#if anyone has any podcast recommendations id love them

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

I finished The Magnus Protocol and there's no new season until February, so I don't know what I'm going to do with my life now

[savventeen]

I JUST BINGED YOUR ENTIRE “THANKS FOR PLAYING” AND I HAD TO STOP MYSELF FROM CRYING IN THE LIVING ROOM AND GODDAMN I GOT SO MANY QUESTIONS/IDEAS so here’s a dump lmao

AND SPOILERS ‼️‼️

and be honest if you honestly don’t have any idea or want to leave it up for interpretation

dino’s friend recommended it to him and he recommended it to mc right? well what happened to that friend/person?? i bet they are alive because they sent that game to 13 people before 3 am so the lady in the closet doesn’t get to them 🤭

if mc didn’t mess around and acted seriously in the game, would the outcome have changed? or was it always the gamemaster’s intention for the player to fall into obscurity?

how come dino remembered the mc? power of love??? or because he knew about the game (im pulling stuff out of my ass)?? or he has an android phone in this au 🧐

what if the pfps for the “AIs” are actually previous victims

so if you actually finish the game against all odds everyone is released (if they aren’t dead) hmmmmm sequel merhaps?? jk

imagine the only clue left about the players existence is the goddamn phone bill for texting 💀

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MC????? wait that’d be really sad if the mc was actually still alive but dino couldn’t recognize them as “mc” but knows they exist somehow uGH

i know you wrote this story for fun so these don’t need to have answers/comments but please provide any extra tidbits of info about this concept it’s so interesting 🙏🙏

SKLJDFLKSDJF OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING????? AND IM SO HONORED HOLY SHIT I WILL DO MY ABSOLUTE BEST TO ANSWER WHAT I CAN 😭💜

also you are not the only one with questions so I'm going to do my best to answer them all here!!!

[for anyone who hasn't read it yet and wants to know wtf we're talking about, you can read the entirety of my .|X| THANKS FOR PLAYING |X|. smau here!]

*cracks knuckles* alrighty buckle up folks time to try and answer some questions and take a deep dive into savv’s personal TFP lore here we gooooooooooooo

[putting it all under a readmore bc it got long af and also i didn't realize how hard it would be to translate the lore in my brain into words??????? i somehow didn't realize how oddly complicated it is??? like writing all of this out in any kind of semi-coherent way was SO HARD sdkjfsdlkjf]

~ Was it all a dream? (this one was asked by @junhui-recs)

Sadly, no. 😭 In the reality of this fictional universe, a tragedy very much did happen and Dino and MC are very much suffering from it 🥲 (I will not stop you from imagining that it was all a dream tho, we all have different ways of coping dklsjfsklj <3)

~ What's the main purpose of the game? Why are they doing this? (this one asked by @diamondyjh)

OKAY SO to start off you need to know that this au was heavily inspired by an episode of a podcast called "The Magnus Archives", specifically the episode “Binary” (transcript here). [If you're a fan of horror, I highly recommend giving the episode a listen/read, it's delightfully creepy — you don't need to have listened to any of the other episodes to understand it (just stop at the ending 'supplemental' part)]

The episode goes into detail about this sort of digital urban legend/creepypasta/copypasta about a guy named Sergey Ushanka who, long story short, tried to upload his brain/consciousness into a computer because he was afraid of death and wanted to try living forever virtually. There are tame versions of how he did it and other much more brutal ones, but basically "Sergey Ushanka" is a prank that various coders/programmers like to pull when making chatboxes in which you could talk with "strangers". It would start out normal and then steadily devolve into something creepy. This paragraph taken directly from the episode transcript sums it up very nicely:

"But then the responses start to break down, become more sinister, and keep referring to how much pain Sergey is in. Eventually, the only response the bot gives you is screaming and pleas to be released. The idea is that the chatbot is Sergey Ushanka’s mind, and he doesn’t like being in a computer nearly as much as he’d hoped."

So the idea that I stole from the episode essentially was: but what if it was real? What would the reality of being turned into cold, unfeeling data feel like? Agony is what the episode posits. Here is a list of phrases that the Sergey in the episode uses:

cw: vague body horror, blood mention "the angles cut me when I try to think" / "it peels my mind like knives" / "it feels like thinking through cheese wire" / "there's no feeling, but the no feeling hurts" / "it's cold without blood" / "the maze is sharp on my mind"

My next thought process was: What happens after? If someone were able to survive this process and were somehow able to keep any kind of agency, how would that person try to get out of the digital hellscape that has now become their existence? After knowing what it feels like to become distinctly inhuman, wouldn't they do anything to feel human again?

And how do we feel human? How do we find connection with each other and our humanity without ever having to come in contact with another person?

Stories. Fiction and non-fiction alike, we are all connected through storytelling, by finding feeling through other people's words. The thing about stories, though, is that they aren't messy in the same way that actually feeling our feelings is. That being human is.

So what does all of this have to do with the purpose of the game?

Essentially, when it's all boiled down, in this universe the story of Sergey Ushanka is real, and in this universe he is trying to gain his humanity back by stealing that of others. He started off with stories, with whatever online libraries and resources and archives he could find across the internet. And while it wasn't even close to enough to satisfy him, to get rid of any of the pain he was constantly experiencing, it was enough for him to learn, to grow, to realize that if he wanted his humanity back, he needed to go to the source.

So he started stealing real people from the real world, with all of their messy feelings and emotions and humanness.

That is the purpose of the game, why "they" are doing this. (pls don't ask the how bc i don't have an answer for that, just -waves hands- you know, insert your supernatural/sci-fi explanation of choice sldkflksj)

~ Did all the other characters from the game also get pulled into it the same way reader did? (asked by @diamondyjh) / What if the pfps for the “AIs” are actually previous victims

Short answer, yes to both! (Longer answer in the next question lol)

~ Who are those other people? (asked by @junhui-recs)

Essentially, the other characters/bots/whatever you want to call them are a kind of amalgamation of all the previous players who got sucked into the game. Once someone's been... let's call it absorbed, whatever parts of themselves are left after the process basically get shoved into whatever "character" they fit best, sometimes different pieces going to different characters.

And while the pictures could just be random ones, I like the idea that they're taken from the most recent players that got absorbed :')

~ Why was Changkyun evil? (asked by @junhui-recs)

Well, the main reason he was "evil" was because he's, y'know, a part of the game and the game is trying to steal people's souls or whatever. As for why he's mean, that's because he's trying to trigger an emotional reaction. The more messy, human feelings that are happening at the time of absorption, the better :').

~ Dino’s friend recommended it to him and he recommended it to mc right? What happened to that friend/person??

"i bet they are alive because they sent that game to 13 people before 3 am so the lady in the closet doesn’t get to them 🤭" SJKDFSKLDJ this made me snort, so thank you 😂

BUT to answer your question, in the story, Dino says that Yeonjun gave it to him and that he got it from "a friend of a friend of a roommate". Because the absorption and the consequent complete erasure is such a big process, not everyone who plays gets sucked in. In fact, most people who play don't get sucked in. Which is why Yeonjun is totally fine! (And why the friend of the friend of the roommate, aka this universe's irl Changkyun, is not 🥲)

~ If mc didn’t mess around and acted seriously in the game, would the outcome have changed? Or was it always the gamemaster’s intention for the player to fall into obscurity?

This one's a little bit complicated. It's kind of a yes and no situation? Generally speaking, the game isn't looking to ensnare every single person who plays because 1) it takes A Lot Of Effort to take/erase a single person, and 2) the game needs to spread to other people somehow, thus it needs people to play it and then tell other people to play it too.

For MC specifically, though, it's hard to say. How they played the game didn't matter so much as how they reacted to the game, specifically the first phase(s) of the Mnemosyne Protocol. The whole point of the game is to get big, messy, emotional responses, so if MC hadn't had such a big reaction, the game probably would have turned out differently. That being said, if MC had played the game as blandly as possible, the game might not have ever decided to test out the Mnemosyne Protocol, so. *shrugs* Do with that what you will lol.

~ So if you actually finish the game against all odds everyone is released (if they aren’t dead) hmmmmm sequel merhaps?? jk

Sadly, nothing special happens if you finish the game 😭 Plenty of people finish the game and pretty much go "huh, that was cool I guess" and then move on with their lives after telling their friends about it. This can be said about all four games mentioned actually, since we only see one of them get played.

As for a sequel... almost certainly not 🥲 I'm not going to give a hard no/no forever, because who knows if I'll end up getting another idea/get suddenly struck with inspiration, but... it is Extremely unlikely. Another story in the same universe??? ...still not likely, but slightly more likely than a sequel lol.

~ Why is Dino the only one who remembers reader? (asked by @diamondyjh) / How come Dino remembered the mc? Power of love??? Or because he knew about the game (im pulling stuff out of my ass)?? Or he has an android phone in this au 🧐

I almost want to make the answer "bc he has an android" because that is So Funny to me like sldkfjsldkjfslkjdf amazing 😂

But no, that's not the case lmao. And while I am a huge sucker for the Power of Love being an unstoppable force (ESPECIALLY when it's non-romantic love!!!), the reason Dino and only Dino remembers is thanks to sheer luck and a glitch.

So, in episode 28, MC drops their phone when meeting their brother and in episode 29 we see the alert ".|| MNEMOSYNE PROTOCOL COMPLETE ||." show up on a cracked screen.

The final phase of the Mnemosyne Protocol is the erasure portion, and the reason players get erased instead of just like, disappearing is because their "essence" is basically being transferred from reality into this digital realm of Sergey's existence. And reality, because it's now lacking an entire person and their history, just kinda... rewrites itself to make sense with the missing gap. Think of it as the universe doing like a sort of reverse autocorrect.

But because MC's phone got broken in the middle of that transfer, there was a slight glitch in the process. A glitch wherein Dino, because he was on the opposite side of the globe when this was happening, got accidentally missed in the autocorrection process. If he had been in Korea (or heck, anywhere within a few thousand miles) when this happened, he would have forgotten MC as well.

So long story short, Dino was just extremely (un?)lucky 🥲

~ Where is reader? (asked by @junhui-recs) / WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MC????? Wait that’d be really sad if the mc was actually still alive but dino couldn’t recognize them as “mc” but knows they exist somehow uGH

Well, sad news here friends. Most of what's left of MC is now stuck inside the game. They got absorbed and are now a part of Sergey's dataset and will be used/distributed into "characters" as needed.

Notice that I said most. Because, thanks to the glitch, the part of them that was connected to Dino didn't get transferred properly, and now that part of them is kinda stuck — it no longer exists in the real world, but it also didn't get fully absorbed into the game.

Which leads me to the next question:

~ Did reader turn evil and try to pull Dino into the game or is it the game itself being evil and impersonating reader to lure Dino in? (asked by @diamondyjh)

When I wrote the original version of this, the answer was a kind of combination of both — MC had gotten absorbed and corrupted by the game, so while it was the MC reaching out, they were doing so because it was what the game wanted.

But in this version... It's actually neither! Which I think would normally be a good thing but I think in this instance actually just makes this sadder oops.

So, the epilogue isn't the game impersonating MC and it isn't an "evil" MC trying to lure Dino in, it's actually just the part of MC that got stuck during the glitchy transfer. This is why the messages show as being from "Unknown" instead of the phone number associated with the game. And the reason what's left of MC asks Dino if he wants to play a game is because that's the only way it knows how to connect with anything anymore.

Basically, this sliver of MC that's left is experiencing what the original Sergey went through when he first "uploaded" himself, but instead of reaching out to anyone through a chatbot for help, it's reaching out to the only thing it "remembers" about humanity — Dino.

...I honestly didn't mean to make this story any sadder than it already is and I'm glad that the epilogue by itself just reads as spooky/freaky as hell instead of, well, this. 🥲

~ If Dino plays the game, will he be reunited with reader? (asked by @diamondyjh)

It pains me to say that there is no longer an MC for Dino to reunite with 😭 The part of them that got absorbed by the game is, well, a part of the game now. And the piece of them that's left and trying to reach out to him? Well, like I said, it's just a piece.

There could potentially be a chance for him to find some closure here, but that's about it I'm afraid :')

And now because I want this to end on a more lighthearted note:

~ Imagine the only clue left about the players existence is the goddamn phone bill for texting 💀

It becomes the next biggest conspiracy, that there's someone (or a group of someones) out there completing the world's next biggest scam by raking up random people's phone bills and somehow finding a way to steal the profit lmao

~ Some last thoughts from savv:

If y'all made it all the way to the end of this... holy shit I applaud you sldkfjsdlkjflksjdf LIKE!!!

thank you for taking the time to read all of this?????? it's not even fic it's just me rambling and making things Even Sadder??????

i also want to say that i'm a believer that 'canon' is whatever was posted in the story itself and that anything else is just headcannon, even if it's from me, the author. so if you don't like/don't agree with anything i've said here, feel free to ignore it!! fill in any gaps/questions you have in the way that makes your reading experience the most enjoyable!!

but yeah tHANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING AND I HOPE THESE ARE SATISFACTORY ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS AND IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE/HAVE A RENEWED DESIRE TO FIGHT ME MY INBOX IS OPEN SDKLJFSLKJFLSKFJSLKD

[your-dietician]

Best extended 4th of July tech sales 2021

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/lifestyle/best-extended-4th-of-july-tech-sales-2021/

Best extended 4th of July tech sales 2021

Yahoo Life has received compensation to create this article, and receives commission from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

Grab yourself a tech toy; these extended 4th of July tech sales are popping! (Photo: Yahoo Life)

The 4th of July weekend might be over, but its tech sales still remain. That’s right! It’s time to save big on all manner of electronics. Thanks to mid-year release cycles and post-Prime Day overstock, post-July 4th is one of the best moments to shop for all things tech and the sales are still deep.

Whether you’ve had your eye on a new big-screen TV, a cushy pair of premium headphones or a starter set of smart home devices, this post-holiday weekend represents a window of opportunity. The price drops are epic! 

