#it’s a silly addition but i really have started typing more southern

[frothingatthemaw]

I find myself quoting the boys a lot, is there any lines you find yourself saying a lot?

uhmmm. i don’t think so? i think i am embarrassed to do this 😭 my mom says i’ve got funnier since i’ve been watching jackass so maybe the boys have something to do with that? i’m not sure!

[fanfics-for-fun]

Bend to Live | Chapter Three

Genre: Bending AU, BTS AU

Rating: 18+

Pairing: fire bender!jungkook x water bender!reader, none bender! Yoongi x fire bender!Jimin, none bender!OC x air bender!Namjoon

Word count: ~5k

Summary: You were one of the mightiest water benders. In one of your fights, you caught the attention of a mighty fire bender. And with that, your journey around the world began.

A/N: I am so sorry for keeping you waiting for so long. I have finally finsihed the chapter and I really hope, that you enjoy it. :3 If you want to be added to the taglist, please send me an Ask so I have an easier overview of everyone.

By now, the others and you left the northern water tribe two days ago and Lynn slowly loosed her strength from flying for so long. She absolutely needed a break to get everyone safely to the southern air temple.

And you? You were still motionless. Louise took care of your wound by cleaning it every eight hours and changing the bandages. Jeongguk meanwhile didn’t leave your side even as he was asleep. He was too afraid of leaving and realising that your injury has gotten worse while he was gone. The events caused an intense paranoia. He was so scared that maybe, your wound wouldn't heal properly. Maybe you couldn't bend anymore after that?

“Kookie, we know you’re scared to shit since you saw the dagger in her leg but you need to sleep more than the minimum you need. Your bending weakens from it and it would make you incapable of protecting her if something like this happens again while she's still injured,” Yoongi said quietly to him while everybody else was eating.

“But I want to be awake when she wakes up. She needs somebody on her side if it gets worse and to help her if needed,” he mumbled and looked at his bowl full of food. He didn’t eat much in the last few days either. He somewhat was incapable of doing it. His sorrows eating up his whole mind. There wasn't enough space to remind him of eating properly.

“And I understand that. I would be in the same position if something happened to Jimin. But you would be the one to tell me that I need to focus on myself more to keep him safe. I'm not trying to undermine your current situation. I just want to help you to be capable of protecting her,” Yoongi explained and Jeongguk nodded.

“I sleep a bit after I finished. Thanks, Yoongi,” he said and kept on eating. Yoongi nodded at that and went back to eating, too.

Silently, everybody was eating again. They all waited for you to wake up so Louise could treat your wound better and so she knew how you were feeling. They wanted to make a stop at the next city nearby to grab some medicine and to give Lynn a well-deserved break. It was a little port city with a few fields and rivers to relax nearby. All in all, it was beautiful there.

As soon as Jeongguk finished eating, he laid down next to you and took your hand in his. He looked at your sleeping figure and nibbled on his lip. You needed to wake up soon. You had to eat and regain your strength so your wound would heal properly. With that in his mind, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted into a light slumber.

“I think he is exaggerating,” Taehyung mumbled and Jimin slapped his shoulder.

“And you’re an asshole, Tae. Put yourself in his position. I’m sure, you would have reacted the same way,” Jimin said hushed. Taehyung just rolled his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

“We’ll be arriving soon. Start packing everything in bundles so Tae and I can easier get everything off Lynn’s back,” Namjoon ordered and everyone followed his instruction while you and Jeongguk were still asleep.

After an hour, everything was off of Lynn's back. Just Jeongguk and you remained on it, still sleeping. Everybody else meanwhile had set up camp and Louise and Namjoon just headed off to the city to look for a healer or some medical supplies.

“How about we catch some fish for dinner, Yoongi?” Jin asked him.

“No, thanks. Jimin and I wanted to go take a dip in the river. Later maybe,” Yoongi answered, lifted Jimin and carried him to the river while Jimi was a giggling mess. Taehyung looked after them and felt an ugly feeling bubbling in his stomach.

“Would you come along then, Tae?” Jin asked. Taehyung turned to look at him. He already opened his mouth but got interrupted by Hoseok.

“I’m sorry, Jin, but Taehyung and I wanted to work on his earth bending,” he said, grabbed Taehyung’s hand and dragged him after himself. Jin was left alone, fishing rut in his hand. He sighed deeply and threw a concerned look to Lynn, Jeongguk and you. With another sigh, he left to the river to catch some fish.

Shortly after, Jeongguk slowly woke up and stretched out a little. He sat up and ruffled through his hair. Looking around, he took in the scenery around him and smiled lightly. Namjoon really decided on a beautiful place for a good days rest.

Suddenly, Jeongguk noticed a shift next to him. He turned around to look at you and smiled brightly as he saw you shifting in your spot.

“Y/N? Are you awake?” he asked.

“Wished I wasn’t,” you mumbled barely audible and laid an arm over your face. Jeongguk smiled lightly at that.

“At least you’re awake now. You should eat something and we’ll get your wound cleaned up again. Louise and Namjoon are in a city nearby, looking for some medicine or even a healer,” Jeongguk explained.

“I’m a healer myself. I don’t need medicine or a healer. And I can feel a river nearby,” you mumbled and tried to sit up. Jeongguk rushed over and helped you up.

“Let me get you off of here,” Jeongguk said and tried to lift you as soft as possible. You whimpered because the movement caused a light pain in your leg.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he mumbled and scooted over to the edge of Lynn’s saddle. You bent some water over and made a slide out of ice. Jeongguk chuckled at that.

“What? It would get me down safer. I don’t want to have more pain than necessary,” you explained.

“Oh, you don’t trust me at that?” he said, throwing his legs over the edge.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. You saved my life. But you can’t make a slide out of fire. It’s just that my way is more convenient,” you said and giggled as he slid down, hissing afterwards because your leg moved in a bad way causing your wound to stretch. Jeongguk slowly lifted you again and carried you to the camp.

“We’re sleeping under the sky?” you asked as he carefully put you down on a sleeping bag.

“No, we’re sleeping underneath the earth,” Jeongguk responded. You looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Silly question, silly answer,” he simply said. You rolled your eyes at that and got yourself comfortable. You slowly shifted your weight on your left leg and started to unwrapped your leg.

“What are you doing?” Jeongguk asked and watched you carefully.

“Treating my wound. What blood type do you have?” you answered. Your stomach dropped to the ground as you saw the wound and it felt like you were about to throw up. And if you had eaten already, you surely would.

“It looks better than yesterday. And I have blood type A,” Jeongguk mumbled and you quickly bent some water over the wound.

“Thank you,” you said and slowly tried to heal your wound. Tears shot in your eyes at the pain that shot through your veins. You whimpered quietly after a few seconds and bent the water away.

“No use! I need blood,” you fussed and ran your hands through your hair.

“What’s the problem?” Jeongguk suddenly asked and wrapped a new bandage around your wound again.

“I need blood of type B to create a tissue. This tissue will be put in my wound and with additional water bending the wound would heal within a few hours completely,” you explained and hissed as he pressed onto the wound too hard.

“I’m sorry,” Jeongguk mumbled. “I don’t think any of us has blood type B. Maybe someone at the southern air temple has it.” You nodded and got yourself comfortable again as soon as Jeongguk finished. He shuffled a little through the supplies they had packed and grabbed you something to eat.

“Here, eat. You need the energy. It’ll take a few more days until we’re at the air temple and your body has to go through it,” he said as he handed you the food. You grabbed the bowl and slowly began eating. Jeongguk watched you for a while and then looked over to Jimin and Yoongi who were happily playing in the water. You followed his gaze and smiled lightly.

“Do they have a relationship with each other?” you asked Jeongguk and he nodded.

“But I have to say it is nothing official. I guess they’re both too afraid to admit their feelings for each other. The air nomads were the only ones who accepted same-sex love. The water tribe is still really controversial about this topic while in the earth kingdom and the fire nation same-sex love slowly gets more and more accepted. Therefore, they're only showing their feelings for each other when they're sure that no one would harass them for that,” he said. You nodded, laying your finished bowl aside. Jeongguk laid it next to the fireplace and helped you laying down.

“Thank you,” you mumbled and closed your eyes. Slowly, you drifted back to sleep. Jeongguk kept on sitting next to you and watched over you. He still had to make sure that nothing happened to you, even though your condition slowly improved.

After a few hours, Louise and Namjoon came back from their trip to the city. As soon as Louise saw you laying on a sleeping bag, she flooded Jeongguk with questions. He explained to her that you needed someone with the blood type B to donate his or her blood because you could heal yourself properly with that. Sadly, Louise didn’t have that blood type either so it would take a few more days until you could heal your wound; until you could maybe heal your wound.

“So, what is our next step?” Namjoon asked. “We didn’t find a good healer in the city who could treat Y/N's wound.”

“We have to hope that somebody at the southern air temple has blood type B,” Jeongguk explained. Both Louise and Namjoon nodded, sat down and looked over the shopping.

“Hey, you made it off Lynn. How’s Y/N?” Yoongi said as he and Jimin came back from the river, soaking wet.

“She’s alright. Wound looks a little better but we need someone with the blood type B. Y/N could heal herself with that blood properly,” Jeongguk repeated himself. Yoongi nodded and looked around for Jin, laying an arm around Jimin’s hips and pulling him closer to his side. Jimin giggled and hugged Yoongi from the side.

“Jin is still fishing. We met him on our way here. He is a little stream downwards,” Namjoon said as he realized who Yoongi was looking for. Yoongi nodded, pressed a kiss on Jimin’s cheek and walked over to Jin to help him fishing. Jimin’s cheeks and ears were flushed red as he sat down next to you.

“Why don’t you just kiss and make love to each other?” Louise asked overly excited which made clear that she said that as a joke. But Jimin still hid behind his hands and mumbled “leave me alone” through them. Everybody laughed, catching the attention of Taehyung and Hoseok who were still training. Taehyung looked over to you and as he saw you laying on the ground sleeping, he stopped the training and hurried over to the group.

“Why isn’t she on Lynn’s back?” he asked as soon as he kneeled next to your sleeping figure.

“Because I helped her down,” Jeongguk said.

“I hope that you didn’t hurt her at all while doing it,” Taehyung hissed and Jeongguk furrowed confused his eyebrows.

“I tried to but it was difficult. She had some little pain but it wasn’t more than necessary.”

“What?!” Taehyung growled.

“Okay, calm down, Taehyung. She wanted to get off of Lynn and she knew that she would be in pain. She even helped me carrying her down by bending an ice slide. So don’t be mad at me. She wanted it that way,” Jeongguk hissed and in his eyes burned fire. Taehyung backed off a little.

“I swear if you hurt her again-“

“What is your fucking problem, Taehyung? Stop acting like you fucking own her. She is just your water bending teacher and she’ll survive this. She’s strong,” Jeongguk said angrily and stood up. Taehyung stood up also.

“Maybe she’s just my bending teacher but I rely on her. Don’t underestimate that.”

“Stop, arguing. Nobody can sleep with this much noise,” you suddenly said and both men looked down where you laid between them.

“I’m sorry,” Taehyung mumbled and stepped aside.

“It’s alright,” you said, sat up and brought your hand up over your mouth to hide your yawn. Taehyung sat down next to Jimin who quickly locked eyes with him.

“We have fish!” Jin shouted as he and Yoongi came back from the river. They both stopped in their tracks as they felt the weird atmosphere.

“Is everything okay?” Yoongi asked slowly and everybody nodded simultaneously. He just shrugged and helped Jin preparing dinner. Louise and you fell into some mindless chatter like everybody else. Jeongguk and Taehyung in the meantime avoided each other and tried to talk as little as possible.

The next morning, Lynn was well enough to continue the flight. Everyone got their things packed and Namjoon helped you up on the bison's back. You enjoyed the flight to the southern air temple while you were awake. Luckily, it was most of the time. The feeling of the salty air ruffling through your hair put you at ease and you somehow forgot about the open wound you still had in your right thigh.

As you landed on the southern air temple, you smiled. It was beautiful there and you could feel the spiritual energy that floated in the air. Namjoon helped you off of Lynn’s back again and as everything was off of her she flew away to spend some time with the other bison. Taehyung quickly made his way over to you to help you stand straight.

“Thank you, but I can take care of myself,” you said, bent some water out of thin air and created two ice crutches to support yourself. He turned a little red and you chuckled.

“Remember, Taehyung. If you believe you’re incapable of something, you’ll never learn how to do it,” you said with a cheeky wink and made your way over to Namjoon who was talking to another air bender.

“Good, you’re here. We have somebody with blood type B. We can arrange everything so you can heal yourself as soon as possible,” Namjoon told you.

“That sounds like a good idea,” you said nodding and smiled.

“Follow me please,” the air bender said and headed for one of the buildings. You followed him as quickly as you could with the ice crutches. Even though they were really solid, you had to make sure they didn't break while you walked after him. He led you to an empty room with just a bed and a dresser.

“Everything you’ll need afterwards or during it is in the dresser. Some water is in the bowl on it. If you have anything that you’ll need additionally, just ask,” he said and left shortly after. You got yourself comfortable on the bed and mentally prepared yourself. As soon as that was finished, you slowly unwrapped your leg from the bandages, swallowing thickly as you saw the wound. You quickly cleaned and disinfected it so it wouldn't get infected in any process. You hissed because of the pain caused by the germicide, which also caused tears to shot in your eyes. You quickly removed your tears and took a deep breath.

‘You could do this. You’ll just create a tissue now, put it in, heal your wound so the tissue is fixed and then take a break,’ you thought to yourself. Suddenly, someone knocked at the door and you flinched at that, causing more pain to shot through your veins.

“Yes?” you said after a few seconds and Louise stepped in.

“Hey, how are you doing?” she asked and sat down next to you.

“Alright. It’s a little nerve-wracking waiting for the blood,” you admitted and she smiled at you.

“Of course it is,” she said. “But I’m sure it’ll be here soon. Should I assist you a little? I may not have healing powers like you but I can get you everything you’ll need.”

“I would be grateful for that. Thank you,” you responded and hugged her. She hugged you back and together, you waited for somebody to bring the blood. As soon as it was there, you bent it out of the bowl and concentrated really hard to create a thin tissue out of it. As it was finished, you bent it into your wound, laid it on the open flesh and slowly began to use your healing powers to close the wound slowly.

“How do you think is she doing?” Jeongguk asked Namjoon as they watched the baby bison playing around.

“Who? Y/N? I’m sure she’s doing fine. You know how powerful she is,” Namjoon responded and turned around to face the younger man.

“I know, I know. I’m still a little concerned. She’s been away for over an hour. Does it really take so long?” Jeongguk said.

“Maybe she’s sleeping to regain some power. This procedure is probably really exhausting and since her wound is really big, it’ll take some time. Don’t worry too much, Guk. She’ll be alright,” Namjoon replied and put a hand on the other one’s shoulder. He gave it a light squeeze and went off to look for Lynn. Jeongguk sighed and walked over to the babies so they could calm him a little.

Another hour passed by until Louise came out of a building. You followed her shortly after. The first thing Jeongguk noticed, was that the crutches were gone. As soon as Jeongguk saw you, he came rushing towards you.

“Hey, how are you?” he asked. You smiled at him. Then he noticed that you were still limping a little with your right leg but apart from that you looked perfectly healed.

“I’m nearly completely healed. The rest can do my body on her own,” you said and looked around. Jeongguk smiled at that and felt how relieved washed over him. Finally, you were in a good shape again.

“Oh. Sweet. Spirits. Are those baby bison?” you squealed and rushed over to the playground with them. They instantly let you pet them and you never were happier. Jeongguk watched you fondly from afar. But the smile turned into a frown as soon as he saw Taehyung approaching you.

“You reek of jealousy, fire bender,” Louise said.

“Leave me alone. It’s not even that obvious,” he responded, crossing his arms and she laughed half-heartedly.

“Yeah, sure. But I still noticed,” she shrugged. “Just don’t let her notice it as long as you want to keep your feelings hidden.” Jeongguk nodded and Louise walked off, searching for Namjoon.

“Taehyung! Good to see you. Since I’m fully healed we can keep going with your training,” you said as soon as you saw him. Taehyung nodded.

“Nearby is a waterfall with a lake. We can train there,” Taehyung suggested.

“No, we need an arena. I want to test how confident you are in your bending,” you responded.

“The air temple don’t have arenas. You know that the nomads don’t fight for fun. Just for self-defence,” he said.

“Shit, you’re right. I guess we have to just keep on training normally then. But as soon as we come near an arena, we’re testing your confidence,” you said and followed Taehyung who was walking to the lake with the waterfall. You took a deep breath as the both of you arrived.

“Due to the… special circumstances of the past few days, I am sure you didn’t train your water bending, did you?” you said.

“Well, I tried to but it didn’t work that well. I need your help,” Taehyung admitted. You nodded and walked into the lake.

“To be honest, I’m just helping you if it is really needed. I learned all of my bendings by myself. Every water bending master refused to train me, so I had to do it on my own. And since you’re way more powerful than me, I’m sure you can do it on your own,” you said. You turned around and watched him walking into the lake, too.

“Do you really believe that I’m that powerful?” he asked.

“Yes, the key to unlocking your powers is to believe in yourself. The only one who stops you from it is you. My job will mainly be that I’ll encourage you to believe in yourself. Of course, I’ll show you the technics, but nothing else. So, bend the water,” you said. Taehyung nodded, concentrated and started bending the water. He managed to get a whole litre of water out of the lake and let it swirl around in the air.

“Good job, Tae! You’re doing amazing. So, now, bend it around me. It isn’t allowed to touch me,” you instructed. Taehyung did as said and mastered it amazingly. You nodded approvingly and let him do it a few times more.

