#my brother is kind of feeling super hopeless about it i think given his specific place in the world

[naivety]

y'all have any book recs specifically for people who've discovered and acknowledged the world is broken and now need help building hope back up for alternative ways of existing in the future? i realize this is hyperspecific but uh 🧍‍♂️

[gaulemtypefemale-dm-l-016]

Just me rambling about 999. A bit long so i put under the cut. Just losen thoughts. i was looking at parts of the game again and losing my mind a bit

I was looking again at the part in game where Santa gives the Clover bookmark to Junpei because my brain was trying to connect it with the moment Santa is staring at his sister picture. As in, recollection of something important to him. I was wondering if he had been staring at the Clover bookmark too, remembering the moment when Light had given the clovers 9 years ago, but it wasn't like that. It's super more casual, yet weird given how Santa wants to randomly offer Junpei a clover bookmark and expresses extreme aversion to the number 4.

To me, the clover bookmark still symbolizes the importance Light had in the first Nonary game. He tried to calm down the group of kids and showed his care and love for his sister, who had also been kidnapped. The same was happening with the other kids.

But it also seems to convey grown up Santa communicating with little Akane, through Junpei, you know. As if the clover could spark some kind of epiphany in her and him. The Santa that he may think/feel that wasn't there for her when she needed the most (i think there is so much to explore about this because he is the only sibling who was put on the same place as Akane and the only sibling who almost lost his dear sister. And the one who saves her is her childhood friend. How must he have felt and how much work must he have put to make the second Nonary game plan work).

But it also got me thinking about the number 4 thing and a lot of other stuff. Contrary to the sister photo scene that seems very felt and honest (besides the fact that they are hiding the fact that Akane is there, although it's also tricky since it's a hopeless timeline too), the bookmark scene is full of mystery and weirdness (and i love Santa and Junpei bickering we were robbed from possible future interactions between them in following games, maybe ZTD only although i don't want to think about what might have happened to Aoi in VLR...). Of course i don't think he hates the 4 words related to the Clover, on the contrary i think they are important to him. But they also do represent a very traumatic moment in his life which he has to go through again in this second game, pretending he is absolutely clueless about it. But it also reminded me that at the end of the first Nonary game only 4 kids remained: him, Akane, Light and Nona. I did not think much about other situations related to 4, but this one got me thinking a bit about it. Also, he expresses how he prefers the number 9. There is the he is the number 9 bracelet thing but also 9 is the number that represents the best case, everyone manages to get out alive.

The other thing, and this makes me want to replay the game again, is how interesting is this subversion of expectations here with the way the characters are presented vs what they really are. You have Lotus, computer nerd, Seven who is a detective, etc. In this part in specific there is this interaction between Santa and Junpei where Junpei learns he does stocks which surprises him who does not take Santa as a very smart person and i think it's a neat hint.

Akane and Aoi are so amazingly interesting after learning everything, connecting the dots and rereading these parts makes me wish so much Aoi had a reappearance. Also because Aoi Junpei interactions are so funny. Imagine them interacting after Junpei knows he is his crush's brother. I wonder if it would make sense for him to participate in further games, given how i imagine this being harder for him than it is for Akane (there is this power in her, related to morphogenetic fields (and autism if imma be honest about it) and a sense of duty/need to save the world - the world's worst heroine thing)

[arofili]

For the character ask: all the children of Finarfin

How I feel about this character:

Finrod: charming slutty blond twink with a heart of gold. maybe that’s too much fanon and not enough canon but you can tear that characterization from my cold dead hands tbh. like yes this is King “I Killed A Werewolf With Nothing But My Teeth And The Power Of Love” but he’s also Prince “I Rap Battled With Sauron And Lost” and Lord “I Befriended Men and Dwarves Before It Was Cool”

Angrod: of all his siblings i think he’s the most… Angry Boy. he has a temper, but he’s also married with a kid (I subscribe to the Orodreth Angrodion version of canon). i think he’s the ‘oh my god why can’t any of you be NORMAL’ brother. BOTH his mother name and his father name are derived from the word for ‘iron’ - he’s got an iron personality, very strong-willed and stubborn. i also hc that he’s the only arafinwean who has Earwen’s silver hair.

Aegnor: a hopeless romantic. the dreamiest arafinwion (and that’s including artanis!). very particular about his hair (which is a WILD canon detail that i love sjdfhdk) but also has terrible fashion. his head’s always in the clouds, he’s a daydreamer, but he’s also incredibly loyal and a really good friend. he almost always listens to his heart over his head - and the fact that he and andreth never marry is the One Time he listened to logic over emotion, and that haunts him forever.

Galadriel: almost as much of a genius as Feanor and almost as humble about it, which is to say, not at all. she’s proud and stubborn and full of herself, especially in her youth - she’s also gorgeous and smart and right a lot of the time, which doesn’t help her ego. by the time she’s become Lady of Lothlorien she’s been through a lot and is much more humble and wise, but i think that comes not just from her experiences but also from being married to Celeborn the Wise. i think he balances her out very well tbh. (my favorite Galadriel characterization EVER is from this fic by @nerdanelparmandil, check it out!!)

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Finrod: I ship Finrod with anything that moves tbh….. I see him as super super gay, he and Amarie were mutual beards which is why she didn’t follow him to Endore. i am a Known Slut for Finrod/Turgon in particular, they’re kind of endgame for me, but also @raisingcain-onceagain​ has converted me to Finrod/Edrahil!! And while the Nargothrond Disaster Trio are in no way shape or form HEALTHY, i really really enjoy Celegorm/Curufin/Finrod content, that dynamic is delicious. i can also get down on Maedhros/Fingon/Finrod, though not really in a serious way. PLUS Finrod/Beor is very good, as is Finrod/Barahir and Finrod/Beren(/Luthien if we’re feeling spicy), and you KNOW he got busy with some dwarves! I just think he’s very free with his feelings and desires, especially after coming to Beleriand, and he takes full advantage of his freedom and position of authority to get what he wants. (not necessarily in a weird power dynamics way, though he’s into that kind of kinky shit too probably, i mean more in ‘it’s my kingdom i get to make the rules and i say No Homophobia and No Slutshaming’) - and I’m super happy to multiship with Finrod, there are verses where he’s fucking everyone and verses where he’s pining over Turgon and verses where he never even thinks about anyone other than Edrahil and etc etc etc. there’s probably even verses where he and Sauron get up to some funky shit!

