#now i'm at a school that technically costs more to attend

[acesammy]

man. so the engineering department at my school (which i am a part of) has put soooo much money into buildings and equipment in the last 10 years and i literally don't have a single class on that side of campus

[twstfanblog]

This is more of a worldbuidling question but what do the commoners live like in each district??? I'd there more of an emphasis on art in the west and everyone has like. Crazily painted houses or elaborate gardens, and do southern commoners have a higher cost of living because it's so expensive to shop there? In southern schools, is there a surplus of those kids that bring snacks to school and sell them because if how ingrained business practices are? Or is it just normal? I want to know more about the more middle class characters like Jack and Trey T_T. Speaking of which how did Ace and Deuce become Riddles servants 🤔?

Also what about the slums and Ruggie? Are there more slums in a certain district, I'd assume he'd be placed in the east... maybe the kingscholars like to cut costs and corners to make more profits, even though it leaves the general population poorer? Also do leona and ruggie ever meet in this au???

That's all my questions for now! I'm probably gonna have more but if you don't want to answer them that's totally fine! Hope you have a good day ^^!

*Cracks knuckles*

Ok, here we go. Long Answer coming!

The price of living increases the closer you get to the capital. So the slums of each area are around the edges of the district on the opposite side of where the palace sits.

Class-wise, the southern district is mostly populated by nobles since no matter where you go, it's considered prime real estate. So the South doesn't really have a slums, since its main population are rich commoners and business-owning nobles.

Oh the kids try...but the schools are already running school stores where you can purchase lunches, snacks, school supplies, small plots of land. You gotta be a very crafty school child to get your foot in the door starting a business while still in school.

Schooling is pretty standard across the empire, the southern district puts a heavier focus on math and reading though, just because most of the kids who do attend school normally end up working for their family business. East has a number of culture studies, the west has so many electives to pick from it's almost scary. Northern children basically get funneled into the military (The fuck are you feeding these kids? Why do they all grow up to be TANKS????)

Lord the West district is a nightmare to HOAs. So many houses all with different vibes and color palettes. The scholars who picked the middle ground and became architects building the most insane 'shouldn't be standing against a strong wind' kind of houses. The theming gets more uniform the closer to the capital, but that's just because that's the more tourist area, where all the big theaters and conference halls are.

Speaking in terms of just size, the East has the biggest slums of the empire. Since they are the main resting point for visiting diplomats, it became a culture hub and most of the immigrants moved their because it was more familiar to their homelands. in turn there's just A LOT of people there and sadly not enough work for everyone. at this point it's just cheaper to live on the edge of the empire than moving to the second cheapest housing; the West slums. The Northern slums are basically just living on a mountain and surviving off the land.

Ruggie and Leona do meet! As he gets older, Leona's fights with his dad get worse. One night it was bad enough that Leona just ran away and was missing for nearly a week. Ruggie finds who he assumed was a homeless man and helped him out a bit 'We've all been there man'. In his time in the slums, Leona finds a bit of purpose and wants to help the people he technically rules over.

Leona is found and leaves without saying goodbye to Ruggie. YEARS LATER, a servant of the Duke Kingscholar comes to the slums asking for Ruggie to come with him. Farena is slowly taking over the Duchy from their aging father and Leona listed Ruggie as a good choice for a consultant. Ruggie actually does pretty well in the role, just gotta give him a crash course in etiquette before every formal dinner he has to attend now.

Let me list where everyone is!

North

Jack lives with his family after his mother secured a tutor job for a noble child when they first came to the empire. Once in the north, his family of wolf beastmen flourished and lowkey are treated as untitled nobles.

Sebek's family has strong ties to the royal army since his grandfather served and is friends with THE LILIA VANROUGE. Sebek's dream is to join the army to continue his family's legacy (And maybe see the prince. HE RESPECTS HIM OKAY!? DON'T TEASE HIM ABOUT THE POEMS HE WRITES!)

Epel lives with his family on one of the many farms contracted to supply produce to the palace. As such they have very high standards of their produce and won't let you talk down to them even if they aren't nobles.

East

Ruggie moved to the empire with his 'grandma' in a big group of refugees when he was very young. He does odd jobs around the district to help support his community.

Rook was born and raised in the upper-middle-class East District. He only moves to the West District to further his art career once he comes of age. From there he meets Vil and they fall in artist love.

South

Azul's mother owns a very popular seafood restaurant. It's half in the water and displays the first shell coin her great-great-great grandmother made in the sea (For luck!). She married into nobility with Azul's stepfather who accepted Azul as his own.

The Tweels family aren't titled but with how many dirty dealings they've done with the various shady business owners, they might as well just buy a title. A very wealthy and dangerous commoner family

Trey's family owns a very nice bakery! With the high-quality baked goods and fair pricing, they're normally packed by commoners and noblemen alike.

West

Vil and his father live and breathe the theater. They've been living in the West since Vil's dad moved from the capital to help an old friend establish his theater.

Riddle lives with his mother and live-in attendants and is lowkey miserable but working hard to achieve in his studies. They use to live in the South, but his mother said he was distracted too easily there.

Deuce lives in fairly cheap housing with his mom and grandma. Deuce's mom travels from the West to the capital to work for a week then to come back for a week off.

Ace has a similar situation to Deuce with his mom AND older brother going off for work. It's why they take the jobs to be aids for Riddle. Also known as 'Riddle's mom had to buy him friends'.

The Capital

Cater's dad is a senior member of the imperial bank! He and his family live pretty cushy lives even though they don't have a title. Cater's looking to change that and has been studying how to bag a noble beau every social season since he was seven.

Silver lives in the palace with his father and Malleus since Lilia brought him home. His curse is slowly getting worse with age but he's still working hard so that he can try to pass the army entry exams.

I hope this answers everything! Let me tell you guys, world-building is much FUN!!!!

[oobbbear]

What's it like to be an animation student? I'm thinking of majoring in animation but I'm sill unsure.

(Okay first I’m not good with words so this might be a little all over the place)

It’s different in every school, and I’m speaking as a first year student who only started in September so take my words with a grain of salt

For me the college I’m attending is very competitive, the pressure comes more from your peers than the teachers.

There’s a lotta schoolwork, each of them can take a long time but it’s mostly drawing, which if you like it the work will be very easy for you. (Still stressful, but at least it’s the fun kind of stress)

There’s not a lot of essays and reading, only 1 out of my 9 courses requires us to write anything. I found this really amazing because I personally suck at essays n’ stuff I will go crazy if you want me to write, but I can handle drawing 6-8 hours a day no problem.

You’ll need to have a strong fundamental before you got here because other than the technical stuff teachers will expect you to know most thing already, they will only touch on the basics the rest you’ll need to figure out yourself.

