#or VERY anti dr pepper

[st0rmyskies]

Stormbae! Who among the boys is/will go gray prematurely, and how will they cope? -- Oddi 🍄

I love the creative asks y'all have in a given day!

Four is going to go first, probably. No thanks to this fucking household. He's going to hide his hairline behind his headband and just keep working, all up until Shadow says something about it one night. Four is going to snark right back at him and act like he isn't affected. Then he's going to knock on Legend's door three days later and threaten him with who-knows-what blackmail to not tell a SOUL that he's asking for advice on how to use boxed hair dye.

Legend will start getting gray hairs early, too, but only 2-3 at a time. He will ignore all warnings about "pull one and seven grow in its place" or whatever. And he will only ever get 2-3 at a time, that only he or maybe Hyrule will notice.

Dr. Rulie will ABSOLUTELY be going gray next, and he's going to get a nice little salt-n-pepper side burn action going on. It's only going to improve his clinical cred, and make him an even bigger hit at the nurse's station at work. Might make Legend feel Some Kinda Way, himself.

Wind is going to have thinning hair way before he realizes he's going gray. He's going to have some very early thinning in the front that's going to give him a bit of a panic, and it's going to take a Warriors intervention to prevent him from doing something stupid and permanently-altering to try and address it. Just perk up your diet, dude, and maybe try some of these expensive beauty products...

Speaking of, Warriors.

Warriors.

I probably have to write this, actually. The day that he discovers his first gray hair is when Time opens his bathroom door to find Warriors kneeling on the vanity next to the sink and nearly in tears as he's holding down the hair on either side of his part and scrutinizing the single wiry gray he's found. Yes he's confirmed it's attached, yes it's the first one he's seen, and no he is not okay!!! At least someone can make use of all the anti-gray products Wars kept buying for Time and Time never gave enough of a shit to use. When Time realizes that Warriors is quite serious about this little crisis - Wars is supposed to be the catch, the trophy husband, etc. - he's going to do his best to assure Wars that it doesn't change how he feels about him. Warriors will always be the biggest thorn in Time's side.

I imagine that Twilight will go gray at a very respectable age, Champion will get a few stray grays that just blend in with his blonde no problem, Sky is going to get a little sexy salt-and-pepper after his and Sun's second child of four, and Time is already going gray, lbr.

Shadow will never appear gray, he dyes his hair too often. Damn scene kid.

Although Dark's face will never age, he will start going gray about ten years later than Time does. He'll go from raven black to brilliant silver-white nearly overnight, and it's going to look unfairly good on the man.

[elspethdixon]

I'm a newbie to the Stony fandom by way of the MCU and was told the Resurrectionverse was one of my first must reads. Is there anything I should know going in that I wouldn't because I don't know the comics well?

That’s a complicated question. I’m going to post a short version that just lists major differences from the MCU and a long version that’s a summary of the comics backstory.

Short version: RR&R is a fixit fic for the 616 comics version of Civil War (and a previous event called Disassembled). The two biggest and most important differences between MCU and 616 Civil War are:

1) In the comics, Steve and Tony are much closer friends then they ever were in the movies/have been close friends for a decade, and

2) Instead of an international set of “accords” about superhero activity, the Civil War conflict is about the American government wanting to make every superpowered person join a registry and be subject to government oversight (this is thousands-to-millions of people rather than a few dozen because the comics also include mutants/the X-Men, and “Mutant Registration” is a political goal that anti-mutant conservatives in the comics have wanted for decades, we know from various X-Men storylines where people come back in time from alternate futures that in timelines where it’s implemented it often leads to very bad dystopian things), with Steve on the “fuck this idea and fuck you”/tear the system down side and Tony on the “if we cooperate maybe it won’t be as bad”/try to reform the corrupt system from within side. Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier has nothing to do with it. Also the conflict ends with Steve surrendering and then getting publicly assassinated by bad guys.

Other important differences:

Spider-Man is an early-20s adult who is married to MJ.

Tony Stark is about twenty years younger/the same age as Steve and is less of a manic-depressive quippy maverick and more of a clinically depressed control freak (who has never been romantically involved with Pepper). In the past he struggled with severe alcoholism and is now sober in the “I never drink alcohol ever” way.

Nick Fury is a white guy with a completely different backstory and personality from MCU Fury (and there was never an Agent Coulson, his right hand man is a guy named Dugan).

Hank Pym and Jan Van Dyne/Ant-Man and the Wasp were two of the original Avengers and are in their 30s with zero children (Hope doesn’t exist). Hank canonically has bipolar disorder and in the past has done both crazy mad scientist things and shitty relationship-destroying things while manic.

Luke Cage is married to Jessica Jones and they have a kid. There is a character named Spiderwoman/Jessica Drew. She is a physically enhanced former ninja who has nothing to do with Spider-Man.

Dr. Strange was involved in the whole Civil War thing on Steve’s/the anti-Registration side. The anti-Registration Avengers are crashing at his house (instead of in Wakanda) when the story starts.

Clint was never part of SHIELD and has a totally different backstory (he’s not in the first fic for reasons of temporary deadness but appears in the sequels).

Thor and the Asgardians are supernatural being/possibly actual deities rather than aliens. Thor was briefly dead during the whole registration fight but got better.

Jarvis is a human rather than an AI.

Sam Wilson/the Falcon has a pet bird that he’s psychically soul bonded to.

Bucky did not kill T’Challa’s father and T’Challa is not significantly involved in the Civil War conflict beyond glaring disapprovingly at it from Wakanda.

Wanda Maximoff/the Scarlet Witch is a mutant and one of Magneto’s kids. Prior to the whole Civil War thing she disastrously lost control of her powers and went crazy, destroying the Avengers’ headquarters and killing Vision and Clint (she later brings Clint back via those same powers). At the start of the story she is MIA.

[oscarribeiro]

Basic Information

Full Name: Oscar Ribeiro

Age: 29

Date of Birth: June 19th

Hometown: Georgia

Current Location: Haus of Perses

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Nationality: American-Brazilian

Gender: CIS Male

Pronouns: He/him

Orientation: Gay

Religion: None

Political Affiliation: Left leaning

Occupation: Nurse

Language(s) Spoken: English, Spanish

Physical Appearance

Face Claim: Rafael Silva

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: brown

Height: 6′2″

Weight: 180 lbs

Build: Athletic

Clothing Style: Casual

Favourites

Weather: Summer

Colour: Green

Music genre: He likes a little bit of everything, he can’t pick just one.

Sport: Rugby

Alcohol: Tequila, vodka.

Soft drink: Dr. Pepper

Food: Korean barbeque

Animal: Dogs

Sexual

Kinks: Rimming, Rough sex, worship, face-fucking, dirty talk.

Anti-kinks: Scat, extreme BDSM, Fisting, bloodplay.

Position: Versatile

Penis size: 8.5 inches

Family

Father: Roberto Ribeiro

Mother: Julie Ribeiro

Sibling(s): Amy Ribeiro (deceased)

Children: None

Family’s Financial Status: Lower middle class

Character Name: Oscar Ribeiro Character Age: 29 Character FC: Rafael Silva Reason for applying as staff: Oscar was recommended to Perses by a friend of his and he needed a change and to get away from his life, so it was the perfect place for him Kinks:  Anti Kinks: Scat, extreme BDSM, Fisting, bloodplay. Biography:

Oscar is a 29-year-old nurse practitioner, he’s only recently started working at the Haus of Perses.  

He grew up in a very poor neighbourhood in the deep south after immigrating from a small city in Brazil with his parents and younger sister when he was 6 years old to seek treatment for his sisters cancer, she was entered into an experimental treatment and was in remission within the year. Oscar’s parents decided to stay in the states to give their children a better chance in life.

 When Oscar was 16, his sisters cancer returned in full force and sadly this time, no matter what treatment they tried, there was no cure this time and she died within the year, it was the life event that made Oscar want to go into a career in medicine, to help and save people that were just like his sister.

When he turned 18, Oscar moved to California where he went to San Diego State University for nursing, on the first day there, he met the man who would become his future husband. Once he had finished school, he moved to the city of San Francisco, he was with his partner for 7 years before he found out he had been cheating on him with a co-work, who he left Oscar for. Despite the pain it caused him, Oscar still believes it was the happiest he had ever been.

When he and his husband split up, Oscar went to work with doctors without borders for two years, because he felt lost, he was in his mid-twenties, recently divorced, and had no idea where his career was going, so he wanted something different, to get away from San Francisco and everything that happened there. When he returned back to California, he knew he needed a change and to get away from the craziness of his life, that’s when he was recommended to Perses by a friend of his who had worked there, so he knew always straight away that it was the perfect place for him, so he packed up his life after getting the job and moved there and he hasn’t looked back since.