Angrod: I don’t have a lot of headcanons about him and Eldalote. She has a Sindarin name, so maybe she came with him to Middle-earth - or maybe not, and he just missed her so much that he wouldn’t shut up about her and so her name was Sindarized to Edhellos. Either way I think they had a very strong relationship that ended in tragedy one way or another. I’ve also seen some fun Angrod/Caranthir enemies-to-lovers stuff, which I can get into, but I think Caranthir is aro so it’s not really my main hc.

Aegnor: i mean how can you NOT ship him and Andreth??? that relationship is just….so tragic and heartbreaking and beautiful. I like the theory that Gil-galad was their child, and he was given to Orodreth to raise because Andreth couldn’t care for an elfling and Aegnor couldn’t publicly claim a son out of wedlock. But also verses where they are just tragically pining after one another are beautiful in their own way. My headcanon is that the thing keeping them apart was less about the war going on and more about Aegnor fearing to lose her - but then he actually dies before her, and Andreth has to live with that pain. (idk if that works out timeline wise but. yeah)

Galadriel: Meladriel is very good and I enjoy that - I’ve also seen some great Galadriel/Luthien and even a Galadriel/Feanor fic I enjoyed. BUT overall i really love that she chose to marry Celeborn, a wise “dark elf” even when she’s completely out of his league - he balances her very well, and I don’t buy depictions of her walking all over him. she cares about him and he’s really good for her!

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Finrod: I ship Finrod/Turgon but also WHAT a great friendship they have!! I love that they go adventuring together :) And Finrod, Maedhros, and Fingon are so fun to imagine growing up together! Plus there’s his relationship with his nephew Orodreth, who he clearly adores, and also the fact that he’s still buddies with the Feanorians even after the first kinslaying (at Alqualonde! his home! where his mom is from!) and he’s so excited to meet new people from the Sindar to the Edain to the Dwarves. Finrod’s just EVERYONE’S friend and i appreciate that!!

Angrod: ….what if he and Caranthir used to be really close, like they are similar ages and grew up together, but then Something Happened and they started hating each other later on. that would be Very fun. also, he and Aegnor were lords together over the same land and died together, which implies they were very close - close like Celegorm and Curufin!

Aegnor: Again, he and Angrod were Best Bros which is great. I also think he’s probably beloved by Andreth’s people, he’s just this huge elf man they all kind of adopted and he’s so honored that they love him so much!

Galadriel: Melian!! obviously!! she stayed in Doriath specifically to learn from her, which is super neat. and then Gandalf in the later ages, i love whatever they have going on in the movies especially. i also think she and Celebrimbor had a weird rival-friendship i the second age, they’re both geniuses but from opposite sides of the family feud…except the family feud has killed pretty much everyone BUT them, so they come together to mourn that.

My unpopular opinion about this character

(this turned into more of ‘what are their negative personality traits’ than ‘unpopular opinions’ but whatever…)

Finrod: i’m sure he did his best but….when he was king of nargothrond he was still gallivanting all over the place. orodreth was probably More In Charge from before he was officially king…

Angrod: he’s a grade-A asshole. just a dick. mean as shit and holds grudges forever. really annoying to be around.

Aegnor: a dumbass. always listens to his heart and gets in trouble for it, until the one time he listens to his head and regrets it forever.

Galadriel: would make an EXCELLENT villain. ‘all shall love me and despair’ ? come on yall. if it had been HER versus sauron instead of Finrod (and…considering she was probably friends with Luthien, it very well could have been) i think she may have won, and im just imagining Sauron working for her, and the second and third ages going very differently with her being a Queen who everyone loves until they look back and realize she’s been corrupted and turned evil.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

so i think canon did mostly a good job with them SO some of these are some AUs!!!

Finrod: …if he had managed to convince Celegorm and Curufin to help with the Silmaril quest–the war could have ended before the Nirnaeth, maybe. or at least gone very differently.

Angrod: im gonna physically fight tolkien over giving us practically NOTHING on the wives of various characters - tell me more about Eldalote you coward!!!!

Aegnor: JUST MARRY ANDRETH PLEASE. i’m a slut for interspecies relationships and the fact that this one is male elf/female human is SO good and frankly unprecedented in Tolkien’s works. PLEASE i need more!!!

Galadriel: FUCK that evil!Artanis AU would be REALLY cool and sexy, wouldn’t it?

[a-lil-bi-furious]

Scisaac for the ship meme?

thank you for the ask!! Sorry it took a bit, but Scisaac is answered here. So we’ll go with your other request: Sciles 😊

I actually don’t ship them (most of the time). I’m not opposed to them, per se, but I can’t see myself shipping them within canon context as it stands?

1) Why don't you ship it?

It’s actually really weird that I don’t because I’m a huge sucker for the friends to lovers trope. I think mostly it’s that their dynamic has always felt purely familial to me. I can tell that there’s really deep love there, and I can absolutely see how that could be a foundation for a romantic relationship! I just prefer them platonically. I think it’s really important to have deep, meaningful platonic bonds between people presented as close as romantically involved pairs are and there aren’t many relationships like that that don’t eventually go the romantic route in some form. As a friends-to-lovers lover, I am often the one rooting for the dynamic to go that way (😅 my b), but Sciles is one of the few best friend pairs I’ve never felt super inclined to ship? In my mind, they’ve always been brothers (and not in the classic ‘i’m calling you brother to establish no homo’ way), so it’s difficult for me to separate from that to see them romantically? I am partial to queer-platonic relationships, though, and I love the idea of queer-platonic Sciles. They already function as life partners and it’s easy for me to envision them continuing through life that way. I could absolutely see them platonically raising a kid together, too, and we already know how it would go (see: their dynamics with Liam).