To save you time, we’ve gathered the very best still-alive 4th of July tech deals from Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Lowe’s and more. You’ll find products ranging from small (hello, AirPods) to large (70-inch 4K Samsung TV, anyone?) at amazing discounts.

Snap up the best extended 4th of July tech sales below:

Best 4K-TV sales

A massive Samsung 70-inch 4K TV for just $680? Yes, please! (Photo: Best Buy)

Still on sale for $700 (was $750), this Samsung 70-inch Class 7 Series LED 4K Ultra HD Smart TV has a massive 70-inch display with full 4K Ultra HD resolution; vivid, bright colors and deep, dark black levels. That exceptional picture quality supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) movies and TV shows for the best 4K viewing experience around. And shoppers say this 4K TV is great for families.

“…The whole family loves it, especially my husband,” raved a delighted five-star Best Buy reviewer. “He is so glad we got this! Both him and our son love gaming on this nice sized TV. My daughter and I enjoy watching our shows. We are all pleased to say the least!…”

It’s also Wi-Fi-enabled with smart home support for Alexa, Google Assistant and Samsung’s Bixby. Video-streaming capability is also baked into this cake. Translation: You won’t have to buy a separate device to watch Netflix, YouTube, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+ and much, much more. You’re ready to start binge-watching as soon as you turn it on.

Story continues

Check out more 4th of July 4K-TV sales below:

Toshiba 43-inch 43C350KU C350 Series LED 4K Ultra HD Smart Fire TV, $320 (was $370), amazon.com

Insignia 55-inch NS-55F301NA22 F30 Series LED 4K Ultra HD Smart Fire TV, $400 (was $500), amazon.com

Sony 55-inch Class X80J Series LED 4K Ultra HD Smart Google TV, $750 (was $950), bestbuy.com

LG 65-inch Class 4K Ultra HD NanoCell Smart TV, $997 (was $1,200), walmart.com

LG 65-inch Class CX Series OLED 4K Ultra HD Smart webOS TV, $1,900 (was $2,200), bestbuy.com

Sony 65-inch Class X80J Series LED 4K Ultra HD Smart Google TV, $900 (was $1,150), bestbuy.com

Best home audio sales

Get these Beats beauties for half price right now! (Photo: Walmart)

On sale for $149 (was $300) for post-4th of July, the Beats Solo Pro Headphones sync to just about any smartphone or laptop via Bluetooth, delivering rich audio and heart-thumping bass. Super sleek, the pro-level headphones come in Gray and Ivory. They’re noise-canceling, so you can block out just about all background and ambient noise to enjoy your favorite music and podcasts.

“These beats are so pretty. They sound amazing and definitely block out background noise,” raved a savvy Walmart shopper. “They charge and are compatible with iPhones….” 

The Beats have up to 40 hours of battery life per charge, so you don’t have to be tethered to an outlet all day long. They pump out a solid stream of music with top-notch audio for nearly two days — impressive, considering that most wireless headphones tap out after about 30 hours.

Check out more home audio sales below:

Bietrun Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds, $26 (was $130), walmart.com

Beats Flex Wireless Earbuds, $39 (was $50), amazon.com

Apple AirPods (wireless charging case), $160 (was $199), amazon.com

Apple AirPods Max, $490 (was $549), amazon.com

Philips Wireless In-Ear Headphones, $30 (was $60), walmart.com

Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones, $120 (was $200), amazon.com

Samsung Galaxy Buds+, $100 (was $150), bestbuy.com

Meidong Bluetooth Noise-Canceling Over-Ear Headphones, $35 (was $70), walmart.com

Best smartphone and tablet sales

An iPad with 40,000+ five star reviews, for less than $300? Is this for real? (Photo: Amazon)

On sale for $299 (was $329), the latest entry-level iPad model (32GB/Wi-Fi model) has the same impressive 10.2-inch display, quick Touch ID fingerprint sensor and 3GB of memory as the last version, but it features a speedier processor. You’ll notice — and appreciate — the speed with any videos, web sites or games. (For the tech savvy, the speed comes from Apple’s A12 Bionic chip). To say this thing is popular is an understatement: It has a ridiculous 40,000+ five-star reviews!

“I love it! It’s fast and easy to use plus it’s super affordable compared to the other models,” wrote a satisfied Amazon shopper. “The display is beautiful and picture quality is great…It’s like I have a mini laptop everywhere I go. Perfect for students, the screen quality is amazing and the battery lasts all day long.”

Check out more smartphone and tablet sales below:

Apple iPad Air (10.9-inch, Wi-Fi, 256GB), $699 (was $749), amazon.com

Core Innovations 7-inch, $54 (was $70), bhphotovideo.com

onn. 8-inch Tablet Pro, $79 (was $99), walmart.com

Samsung Galaxy A11 (Net10), $99 (was $149), walmart.com

Lenovo Tab M10 Plus, $160 (was $200), bestbuy.com

Best video game sales

Save 60 percent on super-popular games. (Photo: Amazon)

On sale for $20 (down from $50), BioShock: The Collection features all three games in the popular franchise: Bioshock Remastered, Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite. These fun-tastic games explore futuristic science fiction worlds underwater and above the clouds.

“One of the best video game trilogies of modern gaming,” raved a delighted gamer. “All three games play and look fantastic, and 2k has done a great job with the attention to detail with all of them. I’ve had zero performance issues.”

Check out more video game sales below:

Luna Gaming Controller, $56 (was $70), amazon.com

NBA 2K21 (Xbox Series X), $20 (was $70), amazon.com

Mafia: Definitive Edition (PS4), $20 (was $40), amazon.com

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4), $15 (was $40), amazon.com

The Sims 4 (Xbox One), $5 (was $50), cdkeys.com

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Xbox One), $13 (was $35), cdkeys.com

Minecraft (Xbox One), $10 (was $30), cdkeys.com

Outriders: Day One Edition (PS4), $40 (was $60), walmart.com

Microsoft Xbox Series S 512GB with Xbox Game Pass and Accessories, $636 (was $700), qvc.com

Grand Theft Auto V: Premium Edition (PS4), $20 (was $60), walmart.com

Madden NFL 21 (Xbox One), $20 (was $60), walmart.com

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Xbox One), $30 (was $60), walmart.com

The Pillars of The Earth (PS4), $29 (was $45), walmart.com

Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled (PS4), $34 (was $40), walmart.com

PlayStation Plus Membership (12 months), $39 (was $60), cdkeys.com

Playstation Plus Membership (three months), $20 (was $25), cdkeys.com

Best smart-home sales

Start building the smart home of your dreams today, with this discounted bundle. (Photo: Lowe’s)

For this extended 4th of July sale, Lowe’s is giving you a chance to score the Google Nest Mini (second generation) and GE Smart Plug for just $40 (was $60).

The next-gen Nest Mini packs the Google Assistant into a sleek design with really great sound. Enjoy crisp vocals and balanced bass while you stream songs from Spotify, YouTube Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, Apple Music and more. Want a smart home? Now’s the time! If you have a phone in your pocket and a Wi-Fi network at home, you’re well on your way to building a smart home.

Plus, the bundle includes the GE Smart Plug (a $15 value), which can easily pair with the Google Nest Mini. Simply plug into a wall outlet, then plug in anything — a lamp, a TV or even a coffeemaker.

Then connect the plug to your Wi-Fi network and use your phone to sync to the Google Home app (for Android smartphones and Apple iPhones). That’s it! Now you can control just about anything in your home with your phone or just the sound of your voice via the Google Assistant. Fun!

“I am amazed at how much sound can come out of this little bitty device,” raved a delighted five-star Lowe’s reviewer. “The ease of setting this little unit up via Wi-Fi was a breeze. All I have done so far was talk to the device and it does what I ask with the weather even popping up on occasion which is what I was looking at. I like the fact that it sync to my devices with the calendar update with the busy schedule I have…I would recommend this little device for not only sound, but also ease of use. It can make your life simple and up-to-date if you carry a busy workload. Set a reminder and it will remind you even with a little music.”

Check out more smart-home sales below:

TP-Link N300 WiFi Extender (TL-WA855RE), $17 (was $30), amazon.com

Google Nest Mini, $35 (was $49), lowes.com

Google Nest Learning Smart Thermostat, $199 (was $249), lowes.com

Google Nest Hello, $149 (was $229), lowes.com

Lenovo Smart Clock Essential, $30 (was $50), lowes.com

Brookstone PhotoShare Digital Picture Frame, $110 (was $130), lowes.com

Moen 7594BL Arbor One-Handle Pulldown Kitchen Faucet, $289 (was $500), amazon.com

Honeywell RLV4300A1005 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat (renewed), $10 (was $35), eBay.com

Google Nest Cam Indoor Security Camera, $130 (was $200), walmart.com

Defender Ultra HD 4K Wired Outdoor Security System (1TB), $260 (was $450), walmart.com

Monoprice Wireless Smart Outdoor Dual Socket, $25 (was $38), target.com

XODO Smart Wi-Fi HD Video Doorbell, $90 (was $150), walmart.com

DHcamera Wired Spotlight Cam HD Security Camera, $150 (was $230), walmart.com

Garmin Vivosport Fitness Tracker (renewed), $70 (was $200), eBay.com

Kamep Wireless Wi-Fi Video Doorbell Camera, $75 with on-page coupon (was $90), amazon.com

Best home-office sales

Sleek, thin, and convertible (lapop to tablet), this Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 is $180 off. (Photo: Amazon)

For extended 4th of July sales, the slick Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 convertible laptop is just $370 — that’s 33 percent off.

Incredibly thin, the Samsung Chromebook is actually more than just a laptop. It has a brilliant 12.2-inch HD touchscreen display (at 1900×1200 resolution) and flexible 360-degree hinge, so it can rotate to any angle for use as a tablet.

“I wanted both a tablet and a computer. I love that you can download apps and use them for both the computer and the tablet form,” reported a five-star fan. “The stylus makes using Lightroom and other creative apps a breeze. Being able to use the cloud is a must because the storage would fill up pretty quickly…The large screen is also good for editing photos, drawing, and taking notes. Startup, web browsing, and apps are quick. The battery life is really great for everyday use…”

Check out more home-office sales below:

Cloud Massage Shiatsu Foot Massager Machine, $250 with on-page coupon (was $350), amazon.com

Renpho Neck Shoulder Massager, $30 with on-page coupon (was $50), amazon.com

Vybe Percussion Massage Gun, $150 with on-page coupon (was $200), amazon.com

DamKee Massage Gun, $56 with on-page coupon (was $110), amazon.com

WorkEZ Rise Aluminum Laptop Stand, $30 (was $33), qvc.com

Samsung 27-inch Smart Monitor, $300 (was $329), qvc.com

HP OfficeJet Pro 8035e All-in-One Printer, $220 (was $249), qvc.com

Asus Chromebook C223, $265 (was $340), hsn.com

Bell & Howell Adjustable Laptop Desk, $32 (was $50), hsn.com

Embassy NanoShred 8-Sheet Paper Shredder, $100 (was $124), hsn.com

OttLite Wireless Charging Desk Lamp, $35 (was $61), hsn.com

Apple MacBook Pro (mid-2020), $1,099 (was $1,299), bhphotovideo.com

Microsoft Surface Pro 5 (renewed), $540 (was $800), eBay.com

Ousgar 47-inch White Desk, $100 (was $266), walmart.com

Hemu Fashion Bamboo Laptop Lap Tray, $38 (was $80), walmart.com

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[ladyfl4me]

what other writing inspires you? like other fics or stories?

Hmmmm. I haven’t been doing much new reading lately, outside of stuff I do for my coursework. That being said, there are a lot of works I like to return to. (Sorry about this long, long infodump on my favorite works, but boy howdy do I love these. I’m probably forgetting about five million other things, but those are the ones that come to mind right away.)

As far as fic goes, I used to read a lot of MCU stuff; I even wrote a few in my day, before mainstream fandom got too exhausting/the franchise went to shit and I was swept up by TAZ. I always cite @miamaroo​‘s Northern Migration as the fic that inspired me to take the leap into long-form intricate TAZ AUs. I also adore Seven Raptors by DragonWrites. If I hadn’t discovered these two stories while on a Balance fic binge last year, I definitely wouldn’t have written The Moth who Came In from the Cold. @morganeashton​‘s fic Running Home is also a stunning work that I regret not reading sooner. The chapters are short, but each one blew me away. Morgie paid incredibly close attention to even the most minor characters, fleshing them out in quick brushstrokes of dialogue and action that made me fall in love with the characters in brand new ways. I highly recommend reading it.

Outside of fic, there are three books that I always keep on my desk when I’m looking for inspiration, or just trying to find something to model/use as a guide:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This is a big one. I keep a copy of it on my desk to page through when I have trouble with dialogue, and balancing inner character monologues with external events. It’s also a good book for me to read while trying to work out The Children of Sylvain; I have a lot of moving parts in it, much like American Gods does.

Salamander by Thomas Wharton. I read this one and was like, you can do that?? With words???? Damn, son. It’s about a 18th century book printer who makes novelty books; he gets hired by a duke who’s obsessed with puzzles, to the point that he rigged his entire castle to rearrange its own fucking floor plan like an architectural Rubik’s cube. I’m talking beds leaving their rooms to zip around the castle on rails, in the middle of the night; moving walls; entire bookshelves leaving the library to make loops around the building. Some serious steampunk shit. This duke hires the printer to make a book that never ends, and this quest leads him on a journey across the world to gather the materials to print and bind his book. It is not as boring as it sounds, I promise. I mostly remember it for the lesbian pirate who liberates slave ships, but also for the really good prose, which is one of the reasons why I keep it on the desk for reference.

Sabriel by Garth Nix. Amazing worldbuilding, excellent prose, great characters and relationships, an incredibly compelling narrative and a protagonist on the front cover (of my edition) that I’m very gay for. 