[fenixfoxtrot510]

Antis would march into a strip club.

Order a soda pop.

Rant angrily for an hour about how they hate all alcohol and naked people. That people that pay money to get a lap dance are child molesters.

Then explode in a supernova of rage if one of the regulars told they that they could go to the juice bar across the street or the corner store at the end of the block if they hate strip clubs so much.

They would then run out screaming about the fires of hell and promising to call the cops on everyone in that strip club despite the fact that no crimes were committed.

Then the Antis would immediately go back to the strip club the very next night for another Dr. Pepper.

[christianamor]

Basic Information

Full Name: Christian Amor

Age: 23

Date of Birth: June 19th

Hometown: Majorca, Spain

Current Location: Haus of Perses

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Nationality: Spanish

Gender: CIS Male

Pronouns: He/him

Orientation: Pansexual

Religion: None

Political Affiliation: Left leaning

Occupation: Dancer/stripper

Language(s) Spoken: English, Spanish, French

Physical Appearance

Face Claim: Manu Rios

Hair Colour: Dirty brown

Eye Colour: green

Height: 5′10″

Weight: 144 lbs

Build: Athletic

Clothing Style: Casual

Favourites

Weather: Summer

Colour: Green & purple

Music genre: He likes a little bit of everything, he can’t pick just one.

Sport: Soccer

Alcohol: Tequila, vodka.

Soft drink: Dr. Pepper

Food: Korean barbeque

Animal: Dogs

Sexual

Kinks: Rimming, Rough sex, worship, face-fucking, dirty talk.

Anti-kinks: Scat, extreme BDSM, Fisting, bloodplay.

Position: Versatile

Penis size: 7 inches

Family

Father: Juan Amor

Mother: Julie Amor

Sibling(s): None

Children: None

Family’s Financial Status: Upper class, his family is very wealthy

Christian was born in Majorca, Spain to a famous soccer player father and famous supermodel mother, so he grew up going to fashion shows, movie premieres and soccer games and he hated it for as long as he could remember, he hated being the child of famous parents and constantly being in the limelight, the only thing that took him out of was music, he loved singing and he was damn good at it, he was a master at the piano and guitar. So when he had the chance to go to Julliard in America, he jamp at the chance.

Unfortunately Juilliard wasn’t everything Christian had dreamed it would be and dropped out after his first year. He had no idea what he was going to do next, where his life was going to lead, that’s when his friend told him about Haus of Perses, where he also worked, being paid to work around hot men and the sun all day, every day? It sounded like a dream come true, so he applied to be a stripper/dancer at Sapphire strip club and to his joy, he got the job. So he moved to the Haus without thinking twice, even though his parents still believe he’s at Julliard.

[mdccanon]

Do you like Tony Stark? As a character?

TL;DR: Yeah, I love Tony.

I'm Team Cap because I'd rather live with the consequences of Steve's plan than to live with the reassurances of Tony's, but I understand Tony's perspective and don't dismiss him as a privileged billionaire. He was trying to save the whole ass world.

Tony is a perfectly written unlikeable character. It's a breath of fresh air, honestly. Because it makes it easy to write conflict for him. Superman being perfect, which just makes anyone against him look like a maniac, is not interesting. Tony being a complex and complicated character means you can write heroes, anti-heroes, anti-villains, or villains who can all equally dislike the main character of the MCU.

Tony is pretty much the perfect model for why comics exist: to be wish-fulfillment for 7-12-year-old kids. He's a naïve, insecure, smartass: a middle schooler in a grown man's body. Comic Tony is not a womanizer; he's a serial monogamous who thinks every woman he dates is his future wife--and thinks every man he befriends is his best friend. I'm grateful to the MCU for by-in-large capturing that. They COULD have done the usual Hollywood bullshit of having a different love interest every movie. But they didn't. I don't think younger people appreciate that Hollywood NEVER allows male leads to have the same actress co-star for an entire franchise like Pepper was with Tony. It was revolutionary.

Speaking of which, I am an equal opportunity shipper. It would be easier to name what ships I haven't enjoyed.

Like Dark Strange in What If...? and Multiverse of Madness, MCU Tony would have been a GREAT Iron Maniac, which is basically Tony as Doctor Doom. My friend I joke that Tony Stark is the main character and main antagonist of the MCU.

Comic Tony? Love him, too. 10/10. Keep fuckin' things up as you fix them, you're amazing. I would LOVE a graphic novel of Tony, Reed, Charles, and T'Challa JUST creating the Earth's Supreme Intellect. That's it. A journey to map the smartest minds on Earth into a supercomputer.

Here are four of my posts that go into GREAT detail about character and plot Tony Stark analysis:

Tony is a very well-written unlikeable character

Tony works best as naïve and What If Killmonger Saved Tony shows this

Pointing out the contrast between Steve and Tony that made Civil War happen, since people think Tony wearing AC/DC shirts meant he was a rebel

Why I'm Team Cap, but will always defend the choices Tony made

[unhingedwomandiaries]

I roasted some garlic the other day. I know, not very usual of me, right? I was completely blindsided by how easy the whole process was. I'm not really a garlic girl, probably because I've never taken the simplistic plunge of roasting the stuff myself. Garlic bread is fine, and I can tolerate garlic in pasta sauce without my palate self-immolating, but that's about it. I'm no "garlic girl," despite what vapid social media influences might have you believe.

My inspiration came from a YouTube short about homemade garlic bread that I somehow stumbled across. We never did anything like that growing up - too much effort when you can just buy frozen Texas toast covered in hydrogenated polymer plastics and other anti-nutritional fractions. But I decided, what the hell, I'll give it a whirl.

The real reason was that I couldn't just eat a bunch of cheesy garlic bread in one sitting. That's a one-way ticket to OrangeTheory. So I figured I'd make a fresh lasagna to go with it. My husband loves lasagna. Me, not so much. It's firmly seated outside my psychological comfort zone of foods I grew up eating. There was this mildly depressing YouTube video about people's theoretical last meals, and some guy picked endless lasagna layers. Which is just...weird, right? Who would voluntarily choose lasagna as their iatric swan song?

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The pasta recipe itself came about through a pretty bizarre chain of events, as these things often do. I was interviewing for this job out of state after my relationship with x ended in spectacularly unambiguous fashion. And you'll never believe who was conducting the interview - it was this scruffy, kinda cool YouTuber I used to watch sometimes. You know, the blonde guy with the tabby cat and those weird friends always popping in?

We locked eyes and I could instantly tell he knew I recognized him from his internet presence. He got this little smirk as we shook hands. Not that I'm calling myself a celebrity or anything, but I could read the situation - he thought he'd stumbled into interviewing someone at least moderately normal. The interview itself was perfectly fine in a professional sense, but the whole time he kept giving me these little side glances. Like the look my husband gets when he's undressing me with his eyes and I have to be like, "What, mate? What's going on over there?"

Anyway, I didn't get the job - shocker, I know. Apparently Captain YouTube thought I was too attractive and objectively overqualified for the gig, which was just corporate garbage anyway. He did, however, slyly slip me his number on the side of a Dr. Pepper cup. Smooth operator, that guy.

We ended up becoming friends after that. Turned out his grandma and my grandma were both in the same knitting circle back in the day, or something weird like that. Cut to a few months later, and he's calling me up in literal tears. His girlfriend from across the pond had cheated on him again with some rando from New Jersey who was studying abroad in London.

So I go over to his place and he's like, "Billie, have you ever made fresh pasta before?" And I'm like, "Mate, you know my parents - we were strictly a no pasta household growing up. Only had Kraft boxed shit at friends houses when moms were feeling bougie." He tells me he learned the art himself in Florence, after taking a cooking class with the same girlfriend who repeatedly Edwardo'd all over him.

Then he walks me through the entire process: Make a little volcano-shaped pit in a mound of flour, crack six egg yolks into the crater, and mix it up until it becomes this pliable, malleable dough mass. From there you just roll it out and cut it into your desired shape, whether that's lasagna noodles or God's choice carb, rigatoni. The egg whites can get saved for healthier purposes or composted into the earth's lukewarm antibody.

I don't talk about this guy much, but he was a good guy. I'll never forget the time I was crashing at my aunt's place in Germany - this rambunctious, seen-some-shit woman who survived the Hellfire of the Holocaust - and she just started wailing bloody murder from the next room over. Turns out she'd gotten a call that my friend had been murdered. Gunned down at some random gas station in the continental U.S. while coming back from studying abroad. Just...mindless, evil violence on an otherwise uneventful Tuesday night. Wrong place, wrong time, and all that. Apparently some rando just walked up and shot him point-blank for no good reason. He never made it off the pavement.

