#i think its also neat to look at how his inaction is so different from roxas and xion's reaction to this situation

[wrightfamily]

i think an underrated part of the sea salt trio's dynamic in days is that axel chooses inaction when faced with the inevitability of losing either roxas or xion. he takes on a sort of attitude that if things are going to go south, he might as well try to pretend it isn't and try to make the most of what little time they have left. but by saying (and doing) nothing about the situation (unless explicitly ordered to, which was never beneficial to anyone but the top dogs of the organization) he only made things worse; roxas stops trusting him, becomes so angry with him and the organization, that he runs away, has to kill xion, and soon after gets captured by diz and riku. by doing nothing he loses both of them

[carriagelamp]

April l was apparently the month for me to revisit some children’s authors who are steeped in controversy at the moment. So here’s my hot (well, lukewarm) takes on issues that absolutely do not need a single other person talking about them. Also some actual good books that I read this month!

Badger in the Basement

The Animal Ark books are a childhood classic — though I recently found out that apparently there’s a difference between American and British publications, and the American versions didn’t include a lot of actual COOL animals which is… bizarre. As a Canadian stuck in the middle of this, this nonsense drives me nuts. This one was about the main character, the daughter of pair of vets, trying to protect a local badger sett from men wanting to participate in badger digging and baiting. These books are always feel-good, and it was a nice single-day-read while I waited for a library book to come in.

Chi’s Sweet Home

The cutest manga series about the misadventures of a little kitten, Chi, who has been adopted by a loving family. I’ve never bothered to read them in order, but apparently this time I stumbled across the last in the series -- whoops! Still, stood on it’s own pretty easily, and it was a fun read! Things get tense when the family realize that they may have found Chi’s original home… and may have to give up Chi forever.

Earth Before Us: Dinosaur Empire!

This was an odd graphic novel, I feel like I’m not sure who the target audience was exactly. It was a nonfiction comic done in a Magic School Bus style, with the purpose of teaching current, up-to-date facts about the animals that lived in the Mesozoic Era. If you’re into dinosaurs, you’ll probably enjoy this! The art is absolutely adorable, I love the dinosaur illustrations, and I learnt some really neat facts. That being said, the pages are really dense, and there’s a lot of info crammed in… some of it will probably go way over a child’s head without specific additional teaching or a very strong personal interest. But that being said, a dinosaur obsessed kid is still probably going to really dig this… as would a dinosaur obsessed adult. It wasn’t my cup of tea exactly but I’m sure it is someone’s.

assorted Dr Seuss Books

I love these types of controversies because it means getting to listen to every moron who has never had an opinion on Dr Seuss ever start generating a mile of them out of the aether. So many people are so mad about the six books that are getting retired and I bet most of them haven’t even read them. These are not the friggin Cat In The Hat or The Lorax or even the likes of Yertle The Turtle. I was raised by a grade one teacher, was a voracious reader who loved Dr Seuss, and wrote my university thesis on children’s literature, and I still only knew two of the six books on that list. So by all means, if you want to write an essay explaining why those specific books are worth clinging to, feel free, but if you haven’t even heard of them maybe it’s not a big deal. *grumble*

Anyway, my grousing aside, it gave me the urge to reread a bunch of Seuss books, including the two retiring books I personally knew: McElligot’s Pool and To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. I do still enjoy both, especially McElligot’s Pool which always sparked my imagination, but it’s obvious why they’re being retired and I personally think it’s the right choice. There’s so much good kidlit out there, we can survive without these.

Goodbye, My Rose Garden

A f/f romance manga, fairly standard fair though cute if you’re looking for some historical angst, pretty dresses, and mutual pining. A young Japanese woman moves to England in the hopes of meeting a writer (Mr Frank) who she has long admired. Along the way she is employed by an enigmatic woman with plenty of money, rumours, and melancholy following her. I’ll be honest, uncut romance isn’t really my genre, but I’ll probably still try to the second book to see if the story picks up.

From The Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary

It’s no secret that I’ve been on a Hogan’s Heroes kick. This is the autobiography of Roberty Clary, who plays my favourite character in the show, Louis Lebeau. And holy shit what a life this man has had. He was a Jew growing up in France before the start of the war, and who was one of many children taken away from his family and sent off to the concentration camps in Germany. This was an amazing, intense, inspiring, and heartbreaking read… it has Clary’s voice all over it, and it tells everything from the charming childhood he had, to the horrors of the concentration camps, the brutality of survival, and then about his exciting journey into the entertainment industry afterwards. It’s an experience, would recommend if you’re a fan of the show.

The Ickabog

The second controversial author I read this month. Originally I was going to give Rowling’s new book a miss, given everything that’s been going on over the past few years, but in the end my curiosity got the better of me. Politics aside, it was a fun read! Not groundbreaking, but enjoyable enough and written in an interesting style. It didn’t read the same as a lot of modern kidlit, it felt more like a cross between a classic fairytale and a Dahl book. Perhaps a bit like Despereaux. It tells the tale of how an idyllic country gradually falls into ruin through the ignorance, inaction, and greed, and how a supposedly fictional monster hides the very real, human monsters at the heart of the country. It was cute and pleasant and I’m glad I decided to get it from the library, though for anyone who is choosing not to engage for political reasons: you aren’t missing anything major.

Franklin In The Dark

A Canadian classic. I don’t think there’s a single person my age who hasn’t read or been read a pile of these books, and the nostalgia is so comforting. I found this on Youtube and listened to someone read it to me, and honestly 10/10 would recommend for a calm evening.

The big reason I decided to seek this one out though, was because I finally got to the M*A*S*H episode that inspired this entire series! In the episode C*A*V*E, in which Hawkeye is freaking out over his claustrophia while the camp is forced to take shelter in a nearby cave during some intense shelling, he mentions that if he had been born a turtle he would have been afraid of his own shell, and that the other turtles would make fun of him cause he’d be forced to walk around in his underwear. And so this first story about a young turtle who’s afraid to sleep in his own shell and drags it around behind him. So if you were ever curious, Franklin the Turtle is in fact named after Dr Benjamin Franklin Pierce. (this is also why the French version is named Benjamin!)

Wolves of the Beyond: Lone Wolf

I loved the Guardians of Ga’Hoole books as a kid but I never read the Wolves of the Beyond series. This first book was an interesting read, Lasky does a great job creating worlds and societies for the animals that inhabit them. Lone Wolf is about a deformed wolf cub who was abandoned in the wilderness to die. And he would have, if a desperate mother bear, who had recently had her only cub killed, hadn’t stumbled across him and saved him, vowing to raise him as her own...

Petals

A “silent” graphic novel. It has beautiful artwork and is told entirely through pictures, no text at all. It’s loves and heart-wrenching, though it left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied… I felt like there should have been more. Still, a neat story.

The Southern Book Club‘s Guide To Slaying Vampires

What a banger of a novel!! I can’t recommend this one enough. It’s about a group of suburban mothers in the ‘80s who form a book club out of a shared need for community and a love of grisly true crime novels. But when a strange drifter appears in town and starts setting down roots… and when children begin disappearing… these women need to band together to confront the horrors that have invaded their neighbourhood, and face down not only a terrifying monster among them but the patriarchal system that allows it to flourish. To quote the preface:

“Because vampires are the original serial killers, stripped of everything that makes us human — they have no friends, no family, no roots, no children. All they have is hunger. They eat and eat but they’re never full. With this book, I wanted to pit a man freed from all responsibilities but his appetites against women whose lives are shaped by their endless responsibilities. I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom.    As you’ll see, it’s not a fair fight.“

The Weirn Books: Be Wary of the Silent Woods

I love Chmakova’s graphic novels, though I’ve only ever read her slice-of-life middle grade series before. This one is pure fantasy and very fun. It’s about two cousin “weirns” — witches with demon familiars — who attend the local night school. Things get strange though when an ominous figure appears outside the old, abandoned school house deep in the Silent Woods, and begins tempting children down its path…

I’m very much looking forward to word of a second book and was honestly kind of surprised that I haven’t heard more about this book given how popular her other series is. This has all the same charm and quirks but for those of us who prefer stories based in fantasy rather than reality.

And A Bonus...

For some masochistic reason I got a Garfield book out of the library. Jeez, if I didn’t love these as a kid, I found them absolutely laugh out loud hilarious, and now I just don’t see it anymore. But here I will share the one strip in the book that actually made me laugh

[emotionalsupportbun-chan]

guess who got preoccupied with a different fandom 

anyway here’s part two 

Joon-Gi did not sing. This wasn’t a surprise; Joon-Gi never sang when they all got together for karaoke at Survive. Zhao sometimes wondered why, but typically chalked it up to self-consciousness. The man never did anything unless he could ensure absolute perfection in execution - a difficult feat after a whiskey or two. 

Finally tired out, Kasuga had settled into the usual routine of shuffling through the stack of old records he’d picked up throughout their escapades. Koi no Disco Queen played loud enough that anyone trying to have a conversation had to speak at an uncomfortable volume. Fine enough for Zhao. Their mind was elsewhere anyway. Who was that woman? And what sorcery did she command? Most of the major aches and pains that they’d started the night with were gone. And maybe it had been the exhaustion, but they didn’t typically make a habit of letting their guard down so easily. Sure, she was pretty. Sure, she had a certain spark about her that was instantly disarming, that planted something small and fluttery at the bottom of their chest, that made them want to let go for just a little while. But none of that should matter. They had enemies. Everyone in this bar had at least one asshole dedicated to their downfall. They can’t just let themselves get swept away in the arms and hands and eyes and tongues - and everything - of strange women. 

So Zhao closed their eyes. Took a breath. And tried to crush the small, fluttery thing at the bottom of their chest. And failed. And tried and failed again. Perhaps their only choice was to succumb to steel butterflies. 

Perhaps it was easier to drown them. 

Zhao ordered another whiskey. Neat, this time. They needed a less dangerous burn in their gut. The bartender deposited it without comment and returned to his quiet conversation with Iroha. The drink went down in a single gulp - a trail of fire felt down to the toes, its warmth blunting the edges of sharp thoughts. They raised a hand. Another round, double this time. Down the hatch. Before they could order another, a white sleeved arm wound its way around theirs and Saeko slid onto the barstool beside them. 

“Heyyy, Zhao-chan!” Like Scary Boss Zhao, Silly Drunk Saeko was a mask, often used to pry valuable gossip from the unsuspecting. Most of the time, the party was content to play along. It was nice to unload their problems onto someone they could pretend wouldn’t remember in the morning. 

“Hey, Sa-chan.” They tried to inject some enthusiasm in the reply. No luck. Thoughts elsewhere. 

“You’re even quieter than usual. Whatcha thinking about?” She leaned against them, loose-bodied, sharp eyes her only tell. 

“Nothing much.” Wait. “Sa-chan, were you friendly with any of the girls at Otohime Land?” It was a long shot, but maybe they’d met a time or two. 

“No, not really.” She gave them a sly smile and a swat on the arm. “Why, you see a picture you like?” 

“No! No, that’s not it. I was just..curious.” Keep it cool. Heat began to creep into their cheeks. 

“Sure, Zhao-chan.” She slipped away as quickly as she came, prancing back to her seat at a table with Adachi and Joon-Gi. They huddled immediately, abandoning all subtlety. 

Her sudden absence allowed the deep throb of a bruise to resurface, reminding Zhao of the nasty hit they’d taken to the shoulder. They reached into a pocket and pulled out the little tube of cream the strange woman had left behind. Arni-Heal: Ultra Strong Bruise Cream. Zhao turned the tube to read the ingredients and found a mobile number scrawled in the blank space above the usage directions. A particularly resilient butterfly shot up into their throat. 

They started at the tube for long enough for the bartender to silently refill their drink. A little more than a double this time. Downing it, they pulled the phone from their pocket. 

-

Laying in the darkened room upstairs, it was hard not to think about how the night could have ended. The symphony of quiet snoring was enough to remind them that they weren’t alone; for the first time since they’d left the Liumang, they missed the privacy of the small back room at the restaurant they used to crash in after a hard night out. 

It took every ounce of self control to wait until the woman replied. Zhao wasn’t normally one to double text; patience as a virtue was instilled in them from a young age. But the phone, silenced out of consideration, weighed heavy in their hand. Not a single notification since they’d sent the initial message. She’s probably sleeping. It was late, after all. Almost more morning than night. Yet, they weren’t quite ready to accept that. They got the feeling that this woman kept to her own idea of a schedule. 

Sleeplessness was an old friend for Zhao. They had a variety of methods that typically did the trick. Mediation, deep breathing, counting backwards - they ran the gamut trying to distract themselves from the disappointingly inactive phone. Just as they felt their mind begin to go quiet, a dull buzz rattled in their hand. They checked it immediately. 

hey hot stuff 

nice sleuthin’ took ya long enough 

whatcha doin’ 

i’m bored wanna go out  

Four messages, rapid fire. The sudden appearance of her reply sent their pulse through the roof and left them a little dizzy, a little hazy with the whiskey still coursing through their system. Out? Now? They checked the time. 2:17. 

what ya sleepin’ 

The next message was a selfie - her face in the foreground, hair mussed and lipstick faded. The background however, distinctly showcased the two planters outside the bar. Zhao sat up, abandoning any attempt at being quiet. Did she know about the hideout? 

Where are you? 

It took a few moments for her to respond this time. 

idk outside some old bar 

i wanna go to this party 

come with me 

pleeease ;) 

Suspicion faded, for better or worse. It was just a coincidence. It had to be. Looking around the room, they weighed the options. It was already so late; they were already so tired. The others slept soundly around them, futons tucked into whatever corner would accommodate. The party would be worried if Zhao wasn’t there in the morning. But this mystery woman had implanted herself firmly in their mind. Thoughts of the almost-but-not-quite hookup resurfaced - the strength in her hands, the gentle attention paid to Zhao’s wounds, her purring whisper. Who’s to say they couldn’t pick up where they’d left off? 

You don’t even know this woman. She could be anyone. None of this even makes any sense. Maybe none of that mattered. Maybe they could have a little fun. Maybe they could be someone else tonight.  

come be stupid with me 

;P <3 

Zhao grabbed their coat and slipped out of the room. 

-

They had approximately 30 seconds to construct Party Zhao. Party Zhao did shots off a strange girl’s tits. Party Zhao knew how to dance. Party Zhao was a little slutty. Party Zhao didn’t care where the exits and entrances of a building were. The tenets of Party Zhao took shape over the trip down the stairs and across the main room of Survive. Before opening the door, they took a moment to fix their hair and straighten their clothes. They’d even swiped a travel spray vial of cologne out of Joon-Gi’s coat pocket. Gucci Guilty. It was a little woody-er, a little spicier than they’d prefer, but it smelled expensive. Zhao wondered if the woman would like it. 

She was standing right outside the door, leaning against the brick of the building. Under normal circumstances, Zhao might have noticed her lack of surprise at their sudden appearance. But they were a little distracted. The athletic outfit that she’d worn earlier had been traded for a red plaid miniskirt, black crop, and an oversized bomber jacket. Paired with union-jack adorned boots and heart-shaped glasses, she looked like she’d stepped out of an old punk rock magazine. It was a little tacky, but the height of fashion. It also showed off the great pair of thighs that accompanied her previously acknowledged great ass.  

A woman after your own heart. “So, you said something about a party?” Zhao tried to sound casual, as if they hadn’t waited hours to hear from her. As if they hadn’t spent the evening daydreaming absolutely filthy revisions to their previous encounter. 

“Ah, Zhao-chan!” She threw her arms around their neck and planted a little kiss on their cheek. “I didn’t think ya’d come.” Her eyes were glazed, slightly unfocused. Lips parted slightly as she drew back from the greeting. Staring up at them all dreamy and come-hither, she sealed her body against theirs for a moment, a knee slipped between theirs so that they were touching from toe to torso. “You smell nice.”  

She smelled like candy and black pepper. And a little like liquor. Zhao tightened the hug, if only so that she’d continue pressing her body to theirs. They wondered if she could feel their heart hammering away. The thought of leaning in for a real kiss came and was discarded. Be Cool. Party Zhao. They let a smirk tug at the corner of their mouth, and returned the kiss in similar fashion- a little farther back, almost on the neck. “Hey, pretty.” They tried on the tone some of their former compatriots used with cabaret girls. It was borderline sleazy, but might distract from their racing pulse and creeping blush. “Didn’t think I’d see you again tonight.” 

“Yeah, aren’t ya lucky.” If she noticed anything was amiss, she didn’t let on. “Come on, it’s not far,” she said. Pulling away and slipping her hand into theirs, she led them deeper into the Bar District. Zhao sighed, caught up in the heat of the embrace (and the whiskey). They didn’t even pretend they weren’t staring at her ass for the entirety of the short trip.  

