#bcc excerpt

[karkkidoeswriting]

BEAR CASTLE CYCLE

Valeri Cor Mantgamia

Main Character | 24 | Ethnicity: Cerfi | Captain of Imperial Cavalry | he/him | #valeri

Eventually he spoke. "To be honest, I have hard time imagining you afraid." Valeri made a dry chuckle. When was he not afraid? When was he not frozen in fear by the everything and everyone around him? Always looking over his shoulder. Always dreading every word he spoke. There was an easy answer to his own rhetoric question. In the middle of a battle the terror melted. He was still afraid, but it was different. His mind went blank and his body just moved. There was no doubt. It didn't make much sense, to fear death the least, when it was the closest. There is no fear in present.

Valeri is the second youngest child of the Duke of Cabalusia. When the Bear Castle was conquered and the Mantgamias were defeated in the civil war, Valeri managed to escape with his youngest sibling, Fiolev. They ended up in Amari, the capital of the province of Víren, where they assumed new identities under last name Iolean. They were very poor as most orphans in Amari, where income gaps are massive. Valeri was eventually forced into the army, to serve the same empire, which crushed their clan. He despised it, but he was good at it and quickly rose in rank, securing safety for him and Fiolev. It has taken him to wage wars for the empire, left him with chronic pain and trauma and strained his relationship with Fiolev, who would rather go homeless again than get left behind if he would go to another war. But he would do anything to make sure Fiolev was safe, even if Fiolev would hate him for it, even when his idea of safety is flawed.

Valeri has no future. For the past 13 years he's only been surviving and making sure Fiolev survives. He has no aspirations beyond that. He has risen ranks in the army, but he doesn't care about that beyond the more security higher position affords, he just tries to survive and make sure people around him survive to the next day. He sure fantasizes of reuniting with Faerathos, of opposing the imperial family, of returning home to Cabalusia, but he has no illusions that these fantasies have any realism behind them. Sometimes he even fantasizes of having a life, getting married, having several children. But he has no future. Until, he meets his exiled uncle, Ignatus, on a campaign. Ignatus is working with the empire's enemy and promises to take Valeri and Fiolev into exile with him, so they can get out of the enemy territory and wage war on the empire. It finally gives him hope and a goal. But things get more complicated, when he is given another mission by an imperial general, that could give an opportunity to sabotage the Imperial agenda in a significant way, but would put him in even more dangerous position, not less.

His appearance is quite imposing. He is tall (though not compared to many others in his family), strong and a scar on his lip has given him a permanent scowl. There is also a feral rage just below the surface at all times, ready to burst. But beneath that there is constant anxious terror that drives him and abundance of barely repressed emotions. He operates best when he has a clear goal and clear commands to follow, so when he is thrown in a situation, where everyone has conflicting commands for him, where he's not sure what's right and wrong anymore, or who to trust and who to follow, his barely maintained surface won't be enough to hold him together.

The Oldest | The Second Oldest | The Second Youngest | The Youngest

Tag list under the cut! Let me know if you want to be added/removed!

I'm finally finishing this post for Meet the Character Monday held by @bardic-tales / @creators-club , thank you!

BCC tag list: @siarven @worldbuildng @emilyoracle @frvnwrites @kainablue

@writingrosesonneptune @contes-de-rheio @faelanvance @outpost51 @dotr-rose-love

[karkkidoeswriting]

Oh I was tricked too?? Shoketh! Here is a spooky trick for you!

An ominous spooky-ish excerpt from the beginning of BCC:

11th of the 3rd month, year 495 of the Fourth Age Imperial forces took the castle. The five centuries of Mangamia’s rule is over. The Bear was there. It had perhaps always been there, and so it was on that morning too. And what a beautiful pale morning of first frost of the autumn it was. The moors the Bear stood in were covered in white frost flowers. The scene was very much like in the early spring, when the small and white mourning stars were the first flowers to bloom and for few weeks they would veil the grassy barrows in white. The humans in these lands covered the barrows with those same early spring flowers every time they brought another soul to the Bear. Perhaps it was an omen of things to come sent by the North Wind. The Bear didn’t require a sign to know. It had already felt the Dragon closing. What a familiar feeling it was. For the living it had been many cycles of sun since they last encountered.

Trick or treat? >:D

Trick!!!! 🍂👻🧡

[jedi-enthusiast]

My Random Bullshit MasterPost

Note: Not to be confused with the "My Star Wars Fic MasterPost" or "My Other Fic MasterPost," which are actual links to my fics, or any other MasterPost---this MasterPost is just about all of my random bullshit, hence the title

Shitposting:

Part One - Codywan

Part Two - Cody in a Kama

Part Three - Oh Yeah, I had Cancer

Part Four - Cody's Trust Issues

Part Five - Obi-Wan's Slut™️ Hair

Part Six - Grim About to Rock Palpatine's Shit

Part Seven - My Idiots <3

Part Eight - My Idiots Pt. 2 <3

Part Nine - Me: Screaming, Crying, Throwing Up

Part Ten - My OCs Love Their General

Part Eleven - My Angry Rant About 'The Devil Below'

Part Twelve - The Dilemma of Wanting to Ramble

Part Thirteen - Cody Bitching About Anakin

Part Fourteen - Baby Obi-Wan Being the Anti-Christ

Part Fifteen - Dooku is Old as Shit

Part Sixteen - Dooku Talking Like Yoda

Part Seventeen - Damn I Want to Fuck the Jedi Council

Part Eighteen - Ponds is Suffering

Part Nineteen - My Giant Ass List of OCs

Part Twenty - I Never Shut the Fuck Up

Part Twenty One - Stanakins (derogatory)

Part Twenty Two - MACE WINDU MY BELOVED Pt. 1

Part Twenty Three - MACE WINDU MY BELOVED Pt. 2

Part Twenty Four - @frostbitebakery I STILL LOVE YOU FOR THIS

Part Twenty Five - 'we're burned for better' shitpost

Part Twenty Six - Killing my Darlings

Part Twenty Seven - The Force v. Obi-Wan

Part Twenty Eight - Laughing at my Own Tags

Part Twenty Nine - My Idiots <3 Pt. 3

Part Thirty - GET HIS ASS

Part Thirty One - Clones Are Hot

Part Thirty Two - I love the Jedi <3

Part Thirty Three - CAN YOU NOT FUCKING READ???