There were two suspects, police sleuths ID'd pretty quick. Just some criminal fuckwads who somehow crossed paths with my innocent pal at his most vulnerable moment. Last I heard, one got thirty years for...I don't know, loitering adjacently? The trigger-man is serving a life sentence on the taxpayer's meter. The poor guy never saw it coming. After that, it was like his whole family line got King Lear'ed by the karmic powers that be. Mom died of lung cancer. Dad ate it in a skiing accident, of all the quirky river dancing ways to go. The younger brother is just kind of drifting, rudderless. We don't really talk anymore. Shame, too - he was a good person.

So, lasagna. I tried making it from scratch using my friend's pasta blueprint. Did the whole flowery, yolky ritual and layered it up with the usual accoutrements. From what I could gather, Brits and Americans can't even agree on lasagna anymore. Both versions suck, but you already know I've got the US's gelatinous, over-seasoned back.

I must've started cooking around one o'clock and didn't have that sucker ready until almost four. Spending an entire afternoon laboring over a single dish, only to have it turn out underwhelming, maybe even downright disappointing...it's enough to make you wonder why we bother with any of this. Like, what's the point of struggling to recreate some romanticized version of the past when the final product is just going to leave you disillusioned? Why chase these ceremonial shadows of nostalgia, these intricate lies we tell ourselves about how great everything used to be?

Anyway, there was this other guy I went on a date with once - pretty sure it was a second-hand date, now that I'm thinking about it. We did that silly thing where you go thrifting and pick out ridiculous outfits for each other to wear on the "night out" portion. He bought me some R.E.M. record and I got him another camera, because us analog hustlers need abundant cameras like Studebakers need whitewall tires. 

At dinner, this man mentioned his grandma used to make these unbelievably cheesy stuffed shells. So, collegiate eagerness clouding my judgment, I was like, "No sweat, bro! I've got a whole Italian pastry chef situation going on with this fresh pasta thing." Invited him over for a follow-up "Nonna's shells" dinner. He seemed into it...until he just randomly ghosted a couple days before. Ice cold, too - no explanation, no rain check for a future date. Just gone like that.

There I was, crateloads of fresh pasta sitting in the freezer and $20 down the drain for some ludicrously overpriced rennet. Pretty depraved behavior from Mister Mama's Boy, if you ask me. Two weeks went by before my own mom was like, "Yeah, this is stupid - just bring the damn shells over and we'll eat them ourselves."

So that's what I did. And you'll never believe it - my anti-pasta mother, she who would visibly retch at the very suggestion of lasagna, literally turned human and declared my fresh stuff "actually really good and soft." Probably the highest compliment she's ever paid anything remotely carb-based.

Who knows, though? Who really knows why any of this matters? Why do I go through such manic, irrational lengths for the simple pleasures? Burdening myself with these over involved culinary theater productions, only to be let down when everything's said and done? Too many competing storylines vying for attention in this freak show mental canvas of mine. Reality crumbles around the edges while I'm re-enacting some fever-dreamed domestic haute fantasy.

I don't have any answers. Your guess is as good as mine. The world's inevitably going to keep devolving into a sludge-filled basket-case, and so too will our lasagna aspirations.

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Welcome to Too Much Information Tuesday.

Psychopaths tend not to procrastinate.

Ecstasy was patented in 1913 as a diet pill.

Alcohol helps you speak foreign languages better.

Most of your depression is caused by over-thinking.

Walmart loses an estimated $3 billion every year to theft.

Approximately 101 boys have been named Severus since 2010.

The Romans brought the practice of armpit-hair removal to Britain.

Fake people have an image to maintain. Real people just don't care.

50% of Internet users will quit waiting for a video to load after 10 seconds.

A 10-second kiss can pass on 80 million bacteria. (But kiss me anyway!)

‘Sausage guitar’ is urban slang for air guitar played on a stretched-out penis.

Most Brits have said, "I love you" to three or fewer people. (Knew I wasn’t normal!)

A correctly fitted sports bra can improve a female athlete’s performance by up to 7%.

A YouGov survey found that 35% of Britons say they are just too tired to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Actors in ancient Rome often held a low social status, similar to that of slaves and prostitutes.

There's a reason you always have room for dessert, your stomach expands in contact with sugar.

Penetration parties are events where safecracking enthusiasts meet to practice and refine their craft.

HBO's 'Succession' hires wealth consultants, who advise the writers and crew on how the very wealthy live.

Most of the problems in your life are due to two reasons: you act without thinking, or think without acting.

Just over half a century ago, marrying someone of a different race was still a criminal act in 16 states across the US.

Psychology says: You don’t really need someone to complete you. You only need someone to accept you completely.

Most people aren't actually anti-social. They choose to be alone because they hate spending time with stupid people.

The happier you are, the less sleep you require to function in everyday life. Sadness increases the urge to sleep more.

In 1850, a cult gave 600 acres in Pennsylvania to God. It was later repossessed by the state because God did not pay his taxes.

In 2020, Mathdaniel Squirrel won Name of the Year, beating Courvoisier Dingle, Beanbag Amerika and mathematician Dr. Reason Machete.

Despite Guinness beer's strong association with Ireland, Nigeria is actually the second-largest consumer of Guinness worldwide, surpassed only by the UK.

Texas A&M University offers a comprehensive course on Texas Barbecue, covering its history, cooking techniques, diverse flavorings, seasonings, and various BBQ types.

On July 11th, 1979, NASA's first space station, Skylab, crashed to earth, scattering debris across Western Australia. A local council issued NASA a $400 fine for littering.

The Beatles’ album ‘Rubber Soul’ inspired the Beach Boys to write the album ‘Pet Sounds’, which in turn inspired the Beatles to write ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.

Death rates drop during economic downturns. People drive less and get into fewer accidents, leading to cleaner air. People also have less money to spend on cigarettes and alcohol.

It is possible to be allergic to orgasms. Sufferers of postorgasmic illness syndrome (mostly men) experience flu-like symptoms after orgasming. Scientists believe it may be caused by an allergy to one's own semen.

In 1979, a woman named Elvita Adams attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the Empire State Building. She jumped from the 86th floor, but was blown back onto the 85th by a strong gust of wind. She survived.

According to a recent Russian law, it’s only ‘champagne’ if it is produced in Russia. Otherwise — and even if it comes from the Champagne region of France — it’s just ‘sparkling wine’. (Copyright infringement.)

There was a rumour, perpetuated by Pentagon tour guides, that a hotdog stand in the middle of the courtyard lead to the Pentagon’s most top-secret meeting room and the USSR never had any fewer than two missiles aimed at it.

Around the 4th century BC, an ancient Greek prostitute named Phryne dodged a death sentence by baring her breasts to an all-male jury, asserting that it would be sacrilegious to destroy something so divinely beautiful. (I suspect some of my mates could get away with murder!)

Okay, that’s enough information for one day. Have a tremendous and tumultuous Tuesday! I love you all.

[drprashantjindal]

Dr Prashant Jindal Look Below For A Excellent Tips About Eye Care

Dr Prashant Jindal Professional tips provider. Everybody that can read this article should understand what a blessing it is to have good eyesight. Without the ability to see you lose out on many wonderful things in life. The article below will teach you important information on how to properly care for your eyes, so you can see well into the future.

If you work in front of the computer all day long, you should rest your eyes frequently. Your eyes tend not to blink when you are staring at the computer screen. This can cause dry eyes and other eye stress. Look away every ten minutes or so and blink to rest your eyes.

Eat a healthy diet to help take care of your eyes. Certain foods, particularly those high in vitamins C and E, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids can help protect your eyes as you age. Aim for green leafy vegetables, "oily" fish, beans, eggs, nuts, and citrus foods for best results.

If you work for long periods of time on a computer, protect your eyes by taking frequent breaks. You might have noticed that your eyes often feel strained, tired and itchy during regular working hours. This is probably a good indication that you're over working them. Get up and stretch for a few minutes, offering your eyes some time away from the screen.

Eat foods that are known to promote good eye health. This includes a variety of leafy green vegetables, such as collards, kale and spinach. Citrus fruits provide vitamin C, which can help to maintain your eyesight. In addition, protein sources such as beans, eggs, and lentils can prove beneficial to your eyes.

Include as many fruits and vegetables as possible in your diet; especially carrots and sweet potatoes which provide beta carotene (Vitamin A). Salmon is high in Omega 3's and broccoli, brussels sprouts and bell peppers are good sources of Vitamin C. These anti oxidants can help prevent macular degeneration and blindness.

Always wear safety goggles when coming in contact with hazardous materials, regardless of if you are at work or at home. It is best to keep a pair of these goggles in both locations, just in case you are faced with a situation where you need them. Do not take the safety of your eyes for granted.