Brother vibes aside, I also sometimes have a difficult time with their relationship overall. Especially in earlier seasons, I really liked the Sciles dynamic and it felt like a mostly positive one! As the seasons went on and trauma compounded, it got to a really unhealthy place and I don’t think what we got on screen was sufficient for me to believe it recovered. But I feel like their relationship is unbalanced, mostly because of their respective personal issues and how dependent they are on one another. They saw each other through a lot of trauma, which is a good thing in the sense that they both had support, but also a bad thing in that I think some of their bonding through that makes it difficult to confront their issues and trauma with each other. Stiles can be manipulative and has some bad behaviors that don’t really get corrected by anyone. Everyone has toxic behaviors and that doesn’t make them hopeless or necessarily bad, but it does make relationships difficult when those behaviors manifest there. And I think they get directed as Scott quite a bit. The problem on Scott’s end is that he’s one of the people who won’t ever correct it. Scott doesn’t like that kind of conflict, doesn’t like hurting people he cares about, and quite frankly doesn’t like confronting his own feelings enough to care about himself. He buries his hurt and his anger and focuses so intently on everyone else that he gets lost, and eventually all of that is going to explode. And they have such a hard time communicating, damn it! After so much time with each other, I’d think maybe they’d be better able to?? (I know, I know, communication is complicated and hard). Idk, in some ways, their relationship doesn’t feel entirely healthy to me. But no relationship is perfect, and I absolutely think these issues are things they could work through if addressed. They just kind of trip me up as far as shipping goes, because it seems like those bad patterns would be amplified within the confines of a romantic relationship? This isn’t to say a romantic relationship is necessarily closer or different in dedication, but especially given what we see of their romantic relationships on the show, it just seems like that change would make a difference here.

2) What would have made you like it?

I think I would need one of two things: either some prior establishment of potential romantics or a slight change in their dynamic. As it stands, I just don’t feel a lot of tension (of the longing, pining nature) between them. But I don’t think it would take much to make that happen? It’s all about the way it’s presented for me. We’ve already got, canonically, Stiles hitting on Scott casually a few times. It always felt very platonically playful to me, but if there was some seriousness woven into those propositions, if you added in some more glances and lingering touches and prolonged eye contact, just little things here and there to put more of that tension in their dynamic, then I’d probably be all over it. It feels like the difference between “Do you wanna make out for a second? Just to see how it feels?” as casual, friendly, experimental “I’d make out with you if you asked, but it wouldn’t be a big deal” and testing the waters for genuine interest. (Of course, my interpretation of their interactions and relationship is going to differ, and lots of people might already feel like their relationship is like this! I’ve got a friend who felt that way while watching. I just didn’t get that energy from them, personally.)

I also think if the show spent more time on their relationship’s emotionally heavy moments I’d be more interested. It’s clear in the show that their relationship is intense and really important to the both of them. We also have some moments that are really emotionally heavy and intimate (like the scene in the hospital in 3B) or tumultuous (like in “Lies of Omission”), and I think they (mostly) did a great job with the scenes we got! But I just wish we have more of those, and specifically more communication between them in those scenes. I want more of just Scott and Stiles being together and talking (like what that trip through the desert could have been but kinda wasn’t) to continue to show that intimacy between them. I don’t know, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I would just need to see more of them and some little changes to their dynamic to ship them. And to address some of their issues and work on those. But it probably wouldn’t take too much, ya feel?

3) Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Absolutely, I do. I have some troubles with them, but y’all are totally valid in shipping them! I often teeter on the precipice of shipping them myself. I mean, you’ve got alllll the good stuff friends-to-lovers has to offer. You’ve got the meeting in the sandbox idea (which is adorable omg)! You’ve got the lifetime of knowing one another and growing up side by side! You’ve got them treating each others’ houses like their own! You’ve got them casually sharing clothes! You’ve got them watching each other go through crushes and start dating (and maybe experiencing a little jealousy once that starts)! You’ve got secret handshakes and nicknames! You’ve got that complete and total comfort between them where it’s clear they share their whole lives with each other! They’re inseparable and function so naturally in-sync as partners!

You’ve got a relationship with so much depth and complication and all the tangled up tension that comes with them hurting each other and growing apart in later seasons. And you’ve got them working through that (albeit mostly off screen *side-eyes jeff&co*) and getting back to being Scott and Stiles again. There’s just a whole lot of potential and a whole lot to love! And, hey, maybe with some time and thought or convincing, I’ll be shipping along with you. You never know. (Send me ships and I’ll ramble about why I do/don’t ship them!)

[liskantope]

During the last few months, I read through the the entire archive of Luann comics from 1985 to the present day, as it’s freely available through GoComics. Don’t judge me. Or do judge me, I don’t care. Luann is entertaining and nostalgic (at least the period from the late 90′s through 2006 or so when I was regularly following the strip in the newspaper). Some thoughts below. (I actually wanted to write this a month and a half ago when I had just finished and everything was fresher on my mind, but that’s when holidays and all my distractions hit. This turned out to be very long and I’m not sure if any of my followers is actually interested in a review of Luann, but if anyone wants to scroll down to the final bulletpoint, that is a bit less Luann-specific and more on the lines of my usual discourse topics.)

Never mind bulletpoints; some of these are too long to be easily readable without breaking up into paragraphs!

1) I was impressed, almost all the way through, with how much sexuality is conveyed in the dialog and relationships between the characters while somehow staying within the content restrictions for a newspaper comic. (I do recall back around 2000 a particular comic coming under fire because the dialog between Luann’s parents implied that they didn’t wait for marriage, one which I was able to identify this time around.) I think Luann possibly has the most sexuality in it of any newspaper comic I’ve come across.

2) I understand that daily comic strip artists typically have to do their Sunday comics some six weeks more ahead of publication than their non-Sunday comics, resulting in each Sunday strip usually having nothing to do with the story happening in its neighboring strips. Luann consistently seems to be an exception to this, where either the cartoonist is able to follow a schedule of drawing the Sunday strips contemporaneously with the rest or he is extraordinarily good at planning a further six weeks in advance what will be going on in the story by the time a given Sunday strip will come out. That said, while I remember being annoyed that my newspaper growing up didn’t include Luann in its Sunday comics section, I see now that I wasn’t missing all that much: the Sunday strips are still mostly independent, shallow gags that often look like they could have been carried out just as easily and more space-efficiently in a daily strip.

3) Luann’s relationship with her brother Brad, which was clearly meant to reflect a classic snarky sibling dynamic, went further with the insults, name-calling, complete reluctance to acknowledge caring feelings, and occasionally outright malicious behavior than I was comfortable with (until recent years when this has simmered down now that they’re more fully grown up). Are typical siblings really treat each other by default in such an antagonistic and adversarial manner? I appreciate that I had an idyllic relationship with my sister growing up -- I mean really the closest to ideal of any siblings I’ve known -- but I wouldn’t have thought that the norm was really closer to Luann and Brad.