“Do you feel the energy that flows within the water?” you asked. Taehyung shook his head and bent the water back in the lake.

“Okay, then I’ll teach you that,” you responded and bent a chunk of water out of the lake.

“I’ll bend the water to you. You’ll take it and bend the water back to me. I want you to focus on the water,” you instructed and bent the water in Taehyung’s direction. He took it and bent it back to you. This went on for a few minutes until Taehyung bent the water frustrated back in the lake.

“It doesn’t work! How am I supposed to feel it?” Taehyung asked.

“You’re a born earth bender, right?” you said which Taehyung responded to with a nod.

“When you bend a pillar out of the ground, how does this feel?”

“I can feel the ground underneath me and know exactly how deep the bendable ground goes.”

“Try to copy that understanding of your earth bending and apply it on your water bending.” With that, you took a huge amount of water and splashed it onto him, so he was completely surrounded by water. You kept on doing this until Taehyung managed to work against your bending and splashed it back to you. You bent it into the lake and smiled at him.

“Good job! Did this work?” you said and smiled knowingly.

“It did. I can feel the energy of the water now,” he responded.

“Okay, keep on training. I’ll be showing you some more technics tomorrow. It’s important that you first deepen your feeling for water,” you instructed while walking out of the lake. You dried yourself off by bending the water off of your body.

“Alright, Sifu Y/N, I’ll be training,” he said and saluted. You chuckled and waved him goodbye while going back to the main temple and looking around to find somebody you know. You enjoyed the soft breeze in your hair while walking around. You spotted Namjoon and Louise standing by Lynn and playing with her and some baby bison. You smiled fondly at their interaction.

Suddenly, you felt a stronger breeze ruffle through your hair. You looked around and spotted Jeongguk who waved at you. You walked over to him and looked worried in the sky.

“Is everything alright?” he asked you.

“Yes, everything’s okay. The wind is just picking up. Maybe a storm is coming?” you responded and stopped in front of him.

“A storm? But the air isn’t filled with electricity. I’d feel that,” he said and furrowed his eyebrows confused.

“Hm… That’s weird. Should we go grab something to eat?” you asked and completely changed the topic with that. He nodded and you walked inside. You searched for a while until you found a place where you could get something to eat. Jeongguk and you took something and began eating.

“Taehyung told me about an old tale of the water tribe and I wanted to ask you what it was about. He couldn’t quite place it together again,” Jeongguk suddenly said. You stopped in your movement and looked confused at him.

“Which one?” you managed to bring out with your mouth full of food.

“It was something with a fifth spirit?” he said enquiring. You quickly chewed and swallowed.

“The legend says that there are four spirits. Each of them resembling the elements. The spirits are formed out of the elements themselves. The core of the legend is that a fifth spirit exists. One that holds the power to tame every single one of them and works hand in hand with the Avatar. Sadly, that fifth spirit hasn’t come out for the past few decades so no one knows if it still exists. And even the spirits of the elements hasn’t been seen lately,” you explained.

“So the fifth spirit is what exactly?” Jeongguk asked.

“I don’t know it actually. It is not like it could bend all four elements, that’s only something the Avatar can do. I don’t even know what power it possesses. I just know that it is really powerful,” you answered and put your empty plate away.

“And why does it work together with the Avatar?” Jeongguk asked again.

“Well, it is said that the Avatar is the bridge between the spirit world and our world. But a bridge usually has two ends, hasn’t it?” you said and smiled at him.

“Why are you so interested in it anyway? It’s a legend. Even though I am very connected with my culture and legends, this is the only one I do not believe in.”

“I thought it sounded interesting. Never heard of it before so I wanted to know more,” he responded. You nodded.

“Understandable. Should we go outside again and watch the baby bison? They are sooo cute,” you suggested. Jeongguk quickly finished his plate, put it aside and went with you outside. Outside, many nomads ran around the place and you furrowed your eyebrows confused.

“What is going on?” you asked Namjoon as you saw him.

“A blast blew some bison with their children away. The wind is getting stronger and stronger and we’re trying to keep the bison safe,” he explained and rushed away. Jeongguk and you shared a fast glance and immediately started helping out. As soon as the bison were safe, the wind’s intensity picked up and you watched some leaves fly around in the air. You tilted your head as you realized that the leaves weren’t from the temple’s trees and it seemed like none of them got away. Suddenly, the stripe of leaves came rushing towards you and you protected yourself with a wall of ice.

“Y/N! What are you doing?!” Jeongguk shouted out to you but you couldn’t answer. It seemed like the stripe of leaves were attacking you and you tried your best to protect yourself.

“What the fuck is going on?” Namjoon asked Jeongguk as he saw you fighting with nothing.

“I don’t know,” Jeongguk responded. Taehyung rushed towards you but a blast pushed him back. He tried again and again but another blast always pushed him back.

Meanwhile, you were still fighting with the wind but you were slowly pushed to the edge due to the pain in your leg. It was still not healed completely and the muscle clearly needed some therapy. A light panic rose in your chest as your feet touched the edge. It took one last gust of wind and you fell off of the cliff. You screamed and bent some water around you to protect yourself from getting hurt. It took you a few seconds until you realized that you weren’t falling anymore. You were floating in the air. As you realised that, you bent the water away to see what was going on. Leaves formed a human-like form in front of you and your eyes widened in realisation.

“You-you're the spirit of the wind,” you mumbled. The leaves nodded and formed some lettering in the air.

“We need your help… who is we?” you read out loud. The leaves were moving again.

“The spirits of the four elements? Why do you need my help?” You waited patiently until you could read something again.

“I should help the Avatar until the fifth spirit awakes? So it does exist? That’s amazing! What do I have to do?” You waited again.

“I should find the source of the power and then, you’ll let borrow me it. So where’s the power source?”

‘We don’t know. It’s a secret hidden in the legends and only the fifth spirit should find it. But I’m sure, you can find it, too. Prove yourself to the water spirit and then, you’ll find it.’

“Wait, but how do I find the water spirit?” You felt yourself rise.

“NO! Don’t go. I have so many questions you need to answer. Why me?”

‘You are an extraordinarily powerful bender who can possess that power for a while. Make sure you are a good replacement.’ And with that, you shot up in the air and landed on the ground in front of the temple.

“Y/N!” Jeongguk shouted as he saw you and rushed with the others towards you.

“What happened? Are you alright?” Louise asked and hugged you tightly.

“I’m okay,” you said and shrugged her off of you. You were extremely annoyed by that spirit who had the audacity to leave you with so many questions and not a single answer.

“Y/N, what happened? Why did leaves attack you?” Jeongguk asked worriedly.

“Turns out those leaves were the fucking spirit of the wind. The legend I told you about an hour ago? It’s real,” you said. “The only legend I didn’t believe in turns out to be fucking real.”

Taglist: @neinyasficrecs​ @deolly​ @hemmos-obrien​ @holyhumorliteraturelight​

[kasdeyathebitterwoman]

It’s Just a Game - HenryxReader Drabble

Can’t stop, won’t stop. Yet another drabble I wrote up when I was supposed to be editing a plumbing site 🙃 (In my defense, though, the site still got done on time, so!) Anyway, I saw a cute dialogue prompt and tweaked it to create this - I am not a gamer by nature. Everything I know is second-hand. Please don’t @ me if any/all of this is incorrect! 😂😂This is just a silly scene I threw together that made me laugh! Hope you enjoy it as well! 

Word Count: 572

CW: mild language, primarily fluff

@henryslilprincess @mitzwinchester @maeleeme @andyrazzledazzle @oddsnendsfanfics @henrycavillluv32 @jhenno2002 @xceafh @severuined @queenslandlover-93 @thummbelina @chamomilebottom @fanfictionaddiction99 @deep-in-my-thoughts13

🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥���🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥🖥

Henry logs onto his computer and opens his browser. He was on break from filming which meant he had, essentially, unlimited time to do whatever he wanted. And what he wanted to do more than anything was play through the new online game his brothers told him about. This game boasted individual as well partner and team games at various difficulties, in addition to a variety of ways to chat with friends. So, he got on, opened his profile, and started playing. It was everything his brother said and then some. 

Several hours later, he and two of his brothers were involved in a raid. Henry was laughing at the chat they had going when the message popped up that someone was calling him in the game. He read the screen name and decided to give the person a chance. 

“Hello?” he asked, speaking into the headset mic in his usual smooth voice.  

“Oh my god, you’re British,” you reply in your thick southern accent causing Henry to chuckle. 

“Yes, and you very sound American,” he states dryly. Unlike his usual persona he put on for the press, he didn’t mind being a little more blunt when gaming. You bark with laughter. 

“Yeah, hi, Lil-Texican-Frijole here. We both play this stupid online game, clearly, and you keep beating me every single goddamn time,” you spit sardonically. The sound of guns fighting and your fingers smashing the keys carry through Henry’s headphones. “So here’s the thing, even though you sound super cute, could you, I don’t know, maybe not murder me before I finish this level?” Henry couldn’t help but laugh, bellowing into his microphone. “Yeah, yeah, ham it up, Brit Boy,” you mutter, causing Henry to laugh harder. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just that is really funny,” Henry replies, his voice about three octaves higher than usual. “Oh my god, okay, I’m sorry,” he says, wiping his eyes and regaining his composure. “What if I told you the way to beat this level so I don’t have to kill you again?” he asks. 

“What if I told you you could suck it?” you reply. Your statement followed immediately by the emphatic sound of typing, clicking, gunshots, and explosions. Henry does his best to contain his laughter as he listens to your inevitable demise. “Oh you have got to be kidding me,” you mutter when the sound dies down. 

“Did you die again?” Henry asks, already knowing the answer. 

“Uh, wha-no!” you stutter quickly. There is a brief pause followed by a sharp exhale. “Yes,” you finally whisper in defeat. “How do I beat this level?” Henry smiles at the screen. 

“Okay, the best way I have found so far is to join a team. How about you join mine?” He asks. You groan loudly 

“Ugh, fine, but if I die again, it’s your head mister,” there’s a pause, “GeraltofRivia1. Oh God, could you have picked a stupider name?” Henry laughs out loud as he realizes you have no idea who you are talking to. It’s weird, but it makes him very happy to know this. It made him feel like he could be himself without the worry of you treating him differently.  

“Heh, fair enough,” he replies. Your genuine laugh makes his heart race a little. Then he sends the invitation for you to join the team. “Alright, Tex, let’s get you to the next level,” he says, getting ready to start another game. 

[mobius-prime]

159. Sonic Super Special #15

Welcome to the final Sonic Super Special ever! Here's my opinion on it. Past Super Specials have ranged from okay to amazing, depending on the writer and the subject matter, and their long length has usually, if you ask me, worked in their favor, as it meant more time and space to tell a compelling story. This is not true of this one. Unfortunately, the last super special of the comic is utterly awful, with two stories that do absolutely nothing to grip my attention, one of which ends in a status quo with a net gain of absolutely nothing, and the other of which is cringeworthy and isn't even very clear on when, where or how it takes place. Let's just get this over with, shall we?

Naugus Games

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Many Hands Colors: Josh and Aimeee Ray

This first story is far, far longer than it has any right to be - it really feels like they were trying to find ways to pad it out it to take up the full 48 pages of the special. Furthermore, you might notice some oddities about the credits above. First of all, Aimee's name is misspelled with three E's for both stories for some reason, indicating some lazy copy-and-pasting as well as a lack of care from the editors. Even more frustratingly, no one is actually credited directly for the pencils (or inks), with the art instead just being credited to "many hands." Remember how I said the comic was getting annoyingly bad about properly crediting people? Now, in case you're confused, there's not just some artist out there literally named Many Hands; instead, that's the comic's way of sidestepping actually bothering to credit any individuals for their work. It just means "eh, a lot of people worked on this I guess, but we don't care enough to actually tell you who." Unfortunately, unlike a few issues ago where the art style was immediately recognizable as Steven Butler's, the art style for this story is foreign to me, suggesting they got some people who weren't their usual artists to work on this one, so I can't even take an educated guess here. All I know is that both the art style in general and the quality of the inks are very poor, and as we'll see, the art gets unforgivably lazy at times. Perhaps best of all, this story was later retconned into a much more interesting and concise version of itself at a later date, with better storytelling and artwork to boot. The only reason, then, that I'm covering it at all, is honestly as a demonstration of just how lazy the comic could get at times, as well as due to the fact that this is the first appearance of "Many Hands," who later pencilled one other issue for the comic that was of equally poor quality.

So this story takes place at an unspecified time in the recent past. It seems to be sometime after Eggman's return, judging by some of the lines of dialogue within the story, but the actual timeframe is pretty vague. Sonic has returned to the Southern Tundra to pay his respects to Eddy, recalling how Eddy sacrificed himself when he, Tails, and Nate all fought Naugus here some time ago. He's brought a single rose to lay on the site of the wreckage, but the ground isn't quite stable…

And here we have the first instance of a truly terrible art decision. Sonic falls into a pitch black cave system, but instead of representing this with maybe one page max of blackness or darker lighting, we're treated to nearly four pages straight of nothing but this:

He blindly stumbles around for a while, informing us of this fact through dialogue bubbles because everyone knows that telling is better than showing in fiction, right? He finally hits a wall and sees a glow through a crack in it, so he tunnels his way into the next room only to find it full of glowing rings - apparently, either he, Tails and Naugus somehow didn't use up all the rings when they fought, or these one have just auto-generated themselves somehow down here. Sonic recalls memories of the previous battle when Nate sealed Naugus away with a wish from a ring, and then decides to try to use one to get out of the cave system.

Wonderful! Apparently, a "wish" as defined by the magic of the rings just means that you think of someone's name while touching a ring, and so with a flash, Naugus is back from his imprisonment in the zone that Nate sealed him into! But how is this possible?

That explanation makes… basically no sense, dude. Naugus was definitely sealed away in another zone, he didn't just get turned into a pile of telepathic rings. But whatever. He and Sonic start battling it out, and somehow make it outside, where Naugus conjures up a snowstorm that consistently stays centered on Sonic no matter where he runs. Time for the second awful art choice of the issue - now instead of four pages of pure blackness, we get six whole pages of this:

I think the best thing about this is that the blizzard backgrounds are clearly not even hand drawn like the rest of the comic is - there's only two types of snowflakes up there, and they're consistently just copied and pasted in that same repetitive swirl pattern on every single page. I get that drawing for a big story in a super special like this can be long and tedious work, but this is why you don't try to find a way to artificially elongate a story like this which could easily be told in the span of a normal issue length. It just ends up making the audience feel like their time is being wasted. Anyway, the blizzard finally ends when Sonic pulls out a ring from his jacket and wishes for Naugus to be sealed away in his previous zone once more, and thus, Naugus is out of our hair again, with absolutely nothing to show for it. Man, if it's this easy to defeat people in this universe, why hasn't anyone tried this on Eggman yet?

Sonic then leaves back for home, thinking one last time of Eddy, who is shown looking down on him from the heavens above. And thank god that story is over.

Sonic Spin City

Writer/Pencils: Michael Gallagher Colors: Josh and Aimeee Ray

Michael Gallagher, over the course of the comics, has gone from one of the series' main writers to basically a guest writer who's brought on every once in a while for special occasions. In this case, he even makes his return as a penciller! Unfortunately, his goofy writing style has begun to clash with the much more serious plots of these later issues, and this story is no exception. It's entirely unclear about whether we're supposed to take this story as actual canon, as a story from an alternate zone, or as just a silly joke story that doesn’t mean anything - and while I tend to try to avoid looking at non-canon materials in this review series (I've already skipped a few stories and issues for exactly this reason), the ambiguity of this one forces me to cover it. In addition, I don't even know why Josh and "Aimeee" were credited as colorists for this story, considering the entire thing is black and white with no color to be found.

Much like the first story of StH#52, this story has the flair of an old detective serial. Sonic is wandering the streets on a rainy night when two swatbots ambush him. Of course, two swatbots are no match.

What does a swatbot need matches for? Eh, whatever. Sonic races over to Rusty's, a hangout for abandoned badniks, and orders himself a "chili dog float," which in addition to sounding absolutely disgusting doesn't even seem like something a bar for robots would serve in the first place. As he takes his seat, the lights go out, and… this abomination emerges onto the stage.

Yes. The badniks are going wild for a swatbot with tits dancing seductively on a stage for them. What is she gonna do, plug them into a wall outlet? They even start screaming out for "the stretch," and appear to get even hornier as she massively elongates her legs for them. I mean, just, what? I swear, Michael, if we get one more weird borderline-sex thing like this from you in this comic, my eyes are gonna pop out of my head like Natsuki. A bot grabs the dancer's ankle, and she's thrown off balance and crashes down, with the head popping off to reveal that underneath, it's Bunnie in disguise.

You know, after her claim all those issues back that she's a "sax cymbal," I'm not even gonna contest the idea that she'd do a sexy dance during infiltration for a mission. Hell, I get the impression she'd do one anyway just for fun back in Knothole if she got the chance. You might also notice her arm is the arm from her old design, and that coupled with Sonic's own design seems to indicate that if this took place at all in actual canon, it was before Eggman's return, though I'm immensely skeptical that this is supposed to be canon at all. Sonic and Bunnie take out the rest of Rusty's customer base, and then evacuate before the last swatbot activates its self-destruct chip, blowing the place sky high. Congratulations, nothing important was accomplished in this issue and nobody cares!