Part Thirty Four - Dumbass Anti-Jedi Morons

Part Thirty Five - Second Thoughts (oops)

Part Thirty Six - Girl Help

Part Thirty Seven - Miscommunication Pt. 1

Part Thirty Eight - Mandos (derogatory)

Part Thirty Nine - MY BABY <333

Part Forty - 🔫

Part Forty One - Hyperfixations Baybeeeeee

Part Forty Two - Temple Guard my Beloved <3

Part Forty Three - MACE WINDU MY BELOVED Pt. 3

Part Forty Four - MACE WINDU MY BELOVED Pt. 4

Part Forty Five - Jedi Culture Thoughts

Part Forty Six - Jedi Culture Meme

Part Forty Seven - BCC Meme

Part Forty Eight - My Brain Hates Me

Part Forty Nine - Obi-Wan's Parents Biting the Curb

Part Fifty - Miscommunication Pt. 2

----------

Excerpts of The Great War:

Part One - Scrapped Part of BCC

Part Two - Codywan Feels

Part Three - Last Line Challenge Pt. 1

Part Four - Last Line Challenge Pt. 2

Part Five - A Snippet of Chapter 4 (BCC)

Part Six - A Snippet of Chapter 5 (BCC)

Part Seven - THIS LINE KILLS ME

Part Eight - Last Line Challenge Pt. 3

Part Nine - Depressing Bullshit™️ (MITPTT)

Part Ten - Last Line Challenge Pt. 4

Part Eleven - Last Line Challenge Pt. 5

Part Twelve - Last Line Challenge Pt. 6

Part Thirteen - WIP Chain

Part Fourteen - WIP Wednesday

Part Fifteen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 7

Part Sixteen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 8

Part Seventeen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 9

Part Eighteen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 10

Part Nineteen - Last Line Challenge Pt. 11

Part Twenty - Future Snippet Pt. 1

Part Twenty One - Future Snippet Pt. 2

Part Twenty Two - Last Line Challenge Pt. 12

Part Twenty Three - Last Line Challenge Pt. 13

Part Twenty Four - Future Snippet Pt. 3

Part Twenty Five - Future Snippet Pt. 4

Part Twenty Five - Future Snippet Pt. 5

Part Twenty Six - Future Snippet Pt. 5 (Expanded Info)

Part Twenty Seven - Gooey-Wan Snippet

Part Twenty Eight - Ahsoka Show Spite Fic

----------

Ask Games:

Part One - Fanfic Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Two - Fanfic Ask Game Pt. 2

Part Three - Another Fic Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Four - Another Fic Ask Game Pt. 2

Part Five - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Six - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 2

Part Seven - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 3

Part Eleven - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 4

Part Twelve - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 5

Part Thirteen - Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 6

Part Fourteen - Yet Another Fic Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Fifteen - A Completely Different Fic Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Sixteen - Another Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Seventeen - Another Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 2

Part Eighteen - Another Choose Violence Ask Game Pt. 3

Part Nineteen - WIP Ask Game Pt. 1

Part Twenty - WIP Ask Game Pt. 2

----------

My Recommendations:

Part One - Shoulder the Sky

Part Two - My [Completed] Codywan Fic Masterlist

Part Three - My [Ongoing] Codywan Fic Masterlist

[tacticalvalor]

«────── « HEADCANON » ──────»

As late-night boredom often has it, I decided to look at ETH.3N (Ethan) and try to determine his approximate composition and overall weight… Because unlike other robots on this blog, there really isn't a frame of reference to make a quick guess (e.g., Legion being more directly comparable to a living, organic species).

Or maybe there is, but I decided to take the complicated route!

So, like I have done for both Therapont and Alduin, I have decided to sit down and calculate these things manually. Despite me being bad at both math and chemistry! Both subjects I have almost failed at least once.

… This should go over well.

Put below the cut because I took explained everything like I was writing a damn thesis.

To start off, I want to clarify where I'm starting from. There are two key assumptions being made here:

Ethan is proportionally modeled after the average athletic human man. This is because the C6 classification of robots are designed to be worker drones and, specifically in Ethan's case, to be stand-ins for human soldiers.

Ethan is primarily composed of a 2-phase alpha-beta type Titanium alloy known as Ti-6AI-4V Titanium (6AI-4V), which is lightweight, corrosion-resistant, and incredibly strong. This type of metal is used in various modern military pieces of hardware, spacecraft components, medical/surgical devices, jet engine compressor blades, and other recreational equipment uses.

To explain a bit more on why 6AI-4V Titanium is one of the stronger (if not, strongest) metallic alloys, I want to briefly explain what a "2-phase alpha-beta type" really is. And to do that, I'm going to quote Yoshiki Oshida MS, PhD, in Bioscience and Bioengineering of Titanium Materials (Second Edition), 2013… or rather, the excerpt reposted onto Science Direct's website [LINK]:

Basically, titanium and titanium-based alloys can be classified into α type (HCP: hexagonal-closed packed crystalline structure), near α type, (α+β) type, and β type (BCC: body-centered cubic crystalline structure) alloy groups. Alloying elements added to titanium are divided into two groups: alpha (α) stabilizers and beta (β) stabilizers. Elements, such as Al, Sn, Ga, Zr, and interstitial elements (either singly of C, O, and N or in combination), dissolve into the titanium matrix and are strong solid solution strengtheners which produce little change at the transformation temperature (β-transus: 885°C for pure Ti) from the HCP (α) to the BCC (β) structure of pure titanium when heating and from BCC to HCP when cooling. Hence, they are known as α-stabilizers and exhibit good high-temperature performance. Alloying elements that decrease this phase transformation temperature are referred to as β-stabilizers. Generally, β-stabilizing elements are the transition metals, such as V, Mo, Nb, Ta, and Cr, providing much friability. Besides these alloying elements, Fe, Cu, Ni, Si, and B are frequently added to Ti-based alloys for improving mechanical strength, chemical stability, castability, and/or grain refining. By increasing the α-phase portion, it is generally recognized that (1) β-transus temperature increases, (2) creep strength as well as high-temperature strengths enhance, (3) flow stress increases, and (4) weldability improves. By increasing the β-phase portion, it is known that (1) room temperature strength increases, (2) heat-treatment and forming capabilities enhance, and (3) strain-rate sensitivity increases so that superplastic forming (SPF) is more favorably applicable.