The assignments are really fun, they gave us a lot of artistic liberty which is why I can sneak witch sun moon into my work *cough*

I’m conclusion if you love animation and very determined in this path you’ll love it here

(A small tip for applying: If you want to apply to animation school I suggest starting you portfolio as early as possible, cause if you are applying to multiple schools you can’t just send the same portfolio to each one of them, schools are going to have different portfolio requirements. The one I got into I spent more than half a year preparing the portfolio and I only applied to this one school, so yeah start early, and if the requirements not out yet look for previous year requirements, the school normally won’t change it much)

Here are something not related to animation school but the industry in general:

If you just want to get into the animation industry, art school is not really necessary, the companies look more at your portfolio than your education. If the animation school in your country costs an arm and a leg (Cal art I’m looking at you) then think before applying, now days most of the stuff they teach in school can be learned online so art school is not essential for getting a job in the industry. You can make connections in college to get better job yes, but that requires a lotta people skill.

Hope this will help, and again sorry it is a little all over the place :’D

[meimi-haneoka]

Thank you Cinzia! I seriously need to check my notifications more. I didn't even realise that you had answered my ask. Loved your timeline and fanfics. I completely get what you are saying about writing fanfic. It kind of just flows out when you are that invested in a pairing. Also, that CCS in Public domain ask.... if I am not wrong, Japan seems to have a different approach to it. I mean I have seen doujinshis and light novels being sold legally featuring (and being advertised with) CCS characters. I am not sure but it seems that is legal in Japan? Not sure of all this but I assure you that I have come across some R18 doujinshis featuring Junior High aged SyaoSaku. The horror...... Also, I didn't realise that Akiho and Sakura had lived together as sisters for 5 months post Alice in Clockland. I mean, they all don't look much different (I kind of presumed that it had been just a bunch of weeks, like autumn is over and winter has begun). Frankly, they should be nearer to the heights in the final chapter of OG CCS manga if the second year is about to begin (since Sakura and Syaoran were reunited in the beginning of the second year of JHS in the OG manga). Oh well, I will just chalk it down to art style change.

Thank you so much for reading my drabbles and finally check my timeline, Aubretia!! 😁I'm glad in the end it worked for you! ✨

About the doujinshi matter, hehe, it's not that simple. From what I know, doujinshi are considered 二次創作, "derivative works", and as such technically they aren't legal, if they don't have the authorization of the author. Often fanartists who produce doujinshi also produce what we call "fan merch", like printing their art on acrylic keychains, stickers, acrylic stands and such. Those fall into the category too. However, in the industry there is an unspoken agreement that such works are "tolerated" by copyright holders as long as the price they're sold at can be proven as a mere "reimbursement of the cost" to produce such merch (like the printing cost for the doujinshi/anthologies and the manufacturing cost for other items). Basically, the fanartists don't have to earn money from this (or I guess the don't have to earn too much). Usually artists print a definite amount of copies to sell at conventions and a definite amount to sell online, so it doesn't "become too much" and attracts "too much attention" from the copyright holders. These are tolerated only because it turns into further promotion for the IP, so of course the fanartists need to know their place and not overdo it. So it's not legal, but it is common practice to "close an eye" on it (and yes, this means that there's literally anything, as you pointed out, out there).

For Akiho and Sakura living together, yeah it's more or less from 4 to 5 months! I calculated this from the fact that when the play started, they had barely changed into their winter uniform at school, and usually that happens on a set date in Japan, on October 1st. Now, in the chapter of the play (63) you can see lots of people attending the school festival, and many of them wear short sleeves, while other wear mid or long sleeves. This definitely made me think that there were still quite nice temperatures so it probably wasn't in late October but rather at the beginning of it (I even thought it might have been September and they changed uniforms early). When Kaito activated the forbidden magic, things continued exactly from where they were left off before he brought Sakura and Akiho to Clockland, so when we come back in chapter 70 it's still everything on the same day of the play. And then, when we see how things are going for them in chapter 71, we see everyone wearing the "super winter uniform", as I jokingly call it, along with coats, scarves, gloves, it's even snowing at some point! And they also say that "soon" Sakura is going to become a second year student at Tomoeda Middle school, so I had already pinpointed the month when all of this was happening as end of February. When the last chapter dropped, turns out I was right, because just 4 days after the "last battle" Akiho says she would've left Tomoeda one month later, and when we see her and Kaito on their departure day, cherry blossoms are starting to bloom, so that means that they are at the end of March. So, in short, Sakura and Akiho spent as sisters an indefinite part of October, all of November, December, January and all of February together before they realized what the heck was happening. Yeah, it's all a matter of looking around you and observing "the silent hints" (isn't all of Clear Card like that, after all?) and you can get a lot of the context. 😉👍

And oh, I absolutely don't suggest to take any of the OG manga panels as a reference for the heights and such because back then CLAMP's style was very different. They tended to make their characters so tall (and their legs so long!) especially when they had to indicate that kids had grown up. Their chins were more pointy, the shoulders wider (I always laugh when I look back to Syaoran with those wide shoulders)...yeah it was something completely different. Now Mokona sensei respects body proportions a lot more and I also have to say that the poses of her characters are more natural and not "stiff" as they were before. I also love how more expressive they've become. I do agree though that if she could make them a tiny bit taller it would be better. This is something that I've constantly "complained" about during the serialization.

Besides, I always understood that Sakura and Syaoran were in their first year at Tomoeda Middle school, at the end of the OG manga? Cause Sakura says "my brother is going to poke fun at me oversleeping even though I've become a middle schooler!" so it suggests that the change had just happened? Well, Clear Card is its sequel and it starts exactly like the last pages of volume 12, with an "extended version" of the finale, so I think that the kids being in 1st year of middle school is what CLAMP had always intended since 2000.

[ieatsurveys]

What does the shirt you are wearing look like? It's a red shirt.

What was the last thing that stressed you out or upset you? When he got sick :( I'm super worried and super stressed.

How do you stay positive with all that life throws at you? I just practice affirmations. And meditation.

What quality do you admire most in other people? Kindness, ability to keep the conversation going.

What is the highest level of physical pain you have ever been in? rate 1-10 I don't know.

...same question, but with emotional pain? Being suicidal. (Haven't been there for 3 years, so that's good).

What is your most prized possession? My phone.

Which youtuber do you feel like you could be friends with easily? Hm.

Do you like your natural hair color? Yes.

Do you think you will dye your hair when you start going gray? Probably.

Are you pale right now, or do you have a tan? I'm always pale, even in summer.

Do you think you look best with a tan? Sure.

What is your favorite app on your phone? Facebook.

How old were you when you got your first smartphone? 20 something.

Are you living a life you want to escape from? or do you love your life? I'm content with my life.

When was the last time you felt that life was good? It's good now.

Do you have one big mistake that you've made that you want to fix? Probably.

Do you wish people would forgive you for your past so you could move on? You can still move on if people haven't forgiven you.

Do you wear green on St. Patrick's day? Not at all.

Are you Irish at all? Yes.

Do you pray to God every day? No.

What are three things you are currently looking forward to doing soon? Talking to him again, seeing my nephew, and my birthday.

Do you ever dance in the rain? No.

Have you ever sat on a rooftop? No.

Who is that last good musician or band you discovered? Hm. I haven't discovered any new bands recently.

Do you like to watch talent shows like America's Got Talent and X Factor? Not really. I do like the auditions on AGT, though.

Have you ever tried avocado toast? Sure have.

Name three items on your wish list right now. A tumbler.

Are you more talented musically or artistically or neither? Musically. 

