she needed was a partner, someone to love, and that is not what i wanted to portray with this story. i’ve never been a fan of stories that give a character a love interest and all of sudden their problems are fixed and they’re completely happy, and here i was about to do just that. i knew i’d never respect myself if i continued down this narrative, and when chapter two ended with korra’s panic attack, i realized her growth needed better love and attention. so, i changed what happened and gave her some therapy

this change in the storyline also let me explore more of kuvopal !!! (is that their ship name?)

so, back to LOVE WITCH for a second (because that glorious fic really did steal my heart) not only did it make me love kuvira’s character more, it also got me into the kuvopal relationship! and yet again, i wanted my own go at it. with the original timeline, there was just no space for me to include the lil bread crumbs of their relationship. however, however, however; by splitting the ending between two chapters (and adding some stuff in between) i was able to lay some foundation for them, which im very happy about :)

into the chapter we go:

let’s talk about the meeting! the whole reason this fic came to be! i’ll start by saying i always knew the project was going to get pulled out from under asami. 1) because thats some angsty/hurt shit right there and im a sucker for writing angst 2) i didn’t feel like creating a whole ass presentation because knowing my ass i would’ve made a powerpoint about it so i had every detail down to the font asami used and 3) getting the presentation taken away from asami was a pivotal point in her character arc.

i actually started the chapter in two different ways. at first, i’d written her whole entire morning with there always being one thing that was off. like, instead of a perfect omelette, it was going to split and asami would’ve had a scramble, still good, but not her favorite. instead of going through all green lights on her way to work, asami was gonna meet every. single. red. light. i would’ve gone through with this if it hadn’t felt strange; i wanted to give the impression that something bad was going to happen but i felt like having something go wrong with every thing in her morning was gonna be a dead give away that some even bigger big bad was about to happen, if that makes sense. so instead, i went with the picture perfect scenario, almost too perfect, if you ask me. and indeed, it was too perfect, because hiroshi was too much of a coward to tell his daughter any sooner that his board agreed to get a new presenter

im just gonna cite a bunch of my favorite lines/bits from this chapter because i really enjoyed writing it xD

Iroh has already begun but Asami hears no words, only a blaring ring in her ears. Her face feels hot and she wonders how red she is. She stares at the black binder, notes the natural grooves and curves of the material, the plastic covering over top of it, the metal spine peaking out at the bottom. She’s only brought out of it’s dark trance when she feels a hand be placed on her arm; Kuvira. 

when you’re upset, do you ever just, hyper focus on one thing and its like you’re analyzing it under a microscope for the first time? yes? no? well, i do that, and personally, i do because if i focus on my anger/hurt emotions any more, im going to explode and i dont want to explode. so, this instance about looking at the grooves in the binder and each of the components of it just hits with me, idk if does with you too, but like bruuh.

Asami has her hand over her mouth, silently sobbing, feeling as if she’ll throw up. She leans her head on her wheel, her mind wanders to what could’ve been, what should’ve been. She feels as if her car is closing in on her, that the metal is compacting. The seatbelt keeps her locked down to the driver’s seat and she can’t leave if she wants to. The Satomobile holds her hostage and she lets it. Even while it’s hurting her, even while it’s harshly molding itself onto her, she stays at her father’s heel because, what else is she to do?

this is one of my favorite things ive ever done with asami’s character, is using future industries/satomobiles as a sort of vehicle (heh) for her relationship with her dad. this paragraph just kind of hurts, but the good hurt? but also not good hurt? it’s just, (and not me over here boasting about my writing or anything) it’s so poetic that she has this breakdown and she’s so upset with her dad, i mean “what should’ve been” like, asami KNOWS that the shit that’s just happened is more than wrong, yet asami is still somehow wondering how she can please her dad and it’s in the literal legacy hiroshi built for himself. “she stays at her father’s heel because, what else is she to do?” i remember writing that and being like “shit, am i really gonna do this? yeah” ugh, i could go on forever about how i love this section, but i’ll stop here for now.

Asami begins yelling, screaming at the top of her lungs, letting all the thoughts, all the insecurities her father gave her finally be released into the world. Kuvira lets her, simply nodding and following along on the couch while Asami paces her living room. She spews out word after word, about the work, about the presentation, about Iroh, his position, her position, the company, the CEO, and she only stops when she feels the weight of her father rest on her shoulders.

back with more diction; i really love this paragraph because of how we circle back to hiroshi. note how i first say “the CEO” and then a few words later say “her father” because, in a way, this is asami’s confession that hiroshi is CEO first and father second, if i haven’t already explicitly said so. it’s so heart wrenching and sad but my favorite thing about it is this isn’t even about korra. like THIS right here is a prime example about how i realized this fic became more than just a love story. in the planning stages of this fic, asami was going to go through getting the presentation taken away from her, but what was she going to focus more on? the fact that korra wasn’t around anymore. and yes, asami still does think about korra after this, but so much more happens for her. asami gets to know kuvira more, asami gets to know her lab partners more, (and my personal hc is that they’ve all been lab partners for two years and only NOW asami is getting to be friends with them in their senior year, but hey, better late than never!) and to me, what’s even better, is that a bunch of realizations come to asami w/o korra being there. asami is growing and the idea of being able to grow without needing to have a partner in order to grow is so important to me, not only for the fact that growth should be endless and something you do all the time for yourself, but asami literally wants to share it with korra. not boast about changing and growing and becoming better, but just be better with korra. sdlfakds i swear, im fangirling over my own writing, oops

okay, moving on from The Meeting and onto the rest of the chapter

this dock scene was also another part i wrote beforehand and it had a completely different ending in that asami was going to ask korra out on a date. of course, korra would’ve said yes, and then yay yay happy ending. this didn’t happen and i’m glad it didn’t. in one version of this dock scene, asami was actually going to be upset with korra for disappearing, and even worse, mad that korra wasn’t there to comfort her after the presentation. oof, i know. so so glad i didn’t continue down that line, cause it is toxic, and my girls aren’t like that at all.

Once Korra’s eyes meet hers, Asami says, “That doesn’t mean you always have to be on your own.” She smiles at Korra, at the girl who’s turned her world upside down. Her hand remains on Korra’s cheek and she feels the girl sink into her palm. “I’ll be here for you, and it seems like Tenzin will be too, what with saying he was calling you more. And you have his family, and your own family, even though they’re away, they’re here to support you, we all are. You can still be strong and turn to other people for help. It takes great strength to ask for help and I know for a fact you’re strong enough, those bags of coffee beans were nothing for you.”

i like this line of dialogue here for a few reasons, mostly because asami is so soft and so right and the joke at the really helped lighten the mood but didn’t take away from what she’d just said before. i don’t have too much else about the Reunions section, though if you guys have any questions or anything you wanna point out, please do so! i think what i will say is that i tried to be as real and gentle with korra’s progression. i was so nitpicky about everything i wrote because i didn’t want to get any of it wrong or over dramatized or fake. recovery from anything is so important and it takes time and it’s not a straight line so i hope i did a good job with it the rest of the fic. 

moving on, i love the found family trope and this leads me into the next section, New Friends

when i think about this section, i like how soft it is, and i really enjoy the ending bits: korra recounting memories from the south, asami meeting tenzin. i think what i like about the end of this chapter is that, it kind of leaves the question: what’s next?

asami has grown, she’s changed, she sees the errors of her father’s ways but she’s not excusing them. korra has grown, she’s changing, she’s taken the first step in recovery. now it’s just a matter of, what happens with this growth now. and i really loved how i wrapped up the fic in the next and last chapter, so i hope you enjoy it too :))

honorable mentions:

there were a lot of changes in this chapter and one of them got changed twice! korra was gonna get a therapist but then i was like, we gotta get the krew together, and then i was like supppppoorttttt grouuuppppp, because lets be honest, all the krew has stuff they need to work through, and i know therapy isn’t for everyone, but mental health is so vital and important. asami is an advocate for therapy in the chapter but there are also other means to take care of yourself and your mental health and while i’ve never been to a support group, i understand finding comfort in knowing you’re not alone.

i guess what i’m trying to say is please take care of yourself and dont be afraid to lean on others. i know not everyone has the means to get a therapist/psychiatrist and i know that your friends aren’t made to only be your therapist. buuuut, don’t be afraid to reach out, there’s nothing wrong with needing help and support :)

anything i would’ve wanted to change?

honestly, i think the only thing i would’ve wanted to change was mako’s speech during the support group meeting. for me, it was a lil bit too poetically out of character. not to say i want to change the content, but rather the manner in which it’s presented. other than that though, i really loved writing this chapter :)

so this analysis was reeeaaaalllly long, i understand if not everyone made it to end. anyways, thanks so much for reading this analysis and the fic! once again, i’m very much open to questions and any comments, i love them very much! i’ll see you guys in the next analysis of the final chapter :)

[lilacjaemin]

daisies

pairing: prince!jeno x gender neutral reader

genre: fluffy angst oh yes (plus lil commentaries hehe)

word count: 4.5k

summary: daisies symbolize true love – each daisy is really two flowers blended together in harmony, the center petals are one flower surrounded by the “rays” of another. they mean purity and innocence, one that swears a loyalty to love and a commitment to a shared secrecy. 

a/n: thank you to jeno for being my biggest muse!! oh also thank you to payton for helping me research flowers for this <3

·     royal prince!jeno can’t wait to rule his people and his beautiful kingdom full of flower fields and forests

·     but he can wait a little longer to get married

·     and one night the royal family throws a dinner party and a ball filled with suitors for their son

·     but jeno can’t take the stuffy atmosphere and the hundreds of girls trying to dance with him

·     so he runs off to his favorite spot in his kingdom

·     these rolling hills covered in daisies

·     it’s this pretty valley that nobody else knows about sometimes he goes there when his royal duties are too much and he needs to get away

·     but when he arrives he stumbles across you laying on the hill stargazing, engulfed in the flowers

·     he had no idea anyone else knew about this place

·     he really doesn’t wanna be around any more people tonight but in the dim moonlight he can make out the features of your face

·     he’s never seen you around the castle, and by what you’re wearing you definitely didn’t just run away from the same ball

·     so he carefully approaches and asks if he can join you

·     you sit up, freaked out that someone found this secret spot of yours

·     the figure is in a white button up and a dark blue suit jacket with gold swirls

·     he looks expensive but his eyes are kind

·     so you say okay

·     when he sits down next to you, he smells of many different expensive perfumes, which you find weird

·     you ask what he’s doing out here because by the looks of his dark suit he probably should be at some ball

·     and he says “yeah i should be.”

·     what?

·     and that’s when you notice the gold coronet resting neatly in his hair

·     ohhhhh he’s the prince

·     you’re sitting on the ground with the prince

·     the future king jeno

·     o k a y

·     suddenly jeno thinks he hears something and he’s paranoid of his parents’ royal guards finding him and this spot so he turns to you like did you hear that??

·     and before you could respond, out of nowhere he grabs you?? and dives into the flowers

·     your hands against his chest preventing you from smacking into him

·     he’s pulled you super close, his breathing rapid and eyes closed

·     you’re a little frozen, still in shock the prince just tackled you

·     he waits, realizing he probably just heard a squirrel or something

·     the ~kdrama~ moment happens where he opens his eyes and finds himself staring into yours

·     time stops for a split second, the wind ruffling the grass and daisies surrounding you two

·     and then he regains his composure and helps you up again

·     “are you okay? im so sorry! oh, that was so weird and creepy i just cant get caught out here.”

·     you blink slowly, the surprise wearing off

·     “yeah im totally fine.”

·     well maybe physically, but your heart?? about to beat out of your chest!!

·     jeno reaches his hand out and brushes a strand out of your face, smoothing out the rest of your disheveled hair

·     you swore fire ignited from his fingertips

·     you have to change the subject before you lose it

·     “so…you said you should be at a ball right now?” you clear your throat and brush yourself off

·     “ah, my family is pressing me to find a suitable partner. lately it’s just been dinner after dinner, dance after dance, i hate it.” he sighs, laying back into the hillside

·     “you hate people trying to get your attention?”

·     “i want to marry once i fall in love, not because they would be a good ruler of the kingdom.”

·     “i see.” you whisper, laying down beside him

·     “ i love my family, i love this kingdom and i can’t wait to rule but i wish that one part of my life could be normal. i tried to have the most normal childhood i could manage. i did everything i could to grow up and feel like everyone else, but nobody else has to have arranged marriages, so why do i?”

·     you stay quiet, soaking his words in, watching the moon as jeno continues to your right

·     “love seems incredible. i just wanna experience it for real. i don’t want someone ive only met a handful of times before our wedding, no matter how extravagant the whole thing is. i’ve tried so many times to explain to my parents that i can rule by myself for the time being and then ill find a partner, but they won’t let me.”