What this translates to is that through mixing certain elements into the titanium, you get the properties of these elements reflected into the newly developed alloy. And titanium is already… fucking incredible.

So you add more shit to it, and you get something very, very versatile.

Particularly, with 6AI-4V Titanium, the primary elements being added to create the alloy are Al (Aluminum) and V (Vanadium), with both making up approximately 5.50%-6.75% and 3.50%-4.50% of the alloy respectively. Of course, there are smaller traces of other elements, such as iron, carbon, yttrium, etc., but these are trace compositions with little to no overall impact on the actual alloy. For those curious about the breakdown, here is a screenshot of the average chemical composition of 6AI-4V Titanium, courtesy of the Service Steel Aerospace Corporation:

With that background, we can get into the mathematical portion… almost. There is still the matter of Ethan's proportions. I couldn't get through to the original source material, but I did find the below image in "Modeling and Simulation of a Passive Lower-Body Mechanism for Rehabilitation" by Singh et al. (2016) [LINK]

With these proportions in mind, we can assume Ethan is about 188 cm, or about 6 feet and 2 inches.

And then we get approximate breakdowns for each limb section (e.g., upper arm, lower arm).

Of course, these are not entirely accurate, as Ethan's build is not 1:1 with the human body. However, looking at a full body concept of Ethan (pictured below), we can forego really making any major adjustments as he's close… enough.

A bit on the stockier side, so I will account for this by simply adding 1.5x the baseline calculations. Why 1.5? It's an easy number. It adds up quick, though, so I would say it's a good guess.

And finally—par a brief disclaimer—we can get into the math.

DISCLAIMER: I am using TW Metals' calculator [LINK] to determine the approximate weights of each section. They do not have the specific alloy of titanium listed on their site, as they only list what they sell (I'm assuming). So, for the closest weight, I utilized the calculator's input for pure titanium. The weight will be off, but it's the closest I can calculate given the information I have on hand.

So! Let's begin.

First, to utilize the calculator, I have to break Ethan down into parts. Sad.

But it's fairly simple, given the visual references on hand.

Given the nature of Ethan's design, most of the metal is going to be plated (thicker than sheets), so I can really just break down the human body diagram and get a baseline for the amount of plates he has (minus the intricate joints and more defined features, such as his chest chassis and the various abdominal-like grooves).

I then make calculations using the calculator, assuming a varying number (between 6 and 8) of sheets are used per limb section (front, back, and sides; not a super thought out measurement, just an estimate), assume the sheets themselves are (at the bare minimum) 6mm thick, and that's how I got my final estimated range.

With these assumptions noted and input, we get the following approximations for each body section:

HEAD - 8.29 kg // 18.28 lbs TORSO - 35.34 kg // 77.92 lbs ARMS - 15.7 kg // 34.62 lbs HANDS - 2.88 kg // 6.35 lbs HIPS - 12.6 kg // 27.78 lbs LEGS - 47.3 kg // 104.28 lbs FEET - 2.66 kg // 5.86 lbs

And for that bulk adjustment mentioned earlier:

HEAD - 12.44 kg // 27.43 lbs TORSO - 53.01 kg // 116.87 lbs ARMS - 23.55 kg // 51.92 lbs HANDS - 4.32 kg // 9.52 lbs HIPS - 18.9 kg // 41.67 lbs LEGS - 70.95 kg // 156.42 lbs FEET - 3.99 kg // 8.80 lbs

Yeah, not a lot of math to really showcase, so I'll skip right to the good shit:

Ethan would, given my assumptions are fairly accurate, weigh between 124.77 kg // 275.07 lbs and 187.16 kg // 412.62 lbs.

Give or take. Not accounting for the weight of his circuitry and motors.

Which is a pretty sizeable margin, but again, that simple little 1.5x adjustment for bulk makes the difference. So, in my classic fashion, I will simply take the average of these variables, and use that as my canonical weight.

AKA: Ethan weighs 155.97 kg // 343.85 lbs.

Yay.

[aerodaltonimperial]

Writing chapter 4 of the BCC and Hook fic, I feel like you’d enjoy this excerpt:

“Well, as small as that moment was, Hook feeling a little lighter in his chest. It even gave him a good idea on what to do to occupy his time:

Write a bunch of stupid Letterboxd reviews for stupid movies no one cared about. It was a joke account—not even tied to his wrestler persona—he made after watching one too many shitty movies with friends while on the road, a few of them while high.

Ok, most of them while high.”

- Elevator Anon

Hahaha I love this!! What a FULLY INTERNET REACTION yes I approve hahahaha 💚💚💚 I am SO GLAD you are having such a nice time writing your fic!! Long fics can be tough for so many reasons, but you have great momentum!

[mongooseblues]

☔ and 🍎 for Cal?

Thank you for asking!!! 😁

☔ How easily do they catch cold?

Despite how it appears from the parts of his story I love to focus on most, Cal actually is a healthy guy. He gets sick maybe once every year or two at sort of a baseline, though when he does it tends to be pretty severe.

(I attempted to figure out how to say this in a way that isn’t super cheesy but alas.) For Cal, the biggest predictor of illness is the state of his heart. Heartbreak and periods of intense lovesickness tend to coincide with getting sick, and when he does fall ill under duress like that it’s going to take him longer to fight it off.

🍎 Would they advise somebody else on how to take care of themselves?

For sure, but rather gently. Have an excerpt where he does so with his lead TA:

He is fully authoritative when he gives her a pointed look and says, “Asha.”

“Cal.”

“Please go home.”

Asha thinks of protesting, but ultimately concedes, gathers her things. Makes Cal promise to BCC her on anything important.