It's kinda sad that the final Sonic Super Special turned out to be so low-quality, honestly. However, this marks a bit of a turning point in the comic. For the first time in its entire run, from now on, there are no more special issues, no sister series, no miniseries, nothing. From the next issue, all the way to almost the 200th, with one exception in the form of a Free Comic Book Day issue, there are absolutely no interruptions from issue to issue. While this may not seem too notable at first, since we've just been reading everything in mostly-chronological order anyway, keep in mind that as far as the comic is concerned we're still in the year 2000, with a mere seven years having passed from the beginning of the comic all the way to now over the course of 159 issues. Over the course of the next 106 issues, we're going to blaze through nine years of comic history, meaning that the story is going to flow a lot faster, with more plot points being covered in a shorter amount of time. While this does make the order of issues a lot easier to follow, since there's no questions about which issue fits in where or anything, I am sad to see all the special issues go, as I quite enjoyed how they served to break up the flow of the comic as a whole with special stories and side content. Though we're still in the middle of our current plot era, we're entering into a new era of the comic as a whole, where we've got a straight shot through the next hundred issues. So I say - let's do it to it!

[pokemaniacal]

Crabrawler and Crabominable

Today I would like to talk to you about crabs: specifically, Crabrawler and the delightfully named Crabominable (seriously, can we just take a minute to appreciate the wonderful tumbling rhythm of that name?).  In the process of writing this piece, I have learned (because learning obscure and not particularly useful zoological trivia is just part of what I do here) that evolution just really likes crabs for some reason, and consequently keeps trying to turn other random animals into crabs with mixed results, a process known as carcinisation.  Crabs have apparently evolved at least five separate times, from a variety of starting points (giving rise, surprisingly, to only two Pokémon before now: Kingler and Crustle, Crawdaunt being a lobster).  On the basis of this vague half-substantiated piece of pseudo-knowledge, I have decided that crabs are the ultimate form of life, to which all other species aspire.  Of course, Crabrawler and Crabominable have the advantage of already being there – so let’s see what the apex of all biological life has to offer the Alola region.

There’s a character in Sun and Moon, I think near the geothermal plant on Ula’ula Island, who utters the mildly perplexing line “I want to do business with Pokémon.  For example, I could use the pincers of Crabrawler, which grow back constantly.”  Use them for what, exactly, he doesn’t specify at the time, and I was briefly horrified that this ostensibly sane individual might be planning to torture Pokémon in order to produce an endless supply of crab meat (BAN CRABS).  Even in the real world, crab claws do regenerate, and crabs can chop off their own claws to distract predators like lizards shedding their tails, which is the basis of a real technique for sustainable crab fishing – catch a crab, snap off its claws, and then release it, still alive.  It’s not clear whether this amounts to torture because there’s some debate over whether crustaceans can even experience pain, but some experimental results kind of suggest that maybe they can, so… we can probably call this slightly awkward.  The Pokédex, though, gives us a… slightly more pleasant view?  Crabrawler, it turns out, are known for punching things so hard that they literally tear their own fists off.  These claw-fists contain “little meat,” but it is “rich and delicious,” so for anyone counting, that is another Pokémon that we definitely eat, but at least we only go for the parts that it’s finished using.  Crabominable advances the same theme and also jettisons his claws from time to time, but graduates to a ROCKET PUNCH.  We currently have no information on whether this destroys the meat in his ballistic pincers, or cooks it to perfection.  More research is clearly needed.

Crabrawler seems to be inspired by at least one real type of crab found in the Pacific, and is possibly a mash-up of two.  In the games, these Pokémon are found lurking amongst the piles of assorted berries that can be found at the bottom of Alola’s ubiquitous magical, cornucopious coconut palms.  This gives away that part of Crabrawler’s identity is the coconut crab: a crab of what could fairly be called monstrous size, which lives primarily on fruit and nuts and is found on islands throughout the South Pacific and Indian oceans.  They are the largest land-dwelling invertebrates in the world, and are much more committed to life on land than any other crab – adult coconut crabs can even drown in water.  Thus, although Crabrawler learns a few Water attacks, he isn’t actually a Water-type, and spends little time in the water.  Although coconut crabs are as huge and terrifying as Crabrawler is surly and cross-eyed, they are also equally delicious, and are consequently hunted extensively.  Unfortunately for our enterprising Alolan businessman, all attempts to breed them in captivity have ended in failure.  Crabrawler’s second element is the boxing-inspired combat style that gives him his Fighting type, and… well, be honest, would it really surprise you to be told that there exists a real animal known as the “Hawaiian boxing crab”?  This crab doesn’t have as much of an influence on Crabrawler’s design as the coconut crab, but in some ways it’s actually kind of weirder, and in a very Pokémon-esque way: it gets its name from its habit of carrying around a pair of live sea anemones, which it waves threateningly at enemies’ faces in order, presumably, to make them seek out less flamboyantly insane prey.  I’m not sure Game Freak actually had this particular species in mind, because if they did, I’m honestly kind of disappointed by how much more silly they could have made it.  Pokémon already has elemental punches, but a sea anemone punch?  Now that would be worth seeing.

Crabrawler likes climbing things, because as well as wanting to be metaphorically “on top” of its competition, it wants to be physically on top of as many things as possible – after all, as Star Wars taught us, the battle is over once you have the high ground.  Rocks, trees, hills, Alolan Exeggutor, road signs, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, whatever: Crabrawler just wants to get high as fμ¢&.  Eventually, Crabrawler can find themselves drawn to climb so high that they sort of… accidentally get stuck on top of mountains and have to evolve into yetis so they don’t freeze to death.  No, that is what the Pokédex actually says.  Crabrawler evolve into Crabominable when they climb snowy mountains and adapt to their new environment, Eevee-style.  In the games, this means that Crabrawler, who is available almost from the start of the game, will only evolve when you take him up Mount Lanakila, which – and this is true – is at the very end.  Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon let you poke around the base of the mountain before you can actually climb it, which is enough to satisfy Crabrawler, but if you’re wanting to use this Pokémon on a playthrough of the original Sun and Moon, as with Charjabug you should be prepared to languish in mediocrity for a long time.  Crabominable’s yeti theme is owed to yet another type of crab, this time the so-called yeti crab of the Southern Ocean, a bristly beast that clusters around hydrothermal vents for warmth and food.  The designers don’t seem to have taken much from the crab itself, other than as an excuse to splice yeti-like features onto a crab – which I’m sort of fine with, because as weird as the Pokédex’s explanation for Crabrawler’s evolution is, it does sort of fit with the way Pokémon generally does adaptation, as well as with Crabrawler’s combative, competitive temperament and the coconut crab’s climbing skills.  The overall result… well, okay, even if you like Crabominable you have to admit it’s incredibly derpy, but this design is weirdly growing on me.  His oddly-shaped body with its tuft of yellow hair seems like it’s meant to be coconut-shaped, which is a nice call-back to the coconut crab.  The huge “fists” with their odd foot-shaped markings would allow Crabominable to leave “Bigfoot” footprints in the snow to confuse human mountaineers.  And honestly, if Pokémon was going to do a yeti, I’d kind of prefer it be a buck-toothed giant coconut crab that accidentally climbed a mountain and got stuck than just a big shaggy humanoid Ice-type.

Crabominable is another one of those seventh-generation Pokémon with a fairly straightforward “sledgehammer” combat style – he’s built like the proverbial brick $#!thouse, but also moves like one.  Good HP and passable physical defence are overshadowed to some extent by mediocre special defence and a type combination (Fighting/Ice) which, while unique, carries only three resistances and a host of weaknesses.  Offensively it’s pretty solid, since Ice and Fighting attacks between them hit nine different types super-effectively, the best you can do with just two attacks.  The first of those attacks is likely to be Crabominable’s signature move, Ice Hammer, which is close to the strongest Ice-type physical attack in the game.  It also benefits from Crabominable’s ability, Iron Fist, which gives a passive +20% damage bonus to punching attacks.  Like Hammer Arm, it drops your speed when you use it, but again, Crabominable is a major proponent of brick $#!thouse tactics, so this is either irrelevant anyway, or can actually be turned to your advantage on a Trick Room team.  Since Crabominable is tied with Mega Abomasnow for the second-highest attack stat of all Ice-types (after the absurd Black Kyurem), this hits very hard.  Unfortunately, Crabominable’s best Fighting attacks don’t work with Iron Fist, but they’re still very powerful; you can choose from Close Combat (weakens both your defences), Superpower (weakens both your physical stats), or Dynamic Punch (as strong as the other two after Iron Fist, confuses the target, but only 50% accurate).  His strongest attack is technically Focus Punch, which will flatten damn near anything, but fails if the user takes any damage in the same turn – I don’t recommend it, but Crabrawler is scary enough to force switches that will give him an opportunity to use Focus Punch unhindered, and you could always try protecting him with Substitute.  Outside of Ice and Fighting, Crabominable’s best move is probably Earthquake, which adds another four types to his list of super-effective targets.  If you want a fourth attack, Stone Edge and (on Ultra Sun and Moon) Thunderpunch are both on offer; Stone Edge is slightly stronger, has a high critical hit rate, and hits more additional types, but has that nagging 80% accuracy.  Crabhammer (which you have to pick up as Crabrawler before evolving) has Stone Edge’s power and critical rate with higher accuracy, but Water has almost completely redundant type coverage with Crabominable’s other attacks.

If Crabominable can actually hit something, his huge attack stat and great type coverage ensure he can dish out the damage.  The problem is that very low speed, a type combination with many defensive flaws, and dubious special defence make it fairly difficult for Crabominable to do that without taking heavy damage in return, and he doesn’t even have any priority attacks to compensate.  He’s a very all-or-nothing Pokémon: if you can manoeuvre him to force a switch, or otherwise catch your opponent off guard, something’s gonna die, but in a fair fight, he can be overpowered quickly.  Of course, that all assumes you’re building Crabominable in an all-offence manner and slapping on an item like a Choice Band or Life Orb.  Despite his lacklustre defensive type, his physical defence stat isn’t too bad, and his massive attack stat can probably survive not being maxed, so some sort of physical tank is a plausible option, probably fuelled by Bulk Up (or maybe even Amnesia).  Ultra Sun and Moon also bestow Crabominable with Drain Punch, which is a perfectly respectable Fighting attack after the Iron Fist bonus and can provide a tanky Crabominable with some healing.  After putting a few points into defence and/or special defence, you could either stick with a Life Orb or switch to a more defensive or balanced item like Leftovers or an Expert Belt.  To take another route entirely, four attacks plus an Assault Vest to shore up his iffy special defence might be interesting to catch out opponents who overextend to take advantage of Crabominable’s poor speed and many weaknesses.  These approaches sacrifice power, which is Crabominable’s major selling point, but retain his high-powered attacks and excellent type coverage while making him a little less vulnerable to retributive strikes.  Crabominable doesn’t really get any support moves worth speaking of, aside from maybe Wide Guard for doubles, should you want to predict and counter an Earthquake or something, but in any case, spending much time on support would sort of be a waste of that beautiful attack stat.

That just leaves Crabominable’s other ability choices to cover – and, well, Iron Fist seems like pretty clearly the best one to me, but we may as well talk about the other two.  Hyper Cutter makes you immune to attack reductions, which basically means you ignore Intimidate – just about everything else that lowers the attack stat is very rare, either because it’s terrible or because it’s exclusive to a small number of Pokémon (ignoring the attack reduction from King’s Shield might be worth it to you to slightly improve your matchup against Aegislash, but frankly Crabominable usually loses to Aegislash anyway).  Anger Point, his hidden ability, maxes out your attack stat (raises it to quadruple its normal value) when you survive a critical hit, which is nice when it happens, but so hard to control that you can’t really build around it, especially since Crabominable’s defences are only decent.  In a double battle – and I can hardly believe I’m even suggesting this – you could build a partner Pokémon to do the minimum possible damage to Crabominable with an out-of-the-gate guaranteed critical hit (probably Night Slash from an Unfezant with Super Luck and a Scope Lens) in order to trigger Anger Point yourself.  Even if you’re mad enough to do this, though, Crabominable is emphatically not a sweeper unless you somehow get a Trick Room set up at the same time as all this, and you’d be better off trying it with Primeape or Tauros.

Crabominable is sort of emblematic of generation VII in a couple of ways.  He and Crabrawler are both steeped in the weird biological lore of the Pacific islands and their unique fauna.  He’s very derpy and weirdly designed, but most of what’s weird about him does make a kind of thematic sense when you look closely enough.  His somewhat one-dimensional fighting style comes with a lot of power but limited flexibility and extreme vulnerability to aggressive Pokémon with more speed (a statement that could apply to about half the Pokémon in Alola), but he has a unique type combination, a neat signature move, and powerful type coverage to help him stand out.  And he is delicious (matching both Sun and Moon’s interest in Alolan cuisine and the franker tone that their Pokédex is often willing to take about Pokémon being hunted for food).  I suppose my feelings on him therefore mirror my feelings about generation VII’s Pokémon designs as a whole: it’s… fine.  Some of the decisions are very weird, but I at least feel I can understand them, which I often couldn’t in V, and there is a certain zaniness to it all that I appreciate, even if the resulting Pokémon are sometimes on the “meh” side in battle.

[stevecanmakeanythingnerdy]

Battle 18

Booker T. And the M. G.’s : GreenOnions ( Side 1)

Vs.

The Darkness : Permissionto Land ( Side One )

Booker T. And the M. G.’s : GreenOnions ( Side 1)

Booker T. & the M.G.'s are an American instrumental R&B/funk band that was influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the house band of Stax Records, they played on HUNDREDS of recordings by artists including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King. After realizing the talent level of what they had, Stax decided to give them their own shot. They released instrumental records under their own name, including the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era. By the mid-1960s, bands on both sides of the Atlantic were trying to sound like Booker T. & the M.G.'s. They were barrier breakers too, having two white members (Cropper and Steinberg, later Dunn) and two black members (Jones and Jackson Jr.), making Booker T. & the M.G.'s one of the first racially integrated rock groups. This was at a time when soul music and the Memphis music scene in particular were generally considered the preserve of black culture. The origins of the M.G’s portion of the group’s name has been widely debated. Answers range to everything from a nod to the popular sports car, to the geography of "Memphis Group". One of the best theories though is to a candid response in an interview where the question was asked “What does MG actually stand for?” And Duck Dunn said: “Musical geniuses!”. Whatever the case, the group is steeped in talent, and “Green Onions” is a million copies certified gold disc seller. In my personal opinion it is one of the greatest instrumentals ever written. It also happens to be the first song on side one of this first proper album of the group, released in response to the wide popularity of the single. The album contains a lot of covers, but the talent is clear. “Green Onions” is an original and started a whole career and helped fuel the trend of organ craziness across the U. S. A. “Rinky-Dink” follows and has a cha-cha type vibe. Another quirky work and a fine example of the group’s sound. “I Got a Woman” is their take on the Ray Charles classic. It has more jangle to the tune than the original perhaps but the6 clearly added their own spin, which I love. Next is, “ ‘Mo Onions” and all f course it’s a slight return of the hit above. Hey when you have a good thing you capitalize right? It’s really almost an alternate version or take of the song but it’s still like being in a cool church with a really rockin’ and rollin’ Church band led by organ. “Twist and Shout” is an instrumental spin on the old classic and has a pretty surfy vibe. Nice. The final cut is another BT&MG original called “Behave Yourself”. They slow down and get gospel on the listeners. Speak (easy) of church, there’s an organ solo. How low? SO LOW you can feel it in your toes (#seewhatididthere). Booker and company assure us that you don’t always need words to make a good impression or to rock out. Relaxing pop mixed with a bit of soul cookin’.

The Darkness : Permissionto Land ( Side One )

The Darkness is a British rock band formed in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom, in 2000. The Darkness came to prominence with the release of this, their debut album, Permission to Land, in 2003. It contains hit after certified hit by way of the singles "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", "Growing on Me", "Get Your Hands off My Woman", and "Love is Only a Feeling". In fact, all four of those are pretty much side one of this record with one other tune (also pretty stellar) called “Black Shuck”. Justin Hawkins had been initially inspired to play guitar by Brian May of Queen, as he loved his tone and vibrato. You can hear the heavy Queen influence throughout the band’s music. Often they were considered a joke band in their beginnings. Probably because no one could believe that in the early 2000’s a band with a 70’s hard rock sound and flair featuring a frontman with a glass shattering falsetto could possibly be attempting to do this for actual serious reasons. Well, they were, and thank God because they are sooo good. These tunes are more catchy than the coronavirus!! “Black Shuck” is the song that introduces the world to the band. The riff’s bite your hands and you’re going to get smacked across the face. Your jaw will drop once you hear those shrill vocals that could shatter glass. Not certain who black shuck is but I certainly don’t want to meet them. "Get Your Hands off My Woman“ is next and shows how the band is both brilliant yet undeniably tongue in cheek at the same time. It’s serious but humorous and catchy but criminal all at once. Poignant in some aspects. Are The Darkness woke? Maybe. Ben Folds does a fantastic cover of this by the way. Check that out for additional bonus joy! "Growing on Me" again incorporates some humorous lyrics with a flawless entry into badass territory. The lyrics are silly but the music is superb...it’s like the perfect marriage. Oh and the double entendres of a parasite/love is pretty ingenious too. Is it possible to love a band? Because if so, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love". (#seewhatididthere) BOOM!! c’mon! That was a perfect setup for that. And if you know ONE Darkness song, it’s that one. You couldn’t NOT hear it circa late 2003-early 2004. Honestly though, who wouldn’t want to hear it?! No friends of mine, that’s for sure! It’s another fine example of why this band shreds so much. It was a big radio hit and pretty much everyone stateside’s intro to what The Darkness were all about. They also deserve points for fitting so many words into the rhythm. That’s an accomplishment all by itself. The final song, "Love is Only a Feeling", is an entry into the ballad category. I have to say, it’s a pretty perfect song too. 5 for 5 these guys, literally sticking the landing, and nailing the dismount. Bringing back the high vocals and introducing some Spanish style angelic guitar licks. I am...blown away at how amazing these back to back to back to back to back hits are. It’s my dream to write a record this good. Every bit as Weird Al as it is hard rock. I was just recently reminiscing of how well this album has stood up over time too. It still sounds amazing some 17 years later! It’s totally Queen and AC/DC level riffs and vocals meeting up with a cacophony of comedy.