[ID: the cover of the book Sabriel, by Garth Nix. The cover art shows a young white woman, from about the knees up. Her eyes are hooded and pensive. She wears a flowing blue overcoat with white trim, patterned with silver keys. Twelve small bells in protective leather pouches hang from a bandolier across her chest. A scabbard hangs from a belt around her waist; across the bottom of the picture, just barely visible, she holds an unsheathed sword with arcane symbols carved into it. She holds one small bell in her hand. A blurred, formless black shadow with glowing orange slits for eyes reaches towards her shoulder with a gnarled hand. The woman looks slightly over her shoulder, eyes hooded and pensive. End ID.]

The titular protagonist is part of a divine line of necromancers sworn to make sure the dead stay dead. She’s forced to journey from her current residence - a country like WWII-era Europe, except everyone can do magic and has a sword - across the border into the Old Kingdom, when her father goes missing and dead things everywhere start rising. I keep this one around for help with basically everything.

Other passive sources of inspiration for me include:

Lord of the Rings. My first fandom and one I’ll always return to. It informs so, so much of how I structure arcs and characters. It’s a good thing that most of the friends I bounce things off of/write for aren’t super familiar with it, because they’d be able to guess the plot of TCOS in like 5 minutes if they did.

TAZ, of course

the MCU, before the franchise went to shit and I developed critical thinking skills

the Pendragon series by D.J. MacHale (more of an elementary-middle school inspiration for me, which convinced me to take a leap into novel writing. I still have 3 or 4 of the books from this 10-book monolith)

video games:

999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

Beyond Good and Evil

Myst, games 1-3

I’m also subscribed to the Poetry Foundation’s poem of the day newsletter, which often sends me something that fucking Gets Me. At the moment, I’ve been really taken with the poems of Catherine Pierce; she came to do a reading at my college recently, and we read her collection The Tornado is the World for my poetry workshop course. I can’t recommend her enough. She’s got a gift for saying a lot in a frank, arresting way. Here’s an excerpt from “The Mother Warns the Tornado,” which is from that book (time to see if tumblr fucks up the formatting):

I will heed the warning

protocol, I will cover him with my body, I will

wait with mattress and flashlight,

but know this: If you come down here—if you splinter your way through our pines,

if you suck the roof off this red-doored ranch,

if you reach out a smoky arm for my child—

I will turn hacksaw. I will turn grenade.

I will invent for you a throat and choke you.

I will find your stupid wicked whirling

head and cut it off. Do not test me.

If you come down here, I will teach you about

greed and hunger. I will slice you into palm-

sized gusts. Then I will feed you to yourself.

Good shit. Reminds me a lot of Mama. I highly recommend giving The Tornado is the World a read! Not every poem in the book is quite as visceral as “The Mother Warns the Tornado;” some are melancholy, some are brash and cocky, some are sad, some are sinister, some are overcome with joy. It’s a beautiful anthology, and I found it very easy to read and relate to. I annotated my copy to hell and back and I’m definitely keeping it for years to come.

I’m going to regret this later, probably, but! If anyone has any recommendations for books, TV shows, podcasts, whatever, send me an ask! I’ll make a list. Or, knowing me, a spreadsheet. Have at thee!

[travelita]

What is Travelita?

May I introduce you to Travelita?

Travelita - Make the world your home!

Travelita is a worldwide platform that connects women to facilitate travels.

How would you feel like, if you travel to an unknown place, yet knowing you will have friends there? Friends, that will help you finding the right places and people to travel to and with, help find your activities, share the do’s and don’ts and everything you might want to know about your desired destination. All this information will be provided to you from women that live right there on the spot!

We think, this would make the travel experience priceless, even before it starts. Why? Because you connect to locals, and they simply know. Noone from outside could ever provide more valid and valuable information then a local, so why not go ask them? And to be honest – how do you get to know a place better then simply by following the instructions of a local instead of a tourguide? A person simply living there, not involved in tourism. This will show you the real place, the real life, just what you probably would not see if you just visit as a tourist. And who knows, maybe this is not only going to be your source for priceless information, maybe this will create lifelong friendships far across the borders of maps and imagination! For sure, it will create safety and freedom for females exploring the world on their own. Wouldn’t that make a huge impact on women’s travel in general? And wouldn’t this be able to create a movement for women that generates freedom, self esteem, self-conficence, and an individual, self-determined life?

Do you like it so far? Are you ready to join this movement to make an impact on your own and and soon impact women's travel experience worldwide? Because now is YOUR TIME, and you CAN! YOU ARE IMPORTANT! YOU are unique, and you are the one who can make a change!

Please support us to grow this community and movement as fast as possible for your own and every woman's benefit. Share Travelita with your friends, family and community, everybody you think this might benefit. The more widespread we are, the more freedom we have. We will soon be heading into a Crowdfunding Campaign to set up the platform. As ur

a founding member, you will receive all the latest information up to date and be informed FIRST. And - we would like to remove any burden from your shoulders: Don't worry about hidden costs. Our membership will be less then 15 Euros a year!

Why?

This is acutally the question, that we have been asked most. Why, what is behind Travelita, how did this idea come into life? (video: Facebook live, March 2019)

Ok, this is the story of Tina, the Founder of Travelita. In winter 2019, she was on a holiday break in India, to be exact, in Jaisalmer, the Thar desert. There were some happenings, and she ended up being there alone, but as having been traveling on her own almost for 20 years, she did not worry at all. She booked an overnight in the desert and ended up unintentionally having an indian man in her bed, whom she talked out of doing what he wanted to do and thankfully she succeded. This is how Travelita was born. Tina thought by herself: „If I could do something to prevent this to happen to any other woman in this world“, and that is the foundation of Travelita. Connecting women, so this would never happen to anyone, anywhere ever again.

But that is not all, just a few weeks later, Tina found herself on a trip to Amsterdam, where she was attending a seminar. She heard that it would be a great location to dance her favorite dance – Kizomba – but ended up not finding even one spot where they would do so. So she thought: “Travelita does not necessarily need to be only for safety, it can also be for fun. If I would know a local woman from Amsterdam, that loves Kizomba the way I do, she would definitely be able to recommend me a place to go, as she has all the connections.”

So here we are with Travelita: we want to connect women to make travel fun, free, safe and make all traveling women to feel at home, wherever you are. Never need to worry again that you will not find what you want, whereever you might go, unless it definitely does not exist. But here, the future perspective kicks in...

How to

This is very simple. In order to create a safe platform, we need to have an obligational ID check before we can unlock your profile. We need to make sure you exist and you are a woman indeed, as this network is for women only. So please understand that in order to be a Travelita, this is not negotiable.

But don’t be afraid, we will not give your data to anyone else. Our ID check will be done confidentially by a workstuff member of Travelita, it will be a manual check and not by computers, so it’s not hackable. Women who check your personal details are cleared by police records and will not harm any data regulations. As this is one of our main occupations – that you can feel safe.

From there it will be an easy ride. You will receive your personal profile and complete the information as detailed as possible. Information about target destination will not be provided by Travelita, but by you, the locals. You can share about your city/country whatever you feel like sharing, anything you feel  would be of interest. Be detailed. People who come to see did not live there, they might want to know more and do not think it is boring.

You have the opportunity to make a choice what you are willing to offer. You can host someone, take them for a walk or simply answer some questions, whatever feels comfortable to you.

That’s it, you’re set and ready to go.

Search for destination, activity or whatever you would like to experience on your trip – and reach out to one of our fantastic Travelitas and get the support you want!

Oh, and there is more: Some of you will have the chance to present their cities and countries on podcasts or videos, if you plan on offering services or feel like this could be an advantage for you. Contact us for details.

Future perspective

WE WANT YOU ALL! This is why we came with a solution for everybody. There will be a reward button below each and every profile, once you communicated with someone else, they are invited to reward the advice you gave them with a 3 Euro gift. This might not seem a lot to first world countries, but ladies, this is not for you. For us, being from the 1st world, it is just a gesture of gratefulness. But the thought behind was for all of you, who might not be able to travel once in your life, coming from a 3rd world country. We at Travelitas want to make women free, and that includes you all, we want you to have a better life. It is not self-evidence you are part of this community, but we need you more then anyone else. To live a better life, no matter where you come from. We want to encourage you to live your dreams, to empower you to open up to your own way, your own business and grow it with the help and energy of all of you fantastic women worldwide.

Let’s create a movement and make this a better world for us women, and in the end, a better world for as all, where we can stand strong and look into each others eyes – women and men – being equal. That is our wish.

Free your travels, be a Travelita! #travelita #iamatravelita

...sometimes the bad experiences can trigger the very best in you! Jaisalmer - Thar desert 2019

STAY TUNED FOR NEXT WEEK - VIENNA is coming up for you!

[questioningpositivity]

So I've been thinking this for awhile I think I might actually be a lesbian??? Like it's a fact that I love girls but my questionable liking for guys is different? Really looking back at guys I've liked I feel like it had something to do with compulsory heterosexuality? Like feeling I had to/should? Plus the guys I do think I like have to be really specific. Also found out that finding a guy attractive doesn't necessarily mean I want to date them, just want to appreciate them from afar and (1/4)

that’s ok? When I’ve pictured my future as a kid seeing myself with a guy felt strange I thought being bi that sure I could like either but that being with a guy would be almost settling. Like it would be just ok in comparison to a girl. Like if people are ever like “oh one day your husband…” i get really annoyed. And no guy could ever meet my high expectations of them. But then I don’t want to reinforce the idiotic stereotypes people have about the bi community just being confused and (2/4)

eventually picking a side. Like I don’t wanna be that. Also if I am attracted to some guys to some degree then it must mean I’m bi. And then calling myself a lesbian would mean I’m CHOOSING a sexuality and not just liking people naturally. The whole community is always trying to say sexualities aren’t a choice and I’m going against that. Like what if I could have or end up falling in love with a guy and could be so happy, but I ignore it because I simply “don’t want to”. Labels can be great (¾

but they feel either too confining or too broad AND THEN I’m the bisexual who doesn’t like labels trope and here we are again and wtf. So if I don’t like men after all then MAYBE I’m not a lesbian because I didn’t add that I do like people that don’t conform to the gender binary and go by other identities. But still could like identifying as les. So do I just have a weird thing against men? Guys I’ve been “with” wasn’t that great to me but maybe it’s cuz they’re the wrong people idk (4/4)

Hi there!

First of all, I can’t figure out when this was sent but I’m gonna guess not recently, so I’m really sorry for that. I’m going to reply now bc maybe you’re still out there and following this blog? I have been busy and sorta abandoned this blog, so I’m really sorry about that as well

You aren’t a trope because you’re a real person with a complicated sexuality and hey! same! I used to ID as bi and I don’t atm and that’s totally fine! Neither of us are hurting anyone by questioning our identities or changing what language use!

With that said, in my experience of reading, listening to, and talking to LGBTQIA folks (specifically outside of tumblr!), I’ve found this is a fairly common experience. There’s an argument that was created partially in pursuit of marriage equality that people are “born this way.” Yes, it did help get some of those “movable middle” straight people to be less homophobic. It can also be super resonant and true to any given LGBTQIA person and I don’t want to invalidate their lived experiences.

However, it rests on this idea that being gay (or otherwise lgbtqia) is bad/wrong but must be forgiven because us lgbtqia people Can’t Help It. Instead, I’d rather choose to celebrate my own queerness. For me right now that looks like: 

-using gay to describe my orientation when I am being read as my assigned gender and among acquaintances, because I am not pursuing any romantic or sexual relationships with men

-using queer when I am in my community

-working on learning more about my nonbinary gender and figuring out how I want to transition (socially, medically, etc)

I’m struggling to articulate this well, but the thing that has helped me the most is listening to real, adult lgbtqia people. I know that they’ve discussed this before on the podcasts Food 4 Thot and Queery with Cameron Esposito. Those and other podcasts I’ve found incredibly helpful and fulfilling, especially now when I have very little in-person access to a queer community. Hearing people’s voices and earnest, good-intentioned discussions about LGBTQIA experiences is validating, fulfilling, and challenging in a way that’s really helped me. I would also recommend reading memoirs, poetry, and fiction by LGBTQIA authors! Many of them will likely disclose similar uncertainties and questioning. 

Ultimately, you are a real and complicated person with a rich inner life and background of experiences. No one word is ever going to be able to perfectly encapsulate that or convey it to everyone else. You get to take your experiences and feelings and to try to find language that articulates it for other people. You get to choose which label works for you. And whichever it is, you’re not lying, I promise.

[dykeyote]

Oh you listen to TMA?, well would you recommend it?

i did listen :D!! not much anymore haha but i was real into it back in like 2020 (: and well . that is a VERY layered question bc i have very mixed feelings about tma as a podcast sorry anon im sure u were hoping for a cut and dry yes or no but alas .... i ramble

so basically short answer is that if you want to get into non-dnd fiction podcasts and be an active member of fandom for them i would highly recommend you listen to tma not even out of tmas own original quality but just because its So popular and its made Such an impact on the fiction podcast landscape . i would recommend wtnv for a similar reason but also just because wtnv is just great and a wonderful listen (and my special interest lol) - SOOO many people around you are gonna be referencing tma and referencing the entities and listening to at leaset a good chunk of it at least once will make your experience in the fiction podcast fanbse more enjoyable because when people say stuff like . idk "sydney would be a corruption avatar" youll understand wtf theyre saying . so just on a very functional level id recommend you listen to it just so you understand the references that people around you make (:

whether i would recommend tma based on its own merits is .... more complicated . because tma is one of those pieces of media where the good attributes are REALLY INCREDIBLY GOOD and the bad attributes are very noticeable, and some of those can even be the same thing - for example, while ive had many in depth discussions about how poorly implemented i think the entities system is and how frustrating it is that theyre so poorly balanced throughotu all the episodes, i still think its one of the most genius pieces of world lore ive seen and does an AMAZING job at accurately encapsulating every single fear you could think of.

so basically, while i would recommend tma both because it has some VERY amazing aspects and because it had such an Impact on fiction podcasts that itll be tricky to avoid it if u wanna keep getting into narrative podcasts, i would recommend you examine it critically while you do so. like by all means have fun its GREAT the horrors creepy its popular for a reason!! but also make sure youre able to examine the writing flaws, both the ones that are just writing issues (like the pacing problems) and the ones that probably come to mind more when you think of "examining media critically" (like the narratives Very odd relationship to the police) . basically i would recommend checking it out and i think its very likely youd enjoy it but dont get too attached to it that you cant handle valid criticism because there is a LOT of valid criticism to be made

also ive heard stuff about ethics issues with the production company itself, im not really caught up on which parts of that are real and what the accepted appropriate ways to handle it are (like i said im not actively keeping up with tma anymore so i dont really know much about the good or the bad rn), but basically i wouldnt contribute to the the magnus protocol kickstarter (its got enough money as it is) and would instead support your favorite smaller podcasts instead (: theres loads to support if u wanna support a podcast financially!! blue mayfield (creator of camp here and there) in particular is struggling quite a bit, thats a good place to support (:

but again to wrap it all around this isnt a post dissuading you from listening i WOULD suggest you listen to it to understand what other people say about it in podcast spaces as well as because it genuinely has some really good creepy episodes and strong compelling characters w interesting dynamics and some really good examinations into themes like what it means to be human or the nature of fear and where it comes from . its definitely an enjoyable listen and one id recommend listening to at least once to anyone who wants to get into fiction podcasts and interact with the fanbase in any way!! i loved it in 2020 and i still adore many of the characters now (: i just have a lot of emotions about it lol im sure this is a way longer and more convoluted answer than you were hoping for whoops </3

[createuntiltheendoftime]

I was just scrolling through an old Danger Days blog tonight and I saw your old post about the hypothetical Danger Days podcast you'd been talking about maybe making, and it made me wonder, did anything ever come of that? I was in the group chat once upon a time but obviously those are gone now, and I was just curious.