“Don’t worry about anything, I will worry about the things,” he says. “Rest up, watch a sick day movie, hydrate, take care of yourself, okay? I don’t wanna see you back here until you honestly feel better. Deal?”

[btscreatorscorner]

BCC GENERAL RULES:

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[whichstiel]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Supernatural Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester Characters: Castiel (Supernatural), Dean Winchester Additional Tags: Episode: s14e12 Prophet and Loss, spn 14x12, Prophet and Loss, episode coda, Episode Tag, Bunkers Series: Part 10 of Season 14 Codas Summary:

Cas and Dean share a late night conversation.

Excerpt: 

To: hunter.list@mol-dns.net

BCC: castiel1383510385@gmail.com

Subject: Update 1/2/2019

It’s been a busy week, everyone!

APB:

There are rumors of a pack of super-werewolf truckers working truck stops along I-80. Nothing confirmed. Continue to keep ears to the ground.

Report any Reaper encounters to HQ.

Wins:

Jessica’s team got to the heart of a large ghoul infestation in Portland. Just cleaning up strays now.

Boris and Zora took out a nest of vamps in Tennessee. Great job!

Losses:

Castiel transferred the blue Prius to Donatello to get him home. No ETA yet for recovery.

Alerts:

The loaded trailer parked in space A32 is Do Not Disturb. Status: fragile; Value: vital. See SW with questions.

Castiel flicks his thumb up his screen, scrolling through Sam’s terse weekly email. There’s nothing overtly worrisome in it - not to most of the readers, anyway. In comparison to recent weeks, it’s downright uneventful. There’s nothing about the horrific promise of the box sitting quietly on the trailer in the garage. It’s presented as though it’s just another artifact to store in the bunker. A weapon to deploy against Michael and not something that will torture the man he—

Castiel wants to destroy it.

He wants to tear it apart with his bare hands, melt it with his grace, and rend it into hunks of metal so unrecognizable as to be utterly useless to ever contain an archangel. Anger bubbles in his gut and if he has to direct it somewhere, it might as well be to the fine work of destroying Dean’s proposed cage.

He presses his thumb on the sleep button on his phone and when the screen goes black, Castiel slots it back into his inner coat pocket. He shifts in his seat and looks around at the sea of books and stone tablets stacked across the wide table. While Sam prepared to return with Dean and his damned ma’lak box, Castiel went through the bulk of the useful library tomes, with the sarcastic aid of Rowena. Now that the Winchesters have returned, Sam has dived back into research - a second pair of eyes, to see if there was anything Castiel missed. Their search has yielded no fruit.

Castiel wants to channel the frustration into a fist or the destructive arc of a blade. He wants to stride the world, a burning sword personified, until he finds an answer. There’s only one thing that stops him: terror. Terror, that if he leaves the bunker then Dean will do it. He’ll lock himself away while Castiel is gone leaving nothing - no goodbyes, all words unsaid, and only regrets between them.

Read the rest on AO3

[odishaphotos]

Rajini Vise

Rajini Vise

Rajani Bhisey.pdf - The Adobe Reader, written by Rajni Vise, is an excerpt from his autobiography which has been translated into Oriya.

"I am just happy to be free. After his imprisonment, my father became interested in the synthesis of textile dyes, which he had been importing since. We had a chemistry table in our house where Dad sat and worked. He allowed the children to sniff out endangered organisms, and he used phenolphthalein (alkaloids) to show color and make them fun. This was my first experience with science. My father wanted me to study science after seeing the results of the Aptitude Test after passing the high school exams well. But at school I was attracted to literature and algebra. After reading my father's book Microbe Hunters, I decided to study microbiology at the BCC. At the time, Bombay University did not have a bachelor's degree in microbiology. So I decided to do some research and get that degree. M.Sc. at the Cancer Research Center. I learned electron microscopy from a person who did it, so I was allowed to do research there. The institution had a great atmosphere and brought me some new learning experiences. There is another young researcher, Ph.D. Fello Raju was my badminton partner. He won my heart even though he didn't win badminton.

For two years, we worked in the Ultrastructure Department, but we did not succeed because the country became impoverished during the 1962 Chinese War, and we did not have the foreign currency to buy various machinery and chemicals. After passing my postgraduate examination in 1965, I joined the Cancer Institute as a scientific assistant. Then came some more imports and Ph.D. I registered for Meanwhile, my husband, Fox Chase, joined the Institute for Cancer Research in Philadelphia as a postdoctoral associate. So my son and I traveled to the United States with him. My postdoctoral work was interrupted. But at that institute, my skills in electron microscopy increased. Two years of hard work paid off.

Returning to India, Dr. Ph.D. I did. Then it was time for me to do my own research. My goal was to research how some benign tumors turn into cancer. Using mice we found that spices and gutkha have the potential to cause cancer.

Another opportunity came when the director of the CIR, Dr. MG Deo commissioned me to set up a genotoxicity laboratory. He wanted to see if people who came in contact with endangered chemicals were at risk for their genes. It was also my responsibility to find people like that. Experts in cell and genetic studies were required. I decided to look into the health and genetic risks of people with more tobacco and plant exposure. Enthusiastic about the teaching, I went to the workers of the Indian company Tobacco. Most of the tobacco processor employees were women who smelled tobacco. I identified the staff at Nipani in Karnataka and set up a base camp at Shivaji University in Kolhapur. At my request, Vice Chancellor allowed me to set up a temporary laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry at Shivaji University. In that first field study, we tested our patience. For more than a decade, our research has shown that BD factory workers suffer from more respiratory illnesses and genetic disorders. As a result, I came in contact with workers and understood their problems. Experiments on cell culture, animal and human material have shown that tobacco addicts absorb the tobacco mutagens, which in turn destroy the oxidative properties of macrolols. Experiments have shown that fewer than a million people are affected by tobacco. Workers who do not have the GSTM1 gene have a higher risk of developing cancer. My data was taken as the first study by the French International Agency for Cancer Law. Although we were working on various aspects of cancer, my husband and I were having a scientific discussion. Our home had an educational atmosphere. Our children also learned from us for Love for knowledge. I am grateful to all the workers and unfortunate sisters of the Bidi factory who helped me a lot and shared their food with me. Without their help, my research would never have been possible.

