#honestly the Sphinx has been in this same position for years

[spicymancer]

Does the Big Gorgon Lady have a name? ...or a height? 👉👈

Honestly she SHOULD get a name at some point but I've been really indecisive. I do think she'd probably be a good character to join the actual Gingerwood staff, but then she'd need some kind of pastry/sweet name to match the theme and I've been indecisive.

Oh and her lower body is serpentine so her "height" is kinda tricky, but head to tail-tip she's probably about 8 meters long?

[evergreen-lodge]

At some point I’m sure, whether from an old English class or perhaps the History channel, somewhere along the timeline of your life you’ve heard some of the Old Stories. Heroes like Perseus slaying the Gorgon, or Cú Chulainn the Irish giant, indestructible during his riastradh. I’m absolutely positive you must’ve heard of us ‘monsters’, if nothing else. Creatures like dragons, laying waste to country sides, stealing gold and cattle, or the ever notorious werewolves or chupacabras, both banes of civilization in their own rights. Perhaps an old enigmatic Sphinx, now content to tell stories, hmm? Nobody enjoys riddles anymore anyway.

Now what if I told you the stories were true? Yes yes, ridiculous I know, but believe in something more for just a moment. Creatures of great and terrible might, men and women capable of bending the elements to their needs, gods themselves, roaming the earth seeking worshippers to nourish themselves with faith. Of course, not all of the tall tales were true, at least not yet, but we’ll get to that later. For now, simply believe, and open your eyes to see the truth.

The world is still full of magic.

That being said, it’s not the exact same as the stories would lead you to believe. Monsters hardly ever eat anyone anymore, and magic has been regulated to be much more… user friendly. Safer. No more of that ‘flooding the earth’ or ‘raining fire from the sky’ nonsense. Much more manageable. See, a few thousand years back, the magical world figured something out: even if we did die, we’d come back eventually. Extinct leviathans that hadn’t been seen in centuries once again swam the seas, vanquished spirits haunted their same old halls, even the heroes of old were born anew in time. Live. Die. Repeat. After a while, we realized why:

It was the stories, our stories, still being told by you humans. It was the anchor of our existence, tethered so deep into the collective unconscious of humanity that it kept us alive, eons after anything flesh should have withered away. And so we became the Lorekind, beings burning so bright and full of life, empowered by the ghost stories told by humans huddled around the fire. We needed the world of man, and the world still needed something to believe in, even if only subconsciously. And so a new system was put into effect, with safeguards on all sides, as fair as anyone could get.

The mythological world and the world of men are now overseen by a force known only as the Evergreen Lodge, a super pact of Gods, Monsters, Immortals, and Men, bound by law and magic to keep the worlds alive and stable. No side with any advantage over the other, but protected from man and monster alike by man and monster alike. Their agents safeguard the world from dangers, both supernatural and manmade. Quite honestly, this is my new favorite era of heroes. I myself, while not an agent, am their Chief Librarian, and a founding member of the Lodge. You may call me Phix.

I tell their stories.

Be sure to repeat them.

[enchantedisabella]

Why Annabeth is not Hermione 2.0

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time, because so many people compare Annabeth Chase to Hermione Granger when they’re really nothing alike. Yes, they’re both the smart, female best friends of the main protagonists, but that doesn’t make their personalities identical. Here are my reasons why.

Annabeth has ADHD and dyslexia and is unfocused at times. Hermione has no disorders we know about and is attentive in class. I understand that Percabeth in high school is a very popular headcanon among the pjo fandom, and Annabeth is indubitably ridiculously clever, but she is NOT going to be raising her hands every second of every day in class and she definitely won’t pass every single subject without even trying. I’d be very surprised if she could stay focused for a full lesson. Honestly, I’d expect her to be labelled as even more of a ‘troubled kid’ than Percy, because Percy has spent years in mortal school while Annabeth hasn’t. It would be Annabeth, not Percy, being the one desperately trying to pay attention but the first to lose focus halfway through. Hermione, as we all know, is the exact opposite, and hates when people disrupt classes.

Hermione is a rule-follower at heart. Annabeth is not. We all remember that time when Hermione Badass Granger kept a woman in a jar for a year, right? However, we also remember the numerous times she’s threatened to report Harry and Ron for breaking the rules- mainly in the earlier books, when their friendship isn’t as developed, but she still acts scandalised whenever rule-breaking is brought up. Hermione will break the rules, because she’s a Gryffindor at heart and she will do anything to protect her friends (trap Rita Skeeter in a jar, report the Firebolt to McGonagall because it might have been cursed), but that doesn’t mean she necessarily enjoys it. Annabeth is a different story altogether. In fanon, it’s usually her who is expected to restrain Percy from doing something stupid (like Hermione and Harry’s canon friendship), but in actual pjo canon, it’s the other way around. Annabeth Chase is smart and clever but she’s also prideful, impulsive, and downright reckless, while Hermione is most definitely not. Annabeth will use any excuse to break the rules and sees no point in regulations if they don’t make any sense, and thinks that authority figures should earn her respect. Hermione basically hero-worships all authority figures unless they’re really bad (eg. Snape and Umbridge). It takes a lot for her to rebel against someone in a higher position than her, and she will willingly give teachers her respect even if they haven’t earned it yet.

Hermione is book smart. Annabeth is street smart. I’m not saying that Annabeth doesn’t like to read, because it’s clearly stated in The Lightning Thief or Sea of Monsters (I can’t remember which) that Annabeth reads so much that Percy forgot that she also had dyslexia. However, in school aus, Annabeth would probably not perform that well on tests and she would absolutely not join spelling bees and win, or have we as a fandom collectively forgotten that in SoM, Percy said that Annabeth could have spent the whole night trying to spell ‘cyclopes’ due to the fact that she kept messing up the letters? And if I hear any reasons like ‘they removed her dyslexia because it didn’t fit their fanfiction, and there’s no need to be so pressed about it’, that’s very fucking ableist, for one, and defeats the whole purpose of Rick Riordan (bless him) making the book’s protagonists have ADHD and dyslexia for his son. Also, it says a lot about fans trying to make Annabeth into Hermione 2.0 when she’s very much not, and then fooling themselves into thinking that the girls’ personalities are carbon copies of each other. Hermione is repeatedly described as the brightest witch of her age- she’s deductive, rational and calculated. She has no problem paying close attention to detail. She spurts out so much information in the books that she has been repeatedly compared to ‘swallowing the textbook’, courtesy of Ron. I can’t even imagine how much she would have to memorise to be compared to that. Annabeth would not be capable of that, nor would she even want to be. She would not see the point in memorising facts, because Annabeth Chase learns things by doing, and Hermione Granger learns things from books. In the Philosopher’s Stone, Hermione is distraught at their first flying lesson because she can’t learn it from a book first. You know who wouldn’t be? Hands-on, street smart, capable Annabeth.