4) On the flip side, there’s another aspect of Luann’s life with her immediate family which strikes me as probably healthier than what I imagine as the default: the openness with which she and Brad air all their personal trials and tribulations to their parents. Luann in particular is often venting about her crushes (especially her main crush, Aaron Hill, always referred to with his full name) and coming to her parents for support over whatever teenage-style drama she’s caught up in. I suppose the fact that I didn’t feel free to be open about these types of things with my parents has much more to do with me than with them: I’ve always been neurotic about open discussion of certain things, especially my romantic interests or feelings of sexual attraction, and was somewhat more so as a teenager than now. (It would take a much longer post than this to pick apart this neurosis.) I remember actually getting into an argument with my parents over whether it’s within a normal kid-parent dynamic to mention at dinner “I met/saw the most attractive girl today!” with me convinced that it wasn’t. I have to concede that the Luann universe (fictional, but clearly based on the cartoonist’s impression of reality) is a point in their favor.

All that said, I would think that Luann might have felt kind of silly blabbering so much about her obsession with Aaron Hill to her family members (not to mention her school guidance counselor!) knowing on some level that it must come across as immature. Yet, in writing this I’ve remembered that I did plenty of blabbering as a young teenager to my family about whatever Interests I was obsessed with at the time, in a way that I kinda-sorta knew was immature but not enough to stop me... but that just wouldn’t have included romantic or sexual feelings. Also, the desire or ability to feel comfortable sleeping on the sofa in the middle of my family doing things (as Brad is constantly seen doing) is utterly foreign to me, but that touches on another of my neuroses.

5) This strip has obviously changed a lot over its nearly 34 years of syndication, which shows most obviously and superficially in the vast improvement in drawing style. In terms of content and stories it changed a lot too, and I think in a very positive direction. In fact, if I hadn’t known that it would improve in this way, I don’t think I would have bothered getting through all of the first decade of Luann. The basis for Luann in its early years was simple gags meant to reflect life of a typical teenage girl in a typical nuclear family. But there was something very pessimistic about all of it: the lives of the DeGroots, each entrenched in their roles as mother, father, teenage daughter, and teenage son, seem weary and at times slightly on the dysfunctional side. The strip could have practically be titled “The Woes of the Modern Middle-Class Nuclear Family”. It predated but was rather similar to The Simpsons in this way. Moreover, Luann, depicted as an awkward and not very attractive 13-year-old, seemed hopeless in all of the Average Teenage Girl ways, including hating everything about school; not really excelling at anything in school or out; being constantly wrapped up in spending hours on the phone with the same two friends; and never, ever, ever being able to get her the object of her long-time super-obsessive crush, Aaron Hill, to so much as glance in her direction (this theme was dwelt on ad nauseum for over a decade to the point that it got extremely tiresome and I’m surprised I got through that period; maybe what got me through was occasional acknowledgments in the voices of Luann’s friends that this obsession was over-the-top and getting pretty old).

And yet... Luann has grown up into a beautiful and talented woman with ambitions and a number of dating relationships under her belt, and the DeGroots are now held up as an example of a really admirable and healthy family (one that TJ clearly wants as his own family). While Brad’s transformation from teenage slob who lay around and ate Oreos all day into a happily married, responsible, and fit fireman is openly remarked upon, the drastic change in the ethos of the strip as a whole isn’t explicitly acknowledged. Of course the evolution happened very gradually, but if I had to point to a single turning point, my choice would be obvious: things began to drastically turn around for Luann in early 1997 when she bared her feelings to Aaron Hill by giving him a scroll containing all her memories of him (a move that would be considered obsessive and stalker-ish in another context but which finally won his attention here).

6) I think there’s a sort of trope, which the Luann character exemplifies about midway through the strip’s history, where she’s supposed to continue representing the insecure girl who feels unattractive and unpopular so that people can relate to her, while at the same time she seems to constantly attract boys (most of whom she considers really hot) and gets dates with them, so as to make for more interesting stories. I got annoyed at times at how these two things seemed to be in tension. At one point, if I remember right, Luann had no fewer than four of the boy characters super into her, including Aaron Hill even though she had temporarily decided she was through with him (this was unacknowledged later on when she went back to complaining that all those years she was in love with Aaron but he never truly noticed her). Other examples of this trope perhaps include Gus Cruikshank and George Costanza.

7) I would feel amiss if I didn’t put in a word about the Gunther character here. He’s my favorite character in the particular sense of reminding me extraordinarily of myself. If Butters from South Park is the most similar animated cartoon character to me (at least in the opinion of some friends), then Gunther Berger is, a hundred times more so, the most similar comic cartoon character to me. Not only do most of his personality traits match almost perfectly with mine (although I’m not as good with kids and don’t know anything about costume-making), his physical appearance is strikingly similar to mine, especially the way I looked as a teenager (plaid shirts and all). In fact, I sometimes wonder if, had there been (say) a call for auditions for a Luann movie back when I looked slightly younger, I might have had a decent shot at winning the part due to my physical similarity to Gunther -- I’m not an amazing actor, but there’s not nearly as much acting involved when you’re basically playing yourself.

One of the rather negative aspects of the early Luann ethos for me is not only the mildly negative way that Gunther was portrayed as the stereotypical socially-inept nerd but the level of disdain Luann treats him with (despite her own insecurities) which she’s only occasionally called out on. I’m glad to see that Gunther soon became one of the most likeable and admirable characters in the strip. Rather than feel ashamed of our likeness, I see him as reflecting some of the best parts of me and, when it comes to standing up and speaking his mind, an inspiration for me to be better.

8) Luann, throughout its history, addresses stereotypical norms, particularly with regard to gender, in an interesting (although not at all unusual) way. Let’s first keep in mind that the strip and main characters were established in 1985. The original intent of the cartoonist was clearly to portray middle-class nuclear family life, with a special focus on teenage girlhood, as honestly and relatably as he knew how. This meant in particular making each member of the DeGroot family a sort of every(wo)man: Frank is the typical father, the main breadwinner, always the one to worry about money (and the parent to go to when one of the kids wants money or something expensive), and taking a backseat with housework; Nancy is the typical mother, more emotive, burdened with all the housework and daily discipline of her kids; Brad is the typical older teenage boy, a lazy slob with little regard for cleanliness or manners spending all his time either being a couch potato or working on his car; and Luann is the typical 13-year-old girl, hating school and obsessed with boys, shopping, fashion, and talking on the phone. The strip positively revels in stereotypes (especially once we add the blonde cheerleader “mean girl” Tiffany, the unattractive nerd Gunther, and the goof-off Knute). A particular theme is gender stereotypes; in fact, it felt like a good 50% of Luann’s non-story strips, particularly Sunday ones, revolved around the differences between the genders. All of this looks pretty tiresome now and was probably tiresome already back in the 80′s.