A few blocks away, she stopped at a disused elevator tucked away down an alley and began pushing bags of trash away from a corner with the tip of her boot. After a few minutes, she exclaimed and retrieved a key from where it had been hidden under a half-shattered flower pot. She fit it into the keyhole above the elevator’s single button and turned. A full thirty seconds later, the carriage arrived and opened with more of an electrical spark than a ding. “You sure this thing is up to code?” Zhao inspected the seams of the derelict elevator, trying to peer through them and get a look at the wires and cords beyond. 

“It absolutely ain’t.” She pushed them in with her palm flat against their back and followed, pressing a button labeled only by a sticky note proclaiming “No Boys Allowed”. 

[imhereformysciencefriends]

Day 7: New Life

@gamzeeweek

They set the mug down delicately upon the doily, and leaned back while crossing their legs.

“Again,” they ordered calmly.

“Again, honored one? What do you mean?”

“I mean start it all over. There were some salvageable moments, some decent parts, but honestly? Just scrap the whole thing. Do it all over, from the top.”

“From the—the beginning, honored one? All the way?”

“All the way.”

“But, honored one, that—”

“I know what I’m doing,” they said calmly, taking another sip of their tea. “Now. One more time, with feeling.”

—

You are a wriggler, and you are so, so, so full of love. This screechy ass troll as is ten times your size is your favorite person, ever, in the whole world, and you are going to Climb On Him. He is your best friend, the best ever, you love him so much—

And then it is time for you to go through the portal onto the meteor which crash lands down onto Alternia, and while you don’t know it because you are just a wriggler, the meteor is made of hyper-cushioning materials that prevented you from what would surely otherwise be a disastrous demise. You are at the fringes of the brooding caverns, far from the mouth where wrigglers as went through The Trials emerge to find loving custodians. You are found by a seagoat, who didn’t really want a wriggler, but had to go near-ish the caverns anyway, because of biology. You, of course, do not know this. You just know that this is your lusus, and you love him more than anything else in the entirety of everything ever.

“No, no, that’s no good. Move the meteor so it lands there.”

“Honored one, the adult jadebloods…”

“I know, but we need to take a calculated risk here. Have the meteor land there.”

You go through the portal onto the meteor which crash lands down onto Alternia, and while you don’t know it because you are just a wriggler, the meteor is made of hyper-cushioning materials that prevented you from what would surely otherwise be a disastrous demise. You are just outside the mouth of the brooding caverns, the impact of your landing shaking the caves below. But you do not care, because you are a wriggler. You squeal happily when a tidegoat mouths at the tuft of hair growing between your horns. You chirr happily up at him, and crawl onto his back. You are happy, because you know that this is your lusus, and you love him more than anything else in the entirety of everything ever.

What you do not know, because you are still very new you see, is that a tidegoat is similar to a seagoat in the same way that rabbits are similar to hares. While, outwardly, they look very much alike, with only a difference in size, a seagoat, like a hare, is actually far more terrifying and emotionally unavailable than its smaller counterpart. They are also genetically incompatible. Who knew? Not you. You’re just a little baby.

Tidegoatdad takes very good care of you, showing you how to wade in the tidepools and how to hold a sea urchin without hurting yourself or it, showing you the good places to look for shells and making sure you’re always inside by sunrise. He feeds you seaweed and fish and occasional squirrel, and makes you do your schoolfeeds while he sleeps curled up round your back like Alternia’s most comfortable couch. Sometimes he’ll let you bodypaint on that pretty white fur and flubber of his, even though it always washes off when you two go play in the brine and waves later.

You make a friend with this neat sea-sis, a bright eyed, sharp toothed sister as can’t go much farther than your shore. Her lusus don’t like it none when she strays too far, and you understand. Tidegoatdad can breathe down your neck a little too. But that’s okay, because he’s your lusus, and you know he only does it because he loves you so very motherfucking much. You and fishsis all up and get your friendship on, and she drags her moirail out to meet you too.

That brother is a motherfucking piece of work. Even with the two of you at him, he is still so reluctant to make strides towards being a nicer person. You can’t even imagine what he’d turn out without the both of you, there to keep him in check and in friendship. You do not know that you ain’t supposed to like them. That clowns and fish don’t get along. You are a clown and they are your friends, and you keep ‘em close to your pusher always.

You meet a sweet boy online as does steal your heart, and then break it also. You keep friendship, though, after. His friendship means more to you than his heart ever could, and the two of you spit fire and rhythm as is good and right. You meet a harsh boy as does rankle his hackles at every motherfucking thing, and although you ain’t subtle for shit, he don’t ever seem to notice how you drip diamonds whenever you speak to him.

You’re awful excited to meet them in person. A wicked smart brother and sister of yours are making this game that is supposed to let you meet them and you are all kinds of holy motherfucking gleeful.

—

“See, isn’t this better?”

“It is, honored one. It really, really is. But, I worry, honored one; the plot…”

“Will sort itself out. Keep watching.”

—

The game is more fun than you thought it’d be. It’s definitely upsetting when your lusus dies, that one you didn’t stop crying on until Karkat did come to the Land of Tents and Mirth and talk you down from it. But other than that, it’s fun. You’re on a different team from Feferi and Eridan, except it turns out not really, you were all teammates all along! You think that is a very nice prank for the universe to pull on you. You are on a team with Karkat and Tavros, right from the start, and that is very fun and excellent.

You guess it’s also kind of a bummer that the world ended. But, eh, nothing’s permanent.

Now you’re chilling on this wicked ass motherfucking meteor with all your good friends (and some friends as aren’t too good, just yet, but you look forward to being better friends (and that one chica as scares you something terrible)). A pink-skinned motherfucker as your sniffsis has been up and motherfucking obsessed with lately sends you a link to some motherfuckin’ music video, and as near as you can tell, he’s making mockery of your religion?

You ain’t got super close ties to the mirthful churchful. Especially now, since the world ended. Still, it makes you kinda pissed off that this brother would send you something with sole intention of upsetting you. It worked; you are upset. So you take a walk to clear your head, even though your best bro did tell everyone to stay where he could keep eyes on them. He’s busy trolling… someone, though, and it ain’t like you’re going to get into trouble.

You meander, opening chests here or there as you pass. One has this fugly ass puppet in it. Maybe if you were actually upset, instead of just a lil pissy, you would take this motherfucking comfort item and hold it, and look in its eyes because you want the plush, cottony comfort of something vaguely trolloid, but you aren’t, so you don’t. You just chuck it in your sylladex and forget about it on a colorful capcha card you ain’t ever going to open again. Staring at the pretty colors does calm you down some. You’re thinking clear, again, and meander with a lil kick in your step.

—

“See, honored one? He’s deviating from the plot.”

“Yes,” they said, delightedly pulling a rice cracker from the sleeve. “And thus, creating a new one.”

—

You lose the kick in your step when you encounter upon a collection of cliffs in the meteor. Where you are stands tall above some other pathway, where your sweet motherfuckin’ Tavbro and that bitch as scares you so badly are. She’s mocking him with his severed legs. The legs she did paralyze in the first place. They’re going to fight.

You—

“Give him a little nudge. Just a little one. Gamzee tends to lock up in high adrenaline situations, I don’t want him to be inactive for this.”

“Yes, honored one.”

—move. Your body going seeming without your brain’s consent, at first, but once the first step is made forward, the rest follow natural as blood flowing in your veins.

You drop down from the height, one club grasped in two fronds, and you

take

her

head

clear

off.

She would’ve killed him. She’d had his lance in her hand poised and aimed at his chest. Half a second, less, and she would’ve pierced the bloodpump as you hold as precious and dear as you do. She would’ve killed him.

It don’t make what you did any better.

The tears come immediate, panic following.

You killed her.

You killed her.

You took your club and laid it in the head of a sister whose name you knew! You killed her!

You grasp and tear at your hair, shrieking, wailing. You didn’t mean to, you—god, oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god!

The guilt wells up alongside the panic and you are blind to all else, seeing only blue, blue, blue, and your own bile. You killed her! How could you do that! Her blood is on your hands, on your club, in your hair, soaking into the knees of your pants where you kneel and keen high and distressed through your gurgling tears. You do not know where you are going when Tavros lifts you to your feet with his strong and gentle hands, you do not know where he leads you. Your pan is full of only guilty panic, and the color blue. You follow where he leads.

He leads you to Karkat, back in the common room, who you rush to in the need of a diamond returned. You are sobbing and aching and panicked and vulnerable, and you need him, you need him, you need him to be gentle with you, to gentle you down, you have never needed him more in your life.

It will strike you, later, that that is exactly the kind of romantic bullshit that Karkat motherfucking thrives on.

Eridan, Sollux, and Feferi stop whatever conversation it is that they are having to stare in painful awkwardness at you, which you do not make no notice of, and Kanaya ushers them all to the warp pad out the common room, which you also don’t notice but thank her later for doing. Karkat sits you down in the chair he’d been ignoring for favor of standing to rant on his keyboard, and sits backwards in a chair of his own, right in front of you. He’s got his palms on your cheeks and a crooning shoosh on his lips and he’s got you, he’s got you, you’re going to be okay. He shushes you down and gets the story out of you in sobbing parts. How you hadn’t wanted to. How you’d just acted, angry and protective and somehow all rolled up numb, and how you hadn’t been thinking at all until after the deed itself. He asks if it’s kind of like what you did with the Black King, and you guess, kind of. You hadn’t wanted to kill anybody. Hell, you don’t never want to hurt anybody, much less kill. Karkat knows. He knows, and tells you that this ain’t your fault. Vriska was the one trying to kill Tavros, you were just acting in kind. It’s okay.

Terezi interrupts you, one point. On the trail of something or other, she has that look about her when she’s playing investigator-detective and is on the hunt. Don’t say nothing, though, just takes a picture of you and Karkat, hands on teary cheeks, and leaves with a bright cackle.

You stay with Karkat some while after, and when you ask for a hug he gives you one.

Then your phones buzz and Feferi wants you all to come up to the roof. Some sort of excitement is happening with the horrorterrors out in that far off ring, and there’s something to do with the humans?

Nepeta congratulates you immediately on your new diamond when you get there, looking all atwitter. You think it is real motherfuckin’ miraculous of your sister to know all these things about you without your even telling her, like woah. It just happened. Karkat tells you that the two of you are still holding hands, and then Nepeta tells you that Terezi sent her a photo. You are happy to realize that you are, in motherfucking fact, still holding hands with your best beloved, even as he starts screeching at your sisters who do make to laugh at him, while Equius stares on all uncomfortable and sweaty. He offers his congratulations too, stiff and awkward as that brother is always getting to be, and you smile at him a gratitude for his thoughts.

Tavros is near the lip of the roof, staring out into the vastness and the darkness. You want to go to him, but want to let go of Karkat’s hand less, so you stay put.

When the green sun shows up, and three siblings with it, you are well and truly motherfucking dazzled.

Tavros is there to greet Aradia when she returns to life, and you can taste their joy at their reunion. Dave and Rose, them human fuckers, are here too now, which, sick. You have no idea how that happened, but shit if you ain’t excited about it. More friends.

You lose track of happenings real motherfuckin’ quick after that. A green portal opens and a bucket flies through and hits Karkat straight in the horn, and then a whole bunch of people do a whole bunch of things to make the portal bigger and also faster(??), and then there’s a giant ass golden ship flying alongside the meteor as is moving very quickly, and two more human motherfuckers as can come be friends, plus their human Lands of whatevers and whatevers, so you will be able to play around in them and get grist and fraymotifs and shit so long as Jadesis is up and willing to shrinkify you, and you are very unaware of so many things as happened to make this your reality but you are well and truly happy for it.

Seems to you that everything is going to work out just fine.

—

“This… is really good…”

“Yes,” they said proudly, “yes it is.”

“But, honored one, I’m still confused. With Gamzee, you know, happy, how will the circle complete?”

“That circle was stupid anyway,” they said with a wave of their hand. “We’ll simply close another circle instead.”

“Yes, honored one, but how?”

They shrugged. “We shall have to see, won’t we?”

—

The three human years on the meteor go by in a rush of memories that are both happy and not. Life be like that. You are good friends with all gathered there, by the end of it. Dating five boys in a set of full quadrants and chilling with Feferi as you always used to do, on the beach. Aradia, who Sollux and Tavros and Terezi did convince to stay, likes to braid your hair and take you on adventures through the Lands, John is a hilarious motherfucker and Jade is a sweetheart. You improve on fighting by battling imps, learn new fun things to cook, play board games and FLARP without the fatal part and make piles of horns and pillows and empty soda bottles wherever you do please to.

You also, though, get a visit from a different you. An older you. A you with scars you don’t recognize, and Aradia’s music boxes in his hands.

He tells you that there is a task you must do. And you can do it now, or you can do it later, but you gotta do it. You’ll come back right to this time, when you’re done, Aradia’s music boxes won’t fail you, and then you’ll give them back to him and he’ll go back when he’s from.

So you take them, and do as he tells you he did.

You go to an egg all spiral-colored, watch it hatch and cradle the snake as slithers out.

Cherubs grow fast, you learn. Way, way faster than trolls and humans. It ain’t gradual. It’s sorta… all at once, and then nothing for a while, and then spurt! All at once again. You only get to cradle a baby for a few perigees, most. The child is a little longer, but you’re not there for even a full two sweeps before they surge up into adolescence, which will apparently last many sweeps after this.

You set up the two computers while Callie is awake, and ensure she is and always will be in contact with her friends, the neon colored motherfuckers as you haven’t met yet. You also get her contact with your future self, so she won’t be so lonely and fatherless as you would hate to leave her. But you’re not even an adult yourself, and you wonder at why the universe makes you do this while you are so young.

Caliborn claws you up when you tell him it’s time for you to leave, and you do not give him your future self’s contact. If your future self wants to talk to him, he can come here and update Caliborn’s computer his own motherfucking self.

You do love him, though. Bratty as he may be.

Just… you’ll love him more in memory.

You leave, just out of their reach, the keys that your older self gave to you when he handed you the music boxes. You dunno what they’re for, but whichever one of them leaves this place will have something to do with them, you think?

You hug Callie one last time, and head out.

Back on the meteor, you are so, so, so happy to see your friends again. To them, you weren’t even gone a whole hour, but you have not seen them in some sweeps and you have missed them terribly. But this is your role, you guess, like seeing dead bodies is Dave’s, or wrecking reality is Rose’s, or being really cool is Terezi’s.

You don’t let Karkat go for a motherfucking week, purrbox up and running the whole while.

When you do arrive in the new session, everything goes sideways so fast you’d be real motherfuckin impressed if you weren’t one of the things going sideways. Still, between the… how many of you are there? 18? 19? Somewhere ‘round 20 of you, you get it figured out. You don’t wanna really fight any bosses, so you get to chill with the Mayor, who you are all in pretty collective agreement is the best, and Callie! Who’s here! And wearing a ring she got from Roxy, who is a very nice girl who you approve of very much! You hug Callie very tightly and she tells you how much she’s missed you. You’ve missed her too, for all it hasn’t even been a perigee on your end, and the three of you sit and chat (mostly, Callie tells you about her life since you’ve left, and you listen). You’re there when the Mayor’s girlfriend arrives, and she is a very scary lady who you respect a lot.

A lot of things happen all at once, shortly thereafter. All the bosses are defeated, and a lot of people are fraymotifing, and then Feferi and Terezi bring Vriska back to life, and Terezi punches her straight in the face and shouts some seriously pitch black inches at her, and Vriska… changed, when she died. She apologizes and everything, swears to be better, for Terezi, for everyone, and you do not know what is going on there, but hey, if killing her was what it took for her to be a good person, then, you guess you’re almost glad you did…?

That one guilt had been the single worst part of all these last three years, for you. Something as haunted you eternal, no matter how much you jammed with Karkat about it, no matter how all your friends forgave you of it. But to see that in the end, it was for the best, well. You are finally able to let that go.

There are many people on the lily pad. You are one. And you, collectively, have won.

You go through the door, and you obtain your happy ending.

—

“....”

“Dear, are you crying?” they asked gently.

“Yes, honored one. I, I’m just, so happy. He deserves this. They all do.”

“They do,” they agreed, smiling warmly. “Now, how about a soft epilogue?”

—

You’ve been god of this new universe for two sweeps, or four years. Aradia does a lot of time shenanigans, while Dave don’t touch time shit no more. Kanaya likes to meddle and fuss with the past, with the Mayor’s help, and a democratic, socialist society rises up with their efforts and everyone all lives together in joy and happiness. Sometimes people try to sorta… fence themselves off by species, but that is a very dumb and silly thing to try and do, and it never actually keeps at that way for longer than a year or sweep.