So in today’s matchup Booker T. Made some green AND onions with his backup group The MGs. They burned 117 calories over 18 minutes and 6 songs. That’s an average of 19.50 calories burned per song and 6.50 calories burned per minute. BT&MGs earned 14 out of 18 possible stars. The Darkness debuted with COMPLETE and TOTAL permission to land. They commanded today’s battle with 121 calories burned over 5 songs and in just 18 minutes from takeoff to landing. The Darkness averaged 24.20 calories burned per song and 6.72 calories burned per minute, earning an impressive 14 out of 15 possible stars. Looks like The Darkness have shown us all the light! They walk away today’s champions!

The Darkness: “Get Your Hands off My Woman” (live...because it NEEDS to be)

https://youtu.be/wr0750tWDPA

#Randomrecordworkoutseasonseven

#Randomrecordworkout

[stonestridernerd]

LF Contact -Kennocha

Tagged by: @kanekuran

Tagging: @leahdarkspear, @koszmar-zycie, @curiouscodex, @kuzi-the-hunturr, @prairierunning, and anyone else that would like to do this!

OOC INFORMATION:

What I’m Looking For: Most types of RP. As long as it isn’t ERP, I’m open to anything.

Fandom: World of Warcraft Sole Faction or Cross-Faction: Although the taurenesses are based more on the Horde, they certainly have places for interacting with both Alliance and Horde characters.  Faction I Play: Mostly Horde, but I’m starting to open up to Alliance. Server: Wyrmrest Accord Venues I Actively Roleplay In: Tumblr, Discord, and in game. It’s easier to get me across on the former two, as I can only get online during the weekends and school breaks. 

Favourite Type of RP:  I love slice-of-life and fluff writings. While darker themes and larger plot lines are also fun, it’s nice seeing characters relax and able to learn more about one another.

Triggers: There’s not too much I can think of, besides disrespecting those with mental disorders and forcing some...heavy touching of my characters. 

Things I Will Not RP:  This is where I heavily emphasize that I am a minor OoC. I shall not RP anything sexual or excessively violent. 

RP Strong Points: I’m fairly flexible on what I roleplay and with whom. I can go from silly prompts about critters to casual conversations about life. I’m also available with many characters, ranging from those i have dedicated tumblr blogs for and alts I play every blue moon, and can play multiple of them at once.

RP Weak Points:  Along with being a shy and not socially aware mun, my schedule goes all over the place. It’s hard saying when I’m going to be online, as school and family mean I constantly juggle different tasks. In addition, starters are hard, as I like knowing what I’m getting into. Hence I’ll be obnoxious in asking for scenery, time, which characters are we playing, and so on.

IC INFORMATION BELOW HERE!

Name: Kennocha Bloomcaller

Nickname: Kenn, the Gentle Fawn

Race: Shu’halo

FC (If Applicable; Picture Optional): Nope!

Can Currently Be Found In: Kennocha is usually in northern Kalimdor, traveling between southern Ashenvale and Mulgore. She is most often found along the northern plateau of Mulgore with the critter army or in Sun Rock Retreat. 

Would They Be Known: A bit? Kennocha goes around trying to help others, but she’s only been really active in the past year and a half. However, you may know her from...

Visiting or living around Stonetalon. The druidess is quite active in and around neighboring zones, so it’s likely characters around there have at least seen her around. 

Attending Shu’halo festivals. Kennocha often attends Dances and Story Circles. 

Working with other druids. She’s not as involved with organizations like the Cenarion Circle as others, she is still called upon to work them on occasions. 

interactions with the Fifth Cohort. She is the Shu’halo Councilor of the group, so she could be found either through the group’s campaigns, random events held around, or her healing abilities.

Personality:  Kennocha is an idealistic and compassionate druid, hoping to help everyone and anyone she can. This means she often focuses on the bright side of a situation, or entirely ignores the flaws. She is also incredibly loyal to those she cares about and often a chipper soul.

Language(s): Taurahe, Orcish, and a bit of Darnassian.  Height: 7′6″ Body Type: Small compared to other Shu’halo, but muscular and tall by other racial standards. Eye Color: Dark Brown Hair Color: Brown

Age: 26 Notable Scars, Marks, etc: She doesn’t have many scars, but one might notice a long one running down the left upper arm. If Kennocha’s wearing a lighter robe though, one might catch a similar scar across her chest. It’s a bit thicker than the one on her arm, but not often spotted.

Tattoos/Piercings: Her ears are pierced. While these are often seen with simple bronze studs in them, it’s not uncommon to see strings of feathers attached.  First Appearances: Kennocha can first appear as a shy taureness, quiet yet cheery from a distance. Once she starts talking though, she is an eager and warm person. 

What To Expect: Kennocha is a fairly open character, speaking her dreams and fears openly while genuinely showing her interest in others. However, while the druidess is a terrible liar, she has a few things she keeps quiet about and is loyal to a fault.  

Where I RP: I RP on tumblr and in game mostly, depending on my partner’s schedule. However, I’ve recently begun RPing on discord. I don’t have much of an initial preference for any of them, as all have their benefits to use for certain RPs and people. 

[gascon-en-exil]

The interminable generation war of the Pokémon fandom is not something I’m inclined to wade into, not least because I am one of those strange individuals who play the games in part for their stories and worldbuilding. As reliably underwhelming as those attributes of any given game in this franchise may be, it’s nonetheless evident that Gamefreak puts some effort into elements of the franchise that aren’t competitive tournaments or Battle <name of building>s or gimmicky mini games. Sometimes. 

As such, in the spirit of my modest contributions to the FE and Zelda fandoms on this blog and as further proof that I am capable of judging aspects of video games aside from the desirability and inferred sexual prowess (or lack thereof) of their men, here follows my current opinions on each of the regions of the main series...so nothing about Orre or those Ranger spin-offs or whatever. And yes -  regions rather than generations, so the remakes will be grouped with their originals.

So. Very. Blaaaand. As with Archanea from Fire Emblem and the NES Zelda games I can respect the historical significance of the Kanto games; hell, unlike FE and Zelda I was actually following the series back when RBY were in their prime...and yet they are so unremarkable. Kanto feels utterly devoid of distinctive personality despite appearing in all of the first four generations, and even today there’s really nothing I can say about it beyond the relatively realistic villain team and the emphasis on modernization in contrast to Johto. Supposedly, anyway...it’s more like Kanto cares less about historical preservation which I suppose is probably the closest these games comes to commenting upon the real world inspiration for the region. Combine this with a contentious roster of Pokémon - some are great and still hold up today, some are meh, and almost all of them get disproportionate amounts of exposure and new toys in later generations, for better or worse - and an infamously loud fanbase wearing some very thick nostalgia goggles and you’ve got a setting I have no interest in revisiting. I absolutely wouldn’t put another round of remakes past GF, though 

(But having the protagonist and his rival hook up in their later years was a nice twist.)

Not much more developed than its predecessor, but the Johto games benefit immensely from throwing in Kanto as a bonus (sort of) postgame region, both for the aforementioned contrast and for the additional content. Sure, the level curve is kind of screwy, the Pokémon could be better (Johto has my least favorite starter line-up, for instance), and Kanto feels half-formed in Gen II, but it’s not bad for what it is. I like that these games are set three years after the first ones, in that it conveys a sense of the passage of time - something that would only get more vague as the series progressed. I’m not much interested in the nods to Japanese culture and folklore strewn throughout Johto, but at least the region is identifiably Japanese. Also, the implementation of elements like a day/night cycle and days of the week appeal to me, even if in practice they’re more annoying than anything else. And I know the entire internet agrees with me, but HGSS did substantially more for Johto and Kanto than FRLG did for Kanto. That’s kind of sad, honestly.

While I’m bringing up remakes, I would however like to disagree with most of the internet and say that ORAS were good remakes - good enough to where I could actually finish Alpha Sapphire when the original left me so unimpressed that I actually stopped playing the series outside remakes until Gen VI. The beloved Battle Frontier (which doesn’t seem all that interesting? Someone explain the appeal of this thing to me) may be missing and you can’t re-challenge gym leaders and various other things you can only do in Emerald, but on the flip side the story development is much improved and better paced - yay for convenient cutscene warping - and the Delta Episode provides a decent postgame capstone. What’s more, Hoenn is absolutely beautiful in the remakes, looking as lush and tropical as it ought to and no longer bogged down with water routes that are a slog to traverse or much backtracking. Soaring is a wonderful addition as well that shows off the region and cuts down on HM usage, and the DexNav is excellent for reducing the tedium of catching them all (or some approximation thereof when stupid things like event legendaries and untradeable-on-GTS version exclusives still exist).

I haven’t even mentioned the villain teams. I know full well that Tumblr is ahead of me on this one, but they are so gay. I picked up the gayer version with Matt outright professing his love for men (somewhat ruined when you consider that he’s talking to a ten-year-old...ick), but via extensive research *ahem* I’ve learned that Omega Ruby has its moments too and that Teams Magma and Aqua are best enjoyed as a pair. Their goals may be patently stupid, but they all learn something at the end of the day and can go home and have an orgy together. I haven’t even mentioned the Steven/Wallace subtext one of my mutuals cued me into, which is sweet revenge indeed for Emerald fanboys whining for years about femme Wallace with his predictable team becoming champion in that game. It’s enough altogether for me to forgive the game for constantly teasing Brendan/May - because obligatory heterosexual romance doesn’t have to wait for a little thing like puberty.

The only region for which I can’t really give a full assessment. I started a playthrough of Platinum on emulator, but the game felt so slow and clunky that after the second gym (which I’ve read is an especially dull and pace-breaking stretch) I couldn’t bring myself to play any more. I’ve watched speedruns and video reviews of this game, and they’ve only confirmed my initial opinion and caused me to hope that most of Sinnoh’s copious issues will be addressed in the inevitable remakes. The over-reliance on HM slaves (poor Bidoof...), unintuitive region layout, periods of severe environmental slowdown in the form of marshlands and deep snow, and other factors do not appeal to me at all, and while I know Platinum fixed this particular problem I assume that the Diamond and Peal remakes will not have to contend with a limited roster as they did. The characters could do with some work as well: Barry seriously needs to calm down, I still don’t know how to feel about Fantina (will she be Kalosian? What about in the Japanese and French versions where she’s apparently from an English-speaking country?), and Cyrus really doesn’t work as the charismatic leader he’s built up to be. Say what you will about the Hoenn villain teams or Team Flare having idiotic goals, but at least I can say what those are. I still got nothing on Team Galactic caring about Prof. Rowan’s evolution research or stealing energy or what have you. Sinnoh is severely in need of a second - or third, I suppose - draft. 

Confirming that Volkner and Flint are a couple would also be nice. Just throwing out ideas.

When I downloaded White and Black 2 for emulator I didn’t expect to be very impressed by these games. Unova is the MURICA FUCK YEAH region, as we all know, and I shouldn’t have to point out to my regular followers that that fact alone would be enough to unfavorably prejudice me against the place. And yet, in spite of that, it works for me. A big part of that is that Louisiana is absent from this loose celebration of the US as interpreted by Japan; there’s an oil baron dressed like a cowboy, a Californian or Hawaiian surfer bro, a gay (or straight hipster, hard to tell these days) artist with a loft gym in Castro the Village Castelia City, a Southern mammy for some casual racism that was actually too casual for international release, counterparts to Coney Island, Broadway, Hollywood, and American sports, and numerous Pokémon like the Trubbish and Vanillite* lines inspired by the shallow consumerism that passes for culture in the US, but nothing representing my own stubbornly French state. I’m actually warier about the bizarre attempts to insert bits of medieval and early modern Europe into the region via PETA-by-way-of-the-Knights-Templar (what) Team Plasma and the trio quartet of legendaries based on les Trois Mousquetaires. Did whoever came up with those not get the memo about where the series was going next?

With that said, although I’m not as enamored with N as some people his characterization was if nothing else a step up from anything that had come before. While Ghetsis and Plasma make no damn sense aesthetically until the sequels they are intimidating villains who raise serious questions about how humans treat Pokémon...that are naturally never considered in their full complexity because friendship or something. As I stated with Johto I do like the sequel model of region development since we get to see how Unova has changed over two years. I also appreciate the season mechanic that only appears in these games for lending some variety to the geography, though in execution it’s kind of a pain.

*But hey, I’m thankful at least that this is I think the only region that lets you catch (decent) Ice types before lategame. I will absolutely take the ice cream with a face.

Perfect, or rather just imperfect enough to perfectly capture the essence of France and its culture in this silly world of fantasy cockfighting. Unashamedly biased I may be, but as Kalos gets a lot of hate online I feel the need to push back against popular opinion a bit. X and Y were in my opinion the first games where GF really went all in on characterizing a region, because everything from the preoccupation with aesthetics (Character customization! Dog Furfrou grooming! Petting and pampering your Pokémon! Meticulously kept jardins à la française! Serious philosophical discussions on the fleeting nature of beauty! Team Flare...ok, never mind, they’re kind of dumb) to the discerning restaurant culture to the general ambivalence toward glorious and gloriously wasteful institutions like monarchy and their lavish châteaux feels so familiar to me. And how could I forget the Fairy type, a type tailor-made to vex the sort of posturing bro gamer sorts who somehow maintain their bro-ness while openly playing Pokémon. Could any region but Kalos have delivered that so beautifully? Well, now that I think about it, are the Japanese aware that the French are characterized as feminine in the English-speaking world? Regardless, I could go on, but this post is long enough as it is.

As I said before, Kalos isn’t entirely without flaw. Team Flare might be a hair less ridiculous than Team Galactic, but that isn’t saying much. The troupe of rivals, such as they are, aren’t much better, and others like Sycamore and most of the gym leaders are woefully underutilized. The Kalos Pokédex is overstuffed, and while I enjoy its subdivision into three regions that not-so-coincidentally recreate the Tricolore it is nevertheless a pain for those who like to fill up the Dex as they go along in a game. The developers were still clearly learning how to deal with the camera in a 3D space as is evident in certain areas like Lumiose, and certain features like the roller skates are awkward to use. Not the Exp Share, though - call me a lazy casual, but that thing makes team-building so much easier and actually incentivizes doing so rather than just relying on one overleveled Pokémon with good coverage to solo everything. Oh, and we never got a Pokémon Z, or more importantly an extension of the map that would include southern France. Poké-Gascogne, please, Game Freak.

Really, it’s hard for me to criticize X and Y because I quickly come back to everything I love about the place. I’m actually replaying X right now, inspired as I was by this project and lacking anything else to play before USUM comes out next month. Speaking of which...

I may not have any personal attachment to Hawaii, but I have to give GF serious props for taking the best gameplay and worldbuilding elements of Kalos and replicating them on an even greater scale. Alola is a vibrant and extensively-realized setting for a game, and I’m not even taking into account that we’ll be getting an AU version of it or something like that in the upcoming games. Sun and Moon fascinate on their own with their deep characterizations that touch on such surprisingly dark topics as child abuse (in a variety of forms) and the failure of community and, er, social programs, or whatever you’d call the Island Trial and the whole sending-ten-year-olds-out-to-enslave-wild-animals thing this universe has going on. 

There aren’t really any duds in the cast, either: Kukui is drool-worthy, Guzma and the rest of Team Skull are thoroughly silly and also thoroughly sad, most of the kahunas and trial captains are entertaining in their own ways (special props go to Nanu, Kiawe and his hiker boyfriend, and Acerola the fallen aristocrat who’s entirely too perky about it), Lusamine is a demented mother figure so of course I find her compelling, and Hau...taught me what a malasada is? It’s basically a Portuguese beignet, from the sound of things. Lillie is the real star however, and I don’t understand why some fans criticize the games for making the story more about her than about the player character. One of the biggest drawbacks of silent protagonists, and especially silent protagonists that never emote, is that it’s difficult for them to be a part of character-driven storylines, and in a first for the series unless you count N in BW Sun and Moon are exactly that kind of story. Lillie gets a voice and a distinct place in the world and in the lives of the other major players in the narrative, and she has a development arc that follows along with but stands independent from the standard one followed by this protagonist and all others in this series. Meanwhile, the player character...is from Kanto, and is Kukui’s cousin, and Kukui is probably fucking their mother. That’s pretty much it.

I’m a little less enamored with the Ultra Beast plotline as it’s a little too sci-fi for me, and Aether’s presence and purpose in Alola feels unexplored, but there’s still a chance that USUM may woo me on either score. I’m fairly indifferent on the Mega Evolution vs. Z-Moves argument, and I can take or leave Alolan forms - except Ninetales *pets* - but SM made one substantial gameplay improvement I absolutely adore and will hate to see be removed from future games: ride Pokémon. No more HM slaves, yay! Compound that with surfing between islands and some new areas and they’ve sold me on the next games. If the story is as radically different as trailers seem to be promising I can only hope that it’ll be just as engaging as the first time around.

So, if I had to provide a tl;dr by dint of a simplified ranking, it’d probably go as such:

Kalos > Alola > Hoenn = Unova > Johto > Kanto = Sinnoh

I’d expect Sinnoh to get bumped up a few notches in remake form, but otherwise that’s about right.