Are you better at English or math? English. I am terrible at Math.

What were your best subjects in school? English.

What was your favorite subject in school? English.

Have you ever visited a teacher at their home? No.

How many windows are in your bedroom? One.

Who was your first roommate? Carleigh.

Who was your first best friend (besides a sibling)? Courtney or Tabitha.

Do you have a sibling who looks like you? No.

Name three women you know who have lost a child. Hm.

Whose was the last funeral you attended or watched? I avoid funerals at all costs. But, I think it was Lisa's.

What types of cancer are in your family, if any? Ugh, shaddup.

Do you have big dreams for your future? Yes.

Do you feel alone? No.

What is this month's calendar picture? I only use Google calendar.

What is the theme of your wall calendar for this year? 

Have you ever seen a double rainbow? Yes.

How old will you be on your next birthday? 34.

Which nationalities have you been told you look like? (i.e., Asian, Irish) Polish.

Have you ever had an outstanding library fine? I still do.

What book are you currently reading? I forgot the name of it.

Are you poor/broke right now? Very much so.

Have you ever received any scary, threatening messages on social media? Yes.

What is the name of your youtube channel? I just have an account to watch videos.

How many subscribers do you have on youtube? Zero.

Do you wish that life were more fair? I don't really think about it, honestly.

Who was your first kiss? Nick.

Do you feel you have found your soulmate yet?

Are you single or in a relationship? Technically single

If you're single, do you want to be, or do you wish you weren't? I wish I was with someone, yes.

Ever collected shells at the beach? Yes.

Would you rather paint or carve a pumpkin? Paint.

Who are three of your favorite youtubers to watch?

What year did you graduate high school? 2007.

What do you miss about high school? I don't.

What do you miss about college? Friends.

What color was your first car? Light blue.

Do you have a car now? Yes.

What color was the house you grew up in? It was white with red details. But, now it's grey.

Growing up, what floor was your bedroom on? Second.

What is your birth order in the family? Middle.

What would your name be if you were the opposite gender?

What were you almost named?

Does your bedroom have carpet? Yes.

Best camping experience? Adirondacks.

What are the top three travel destinations on your bucket list? England, Ireland, Germany.

Do you get heartburn? No.

What are three things you are known for in your town? -shrugs-

What are three things you are known for on social media? I have no idea, haha.

What is your Instagram account name? _withouthindrance_

Have you ever used Snapchat? Sometimes.

Did you want to be famous when you were younger? Yes.

What show did you most want to be on as a kid? Hm.

First celebrity you were obsessed with? Rebecca St. James.

First celebrity crush? Pierre Bouvier.

What was your first favorite stuffed animal? Not sure.

What was something unique about you as a kid? Nanya.

Were you ever goth/emo? Very much so.

Do you want any more piercings? Yes.

How many tattoos do you have? Zero.

Do you want more tattoos? Yes.

If you had to get a tattoo, what would you get? A tree on my upper thigh, because I want my roots to grow deep - and sprouting from those roots.

Do you mostly write in cursive or print? It's a mix of both.

Were you ever homeschooled? No.

Describe your dream wedding in five words. No.

Pick three animals that you think resemble you, and why? This is a weird question.

Are you unique? Aren't we all?

Do you get called a free spirit? No.

What day of the week were you born on? I want to say it was a Wednesday>

How are you feeling right now? I've been worried since Tuesday.

[shardsofswords]

The painting on my desk

So, in september of 2021, I went to a fantasy festival and bought a painting. It was by Paul Yperman, a french artist who attends multipe of these kinds of festivals and events all throughout europe and whose work i've been a fan of ever since i first saw it, on that same festival years earlier.

Here's some of his work (and his facebook https://www.instagram.com/ypermanpaul/?hl=en from what i know he sells his work online too, through facebook. So if you live in europe i highly recommend it)

As a younger teenager i'd bought the cheapest item in his shop, a small framed painting on paper, about a5 size, it cost about 10 euros at the time. It stil stands in my childhood bedroom, on my desk. But this time, i was older, i'd had a parttime job or a while, and i could afford an actual canvas piece.

My handbag was my grandmother's old one, she had jsut died and this was the first time i'm using it after my grandfather gave it to me. its smell reminded me of her. it had two facemasks in it that smelled like her too. I wore one, even though that's probably not hygienic. I gave the other one to a stranger who forgot his and couldn't enter the bus without one. It wasn't covid that killed her, it was probably fine. Maybe. When the smell faded i kind of regretted giving that second one away.

There was a painting in my grandparents' house of an old traditional windmill in their town that doens't exist anymore. My grandmother loved windmills, my father told me on the day of her funeral that she was delighted when the town they moved to, my childhood home, was in walking distance of more than 5.

It took me more than 20 minutes to choose a painting of Paul Yperman to buy. I'd wanted this for so long, and they're also beautiful. i'd gotten it down to two when i saw something in the corner of my eye. This one had a windmill on it.

That's the one i bought.

I carried it back home with me wrapped in paper, put it on my lap in the train and bus (it was tall enough that i could not see past it when i did that) and watched my every step, scared to death that something would happen to it.

It got home unscathed. but, because i was renting my student appartment, and didn't know if i was allowed to drill any holes in the walls, and didn't have anything for alternative options on hand, I didn't hang it, just unpacked it and set in on my desk, which was also my dining table, against the wall.

And it stayed there. I learned i was allowed to drill in the walls, and it stayed there. I discussed methods and placements with my parents, and it stayed there. I ate my dinner carefully to not splash any food or grease on it. It stayed there. I failed every single exam i took that year, and it stayed there. Like a momument to my executive dysfunction. Can't study, flake on the sport lessons my parents are paying for until the trainers text me worried if somethign happened to me (I don't answer. I don't tell my parents either.) don't hang the painting. I end the year technically allowed to continue my study, because in my country's system after you pass your first year you can take however long you like, but when i tell a study advisor i'm considering switching he tells me that's a good idea, because clearly this isn't working.

So i move back home, i go to a school that's only a one hour trip away, just short enough to make every day. I'm too scared to completely give up and don't officially move out of the appartment, just hire it out to another student. So all the furniture stays. But the painting comes home with me.

I ruin it immediately, i fail my first period at my new study so bad it is now by all accounts impossible for me to pass the whole year. I never actually unregistered from the old one, unable to let go, as i said. That turns out to have been the right decision. The student who was renting my room finds another place, I move back in. I'll have to make it work, somehow.

I pass my first exam there, i just barely fail the second, but last year for that very same exam i sat at my table for half an hour before turning in an empty answer sheet and leaving without making eye contact with the examinator, so let's call it an improvement. My therapist when i came in last time told me i was noticably more relaxed and comfortable.

I'm eating my dinner and wondering why, when everything is going much better than last time, does cooking and eating feel less fun.

And I look up and I realize

The painting stayed back home.

I convinced my mom to hang it in our living room a short few weeks before i stopped lying to her and admitted i was failing.

I am staring at my wall and i realize that i didn't look at it at all when i went back this weekend. For all that I hated myself for not properly hanging it up and what that meant about me whenever I saw it, it was a really beautiful painting. One i'd been planning for a full year to buy. One that i loved, that made eating my dinner alone less lonely.