To care for your eyes, you must be a healthy weight. Obesity leads to diabetes which can create great damage to your eyes. It also leads to glaucoma, hypertensive retinopathy and other conditions which can lead to blindness. The healthier your body is, the healthier your eyes will be, so lose weight!

Use protective eyewear when working with strong chemicals or you are in an area where airborne particles may pose a danger to your eyes. Many people have sustained eye injuries while doing woodworking projects or being outdoors during very windy weather. You should also wear goggles when swimming in chlorinated water.

Enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. If you're looking for another excuse to drink coffee in the morning, then you've found one. Studies have shown that drinking one or two cups of coffee each morning can actually help replenish tears that help keep eyes moist. Keep the limit at two cups or you'll do more damage than good.

Always take out your contact lenses before you sleep. Contact lenses that are left inside the eyes for too long will harbor bacteria growth. You should remove your contact lenses every night and disinfect them properly. Failing to do so will just set you up for more frequent eye infections.

Do you wear contacts? If so, make sure you have a pair of glasses that you can wear if your eyes get irritated. You do not want to make the situation worse by forcing yourself to wear the contacts because serious problems can result. Also, make sure you keep the contacts very clean.

Eat foods that promote good eye health. Foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins E and C, as well as foods that contain lutein, are excellent choices. Some foods that contain those substances are wild salmon, citrus fruits, tomatoes and green leafy vegetables. Have these foods every day so that your eyes continue to be healthy.

Dr Prashant Jindal Expert tips provider. You may not realize how important staying physically fit is for the health of your eyes. Being overweight can cause a number of health problems, one of them being glaucoma. Exercising for about a half an hour each day can reduce pressure on your eyes by as much as 20%!

Try not to read in the dark or in a dimly lit area. You can strain your eyes when you are trying to read without enough light. Your eyes are already working hard to do the actual reading, so the additional strain of adjusting to the lack of light can overwork them. This can also lead to fatigue and headaches. Make sure the area where you are reading is properly lit.

It can be tempting to purchase cheap make-up, as many of the well-known brands are quite expensive. However, it is best to pay a little more for quality. Some cheap eye shadows and liners have led to swelling and itching. You just don't want to take that chance with your eyes.

Make sure that you are wearing proper and sufficient eye protection to prevent any injuries to your eyes when you are active. Wear goggles if you are playing sports that can impact your eyes and protective gear if you are in the workplace. This will help to prevent catastrophic injuries that can permanently damage your eyes.

Keep your weight in check to help with the health of your eyes. If you are obese, you will put yourself at a higher risk of contracting diabetes, which can result in a loss of vision and glaucoma. Make sure that you consume a balanced diet and do not overindulge on sweets.

Dr Prashant Jindal Best service provider. As you can see from the above article, taking for granted the ability to see is something that many of us have always done. But now since you read a good article about eye care, you see the importance of caring for this special part of our body. All it takes is for you to follow the great eye care tips that you just read.

[aoshihugs]

how about i suggest a mix of a AND b tabito's default flirting is the being mean kind and yet he still can't handle any affection. like imagine after him being so annoying ur actually nice to him and he's like ?!?!?!?!2 starts reevaluates his whole life

WAIT YEAHHHHH THATS SO CUTE WTF

hold on okay so i’m Thinking rn. having Thoughts. hear me out.

not proof-read!! probs ooc!!

more karasu brainrot bc we hate him (no we don't (yes we do))

⤿ 'x reader' content, extremely self-indulgent sorry lmao

❥ okay so if we’re being specific here, if he has a crush, he’s not the type to, say, close your computer in the middle of you working, or steal your pencils, or any of that shidou type behavior lmao

❥ he's more the type to steal some of your food at lunch, poke you to get your attention, pretend to give you something just to keep moving it away from your hand, and verbally provoke you

❥ yet, except for the poking, he doesn't really make much physical contact

❥ not even the type to use you as an armrest if you're shorter than him, nor the type to give those lowkey aggressive side hugs (like how he grabbed nagi at that computer cafe in the shibuya intermission)

❥ but the teasing is never mean enough to actually hurt, just some surface-level "this mf is so annoying" kinda-mean, yk? it's clear that he doesn't actually harbor any malicious intent, he just enjoys your frustration

❥ what if. what if, one time, you were being kinda-mean back, as one does. what if, when you went to elbow him after he said some dumb shit, he paused for a second — a very brief split second — before continuing his regularly scheduled program? and what if you noticed that?

❥ it's nothing major, obviously. dude just didn't expect you to elbow him. understandable.

❥ hear me out again.

❥ what if, y'all were walking together (bc again, you're not really enemies, you're just kinda-friends) and he was doing that annoying thing (that isn’t attractive irl pls don’t do this) where he would pretend to hand you your phone but pull it away every time you reached for it? what if you, tired of his bs, shoved him a bit in retaliation? not a violent shove, of course, just enough to get the point across

❥ what if he paused a little longer this time? well, karasu doesn't know how to handle you being that close to him, which is why he keeps a distance in the first place

❥ (but you don’t need to know that)

❥ he probably stares a little, probably noticeably wide-eyed

❥ but that shows "weakness" and karasu ain't about that life! not when there's a good chance you might call him out on it and embarrass him further!! absolutely not!!

❥ so, unfortunately, he's quick to try to brush it off and shove you back

❥ too late tho! you noticed him get flustered! whether you call him out on it right then and there is for you to decide

❥ building on the kinda-friends thing, sometimes it gets boring constantly picking on your friends, yk? they're still your friends, and sometimes you want to remind them that you still value their existence, even just a little

❥ because let's be real, you don't actually hate karasu, he's just easy to pick on sorry not sorry it's true lmao

❥ what if, on one of those days when you're feeling especially nice, y'all go over to a vending machine and you ask which flavor soda he wants as you punch in the code for yours? casually, of course.

❥ wouldn't want to be too nice to that asshat

❥ and have him think you like him? you? like karasu?? nahhhh

❥ simp

❥ (same)

❥ internally, dude is freaking out. you're offering to buy him something?? wtf?? like yeah he's down for a free drink but what if this is this some sort of ploy to make him owe you a favor in return? why are you being nice to him all of a sudden??

❥ he'd ask that last one aloud (after giving you his order, which he definitely didn't just stutter on. nope. no way.), but in that kinda-mean way, because, yk. wouldn't wanna seem too hopeful now

❥ or too rude, he wouldn’t want you to actually feel bad for offering kindness

❥ honesty is the best policy! you could go the rational route and simply reply that you were feeling nice today, or you could play coy after hearing his accusatory tone and hit him with the classic "why not?"

❥ either one is still an arrow straight to his heart, poor guy is down bad bad

❥ he seriously didn't expect you to have pure intentions so out-of-the-blue like that

❥ visibly flustered this time — figures he should accept it but isn't quite sure how to handle the fact that you're being genuinely nice right now, to him

❥ while you're turned around grabbing his drink, dude is sweating i–

❥ probably looking at you with unmasked surprise: wide-eyed and "blinking incredulously," one might say. thank god you're not looking at him right now. take your time please, he needs a minute to recover

❥ his cheeks and ears are definitely still pink once you turn to hand him his "Black Cherry Mountain Dew Kickstart" (ew), and definitely turn red if you smile at him

❥ probably stops breathing for a sec, honestly

❥ CANNOT MAKE EYE CONTACT LMAOOOO LOSER

❥ tries to casually it’s not casual lol rub his face or something to hide how red he is, it is most certainly not helping, but very cute nonetheless

❥ could mmmaaaayybe offer a curt "th-thanks" in return, still looking away, still very flustered, but is likely too tongue-tied to speak

❥ if you're the type to play coy, please please don't DO ask him if he’s okay

❥ he literally won't answer you lmao

❥ walks away??? without a proper thank you??? ask him if you can get a thank you

❥ he offers a "THANKS" yelled back at you, not bothering to turn around

❥ ears are still most definitely red, and he's walking faster than usual

❥ you're not clueless. you know what's going on. he knows that you know what's going on. you know that he knows that you know what's going on.

❥ it's up to you to chase after him and see how far you can push him, or let it go and play the long game until he caves and finally commits to making a move on you

❥ bit of a cat-and-mouse dynamic introduced to your relationship

❥ either way, you should definitely start being spontaneously nice to him more often

❥ he’s cute! but don’t tell him that

❥ or do, he’d probably be too flustered to retaliate anyways

[odinsblog]

“Not content with fearmongering about vaccines and medicine as a whole, Medical Racism also subtly implies that Black people simply do not need vaccines. We are told that Black people have a very powerful immune system and that vaccines overstimulate it. Besides, vitamin D, the movie claims, is a potent solution for COVID-19, one that is being suppressed. And the kicker is when an African gynecologist tells us that, with regards to viral infections, “Africa has been protected by our interactions with environment. And we are, actually, quite immune to some of these things, and I say this as a doctor! COVID does not belong to Africa.” The through line is clear: the coronavirus, the movie harmfully argues, is no threat to Black people. The real menace are the vaccines.