I think I might still have some of the scripts honestly, but while I still would LOVE to do something like that, my life exploded right around there. I cant speak for anyone else but I never did anything with it.

If you're looking for something to listen to, id recommend 000: the static. Its got about six episodes but I still go back and listen to it. Also if anyone has any recs for things similar to the static id love to hear them too!

[thecoroutfitters]

73. People that don’t care and attention what’s happening in this land. Products, on the other hand, usually are not capable of these kinds of courteous signal, that’s almost certainly the key reason why you will be quite likely going to holler at your pc when it gets frozen upward than that you are to help yell in your cleaning after he declines ones caviar. Puppies which demand obtaining very last will often bark no matter how indignant you will get their way.

Why Generate Hilarity?

However, not having shoulder-fucked by losers is a nice benefit. That’s appropriate, great people today frustrate me personally. rather than saying “hi or perhaps hello”. People who seem to assume the chair adjacent to all of them is actually a location to put along their particular work out center bag/back wrap up over a packed coach. Who’d have got imagined them? Nicely, it’s probably not great people that irritate me personally, it’s those people exceedingly pleasant, “always curious to listen for what we ought to say” men and women. Doesn’t of which urine a person off whenever you’re executing the velocity restrict as well as the car regarding anyone is attempting to the touch ones fender? It’s just like a shitty subway police officer who doesn’t often be aware that you actually aren’t meant to know he’s next a person. Pete will it be ideal you may have over 6000 enthusiasts, perform podcast, blogg pertaining to fat loss and also earning profits create a webpage on your magnificent once in a life span give.

How to achieve school with no truly attempting.

A mans make-up suggestions for female.

Ten signals a guy likes you.

Wives that will don’t ever answer their telephones. Okay discuss dual right here. Well then, i’ll be precise. Melanie certainly not solutions the woman cellular phone.

How to become favorite.

Horoscopes

Global warming isn’t for sissies.

How for being genuinely bothersome (in your everyday living or even with Fb as well as other social websites program).

People using the term “110%” (or maybe more Per cent in some cases). 2) folks that go over our get if they consult me People cutting you out of, persons definitely not applying their blinkers, individuals using blinkers an excessive amount of, people today generating irritatingly blue-colored cars. People exactly who consult “Can I ask you an issue?” For starters, the education system is declining.

People which focus. The writer is also aggravated from open public fingernail clipping. Gray snow that won’t liquefy; cumulated on the side of the trail. When I am just developing a coversation using someone, & Now i am during sharing with an account and some obnoxious simpleton arrives walking look at this site way up along with commences a talk with the individual I am talking to. In the argumentative article, you cannot consult an issue, and you will have to pick some sort of side, correct?

Men about teaches which put into effect seated using their feet propagate large just like they got something at this time there. On this site are definitely the stuff that irritate everyone by far the most. Never the day after tomorrow, not really inside of a 30 days, certainly not a year, Certainly not! Seriously, I personally can’t point out them plenty of. By way of example: The creator of your tale gets really frustrated if someone else guiding the girl’s sneakers the woman’s seating. We is going to produce some sort of personalized essay or dissertation for What Annoys My family Most specifically for an individual for exclusively 16.38 13.90/page I am unable to realize why these alleged “homophobes” are incredibly busy using the appreciate that will two different people talk about in concert.

5) Tailgaters

I dispise while a person chooses in order to exhale their own sucked-in cigarette just like I personally go beyond these folks. “I basically nearly dived outside of my personal dermis.” People of which claim they do not being a certain food just before battle the item, along with do not feed on it . People who use its caller ID to be an responding to support. Utility/Cable assistance individuals who don’t show on time. I can’t thoughts an excessive amount about how precisely it functions with girls (due to the fact I’m not one), nevertheless guys are generally pigs.

Argue what not to complete as an alternative to what ought to be done.

How for you to fake you are essentially doing the job.

How to post a novel variety of a novel you’ve in no way study.

How that will help your roomie choose to move.

Why I’d prefer a person to gain access to my own personality.

How to check tough and enjoy at the same time.

How senior high school generalizations are ideal for people.

The genuine causes of wipeout of the earths.

I actually collection objectives for me, envision all of them produce, along with key myself personally in to knowing which pleasing in which purpose may be the only choice and after that, We delay doing things. On the other hand despite the fact that there’s a thousand items that annoy myself to have these include the significant reasons. When an individual makes a slurping noise having a drinking straw as soon as the goblet turns into nearly vacant. 58.

4) Extremely wonderful, generally fascinated people

Zoos this don’t allow you to rise up in close proximity along with along with all those mild pets but i would love you to be at the rear of this watering holes 55. Parents whom provide their kids for you to Ur positioned motion pictures. Saying “Let presently there become light” each time almost any lighting turn can be converted for. People whom respond to my personal emails such as the range from the written text of the preceding mail of their e mail. How do I feel about which? Entirely good, definitely, aside from that fact who’s makes everyone wish to destroy anyone.

4) Extremely wonderful, generally fascinated people

Unusual simply call centres Bathroom stalls having a hand mirror so that you can call at your total do-it-yourself although sitting. Probably simply because he could be thought of we have a speed video camera arising, or even he has a nervous car owner, or perhaps he got distracted by an advert for one more Pirates with the Caribbean motion picture and commenced pondering whether or not it may possibly meet the promise of the very first trilogy. Retail individual which ignore the are living shopper to aid someone that interferes with on the phone. Walking in to search engine spider internet’s. You know the individual who seems as if she’s about to break each the woman legs concurrently plus break at the front individual unless she is situated decrease? These people have a straight to need to sit down, and also we’ll enjoyably supply them with the seating, suitable? It’s the individuals that don’t have to sit back but will continue to pull their particular bumm to the center chair on the six-piece with capacity of procedure to the train.

When you are unsurprisingly “homophobic”, it is far from as you will be nervous with so many homosexuals, it’s only as you certainly are a narrow-minded, self-centered, and ugly hero. Kids having loose shorts hangin underneath their particular rear end. (In addition, i am conscious these are generally 1st globe problems this means you probably don’t have to position this away). A bit more raw, yes, however easier. Retail clerks in which neglect the live customer that will help somebody who disrupts by telephone. Above: Certainly not what we recommended. Eventually in school, my personal college students chose to discuss some humorous paper matters.

from Patriot Prepper Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. Are you ready for any situation? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[elsewhereuniversity]

FAQ and Tags Masterpost

What is Elsewhere University?

Elsewhere University is a university on a fairy hill, as first depicted in this comic I drew a year ago! People began asking questions about the world, and then writing stories and drawing art set within it, and then building on each other’s stories and on my answers about the world, and it’s become a big lovely sandbox (the second comic‘s entire purpose is to celebrate some of my favorite things that have grown exclusively out of the fandom). The various submitted stories aren’t necessarily compatible with each other, because there are currently well over 2k stories and asks building this world and expecting anyone to know all of that is absolutely mad. But they’re all built on the same base mythology of folklore+college weirdness outlined in the first comic.

Where can I find the original comic?

As part of my Tapastic series, or on my main blog. 

My ask/fortune/submission hasn’t shown up yet.

At the time of this writing, my inbox is around 2500, and roughly 3/4 of those are student asks. There’s going to be a bit of a wait before anything you submit sees the light of day (although stories will show up before fortunes do). I know it’s not ideal, but I will reach it eventually, I promise!

That said (given that this is tumblr) message me privately, off anon, if you’d like to make sure it hasn’t been eaten by the website. If you can give me a username or an exact phrase to ctrl+f, I’d be happy to check that it made it safely to my inbox! But if you send a find-it ask on anon, I won’t answer it - I get enough of those that it would clutter up the blog pretty badly.

Are there any guidelines for Elsewhere U fanworks?

The bare minimum - it should be readable with regards to grammar/spelling, it should be related to Elsewhere University, and, you know, don’t be an asshole. Don’t worry too much about continuity! Due to the sandbox nature of the project, that’s all a bit fuzzy anyway.

Fortunes should be about the size of a single ask.

Nothing made or sold for profit.

How should I get my submission to you?

One option is to submit a story through tumblr

Another is to publish it on your own blog, or on AO3 (there’s an official tag!) or somewhere else

If you opt for something other than submitting it through this blog, send me a link through messaging or an ask if you’d like to see it shared here!

You can try @’ing me but I’m not great at checking that. 

And lastly if you do post it somewhere else, please credit this blog or the original comic specifically. Thank you!

Types of posts

Stories - written prose submissions

Art - comics and illustrations of the world

Students and Charms - fortunes and futures

Vignettes - very short stories

Podcast - episodes of Elsewhere University Student News, a fan podcast

Tv Tropes Page

Poetry

Recs - Reader-submitted books/games/etc in the vein of this blog

Love letters to majors - submissions specifically regarding the ups and downs of a major

Newsletter - Elsewhere U newsletters and notices

Prophecies - vague, ominous, regarding the future

Advice - do

Warnings - do not

Original - my contributions to Elsewhere

GENERAL TAGS

Changelings - what the Fair Folk leave when they steal your roommate

The Forbidden Major - the (banned) study of the Fair Folk

Knights - students keeping the campus safe. Crusaders, mercenaries, and idealists.

Stolen Away - so you’ve gotten yourself kidnapped into a weird magical summer world

Deals - striking bargains

Debts - Owing

The Aftermath - Graduation and afterwards

Courtesies - the politics of please and thank you

Legacies - people who fit in better than they expected

The Treaty - Posts touching on the delicate agreement between the university and the Elsewhere

Belief - reality gets malleable here

Names - Names and their power. Full FAQ below.

PLACES

Location - where the fuck is this school, anyway (and a masterpost of the borders)

The Pool

The Library

The Theatre (and The Play)

The Dorms (dorm list/summary here)

The Forest

The Train Tracks

The River

The Wishing Well

The Greenhouse

The Unsea

Walmart

Denny’s

LIFE ON CAMPUS

Student Life - anything to do with day to day Elsewhere U existence

Majors - a full alphabetized list of majors and their standing with the Gentry at the end of this page

Prospective Students - why people come to EU

International Students - how they deal with this bullshit

Sports - what sports, where, and why they’re Off

Parties - hella revels

Food - “We must not look at goblin men, we must not buy their fruits: Who knows upon what soil they fed their hungry thirsty roots?”

Electronics - how that works out (or rather, doesn’t)

School Spirit, and on a related note the Mascot and the school Motto (full list of mottoes below)

Graduation

Greek Life

Holidays

Games

Sign Language

Marching Band

Clubs and Secret Societies

Student Witches

STAFF

Professors - who in their right minds would work here (list and summary of notable professors here)

RAs - Resident Advisors and their responsibilities

The Librarians

Administration

Groundskeepers - nonacademic staff. A statistically unlikely number own swords.

NOTABLE INDIVIDUALS AND PHENOMENA

The Foxy Lady

Jimothy

The Wyrm -the dragon sleeping under the condemned building in the western corner of the campus

Anna Monday

The Wild Hunt

The Washer at the Ford - she will tell you the time of your death, but only if you’re into that

Courts - here the year turns on Spring and Autumn

The Tall One - warning

Royalty - don’t speak of them

Cat-Eyes - purveyor of Seeing glasses

The Rose Prince

FOLKLORE

Protection - including iron, salt, and running water

The Sight - including modified glasses, silver, and mirrors

VARIOUS

Ghosts

Werewolves

Banshees

Brownies

Sirens

Selkies

Gremlins

Mermaids

Kelpies

ANIMALS

The Crows - Do Not Wrong The Crows

Pets - Fish, Cats, Dogs

Wildlife - Birds, Insects

Horses

School Mottos thus far (translations may be incorrect - I haven’t personaly checked them)

Cauti, Cordati, Auspicati - Wary, Wise, and Lucky

Cum Gladio Et Sale - With Sword and Salt

Fainiciúil, Ciallmhar, Ámhar - Wary, Wise, and Lucky

yn dilyn y seren - Following The Star

Beware the Lights

Swallow the Hidden Names

BLOOD AND BONES BLOOD AND BONES BLOOD AND BONES

Tine Agus Airgead - Fire and Silver          

כבדו את העורבים - Respect The Crows

Tha Iad Ag Innse Gun Bhreaug - They Tell No Lies

Carpe Nihil - Seize Nothing   

Iron and Salt - a warning 

Aspectum, Dolorem, Sacrificium - Sight, Sorrow, Sacrifice

Scientia Defendit Fideles - Knowledge protects the faithful

What Doesn’t Bend Will Break

Names FAQ

What’s a true name? The name that you consider to be truly yours; it’s highly personal and subjective.