Annabeth values knowledge more than Hermione does. Some of you may not understand why this is, but Annabeth is a daughter of Athena and Hermione is a Gryffindor. They have very different learning strategies and if they ever met, they’d be nothing alike and probably wouldn’t even see eye to eye. Hermione canonically scoffs at ‘books and cleverness!’ both in the movies and the books of the Philosopher’s Stone. Hermione is Sorted into Gryffindor because she values bravery over everything else- even knowledge. Annabeth has always put knowledge first. That’s not to say that Annabeth Who-Took-A-Knife-For-Percy Chase isn’t brave, but she values knowledge above else and she’s willing to fight dirty to get it (as is Hermione, but that’s beside the point). It’s understandable that Annabeth would put knowledge above bravery, because of her parentage. Hermione’s choice is also understandable, given the circumstances, and it’s noteworthy that she repeatedly chooses friendship over cleverness in the series just because she knows its importance. Just to reiterate: the girls are different people. Don’t put them as madly competing in your Hogwarts x Camp Half-Blood fanfictions. Do you honestly think Annabeth would compete with Hermione for the best grades in History of Magic, or that Hermione would ever try her hand at sword-fighting and archery? I don’t think so. This might seem like it’s contrasting my point, but Annabeth probably isn’t going to be interested in most of the lessons while they’re taking notes in a classroom without any hands-on work. She doesn’t function like that. She would do well in Charms or Transfiguration and positively shine in Quidditch, not History of Magic or Muggle Studies or Divination. She values knowledge she deems useful, and the only way for knowledge to be deemed useful by her standards is if she used what she’s learnt in practical spells and not note-taking.

Hermione has flexible moral principles. Annabeth’s are set in stone. Hermione is a very complex character. She repeatedly chastises Harry and Ron for breaking school rules on a daily basis, but it was her idea to go through with the Polyjuice Potion in CoS, her decision to keep Rita Skeeter in a jar, her decision to use a Time-Turner to get to all her classes on time. (Well, she also had to appeal to Cornelius Fudge through McGonagall, but it was her idea.) Hermione’s moral code is flexible, to say the least. She won’t break it for mundane days, but will for special occasions, and that’s because she knows that desperate times call for desperate measures. None of her moral code is written in stone. There is always a point where she justifies her behaviour by decreeing that the situation needs it. There is no line that she isn’t willing to cross depending on how bad the situation is. Hermione has a justifiable reason for breaking rules, and though she doesn’t enjoy it, like I said earlier, she will do it of her own accord if the situation calls for it. She has no point where she says to herself, ‘Okay, this is one rule that I’m not going to break no matter what.’ This girl, this brilliant, ruthless girl, is willing to cross every single line if she absolutely must, and that is why she is not at all like Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase, whose principles are set in stone. Annabeth Chase, who is prideful and stubborn and who does not compromise her values no matter what. Annabeth is not ruthless; Annabeth is not cruel. She is the embodiment of- not exactly goodness, but fairness and equality. She gives everyone what they deserve. She literally told a Sphinx off for not giving riddles that make you think, but instead asking questions that you just need a certain amount of knowledge of facts to answer. Let that sink in, because it’s the most perfect example I have. Hermione Granger would have answered them quick as a flash and moved on, because it’s an easy way out, she knows all the answers anyway, and she’d probably treat the Sphinx like an authority figure whose test she has to pass, not change. Annabeth Chase, instead, gets offended and demands riddles that make you think because she will not compromise her principles for anyone or anything, and places so much faith in her intelligence (which is why she values it so much) that even if the questions will be harder, she thinks that it’s downright insulting that they aren’t already. She takes it as an insult to her intelligence. Hermione is flexible; Annabeth is hard as stone.

Annabeth has the makings of a hero; Hermione has the makings of a villain. Sure, Hermione started SPEW and cares for the welfare of creatures and is portrayed as sensitive time and time again, but if she believes that what she is doing is right, she will use wrong methods to get to her goal. After all, when the greater good is at stake, who wouldn’t use less morally superior methods to get to it faster? What’s the murder of a few people who deserved it- maybe Bellatrix or Umbridge- when a greater number of lives can be saved? Hermione is unnervingly logical and although she is sensitive, she is not weak. She might feel pity for Sirius’s experience in Azkaban, because he’s ‘good’, in her mind, but would she feel for Bellatrix, who ‘deserved’ it? And of course Bellatrix did deserve it, but Hermione conveniently ignores that they went through the same experience because only Sirius deserves her pity, because he’s good. Hermione wouldn’t sacrifice Sirius for the greater good, but she would sacrifice Bellatrix, and Annabeth wouldn’t, because as I’ve said, Annabeth does not have a flexible moral code. Annabeth would not stand by and sacrifice Bellatrix, because she is still a person in Annabeth’s eyes, but Hermione would, because there is no line she wouldn’t cross. As long as Hermione thinks that what she’s doing is right, she would condone any action to achieve her goal. I think we all know enough about history to know that that is terrifying as fuck. Hermione, under different circumstances, could be a villain; Annabeth would be the hero and do the right thing no matter what.

These two girls are so inherently, intrinsically different that I have trouble wondering why anyone would think that they were anything alike just because they’re smart and friends with the protagonist. There are probably more points, but I’m tired and it’s a school day and I can’t think of anything more to add on. Anyway, thanks for reading this and I hope nobody makes the stupid, stupid mistake of saying that they are in any way similar after reading this, because I could honestly relate Annabeth more to Ron than I could to Hermione.

[eddygould]

Effingo (Nanopunk game idea)

Effingo is a fictional action-adventure game in 3rd person and an open world. Representing a pure nanopunk with its problems, the game reveals such topics as the concept of life, the role of technology, the preservation of culture and information, the further existence of civilization, and the relationship of people in critical situations. Honestly, Death Stranding has inspired me to create this concept.

The Lore:

It all started in 2028. Thanks to the sudden boom of nanorobots (called nanites) in medicine, the largest corporations had seen the potential in this technology and decided to invest in it their own funds. Subsequently, nanites were used in construction and military operations, and Nanovative, the main developer and supplier of nanites, became a true monopolist in its field. After some terrorist acts with a destruction of monuments, the company launched the Effingo programme that implied the preservation of masterpieces of culture and art, based on their copies made by nanites. The program had to work through a software analysis of shapes, interiors, and materials of architectural creations, which data were loaded into nanites. Nanovative announced the creation of a "Museum", an artificial archipelago in the Pacific Ocean that included continuous tours. The nanites themselves were able to maintain the monuments in a perfect condition, restore them in case of damage, and with the embedded program would save copies even after the destruction of the originals. At the same time, the percentage of income from excursions would depart to countries whose monuments have already been "saved", and thus all the parties would remain in the black. This caused, in the main, a positive reaction in the society, but the forecasters, namely the union of scientists who founded the International Archive of Mankind (IAM), declared the inexpediency of this idea. In their opinion, behind this were purely economic motives, and the "plan for the preservation of culture" did not make any sense, because with the same success it could be possible to convert those computer models into virtual reality, where they would have existed forever. Effingo was called the "world-wide tourist trap", but this provoked a flurry of criticism in the media, and many scientists dubbed IAM "the unfortunate echo of an escapist generation", complaining that nanites are the future of mankind. In 2030, the first colony was founded on Mars. Despite all the suggestions of Nanovative to use their product for faster construction of the base, NASA refused it, giving priority to modular homes. By 2033, the contract for architectural copying with Nanovative was signed by most countries, including Egypt, Great Britain, Japan, and the EU. The first sight was the Great Sphinx of Giza. Nevertheless, there were rumors that the corporation illegally buys "models" from non-interested countries and tests them at their landfills. At one such test in Colorado, nanites deviated from the program for the first time, creating a perfect sphere with a diameter of 10 meters. The scientists tried to understand the reason, but could not find anything out. After about a year the nanites ceased to respond to any commands and began to create their own structures, going beyond a site. The company destroyed a significant part of them, but after a while found out that the nanites learned to copy themselves. This incident was hushed up until 2032, when the nanites began to "devour" the town of Sugar City, Colorado. The information was leaked to the media, and the nanites were recognized as a national threat. Anticipating a global catastrophe, the IAM moved its base from Norway to Antarctica, including the Alexandria project, the largest repository of all the information accumulated by mankind and encoded in DNA. Nanites all around the globe had also "challenged" humanity, starting simultaneously and continuously evolving. The real chaos began, during which the population of continents hurriedly moved to the islands. The Japanese researchers invented special repeaters capable of "deactivating" nanites, but nanorobots adapted to it as well. After a while, the movement of nanites changed from a chaotic one to understandable aspiration to the south. At the dawn of a global threat, the UN began to cooperate with NATO and the armies of individual countries in order to control the territories that were subjected to the "attack" of nanites. As they were evolving, nanorobots were acquiring new features, going from copying inorganic materials and self-copying to manipulation with gases and liquids. Mastering the new levels of matter changing, quadrillion of nanites headed to Antarctica, and by 2046 occupied some part of it. As the scientists expected, nanites somehow learned about the IAM, and therefore they tried to get there. The organization could not get help from the UN for a long time, and only an Australian private company NovaSec illegally provided a material support, and even delivered the Osprey O rocket for the emergency launch of the IAM to space, which got stuck in the ice during transportation. Meanwhile, the colony on Mars was growing: NASA carefully considered the possible problem of the disappearance of mankind and concentrated on adapting the life outside Earth. 2046. At the south pole, there was a catastrophe on the Noah Base. Between the researchers, a conflict arose on the basis of the hypothetical seizure of the area by nanites, during which the scientist Michael Jepsen organized a riot and attempted to kill all the personnel. A team of five people was sent from Hooverville Station to find out the reason and resolve the conflict. The detachment did not return surprisingly, therefore, because of the shortage of people, it was customary to gather researchers from adjacent IAM branches. Among them were Paul Vernon (a rescuer), Kate Crosser (a doctor), Vince Rego (a meteorologist), Thomas Callahan (an engineer who earlier worked on nanorobots), and Greg Wing (a NovaSec employee, and a programmer). A station warden Lenny Crimons, who asked for help, became the team's "brain".