Before it was on the living room wall back in my childhood home, it was back in that same old paper packaging i carried it home in ( I never actualy threw that away) standing in a corner of my bedroom. That exact space is now occupied by two old paintings from my grandparent's home. One of them is the one with the windmill. My grandfather isn't alive anymore either. They died 8 months apart. He wasn't there to offer me anything of his so from the attic i took an old school diary from his student days, where half the pages were falling out. And the paintings, of course. Since then, i've taken up bookbinding.

I am still looking at my empty wall.

I'd considered hanging it above my bed last year, to make the wall i saw first thing in the morning a bit livelier.

I've changed my mind. I want to hang it right above the my desk. With the other painting of the windmill next to it. they'll clash, the colors don't fit together. I don't care.

I'll have to make it work, somehow

[carolxdanvers]

We need to talk about accessibility y'all

California's laws give businesses a vested interest in making DAMN sure they follow the ADA to the letter. Any disabled person who encounters an ADA violation can sue and be guaranteed a minimum of $4,000.

Which means that California is one of the most ADA compliant states in the USA, because NOT being ADA compliant can cost you a pretty penny.

I went out to California last week to visit the campuses that accepted me. I went to visit my dream school, my top choice, the one I had been accepted to and had already submitted my intent to enroll and a non-refundable $100 fee.

The school was (mostly) accessible. Technically nothing that I encountered violated the ADA, both at the campus and in the city.

But TECHNICALLY not violating the ADA is not the same as being accessible. I had to wait several minutes for a tiny service elevator to come take me down into the student center. I couldn't access the observatory because the floor it was on is stair-access only. The ramp to one accessible door was too steep for manual wheelchairs, so the "real" accessible entrance was around back. The dorms are listed as wheelchair accessible, but two of the dorm buildings have cubicle showers with little room for a shower chair. Multiple buildings have directories to let you know that wheelchair accessible bathrooms are only available on the second and fifth floors.

As for the city, the public transit is wheelchair accessible... But good luck getting on the train without being hit by a car, and good luck getting on the bus, and good luck going down the sidewalk. Shops and restaurants are tiny, so it's a joke to consider getting a wheelchair inside one.

I was accepted to my dream school for my dream program, and I had to rescind my intent to enroll. Now I'm going to be attending a more accessible school in a more spread-out area, and the degree program is... Not what I wanted. I wanted to study astronomy. I had been accepted to study physics with an astrophysics concentration, the majority of my classes (outside of generic physics and calculus) were going to be astronomy and astrophysics classes. Now I am getting a vanilla physics degree.

I had to withdraw from my dream school because it wasn't accessible.

And it was better than most.

This isn't okay. It's not okay that people are getting shut out of higher education because they can't take a quick piss break in class without missing 10 minutes. It's not okay that the observatory, which I would have needed to access as an astrophysics student, was completely inaccessible to me. It's not okay that I had to give up my dream—an academic dream! A dream about math and stars, not dancing!— because I'm a cripple.

[writebecauseyoucannotbreathe]

Ultimate Ship Meme: Azulaang

Rate the Ship -  

Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - Until I say so. I can see them being together after death as spirits.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - Ooooh boy. Azula struggles to understand friendship. I think she'd fall in love fast and hard but take the longest to realize. Aang wouldn't let himself get attached at first because Azula is unapologetic and one of the things I like about Azulaang is how it would push Aang to deals with the nitty gritty gray, not in a The Fire Nation was right all along way but in how even Kyoshi and Roku's conflict resolution let to disagreements. I think it would take Aang longer to fall in but once they reach a semblance of common ground he'd be well aware he's falling in love and would enjoy the ride.

How was their first kiss? - Let's see my fanfics. In Blue it was awkward. In Weightless it was sweet. In Smut it was horny and hate filled. In canon I think their first kiss would be very passionate and then they snap back to reality and Aang would evade while Azula denies so they wouldn't talk about it but they'd for sure be thinking about the kiss.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Technically Azula. As soon as Aang hears about a Fire Nation wedding, either his friends or he learns about Ozai and Ursa's wedding, his mind would be set on a wedding. He wouldn't say anything but he'd squirrel away relevant wedding information like he'd hear a song and go "I want that instrument to play at my wedding." But Azula would have her life planned out by other people and there'd be a set date where Ozai now Zuko are supposed to comb through suitor requests (it was probably Ursa's role. If she's there she'd talk to Azula directly instead of Lo and Li. I don't think Lo and Li are high enough rank to determine the suitor but I think it would be customary/expected for their input to be asked). Azula would tell Aang something along the lines of "I should be wed." and he'd agree and then Azula will spend an abnormally long time wondering if he married her because he liked her or because it's his duty until she asks him while he's discussing potential baby room colors pre wedding.

Who is the best man/men? - Sokka and Toph. Azula was going to pick Momo but he made a better flower girl. Yes she did this to annoy Zuko (and because Toph didnt want to wear the bridesmaid outfit) it's okay though Fire Lord Zuko was the guest of honor.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - Katara, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee. Mai pretends she hates the outfit but she's secretly pleased.

Who did the most planning? - Aang did the most thinking but Azula did the most planning.

Who stressed the most? - Externally Aang. Internally Azula.

How fancy was the ceremony? -

Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

100% Azula's fault. Aang has no clue what Fire Nation weddings are supposed to be like.

Aang: Wow I can't believe all weddings in your Nation are this big.

Azula: They're not. It's because I'm Royalty and you're the Avatar.

Though I hc that Aang wants to get married in all the different Nations and Azula secretly wants to experience a small wedding so they get married 3 more times with one of them being a very small Air Nation wedding.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Hmmm I'm not sure. On one hand, Ozai redemption. On the other hand, Ozai death.

Sex:

Who is on top? - Aang. Azula thinks she wants to be on top but she'd rather be pampered and Aang is more comfortable communicating and attending to needs. Aang has no strong preference either way and they do switch but this is their usual dynamic.

Who is the one to instigate things? - Azula but she denies it.

How healthy is their sex life? -

Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

I think it's up to the reader's preference but I can see them being very private (Azula) and naturally talented (Aang) to the point where they assume every couple has sex daily. Hc that Aang and Suki talk about sex freely (ex: When I do __ should I __ or do girls prefer ___? I can never tell with Azula. Why do guys do ___ after ____ ? I've tried asking Sokka but he doesn't give me a straight answer.) Much to the fear of Sokka and Azula.

How kinky are they? -

Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

Again up to the reader. They both like learning new things and are prodigies so I think they'd end up reading about things to try in bed (Azula) and would try things out to see what they like (Aang) until they learn what they and each other generally like/dislike.

How long do they normally last? - 

Does the Avatar State remove your refractory period? >;3c

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - No. Aang likes overstimulating.