[karkkidoeswriting]

Off-Brand NaNo Update #2

I was having a cottage weekend with friends, so I didn't write then, but yesterday I wrote! Quite a lot in my standards! I finished the prologue (and also wrote for a scene that comes in a chapter, because I sometimes like to jump around).

Words written: 1 948 Current word count: 16 347 Time written: 3h 55m

Here's an excerpt from the prologue!

Rigantona’s mind went black. When she came to again the smell of smoke was overpowering. She lay in the tall grass. Air was filled with smoke and distant screams. The carriages had been broken by the blast. Two of the horses were still whining in pain. She stood up, body aching. A nail from the broken carriages had penetrated her arm, but she barely noticed. The landscape had transformed from the home she once knew to the fires of purgatory in an instant. The dry autumn grass had caught on fire quickly. Everything was burning and drowned in the red haze. Even the sky… She looked up to the serpent, which covered the sky. It’s massive long body circled above, reaching from one horizon to the other. There was no words to describe the ancient bottomless horror that she found from the distant corner of her soul. She was but an ant in the feet of the beast. The many set of wings of the dragon glided it’s massive body through the sky as it’s hundreds of burning red eyes stared down at it’s handiwork. Then the cracks between the black scales began to glow, turning fire red and eventually glowing white like hot metal. She watched motionless, tears streaming down her face, as the beast reigned it’s fire down on the city across the river and evaporated countless lives and homes in an instant. Strong gust threw her back to the ground. She allowed herself to lay there for a moment and cry in impotent desperation. What could an ant do?

[redballpointpen2-blog]

MedicalPress - Health WordPress Theme

New Post has been published on https://babesgobananas.com/medicalpress-health-wordpress-theme/

MedicalPress - Health WordPress Theme

MedicalPress is a handcrafted WordPress theme for Health and Medical industry. It is a highly suitable theme for doctors, dentists, hospitals, health clinics, surgeons and other types of health organizations.

It has purpose oriented design, responsive layout, and special features to manage contents for Medical and Health websites.

Easy & Extensive Theme Options  —   MedicalPress theme has a comprehensive set of theme options that will help you configure and modify things around your website.

Responsive Design  —   MedicalPress theme is built in twitter bootstrap, So it has a fully responsive layout. Using this theme your website will look awesome on big screens as well as on tablets and smartphones.

WooCommerce Compatible  —   MedicalPress theme is compatible with WooCommerce plugin which enables you to easily add an ecommerce shop to your website.

Translation Ready and WPML Compatible  —   MedicalPress theme is translation ready and compatible with WPML plugin. So, You can build your website in multiple languages.

Visual Composer Compatibility  —   MedicalPress theme is compatible with Visual Composer plugin and this plugin is included within the theme package for free.

It is important to note that none of the demo pages are built using visual composer instead it is an extra facility that you can use to build your own custom pages.

Search Engine Optimized   —   MedicalPress is handcrafted and its HTML is written keeping in mind your sites good ranking on search engines.

Forms with Google reCAPTCHA Support  —   MedicalPress theme includes Google reCAPTCHA integration to prevent spam messages from appointment forms* and contact form.

Revolution Slider Included  —   MedicalPress theme comes loaded with revolution slider support, So you can create powerful and great looking slides.

Google Fonts Support  —   MedicalPress theme provides theme options to change the site fonts to any Google font.

Various Styling Options  —   MedicalPress theme provides easy to use style customization options within theme options. So, you can change the backgrounds and colors throughout the site.

Child Theme Included  —   MedicalPress theme comes with full support for child themes and one sample child theme is included as part of the package.

Easy and Comprehensive Documentation  —   Easy to understand and detailed documentation is included as part of the theme package. It will help you set up the theme quickly and get your most questions answered right away.

List of Features

Purpose Oriented Design

Fully Responsive Layout – Built in twitter bootstrap

Full Localization Support – Contains RTL styles and PO and POT files

WPML Plugin Compatibility

Easy and Extensive Theme Options

Easy to Use Meta Boxes

Theme Options comes loaded with Many Styling Options. So, you can change colors and backgrounds of almost everything.

You can change the text fonts to Any Google Font

Nicely designed news page with post formats support

Doctors Templates

2 Columns Doctors

3 Columns Doctors

4 Columns Doctors

Nicely designed doctor detail with related doctors listing

Sortable Gallery Templates

2 Columns Gallery

3 Columns Gallery

4 Columns Gallery

Gallery Item Type Page with Gallery Layout

Gallery Item Detail Page with Slider Support

Services Templates

1 Column Service

2 Columns Services

3 Columns Services

FAQ Templates

FAQs Template – with sidebar

FAQs Full width Template

Various Other Templates

Home Page Templates

1 – with full width content support

2 – with various theme options to customize the homepage

Contact Template – With Google Map and AJAX Contact Form Support

Appointment Template

Full Width Template

Various Custom Post Types (powered with easy to use meta boxes)

Doctors

Services

Gallery Items

FAQs

Testimonials

MedicalPress is also compatible with Contact Form 7 Plugin – So you can add your own custom forms if needed.

Child Theme included in the theme package

XML Import File Included

Easy to Understand and Detailed Documentation Included

Theme Support

We dedicated support staff and support for all our themes is provided through our support site.

Visit our Support Site | How to get ?Item Purchase Code?