·     you listen to his worries, the whole time not realizing that your hand had made its way to rest on jeno’s arm

·     it’s something you do to comfort others, but he turns his head to look at you and you immediately pull away

·     you start apologizing, saying how it’s just a habit you have, but he stops you

·     “no no it’s okay, it feels nice to have someone really listening to me.” he smiles

·     oh his smile is beautiful, it shines brighter than the moon above

·     “i never get to hang out with other people my age and not have a bunch of royalty stuff looming over my head.”

·     you were just in awe that the prince who has it all is unhappy and you feel so bad and just wanna hug him because honestly he’s so cute

·     you listen while he rants about his duties and how stuck up some of the royal advisors are and how every suitor he meets is in it just for the wealth, they don’t really care about the him as a person

·     he asks what your take on it is and you talk about your views on love

·     you’re saying how you think it’s the most beautiful thing and that you’ve seen it in your parents and you want it so badly, but it always feels like all of the people in town don’t want a serious relationship

·     “i want to meet someone that makes every star look pale in comparison. i come out here to look at the night sky and hope that somewhere, the one i’m meant to be with is looking at it too.”

·     and jeno nods

·     he completely understands

·     “my family says i’m crazy for thinking that way. but i work in a library, im surrounded by incredible stories of romance, how can i not hope for one myself?”

·     he’s fascinated at the fact that you can date normally but don’t because you say there’s no one out there

·     jeno assures you there’s people out there, he has to meet with them constantly, he just never gets along with any of them

·     you talk about royal life into the late hours of the night

·     jeno is just so happy to have someone genuinely interested in his thoughts and feelings

·     he’s giddy, ranting about his plans for the kingdom and his goals for the future

·     you don’t know when you drift off, but you remember hearing his warm voice fade away

·     and you fall asleep on his shoulder

·     jeno doesn’t remember when he drifts off, but he remembers feeling your warmth at his side

·     when he wakes up at sunrise, jeno is like oh i‘m so dead they’re never gonna let me out of the castle ever again !!

·     but he looks at you, sleeping peacefully against him with daisies framing your face

·     he feels his heart do a backflip

·     is this how it’s supposed to feel? there’s not supposed to be a sense of dread pooling in his stomach like there is when a suitor walks in? interesting

·     gently waking you up, he tells you he has to run to get back to the castle

·     but he promises you he’ll do everything he can to come back to this spot to meet you and stargaze again

·     “i’ll be here.” you say sleepily, smiling at his messy hair

·     when he gets home his parents are like oh you are in so much trouble we threw that ball for you and you LEFT?? AND WE SEARCHED ALL OVER AND COULDNT FIND YOU?? WE THOUGHT YOU WERE KIDNAPPED??

·     and jeno is like um. oops? trying to contain his smile when he thinks of you and your soft hand on his arm

·     he gets read the riot act and is told if it happens again there will be serious consequences

·     and jeno never gets in trouble so this is big

·     but he’s willing to take the risk

·     for weeks he sneaks out and runs to the field each and every night

·     finding more reasons to love being in your company than there are stars in the sky

·     one night before dawn broke you stopped playing with the hem of your shirt

·     “i was thinking about what you told me the first night we met.” you say, eyes glued to the ground

·     “i know you’ll find somebody, and not just because you’re a prince. you will find someone who loves you for your heart, not just the riches.”

·     he stares at you, something in his eyes you couldn’t quite pin

·     jeno was glad it was dark, if not you would’ve seen the red dusting on his cheeks

·     “y-you’ll find someone too. i know it.”

·     its quiet for a minute and then very subtly, jeno grabs your hand

·     “is this okay?”

·     “of course it is. now can you tell me about the secret royal garden? i heard its incredible.”

·     you lay on your side and spend the rest of the night finding the stars in his eyes

·     another dinner is scheduled, this time with the family of a neighboring kingdom

·     this family has a daughter the same age as jeno

·     he knows in his gut that his parents want him to be with her

·     but he can’t shake the feeling of your hands in his

·     it’s where they belong

·     nevertheless, he fake smiles through the meal, tensing when she tries to reach for his arm across the table

·     after the disaster of a dinner, jeno sneaks away again

·     you can tell by the look on his face that he needs a hug

·     “i don’t want to be with her.” he breathes into your neck

·     “you’re sure you can’t talk to your parents about this?” you say, running your hand through his dark hair

·     “they don’t listen. i’ve tried, they just won’t listen.”

·     you hold him close, wracking your brain for a solution to this problem

·     but there seems to be none

·     jeno creeps back to the castle after spending the whole night wrapped in your arms

·     but the queen is waiting for him in his chamber when he opens the door

·     he’s banned from leaving the castle without supervision until he gets married

·     he’s never sent out unless it’s with a guard

·     he’s devastated and frustrated because he wants to sneak away to you but someone is always watching

·     he feels like he lost the one person who understood him the most

·     one day he goes into the castle library in an effort to get some peace

·     to his surprise, you are working in the front

·     you hear a gasp and when you look up jeno stands before you

·     “this library? you work in the castle and never told me!?”

·     “no, the town’s library is overstaffed because of the summer, so i took the job opening here. i always waited for you to come in and find out, but i guess you don’t use the library as much as i imagined.” you laugh

·     your heart is beating like crazy seeing him again

·     you bring him to your favorite little poetry corner, out of view of the entrance

·     huddled in amongst the books he takes hold of your hands

·     you can see him visibly relax when he feels your palms against his

·     “im so sorry, i tried so hard to go meet you but they have guards on me at all times. they won’t let me out of their sight.” he looks frantic

·     “jeno, i’ll wait however long it takes to be together. i still go to our spot every night, i still wait for you. i always will.” you reassure him

·     his brows unfurrow and he smiles, pulling you close to his chest

·     his heartbeat is soothing against your cheek and you realize just how much you missed him

·     “oh, i have something for you.” you reach into the last of the shelves, pulling out a thick worn book

·     he watches in confusion as you open to a page in the center

·     “here, i pressed these for you. for the nights when you can’t come visit, just know i’m there.” you show him two dry daisies, careful not to blow them away

·     his face lights up, gently taking the book from you and running a finger over their stems

·     he’s about to thank you when you hear someone call for him from the door

·     he frowns and shuts the book, tucking it under his arm

·     he presses a soft kiss to your forehead before scurrying off, leaving your skin burning and your mind dizzy

·     jeno’s parents are sure the princess from the neighboring kingdom is the one

·     and jeno can feel his stomach drop to his feet when they tell him

·     desperate to get to you, he tricks his guards into getting him something from the other side of the castle

·     he shimmies down his balcony and runs as fast as his legs can take him to the field before they can send search parties out for him

·     he grabs you by your shoulders and frantically tells you that they’re arranging his marriage

·     but it’s not what he wants, he can’t stop thinking about you

·     “jeno.” you whisper, pointing behind him

·     you see lanterns come over the hill and horses trample over the flowers

·     jeno stands in front of you to protect you but guards pull him away

·     he’s yelling at them to stop but they’re angry

·     you feel like you can’t breathe

·     one of the advisors recognizes you from the library and tells you never to come back to the castle

·     you stand and watch with teary eyes as jeno is dragged away and the candles fade into the night

·     a few weeks go by and you get word that the prince is betrothed to marry the princess and you’re absolutely heartbroken

·     you know jeno doesn’t want that

·     and even if it isn’t you that gets to be with him, you still want him to be happy

·     out of a job, you ask a family friend who works as a florist to hire you

·     “of course! we need all the help we can get for this wedding!”

·     oh no

·     your heart breaks even more but your family needs the money

·     you arrive a few days before to set up the decor and pray the the guards from that night don’t recognize you

·     and as much as it hurts, you hope you don’t run into jeno

·     but to your dismay he walks in with the princess and you feel your world collapse

·     you meet his gaze while they check on the ballroom’s set up and you can see the light behind his eyes go dim

·     suddenly he yells “NO! THIS IS ALL WRONG! WE NEED TO HAVE A MEETING TO DISCUSS THE DECOR IMMEDIATELY!”

·     he finds a way to break away from the princess just for a second and whispers to meet him at a different spot tonight

·     he says it’s under the willow tree at the edge of the forest by the stream and you nod

·     “the flower arrangements around the altar are hideous.” he goes back to frowning, trying his hardest not to steal glances at you anymore

·     you are sure there’s no way he could get away again but lo and behold you hear footsteps approaching

·     you run into jeno’s arms, worried this would be the last time you could ever hold him

·     he cups your cheeks, staring into your eyes

·     “we don’t have much time but i promise i’m not marrying her. we’ll figure something out, we’ll run away together, we’ll do something, but i promise i am not marrying her.”

·     he tries to assure you it’ll all be okay and he’s so certain it will be that you begin to believe him

·     but you hear footsteps again

·     lots of them

·     and you and jeno can hardly see because of the tears in both your eyes but you can hear the impending doom

·     there aren’t even words to say to each other, its over

·     it’s all over now

·     he kisses your forehead, then your cheek, letting his lips linger against your skin

·     jeno is ripped from your arms and both of you are taken back to the castle

·     they throw you in the dungeon and tell you that you’re going to have a meeting with the king and queen in the morning

·     you sit on the cold stone floor and cry into your palms, desperately trying to remember how jeno’s lips felt on your face

·     the next day you’re led out in shackles

·     you sit in front of the royals and the queen is furious

·     she’s yelling how dare you try and ruin her kingdom by getting in the way of her son’s relationship, how dare you still try and meet with him after everything that’s happened

·     she’s close to banishing you from the kingdom entirely when jeno runs in, “don’t you understand? im in love with them!” 

·     jeno loves you

·     “would you rather the kingdom be run by a miserable king or a happy one?” he’s crying and you want nothing more than to wipe his tears away but the shackles keep you planted to the ground

·     you’re exhausted and cold and sad and hungry and you have no fight left in you

·     the queen can’t believe what she’s hearing

·     “you would put your future people in danger for this peasant?”

·     “i would rather give up the throne entirely than marry that princess.”

·     “how could you say that? i didn’t raise you this way! i raised you to be a selfless leader!”

·     “how could you expect me to lead these people well if im unhappy?”

·     she pauses momentarily, a softness seeping into her eyes, but it quickly fades when she looks back at you

·     the queen is still fuming

·     “we’re going ahead with the arranged marriage and that’s final, jeno.”

·     she turns to you and tells you after you’re done helping with the wedding you’re never going to see jeno ever again

·     he cries out, running to kneel in front of you and taking your face in his hands

·     “jeno,” you say weakly, “its okay. i hope you can find happiness.” you try to smile for him but everything hurts

·     his mother watches the sad scene unfold in front of her with a tightlipped expression

·     “and i love you too, moonlight.” you whisper

·     he laughs bitterly, tears falling onto your heavy arms

·     he leans forward to kiss you

·     but his guards grab him and take him away before his lips reach yours

·     he yells your name all the way down the hall, kicking and thrashing to try and break free

·     you hang your head in sadness and feel a sob wrack through your body

·     its over

·     the day of the wedding arrives and you solemnly finish the bouquet for the bride

·     you fill it with orange mock flowers (they represent deceit) quickly hiding the daisies they had brought for it instead

·     you try to find someone to deliver it to her but everyone is bustling around trying to add the final touches

·     you trudge to her chamber and knock, hoping to place the flowers down and leave as soon as possible

·     but she invites you inside and you dig your nails in your palms to keep it together

·     she’s pretty, but from what jeno has told you about her the only thing she cares about is power

·     “so i heard you’re the one who tried to break us up.” she says through an unnerving smile

·     you stay silent

·     “its such a shame really. jeno is really torn up over you. he’s too sad to think straight. he sits in bed with this old poetry book, but he never turns the page. i think he’s gone crazy, he doesn’t even speak! but i won’t need him for much longer. once i’m in line for the throne i won’t even need to look at him.” she twirls her finger around the center of the bouquet

·     “and when i’m queen, you’ll be banished. it’s a win win!” she laughs, brushing past you to leave, “oh, and do stay for the wedding. i wanna make sure you see this.” you can hear the venom laced in her words

·     your hands are numb, four dark crescents in each palm

·     jeno stands at the altar in his dark blue suit, the same from the night you met him

·     he’s pale, rings of purple under his eyes, his hands in fists, a daisy in his pocket, you can tell he’s biting his cheek

·     you stand behind the tall vase at the back of the ballroom, peeking through the flowers

·     the music begins and in walks the princess, and jeno has never looked unhappier in his life

·     he’s barely holding her hands, nothing like the way he held yours

·     the priest asks if he takes this woman to be his lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as they both shall live

·     you hold your breath

·     it’s silent

·     the princess is smiling, but if looks could kill jeno would’ve been struck down immediately

·     “jeno?”