How rough are they in bed? -

Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

Neither can dirty talk. Azula is rougher. Aang likes to take it slow. She sets the pace in the beginning but he decides when it ends.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? -

No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Azula refuses to cuddle in public but in return they cuddle all night.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - hc them having twin boys at first with one firebender and one airbender because poetry. But Azula really wants a girl so they have a third child she is an airbender with Aang's charm and knack for getting in trouble and Azula's ruthlessness. Amon kidnaps her and instead of easily escaping (Aang's genes) she instead viciously mocks him the way only a preteen can (Azula's genes.) It's traumatic enough for Amon even before the parents show up. Then Aang wants another one and Azula wants another firebender so they do the do and surprise triplets! (maybe it has to do with ejaculatimg in the Avatar State lol) So 6 in total and lets say its 3 boys 3 girls with 3 airbenders 3 firebenders.

How many children will they adopt? - None. Azula is wary of motherhood and I know people like to hc Aang as adopting and while I can see him acting as a father figure to several kids I think he'd greatly prefer biological kids especially airbenders. It's a flaw that was barely touched upon and def not handled well in Legend of Korra.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Servants or Aang. After a kid or two Azula would be comfortable enough to change the diapers but it would still be mostly Aang.

Who is the stricter parent? - Depends on the kid. Aang is more lenient with airbenders and Azula with firebenders or girls. I can see Azula being strict with training & studies but not with sharing whereas Aang would have less rules but they'd be more heavily enforced (ex: no airgliding without supervision until you've mastered the safety course)

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Azula. She's pretty lenient with the term dangerous esp. when it comes to firebending as long as basic safety measures are applied (ex: you can pracrice lightning as long as it's not pointed towards yourself aka dont be Zuzu) but Aang is of the mindset "How are you gonna learn airbending without dangerous stunts?" And after the first few incidents she started stepping in.

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Azula but Aang cooks them.

Who is the more loved parent? - Appa

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? Azula. When Aang attends the teachers shower him and his kids with compliments ("You're doing so well teaching your kids the values of the Air Nomads. It must be so hard being The Last Airbender"). They do the same with Azula but unlike Aang she sees through it and manages to get an accurate assessment of how their kids are doing.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Aang was more happy than sad. Azula cried before and after.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Aang. He is a notorious lawbreaker. Azula would bail the kids and she could do so quicker than Aang in a few cases because of her connections but she'd be mad so their kids would rather call Aang or break themselves out.

Cooking: 

Who does the most cooking? - Tied. Aang at first but then Azula wants to learn and after Aang teaches her since she has less experience she finds more enjoyment in cooking.

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - 

Technically Aang since he's a vegetarian. Azula hasn't tried as many foods and she's used to not making a fuss at the family dinner table to the point of which Aang notices.

Who does the grocery shopping? - Both. Aang has a better eye for vegetables/fruits and Azula is better with prices (it's not about the cost it's about the value).

How often do they bake desserts? - Aang bakes them when he can/weekly. They're fruit based so if Azula doesn't want dessert he gives it to Momo or flings it at a target.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Gee I wonder. Aang eats salad Azula eats meat.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Aang but Azula tends to figures it out. Azula is more likely to plan a dinner but she wouldn't make it a surprise.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Aang but Azula is a close second. It would be a tie if it wasn't for the bathhouse.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - Accidentally? Aang. On purpose? Azula.

Who cleans the room? - Servants or Aang.

Chores: 

Who is really against chores? - Azula hates cleaning up but she's neater.

Who cleans up after the pets? - Aang.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Aang.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Azula.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Aang.

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Azula. In the Fire Nation Palace Aang has taken to chatting with Azula in the Royal Spa while he feeds her (and mostly himself) cherries.

Misc:

Who takes the dog Appa out for a walk? - Aang

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Never. Once they like the room they like the room. If its an event they'll go to a different location for it or leave the Air Temple as is.

What are their goals for the relationship? -

To stay together.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? -

Aang slept for a hundred years so I'll give it to him.

Who plays the most pranks? - Tie. They've both pulled elaborate pranks as kids.

[qbrooklyn1056]

We Belong Too!

Black and Latinos have been displaced in New York City school’s systems for a very long time. Let's talk about a time where Blacks/Latinos were in place with these specialized high schools. In the late 70s and 80s Black/Latinos were in these specialized schools in dozens. Throughout the years this has declined drastically, because of gentrification, wealth, and power, now these schools are filled with Whites/Asian, with Asian taking the lead in these specialized high schools. This makes it harder for disadvantaged children to even get their applications looked at. Schools like Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant High, and Bronx High School of Science were once seeing high numbers of Black/Latino students. You have former students and people of the community, and even Mayor Bill De Blasio is getting in on this topic and is causing a lot of controversy.

Stuyvesant high school seems to be one of the schools that a lot of Black/Latino’s teens were able to attend. There was a special placement test that you had to take to be accepted to the school and all though got many minorities placed in these specialized schools. This same test would also be the reason for so many other minorities not to get in, till this day this is a big issue/topic. Like back in the day, these schools were already coming from segregation, so it’s not like it's far-fetched that a lot of minorities would attend these schools anyway. There was hope in the 70s, with the raise of Black/Latino students in these gifted schools.

A lot of these students were from underprivileged families and low-income neighborhoods. They had hard work ethics and drive, and had to study twice as hard to even get a chance to take the placement test to enter these schools. The hunger and fight in those future Lawyer's, Anthropologists, and Scientists is what made them who they are today. I bet these teenagers thought they had started a long-time goal, which was to have more people who looked like them attend these "Gifted " schools. How was they supposed to know that after them the number of minorities in elite high school would almost not exist. Not because the children aren't smart, but because some didn't feel a need for minorities to attend schools with their will to do kids, or some felt they were being bumped because of affirmative action. Whatever the reasons are, we should not still be having the same debate in this day and age, from any other people or will to do with people.

It seems like in the 90s things got worse. You still had some minorities in these elite schools but very few as the previous years. It made it seem like all the white/Asians were the only smart people for a while. You had low-income children who were smart but didn't have the money or didn't even get a chance to take the placement test because it seemed like the school met their minority quote or something. This was so unfair to a lot of Blacks/Latinos, because if you don't know, I'm here to tell you, Blacks/Latinos are some of the most gifted and creative people you will ever come across, because they are born with so much flavor. That’s could be why you do see a lot of minorities at performing arts schools. (The elite performing art schools also are biased when selecting students, but that is another topic). But, what about the minorities that are just as book smart as the next person, just always don't get the opportunity to show it. Plus, test prep is always where a lot of students take when trying to get into one of these schools, but the problem is, the cost starts at $1000, and most low-income families can't afford that. That seems like a way to keep a certain class of people out of these schools, knowing certain people can't afford it. This is why programs for people of color are so important to have so that our children can be on the same playing field as the next.

I spoke with somebody who was around and went to school in New York at the time. My neighbor Mr. Carlos Ramos, whose 57 said back then it was more pride and seem like way more value in going to school back then 

ME: Mr. Ramos how did it feel going to an elite school back in the late 70s early 80s?

CR:  It felt like winning the lottery, when you see/or hear you got accepted to one of these great schools. This is because, back then times were really hard, and me and my family lived in Bushwick. This is the time when the crack epidemic was happening and wasn't safe at all to be in my neighborhood. 

ME: How many minority students did you see in your school if you can recall, also what school did you go to? 

CR: I was accepted into Brooklyn Technical High School, in the downtown Brooklyn area. It was mostly Asian kids and whites, but at that time we did have a good two hand full of minority students. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but I promise you it was.