The game begins with the arrival of a new personnel at the Hooverville Station that serves as a hub and main base in the game. The player takes control of Paul Vernon who has become the unofficial leader of the crew, which is not approved by some team members. After acquaintance, the player is free to either study the world, or follow the story missions. At the same time you can take up to two team-mates with you (in the main quests the whole team participates). The main mission is simple: to find Osprey O, deliver it to the station, and then get to the South Pole, and save the Alexandria project. At the same time, the player will have to study other stations and zones occupied by nanites, as well as to simply survive, following the level of cold and air condition. The game has not so much action because the main enemies here are nanorobots. Paul can either use special weapons to "repel" them or completely avoid nanites.

The game world covers the real territory of the northern part of the Transantarctic Mountains (that are located in the south of the game map) and parts of the Polar Plateau. Approximately in the center of the map there is the Noah Base (the coordinates are 87°12'12.0"S 120°08'04.9"E), in the southwest is the Hooverville station (87°12'12.0"S 120°08'04.9"E). The Osprey O rocket which got stuck in the ice is located in the north-west, almost in the corner of the map. In the center, in the north and west, there are several large zones occupied by nanites. Usually in these places the player can find artificial mountains and lakes, as well as "man-made" structures like Moai from the Easter Island, a half-buried statue of freedom, the Great Sphinx of Giza with an ideal sphere instead of a head, and many other "works" of nanites. Closer to the center, the climate becomes milder, there is no snow at all (or rather, the snow is "buried" under the layer of artificial earth), and some kind of weird trees is also presented. Artificial lakes and swamps of slime are inhabited by long worms and smaller organisms; in the air webbed beings-balloons that resemble jellyfish and emit light slowly fly, and the lifeless surface is full of coral-like outgrowths of flesh. In the atmosphere, the content of external gases is high, somewhere even methane predominates. In the very center there is the Noah Base with the Alexandria project.

In-game Story:

When the team gets to Osprey O, they detect an artificial glacier in the middle of the plain. Getting inside, the characters observe that their goal is in some kind of frozen slime, and all the NovaSec workers who delivered the goods were killed and turned into growths of flesh. After the successful rescue of the rocket, opinions about the further operation are divided. If earlier the characters simply expressed theories based on their point of view, since that moment everyone starts to follow them. Kate and Lenny believe that they must save Alexandria and all of humanity, Vince is convinced of his nihilism, and Thomas wonders what will happen if they help nanites to realize the goal of capturing the base. Only Greg does not have his own opinion, and therefore everyone will try to recruit him. Paul (the player) first adheres to the same views as Kate and Lenny, but he can take any point of view. The ending depends on to whom Paul will join. The player has to control the degree of tension in the team and try to convince as many mates as possible. In the course of studying the terrain, researchers are convinced that nanites absorb any information and thus evolve. Judging by the attempts to create life, they can already transform DNA, and if they get to Alexandria, they will "absorb" it and take possession of all the knowledge of mankind. Thomas suggests that their real goal is to become a meta-organism, a God who can change reality on all quantum levels at once. In the final mission, the characters penetrate the Noah base, around which the nanites form a dome of slime. Checking the records in the base computers, they find out that the last team that was supposed to come to the rescue, had a traitor who decided to destroy the project and has erased two backups of Alexandria. The team spent about a month there, but the nanites that penetrated the base killed all the researchers. Delivering the rocket and getting to the central computer of Alexandria, every character tries to take control in their own hands.

Endings:

1) Salvation (Paul, Kate, Lenny ± Greg): Paul with his adherents, contrary to warnings and threats from the others, moves the Alexandria vat with the encoded information, a decoder and a laptop to the rocket and launches it to Mars. In the process, the player kills the so-called "radicals", namely Thomas, Vince ± Greg (unless he was recruited by Paul). However, Greg and Lenny can also die by the recklessness of the player. Alexandria is sent to the Martian colony, and nanites without any sources of information will need much more time to further development. Despite the positive context of the ending, only the knowledge of humanity, and not humanity itself, has been saved. Nanorobots will seek to get to Mars, and the fate of the species depends on other people. Nevertheless, the survived members of the crew successfully escape the base and return to the Hooverville Station.

2) Salvation+ (Paul, Kate, Lenny ± Greg): if during the map study the team stumbled upon an old American Missouri Station and found there a nuclear warhead (which is strictly contrary to the Antarctic Treaty System), they can take it and use the missile in the final mission. In this case, all the characters will perish, but some of the nanites will be destroyed. Otherwise, this ending does not differ from an ordinary salvation.

3) Birth (Paul, Thomas ± Greg): the Thomas' idea has been realized. All the objectionable members of the team were killed, and the vat with Alexandria was opened. The nanites successfully absorb information and move to a new stage of development, becoming a God. The characters observe the formation of a single organism that grows into a huge and mighty tree and changes gravity on the base, absorbing all the survivors. The nanites achieve their goal, and a new era in the history of the universe begin.

4) Nihilism (Paul, Vince ± Greg): the nihilists erase the Alexandria project, and all the survivors, including Paul and Vince, commit suicide. Some nanites are destroyed, and therefore, no longer have a goal.

5) Nihilism+ (Paul, Vince ± Greg): if a nuclear warhead is discovered at the Missouri Station, nihilists can apply it in the last mission, destroying not only themselves but the base and a part of the nanites.

6) Virus (Paul, Kate, Lenny ± Greg): a secret ending that can only be opened after the player finds a DNA encoder and a sample of the virus on the Phaeton Station. The player needs to recruit Greg in order to modify the virus (otherwise the ending would not be available). As the crew loads the virus in the vat, it corrupts the data of Alexandria. However, when it is absorbed by nanites, it will launch a mutation process that will kill all nanorobots. Sacrificing the millenia of work and thought, the characters save the world from an invincible threat and give another chance to mankind.

[vorthosjay]

Let’s Talk About Wool Over the Eyes AND Dominaria News!