It is clear to me, from watching Medical Racism and being familiar with Kennedy’s campaign against vaccines, that this is not about medical atrocities committed against Black people. This is propaganda. This is the stomach-churning exploitation of historical abuse and contemporary failings, peppered with falsehoods, to convince a marginalized audience already at increased risk for COVID-19 that safe and effective vaccines are poisonous.

A real empathic appeal for dialogue on this issue would look like what Drs. Sandra Quinn and Michele Andrasik recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Kennedy’s Medical Racism by comparison is crass, manipulative miseducation.”

—The Anti-Vaccine Propaganda of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (Or how an environmental lawyer led a crusade against vaccines and spread lies to marginalized communities)

[strawwritesfic]

Thor Odinson x Female!Snapped!Reader: Together

Summary: A bittersweet ending is better than no ending at all.

Requested Prompt: Endgame-compliant; loss+reunion; established relationship

Rating/Warnings/Tags: T (bad language; Depressed!Thor; Depressed!Thor not used for comedy; Depressed!Thor is loved; Natasha gets a funeral; generally anti-Endgame as was written; snapped!Reader; Avenger!Reader; referenced Natasha & Reader friendship; referenced Steve & Bucky & Sam friendship; referenced Clint/Laura; referenced Scott/Hope; Avengers Tower; not Spider-man: Homecoming compliant)

Together

How strange it felt to find yourself in a world familiar with going on without you. How strange it felt, even, to sit in a place that belonged to you after Thanos blew so much to ashes. You had spent many of your days and nights in this very kitchen long ago. Your private floor in the old Avengers Tower showed very little evidence of your five-year absence beyond that removed when you uprooted to the New Jersey facility of your own accord.

Tony’s designs specifically for you remained in place; dusty photographs of you with the estranged half of the team remained pinned to the fridge. These little bits of your life you’d chosen to part with were all that remained now of who you once had been. None of it belonged to you anymore—not the photos, not the personal touches, not the life.

The ringing silence in the tower made that more obvious than ever. Most of its occupants had either left for home, or, in the case of those that could call this home, were on their own floors, entrenched in grief.

You didn’t know why you had bothered coming here. No, that was a lie. Pepper had invited you, and, if you were being fully honest with yourself, you had thought he might be here waiting for you. He wasn’t. Even after you made the horrible trek to your best friend’s floor to retrieve what few things she had left there, even after you found each and every artifact of your own that reminded you of her, he didn’t show up.

Tears filled your eyes so thoroughly that they obscured the image that you held in one hand. The lack of lighting, natural or otherwise, didn’t help. You knew well what that image was: You and a beautiful redhead smiling together after the Battle of New York. At the time, that had seemed like the worse you would ever experience. How naive you’d been. She’d always told you that, too. Your hand trembled so badly at this thought that you dropped the photo into the pile below. Then you let out a tremendous wail and buried your head in your arms.

“Dammit, Clint!”

He should have been there. They all should have been there. You weren’t saying they should have been there for you, though that would have been nice. What you were saying was that Natasha had died for them. Tony might have given up his life in the end, too, but there was a major difference there: He’d left a body behind.

Maybe that was it. Anyone could see that he needed a proper burial. Once those arrangements had been taken care of, all your former friends had left to their own reunions via Dr. Strange’s portal magic: Scott and Hope to California to see Cassie; Clint to his ranch to reunite with his family; Steve to who-knew-where with Sam and Bucky.

Which just left you to arrange Natasha’s service. Just you, because there had been no one waiting for you all those years that you’d been gone. You thought you had had someone, but after the dust settled, he disappeared without a word.

Sure, you could have thrown a fit. Demanded the rest of them stick around, take a seat, write something pretty down for God’s sake. But they all had loved ones waiting when you did not. She’d been your best friend anyway. So why the hell couldn’t you just force yourself to get the job done?

Someone knocked at the entrance to the kitchen behind you. Before you could so much as stiffen at this sudden unwanted intrusion, a deep voice said:

“[Name].”

The familiarity of that voice had you sitting up straight at once. Thank God he couldn’t see you in the state you were in from his position. Your grief was such that you hadn’t even registered the sound of the lift opening up in the hallway. You were not prepared to see him now.

“Thor?” you croaked. “Is that you?”

A long enough pause followed your question that you thought you must have started to imagine things. Then at last an answer came:

“Yes.”

No amount of wiping at your eyes would conceal your recent crying jag from him. Still you had to try. “I…I’m sorry. I’m not—I looked for you, after—after Tony…”

“I know.”

“You know.”

“Yes. I know.”

It used to be that any sign of tears on your part would spur Thor to do something—anything—to put an end to them. He would move mountains, perhaps literally, to make you smile. Even in your current position, you were aware enough to notice that he wasn’t trying anything now. No approach, no soft word of comfort. Just stony silence that seemed to go on for ages. An explanation for why wasn’t necessary either.

“Perhaps I should not so swiftly have left the scene of the battle,” he said hesitantly. “After all that has happened, I did not know how best to speak to you.”

A lump in your throat prevented you from informing him that any attempt to speak to you would have been preferable to his rapid disappearance. Whether he already knew this or felt he needed to go on because you said nothing, he continued:

“Much has changed since last we met. Much has changed.”

“Do you think I don’t already know that?” you asked, not entirely able to keep the bitterness from your voice.

“No. I did not mean to imply your ignorance. Of course you’ve already realized—”

“Pepper told me about New Asgard. Bruce mentioned Ragnarok. And Natasha…Natasha’s…” You couldn’t say it. The lump in your throat swelled out over your tongue as more water sprang into your eyes. It was a struggle for you add in a whisper, “and there’s someone else.”

Giving voice to this belief was the final straw for your frayed nerves. A day of endless grief on what otherwise should have been one of great celebration crashed over you with all the power of an enraged Hulk. No longer could you pretend. All you could manage was biting your lower lip so hard that it bled.

Unfortunately, this action did nothing to prevent the sobs from bursting out of your mouth. Of all the horrible things you’d learned that afternoon, none hurt so much as the knowledge that Thor had moved on. You had loved him. No. You loved him still. From your perspective, only a day had passed since Thanos stood between the two of you in Wakanda. For him, it had been five years.

Your shoulders shook as the tears cascaded down your cheeks. It wasn’t fair. You weren’t being fair to either of you. Thor wasn’t being fair himself, though. He remained so quiet again for so long that you thought he must have left rather than admit to your face that your unremembered death had brought an end to the most meaningful relationship you’d ever had. So convinced of this were you that you at last let go of your lip to allow full voice to your cries, only for Thor to pick that moment to say:

“I do not understand what you are saying.”

“It’s okay, Thor!”

As you shouted this, you twisted in your chair to look at him at last. The darkness, combined with your crying, made it impossible for you to make Thor out as anything more than a large, vague shape standing in the hall. You inhaled as deeply as you could before going on:

“I was gone for a long time. You had to move on. I’m not going to ask you to give me a second chance or to comfort me or anything like that.”

“You misunderstand me. Where you obtained any notion that I found someone else with which to share my love—or that I should even desire to find to find someone else—! No. There is no one else, [Name].”

“Then why won’t you come any closer?”

“Because while I have not taken another, things have changed. I have changed.”

“What does that mean?” you asked impatiently.

“It means that you have no reason to fear I ever stopped loving you, but that I have cause to believe you will stop loving me.”

“As though you could ever change in any way that could make me stop loving you.”

“You must hear me out. After I failed to destroy Thanos, I fell into even greater despair. Had I done what I ought to have done from the very start…”

Slowly, you rose from the table. The conversation had staunched your crying well enough that you could see your way across the tile floor and to the doorway. As you moved closer, however, Thor backed further into the shadows.

“You deserve better,” he said.

“There’s no one better than you,” you replied, drawing to a stop at the opening.

“If only you knew—”

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever happened, I don’t care, Thor. Just let me see you. Please.”

Perhaps it was your begging that finally convinced him. He froze in place while you stood where you had stopped, waiting, watching, praying that he was not about to flee from you forever. A minute or so later, he stepped into the kitchen.

You shuffled backward to allow him space. Thor moved slowly, as though he had to force himself to take every inch he captured. Finally he stood near enough that you could see him in full detail, and you realized: Things had changed. His hair had grown back. His beard was bigger and bushier. His new eye patch had disappeared.