Does the legal status of the name matter? No.

Can nicknames be true names? Yes.

Can you have more than one true name? How would that work? Yes. Depending on what each name meant to you, each true name might have power over you in its entirety, or each be part of a larger whole.

If I pronounce or spell my name differently/use a derivative or variation of my true name as a safe name, would that be safe? No. It wouldn’t have power over you, but it wouldn’t be hard to discover your true name.

What happens if someone speaks my true name? If you are given a command with your true name, you are compelled to obey it. This is only true in the Elsewhere and areas affected by it.

Can safe names influence a person over time? It’s unusual, but it’s happened.

Can a safe name become your true name? Yes; if you feel yourself becoming too attached to a safe name, it’s time to change it (not an uncommon event).

How does the school deal with safe names? Student IDs and role call lists for professors include the student number and the preferred name of a student. There’s a hard ban on obscenity, at least as far as the safe names in the school system go, but even so, they range from mundane to pop culture to total nonsense.

Would a name with negative associations be a good safe name? Yes, in the sense you’d never have to worry about growing too attached too it.

Is it possible to be nameless? Yes, which renders you invulnerable to this particular hazard. There are still plenty of other pitfalls, so overall the nameless don’t attract too much malice from the Gentry.

Is my last name part of my true name? It depends on the importance it holds for you. But even if it doesn’t signify anything, it’s recommended you keep all parts of your legal name secret in order to make it more difficult for anyone to find personal information on you.

How does the school protect true names? The administration offices are heavily guarded against both human and Elsewhere intruders, including but not limited to 24/7 guards, iron in all the walls, heavily password-protected computers, and formidable custom iron filing cabinets that hold all the paperwork they couldn’t avoid printing out.

Does everyone on campus go by a safe name? Almost everyone. There’s always a few skeptic freshman who don’t buy into what is presented as Elsewhere university’s ‘unique traditions’. The lucky ones are given nicknames by other students who persist until the skeptic has stopped protesting. The unlucky ones find out the hard way why you don’t want anyone to know your true name.

Majors

accounting majors

animal husbandry majors

anthropology majors

architecture majors

art majors 

art history majors

astrophysics majors

bio majors

biochem majors

biomech majors

business majors

chem majors

classics majors

comp sci majors

culinary arts majors

dance majors

econ majors

education majors

engineering students

english majors

environmental studies majors

film majors

forestry and wildlife majors

geology majors

history majors

humanities majors

journalism majors

language majors

law majors

math majors

midwives

military

mortuary science majors

music majors

philosophy majors

physics majors

poli-sci majors

pre-med majors - any medicine-related fields

pre-vet majors

psyche majors

smiths - the tag for shop class and metalworking

sociology majors

stats majors

textile majors

theatre majors

theology majors

Elsewhere University © 2017 Samantha Dow

[thecrookedgavel]

The Black Box Readings - Ep 1 Transcript

Here’s the transcript for episode 1 of The Black Box Readings, the podcast where I read to you the backup of queer blogs that have gone down. 

See Other Episodes

An: Hey, all! And welcome to The Black Box Readings, the new podcast where I read to you the backup of queer blogs that have gone down! I’m your host, An Capuano. So basically, it’s a show where I narrate through a deleted or deactivated blog over the course of a season, with a focus on queer artists. Though to be honest, there was a specific blog that inspired me to make this podcast, and unless this format is super popular, I may just do the one season. Anyway, although reading things in a dramatic fashion is definitely in my wheelhouse, non-fiction podcasts are not. So please bear with me while I go through some growing pains as I try and figure this thing out. 

Alright, so this season, we have the story of a digital artist who caught my attention with a really cool piece of Overwatch fanart. It’s about her journey through a life spent mostly online, disability, and navigating through the difficulties of realizing that you’re trans.

For those of you not in the know, I am a disabled trans woman myself, so it’s not a journey I’m altogether unfamiliar with. The biggest reason I’m doing this podcast is because stories like ours get drowned out in the media. I wanted to be able to tell her story so that queer people, young and old, can hear something that resonates with them. And I have a good feeling that this will do that for you.

The Tumblr in question, I won’t say the address. Just know that the title of the blog was: “Less Than Human”. Yeah, I know. Not a very cheery introduction. I sort of choose to think of it, kind of like reclaiming a slur. If she calls herself less than human, other people lose the power to hurt her with it. I’m telling you the blog title because it is important later.

Anyways, enough out of me, here’s the first post of the episode, which happens to be the first post of the blog itself. It’s titled:

“Welcome!

Hey, my name is -”

Ok, so I guess I didn’t think this through. In the post, she uses her deadname, and I don’t feel comfortable reading it out to you all. If I have to choose between deadnaming a trans girl and being a little inaccurate, I’m choosing inaccuracy. I should say, actually, that I don’t consider myself a journalist or anything like that. Also, I get it would be bad of me to use her real name too. So we’ll just call her… Hmmm…. Ok, let’s go with Emmy.

“Welcome!

Hey, my name is Emmy, and I’m 19 years old! Nice to meet you guys! I’ve decided to start posting on my tumblr instead of using it as a dash, lol! I’m a visual artist, though I mostly stick to digital art these days. I spend most of my time reading. My fandoms are Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Supernatural, Sonic the Hedgehog, Marvel, and of course, Shrek! Lmao. I think Cat Girls are cute, but I’m not a weeb”

*Laugh* I never read this post while she was active. Her sense of humor is really present in this post, she was always silly like this. Anyways, she follows up this post by posting a backlog of art that I figure she must have made and not shown to anyone. It’s all really good stuff. Some fandom, some original. It’s clear to me that she’s not posting her earlier, rougher work. I don’t remember too many details though, as this was a while ago, and I didn’t think to save her artwork when I was copying all her text posts into the google doc. I hope someone out there saved them before they were deleted, though.

I’m not going to bore you by reading every single one of her posts, or anything like that. Just the ones that stand out to me. Here’s one about Supernatural and how she might be falling out of love with it. 

“I don’t know guys, I’m finding it hard to watch supernatural these days. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still one of my favorite shows, it’s just totally not as good as the first 5 seasons. That and I WANT DEAN AND CASS TO BE TOGETHER! Is that so wrong? Look, Cass is an immortal being that just HAPPENED to take a male form. If he had a female form, you can bet that he and Dean would have banged already. I’ve read the tumblr posts too, the ones that talk about all the hints the writers give that Dean is gay. This is ABSOLUTELY queerbaiting, and even as a straight guy, I can see that. I have a lot of gay mutuals who have convinced me how ultimately cute Dean and Cass are, and I feel bad for them, because they’re not being treated fair. You think in its 12 seasons there would be something, but no, nothing. Pisses me off”

Here is where we start seeing a connection between Emmy and queer culture. Although she’s currently IDing as straight and male, you can tell she cares about queer representation. Now, I’m not saying that wanting good queer content makes you queer, of course not. Just that knowing that Emmy is queer, when you look back at her earlier posts, there’s some evidence there. She even talks about Castiel, a male character, having a female form, which I find interesting for obvious reasons.

Next up is a post about something outside of her fandoms, a show called Monk. For those of you who don’t know it, it’s a show focused on a detective with OCD who uses his disability to solve crimes no one else can. As someone with OCD myself, I really enjoyed the show, but it’s not without its problems. Hmm, yeah, I’ll get to those after reading the post, I think

“I’ve been watching a new show lately! Well, a show that’s new to me at least. It’s called Monk! I’m 3 seasons in, and I laugh every episode. But it’s not without its serious moments too. It’s about Adrian Monk, a detective with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and it’s like a super power to him. He can do things no one else can. But he also can’t do things that everyone else takes for granted. Mood. He always says “It’s a gift… And a curse” when talking about it. Big mood. Anyway, I highly recommend it, because it’s a positive depiction of someone mentally ill! I’m so used to people who are “crazy” being mass murderers or some shit. Idk, it’s heartwarming.”

I noticed one of the hashtags of her post was, “Finally found a version with captions.” This is important for later and I’ll get to it by the end of the episode. Where the previous post was the first we saw of her queerness, this is the first we’ll see about her connection with mental illness. It’s unclear if she feels her inabilities are balanced off by her abilities, or if her “mood” was just about her being unable to do what others can. Since her “big mood” is regarding Adrian Monk’s favourite quote “It’s a gift and a curse”, I like to think she was being positive and was including her abilities in the “mood.”

While I do agree with Emmy that it’s a positive depiction of someone mentally ill, and that’s certainly better than having yet another bad guy is who’s only evil because he’s crazy, I’m worried that it’s too positive. It’s actually a really common trope where neurodivergent people in media are seen as “super human,” like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory, or uhh, the main character from The Good Doctor, I forget his name. It makes it look like everyone with autism or OCD are geniuses, and that sort of skews how neurotypicals view people like us in a negative way. Like, I do view my OCD as a gift, I wouldn’t be able to write the way I do, or play video games the same way if I didn’t have it. But I’m not a superhuman by any means. But I’m expected to, in some sense, outperform everyone because of my OCD, because of this impossible standard set by the media. *Sigh* I’m sorry, I’m getting really off topic. I hope you don’t mind this little rant.

Back to Emmy, I find it a little upsetting that she feels herself cursed in some way. Knowing what I know about her, I like to think she was more gifted than cursed, but given the title of her blog, I doubt she would agree with me. We can glean from this post that she is disabled in some way or another. Maybe she herself has OCD? Or maybe she just relates her own, different disability to OCD? It’s hard to tell at this point, and I don’t want to spoil it, especially since it will come up again in a few posts. 

Next up, we have a post about not just queer characters, but lesbian characters. I’m sure you have heard of Overwatch by now, even if you haven’t played it. Well, the creative devs promised us that a handful of the cast was queer, and at least to me, it seemed like an empty promise. Hmm, I guess it seems a little bit like the queerbaiting conversation we had earlier. Interesting. You know what I mean, right? Like, why take the risk of pissing off the straight, cis part of your fanbase with queer characters when you can just say some characters are queer and attract a bigger queer fanbase that way? But then they did something that blew me out of the water. They made a comic where Tracer has a girlfriend. This next post from Emmy is about this reveal.

“Merry Christmas! And what a Christmas it’s been. Because I got something I’ve been asking for for a LONG time. Blizzard made Tracer gay! I’m not the only one who’s been asking for this, a huge chunk of the fandom has been saying that Tracer is only into other girls. It’s been my headcanon for so long, and now it doesn’t have to be, because it’s canon! Tracer and Emily are so cute together! And their kiss is so hot too! Yeah, lesbians are really hot in general. They’re every guy’s ultimate fantasy. Thanks, Jeff!”

An: Ok, so before we continue, I think I need to apologize on Emmy’s behalf for the way she talks about lesbians. As a trans lesbian, I had a period where I talked about lesbains that way too. Before I came to terms with that identity, I mean. Since you believe you’re a straight guy, there’s no real explanation for why you’re so into lesbians other than them being a male fantasy. But it’s more than that. It’s part of like, seeing yourself as a girl that the idea of being with a girl that likes girls... that is so fundamentally appealing. 

Like, ok. *sigh* I remember this one time very clearly… I was with my girlfriend at the time and a friend of mine at a bubble tea shop. This was probably 9 or 10 years ago now? Jeez. Anyways, this couple of girls starts making out at the table next to us, and I had a full on sexual awakening. I remember that I couldn’t look away. Mostly because my ex wouldn’t let me forget it. I got teased by my friend and berated by my ex. Because I couldn’t explain what happened to her, let alone to myself, I eventually came up with a rather math-y explanation involving vectors of attraction *laugh*. Something like, if women are attractive to me, and men are not attractive to me, then adding their vectors together gives less attraction than two women’s vectors being added together. It was pretty stupid. I don’t talk to either of those two people anymore, by the way. 

Anyways, my point is that since this is before she’s realized she’s a lesbian herself, she’s under the false impression that she needs to sexualize lesbians in order to explain why she’s so attracted to the concept. So please don’t hold that against her. 

---

With that out of the way, we can move on to her next post. It’s a piece of art she made, and it’s pretty special to me. You see, this was the way I found her blog. One of the blogs I follow, who knows which at this point, must have reblogged it and it came across my dashboard. Again, I don’t have a copy of any of Emmy’s art, but I remember it pretty well. It’s a picture of Emily wearing Tracer’s outfit... Shit… Why did I give Emmy a name so close to Emily? Emily as in Tracer’s girlfriend. Maybe it’s because of my association with her and this drawing? Either way, it’s too late now, I’m not re-recording this whole episode. *Sigh* We’ll just stick with the blogger being named Emmy. Anyways! She’s sort of looking a bit out of place, like she doesn’t know how to feel about having a Chrono-accelerator attached to her chest. There’s a speech bubble in the frame pointing off screen that says, “You look marvellous, love!”, or something to that effect, but it’s obviously supposed to be Tracer saying it. It was a really cute drawing, and I was really fond of it, so I liked and followed. Feels like so long ago. 

Anyways, she did reblog the picture afterwards, saying:

“Thank you so much for all the notes! I really appreciate the support. Who knew that something so dumb would be liked by so many people? I really like Emily, and I hope she’s added as a Hero in Overwatch soon! I feel so happy! I’m going to go and do some more drawing, so keep an eye out for more posts!”

Not much going on in this post, but I decided to read it anyway because it contrasts so heavily with the next post. Not the next time she posted, but the next post I’m going to read. Actually, it’s the last post of this episode. 

So, I’m going to warn you, this is a side of Emmy we haven’t seen yet. The really negative side. *Sigh* I don’t know what set her off, maybe nothing did, but I think this post is very important to read to you, as it clears the air about her disabilities.

“I really appreciate all the love you’ve given my art, but I feel like I don’t deserve any of it. I’m so broken and worthless and I’ve only been pretending to be normal so that you’ll all like me. The truth is, I’m physically and mentally disabled, and life is just a never ending struggle. 