[remedialmassage]

Kathryn Budig on How to Really Live Authentically

Life in the spotlight is not all Instagram likes and rainbow sprinkles. YogaGlo instructor Kathryn Budig zeroes in on the ups and downs of yogalebrity, including the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone

Kathryn Budig with her dog, Ashi. 

Kathryn Budig, 36, takes a swig of water on the sidewalk outside Method 29403, a Pilates-based studio in Charleston, South Carolina, where she has just sweated, squatted, and lunged her way through a 40-minute class. The advertisement adorning the check-in counter is of Budig in an advanced back-bending yoga pose.

The other women in the class, most of them anyway, had been unaware that they had just worked out with someone who, to millions of devoted yogis, is famous.

The surge in yoga’s popularity in the United States over the past two decades—especially on Instagram—has resulted in the most American of concoctions: the yogalebrity. Among famous yoga instructors, Budig’s star may be the brightest.

She has become known to, and loved by, legions through almost a decade’s worth of classes on YogaGlo, the monthly subscription streaming platform; the books and magazine articles she has written; the social media presence she has built; and the workshops she teaches around the world. She is thought of as someone who takes alignment and mindfulness seriously, but not herself. Making silly faces as she demonstrates Bakasana (Crane Pose) or Navasana (Boat Pose) sit-ups with ease and humor, she has endeared herself to yogis and marketers alike as an all-American-yoga-teacher-next-door, Debbie Reynolds meets dharma.

How Kathryn Budig Became a 'Yogalebrity'

Some time ago, Budig may have wished to have been recognized in that Pilates class, or almost anywhere. She studied theater and literature at the University of Virginia and moved to Los Angeles after college, hoping to make it in Hollywood. But she ended up finding fame on a different sort of stage—the world of Western yoga, which has become inhabited by avid, even rabid, students who look upon favored instructors as gurus and travel hundreds of miles to attend workshops as if they are rock concerts. As her renown grew, Budig also became a savvy entrepreneur, forging partnerships with Under Armour, cosmetics companies, jewelry designers, and more, becoming what is today known as an influencer. She had a personal brand before that was a thing for yogis.

See also YJ Asked: Can You Effectively Teach Yoga Through Social Media?

It was taxing. At her busiest, Budig was traveling internationally four times a year and was on a plane to somewhere for a workshop or other yoga event at least once a week. She filmed classes for YogaGlo about once a month, which required long days in front of the camera and hours of prep work with producers. She was writing for the wellness website MindBodyGreen, contributing to Yoga Journal, and was an editor for Women’s Health, for which she also wrote Big Book of Yoga, published in 2012. Then there were the website and social media feeds that needed to be fed, with photos, essays, and healthy recipes.

Of course, this was all in addition to the physical rigors of maintaining a leg-behind-your-head practice (that ultimately led to a shoulder injury) and a “camera-ready” body. She approached eating with discipline. Her curves were something she battled not celebrated.

Budig on a 2009 cover of Yoga Journal in Forearm Stand, Scorpion variation.

She came to struggle with the dissonance between the yogic messages of acceptance and non-attachment that she shared with students in her work and the messages her physique conveyed.

“You’re not doing the world a favor because you’re telling people, ‘Oh, this is what I always look like because I’m in such good shape.’ No, you just starved yourself and worked out all day long and probably have been sitting in a hot tub or a sauna,” Budig says, rummaging through a cupboard in the kitchen of her bright, lofty home in Charleston. “I was guilty of doing that to a certain extent when I was younger. I mean, we all want to be perceived as beautiful. And I think, especially when you’re in a career like this, people expect you to be a certain body type.” If any of this is difficult for her to discuss, Budig gives no indication. She is relaxed and calm in her kitchen.

She also grappled with yoga-world fame. On one hand, she sought it and relished it. “I am a human with an ego and I appreciate accolades and being acknowledged,” she says. But it ultimately became a source of unhappiness.

See also Yoga as Reality TV? Yoga Girls Documents L.A. Teachers' Search for 'Insta-Fame'

Budig's Controversial ToeSox Ad Campaign

In 2008, four years into her yoga career, she modeled for the photographer Jasper Johal in a series of photos for a ToeSox ad campaign, in which she posed wearing nothing but socks. The photos were carefully shaded and discretely angled so that you couldn’t see everything … but you still saw plenty. The ad campaign helped lead to her celebrity and to her becoming a target for derision.

Sometime after the ads appeared, they drew criticism in blog posts and news articles. In 2009, Waylon Lewis wrote about it in Elephant Journal, a publication he founded: “Sex appeal can be a turnoff when your market is 85 percent women—it can come off as cheap, sleazy, patriarchal, shallow, frivolous—something you don’t want to do with a demographic that would never call itself a demographic, but prefers community, kula, sangha.”

Budig poses in the ToeSox ad that sparked controversy in 2009.

Accusations of sexualizing yoga and objectifying women stung Budig. “That is the opposite of what I’m about, and it was really painful for me,” she says. “Fame is a capricious monster. When you acquire fame, you are stripping yourself of having people really know you. You become someone else’s interpretation of who you are.”

See also How One Yoga Teacher Reclaimed Her Healthy Body Image in the Face of Shaming

Budig realizes that by seeking attention, as one does by posting to social media and engaging in other forms of promotion, she opens herself up to the nastiness and trolling that have become endemic, even to platforms like Instagram. “You put yourself out there and that’s what you set yourself up for,” she says.

Yoga instructors, particularly yogalebrities, live amid dichotomies that don’t exist for most other professional athletes or entertainers. They are expected to embody yoga philosophies that the asana practice is supposed to get us closer to perfecting. This does not allow for having ego, envy, or professional and financial ambition.

“Teachers aren’t exempt from the human experience,” says Seane Corn, herself a famous yogi who has been a mentor and friend to Budig for a decade. “It can be difficult to make mistakes in the public eye. People have higher expectations than we can sometimes live up to. We are committed to the path of self-realization. We are teaching non-attachment. We are teaching to put love before fear. But we are in human form, and there is ego to all of it.”

See also Yoga and Ego: Keep it in Check with Your Practice

Budig's Next Chapter: Remarriage and Cooking

For all these reasons, and a few more, Budig is acclimating to a new phase of her career—one that is less visible.

She has settled in Charleston, a city she loves and where her parents now live. After a difficult marriage and divorce, she plans to marry again this fall—to espnW and ESPN reporter and commentator Kate Fagan. Budig is traveling far less—hitting the road once a month to teach and traveling to L.A. three to four times a year to film new YogaGlo classes. When she is home, she spends much of her time expanding her career focus to cooking, an activity that seems to both calm and animate her. She is experimenting with recipes, thinking about writing a cookbook, and filming elaborate mini cooking shows that she shares with her 220,000 Instagram followers.

“For a long time, I was looking for happiness from success,” she says. “Now I am looking for success from happiness.”

See also Find the Happiness Within You

Kathryn Budig cooking at her home in South Carolina. 

Dressed in taupe, shiny yoga pants that pull down over her heels, and with her hair piled atop her head in a small blond tornado, Budig is making breakfast after “hella hard” Pilates (as she rightly calls it) in her sun-strewn house. The kitchen is sleek and modern, with a gray tile backsplash and dashes of color coming from her stacks of cookbooks and well-organized kitchen accessories.

Budig is trying to recreate a yogurt parfait that she tasted earlier in the week. She understands flavor and is an add-a-pinch-of-this kind of cook. “Let’s add a sprinkle of black sesame seeds,” she says, drizzling them over coconut yogurt, blueberries, shredded coconuts, and cacao nibs.

Then she pulls out a black tray from a countertop food dehydrator and starts arranging perfect triangles of shriveled up watermelon that she has dusted with Tajín, a condiment of dried lime and chili-pepper salt. The watermelon rinds were saved in a jar; she plans to pickle them later. “It’s a Southern thing,” she says.

From Kansas to Charleston: A Foodie Is Born

Budig was raised in Lawrence, Kansas, where her father served as chancellor of the University of Kansas before the family moved to Princeton, New Jersey, when he took a job as president of Major League Baseball’s American League. Her mom and dad didn’t cook much. “My mom would make us some queso with Velveeta cheese, which was delicious, but I wasn’t really getting the culinary experience at home,” she says. But the parents of her high school boyfriend were foodies, and she began to take note of techniques and ingredients. “I would watch them cook and think, ‘What is this magic?’” she says.

She continued to spend time in the kitchen in college and in L.A., where she also began to explore farmers’ markets and tiny shops selling delicacies. She cooked whenever she was home and indulged in the restaurant scenes of the cities she visited.

By 2016, Budig was committed to the ideals of nutrition and enjoyment of food as a component of yogic wellness. That year, she published her book Aim True: Love Your Body, Eat Without Fear, Nourish Your Spirit, Discover True Balance!, which brought together asana, meditation, homeopathy, and recipes. She hoped it would help launch her as an influencer in the arena of food and cuisine, but it didn’t sell as well as she’d wished. Disappointed, Budig shelved her career aspirations around cooking and moved to Brooklyn to be with Fagan before they decided to relocate together back to Charleston in 2017.

It was truly living in Charleston—rather than crashing there between flights to yoga gigs—that made her ready to re-integrate her love for food into her career. “I’m really lucky because Charleston has a huge food scene,” she says.

She hopes her yoga students will follow her into the kitchen. “This is just my happy place,” she says, standing by her dining table. She looks at her kitchen like you can imagine she may have once looked at her yoga mat—as a blank canvas for creativity and self-expression. “There’s something cathartic for me, to cook at the end of the day, and I love every aspect of food. I love eating it, I love tasting it, I love smelling it, I like shopping for the produce, I like the history behind where things come from, I love feeding people, I love going to restaurants, I love drinking, I love pairing wine and food, and I love enjoying it all.”

See also Self-Care Tip: Create a ‘Living’ Kitchen

Finding the 'Mecca' of Yoga (and Getting Hooked)

Kathryn Budig practicing yoga on the streets on South Carolina.

Just as food moved from a passion to a professional pursuit, yoga, for Budig, began as a side-hustle.

By her senior year in college, she was attending yoga classes twice a week. Upon moving to LA, she knew she would need to find a job to support herself as she worked her way through auditions, so she started a teacher training at YogaWorks. “I thought I would go in and it would be this fun workshop. I had no clue that I had gone to the Mecca of yoga,” she says.

The first few days, there were hours-long asana practices and discussions of yoga philosophy with Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller, two of YogaWorks’s founders. “Everything was in Sanskrit. It was difficult for me, because I just kind of felt like, Wow, I don’t even know what I’m doing. They adjusted every little thing. Then after that first weekend, I was hooked.”

As she practiced and began to teach, Budig continued to work on her acting career as well. Nearly everyone she met told her she was talented but that she needed to lose weight and get her teeth straightened. She met with a manager who said, “Well, at the weight that you’re at right now, you could be the funny best friend,” Budig recalls. “And I was easily 10 to 15 pounds lighter than I am now.”

She was teaching classes at both of YogaWorks’s Santa Monica studios and quickly became an in-demand private instructor as well. About 18 months after arriving in LA, she decided to focus entirely on yoga. It was a kinder, though still competitive, profession that also relied on stage presence and showmanship.

See also 19 Yoga Teaching Tips Senior Teachers Want to Give Newbies

By the end of 2010, after the ToeSox ads and the broad exposure her YogaGlo classes and social media had provided, she was one of the best-known yoga teachers in the country. But the culture of L.A. was getting to her. “It’s so vapid,” she says. “It’s a selfish city. People go there to make it big—in the yoga world, in the acting world, everything. Then there is a physicality to all of it, and everyone just torturing themselves to look beautiful and fit, and it’s very triggering for me.”

She got out of L.A. in 2011, moving to DeLand, Florida, to be with a man she fell for—literally. They met when he was her sky-diving instructor. They moved together to Charleston, where they were married, in 2014. But it was a difficult marriage from the start.

Finding Love Again: How Budig 'Knew'

Just before the wedding, Budig traveled to Dana Point, California, for an espnW Women + Sports Summit. She met Fagan there, though they only interacted in the conference sort of way. Budig sat in on a discussion Fagan moderated; Fagan attended a yoga class Budig led.

Fagan, also 36, hadn’t practiced much yoga before the conference, but it was her introduction to a physical pursuit that is as much a creative expression as an athletic one. “The creativity I aspire to in writing is what I see from her in her yoga classes,” says Fagan, who appears frequently on ESPN’s Outside the Lines and is the author of the 2017 best-selling book What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen. “When Kathryn would demonstrate these poses and I still didn’t totally understand what to do, she would use metaphors, and language, and descriptions that I thought were extraordinary.”

The next year, at the same espnW conference, they reconnected. Budig was taken with the journalist and former college basketball player. “I got to hear her lead a panel, and she is just so smart. She really stood out to me. We swapped numbers and we ended up texting each other every single day, and it was one of those things where I felt like, ‘Oh no, what if she doesn’t text me today?’ And I knew.”

It wasn’t long before Budig and her husband decided to separate. Part of a close-knit family, she has always relied on her parents and two (much older) siblings for support. First, she reached out to her mother. “I told her that I’d fallen in love with a woman and I didn’t know what to do,” Budig said. She worried her mother would take issue with her being with a woman. “My mom said, ‘Of course I don’t care, I just don’t understand the sex part.’” (“Fair enough!” her daughter replied.)

When Budig told her dad about the end of her marriage and about Kate, she was visibly nervous. “When I finally told my dad, there was just a lot of buildup for me, and I was really scared.” Her father said to her, “Kathryn, if you think this would upset me, then you don’t even know who I am.”

See also LGBT History Month: One Yoga Teacher's Coming Out Story

How Kathryn Budig Embraces Yoga in All Aspects of Her Life 

Kathryn Budig embracing yoga in all aspects of her life—in and out of the studio. 

On Saturday morning, a day after a chilled-out Friday spent at pilates, in the kitchen, and on the front porch, Budig wakes up early for a photoshoot for Asha Patel Designs, a jewelry maker. Then Budig and Fagan head, in their Mercedes SUV, to the Daily, a hipster-ish market and coffee shop. Budig drives, Fagan navigates. At a table littered with green juices and chia bowls, they sit on the same side, holding hands. Budig is wearing a white jumper and sneakers and some makeup from the photoshoot.

They are trying to focus on a bunch of projects that will root them home in Charleston together. After working with espnW for the past year on Free Cookies, their Podcast about sports and wellness, they are now producing it themselves in Charleston with more of a focus on food and pop culture. They are also planning their autumn wedding at a favorite restaurant in town, with Budig’s mentor Corn presiding over the ceremony. And they are thinking about having a baby.

All of this means less travel for Budig and far fewer workshops and classes. She knows it’s jarring for some students, but she hopes they see that just as they grow and change through yoga, so too does she.

“I think in this day and age, a lot of people who’ve been successful at a young age are asking, ‘What do I do now?’ And giving people permission to follow what lights them up for the next stage of their life is important,” she says. “You know, you don’t have to keep doing the same thing just because you did it well. I think that’s how people become numb.”

To that point, she is taking a lot of pilates and barre classes to help address her injuries. When she does go to yoga, she looks for a spot in the back corner of the room where no one will notice or recognize her and she can do her own thing.

See also How 30 Days of Barre Transformed My Yoga Practice (Plus, 5 Moves Every Yogi Should Try)

Fagan is helping Budig make the professional shift toward food. “I would be honest with her if I didn’t think this was a good idea. But I have seen her acuity in the kitchen. She has a unique set of skills,” Fagan says, “It’s a tough transition. It can be difficult when you want to be one thing in the world and you’ve been something else. The world gets really sticky.”

Corn is encouraging her to take the risk, too. “Kathryn’s role in well-being seems to me more broad than teaching asana,” Corn says. “I never thought that yoga would be the only way she would support people in their own transformational growth. She is a creative person and no one who is an artist should be relegated to one form of expression.”

It’s not just that Budig wishes to spend more time building her culinary career. She is also questioning the safety of a very regular, very rigorous asana practice.

“As someone who used to put her feet behind her head all the time and just go into these really absurd poses, I have a lot of questions about what I even think is OK for the body and how far we should be taking it. How do those poses get me any closer to enlightenment or doing something good for my body?” Budig says.

She remains focused on the philosophies of yoga—non-attachment and being in the moment—and how they connect to her love of food.

Budig’s sister, Mary Frances Budig, says she has witnessed Kathryn build her career with determination and now sees her going through a process of re-evaluation. “In your 20s and 30s, you are learning who you are,” says Mary Frances, who is 16 years older than Kathryn. “When you have confidence in yourself as a professional, as Kathryn rightly does, you can narrow in on what you really want to do with your life. Kathryn loves food, and she loves yoga. But she also loves having a home and having Kate in her life. She is in a place where I think she is most authentically herself.”

See also Kathryn Budig Shares How She Finally Started Living the Life She Actually Wants

About Our Writer Katherine Rosman is a yogi, mother, and reporter for the New York Times. She is the author of a memoir, If You Knew Suzy: A Mother, a Daughter, a Reporter’s Notebook.

from Yoga Journal https://ift.tt/2A6ez0o

[amyddaniels]

Kathryn Budig on How to Really Live Authentically

Life in the spotlight is not all Instagram likes and rainbow sprinkles. YogaGlo instructor Kathryn Budig zeroes in on the ups and downs of yogalebrity, including the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone

Kathryn Budig with her dog, Ashi. 