Recent Updates

Version 3.0.0 – Updated on 19 April 2019

Related article for the existing users

Moved basic functionalities in MedicalPress Utilities plugin

Added basic gutenberg blocks compatibility

Improved overall styles

Added reborn doctors listing social icons

Added theme options control for doctors listing social icons display

Version 2.1.0 – Updated on 19 December 2018

Improved Security by adding Escaping and Validation

Improved escaping for translation strings

Improved Styles for slider on mobile view

Added Gutenberg block editor support

Added reCaptcha for default design appointment form variation one

Fixed Reborn FAQs appearance issue

Version 2.0.3 – Updated on 17 October 2018

Fixed home page read more buttons text visibility issues

Version 2.0.2 – Updated on 16 October 2018

Added Italian, French, Spanish and Turkish Translation Files

Added excerpt support for services

Added transition to tabs widget

Added slider contents plus sign control

Added ‘Read More’ control in theme options

Added URL Slugs support for doctors and services

Added excerpt count control for reborn skin

Added filter settings for News/Posts section

Added WPML language switcher for Reborn skin

Added translation support for Doctors and Services slug

Added hover with theme options control for doctors and services

Fixed comments closed visibility issue

Fixed autocompletes

Fixed reCaptcha translation issue

Fixed pagination issue

Fixed PHP 5.5 compatibility issues

Fixed responsive menu issue for ipad

Fixed slider contents issue

Fixed styling issue for WooCommerce

Improved FAQs filter animation

Improved Styles

Version 2.0.1 – Updated on 8th June 2018

Added GDPR Checkbox support for contact and appointment forms with related theme options to enable/disable and customize it.

Fixed few styles issues.

Updated translation files.

Version 2.0.0 – Updated on 30th May 2018

Added a fresh design variation named “Reborn”.

Added one click demo import for both design variations.

Added retina ready logo support.

Updated reCAPTCHA to reCAPTCHA V2.

Improved theme options.

Updated font-awesome to font-awesome v5.0.8.

Various fixes and improvements across the theme.

Updated translation files.

Updated documentation as per latest changes.

Updated included plugins.

Version 1.6.1 – Updated on 13th October 2017

Fixed slider description issue.

Improved product’s zoom, lightbox and slider.

Added various minor fixes.

Updated translation files.

Updated included plugins.

Version 1.6.0 – Updated on 2nd August 2017

Updated code with respect to latest version of WooCommerce.

Added theme options to sort doctors.

Added theme option for appointment’s initial response/confirmation message.

Added CC and BCC email addresses support for contact form and appointment form using theme options.

Added theme options to enable/disable banner.

Added Google+ and YouTube social icons for doctor.

Added boxed layout support.

Added horizontal tabs support in existing shortcode.

Improved slider headings.

Improved appointment form by adding support of Thank You page.

Fixed reCAPTCHA issue on SSL.

Fixed star rating issue.

Improved various styles and refactored code at various places.

Updated font-awesome.

Updated translation files.

Version 1.5.2 – Updated on 22nd July 2016

Added RTL styles

Added option for slider button text

Added theme option to hide pagination on services templates

Added Google Maps API key support

Added appointment form shortcode

Added appointment request received confirmation email

Added doctors shortcode

Added news shortcode

Added Visual Composer support for various theme based shortcodes

Improved existing code and styles for various WooCommerce elements

Updated TGM plugin activation class

Updated Visual Composer plugin

Updated Revolution Slider plugin

Updated documentation

Version 1.5.1 – Updated on 29th April 2016

Removed a redux message from dashboard

Improved gallery item detail page code

Updated Visual Composer Plugin

Updated Slider Revolution Plugin

Version 1.5 – Updated on 22nd December 2015

Updated Visual Composer Plugin

Updated Slider Revolution Plugin

Version 1.5 – Updated on 7th October 2015

Added flexibility to display more doctors on home with any number of columns

Improved breadcrumbs and introduced related theme options in header section

Changed blog post dates from modified to published

Fixed menu flickering issue

Fixed related gallery items bugs

Improved some JS code

Updated TGM related code

Improved Tabs Widget

Improved quick CSS and quick JS related code

Fixed slider background appearance bug

Updated WPML configuration XML file and translation files

Improved One Click Demo Importer

Updated Demo Importer Extension

Improved translation support in child theme and changed it?s version to 1.3

Updated Visual Composer Plugin

Updated Slider Revolution Plugin

Version 1.4.1 – Updated on 17th June 2015

Updated Visual Composer plugin

Fixed couple of debug notices

Version 1.4 – Updated on 28th April 2015

Added WooCommerce Plugin Support

Added theme option to enable/disable animation

Improved TGM plugin activation code

Improved meta boxes related code

Updated translation files

Updated documentation

Version 1.3 – Updated on 7th March 2015

Added one click demo importer

Improved contact and appointment forms handler code

Reorganized theme options related to appointment forms

Fixed double title issue

Renamed theme’s folder name to avoid conflict with free themes

Modified child theme to match new parent theme name.

Version 1.2 – Updated on 20th February 2015

Added – Visual Composer Plugin Support

Added – Homepage Layout Manager in Theme Options

Added – Theme options to change responsive menu colors

Added – Theme option to change number of blog posts (news) to display on homepage

Added – Theme option to change number of doctors to display on homepage

Added – Testimonial thumbnail placeholder

Added – Theme option to hide plus sign in slider

Added – Theme options to enable or disable breadcrumb

Added – Theme option to enable or disable swipebox lightbox plugin

Added – Custom post types dashboard icons

Added – Shortcode for two third column

Improved – Title tag support in header based on WordPress 4.1

Improved – Toggle and accordion short codes

Improved – Related doctors on single doctor page

Fixed – Redux dev mode notification

Included – PSDs as part of the package

Version 1.1 – Updated on 3rd December 2014

Updated translation file default.po

Version 1.1 – Updated on 27th November 2014

Added – Sticky header feature that can be enabled from theme options.

Added – Support for two columns sub menu

Added – Google reCAPTCHA support in contact form and three appointment forms ( Not added in one appointment form due to design restrictions )

Improved – Breadcrumbs code

Improved – Micro-formats related code

Fixed – Gallery thumbnail double anchor issue

Fixed – Slider height issue during loading

Photos License

Photos used in this theme are for demo purposes only and are not included as part of the theme license.

Source

[shycustisportfolio]

“Coffin - SH & JW” July, 2012. Pencil, PhotoShop

Sherlock watched the doctor faze out after his final string of words. John was a dweller, worrier. Sherlock was clearly alive before him, but he still seemed burdened by the idea that he had been dead. “Well, you’ve made your decision now- you can be yourself, again.” It wouldn’t be that easy, though Sherlock wouldn’t understand. “And it is a foolish decision, but you’ve tied my hands and I’ve nothing left but to accept it, even if bitterly. Your stubbornness might kill you alongside me, but-” he sighed, though it sounded more of relief than anger, “-we’ll just have to share a coffin, I suppose.” -

“Oh, God, share a coffin? With you?” John muttered, humour lacing his words. “I thought 221B was enough."