First off, I’m deaf. Very deaf. The quietest thing I can hear in either ear is a chainsaw. It means I can’t understand speech or anything I’d need to be social. I don’t know sign language at all, I was never taught. So I just… stay inside all day. I’ve been homeschooled by my Dad since I was young. He thinks something bad will happen to me if I go outside, because I couldn’t hear something like a car coming towards me. So I live my life online, for the most part. I feel so isolated, and like I can’t relate to anyone normal. 

Also, I have Bi-Polar Disorder. For those you don’t know of it, it basically means I have high highs and low lows. I’ve done a good job so far at hiding my lows from everyone and only showing my highs. Until now, I guess… I just feel so low today, and I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I just had to be real. Even if it’s an ugly side of me that I hate. My dad hates how moody I am too. He just doesn’t get that it’s not my fault. Even my highs are hard for him to handle sometimes. Anyway, please forgive me for lying so long”

So, I sense a bit of imposter syndrome here. She’s gotten some success and because she views herself as not even a normal person, she thinks she doesn’t deserve it. It’s a pretty common feeling amongst content creators and something you have to move past if you want to make stuff. It’s like, *sigh* like me, I’m not an expert voice actor, why are people listening to me? I have tricked them into thinking I’m worth listening to. If you’re feeling that way about a recent success, just know that it’s all bullshit and it’s normal to feel that way. I wish I had that knowledge at the time I originally read that post… Because then, I would have messaged her and let her know. But yeah, we have more to unpack here.

She talks about being deaf, and the level that she describes is a profound hearing loss, which is as bad as it gets. I have that level of hearing loss in my left ear, and it’s really hard to deal with. So, I kind of can’t imagine what it would be like to have it in both ears. 

Like, for me, I remember this one time where I was at my locker in high school, and someone must have been asking me a question a few times on my bad side. She wanted to know if I had any extra bus tickets, and by the time I finally caught on that she was talking to me, she said something like “Urg, I just want to punch you.” And it wasn’t a joke either, she was very frustrated with the way my hearing loss had affected her. It made me feel small, and like I was an inconvenience to those around me. Guess it didn’t help how I felt that I had a crush on her at the time… Ha… *Sigh* It was very isolating to grow up like that. I didn’t really belong there, but I didn’t exactly belong in the deaf community either, since I could hear fine out of one ear. So when Emmy describes how isolating it is to be deaf and not know sign language, I get it. I really feel that. When I saw this post, it really made me feel for her. This is probably the point in time where I made a mental note to support her art whenever I could. 

Lastly she talks about her mental illness, being bi-polar. I know a lot less about bi-polar disorder than I do hearing loss. Though I was in a production that never wrapped up about a bi-polar teen. Actually, I was the strict dad who couldn’t understand his child’s illness, which is a similar theme seen in Emmy’s post. I’ve actually been cast as a dad 3 or 4 times now? Yeah. *Laughs* Anyways, what I understand about it is that it can be seasonal. You might be manic for a season, and depressive for another. But yeah, it doesn’t always work that way. Usually medication can help balance you out, but in Emmy’s case, she wasn’t taking any meds at this point. I’ll say it here for clarity’s sake, but her having bi-polar disorder was a self-diagnosis, not a professional one. That’ll be covered in the next episode, though. 

So now the whole “Less than Human” thing makes a bit more sense, doesn’t it? Not because it’s true in any sense, but because it was true to her. Disability is something that people tend to see as different, or othering. There’s a lot of stigma there. We can sort of tell at this point that the way her Dad views her and treats her doesn’t help her feel any better about this either. 

That’s why she likes the depiction of mental illness in Monk so much, right? Because it’s a bit of a “More than Human” approach. It gives her some hope that maybe she can be seen positively one day too. As far as movies with Deaf characters goes there’s like 100, if I recall correctly. Which is honestly pitiful compared to the amount of movies, period. So it’s more than likely that she never got to see herself in media in that perspective before. 

Also, there’s the markings of a budding trans girl in there too, which may further intensify the feeling of not being human. For years and years *sigh*, there was practically zero positive representation of trans people in media. We’re taught that feeling like this makes us freaks, and that presenting differently than we’re supposed to makes us... something worse than that. It all comes together to form something bitter and isolating. Especially before you start owning those parts of you and finding a community of your own.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Black Box Readings! I really ranted more than I thought I would. Hopefully you all liked the anecdotal stuff I added in, didn’t really plan on doing that. Follow me on Twitter at TheCrookedGavel to stay up to date on this and other queer podcasts. Feel free to contact me there as well. This is An Capuano, signing off!

[blogwaping]

Swift is a powerful and intuitive programming language for iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and more. Writing Swift code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and Swift includes love for developers with modern features. Swift code is design-safe, yet it also produces lightning-fast software. Swift combines the best of modern language thinking with wisdom from the wider Apple engineering culture and the varied contributions from its open-source community. The compiler is optimized for efficiency and the language is optimized for growth, without compromising either.

Swift 5 Language

Swift 5 makes the release of your applications dramatically simpler. Because the Swift runtime is now integrated into iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, your app no longer requires to share this library for the latest OS versions.

Users who download from the App Store an app constructed with Swift will get a lower app and a quicker download.

Swift describes big classes of prevalent programming mistakes by adopting modern programming patterns:

Variables are always initialized before use.

Array indices are checked for mistakes that are out-of-bound.

Integers will be inspected for overflow.

Optional guarantees explicit handling of nil values.

Memory is automatically administered.

Error handling enables a controlled recovery from unexpected failures.

Swift code is compiled and optimized to make the most of contemporary hardware.

The syntax and standard libraries were intended based on the guiding principle that the highest performance should also be the apparent way to write your code.

Its combination of safety and velocity makes Swift an outstanding option for everything from "Hello World!" to a whole operating system.

Swift combines powerful type inference and pattern matching with a contemporary, lightweight syntax that allows complicated concepts to be expressed straightforwardly and concisely. As a result, code is not only simpler to write but also easier to read and retain.

Advantages of Swift

Swift is an open-source and simple to know. 

Swift is quick, secure, expressive.

Swift is the future of the growth of Apple.

Swift is prepared for the company.

Swift is accessible and familiar (Swift programmers can add C and C++ code into Swift apps).

Disadvantages of Swift

The language is still quite young and the pool of talent is restricted.

Lack of assistance for previous versions of iOS.

Poor interoperability with third-party instruments and IDEs.

Swift is regarded as a "moving target" as it is a fresh language and there are few swift programmers.

Features of Swift Language

Swift has many more features to make your code more expressive:

Generics that are powerful and simple to use.

Protocol extensions that make writing generic code even easier.

First-class functions and a lightweight closure syntax.

Fast and concise iteration over a range or collection.

Tuples and multiple returns values.

Structs that support methods, extensions, and protocols.

Enums can have payloads and support pattern matching.

Functional programming patterns, e.g., map and filter.

Native error handling using try/catch/throw.

1. Designed for Safety

Swift eliminates all classes of unsafe code. Variables are always initialized before use, arrays and integers are checked for overflow, and exclusive access to memory guards is enforced against many programming errors.

The syntax is tuned to make it easy to identify your intent— simple three-character keywords, for instance, define a variable (var) or a constant (let).

Swift strongly leverages value kinds, particularly for frequently used kinds such as Arrays and Dictionaries. This means that if you make a copy of something with that type, you know it won't be changed elsewhere.

2. Fast and Powerful

Swift was constructed to be quick from its earliest conception. Using the extremely high-performance LLVM compiler technology, Swift code is converted into an optimized native code that gets the most out of contemporary hardware.

Also, the syntax and standard library have been tuned to make the most evident way to write your software work best, whether it operates in the watch on your wrist or across a server cluster.

3. Easy to Learn

Swift can open doors for the coding world. It was intended to be the first programming language of anyone, whether you are still in college or exploring fresh career routes.

Apple developed a free curriculum for teachers to teach Swift both in and out of the classroom. First-time coders can download Swift Playgrounds— an iPad app that makes it interactive and enjoyable to get started with Swift code.

Aspiring app developers can access free classes to know how to construct their first Xcode applications.

Apple Stores around the globe are hosting today at Apple Coding & Apps meetings where you can get hands-on experience with Swift code.

4. Source and Binary Compatibility

With Swift 5, you don't need to modify any of your Swift 4 code to use the compiler's fresh version. On the contrary, you can begin using the new compiler and migrate at your speed, taking advantage of fresh Swift 5 characteristics, one module at a moment.

Swift 5 is now introducing binary compatibility for applications. This means that you no longer need to include Swift libraries in applications that target-present and future versions of OS, as the Swift libraries will be included in any future release of OS.

5. Open Source

Swift is developed in the open at Swift.org, with source code, a bug tracker, forums, and regular development building available to everyone.

This wide community of developers, both inside Apple as well as hundreds of outside contributors, are working together to make Swift even more incredible.

There is an even wider variety of blogs, podcasts, conferences, and meetings where community designers share their experiences of how to realize the excellent potential of Swift.

6. Cross-Platform

Swift is already supporting all Apple platforms and Linux, with community members actively working on porting to even more platforms.

The community is also working with SourceKit-LSP to incorporate Swift assistance into a wide variety of developer instruments.

We are excited to see more ways that Swift makes software safer and quicker, while also making programming more fun.

7. Swift for Server

While Swift is powering many new applications on Apple platforms, it is also being used for a fresh class of contemporary server applications.

Swift is perfect for server applications requiring runtime security, compiled performance, and a small memory footprint.

The community created the Swift Server Working Group to guide Swift's direction for creating and deploying server apps.

The first product of this attempt was SwiftNIO, a cross-platform asynchronous event-driven network application framework for servers and customers with high-performance protocols.

8. Objective-C Interoperability

Today you can develop a completely fresh application with Swift, or start using Swift code to introduce fresh characteristics and functionality in your app.

Swift code co-exists in the same project alongside your current Objective-C files, with complete access to your Objective-C API, making it simple to embrace.

Hello World program in Swift

// Hello, World! Program import Swift print("Hello, World!")

Output:    Hello, World!   

How Swift "Hello, World!" Program Works?

 // Hello, World! Program.

Any line beginning with two slashes // in Swift is a comment. The compiler totally ignores them.

Comments are designed for the individual reading the code to better comprehend the program's purpose and functionality.

import swift

Import keyword enables you to access all the symbols specified within the framework. Remember this line is now needed to use print("Hello, World!") in our program. In subsequent tutorials, you will learn more about it.

print("Hello, World!")

In Swift, the line above is called a function. More specifically, a function of printing. Printing implies "show on the screen" in quick.

The code above prints the string inside quotation marks, i.e. "Hello, World!" on the screen. You will learn more about features and how they operate in subsequent tutorials.

"Hello, World!" Program on Terminal

1. Open Terminal.

2. Type swift and press enter (return). This will offer you a welcome message as the Apple Swift version x.x.x.

3. Type print("Hello, World!")

When you press the enter (or return) key, the output will be :

Hello, World!

Run Swift code online

You can use these sites to run swift code online.

Swiftplayground.run

Jdoodle.com

Onlinegdb.com

Repl.it

Run Swift code on Computer

You can download one of this software to create the Swift program or applications.

Xcode (most use)

Atom

Clion

Recommended books for Swift

I am sure these books help you to learn about Swift Programming.

Share your thoughts about Swift language in the comment box.

[drashleighreid]

If you have the time, do all you haven’t done!

omfg! haha okay holy shit

Alisons: Sexuality?

lesbonym

Amaranth: Pronouns/Gender?

She/her

Amaryllis: birthday?

nov 4th! 

Anemone: Favorite flower?

sunflowers and port wine magnolias for their scent and peonies! 

Angelonia: Favorite tv show?

id say favorite of recent would be big little lies 

Arum-Lily: What’s the farthest you’d go for a stranger?

i don’t know i guess it depends on the situation. i find myself agreeing to do things for strangers for some reason like one time i took an acting workshop and i literally drove three people home afterwards even though they didnt live anywhere near me and i didnt know them at all lkjsf

Aubrieta: Favorite drink?

i dont drink much else but water usually lol. i like cold brew coffee and iced tea too. and lemon ginger tea. alcohol-wise i love gin and tonics, red wine, and old-fashioneds 

Baby’s Breath: Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

no but i said that the time before too LMAO 

Balsam Fir: Have you ever been in love? 

im not sure. i’ve felt really strong feelings for people in the past but i don’t think it’s ever been mutual so i guess not 

Baneberries: Favorite song? 

god i don’t know if i can do a favorite of all time. i recently played this video game Submerged and it was a really cleansing and wholesome time and I’ve been listening to the orchestral score of that a lot since. any lana del rey song, get free - major lazer hits me in my toner tbh, the jazz standard stardust - there are so many versions i adore idk its too hard to pick ill just end up listing my whole spotify soon i dont really have all time favorites i just go thru waves Basket of Gold: Describe your family.

my mum runs a childcare business, my nan works at a post office, my brother is an IT guy my sister in law is a hairdresser and i have two young nieces who are in 1st and 2nd grade. they all live in my hometown which is kinda far from me. my dad passed away a few years ago but he owned a flower farm. my parents separated when i was in 2nd grade but i spent every holidays with my dad. i have looooooots of cousins lol 

Beebalm: do you have a best friend? Who is it?

i dont really do the hierarchy thing ! but i have a few. my friends jess and rach from here are my fave people ever and literally make me cry with laughter when we all hang out and my friend meg who i’ve known since 8th grade is my vegan salad club soul sister and i love her to death 

Bellflower: favorite animal

dogs and toucans ! lov birbs 

Bergenia: Are you a morning or night person?

night! 