You are happily retired from all fighting and magic Rage bullshit, and spend your days happily with your quads and daughter, who is now the same age as you, pretty much. Callie hands you the keys you left her brother and her, at one point, and you borrow Aradia’s boxes and head back to your younger self, since you gotta complete that circle, and a bunch of other circles that you had no idea you actually played a part in. Apparently you’re a pretty involved dude, for all you feel you don’t do a terrible lot. Lots of moving pieces out of your awareness. But that’s fine, that you’re just a domino in a line, you’re happy to be, because what you do sparks a deep joy in you, and you can’t imagine your life going any different from how it’s going now. When you return to your time and retirement, you’re happy to see past!Callie as a contact, and strike up correspondence with your daughter who isn’t the same age as you.

Rose starts up talk with John on going back in time and fighting Lord English when he is young—

“Mm, yes, this is exactly the sort of nonsense that simply will not fly. John doesn’t have retcon powers since there was nothing to retcon, which means the house juju has been successfully removed from the narrative. We cannot be having this.”

‘Yes, honored one. Oh, how about this?”

—and a little protective curl of Rage flickers up in the part of your soul that is magic. You tell them that Lord English might be a bitch and a bastard, but the little one is still only just Caliborn. And Caliborn, for all the scars he gave you and the headaches as didn’t fade for hours after he went to sleep, is still your child, even as you know he is your child that grows up cruel and perverse and pure, straight up, motherfucking evil. They leave him be.

“Oh perfect, well done!”

After that, there is… nothing. No more Game nonsense, no imps or demons or gods. Just you, and the family as isn’t yours by any blood or relation, but is your motherfucking family, by choice and emotion and deep, unwavering love.

You are an adult, and you are so, so, so full of love.

[secretsofthemasquerade]

V5 Corebook, no gloves review P.1

Y’all know me, it had to be coming. Sorry it took me so long. Part 1 is about the physical aspect of the PDF (I don’t have the physical book at hand yet), Part 2 is going to be about mechanics and “content”, since I’m still testing that out.

So first and foremost, the small Mature Content Warning that was added last minute to the PDF. It has been published online on its own so I have no issues posting it here:

Mature Content Warning For the past several decades, Vampire: The Masquerade has addressed the darkness in the real world through horror stories: it has talked about AIDS, capitalist exploitation, sexual predation, the resurgence of far-right political extremism, religious fanaticism, state and private surveillance, and many other issues. This version of the game does not shy away from any of the above, and we believe exploration of subjects like these is as valid in roleplaying games as it is in other media. Including a problematic subject in a Storytelling game is not the same as glorifying it, and if you take the chance to explore it critically, it can be the exact opposite. If we understand the problems facing us, we are better armed to fight them. V5 includes in-world references and expressions of the following: sexual violence, political extremism, physical violence and gore, mind control, torture, abuse, imprisonment and kidnapping, racism, sexism, and homophobia, to name a few. It’s a game about monsters. “Why are you telling me this?” you might be saying. Someone at your table is not familiar with this game. Someone at your table has dealt with some of these issues in real life. Someone at your table wants to know that you read this warning and know you will be considerate to them as players, while putting their character through the wringer. In the Appendix, you will find concrete techniques on how to handle difficult subjects in your game in a manner that is respectful to your players and their experiences. Calibrate beforehand which techniques your group wants to use. People have different needs and not every method works for every person. This is a game about monsters. But it is only a game. Don’t use it as an excuse to be a monster yourself.

This is something I consider good (that last sentence is more necessary than I’d like to know), considering the rest of the contents of the game, but I wish they had taken a far more respectful approach to the mature themes instead of name-dropping horrors without meaning.

Now, the PDF itself has MAJOR issues in terms of book-making. The bookmarks are terrible, they integrate stuff from the side boxes that just make no sense, there’s little to no proper hierarchy, some are even missing, the internal links don’t work very well, it’s just poor, poor design.

Seriously look at this:

How can I navigate this? Like seriously ? I know there’s a table of contents, but it should be in the navigation bar as well, that’s how PDFs work.

(The Nossies are missing, it makes me laugh because it’s the Nossies, but they’re there, that’s why Malks seem to have two sections about Disciplines and Banes)

Now, the layout itself isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen, and some parts of what I’m going to be saying may fall upon “personal taste”, but I’ve been editing PhD thesis for long enough to recognize bad layout when I see one :p

Like, this is fine, I really like the new Tremere Clan Symbol (all the clan symbols are pretty neat tbh, and the Disciplines symbols are the VTES ones so that makes me extra happy), and they’ve used beautiful fonts, even if we disregard that they couldn’t be bothered to spell HERMETIC correctly...

However there are two major issues with the book layout as it stands, as you flip through the pages. First, the text isn’t justified (aka aligned left and right), and second, the text is sometimes in two columns, sometimes in three. Quite often, the titles are at the end of a column (see here “The Anarchs”) and some paragraphs have poor lonely lines in the precedent page or column and it just looks bad. I screenshot some pages with low res: the text itself does not matter so it’s ok if you can’t read it ;) But notice how “Relationship” is hyphened because of the three columns there...

Then, you have plenty of pages which have either black background or colorful background. That would be fine if some of the pages weren’t the kind of pages you’d want to print out to give as handouts to players...

My poor eyes.

These four pages would be far more useful with black on white, even if plenty of us like reading white on black because it’s easier on the eyes on a tabler, but this isn’t printer friendly when you sell a pdf... This should have been in the Appendix with a printer friendly version.

Sometimes the placement of elements is just weird or off putting in certain pages:

This image touches the bottom of the page, but there’s three meters of white space above. There are examples of the exact opposite (the image touching the top of the image with extra space at the bottom).

This chart should be centered, I think.

Something’s wrong here, isn’t there something missing above the first page? And that block alone on the second column, it’s very common across the book.

Now, on a tablet or phone, it’s easy to double tap and match the column length, and the fact that the text isn’t justified isn’t much of an issue when reading plain text, but I find that the text not being justified in any of the pages is just Bad Design.

I did like the separations, the small lines between the columns and all, they looked great, the change of fonts in between “boxes”, “quotations”, “examples” and so on was also well made. 

Now, the Art.

Some of the art is old WWP art, some of it is WoD MMO art, some of the art is newly commissioned illustrations, and some of the art is photography with (or without) filters.

Old WWP Art is clearly to link back. The old Helena art is there. Theo Bell got new art (I think it’s new?), but Helena didn’t.

They also reused MET By Night Studios photography for Jeanette and Therese, and cropped the photo, taking away the key composition of the original. Did Bradstreet give the rights to alter his work with such cropping? 

Note that I personally dislike this picture, cropped or not, a lot, simply because being a Bloodlines fan I don’t think it represents either Therese or Jeanette properly. Jeanette wouldn’t be caught with a power stance and serious face like that, Therese wouldn’t be caught with such a non imposing, reserved pose, and coming from Bradstreet, I am VERY disappointed, because he has done official art for Jeanette for the video game before and it was far better representative of her; the model from the OG picture looks far closer to the Jeanette we meet in the game, but this is truly a matter of personal taste and opinion so I won’t scream again about it.

The MMO art is overall great quality, and sometimes it’s even used in a very smart, beautiful way:

(I’d have put this image on the Embrace and not on Predators, tbh...)

They also used the fashion spreads looks for the MMO in the corebook, some of it is plain silly, and I’m very much afraid they’re used literally as how PCs look like. Here’s the Gangrel Fashion splat:

I consider the art to be good, and to be great concept art for a MMO, and great fashion shots, but.. in VtM? this is not Masquerade Friendly. Also these types of art (as well as the Investigator image you can see on the first few pages I pasted above) are all 20 something model-like people, and yes that involves the Nosferatu, because they’re fashion drawings. Fashion drawings have stupid proportions and no realism, since they’re meant to show the clothes, not the model. And for a book about characters, well, why? This was suitable for the MMO because MMOs have transmogs and such and such.

I just find them to have completely missed the “Punk and Gothic Aesthetic of the World” and just stacked as much weird clothing as they could to look “hype and modern”. Hipster Instagram Fashion that’s unwearable.

Yes, vampires are marginal by nature, but please, their goal is to blend in, not be noticed, and considering how long they’re effectively inactive, and how age affects your will to stay on trend... Eh. 

The New commissioned illustrations are hit and miss, and some of this criticism does fall on “personal taste”, but here I ranted about one of those art pieces (which was the page for the Vault, but it’s in the book). They’re all a little bit like this, some having a far better composition even if they all seem to be this saturated. They’re all overall good and I like most of them.

This one is “look at my butt” kind of situation. I’d have rather have this picture just without this foreground couple, it would have been a perfect street look example, and the two jumping above the roofs guys would have had the attention they deserved. I love the fog, the graffity, the textures are nice, i just hate the butt.

And finally, the big chunk, the Photography Art.

I understand how they made it so that most people would be able to “make their own art” (photography being now more accessible to the masses than illustration), and that is something I nod to, appreciate and completely understand. HOWEVER, Photography IS art and not everyone can be a Photographer with a snap of their fingers (or a click of the camera :p).

What’s good with photography art is that they picked diverse looking models of all sorts, and they put them in interesting and somewhat telling situations. What’s bad is that “suddenly” all “positions of power” are held by middle-aged (so plain old 60yo) looking vampires and all Anarchs Rebels looks like they’re in their twenties.

This goes against VtM. Older vampires tend to look younger because being a King or Queen at age 14 wasn’t uncommon until the 1800s. Embracing people right at the end of their teenage years, at their prime, at their best, as they’re “perfect” is the best a vampire could do (remember Dark Ages have rules against embracing the young, the elderly, the crippled, the insane...).

It’s only after WWII that embracing people over 40 wasn’t uncommon.

I’d have LOVED to see a 60yo looking Punk, and have the Dominating Prince on Their Throne look like, 15. And own the place.

Now there are plenty of issues with some of the photography art, and here’s one (page 232) that I’ve screamed at for like, two weeks now.

This picture had one of the best compositions, the diagonal works great, the leaning away, the androgyny of the chalice (despite them still having a personality and free will...). How he filled the glass with the blood from the chalice through this.. pinky finger condom thing, okay, sure, weird af but why not. Does’t explain why the chalice has two marks on their forearm but okay. Sure. Also, FINALLY a photography in VtM of a dude wearing a suit that’s actually his size? Great. And it doesn’t come out of a Goth Store (tm). Great! Amazing! 

But there are in this picture TWO things I just cannot forgive.

First, the guy has his jacket buttoned. When you Suit 101, when you sit, you unbutton. You button up when you stand up. Now this is supposed to be The Ventrue (tm), this is just wrong.

Second, his fucking zipper is down. YES HIS FLY IS DOWN. How the hell did this not get photoshopped in like two seconds? Because of the jacket, I know this is an accident; the model just isn’t used to suit etiquette. You could explain this away by saying he’s a pervert or something, but in that case you’d have needed to add slightly more eroticism to the guy (jacket and maybe shirt open, no glass, slight smile, leaning towards the chalice and not away from them?).

Some of the photography-manipulated art is just beautiful, let’s be honest, this is the splat before Disciplines:

I’m not a fan of the orange (simply because I’m not a fan of orange in general), but this works just so well, the composition, the lines of sight, the shadows, the mirroring, just, top notch choice here, who did this??

But then you have post apo band :p

I mean I like this group shot, it’s very classical, it looks like a fine coterie with a specific turf.. But is this Mad Max? I know Gehenna happened, and I do know some people actually dress like that, but if you’re being tracked down and hunted into oblivion by the Second Inquisition, you.. just don’t do this.

Most of the photography is like this; marginal overdressed looks. Now this is personal taste again, I just wish we had more.. normal looking people. People who are exceptional, but not through their looks or clothing style. The back of the book claims “A Storytelling game of personal and political horror.” and I see little of it in the pictures and illustrations. 

Anyway, want more Art Rants? click here

Stay tuned for part 2!

[enderwalking]

I disappear for one single day to deal with irl stuff and miss your birthday??? Unbelievable, happy belated birthday!!

I get what u mean about aus sometimes just being about the vibes, I think why I'm so hung up on tomoyo in particular (other than my brain being a nightmare that wants No Holes in The Story) is I'm mentally fiddling with a kurogane ctechno's backstory to keep the anarchism in play, so already the role of tomoyo has gotta be a bit different. And because of that my brain wants to figure out All the changes, and what those would mean for c!techno in this au. Rotating him in my head and demanding to know who his catalyst is and all that. Who looked at a violent c!techno in this au and said "we're gonna get you some standards for killing. And also make you a pawn in multiverse chess. Have fun!"

Yuuko cgeorge would definitely be a vibe, and it's easy to make cdream feiwong reed work (the atrocities! The holding onto the past! He would be more than willing), but I think what I like so much about the reverse is where the base motivations lay? Feiwong reed is clinging onto a single person at cost of everything else. Which reads as very similar to c!dream in canon clinging onto a version of the world that no longer exists, but phrase that another way: his base motivation lies in the world being changed in a way he views as negative, and trying to prevent that change/bring it back to its previous state where its already been changed. Which is also what yuuko is doing! It's just that we view yuuko as being in the right because she's. You know. Preventing the collapse of the multiverse. Doing less atrocities. It would be a characterization of c!dream that would borrow a bit more heavily from early days smp I think, but with the pragmatism and bastard energy of current lore. Or maybe not even that, maybe it's just a question of, who does cdream become if his allegiance is no longer happy memories of an 8 person server of friends, but instead the smooth functioning of a multiverse? What is he like if he has different eggs (<- cursed metaphor but whatever it gets the point across)

Also with the whole plot point of feiwong reed being theorized to be like... a fragment of Clow formed entirely from the wish to keep yuuko alive, I think it would be neat to put an earlier days, somewhat kinder and more friendly cdream up against a late days cgeorge who has become so single minded in focus, who cant tolerate the world as it currently exists. To have cdream remembering an early days cgeorge while dealing with the current cgeorge. And yet, the things one could do with cdream and dreamxd if we go the cgeorge is yuuko route...

Oh I figured out my hang up, it's that I can picture a world where cdream chooses the world over cgeorge, especially if cgeorge has become antagonistic to said world, but I struggle to picture a world where cgeorge wouldn't sacrifice the world to keep cdream. However, I also am not a cgeorge or c!dnf scholar, so I'm very open to being told I'm wrong on this bit

yeah trc is especially difficult to cast full aus for considering that there are so many characters that are all so intertwined and it's like, sometimes you just gotta take a character concept and strip it down and run LMAO. like in my ffx au ctubbo's role is most analogous to rikku's role in the game. they are not similar in vibe in the least, but it Works okay i PROMISE.

the thing that is off to me about cgeorge as feiwong is like. cgeorge is so profoundly defined by apathy and inaction? and even in his stream about destroying everything and becoming a god, it's not out of some desperate drive towards an end goal, if anything it's the complete opposite. this is cgeorge essentially throwing in the towel, he's giving up on the entire world but he's also decided to make it the whole world's problem in the process. if his dream hadn't literally handed him the tools for the job, he probably wouldn't have gone on nearly such a rampage; think about how quickly he gave up mining down his statue: "it's such a chore to even destroy myself". that's not to say cgeorge is incapable of fighting for things, but his coping mechanism of choice is not to dig in his heels or press onwards, but instead is to just. give up. disengage. and his constant dreaming just enhances that sense of passiveness.

so yeah i feel like cgeorge in a yuuko-esque role where he's like. trapped in stasis. forced to inaction in some ways. and is trying to fix things to an extent but is limited in his scope just by the nature of his existence? yeah. idk. but also i will confess that some of the finer details of yuuko's stuff does escape me as it has been a Hot Minute since i've reread so i could be bullshitting here LOL. also i think that if cdream had to play multidimensional chess and create a 9000 step plan to ruin lives across the whole of reality all for cgeorge's sake that he would 100% do it in a heartbeat and that arguably you could interpret his actions in canon to be him doing just that, so there's that as well

[heroesarelife]

Quirks and Genetics

Disclaimer: I do not study genetics/biology, this is not my major and what I’m saying here is all very basic, product of my own interest in the topic. It might have mistakes on it and miss some things (by all means, correct them). It was born from excitement and from a wish to understand it better. It also makes some inferences as we don’t have that much information in canon. It involves a lot of conjecture. TL;DR: all that follows here may very well be complete bollocks.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s take a look in one of the only instances of explanation about quirk function we have in canon.