·     silence

·     a tear rolls down his face and you can see his body visibly shake

·     “no.” he says as firmly as he can

·     the crowd gasps

·     he drops her hands and begins to walk off when the king comes up next to him

·     “you better get back up there right now and finish this.”

·     “no.”

·     “what did you just say?”

·     “i said no, i’m saying no, i’ve been saying no. ever since i was little i’ve thought about what it would be like when i fell in love for the first time. i’d see the way you looked at mom and i thought i can’t wait for the day where i love someone so much i look at them the same way. and funny enough i did find that love. i fell in love in a field of flowers with someone who is more beautiful inside and out than the moon and all the stars combined. i finally found the prettiest flower of them all and i won’t stop fighting for them.”

·     he pauses and turns to look at his dad

·     “i know im going against your word, but you always told me a good king was one who finds strength in those around him, one who grows and rules to the best of his ability, and i’m the strongest when i’m with them, dad.”

·     he turns to the crowd, desperation dripping off his words

·     “i want to be a ruler you’re all proud of, but what kind of king would i be if i didn’t fight for what i want most?”

·     you didn’t realize you were crying until your tears ran down your neck

·     the queen stands up and you fear the worst for both you and jeno

·     “you really love them? you love them this much?”

·     “mother, i’ve always wanted true love. you know that. and i can’t see myself with anyone else.”

·     the princess is throwing daggers with her eyes behind them

·     the queen pauses for a moment and without turning around she says “come up here.”

·     you hesitantly walk up the aisle in your raggedy work clothes, your heartbeat pounding between your ears at all the eyes on you

·     jeno gasps “you were still here?”

·     “in no way are you ready to become royalty let alone a ruler, but i’ve never seen jeno stand up to us like this before, and i must admit it hurt my heart to not be able to give him the true love he wished for all these years. it’s not that i didn’t want him to experience it, i just wanted him to have the best partner for ruling over his people. but i think i caused more harm than good in doing so. you seem to really love him, and that’s all a mother could ever want for her child. if you promise to take all of the classes and lessons you need and work extremely hard to learn about this kingdom and what’s best for it, i’ll agree to you dating him. if you meet my husband’s and my approval, then maybe we can discuss marriage.”

·     “what!? absolutely not!” the princess stomps her foot “i’m supposed to be queen!”

·     “you never cared about my son anyway. get in your carriage and go back to your kingdom.” the king hisses

·     she throws her bouquet to the ground and storms out

·     both you and jeno are speechless, silent tears rolling down your faces

·     you thank the queen endlessly, promising to do whatever it takes

·     you cling on to him, trying not to collapse to the floor

·     “i almost lost you.” you say into the fabric of his suit

·     “never.” he mumbles into your hair

·     you walk hand in hand, fingers intertwined, back to your field

·     you lay down in the flowers and never let go of each other

·     tears wiped away with kisses

·     fingertips tracing the shape of your mouth

·     as the stars begin to poke out of the sky jeno connects your lips

·     it isn’t until the sun peeks up over the hill that he pulls away

·     and a year to the day you first met the prince in the valley, you stand in the same place, amongst the same daisies, under the same stars, reciting vows to each other’s teary eyes

[galacticbugman]

My Favorite Insects

Well howdy ya’ll Galactic Bug Man here with another blog post. Sorry this is long over due I have been busy with school and I have had some family issues that needed to be resolved this last few months but I am back with another blog post and just in time for the start of *drum roll* *fanfare* INSECT SEASON! or just spring. 

So In my last post that was back in November I said that I would talk about what are my favorite insects. For the record some people may tell you that you can only have one or two favorites of everything. Well for me that has always been hard for me. Anything that interests me automatically becomes an obsession with me. With the autism it is kind of hard to ignore things that have a profound interest with me. Some people just have one favorite or each category. As for my goofy/nerdy self I have many favorites on many levels. For me I don’t just have one favorite science fiction TV Show or movie, same goes for Cartoons, comedies, food...eh you get the picture. Anyway I don’t just have a single favorite family of animals or just one favorite species for each. 

In my line of a hobby it is the thrill of the search and an encounter goes. For me favorites come in many forms and have different lifestyles, and sometimes the story that will form when I find an organism helps make an organism my favorite. So there are many things that add up to make an organism a favorite. For me it is all of these put together. Even though I am a storyteller of sorts and love to share experiences I have had finding certain species. So now let us go into some of  my favorites from the world of insects. Even though I am a birder too think I am just going to leave this post strictly for the insects. Just FYI I am expanding my blog to more than just insects. In the future I will be talking about birds, mammals, and all things natural. So with that said let us dive in to Insect family #1... 

Beetles have become a growing obsession for me in the last few years. Back when I was in the Future Farmers of America I participated in an entomology contest once in the spring of 2011 then I did another one in spring of 2012.It was like a UIL contest of sorts but it was an FFA governed contest. We had to study a list of 125 or 150 insects I can’t really remember the amount we had to ID but it was a lot. The Texas Ironclad Beetle was one of the many on the list. (the picture was a photo I took of one during the 2017 iNaturalist City Nature Challenge of that same species.) The FFA contest really opened my eyes to loving the insect world. I became quite interested in the lives of insects and the ways they work. Butterflies had always been a favorite subject of mine ever since I was in grade school. My late grandmother (who passed away back in August of last year) got me butterflies and we had a garden at the house we moved from back in April for a long time. Most insects didn’t really appeal to me until my time with the Martin High School FFA. Me and the teams I had both years won first prize at the contests so that is how my love for loving insects a lot more than I did started to grow. Beetles started to grow on me. There have been many species that I have seen in the last few years that I wouldn’t believe existed. Some are just so amazing to watch and to photograph. 

 A growing favorite group of mine would have to be the Tiger Beetles. They are some of the prettiest and most vibrant colored of the beetles. This one was found at Thora Hart Park a few blocks from where I live now. We moved back in April of last year. This was found on one of our getting ready to move days. This guy is called a Chartreuse Tiger Beetle. It is a really shiny one. I found this one on one of the sand paths out there in the back forty of the park. It is small but the number of Tigers is amazing. There are a lot of deep sands out there and on any given hot and sunny day they will be out. Tiger Beetles are known for being fast throughout their lives. They have good eyesight even when they are larva which is kind of interesting for an insect. They are also predatory their whole lives. With a sharp pair of scissor-like mandibles and a tiger like attitude they are a fascinating beetle to observe. Both fast runners and fast fliers they one of an insect’s worst nightmares. This one was really cool. I saw this flash of green and blue. Then it landed in front of me and then I saw a flash of red. These guys are actually yellow on their wing covers; but when the sun hits them just right they shine a bright reddish orange color. That is what makes them really appealing to me. We all like shiny things don’t we? Shiny rocks, Pokemon, silver, gold. You name it people love shiny objects. For me shiny beetles are no different. 

Another one of my favorites is this one called the Carolina Tiger Beetle. This one was one cool Tiger Beetle. I was out at a park called Parr Park in Grapevine Texas. There was a bunch of these guys running about the light traps we were using during one of our field investigations which was a Moth Night. A moth night or mothing event is where you set out lights with different wave lengths and purposely attract insects to photograph and document them. I have been on several in the last couple of years and they are loads of fun. They are cool because you don’t always get to see the creatures of the nocturnal world that often if you are a day person. Me I am more of an afternoon and night person. I have never been much of a morning person.That doesn’t mean I won’t get up early some days and go early morning birding or something like that. I do that sort of thing all the time but the night time when it is really muggy and sticky outside the bugs just come from out of the wood work. I don’t suggest doing those kinds of events if you don’t like bugs touching you or if you have a fear of insects because they will get into you mouth and your hair. Anyway getting back on track. I had my flashlight on and I was just looking down to see what I could find. I saw a couple of purple streaks running around at the base of our sheets that the bugs would cling to while we took photos. These guys really catch your eye and the refection from a headlamp or a flashlight is amazing when the light bounces off these guys. It is amazing how shiny they are. That is why I love these guys because one they are appealing by vibrancy in color and by their amazing patterns and shades. They are amazing little creatures. They are tiny and you can easily miss them. That is why you will not have tour guide going to have a tour guide with a group of people looking for these guys. They are too small and will flee in an instant. Still going out by yourself will be your best bet on seeing these guys. 

Another one of my favorite beetles is this kind. This one is known by only a scientific name. It is called Zygogramma Heterothecae. It is a mouth full I know. This photo was taken at Tarrant County College’s South Campus where I go to school. I found this guy on one of my study breaks. On most study breaks I either go to the school’s game room and hang out with the other nerds or I go out and see what insects I can find so I can upload them to iNaturalist. This guy was at one of the best places to look for insects on campus (the library). This guy was the first one I have seen. Just look at those markings; it almost looks like a tribal painting or something from a tropical land. It is amazing how these guys look. I posted it to the iNaturalist website and turns out it had never been found in the Metroplex before so I got to expand its range just a little bit. That is another factor that makes an insect my favorite for its rarity or if it is a new one for a new range of territory. I have expanded ranges for a lot of insects on iNaturalist in the three years I have been using it. It is not that I am a big shot or anything it is just that I like to take pictures of everything from common insects and birds to the really hard to see ones. It is often the small things that are the least observed. I don’t know just how many species in total I have expanded for but I have also found several firsts for many parks around the area. One of my friends tries to give me the big head and calls me a rockstar. The truth is I am no rockstar or super naturalist I am just doing what a citizen scientist does take photos and send them on the database website and let nature take its course. I mean it is cool that I have found a lot of species that are rare and maybe out of place but I am not one who likes to take credit; I am the kind of person that likes to give credit when it is due. I have always been modest in this case. But yes finding rare things like this adds to the value. 

Sometimes a bug just has to look like a spaceship or an visitor from another world to get my vote. Many insects I encounter remind me of things from Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica (1978 version with the Ovion Bug People) among other science fiction movies and TV shows. This guy Delphinia Picta or Picture Winged Fly is a wild looking one. It almost reminds me of the Bounty Hunter Greedo that worked for Jabba the Hutt that Han Solo blew away with his laser pistol in Star Wars IV A New Hope. It has a head that looks just like Greedo’s face minus the green with the bumpy texture and the funny looking ears. This guy is just bizarre looking all together. It looks like a starship with a Greedo head. so that is kind of fun and adds to the favorites if they remind you of fun things like that. Many insects in my mind always look like a sci-fi or horror movie monster from the 1930s- 1960s with the B horror classics. That is just it with being a nerd you see things like that out in nature and as a huge nerd of science fiction and stuff like that I have a lot of fun with it. I seriously can’t be out with a group on a BioBlitz see a bug and shoot off my mouth with some kind of silly science fiction reference. Thankfully I am with people that get it so I am safe but yes it is true that I can’t go a day without referencing a TV show, movie, or book. I am just that kind of guy even when it comes to nature. I surprised no one has gotten sick of me yet in my naturalist group. Lets look at another insect that looks like an alien shall we. 

This guy is called the Wheel Bug. Named after its weird Buzz Saw like blade on his midsection. I am surprised that when they made the Starship Troopers series they didn’t make a bug that looked like this monster. This guy is a true monster. I It conjurers up a lot of science fiction nightmares just by looking at it but man I live for this kind of stuff. I love weird looking bugs. The weirder the creature the more blown my mind is. Sometimes the things with a face only a mother could love are the best things to look at. This guy you do not want to pick up just FYI. It can bite and it bites hard. I have never been bitten but good golly I know people that have been bitten and they say it is a feeling you don’t want to have. It may not kill you but it can leave one nasty mark. This guy is a member of the Assassin Bug group and it is one of the largest. Most assassins don’t get this big but these guys are over an inch long in some cases. They are a true monster but heck just as long as you keep your distance they can’t hurt you. So that is one factor for me I guess. Some animals like elephants may remind you of Dumbo or a baby deer may remind you of Bambi. However if you are into bugs and a pop culture nerd you will probably be seeing some Close Encounters business. Just saying I have been on the sci-fi bandwagon all my life and let me tell you some insects get even stranger and bring even more science fiction stuff to the table. 

Some times it just has to have a fun name to say and since we just went down a path of sci-fi reference I think this one would be great to talk about. This little butterfly is known as a Phaon Crescent. I think that name sounds so much like a ship name (just the Phaon part). This guy is a very pretty butterfly that looks very much like a starburst or a disco ball. It is a very interesting butterfly and is just as small as its sister species called the Pearl Crescent which we get here in Texas too. These are not as common for me on a more personal note but they do happen quite frequently. Both are really pretty but this one gets bonus points for having such a cool name. 