Me: Were you nervous at all going to an Elite school?

CR: I knew I was just as smart and worked twice as hard to get into that school and nobody was going to stop me. NOBODY! I was at times a little fearful, because as you know racial tensions in this country seem to always be high. Overall, I knew how to defend myself.  I mean I was raised with 10 brothers.  Lol.

ME: Are you still friends with any of the minorities who went to Brooklyn Tech with you? Also, why do you think there is a lack of minority students in these elite schools in this day and age. 

CR: Yes. I have built lifetime friends with a lot of them, not just my minority peers. We are all doing really great.  I’m a computer engineer/Bio scientist, and some of them are lawyers, doctors, and high-priced realtors. To answer the second part, I believe the reason you see a lack of diversity in these elite schools is because they don’t want the playing field to be equal.  Too many minorities are making something out themselves these days, and white race doesn’t like that. We’re owning too much property for them, so they're making up laws that you never heard of, or locking minorities up at a higher rate, so that our youth won’t succeed.

Back in, I believe 2009 former Mayor Michael. R. Bloomberg "implemented a citywide test-based threshold for gifted and talented programs." (ES) This was supposed to be a way for the city to diversify these elite schools but it backfired and excluded even more Black/Latinos. A lot of these areas where some of these elite schools are placed are in wealthy neighborhoods that don't want what they call people from the ghetto entering their schools or being around their kids. In fact, our current Mayor Belsio is trying to do away with placement tests in general, which is the way to get into the school. This would eliminate the top performing students and place over 50 % of Black/Latinos in these schools and Asian students would lose half of their spots. As you see in the charts Asian have become the leaders of specialized schools, so honestly, they can just get put on another schools list, because honestly speaking they still may get picked over a Black/Latino person in the next school anyway. I'm just saying they basically have a better shot at getting in any elite school, than Black/Latinos. This is causing wealthy parents to sue the school district over feeling their kids are getting mistreated and it’s not fair to have these kids from the ghetto go to school with their "precious and brilliant, perfect kids" YEAH RIGHT!!!!! The ones from the low-income backgrounds are the one who should be given a chance to show what they can do, since it seems like everyone knows what the kids already in those schools can do. It's like saying we never heard of somebody having a lot of money or going to an elite school would commit a crime... Lol. We all know that’s B.S.

Don’t get me wrong Blacks/Latinos have come a long way and are making history in this world today, but to get the same respect and options is what we need just as much. Let kids be kids and let kids be great. How can they be great or all they can be if the people leading them can't even get it together for them.

[mindblowingscience]

Hello mindblowingscience, I'm writing this question(s) regarding a particular science, forensic science that is, because I'm going to start studying community college for my college years. I must know however, would you happen to know if community colleges commonly teach such a big subject in a small community college? If they do, well, what'd be the expected differences that are between the lessons from a cc(community college), a prc(paid regular college) or a ppc(paid private college)?

That’s going to depend on your country. I’m Canadian, and most community colleges don’t offer Forensic Science degrees.

In general I think most forensics programs are going to be at Universities or Technical Institutes.

You may be able to take the pre-requisite Criminology, Biology and Chemistry related courses that relate to Forensic Science and transfer those courses to a Forensics Degree at University.

Most universities in Canada are Public Universities, not Private so I don’t have a lot of familiarity with the differences between Private and Public. I know the USA has more private universities. I think Private Universities usually cost a lot more to attend.

But all three of the post secondary education facilities I’ve attended have been public: North Island College (Public Community College), British Columbia Institute of Technology (Public Polytechnical Institute) and Thompson Rivers University (Public University and where I am now).

In general Community Colleges have more of a focus on 2 year diploma programs rather than full degrees, and many community colleges people can take high school courses to complete a high school diploma or to take early university courses and then transfer to a university later.

Its a lot cheaper to go to a community college than a university, so some may choose to do a bunch of courses there first before transferring. There’s also the benefit of smaller class sizes.

I hope this helps.

[retalhos-fragmentos]

I came to tell you where I'm from. For those who don't know what my story is, I was born in the city of Lima Duarte, in the early 80's.....and what wonderful years!!!

I had a difficult, humble and immensely happy childhood! I was raised on the lands of Pirapetinga and grew up on Mr Sebastião Nogueira's farm. Man who, for the first time in my life, saved me from death when I was bitten by a rattlesnake. Part of my childhood I lived in Orvalho, the golden years of my life!!!

Her best time. I collected friends and memorable deeds. I fondly remember every friend I had as a child. As a teenager I moved to Penido. I started working very early and still studied at night. I thank my godfather Virgílio José da Fonseca Manso for giving me my first job when I was 12 years old. I always liked to study and I always said I would be a writer.

My biography is under construction. In it I tell my story and talk about the people who have passed through my life. I attended elementary school, then high school and a technical course in real estate transactions at CTU. In high school, I also knew violence in another form. I suffered an attempted sexual abuse and my friend and guardian Bruno Z. S. helped me through this troubled period.

In my youth I met my husband. He was the one thing I didn't plan for. We got married and had 2 children.

Always strive to serve others. This was my life motto!

And I'm proud to be born a woman and to be committed and a warrior

The events along my journey changed my will.

I applied at the beginning of my marriage and started working in December 2003 at the Igrejinha health unit. Where I work to date. After my children grew up I went to 2 colleges. Not because of status or salary, but to fulfill a personal dream.

As I always enjoyed reading, I read more than 500 titles throughout my life and the passion for writing also earned me many verses.

I remember fondly my great love, Cleber Carvalho....ah, how I loved that boy. It was my great love, but we'd rather cultivate the friendship than spoil it with the amorous outbursts of youth. I remember the first serenades my father would sing while listening to the radio in the morning.

I remember the bows my mother put in my hair, the food I stole from my daddy's helper's lunchboxes, the cigarette my father made me swallow lit, my heavy hoe and the beans and corn plants I cut and buried it for my father not to see. As a child I danced at balls and as a teenager

I jumped over the bonfire at the São João festivals, danced a square dance, participated in Professor Tedesco's festival. I don't forget these good times for anything. Thank God I was born with this privilege of being eclectic and living my life singing, writing, working, painting. And fighting I rose from the dust of the earth and made myself an incredible woman!

My parents were my mentors and my brothers my best friends! With the few friends I had, I keep wonderful memories and my admiration. To my angry fans I leave a prayer for them to forget me.

Now in adult life I once again had my life threatened by aggression. And I was saved by two co-workers. Geisilaine and Paola to whom I owe my life and my eternal gratitude. If they hadn't helped me, the aggressor would have killed me by hanging or strangling me.

Today I learned that I will have to be careful with who praises me too much, who hugs me too much, who frequents my house. I learned that care must be redoubled when someone who beats the chest and says he's MY FRIEND, because there are monsters disguised as princesses. Sometimes this "such" person praises my glass slipper, but in fact she wants to have my feet at all costs to put them on. I learned that the envious doesn't want to have what I have, he doesn't want to do the things I do. You don't want to have my friends, nor the light that you carry with me. The envious one, he just wants to be me at all costs!