A wordless cry broke free of your throat as you threw yourself at him. As always, he managed to catch and steady you with ease. Thor allowed you to cry into his neck after he’d settled you back on your feet, supporting your weight without any effort at all—but still he did not embrace you.

“Thor, what’s the matter?” you asked.

He carefully shifted you away from him once more. A grim expression came upon his face. “Do you not see?”

“See what?”

“How I have changed, and not for the better.”

“So your beard got a little janky.” You huffed. “So what? You’ve had a lot on your mind lately.”

“No. Look lower.”

You did. ‘What am I supposed to be seeing?“

"There is no point in soothing my ego. I have neglected to care for myself since you passed, [Name]. I confess that I did not see any reason to do so. I have gained weight, let myself go—and you are just as beautiful as ever.”

Your eyes snapped up meet his. For the first time since Tony had died, yours were entirely dry, and you could see the you felt grief in Thor’s expression. He really thought—

Before he could move, before he could think up one more argument about how you couldn’t be together, you stood on your toes, grasped the edges of his jaw in both hands, and kissed him on the mouth.

How long was that kiss? You couldn’t say. Time felt a lot more irrelevant than it once had. You might have kissed Thor for the same amount of time you’d been dead. No matter the answer, you were breathless when you broke away to say:

“I don’t give a damn what you look like.”

Thor’s brow furrowed. “You don’t?”

“No. I love you.” When you moved forward again, it was only to sling your arms over his broad shoulders so you could whisper in his ear, “I’m sorry I left you here like that.”

Another long pause followed your apology. You could hear nothing during that pause except for the current of electricity in the walls, your own breaths caressing the skin of Thor’s neck, and his steady heartbeat. This was it, you thought. If he walked away, you had to respect it. Newly resurrected people couldn’t just expect a single kiss to erase half a decade of grief.

The body between your arms shuddered once, as though a sudden blast of air conditioning had surged through the room. You screwed up your eyes, preparing to lose Thor forever—only for him to instead wrap his arms around you and press a kiss to the top of your head.

“There is nothing for you to apologize for,” he said huskily. “I should have been there sooner. I should have aimed for the head. I should have…”

“We could spend the rest of our lives going over what we should have done. It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over. All I want from now on is to be with you as often as I can.”

You and Thor broke apart. As usual, the wide smile on his face was impossible for you not to return. Everything seemed like it was going to turn out all right, up until the point where his pleased expression twisted into a frown. He explained himself before giving you any opportunity to ask what was the matter.

“I am afraid that I’ve already booked passage on a ship for a distant galaxy. Believing that you would no longer have me, I had no desire to remain on earth. The notion still holds little allure for me.”

“So?” you asked, when he said nothing more.

“So…I will no longer be on this planet to spend time with you.”

“I got that part. So when do we leave?”

“We?”

“Yeah. We. I’m not letting you get away from me that easily. Does that ship of yours have room for one more?”

A second more of thinking elapsed before Thor got your hint. He beamed again, placed each of his hands on either side of your hips, and lifted you into the air for a quick spin. This moment of joy could not only be fanned higher by his answer:

“There will be room for you. I will ensure it. We leave as soon as the funeral is over and I can inform Valkyrie of her promotion to queen.”

Valkyrie. That sounded vaguely familiar. You also wondered exactly why Thor remained so eager to leave earth. Hopefully you’d have a long, long time for him to explain all the details later.

For the time being, you simply slipped your hand into one of his and said, “Thank you. But I hope you know we have to stay for two funerals…provided I can keep myself together long enough to plan Natasha’s on my own.”

“Not alone.” He took that hand and led you back to the table. “Not anymore.”

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t you rather go, I don’t know, visit all the other people that were gone?”

Thor kissed you on the cheek, then gently forced you into the waiting chair. “You are the one I longed for the most. Perhaps I did not know her so well as you did—but you will not have to do everything on your own. It would be an honor to aid you in memorializing Natasha. She was a brave warrior and a good friend until the end. We will do it,” he sat in the opposite chair, “together.”

Amazing what a little word like that could make you feel. No longer were you all alone in a massive world pulsing with love. You had an anchor—not just Thor, but all the others that had been apart from you for so long: Steve and Sam and Clint and Pepper and all the rest. If they could not yet face the gaping maw of Natasha’s death, at least you could. Thor sitting beside you—as he would for the rest of your new life—made even that task seem endurable.

[deepfriedseagullfeet]

my anti! lore under the cut: 

1-4 (literally), male, or at least tries to be (he him), pansexual? 5’7” (jack)

i fucking HATE this guy.

basically, i wanted to make an antagonist that personally scared me/made me very upset. and my anti isn’t perfect by any means, but i do feel that he’s powerful enough to ruin the lives of the other 5 egos in his own special ways.

so canon comparisons, or at least the comparisons i can make, since we still dont know what anti is. i always saw anti as a parasite. a parasite that needs a host. thats why he’s always trying to possess jack, because he needs a body to do stuff in the physical world. and thats what happens in my lore!

when anti was created by jack, it was more of an accident, and jack hated anti. he would keep anti locked up in his own body before casting him out to die when he figured out how to separate them. none of the other egos knew that anti existed for awhile, EXCEPT FOR JACKIE, when he saw anti trying to fight for control, but jack gaslit him into thinking it was a hallucination, and all that is a conversation for another time.

so jack thought that anti was gone for good. until he came back. again and again. he would seize jack’s body for control, and jack would cast him out again. jackie and henrik didn’t know what was happening, until anti ended up possessing henrik out of desperation, which is when jack admitted that anti was something he created and wanted to kill all of them.

but the thing was, anti DIDNT want to kill them all, at least at the time. what anti wanted was family. what anti wanted was love. what anti wanted, was to have a body, a home, and he still loved jack, even after everything he put him through. and he was desperate to get it. and as jack created chase, he was realizing that anti wasn’t going to leave him and his creations alone, and so he decided to make anti a body. someone to love anti. someone to keep anti occupied so he would leave them all alone.

and as you might’ve guessed, that body, that somebody was jameson. jameson was hand-crafted, specifically for anti, and presented to him like a present. and uh, anti ended up taking jacks body anyways. he came back for jack, stabbing him in the back even though jack had AGREED with anti that if he made him a body, he wouldn’t do this. but he did, and he took jameson away.

i could go on and on about jameson and anti’s relationship. about how they had a metaphorical wedding, how the went from being awkward, scared kids to lovers, how anti gave into his anger and sadistic urges and ended up making jameson’s life hell. but this video would get VERY long so lets just keep the topic on anti.

essentially, he and jameson shared a house out in the woods and lived “normal” human lives. a big thing with anti, though, is that he became a psychiatrist. he was fascinated with humans, and wanted to dig into their heads. and so he studied up, and with some manipulation (and probably some murder) he wormed his way into the system and became a licensed therapist.

he did eventually get taken down by jackie as his grip on his situation spiraled out of his control, but for a good while, he enjoyed a life of being a white man with power in todays society.

so thats all the backstory. and yes, its a lot, and theres definitely more stuff that happens, but ill talk about that when they become relevant to the other egos.

now as for anti as a character. hes very naturally charming and clever, likeable almost. he likes watching tv with his husband, maybe indulging in a good beer or dr pepper. he also loves weapons and collects knives, while also illegally owning a gun. he likes to go out and hunt animals when hes bored. he likes hurting jameson when he’s bored, too. hes naturally sadistic and enjoys hurting others, manipulating everyone around him with his powers to keep that “hobby” of his quiet.

to put anti as simple as i can, he wants to be human so bad, he wants to live a human life, but he craves complete control so badly that he does anything he can to get it, and thats what makes him scary, abusive, manipulative, and the clear antagonist of the egos.

[getlitaesthetic]

The Four Horsemen

The long awaited OCs have arrived-- the Four Horsemen, heads of the other 4 colleges in Hell, and bringers of the End of Times. CEOs for every kind, of course.

Pestilence, known to the world in his current form as Dr. Roswell White. Many imagine he would live as a plague doctor, but in modern times such as these a mask is not necessary. In fact, that's exactly what he preaches as he spends his time spreading misinformation and anti-vax, anti-modern medicine rhetoric to the masses as a frequent and trusted professional speaker on many famous podcasts and news shows. His credentials are unparalleled which make him an incredible force to be reckoned with when arguing against his "science". Behind many shell companies however, he is also the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company that patents cures and life saving medications for the purpose of keeping them hidden or driving up the cost astronomically. He is warm and likeable, well-spoken and intelligent, easily able to manipulate the facts to his side without hesitation. In his human form Dr. White has salt and pepper hair and goatee, a slightly crooked nose with a small hump, and lovely grey-green eyes covered by a pair of glasses. He isn't physically imposing, and drives a large white truck. In his true form however, he is monstrous. A crown of thorns perches on top of a rotting, shifting body, thick blood and puss dripping from where it stabs into his mottled skin. His body is emaciated, jaw hanging off on one side, eyes sunken deep into the skull. In one hand he holds a bow, and rides upon a large white horse. This is the first of the horrors that will ride on the Apocalypse.