Alright, so we have some very useful information here. However, the explanation is a bit confusing, so I want to break it down: Aizawa states his quirk does not attack the quirk itself, but instead halts the quirk factor. And then there’s the addition of the plus alpha. I believe he is talking about two different things. Using the example from the manga:

Tail (Quirk) + Mechanism to move the tail (Plus Alpha) = Quirk Factor.

That’s my conclusion. Ultimately Erasure can halt the Plus Alpha temporarily, but it is not affecting the quirk directly. The quirk erasing bullets (and Eri’s quirk), despite its name, affects the functioning of the Quirk Factor by causing damage to the Plus Alpha.

Let’s use Midoriya as an example. He is quirkless, but in order for him to be able to use a quirk (OfA) then it means that he must have a Plus Alpha. It stands to logic that, without the mechanism, he could not use the quirk even if he had the quirk to begin with. Basically, without the presence of a Quirk to activate Plus Alpha it becomes a useless/inactive mechanism in the body.

Working with this framework, we can perhaps safely assume that everyone in the BNHA universe most likely has a Plus Alpha, but not everyone has a Quirk. That is, they have the gene for the Plus Alpha expressed, but not everyone inherited the Quirk that would activate or link to Plus Alpha.

This is the logic I will be working with. Everyone has a Plus Alpha*, not everyone has a Quirk. Let’s move on.

> Quirk Inheritance

I believe that the pattern of inheritance for quirks is based on a dominant gene. Let’s just explain this quickly as I will be using some language as we go along: homozygous are genotypes of a pair of dominant/recessive chromosome alleles (AA, aa), heterozygous are pairs of mixed alleles (Aa). Dominant traits only need one allele to be observed phenotypically, whereas a recessive trait needs both alleles, according to Mendel.

Using that logic, for someone to inherit a quirk, they would have to receive at least one dominant allele for the quirk expression from their parents. This may explain why quirks became so quickly widespread in the overall population since they first appeared, as opposed of them being recessive. This can affect both if you are going to inherit a quirk, as well as which quirk you are going to inherit.

Let me explain using Midoriya as an example again. Both his parents have a quirk, but he was quirkless just the same - the odds are small but they are real. This can mean that both his parents are heterozygous (Aa), in which their dominant allele is their quirk and the recessive allele is “no quirk”. Something like this:

A(quirk)a(no quirk):

Both parents: Aa

Possible combinations: AA (25%), Aa (50%), aa (25%)

Izuku: aa

So Izuku ended up quirkless because he inherited two recessive genes that did not carry any quirk. This also means that if one of the parents has a dominant homozygous gene for their quirk (AA) it is impossible for the child to be born quirkless even if the other parent does have a recessive “no quirk” gene.

However, in my opinion, the recessive genes can also carry another quirk that is simply not expressed on the parents, but might have been expressed on the grandparents. So, a quirk may jump a generation and someone can carry a quirk gene without necessarily having that quirk expressed, and being a recessive homozygous doesn’t necessarily mean that you are quirkless.

Alternatively, it can also be that it is an interaction of different pairs. For example, a pair of chromosomes may decide if you have a quirk expression or a no-quirk expression. Another pair (or two pairs) may decide which quirk you get. Either way, it’s going to be looking very similar.

But what about quirk marriage?

This is where things begin to get more interesting. Now, we don’t have that many known examples of quirk marriages characters, and the main examples are Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki (and I have reasons to believe Aizawa also has a married quirk, but that’s another story entirely).

Todoroki’s story tells us some neat things. One of them is that it is very hard indeed to get a child to be born with a married quirk. His parents had borne 3 children before finally Shouto came along. This tells us that the concept of quirks being passed by a dominant allele is rather credible – as well as the more probable way in which a married quirk will be expressed.

One way it could go is that if a child ends up being dominant homozygous (AA), then they should probably inherit “both” the quirks - and how those genes would express themselves is another point entirely. It could also happen (perhaps more rarely) with the child being heterozygous (Aa), in which one of the parent’s quirk is recessive homozygous (aa). So here are the options:

Mother: Aa

Father: Aa

Possibilities: AA (25%), Aa (50%), aa (25%)

Or:

Mother/father (vice versa): Aa, aa

Possibilities: Aa (50%), aa (50%)

The reason why I think that would be the case, is because an AA would mean automatically a married quirk, whereas Aa can mean a married quirk depending on the circumstances. Shouto could be any of these two, the result would probably be the same.

But it doesn’t end there. If there’s something that confuses people a lot when coming up with quirk marriages ideas or their own OC’s quirks, is how exactly does married quirks get expressed. I reckon there’s plenty of debate in that area, so let’s try to settle it.

I think there are types of married quirks.

Or maybe, that a quirk marriage happens when dominance behaves differently than expected (which would be the complete dominance we’ve been talking about).

Todoroki‘s quirk have a similar expression as that of codominance. Which is when both traits of the parents are somewhat equally present in their offspring (usually on heterozygous). I don’t want to say that genetically a married quirk would have to be heterozygous and would need to have codominance, I’m just using it as an example of how his quirk behaves. If you pay close attention to Todoroki, you will notice that his quirk, rather than being a mixture of his parent’s quirks (which then would give him a whole new quirk, something like A+B=C. Whereas his looks more like A+B=AB) behaves more like two quirks in one body, sharing the space. He can even manipulate those powers separately. So, he has both quirks of his parents somehow expressed, behaving a lot like the concept of codominance.

Bakugou quirk, however, looks more like Partial Dominance. Which is when the offspring phenotype seems to express a mixture (or middle ground) of both parent’s traits. His mother has glycerine on her sweat, and his father has an acidic sweat that can create explosions sometimes. Different from Todoroki, Bakugou cannot manipulate and separate these two abilities as if they are independent from each other, his quirk being instead a fusion of those quirks to create a brand new one (A+B=C). Like a flower offspring between a red and white flower being pink.

To summarize, quirks can either be inherited with:

Complete Dominance -> receiving the same quirk as one of the parents (Example: Jirou Kyouka)

Codominance -> receiving both quirks somewhat equally (Example: Todoroki Shouto)

Partial Dominance -> manifest a quirk that is a mixture/intermediate of both parent’s quirks (Example: Bakugou Katsuki)

This is outrageously long, but I hope it makes sense and it doesn’t have that many mistakes on it. If you have any questions or would like to debate this further, please do send in asks and whatnot i LOVE debating BNHA chars and worldbuilding.

I have some other ideas about Noumu’s, OfA, AfO and Eri’s quirk as well, but then it would be a bit much. I might do something about them at another point in time.

* Plus Alpha may be affected by Epigenetics.

P.s.: I want to reiterate this is very simplified and I am aware that genetic interactions are much more complex than this.

---

Hey I do a lot of these, check it out /o/

Like what you see? Buy us a coffee if you fancy :D or commission

[doodlingleluke]

a bit later I usually am with these, but here’s what I’ve been up to in 2017. While I feel like my improvement isn’t as obvious as ith as been in previous years, I still feel like this was a really good art year for me. I actually did a lot of pieces that I really liked and actually still like months later! that is a completely new sensation for me! I feel like I’m really getting to where I want to be with my art, so hopefully this will continue in 2018. 

for the first time I feel like commenting on my choices for this thing, mostly cause I just want to but also in case someone wants to know how I feel about my own art. but because theres a lot of drawings here that’ll continue under the cut 

wow I use red and pink/purple hues way more than I thought. anyways. 

january -  this year I wanted to get better at doing at least somewhat interesting backgrounds (even if it just means a simple colour) and experimenting more with different textures and styles, and I still think this tenten was a good start. I had been wanting to draw something like this with her for ages and I’m glad I finally was able to pull it off.

february - february didn’t really have any drawings that stood out to me, but this month I started drawing a lot more “casual” trek stuff, as in stuff that doesn’t need to have a punchline. I see a lot of problems with it now, but I really liked this seven when I first drew it. 

march - again, not a month where I found anything particularly good, but it was the month when I got into night in the woods (still a big fan of it) and this was honestly the best of the nitw art I did. 

 april - I am pretty sure the demon kankuro was a redraw of an older, shittier demon kankuro I can’t be bothered to find. Its a bit messy and his facial features are off, but I still think theres some nice details and colours. At this point I had also started to use a bit of after effects (the blur around the edges). the 80s ino is part of a konoha girls in vintage clothes thing that admittedly isn’t all that good looking, but it was a lot of fun and probably my favourite outfit drawing. 

may - I spent most of this month doing art memes inbetween exams and dying, but this random kankuro somehow found its way in. yeah its not spectacular or anything but it kinda happened on a whim and its not a style of colouring I use very often. I don’t remember what brush I used but I love how it looks. pardon my french but I’m pleased with how this turned out. 

june - I moved this month so I’m surprised I had time to draw at all. this sad nog represents my inner turmoil and stress at the time. probably. anyways, I feel like this was the first time I was able to cartoonify a ferengi somewhat successfully. I also finally started toning down my exessive highlighting.

july - I spent most of july stuck in the mountains with no internet, yet somehow I still managed to draw a bunch of shit I still really like. The magical girl temari was the first time I tried to do a combination of solid and blended shading. I’ve had issues with my shading for a long time and I think this was a step in the right direction. It was mainly inspired by how much I liked the solid shading of the other one, which is also the only good drawing I’ve ever done of that oc. 

august  - what the fuck how did I draw so many things I like in august. For the deanna I just suddenly got the idea to try something art nouveau, and while its not perfect I’m still happy with the result. The hair took forever but I’m still in love with it, and I’ve been incorporating some of those elements into my art ever since. The temari REALLY benefited from solid shading instead of me drowning it in exessive layers of purple like I usually do when I shade. idk what to say, I love it and I genuinely think its one of the coolest things I’ve ever drawn. for the top one I wanted to do something original and different from my usual stuff. The background is a bit messy but I still like the overall result and it has inspired me to draw more casual stuff that doesn’t necessarily need to be posted here. 

september -  no contest here, the konoha witch series took a lot of time, but I’m still happy with the result.Well for some of them at least. Ino is hands down my favourite and I think its obvious that shes the one I put the most thought and effort into (even though it started with a random sketch of tenten). Apparently I have some kind of bias towards pink and purple, which might explain why I think Ino just ended up with the nicest looking colours out of all the girls. 

october - I didn’t have time to do a big halloween piece this year, but this wirt was still pretty halloween-y. the colours turned out better than I expected, especially the shading on his face. The background doesn’t really make sense, but I think it looks nice so ya know, whatever. This was also the first time I watched over the garden wall so this also has some sentimental value I guess. 

november - Huevember month! which meant a lot to choose from! the kira I did on the last day of november is honestly my favourite out of all the huevember drawings I did. I don’t do a lot of drawings with the light source in the back, but I think it really worked here. idk I just think the colours and the style look really neat. It feels weird being so positive about my art hah but I don’t have anything I dislike about this one. I do have a few problems with the temari, but I just really like the colours, and I like that I did something interesting with the colours for once in my life. The tilly is in all honesty not a fave of mine, I actually kind of dislike it BUT it did get featured on after trek so I feel like it was a significant part of my ~art year~ 

december - I’ve had a lot on my mind this month, so sadly I’ve been really inactive here. The elf temari isn’t really all that special, but then again I don’t think its directly bad and I think the colours turned out better than what they usually do when I try shading my lineless art. The other one is a redraw of a drawing I did back in may, and while I (as always) have some problems with it I do think its a big improvement over the old one (which is so ugly that I was genuinely surprised to find that it was drawn...this year). 

thank you if you bothered to read all of this! I know this was completely pointless but at the same time I’ve found that artists often hav completely different opinions on their art than others do so there might possibly be something a little bit interesting here. just a tiny bit. 

[baronvontribble]

Since I've been inactive lately and Tumblr's broken my activity feed ANYWAY, here's some Ted drawings for my original space universe! Because I clearly don't have enough of those. >.>

I'm at that point in my original story writing shit where I get an idea that's really fucking cool but it doesn't gel with my revamped story so I go back to the First Draft for ideas. For context, the second draft had nothing to do with Finding Cool Shit In Space, and everything to do with Ted and his robot being Rebel Space Fugitives. Neat as this is, it doesn't let me show off my actual real research that I've done in making this world a believable one that follows real science and shit.

For those of you who are interested, a bunch of actual things that I've researched and put in the plot point bin for potential use later are under the cut:

--the maximum distance a Voyager-like or Pioneer-like probe might've travelled given the maximum age of a third-generation star (plus the estimated minimum age of that star's planets then being able to nurture and grow complex alien life) which could produce an advanced civilization. hint: it's not actually that far

--the estimated temperature of a protoplanetary disk

--time dilation, gravitational lensing, and what this means for someone whose communications work off of a quantum entanglement-based idea ("why is our data suddenly coming in SO FAST" asks the ship next to the black hole. "why are they sending us data at a rate of about a bit every three seconds" asks home base, located back in Sensible And Unbent Spacetime)

--the size and rotation speed a round thing in space needs to produce artificial gravity (answer: A Lot)

--the Fermi Paradox/Drake Equation (see 1 for a potential solution to this)

--Planet X and the implications of wonky planetary orbits

--how planetary orbits work in a binary star system

--a star's size/heat vs. the distance of its "goldilocks zone" and how THAT affects orbits and rotations

--Helium-3 harvesting and cold fusion

--methods of sublight propulsion that are Not Rockets (laser sails, photonic propulsion, etc)

--neutrinos. just, neutrinos.

--tardigrades and other extremophiles

--brown dwarf stars, neutron stars, zombie stars

--no, asteroid fields are not that densely packed, but they are insanely cool nonetheless

--did you know our OWN GALAXY is obscuring a massive fucking part of the sky? who knows what's past that bit!

--d y s o n   s p h e r e s

--not quite related (still part of in-universe canon but not directly related to space), but touchable holograms aren't that crazy an idea anymore. this seems to me like it could be one of the next steps towards normalizing things like deafness? like imagine if a hologram could tap you on the shoulder and sign at you

--the limitations of terraforming, applications of bio-domes, most common kinds of earthlike exoplanets we can find easily, and the effects of different levels of gravity on the human body in a long-term sense. space blindness is a THING.

--how to insulate against high levels of solar activity

--gamma ray bursts and their potential effects on life as a whole

this is not a comprehensive list but it IS a list. I have researched all of these things. they are all Neat. hopefully I'll get to use a good chunk of them because they deserve better than to simply go to waste.

PS: the worldbuilding stuff as far as how human civilization has evolved and how its technology has improved is expansive enough to make a whole nother post. thanks for reading this one though! always happy to know there are other people who also think that Space Is Cool.

[agilenano]

Agilenano - News: Large Space Over The Door Hanging Mirror

Fiverr freelancer will provide Flyers & Brochures services and Do appealing door hanger for you including Print-Ready within 3 days. Fiverr freelancer will provide Flyers & Brochures services and Design appealing door hanger including Print-Ready within 2 days. Your business may not be able to afford leaving a door hanger at every office, home and . Add compelling images or other graphics to your door hangers. A door hanger is a subtle advertisement or communication for your company. Cleverly designed they can become a classy way to promote events, savings, etc. Design an appealing door hanger for a custom home builder. NellaQ needed a new postcard, flyer or print design and created a contest on 99designs. A winner. 06/04/2016 Basically, designing a standard door hanger is possible with the help of different designing and editing software. With the use of texts and. Marketing with full color door hangers. The more eye-catching and visually appealing your door hanger design, the greater the chance it will get read. 21/11/2011 Door hangers are an oft-forgotten weapon in the small-business . An appealing coupon, combined with potent copy and a strong call to action,. 7 Home / / The Quick Door Hanger Quick Door Hanger Appealing Quick Door Hanger How To Install A Interior Door Appealing Quick.

Door hanging Bournemouth is a job that is best left to the professionals. . With this in mind, if you are interested in our door hanging service, call The . Simply call us up on 079411 91855, or send us an email at info@thedoorhanger.co.uk. The Door Hanger LTD, Bournemouth. 344 likes 12 talking about this 1 was here. We are a carpentry company with over 40 years of experience who. The Door Hanger LTD, Bournemouth. 347 likes 15 . English (UK) Espaol Portugus (Brasil) Franais (France) Deutsch . 5 X Pre Finished Genoa Oak (Metric Sized) Doors. 1,600.00. 1 x White Primed Pattern 10 (Stile and Rail) Door. All members providing Door Fitting/Hanging services in Bournemouth are . Based in Bournemouth Member since 2016. 9.98 . Supreme Concept Carpentry. All members providing Door Fitting/Hanging services in Christchurch are . Based in Bournemouth Member since 2008. 9.95 . Supreme Concept Carpentry. Find a mirrored wardrobes in Bournemouth, Dorset on Gumtree, the #1 site for Bedroom Wardrobes, Shelving & Storage for Sale classifieds ads in the UK. . Concept Part mirrored & part wood effect sliding wardrobes. . double wardrobe Mirrored doors and white sides Bought from Next 1 shelf 2 hanging rails High 213. . the #1 site for Bedroom Wardrobes, Shelving & Storage for Sale classifieds ads in the UK. . Concept Part mirrored & part wood effect sliding wardrobes. . Bournemouth, Dorset . IKEA WARDROBE with Mirrored Door and 2 Hanging Rails. 01/10/2018 Forward is not about to close door on another potential recall for the Three . Bournemouth striker Jermain Defoe reveals his ambitions to become a manager after hanging up his boots as a player . returned to the UK to join Sunderland and then two years later Bournemouth. . Switch Concepts Limited. downloaded from www.bournemouth.gov.uk/planning. All plans within this planning concept and work up a scheme None, some planters and hanging baskets. . any doors or windows are considered inactive and should not face the.