[projectema]

Canada 🇨🇦 Student Permit Pathway Journey

I started thinking about migrating to Canada way back 2016. Back then, I'm not aware of any other pathways aside from being employed (Express Entry). I was still single then and I never really was serious about it because 1) one must have a big amount of money to pursue it and I don't have that and 2) I think that it will be difficult for me to be employed because of my work experience (it's either you're an engineer, nurse, or caregiver then you'll get a higher chance of being employed hence higher chance of getting PR).

At the latter part of 2019 and at the beginning of 2020, I started to gather my courage and learn about the different pathways. I even went to immigration agencies in Makati to better understand them.

Fast forward to now, we're currently just at the beginning of everything. This blog will be updated from time to time to see the progress of our journey. I might not write a detailed one though.

Sep. 24-Oct. 17, 2020

As mentioned, the problem with our Canadian dream was MONEY. Fortunately, my tito Nestor and tita Ana were willing to support us in our endeavor. Which leads us to the 1st step and that was to pay the immigration agent 50% of 2,500CAD. This was a very hard decision for me to make because paying an immigration agent does not guarantee that I'll be granted a student permit. It will all depend on the strategy and the supporting documents that I'll submit. After paying, the agent asked me to sign a retainer agreement and to submit the following:

Resumé

Passport

Birth certificate

College diploma (my diploma was in Filipino so I still had to request for my english diploma - it costs P100 for 2pcs plus P200 for the shipping fee from LB to Sta. Rosa. I had to wait for several days before receiving it)

College Transcript of Records

After submitting all these, I still had to take an english exam as required by my chosen college (Langara College). Without the pandemic, I had to take IELTS Academic for this one. However, it's like a blessing in disguise because Langara temporarily allowed Duolingo Online English Exam as an alternative. It's way more cheaper and easier than IELTS Academic. IELTS Academic will cost around P11,000 while Duolingo is only $49 or P2,500.

The minimum required overall score is 110. I was so nervous while waiting for the result of my exam because there were questions that I weren't able to answer well. I got an overall score of 135, thank God! 😊

After submitting the result of my exam to Langara and also sending a copy of my exam result to my immigration agent, I have to pay the admission application fee of 155CAD (once again, thank you tito and tita) and sign a consent form stating that I am allowing my immigration agent and the educ. agent to handle my application and registration.

Right now, I'm still waiting for the response from the school and it will take 2-4 weeks to hear from them. After the school confirms a slot for me, I can then pay for the tuition for the 1st sem only.

Oct. 22, 2020

Ate Lala sent me a checklist so that I'll know the other documents needed while waiting for the response from Langara. She also sent me a receipt that showed that the application was already sent. While waiting, we can start doing the following:

Study plan - among all the other documents, this is the most crucial one. A guide questionnaire was given.

Bank statement/certificate of financial support from my tito/tita

Letter of support from tito/tita - ate lala provided a template for this one

Letter of parents property - affidavit form

Nov. 25, 2020

After more than a month of worrying, I finally received my LOO (Letter of Offer) from Langara College! 😭🥳 Now, I just have to ask my sponsors (Tito Nestor and Tita Ana) to pay for the tuition (1st half of the year only) including the non-refundable deposit fee amounting to 1,500 CAD. After paying, the school will send me my LOA (Letter of Application).

Dec. 2, 2020

There are many options on how to pay for the International Deposit fee (6,000 CAD) . There's the good old credit card, Flywire, and Western Union. All of which are connected directly to Langara College. There was quite a delay in payment because my sponsors had their Thanksgiving. Of course the "hiya" in me kicked in (as always). But, I have to ask them to pay for it ASAP because we were given just 10 business days to pay for it. At first, I told them that it's easier if we use Flywire. However, the exchange rate is too high. I can't wait for it to go down you know. So I insisted to ask my tita to just give me my uncle's credit card details (hihi). I just have to wait for the actual receipt and forward a copy to my consultant so that the educ. agent can already process for the LOA.

Jan. 22, 2021

I know. I skipped a lot of updates last December because of the holidays. Fast forward to 2021, I lodged my application last Jan. 16. After lodging, I got a biometrics request. We are currently busy at work that I didn't avail for any WFH sched because we are pressed for time (I wasn't surprised. Lagi na lang ganito 🙄). But because having my biometrics is important, I, instead, took a leave. But it's like a WFH as well because I had to attend to an online meeting in the afternoon. It's kind of unfair actually. 🙄 I think I'll be having another leave once I get a medical request. Or I might as well schedule myself for my medical even if there's no medical request yet. I'll still check my budget.

February 3, 2021

At last I received my medical request! However, the earliest schedule is on the last week of February. We're still too busy at work so I decided to schedule my medical on March 5. For preparation, I ate well and exercised for the last weeks. Let's see how it goes.

March 5, 2021

Last time I went to Makati was for my biometrics. I took the 7am schedule and I didn't anticipate the traffic jam at SLEX and that it was a Friday. I barely made it to my appointment. Thank goodness, after several petty fights with my husband (because we're really not Makati peeps so we easily get lost), I just came on time. This time for my medical, I decided to take the 6am P2P bus going to Makati. Oh, I opted to go to IOM Makati instead of St. Luke's because it's a lot cheaper. Aside from finding the right building, we still have to find a reasonable pay parking space. Yup. I just mentioned reasonable because pay parking rates in Makati is NOT cheap. Kung wala lang COVID-19, malamang nagcommute na lang kami all throughout. Going to Makati will always start an argument between Kim and I because of the directions and parking issues. I hate it actually. We seldom see each other and when in Makati we always argue about these things. Thankfully we found this pay parking spot which is not full and is somewhat reasonable (I'm not really sure, we didn't have any other choice). It was too early then so we ate our packed breakfast (to minimize expense) and watched Cobra Kai on Netflix.

We started to walk to the Trafalgar building at 8.30am. My appointment is at 9.05am. I brisked-walk my way going there. When we got there, we still have to wait for several minutes then the guard let us in. They do not allow companions so Kim had to go down and spend his waiting time at Starbucks just right across the building.

Before entering, the security guard will check your appointment then he will endorse you to their health declaration area. Once okay, you will have to fill-in an application first and then they will get a photo of you for your emedical form. These are the procedures I underwent:

Chest X-ray

Height, weight, blood pressure, eye exam, medical history

Blood chem

Urinalysis

Physical exam

The medical exam was relatively fast. It only took my 2.5hrs to finish all the tests. IOM Makati is very organized. The receptionist told me to wait for 10 business days for IOM to complete all the medical tests.

I’ve also read from this group/forum that I am in that if within 3-5 business days there aren’t any calls/email from IOM then it means that there’s no issues with my medical and that they have already forwarded this to IRCC. 

March 15-24, 2021

I followed up my consultant on March 15 whether my medical results were already reflected in the dashboard. Unfortunately, there’s none. At this point, I’m still okay. My patience is still holding on. Come March 19, which is already counted as the 10th business day from my medical, I followed up again my consultant if my results were already reflected in the dashboard. Still, there’s none. This is when I decided to call and email IOM to check if they already submitted the results to IRCC. Don’t ever try to call their office. It’s just a waste of your energy and time. Try emailing them instead but you’d still have to wait for 24-48hrs for their reply. I emailed them on March 21 and got their reply on March 23.