Bluemink: What are your thoughts on children?

that i dont understand how i didnt get the maternal gene when my mum literally looks after children for a living slkjsdf. im not opposed to having one someday but not for a while and i think id honestly be content either way 

Blazing Stars: What are you afraid of? Is there a reason why?

small spaces/being trapped which i dont know? ive just always had some level of claustrophobia i dont know where it came from 

Bugleherb: How would you spend your last day on Earth?

probably stressed LMAO. idk hanging out with loved ones eating good food trying to do a bunch of things i’ve always wanted to do

Buttercup: Relationship Status?

in a committed relationship with a body pillow and my vibrator 

Candytufts: When do you feel most loved?

when i can speak openly and be vulnerable comfortably. when people tell me they care about me and value my presence 

Canterbury Bells: Do you have any piercings?

2x each ear and one cartilage 

California Poppy: Height?

5′6

Cardinal Flower: Do you believe in ghosts?

yes

Carnation: What are you currently wearing?

a cute grey nightgown lol *+*

Catnip: Have you ever slept with a nightlight?

im sure i did when i was younger but now light kind of bothers me when im trying to sleep

Chrysanthemum: who was the last person you kissed?

my friend when we were drunk

Cock’s Comb: favorite font?

i dont think i really have one lol

Columbine: Are you tired?

im kinda like comfy sleepy. its pouring rain and a cool breeze is coming through my window and im really cozy so its just like. nice. 

Coneflower: Dream job?

scriptwriter/director 

Crane’s-bill: Introvert or extrovert?

im an introvert

Crown Imperial: What’s the farthest you would go for someone you care about?

im fiercely loyal to those i love. 

Daffodil: What’s your zodiac sign?

scorpio babeeeeey

Dahlia: Have you done anything worth remembering?

hmm. in what scheme lol. of the world? probably not yet but we’re working on it.

Daisy: What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?

idk if its an accomplishment but my travels are probably the highlight of my life to me. im kind of always fearless when i travel lol and i love that for me 

False Goat’s Beard: What is something you are good at?

i dont know. i like to think im good at talking people through things and being empathetic and giving advice. i try my best to be there for people 

Foxgloves: What’s something you’re bad at?

letting things go. not bottling things up. 

Freesia: what are three good things that have happened in the past month?

i finished school for the semester ! i started a painting! i saw two cool theatre shows. 

Garden Cosmos: How was your day today?

actually pretty good!

Gardenia: Are you happy with where you’re at in your life?

not really but i’m starting to see the potential in the future a lot more. i tend to get really stuck and struggle to see beyond my current situation but i’m trying to look forward and realise that things are going to get a lot better with time 

Gladiolus: What is something you hope to do in the next year or two?

direct a short film i’m happy with, write more, travel overseas, cultivate a close group of friends here, go back to singing lessons.

Heliotropium: What helps you calm down when you feel stressed?

watching youtube videos ! jenna and julien and remi cruz are my favorites they just make me feel so positive. listening to podcasts especially my dad wrote a porno because even if im in the worst mood ill literally be sobbing with laughter. listening to music and playing mindless games on my phone! watching movies and tv shows. getting out of the house and going to a cafe/wandering around the mall. going to the movie theatre. reading ! 

Hellebore: How do you show affection?

i use my words a lot of the time. if i really care about someone i’ll talk to them and be there for them.

Hoary Stock: What are you proudest of?

im proud of my strength and my unwavering knowledge of what i deserve. im proud of my friends and my family and everyone in my life.

Hollyhock: Describe your ideal day?

waking up and taking a dog for a walk having coffee and brunch with a close friend doing something fun like rock climbing or ice skating or going on a hike then going to see a show and going home to watch movies or play video games or play card games 

Hyacinth: what do you like to do in your free time?

read, watch movies, exercise, talk to friends, write

Hydrangea: How long have you known your best friend? How did you meet them?

Jess and Rach i met on here like ??? i cant remember when ?? 2012 ?? 2011? then we finally met in person in 2015 and now i swear i see them more often than i see friends i live in the same place as. my best friend from high school i met in 8th grade so 2007?? 

Irises: Who can you talk to about (almost) everything?

my best friends. my sister in law. 

Laceleaf: How many friends do you have?

idk its kinda weird to count lol 

 Lantanas: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

hmm. this random lady in a mall once told me i can pull off red lipstick better than anyone shes ever seen before shhhhwooooosh. some of the things people have said about my fics literally makes me want to cry. one of my professors last year wrote a really lovely recommendation letter for me and told me i was fucking awesome and was going to do great things. 

Larkspur: What do you think of yourself?

She’s Trying. idk i struggle sometimes but at my core im proud of myself and i know my worth 

Lavender: What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

My resilience and passion and empathy.

Leather Flower: What’s your least favorite thing about yourself?

that i lose sight of what i want and how to get it. that i shut people out and am sometimes so scarily independent that it tips and turns me lonely. 

Lilac: What’s something you liked to do as a child?

visit my nans on the weekend and play video games. go to the beach. read !!! write. 

Lily: Who was your best friend when you were a kid?

my best friend had the same name as me and we’d play bratz and she had a pool so it was lit now she lives a few houses down from where my mum lives and has a child and we havent really spoken since like 9th grade lol slfj 

Lily of the Incas: What is something you still feel guilty for?

not making it back in time for my dads funeral

Lily of the Nile: What is something you feel guilty for that you shouldn’t feel guilty about?

a lot of the time im self assured enough to not feel guilt over things i know aren’t my fault or situations where im not in the wrong. i never want people to be unhappy or struggle even if they probably dont deserve my sympathy though so i get mixed feelings there. 

Marigold: Where did you grow up? Tell us about it?

i grew up on a coastal beach town. a small sleepy lil bay. it’s super pretty and idyllic and gorgeous but living there grew a bit monotonous tbh im not a small town person. visiting is lovely though. my nan literally lived basically on the beach when i was growing up youd just like roll down a hill and be on the sand. i loved it so much

Morning Glory: What was your bedroom like growing up?

i had a few different ones. i usually had purple walls ! and id decorate it with random things i was interested in and had books everywhere

Mugworts: What was it like for you as a teenager? Did you enjoy your teenage years?

i mean not a whole lot LOL high school kinda sucked. i did really well at school and i had some good friends! it wasnt the worst but i was also a closeted gay and didnt know who tf i was so there was some struggles around that. 

Norwegian Angelica: Tell us about your mom?

shes generous and selfless and kind. she’s had a bit of a rough life but she’s strong. 

Onions: Tell about your dad

i love that this q is ‘onions’ mood. our relationship was ,,, turbulent. i have some really great memories with him and visiting was honestly good a lot of the time when i was growing up! we’d play pool and id help them with the flowers and we’d go out boating and swimming and bowling and do lots of fun stuff but he was also an alcoholic and gradually got worse as i got older and he was really intimidating and could be really hot and cold and had really unrealistic expectations. 

Orchid: Tell about your grandparents

 i was really close with my grandmother on my dads side she gave me my passion for reading and writing !! when i was really young i would sit in her lap and she would read me stories and then when i got older i started reading the stories to her we were super close she passed away when i was in 6th grade and it was really sad i loved her. my grandpa on my mums side taught me how to play pool !! he used to run the pool club where i’d compete and he was just a nice guy he passed away a few years ago. and my nan on my mums side is an icon i love hanging out with her i grew up spending almost every weekend at her house playing video games she always has all the newest consoles and video games for all of her grandchildren lol we go for walks on the beach and shes awesome one time she came to pick me up from school blasting low by flo rida we stan 

Pansy: What was your most memorable birthday? What made it be so memorable?

hmm my 16th maybe ! that was when i was in the US and i remember having cheer practice and my host mom brought cake in and it was just really nice. idk why my 10th birthday is so memorable to me but i had a lit bday party and i remember so much about it lol? 

Peony: What was your first job?

i was a barista! 

Petunia: If you’re in a relationship, how did you meet your partner(s)? If you’re not in a relationship, how did you meet your crush/how do you hope to meet your future partner(s), if you want any?

i dont know if i have an idea on how i hope to meet my future partner its not something i plan or have a preference for. ive met most of my closest friends online and w being gay *+* lol itll prob be through online im guessing. 

Pincushion: How do you deal with pain?

physically? poorly LOL im such a baby if im in pain in any way. 

Pink: where is home? 

idk. i dont know if i have one just yet tbh. we’ll find it ! 

Plantain Lilies: If you could go back in time, whats is one thing you would stop/change?

hmm i try to live without ragrets. there are a few situations id like to go into either wiser or not at all though if im being hoe nest. 

Prairie Gentian: Who is someone you look up to? Describe them.

hmm. there are a few actresses/celebs i look up to ! all these qs are turning my brain into goo LMAO i cant think

Rhododendron: What is something you used to believe in as a child?

i heard once that someone related to my great grandfather had some kind of connection to french royalty ?? idk how true that was but i was waiting for my princess diaries moment for a while there 

Ricinus: who’s the most important in your life?

me bitch

Rose: What’s your favorite sound?

rain/thunder 

Snapdragon: At this moment, what do you want?

to read fic until im too sleepy to keep my eyes open then drift off *+* 

St. John’s Wort: Is it easy or difficult for you to express how you feel about things?

depends on the situation. i wouldn’t say easy but i can speak and explain myself well because I spend soo much time thinking about things lol

Sunflower: What is something you don’t want to imagine life without?

my mum 

Sweet Pea: How much sleep did you get last night?

like 9 hrs lol 

Tickseed: What’s your main reason to get up every morning?

coffee

Touch-me-not: how do you feel about your current job?

that i need one

Transvaal Daisy: What’s your favorite item of clothing?

black jeans 

Vervain: What’s stressing you out most right now?

this and that. packing to go away

Wisteria: How many books have you read in the past few months? what were they called?

lol none really. i read a few at the beginning of the year but nothing lately. ive read innumerable fic tho does that count

Wolf’s Bane: Where do you want to be in life this time next year?

happier ! growing ! loved. i want to feel accomplished with what i created during the school year, fulfilled. surrounded by people with pure intentions. hopefully just overseas somewhere 

Yarrow: Do you know what vore is?

whY is this a question ???????????????????

Zinnia: Give a random fact about yourself

i used to be a fitness instructor 

okay that was a lot more questions than i thought it was LMAO fuck

thank you for the entertainment that was fun ! xx 

[yesterdaysdreams]

My Favorite Self-Help and Happiness Books

Confession: I love self-help and happiness-centered books. I really do! I am one of those people who strives to always be learning and growing, both in my career and personally. I certainly enjoy a good business book often, but lately I’ve been really loving a book that kind of goes beyond just work into all parts of your life. I hope I work to learn, grow, and change my entire life. It makes me feel excited and hopeful about the future.

Now I have to also confess that I rarely actually read these books. I tend to listen to them as audiobooks (on Audible), mainly when I am driving, working out, or completing tasks at home (like dishes or laundry). The weather has been great lately, so I’ve been taking daily morning walks and almost always have my latest audiobook in my ears. It’s a great habit that gets me ready to start my day.

I thought I would share some of my favorite books that fall in this category from over the years and I would LOVE to hear your suggestions in the comments of any books that have helped you as well!

The Success Principles

This is what I am currently listening to and I LOVE it. I had it recommended to me a few times but I had put off reading it because it’s pretty long. I am listening to the audio version, but after a while I decided to purchase the book as well because I can tell it’s one I’m going to read again (maybe not right away, but maybe). You could totally read this as a kind of daily devotional, if the size of the book scares you. It is so packed you won’t want to fly through this one too quickly anyway. I also love all the additional resources the book suggests, which can be found on its website.

The Power of Habit

I read this one a couple years ago and Trey is reading it now, so it’s been fun to get it explore some of the ideas again through conversations with him. As the name of the book suggests, it’s all about habits. How we form them, how to potentially influence or change them, and the motivation behind the human mind. Even if you’re not interested in learning to change or improve your own habits, I think this book has valuable lessons for anyone in business or marketing as well because it might help you better understand the habits of your customers.

The Compound Effect

The gist of this book is how small things can add up in a big way. I love this concept! There are so many days I feel like I’m doing enough or I don’t have space to add much more in my life, but this book showed me that’s not true at all because I can harness the power of little (tiny, really) actions and have a big impact in my life, my business, my relationships, and the lives of others.

Meaningful Work

This book is somewhat geared toward small business owners in that it shares the story of Shawn Askinosie’s career (which itself is super inspiring) and also encourages the reader to, well, seek meaningful work OR add more meaning to the work they may already do. There is a lot about facing the deeper fears in our lives, which is challenging work but super worthwhile. And I also love how the book focuses on meditation (and/or prayer) and creating a mission statement or big goal for your life and career. I would certainly recommend this to anyone, not just small business owners. But for those of you who do work for yourselves or are thinking about changing careers to something more independent, this is a MUST read.

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter

This book may not be for everyone but I would certainly recommend it to anyone. Essentially, the author has a feminist awakening later in her life after being a part of the conservative church for many years. I related to Sue’s story a lot and I found a lot of peace and comfort from hearing her (so articulately) put into words many similar things to what I’ve experienced in my own life.

The Happiness Project

Loved this book from Gretchen Rubin and I believe she’s come out with a few others since this one first hit the shelves. I love how she approaches the idea of being happy in such an analytical and list-making, action-taking way. I understand the world more in this way myself, so I found this book really inspiring and helpful. (She also has a great podcast!)

Rising Strong

If you’re not familiar with Brene Brown yet, you should get familiar, friend, because she is awesome! I really loved and learned a lot from this book, which is all about getting back up from failures and setbacks. Raise your hand if you’ve ever failed. (You can’t see it but my hand is held HIGH.) Failing is part of success but it’s painful and I love Brene’s insight and research findings that she shares throughout this book. Also, if you listen to the audio version, she reads it and she’s from Texas so get ready for a little bit of an accent, ya’ll. 🙂

The Four Agreements

This is the next book on my list. So, technically I haven’t read this one yet, but it’s been recommended to me so many times and now the current book I’m reading has mentioned it, so I think it’s clear the universe is letting me know this one is next. Has anyone read it? What did you think?

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photo of Elsie’s rainbow bookshelves by Amber Ulmer.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 https://ift.tt/2MM2Upd via IFTTT

[faithfulnews]

Should people in sinful lifestyles bully churches into celebrating them?