Kathryn Budig, 36, takes a swig of water on the sidewalk outside Method 29403, a Pilates-based studio in Charleston, South Carolina, where she has just sweated, squatted, and lunged her way through a 40-minute class. The advertisement adorning the check-in counter is of Budig in an advanced back-bending yoga pose.

The other women in the class, most of them anyway, had been unaware that they had just worked out with someone who, to millions of devoted yogis, is famous.

The surge in yoga’s popularity in the United States over the past two decades—especially on Instagram—has resulted in the most American of concoctions: the yogalebrity. Among famous yoga instructors, Budig’s star may be the brightest.

She has become known to, and loved by, legions through almost a decade’s worth of classes on YogaGlo, the monthly subscription streaming platform; the books and magazine articles she has written; the social media presence she has built; and the workshops she teaches around the world. She is thought of as someone who takes alignment and mindfulness seriously, but not herself. Making silly faces as she demonstrates Bakasana (Crane Pose) or Navasana (Boat Pose) sit-ups with ease and humor, she has endeared herself to yogis and marketers alike as an all-American-yoga-teacher-next-door, Debbie Reynolds meets dharma.

How Kathryn Budig Became a 'Yogalebrity'

Some time ago, Budig may have wished to have been recognized in that Pilates class, or almost anywhere. She studied theater and literature at the University of Virginia and moved to Los Angeles after college, hoping to make it in Hollywood. But she ended up finding fame on a different sort of stage—the world of Western yoga, which has become inhabited by avid, even rabid, students who look upon favored instructors as gurus and travel hundreds of miles to attend workshops as if they are rock concerts. As her renown grew, Budig also became a savvy entrepreneur, forging partnerships with Under Armour, cosmetics companies, jewelry designers, and more, becoming what is today known as an influencer. She had a personal brand before that was a thing for yogis.

See also YJ Asked: Can You Effectively Teach Yoga Through Social Media?

It was taxing. At her busiest, Budig was traveling internationally four times a year and was on a plane to somewhere for a workshop or other yoga event at least once a week. She filmed classes for YogaGlo about once a month, which required long days in front of the camera and hours of prep work with producers. She was writing for the wellness website MindBodyGreen, contributing to Yoga Journal, and was an editor for Women’s Health, for which she also wrote Big Book of Yoga, published in 2012. Then there were the website and social media feeds that needed to be fed, with photos, essays, and healthy recipes.

Of course, this was all in addition to the physical rigors of maintaining a leg-behind-your-head practice (that ultimately led to a shoulder injury) and a “camera-ready” body. She approached eating with discipline. Her curves were something she battled not celebrated.

Budig on a 2009 cover of Yoga Journal in Forearm Stand, Scorpion variation.

She came to struggle with the dissonance between the yogic messages of acceptance and non-attachment that she shared with students in her work and the messages her physique conveyed.

“You’re not doing the world a favor because you’re telling people, ‘Oh, this is what I always look like because I’m in such good shape.’ No, you just starved yourself and worked out all day long and probably have been sitting in a hot tub or a sauna,” Budig says, rummaging through a cupboard in the kitchen of her bright, lofty home in Charleston. “I was guilty of doing that to a certain extent when I was younger. I mean, we all want to be perceived as beautiful. And I think, especially when you’re in a career like this, people expect you to be a certain body type.” If any of this is difficult for her to discuss, Budig gives no indication. She is relaxed and calm in her kitchen.

She also grappled with yoga-world fame. On one hand, she sought it and relished it. “I am a human with an ego and I appreciate accolades and being acknowledged,” she says. But it ultimately became a source of unhappiness.

See also Yoga as Reality TV? Yoga Girls Documents L.A. Teachers' Search for 'Insta-Fame'

Budig's Controversial ToeSox Ad Campaign

In 2008, four years into her yoga career, she modeled for the photographer Jasper Johal in a series of photos for a ToeSox ad campaign, in which she posed wearing nothing but socks. The photos were carefully shaded and discretely angled so that you couldn’t see everything … but you still saw plenty. The ad campaign helped lead to her celebrity and to her becoming a target for derision.

Sometime after the ads appeared, they drew criticism in blog posts and news articles. In 2009, Waylon Lewis wrote about it in Elephant Journal, a publication he founded: “Sex appeal can be a turnoff when your market is 85 percent women—it can come off as cheap, sleazy, patriarchal, shallow, frivolous—something you don’t want to do with a demographic that would never call itself a demographic, but prefers community, kula, sangha.”

Budig poses in the ToeSox ad that sparked controversy in 2009.

Accusations of sexualizing yoga and objectifying women stung Budig. “That is the opposite of what I’m about, and it was really painful for me,” she says. “Fame is a capricious monster. When you acquire fame, you are stripping yourself of having people really know you. You become someone else’s interpretation of who you are.”

See also How One Yoga Teacher Reclaimed Her Healthy Body Image in the Face of Shaming

Budig realizes that by seeking attention, as one does by posting to social media and engaging in other forms of promotion, she opens herself up to the nastiness and trolling that have become endemic, even to platforms like Instagram. “You put yourself out there and that’s what you set yourself up for,” she says.

Yoga instructors, particularly yogalebrities, live amid dichotomies that don’t exist for most other professional athletes or entertainers. They are expected to embody yoga philosophies that the asana practice is supposed to get us closer to perfecting. This does not allow for having ego, envy, or professional and financial ambition.

“Teachers aren’t exempt from the human experience,” says Seane Corn, herself a famous yogi who has been a mentor and friend to Budig for a decade. “It can be difficult to make mistakes in the public eye. People have higher expectations than we can sometimes live up to. We are committed to the path of self-realization. We are teaching non-attachment. We are teaching to put love before fear. But we are in human form, and there is ego to all of it.”

See also Yoga and Ego: Keep it in Check with Your Practice

Budig's Next Chapter: Remarriage and Cooking

For all these reasons, and a few more, Budig is acclimating to a new phase of her career—one that is less visible.

She has settled in Charleston, a city she loves and where her parents now live. After a difficult marriage and divorce, she plans to marry again this fall—to espnW and ESPN reporter and commentator Kate Fagan. Budig is traveling far less—hitting the road once a month to teach and traveling to L.A. three to four times a year to film new YogaGlo classes. When she is home, she spends much of her time expanding her career focus to cooking, an activity that seems to both calm and animate her. She is experimenting with recipes, thinking about writing a cookbook, and filming elaborate mini cooking shows that she shares with her 220,000 Instagram followers.

“For a long time, I was looking for happiness from success,” she says. “Now I am looking for success from happiness.”

See also Find the Happiness Within You

Kathryn Budig cooking at her home in South Carolina. 

Dressed in taupe, shiny yoga pants that pull down over her heels, and with her hair piled atop her head in a small blond tornado, Budig is making breakfast after “hella hard” Pilates (as she rightly calls it) in her sun-strewn house. The kitchen is sleek and modern, with a gray tile backsplash and dashes of color coming from her stacks of cookbooks and well-organized kitchen accessories.

Budig is trying to recreate a yogurt parfait that she tasted earlier in the week. She understands flavor and is an add-a-pinch-of-this kind of cook. “Let’s add a sprinkle of black sesame seeds,” she says, drizzling them over coconut yogurt, blueberries, shredded coconuts, and cacao nibs.

Then she pulls out a black tray from a countertop food dehydrator and starts arranging perfect triangles of shriveled up watermelon that she has dusted with Tajín, a condiment of dried lime and chili-pepper salt. The watermelon rinds were saved in a jar; she plans to pickle them later. “It’s a Southern thing,” she says.

From Kansas to Charleston: A Foodie Is Born

Budig was raised in Lawrence, Kansas, where her father served as chancellor of the University of Kansas before the family moved to Princeton, New Jersey, when he took a job as president of Major League Baseball’s American League. Her mom and dad didn’t cook much. “My mom would make us some queso with Velveeta cheese, which was delicious, but I wasn’t really getting the culinary experience at home,” she says. But the parents of her high school boyfriend were foodies, and she began to take note of techniques and ingredients. “I would watch them cook and think, ‘What is this magic?’” she says.

She continued to spend time in the kitchen in college and in L.A., where she also began to explore farmers’ markets and tiny shops selling delicacies. She cooked whenever she was home and indulged in the restaurant scenes of the cities she visited.

By 2016, Budig was committed to the ideals of nutrition and enjoyment of food as a component of yogic wellness. That year, she published her book Aim True: Love Your Body, Eat Without Fear, Nourish Your Spirit, Discover True Balance!, which brought together asana, meditation, homeopathy, and recipes. She hoped it would help launch her as an influencer in the arena of food and cuisine, but it didn’t sell as well as she’d wished. Disappointed, Budig shelved her career aspirations around cooking and moved to Brooklyn to be with Fagan before they decided to relocate together back to Charleston in 2017.

It was truly living in Charleston—rather than crashing there between flights to yoga gigs—that made her ready to re-integrate her love for food into her career. “I’m really lucky because Charleston has a huge food scene,” she says.

She hopes her yoga students will follow her into the kitchen. “This is just my happy place,” she says, standing by her dining table. She looks at her kitchen like you can imagine she may have once looked at her yoga mat—as a blank canvas for creativity and self-expression. “There’s something cathartic for me, to cook at the end of the day, and I love every aspect of food. I love eating it, I love tasting it, I love smelling it, I like shopping for the produce, I like the history behind where things come from, I love feeding people, I love going to restaurants, I love drinking, I love pairing wine and food, and I love enjoying it all.”

See also Self-Care Tip: Create a ‘Living’ Kitchen

Finding the 'Mecca' of Yoga (and Getting Hooked)

Kathryn Budig practicing yoga on the streets on South Carolina.

Just as food moved from a passion to a professional pursuit, yoga, for Budig, began as a side-hustle.

By her senior year in college, she was attending yoga classes twice a week. Upon moving to LA, she knew she would need to find a job to support herself as she worked her way through auditions, so she started a teacher training at YogaWorks. “I thought I would go in and it would be this fun workshop. I had no clue that I had gone to the Mecca of yoga,” she says.

The first few days, there were hours-long asana practices and discussions of yoga philosophy with Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller, two of YogaWorks’s founders. “Everything was in Sanskrit. It was difficult for me, because I just kind of felt like, Wow, I don’t even know what I’m doing. They adjusted every little thing. Then after that first weekend, I was hooked.”

As she practiced and began to teach, Budig continued to work on her acting career as well. Nearly everyone she met told her she was talented but that she needed to lose weight and get her teeth straightened. She met with a manager who said, “Well, at the weight that you’re at right now, you could be the funny best friend,” Budig recalls. “And I was easily 10 to 15 pounds lighter than I am now.”

She was teaching classes at both of YogaWorks’s Santa Monica studios and quickly became an in-demand private instructor as well. About 18 months after arriving in LA, she decided to focus entirely on yoga. It was a kinder, though still competitive, profession that also relied on stage presence and showmanship.

See also 19 Yoga Teaching Tips Senior Teachers Want to Give Newbies

By the end of 2010, after the ToeSox ads and the broad exposure her YogaGlo classes and social media had provided, she was one of the best-known yoga teachers in the country. But the culture of L.A. was getting to her. “It’s so vapid,” she says. “It’s a selfish city. People go there to make it big—in the yoga world, in the acting world, everything. Then there is a physicality to all of it, and everyone just torturing themselves to look beautiful and fit, and it’s very triggering for me.”

She got out of L.A. in 2011, moving to DeLand, Florida, to be with a man she fell for—literally. They met when he was her sky-diving instructor. They moved together to Charleston, where they were married, in 2014. But it was a difficult marriage from the start.

Finding Love Again: How Budig 'Knew'

Just before the wedding, Budig traveled to Dana Point, California, for an espnW Women + Sports Summit. She met Fagan there, though they only interacted in the conference sort of way. Budig sat in on a discussion Fagan moderated; Fagan attended a yoga class Budig led.

Fagan, also 36, hadn’t practiced much yoga before the conference, but it was her introduction to a physical pursuit that is as much a creative expression as an athletic one. “The creativity I aspire to in writing is what I see from her in her yoga classes,” says Fagan, who appears frequently on ESPN’s Outside the Lines and is the author of the 2017 best-selling book What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen. “When Kathryn would demonstrate these poses and I still didn’t totally understand what to do, she would use metaphors, and language, and descriptions that I thought were extraordinary.”

The next year, at the same espnW conference, they reconnected. Budig was taken with the journalist and former college basketball player. “I got to hear her lead a panel, and she is just so smart. She really stood out to me. We swapped numbers and we ended up texting each other every single day, and it was one of those things where I felt like, ‘Oh no, what if she doesn’t text me today?’ And I knew.”

It wasn’t long before Budig and her husband decided to separate. Part of a close-knit family, she has always relied on her parents and two (much older) siblings for support. First, she reached out to her mother. “I told her that I’d fallen in love with a woman and I didn’t know what to do,” Budig said. She worried her mother would take issue with her being with a woman. “My mom said, ‘Of course I don’t care, I just don’t understand the sex part.’” (“Fair enough!” her daughter replied.)

When Budig told her dad about the end of her marriage and about Kate, she was visibly nervous. “When I finally told my dad, there was just a lot of buildup for me, and I was really scared.” Her father said to her, “Kathryn, if you think this would upset me, then you don’t even know who I am.”

See also LGBT History Month: One Yoga Teacher's Coming Out Story

How Kathryn Budig Embraces Yoga in All Aspects of Her Life 

Kathryn Budig embracing yoga in all aspects of her life—in and out of the studio. 

On Saturday morning, a day after a chilled-out Friday spent at pilates, in the kitchen, and on the front porch, Budig wakes up early for a photoshoot for Asha Patel Designs, a jewelry maker. Then Budig and Fagan head, in their Mercedes SUV, to the Daily, a hipster-ish market and coffee shop. Budig drives, Fagan navigates. At a table littered with green juices and chia bowls, they sit on the same side, holding hands. Budig is wearing a white jumper and sneakers and some makeup from the photoshoot.

They are trying to focus on a bunch of projects that will root them home in Charleston together. After working with espnW for the past year on Free Cookies, their Podcast about sports and wellness, they are now producing it themselves in Charleston with more of a focus on food and pop culture. They are also planning their autumn wedding at a favorite restaurant in town, with Budig’s mentor Corn presiding over the ceremony. And they are thinking about having a baby.

All of this means less travel for Budig and far fewer workshops and classes. She knows it’s jarring for some students, but she hopes they see that just as they grow and change through yoga, so too does she.

“I think in this day and age, a lot of people who’ve been successful at a young age are asking, ‘What do I do now?’ And giving people permission to follow what lights them up for the next stage of their life is important,” she says. “You know, you don’t have to keep doing the same thing just because you did it well. I think that’s how people become numb.”

To that point, she is taking a lot of pilates and barre classes to help address her injuries. When she does go to yoga, she looks for a spot in the back corner of the room where no one will notice or recognize her and she can do her own thing.

See also How 30 Days of Barre Transformed My Yoga Practice (Plus, 5 Moves Every Yogi Should Try)

Fagan is helping Budig make the professional shift toward food. “I would be honest with her if I didn’t think this was a good idea. But I have seen her acuity in the kitchen. She has a unique set of skills,” Fagan says, “It’s a tough transition. It can be difficult when you want to be one thing in the world and you’ve been something else. The world gets really sticky.”

Corn is encouraging her to take the risk, too. “Kathryn’s role in well-being seems to me more broad than teaching asana,” Corn says. “I never thought that yoga would be the only way she would support people in their own transformational growth. She is a creative person and no one who is an artist should be relegated to one form of expression.”

It’s not just that Budig wishes to spend more time building her culinary career. She is also questioning the safety of a very regular, very rigorous asana practice.

“As someone who used to put her feet behind her head all the time and just go into these really absurd poses, I have a lot of questions about what I even think is OK for the body and how far we should be taking it. How do those poses get me any closer to enlightenment or doing something good for my body?” Budig says.

She remains focused on the philosophies of yoga—non-attachment and being in the moment—and how they connect to her love of food.

Budig’s sister, Mary Frances Budig, says she has witnessed Kathryn build her career with determination and now sees her going through a process of re-evaluation. “In your 20s and 30s, you are learning who you are,” says Mary Frances, who is 16 years older than Kathryn. “When you have confidence in yourself as a professional, as Kathryn rightly does, you can narrow in on what you really want to do with your life. Kathryn loves food, and she loves yoga. But she also loves having a home and having Kate in her life. She is in a place where I think she is most authentically herself.”

See also Kathryn Budig Shares How She Finally Started Living the Life She Actually Wants

About Our Writer Katherine Rosman is a yogi, mother, and reporter for the New York Times. She is the author of a memoir, If You Knew Suzy: A Mother, a Daughter, a Reporter’s Notebook.

[iannoyinglysweetstudent-blog]

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What is the cheapest/reliable car insurance company in Miami Florida ?

I have clean record, 34 years old.""

Does AMERICA'S BEST eyeglasses accept INSURANCE?

i need to get glasses but im not sure if they acept insurance

Do i need insurance to mot a bike?

also will the mot service station ask to see my licence?, how much does an mot cost, and how long do i have to wait? its a honda cb 500. thanks""

Do you think its best for me to pay the car insurance all in one go?

am thinking of saving up about 2000 because that's how much my car insurance a year will be and pay it all in one go or just pay monthly? which is better? if pay it all off then i have to save up for a good 4 or 3 months. answer please no stupidity :P

What option should I choose for my car insurance?