AAAAAAAH SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT TODAY. The story is here, while big news for Dominaria was rolled out here, here, and in my own article here. NO TIME FOR INTRO LETS GO.

Sphinx’s Decree by Daarken

None of her tamales had made it through the journey (they had crumbled to an inedible dust somewhere in the metaphysical space between Ixalan and here), so she traded a piece of amber from home for a bag full of odd-looking coins.

This is an important detail for a couple reasons. First, she was bringing tamales to barter! Second, they crumbled to dust in the Blind Eternities.

"No, but I'd love to make one!" Saheeli grinned and pulled Huatli up off the bench. "We are going back to my workshop right now so you can describe them to me. I've been needing a new artificing project!"

I realling like that Saheeli and Huatli are besties now.

Also, and I can’t overstate this...

ARTIFACT DINOSAURS

Grimlock, Ferocious King by Tyler Jacobson

The road was dusty and broad, peppered here and there with stores that had been in business longer than he had been alive. It was a sleepy sort of place, and Angrath was happy very little had changed.

A little plume of smoke was rising from his foundry. A hand-painted window on the outside read "OPEN" in blocky lettering. The building was little more than a shack on the far end of town, but it had been his shack on the far end of town. Piles of iron and metal were stacked outside, and a number of items and weapons were hung on a rack, each tagged to mark which order was which.

Sounds an awful lot like an old west plane, as most of us have speculated for Angrath from the start.

Two minotaurs glanced up from their anvils. They were tall like their mother had been. They wore bulky leather aprons, and their horns were adorned with the jewelry worn by unmarried women of their age.

Their eyes went wide. The one on the right snorted in shock. The other's ears stood up in surprise.

The one on the right sniffed the air and trembled with emotion. "Father?"

Steam softly hissed where Angrath's tears met his skin. He smiled.

"Rumi. Jamira. I'm home."

She remembered journeying upriver alone . . .

bravely diving into the river that ran through the city . . .

watching as a sphinx rampaged through Orazca . . .

and standing atop the Immortal Sun to turn said sphinx—along with dozens of other enemies—into gold.

Vraska remembered it all as clear as day, and gladly laid bare her mind for Nicol Bolas to inspect.

Like the image up top, I really like the idea that the moments that didn’t happen because Vraska’s backstory for Orazca.

"HE IS ALONE AND IMPRISONED HERE," it read in the same wandering flourish as Nicol Bolas's earlier messages. "CONGRATULATIONS, GUILDLEADER VRASKA." The location listed below the message was in a sparsely populated corner of the city. A perfect place to deal with filth in an appropriately sinister manner.

Whelp, RIP Jarad... again.

The tan was real. The scrapes, the newly callused hands, the muscles (the muscles!) were all his. Jace felt proud of his body for the first time in his life. He must not lose track of it now. Gideon would help with that—he'd been trying to foist a workout regimen on Jace for a year now.

Love to see that the emotional growth for Jace is sticking. He’s no longer intimidated by Gideon and avoiding his help because of that.

Also, you were trying to use me to lure Bolas to Ixalan to be imprisoned, weren't you? What stopped you on Tarkir? Has everything you've ever done actually just been about defeating Nicol Bolas? If so, we're going to need you to step up.

YEAH WHATS UP, UGIN?

Jace's first instinct was to reach his friends on Dominaria by focusing on Liliana, but the thought of her gave him pause. What he felt for her now wasn't anything resembling affection. It felt more sickly than that. An anemic, old, anxious tether between them that felt more like dread than tenderness. The entire notion of her was unsettling him, so he focused on the others instead.

Good.

Gideon's position on Dominaria was moving—not just at normal walking speed or mounted speed, but faster than he had any reason to be going.

How is he moving like that?!

I know how.

"Wow! I've never planeswalked onto a moving object before—what exactly are we riding in? How is it powered? How fast are we going?"

Skyship Weatherlight by Mark Tedin

It’s the Weatherlight, which in it’s earlier incarnation could achieve speeds of up to 110 mph, but got faster as the story went on.

It’s powered by powerstones, perhaps the bones of Ramos still?

He realized he had landed in something slightly gooey, and looked up to see who was nearby.

@sarpadianempiresvol-viii suggested that Jace landed in Squee and now I don’t want it to be anything else.

He heard quick footsteps on metal and saw Gideon skid out from a nearby door, eyes wide and body frozen with shock. His expression was overcome with emotion. This was someone who was happy to the point of tears to see that he was alive. This was a friend.

Compared to his rampant insecurity around Gideon earlier, this is awesome.

He saw Gideon lurching forward to hug him, but one of the other people in the room abruptly stepped in his way. She appeared to be in her seventies. She wore thick red robes, and her silver hair was tied in a loose, somewhat frizzy braid at her side. She looked Jace up and down with a distant, amused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. The woman looked over her shoulder at Gideon and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's the bookworm?"

WHO IS THIS LADY I WONDER?

Art by Yongjae Choi

"Orazca is ours once more," he said. "The three aspects of the sun shine bright, and thus begins a new age of conquest for the Sun Empire. Ixalan is ours . . . and Torrezon is next."

That was... a relatively minor ending. I think the vampires and pirates might have been more interesting.

Magic Story will resume in April 2018 in Dominaria.

Magic: The Gathering Narrative Team:

Writers – Alison Luhrs and Kelly Digges Editor – Gregg Luben

Ixalan Story Development:

James Wyatt (Creative Lead) Chris L'etoile Doug Beyer

Special thanks to:

Jenna Helland Ken Troop

I want everyone to take a close look at this list, and realize that Chris L’etoile hasn’t been at Wizards of the Coast in year. This list shows exactly why the new plan to bring on an outside author is so fantastic. Alison and Kelly were writing all of the stories for Ixalan, AND were responsible for the world guides for future sets and the thousand art descriptions necessary every year.

Let’s move to the Io9 Article!

Dominaria’s story starts right after the events of Hour of Devastation. Gideon and Liliana have arrived on Dominaria following the Gatewatch’s defeat at the hands of Nicol Bolas. Together, they begin a mission to kill Belzenlok, the final demon holding Liliana’s contract. They get to see a lot of Dominaria in the process, which gives fans a look at how the plane has changed, and make some allies who may be familiar to longtime players.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. First of all, confirmation that Liliana’s fourth demon is on Dominaria.

Second, and more interesting, the rest of the Gatewatch are still working together?

Also, if Liliana’s fourth demon is there, YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS

What’s changed in Dominaria since fans last went there in Time Spiral?

Wells: Dominaria has started to recover from the Phyrexian invasion, though it’s left its mark on a lot of places and cultures. At the time the story starts, Dominaria is facing a new threat from the rise of the Cabal, which has been taken over by Belzenlok, and is now spreading across the world.

So, has the Weatherlight been restored to take on the Cabal? That seems like the task here, the big bad. Which honestly has me super excited because we’re inching one step after another closer to my grandest theory coming true.

I feel like I don’t have to do much speculation as to where the story is going, because I’ve already figured it out. I’m super pumped.

And then my article!

I think I liked Jamuraa best -- Zhalfir really captured my imagination -- but every setting had so much potential for more stories.

Zhalfir (might) be back! The wording on this was awkward so it’s not clear if she was talking about the history of Jamuraa or modern Jamuraa.

In the podcast, you mention a number of intriguing story details that I'd like to talk about. The biggest of which is the return of Skyship Weatherlight. Is this the original Weatherlight, recovered and rebuilt, or a new ship with the same name?

It's the original Weatherlight, which is rebuilt during the story.

It’s the original Weatherlight!

Notes from the Podcast!