Sometimes to be a favorite they have to look weird before you can figure them out and know what they are doing. As in this case for this little Yellow-collared Slug Moth. You see that arched thing? that is its butt. I am just going to say this now like I have said so many times I am glad I don’t have to put my face near my butt for protection. This moth is in its defensive position. I was in a group doing another event out at Parr Park and I was coming back with a few other and I spotted him on a garbage can and we couldn’t figure out what he was or what exactly he was doing. So yes sometimes the oddest bits of behavior help with the humor of a potential favorite observation.This guy was just doing what he does best when not looking for food or a mate. 1. he had chosen a good hiding spot that matched his color. 2. he was just in the defense position so that way nothing serious would happen to him if he was attacked. 3. It just looked funny to us. We all gave it crazy bewildered looks trying to make heads or tails out of it. Turns out many moths do the same thing like the Eggplant Leaf-roller Moth and others. So sometimes the things we don’t understand may seem like a good laugh and that could add to a fond memory. 

So that is it some of my favorite insect moments frozen in time. I have tons more favorites but it is kind of hard to cram them all into a single blog post when you have over 5,000 observations and over 1,370 species on your life list. That is kind of hard to pick and choose all of your favorites. I would like to hear what your favorite animals are and how you pick and choose your favorites. So until we meet again readers stay tuned for more from me Galactic Bug Man. I will see you on the trail. See you soon! gotta run. 

[cheswirls]

a quick sum-up of che’s future career plans, bc reasons

im halfway through the dive!! anime show that came out this summer season, and i’m having a lot of thoughts, and plus i finished going through all the footage i missed today of skate america while i was at a bball game, and it’s made me realize different things i guess? 

it might be mid-long length so its going under a cut, but to gain intereststart off, this is all about my desire to be an athletic trainer for the usa olympic center at colorado springs, co !

ive been an at(now when you see that abb. you know what it means hah!! not assistant teacher hmm) student since my freshman year of high school, and i’ve loved it a whole bunch. back then i was set on going to columbia U for their writing program, and i wanted to major in graphic design afterwards/during/it wasnt super planned out i was a fr. i didnt know what bfa or mfa stood for yet. it wasnt until end of sophomore year than i thought about being an at for realsies.

but i also still loved gd. so there was a confliction there.

junior year i took a break from working volleyball in the fall and did my one and only year of football and it was terrible primarily bc the team i worked with didnt know how to function as a group and half the group were selfless bitch whores but like thats another storyyy, secondly bc i jus really discovered i didnt care abt football at all. it was mostly for the experience and i gained it and i liked it bc i hung out w a lot of people from helping out w varsity (i was one of two our of the five juniors that had been there since my fr year and was only on jv bc it was my first year w football, but one of the seniors had to work a bunch so when they needed an extra person i was the one w the most experience so i was w them a lot,) point was it was fun!!! and you have fun w ppl you like that you dont work w all the time and i shouldnt say fun bc lots of times it was awful,

basically! it was fun being w the varsity trainers which were the seniors and the other junior that had been around since fr year. volleyball was fun but it had always been a one-at-student-per-team sport , so it was different jus being w other ats that shared the same team and not the same sport(which in the us is made up of at least three different teams, a fr,jv,and varsity). it was a more open environment and so it inspired a lot of talk with the at grad students we had that semester (we got 3-4 every semester in a partnership w the D1 uni in town, it was always cool to hear stories from them!) and anyway i remember talking w a couple of the grads one practice and we were discussing all the different occupations athletic trainers could have, and what they wanted to work with in the future, and the topic veered towards professional sports and the olympics.

i thought it was really cool when we were talking about it, and then we got busy and it flew out of my mind. i dont remember when it came back and became a focus, but sometime before my senior year, i had decided i wanted to work at the olympic level.

real quick i mentioned gd and the struggle, so to bring that into focus, my junior year i took a whole bunch of different tech classes (gd&i, compsci, webtech) and in one of those, i had the opportunity to go to a ... i cant remember what the term was for it, but it was kinda an event for gd students and it had a little competition and stuff, and it was really fun! nd you got a lot of info abt the community college hosting it and i learned their program was really good, so the gd versus at internal struggle continued, and i remember talking to my sponsor teacher (she actually taught all three of my tech classes that year aaa i loved her) about how i didnt know what to do and shit and i dunno what she told me but like, i think she was trying to be encouraging but she basically said it was up to me, like she didnt try and nod me into a direction, that i can recall.

so SOMEHOW bc i honestly cannot remember, by senior year i’ve decided that im gonna jus fuck it and pick BOTH and double major in gd and athletic training. AND i had it all planned out, where i was gonna get a degree in gd and open up an online business, and then go into a masters program for at and then enter into the olympic field. 

by this point creative writing is still cool and a great hobby but i couldnt possibly double major AND have a minor that’d be too much. id still love to take a cw course tho one day.

basically a buncha crazy stuff happened that first semester but by winter break i had an acceptance letter to a uni a couple hours north of home with a good accredited undergrad program (accredited basically means you graduate w a masters in four years so its fasttracked which woulda been great but uh..) and by the time i found out that next semester that they were doing away with the accredited program i was already too emotionally invested to consider panic-switching(panic bc it was february and id already been admitted hah...) but i decided it’d be okay. basically if you dont remember/werent around one of my school’s head ats died in a car crash died around early october ‘16. she went to undergrad where i go now, and i’d talked to her about it september that semester wondering if she knew anything abt their program and uh surprise, she’d done the same program small world. after the funeral in november and a ton of thought i applied there. (november was.. crazy in general last year. rly crazy)

may was when i started adding on sports to the future olympics job, bc i started thinking about it and after finally getting a friend to watch yuri on ice, he started making his was through all of sochi’s figure skating stuff, and then the 2010 vancouver olympics, and i decided i wanted to recap a bit on that too.

the 2010 olympics was really my first experience with figure skating. i’m a west texas gal and so theres not a lot out here to get exposed to, so seeing these best-of-the-best class sports was fun, and the earliest experience i can remember of such. i was in fifth grade so i dont remember a ton, but i do remember being captivated by korea’s yuna kim, who won gold that year in fs. shes an fs legend at this point, so if you’re into figure skating and don’t know who she is, go look her up. you wont be disappointed.

in 2012 was the london olympics. i remember a lot from it, like watching the opening ceremony with my parents and seeing the queen jump out of a helicoptor(which is like,, still cool to this day wow) and being fascinated my michael phelps and all the swimming he did so grandly. it was also my first real exposure to diving. the oldest i could recall anything abt the sport was at a pizza hut somewhere.. in town i think, and i was w my best friend at the time and my mom was there so i think maybe we were on the way back from the lake??? sounds right, i think. and we were talking abt how i always held my nose when i went underwater bc i didnt know how to not get water all up my nostrils and be underwter(and i still dont to this day aha) and she mentioned like, joining a diving team would be cool! would help me get over it and all! and i like recalling it dunno what she was talking abt bc we lived in dirt city nothing so i highly doubt there was or is any sort of diving sport happening. swimming, yeah maybe, there were lessons at pools and bodyworks areas around town, competitive teams im not sure tho, but not diving like at all so??? dunno.

so my next and technically first real experience with it was watching the london olympics. and i thought, wow, this is so neat!! i watched from that one day like the opening events, and i think i was old enough to search online like yea i had a laptop by then so i looked up the schedule for the things i wanted to see most of, and i ended up watching i think most of the diving events (i missed a couple for.. archery, i think? maybe?) and absolutely loving it. iunno what it was, maybe something i never thought i could do?(bc not hold my nose?? while i dove???????? scaryy) but i enjoyed it a bunch.

i was older when sochi was a thing, my 8th grade year. i was able to appreciate things a lot more. when i tuned into events, tony hawk and snowboarding were the main focus, but figure skating was on a lot as well. i had a tv in my room by that point, so if i didnt like what was playing on the main tv, i could go watch another event. i learned a lot of names and faces through that, and so while my bff was watching it our senior year if i was with him id point out skaters and their nationalities and stuff, like yuzuru hanyus always been a modern day household name w figure skating, but i leanred abt him BECAUSE of the sochi olympics, and he was one of the ones i’ve never forgotten. i really really liked it, so much that i watched worlds after, and around the same time my fr year, i tuned in to just the worlds championship again. i didn’t pick up trying to watch grand prix(which is their regular season, for those unaware) season until my junior year, and most of it was day-or-two-late videos from youtube, since the ice channel i think it a paid-for thing (i still dont know much abt it hah) and nothing was on tv otherwise, aside from the skate america event. but since that first time after sochi, ive always been around watching worlds fs near the beg of each year. i’d familiarized myself by senior year with the fs world, and actually,

early (i think march?) of my junior year, i searched up trying to find a figure skating anime at the time. and what did i find?? ginban, the only figure skating anime at the time. i watched like maybe all of one episode, it was abt a girl who shared her body w the ghost of a former figure skater while she was competing in events, and it was.. okay? lackluster, in the animation dept, but it was a 2005 show so.. yeah.

so after that i was like kk that wasnt good lets find another. and i didnt. not yet, anyway. instead, i found an announcement for violet evergarden’s animated adaptation, and yuri on ice, a realistic adaptation of the sport of figure skating. thats bolded bc its important. i found that shit abt yoi before it even had a promo poster, certainly before the pv came around that got everyone hyped up. i found it bc i was looking for figure skating in the first place. in fact, i think when the pv came out and got popular, i didnt even relate it to the upcoming fs anime i’d read about previously. it took me a bit to connect the dots. 

watching yuri on ice at the same time as the gp 2016 season was surreal, but really interesting. i got my bff into it before the second to last episode came out, and i only remember that bc he finally showed any interest when he found something on twitter abt it being gay (newsflash/// hes gay, and before yoi his fav show was no6 bc that was as close as it got. he still rly likes it, we both do, but his solid favc is now definitely yoi. representation matters and all) and was like well now i HAVE to watch it and i was all yes it ends soon so pls. and he watched it twice in a weekend, and thrice before the finale came out, and then a few more times after that, iunno how many times but certainly more thn i have(i went back after the .. maybe ep 10? w/e ending had the after party reveal that changed everything, so i went back to analyze everything before the next ep) and between the week of 11 and finale 12, he started watching the sochi fs competition, and then the 2010 after the show ended w ep 12. 

seeing this great fs show and getting a friend into the world of figure skating really renewed my love for it all. before the semester went out i went back and watched the reruns of the sochi fs stuff. and by may i’d decided i wanted to cosider that to be the sport i worked with.

with diving, it took a similar twist. in the form of the rio 16 olympics. i was all over that shit, i downloaded an nbc app on my phone so i could watch events live while i traveled with volleyball to a tournament in dallas and while i was at practice w them at home and generally jus away from the house and a tv. i planned that shit out had a schedule and everything for what i was watching live, and a lot of it was swimming, but a whoooole lot of live stuff was the diving. 

in the hotel room in dallas the tv would always be on to w/e olympics events were airing at the time, either track or diving tho, one or the other, or recaps. quite a few girls ended up in the room in the evening and we’d all do stuff and watch in passing at the same time, and it was suuuuuper fun. watching the chinese women perform flawlessly and walk away w all the gold was fun, but finding a good commentator to actually say such was a disheartening challenge( one of the most memorable moments w live commentary that year was hearing a woman say of one of the chinese ladies that she’d done better before, after they revealed her personal best score ever like rly cmon be unbiased and jus passionate abt the sport youre covering pls.

ive always been super fond of the diving scene. it may not be as much as fs, but honestly, i wish i grew up in an area w a diving team now, or wish i could try it out now, bc thats how much fun it seems. i still wanna go up to the big city like 30min away from uni and learn to ice skate in the civic center there, but hands down if i had to pick a sport to join tomorrow or die i’d pick diving. 

so also by may, and throughout the culmination of senior year, diving was the second sport on the olympic to-train-for list. you get a five-year contract w the olympics, now i think it’s usa as a whole and i think its by center so say, if i get a job in colorado springs i cant apply in another five years to chula vista or even like lake placid, but iunno for sure. the five-year thing is involved somehow bc i’ve heard it from a physical therapist and trainer-that-works-in-a-sports-med-clinic duo in one body named sarah, who’s been contracted out from the clinic by my high school since junior year also, bc she knows people who’ve worked w the olympics, and then another from church that worked w olympics that knows my family uh iunno how well but i know of him, i think he also works in the clinic as some sort of on-hand surgeon but a diff person than who sarah knew. so its five years somehow and then i’ll take my bfa in gd and open my online business and do that from a studio at home and look after my owl/cat pet combo.

since may, it had been ‘olympics, with either figure skating or diving’. and it stayed that for a long time. now, since a couple weeks ago, and this is again while gp season is happening for fs, its diving. i wanna work w the usa olympic diving team as their team athletic trainer, and i cant do it this summer bc i have to have completed two years of uni, instead of a certain standing, like be a junior, but so NEXT summer, before my senior year of uni, (i came in a sopho so 6 sem only ah) i’m applying for an internship at the center in colorado springs, and that’s the team i hope i work with. 

now i tell people, diving, but if i get offered figure skating, i’ll take it, but diving is the goal now. if i love it and wanna continue professionally, great, i can do that and have an online gd shop. and if i decide i want something different? i’ll work olympics and then join w a professional-level figure skating i actually dunno how it works. coach, and their skater in turn. coach, with multiple skaters under them. a culmination of diff usa skaters. w/e, something in the professional fs world.

and thats uh, thats it! dive has been so much fun to watch, and i realize i talk a lot on here about working w basketball and being an at student in general and the vast majority have no idea what i mean, so hopefully this clarifies. thank you!!