(Excerpt; Kenzie as John, Shy as Sherlock.) (May or may not be finished. Part of a matching pair.)

Art © Shy Custis Sherlock © BCC

[abizinabox]

BCC Creates Representation Applicants - Licensees

BCC Creates Representation Applicants – Licensees

BCC Creates Representation Applicants – Licensees

BCC Creates Representation Applicants – Licensees [1] – we have excellent news the Bureau of Cannabis Control [“BCC”] has confirmed the creation of a formal policy where professionals may represent an Owner, Applicant of Licensee if they obtain written permission. The following is an excerpt of an email from Tamara Colson, Esq. – BCC’s Asst. Chief…

[joshuajacksonlyblog]

Mt. Gox Bitcoin Dump Killed Last Summer’s Price Rally, New Report Suggests

A new report by GoxDox, allegedly shows that Mt.Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi dumped bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchanges despite maintaining claims to the contrary. Leaked documents presented in the report point to a massive Bitcoin dump to the tune of $312 million.

The Mt.Gox Bitcoin Dumpening

According to GoxDox, the Tokyo Bitcoin whale ignored the advice of Kraken CEO, Jesse Powell, on the modalities for the Mt.Gox bitcoin sale. At the time, there were fears of what a massive selloff could do to the stability of the market.

Rather than heed the advice of “experts and stakeholders,” GoxDox alleges that the Mt.Gox trustee decided to go with Japanese Bitcoin exchange platform, BitPoint. As proof, GoxDox also revealed payments made by BitPoint in Japanese Yen to the Mt.Gox Estate from February 2018 to June 2018.

Back in March 2017, Bitcoinist reported on the sale of $400 million worth of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash by Kobayashi. At the time, the trustee revealed the sale occurred between December 2017 and February 2018.

In March 2018, the trustee stated that he sold bitcoin OTC (over-the-counter):

I sold BTC and BCC from December 2017 to February 2018 with the cooperation of a cryptocurrency exchange in light of the market price at the time of the sale. Following consultation with cryptocurrency experts, I sold BTC and BCC, not by an ordinary sale through the BTC/BCC exchange, but in a manner that would avoid affecting the market price, while ensuring the security of the transaction to the extent possible. The method of sale of BTC and BCC was approved by the court as well.

Unfortunately, the report doesn’t show any payment records before February 23, 2018. But the next round of payments commenced at the start of May 2018. Oddly enough, Kobayashi moved 8,200 BTC from the Estate’s cold wallet, also at the beginning of May 2018.

Coincidence or Causation

The consistent stream of JPY payments from BitPoint to the Mt.Gox Estate within the period of the known bitcoin selloffs raises a few questions. Assuming Kobayashi sold $312 million worth of BTC to BitPoint, how (and when) did the platform go about its own sale if at all?

The answer might lie, like GoxDox posits, in studying the BTC price chart between May and June 2018. After accumulating significant gains in April, Bitcoin price almost broke $10,000 at the start of May, which is when BitPoint began allegedly buying from Kobayashi.

However, from that point onwards, the price began a steep fall, setting a new 2018 low at around $5,800 by the end of June. Therefore, GoxDox suggests that BitPoint promptly dumped BTC on exchanges pushing price lower in mid-2018.

Lending credence to the theory is the fact that BitPoint also released a statement in 2017 announcing its enhanced ability to process large BTC orders. Excerpts from the announcement translated from Japanese read:

In late January 2017, we set up a special window (*) for large OTC transactions, respond to large trading demand, and advance the expansion of covered business partners and improve liquidity in virtual currency transactions.

Do you think Kobayashi sold to BitPoint who then sold BTC immediately on exchanges? Let us know your thoughts below!

Image courtesy of GoxDox.com, reddit u/afedyk, Shutterstock

The post Mt. Gox Bitcoin Dump Killed Last Summer’s Price Rally, New Report Suggests appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

from Cryptocracken Tumblr http://bit.ly/2HV5jQC via IFTTT

[lethargicactionhero]

Getting Serious for a Moment: Thoughts on Abuse

I have been in a difficult life situation lately that is finally starting to improve. It's something I guess I just wasn't allowing myself to acknowledge, like stopping myself just short of making that connection because I wasn't ready to admit the awful truth: that I have been an abuse victim.

I have been taking care of my elderly grandparents for the past six or seven years. It's been a satisfying way to live my life. Not easy, but it's definitely rewarding to make them as comfortable as I can during their final years. Unfortunately my aunt has legal power of attorney over the both of them, and she and her boyfriend are a nasty, conniving pair. My grandfather's condition has sadly degenerated rapidly this past year, and his needs became more than I could provide for, though damned if I didn't nearly kill myself trying. In the six or seven weeks since the return from his most recent hospitalization, I've dropped as many pounds. And in expressing to my aunt that I was burning out, her response was, instead of doing what she could to help me, bullying me and actively working to make me as miserable as possible to try to intimidate me into staying. Unfortunately my grandfather had an accident yesterday. He is all right, but it was bad enough that we had to go to the hospital and that gave me the irrefutable proof I needed that he is now beyond my ability to care for. I told my aunt I am moving out of his place and he has to go into a nursing home. I won that war, but she still keeps trying to pick battles. She doesn't realize I am gearing up to cut her out of my life completely.

A recent realization I had about abusers was prompted by, of all places, a guy's two-hour rant video on why BCC Sherlock sucks. (I didn't watch the whole thing.) He pointed out that the show continuously made promises of getting better, but always failed to live up to expectations. Cliffhangers always had BS resolutions. (Moriarty and Sherlock are in a standoff with a bomb! ...Moriarty gets a phone call and walks away. Moriarty is still alive!? No he's not. Sherlock says he knows what his strategy is? He has no clue, he's just going to wait and see what happens.) Somehow up until season 4, audiences failed to see this pattern, and kept falling for the show's false promises.