And at the same time, the cartoonist was clearly socially progressive and a feminist (at least in the old-school sense) from the start. He made many points about the particular burdens women face and wrote many sympathetic strips about how Nancy willingly did all the housework and cooking but was expected to by default and felt unappreciated because her work went unacknowledged by everyone else. There’s a lot of focus on how the fashion industry puts pressures on teenage girls and women and how women should free themselves from basing their self-worth on how their looks compare to other women’s and on what boys think of them. In fact, the artist very deftly points out the tension between Luann’s awareness of this unreasonableness and her desire to be superficially attractive and objectified by boys anyway!

What reads as a tiny bit strange about all of this -- but only from a very modern point of view, I think -- is that all of these stereotypes are remarked upon and criticized while still being exemplified by pretty much every single character and everything they do. (Compare to Zits, debuting in 1997, where the father, a rather sweet, huggy, un-stereotypically masculine character, is shown doing the laundry from early on.) I get why someone would go with that formula, because as I said it seems at least naively like the best way to maximize relatability, but it comes at the expense of creating a subtle tension and not fully promoting the intended messages. I believe this underscores a fundamental distinction between a bare anti-conformist message and anti-conformist representation and suggests that representation as a social justice concept just wasn’t a big thing back in the 80′s and 90′s in the way it (fortunately) is today.

[arcanelaurels]

I just read your "kravitz and taako meet at a (college?) party and taako's super drunk" fic and loved it. Did you ever/could you ever write a follow up to that scene?

✨Like My Work? Buy Me a Coffee!✨

Part 1

“Hmmmm…”

Taako absentmindedly ran his hand through his hair that hung below him as he dangled upside down halfway off of his bed.

“Hmmmmmm…”

He shook out his hair and sat up, imagining that he probably looked quite glamorous as his hair fell forward to frame his face. He ruffled it a couple times for good measure (despite the fact that no one could see him), then tapped his phone against his chin a couple times. He unlocked it to look at his contacts page. For a few moments, his thumb hovered over the screen in hesitation.

“Ughhh!” He groaned and fell back so he was hanging upside down again. 

It had been three days since he’d gotten sloppily drunk at a party and thrown himself at that (extremely sexy) classmate of his. Three days since Magnus had thoroughly embarrassed him even more than he’d embarrassed himself. Three days since Kravitz had given him his number.

I hope you’ll text me sometime. When you’re sober, that is.

Taako was most definitely sober now. And tomorrow he had his class with Kravitz. It would be a bit awkward to see him in person again without texting him. 

But he just couldn’t fucking do it.

What was he supposed to say? Hey, it’s me. Cha’boy. You know, the guy who basically assaulted you while drunk? Sooo…you wanna go out sometime?

As if.

He groaned again - loudly - and sat back up. He’d spent the past three hours trying to figure out how to text Kravitz. Three hours. That’s more time than he spent on anything other than cooking, primping, or studying (though he wouldn’t admit that last one to anyone but his sister). Three hours of fruitless brainstorming. He absentmindedly ruffled his hair and flipped it a couple times as he glanced around his room, searching for ideas.

His eyes landed on where Kravitz’s jacket was hanging off the back of his chair. Taako grinned as an idea formed in his head.

Kravitz was beginning to regret giving Taako his number.

Three days and zero texts. Either Taako wasn’t as into him as it seemed, or he was too embarrassed about his behavior that night to contact him. But he didn’t really seem like the kind of guy to let embarrassment get in his way. 

He nervously fidgeted with his pencil, rapidly tapping it against his textbook. He’d been trying to study the entire weekend but was too distracted. Why did he give Taako his number? Why didn’t he ask for Taako’s number instead?

No, that wouldn’t have worked. He never would’ve gotten up the nerve to text him. But at least then he would’ve known that the lack of communication was his own fault. This was just agony. 

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone vibrating with a notification. He grabbed it - a bit too eagerly - and saw that he’d gotten a text from an unknown number. Oh gods. Kravitz took a breath before opening the text.

He spluttered a bit when he saw what Taako had sent him. It was a photo - nothing racy, but quite the glamour shot - of Taako wearing the jacket that Kravitz had loaned him. He was biting his lip and had one hand running through his hair in a suggestive pose. Underneath the picture, two more messages appeared.

Unknown Number: i think ill be keeping this bad boy for myselfUnknown Number: looks pretty good on me dontcha think?

Kravitz needed a few moments to process. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? As he tried to gather his thoughts, he took the time to add Taako’s number to his contacts. After a few more moments, he came up with what he hoped was a sufficient reply. Gods, he hated flirting over text.

     Me: I think you’d look better out of it

It only took a couple moments for Taako to reply, but it was quite possibly the longest few moments of Kravitz’s existence.

Taako: ooo spicy boyTaako: at least buy me dinner first     Me: Is that all it takes?

Kravitz grimaced with immediate regret as he waited for a response.

Taako: listenTaako: you already saw me at that partyTaako: i think any semblance of integrity is already out the window my dude

Kravitz chuckled - nervously - and tapped his fingers on the table as he tried to gather up the courage to send another message.

Taako sat in his bed as he waited for Kravitz’s next text. He pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging the jacket tighter around himself . It was just because it was a really comfy jacket. And he wanted to make sure it smelled like him when he gave it back to Kravitz. It definitely had nothing to do with the crush he had on that guy.

Krav Boy: So do you want to go to dinner, then?

Taako chewed on his lip. He supposed it was his fault for making that dinner joke, but he didn’t know how to tell Kravitz that he didn’t really like any of the restaurants nearby. 

           Me:  ehhh dinners too basicKrav Boy: Do you have better ideas for a second date?           Me: SECOND date????Krav Boy: Yeah, the party was our first date           Me: you got a pretty fuckin wild idea of what constitutes a date my dudeKrav Boy: How so?Krav Boy: We danced, we had a nice conversation, and I dropped you off at your place           Me: i think you mean           Me: i threw myself at you           Me: i overshared about my dumb problems           Me: my “”””friend”””” exposed me           Me: and then you nagged me to drink waterKrav Boy: Forgive me. I won’t refer to it as a date, then

Taako sighed. Who the fuck texted so formally? He was going to have to work with him on that if they ever got past a second date.