Tiana is the guardian angel for the Weatherlight!

Arvad is a vampire and they become friends!

Teferi has a family!

Lots of cool stuff! I’m super pumped, and I’m sure more specifics will form in my head as we go.

[freaoscanlin]

Given Unsought, Part 4

Jemma came back from Maveth with a little something in tow. She and Daisy attempt to deal. Part 1 | 2 | 3

A/N: It’s time for the prenatal appointments to begin, and Daisy’s totally not going to miss that. Just one week and it’s smaller because Week 15 is a beast. Rated PG-13, 2419 words. 

Week Fourteen

The first trimester of pregnancy had raged through Jemma, bestowing bouts of morning sickness at all hours of the day, coloring in sunken circles beneath her eyes, and making her generally testy and out of sorts. Returning to earth, being around people, and dealing with the new gravity after months of harsh survival hadn’t helped, no doubt. She’d grown snappish with Fitz and Daisy above all else, grumbling over the jasmine lotion Daisy used and reminding Fitz to change his razor blade when it had gotten too old. Her sense of smell grew so strong that Daisy made it a policy never to drop by the lab on her way back from working out. The first time she’d tried, Jemma had raced for the bathroom, looking distinctly greener than any human should.

Honestly, Daisy was learning so much about pregnancy, but only from observing Jemma or from reading the books. Her friend never brought up her condition unprompted. When others mentioned it, she changed the subject. Normally Jemma shared everything with her friend, down to the very mundane details, but spending time on the deathworld had made Jemma a complete sphinx.

Which was why Daisy was surprised to stroll into the lab to raid Fitz’s stash of dwarves for a recon op and see Jemma standing in front of the full length mirror in the back. She’d pulled her shirt up to reveal the slightly round slope of her abdomen. Her head tilted, a thoughtful frown in place. It turned to shock as she looked in the mirror and saw Daisy approaching. She whirled.

“Daisy! Hi, I was just—”

“I do that when I’ve had a really big burrito.” Daisy pulled down the pelican case of drones from the shelf.  “Not the same, I know.”

“Not quite.” Jemma eyed her as Daisy began to critically inspect the dwarves. “He hates that you get into his stuff, you know.”

“That’s half the point. So, how’s the bump?”

“Rather bumpy, I’m afraid.” Jemma frowned.

“Looks about average for this far along.” Daisy pulled out a dwarf and inspected it. After leaving behind the Disney naming scheme, Fitz had gone on to one of those nerdy books that Daisy hadn’t read. She wasn’t sure who ‘Thorin’ was, but he looked like a pretty good dwarf.

She looked up to see Jemma gawking at her, and immediately wanted to make sure her hair wasn’t sticking up or something. “What?” she asked.

Jemma’s mouth snapped shut.  “N-nothing. I just hadn’t realized you’d done the research.”

“I Google-image searched baby bumps, Simmons, it’s not a big deal. And,” she eyed Thorin’s line of sight and tested its weight, “all the baby books had, like, these calendars about what happens when. This is week fourteen?”

Jemma nodded.

“Cool. That’s when facial muscles start moving, I think. I bet Simmons Junior’s already learning to frown at whatever Fitz says.”

“You think it’s a boy?”

“I think it’s a blob.” Daisy set Thorin back in its case and tucked that under her arm. She skirted around the table and laid a hand on Jemma’s shoulder since her friend still looked uncertain. “But given that the DNA swimming around in that thing belongs half to you and half to a literal astronaut, it’s a very, very smart blob. And a lucky one.”

“There are actually several studies that link intelligence not to genetics but to—”

Daisy made a blah-blah-blah hand gesture. “You can quote all the studies you like at me, but I highly doubt Simmons Junior’s going to be the kid eating paste in the corner in kindergarten.”

“Eating paste could be a sign of curiosity, I’ll have you know.”

Daisy raised her eyebrows, but Jemma didn’t disclose any further details. “All righty then,” she said, heading for the door. “On that note, I’m going to take my purloined dwarf before Fitz catches me.”

“Hey, Daisy?” Jemma’s hesitant voice stopped her in her tracks and made her swivel in place. Jemma twisted her hands together. “I don’t suppose you’re free tomorrow afternoon?”

“Yes, unless there’s an emergency. Why? Did you need something?”

Jemma took a deep breath. “I have an appointment and I was wondering if you might tag along? Fitz went to the first one with me, but he started arguing with the doctor and it was a bit of a nightmare, actually. It’s off-site, but it’s not far, and it won’t take long, I swear, you can come right back. You’d be doing me such a big favor—”

“Simmons—Jemma.” Daisy smiled. “Of course I’ll go with you. Come get me when you need to leave, okay?”

“Will do. Thanks, Daisy.”

“Anytime,” Daisy said. She glanced over at the unmistakable sound of Fitz’s footsteps approaching the lab. “Crap, that’s my cue. See you tomorrow!”

And ignoring Fitz’s “Wha—hey!” she scampered out of the lab with her stolen tech.

“Fitz is very cross with you,” Jemma said as Daisy adjusted the height on the little wheely stool they’d given her while they waited for the doctor to join them.

Daisy plopped down. “If he stopped being a perfectionist and released the super-useful tech that’s going to teach us all about what nefarious schemes the ATCU is doing, he’d live a much happier life. He holds onto those things forever.”

“He’s a bit fussy, yes, but that’s hardly—”

“We need that stuff, Simmons,” Daisy said.

Jemma held up her hands in an ‘I’m staying out of this’ gesture. “I’ll let you two work it out.”

“He’ll come around.” Daisy poked around the little table behind the ultrasound machine, grinning when Jemma waspishly slapped her hand away. “You never showed the pictures from your first ultrasound. It didn’t look like a squirrel, did it?”

“No, I can assure you, it did not look like a squirrel because there wasn’t a clear shot of the baby then. And I know what you’re doing.” Jemma took a deep breath and scooted back so she was sitting up on the hospital bed. “I appreciate it, but there’s no need to try to misbehave and distract me from my nerves. I’ve accepted my lot in life and that this child is coming.”

Daisy, about to reach out and pick up the wand, abruptly drew her hand back. “Um, yes, that’s exactly what I was doing,” she said, hoping the lie didn’t sound as fake to Jemma as it did to her.

A brief knock on the door made them look over, and Dr. Collins stepped in. Or at least, Daisy assumed that was Dr. Collins. Jemma had rambled on about her OB/GYN all the way over to the clinic, mentioning that she looked like a shield-maiden, and Daisy completely understood. Even though she wore pressed trousers and a crisp shirt under her lab coat, Dr. Collins could have joined Lady Sif in battle and Daisy wouldn’t have even blinked. She stood up when Jemma introduced her and immediately felt dwarfed.

“I’m here as a friend, honorary aunt, that sort of thing,” Daisy said, sitting down as Dr. Collins crossed to the stool on the other side of the hospital bed.

“Dr. Fitz wasn’t able to make it? I did look forward to another lively debate.” Dr. Collins logged into the computer.

“Fitz won’t be back until he promises to be on his best behavior,” Jemma said with a fond eye-roll. “Daisy’s been through a lot with me. You can speak frankly in front of her. She won’t be nearly as grossed out as Fitz.”

“Sure I will be, I’ll just hide it better,” Daisy said. She stayed quiet during the routine parts of the check-up, while Jemma answered questions and had her blood pressure checked. When Dr. Collins drew blood, Daisy merely tilted her head at Jemma. ‘Payback,’ she mouthed at her friend.

Jemma stuck her tongue out at her.