Which brings to mind an excerpt from the last Pratchett book I read, Going Postal:

'(After the main character attempts to dig his way out of prison with a spoon, only to find his way obstructed by a massive boulder)

"You set this up, did you, Mr. Wilkinson?" said Moist weakly, watching the glint of light on the spoon.

"Oh, not us, sir. Lord Vetinari's orders. He insists that all condemned prisoners should be offered the prospect of freedom."

"Freedom? But there's a damn great stone through there!"

"Yes, there is that, sir, yes, there is that," said the warden. "It's only the prospect, you see. Not actual free freedom as such. Hah, that'd be a bit daft, eh?"

"I suppose so, yes," said Moist. He didn't say "you bastards." The wardens had treated him quite civilly these past six weeks, and he made a point of getting on with people. He was very, very good at it. People skills were part of his stock-in-trade; they were nearly the whole of it.

Besides, these people had big sticks. So, speaking carefully, he added: "Some people might consider this cruel, Mr. Wilkinson."

"Yes, sir, we asked him about that, sir, but he said no, it wasn't. He said it provided"--his forehead wrinkled "--occ-you-pay-shun-all ther-rap-py, healthy exercise, prevented moping, and offered that greatest of all treasures, which is Hope, sir."

"Hope," muttered Moist glumly. '

And that is how most abusers operate. Yes, they are cruel, but they always lure you in with kindness first. They know how to toy with their victims. Never are they 100% cruel, never are they purely sadistic. That's why abuse is SO COMMON. Most victims aren't stupid enough to go along with pure mistreatment.They always offer just enough kindness to string you along, to give you "hope."

My aunt used to buy me gifts all the time. There for a while, doing odd jobs for her was my only source of monetary income. She COULD be nice to me, but that niceness always had a string attached to it... whenever she did something nice for you, it was never altruistic. There was always a sense of "You owe me" tied to each gift. Which is why she now treats me like she owns my very soul, and why it's been so hard for me to break free from that. But I am finally going to. I don’t think of myself as a brave person. In a fight-or-flight scenario, I choose flight. I have been putting up with my aunt's abuse since I was a preteen and it took me this long to get sick enough of her to finally make a stand. So I don't judge victims of bullying or abuse, because I know what it's like to have an abuser get in your head. Human beings are suckers for false hope. So if I can stand up to my lifelong abuser, then someday so can you.

[parultongaria]

The Calling

Hey

You remember that night I asked you a question that seemed philosophical? A question I had been asking everyone lately and I wanted, no needed your inputs on it, I built up the mahaul* and eventually, asked you a variation of "how do you find your calling or how do you know what your calling is"?

At first it seemed weird to be asking that, when we are just chilling. But it seems, we have all grown older, and our chilling involves answering random questions about the meaning of life and the work that we do.

I asked a few of you, my very intelligent, gorgeous and brave friends (not to mention, for some weird reason, a lot of you into fitness and super fit \m/). After I came full circle, Bangalore-Mumbai-Delhi-Bangalore some patterns seemed to emerge out of the seemingly disconnected responses that I had received. And I wasn't doing it to make a survey of sorts. The conversation seemed to evolve into a longer discussion, city to city, one friend at a time.

The interesting thing is, even though the conversation took place in pieces, it was almost fluent and connected, as if somewhere, we were all listening in to the same questions and thoughts. The wisdom is not mine. Most of the words are not mine. I have tried to recollect what you said, and share with you the complete conversation.

It only seemed fair, to share with you, what I have learnt from you. Here follows:

You don't find your calling, it finds you.

In other words, someone else said, you try a lot of things and one of them becomes super hit (if it does), and that in retrospect, becomes your calling.

And then another point of view is, no matter how hard you tried, at something you thought is your calling, if it doesn't respond to you, it doesn't. And something else does, effortlessly, or with seemingly little effort. It pays the bill, it keeps you occupied, it gets you clients. And before you know, you don't mind waking up at 5 for it, everyday, no matter how tired you are. And lo, you have found your calling.

You only know in retrospect.

You don't know, the steps beforehand, or the path, that you have to take in order to become successful. Only once, you have become successful, you retrofit the incidents that led you to this point.

That you rationalize and tell fascinating stories about how these things were meant to be, but a lot of times, they are nothing but accidents.

Intent is added as an afterthought. A lot of it is experiment and willingness to be flexible, to change course, to listen to the universe or opportunities if you will, when they present themselves.

And other things...

Nobody knows what they are doing. They fake it for the most part. They have to look grown up, like they have their s#it together. Like they have made it. But they are as clueless, as ourselves. They go through the bad days. And there are a lot of bad days before the good days.

It's ROUGH out there. Finding your calling, is not easy. Sometimes, it takes sacrifices, sometimes going broke a few times, and other times, it means literally a broken wrist or an ankle!

There's not necessarily ONE calling. You may have more than one. And it's corollary: it's not necessary that everybody has a calling!

It doesn't have to make you money. It often gets confused with making you a ton of money while you're having fun working on your calling, but sometimes it doesn't make you money. Other times it does. If that happens, lucky you!

Parts of original email, not relevant on tumblr: 

One last thing, you're not in bcc because its a 100 people list. You're in bcc because I value your privacy.

PS:I'm a little sleepy, so pls pardon my tense inconsistencies, typos, or the very important point you said and I missed. :)

PPS:Have you read / come across something else on the topic. Please share

What some of my friends added [excerpts] :  

[1] Somewhere I read the definition of Hell: 'The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.'And that was enough of motivation for me to actually DO what I want to do, what I didn't regret doing and leave out things I wouldn't regret not doing.See the correlation? What often seems to be our calling, is something that we really LIKE doing. The very reason we SHOULD wait, be patient and keep experimenting to find our true calling(s), when the person we became meets the person we could've become, is the realization that they are identical TWINS (couldn't help it).

[2]  I would highly recommend you to read a few things that I read sometime back. The articles suggest and I agree, that more than calling you need to focus on filling your life with "meaning". passion | meaning of life | life purpose 

[3] A very lengthy version of a similar conversation.