Followed, of course, by War. In their human form they appear as twins who look vastly different, but share one mind. The first is Bellona Martin, CEO of an oil company. She has deep brown skin and a beautiful afro of black hair. Tall and well-built, she is regarded as quite the fighter in addition to her work, where she brews unrest in world government while polluting the land. She is sharp and often gets her way through brute force and unending determination, but is incredibly well respected. The second is Chad Martin, a white blonde haired man straight out of every frat you've ever seen. Business major, of course. He sleazes his way through every interaction and ended up the CEO of a large bank chain. Find him drinking with every politician you know, hiding money, financing terrible things, and keeping countries under his thumb. The two share their dark brown eyes and every thought, operating as one creature in two places at any given moment. They each ride a cherry ride motorcycle. In their true form, they exist as one, a two headed beast with the horns of a bull, four arms and two tails, those same brown eyes piercing out. They ride a red horse, a great sword in each hand.

Close behind is Famine. Bubbly, energetic Euna Douglas, the girlboss CEO babe plucked out of your MLM-sorority nightmares, with long wavy brunette hair and brilliant blue eyes, she's on the cover of every magazine celebrating the accomplishments of women. What is her company, you ask? Great question! She's the owner of a charity with the goal of Ending World Hunger and Building a Better Tomorrow! Her motivational speeches are engaging and excite others to her cause by the droves. Such a shame no one has gotten a chance to take a close look at the books and see that nearly every penny disappears to "administrative costs" and lobbying. Euna encourages legislation that adds to food waste and makes healthy options as scarce and expensive as possible, stocking shelves with foods full of fillers and empty calories. She appears well put together, although you may find that when you shake her hand her skin feels very dry, and begins to suck the moisture from your body the longer you touch her. She is well perceived by the public and drives a small black convertible. To see her in true form is to witness a roiling sack of flesh that turns crops to dust as it passes. All food becomes ash at her touch, and she is blindfolded by a piece of thick black cloth. If you could remove it, you would see no eyes there at all, and no space where they would be. Instead, a second mouth sewn shut lives on the top of her face. She rides a black horse, carrying a shiny golden balance scale in her gnarled hand, nails grown long and curled making it impossible to pry from her grip.

Behind them all rides Death. I'm afraid there isn't terribly much to say about them. Known by many names throughout the world, spoken of in hushed tones in every culture of every era, they are often referred to simply as Mort in the below. Death exists only as a black hole in the world, absorbing all life it touches, appearing as a featureless shadow. It can possess human bodies but their shadow will still be in Death’s shape. They communicate telepathically and through gifting visions to those they speak with. Those possessed are not always aware of Death’s presence, as Mort can silently use their senses or give these visions to manipulate the surrounding world without acting on their own. These visions sometimes persist after Death has departed and can drive a creature to madness if they are not stopped. Death has no human form of their own, and neither does their steed, which appears as a pale, nearly translucent creature beneath them when they ride. In personality, Death is rather surprisingly positive, and loves the existence of life-- after all, without life, there is nothing there to die. Kind, and brutal, Death makes no exceptions to the rules, and may all of their power come down on you should you try to deceive them.

No images of Death currently exist.

[wecantseeyou]

a note on color - how line of duty series 6 uses wardrobe to frame narrative (pt 1)

author’s note: this began as a personal observation on the use of cool tones for AC-12 and warm tones in opposition to AC-12, and evolved into a spreadsheet tracking most every outfit 3 of the 4 leads wear in every episode (through 6). 

Why Jo, Kate, and Steve? 

Jo: This is ultimately a rumination on Jo and her character, and the non-textual ways the show indicates Jo’s feelings, actions, and allegiances.

Kate: Jo’s major emotional connection in the series. Kate’s wardrobe often mirrors Jo’s in both style and color, and Kate’s wardrobe also gives hints to Jo’s true identity, while also reminding the audience of her allegiance with AC-12 (in both principles and action)

Steve: As the face of AC-12 in many ways (especially in this season, whereas past seasons that would’ve been Kate), Steve’s wardrobe is the control. He is firmly planted as an anti-corruption officer, is an ally of Kate, and he acts as Jo’s foil.

Why not Hastings?: Lord knows I love Ted, but the man really only ever wears his uniform (which is an entirely different essay about his views of the police force, ‘bent coppers’, and the ‘bad apples’ view of addressing police misconduct)

Some of the colors folks wear are difficult to quantify - I note circumstances where a shirt or sweater could be interpreted as multiple colors, and some instances where I believe that open interpretation is intentional. To be incredibly simplistic for how I coded the colors, cool tones are the good guys, and warm tones are the bad guys. Where possible, I have included reference images for the outfits I’m discussing (low quality screencaps ahead). 

It took me some time to choose the organization of this essay, but ultimately there’s only one way to really do it - scene to scene. So buckle in, cause this is a doozy. I’m posting just episode 1 today, and then plan to post analyses breaking down the other episodes through Saturday. Essay under the cut.

DISCLAIMER: I’m American, so there’s likely something about the UK that I miss here. Alas, we’ll persevere. I barely edited this because I’m no longer a student and don’t have that kind of time. Also, I already wrote one dissertation and I refused to admit I wrote another one. 

METHODOLOGY

To kick off, I went through and looked at every outfit worn by Jo Davidson and Kate Fleming, and most worn by Steve Arnott, in series 6. Steve acts as my control because he begins and ends my sample as a working member of AC-12, which for the purposes of this narrative represents police who are not corrupt. He is exclusively shown in cool tones in every scene I discuss here. Kate serves to bridge that gap in analysis between Jo and Steve - she is anti-corruption through and through, but she is no longer a member of AC-12, and she also has a close relationship with Jo, which is clearly romantic in tone. Kate often wears cool tones and white, but the occasional brown, orange, and green pop up (hold that thought on green). Jo is my main focus of my analysis, because I believe her wardrobe is most clearly impacted by the struggle between internal desires and external pressures. She wears a range of colors, but most frequently it is a combination of warm and cool tones. For the purpose of this analysis, black is considered a warm tone, white is both cool and absent allegiance, and grey is considered a cool tone.

THESIS

Since the first episode of series 6, Line of Duty has used color to indicate that Jo Davidson is not bent by aligning her with the tone of AC-12 as a whole and Kate Fleming specifically. TL;DR: The show has used wardrobe to tell us that Jo is not (intentionally) bent from the beginning.

Jo isn’t ‘bent’ in that she doesn’t want to be corrupt, but she’s forced to be. Surrounded on all sides by the OCG because of her uncle/father, Tommy Hunter, Jo therefore has no choice but to follow OCG orders for fear for her life. The show works to show us this visually in a few ways. Cool tones, representing ‘justice’ through AC-12, are seen throughout her screen time, but they are often peppered with warm tones, representing corruption and the OCG. This is true of her wardrobe overall, but is perhaps most succinctly demonstrated in her apartment. Keep these thoughts in mind as I break down each outfit. 

EPISODE 1

There are points where the wardrobe informs us of things that the text directly contradicts. For instance, in the opening scene of episode 1, Jo arrives at the Hill wearing a black coat over a dark grey turtleneck, and is shown talking to Lomax about a new lead in the Gail Vella murder investigation. She is then shown talking to Buckells about this lead, an unknown CHIS who claims to have spoken with a man named Ross Turner who claimed to have killed Gail. The interaction seems innocuous, and Buckells denies permission for a raid on Turner’s home, but look more carefully at the dialogue here. Jo is manipulating Buckells by presenting him with information about the source, including that he was a sex worker and speculating on his potential drug use. These two factors are what makes Buckells hesitate, and he ultimately stops the raid from being carried out that night. 

While Jo in this scene seems to push Buckells to give permission for the operation, Jo’s dark wardrobe is telling the audience that something else is happening on another level here. We learn later that Jo would take advantage of Buckells baser instincts and desire for upward advancement in order to manipulate him, which is what she does in this scene. She specifically mentions the CHIS’s sex work and the potential drug use because she knows Buckells will worry about the reliability of the witness and want more to go off of, hence cancelling the operation. Jo’s dark clothes hint at her manipulation of Buckells while the audience is not yet clued in.

The next time we see Jo during the team briefing about Ross Turner is also the first time we get a hint at the fliration between her and Kate. Jo’s “dirty stop-out” line and Kate’s “glass houses, boss” response, coupled with Jo’s smile that she hides by looking down show a clear shift in tone. The black jacket is removed, and she’s wearing a grey turtleneck. Jo is slightly more at ease here, enjoying the easy banter. Meanwhile, Kate is wearing a cream/light brown sweater, our first visual clue of her separation from AC-12 and her connection to Jo. 