I did a little test to check quotes when it came to auto insurance through Progressive. I found that I would pay less a month for choosing the option that I have had insurance for the past five years, but when I choose I haven't had insurance it charges me more per month. I technically have not had insurance before. My last vehicle was on my brothers insurance policy and I was listed as an Additional driver. So should I choose that I haven't been insured? I obviously wouldn't drive without insurance, even though I do live in a state that does not require it - but I don't want to give the notion that I have been either. There's not an option for new drivers who just didn't have insurance because they never had a vehicle before. So I am totally confused as to what option I should choose. Thanks!""

""In the state of arkansas, is there any state programs to provide free or affordable health insurance?

i am a 36 yr old male returning to college full-time. i have two dependent children who recive arkids(medicaid). i have no health insurance currently and am not working currently

What is the best short term life insurance plan between monthly premium rupees 500 to 800?

What is the best short term life insurance plan between monthly premium rupees 500 to 800?

Does the cost of insuring a car go down when you turn 18?

is it worth waiting a couple of months to my eighteenth birthday to get cheaper car insurance? thanks guys!

Insurance company have sold My car without my consent / pay out? what can i do?

My car has been written off by the insurance company back in January and i have not still been paid out due to me not agreeing with the offer. They have submitted me evidence justifying their offer but this was current market value and not prior. I have referred this matter to the finanical services ombudsman who are still investigating (long wait as they go by order of complaints received). I have just found out the insurance company have sold my car off to a salvage company who have sold it to another individual. What can i do? what is my legal standing point? can i claim against the insurance company? can i claim my car back? I am still in receipt of the V5, keys, service booklet and receipts for the car. I have not signed over ownership or given the insurance company concent to sell the car. I have assumed to date that the car is in storage at the repair garage. I have still to recieve full agreed final settlement for the car from the insurance company. HELP!!!!""

Need health insurance for my friend mother please read details..?

my friend mother is 66 years old she is a green card holder she is not working and never worked in the usa she had stroke two years ago while she is in her home country she is in usa now but she can't walk so she need physical therapy do you know affordable health plan for her she is not working her son and daughter live in wisconsin and connecticut?

""Rental rates WAY too high! Lease, or buy?""

I just moved to los angeles and rented a car for a month for $550. i am on my father's geico insurance plan so i don't pay for that. I am 6 m. shy of 25 so i think rates might be very high for insurance. i am going to be in LA for at least 6 months but maybe much longer. I really don;t know if it is smarter to lease (downsides having to get my own insurance, other issues) buy used (no warranty, having to spend a lot of money if problems arise) looking for most affordable and safest option. do i need my own insurance seperate from my father's if i buy or lease a car in my own name? can i lease a car without a full time employee status (i am an ind. contractor)? please help.""

Need advice: Parked car hit - Car has no insurance?

Ok, so last night my friends car was hit by a driver who fell asleep. the car was in front of our house and pushed 40ft and his flipped over. Both cars totaled. He has insurance, but my friends that was parked and hit, does not. Will this be an issue for her, or will his insurance be paying for everything since he was 100% at fault? Please help!""

Why is a five door car cheaper to insure than a 3 door car?

My father got a quote for a 5 door 1995 ford fiesta yesterday for 240. The previous car was also a fiesta of the same year and same engine but was a 3 door which cost 340 per year. We have had a 5 door ford fiesta before but that cost 340 per year as well, but the engine was the same and it was the same year. Why the difference in insurance cost between 3 and 5 doors?""

What is the best type of renters insurance available in California?

I want to get renters insurance in California, any good affordable ones available? I noticed nationwide and statefarm are not available here. I am using Geico for car insurance. TIA!""

How much does life insurance cost?

I have coverage for life insurance through my work. My fiance dosent. He is 20 years old. How much would life insurance cost a month for him?

Will my car insurance go down if i didn't have any accidents or traffic tickets?

i was 20 when i joined my families car insurance. its almost going to be a year and now i am 21. i did not have any accidents or traffic tickets. is it possible that my car insurance will go down? or will it stay the same?

national average car insurance

national average car insurance

How much does the average person pay yearly for car insurance?

I'm considering buying a 2007 Nissan Sentra or Toyota Corolla. It may be new or certified pre owned.

How much do you pay for your car insurance?

How much do you pay and is that amount on a monthly, semi-annual, or annual basis? What state do you live in? What is your age? What is the year, make, and model of the car you drive? Serious answers only, please. If you're not comfortable offering this information, please don't answer the question.""

17 Year old insurance on 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo Series 1?

Im 16 years of age soon to be 17 and I am looking for a first car that would be of a classic sort. I hate all the usual Saxo's and Corsa's that all the other kids drive. My dad currently owns a Series 1 RS Turbo and were in the middle of restoring it. I looked into insurance as myself as a named driver and got quotes of 11k and that's way too much. Would the price be cheaper if i put myself as a second driver on my dads insurance? Im in desperate need of answers right now. If not then has anyone got any info on a Mk1 or Mk2 golf or even an Mk1 XR2 Fiesta. If all this classic insurance is too hard then has anyone out there got any ideas on what car I could get that has got cheap insurance, Looks good, Performs great and can be modded great. I don't want answers which involve astra's and clios's. More along the lines of newer better material. Thank you :)""

How much is car insurance cost likely to go down between age of 17 and 23?

I have not passed my theory or practical test yet and had a few years break from driving but aim to complete it and pass this year. How likely is it that cost will decrease due to age? Also I aim to take the pass plus test as well I live in the UK if that helps thanks

How much will I pay for car insurance as a 17 year old in CA?

I am a 17 year old girl, who is going 2 get a nissan versa. I make about $600.00 a month at my job. My parents said they would get me the car. I have to make monthly payments, which would be $250. They have really good credit. How much would insurance cost? What is the best deal I can get? What company should I go to?""

What is the difference between term life insurance and cash value life insurance.?

which one is better if you are starting your own business. also how much time you need to have to cash it out all the money from the term life insurance. Moreover, what are the advantages and disadvantages of both of these options?""

Motorbike insurance cost?

hi all i have just passed my bike test and was wondering how much insurance would be for a 125, 250 range engine im 18, 0ncb any suggestions would be good cheers""

""If you have Mercury Insurance in the state of Florida, how much will the insurance cost for new 2014 Kia Forte?""

It's the base car no extra things in, just the LX""

F450 INSURANCE COST. HOW MUCH?

im thinking of buying new f450. I found out they need to be commercialy insured. its just a pickup. does anyone have a guess at what the cost would be good driver record.would it be more than a regular pickup?

What if im 18 and want to pay for my own auto insurance?

I'm thinking about moving out of my house cause it sucks. I'd have to buy my own car and I'm thinking an older civic, cause they're reliable. Anyone got any ideas on what a good but cheap way to insure would be?""

Can anyone give me a rough estimate on car insurance?

Im a male driver under 20. I have had one crash before (in my mums car) and no other troubles. Im planning on buying a 2001 Hyundai for 6,000. Its a pretty standard car, that is pretty tidy. What sort of insurance am i looking at per month for this car?""

LOW car insurance for a 19 year old Male?

I have been looking to buy my first car (1.1-1.4L) but all insurance companies I have checked are really high like 3,000-6,000 per year. Are there any cheap insurers out there and what are they? Please help, I am really wanting a car but the prices of insurance are holding me back :( What are ideal 1st cars (low insurance) ?""

Which is best health insurance?

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

Why does a classic car cost more to insure?

My friends got an 02 Acura RSX 5 speed and he pays like $600/month and the car has some engine mods. We are both 17 except he has a couple tickets. I called 3 different insurance companies and they all quoted me around $750 a month. the car in question was a 76 Chevrolet Camaro with an automatic trans and 350ci v8 (though the vin would probably indicate a 267ci v8) why is the newer car cheaper to insure? with a manual trans? kids these days dont appreciate the old cars like I do and stick with Honda and Acuras and those are the ones I actually see getting wrecked. I wouldn't get full coverage on the old car because if it were to wreck i'd just get another as they aren't worth fixing and are a dime a dozen it's not really a rare classic car. I understand that engine size might be a factor. The rsx is lighter and has a smaller engine but the Camaro is much heavier with a bigger engine. Would a z28 cost more? (already upgraded to 350 and upgraded suspension from factory) I didn't ask the insurance on that. What about the Pontiac Firebird of the same years? (70's to '81) it shares a similar setup. When I ask the insurance people how they calculate their rates they say its the area and experience of the driver but me and my friend live in the same area, he's had his license longer but has tickets. His car also costs way more. They could not give me any more info on rates they say they're just there to quote and don't know anything else. So why is this like this?""

Cheaper car insurence for me?

ok so im 19 in october. and everywhere i look my insurance will be a minimum of 2800 a year if i had a 1.2 corsa. however if i went on my mums 2.0 tdi passat with her max no claims it will be a min of 3000 a year. why is this?? anyone know any loopholes or cheaper sites???

How much money insurance can offer my car severely damage in accident 1999 Mitsubishi diamante 132000 mileage?

some one hit in front while i was waiting to traffic pass , i have aaa and they have state farm insurance.""

Cheapest second hand cars to insure for over 25 year olds uk?

ok so i'm 27 just passed my driving licence money is an issue I need to buy a cheap second hand car any know a website or know which is the cheapest type of cars I can get for cheapest insurance quotes please?

How do you get insurance and registration over the phone?

I'm not sure how this works? Can someone let me know. I'm insuring my motorcycle but the insurance I want is cheapest if I do it over the phone.

""No insurance, spun out on highway during severe snow storm and was hit. Who is at fault?""

The section of highway I was driving on was 2 lanes wide and straight for a mile. Traffic traveling the opposite direction was separated by about 100 feet of grass. The maximum speed limit is 65mph and the minimum is 45mph. I was traveling at an estimated 45mph in the slow lane. The tail end of my car began to slide out to the right and I was unable to correct this due to the terrible conditions of the road. I spun completely around and was facing directly into traffic in the fast lane. A car traveling in the fast lane (at a rate of speed unknown to me) hit me head on, totaling both cars. Its hard to be sure, but I am estimating that the time between initial loss of control and impact was around 10 - 15 seconds. There were no injuries. I did not have insurance on my car due to being a college student and not having help from my parents. It is not legally necessary to possess insurance. Two months later, a collection agency is looking for $3,472 from me. Should I have to pay this?""

What is the day to day of a Commercial Insurance Broker?

I am interested in becoming a wholesale insurance broker as a career and would like to here from those that know about the current day to day life of someone in this position.

Cheap car insurance...?

If you buy a shitty car for like $500, can you get insurance that only covers the other person in a crash and not you?? I know they used to have this?""

Do I need a California driver's license to deliver pizzas in California? (Domino's)?

Just interviewed at Domino's and everything seemed to go well, but afterwards I realized my current driver's license is in the state of Nevada and not California (since I am just here attending college). I anyone aware if this will be a problem for insurance issues or something?""

Motorbike insurance help!!!!!!?

hello im wanting to get a Suzuki bandit 600cc and get it restricted to 47bhp and practice on it with a bike instructor then do my test on it but every online insurance compare site i put my details in it don't come up with a single quote any one no whats goin on please lol

Can you insure 2 cars with different insurance companies and have the no claims bonus on both cars?

Can you insure 2 cars with different insurance companies and have the no claims bonus on both cars?

Is my car insurance expensive?

I have a 2008 Passat and my husband has a 2010 Nissan Sentra. We have used the same car insurance co for years and know the owners/agents well. Before I was paying $255 for my 2003 Jetta and the Nissan and now it shot way up to $283. My husband has some tickets from the past,out of state. And my driving record is so far good. Are we paying too much? Absolutely NO spam or advertisements allowed!""

national average car insurance

national average car insurance

Question about cheap health insurance??/?

i am looking to buy some health insurance that is affordable that will cover a tubal reversal surgery %100. I had my tubes ties or burned 5 years ago and now we would like to have another child but i just have medicaid and that wont cover it... Any ideas on some insurance plans that would cover a tubal reversal and pregnancy and where i can find a doctor that will do a tubal reversal with health insurance????/

How can the government make you legally buy car insurance?

it just seems messed up that the government requires car insurance. i understand why it's a good thing to have but because it is legally required it's a business where the customer is the b/itch and has to take the prices companies put out and have to deal with their excuses and garbage policies because the government makes you.

Car Insurance / Case is not resolved / New Insurance?

Hi I had car accident about year and a half ago. My case went to court and it is still not resolved.I haven't been driving since that time. I bought a car now and I want to insure it. How does it look with the insurance companies ? there is no option to choose when you do insurance quote online.

Need help with car insurance?

I am 19 years old. I am looking to to buy a car but the insurance is just too expensive. I would like a clio or a corsa. Does anybody know any schemes which I can get a lowered scheme because my quotes so far are 2500 + . I was told of company car insurance where you can get insured on a business and use that policy??

I bought a car week ago and i get insurance from AIG it costs me $850 for 6 months(full coverage)?

does anybody know cheaper one i am first time driver and my car new toyota scion XA 2006 thanks i really need cheaper one

My friend applying for education loan of 20 lacs.Bank manager said we need to take insurance equivalent to 20l?

The repayment period of the loan is 9 years. 1) Which insurance company has one time payment and coverage upto 20 lacs for a period of 9 years? 2) What other options like paying more than once(non one time payment) but very affordable cost for covering 20 lacs? 3) I want the amount to be paid for 1 lac 4) PLease give the plan name, and the insurance company Thanks a lot in advance.""

What is the best and cheap health insurance?

What is the best and cheap health insurance

Which car insurance companies offer temporary insurance?

I'm a 20 yr old male that has had his license since age 18 but has never been insured. My mother would prefer to simply add me on hers, but her insurance company does not offer temporary insurance, which is what I need since I will be going back to school in late September. Which car insurance companies offer temporary insurance (3 months)?""

""Oops, she was driving a stolen car without insurance?""

Looking for some advice. Someone I know was caught driving a stolen vehicle. She did not know the vehicle was stolen. Her passenger was claiming to be the new owner of the vehicle. He picked her up and was impaired so she insisted to drive, as she did not want to be driven around by a drunk guy. She was pulled over. Being pulled over was not the result of a violation, just pulled over because the truck came back as stolen. She is a responsible driver who was actually at the time a Driving instructor. She and the passenger were arrested for the stolen vehicle. At the police station both her and the guy (jerk) both stated that she did not know the truck was stolen. She was released without charges to do with the theft of the vehicle. She was however ticketed for driving without insurance. What can she do? At the time she did have her own vehicle and her own insurance policy. She has never had a ticket, accident or a criminal charge. She is in her 30's. This happened in Alberta Canada. Please no responses like get a lawyer obviously she is going to do that. I am more interested in, if she is found guilty what is the potential fine, is there any chance her car insurance would cover her in another vehicle, and so forth.""

Do I need car insurance in Florida?

I passed my 4 our class on drugs and alcohol. I'm waiting for my certificate to come in the mail so I can go to the DMV and get my learners permit. Do I need insurance even though I'm not going to be driving my own car? I'll be driving my friends car. Sources? What's the cheapest insurance for a 16 year old male? Name of insurance and cost? Why would I need it if I don't even have a car and I'm driving my friends car?

Why does insurance go up ?

I understand if I have been in an accident that my I may pay more insurance because its in my record. My question is .. if I buy a car that has record of having an accident does that make the insurance higher?

How can I get dental and medical insurance?

I turned 18 back in 2011 and now I'm not on my mom's dental or medical insurance. How do I get dental and medical coverage?

Whats the auto insurance company that gives you various rates?

There was an auto insurance commercial whose gimick was that they provided you with not only their rates, but the rates of their competitors...what insurance company was that? I haven't seen that particular thing being adverstised in a few months-and I cant remember what the company was...either geico, progressive..i cant remember?!!""

How much is car insurance in NYC monthly ?

I'm 21 and i'll be getting a car in 3 months, I would like to know\ how much is car insurance in nyc monthly""

How much would you expect motorcycle insurance to cost me?

i live in san diego county, i'm 19, i've had my license for about a year (i have one crash on my record from when i was in a car on my permit, with no injuries), and i want to get a honda rebel 250 cruiser.""

""Someone hit & run my car when it was parked, will my insurance go up?""

I have coverage with AAA, a friend from State Farm said I wasn't at fault so I should call AAA, but will my insurance rate rise if I report it?""

Why do we need car insurance?

what is car insurance? How does it help us? How much money do we need to pay?

Is bike insurance cheaper then car insurance?

Is bike insurance cheaper then car insurance?

Cheap insurance for a 16 year old female?? for a 2009 Toyota Corolla LE?

Student has 4.5 gpa? In California

Car insurance - does everyone that drives the car have to be included?

I've been driving my grandmother's car for about a year. She has insurance on the car, but my name is not on the insurance. I am wondering if I would be covered if an accident occurred. The insurance is liability and uninsured motorist if I remember correctly.""

Can I have both employer provided insurance and obamacare insurance?

Can I have both employer provided insurance and obamacare insurance?

What is the bare minimum for full coverage auto insurance?

I live in Idaho. I have not yet payed off the auto loan so I'm required to have full coverage insurance. According to some people I am paying too much (about 700 for 6 months), as they are paying far less. I have geico, but from time to time I look around and get quotes, and it is always slightly higher than what I have now. However, that might be because I am opting for coverage I might not need. So the question boils down to, what is the bare minimum requirements for full coverage auto insurance in Idaho?""

""On buying a new car, should I get insurance for it immedliately?""

I am buying a new car in a day or so. Am I legally required to get insurance before I take it out of the dealership? I heard that dealer should keep insurance for 1 month. Is that true? If it is true, what is covered - just the car? Driver? Passengers? New-car buyer in Texas""

Car insurance coverage fraud!?