It said there that they already submitted my completed medical result on March 13. Due to my neglect (actually, it’s not neglect really. I just waited for the 10 business days because I don’t want to insist myself early on when they already told me to wait for 10 business days), if I had known that they can already submit this early, I should’ve followed up that early as well. 

I forwarded IOM’s email to me and the completed medical result to my consultant on March 24 and on March 25 she was able to submit the webform. It will take again 7-10 business days before my results will be reflected on the webform. Patience is still there.

Today is April 5 and it’s the 7th business day from the submission of webform of my consultant. I’ll wait for the 10th business day, which is on April 8 (or 9 for them). 

April 6, 2021

IRCC already replied and said that they had a technical issue that’s why they haven’t forwarded my medical result to the Canadian VO in Manila. My consultant had to re-send the files (e-medical sheet) via webform. 

April 9, 2021

IRCC replied and confirmed that they had already forwarded the e-medical sheet to the Canadian VO in Manila. 

April 30, 2021

After how many weeks of waiting for my medical result to reflect in the dashboard, finally it came out as MEDICAL PASSED on April 27, 2021. Manifesting and praying to have an APPROVED decision in the coming days or weeks. 

May 10, 2021

No words. 🥺 THANK YOU, LORD ☝️

May 12-20, 2021

PASSPORT REQUEST TIMELINE

●May 12 - Sent passport through LBC

●May 13, 14 - Received by VFS and transferred to Canada Embassy

●May 18 - Under Process

●May 18 - Received Correspondence Letter and counterfoil status sa GCKey. — Canada Embassy sent back the docs sa VFS

●May 19 - Received an update na sinend na ng Canada Embassy to VFS yung envelope with stamed passport. After few minutes received another update na sinend back na sakin yung passport. I contacted VFS after that to ask for the LBC tracking

●May 20 - Received my passport

[dignitywhatdignity]

Family History tangent!

My mother's parents both had one English Protestant parent and one Irish Catholic parent. At least, officially; it looks a bit more complex on the family tree.

Anyway, my mother is the youngest of four. The two oldest were baptized Catholic; the younger two, Lutheran. I don't know if my grandparents had a deal or if my grandfather just ceased to give a fuck in the eight years between my two aunts.

My father was raised in a United Brethren church (I think?) but at some point the building got taken over by Presbyterians? And the whole congregation just stayed put because the community was already there.

So my dad was in a band (all my friends find this shocking until I reveal he played bass), and all the local churches has "coffee houses" which I think were a way to keep the youth of the late '60s and early '70s occupied in wholesome ways? That as I understand it still involved Rock Music and large amounts of weed?

In any case, the Methodist church apparently has the best youth and young adult programs, because that's where my parents met, married, and raised my brother and me.

So here I come, and I go to a weirdly ecumenical preschool (the church that hosted it was home to like three congregations of different denominations), private school at the Episcopal church for three years until it shut down, and then, because other private schools cost as much as college and the neighborhood public schools sucked hard, Catholic school, including a Jesuit university (where I minored in theology). I also attended a Baptist youth group in there for a while. So I am widely informed and have no loyalties.

When I was in college, the church I grew up in shut down. My parents had some bad luck church shopping, so one week when I was home for the summer, I decided on a whim to check out the Episcopal church my first grade school had been out. My parents, having no better ideas, eventually followed me, and are now highly involved even though I've long since left the state.

My brother has nothing to do with religion.

So the fact that I'm technically Methodist, my husband is still Catholic, and my kid if officially Episcopalian is normal for me, and I won't blink if he and/or his hypothetical future partner are something else entirely.

this is a silly question, but what do you mean, "the flavor profiles might have shifted?"

Not at all silly! I’m referring to the fact that changes in manufacturing processes, ingredients, and breeding of both flora and fauna mean that the food we eat today may taste significantly different from the food of 100 years ago and yet we still refer to it by the same name.

The most well-known example of this, of course, is the Gros Michel/Cavendish issue; until the 1950s, Gros Michel bananas were the most common export, but now mostly in the US we eat Cavendish bananas, which have a different flavor. Cooking with Gros Michel and Cavendish bananas are going to get you different end results because they taste different; Rex Stout’s banana bread won’t taste like Sam Starbuck’s, and also any seasoning in the recipe (spices, etc) is aimed at complimenting the Gros Michel, and may not work as well on the Cavendish. (This is in theory, I don’t know if he has a banana bread recipe or if it was written pre or post Cavendish.) 

The same goes for a lot of fruits and vegetables – we haven’t necessarily changed breeds but we’ve certainly begun aggressively breeding for flavor or size or color, and we’ve also begun importing from hundreds or thousands of miles away, affecting freshness and flavor along the way. Which means a tomato today is a different beast from the tomato of fifty years ago. 

In one of the Nero Wolfe short stories, Wolfe gives a recipe for corn: roasted in the hottest possible oven for forty minutes, husked at the table, and served with only butter, salt, and pepper, “it is ambrosia”. But that’s for corn grown at a farm less than three hours from Wolfe’s home, picked less than half a day before it was cooked, and picked by hand just as it came fully ripe – Wolfe knows there’s something wrong and solves a murder because one delivery of his corn is of poor quality (too old, and picked too far previously). Stout acknowledges in his recipe that it’s unrealistic to be able to get corn like that, but corn grown from different strains, picked in Mexico, sorted by machine and shipped to Chicago where it sits in a misting box on a shelf for a few days before I buy it and take it home, that’s going to taste different. I’m not slamming the globalization of food (though elements of it are certainly an issue), but it’s simply a fact: they won’t taste the same. My corn, due to breeding and preservation techniques, might even taste better! But it will be a different taste. And when you’re dealing with the delicacy of flavor that Rex Stout often does, that can cause real issues. 

This extends to all kinds of things. Flour is milled differently now, and made from different grains; most things that used sugar cane or sugar beet sweetening prior to 1970 now use high fructose corn syrup (though this is a trend that is slowly reversing). Processed foods, like macaroni and cheese boxes or Cheerios or Jello, have changed ingredients to improve flavor or ease of cooking or health benefits to the people who eat them. Meat is fed differently (beef being fed primarily on corn because it bulks cows up like crazy is the most evident example) and that affects the flavor of the meat, too.

This gets even more bonkers the deeper you go. The reason modern recipes, especially baking recipes, often call for both butter and milk is that they used to call for cream, but people stopped buying cream and started buying lower fat milk, so now you have to use your lower-fat milk plus butter added to simulate cream. A recipe that called for cream was less likely to be made when people stopped buying cream, and new recipes in the second half of the 20th century were primarily the province of ad companies, who wanted you to buy their product and cook with it. If people were more likely to cook with a product that used butter and milk instead of cream, the ad companies would design recipes that way. 

So if you’re looking at a recipe from before the 1980s or so, understand that the recipe is designed with ingredients that might be vastly different from, and yet share a name with, the ingredients of today. Which affects the flavor of the finished product.  

Time travel is so weird, am I right? 

If you enjoy reading about food history, consider passing me a ko-fi!