Note here that Jo’s black jacket was on top of her grey turtleneck, and could be removed. The turtleneck, a very modest and in some ways restrictive top, also serves as an armor Jo wears to brace herself against her own actions. 

When the operation to arrest Ross Turner is approved, Jo again dons a black jacket under her body armor, while Kate wears a green coat under her body armor. Jo putting on the black jacket is symbolic of how she is about to waylay the team with the staged armed robbery at the bookie, allowing time for the OCG to replace Owen Banks with Terry Boyle. Kate’s green coat is symbolic of her mixed allegiances between AC-12’s blue and Jo’s yellow.

Later, when debriefing the operation with Lomax and discussing the importance of learning the CHIS’s identity, Jo and Kate are back to the grey and cream sweaters they were wearing earlier. Their banter is also back with Kate’s “great minds” line, demonstrating their comfort and also telling the audience these two women are in sync with one another. 

Immediately after this series of scenes, we see Steve for the first time. His first scene is at AC-12, wearing a grey suit, white shirt, and red tie, when he is notified that Farida Jatri is there to see him. We learn in the next scene, where Steve is in a blue suit with a blue shirt and blue tie, that Farida brought her concerns about Jo to AC-12, particularly about the odd armed robbery that Jo spotted. He asks Hastings for permission to look into it further, which is granted. The all blue outfit on Steve represents his desire to root out potential corruption in this complaint. He continues to wear this outfit for most of the episode when dealing with the investigation and MIT.

(Note: there’s an interlude scene here of the MIT crew in crime scene suits at Terry’s, but I’m not including that here.)

We next see Jo with Lomax, interrogating a frightened Terry Boyle, while Kate watches the video feed of the interview. Jo is wearing another grey turtleneck, but this time is wearing a grey jacket, while Kate watches on with a cream oversized sweater. The interview with Terry goes nowhere for the most part, as he refuses to comment, which seems to be to Jo’s relief. Kate, however, clearly isn’t done.

Donned in a green mockneck and navy suit, Kate visits the crime scene at Terry’s apartment again. This green top still aligns her with both AC-12 and Jo, but the navy suit serves as a reminder that she doesn’t think the MIT has the full story on Terry Boyle. 

Later, we see Kate in the same outfit debriefing Jo on the new information at the crime scene, namely that there is no new information because it’s been wiped clean. Jo is wearing a grey suit jacket, brown sweater, and a white shirt. Both agree that Terry isn’t a solid suspect, and want the ID of the CHIS in order to confirm that he’s the man identified as Ross Turner. Jo’s layering here is interesting - cool tone, warm tone, cool tone. She agrees with Kate externally, she knows Terry is in the frame for Vella’s murder, and she doesn’t feel comfortable pursuing Terry as a suspect she knows is innocent.

They then visit the CHIS’s handler, who refuses to give up his informant’s ID, but reveals to Kate that he is concerned about the CHIS’s welfare. Kate is wearing a long navy coat, while Jo is wearing a long grey coat with a blue and orange scarf. Kate wants to know the CHIS’s ID to genuinely pursue justice, hence the blue, while Jo wants the CHIS’s ID for ostensibly the same reason, but for her, pursuing justice with the CHIS would also clear Terry’s name. Jo doesn’t want Terry to be punished because he’s innocent, but she also knows a negative ID on Terry will lead to trouble for her with the OCG.

We see Jo in the same outfit minus outerwear in the next few scenes - when she is called into Buckell’s office and convinces him to put pressure on for the CHIS’s ID (while Kate watches), and later when Kate informs her that there was a surveillance gap on Terry Boyle’s flat due to the wrong authority being sought. Jo pushes Buckells and manipulates him to reveal the CHIS’s ID, and also blames him for the gap that she’s responsible for, hence the warm coloring of her sweater. Kate, meanwhile, is showing her allegiance to Jo by telling her about the gaffe, the green of her shirt being the visual representation of that act. 

Next we have a scene of Steve looking at CCTV of the armed robbery, and their suspicions are raised about the speed the convoy was traveling and the likelihood that Jo could have actually spotted it. Again, Steve is in an all blue outfit. 

Back to our favorite murder investigators, Lomax, Jo, and Kate arrive on the scene of a murder victim which turns out to be their missing CHIS. Jo is dressed in a long grey coat, green sweater, and light blue shirt, while Kate is rocking a long navy coat, navy suit, and an orange and navy striped turtleneck. Later at MIT, Kate and Jo discuss the CHIS further, lamenting the loss of the only witness who could ID Terry as Ross Turner. Throughout this scene, Jatri is watching the two of them interact. Jatri then calls Steve, in a grey suit with a blue tie, and tells him she can no longer be an informant. 

Round two of interviewing sweet Terry begins, with Jo in the same outfit and Kate watching on video, again in the same striped turtleneck. They all seem to think Terry is hiding something, but Kate seems taken aback at some of Jo’s lines of questioning (Vicky McClure, expert reactor) but is mostly saddened by Terry. Later, Steve meets with Kate outside of Hillside and they discuss his inquiry into Jo. She refuses to help, but gives him the name Carl Banks as someone to look into. 

We then see Jo arrive at Farida’s house with a suitcase, moving out her final belongings after their breakup, where they have a row over Jo’s refusal to introduce Farida to her nonexistent family. After, Jo returns to her own apartment with its 18 dead bolts. Nearly the entire place is blue - the walls, the furniture, even the refrigerator. However, those warm tones pop up throughout - lemons on the counter, golden pillows in the living room, gold lights framing the picture of her mother. Jo at her heart is good and believes in justice, but she has been groomed and manipulated by the OCG into acting against her nature in the name of self-preservation. She is blue, but the pops of gold and yellow of the OCG catch the eye. 

The following scene shows Jo getting chewed out by Buckells in the briefing room in full view of the rest of MIT, again in the green sweater and blue shirt. Kate looks on in concern, still wearing the orange and navy striped sweater. Buckells storms out, and Jo rushes into the hallway. Kate follows quickly behind, asking after Jo, who vents her frustrations with the pressure to charge Terry with murder because she knows it isn’t right and wants to find real justice for Gail. The color choices in this scene are clear. Kate is wearing orange and navy, highlighting both her connection to Jo and her pursuit of justice. Jo is wearing green, combining the blue of her heart and the pollution of OCG yellow, with a light blue shirt, again highlighting her true self and alignment with Kate.

This also highlights something we don’t learn until episode 6 - Jo wanted Kate on her team to keep her in check and be a barrier to the things the OCG was asking her to do. This includes the arrest of Terry Boyle. Jo specifically identifies several odd things about the recent evidence - and tells Kate that something doesn’t add up, essentially encouraging the DI to look into these inconsistencies further. This is her way of looking for help when she still feels trapped in many ways. 

Of course, no analysis of this scene would be complete without mentioning the hand grab and subsequent hold. They’re gay, kids!

The final scene shows Jo watching as Terry Boyle is released and remanded to police bail, a look of relief on her face. Because yeah, she’s done a lot of bent things, but Jo isn’t bent.

And that’s where the episode wraps.

Stay tuned for more wardrobe analysis tomorrow!

[icarusislaughing]

First full day in England is complete and I've been Noticing lol

1) advertisements are way more pleasant here. Even the YouTube ads? And we all know how anti-ad I am, but it was nice to see?

2) I've never realized just how weird it is that most places in the US don't have many-if any- trees that grow larger than the shortest buildings. There's SO MANY tall trees here. It's wonderful!

3) English people have a tendency to become immediately flabbergasted if I compliment them or offer assistance of any kind. I plan to do it more just so they become a little less surprised when people are kind.

4) oh my gods, there is SO MUCH GRASS. It's everywhere. Just outside. All the time. There's no huge parking lots ever 6 steps, so there's just grass! All the time! I love this!

5) everyone is very mono-chromatic for some reason. As my boyfriend puts it, "the English pursuit of beige" seems to apply to clothing, as well. I've been clocked as an American on my colorful clothes alone. Someone give these people a coloring book.

6) I love the readability and transparency of the nutrition labels here. Bolding common allergens, indicating which parts of the packaging is recyclable, it's all very good. Love it.

7) I told my mother I had fallen in love with England and wanted to move permanently, but then I tried the Dr. Pepper and realized it tasted like Mr. Pibb, and immediately rescinded that statement lol I may not consider myself a southerner, but apparently that's where my line lays lmao

Anyway, going to London tomorrow, so I'll update this list over the next two weeks as a reference for later lol