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup 15/6/2017

So this is a day late but in my defense I had a ridiculous amount of comics to get through with no one to blame but myself here. And you know what? I genuinely enjoyed almost everything. But does that mean every comic was good this week? And even so what did I think was the best? 

Honestly I don’t know how to write these intros for people who wouldn’t be here to read my opinion anyway so let’s just jump into it. 

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine, Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC’s Detective Comics, DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester, DC’s Justice League of America, Image’s Motor Crush, DC’s Superwoman, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DC’s Titans, IDW’s Transformers: Salvation, DC’s Wonder Woman

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine (2015-present) #21 Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, Terry Pallot, Michael Garland

Okay I need this issue to reread a million times over because there are just so many things I love all at once. Like, oh my gosh. I was almost in tears multiple times because relationships! Healing! Supporting each other!

Wade and Gabby alone could just about make this issue perfect, but then you have Laura and Daken hugging and worried about each other, and Old Man Logan being likable for the first time in any of my readings of him. There’s so much I enjoy, though I find the cover rather deceiving. This is much more of a Howlett family reunion than anything else, though I did enjoy Riri’s parts in it.

I just eriously adore these characters and it meant a lot to see them all come together like they have here and that cliffhanger HURT so much more for it. 

I will nitpick the art a bit because we’ve been doing so good about keeping Laura in the Wolverine costume which is much preferred to her X-23 wardrobes, for sure, but this issue it pretty much looked exactly like one of her old costumes without the midriffs and it was kinda weird. I know she took off a lot of her armor for skin contact but it’s... idk. It was weird. 

The main thing I’m happy about though is that as we go on, I realize that literally all of the Marvel books I’ve kept are going out of their way to not involve themselves in Secret Wars and it’s kind of beautiful. Laura and Gabby are stuck on an island that’s quarantined (and I can pretend Wade’s there with them instead of whatever’s going on since I dropped Deadpool for the summer crossovers, thanks Tom Taylor!), Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur are literally off world, and the rest are non-616. So yay me!

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016-present) #8 Gerry Conway, Ryan Stegman, Jesus Aburtov

For those who don’t know, Mary Jane Watson is genuinely one of my favorite Marvel characters and is easily one of the reasons I ever stuck with the Spider-Man comics for as long as I did was because of my interest in her and wanting to see her and Peter.

I can also thank her for my genuine attraction to redheads probably.

But one of the main reasons that I’ve loved this book so much is because, as written by Gerry Conway, this is the Peter and MJ of my dreams. I love them so much, and the complications that comes from their relationship and from growing older, raising a daughter, and MJ’s desire to continuously be the glue to keep both Peter and Annie together logically causes her to seek out a way to continue being Spinerette without syphoning off Peter’s powers. 

It’s almost like growing old, having a stable relationship, trying to keep things fresh while raising a kid, are all dramatic and worthy of good storytelling in their own right or something HMM.

Anyway, yes it’s completely on the nose where this is going and it’s a little curious how MJ’s not immediately aware of the connection between what’s going on with her right now and the horrible, arguably traumatizing experience she and Peter had, but who knows what’s canon anymore lol

Basically, I sideye a bit from a story point of view, but this series continues to make up for it with the real thing that matters to me: these characters and their development.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #958 James Tynion IV, Aluaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Brad Anderson 

Honestly I really love the slower issues where Tynion takes more time to make moments for the relationships between the characters and give us interractions we didn’t know we wanted -- Kate going with Luke and Jean Paul to a basketball game, Cass and Clayface being adorable by reciting a play, Bruce at a poker game with a bunch of assholes in homage to Almost Got ‘im!? It was a lot of fun honestly. 

...

Okay I take issue with Cass’ dialogue. I know she was repeating lines from a tape and such but it’s weird to see her make so much progress when just two issues ago she was almost monosyllabic. Like... I want to see Cass gradually learning, I want to feel her frustration with hitting walls, I want to see her struggle and achieve despite the struggle because that gradual progression was honestly something we weren’t delivered in the former canon. We have a great opportunity for it here. 

But y’know. I’m particular with Cass and it’s hard to say where her baseline for reading and speech even is in this canon because her dyslexia may be in tact but her circumstances growing up are completely different. So I don’t know. 

Now. I’m a sucker for Bruce and Zatanna team-ups because I’m a schmuck but I’m really excited for next issue. Had a lot of fun with this one. This feels like a decent pace for Tynion -- at least in my opinion. 

DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester (2016-2017) #10 Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, Adam Archer, Massyk, Sandra Hope

This comic is speeding toward an end and I’m not sure if I’m ready! 

From the beginning, for me at least, the selling point for Gotham Academy has been just how much these kids felt like real teenagers and real friends with all their various relationships and connections, platonic or romantic or something in between. And it’s powerful to see that coming to play as an advantage to completing Olive’s arc, but also as a disadvantage since the consequences of many of her actions hurt that much more.

I’ll save a lot of my thoughts for a complete wrap up of the series but overall, very happy and very grateful for the continuously good read that is GA

DC’s Justice League of America (2016-present) Volume 1: Road to Rebirth Steve Orlando, Jody Houser, Ivan Reis, Andy MacDonald, Stephen Byrne, Jamal Campbell, Mirk Andolfo

WE GOTTA GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER. WE’RE ON A MISSION FROM GAD. 

In all seriousness, I’m a huge fan of Vixen and Ryan Choi as well as a big fan of Justice League International, as it was in its 80s glory. So my interests with this particular lineup were piqued from the beginning and I made myself wait for the first volume to dive in. 

For the most part, this is a team gathering exercise. Characters that have lacked the spotlight in the last few years -- Vixen, Ray, Killer Frost, and the Atom -- were given whole issues to reintroduce them to this continuity. And honestly those issues were great. I really, really love the updated origins for them and feel that they’re a good blend of honoring the past of the characters as well as adapting them for a new world. 

Lobo, Batman, and Black Canary took back seat, but considering that there were already tensions showing within the group, I think it’s safe to assume that giving the spotlight to the rest of the team won’t always last this long. Things are nothing if not explosive among these members.

I really did mean it when I said this is a team gathering exercise, because there’s no first case to unite everyone. There’s not any real antagonists or team-ups we see to speakof. It was just getting hte jLA together. 

And for me it’s enough to get me intrigued, though I’d completely understand if people told me it was far from enough for them. 

Now they just need to add Big Barda, Booster Gold, and Ted Kord and I’ll be satisfied. 

Image’s Motor Crush (2016-present) Vol. 1 Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, Babs Tarr

I was not the biggest fan of this team’s Batgirl team though I appreciated the aesthetics and what not. There just never seemed to be a storyline that really interested me and I couldn’t be sold on the characterization for Barbara. So I kept hearing about Motor Crush for the last year and was really itnerested in it so I wanted until this volume came out and. 

Well, quite simply, I’m in love.

Tell you what, those biker gangs that kept coming up really confusingly out of place in Batgirl make a hell of a lot more sense now that I can see this team’s actual passion project. 

So I love Motor Crush a lot, I’m really invested in Domino, the mystery that is her origins and the powers of Crush itself. I love her relationship with her ex, Lola, I love her father -- I love just about everything and the cliffhanger really surprised me. 

I will say that while I love having a world that speaks for itself rather than constant narration, it’s a little hard to follow this world entirely, I’d like a bit more explained than what has been, but at the end of the day I’m very excited to see more. 

DC’s Superwoman (2016-present) #11 K. Perkins, José Luís, Ray McCarthy, HI-FI

You know, I have made it clear that I’ve been worried about this title for a while now, really just hoping it was going to find its direction and wow us with the great potential that is the Super Family outside of the main Kent triad. And I feel like that’s for good reason -- the end of Jimenez’s run let a lot of people feeling justifiably scorned, there was a mishandling of a lot of heavy and important subjects that were raised, and at least the initial stuff with Perkins taking over kind of left one wondering if they had a fully formed direction to go toward next. 

But I am really glad that I stuck it out for this long because the family of John, Lana, Nat, and everyone else is so important and so fundamentally different from the dynamics found elsewhere in the new familial renaissance of the DCU that I needed it. And I hope it continues to emphasize these relationships and how important they are to each other.

I’m still unhappy with how anxiety and mental illness is being handled in the title and find it lacking since it was brought up to begin with and now being ignored. That subject alone is making me rethink my disinterest in Green Lantern books as a whole because I have loved and felt inspired so far by what I’ve seen of Jessica Cruz and their handling of anxiety, and it’s why I picked up Silk at the high recommendations of a close friend. 

So I’d like for mental illness to be treated better in this title -- the least it can do after bringing it up and treating it the way it did at the end of Jimenez’s run, but there’s so much value in the non-nuclear family dynamic of the Irons household and of the uniqueness of Lana’s powers and her approach to fighting crime that it’s worth it. For me anyway.

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present) #70 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco, Ronda Pattison

I knew the end of this storyline was going to be, at the very least, explosive but wow, WOW I had no idea how many twists and turns it was going to take in that time. That was a phenomenal ending to the Mutanimals storyline for the time being, and I just feel so bad for Slash, down to my core. I’m so worried about him, and whenever he will be allowed to recover.

At least I hope he’ll recover.

This series is seventy issues strong and i’m just so blown away by the way they still manage to keep me on the edge of my feet while so many different storylines and character developments are happening at the same time.

I mean, I even feel for Old Hobb here!

I do suppose a complaint I could hold here is that the titular turtles themselves have ultimately not been very front and center throughout this storyline, and that really showed in the conclusion, where for the most part they were lost to the colorfulness of the huge, colorful supporting cast that has been developed over the years. 

For me, personally, I think that’s honestly okay. We can’t have the same story over and over again with only the main four characters driving the narrative, and it’s been a long standing tradition in TMNT for a good 30 years now to sort of embody the concept that our main guys don’t really look for situations to get involved with but sort of fall into them naturally. 

Not to mention it’s probably a strength that 70 issues in, we haven’t once repeated plots or stories or put any of the characters on a loop of development to end up right back where they started. I don’t think the achievement of that can be understated, especially as we near that landmark #75!

DC’s Titans (2016-present) #12 Dan Abnett, Kenneth Rocafort, Dan Brown

Bleh. BLEH. I was holding out judgment on the twist of Wally and Donna and Roy ending up in some kind of love triangle because I wanted the context but honestly the context is kinda... bleh. It would be awesome if we lived in some world and time where Donna’s origins were not constantly retconned and thus the source of her characterization in every run of every thing she showed up in. Which is by no means a new problem but still.

And my opinion is... Wally and Donna are both going through a hard time and Wally is having to accept that his life is fundamentally different from the previous world he knew, that he can’t just badger people into returning things to the way they were -- especially Linda, who he loves but it’s a very one-sided relationship as a result of the parallel universe paradox and stuff. It makes sense to me that in a ploy to gain some sense of control over that, he and Donna both would try to take fate in an unexpected direction, into their own hands. 

But making it a love triangle with Roy just kinda keeps my eyes firmly rolled into the back of my skull. 

I overall like Lilith, Dick, Garth, and Karen’s development and characterization in this issue. I think they’re taking Lilith in interesting directions and I’m really curious about what her omen means for the future, since apparently there’s a traitor among them. And they set up plenty of reasons for various members to be that traitor in this issue but I can’t help but assume already that it’s going to end up being a twist. Good twist or not remains to be seen. 

IDW’s Transformers: Salvation (2017) John Barber, Livid Ramondelli

I’m going to be completely “original” here and say that I’m not a fan of Ramondelli’s at for the various Transformers comics. i know! I know. Shocking, never said before, completely going against the general fandom consensus. I’m such a brave soul. I know. 

Okay, joking aside though... I didn’t think the art was bad in this one-shot. Actually! I’d argue a lot of it was even good. He may not be my favorite artist and I’ll think that his colo gradients are butt ugly most of the time, but there was better handled action sequences than usual, the characters looked like they had weight, and we even got a range of expressiveness in the characters that is... well, frankly, not usual for Ramondelli. 