Anti-marriage gay activists vandalize church

This story was the topic of the most recent episode of the Reasonable Faith podcast. Basically, a conservative, apologetics-friendly church had a homosexual person who wanted to be openly gay and still be accepted as a member. After he was told by the church that he could attend the church, but not be a member, he decided to write the mainstream media to shame the church.

Here is the link to Reasonable Faith‘s podcast – and they have a transcript.

I want to first focus on the letter written by the gay man:

Dear Watermark Community Church,

Today I celebrate a very interesting anniversary with you. It was exactly one year ago when you told me that I was no longer worthy to serve, be in a community group, and be a member of your church.

I spent years in your church battling against my homosexuality. I believed with all my heart that God would change me; I prayed for change almost daily. But when I wasn’t able to change, you turned your back on me.

You say our “sin” is not unique, but you treat us in a unique manner; this is unacceptable behavior. We are actual people that have actual feelings.

Here we are a year later and you are still doing to others what you did to me. You are tarnishing the name of God to Christians and non-Christians alike; you should be ashamed of yourselves! Do not forget, Jesus was a angry with people just like you who said certain groups of people were not worthy to be followers of Him.

Thank you for removing yourself from my life! I am who God made me to be. I cannot change my sexual orientation and nor would I want to. I now have internal peace and happiness unlike ever before.

Jason Thomas

As Reasonable Faith notes, this is what he said and this is what the far-left Dallas Morning News reported. It sounds like the church was very mean to him, but is that what really happened?

Here is what the church actually wrote to him:

Dear Jason,

This is a difficult letter to write, as I am sure that it will be a difficult one to hear and receive. We genuinely care for you, love you, and want nothing more for you than to live an abundant life that is found in Jesus Christ alone.

However, in our attempt to shepherd you, we have recognised a destructive pattern that prohibits us in caring for you and playing the role you desire for us to have in your life (1 Peter 5:1-4; Acts 20:28). Specifically, your desire to actively participate in a same-sex relationship with another man, and your unwillingness to heed biblical counsel from your church to turn from that relationship, has made it exceedingly difficult to shepherd you during this time.

As we noted during our time together last Tuesday (9/29/15), and through the years, we have gently & repeatedly brought these patterns to your attention and, at times, you have heeded this counsel and repented. But now, this is no longer the case. So, in obedience to Matthew 18:15-18 and 1 Corinthians 5:11, we are left with no other option but to remove you from our body and treat you as we would anyone who is living out of fellowship with God…and we lovingly, but firmly, call you back to repentance. This means that you are no longer a member of our body at Watermark. We are praying that repentance comes quickly and that you do not continue choosing a path of destruction and one that leads you away from the authority and care of the church.

We recognise that these patterns are only symptoms of a heart that is either unwilling or unable to fully trust God in every area of your life, including your sexuality. We plead with you to run to the Lord and allow the Spirit of God to begin to transform your heart in a mighty way (Titus 3:3-7).

In order to help you through this time, we would like to make some tangible recommendations that we hope will serve as a catalyst for true repentance and heart-change in your life. They are:

1. Faithful attendance of Re:Generation targeting the above issue, while following counsel to not be in a dating relationship during that time.

2. Meet with a Watermark staff member who shares in the same struggle (same sex attraction) who has found freedom, healing, and victory through our Savior Jesus Christ (just let Brandon know when you’re ready to meet with him).

We affirm your many gifts, your heart of kindness, and we value the way God has uniquely formed you (Psalm 139:13-14). We all pray for your repentance and full restoration so that your gifts and passions can be fully unleashed for the Kingdom of God. We love you, Jason, and stand at the gate for you and eagerly await God’s restoration in your life (Luke 15:20).

In Christ,

The Elders of Watermark Community Church

Here is what one of my friends at Watermark who was aware of the situation told me:

I think it’s clear that Watermark was very kind and loving in their discipline and can’t be called hypocritical or homophobic, and they were not trying to change the man’s sexual orientation but rather simply asking him to abstain from sexual relationships. They give lots of chances before administering discipline and the process is the same each time they go through this with members. Some repent and some turn away.

As we have seen, publicizing those who disagree with homosexuality and gay marriage is a favorite tactic of the fascist left. Sometimes, it just involves smearing (e.g. – the Southern Povery Law Center).  Sometimes, it involves lawfare, (e.g. – the attorney general of Washington state). Sometimes, it involves leaking the names of pro-marriage donors (e.g. – the Human Rights Campaign). Sometimes, it involves vandalism, violence and even domestic terrorism (e.g. – Floyd Lee Corkins’ attack on the Family Research Council). When it comes to homosexuality and gay marriage, fascism is the normal response to dissent.

I just find it astonishing that gay activists and other radicals on the left think that they can try to bring in the mainstream media and the law to punish the church for holding to orthodox Christian moral values. But this is why we call sin “sin”. We don’t call chastity a sin, because chaste people don’t behave like fascists when they hear disagreement. We don’t call having lots of children a sin, because people who have lots of children don’t behave like fascists if anyone disagrees with them. There is something really wrong with these behaviors that the Bible forbids. You can see why the Bible condemns certain things as sins when you look at the fascist responses to disagreement with the sin.

Look at 1 Corinthians 6:1-10:

1 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?

2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?

3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 

5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 

6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!

7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 

8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.

9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men

10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Consider 1 Corinthians 5:9-13:

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—

10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.

11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?

13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

Everyone sins. Fine. Keep it to yourself. Don’t use the law to force Bible-believing Christians to celebrate your sins. The church’s job is to help you to be more like Christ. You’re in a community where everyone is supposed to be serious about growing as a Christian and part of that involves improving your character morally. Another part means getting along with other Christians instead of being disruptive.

Regarding complaints about not being able to act on your sexual orientation, I have no sympathy. I am attracted to women, and I am a virgin, because I am not married. I am not going to church to rebel against this requirement. My job is to structure my life in such a way that it is easier to obey it, whether that involves studying the issue in the research or drawing the line long before I have to make a decision in the heat of the moment. God must be #1 in a person’s life, setting goals and policies, and our job is to make and execute effective plans that deliver results for the Boss.

By the way, do not miss this other recent article on homosexuality from Reasonable Faith.

Go to the article

[foursprout-blog]

10 Simple Ways To Boost Your Confidence In Your 20s

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/10-simple-ways-to-boost-your-confidence-in-your-20s/

10 Simple Ways To Boost Your Confidence In Your 20s

Twenty20 / @criene

The 20s are seriously like a roller coaster. They are filled with ups and downs and many, many highs and lows. You change a LOT in your 20s. You go (and grow) from being basically a baby, entering the workforce, feeling proud about your new ID and your first legal drink, all the way to establishing yourself in the workforce (or having several different jobs), thinking about marriage (perhaps), going to grad school (possibly), buying a house or moving locations (also perhaps), and simply put, growing up. With career changes, school changes, housing decisions, relationship decisions, and the millions of other decisions you make in your 20s, it is HARD to always feel confident in yourself and in your decisions, especially when you keep getting knocked down or rerouted.

And society puts all kinds of pressure on us in our 20s. We start to believe that we have to do things by a certain age when we really don’t, and we also get preoccupied with comparing ourselves to other people and then feeling down about ourselves. For instance: when your plans didn’t go as you hoped and you didn’t start grad school by the ripe age of 24, did you suddenly panic and think that others would think you were lazy? Or did you immediately jump to the conclusion that you were falling behind and not doing a good job with…life? Or, do you get completely nervous in work meetings because you don’t feel confident enough to speak up…even a little bit? And then do you reach the conclusion that you are awkward and have poor communication skills, and then feel even worse about yourself?

Perhaps you constantly put yourself down because you are a chronic perfectionist. Perhaps you never feel comfortable in your clothes or in the outfits you assemble.

Do any of these speak true to you? All of these things add up and wear down on us. That’s why it’s super important that we learn how to be confident, and that we learn confidence boosting strategies so that in time we begin to feel more comfortable with who we are and how we show up. Here are a few tips if you (like me) are in need of a confidence boost:

1. Experiment with your style. In a podcast interview with a fashion guru I listened to a while back, the host asked the interviewee what advice she had for girls who wanted to experiment with and feel more confident with their style. The stylist recommended that girls add something unexpected to their outfit every day, meaning they should add something they wouldn’t normally pair with that outfit, then see how they feel wearing it throughout the day. Switching it up a little with things you already own is a budget-friendly way to experiment with new looks. I love this recommendation because it’s cheap, it’s fun, and it allows you to play around with your normal look. Maybe for you, this is adding a statement necklace to a patterned print top that you usually only wear simple jewelry with, or maybe it’s as simple as adding a scarf or a fun belt to an outfit that you previously left plain. This practice allows you to try new things little by little and find what you feel more or less confident in. I think the act of just wearing something you wouldn’t typically wear also slowly boosts your confidence as in the long run. If an outfit doesn’t turn out as cute as you expected, what’s the big deal? You won’t really care.

2. Explore your potential rather than just daydreaming about it. Maybe you have a story you want to let out on paper. Maybe you have a dream of taking beautiful photographs to share on your blog or on Instagram. Maybe you’ve always wanted to dance. So what’s holding you back? Usually, it’s one thing: fear. And to break out of this fear mindset, you have to take action and try things. So turn your intention into action by exploring your potential to do the thing you’ve always wanted to do. Sign up for a beginning ballet class or a barre class. Post a few photos you have already taken and feel proud of them. Add in cute quotes or captions. It’s all about starting somewhere. You have to try things to be confident, as often, confidence grows along the way. And remember, the expert always starts out as a beginner. Don’t compare your beginning to anyone else’s middle.

3. Tap into your limiting beliefs and debunk them. Be honest with yourself. What are your limiting beliefs? What beliefs do you hold about yourself that are holding you back in living a life you love? When you know them, prove them wrong. If you realize that your limiting belief is that you don’t think you are interesting enough or talkative enough to start a podcast, but you’ve always wanted a podcast, start the podcast! Maybe thinking you don’t have enough time is a huge limiting belief for you. Maybe you don’t think you have the time to take an online class that you really want to take. Take the class. Create the time. For those of you who don’t believe that your ideas are interesting enough to share with others: join a book club. Start sharing your voice because ultimately, it’s needed. And you need to learn this. See, limiting beliefs are only beliefs. They are created in our heads and aren’t factual. They aren’t true limits. Therefore, they can be stretched and pushed, and ultimately broken!

4. Root for others and cheer them on. Rather than constantly comparing yourself to other people, cheer them on. Realize that their successes are not your failures. You are not in a competition, you are all working side by side and with one another. Just because someone is good at something, it doesn’t mean you need to compare yourself to them. You are individual people with individual minds and thoughts, and these thoughts are what make you you. If you can begin to cheer for other people, you will slowly drop some of your limiting beliefs about yourself not being good enough. You will see that when you support others, they will also support you and help you grow. Remember, her strengths are not your weaknesses.

5. Know and use your strengths. Whether it’s at work, in your personal life, or in school, acknowledge your strengths and be intentional about working from your strengths. If you know you are a great communicator and confident talking in front of people, maybe you should be in a field in which you are presenting or training people, or possibly mediating conversations. If you thrive in organization, maybe you should be working in a field such as event planning or social media management. Try to find a job, or a role in your current job, that allows you to thrive from and build on your strengths. You will feel more confident because you will be in a field in which your strengths are shining through and helping you to be more comfortable. Feeling confident in one area of life will help you in other areas where you are less confident or comfortable.

6. Please, please, please…drop the comparisons.  You see all of these people out there our age who are “making it.” Those who are living their own magical lives (or at least their lives appear magical on Instagram). You see them thriving in success, starting their own businesses and sharing beautiful photos of their matcha lattes with adaptogens and cordyceps and all sorts of potions mixed in. And of course you wonder, should you be drinking that too? Should you be eating fancy breakfast bowls or drinking smoothies rather than the usual quick bowl of cereal or toast? The answer is: not necessarily. Just because something is working for someone else doesn’t mean it would work for you. And just because someone else is successful in a different field or even in your field, it doesn’t mean you aren’t successful or that you are doing something wrong. Comparisons only make you worry. They only make you nervous that you aren’t enough. So why keep making comparisons? Next time your brain jumps to start comparing you to someone else, immediately give yourself three compliments. Tell yourself three things that you are really doing well, or three things that you are good at.

7. Start a gratitude journal. You’d be surprised at how much this can help in becoming more confident. While writing down three things a day that you are grateful for doesn’t sound like it would relate to your self confidence, it actually does because it allows you to put things into perspective. It allows you to realize that some of the things you are worried about don’t even matter. It allows you to focus on the good in your life, and when you are looking at life from a positive perspective, you are much more likely to accept who you are.

8. Listen to your intuition. Pay attention to what your gut is telling you, especially when you are facing a predicament. Rather than second guessing yourself, or worrying that you aren’t going to do the best thing or say the right thing, really just listen to your intuition. Try not to overthink every decision you make. Overthinking in general, and ignoring your own intuition, is going to lead you down the path to anxiety, low confidence, and uncertainty. When you can get in touch with your intuition and start to follow it, you will feel more confident in the decisions you make.

9. Do something creative. Creativity is a huge outlet for confidence and for feeling good about yourself. Sometimes creativity sparks the quieter confidence, it helps you to feel more at peace in your body and mind. Take the time to create something. Take some beautiful photographs, write a blog post, create a recipe, paint a watercolor painting, sketch some spring flowers, write a poem….do whatever feels right for you. Creativity gets good energy flowing within you. It knocks down your walls and helps you to get more in touch with who you really are deep down.

10. Remember to appreciate where you are in life. If you put so much time and energy into where you want to be in life without acknowledging where you are now, you’re constantly going to be pushing yourself to be better. And unfortunately, when you do this, you might start putting down where you are now, or thinking you have not accomplished enough. It’s always good to grow, to learn, and to have goals, but it’s also extremely important to realize how far you have come. To be confident, to truly have a good relationship with yourself, it’s really important to celebrate the little successes every day. It’s important to find happiness in who you are today, and to understand that you are a full, complete human being exactly as you are.