Marvelous Gifts Marvelous Door & car Feng shui Ingot Hanging Plastic Yantra at best prices with FREE shipping & cash on delivery. Only Genuine Products. doorway bead curtains wooden beaded for doorways hanging door curtain marvelous. wood beaded curtains for doorways wooden bead,wooden bead curtains. Discover ideas about Craftsman Style Doors. interior interior window casing styles the best marvelous interior door trim craftsman style pict for window casing. Im thinking a navy blue door and shutters would look marvelous on our home White Front Door Hanger Door Hanging Decor Sign For Front (DIY this with. amazon hanging file folder holder cascading fabric harper blvd burnet white over the door 3 tier basket amazon olibay 6 pockets clear collection handbag file. The guys climbed out of the Trail Blazer and closed their doors. . They walked up to the front door. . There was a large chandelier hanging in the middle. Maybe so, Louis counters, closing Roses door with a slam. . The unmistakable sight of a man hanging on the vans open rear door carrying a gun runs. Keep your hands free for serving with our mesh screen door. It lets a cool breeze in, but keeps bugs out so you can entertain with ease.

Honey-Can-Do HNG-01519 Over The Door Hanger Holder, Folding . mDesign Bathroom Accessory Set, Soap Dispenser Pump, Soap Dish, Toothbrush Holder. Buy YUMORE Door Hanger, Stainless Steel Heavy Duty Over The Door Hook for Coats Robes Hats Clothes Towels, Hanging Towel Rack Organizer, Easy. Over The Door Hanging Rack 5 Dual Hooks Towel Organizer Rack with Shelf for the soft cloth and a mild non-abrasive dish detergent or soap, if necessary. House of Quirk Great Kitchen Sink Dish Drainer Drying Rack Organizer . Hokipo Over The Door 5 Stainless Steel Hook Organizer Hanging Rack, Towel & Coat. . and closet. Find over the door storage, over the door shoe organizers, and more to keep your home neat and tidy. . Heavy Duty Over-the-Door Hook Rack. Products 1 20 of 20 Buy Over The Door Bronze Hooks products like iDesign 8-Hook Over-the-Door Rack in Bronze, Lynk Over-the-Door 12-Hook Hanger in. Shop Over Door Hooks and top home decor at great value at AtHome.com, and buy them at . Dish Sets Outdoor Dinnerware 4-Hook Over-the-Door Towel Holder Satin Nickel . 2-Hook Over-the-Door Jewel Knob Hanger, Satin Nickel. Products 1 48 of 158 Get a key rack, over the door hooks and more at BedBathandBeyond.ca. Key hooks corral lost keys; hanging hardware utilizes wasted. InterDesign York Lyra Over-the-Door 3-Hook Organizer Hooks for Coats, Hats, Robes Lavish Home Over-The-Door Hanging Rack, Silver.

Find the top 100 most popular items in Amazon Home & Kitchen Best Sellers. . STORAGE MANIAC 12-Pocket Over The Door Hanging Organizer, Large Pocket. Buy STORAGE MANIAC 12-Pocket Over The Door Hanging Organizer, Large . All the products can help you make best use of your space, keeping your home. Find the top 100 most popular items in Amazon Home Improvement Best Sellers. . Spectrum Over the Door Hanger Holder Color: White 2 Pack (1, 2 Count). Shop bedbathandbeyond.com for organizational solutions for your room and closet. Find over the door storage, over the door shoe organizers, and more to keep. Best Hanging Shelves: Whitmor Hanging Sweater and Accessory Rack at Amazon . Best Over-the-Door Organizer: Pro-Mart DAZZ 42-Pocket at Amazon. Luv this organizing lady! Organizing with a Bi-fold Closet Door & Adding Storage. check out her other videos and Most Organized Home in America. Tiny Houses. Lynk Over Door Accessory Holder Scarf, Belt, Hat, Jewelry Hanger 9 Hook Organizer Chart File Organizer with FREE BONUS 3 Door Hangers- Best Pocket. 03/04/2017 The Goal: Find a hanging shoe organizer, in the spirit of spring cleaning, that takes up minimal room. Small-space specializing professional. Shop Wayfair for all the best Over-the-Door Shoe Racks & Hanging Organizers. Enjoy Free Shipping on most stuff, even big stuff.

Discover the best Over Door Hooks in Best Sellers. . #16. MOONHOUSE Womens Solid Lace O-Neck Lagen Look Cold Cut Shoulder Tops Sexy Shirts Loose Find the highest rated products in our Over Door Hooks store, and read the most . It looks exactly like the picture with nice clean lines and the cute little top. Utilize your door to maximize space with our door hooks or door racks! Shop all of our . OXO Good Grips Fold Away Over the Door Valet. $14.99. 4.3 out of 5. These basic metal over-the-door hooks can work in just about any place in your home. . A great solution to add a lot of storage without drilling holes. Best Robe . If you want your hook to be just as much about looks as it is about function.. IKEA ENUDDEN, Hanger for door, , Covered back prevents scratching of door.Hanging . ENUDDEN series creates a bright fresh look and helps to keep everything nice and tidy. . Coordinates with other products in the ENUDDEN series. See more ideas about Over the door hooks, The doors and Clothes racks. . Oppenhiemer Over-The-Door Hook.cute if you need this over your bathroom or one. Satin Nickel with White Ceramic Insert 10 lbs. Over the Door Hook. Model# BBF430Z-SN-U. (11). $498. Free delivery with $45 order. Set your store to see local Long rails are ideal for porches while single coat and hat hooks look great on the back of a door. You can also opt for robe hooks for bedrooms and varieties in. Over-the-door towel rack adds convenience and organization to your bathroom or laundry room The concept of this item is great. . If you air out a towel on the first bar and last bar, then that isnt as bad.see moreof the reviewers review.

The Quick Door Hanger, Value Pack (Installs 10 Doors), Complete Hassle-Free Door Installation Kits Amazon.com. IKEA ENUDDEN Hanger for door White Covered back prevents scratching of door. The Quick Door Hanger bracket is a high strength, fast and easy to use bracket system for perfectly . DIY Antique Printers Cabinet IKEA Hack Maison de Pax. Its for pre-hung doors only, not sure if youre familiar with the term. Its the doors that come with the casing. I dont know about 5x faster, but you. More Bath from IKEA. Rs. 1,690 . IKEA; Over The Door Hanger; Bathroom Hanger; White; Stainless Steel. Hangs over the . Shipping was pretty quick. Style:. 0. 22/07/2015 For anyone considering Installing IKEA kitchen cabinets themselves, I offer the following advice. . Then my plumber said Oh wow, youre hanging the cabinets? In the meantime, Ive got to finish painting the custom doors and fix the cabinet . Hey, thank you for quick and helpful reply well try that! Ikea has invested in branding for country-wide distribution of its catalogue . Door hangers and Post-it Notes of La Nuit Quickly finding your way to Quick. Stuck on the top floor but need a quick way to ground level? . At her store, there was a shortcut route that started with an unmarked door near the escalators. . of tea candles and a bunch of plastic hangers into your yellow shopping bag,.

IKEA ENUDDEN, Hanger for door, , Covered back prevents scratching of door.Hanging storage . Coordinates with other products in the ENUDDEN series. Buy Ikea Enudden Over Door Hanger Hooks White Metal Robe Towel Belts: Robe & Towel Hooks Amazon.com FREE . Roll over image to zoom in. IKEA has a wide variety of stylish and sturdy clothes hangers and coat hooks. . Over The Door Hooks, Door Rack, Wall Racks, Desk Accessories, Dorm Room. Results 1 48 of 473 Ikea Enudden Over door 6 hooks hanger knobs White NEW 602.516.65 . Used however in great condition Please see photos. 1.50. Find great deals on eBay for IKEA Over Door Hooks in Home Wall Hooks and Hangers. Shop with . Used however in great condition Please see photos. Results 1 48 of 296 IKEA GRUNDTAL 15386 Over Cabinet Door Peg Hook Rack Stainless Mikael Warnhammar Excellent New Unused Condition See Photos. 08/10/2017 IKEA RIBBA picture ledges are inherently versatile, but they may be more . As a bike rack hanging solution (in conjunction with rope on a. 14/08/2017 What is wall mounted coat rack ikea, design when. . its in this instructable i do these are extremely popular and very practical in this instructable i know ive been busy diying stuff. . Image of: Modern Coat Hooks Wall Mounted. Find a hanger ikea on Gumtree, the #1 site for Stuff for Sale classifieds ads in the UK. . Good condition wooden shelf with coat hangers attached.great for a kids.

Buy products related to full door mirror products and see what customers say about full door mirror products on Amazon.com FREE DELIVERY possible on . Available from these sellers. Nice! By D. This mirror is easy to door hang. Buy Mirrotek Over The Door Mirror: Wall-Mounted Mirrors Amazon.com . Designed to Easily Hang Over Your Door, This is a Full Length Optical Dressing Mirror . This easy to install mirror features a slim profile and comes in Eight beautiful. 11/04/2017 Over-the-door hooks & mirrors are the perfect way to add hidden . make your home look amazing without having to make the mistakes we did! 11/09/2017 This frameless mirror from IKEA slips right over your door with hooks that can . in length, the Clara Mirror at Pottery Barn is a beautiful solution. This easy-to-hang Over-door Beveled Door Mirror is the fairest of them all with a beautiful, frameless design that offers the utility of a full-length mirror, without. IKEA GARNES, Over-the-door mirror, door hanging/white, , Out of wall space? Dont worry, this mirror hangs on your door. . By the way, you look great today. IKEA GARNES, Over-the-door mirror , Out of wall space? Dont worry, this mirror hangs on your door.On the hooks above the mirror you can hang keys,. Find product information, ratings and reviews for Over-the-Door Mirror Black . This mirror easily fits into even small spaces since all you need is a door to hang it over. Great! I do recommend using command strips to secure the mirror so it. H x 14 in. W Hard Wood Over-the-Door or Wall Mounted Framed Mirror with White Finish you can. This easy to install mirror features a slim profile. It hooks right.

Buy Gulevy Rose Gold Over The Door Hook Organizer Rack 5 Hook Over Door . Amazing! I love this Gulevy over door hook! Ill buy 2 more for my bathroom to. Buy products related to quick door hanger products and see what customers say about quick door hanger products on Amazon.com FREE DELIVERY. This gorgeous 10 Hook Over Door Hanger has the finest details and highest quality you will find anywhere! 10 Hook Over Door Hanger is truly remarkable. I was looking for Over the Door Hanger Holders and came across this one. This is a wonderful solution that solves some of my storage woes. The horizontal bar. Buy Tatkraft Seger Over the Door Hooks, Reversible Z Hooks for Over the Door or . Set of 2, Stainless Steel: Utility Hooks Amazon.com FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases. . I use 2 for hanging our ladder and works amazing. Buy Spectrum Diversified Over the Door Clothes Hanging Rack, White: . This is a wonderful over the door hanger with ample space for several hanging clothes. Buy InterDesign Orbinni Over Door Valet Hook for Clothes Hangers Storage for Coats, Hats, Robes, . InterDesign: innovative products, exceptional value. Discover the best Over Door Hooks in Best Sellers. Find the top 100 most popular items in Amazon Home Improvement Best Sellers. Buy OVER THE DOOR HOOK- CHROME FINISH WITH 6 HOOKS by HangerShop: Coat Hooks Amazon.com FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible. Buy InterDesign Classico Over Door Organizer Hooks 6 Hook Storage . Other Sellers on Amazon . InterDesign: innovative products, exceptional value.

Kim Basinger and Jon Foster in The Door in the Floor (2004) Jeff Bridges and Jon Foster in The Door in the Floor (2004) Jon Foster in . Country: USA Enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with Prime Video. Country, United States. Language, English. Budget, $7.5 million. Box office, $6,715,067. The Door in the Floor is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tod. Check out The Door In The Floor by Soundtrack on Amazon Music. Stream ad-free or purchase CDs and MP3s now on Amazon.com. 23/07/2004 On Disc/Streaming: Dec 14, 2004 . Top Critic. Not one enigmatic person in The Door in the Floor asks to be liked, but you like them anyway. GALENA, IL AREA Historic country home built for Gen. . 4 or 5 BR, 3 porches, 1% baths, pocket doors, hardwood floors, gingerbread interior. Suitable for B & B. Great views, stream, fruit trees, near Green Mntns. 3 BR house, 4 -stall bam. Diamond Reos unique Country Wagon is actually a double-duty vehicle. . with rich, wood-grained paneling, white vinyl ceiling, and seamless inlaid vinyl floor. . The bathroom area in the rear has a sliding door offering a roomy private. Another good tent for windy country, which is also easy to erect, is the 01 western . nylon floor, it has a screened window in the rear and a screened door that. 07/02/2015 On the 74th floor of the Time Warner Center, Condominium 74B was . Official who battled the Canadian authorities over entering their country. to its 192 condos not just through the two towers main doors, but also.

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/large-space-over-the-door-hanging-mirror

[furederiko]

Don't let your shame messes around with the game! The 34th episode of Kyuranger reminds us that no matter how, why, or for what purpose we were born, it does NOT define who we are now...