So other than that shocking revelation, I thought Barber performed good once more on tying the TF universe together again, answering some prior plot points and nicely knotting off loose ends. Trypticon being a Titan is not the biggest revelation in the world, but the development of Sandstorm and the Dinobots was great, and I loved just how devious Starscream truly is under Barber’s pen even though I’ve fully been enjoying the characterization for him in Till All Are One. 

But the most important thing of all: SPARKLINGS. SPARKLINGS. All I’ve wanted for years is baby transformers so I am HAPPY BEYOND BELIEF. THEY’RE NO LONGER A DYING SPECIES AND THESE PRECIOUS BABIES COULD BE BORN WITHOUT EVER KNOWING THE CIVIL WAR AHHHHHHHH

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #24 Greg Rucka, Bilquis Evely, Romulo Fajardo Jr. 

WOW! I mean, just wow! What a resolution to everything. I have so many emotions for Diana, for Barbara Ann, for even Veronica Cale of all people. Etta and Steve were great, the art was amazing.

It’s just such a relief and such... honestly just an amazing feat that Greg Rucka is beginning to wrap up this just phenomenal run of Wonder Woman 

I really enjoyed how everything turned out and it was so remarkable to see Diana’s resolution to save Veronica but also to not turn her back on her friends and loved ones as well as the torment it is for Barbara to not be able to get into Themyscira after all her life’s work.

And I liked Diana’s assessment of Veronica at the end, it was true and also blunt to the point of cruelty. But fitting also. 

It’s amazing what a turn around I’ve personally felt when it comes to Veronica’s character because in all honesty I was not a fan of her most of the time in the preboot, but Rucka really has fleshed her out and done something unique with her perspective now. There is tragedy but there’s also less deniability for her fault in all of it. 

I’m sad to be coming toward Rucka’s end on the run, but I’m also so happy to see the love and passion he’s put into everything culminating to what it is now.

This is a genuinely hard choice but I think if I go by what tugged on my heartstrings the most, what gave me the most joy overall and just feelings unrelenting from start to finish, I would have to say that my pick of the week is All-New Wolverine. I adore this series and I couldn’t be happier with this issue and how they’re keeping my precious Marvel girls faaaaaar away from Secret Empire. A close second would be Wonder Woman but really I would happily recommend my entire pull this week. It was a geat week for comics.

But that’s just my opinion! I’d love to know your thoughts. Agree? Disagree? Think I missed something I should’ve picked up this week? I’d love to hear from you!

[kawaiifunhologram-blog]

Which is the best insurance for pregnancy ?

"Which is the best insurance for pregnancy ?

We are planning a kid in the near future.    What insurance policy should I get so that out-of-pocket expenses are minimal ...... HMO, PPO ?    Which is the best ?    Please advice.

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://freeautoinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

RELATED QUESTIONS: 

How much does my car insurance go up if someone sues my insurance for getting hurt in accident?

my daughter was driving my car and got in accident (her fault) and the girl with her is suing, will my ins go up a lot more than just the four surcharges for an accident?""

Does anyone know where I can find affordable health insurance for self employed people?

I own a small business, and need to find health insurance for my family that wont break me. Please help if you can. Thanks.""

Could someone recommend some very good life insurance companies?

I want to get dependable life insurance at affordable rates.

How much would my insurance on average be for a 2007 V6 mustang with allstate?

Im calling tomorrow to get a quote but, i was wondering if anybody had an idea. Its a V6 so that makes a huge difference since its not a V8 GT. Im just unsure how much allstate wants for a V6 mustang. if anybody has a price range they could give me it would be greatly appreciated. thank you!!""

What is a car under 1000 for young drivers with cheap insurance ? ?

What is a car under 1000 for young drivers with cheap insurance ? ?

Hyundai tiburon insurance help?

I am looking for this car to be my first car. I live in Washington and I have a 3.5 GPA (my insurance company told me this would help), and I'm a female. How much would it cost to get car insurance, per month. Is it a sports car? I was thinking of getting the 4 cylinder, 2.0 engine, if that makes a difference. I also have State Farm if that helps.. Thanks!""

Are the following cars high on insurance?

Is the supra MK4, 240sx s13 and s14 high on insurance? please help I would like to get one of them for a first car but I need to know if there high on insurance.""

How much do you pay for car insurance?

How much do you pay for car insurance? On like an 2003 truck?

""If I make a claim using my company car insurance, does that affect my personal insurance reputation?""

I recently got into a little fender bender using my company car. The other driver wasn't present, so I left a note. He called, and I followed through by filing a claim with the insurance company. I'm worried, though, that my personal insurance reputation/rating is going to be affected because of this claim with my company car. Any information you can provide would b helpful.""

""No health insurance, now what?""

for the last 3months ive had numbness in both my arms and feet, i believe its a pinch nerve, as of now i have no health coverage until january cause i applied late for it through work. am i doing the right thing by waiting , i cant afford to pay for a doctor, medical bills are expensive, what would you do""

""Car accident, how much for pain & suffering??""

My sister & I were in a car accident & it was all the other person's fault. She sprained her shoulder, I got whippedlash & SEVERAL muscle strains in back/shoulders/neck. We both hurt, but w/work & the work I do for my nursing class it hurts my back even worse & I'm not giving up on what I do. How much can I actually get for pain & suffering from the insurance company?? Or do I need to contact a lawyer & sue the guy or would the process take too long for me to get anything out of it??""

Buying a new car but confused on car insurance...what should I do?

I am going to be part exchanging my old car for a new one. In terms of car insurance I still have 2 months left so I believe its cheaper if I just go with another insurance company as my current insurance might charge a lot for just 2 months. I am thinking of using my previous insurance NCB( elephant 1 year ) for the new insurance as proof of my NCB but the problem is I sent my NCB 1(year) (elephant) to my current insurance(Directline). Basically I would like to know if its possible to use my previous NCB (Elephant) which I it proves I have 1 year no claims for the new car insurance. I done some research and found it that having 2 years NCB makes 20 compared to 1 year NCB. What should I do?

Do all pharmacys run your insurance?

Do they have to run your insurance whether you tell them you don't have it or not?

Does a car being Stolen/Recovered Affect Future Insurance Policies?

I am looking to buy a car, and wondering whether a car that had been stolen with keys, and recovered (but not before the insurance company had paid out for it) will have problems getting insurance, similar to cars rated as Cat C, or Cat D?""

Whats the difference between home insurance and rental insurance?

for my rental property? Is it a good idea to switch home insurance to rental insurance when a tenant is living in my rental property just in case if they smashed some holes on the wall, or some damages on the property? Thanks!""

Insurance for a child ?

I'm on my fathers insurance until I turn 26, but I have a one year old baby girl. How much will it be to have good medical insurance for just her ? She needs good insurance because she has medical issues.""

On average how much more would the cost be for insurance for a house with a pool?

We are thinking about buying a home in So Cal that is a 4 +2 house on a 10,000 sq ft lot. The house has a pool though, and our concern would be what the cost of insurance would be. The pool is deep, and there is no diving board, and at the present time there is no fence. What do you all think? We have small children, so once we purchase the home, we will put a fence up, but we're just trying to guesstimate at this point. If anyone has any thoughts, by all means share them! I really appreciate any direction I can get with this. *I would rather not call 50 Insurance agencies to get quotes and have someone selling something I don't need yet!* Thanks a bunch.""

Best Medical Insurance for autistic toddler in california ?

My child is 3 years old and she is a diagnosed as high functioning with autism, Im fed up with dentical and medical insurance, Im looking into a new paid insurance for her. What insurance in california is best for a toddler with autism? Anyone know the benefits of the two...Price is not really an issue..""

How much is driving insurance a month for a 17 year old new driver?

I just got my license today, im 17 and hae a 2.8 gpa, and am wondering roughly how much my insurance can be? any recommendations? cheapest insurance? I think i can get USAA if that helps? My grandpa is a vet.""

State insurance car o.O?

hello i am from new jersey nd i have heard about a car insurance something like state insurance the person who told me said that they give a contact for one year nd the payments are 200 hundred every 2 months :O does anyone know something about it?? thank u

Can insurance find out you have a license if you don't tell them about it?

hey guys, i'm about to get my license but before i do i was wondering:can the insurance company find out if you get your license without you telling them and jack up your rates? the reason i ask is because i'm not interested in getting insurance for myself at the moment i just wanted to get the test out of the way.""

If a car is red does it cost more on a persons insurance?

a Friend is looking 2 but a car she is 19 and she wants a red car will it cost more to be on her on her mothers insurance

Cheap insurance for someone who had foreign licence?

Do you know any insurance company which will insure a small van (suzuki carry), and will recognise my previous 8 years driving experience in Australia? I have only just got around to getting a British licence (as the road rules and driving standards are similar, I can just trade my Australian one in, no test), and been living in the UK just over a year. Have tried a few insurance quote websites, and they all seem to be quoting me the same as a brand new driver who has just passed their test - i.e. extremely expensive! thanks for any tips!""

""I got a DUI, will my auto insurance drop me?""

I have AAA, and got a DUI ast year, my insurance hasent gone up yet, but I know it will. Do you think AAA will drop me, since they are such a huge company, and will I have to go get some cheap ol' coverage now? I pay around $125 at the beginning of my policy for the year, then it goes down a little each month, my last payment is around $30, then it starts over again. Ive been w/ them for a few years, w/ a perfect record, until now. The DUI wasnt for alcohol or illegal drugs, it was for prescription medication. I tried a new med, but made the choice to drive also, and this is what I got. Any help?""

What is a good cheap car insurance?

I live in indiana if it matters

Which is the best insurance for pregnancy ?

We are planning a kid in the near future.    What insurance policy should I get so that out-of-pocket expenses are minimal ...... HMO, PPO ?    Which is the best ?    Please advice.

Job offer buyout insurance?

I just got a job offer for 40,000 with 75% benefits paid. Ill be living at home with my parents and im covered under their health insurance until im 26. Can I ask them to not pay for insurance and give me a higher salary instead? Has anyone heard of this happening? Thanks""

""Im 19 ,how much should i pay for car insurance?

im not british.but im getting a uk full licence.. any people know how much should i pay for a classic mini? and how about a 1995 subaru wrx?

Does anyone know what the average insurance cost for a 2004 Dodge Ram is?

I just bought a beautiful 2004 dodge ram quad cab 4x2 4.7 V8 and i have quotes that range from $165- $303 per month. If you have a similiar truck to mine, how much is the average insurance payment, and what company do you use? I head AAA and 21st Century were pretty good?""

Will my car insurance go up if the accident is not my fault?

if i get into a car accident that is completely not my fault, and the other person pays for the damages through his insurance company, will my insurance premium go up too? thx!""

Average Motorcycle insurance?

thinking about getting one. best route take as far as insurance, bikers course, type of bike. its my first bike.""

""I am in the militarty and moved to another state, can I have my car insurance from my home state?

I am a resident of and my vehicle is registered in South Carolina and I am stationed in California. California's insurance is way higher than SCs. I would like to carry insurance from SC on my vehicle.

""My Daughter starting driving lessons, { she 17 } where is the cheapest place for insurance for when she pass?""

I drive , could she go on my insurance ? would that go up? I have 7 years no claims. Thanks .""

Divorced Parent's Car Insurance?

I'm under my mothers car insurance policy, so does that mean if i drive my fathers truck and I get into an accident, Were not covered? and does someone in your immediate family need car insurance when driving it if you are the registered owner""

Car auto insurance and person at fault wont pay.?

My sister was driving my car and was hit but the person at fault is refusing to pay. Filed a claim with both insurance companies . My insurance company refused to pay becuase my sister is not included in the policy and the other persons insurance company refuse to pay because they claim her insurance canceled because she moved out of state a couple of days prior to accident. Whoever was handling my claim refused to help at all since My sister was not included in the policy. What do I do? The other driver admitted it was her fault and I believe it is in the claim letter i received.

What is the average of a full coverage insurance for a new 2014 sedan in NJ ?

What is the average of a full coverage insurance for a new 2014 sedan in NJ ?

""If a driver dies, does his family's insurance go up?""

I know it seems like a stupid question, but think about it. I share my insurance with my family, I'm added as an occasional driver to keep my costs low. If I were to die (Heaven forbid) in a car wreck, would my family's insurance go up? I'm just curious, and we are through Country if that makes any difference.""

How much would my car insurance go down average?

hi everyone, i am 18 and still on my 1st year car insurance paying 177 a month/2200 a year. 1 litre vauxhall corsa. just wanted an estimate on how much it would go down after the 1st year with no claims from expierienced drivers. thanks :).""