The conversation grew too scientific for Daisy to follow, so she spaced out. Was it always like that when doctors examined other doctors? If she hadn’t been exposed to years of Fitz and Jemma talking about science-y things way over her head, Daisy would’ve been intimidated. Now she studied the seriously outdated computer that ran the ultrasound machine. It’d take her about thirty seconds to hack it, she decided, if she was feeling slow.

She jolted and brought her attention back to the present when Jemma laid back on the bed. “Huh?”

“She’s doing the ultrasound now,” Jemma said. She correctly pegged the source of Daisy’s distraction when she informed the doctor, “Daisy’s the smartest computer person I know. She’s just brilliant at all computers. She was admiring your system, I think.”

More like cringing at it, but she let Jemma have that. She wheeled herself closer. “Time for the money shot? The books said the sex could be determined this week, maybe?”

“It’s possible, but the position of the fetus might make that difficult.” Dr. Collins gave them both a smile. “Some babies are shy about that sort of thing. You might not know until the day of the delivery. In addition, fourteen weeks is a little early to tell. We can confirm better at twenty weeks.”

“Well,” Jemma said with one of those forced smiles, “it’ll be an excellent surprise, whatever we discover.”

“You can paint the nursery gender-neutral colors. What do they put in nurseries? Baby ducks?” Daisy asked.

“Fitz has already insisted on monkeys.”

Daisy conceded to that with a thoughtful tilt of the head, surprised that she’d already discussed it with Fitz. But it made sense: Jemma would have to find a place off-base soon so she could start nesting, or whatever. That sucked. Daisy would miss being two doors down from her best friend. But also with Ward still out there plotting revenge, it wasn’t exactly safe to move off base yet, so maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about it for a while after all.

But Daisy didn’t want to think about Ward, so she said, “Monkeys would be cute.”

“I’m considering my options.” Jemma grimaced as the gel was applied to her abdomen. To Dr. Collins, she said, “Fitz has always wanted a Capuchin monkey.”

“It’s kind of a thing with him,” Daisy agreed, watching the image on the screen shift between blurry black lines and equally blurry gray lines. “How long does it take for—ooh.”

The lines on the screen gave way to a grainy ultrasound of an impossibly tiny fetus in the middle of the screen. Daisy heard Jemma’s gasp and felt something punch through her chest, but in a good way. Unconsciously, she leaned forward to get a better look. Online, the sonograms had looked vaguely like creepy little octopuses. Here she could actually see the line of a face, an upturned nose and chin. The belly was almost comically distended, the little legs curled up. Not so much a blob, but a minuscule and perfect human.

“And there’s your baby,” Dr. Collins said, typing something into the keyboard with her free hand as she continued to move the ultrasound wand over Jemma’s abdomen. Measurements began to list out on the screen. “Little easier to get a clear shot this time, I think. Now let’s see if we can get a heartbeat.”

Daisy’s hand hurt. Looking down, she realized that Jemma had grabbed it at some point, linking their fingers together and squeezing hard. She had a look on her face that was impossible to decipher, her eyes glued to the screen.

“Aha,” Dr. Collins said, and an EKG line began to beep at the bottom of the screen. She hit a button on the keyboard. “Sounds like a good, strong heartbeat to me. At this point in time, Dr. Simmons, we don’t have any reason to believe there’s anything but a very healthy fetus in there. If you look here, you can see the fingers…” She began to point out parts of the sonogram, endlessly patient as she answered Daisy’s questions.

Jemma remained silent, clutching Daisy’s hand. She reached out with her free hand, wonderingly brushing her the tips of her fingers over the moving image of the fetus. Then she blinked and seemed to snap herself out of the spell. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I’ve smudged up your screen—”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dr. Collins handed her a tissue, which she used to dab at her eyes. Jemma started and looked down at her hand, as though surprised to find it holding Daisy’s. Daisy merely squeezed reassuringly, not letting go.

Dr. Collins smiled at them, glancing down at the handholding briefly. “I’ll just print you off a copy, if you don’t have any other questions? Do you want a copy, too?”

“Uh, sure,” Daisy said. “I’ll consider it the start of my career as one of those people who carries around wallet photos.” She couldn’t wait to text it to May, actually.

Ten minutes later, she climbed into the driver’s seat of the borrowed vehicle—mercifully one of their SUVs without their logo on it, as that would look super conspicuous at the doctor’s office—and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. Jemma had been eerily quiet. She sat in the passenger seat, one hand resting on her abdomen and the other holding the folder of papers Dr. Collins had given her, lost in thought.

Daisy nudged her. “Wanna play hooky for a bit? We could go get milkshakes.”

As she’d expected, that drew Jemma from her reverie. “You heard her in there, I’m supposed to be practicing healthy eating habits. Milkshakes are nothing but sugar—”

“And deliciousness. Think of it as a good source of calcium or something. She said you’re healthy, the baby seems healthy. Why not cut loose a little?”

Jemma looked tempted.

Daisy nudged her again. “Do you know how rare it is to get out of the base these days? Let’s go be irresponsible for, like, half an hour before we head back.”

“You’re such a bad influence.” Jemma reached over and brushed some of Daisy’s hair back. Must be a pregnancy thing, Daisy determined. Like nesting, or something. Jemma had never been this hands on with her before. “But yes. Let’s go get milkshakes. But you’ll have to bring one back for Fitz, too, to apologize for stealing Thorin.”

“Fair,” Daisy decided, and started the ignition.

[mikeyd1986]

MIKEY’S PERSONAL BLOG 75, October 2017

The past few days have been really difficult for me to say the least. I can already feel that I’m in a state of transition right now after walking away from my current personal trainer Luke Davey last Friday. It was an extremely tough decision for me as I was hoping that things would get better and that we could turn a corner somehow. But the reality is that I just wasn’t happy training there anymore. No amount of self-help books, positive affirmations and friendly exchanges could cover up how I was truly feeling inside...uncertain, depressed, frustrated, misunderstood, conflicted, upset and hurt. I needed to move on.

Does it make me a bad person to want to change personal trainers? Hell no! I don’t think so. My biggest problem has always been worrying what other people will think and how they will react to my decisions. Am I making the right choice? Am I being too sensitive? Am I giving up too easily? Nope. I’m simply doing what’s best for me. From my perspective, there’s no bad blood between myself and Luke at all and I really appreciate everything he has done for me. He has helped me achieve many of my fitness goals. He has challenged me physically, mentally and emotionally. I’ve learned lots of new skills, movements and techniques.

So no, I don’t regret any of it at all. I just hope that Luke can accept and respect my decision as well. I’m really proud of myself for being open and honest with Luke as well as ending this PT-client relationship on respectful and peaceful terms.

Here is a list of achievements I’ve made with Luke Davey at Breakaway Fitness:

Losing 20kg of body weight (from 105 to 85kg)

Building up lean muscle in my arms, legs, glutes, hamstrings, back, buttocks etc.

Learning the correct techniques, forms and movements for doing deadlifts, back squats, front squats, bench press and dumbbell bench press

Completing many AMRAPs (As Many Reps As Possible), EMOTM (Every Minute on the Minute), 3-4 rounds and time based workouts

Learning how to do stretches, box jumps, push ups, ring rows, using the balance board, kettle bell swings, single arm kettle bell lifts, squats, walking lunges and burpees

Improved my squat depth and weight lifting ability

Learning how to deal with anxiety, depression, fear, stress, overthinking, self-doubt, self confidence issues and believing in myself

On Monday morning, I went to my Yin yoga class with Kelly Wallis at Now, Yoga. in Narre Warren South. I kinda embarrassed myself this morning as I expected to see Kelly the moment I walked into the studio but instead saw another lady at the desk and instantly assumed that she was filling in. Whoops! But I let that moment go pretty quickly. It was moderately full class with about 10 students or so. I haven’t been to one of Kelly’s classes in a long time and I’ve missed her style of teaching.