Well, depending on what classified as a date.

           Me: you hear about that new place that opened up on campus?Krav Boy: You’ll have to be a bit more specific than thatKrav Boy: I don’t really keep up with campus activities

Taako rolled his eyes. Hopeless.

           Me: its one of those wine and pottery placesKrav Boy: Oh, I’ve never been to one of those. What’s it called?           Me: the chug n squeeze

There were a few moments of silence where there wasn’t even any indication that Kravitz was typing out a response. Taako was starting to wonder what was going on when his phone rang. 

“Hullo?” He asked, sitting up straight.

“The Chug N Squeeze?!” Kravitz’s voice came out in an undignified wheeze of laughter.

Taako couldn’t help but chuckle at the sound of his laugh. “Yeah, my dude.”

“I thought you were pulling my leg but I looked it up and it’s real.”

“Duh, I wouldn’t lie to you.” Taako twirled his hair around one finger. “Why’d you call me?”

“I, uh, I’m not a big fan of texting,” Kravitz said. “And I’m not too good at it.”

Yeah, no kidding. “Ah.”

“So would you like to go to the Chug N Squeeze with me this Friday?”

Ugh. Friday was so far away. But dates on weekdays were never fun. And besides, he’d get to see Kravitz in class before then. “Hell yeah, homie.”

There was a pause where Taako could practically feel Kravitz grin. “It’s a date.”

“Sounds good. Oh,” Taako hesitated, taking a millisecond to have an inner debate about what he wanted to say next. “Make sure to save me a seat tomorrow, kay? You always get to class way before me.”

“O-Oh. Yeah- Yes!” Kravitz stuttered. “I will.”

Couldn’t text or talk, it seemed. Taako smiled to himself. “Alright, see ya then.”

“See you.”

Taako hung up just as Lup burst into his room.

“Hey if I took a skeleton an- What the fuck are you wearing?!” She stopped dead in her tracks with an outright offended look on her face.

Taako felt his face grow hot as he grasped for a response. Kravitz’s jacket was very nice, but it was nowhere near Taako’s style.

“Uhhhh stole it from a guy,” He responded, trying his best to sound nonchalant about it.

She crossed her arms, very clearly not believing it. “And what possessed you to steal that jacket?”

Taako smacked his lips and opened his mouth to answer. “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…” He trailed off, blinking repeatedly as he failed his Deception roll. “Don’t know.”

Her ears perked up as if she’d just realized something. “Did someone give it to you?” She asked, a devious grin on her face.

“No.”

“Liar!” She took a running leap for his bed, landing forcefully enough to make Taako grab the mattress in an attempt to avoid being flung off his own bed. She pulled her legs under herself to sit cross-legged and clasped her hands together, resting her chin on them to give Taako her undivided attention. “Tell me his name!”

Taako wished with every inch of his soul that he could stop his cheeks from burning. “No. fuck you.”

“Taakooooooooo,” Her ears drooped and she pouted. “Pleeeeeeeaaaaasssse!”

“Get out of my room.”

“I’m not leaving till you tell meeeeeeee.”

Taako scowled at his sister, who stared right back with an indignant look. With each passing second, he could feel his willpower being worn down. Fuck.

“Fine! Gods, you win!” He threw his hands in the air and refused to meet Lup’s triumphant gaze. “Asshole. His name’s Kravitz.”

Lup frowned in thought and Taako grimaced as he waited for her to figure out where she’d heard that name before.

Her eyes suddenly widened in realization. “Is that the guy you said you would give-”

“SHUT UP!”

She leaned forward and excitedly drummed on Taako’s knees. “You got a date with that guy?! How? I thought he was, like, way out of your league!”

“Okay, first of all, rude,” Taako’s embarrassment was pushed to the side as he sat up to argue with his sister. “Second of all, I won him over with my charms.”

“So you made out with him while drunk?”

“No!” He said indignantly, crossing his arms.

Lup laughed. “Then what’d you do?”

“I…” Taako trailed off, knowing full well that he did not want to recount the events of that night to his sister. “I mean I did. Sorta. He wouldn’t let me.”

“Ooo, a gentleman?” She sat up straight and put on a posh accent. “This fellow sounds like quite the catch. How does he plan to court you, my dear brother?”

“Gods, you’re so fucking annoying.”

“I love you too!”

[yunhycran-blog]

( the cuteST )

for once i don’t have a long ass spiel typed before introducing myself, imagine that ! hey i’m kat, i’m 20, canadian, and uh, i’m rly pulling this stunt again huh !! bc of lo siento fucking me up, i’m giving this brat one last shot in the group rp realm rather than pick up a new muse ( i am.. v convinced i kill or ruin rps by presence alone but with her ?? it’s tenfold so fingers crossed GKSKGKSL ) i’m just.. rly attached to her ok. 

i’m a uni student and in love with sowoo if that wasn’t already obvious, plus i’m 90% sure at least a quarter of you have seen me use hyeran before so this shouldn’t be a surprise to you SDKGJGKLDFS. you can find extras abt her — including stats — HERE, hmu on d*scord if you’d like ( STREAM LO SIENTO !!#2030 ) and with that, i’ll shut up and ( re ?? perhaps ? dfgjslkg ) introduce you to this brat !

` +⬦･ﾟ——— SHE/HER, PANSEXUAL — YUN HYERAN is said get mistaken for JEON SOMIN on campus all the time. they are TWENTY-TWO and about to go into their SENIOR YEAR. rumour has it they’re majoring in MUSIC COMPOSITION and came all the way from DAEGU, SOUTH KOREA. their roommate says they’re EBULLIENT & RESOLUTE but also SELF-CRITICAL & CIRCUMSPECT. ( kat, 20, gmt-3:30, and she/her  )

yun hyeran, a daegu native with an older and younger brother, an ambivert and an all around baby

tbh this is a copied intro from a few months back that i tweaked a bit for the rp, and i don’t have the time to perfectly incorporate much of her bg, so you can check out all of that HERE

buT she became involved in music through her father, who studied it in uni and ended up becoming a music instructor with a focus on piano, flute and vocals

her and her mom.. also her older brother, didn’t have the best relationship when she grew older, which seemed to die altogether when her parents divorced and her mom left. but her and her brother’s still exists, albeit barely. he’s a bit of a toxic influence on her, or at least that’s how she perceives it, and she tends to distance herself from him