Anybody knows reliable insurance companies that insure summer houses?

I've recently bought a summer house in Tavira, Portugal, which my family and I would like to insure because we won't use it constantly. Anybody knows reliable insurance companies that insure summer houses?""

HELP PLEASE. AUTO INSURANCE FOR NEW DRIVER. I NEED A GOOD ANSWER?

how much a year would a 1998 chevrolet camaro base, not z28, be for a new driver. any ideas? and also a 2002 dodge intrepreped es 4 door cost? please.""

Best Insurance cover for 18 years?

Kindly tell me a way so that I can ensure a fix monthly income of 20,000 Rs. What is the easiest way to achieve this ? MF ? LIC ? What should be my investment every month and for how many months ? Thanks..""

Financial responsability in California (auto insurance) ticket.?

So I was recently given a citation during a trip to Northern California. Here's the condensed version; I went out with a group of friends to have dinner and drinks. It was about 10 people altogether, three car loads. I was originally not one of the drivers (I flew in from Southern California). Several of my friends/acquiantances drank heavily during dinner. I was asked as a favor to drive one of the car and the car owner's home. The car I drove belonged to my good friend's neighbor. I received a speeding ticket during the drive to the neighbor's home (73 in a 65) PLUS no insurance!!! I informed the officer that it was not my car and that it belonged to the passed out lady in the back but he didn't care and decided to write me the ticket anyway. Now I've been told that I will have to pay for it ($988) plus my speeding ticket. I spoke with my good friend about it but the neighbor now refuses to go to court with me or write a letter at the least explaining the scenario.""

What would I need to do to get car insurance (new driver)?

I plan on leasing a car and paying monthly, but I'll need car insurance. I'm 21 and a new driver, Where should I get my car insurance? And how much will i be looking to pay for a car in the 2004-2006 range? Thanks.""

Looking for affordable health insurance in California?

Is there any way that an individual might be able to join an existing health insurande group? I am single, and my job does not offer insurance. I am 28 and healthy, but the costs of individual plans are out of my budget. I was just wondering if there was a better way to insure myself on the up and up.""

How much does full time RV insurance cost per year?

I know it's different for everyone but how much does it cost for you? And what size / class RV do you have? I'm just trying to get a rough estimate. Thanks

Where to get really cheap car insurance?

i live in ny, i have a 1998 Honda accord lx, quotes from the big name insurance companies is 250-300 dollars a month, which i can afford, but its really cutting into my income, is there anywhere i can get insurance for like 150 a month, i only want state minimum required insurance liabilities""

""When i buy my first car, do i buy insurance before i pick it up from the previous owner?

or can i drive it to my house after paying for it and then buy an insurance.. also how to i register it on my name.. is there a document the owner will sign after i pay him for the car?

A question about dental insurance?

I need to find Dental insurance and i have no idea where to go or what to look for. I know im gonna need to go to the dentist soon. Im 21 and my wisdom teeth are giving me trouble. I want something thats affordable too. I really need help and opinions

Which insurance company would you recommend?

I'm looking for a new insurance company for both my car and apartment insurance. Who do you recommend, and who should I stay away from? Reasons?""

""How could i get affordable car insurance with in10, 8 points, 3 Children :'(?""

So i passed at 17, Iam 21 now, at the age of 19 i got my licence taken off me for driving without insurance (my fault thought i was insured third party on my dads car with his permission) With 8 points and a fine included. Since 19 ive been taking buses and sick of it missing lessons etc because i commute to Uni. 2 years later ive had enough and passed my test. How on earth do i get insured at 21 with 8 points in Bradford? Surely someone must be in the same boat and have some advice ? I have a car and 3 children and they are nearly all starting school i really need to be driving them there. I want to do the right thing and be fully insured its bin 3 years since i had the in10 cant they not be so harsh as its been so long now. Ive matured and am the calmest driver ive ever been. Thankyou to anyone who helps !""

Insurance for new driver?

For a new male driver that just got their permit, which car would have cheaper insurance? 2013 Audi A6 3.0T or a 2000 Corvette convertible Most people's first responses are the Corvette, because it is a sports car. However, it has only slightly more power than the Audi, and is worth less than half of what the Audi is. Both cars are titled under the same persons name, if that makes a difference. Would the difference in value make the Corvette's insurance cheaper, or will it still be higher?""

Which is the best insurance for pregnancy ?

We are planning a kid in the near future.    What insurance policy should I get so that out-of-pocket expenses are minimal ...... HMO, PPO ?    Which is the best ?    Please advice.

What insurance company provides the best rates?

So I just bought my Volkswagon Beetle and need to insure it. I'm looking for the most affordable and most reliable insurance company out there. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

DUI - charged but not convicted (yet) do I need to tell my insurance now or wait until conviction?

DUI - charged but not convicted (yet) do I need to tell my insurance now or wait until conviction?

Will not going to driving school raise insurance?

I'm almost 18 and have not yet attended driving school. I was thinking that I'd just go to the BMV and get my license once I m 18 and not worry about paying so much money for driving school. But I have heard from a few people that insurance later on once I receive a car will be higher since I did not take any driving courses. Is this true? I want to know if it's better to pay a little extra now to go to driving school for lower insurance later? Or if it'd end up being about the same price, anyway, without driving school? (I know all insurance companies are different, but I mean overall/in general?) Please and thank you!""

SR22 Insurance?

My 22 yr old sons car was repossessed. He cancelled his car insurance policy since he no longer owns a car. He was required to carry an SR22 because of a bad driving record. The California DMV will suspend his license if he does not have proof of car insurance. Hes not driving and plans to not own a vehicle for the next 6 months. How does he meet the California DMV requirements without purchasing a car insurance policy? Also, if were able to get an older vehicle and get liability insurance only on it and add the SR22 can it satisfy the California DMV? My son is desperately trying to clean up his driving record too. Even if literally purchases an older vehicle and never drives it just to meet his DMV requirement. Will his past actions of too many tickets and accidents ever stop haunting him? Finally, his car was stolen in mid 2013. The car was reported stolen and it was eventually recovered and the insurance did repair significant damages does this also count against his driving record? The damage to the vehicle all occurred after it was stolen. I'm sorry I have so many questions I'm just at a loss. I need to get him back on his feet within a year but I need to know he will be able to drive too. He realizes now he messed up. He's got a great job and makes good money but I want to make sure that these past mistakes do not haunt him forever. The good news is there are no DUI's or reckless driving. Thanks for any help!""

Insurance and Totaling a car?

Hello, I was recently a victim of a hit and run on a brand new 07 car. The back was smashed and the right back tire was sideways. The insurance company had me bring it to one of their authorized body shops. After 9k worth of damage, I received the car back. I was told the insurance adjusters told the shop not to replace certain parts etc. When I received the car, I brought it to the dealer to get it a wheel alignment. The mechanic came back and said the car could not be aligned and there was still major damage (subframe was bent - I could even see it). He also stated that the car will never drive the same after the accident even if the subframe is replaced and it would pull to one side and cause wear on the tires. Do I have the right to demand the car totalled from the insurance company? The car was 3 months old before the accident and I would want it in the same condition that I got it in. Thanks PS car was hit in NJ - insurance in NY""

Fast cars with low insurance costs?

id like 0-60 inunder 6 seconds but low(ish) insurance rates for someone under 21. New, used, whatever.""

Has the economy effected the auto insurance rates for individual policies?

Has the economy effected the auto insurance rates for individual policies?

Would insurance for a mustang cost alot for a 16 yr girl with a B average?

i would be on my dad's insurance. i wouldn't get a new one; the one i'd get would probably be from the 80's or 90's. and if it would be alot, is there another fast-looking (it doesn't have to actually be fast) that wouldn't be too expensive for insurance?""

Full Coverage Insurance for financed vehicles ?

If i get financed for a car, do i have to pay full insurance for that car ? I live in NY. If yes, any idea how much full coverage would be for an 2004 acura tl ?""

Motorcycle Insurance?

Does motorcycle insurance cost more than car insurance would or is it about the same?

How much is teen insurance?

Typically how much is insurance for teens in general? For just an ordinary, average car? thanks""

Does a Honda Civic Coupe cost more to insure than a Honda Civic Sedan?

I'm 17 (male) and looking for my first car. I like the civic because it is good on gas and is reliable and everything. Anyway, which would cost more to insure, the coupe version or the sedan? And how different would they be? I'm looking at late 90's to early 00's models.""

How much would car insurance cost?

how much would car insurance cost for a 16 year old guy driving a 2006 pontiac g6 4 door 2.4 liter engine

Cheaper car insurance?

I'm was just checking the insurance (third party only) for a Renault Clio 1.2L, 54 reg and the prices were like 3500-4500!!! That's more expensive than the car itself. I thought that for a relatively small car the insurance wouldn't have been that expensive. Bearing in mind that I've just passed my practical I still think these prices are ridiculous! Is there any way I can make the insurance cheaper? Thank you!""

""First time owning a car Acura RSX R first time owner, how much would the insurance be around at?""

I'm a woman, 22 years old and i live in canada""

How much would insurance be for a 2009 camaro for a 16 year old first car?

How much would insurance be for a 2009 camaro for a 16 year old first car?

Which is the best insurance for pregnancy ?

We are planning a kid in the near future. What insurance policy should I get so that out-of-pocket expenses are minimal ...... HMO, PPO ? Which is the best ? Please advice.""

PA insurance laws?

Anyone know what the laws are in PA when you buy a car from a private owner? How long do you have to get insurance? I already have it on my car .. and I'm getting this new one and not transferring the insurance until the next day. What are the laws? Is it like inspection that you have 10 days?

I am wondering what the most affordable healthcare insurance options there are in MA for self employed people.

I am wondering what the most affordable healthcare insurance options there are in MA for self employed people.

Small business insurance?

I'm thinking abouit starting up a small cleaning business and I'm wondering about how much it would run in Pa for libability insurance.

What's the best option for changing cars and insurance?

Ok so I got my Service/MOT, Insurance and Road tax at the end of the month, I've been driving for 1 year now and touch wood I wont crash by the end of the month to get my 1st year no claims. I currently have a Renault clio 1.2 However in about 6 months I would like to change to a Audi A3 1.6 as my insurance will be cheaper with the 1 year no claims. (Had to get a 1.2 for the 1st year as Insurance would be crazy) I am currently getting quotes from Admiral and Diamond insurance for a annual fee of about 670 or Monthly installments that come to 1000, so Ideally I will just pay the full year off. But as I said in 6 months ill change cars and by the time Ill sell and buy a new car there could be 2 months where I'm not even driving, and don't want to pay for insurance for not even driving about. I can't find on these dam insurance sites about if i can put my insurance on hold (Admiral). Not sure if I will get charged if I put it on hold or not, as all these insurance company's are very sligh. and Should I pay the Road tax for the whole year or just the 6 months? Also what's the best place to buy/sell cars? ebay / auto trader? (I bought mine from the Motorline Renault garage)""

Health Insurance for Seniors?

We aare Senior Green card holders of 73 & 66 in Parker, Colorado. Can we get comprehensive Healthe Insurance?""

Could a 17 year old insure a Porsche 944? (For a reasonable price)?

I've been looking into classic cars and The Porsche 944 has kept cropping up on sites, and looks quite nice. My fear is as I will be turning 17 soon and I live in Worcestershire (UK) I have no hope of insuring it... Am I right? People have suggested Classic Car Insurance on 944's and 928's but didn't they fix that loophole? As I would be spending a fair bit of money on the car I don't want to pay loads of insurance, I would love to know ideas of insurance costs and general feedback about the car, I know it would cost a fortune to run by the way. All Help Appreciated""

Is it illegal to drive with no car business insurance if i'm a delivery driver?

would it be illegal if i get stopped by police while doing deliverys for pizza hut and i dont have business car insurance? or is it okay to just have personal insurance and do deliverys.. thanks in advance

Looking for Best Term Insurance provider online...?

Hello Every1, I am looking for a Term Insurance online provider, I have few in my mind but i would like to see your feedback for any specific Insurance Company online in USA, if you have ever tried. Thanks in Advance.""

Which is the best insurance for pregnancy ?

We are planning a kid in the near future.    What insurance policy should I get so that out-of-pocket expenses are minimal ...... HMO, PPO ?    Which is the best ?    Please advice.

What is the average cost of health insurance?

I'm doing homework and I need some help. What would be the average cost of health insurance for a 27 year old? The monthly cost would be the most helpful.

What is the price of a mini copper and its insurance?

just wondering what the price of a mini copper is to buy and the cheapest insurance? Details would be helpful Thankx

Do anyone know of an affordable health insurane?

Do anyone know of an affordable health insurane?

How does car insurance determine how much my insurance will go up?