Today there was a lot of focus on doing long holds and supported variations of poses including Standing Forward Bend, Yogic Squat, Sphinx pose, Puppy pose, Cow Face pose, Reclining Single Leg Spinal Twist and Child’s pose. And for the first time in the eight years I’ve been doing yoga, everyone had a literally chuck a temper tantrum. Normally, I hardly ever give myself permission to act silly or make lots of loud noises but today was the exception. And it felt great...releasing negative emotions like anger, frustration, guilt, shame, regret is so important and trust Kelly to come up with the idea. It was brilliant! http://nowyoga.net.au/ 

On Monday night, I revisited The Yard Strength & Fitness in Pakenham for the first time since August. It felt good being back here. In some ways, it was the ace up my sleeve if things went pear shaped at UFT. You can call it jumping ship but I have honourable intentions behind it. I truly believe that I deserve to train in a place where I feel supported and encouraged by everyone there. Part of me will miss being at UFT PLAYgrounds but I know in myself that I’ve made the right decision in leaving. I have to keep moving forward. https://www.facebook.com/TheYardStr... 

Tonight I did a Bootcamp class with two other girls, Eliza and Ebony, and it was run by Stacey Kett. We warmed up by doing some kettle bell swings and runs up and down the carpark. It honestly felt like I was doing the beep test back in high school PE class. Next we did a series of movements at 25 seconds each including KB squats, bar knee tucks, KB swings, squat bar jumps, KB high lifts, plank holds with KB touch and push ups. 

The final part involved an eight round TABATA doing plank holds. I was pretty much shaking and pouring with sweat at this point. My foam yoga mat was covered in it. But that meant that I really worked hard tonight. None of the tough emotional issues from last week were going to bring me down. I also feel like I’m improving heaps with my push ups, squats, running and plank holds.     

After the Bootcamp class, I had a brief chat with Abhishek Ashokkumar from Silverback Training Co. about the possibility of him becoming my next personal trainer. Honestly, I was a little nervous and weary as I normally am meeting new people but I felt comfortable enough to tell him about my goals, my mental health issues, what happened between me and Luke and why I want him to train me. I’m looking for someone who is compassionate, supportive, encouraging, patient and kind. Hopefully Abhi can deliver on those fronts. One step at a time. https://www.facebook.com/silverback... 

On Tuesday morning, I had my feedback session with Dr. Yasmin Baliz at CNS: Comprehensive Neuropsychological Services in Narre Warren. I was feeling a bit nervous waiting for Yasmin to arrive the reception area with my mum sitting across from me. Today was the day that I’ll find out either way whether I sit on the Autism Spectrum or not. We sat in the same room that we were in during the first appointment, with the same white plush leather sofas, black glass coffee table, fake palms and artificial cricket/tadpole noises from the Rainforest Room next door. 

So the moment of truth...I’ve been officially diagnosed with High Functioning Autism, which is essentially a mild form of Autism. Characteristics for diagnosis include difficulties with social interaction in groups, poor social skills, difficulties with verbal and non-verbal communication, prefers routine and predictable environments, prefers independent activities and finds sensory environments to be overwhelming. It was a lot of information to process in that session but thankfully there is lots of support and resources out there to understand it better. http://www.cnspsych.com.au/process.... 

Yasmin left me with the “The Autism Spectrum Information Booklet” and will be posting me out the report on my results from the assessment. I feel better knowing that there is an underlying cause for my thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviour particularly in social situations that were often difficult to explain to others. There is a strong genetic component with a cousin on my Mother’s side also having Autism and there have been signs since childhood that I may be predisposed to it. But at least I know now so it’s like a veil’s been lifted. http://www.autism-help.org/autism-h... 

On Tuesday night, I attended the Mental Health & Wellbeing seminar at YMCA Casey ARC in Narre Warren. Sadly there wasn’t a big attendance at tonight’s event with most staff members taking up the semi-circle of folded chairs but I still felt like I got a lot out of the presentation. https://www.caseyarc.ymca.org.au/wh... 

The first presenter was a guy named James who is a personal trainer and an ambassador for Beyond Blue. He has suffered with depression and suicidal thoughts since the age of 13, going through periods of low self-esteem, self harm, substance abuse and denial. It took him many attempts to overcome his depression with several relapses and various psychologists but eventually he pulled through it. His strategies include finding a psychologist with similar values, being open about how you’re thinking and feeling and doing productive activities such as reading, going to the gym, hanging out with mates. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/conne... 

The second presenter was Dr. James Collard who is a clinical psychologist and representative from CBT Australia. His talk on mental health was more in depth and academic, exploring where emotions come from, the biological, social and psychological aspects, the effects of depression and anxiety, dealing with anger and problem behaviours and using self-care strategies to help cope with mental health issues. He provided quite a few examples from young clients and parents who he has worked with over the years which I found to be quite relatable. https://www.cbtaustralia.com.au/ 

On Thursday morning, I attended my Body Balance class with Wendy Lynne Perrow at YMCA Casey ARC in Narre Warren. It was a really great feeling to walk into that group fitness studio and be welcomed by Wendy as soon as I stepped onto the mat...”It’s lovely to see you again Michael. Welcome back.” Sometimes that’s all you need, that acknowledgement, to know that somebody else cares about you and it’s what I needed in that moment. Truthfully, I’ve missed Wendy’s classes as well. 

Today we did release number 69 which featured the following exercises: Tai-Chi Warmup (Overhead circles, Wide legged arm sweeps, Soft blocks), Sun Salutations (Forward fold, Downward Facing Dog, Plank, Baby Cobra), Standing Strength (Warrior 2, Sun Warrior), Balance (Aeroplane pose, Dancer’s pose), Pilates (Double arm and leg extensions, Double D, Threading the Needle), Twists (Seated open and closed twist, Butterfly pose) and Hamstring Stretches (Staff pose with legs crossed, Wide Legged Forward Fold) and Relaxation. https://grandnat.co.uk/what-already... 

The thing I really appreciate about Wendy’s classes is her patience and guidance, allowing us all to take different options if we need to and not worry if the poses or movements aren’t “perfect”. She always has a way of making the class enjoyable for everyone and when it comes to the Relaxation, she is the undisputed queen of Guided Meditations. Her voice is so gentle and calming. I could easily drift off to sleep if I wanted to! https://www.lesmills.com/workouts/f...                 On Friday morning, I had my Body Combat class with Cinamon Guerin at YMCA Casey ARC in Narre Warren. So today’s class was a little different than usual. Firstly, it’s a longer class at 55 minutes and there was many more people participating, probably around 30 or so. There was also a small group of women down the front who were loud, extroverted and singing along with the tracks. I made the choice to not let them bother me nor do I necessarily have to be like them or copy what they’re doing. Just focus on being myself and doing my own workout.

There were quite a few challenging sections in this morning’s class especially doing dynamic lunges and front kicks. It always messes with my balance and I find it difficult to keep up the pace. But otherwise I was doing fine. I put a lot of effort in and could feel a huge emotional release during the jab boxes. You just get to the point where you’ve had enough of dealing with negativity and people who bring you down. So it felt good getting all of that out of my system today. https://www.lesmills.com/workouts/f...