would visit jeju island when she was younger bc her aunt lived there

she adores said aunt, her dad’s sister and the maternal figure she Deserves, so overall jeju holds a special place in her heart

went to uni in seoul to pursue music like her father ( a daddy’s girl too like ) but transferred to busan u after some.. shit and her own feelings ? anyways she was content when she settled here and soon found her way into the world of production !! by junior year, she’d transferred out of her original program and majored in that instead and has loved it ever since

for the time being, she works full-time as a barista at a café off-campus

she’s also making something of an income as the creator of an acct on youtube and soundcloud for her music, something she’s had for abt a year now

she’s not even close to making it big yet ofc, and she doesn’t mind if she never works for a moderately to highly popular label — though she should if she wants to get by

among the aesthetic, lo-fi music crowd ( one of those yt accts with a livestream for certain playlists that go on for hours, rip ) where for the most part, it’s personal faves mixed with her own works, and has a substantial following as of now. but has an interest in experimenting, with mashups ( as a lover of them ?? i couldn’t help myself sgflkdsjg ) for example, with a small fear of how that change would be received

this is so short since i took out a bit from when she was recent uni grad!hyeran so, pardon that sgkljgskfld

in terms of her personality and other things:

she’s a very loyal person, v e r y. while like i said ( and will elaborate on in her bio ), her relationship with her brother is Not Great, she hasn’t completely given up on him. maybe for the time being — by that i mean another two years or so ?? LJSKSDFGJ my baby’s still hurt by his bullshit so — but her being someone who’s open to the idea of people changing for the better somewhere down the line, leaves a bit of room for her to possibly change her mind if he does enough to allow her to consider it

so she can be a bit of a doormat in some cases, it all depends on how she sees the person that determines if that’s the case, but she generally won’t let you off if you’re being dumb/an ass to someone or if she gets advantageous vibes from you for example ( given she can.. be a little naive and is a p gentle soul ) so.. idk fgklsj good luck to the 99% ig ??

don’t confuse that with her being v forgiving, weak, etc, etc. she’s a soft bitch, p vulnerable too ngl but.. she’s not that Dumb sdljfkg

speaking of vulnerable, she does have a slight dependency on others despite her thinking all signs point to the opposite, and even though her and her mom never rly had a good relationship she still reels from the neglect/abandonment some days so handle her with Care if she deems you a close pal

spontaneous tbh, transferring to busan was a little last minute on her part, for one

she’s a bit reclusive when focused on something, if she tells you she’s working on a track, it’s essentially a head’s up that you might not see her for a couple of days depending on how soon she gets it done — lowkey that bitch™ who makes up an illness to her boss, so she wouldn’t even show up for work if it’s more than just her fucking around

bc admittedly, a lot of what she posts is fucking around and liking it, her more thought-out and effort packed projects are hidden away on her laptop

a bit insecure with her work and just her general disposition ?? those first few points above mess with her a lot and leave her disheartened so.. my poor child

v strong overall, takes people’s shit and if it gets to her, she gets over it p fast. doesn’t dwell on much and will be courteous to you even if she’s declared you too toxic to stick around 24/7

isn’t exactly one to get angry ?? she’s basically just disappointed or annoyed at best 99% of the time, it takes a lot to get her beyond that

positive, ugh. maybe not sickeningly sweet, but.. still dgklsf

don’t confuse that with optimism tho, bc she’s a bit of a defensive pessimist deep down, with her optimistic side always trying to overpower it

a cute bean who wants the best for everyone

uhhh

has a good understanding of english, her mom’s an american national so she grew up with it being spoken in the house at times

prob speaks it better than i speak french ( and uh, i studied that for almost ten fucking years with a shit end result on that end of things LKSDFGJGDKF ), but still wouldn’t consider herself fluent

.. i would tho js

plays piano and bass guitar, but knows her way around a flute and tenor sax ( you don’t know how tempted i was to say clarinet as an homage to jiwoo gjflkgds )

prob had some kind of little amateur rock band with a few music majors and took up bass for the hell of it lmao

loves animals, leans towards cats or big dogs. corgis and those little spaniels get a pass tho

speaking of, she has a cute little calico kitten back in daegu ( i’m shit with pet names so if lucy sounds lacklustre.. you know why rgkjls ) who she Loves, her baby !!

sweater, ball cap and basic t shirt junkie

those glasses somin wears a lot ?? hyeran wears them too but.. actually needs them for reading and especially while she’s working on shit on her laptop, not even close to a fashion statement

doesn’t don much makeup unless someone’s dragging her to a party or something

thaT’S when she looks a little more like a classy early twenties bitch.. which lbr, is hard enough when adulthood is a whole Train Wreck for the most part LGFJSDL

not a heavy drinker, but the textbook definition of a lightweight so.. she’s always praying for anyone who has to deal with her dgfjklsfg

lattes are her livelihood

a bit of a hopeless romantic, just a bit, but god help her nonetheless

her favourite subject in hs was literature/writing and reads quite a bit on her breaks at the café, even took up a couple of courses since attending uni

favourite music genres.. it’s easier to say what she doesn’t like/finds boring, which is prob country and some aspects of edm/pop, not into punk/metal either

these are super basic but.. i’ve gotta get myself together for the day so this’ll do for now i hope ??

so if you’d like to plot, im me here or on d*scord ! i prefer the latter personally, but whichever’s easiest for you. i have a list of a few of the specific wcs i have in mind ( for the time being, catch my lazy ass avoiding listing all the basic ones and revising a few i have on an old blog ) for hyeran up now, which you can find here, so just lmk if any of them appeal to you !!

[endowarrior877]

Endometriosis in the eyes of the beholder.

What is it really like living with endometriosis, a chronic illness? I'm sure the question comes up from time to time, not! Still unless you're living with a chronic illness it's hard to image some of the things us spoonies go through behind closed doors. I've even heard some folks say people with chronic illnesses have it so easy because we can't work and just sit watching crappy day time tele festering away being supported by our government. No, living with a chronic illness isn't a life long holiday whilst being supported by benefits. Instead it's a constant fight and one that costs me in time, money, energy, blood, sweat, tears and pain. It's a constant fight to have a relatively pain free life and a constant fight to not have to take several different medications several times a day. It's the constant fight to be there for appointments and then have to sit and listen to a doctor tell you that "your hot water bottle is the best thing for you, and you just need to get used to the pain and learn how to cope". Yes I was told that today at my appointment for the pain clinic. Smh. It's the constant fight of letting family, friends and sometimes your self down when you've had to cancel yet another plan. It's having to drag your partner away from his brothers wedding because the pain is now to much and i need to go home.