My boyfriend did something very stupid that I am worried about. He wanted to apply for a pizza delivery job at Domino's. The thing is he did not have car insurance, so he faked one on the computer, it looked completely valid, but when he was applying for the job the manager called the company to see if it was valid. My boyfriend heard that he was doing this, then he walked out before the company called him back to say he wasn't in their data base. So my question is, since he faked coverage with that company, and his name did not register in their data base, would the company report it to the police that he tried to fake coverage with that company since it was brought to their attention? I am worried for my Love, please shine some light on this. Thank you! He is just worried that the insurance company that he tried to fake coverage with would notify the police and/or the DMV and put it on his license.""

Car accident with no insurance?

I'm 19, and the car I was driving was constantly breaking down. When it was completely broken for two months, I stopped paying my insurance and instead saved back money to get the car fixed. My insurance canceled during that time. When I got it fixed on Friday, I was planning on renewing my insurance Tuesday, a day I had off work. Unfortunately, Saturday morning I got into a car accident. I was turning out of my apartment entrance to get to a middle lane where I could then get onto another road, and somehow didn't see a car close enough to hit me. He t boned me in the drivers side. Somehow neither of us got hurt. My car is pretty much done and his car, while not as bad as mine, did get some split open damage. The ticket says the damage is worth 3,000. Since I had no insurance at the time, how will this get payed??? I have a court date on the 9th to discuss the fact of my no insurance...I'll have coverage by then of course, but I'd like to know what I should expect...""

national average car insurance

national average car insurance

Car insurance question?

My mom finaced a car for me in Montana its in her name but i pay the car payment. I live in Colorado. even though she has car insurance already on the car in her name... can i get full coverage in Colorado in my name? so say fro example if i crash it The car will still be covered. is that against the law? please help. thanks

Young Driver Insurance?

I am 18 and have recently passed my driving test. I have bought a car, a 55 regVauxhall Corsa 1.2 SXI 3 door, and before I bought it all of the insurance quotes were cheap - none above 2500 a year. I looked today and all of them are over 4000, even if I put both of my parents as named drivers. Does anyone know any good, cheap young driver car insurance companies or have any advice on how I could lower my premium? I have checked the majority of comparison sites.""

Car insurance question?

I'm 17 and still living with my parents. I just got a car and now I need to find insurance. My dad doesn't want me on his because then, if I got in an accident, his rates would go up. My question is, if I were to cause his rates to go up and then got kicked off his plan, would his rates go back down? I'm curious because I really would rather not get my own insurance, being on my dad's would be much much much more affordable.""

How much would it be to insure my first car?

I'm looking at getting a Vauxhall Corsa, a couple of years old. How much do you think I'm looking at in insurance? Also, has anyone done passplus and found it saves them alot on there insurance?""

Can my fiance add me to his insurance plan?

and is it more convenient than individual? (insurance through his work)

If I take out home/car insurance?

But don't declare a conviction for violence from 20yrs ago (when asked do you have any convictions ) would the insurance be void or if I declare would the quote shoot up

Car Insurance help please?

Hello, I am a 22 year old female who lives in California, I was wonderinf what would be the best/cheap car insurance please... Thank you""

California 50cc scooter laws?

a 50cc scooter the kind that you sit on and seats 2 goes about 40 mph does it need to be registered in ca and have insurance on it? do i need a motorcycle class license to drive it? or anything else i should know about driving it in california? riverside county.

Why is car insurance expensive?

So I'm looking at these insurance rates and im thinking all of this car insurance is a huge scam! Why do we need it?? And why is it sooo expensive for experienced drivers?

What is the average employee portion of a health insurance policy?

What percentage of the health insurance costs do most companies cover (I recognize that this can vary greatly, but I am looking for general numbers)? For Cigna - what is the average monthly cost for a family consisting of parents and one child (likewise, I recognize that this can vary greatly - I am just trying to get a ballpark figure)? I ask these as my current employer (250+ people) is offering Cigna insurance for about $750 a month which covers my wife, myself and my daughter. They claim to be covering 50% of the health insurance plan, but I am having a hard time buying the explanation that health insurance is just expensive...especially as my sister and brother are paying $50-70 a month for individual insurance. I do not want to have to go and get a quote somewhere and can not find a site that has general information like this - any thoughts, advice, sources of information would be welcome!""

Cost of SR22 insurance in Texas?

Anybody knows the cost of SR22 insurance in Texas?

Georgia average auto insurance payout for pain and suffering?

if a uninsured person get hit by insured person who hit and ran and there is pain and suffering with personal injury what is the average payout?

Best car years for insurance?

My daughter will be buying a used car outright because we can't afford a car payment and insurance, plus she is 23 and had a fender bender 18 months ago so her insurance is not exactly low. What I'm wondering is if you have advice for the best years for a used car as far as insurance rates go ... you know, what years are likely to give us the best rates Also, if you have any advice about the best types of used cars to keep rates low, and the best used cars period, any input like that would be greatly appreciated. We bought a used 2003 jetta, but the transmission is self-contained, or, that is, we have to take it in to have the transmission fluid replaced. Things like that about which we weren't aware before we bought it have made it not very practical for us. Thanking in advance for any help you can give!""

I have full coverage towards my car insurance. Can my friend drive my car too? ?

I have full coverage towards my car insurance. Can my friend drive my car too? ?

Who will be responsible for my dad's car wreck/Will my insurance premium go up?

I let my mom borrow my car to get to work for about 6 months. I knew she had it, I never insured it and neither did she. My dad is abusive and tries to contol everyone and their possessions (my car, my apartment, my bf's car). He hit a local business and caused 15k of damage. He has never worked and my mom just recently started a job-I have had to work for everything in my life and I'm frustrated with always being taken advantage of. My dad was taken away from the scene in an ambulance, the owner's of the property he hit never received his name or contact info. Since the car is registered to me, am I liable? Although it was his accident, will my future car insurance premium go up because of this?""

Insurance? for laptop without getting home insurance?

I'm worried my brother hasn't as of yet insured his expensive laptop. What would work out more economical in the long run please: Content insurance but as a student he keeps moving, so all he wants to insure is his Laptop,mobile and passport both when it's in the house but also when traveling in the UK and abroad? (some policies like Barclays Gadget insurance make it almost impossible to make a claim ie: you can only claim if there's been a forced entry or if the Sim card is still in the phone whilst traveling. Well he lives with 8 other students and the landlord doesn't provide home isnurance in the contract, people are comming in and out of the house any one could take it from his room and the landlord won't allow him to put a lock on the door. If he's traveling abroad he will use a different SIM so... If he buys yearly travel insurance most only cover a single item up to 400, his laptop is an Applemac. Which would cover an expensive item without charging a monthyly fee above 10 per month? Stupid question but is it possible to jsut get content insurance for one room instead of Home insurance? Gadget Insurances seem pretty expensive and a lot of them don't cover the full spectrum of problems, stolen laptop whilst unattended in a hotel, lost, accidental damage even if the item is over a year, Thoughtbubble never even replied to his email enquiry. Bank insurance, they are limited and have similar policies such as above. Natwest have the advantage Gold and home contents insurance but it works out at 12 per month and his iphone won't be covered as phones have to be under 100. I don't have home insurance so he can't use ours. Please what else could he consider and no he's not giving back the gadgets and he is very careful but anything can happen. Would help to get some proper advice as even his bank Halifax didn't cheers""

Car insurance rates depends on Car Makes?

I have a really big issue on my hands, and that is finding a car that doesn't have a high insurance rate. What is the difference in insurance prices with different cars like BMW and Honda/ Toyota and Cadillac? Also, provide a source! plz! thnx!!""

Why does car insurance quotes change every day?

Why does car insurance quotes change every day?

What is total extra premium car insurance?

Hi guys, I'm currently learning to drive (uk) hopefully pass my test in next couple of months, just looking up on insurance quotes, will mainly be driving my fathers car 1.8 petrol vauxhall, I'm 25. So was doing a quote with his insurance company (swift cover) and as I was going through it and this is what it says at the end total extra premium 248.48 Now what the hell does this mean? After this stage it was to confirm payment and obviously I never clicked that because I'm just looking for quotes. Is total extra premium what I'm going to pay for a year or is that just a one off payment?""

Best car with cheapest car insurance?

I have passed my driving test in the uk. I am 17 year old male. I wanted to find out what is the best car to get that offers low car insurabce. Thank you

How can you keep your car insurance rates as low as possible?

Car insurance rates fluctuate from company to company. What tips can you offer others to help secure the most competitive rate? Yahoo! Canada Answers staff note: This question is asked by Gregory Ellis, co-founder of the the insurance shopping service kanetix.ca. Visit http://www.kanetix.ca/YAHOO_answers for more information.""

If you sell your car / do you need to keep any insurance for your DL ?

if you move to NYC and sell your car / parking too expensive. do you need to keep some type of car insurance for your driving license ? you might occaisionally need to drive someone else or might rent a rental car when you travel ?

Is it expensive to insure a honda civic for a new teen driver?

I am 16, male, 3.8 gpa, took drivers ed. Would it cost alot if the civic was new? What if I am on my parents policy?""

Will auto insurance be cheaper If i'm on my parent's plan?

I'm 17. I graduated college early, so i'm now a sophomore in college. I have a job, where I make generally $600 a month. Not much but i'll be graduating soon so I can deal with it until I move out. Anyway, I'm having to buying my own car because the car my parents bought me is sadly a piece of crap and breaking down every other day. (06 suzuki, they should stick to making ATV's.) I'll be making $100 per month car payments until February, and i'll also be paying for my own insurance. It's complicated. The lowest quote I can find online is about $186 bucks, which I can't afford. I don't need full coverage, I can't afford it. And won't be able to for a while. If i'm on my mom's insurance plan, it should be quite a bit cheaper, right? I'll be 18 in a month but i've had 1 speeding ticket. The car i'm buying is an 02 Jeep liberty. Is it possible to be able to pay around $90-$130 under my mom's plan? Or is that just completely out of the question.""

How to get cheaper insurance for better car?

K, here is the deal, i have waiting for me a Porsche 944, but i am 17 so obviously i well be screwed by the system. So i was wondering if there are any ways to get cheaper insurance for the car-the car is an 86 if that info is useful.""

national average car insurance

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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/insurance-costs-p-plate-hyundai-tiburon-carter-lawrence/"

[highschoolharrier]

David Holt is head girls coach at Pine View high school in Utah which recently won the 4A state title in cross country.  While not the size of the bigger schools in the region, Pine View is known to be one of the stronger programs in the southwest.  

High School Harrier: Your girls are coming off a narrow 9 point victory in the Utah state cross country championships and may have been considered an underdog after losing regionals to Desert Hills (who finished 3rd at State). What happened leading up to state that got the girls back on track?

David Holt: We've had a pretty interesting year.  We are coming off a successful 2016-17 season where we won Utah's 3A State Championship and had a successful track season with many state qualifiers and All-State athletes.  In a way, this might have played into us not quite hitting our stride earlier in this year's cross season.  Although we only lost one girl from that team, she was critical to helping us stay focused.  Without her guidance, we may have lost focus on how difficult it would be to repeat as State Champions.  Although we had a good summer and were doing many great things, we missed her leadership and found ourselves not quite hitting our stride - we placed 5th at the Murray Invite (just 1 point behind an American Fork and Mt. View tie, and a few points off of Pleasant Grove, but well behind Lone Peak); then we didn't run as well as we wanted at Bob Firman and placed 8th there; then came the disappointing loss to our in-city rival Desert Hills at our Region Championships by just 1 point.  As coaches, we evaluated how we had done at these meets and why we weren't performing up to expectations.  With our evaluation, we knew the problem wasn't necessarily training or being in shape, it was a few tweaks mentally and tactically that needed to happen.  So we took the girls and discussed these problems.  We even showed them a great interview by FM coach Bill Aris from after the Manhattan Invite where he discussed the changes they made in the past month to really refocus on their goals.  This led to a great discussion of where we had come from and all of our hard work and the possibilities that were ahead of us.  And apparently some of those things worked!

HSH: What does this win mean for your team in terms of setting up for future success?

DH: I think moving up a classification and winning the 4A state title and finishing very strong in the Utah merge helps show the girls all the things that we have been saying as coaches are actually a possibility.  It is one thing to set a goal to, say win State; it is another thing to actually accomplish it and see how that success opens up new doors for you.

HSH: Jessica Hill ran 18:22 which is a school record and finished top 5 for your team. What has allowed her to have such a great season?

DH: Jessica has had a great season.  She was arguably the top Freshman in Utah last year, so it wasn't a great surprise to see her success, but she has started to reach into what we call the 25% - that last 25% that makes a great runner amazing.  She still has a lot more in her, but her trust in the program and her teammates has allowed her to really push to new levels.

HSH: Are there any other girls who you felt had a breakout year and helped your team reach the podium at state?

DH: Pretty much every girl on our team helped contribute in some way to our success.  Our JV girls had a very strong season and pushed the Varsity girls.  Each of our Varsity girls stepped up and ran well at State - in fact, our 7th finished behind only 1 other team's 5th runner and was the top #7 in Utah; likewise, our 6th and 5th were the top in their respective places, and our #4 was 2nd in the State.  That depth was really what helped us overcome a very good effort by Mountain View.

HSH: At Bob Firman your girls were 8th behind some very good teams.  Do you think you've closed the gap and are closer to that top group for NXN?

DH: Bob Firman is a great learning experience for us every year... that is why we take the 10 hour drive to get to Boise.  Even though the race didn't go as we would have wanted, we feel that what we learned there was a big part of our growth process this season.  At Firman, you get see the type of team you have to be to be in the mix for NXN; and since qualifying for Nationals is a goal of ours, we identified areas we needed to work on and started addressing them.  When we look at the Southwest Region, it looks like there is a small group of very elite teams, and then a large group of teams that are right on the cusp of breaking through and maybe grabbing an at-large sport or even breaking into those 2 auto-qualifying spots.  We feel like we are close, but have more to do in the next few weeks to make that jump.

HSH: What are the team expectations for NXN?

DH: We always set a goal of doing the very best we can for whatever that particular day gives us.  If we can do this, we can leave with our heads held high, no matter the outcome.  That being said, we set a goal at our Renegade (Varsity) Camp back in the summer of making it to Nationals... we'll give it our best shot!

HSH: What do you do to keep your team sharp with such a long layoff between state and NXN?

DH: With Utah's State Meet being held so early (2nd earliest in the nation), being able to stay sharp and focused is a big challenge.  In the past, we haven't really quite figured it out at Pine View and maybe underperformed at Nike.  Luckily, Utah is a very successful state in the Southwest Region, so we have gone to a variety of coaches and talked with them to continue to try and grow as coaches to help our program be more successful.

HSH: How big is Pine View as a school and how big is your girls program?

DH: Pine View is located in the very Southwest corner of Utah in the town of St. George.  It is a great school because of the mix of socioeconomics and diversity (for Utah at least!).  St. George is a very fast growing area, so every 10’ish years, we have had new school built and they always seem to break off of our school which has been a challenge.  This year, our team had its biggest numbers ever - we finished the season with 30 girls and 40 boys.  We are a mid-sized Utah school with around 1,200 students and are in Utah's 4A classification (out of 6).

HSH: Do you have a tryout process and if so, what is it?

DH: Our only "tryout" is just coming to practice.  Anyone that wants to be on our team and comes to practice makes the team.

HSH: What does an average training week look like for your varsity girls?

DH: A few years ago, we switched our training from running miles to minutes.  This has been very helpful for our program (allows us to personalize things a little more and avoid racing through runs or even avoiding the death march runs where you just are struggling to get a certain amount of miles in).  Our week starts with a long run of up to 80 or so minutes early Monday morning (we meet earlier to avoid the heat of southern Utah as much as possible - and it also allows us to extend our week a little).  Our Jr. and Sr. Varsity athletes have doubles each weekday, and our younger athletes (even Varsity) have only singles or fewer doubles.  We will usually have a workout on Wednesday and Friday (or weekend race).  Although we run by minutes, this usually peaks out around 50 miles or so per week.  

HSH: Do you have any go-to workouts or favorite workouts to do with your girls?

DH: The workouts that our girls seem to be responding to best this year have been various length intervals at varying 8K, 5K, and 3K paces.  We like how these workouts hit different parts of the aerobic system and leave the body strong and fresh ready for more.

HSH: What type of training/exercises do you do for injury prevention?

DH: In addition to our normal workouts, we lift weights 2 times per week, do plyos 2 times per week, and do one organized session of yoga each week.  We believe that these non-running activities have played a key part in our generally good health and avoiding injuries.

HSH: What do you do to help build a sense of team community/camaraderie?

DH: Like all teams, we have a variety of things to build the team: we hold a week-long summer high altitude camp for the team that really bonds us; we have a varsity camp where we focus our potential varsity runners on goals; we have a lot of team nights and activities; and this year we brought in the idea of Support Squads - which are made up of a mix of team-members (levels, genders) who help each other set and achieve goals and are just pretty much there for each other for anything.

HSH: Does your team have any traditions the girls look forward to each year?

DH: We have a lot of traditions... most of them are pretty silly and might seem pointless, but they are all part of our culture and what makes us who we are.  Many kids at our school call us a cult.  I don't know about that!  But we are a very close group that loves to learn and grow together to become the best we can be.

HSH: What advice would you have for other coaches trying to build a national caliber program?

DH: We went through a lot of lumps getting our program to where it is here at Pine View.  When we took over coaching about 15 years ago, we had 8 boys and 6 girls (and we weren't very good).  So we went to a lot of other coaches (running and other sports) as well other leadership resources and learned about creating a successful program.  It has taken a lot of work, and it never stops.  But the reward has been great!

Photo Courtesy of Justin Giles/Spectrum & Daily News