“I can't fake it, it's never enough. It's got a hold on me. Left behind here, I can't keep up. Come get a hold of me. I was thinking if I could be tough. You'd wanna hold onto me. I will be your home, keep you warm when it's cold. I will try to be what you need when you're low. I can only promise the girl that I am. I'll do anything that I can.”                              Broods - Recovery (2016)

“Something tipped me over. Someone knocked me down. Emptied out my inside. Poured it on the ground. A cavern for a body, The deeper darker kind. For all I hear are echoes, Repeat inside my mind. I thought the shade around me, was making me feel blind. I thought I was a hero, but I was just a child.” Broods - Worth The Fight (2016)

[mikeyd1986]

MIKEY’S PERSONAL BLOG 42, March 2017

On Monday morning, I went to my Restorative/Yin styled yoga class at Just Be Yoga and Meditation in Beaconsfield. It’s been months since I’ve last been to one of Kelly Wallis’ classes and even though I was feeling sleep deprived and didn’t want to face morning peak-hour traffic, I still pushed myself to go. And it was well worth it. There was about 9 or 10 others in the class today. We all began in a restorative version of bound angle pose, reclining over a bolster and having a blanket wrapped around our ankles. http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/rec...

The first half of the class concentrated on Wind Relieving (Pavanamuktasana) poses which is essentially releasing tension from the toes, feet, legs, knees, hips and lower back with gentle movements. We also did various Yin poses including Cat-Cow pose, Sphinx pose, Pigeon pose and a supported variation of the Splits. We ended the class by doing a Yoga Nidra meditation which I nearly dozed off in since I was so restless from last night. https://www.yogaoutlet.com/guides/h...

On Tuesday morning, I decided to tackling the 1000 Steps Challenge at 1000 Steps, Upper Ferntree Gully. This has been sitting on my goals list for quite some time now and it’s taken me several months to be both mentally and physically prepared. Today I felt like I could smash it. Also known as the The 1000 Steps Kokoda Memorial Track, this trail is a very steep climb up to the One Tree Hill Picnic Ground flanked by beautiful rain forest scenery.

It actually brought me back to my scouting days back in 1998-1999 where I went on various hikes and was much fitter than I am now. I did have several moments where I did struggle and forced myself to rest at the benches and plaques along the way. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one gasping for breath and saturated in sweat. It’s a really tough walk especially if you’re not used to traversing steep, uphill sections and uneven, rocky concrete steps.

I wisely paced myself through it and it felt like such a huge accomplishment making it to the top. It was my version of conquering Mt. Everest. Six to twelves months ago, there’s no way in hell I would have even attempted the 1000 Steps and it shows that I have come a long way in my fitness and well-being journey. It’s a proud moment being able to say “Yeah I did that”. My advice to anyone wanting to do it is don’t rush it, take your time and enjoy it. http://www.dandenongrangespoint.com.au/...

On Thursday morning, I had my second personal training session with Luke Davey at Breakaway Fitness in Narre Warren. I was feeling a little more relaxed this week as I’m slowly opening up to Luke more and more. I also bumped into familiar faces Joel Perryman and Mariel Viray whilst waiting for my session to start. I’m still letting go of my past negative experiences at UFT - CrossFit Fountain Gate and what certain people think of me.

To be honest, it really shouldn’t bother me so much. I’m there for a reason and if someone doesn’t like me, then so be it. For the most part though, I get along fine with almost everyone at UFT. I’m friendly, caring, polite and well-mannered and I think most people there really want me to do well. That’s what I need to keep my focus on. Do the best I can and smashing my fitness training goals. It feels good to be apart of the UFT family again.

Today’s session focused on the hips, glutes and legs. We started with a warm-up game on the rowing machine where my target was to get to 100 in each of the five rounds. Anything above or below 100 I’d have to make up for in burpees (Joy! :P). Next I did some exercises to release tension and strengthen the muscles in my hips and glutes including the cowboy walk. Luke put resistance bands just above my knees and pretty soon I could feel the burn.

Next I did some weighted squats. I haven’t done much weight training besides a handful of Body Pump classes and a couple of deadlifting sessions last year with Nick. So I was going back to basics with it. I had to do 3 rounds with 8 reps each. I ended up squating with 50kg which was much more weight than I thought I could do. It certainly wasn’t easy. The struggle was real, especially during my last round. I was shaking especially coming back up but I got through it and I felt reassured with Luke spotting me.

The final workout was a 10 minute AMRAP including 50 single skips, 15 leg raises and 12 box step ups. The leg raises were hands down the hardest of the three exercises. I could feel pain in my lower back and eventually the fatigue and panting was increasing. I’ve been setting myself low goals because I honestly don’t know what I’m capable of and I’d rather be realistic about it rather than set a huge goal that is clearly unachievable at my current fitness level. Once again, I smashed my goal of 2 rounds and ended up getting through 3.5 rounds. https://www.facebook.com/breakawayf...

On Thursday night, I attended a group meditation class at Just Be Yoga and Meditation in Beaconsfield. We all arranged our yoga mats in a semi-circle formation, radiating outwards. Dell Brown began the class by reading some passages about the link between the mind and the breath as well as explaining what pranayama (prana = life force, ayama = control) is. We then did four different meditations which included:

Deep Abdominal Breathing...Sitting or lying down in comfortable position, place your hands over your lower abdomen. Take a slow deep inhalation right down into the belly and feel your hands rise up and separate as your abdomen expands. Hold for a couple of seconds and then release it.                                                                           https://www.verywell.com/how-to-bre...

Viloma Pranayama (Step Breathing)... Sitting in a relaxed, cross legged position with your spine straight. First, breathe into your lower abdomen for three seconds, pause. Then breathe into your chest for three seconds, pause. Finally, breathe into your shoulders for three seconds, pause. Then exhale and release the breath slowly for a count of nine seconds. https://www.soulfularogya.com/vilom...

Guided Visualisation...Laying down flat on your back supported by a cushion or pillow under your head and a bolster under your knees. Imagine that you’re standing in a green field on a bright sunny day. In the middle of the field, there is a large tree filled with various kinds of fruit. The fruit contain magical properties. You pick one of the fruits and begin to examine it before taking a bite. You instantly feel a sense of overwhelming joy and bliss. https://psychcentral.com/lib/guided...

Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep)...This is a deep relaxation in which you’ll remain conscious between the dreaming and waking state. It is essentially an in depth body scan which releases tension from individual body parts as well as the whole body together. http://www.yogajournal.com/article/...

On Friday morning, I did an RPM Indoor Cycling class at YMCA Casey ARC in Narre Warren. For some reason, I just wasn’t feeling it today. Part of it could be my lack of sleep and irritability. I got easily annoyed at the conversations the ladies around me were having in the cycle studio. I felt socially excluded even though I was pretty much a stranger there. But I just had to remind myself of the reason why I was there.

The first half of this new release wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. The second track, Flo Rida’s Zillionaire, contains a god-damned awful trumpet section and typically shallow, materialistic lyrics. Thankfully things did improve during the second half and I was slowly finding my rhythm. There were some tough parts that alternated quickly between racing and standing but I managed to push through the burn. I averaged around 30km/h and burned about 450 kcal.  https://www.fitnessfirst.com.au/fin...

On Friday afternoon, Mum and I attended the Grand Art Exhibition held at the Edrington Park Retirement Village in Berwick. The arts and crafts styled Edrington Homestead was colossal looking and was surrounded by large oak trees and a tall garden hedge. There was a nice collection of sculptures near the front entrance including some kangaroos, an alpaca and a cow. Inside there was a large collection of paintings, drawings, scratchboards and collages. It was all really impressive and as always inspiring to look at as a fellow artist myself. http://www.artshowsofoz.com/page2

“The disconnect is welling up, and good intentions are not enough. Your words are weary, their hearts are strained, and idle vows find the deepest pains...You’re one of a thousand voices in my head that all just sound the same. If I will make a change, it’s by my words and not my name.” Hands Like Houses - I Am (2016)