That particular pain and sickness flare would last a constant 72 hours and was probably the only time i could ever say I've felt like I've really had a mental break down. I eventually went to the hospital after the third day of constant pain and throwing up, then got sent home 'by accident' because there wasn't much they could do. Only to go home jump back into bed feeling so weak I was even hallucinating then comes a police van with 1 female officer turning up at my house to pick me up and take me back to the hospital immediately because my blood work came back very bad and my kidneys were shutting down as a result of being so ill the last 3 days. The hospital couldn't get in contact with me directly and as it was literally a matter of life or death they had to get the police to find me. Scary stuff right! I had to be readmitted and kept on a drip constantly for a few days because of how sick I got. It was mortifying and I felt like people were staring as I was being escorted back in to the ER with a police officer. It must have looked like I was some kind of criminal. I wasn't though, just very very sick. It was very scary and one of the most painful flares I've ever had and what made things worse was how scared I was to go to the hospital in the first place because normally they just say there isn't anything they can do and send me home. Another problem people with chronic illnesses have to deal with is having to persuade some doctors that there is something really wrong and you're not just there for a score of drugs or that you're not just being a big baby because of your period. At that point the strongest thing in pain relief being given to me was dihydrocodeine and that didn't do anything for the pain and would just add to the sickness because i would be taking the maximum dose to try and get some relief. During those 3 days of being in constant level 9-10 pain i honestly wished I was dead so many times as the hours passed and the pain stayed. Nothing helped and the pain just roared. It was so upsetting, it was brutal. I didn't sleep for being in so much pain and I was exhausted by the time I went to hospital. It felt like world war 3 was happening in my womb and outer areas. I couldn't eat or drink either which resulted in me being so ill and being so dehydrated and malnourished.

Yup, being chronically ill is not as glamorous as we'd all like it to be and you certainly learn some new life skills when the bomb is dropped and life sticks a label on you that won't go away. In reality being chronically ill and more specifically having endometriosis means that for me, I have to plan carefully even the smallest of trips. I need to take into account my medications and anything else that comes in handy during a flare. It means that I have to carry a boiling hot water bottle around even when I'm out running errands or taking the kids to the park. Being chronically ill means saying no to my favorite foods because somewhere along it's journey from my mouth to the other end it causes some kind of sickness wave or pain attack. Having endometriosis is saying no to getting intimate with the love of my life because the pain is unreal and I can't afford to be so sore the next day. I can't keep calling hubby back from work. Canceling social events and family gatherings are a constant happening and making sure if I am away from the house over night I have access to a bath incase I have a bad flare is a stupid embarrassing must. Its choosing to not even have that one drink no matter what the occasion is because the consequences are not worth it. It's a constant battle of fighting different emotions and feelings; some days are okay and some days are the worst, there isn't many good days and even less great days. It's having to get used to a new body affected by not being able to eat, marked with heat rashes and scars from surgeries. Trying to stay positive when everything around you is sore and hurting is not an easy task. People have referred to endometriosis pains as similar to having a baby, gallbladder stones, kidney stones and appendicitis. I haven't personally suffered anything apart from child birth but I can safely say the pains are sometimes actually worse than labour.

In today's world people with invisible chronic illnesses are not taken seriously by people that we really need to be on our side. We need the support of all doctors and not just top endometriosis specialists that we have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to see. Unfortunately endometriosis is still treated with methods that were used a 100 years ago. How many other diseases and illnesses are still being treated without of date methods? Not very many. It's one of the only diseases that hasn't moved on with the times. If we had access to better more appropriate care then i bet your bottom dollar you'd see a lot less a&e visits from people with endometriosis too. It's not enough that this disease causes the most debilitating pain a human could ever experience whilst bleeding for god knows how long, but having half the world not really understand what endometriosis really does to a woman and then when we do try and seek professional help because we are so desperate it just feels like a hopeless fight where we are told it's in our head or try bandaid treatment. That's the full package with endometriosis and unless you're rich with a private jet able to pay top dollar to see someone super skilled and fast, there is at the moment a long wait to access care which is resulting in many woman like myself being left in daily debilitating pain.

For anyone newly diagnosed with endometriosis I kind of think my advice would be get ready to fight. Get ready to fight and get yourself educated. Learn about this condition inside out, the good and bad for everything. Your knowledge will save you many unnecessary treatments and will help you search out a surgeon that will be able to help you over time. Remember this is never going to be an overnight fix no matter how skilled your surgeon is. Endometriosis requires the most knowledgeable of doctors and there needs to be more of these people in our local hospitals where everyone can access them and there is more focus on surgical treatments instead of bandaid hormone treatments. There needs to be more awareness all around the world which I think is slowly starting to happen. Aside from all the actual physical symptoms we feel typical to having endo there is a lot more to just having this disease and it's not just about really sore periods. I'm still a firm believer that endometriosis can be treated brilliantly by laparoscopic procedure alone but the key is to finding that magic surgeon. Endometriosis doesn't grow back so it makes sense that removing the 'bad bits' will take away the pain. I'm part of a very good endometriosis resource Facebook page and the amount of woman who are pain free after 1-2 surgeries max is incredible and it gives me so much hope and just because of who they chose to handle their care. I unknowingly made the mistake of moving to the middle of nowhere and then learned about this list of top endometriosis specialists and now the closest to me is the U.K or Germany. Bad timing on my part! I have a good feeling about a Dutch specialist I was recommended to by my FIL's friend who had very bad endometriosis. Funnily enough she started out with the specialist I've just been seeing and had the same issues so asked for a second opinion with a different specialist and agreed to do surgery and found lots. They removed it all and now she's living a great life so I would like to see this doctor and speak with her before i make any rash decisions to rush to Germany in the near future. If she is as good as I hope then maybe she could be added to the list and help others find a good specialist. After asking for a second opinion of my recent MRI results I've asked to be referred to this other Dutch specialist and that should be the ball rolling again and some kind of pain free life will be more realistic. I'm staying positive and hopeful about this one but we will see in due course as ever. This will be my 3rd specialist so hopefully the saying third time lucky will come into play!

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