- Hmmm... there's no intro narration again. Since it's already two episodes in a row, should we assume that this is the new norm? I guess so... - Our story immediately begins with a surprise revelation from our two Vice-Shoguns. Kukuruga confirms that Professor Anton's laboratory... is where they received 'upgrades' too! Recall how the two and Tecchu looked different in the past? Could it be... these Vice-Shoguns are in fact mechanical beings, then? That would explain why they can't seem to die. - This also brings a new theory to mind: could Anton has been faking his death all these time? As pointed out later, the professor had many cyborg enhancements, allowing him the ability to live for more than 300 years. Do you get where I'm leading with this? Anton could very well be... the true face of Don Armage!!! - Let's put that speculation aside for now, and get back to the recap-view. Akyanba decides to activate Champ, who is being kept inactive inside the lab. But is this our very own Champ? The answer to that doesn't take long. While several members stay behind on Battle Orion Ship (Raptor is piloting, Balance reenters Naga's brain using the modified Microscopium Kyu Globe to dig memory about Armage's exact location, while Xiao is... basically dumbfounded by this newfound shrinking ability), the away team encounters not just one, but TWO incarnations of Champ! Bullseye. - The one working with Kukuruga might look like Champ, but when he injures Hammy and Spada without hesitation, it's clear something is amiss. The second one might be proclaiming himself as Yagyu Jubeef. But he's not fooling anyone, not the audience, not even the Kyurangers. LOL. Jubeef is no doubt the genuine Taurus Black, who is merely masquerading behind a fancy luchador mask and silly accessories! Fun fact: Over-Time translates this masked character as Yagyu Jubeef, but the actual Japanese naming is 'Yagyuu Jubee'. Not confirmed, but it might be: 1) a wordplay to the word 'Wagyuu' that refers to a particular variety of japanese cow, popular for its high-priced meat. 2) a nod to a feudal figure Yagyuu Juubei, a name more popularly known as a samurai character from the fighting game series "Samurai Spirits". One interesting bit is also lost in the fansub. Namely the way Jubeef keeps on stuttering whenever he's trying to utter the word 'I'. He generally uses the informal japanese word 'Boku', but somehow always stumbles into saying 'Wagahai', which is obviously Champ's signature manner of speech. It might seem pointless, but it's exactly a hillarious minor detail that gives away Jubeef's true identity. LOL. - Let me take that back. Jubeef DOES succeed in fooling one Kyuranger. Garu the group's simpleton! LOL. Clearly Stinger doesn't buy Jubeef's words either, but it seems he's playing along and acting coy. What for? To find out WHY 'Jubeef' has to go all the trouble of acting this way, instead of just... you know, comes back to the team as his true persona. - His personal reason is... moving, to say the least. Champ discovered in the past, that Anton created him for Jark Matter's evil purpose. That other 'Evil-Champ' is the Bovine All Purpose Weapon Unit-00 ('Ushikai Hanyou Hakai Heiki ZERO-gou' in Japanese), the evil prototype model for his design. And his tendency to occasionally go berserk or out of control (which might be unlocked during that devastating showdown with Scorpio) serves as the proof. Simply put, it's a dilemmatic existential crisis to someone who as long as he has lived believe that he's a righteous robot created for justice. That's why Champ couldn't face the Kyurangers, feeling that he deserves no place to uphold justice with them, and went into hiding. All due to this dark 'lineage'. - Both he and Stinger knew about this fact, because Scorpio has told them before. But at the time, Scorpio's words was too ambiguous to believe, so they didn't really believe him. It's official now, the duo shares a similar 'bad blood' situation. Allowing Stinger to return Champ's own words about not doing everything alone. This is also where Garu nicely comes along. Despite being clueless about Jubeef's identity (even Kotarou calls him dumb LOL), Garu believes that Champ's justice is real, and wants him to rely on them as his friends. Harkening back to their short off-screen bonding moment (took them long enough to FINALLY share the spotlight in this episode's ending dance). Way to go, Garu! - And it... works. 'Jubeef' unveils his not-really--a secret, as the team's final lost member officially returns home to "bear with his shame" with them. Oow... there goes that cool luchador mask! A shame really, because I actually like that better than Champ's actual gigantic head. - It's plain hillarious that both Garu and Champ himself are taken aback with the fact that everyone else already knows. Two of a kind, huh? It's also a heartwarming moment to see Lupus Blue kicking Taurus Black out of his sudden berserk in battle. His signature kind of tough love that he gave to Lucky before. Champ has both Stinger and Garu watching his back now! Both in battle, and in keeping his 'running wild' condition a secret... Fun fact: we finally get to see Ursa Minor Skyblue and Taurus Black perform their signature "Polaris Impact" and "Aldebaran Impact" in battle. Leo Red Orion also steals the scene by using a popular trope in Japanese anime shows: overloading an enemy with infinite power. A major disadvantage for antagonist who can absorb attacks, right? - While Team 2-Reds&Blues deals with Unit-00 and Kukuruga, Xiao forms Ryutei-Oh with Hammy and Spada to deal with the two giant Consumarz. We get a first look of Battle Orion Ship's Voyager Launching Sequence here. Of course, the highlight of this giant battle is when all four Kyuranger robots enters the scene, and Orion Battler actually proposes to use him as the finisher. A truly smart reason for giving the robot sentience! "Ultimate Galaxy! Orion Big Bang Cannon!" genuinely looks impressive. The team does not have a combined human-size cannon like previous Sentai teams, so this works as a great homage to that standard in a relatively new way. Trivia: I used the word 'relatively new' because well... it's not entirely new. The 'giant mecha turning into a massive cannon' is a concept used by "Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger" with their DekaWing Cannon before (which by the way, was also used by Ryutei-Oh in that Space Squad crossover episode! Nice, huh?). It goes even way back with the case of Tetra Boy's Tetra Buster mode in "Choujin Sentai Jetman". - Naga sneezes Balance out of his body, as the two have discovered the exact location of Don Armage's base: Planet Southern Cross of the Crux System. Will they obtain the truth of his immortality there? Let's just wait and see...

Overall: Kyuranger has returned into a complete unit! That was FAST, eh? Similar to Raptor's case, this show reminded us once again that even a robot has a heart of justice. In this case, big but softie Champ received his very own long-awaited focus episode (which might not be the final closure to his personal arc with Prof. Anton). It also put Garu, considered by many among the generally 'underdeveloped' character, into the spotlight. Not only the wolf-man worked exceptionally well as a comic relief throughout, but he was given a powerful moment and speech, that cemented his place as the heart of the group. It was however, not a perfect episode. The handling of Champ's return, albeit heartwarming and moving, did feel a bit sloppy for my taste. Unlike the neat approach the show applied to Xiao, it was implied that during the previous 33 episodes, two Champs were both 'active' within the same timeline. A minor detail that could be problematic to the whole plot once you stop and think about it. It's an issue the show actually could've gotten away with, by simply having Champ putting himself on 'hibernate' mode during the long 300 years (considering he's a robot that runs by Operating System). Sure, it would feel redundant, but at least it would avoid nitpickers like yours truly to start 'questioning' stuffs. LOL. Overall though, I highly appreciated how the episode weaved intricate details from past episodes into one, while sending off a strong thoughtful message of self-acceptance to its audience. For that part, well done! Next week: Hammy Idol Debut feat. Hoshi Minato... PS: According to recent rumor, the next Super Sentai series is expected to start airing on February 11th, 2018. Since two additional breaks have already been scheduled, this partially confirms that Kyuranger will have a total of 48 episodes. Dang it, here I thought moving the broadcast schedule to 09:30 means there will be no breaks. I guess the annoying thing is inevitable, huh? Anyway, this means the show is still 14 episodes away. I wonder what it has in store for us in the final quarter then? Hmmm....

Episode 34 Score: 7,9 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: October 17th, 2017 - Version 3.02. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[traindoghq-blog]

Get 47% More Done Tomorrow than You Did Today by Using These Simple Principles

Feel like taking care of your health and getting the most out of your performance at work or in school is a mission impossible? Your priority now is to study. Or to work. Health will wait. You’ll deal with it later.

What if I told you that, in fact, by taking care of your health, you can achieve almost twice as much tomorrow as you did today?

I said “health”, are you seeing a packed sweaty gym, boiled spinach in stinky plastic containers and a sad and empty bank account right now? Yeah, actually, it takes zero effort on your part and under $50 in terms of your budget.

I’ll give you a clue - ergonomics. You’ve sure heard about it: bulky adjustable desks and fancy chairs with headrests that folks in big corporate offices get when they complain about back pain. They also cost a fortune and you can’t wheel a freaking reclining orthopedic chair into Starbucks with you. Yep, those aren’t the solution we’re talking about either.

Ergonomics = improved productivity

Numerous studies over the years have showed that the simplest ergonomic solutions improve productivity. Big time.

Already in 1990 (yep, some of you were likely not even on your parents’ bucket list at the time), Dainoff conducted a series of experiments and found that those who worked in ergonomically optimized settings had a 17.5% productivity increase compared to those who worked in “normal”, i.e. suboptimal, conditions.

Aaras1, Eastman2, Chung3, Bubb4 - some studies saw as much as a 47.79% increase in productivity!

Just imagine, with zero extra effort, you get up to 50% more done during the day. You feel fresh. You have more energy. You look better too.

Imagine a person who walks around chin high, back straight, looking fit and confident. And now imagine the one who is slouching, shoulders forward, head down, starring at his feet. Which one is more attractive?

Now, if you translate even a 17% productivity increase directly into your grade increase, what would your grades be like now? A 17% increase could get you from a C to a B or from a B- to an A. What would that difference make in terms of your post-grad opportunities?

Or how much better off would you be if instead of $3,000 this month you got $3,510, or instead of $5,000 - $5,850. Imagine what you would do with that extra $500-800? That’s the power of simple ergonomic adjustments!

In the world where the competition is getting stiffer and stiffer, you need the edge over everybody else. This determines your future success. Being able to balance health and work effortlessly is a big asset. Whatever happens in other parts of your life, you got this under control.

So how exactly do ergonomics help improve productivity?

Fatigue. They reduce fatigue.

There’s a muscle fatigue and a general fatigue. You’ve sure had both. Muscle fatigue is when every inch of your body screams “i'm done with you, a**hole!” and general fatigue is when you read a paragraph 6 times in a row and can’t tell what you’ve just read about. In more scientific terms, the amount of stress your body suffers from decreases its “readiness to use energy and reduces alertness, leading to loss of efficiency and decreased work capacity as well as psychological changes in inaction of motor activity and respiration, the presence of pain, weight on the eyeballs, and attenuation of motivation (Grandjean and Bubb).” You just can’t concentrate any more. Point.

So, what are those ergonomic solutions you’re talking about?

Let’s first see what type of a sitting avenger you are, and then we’ll discuss some ergonomic superpower add-onsthat would work for you. And before you start saying that carrying extra stuff around isn’t sexy, look at the image below and ask yourself if looking like a Scrooge at 20-something is sexy at all?

SEAHORSE

Let’s take Drew, the Dried Seahorse. If you’re Drew, you need back support. In ergonomics slang, that’s called lumbar support. A lumbar cushion supports the normal curve of your back and fills in that scary gap between you and the chair. This is a must for almost every sitting avenger out there.

While there are plenty of options available, the memory foam cushions offer the most support. For a simple lumbar cushion, you could check out ComfiLife lumbar cushion, for a more sophisticated choice – take a look at Aylio. And if you want the most support for the buck, take a look at the Soft & Care back & tailbone cushion, one of the most practical value/price options out there. If you need more details and a coupon code, take a look at this detailed review of Soft & Care. Which cushion would be the best for you? Check out the comparison chart at the bottom of the page. If you are the Seahorse type, you also tend to slide under the table, don’t you? If you do - get a foot rest. I know, carrying all this around is crazy, right? Well, if you have your own desk, you could get a simple foot rest like this. But if you are a tumbleweed, there’s a foldable hammock foot rest out there that you can fit into your bag. It’s pretty cool. Or make your own? Get creative, remember where that extra 47% of productivity will take you!

EDWARD SCISSORlegs

Edward ScissorLegs – you here? Cz I can hear that tailbone scream in pain. In ergonomics slang, you need some serious coccyx support. It would also be great if you got a 2 in 1 lumbar and coccyx cushion. Yeeeeeeah...that'd be great. Check the comparison chart below for more details.

However. In your case it literally "wouldn't hurt" to take coccyx support to the next level. Consider a more sophisticated coccyx support cushion like Purple. It’s hyper-elastic polymer mesh (designed by a rocket scientist, no joke, check the review) is like heaven on earth compared to a memory foam. The Royal one, most popular option, is bulky though, so if you need to carry it around, take a look at their lighter portable version.

SNAIL

Are you Gale the Snail? You’ve got it together, I’ll give you that. But being in this position for hours on end tightens your hip flexors, bringing along an array of problems, including a posterior pelvic tilt. So sit up!

A Snail would need: lumbar support, see the chart below for help on how to pick one, and foot support at the very least. A coccyx cushion would be nice as well, check the Soft & Care 2 in 1 cushion in the comparison chart. While a lumbar cushion will take the pressure off your spine, and let you lean against the back of your seat, the foot support will help you keep your feet on the floor. As with the Seahorse, pick an option that works for you: if you can afford to have a stationary foot rest, go for it. If not – take a look at the portable hammock foot rest option.

GOLLUM

And here’s Goff, the Gollum. Now, you would benefit from an array of ergonomic adjustments. Let’s start with the back. Lumbar support, lumbar support, lumbar support. A simple back cushion would work, but check the comparison chart below for more details.

If, like Goff, you tend to curve your neck, consider a laptop stand. Yep, if you don’t want to look like Goff the Gollum your whole life, get a freaking stand! I had one when I was in school and carried it around. It’s light. It helped my neck and posture. And also cooled my laptop. Neat feature, ah? Here's a similar one. And get a mouse for Goff’s sake! That whole track pad thing is messing up your spine, shoulder and neck alignment more than you can imagine. I use a foldable one like this. Trust me, it won’t take up more space in your bag than a Twix would.

THE SPHINX

Sophy the Sphinx. If you are the Sphinx type, please, sit up. There really isn’t much help for you until you do. No, really. If you absolutely have to work like this, at least put a big pillow underneath to ease the strain on your back and let your chin rest on the edge to give your neck a break. Also, if your legs are on the floor, place a pillow underneath your feet. Remember that something always has to support a gap between you and the floor. So, no gaps.

I did see some people talking about a Lie Down Cushion, but haven't seen any being sold by trustworthy retailers, so if you are up for this - proceed with caution.

SUPERMAN

Finally, meet The Superman. He needs coffee. Lots of it. A head support wouldn’t hurt either, don’t you think? If you have a high chair or spend a lot of time stuck in traffic, get a neck pillow, something simple like this one. Neck never gets enough attention. Just put it up there and let the power of ergonomics work its miracles on your productivity levels.

And hey, don't forget about coccyx cushions. That is a game changer for anyone who has spent at least 2 hours sitting. Ever. And don't forget to follow us on social either. For more useful tips.

[fematrend]

The Demise of Dutch Football

After another embarrassing failure from the national team, Dutch football has plummeted to a new low that marks a spectacular fall from its golden days of club and international glory. The 2-0 win over Sweden in their final qualifying game on Tuesday couldn't prevent Netherlands missing out on the 2018 World Cup, but the country had given up hope long before then. After reaching the finals and semi-finals of the last two World Cups, Oranje find themselves the laughing stock of Europe and the latest slip leaves the country wondering once again where its national game is headed.

The nation that changed the sport with its revolutionary Total Football has crumbled, fallen far behind their European counterparts and is left to work out where it all went wrong.

With the famous style that blossomed at Ajax in the late 1960s under legendary coach Rinus Michels and a squad led by the iconic Johan Cruyff, the Dutch developed a philosophy that taught the world a new way of playing. Inspiring players and coaches for generations, their influence has been evident in some of the great foreign teams that have emerged since. The Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV sides that won European, UEFA and Club World Cups in the 1970s propelled Netherlands from an afterthought on the world stage to a dominant force.

Stars like Cruyff, Johnny Rep, Johan Neeskens, Wim Jansen, Willem van Hanegem, and Ruud Krol led national teams that won the hearts of fans across the world as they reached the 1974 and 78 World Cup finals. They were so scintillating they remain celebrated as among the best the competition has ever seen, despite losing both times. Known for producing excellent players to act out their style of high pressing, swapping of positions, neat passing in triangles and an attacking nature, they elevated football as an art form and spread the philosophy across the world. As if building on from the 1970s Ajax team and the 1974 World Cup, Michels oversaw another crop of remarkable players as a side consisting of Ruud Gullit, Ronald Koeman and Frank Rijkaard won the only major trophy the esteemed country has to its name. The combination of artistic beauty and sporting mastery that culminated in Marco van Basten’s winner against Russia in the 1988 European Championship goes down as the last truly wonderful moment for the national team.

However, none of that glorious style was evident in their dismal World Cup qualifying campaign this year.

The current team showed little resemblance to the past greats as they had no energetic pressing, smart passing or any sort of tactical plan or cohesion. With the midfield being completely bypassed and opponents finding it easy to isolate them on the wings, they looked helpless all the way through, carrying on a dismal three-year spell since the third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup. Needing wins and lots of goals in their last matches against Belarus and Sweden as they looked to overcome a three-point gap and a huge goal difference deficit to seal a playoff spot, Dick Advocaat’s side fell flat and showed that the competition in Russia will not be worse off without them. After the horror of missing out on an expanded Euro 2016, another summer of inactivity awaits next year and the Dutch football association (KNVB) must work out the next step to fixing the many problems in the team before the issues continue. Crucially, they must prepare for a change in generation within the squad.

  With veterans such as Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar all being called upon throughout their qualifying campaign, the Dutch are still clinging to the team that made it to the final at the 2010 World Cup, but the switch in generation is inevitable. "We are in a phase where we don't have top, top players,” Ronald de Boer told Goal when asked about the current problems. "The top players are getting older and the young players are basically too young to fill in the gap. We have a lot of talent, but it is [young] talent, they have not arrived yet. “If I see the qualities [of the young Dutch generation] I think they are incredible. But it is still only talent that fluctuates... it is going great then it goes down. But, for me, they are unbelievably talented and hopefully [in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar] they will be at the age of about 25." The likes of Georginio Wijnaldum, Daley Blind, Kevin Strootman, Virgil van Dijk and Memphis Depay will develop further by then and suggest there will be a healthy bridge between age groups.

However, that they are missing a world-class star to succeed Robben as the hero of the team has fans dreading the day the 33-year-old brings an end to his career.

The way the talent of the current side has been handled through the latest catastrophe leaves little faith in the KNVB, given it is their long-term plan for getting through the two qualifying campaigns that led to it. The governing body claimed to be defending Dutch football’s “attacking principles” with the appointment of Guus Hiddink as Louis van Gaal’s successor after the 2014 World Cup, also naming Danny Blind as the man to take over after Euro 2016 to get them to Russia next year. The plan to make them a dominant, attacking team fell apart within the first year, however, as Hiddink left during the Euro 2016 qualifying round and Blind was let go halfway through the now-closed road to Russia.