I was recently involved in a car accident, its my fault, my first time in 15years of driving. They will probably total the other car involved since the car only cost $900 kbb. The damage on my SUV in the lower right bumper, i have little misaligned on my hood and scratch on my headlight, I was thinking of just getting my bumper fixed so it wont cost my insurance company too much. I guess my main question is, does it matter how much my insurance pays for all the damages, is this how they determine how much my insurance premium will go up? will it be the same if i just get everything fixed? thanks""

Why are pickup trucks so cheap to insure?

i went to go look at a truck that is 10 years newer than my ford explorer. it was a ford f150 even with full coverage its still lower. the insurance for the explorer is nearly $2,000 a year. and the f150 is $1800 a year even with a big powerful V8""

How much on average would it raise my parents' car insurance if.....?

i were to get my license?

Why does bad credit affect my auto insurance when i have a clean mvr?

so i have a bad credit score. but i have a clean mvr and pay my insurance on time so why are my rates credit has nothing to do with the way i drive?

Which is best health insurance?

I was wondering whats the best insurance for me im 18 live with my parents dropped out dont go to college plan to get my ged soon. But i have to get some blood work done for my doc out of state and the place i called said its 832$ i can pay for it but im thinking i should jus get insurance since im going to go on TRT soon prehaps.. so what Health insurance can cover my blood work and hopefully everything in future also im not a citizen but i am a green card holder does it make a difference? thanks i didnt reread this so sorry for any errors

""Does price of car insurance go up, down, stay the same, after getting G licence?""

I'm in Ontario, Canada and am going for my G licence in July (I'm 26, if that makes any difference?). Right now I'm an occasional driver on my parents insurance and plan to stay that way after I get my G. Right now my insurance is 90 per month. I want to save up for enough insurance for 12 months so when I move out it's out of the way for one year. Anyway, does anyone know if the price of insurance goes up, down, or stays the same after getting your full G licence? I kind of want to figure out how much I should save up for the full year by knowing how much it'll be monthly. I plan on going in and talking to them, but I wont be able to for a few days...just curious if anyone can basically give me a heads up. Thanks.""

My wife backed our truck into a parked car how does the insurance deductabe work?

like i said she backed into someone (her fault) do i pay the insurance deductible up front before they will fix their car and how will my insurance rates be affected by this (state farm). this would be our first claim ever and ive had the policy for around 8 years.

Does your car insurance premium go up if you have a claim that didn't involve others but was over $1400?

Its just body damage and no one else was involved. Also if I use my rental coverage will that make my premium go up (i.e. is premium tied to how much the total claim cost)? Thanks

Do landlords usually have homeowner insurance?

Do landlord usually have homeowner insurance? Also is it true that most homeowner insurance have liability coverage? And if they took out a mortgage does the mortgage company require them to have some kind of homeowner insurance?

Insurance Price for a teen driving a Toyota Celica?

I'm 14 about to turn 15 and get my restricted. I've been looking for a car and I found a 2000 Toyota Celica GT for $5,000 list price which is well within my price range. The car is a manual which I'm fine with, The only thing I'm worried about is the insurance cost for a teen driving a sports car and wanted your opinion on the price of insurance and on how good of a first car a Toyota Celica would be. Thanks for any and all help, Grant""

Which car insurances?

OK 21 years old and looking for a car insurance that cheapest in Washington state, and I am thinking between these three, progressive state farm and Geico, which one is the cheapest of these and tell me the cheapest auto insurance any body know for my age and I am a male thank you""

Whats the name of the song on the geico motorcycle insurance commercial with the cavemen?

whats the name of the song on the geico motorcycle insurance commercial with the cavemen?

Needing Short-term disabilty insurance?

My husband and I are planning on having one more child in a year or so and I am looking for short-term disabilty insurance, b/c my work does not have it. Anybody know a good insurance??""

""How much will i get from insurance if my car is totaled?Also, I am NOT at fault.?""

I just got into a car accident with my Toyota 4-runner ('97) and it looks to be totaled. Some guy just turned onto to the street and stopped, taking up the whole two lanes which left me no choice but to hit him head on. What I want to know is: 1. If my car is not repairable, how will I be covered? 2. Will I get the cost of the car? 3. If not, if anyone knows, please do tell me. Seriously, I really think my car is totaled. The car has been paid off years ago and I really don't want to deal with buying a new car and doing the whole car payment thing over. Thank you.""

I'm trying to get rental insurance?

I'm getting rental insurance well trying to but I had a doubt my Heath insurance is in my mothers name and not mine so she pays it so say I get rental insurance under my name would it mess up or even kick me off her insurance plan if I did get the insurance in my name

WHAT CLASSIC CAR INSURANCE COMPANY WILL INSURE ME AT 17?

in ON canada what classic car insurance company will insure a 17 year old with a classic car

Car insurance costs help?

I'm getting a car. Is there some website that will tell me or help me figure out how much my car insurance will be every month?

5 Door Vs 4 Door Car Insurance?

Why is a 5 Door car cheaper on insurance than a 4 door car? ive been looking at getting a new 2008 Subaru Impreza i want the 4 door but 5 door is like 1000 cheapers for insurance.

Could I swap my 50cc scooter's insurance to another bike?

Hey everyone, I was wondering if I sold or swapped my 50cc scooter and got a 50cc geared bike could I get the insurance from the scooter and put it on the new geared 50cc? If so would it affect anything? or cost me money? Would be a massive help if someone could help me out! Thank you for advance :) Information which might be helpful: I paid for 1 year in one payment (annually). I paid for the insurance last month so I still have a lot of insurance time left. Don't want to waste money!""

What is the best Health Insurance?

I am in need of health care insurance. What is the best? I will be paying out of my pocket on my own. I would like so meting with low deductible and low prescrioton cost. My job currently pays for BCBS, however, now going independent, I will need something like this. Im not too big of a fan of them.""

Cheapest insurance company for teenage boys?

im a teenage boy in new jersey whos about to get my license, im looking into getting my own insurance but im not sure which company to choose. ill be getting a brand new car and my grades are good, so does anyone have an idea how much itll cost me annually?""

How much would it cost to insure my motorcycle?

I plan on buying a Suzuki dr-z400s and I'd like to know what some people are paying for their insurance. Or maybe just what I would be paying. I'm 16 years old, Male, and I have a clean record. I'm not sure what kind of insurance I would get but probably just liability. Thanks!""

Which is the best insurance for pregnancy ?

We are planning a kid in the near future.    What insurance policy should I get so that out-of-pocket expenses are minimal ...... HMO, PPO ?    Which is the best ?    Please advice.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/certas-direct-insurance-quote-larry-gilbert/"

[mychemicalrant]

What To Do

I’ve been writing a lot. It’s been helping.

For the last month pretty much the only thing I’ve done is write giant ass posts for this blog that no one reads. I’m glad no one reads it because it gives me the chance to explore these ideas out loud without getting pummeled by discourse and infighting.

Right now, I’m not quite sure what to do. I haven’t contributed much to any of my major projects. I’ve spent the last week embroiled with one of the worst emetophobia/health anxiety flare ups I’ve had since high school, complete with numbness, disassociation, and feeling disintegrated with my environment. It’s like I can’t settle back into my routines. Like everything has been disrupted.

But even though I’m starting to come down from that and come back into my body a little, I’m still stuck with one major question: what do I do now?

I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty good planner (for myself anyway) and internally well organized. But there are times when I have no idea what to do first and so I end up doing nothing. There are things I have been neglecting to do for years because my brain completely freezes up about how to go about the process. It’s like I feel like I don’t have enough information to make even the first step. I’m not sure I would call this “executive dysfunction” on my own. I would need a professional to talk this out with, because in other ways I’ve always been pretty together, or so I thought. But all the same, it’s like I’m paralyzed by the choices?

I once heard a catatonic schizophrenic person describe what was happening as they stood frozen with their hand palm up to the sky: there was a battle of Good and Evil playing out on their hand, and they feared that any slight movement would give Evil the advantage. That has become a metaphor for every time in my life when I feel completely paralyzed by small decisions. I can order a drink or food item at a new restaurant, but it takes me awhile to make a decision because there are so many factors to consider. I don’t just consider the food and what I want (and if I want more than one thing, uh oh). I consider systems within systems within systems. Sometimes I consider whether such a choice would be gastronomically redundant (while then allowing myself to subsist on samefoods for most of my diet), or too many calories/sodium/whatever, or whether the taste balance would blah blah or what my general opportunity level for getting that food would be.

Like, if it’s a sushi place and I want to get unagi don, I feel bogged down by the fact that I also love sushi rolls and don’t get to eat them very often. So now my choice is, do I get the unagi don because that is what I want? Or do I get a sushi roll because these opportunities are rare and what if I never get to eat this again? What if what if what if? It really does feel like if I move, I’ll give “evil” the advantage, even with small decisions. Every decision is like this big web of potential and each “wrong” decision could have this big ripple effect.

Is this autism related or just plain ol’ OCD/anxiety? I don’t know, but the obsession is driving me crazy.

Admittedly, I am a little scared about taking the first step regarding diagnosis. I have resisted going to therapists for a long time out of fear that they would tell me I’m just a worthless adult for not being able to drive or hold a job, that the only “cure” is just to do these things and suck it up because that’s what adults have to do. If they are just going to tell me that I’m a piece of shit, why bother going at all? I already know that and I don’t have to pay 40 dollars a week (sliding income scale) to hear that.

But if the actual situation is that I am facing untreated cognitive impairment that affects my ability to cope, AND that my adult coping mechanisms are no longer working and I have “exceeded my limited capacities” in life, I would at that point qualify for an assessment and possibly a diagnosis. A diagnosis is sought when impairment becomes noticeable, and for over a decade I’ve been hiding my impairment out of shame. I’ve hidden behind “I’m just getting on my feet” and “I’m still figuring things out” and “I’m not sure what I really want to do yet.” All the while spending 14+ hours in bed and having no spoons to do much else.

But you know where I’m at right now. I’m caught between the “not diagnosed but strongly suspecting I’m on the spectrum and exploring this as a valid possibility” and “you don’t REALLY have autism if you’re functioning enough to go through life being undiagnosed/your autism isn’t severe enough to matter/you’re taking away space and voices from people with REAL autism with your fake self-diagnosis” echo chamber.

Like, I get why people are suspicious of self-diagnoses, but at the same time, real people with autism exist without diagnoses and this doesn’t mean they don’t have it. It doesn’t even mean they are coping or not impaired! It just means they’ve fallen through the cracks and have turned to other mechanisms like secondary mental illness, substance abuse, or addictions they can’t explain because they are not getting treatment and support. That’s where I found myself before I started looking into this possibility.

I’ve been reading through a bit of the discourse lately on why people with “real autism” and parents of “real autistic kids” feel that self-diagnosed adults are a bunch of bullshit fakers bringing harm to the community, which is tough to read even if not unexpected. Gate-keeping was one of the first unpleasant realities I discovered in MBTI communities, and it was tempting for one to get a Certified Assessment to “prove” that one was whatever type they were claiming to be, even though the Official Certified Assessment still relied on self reporting and was still subject to being, you know, entirely subjective and not at all scientific? So finding it in the autism community is not at all surprising.

I’m sick of gate-keeping. It’s why I more or less moved away from MBTI and to the Enneagram which I see less defensiveness in. No one in the Enneagram community is supposed to be fighting over an ego label and who “deserves” to get to define their personality as a 4 or an 8. That’s absurd.

Anyway. I’ve been caught between this whirlpool of “do I think I have enough of a case to pursue diagnosis?” and “do I have the time/resources/money/energy to pursue a diagnosis?” and “am I severe enough for it to even matter?”

I want to do this. It’s not a question. I have a credit card so I can put myself thousands of dollars in debt to get this assessment. Should I do that? Probably fucking not, but if this will help me figure out what the hell is going on with my job issues, it might be worth it?

But is it? Should I just suck it up, you guys? Should I just deal with this shit on my own? I feel like I am disintegrating more and more. I drink now more than I used to to “cope” with difficult feelings I can’t process. Going to grocery stores is hard for me because the lighting and temperature and people bother me. My OCD is crushing me. I can barely touch anything now for fear of contamination. I have cut off relationships cold turkey (and warm turkey) just to avoid telling people how bad things are for me. I certainly haven’t had any luck in finding another job. 

Not to be recursive here, but my Special Interest of autism has been keeping me afloat. Many of my Special Interests have always cycled around psychology (abnormal psych, personality theories) such that I have strongly considered buying a copy of the DSM-IV (now 5) to read for fun. Obsessing and archive diving this topic has been the one thing helping me navigate some of the stuff I’ve been dealing with in life. But the obsessive drive always comes with a Call to Action: should I seek a diagnosis?

How? How do I do this??