  Amid their awful performances, the need to build up through the wings, lack of movement and understanding between players, the only resemblance they had to the previous generations was the 4-3-3 formation. To limit the Dutch style as merely the formation and desire to hold onto the ball for the sake of it is a wild misinterpretation of those attacking principles. “We lost identity,” ex-Ajax and Tottenham boss Martin Jol said recently. “Our identity was always good organisation and an attacking style. Now, if we do that, we concede too many goals. “In Netherlands our philosophy was to be different. Now we want to be like everybody else — and they are bigger and better than us.”

If the national team is far off the level expected, the domestic game is in as much of a crisis.

The 1970s was a glorious decade for Dutch club football after Feyenoord started an impeccable decade for the country with a 1970 European Cup win over Celtic. Each of Dutch football’s big three won international trophies in the next 10 years: Ajax were crowned continental champions in each of the next three seasons, while Feyenoord and PSV both claimed the UEFA Cup. Even though between them they would each win just one European trophy over the next three decades, they continued to be held in high regard with the quality they had in the squad. After Ronald Koeman, Wim Kieft and Willy van de Kerkhof led PSV to European Cup success in 1988, the Dutch style had one last sensational run thanks to Van Gaal’s young 1995 Champions League winning team that featured the De Boers, Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and Clarence Seedorf. Now, it has since become normal for Dutch sides to crash out of Europe before they enter the knockout rounds.

With teams unable to compete financially, they cannot stop their most promising players from leaving at an early age. Ajax and Feyenoord consistently see their youth products snapped up by teams across Europe, while other talents move on after just a couple of seasons in the first-team. The issue has plagued them for years and is a huge one for De Boer.

"I think the problem is that a lot of young players are leaving Holland at a young age to go to different leagues,” he said.

"Then you have the big leagues, who [in addition to signing the top players] are signing all the decent players too. Before we could attract decent players as well, towards places like Amsterdam. "These players are not coming anymore. So now we are stuck with players [in the Eredivisie] who, in my eyes, are not good enough.” The perpetual downgrading of their squads puts the Eredivisie teams in a dangerous spiral. As the league itself declines, teams find themselves unable to rise to the challenge against more tactically adept European opponents.

As De Boer put it, the gulf in quality between playing against Dutch sides and the European powerhouses is like going from playing against your mother to facing a legendary defender. "If you want to develop yourself, you have to play against the best, or at least those good enough that you think ‘Oh, I still have to reach this kind of level'. "I think they are not tested. I always make the example: If I play against my mother, I win easily. So, I am not tested and I think that is good enough. But suddenly, I then play against Marcel Desailly and it is a different ball game. If I lose, I then think that next time I need to step up. "But the players don't know when to step up as they are never tested. Then suddenly they are tested in Europe, but we only have Vitesse playing in the Europa League and Feyenoord because they are champions and automatically qualified for the Champions League. They lost 4-0 to Manchester City, they were destroyed. Then they lost easy to Napoli, 3-1. "We are so far away now because we are not tested. We have to change, how we do it is difficult, though. We have an interesting league, it is nice, it is entertaining, but it is not good."

If player development continues to suffer, Eredivisie teams will find it even harder to hold onto their best players.

If they cannot prepare their most promising players to play in different systems and adapt to a change in speed, there will be less reason for them to stay if the education at home is not good enough. But the risk of drifting into football obscurity if a move to England, Germany, Italy or Spain does not go well means young Dutch players are always at risk.

"If you look at Belgium. All the boys – Jan Vertonghen, Toby Aldeweireld, Eden Hazard, Marouane Fellaini - all those players left Belgium early and look at their generation now. "I think now because you are not tested in Holland, you will be tested with the good players at a better level at Chelsea, Arsenal or Man Utd wherever and you get to a better level. "But it is a gamble because football now is a business. If you are not performing as a young boy, they will just buy someone who will fit in straight away. So, it’s not easy to take your chance. In Holland, at least you have your chance.”

Players need the right coaches to push them on and develop them tactically, too and, unfortunately, Netherlands can hardly offer many forward-thinking trainers.

Eredivisie teams generally line up in a 4-3-3 and play a similar way. There is no longer a strong drive for new and exciting tactical ideas as they try to protect the same facets of Dutch football that the national team sticks by. Foreign coaches are a rarity in the Eredivisie too as the nation has become a too inward-looking and sceptical to adopting another playing style. As the presence of Dutch football’s influence is currently spread out across Germany, England and Spain as opposed to its own country, they may have to change that idea. With the latest failure of the national team, the KNVB may look beyond the Dutch borders for the next figure to lead the national team.

The current philosophy in the country is just too rudimentary for the rest of the world, who have moved on technically and tactically from the Dutch. The concerns over the players they are producing, their identity, issues with the league, coaching and general bad management from the KNVB, the Dutch are looking inept in all aspects that saw them rise to the top of world football and stay there for decades. Falling to a new depth with their latest World Cup catastrophe, it has become clear they have strayed far from the Total Football philosophy that made them great in the first place. As a delicate period nears, the KNVB must look for a way to get the entire national game back on track. It may not be another revolution the Dutch need, but instead just a re-revolution.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/2yZt3JR

[nofomoartworld]

Dust Bloom. Can we put a price on the services that urban flowers provide?

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016

Every plant, no matter how humble and small, performs a series of services for us. Some are obvious: plants provide us with food, remedies and raw materials. Other services they offer tend to be overlooked. They help filter water and cool the air, they create buffers against natural disasters, prevent soil erosion, provide shelter for animals. They also perform all sort of ‘cultural services’ for us: they can act as an uplifting background for our sport activities, become tourism destinations or inspire art, mental well-being and spiritual experiences. All of us, human and non-human alike, benefit from the presence of plants around us.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) focuses on “making nature’s values visible” to decision-makers. The aim of the initiative is to demonstrate the values of ecosystems and biodiversity in economic terms but also to lay bare the costs of political inaction.

What might sounds like a cold and utilitarian approach is actually an invaluable concept that could spur us into appreciating, valuing and protecting plants and the ecosystems they are part of.

Artist and urban planner Alexandra Toland worked with experts in environmental microbiology, urban soils, and of course urban ecosystem services to explore the ability of flowers to help filter atmospheric particulate matter (PM.) These ‘dusts’ can come from natural sources such as pollen but also from industrial and vehicular emissions and tire abrasion. Their presence in the environment has been linked to cardiovascular, respiratory and other health problems, especially in cities where there is relatively more pollution and less vegetation to filter it.

The filtering capacity of flowers is a neglected area of research, compared to leaves. However, the complex, three-dimensional structures of flowers make them valuable allies when it comes to regulating air quality by removing pollutants from the atmosphere. Toland’s project Dust Blooms juxtaposes the beauty and function of urban flora using a synthesis of artistic and scientific methods to create awareness about the every-day importance of ecosystem services in cities.

Dust Blooms started as field work, with the artist collecting the dust from wild flowers growing at the edges of heavily trafficked streets in Berlin. She then analyzed the samples to determine the type and amount of dust particles that covered the surface of petals.

The next step of her work consisted in visualizing her research. First, through botanical engravings that “graft” together elements of historical botanical illustrations from over 30 authors. These engravings were made from the very street dust collected on site. She also used all sort of everyday consumer goods (plastic dental brush sticks, microfiber wipes, polycarbonate screws, plastic clay, glitter, and granular resins) to create small sculptures based on the micro-morphological features of the Dandelion family. The synthetic plants are displayed “as glorified bricolage of the Anthropocene” on a flower bed while actual atmospheric dust levels are measured with Arduino-powered instruments.

Dust Blooms received an honorary mention at Ars Electronica this year. I got a chance to talk to Alexandra Regan Toland while she was busy preparing her show in Linz, editing a book about the challenges and creative possibilities of soil protection in the age of the Anthropocene, and tending to her many duties as a beekeeper, vermicomposter, forager, forester, and mother.

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016

Hi Alexandra! While reading the webpage for the project, i was struck by this sentence: “Flowering plants provide a host of ecosystem services in cities, such as climate regulation, the source of nectar and pollen for insects, and the purification of air, water, and soil.” I had no idea that plants were also seen as service providers. Somehow i find it a bit sad to see how we need to instrumentalize nature in order to recognise its value. Could you tell us about the importance of these ‘ecosystem services’ in urban contexts? 

I agree with your critique of the Ecosystem Services (ESS) paradigm but I recognize that it can be an effective way of protecting nature compared with other environmental protection strategies, especially in cities where there isn’t much nature to begin with. In our quest to design and build more sustainable cities, there has been a lot of research on urban ESS as a way of establishing indicators and standards. I see it as my job as an artist to visualize the ideas behind ESS but also to point out obvious ironies and contradictions. For instance, the fate of many medicinal herbs growing along roadsides seems to complicate the neat categories of ESS. These medicinal plants could theoretically be used for healing teas and tonics (a health-providing “service”) but are so filthy you would never want to pick them in the first place. So, it is somewhat ironic that age-old healing herbs like Plantain, St. John’s Wort, Yarrow, and Dandelion end up being healthful after all because they minimize atmospheric dust by cleaning the air of tiny noxious particles with their leaves and petals and holding the soil together with their roots. And they’re pretty to look at, poking up between fields of weathered asphalt and concrete, so their presence has a positive psychological effect too.

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016

How important is it for a plant to be recognised as a ‘service provider’?


We all – humans and non-humans – have roles and identities in the cosmopolitan order of the city. A plant can be my service provider (as in the filtration service I emphasize in DUST BLOOMS), my neighbour (as in the trees that line my street), my friend (as in the potted plant on my desk), my enemy (as in the allergy-causing summer grasses down the street).

I guess I like to think of ESS as more of a form of community work than instrumentalization. If we choose to see and value urban flora for their civic services – for making the world a better place simply by being there doing their filtering/cooling/sheltering/healing thing – then we might do our service to them in return by protecting biodiversity and open green spaces in cities.

Maybe the ESS paradigm is simply a projection of our own social democratic expectations of civil society to provide basic needs – a world in which all members of society are encouraged and expected to participate in some small way for the well-being of the greater community. So, plants and soil and animals and insects provide services to us while we can and should provide services to them. I’m not entirely sure that ESS can provide the right rules on how those services can be fairly valued and implemented, particularly on the human side, but it is an interesting policy strategy to consider.

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, view of the exhibition Lasst Blumen Sprechen – Artificial Nature from 1960, at Museum Schloß Moyland, 2016

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, view of the exhibition Lasst Blumen Sprechen – Artificial Nature from 1960, at Museum Schloß Moyland, 2016

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, view of the exhibition Lasst Blumen Sprechen – Artificial Nature from 1960, at Museum Schloß Moyland, 2016


Could you tell us about the way plants are filtering atmospheric particulate matter (PM)? How do they perform this task? How much of a contribution can they really make to the purification of the air? Which types of PM do they manage to clean up effectively?


The easiest way to think about dust filtration by plants is to imagine millions of living combs and brushes lining the street. The air passes through layers of undulating biomass that captures everything from larger debris such as weathered bits of trash and dead leaves to tiny diesel particles in the PM fraction. The type and source of dust is pretty easy to recognize under a microscope: pollen and fungal spores are geometric; grains of sand are usually smooth and translucent; soot and tire abrasion detritus is opaque black and edgy looking. All of these particles can get caught in the surface features of trees, bushes, and low-growing herbaceous plants. If you look closely at these surfaces you will notice that some are smooth, but many are hairy, scaly, pocked, wrinkled, folded, furrowed, spiky, or sticky, and these features can be densely or widely packed. So, different plants filter in different ways with different levels of filtration effectivity. Depending on the height, habitus, size and surface morphology of leaves and flowering parts, as well as the distance from the pollution source and pollution intensity, AND the position of neighboring buildings, which can act like canyons or wind tunnels, there can be very different filtering scenarios going on. The time of year is also important to consider, as trees in northern cities lose their leaves in winter. This is incidentally the time of highest levels of atmospheric dust. So, there is unfortunately no straight answer to the “how much” question, but it does make sense to plant as many trees and bushes along busy roads and to allow knee-high wild undergrowth to develop as a buffer between streets and sidewalks, where the pollution from exhaust is actually being churned out.

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016


Beyond its artistic qualities, Dust Bloom seems to have made a valuable contribution to the knowledge related to the function of urban flora. How did you divide or distribute art and science in your project? Was the research process conducted strictly following scientific protocols?


I learned about the role of plants as atmospheric filters from colleagues in my PhD research program at the TU-Berlin‘s Institute of Ecology back in 2010. I was fascinated by the idea of living dust filters and knew I wanted to collaborate with the lead researcher, Ina Säumel, at some point on an art-science project. When Museum Schloß Moyland invited me to make a new series of botanical sculptures for a show on artificial nature they were preparing, I decided to explore concepts of plant morphology through sculpture and approached Ina with the idea of flower filtration, because up to that point no one had studied the filtration potential of flowers.

I didn’t really divide the “science” and “art” parts of the project because I saw it as an opportunity to delve into the phenomenon using several different methods: sculptural prototyping; historical analysis presented as a series of engravings; microscopic analysis of flower morphology and dust types; cartographic analysis and site survey; direct measurement using Arduino-powered dust sensors; and photographic documentation of different scales of observation.

All parts of the project were trial and error. There were scientific protocols for microscopic analysis, artistic protocols for mixing engraving pigments, and programming protocols for the dust filter. But there were a lot of “mistakes” that led to new discoveries and new questions as well. For example, according to the protocol we developed for the measuring campaign, we weren’t supposed to collect flowers within 72 hours of a rainstorm. In the end, as we were pressed for time and still hadn’t found any flowering St. Johns Wort, we picked some specimens after a rain shower anyway, fully expecting that all the dust had washed away. We were surprised to discover that some particles were still there embedded in the tissue, leading to new questions about how plants physiologically and perhaps genetically change based on their exposure to dust… Then, in the studio, I had been working with a much higher concentration of dust to medium, but after going away for a weekend I realized that the mixture would foul after a few days so ended up completely changing my pigment recipe. (The pigment is stable when it dries on the printed page.) In the end, knowledge creation, whether it’s relegated to the sciences or the arts, is a result of trial and error and methodological triangulation, meaning as social scientist W.L Neuman says, “we take multiple measures of the same phenomena and build on the principle that we learn more by observing from multiple perspectives than by looking from only a single perspective”.

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016

The honorary mention at ars electronica is a sign that the artistic community responds with enthusiasm to your work but did you receive some feedback, opinions and remarks from the scientific community as well?


Other than a few presentations at the University, we haven’t published any papers for scientific journals yet, but would like to do so. To be accepted as sound science, the methods and measuring procedures must be clear but there must also be enough data to conduct statistical analysis. By the time the exhibition was set up in June, we didn’t have enough data from our measuring campaign and decided to continue the campaign and just exhibit the field and lab protocols so people could follow the process. We presented a research log with the one full data set we did have (dandelion), and detailed “character profiles” for each species. The field data from the dust filters was also incomplete, so we just showed how it worked in the museum. So, the project is most definitely still a work in progress.

In general, though, the resonance from the environmental science community has been very positive and encouraging. I think a lot of scientists are willing to work with artists, it’s just tricky to find funding and figure out ways of integrating artists into already running teaching and research programs. Also, the time and space constraints of an exhibition can limit the kind of work that can be done. It’s important that if a project identifies as art-science it has to work as both. Showing the methods and shortcomings and open questions of any research project is good practice. But those things can easily get obscured by the aesthetics of exhibitions.

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016

Why did you chose the dandelion as the hero of the project?


The dandelion is a special flower. There is something magical about the achenial seeds with their hairy pappus ‘wings,’ the milky, straw-like hollowness of the stem, and the curly bronze phyllary leaves at the base. The dandelion is a ‘model species,’ widely referenced in ecological research because of its highly adaptive morphological and genetic properties. Dandelions can adjust their size, shape, and metabolic properties to better deal with stress factors such as being grazed in rural locations, or dealing with pollution in urban ones. Its super adaptability makes the dandelion a so-called “super-species” – a complex group of species so closely related that, taxonomically, they are nearly impossible to tell apart. To model the dandelion is to honor 30 million years of subtle shape shifting through sculptural research. For me, the dandelion is also a symbol of graceful diaspora, which I think is comforting for many people around the world, including myself, who find themselves for better or for worse far away from “home.” The idea that the dandelion can spread wide and far and physically adapt to its new settings is inspiring and poignant. I collected the first flower samples with my daughter along the former East-West border in Berlin. Only a generation ago these seeds might have been the only organisms to parachute across the Oberbaum Bridge, where today thousands of cars speed over without a second thought leaving trails of dust behind them.

The research process involved a measuring campaign to examine dust from the flowers of several species at several locations in Berlin. What did you learn during this stage of the research?

Together with urban ecology students at the Technical University of Berlin, under the direction of professors Gerd Wessolek, Ina Säumel, and myself, a measuring campaign was carried out to examine dust from surfaces of flowers at multiple locations in the city from April to June 2016. Based on existing dust filtration data from Ina’s previous work, historical relevance found in old medicinals, a site analysis and knowledge of blooming periods, and of course aesthetic interest, we narrowed down our selection to the following plants: Achillea millefolium (common yarrow), Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort), Chelidonium majus (greater calendine), Geranium robertianum (Red Robin), Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort), Plantago major (broadleaf plantain), Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion). Ten flowers per species were picked from major roadways in Berlin with an average daily traffic rate of more than 50,000 motorized vehicles. Five petals were then examined from each flower. Using light microscopy, it was possible to quantitatively estimate the surface area of a flower and qualitatively describe the morphological characteristics of individual flowers, as well as determine the type and amount of dust particles captured on petal surfaces. Each step of the process was documented in a series of photographs and field and lab reports.

I think the most important thing we learned in this process was the limitations of our own human capacity for work. Ina and I are both moms, juggling work and family life. We didn’t have as many students as we were hoping to attract with the project, so the burden of measurement fell on two people who had their own busy schedules at the university. It was really difficult to locate all target species in the determined 50,000 plus areas at exactly the right distance from the road, and exactly right time of peak flowering. We were also weather dependent. We had to collect our specimens during days with no rainfall, get them to the lab before wilting in the summer heat, and then not damage the delicate petals in the process of arranging them under the microscope. In the end, we had enough materials to exhibit by June, but realized as the exhibition came around that the measuring campaign was far from over.


I was very intrigued by the ‘representation’ chapter of the work. Your botanical engravings depict the evolution of graphic representation of weedy species over 350 years. How has the representation evolved over the years? Is it a question of the techniques used to draw the plants or is it because the plants themselves have changed their aspect?


Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison wrote a wonderful book called Objectivity (2007, Zone Books) that follows the history of visual representation and the changing relationships between scientists and illustrators over the course of several centuries. They discuss how botanists have relied on the help of artists right up until the present. “As long as botanists insisted on figures that represented the characteristic form of a species or even genus, photographs and other mechanical images of individual plants in all their particularity would have little appeal. Truth-to-nature spoke louder in this case than mechanical objectivity” (p109). However, there is a great deal of difference in the representations of these “true types” over time.

The plants have stayed the same, while our interest in them, as well as our technical means of representation continues to change. While pictures in medicinal herbals once included roots and underground plant parts, which were of great value to physicians and apothecaries, later illustrative works practically excluded the representation of roots to focus on flowering and fruiting parts, as they were thought to be more essential to taxonomic systems from Linnaeus (1707-1778) onwards.

As European colonial explorers ‘discovered’ a seemingly infinite amount of new plant species, it was botanical artists such as Claude Aubriet (1665-1742) and Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770), who were instrumental in establishing their economic value in finely illustrated identification manuals known as Flora – in the documentation of new cash crops in colonial contexts; for the scientific advancement of botanical theory; and for the growing interest in horticulture in the gardens of affluent patrons. Ironically, the chosen species for DUST BLOOMS have appeared as prized medicinal herbs in herbals such as William Woodville’s Medical Botany (1792-1793), as well as appearing as villainous weeds in Emil Korsmo’s Anatomy of Weeds (1954). What was once a benefit to the physician became over time a costly detriment to the agronomist. These changes in representational focus inspired me to do a mash-up of different historical periods. If you look closely, you can see the pixelated rendering of the bit-map needed to make the engraving plates, as well as the inclusion of little insects flying around with brushes and q-tips. So, the historical illusion is broken. In a way, the engravings are a kind of digital grafting, akin to the grafting of economically valuable fruit and nut trees, but for weeds, which are valuable in their own way in the ESS context.

Alexandra Regan Toland, Dust Bloom, 2016


How important was it for you to use “anthropocene’ materials in the artworks?

There is a lot of critique on the legitimacy of the “Anthropocene” – as a term, a field of research, a moment in time, a social order, and as an epistemology. I don’t want to get into that debate here, but I will say that it was important for me to reflect Anthropocene ideas, such as the ESS paradigm and the problem of air pollution, in the very materials I was using for the artworks. Early on I knew I wanted to use street dust as a pigment in some way. The chemical composition of the street dust is unique to our times and adds a contemporary layer to the historical engravings. The materials used in the botanical models are also sourced from the very world they seek to understand. Characteristic inventions of our present society, like plastic dental brush-sticks, microfiber cleaning wipes, polycarbonate screws, plastic clay, and aquarium tubing, are fused together as material bricolage of the Anthropocene. What in other contexts is used to clean, decorate, or hold things together can be repurposed to represent environmental phenomena. Imagine all the R&D that led to Swiffer wipes to keep our homes dust-free. Well, we can similarly imagine the evolutionary R&D that went into the morphology of flowering plants, and they are out there cleaning for free! There has been a lot of R&D in the fields of biomimicry and geomimicry, looking to natural patterns and processes for solutions to human problems. The classic example is George de Mestral’s invention of Velcro based on the hooked burrs of the Burdock plant. I was trying to echo that process in reverse, by using human inventions to model nature as it appears in a very humanly altered state.

Thanks Alex!

Related story: Eulogy for the weeds. An interview with Ellie Irons.

from We Make Money Not Art http://ift.tt/2x5mDer via IFTTT

[survivordivergent]

EPISODE 3 - “I LOVE LYING! BIG MOVES.” - OTTO

Me, when El gets votes: Uh, who thought that was the plan? I 

okay so I took this damn idol clue and lost my tribe the 50 points, which actually doesn't matter because we wound up winning, yay us! BUT when people saw someone lost 50 points, they were so pissed, including Melissa and Kyle, so I didn't tell anyone it was me. They both think it's Riley. But anyway. Because I didn't tell them then, I can't go back and tell them now. And I'm so mad because I can't figure out this clue on the new blog. Like honestly. I thought, you know if I just take some time and think about it, I'll be able to get it, but I can't figure it out. And i need to before tonight because if not, wasting those 50 points will be for nothing because someone else is going to get the clue and I'm clearly not an erudite so they will figure it out before me. Ugh.

Okay enough about that for now because I'm livid at myself. So during the challenge I was able to talk to Jill a bit. I have my alliance with Melissa and Kyle and I'm sticking with them for a while, but I want to keep Jill close because first, I clicked with her on Candor before the swap, and second, she says she trusts me the most. She trusts me so much that she told me her advantage she won in the challenge (she also lost us 50 points, but Melissa and Kyle think it's Riley as well). Apparently Jill can look at someone's vote. Which honestly, she could be lying about, but I trust her because she came right out and told me she got the advantage when I asked. She also asked me to help her with the Erudite idol. She doesn't know I'm several steps ahead of her. My plan right now is to stick with Melissa and Kyle, and keep Jill close as well. We only need 1 more to have majority, should we go to tribal. I feel pretty okay right now, but I would really love that Erudite idol...

Tribal Council went about as expected, minus the self-vote (oops @ Lucy) and the El vote (wtf @ whoever's being a dink.) I'm pretty convinced that someone is doing chaotic things for the sake of being chaotic, which is obviously not ideal.

Rapid-fire tribe eval: –My two favourite people on this tribe, by a wide margin, are Dani and Payton. Next up is Lucy. Then Percy/El. Then Geo. And I don't know Peter at all.

–I miss Kyle. Nothing like a tribe full of relative inactives to make you appreciate how good allies matter. Hope we both make merge so we can (at least) explore the option of linking back up.

–Possibly just paranoia speaking, but if I had to place a bet right now I'd say it was probably Payton who took the advantage. Speculation is based on the fact that she was couching her support during the comp in somewhat negative terms (e.g., "if we don't lose" vs "if we win" or "when we win." Or saying "we're fucked rip </3" when we weren't near the end of the comp.) It's admittedly super flimsy reasoning. But with a lack of any kind of information, that's all I have to go on right now. And obviously whoever took it won't be telling me any time soon, given how quickly I blew up over it. That wasn't a smart move.

–That reward comp was fun, considering the sheer level of auditory assault. Geo and I did most of the work through Shazam (and whoever said it doesn't work couldn't have been more wrong.) I wish people would talk more in tribe chat, even if just to say "hey, I tried, but I'm not hearing anything." It would be a better way to gauge who's doing things vs. who's passively coasting. Only ones I know for sure are working hard are myself, Geo, Lucy, Payton and Percy. I don't think Lucy did too much on the music challenge, and I haven't seen Geo around for this Battleship comp yet, though. Hmmm.

–It might be time to formalize that alliance Lucy and I were discussing. We need a plan in case we lose this.

–The Erudite idol continues to elude me. I completed the puzzle on step two, but I can't figure out the next blog. Despite the first two clues being completely ambiguous and me trying every possible combination of the last two. Colour me stymied, y'all.

–My preferences, in order: 1. We win immunity in an ass-kicking, sending ripples of confidence surging through the tribe, and we go undefeated until the next swap/merge. 2. We win immunity in a close-fought battle, lose a comp or two down the line as a product of a well-divided season, and hit merge with a slight numbers advantage. 3. We lose here and dump Peter or El, who have both been kinda spacey and invisible. 4. We lose here and dump literally anybody else. 5. Nuclear heat death of the universe. 6. The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup. 7. Benedict Cumberbatch wins an Oscar. 8. I make a really embarrassing typo that's always mentioned whenever I'm around. Probably something about that time I one HvV2. 9. We lose and target either Peter or El, and it turns out that they have the advantage and it's an idol or something.

[6:11:56 PM] Melissa Fields: i went through it a few more times but shazam didn't find anything that wasn't already on the list [6:12:27 PM] Eliza: All I hear is Ariana Grande and white noise [6:16:27 PM] otto apollo: same @Melissa 

btw I have not played the video at all. not even a second of it.

i love lying! big moves.

http://prntscr.com/di7hka 

INTERESTING

So Eliza is confirmed Amanda

Shook

http://prntscr.com/di82nu 

so far And I think betty might've been lexi but idk

Hey @everyone who's reading confessionals after the game because I've probably been exposed by now for the accident, but taking the advantage in that one immunity challenge was a mistake of me not reading the whole post. I wasn't trying to be selfish, it was me being an idiot. So I'm sorry for that, @six

Maybe a triple alliance of Me-Ed-Dani would work? Maybe? I'm gonna try suggesting it, it could work.

Okay, since the Inactive One is gone, I'm gonna do a full rundown of everyone in the tribe and my ~feelings~ about them:

2. Dani: Pretty good! I definitely see her as my #2 ally right now. She's pretty active and vocal in the tribe chat as well as 1 on 1 chats, which I think shows a LOT about how a person is game-wise.

1. Ed: Who is he? Just kidding. My #1 right now, and hopefully he keeps trusting me. I told him about the advantage but I was not honest about how I got it, but would you be? I think he and I could go all the way if we really trust each other. And if I'm never Exposed.

El: I like talking to him, he's pretty good, but he's not very active. He hasn't said a word this round. Yikes. Probably

3. Geo: Nice! I see him as #3 right now. He's moderately active in tribe chat and 1 on 1 chats, which is good. If Ed, Dani, Geo and I worked together, we could be a powerful duo after this vote.

Lucy: Who is she? I like her as a person, and she helped a lot in reward last round, but she self-voted and she's inactive. I wouldn't trust her as a helpful ally, but as a number she works.

Percy: Maybe a good ally? Talkative in tribe chats, closed off in one-on-one and dislikes talking game.

Peter: Peter, Peter, Peter. If you were more active, you could be useful. C'mon, I stood up for you last round and kept you here, could you be a bit more grateful?

Anyway, I think Ed and I could go to the end. He'd be a worthy person to lose too. I want to go to the end with him and I hope he trusts me.

Pat is calm and composed and relaxed. :)

BUT ED IS LOSING HIS DAMN MIND.

I figured out where I was going wrong on that other idol clue – I was trying to input it as a whole new blog, rather than a page on areyouproudofmejenn. Duh. Stupid. So I got through, got to the new blog, and...

Nothing.

The clue, in its entirety: "This is going to be a little different. You will be looking for multiple pages on this blog this time, following a few separate mind clues and puzzles. Each answer will be a separate page on the blog until you reach the link to the next blog Clue 1: 4+4+3+3+2+2+1 (26) "

So I'm like, oh neat! Basic math! I can do this! https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/19 Nothing.

https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/1926 https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/19(26)

https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/nineteen https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/nineteentwentysix Nothing. And then I think maybe the (26) is there to act as a more full version of a formula. Like 4+4+3+3+2+2+1(*26)

https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/494 Nope.

https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/4433221 Nein.

https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/4+4+3+3+2+2+1 Nada.

https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/[insert every number from 0-200, manually inputted by yours truly] Non.

https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/+1 (because there are two of every digit except 1. That's gotta matter, right?) Wrong.

https://whattheactualfuckicant.tumblr.com/24232211 (two fours, two threes, two twos, one one) Nyet.

I'm so FRUSTRATED and this is gonna to be a SUPER EASY thing that I am MISSING and I'm so NOT HERE FOR IT.

Bye I've already been outed by one person to my face, everyone else probably knows, I'm going to get 17th place because the illusion is DEAD and how they feel about DREW is going to kick in here, rather than how they feel about MELISSA. "If you're not Drew, you do a really good job of wording things the same way as him" HOW TF DO I WORD THINGS DIFFERENTLY AND STILL BE A PERSON, I tried for like a day and a half to "translate" away from sounding like myself and I hated every second of it. I guess there's no real reason to pretend anymore? Like obviously I'm not gonna start saying shit like "Bye y'all gotta go to my shift at the library" or "Michigan winters really are the worst" or "wow it's so nice to be 27 years old and a dude" like I'll still keep the bare facts about Melissa, but like this isn't even someone I have an alliance with, so if just the way I phrase even the most innocuous things like talking about comps in the tribe chat exposes me??? Yeah there's no point in fighting the tide on this one, what they get is what they get.

It was t.

It was literally just the letter t.

I'm dying.

Mercy is for those who aren't good with words - Ed Creegan

I feel REALLLLY bad lying to my allies but it has to be done. They're gonna hate me after this game, but I hope everyone realizes it was a mistake that I didn't mean to make. I'm sorry, Ed. I know you trust me.

I don't know if I trust Ed right now. He said something that makes me wonder.

I KNOW WHO PAYTON IS OMG I WAS RIGHT!!

This whole time, I was thinking, Payton might be Logan, they're very similar in personality. Loud, a bit self-deprecating. But the biggest thing is that they're both pregnant, hmm, it would make sense. However, today, we made an alliance chat with Dani, Ed, and Lucy. In the chat, during I was talking with Dani, Payton said to her, "Okay Darian." Who's somebody thats pregnant and hates Darian Groggin(?) Logan. I am positive that Payton is Logan. 100%

So here's the long ass confessional I promised. Tonight, I'm going to my third tribal council this season. I've literally been involved in almost every vote off so far and I guess this is where trust begins to be built.

I got added to an alliance with Payton, Ed, Lucy, Geo, and myself. That's majority, so good luck to Percy, Peter, and El! I am hoping that El goes home tonight because she hasn't brought much to the table and I want Otto to be shook that maybe the Dauntless Three are in some sort of trouble. Like I said before, if I can be the last Dauntless standing, that would be a perfect situation for me.

I know that the big twist this season are the aliases that we use to keep our previous identities secret, but there is also a lot of giddiness associated with wanting to reveal yourself to people, etc etc. It's used to maintain trust between allies, I suppose, and maybe revealing your identity is not necessarily a bad thing? But I am treating this like Christmas. Sure, you can open all the presents whenever you'd like, but then it spoils the holiday. Christmas morning for me will be the post-season when everyone is revealed to be who they are, and I'm trying to maintain that air of fun for others.

Right now, only one person knows who I am, and that is Ed. I knew who Ed was right off the bat and we've played games together in the past. He would be capable of figuring out who I am within a heartbeat, so I chose to gain his trust through my reveal while also exposing him so that there is no mistrust between us. We could ride this out to the end together, but of course I am not thinking that far ahead quite yet. Ed (also known as Pat) is truly my number one ally in this game.

HOWEVER, I know a ton of other peoples' identities because I am just that smart. Why wasn't I on Erudite, you might ask?! From what I've gathered, I think Otto is MJ; El might be some weird Australian so bye; Ed is Pat; Payton is Logan (but that was rly easy); Geo is Rob; and I think Lucy might be Nic but that seems really unlikely so I might ditch that sooner or later.

I'm honestly really bored with this round because we've had such an easy transition between two easy boots :/ We'll have to see how that goes.